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...