Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five: Ninetysomething Days of Summer, #2 Summer of '95

Although every summer of my youth was "life-changing", not even the No. 1 summer in this countdown can top the summer of 1995; heck, there aren't too many years that can contend with 1995 outside of the forthcoming top dawg.  For Momma Scribbler, Big Little Brother Scribbler and I, it was our second summer living in our first-ever house in Far Southwest D.C. (or the "Southeast part of Southwest" as many of us D.C. folks call it, which also happens to be geographically accurate) that came with a lot of firsts, including our own rooms and a private line for us to talk about the mindless things that adolescents discuss with our friends.  When we weren't at our respective summer programs, the broski and I kicked it around the way with our new friends playing Spades in our backyard, hooping at the basketball courts or hanging at whatever mall was accessible by Metro as we were neither old enough to drive nor mature enough to earn our parents' trust even if we had the age and the license to boot.  However, beyond my overall quality of life improving between the ends of ninth and tenth grade--especially from a social standpoint--the following five things rightfully earned the summer of '95 the No. 2 spot in the "Ninetysomething Days of Summer" edition of my "Rave & Favorite Five"...

Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five: A Countdown for Mrs. Scribbler

If I've said it before, then I'll say it again: as much as music keeps me going on my own, music is often the life blood between me and my closest family members, friends, lovers lost and lovers kept and Mrs. Scribbler is certainly no exception to that rule.  Whether it's been on long road trips, date nights, hanging out in the house or just random moments, there are so many songs and albums that have provided the soundtrack to our life as best friends, boyfriend and girlfriend and eventually husband and wife.  So to kick off the celebration of our eighth wedding anniversary, I share with you all a special "Rave & Favorite Five" dedicated to my Babushka.  Be warned: the majority of it might make you need a barf bag and be on your Ice Pick from Don't Be a Menace "aiight, that's enough of that sentimental sh--" flow.  Let's go...

Why "Nina" Could Be One of the Biggest Critical and Commercial Failures of All Time

 

Not everyone can be as dope as Denzel Washington was in Spike Lee's Malcolm X (1992); in fact, many people to this day still feel like Washington was cheated out of an Academy Award for his stirringly convincing portrayal.  (Surprise, surprise.)  Angela Bassett rose to new heights with her Oscar-nominated performance as Tina Turner in What's Love Got to Do with It (1993)--not to mention that Laurence Fishburne was so Ike Turner that you had to remind yourself not to hate him in anything else!  Delivering an Oscar-winning performance in Ray (2004), Chris Rock recently drove home this point: "Jamie Foxx was so good in Ray that they went to the hospital and unplugged the real Ray Charles.  It's like, 'We don't need two of these!'"  In these instances, it is evident that casting the right people to play real-life legends can be done.  However, not all biopics are created equal.  Bringing the late, great Notorious B.I.G. to the big screen was met with mixed results in Notorious (2009)  as it seemed to place film co-producer Sean "Puffy" Combs in more of a favorable light while pissing off Lil' Kim and many of her faithful fans for how she was portrayed.  Also see one of the biggest casting failures of all time as Flex Alexander was selected to play Michael Jackson in Man in the Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story (2005)--a film produced for VH1 that did not even feature any of Jackson's songs, but merely mentioned them in passing.

Scribbler's Throwback of the Week: Roy Ayers Ubiquity, "Everybody Loves the Sunshine"

Yes indeed...everybody loves the sunshine, and there aren't too many R&B aficionados and overall music lovers who don't love this song.  This is just one of many dope songs from the catalog of Los Angeles native Roy Ayers--this being his most popular song from his 1976 album of the same name.  Of course, 80s and 90s babies are familiar with it as the springboard sample for the title track to one of the best R&B albums of the past 20 years from Mary J. Blige's 1994 My Life album--although hip-hop acts like Brand Nubian, Common and Mos Def have borrowed it as well.  However, with distinct vocals and a beautiful musical marriage of jazz and R&B, it's just a smooth song that makes you want to lay out in a field somewhere on a hill and be one of the "folks gettin' brown in the sunshine".  Shout-out to mom (Mrs. Scribbler's mother) for throwing this one out there on my Facebook page, and I'll be plugging some of the album tracks in the near future.