Scribbler's Late AF Post of the Week: In Heavy Rotation (August 2016)

Whereas I went from a "Black Music Matters" in June to mainly "White Boy Wasted" in July, the August edition of "In Heavy Rotation" has its own swagger.  Not only could many of these picks be interchangeable, but most of them are from artists who I like and respect, but I'm nowhere near the head of their fan clubs.  However, that's the marvel of music: there's always an opportunity for an artist to change your mind or make you more of a believer in their work--especially if it's evident they have the talent and charisma to keep your attention for the majority or the entirety of a project.  So enough talking, let's get to the tunes...

Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five: Ninetysomething Days of Summer, #3 Summer of '92

As I neared the conclusion of writing the third part of the "Ninetysomething Days of Summer" edition, I realized 1992 could've easily been higher on this list.  Although the summer of 1993 felt more like a coming-of-age season, the summer of '92 provided an ample foundation as it was the first all-around dope summer I ever experienced in twelve-years-and-75-cents of life.  However, perhaps the biggest snub on this countdown could've been enough to propel this summer higher on the list: Boomerang.  Now I could gush over how dope the soundtrack was--more on that later--but the movie was such a huge deal because of how much Black star power was involved between Eddie Murphy, Robin Givens, Halle Berry, Lela Rochon, Grace Jones, David Alan Grier, Martin Lawrence, Chris Rock, Tisha Campbell and the late, greats Eartha Kitt and Geoffrey Holder.  Not to mention that after much pleading, Big Dadi Scribbler took me to see it on opening day--although we  missed all of the previews (a moviegoer no-no) and narrowly made it in time.  Despite no movie of that summer making as much of a dent in my memory bank as Boomerang, it still has a hard time beating these five reasons pleading the case for the summer of '92...

A Friendly Game of Pick'em: Exploring the Inconsistency of "Harmless Jokes" on Social Media

This has not been an ideal Olympic run for Team USA's Gabby Douglas, the darling gymnast extraordinaire of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.  Douglas was arguably robbed of defending her title in the individual all-around since each country can only send through two representatives in the final.  A costly mistake on a handstand along with other deductions not only kept her from getting a medal in the final on the uneven bars, disappointingly coming in seventh place.  Her only part in any medal was when the team notched gold in the team all-around, but during the medal ceremony, she was excoriated for not putting her hand over her heart during "The Star Spangled Banner" despite Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump doing the exact same thing and receiving little to no flack about it.  However, among Black women in particular, the constant ridicule since 2012 has been about her hair--which has been called "crunchy" and having dandruff while her edges have been criticized for being "straight disrespectful".  Of course, there have been a lot of folks running to her defense, saying things along the lines of "she's competing at the Olympics, while you're at home".

RANDOM THOUGHT ALERTS!!! (Vol. 1, No. 8)

One of my favorite shows to watch with Baby Boy Scribbler is PBS Kids' Peg + Cat.  However, there are days when the show can be called Everybody Loves Ramone because the young brother is so helpful to everyone and always returns a thank you with "I do what I can".  So as I'm watching the "I Do What I Can: The Musical!" episode, the parent in me watching an innocent celebration for an awesome kid with his son gives way to the 21-year-old "adult" in me beginning his "blunder years" (I explain that theory here in case you care to read a throwback) and loving really ignorant gangsta music.  My twisted brain immediately goes to the "Out There Part 2" skit on Project Pat's Mista Don't Play - Everythangs Workin album where one of the dudes says, "F--k that, boys do what they can, men do what they want!"  Instantly I thought, "Well, Ramone is a boy and not a man yet, so....I'm just sayin'."  Hence, I have managed to ruin the reputation of the coolest character from one of my son's favorite TV program.  Good job, Poppa Scribb...good job.  Considering what social media has been doing to the cast of Arthur lately, I better get to the rest of my "RANDOM THOUGHT ALERTS!!!" before another fine PBS Kids cartoon get slaughtered...

Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five: Ninetysomething Days of Summer, #4 Summer of '93

Considering how meh the first half of the year was, 1993 improved exponentially in the second half.  However, even with the ninth grade signaling a sea change in the social aspect of my academic career, no season was more enjoyable than the summer.  Although it resembled the summer of '87 with good weather and great music--despite nothing holding a candle to The System's "Don't Disturb This Groove"--the 94 days of the summer of '93 involved more advancement of my strongest academic talents in fun and engaging ways, great field trips, pretty girls and exploration of my wacky teenage hormones.  So to all of y'all who absolutely love the 90s, get ready to take a trip down memory lane as we get into my No. 4 favorite summer of all time and the five things that made the summer of '93 so dope...