Top Ten favorite cities (That I have been to)

While I have traveled quite a bit around the United States, there are some places that I wished I could stay longer and other places I have a setimental attachment towards. Some of this may sound awful to some of you guys and if your City is not on here, maybe you need to send me a plane ticket for me to check it out. This cities aren't necessarily places that I would want to live in. So with that said, here is the list:

10. Chicago, IL
9. Denver, CO
8. Houston, TX
7. New York, NY
6. Lagos, Nigeria
5. St. Louis, MO
4. Pensacola, FL
3. Raleigh, NC
2. Los Angeles, CA
1. London, England

Later on, I will publish the list of cities that I want to go to and because they are so many, I will group them into cities inside the United States and cities outside the United States.

Top Ten Movies of all Time

This list is dynamic in terms of, movies move in and out all the time. This one is a tough one and as such won't be in any Particular order-

1. The Godfather 1, 2
2. Shawshank Redemption
3. Finding Forrester
4. Seabiscuit
5. Remember the Titans
6. Shrek 2
7. Ocean's Eleven
8. Gladiator
9. Scent of a Woman
10. Hitch

The last one snuck in because it was so funny. One more thing. I have a disclaimer. I am not necessarily recommending that you go see this movies. Some of them may have some content that are not suitable for kids. If you are a parent and see this list, please use your own judgement before letting your kids watch these. Phew, thats out of the way. There were other movies that were receiving votes but there is the list.

Top Ten Lists

Americans and maybe people in general are facinated with "Top Ten List." Top Ten Hottest Celebrities, Top Ten Athletes, Top Ten favorite places to go or Songs, Movies, Books...The list goes on and on from the appropriate things to the down right gross stuff. Well, I will join the band wagon for a little while and begin giving my Top Ten Lists in certain categories. I will try to be creative and switch from the norm every once in a while. But first up will be my Top Ten Movies of all time. By the way, if there is a particular Top Ten List of mine you would like to have, just let me know and I will try to come up with it. Thanks.

Differences in Personas

I am sort of weird. I think I pass to most people as ordinary and for the most part I am. But I am sort of weird. I love reading people and for me, it is not a prophetic thing, its just guess work. I love making up stories in my head about people I don't know sometimes. A lot of my friend know this about me; that I love exploring the things that make us different i.e. basic differences in persona between males and females, different personalites, different races, generations and sub-generations as well as cultures in general.

Sometimes my quests have led me to ask weird or seemingly odd questions which may embarass some people and some questions to complete strangers. The one that get a lot of people are when I ask frank questions about some topics to girls or ladies. Nothing inappropriate but things that people never ask but assume they know the answers to. Some of those assumptions are right. Same goes for people who are of a different generation. I sometimes like to sit with older people and younger people and just ask questions. A lot of my questions to the older generations are how they would do things differently from what I would do in circumstances and situations. And if you want to know what kind of questions I would ask ladies...

Whinning about Gas Prices

I wrote an article (actually more like entry because this is just a joke of a blog) Wednesday, March 09, 2005 on the Gas prices and please allow me to whine again. Back then, the prices were $2.10 a gallon and I wrote about...well go read it if you actually care enough. I will mention that I felt back then like I lived in Cali. Well, now I feel like I live in Europe with this outrageous prices. And once again like I mentioned in that entry, lets not be fooled into thinking that OPEC or any oil producing country or exporter has anything to do with it. Lets not get too excited about going to go start another war for oil sake. The winners in all of this is the Oil companies. I guarantee you, at the end of the calendar year, go look at the numbers and see which companies made the most money and 4 out of the top 7 companies will be oil companies with Exxon Mobil being #1. So it doesn't matter if Dubya releases oil from the reserves or from his backyard, it won't matter. Arrgghhhh. Okay. Thats done with. Actually I feel better all of a sudden. It probably helps that I just received a check for milleage on one of my trips. Plus today is pay day. Well, I got to run.

More Appologies

For those of you who ocassionally check out this blog for whatever reason (primarily boredom but nonetheless), I just want to say once again that I am sorry for not keeping it up to date. I have a few legitimate excuses.

Now for those of you who know me (and some that know me but do not know this), I just bought a house with my brother and that has been very consuming time wise. I am also working on a pretty big project at work and that has also found a way to take me away from this blog. Anyway, things are moving right along with life. It has been a really trying month but one I know that God did a lot of amazing things.

My buddies and I went out Friday night to go crash a few parties and sure enough, God showed up and someone else got saved. Pretty awesome. This guy though lives in town and maybe we will have an opportunity to hold his feet to the fire. Folks, thats all for now.

Back from another trip AND Interesting Saturday Night

I know, this is all boring work stuff but I just got back from Detroit, MI for a meeting for work. It went very well but the interesting thing a la things that interest only me is that, I have been gone out of town for a period of time for 4 straight weeks. I think this is also the first time that I have flown four weeks in a roll. I know, who care? Jeez, cut me some slack. Afterall, it is "life according to Ugo."

Anyway, school here at Pittsburg State University has begun and I have never been more excited about school in my entire life. Yes, those of you who know me know that it is primarily because I am all done with it but something happened this last Saturday that increased my interest for other reasons.

See, ever since I got back from North Carolina, I have been interested in doing something on Campus. I believed that God has called us to get people there saved and I know the time is now. I also feel more than ever before the need to give back to the hand that fed me (even though I paid the hand to feed me as well as other instate students...and maybe some athletes), but not in the form of money but in the name of Jesus.

Without further ado, I will tell you briefly what happened Saturday. For those that do not know, I just bought a house with my brother but we are in the process of closing and as such haven't moved yet. So right now, we are staying at a house on the Frat block which the church rents for thier Bible College. I have had a lot of awesome experiences living there but none like this. There was a huge party that night that spanned the whole block. To cut the story short, my brother as well as two other roommates and I went to crash the parties i.e. we went hunting for Philistines. Well, I got one and had the rest of the herd help me while we all brought him to the realization of the purpose of his life. By the wee hours of the morning, this young man commited his life to Christ and was filled with the Spirit. Unfortunately he doesn't live in town or go to school here but we all gave him our contact information and promissed to stay in touch.

Needless to say, I can't wait till Friday or Saturday night, whichever one they choose. Maybe even Wednesday night.

My first Par

Folks, I got my first par ever on Tuesday i.e. two days ago. I was excited. I played just nine holes at the local golf course because there was not enough daylight to play 18holes. The first few holes, I was terrible. But then, I settled into triple and double bogey golf (I know thats still terrible but you now have an idea of the first holes). I love my driver except that I keep hooking it right.

Anyway, on the ninth hole, it is a par three with a water hazard in front of the green. Yes, it was bad. Well, I took my 3 wood and hit it with barely any daylight left and because the hole is down slopping, I did not see where the ball went. I was pretty sure it went in the water until I walked all the way past the hazzard and saw this white thing on the green. It was about 40 feet from the hole with a chance at a birdie. I pulled out the putter and hit the ball within 6 feet and drained it for par.

I stink at golf so if anyone has any tips out there, help a brother out.

What God has put on my heart

Guys it has been a while and once again I appologize. I will also appologize for the next few moments when I am away for too long. I have been busy with work, life, golf but I will try to be much better at updating my blog. The truth is that I do like to write and entertain those interested.

Anyway, I recently made a trip to Raleigh, NC to meet some friends that I never met before. Yeah, a friend of my friend is typically my friend. They are part of a local church there and I tell you what, I have never left a place more fired up in my Spirit about what God is doing with my generation. Things had seemed a little gloomy if you can tell from my previous posts. But it seemed like I went through an Elijah experience where he was whining to God about being the only one that wanted to serve God and how everyone else is either dead or not interested.

I am here to say that there are several people in my Generation ready to take on the world by storm. These guys in Raleigh got me to remember where we were at a few years ago in my church and in my circle of friends. This generation does await the manifestation of the sons of God and now is the time for us to start sacrficing to make sure that they see it. We have to get on our knees and pray and dig into the word. We need to start having some Holy Ghost attitude about what God has called us to do. We have talked about what God has called us to do on this earth BUT now is the time to start doing it our we turn into another generation that wanders the desert for another 40 years talking about it till we get passed over.

Thats my rant for today.

Quotable quotes

There are some sayings that move you, some that make you cry, some that you build your life on and some that are just so true that it makes you laugh. Here is one of the later...

"The man who can smile when something goes wrong has thought of someone to blame it on."

That got all the guys in my house rolling. Oh by the way, our House Mom laughed the loudest.

Shame on Me

I know, I know, it has been a week since I have posted anything (not that anyone really pays attention, I mean, who am I kidding). I just haven't had time or maybe desire to be on a PC much outside work. I mean, I left my laptop at work for the entire weekend. I had never left it for one day before. Well, I have been slightly busy with several things including work, my friends, another friend's wedding (once again, I was a groomsman) and of course now golf. No sweat, there are no more wedding till next year and nope, not mine either so techinically speaking, I am still a free agent.

So whats new out there? Well, I have been trying to cut back on entertainment and T.V. and maybe relating with people more and more about very important things like the cause of Christ and how to revive our generation. Sad to say but the state of our generation across almost every landscape is one of mediocrity and self-fulfilment. I want to be different and I know several people who are balking the trend. On that note, I do want to say Happy Birthday to Scott Squires. May your fire never dim even after you die. Don't worry, he is not leaving soon. He just turned 26.

Well, I have to go do other things now. I will write sooner than later.

Finally, Golfing at last

Finally guys, I went golfing and I will tell you what...anyone who says that Golf is not a physical sport or not a sport period must have gone miniature golfing or something.

Anyway, I went with my buddy Newman who is just back from Iraq for a couple of weeks. First we hit the driving range and I got some impromtu lessons on driving and boy, did I come out swinging. Then we played a nine hole course and by the end of the ninth hole, I was physically exhausted. We weren't playing no Par 3's the whole way. There were several 450+ Par 5's on this 9 hole course. Anyway, on one of the holes, I had a legitimate bogey. I was so excited.

The hardest part about golfing to me is putting and that I something I need to learn and learn fast if I am going to continue which I plan on doing so.

So when next am I going? I am not sure. Newman is leaving back this week and will be back in November. I will definately hit the driving range every once in a while if I can get some clubs for free from anyone. In the mean time, I will continue to ponder what it will be like when I actually become decent. By decent I mean, "a double bogey golfer."

As for other things going on, I have been busy with work. Tomorrow, I am flying to Richmond, Va. I wonder if they have any cool courses out there.

What is it about guys...

What is it about us guys that we have top the next person no matter if it is a good or bad thing. We are so competitive and we look for the edge in anything. Don't get me wrong because I love it, absolutely. It is so in our blood. For example, if one guy tells another guy that he sweats a lot, the other will go, "...oh you haven't seen me play basketball. I sweat like a pig (by the way pigs really don't all that much)." We are talking about sweat here. Even if we are talking about things like, "my car has the worst gas milleage" or "I have the ugliest (insert whatever here," the other will still try to top you.

In the end, I believe that God made us like that for a reason. I think the reason is so that we can stir each other towards him. Yeah, girls have an element of competiton but from what I understand, most girls compete more with themselves than with other girls. But guys won't compete if there wasn't another person to compete with, most guys anyway.

In the end, I think it is great. A lot of people can't handle it but I also think it is one of the things that makes us feel like men because we all seek validation through the eyes of other men that we hold in high regard, be it Jesus Christ, our earthly father or best friend. If we don't have that validation somehow or somewhere, we begin to question our manliness. Girls notice that when something is missing. Many people refer to what is missing as the "IT" i.e. "that guy has it." Thats a different explanation for another day. Some guys are born with "IT" however most guys that have it aquire it from validation early on in their life. "IT" or the lack thereof can make or ruin a guys life.

PS: Having "IT" doesn't mean you can't be sensitive or emotional. Having "IT" means that you also have the capacity to be sensitive to situations and able to act out of knowledge and experience rather than feelings.

Odd news that may interest only me

Who wouldn't fall for such a clever trick? - Yahoo! News:

"PALERMO, Italy (Reuters) - An Italian couple stole 50,000 euros from a woman in the Sicilian city of Palermo after convincing her they were vampires who would impregnate her with the son of the Anti-Christ if she did not pay them. "

I know this is cruel and wrong in every sense of the word. However, I kinda think it is funny. This is why some people should never be allowed to have money, at least without an advisor.

Blasts Hit 3 London Subway Stations, Bus - Surprised, Confused and mostly Irritated

Blasts Hit 3 London Subway Stations, Bus - Yahoo! News

I am not even sure what to think. I am happy because it does seem like not a lot of people if at all any were hurt seriously. The quote is that, "Only one person was reported injured in the nearly simultaneous lunch-hour blasts, which shocked and disrupted the capital and were hauntingly similar to the July 7 bombings by four attackers."

Well, I have to get back to work.

Tiger Wins the Open

Yahoo! Sports - Golf - After a British Open rout, just imagine what might have been

Yes it is late but I had to touch on this. With the British Open win, Tiger is just 8 majors shy of the record held by Jack Nicklaus. I never had a chance to watch any of The Open until Sunday morning. I know what you are thinking. "Why weren't you at church?" Well...its the British Open! Just kidding. I will explain later. Anyway, I got the chance to watch holes 4 through 11 and let me tell you, it was intriguing, not because Tiger was playing great which he was (although you couldn't tell from the look on his face), not because he was maintaining his lead and not because he was Tiger. I thought it was all intriguing because of how Jose Maria Olazabal, Tiger's partner on Sunday just faded stroke after stroke. You sort get the feeling that anyone paired with Tiger on Sunday in a Major when he is lurking or worse has the lead, just melts under pressure. As for Tiger, ice in his vains. Next major up for Tiger, the PGA Championship in Baltusrol Golf Club at Springfield, New Jersey.

As for why I wasn't in church and instead watching The Open instead, I was in Kansas City for a Bachelor party on Saturday which for all intents and purposes lately till about 1am or 2am in the morning. I woke up about 9am in the morning and began watching my new found hobby golf.

Speaking of my new found hobby, my good friend and soon to be golf partner Justin, returns from Iraq today for a two week break from the service. After that, he has a few months left and he will be back. Even though I stink at the sport, we will someday be good enough to warrant comparrison to Tiger and Phil Mikerson and since I am the one who is black, I will have to be the Tiger.

We're not Afraid!- Group responds to the London Terrorists

We're not Afraid!

I would just like to do my part to provide some PR for WE'RE NOT AFRAID DOT COM. This groups mission is to "show the world that we're not afriad of what happened in London, and that the world is a better place without fear."

Feel free to purchase mechandise. Some of the proceeds go to the Red Cross London Bomb Relief fund. You guys have heard me describe my soft spot towards that city and you know...Well they also posted on of my pictures on there and here's the link

http://www.werenotafraid.com/images/089/index.php

OR

http://www.werenotafraid.com/images/089/Ugo_&_Juan.jpg

Thanks Guys.

Weird News! What? How lazy and stupid can people get in this country???

Drive-through robber gets bank loot - Yahoo! News

CHICAGO (Reuters) - That was easy.

A bank robber behind the wheel of his car on Tuesday sent a note through a vacuum tube to the teller at the drive-through window at a branch of Chicago's LaSalle Bank and the teller obliged, returning an undisclosed amount of cash, police said.
The exchange was completed through the bank's pneumatic tube communications system, in which canisters are passed back and forth between motorist and teller.
The FBI said it was investigating the drive-through theft.

WHAT? Are you kidding me? Are we so lazy in this country that we are now doing drive through robberies? I mean, get out of the stinking car, walk up to the teller and get the damn money (pardon my French...actually English, the french have been abused a lot). What happened to the good old days when we did it like the Italian Job. Plus that teller needs to be fired and looked into as an accomplice because there is no way any sane person goes through with it. WHAT? I can't get over this one. Oh well, I will. Arrggghhh.

Busy again

I have to appologize to the few people who honor me by paying any attention to this blog. I have been kinda busy and too tired to write or type. Plus you folks have to understand that keeping a blog is dangerous work. I mean, I have to watch out for the KGB on my way to work not to mention the mafia and the CIA being on my back for being this boring and then of course the risk of carpal tunnel. But, I am still in the game and very much strong. I will try to come up with something you guys can enjoy in the next week. Thanks for being my audience. The world wide web is a huge space and I know that there are lots of options out there.

New Design Template

In an effort to fend off boredom with this blog (yeah like thats possible), I have changed the design of this blog. If you don't like the new design, let me know and I will laugh and do nothing about it. Otherwise, this is the way it is going to be till...I don't know. Anyway, its been over 24hrs and I haven't heard anything negative so I will take it that it cuts the mustard. Woohooooo!