From Atlanta's WSB-TV a billionaire is offering a grant to eliminate the student loan debt for Morehouse College's class of 2019. Where was this man at 10 years ago? :o
Billionaire Robert F. Smith, who received an honorary doctorate at Morehouse College’s Sunday morning graduation exercises, had already announced a $1.5 million gift to the school.
But during his remarks in front of the nearly 400 graduating seniors, the billionaire technology investor and philanthropist surprised some by announcing that his family was providing a grant to eliminate the student debt of the entire Class of 2019.
“This is my class,” he said, “and I know my class will pay this forward.”
...
The gift has been estimated at $40 million.
I just have to see what this man looks like. Here's a tweet from Morehouse College!
I can't believe it's been 10 years for me already. It was a bit of a good stretch of road to get my own Morehouse degree, but happened. Still can't believe it.
Meanwhile today, under what appears to be clear skies - and I wasn't so lucky 10 years ago - the Morehouse College class of 2019 are having their commencement.
[VIDEO] After watching the WWE Network yesterday having seen both NXT and NXT UK I got wind of a short documentary about the search for a long lost match between Bret "The Hitman" Hart and a wrestler named Tom "Megaman" Magee. It never aired on TV and by accounts in this documentary Magee would've been the next face of the World Wrestling Federation after Hulk Hogan. Hulk Hogan back in 1986 was the star of the WWF.
You may know Bret Hart from his role in the Montreal Screwjob where he lost his title in a very suspicious (yes I'm being a tad nice here) and controversial fashion. Regardless during the course of the 1990s before he jumped ship to World Championship Wrestling he was the new face of the WWF. He was the face of WWF once Hogan himself jumped ship to WCW.
So Magee was to be the new face of the WWF it was said McMahon said it himself he was so impressed with Magee's match with Bret. And what's noted in other articles and in the documentary itself is that Magee wasn't quite ready and had the good sense to listen to the veteran Bret Hart. As The Hitman said himself if Magee did what Bret told him, there will be big plans for him. In other words listen to The Hitman and he'll make Megaman look good.
I don't know if the match itself is available on YouTube however Magee himself later wrestled another WWF legend a man known as "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase in yet another unaired match for TV. Magee from his match with Hart and certain with DiBiase I think could fit in with the high-flying style of todays wrestling. He's jumping around doing cartwheels and doing backflips from the top rope. He may not have been a great worker, however, he kept my attention even though we're talking about matches from over 30 years ago. [VIDEO]
Magee unfortunately fizzled out, and as seen in that documentary on the WWE Network he holds no regrets about that period of time. He wanted to hear the roar of the crowd, however, whatever stardom he could've had before retiring from the business almost 30 years ago he admits he missed out on. He never heard the proclamation that he'd be the next Hulk Hogan, so at least that helped him not take himself too seriously. He doesn't seem very bitter about how his wrestling career fizzled he doesn't see much of a difference between hypothetically enjoying his WrestleMania moment to just walking the streets everyday with no one recognizing him. He knew that he had his time and perhaps it just wasn't meant to be.
As conceded by some of the people who were interviewed for this documentary - two of The Hitman's nephews wanted to watch this match when they in developmental and it never happened or Bret himself was said to have a copy and he couldn't find it himself. An archivist for Hart found the match in question and in aired on the WWE Network for the first time. This lets you know how long ago it was as the primary vehicles for WWF programming during the late 80s to early 90s was syndicated on Saturday's and Sunday's in the mornings.
Magee vs. Hart would've aired on WWF Wrestling Challenge with commentary by the late Gorilla Monsoon and the late Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. Obviously they were talking up Magee and I would imagine a hot prospect in today's WWE would get the same treatment though in this case through their headset with Vince McMahon in the so-called "gorilla position" barking instructions.
With this said the match I saw kept my attention but let me just say it's a match to watch for anyone who's training to become a pro-wrestler. In that world, sometimes you have to make the other guy (or gal) look good as Bret did. The one whom the hype followed well he didn't get his time in the limelight, but the one who did most of the work to help make the other guy look good he legitimately became the star. Bret "The Hitman" Hart has a remarkable run as the star who followed Hulk Hogan. And even some of the people agree Hart was really good and earned the spot he held during most of the 1990s.
Finally, as a wrestling fan I never got into this hobby of collecting tapes of wrestling matches. I do believe that during the history of an independent promotion known as Ring of Honor it was tape collecting that helped get them in business believe it or not in about 2002-03 which was not long after the bankruptcy of Extreme Championship Wrestling. Tape collecting as a business doesn't exist without content, which is as true as making money off of YouTube videos.
Now, this tape if it was truly an important match if not a particularly quality one probably would get traded around now that's it's been found. It makes me wonder in a time of social media or even streaming networks if tape collecting of wrestling matches is still a thing. Are there still some dedicated wrestling fans looking for a match anywhere on this globe to watch. I've learned that a lot of those matches I had missed out on (say PPVs I never watched or just something so old I'd have never seen it anyway) I can find online now.
So after seeing this very special documentary has me wondering about it today.
[VIDEO] Before Jim Ross began a new podcast with Conrad Thompson - who also among other wrestling themed podcasts has one with longtime pro-wrestling producer Bruce Prichard called Something to Wrestle - I was treated to a few editions of The Ross Report. It helped me realize the extent of Jim Ross' experiences in pro wrestling and not just as a play-by-play man, also realize that for many years in the WWF he was an executive in charge of talent relations helping to find the newest stars for the business. Ross had been a busy man for sure.
Of course, Ross has left WWE last month to remain in the game as while he was under contract and paid by WWE he was largely underutilized. He also noted in the above video his relationship with his wife Jan who sadly passed away over two years ago. It sounds as if he was dating her while he was working for Ted Turner's World Championship Wrestling. He discusses his time with them and how he found himself later working with the World Wrestling Federation err WWE.
It's fascinating to hear his observations of how WCW operated under the management of the Tuner corporate structure. He saw that there was in his words a cancer that proved to be terminal and the result was WCW's sale to Vince McMahon's WWE in 2001. The issues were ongoing were WCW couldn't survive the Turner company's acquisition by Time Warner.
However the irony or ironies is that as All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is currently negotiating at TV deal wrestling could return to either or both Turner channels TBS & TNT which were the channels where WCW programming had formerly been broadcast. And an even more interesting irony is that Ross who had been the voice of WCW when I first started watching wrestling will be likely by the voice of AEW once their weekly TV begins to air later this year.
[VIDEO] Sometimes I wish I could get in on these demos for devices that are soon to be released for sale to the public. I've been watching a few videos about this coming Samsung Galaxy Fold and the form factor of the device looks very cool.
Basically as the name suggests it's essentially a foldable phablet. That is it's a mobile phone while folded however as the situation dictates you open the device and you have yourself a small tablet device. Some of the reviews I've seen on YouTube state often that this is the future form factor.
These days we're already living in the era of the smartphone. I would say I've seen the evolution from PDAs to Blackberries and ultimately to smartphones such as Android devices or iPhones. Fairly recently I've evolved from using a flip phone in the original Motorola Razr to a Blackberry Bold and then finally to an iPhone which is still the phone I use to this day even if it's a phone of different generations.
So this fold intrigues me only to have myself wonder if Apple will come out with a similar device of their own in the future. Knowing the competition of tech companies perhaps Apple already is working on a hybrid iPhone/iPad mini device that folds like a Fold.
However, what I recognize now is that how could they market this phone? Could they market the convenience factor? Instead of taking a tablet on vacation with you or anywhere for that matter could you instead utilize your folded phone for that purpose? Could there be a practical application for anyone in the business world?
Well this remains to be see, however, the Galaxy Fold is said to be pricey at $2,000+. The question is how could they get any consumer to want to consider buying this very premium phone.
[VIDEO] If I believe the YouTube page this live cam became active April 25, 2019. You can also access this cam on my railcam page when you see the below image once you press play.
This had been alluded to in earlier videos on Virtual Railfan's YouTube channel where they had planned to place a 360 live video camera on a former railroad embankment east of the LaPlata, Missouri Amtrak station. Having seen the train come and go with the cams at the train station seeing the train from this embankment is a very interesting perspective. It's one I hope you would want to check out also.
DO NOT GO ANY FURTHER THAN THIS LINE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE A CLIP FROM PRESUMABLY THE SEASON FINALE OF STAR TREK DISCOVERY NOW SEEN ON CBS ALL ACCESS!
[VIDEO] YouTuuba does a video about the process for producing some of his videos for his channel. This video is about 30 mins and shows the cameras he uses (mainly still cameras), the storage media he uses, the GPS devices for his train trips, and of course his editing process. Some good pointers for those you who are looking to find ways to really up their YouTube game.
I've only recently started uploading videos to YouTube. I have hours of footage I have yet to upload and edit from an old miniDV camera (I still own one, but haven't used it in years). Of course in recent years many of the vids were shot n an iPhone with the added accessory of olloclip lenses for cellphones. Most of the time I'm very satisfied with the results.
One the other hand I see what YouTuuba is saying. If you're planning on any photography/videography have some redundancy. You don't have to do everything on these wonderful smart phones no matter the quality of the image or video. Something I need to get into the habit of myself as I could shoot pics or video with either my iPhone or my iPad.
Though one thing is true in my case, the reason I do use my iPhone or occasionally my iPad is that often they're readily available. Especially my iPhone as it's usually always on me when out and about. As far as a camcorder especially my miniDV camcorder it's bulky and not as easy to fool with when you realize it's time to record a moment for history. It's not as convenient.
So perhaps I should invest in a camera similar to what YouTuuba uses. That or buy a camcorder more up to speed for 2019. MiniDV camcorders are very aughts and largely obsolete (I probably would have to search far and wide for a miniDV tape. Though memory cards as the one seen in the above video are currently readily available to consumers.
The transgender issue has finally reached the halls of Morehouse College. For those of you who don't know I graduated from Morehouse in 2009 with a BA in pol. sci. and it's the only liberal arts college for Black men.
I also want to note what a difference a decade makes as before graduating it was being debated in my religion class with Dr. Aaron Parker any issues with gay students or cross-dressing students. I wrote about it on this blog at that time and while I never offered my thoughts in class I offered my thoughts. It just shows how my views on that issue from that time had evolved. The thoughts in that earlier post doesn't reflect what I think about homosexuality today.
With this said, it seemed that back then the burning social debate a decade ago was whether or not gay couples should be married. Then a few years after graduating we've resolved this issue, and now the burning social issues of our time is transgender rights. Morehouse is attempting to address this with their new admissions policy as you will see below from The Maroon Tiger.
There's probably a nuance here I don't understand, however, it appears nothing has really changed. If you're a woman transitioning to becoming a man you won't be admitted and if you're a man who decides during his enrollment that he wants to transition to becoming a woman then he won't automatically be eligible for a degree.
It seems as far as whether or not a young man wants to transition into living as a member of the opposite gender a lot of counseling will have to be involved. This I actually agree with one should be able to talk with someone about something I consider an extreme step. I suppose the question to be asked for someone who wants to significantly alter their identity in this way is whether or not they need to stay at a school that wants to retain their masculine identity.
[VIDEO] A new take on a TV classic. The bridge of the original USS Enterprise seen on the CBS All Access series Star Trek Discovery. The Enterprise itself was redesigned for this series different from the 1960s model and now the interiors which we should see in the 2nd season finale.
You can read more about it at TrekMovie. And now I want to subscribe to CBS' streaming service. Time to binge watch a series!
Been a while since I've posted some real news and not wrestling on this blog so here's something I found on ig recently about how much money one would have to make in income to break even in any state from CNBC. Illinois for example
Illinois
Total required income before taxes: $26,566
Estimated housing costs: $9,151
Estimated food costs: $3,058
I wonder if this figure includes Chicago. What would be the income required before taxes to live in Chicago? I'll bet this would be a much higher number and perhaps equivalent to the income required to break even in California or New York which means you have to make at least $30K/year.
Just for the hell of it, what's the figure for Georgia
Georgia
Total required income before taxes: $25,921
Estimated housing costs: $8,937
Estimated food costs: $2,994
And does this figure include Atlanta? I'll be ATL compared to the rest of the state has a slightly higher income to break even.
How do they arrive at these conclusions for all 50 states!
That's according to updated data from MIT's living wage calculator,
which determines the minimum amount necessary to meet basic needs
without dipping into poverty or relying on outside help. The model takes
into account factors such as food, housing and health insurance, in
addition to other regular costs, and don't include conveniences or
luxuries such as restaurant meals, vacations or money left over for
investments.
