RANDOM THOUGHT ALERTS!!! (Vol. 1, No. 14)

No...you cannot avoid one of these posts without me either talking about D.C. Metro, food or Baby Boy Scribbler's favorite cartoons.  Deal with it, slugger.  Anyway, on perhaps his favorite show, Sprout's Ruff-Ruff, Tweet and Dave, I find it interesting how the red beagle and the yellow chick's names are onomatopoeias.  (Y'all don't know how long I've been waiting to use that word in a blog post...hype!)  I'm sure it goes a long way in helping developing young viewers make the connection between these animals and their associate sounds, but what about Dave the Blue Panda?  Granted, his name is simple to remember and pandas don't make a distinct sound, but why Dave?  Was something like Rodney a little too "urban"?  (Then again, the name Rodney always makes me think of Sommore's set from The Queens of Comedy and some brother coming on a woman's porch uninvited, climbing through her window and trying to choke her.  Hilarious in a comedy routine, but given that info, probably a good call not choosing Rodney.)  Furthermore, why is Dave always the first one to fall asleep after every adventure?  Does he tire himself out with all of his "Blue Panda Ideas" and/or get the itis after eating all of those bananas?  Memo to Tony Collingwood: I need answers, bruh...I need answers.  Now that y'all have been treated to another spiel about a cartoon you probably hadn't heard of until today, let's get to the main attractions...

In Heavy Rotation (October 2016)

When you take a month off from one of your most popular series, things can change without fair warning.  What was supposed to be the September edition was on the verge of being a "Late AF Post of the Week" anyway and, to be honest, I wasn't extremely pumped to write it in the first place.  However, a family tragedy ended up being less of an obstacle and more of a blessing as skipping my birth month's edition made way for newer and disputably better music to surface and allowed me as a music lover to stay true to the spirit of this series.  Long story short, only two of the original albums in my rotation for September remained on the list for October while the other three were pushed back for the last two posts for 2016.  Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if the next two months give me even better albums to listen to and those other projects get bumped altogether.  So since you didn't come here for lengthy backstories and stall tactics, I apologize to the most faithful supporters of "In Heavy Rotation" and bring you the long-awaited good part...

Views from the Nosebleeds: 2016 NFL Regular Season, Week 7

As evidenced from last week's edition of "Views from the Nosebleeds", the "meantime in between time" leading into Week 6 had more compelling storylines.  However, coming into Week 7, the most interesting story was Stephen A. Smith's diatribe of Washington's NFL team.  Although the fellow Libra has been on my nerves for the past year or so for a plethora of reasons, I agreed wholeheartedly with him laying into the pride of Landover for being so arrogant in somehow thinking they arrived because they beat the Eagles for a fourth straight time, especially since they had a road trip date to face a quarterback who they've never beaten.  Outside of that, all was quiet on the Western front and I initially had to reach for this week's "Plus/Minus Take of the Week", which was originally about all of the key injuries piling up around the league.  However, once an unexpected development occurred in South Florida yesterday, it completely changed the tide.  Sometimes, you have to be patient and wait for the story, even if it's last minute.  Let's waste no more time, folks...

Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five Special Edition: A Tribute to Thomas Mikal Ford

When the initial rumors circulated about Thomas Mikal Ford passing away last Wednesday afternoon, one of my favorite Facebook friends poignantly noted, "If Tommy dies.....2016 just became the most indubitably trash[i]est year of the new millen[n]ium."  Due to a major social media faux pas, it ended up not being true as information surfaced about him still being on life support.  Once we realized that, everybody wanted the brother with the infectious laugh we all know and love as Tommy Strawn a.k.a. Mr. "You Ain't Got No Job, Man" from FOX's hit series Martin to pull through because 1) we want our heroes to live as long as possible and 2) we couldn't take yet another death in 2016.  As I kept checking Facebook for updates, what we all feared unfortunately came to pass as Ford succumbed at the age of 52 after suffering an aneurysm in his abdomen.  So my friend is absolutely right: this year is trash truck juice.  Nevertheless, rather than mourn or be morose over another loss in this year of immense tragedy, I choose to do what we always do here at New Problem Tuesdays: give people roses, even when they're not here to receive them.  Hence, in this special edition of my "Rave & Favorite Five", I'm paying homage to some of Tommy Ford's best moments on one of my favorite TV shows of all time...

Views from the Nosebleeds: 2016 NFL Regular Season, Week 6

One of the things which has helped me to overcome an emotionally trying period of my life outside of music has been football.  It's like the home team knew I was going through it and needed to get excited for my favorite sport in the whole wide world because after starting off terribly at 0-2, they've ripped off four straight wins and at least look like contenders in the NFC East race.  Granted, seeing the Capitals and Nationals flake out in early rounds amidst Stanley Cup and World Series talk, respectively, doesn't give me much hope for their playoff aspirations, but the turnaround is good nonetheless.  I'm frankly happy the NFC East is not the "NFC Least" as it had been for the past several years as no team is under .500, making every win absolutely critical.  I'm so pumped about the NFC East's comeback that, although I was cheering for the Packers to beat the Cowboys, it's hard to knock two rookies as impressive as Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott; heck, I marveled at many of the throws Carson Wentz made and he was making them against the home team!  While many of the overall matchups throughout the league aren't always alluring from week to week, it's still not an all-out blah fest and Week 6 continued that trend...

RANDOM THOUGHT ALERTS (Vol. 1, No. 13)

If you rode behind a truck which said "Follow me to your perfect paint color" on your way out of town, what would be your first set of thoughts?  Well, as I inadvertently followed this True Value tractor trailer on I-495 through the wonderful city of Wilmington, Delaware, my vivid imagination took a dark turn.  Instead of perhaps some jovial gentleman being armed with paintball gear and taking you to the time of your life--which I literally thought as I began typing this intro--it's some poor soul with an axe to grind with both his company as well as his wife who he believes is cheating on him because he's always on the road.  You decide to follow him without knowing his rig is actually a front for his paint bootlegging business.  He leads you down a secluded alley in a sketchy neighborhood to meet a few unsavory characters.  While the deal is going down, your inability to be incognito in life-or-death situations spells your demise as you are spotted by the truck driver.  He thinks it's a setup, pulls out a pistol and shoots in your direction.  If you didn't high tail it out of there like you were playing Need for Speed, then you would've found out the "perfect color" he was leading you to was crimson.  Moral of the story (and with my DIRECTV voice-over narrator swagger): don't follow anyone to your perfect paint color.  Get the Sherwin Williams app instead.  Now that you're creeped out, let's fly into some safer havens...

1350 Okie Doke Street: Five Overrated Hip Hop Albums

Being a Libra often means one thing: I prefer harmony and avoid confrontation like the plague--often to a fault.  However, being the man Big Dadi Scribbler helped to raise also means I have no problem defending my position if that's what I believe wholeheartedly.  Besides, when you've gone a significant portion of your life flying under the radar, having the occasional unpopular opinion is light work.  With that said, the inspiration for this new posting series came from one of those "one gotta go" memes featuring Sade, Erykah Badu, Beyonce and Lauryn Hill.  Mrs. Scribbler and I talked about how people often make those memes to target a certain artist they feel is overrated, i.e., it's always Beyonce who takes that "L".  However, I have been in some of the most virulent arguments over everything from hip hop needing to be a form of "edutainment" to what makes a quarterback "elite" to anything regarding the Dallas Cowboys to...well...Beyonce.  So as an ode to the now defunct Dream turned Love Nightclub--which was more hype than actual dope, especially since I once had to beg a DJ to play go-go music in a nightclub in D.C.--I welcome you all to the grand opening of "1350 Okie Doke Street" where "controversy create conversation".  First up: I present five hip hop albums which I love, like or tolerate, but believe have been vastly overrated.  Preparing to lose friends and followers in five...four...three...two...one...

Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five Special Edition: A Tribute to Rod Temperton

Whenever Party City runs their annual Happy Halloween advertisements featuring "Thriller", the man responsible for the original musical arrangement and lyrics to one of pop's most iconic songs is Rod Temperton.  When I heard about him succumbing to a battle with cancer weeks before his 67th birthday, I was befuddled after I was singing Temperton's praises for his work with Quincy Jones on Michael Jackson's Off the Wall album a day before hearing of his death.  He was part of the reason why I was excited to get a copy of the Thriller album because the liner notes put me front and center with his genius.  Making his claim to fame as the keyboardist and songwriter for British R&B band Heatwave, Temperton's pen has part of hits like "Stomp!" by The Brothers Johnson, "Baby, Come to Me" by Patti Austin with James Ingram, "Yah Mo B There" by James Ingram featuring Michael McDonald, the Oscar-nominated "Miss Celie's Blues" from The Color Purple (co-written with Jones and Lionel Richie) and the original lyrics for "You Put a Move on My Heart" by Quincy Jones featuring Tamia (originally recorded by Mica Paris in 1993). The rest of his impressive resume includes work for Rufus, Bob James, Herbie Hancock, Klymaxx, Jeffrey Osborne, Aretha Franklin, The Manhattan Transfer, Siedah Garrett and Stephanie Mills.  So although 2016 continues to be the worst year ever, New Problem Tuesdays takes this opportunity to do what we've done all year long: celebrate the best from our fallen heroes.  If you knew nothing about "The Invisible Man" before, then get ready to sing along...

Views from the Nosebleeds: 2016 NFL Regular Season, Week 5

Whoever scheduled Game 2 of the NLDS matchup between the Dodgers and my hometown  Nationals for a 1:08 p.m. pitch was trying it.  First and foremost, didn't they know it's football season?  Second, and more important, didn't they know the Battle of the Beltway between Washington's NFL team and the Ravens was also kicking off at 1 o'clock?  Third, why would they torture a hardcore football fan like me by forcing me to flip between FOX, NFL RedZone and FS1?!?!  It's bad enough when I have to estimate how long commercials breaks last when I'm flipping back and forth between FOX and NFL RedZone, but throwing a third channel in the mix is overkill.  Thank God the NFL games were all at halftime when catcher Jose Lobaton hit a three-run homer to give the Nats their first lead of the series.  Bottom line, although the sports fan in me loves the smorgasbord, I like my helpings to be more balanced.  Do better, MLB...do better.  Now that my bellyaching is out of the way and after needing a bye week for personal reasons, let's get to my long-awaited takes...

RANDOM THOUGHT ALERTS!!! (Vol. 1, No. 12)

Have you ever had a hankering for food and watching TV or going on social media only intensified your cravings?!?!  Because I worked on Labor Day, I missed my last opportunity for a summer cookout--not like I was invited to any cookouts, but still--and had a taste for some BBQ ribs.  Of course, what was one of the first pictures I see on Facebook from somebody's cookout?  That's right: a delicious looking slab of BBQ ribs sprawled across the grill--and the brother looked like he knew what he was doing.  Add insult to injury, I DVR'd both General Hospital and Atlanta, watched them two days later and what did both episodes feature??  What else...ribs.  In fact, they didn't even show the ribs on GH; all they had to do was mention ribs and I was ready to head to Port Charles.  Sadly, it took me nearly three weeks to satisfy the basic craving and nearly a month to get a super-tasty half rack of baby back ribs.  (MORE RANDOMNESS: as I typed that, I thought of Fat Bastard from Austin Powers in Goldmember singing, "I want my baby back, baby back, baby back, baby back, baby back...ribs."  You did, too.  Admit it.)  As long as I don't have to see anybody post pictures of sushi anytime soon, then I'll manage with that craving for another week before I have to buckle down for a Volcano Roll.  Now that I've made your mouth water--which is becoming the new theme over D.C. Metro and PBS Kids--let's get to the madness...

For Black People Who Think Voting Is Pointless, Part 2: The Fastidious and the Furious

In the past week since posting Part 1 of "For Black People Who Think Voting Is Pointless", I have witnessed exactly how important this upcoming election is to a lot of people.  Not only was the first part one of the most popular posts in New Problem Tuesdays history, but more important, the post garnered the most amount of meaningful engagement and discussion--much of it making cases for either Democratic candidate Hillary Trump or Republican candidate Donald Trump.  However, perhaps the post-debate sentiments of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick summarize how many Americans feel, especially within the Black community and among "millennials": "...to me it was embarrassing to watch that these are our two candidates.  Both are proven liars and it almost seems like they're trying to debate who less racist.  At this point, in talking to one of my friends, you have to pick the lesser of two evils, but the end is still evil."  Although Kaep plans on voting regardless, I have witnessed an even bigger surge of Black folks over the past week who are strongly considering not voting in November because of the paltry choices for Commander-in-Chief or their ardent supporters shoving their agendas aggressively down the throats of the undecided.  In the second and final part, I will outline the latter three reasons which note how simply having the power to choose fuels the importance of the Black vote in the most significant election in American history...

Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five Special Edition: A Tribute to Kashif

When I heard news of the passing of legendary music producer, songwriter, musician and artist Kashif Saleem (born Michael Jones) at the age of 56, I was heartbroken and could only think was, "Another person connected to my youth has died???  Seriously...2016 is the worst year of all time."  It wasn't long ago when TV One profiled him on their critically-acclaimed Unsung series and took us R&B lovers down memory lane from his beginnings with B.T. Express to his unmatched production and songwriting resume to his solo recording career.  So when I was figuring out what my favorite songs of his were, the top three choices were pretty easy.  However, I felt some kind of way leaving out such great songs like the majority of his eponymous debut, "Are You the Woman" (featuring background vocals by two of my favorite artists in Whitney Houston and Lillo Thomas), his remake of Mother's Finest's "Love Changes" with Meli'sa Morgan, "Love the One I'm With (A Lot of Love)" with Melba Moore and arguably the biggest snub in "Love Come Down" by Evelyn "Champagne" King.  Nevertheless, y'all know how my anything-but-typical countdowns work, so let's celebrate some of Kashif's best work New Problem Tuesdays style...

Scribbler's "Get Out of My Brain!" Countdown of the Month (October 2016)

Although I'm not someone who vehemently resists change, my subconscious somehow didn't get that memo.  Out of the ten songs from last month's countdown, five of them have returned for this month's list in their original form while another one has haunted me in an alternative form.  Out of those six songs, the beginning of this month's cycle began with a three-horse race between Ralph Tresvant, Silk and Sherrick for pole position, but if Simone Manuel's historic accomplishment taught us nothing, the initial leaders or favorites don't always win in the end.  (I know...hella dramatic.)  Of course, we always have to talk about the losers.  Mariah Carey's "Vision of Love" greeted me ferociously one morning as I reminisced about the summer of 1990, but she didn't make it past noon.  Even with Jermaine Jackson's "Two Ships" hitting me at two different points of the month, perhaps the waves from the passing ships didn't make enough of a splash in my mind.  "The Love I Lost" by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes harassed me at work for a day or two, but my brain may have lost love for it.  Finally, discussing Babyface's brilliance on the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack immediately brought Mary J. Blige's "Not Gon' Cry" to mind.  However, her awkward rendition of Bruce Springsteen's "American Skin (41 Shots)" to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in a promo for her upcoming series on Apple TV, The 411, may have quickly unseated one of my faves from the Queen of Hip Hop Soul from the rotation.  So enough of the rambling about nonentities and on with the cut makers...