Views from the Nosebleeds: 2016 NFL Regular Season, Week 12

Although I looked forward to family coming from Pennsylvania and enjoying Mrs. Scribbler's scrumptuous cooking, one of the biggest incentives to toiling through purchasing a car note's worth of food and almost passing out from heat and exhaustion while grocery shopping was being the stereotypical patriarch and watching Thanksgiving Day football all day long.  However, despite not being a card-carrying Skins fan anymore but still having plenty of residual Burgundy and Gold blood running through me, "Dallas Week" still annoyed me because normally-grating Cowboys fans become even more insufferable--especially when their team is not only winning this year, but also have the league's best record.  In fact, I was bewildered in finding out three of my family members are Cowboys fans, but they're the less obnoxious types who I can tolerate more than the vast majority of them.  (I still need holy oil for our doorpost.)  Unfortunately, I swear I heard a janitor once the clock struck triple zeros, saw an "F" by the score and I wasn't pleased--knowing the onslaught of incessant trash talking was on the horizon in what hasn't felt like a true rivalry since the early 90s. As much as I could stall, let's address the inevitable...

In Heavy Rotation (November 2016)

What I've come to appreciate about doing "In Heavy Rotation" is how I can go into a month planning to listen to one set of five albums.  However, between putting off giving my take on certain projects, being pleasantly surprised when others are released, watching TV and getting ideas for picks or hanging around folks whose musical palates exceed their foodie tendencies, it forces me as an avid music lover and constantly-evolving human being to 1) always remain open to change and 2) adapt to said change as deemed necessary.  Also, I've learned to go with the flow, i.e., instead of trying so hard to ensure I have a balanced representation of hip hop and rock, male and female artists or Black folks and everybody else, simply share what speaks the most to me in that particular month.  After all, it is my blog series, so that means I don't always follow the rules--even when I set them myself.  With that said, it's time to unveil some of this good music I've been bumping...

RANDOM THOUGHT ALERTS (Vol. 1, No. 15)

In this "TV Rots Your Brain" Edition of "RANDOM THOUGHT ALERTS!!!", we begin with the unfortunate failure of political agendas in children's programming.  Allow me to start off by saying this: PBS Kids' Peg + Cat wins on its own merit as being one of the best educational cartoons in the game, especially when they pay homage to a legendary singer like Billie Holiday or celebrate renowned talent of the modern era like ballet dancer Misty Copeland.  When the two-part "Peg and Cat Save the World" episode premiered in March, they continued that theme of empowerment by featuring a woman President, voiced by Sandra Oh.  Perhaps the thought was 1) it's been high time for a woman to be POTUS and 2) judging from the pool of qualified candidates at that time, Secretary Hillary Clinton seemed to have the best shot at winning the Oval Office and they wanted to endorse her without official bumper stickers and lawn signs.  (Whole time, she's even wearing a pantsuit.)  Unfortunately, young ladies who were sure such a prediction would come true, especially because Peg + Cat said so, will have to wait at least another four years.  Nice try, Jennifer Oxley and Billy Aronson...too bad most of the South which contains a large share of the country's racists and sexists didn't take heed to your animated memo.  Perhaps the perfect segue for the first segment...

Views from the Nosebleeds: 2016 NFL Regular Season, Week 11

Although I had to correct Big Dadi Scribbler on a few historical facts--he thought the Browns played in the NFC at some point since the AFL-NFL merger when they've always been in the AFC--I had an intriguing conversation with him about old school football.  As a football, softball and track and field star for Coolidge High School in Northwest D.C., one of the things he noted was how rough defensive backs were against receivers--so much that one of the biggest reasons wideouts would get alligator arms was because of the ferocious hand checking before a lot of the illegal contact rules were imposed.  In fact, he started off as a receiver before making the transition to defense, a welcomed change in which he inflicted the same abuse on opposing receivers he endured on offense.  However, perhaps the most interesting facts I never knew about my dad when constantly hearing how legendary he was as an athlete was he was also a kicker and a punter, forcing several touchbacks on kickoffs and leading the league in net punting average one season.  Considering Week 11's struggle kicking as eleven misfires led to the most amount of failed extra points in a week since 1966, I'm sure several teams would've loved to have a sure-footed boot like the Scribbler patriarch.  Now that I've done at least two or three shameless plugs for dear old dad in one calendar year, let's discuss some new school football...

Exceeding Dreams and Expectations: Remembering Gwen Ifill

As an aspiring journalist in the mid to late 90s, I had my fair share of role models.  However, whenever I saw Gwen Ifill on NBC during her days as a Capitol Hill correspondent, I was always glued to the television and said to myself, "Now this is someone who knows what she's talking about...and she's a sista!"  So when I heard the news of her succumbing to endometrial cancer and passing at the age of 61 last Monday, I felt alone in my shock for three main reasons: 1) I didn't know she was battling illness; 2) 2016 has been a year filled with several impactful losses, so this was yet another one which hurt; and 3) I was sitting in a cubicle with someone who neither had a clue as to who she was nor the impact she left here in Washington as one of the most elite and revered political writers, reporters and moderators of our time.  Hence, it was only right for me to pay tribute to an indisputable trail blazer in print and broadcast journalism--especially for folks who look like me seeking to thrive in an industry where we are nowhere near the majority...