Not the Same

Hey there e’rybody!

 Usually I’m in Jersey this time of year but because of a few unpredicted events, that tradition had to be broken. That’s life, huh?

My Facebook status from yesterday: Let’s skip tomorrow and go straight to Charlie Brown Christmas specials, cranberry sauce and the Temptations singing “Silent Night”.

I won’t be a total Thanksgiving Scrooge. Today is a day for giving thanks and I have a lot to be thankful for but I’m going to shoutout the little overlooked things in life.

 I am thankful for…

…the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for making me remember past Thanksgivings when I would watch it from my grandmother’s house. As I speak, my oldest children are sitting on the floor ooooing and ahhhing over the floats and performances.

…those little “rubber-finger-condom-thingies” that keep you from getting paper cuts.
Currently, I’m handling a lot of paper on a daily basis and without that wonderful invention my fingers would look like I shook hands with Freddy Kruger. 

…online access via my cell phone. Remember the world before cell phones OR the Internet?! That’s back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, right?

…Breyer’s Mint Chocolate Chip 

well, Breyer’s in general. Ditto for Hershey’s. Yes, my mid-section and thighs are cursing you but my tongue is eternally grateful.

…household cleaning products. Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, Shout, Swiffer, Orange Glo and all other domestic blessings.

…every shoe company that makes cute shoes in wide widths. My feet really < heart > you.

…DVR. 

 

 

Recording something on t.v. without fumbling with bulky VHS tapes or praying the VCR works properly is on of those small blessings I really like. It’s a trip because I’m so addicted to rewinding stuff that one time I was listening to the radio in the car and I thought “What did he say? Let me rewind that…” haha

 

…WordPress and all other blogger host sites that give us the freedom to talk about everything and nothing!

 

[Sidebar: Much love to Blogs By Black Women !!! They have added this blog to their network. THANKS! ]

 

Welp, I just rocked out with the kiddies to the Yo Gabba Gabba and Jim Fallon w/ the Roots songs during the parade. *whew * Since I’m not feeling that festive and I have to work tomorrow, I’m going to get ready to go shopping in an hour or so. Yep, I’m making it a Black Thursday. ha! Anyway…

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Me, Myself and I

This morning I woke up to my new favorite channel, Centric.  They were playing the Hip Hop classic “Me, Myself and I” by De La Soul. During this time in Hip Hop I loved De La, actually the whole Native Tongue Posse (De La, A Tribe Called Quest, Queen Latifah, Monie Love, The Jungle Brothers, Prince Paul…) As I looked at the video for the first time I realized how ‘crazy’ those dudes looked. Their clothes, their hair…Wow. I had to chuckle to myself because I realized I looked JUST like them at that time. Crazy. What was I thinking?! Well, actually I was thinking “This is me and I don’t have to do the norm because I’m ME, damn it! ”  Going against the grain has never been something I’ve had a problem with. I will admit that it’s not always easy to be yourself. Unusual things often scare and/or confuse folks. But even at the height of my weirdness I had homegirls and boyfriends that accepted me for me. Even back then I figured out that most of the time opinions from random people don’t matter.  If the loved ones in your corner are digging you, why care about what “John Q Public” has to say?  I’m not saying as long as you have people that like you it’s cool to act a-natural-ass-fool to everybody else. Haha I’m just saying that there are times when you have to unplug from the Matrix and walk your own walk.

Currently, I’m working on professional projects that requires me breaking away from the white-bread world that I’m experienced in. Honestly, I think I’m a little crazy for taking such gambles but I also know that I wasn’t on the path that I belong on. It takes a lot of strength to be yourself and  follow your dreams. I’d rather face those fears than to drown in a sea “What if”.  

 This entry goes to the whole Native Tongue Posse and everyone else that has the courage to jump out of the box.

De La Soul – Me, Myself and I (performed on the Arsenio Hall Show)

Jungle Brothers – Doin’ Our Own Thang (Remix)

De La Soul – Buddy

Queen Latifah feat. Monie Love – Ladies First


A Tribe Called Quest – Award Tour

Wasted

Last night while watching Jim Fallon I saw this jaw dropping clip of a warehouse fork lifter operator hard at work:

Damn, damn, DAMN! The shelves that came tumbling down were stocked with over $250,000 of Russian vodka. Hmmm…a forklift DUI, maybe?

 

This reminded me of another wildly popular clip that involves shelves and liquor.

 Blame it on the Budweiser? Ok, this dude may have been on a bit more than an alcohol influence. I have so many questions about this one. 1) How did he get from his house? Lawd please don’t tell me he drove! 2) Why is he acting like his head weights a ton? I’ve seen people’s bodies do strange things while fucked up but I’ve never seen anyone act as if their head was an Olympic medicine ball.  3) What circus does he belong to? In a few scenes his back bends are so gravity defying that I thought I was watching a magic show.

 

While I’m on the subject there was no way I could forget the KING of all liquor store related clips:

  …Originally I saw this clip a few years ago without a soundtrack and I literally had to make myself stop replaying it because I got a headache from laughing so hard. The incidents of the video plus the genius of adding Akon’s “Locked Up” caused me to laugh ‘til I was in pain all over again. 

 

Lastly in lic’a related news my favorite drinking buddy and best friend of twenty years is moving out-of-state this weekend. Our farewell festivities took place on Halloween night. All I’ll say is we went to two parties but the very best costumes can still be found walking down the street in Fells Point, the very best drink of the night was my own mix of fruit punch, lemon Ketel One and Paul Masson brandy, and the very best girlfriend I have is Stacey! Since we were in full-on party mode over the weekend it didn’t sink in that my main homeslice won’t be living 7 minutes away from me anymore. I miss her already! Ok, now I need a dranky-drink. *pout*

 

Ciao folks

How you REALLY FEEL

Up until a few minutes ago I didn’t know what this blog entry would be about. Earlier this evening, I came across a messageboard post about someone that felt unsure about their relationship. They basically knew what they wanted to tell their mate but instead of being honest they just let the relationship drag like a soggy diaper. After reading, I wondered what kept them from going with how they REALLY FEEL about their mate. At my day job, the department head decided to create a Suggestion Box for our department to drop anonymous thoughts in to ‘make the office run more smoothly’. Apparently, there is some tension going on amongst co-workers that I’m basically clueless about because my head is usually in the clouds while at work.  Anyway, various passive-aggressive notes were read out loud during the staff meeting and they seemed to be directed at particular people/situations. After the confused thoughts escaped my mind, I wondered why  the authors of these notes don’t say how they REALLY FEEL?  Just a few moments ago, I uploaded a picture that I took while at Morgan State’s Homecoming Parade:

Ok, this sister is telling Senator McFadden how she REALLY FEELS, huh? 

Now I do believe that everyone should be treated with deserved respect and it’s not cool to purposely hurt someone’s feeling but sometimes a lot of stress and drama can be eliminated by telling someone how you REALLY FEEL. In some cases the advice you give may benefit someone or at least make them think about the situation from another perspective.

 You all know my blog enties are all over the place and don’t have to stick to one topic so I’m going to close this out with fun non-related stuff simply because I FEEL like it!  

My mother is my bargain-hunting buddy and we recently went to a popular store that’s known for low prices. While browsing the aisles of this discount store, I came across a piece of framed art that would match really well with my dining room. The colors scheme was perfect and at first glance the message was sweet. At FIRST glance.  I picked it up for a closer look then read the print again…
 Wait a damn minute; “family” only has one ‘i’ !   Ok, I’ll overlook a scratch or something but I can NOT knowingly purchase some shit that has “Faimily” on it.   As I shook my head and placed the artwork back I wondered how many people bought one without taking a good look and how the item made it to the shelves in the first place!  Even for a discount chain that’s a no-no. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for.

 

 Sidebar: Please don’t think  that I go around looking for mistakes in print. I’m a typo queen so I would have some nerve purposely looking for other’s errors. All of these are things that happen in my everyday life and I just happen to have a camera ready.  

 This video was brought to my attention by my homie, Jahli. (Hey OOWE sista!) Initially, this little chick made me laugh but by the end of the video she made me get up and want to whine it out!

 

*bow*

 

All About Our Love

 

Short and sweet entry to show some love to my husband, Q. In honor of our special day, here are the lyrics to Sade’s “All About Our Love” 

It’s all about our love
So shall it be forever, never ending

After all this time
After all is said and done

We have seen some suffering, baby
It has not always been perfect

After all this time
After all is said and done

Darling we know it
Whatever may come
We can get through it
As if it’s just begun
Oh, it’s just begun

It’s all about our love
So shall it be forever, never ending

After all this time
After all is said and done 

It’s common knowledge that I’m an old married lady and I frequently mention my hubby but I don’t make a habit of airing all of our clean/dirty laundry. Marriage takes work. Sometime a spouse can work a nerve like NONE other. Sometime it’ll take all you have in you not to pick up a coffee table and hurl it. If you’re married and have never felt this way you’re lying or you’re the one that’s working the nerve. haha Keep in mind the big picture is what’s most important. Finding “The One” to share a life with is a special gift (no I’m not try to rhyme)  Sure there are a plenty of fellas out there but I feel grateful to have a good man that I can laugh with, cry with, be a freakazoid with, be a hot mess with, make a strong family with and ride or die with. Like I said I’m not going to put all of my business out there but I’m happy and proud to have such a wonderful husband. (It doesn’t hurt that he’s sexy too! *growl* Haha)

 Married, dating, shacked up or whatever; take a minute to appreciate your mate. Send a cute text/email, go kiss them passionately for no reason, grab their booty when they walk by… lol A little can go a long way.

1.

Surprise

Hey peoples! Just checkin’ in real quick before I start yet another hectic day.  

I must admit there have been a  few really strange days for me since my last entry. A good eardrum-shattering scream would help but that would also scare my family so I’ll have good ol’ Kerney Thomas do it for me:

(I’m sorry but that fool is hilarious! Anyone who can shout like a tortured cat while peddling rags and vials of tap water is blog worthy.)

 Anyway, life is packed with surprises and I was hit with one yesterday. Yes, I was a little taken back by the unexpected events but I’m not shaken. Sometimes you just have to say “It is what it is” and keep it moving.  *shoulder sweep*

 Speaking of surprises, the internet was jumping during and after the VMAs thanks to the astonishing acts of Kanye and Lil Mama. The topic of them bogarting the stage have been run into the ground so I’m not going to try to revive the convo but somebody out there needs a laugh, myself included, so I’ll re-post some related quiz results and pictures:

Where will Kanye interrupt you?  

Jaye’s results: Childbirth

You love children. The best feeling you’ve ever had or will have is childbirth. Your kids won’t even make it in the world without Kanye being there to try to overshadow the moment. “Yo yo… Imma let you finish pushing in a whole minute, but you know..Jennifer Hudson had the best childbirth of all time.”

Fellow Facebookers can also take this quiz at: http://apps.facebook.com/wherewillkanlknbjh/quiz/questions?ref=nf

 Last week I literally viewed dozens and dozens of pictures that people have Photoshopped Lil Mama in. Here’s two of my favorites:

If those aren’t enough check out LA’s Power 106 blog for more. http://www.power106.fm/Blog/slopculture/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10050837

* whew * I haven’t laughed that hard in minute. Kudos also to the dude that Photoshopped Lil Mama on to every Jay-Z album cover. LMAO!

 And speaking of wanting a laugh, this entry’s “WTF Picture” is courtesy of a flier to a comedy show.

B-More’s best comedy…COMEDY, huh? And the special guest DC’ own Fat Lawrence is so good they also had to mention him twice! hahaha  If the stand-up is as funny as the flier it should be a pretty good show.

 Well, on my way out I’ll leave a little inspirational note that I stumbled upon a few days ago:

 “When you choose bitterness, you hurt yourself and shut the door on happiness because you can’t be happy and bitter at the same time” – the Word for You Today

Ciao!

“Paranoia will destroy ya”

“Paranoia will destroy ya” – HBO’s  Hung

It’s impossible to be liked by everyone. There will be times when people can’t stand you for absolutely no valid reason. Since I learned this fact of life a while ago I tend to only value the opinions of the people that actually matter to me. It seems to be common knowledge that people can dislike others without knowing them (hence the “hater” phenomenon) but what happens in the cases where the animosity is mistaken?

I know a certain person that insists the world is against them. Everybody is supposedly mean-mugging them or talking about them. Most recently, while out in public we saw a random person in passing. The random person didn’t present any beef to me but my associate swore this random stranger was frowning at them. In my honest opinion, the random stranger that was supposedly throwing us shade didn’t seem to be frowning at all. Yes, they seemed a little nosey and probably ease dropping on our convo but I didn’t feel they were giving the gasface. Similar situations have happened with the associate of mine and I’m starting to wonder. The field of Mental Health is not at all my specialty but I suspect a case of paranoia. It’s getting to the point where I want to shake them and yell “Ain’t nobody thinkin’ ’bout yooooou!” but they’d probably think I was hating on them too. (Chile please!)  I’m not really sure about how to handle the person’s paranoia but I have learned [the hard way] not to get caught up in their drama. Usually I don’t mind sticking my neck out for someone that I strongly believe is being wronged because there actually are really bitchy people in the world that need to be stood up to. But when this particular person complains about being the victim I question the truth because that mo’fo is crazy!

In the meantime, I guess there’s nothing left to do but pray for this wacko. *shrugs* Welp, I have to hit the road and run some errands so I’ll keep this entry short and sweet.

The song of the day:

My Mind’s Playing Tricks On Me – Geto Boys


Lata!

P.S. You can now SUBSCRIBE to this blog! See the link at the top right of this page. Enter your email address and, viola, you’ll get a message when I post something new. Don’t ya just love technology?! Shoutout to GaNeane for asking. I finally worked it out. *whew *

Social Networking Gems

*blows the dust off this blog*

This entry is dedicated to my Facebook friends and Twitter tweeple.

On a daily basis I rely on status updates and tweets to get me through the day. Some are thought-provoking, some are funny, and some are just plain weird. Here are a few memorable entries from a few of my social networking site peeps.

sonikboompro: Why do people use their age to stress their intelligence, when one has nothing to do with the other? (Twitter)[Thank you! I know PLENTY of old dumbasses!]

Kneel Knaris isn’t creative enough to make everyone happy….so just have to start with me and hope it trickles down!!

Heather N. Brown-Coward this is one time I wish I had a camera. Ol girl was walking tough in her heels and giving folks the side-eye. Her heel went into the steel grate and BAM!!!!! Face first and cheeks exposed. She was a bad chick. She broke her heel and walked on her tip…-toe. LOL!!!! Message for today….don’t walk across a steel grate and heels and ever let them see you sweat. LOL…(FaceBook) [bwhahaha! Well written and hilarious.]

Benjamin. B Davis III: It’s so hot out here, my nads are sticking to my legs(FaceBook) [I read this to Q and he said "Uh, yeah, that can happen. Thanks for the verification, hubby]

sonikboompro: Have you ever notice how men look at us when we are eating an Olive Garden bread stick?(Twitter) [LOL. Men are such pervs! Note to self: Work the breadstick the next time we go to Olive Garden]

Femi Thedrifish Lawal: sooooooo, is it common information that Will & Jada are swingers or just our belief that’s the only way black couples can stay happy these days?(FaceBook) [Things that make you go "Hmmm..."]

Chin Yer: Someone became rich by making a cartoon about a talking sponge.. People make their living as professional dolphin trainers and fire eaters .. It’s great that people follow their gut..even if/when the message is unconventional…(FaceBook)[Wow. Somebody did get rich off making SpongeBob. Ok, it's time for me to start making my millions...]

Derek Jones: Its Negro Day on the Corny Collins show! (FaceBook)[My comment reply: *doing the Mash Potato*... All the cool people get it.]

Karen Butler Moore: There is no RIGHT way to do WRONG. Be careful how you treat others…the return is far greater than the seed that was planted. HAPPY FRIDAY!(FaceBook) [So simple yet so hard for people to do. Karma is a no joke.]

Monette Thompson Is playing the “you go to sleep game” with my daughter and I am losing. That power nap she took is kryptonite to mommy. Okay, so I just coughed, why did she ask me when I was going to eat a cough drop? Like I am keeping her awake.(FaceBook)[LOL! Nothing like hearing tales from a fellow toddler mom]

Nikki Stokes-Harris is content that my soul is directly linked to my husband and my sons…i only wish that more women saw the beauty in having a man to depend on…(FaceBook) [Word!]

Marvin Welch WHY DID ONE OF MY PEOPLES TEXT ME AND HAD ASK ME ARE YOU TRYING TO GO TO A COOKOUT. I SAID NAW IM UNDER THE WEATHER THEN YO HALLA OUT IF U FEEL BETTER AND CHANGE YOUR MIND IT IS OVA WEST. IM LIKE WHERE OVA WEST HE SAID FULTON AND PRESSTMAN AND IT STARTS AT 7(pm) AND IT IS OVA AT 2(am). I SAID HELL NO IM SICK IN THE BODY NOT SICK IN THE MIND!!(FaceBook) [That's like inviting someone to a cookout on the corner of Mug Street and Asskick Lane. lol]

Amon Hotep says ‘Mind your business… (Facebook) [This is funny because social networking basically means having everybody in your business.]

I don’t even know this dude but he was on a ROLL with one of the Trending Topics on Twitter:

Neo_Tha_One: #uknowufuckedup when someone says to u “is there something u want to tell me?”

Neo_Tha_One: #uknowufuckedup whenever u say “uh oh” while having sex

Neo_Tha_One: #uknowufuckedup when ur job calls u down to human resources and tells u to bring ur handbook and all pictures from ur desk (Twitter)

Neo_Tha_One: #uknowufuckedup when u walk in the house and see ur pillow and a sheet on the couch & she in bed in sweatpants…FUCK!!!(Twitter)

Neo_Tha_One: #uknowufuckedup if u signed to Bad Boy and thought ur record was coming out b4 Diddy’s or ever for that matter (Twitter)

[LMAO!!!]

This is another tweet by someone that I don’t know but I agreed with:

SulacoAgency: Facebook makes you think everyone in the world is having more fun than you. Which they quite possibly are.(Twitter)[We've all seen pictures or status messages on FB that have made us think we are boring, no-life-having hermits . Don't front]

I didn’t list any of my own entries because you can view all my tweets on the right side of this blog. I apologize for all the crazy sh!t that I post in advance. lol

 

 

Sidebar stuff:

 

 

This entry’s WTF picture comes from a die hard club patron. A few weeks ago while in the line at the DC nightclub Love, I witnessed a chick hobbling toward the entrance on a set of crutches.

Notice how Miss Thang even put on her “freakum dress”. *snaps* I’ll give her the benefit of a doubt because Keri Hilson, The-Dream and Mario were performing there that night and maybe she’s a fan…an extremely devoted fan haha. If she makes her way to this blog made she’ll like these crappy camera phone pictures I took of Mario, Sean Garrett and Keri Hilson on stage.

 

 

Oh and Tuesday is the last day to pick up the City Paper featuring my latest article about DJ Mike Crosby and his event “Fat Laces and Fades”. (Pages 16-17)

 

 

Non-local peeps can print it and rub it all over their bodies : http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=18586

One last laugh for the day…Here’s a picture of me on the way to the Fat Laces and Fades II party:

*smh at my damn self* LOL

WTF on Wheels

“Did ya miss me?!” Lol

 

What’s up, my good peoplez? For the most part you all know how insanely hectic my life is so I don’t need to explain my M.I.A.-ness. I’m here now. Not completely free, I’m actually typing this with one hand which I rock my 2 month old to sleep, but I’m here! [Thank goodness for Facebook and Twitter statuses which are the quickest ways to update everybody with what's going on with me. Love it!]

This week I had the interesting option to work four 10 hour days with Wednesday off. A sensible person in my hectic situation would have taken the day to rest, whereas I took the day to play hooky from the kids, do brunch with hubby and spend the rest of the day doing serious damage at the mall. Friday night would have been a good time to get some sleep since I could sleep late but nope, me and three friends took a party caravan down to DC to shake our tail feathers. I got home around 4am, only for my toddler to wake us up at 7:45am. Oh well, that’s life. There’s plenty of time to catch up on sleep right?  *yawn*

On rare occasions, I e-journal stuff that doesn’t make it to blog entries. Here’s a snippet from a journal entry I did last week. Nothing deep, just some random observations of strange things people do.

 8/14/09 After a totally insane week at work, it was mandatory for me to meet up with friends for good eats, good drinks and good music. Since the area we chose to go clubbing in is bustling with nightlife finding a parking space on the street on a Friday night is like winning the lottery. Plus we came in two cars so that doubled the odds against us. Eventually we all decided to park in a parking lot instead. As I pulled into the lot noticed an example of ‘ignant’ shit that I simply had to document after I parked…

 

WTF?! Why is a car this size parked on the line??? I backed my SUV into a parking space a row over with NO problem. Your car is the size of a soup can and you can’t park it in a normal parking space? How did this jackass even get a driver’s license?

That parking faux pas made me dig up a picture of another WTF on wheels incident that I witnessed several weeks ago…

^Two toddlers girls and a man crusin’ in the back of a pickup truck

As a kid, it wasn’t unusual to see kids riding in the back of a pickup truck or in the trunk area of a station wagon. Old school parents didn’t give a damn that their precious babies were tossed around the vehicle like a ragdoll every time the car hit a bump.  Nowadays everyone is so safety-conscious that I can’t remember the last time I saw passengers in the back of a pickup truck. Maybe a mix of super safety driving rules and becoming a parent myself has made me a punk because when I saw these two little girls I got scared for them. I couldn’t get a picture while in motion but these little girls weren’t just sitting but also jogging back and forth as a man sat there and watched them. *SMH*

 Last WTF on wheels mention is a throwback from my old blog,

“I’ve experienced countless characters and adventures on the local MTA. Here’s one example:

 

Now he wasnt just tired, he was  TIE-YAD. Too bad I dont have audio for this pic ’cause homeboy was sawing logs too!  His snores were the only thing that verified that he was still alive.”

For anyone wondering, the everyday life pictures I post are genuinely taken by me when I’m out and about. From the ridiculous Wal-Mart wench to the mis-parked soup can, all taken were with my camera phone on a spur. And those are just the events that I was quick enough to get a picture of.  Just think of all the random weird sht that you encounter without being able to document it. Truth is truly stranger than fiction.

10:13pm-I typed most of this blog earlier today but I’m just getting around to posting it because I was doing the Saturday time with the kiddies/hubby thing. Now that the little ones are knocked out and Q is hangin’ with his bwoy, I finally have peace and quiet. Hmm…maybe I’ll get some sleep…Naw, fuck that. I’m going to pump Pandora and waste valueable moments of my life by surfing the ‘net. Ahhhh, it’s good to be me. hahaha

Thank care folks!

P.S. Oh! I have FREE TICKETS TO SEE MARIO, THE-DREAM and KERI HILSON @ Club Love in D.C. this FRIDAY NIGHT!!!  Again they are totally FREE but they are first come,  first serve so hit me with an email or private message if you are interested in going.  See some time it pays to visit this blog!

Old Cable

While waiting for the latest episode of True Blood I started to think about what I used to watch on cable when I was a youngin’. I don’t remember the exact day that my mother got cable but it changed my life forever.

Before then the highlight of my t.v. viewing was limited to before and after school cartoons (remember Captain Chesapeake?! Haha) on weekdays and Cosby on Thursday.   The weekend started with Friday Night Videos.  And of course Saturday morning was strictly cartoon time followed by Kung Fu Theatre, WWF or G.L.O.W, the V103 video show(hosted by Frank Ski, Randy Dennis, Sandy Malorie or Lorenzo “Ice Tea” Thomas), and Soul Train. But cable, glorious cable, let me know there was life outside of VHF and UHF. All hail old cable:

 

B.E.T. – The old Black Entertainment Television had other great shows (Teen Summit rocked!) but who am I kidding? BET was known for music videos! Video Vibrations with the Alvin “unseen VJ”  Jones, Video Soul with Donnie Simpson and Rap City with the Chris “The Mayor” Thomas… Dam, I took these shows for granted. Video Vibrations would play a good variety of videos from the Deale to Oaktown’s 357 but the most fun was seeing who would be the featured artist for the Monday Music Marathon.  It was so serious for me that I recorded every minute of VV’s “Rap Week”.  Fun memory: They got different rappers of the time to do ‘a drop’ for Rap Week (basically saying “This is _____ and you’re watching Rap Week …) A clip medley of rappers big and small doing the drop was shown and it ended with Kid-N-Play singing a hilarious version of BET’s theme show. “B…E…T… We’re coming on for youuuuu/ We’re coming on for you!” lol Only special people actually remember that BET had a theme song and commercial. Little known fact: VV’s Rap Week was such a success that it lead to BET creating Rap City.
 Video Soul was a more mature show with videos and sit-down interviews. I remember taping the episodes when The Boys(*faint*), Janet Jackson, Prince and Bobby Brown were sitting on the long black leather couch chatting with “the old guy with the pretty guys”, I mean Donnie Simpson. haha 
Rap City…* whew * I don’t have enough time to talk about the impact this show had on me…The ORIGINAL Rap City that is! It didn’t matter what was going on outside or what afterschool activities there were, I had to be in the house to catch Rap City. The old Rap City was just Chris Thomas sitting on a bench bouncing his shoulder (the Mayor dance) in between doing impersonations of Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby. lol What that had to do with Rap City, I didn’t know and I honestly didn’t care.

 

Being a music lover I watched my fair share of MTV also. Remember when MTV actually played mostly music videos?! Of course, Yo! MTV Raps was my favorite show but there were some other notable shows that I loved. Dial MTV usually played good Pop stuff because it was all of the top requested videos.  The funniest show for me was Club MTV with Downtown Julie Brown. It wasn’t a comedy show but it was comical to me to see the dorky dance moves and crazy clothing.  Sometime I wish the game show Remote Control was still on because I would have surely tried out to be a contestant.

 

There is absolutely no way I could mention BET and MTV without mentioning the Jukebox Network aka The Box *bow heavily * “The Jukebox-Music You Control”. Concept: A numbered list of videos scrolling across the screen, see a title you like, call a pay-pre-call number, punch in the number of the video you want to see and, bam, it’ll play. Ok, it wasn’t quite bam! it’ll play, it was more like wait un hour or two for everyone else’s videos to play and maybe you’ll see yours. Not only was it 24/7 but the The Box also showed videos that the tight wads at BET and MTV banned like “Justify My Love” – Madonna, and who could forget “Pop That Coochie” – 2 Live Crew, which was #1 like forever on the weekly Box Tops list.

 

Ok, we need to bring it back to the PG-side…My second favorite programming besides music videos was Nickelodeon! I’m sure I wasn’t the only one that wanted to be a contestant on Double Dare or that wondered what green slime was made of. Not that smooth green slime I’m talking about the green slime with chunks (eww) in it like they used on the show You Can’t Do That On Television. Long before we were bombarded by Spongebob all day I was glued to Danger Mouse, Today’s Special and later Ren and Stimpy and Rugrats.  And before we could log into iCarly, Clarissa explained it all!

 

Hmmm… This is a good lead-in to my next memories of old cable. As a young adolescent, cable gave me more than enough exposure to the wide world of sex. My sweet clueless mother initially ordered cable service with all of the channels, I mean ALL of the channels. Wooowww! Hello Playboy Channel, which didn’t have programming until after 8pm, and Cinemax After Dark, which began Friday night at midnight I think. For those that didn’t have the pleasure of experiencing neither, it was basically the soft porn that’s now shown on HBO Zone and Real Sex. Being the slick kid that I was, I’d go in the living room and turn the t.v. down to volume to one while in sneak mode. LOL I’m my young dumb mind I was a smooth criminal but it was quite obvious that I was watching something I wasn’t supposed to be watching. So obvious that one time my mother yelled “Jaye! What are you watching?!” in that pissed-off-mama-that-knows-what’s-up voice… you know what my reply was? My replied was “Umm, L.A. Law”. LMAO!  LA Law, the drama show about lawyers that starred Blair Underwood. *smh* Yeah, the show was cool but I definitely wasn’t watching that! Shortly after my mother got rid of all the channels because it was too expensive…so she said. Hahaha Honorable mention: The Spice Channel. We never had the actual channel so it was always scrambled up but sometimes there would be a glitch and you could see a little action. lol

 I have to jet so I can squeeze in 5 or 6 hours of sleep but I HAVE to shout out the coolest thing to ever come out the Lifetime Network…SUPERMARKET SWEEP!  

That was the show were you got points for product knowledge and at the end you had to run around a market with shopping carts for a time shopping spree. The highest total wins. (All the smart contestants knew to go straight to the meat section!)  Does it get any better than that? lol …  P.S. Someone asked me if I’ll be posting most of my blogs on Sundays. Well, it just happens that Sunday is usually the only day I can really sit down and put one together so I guess so. That’s not etched in stone though. Tell ya what. Just SUBSCRIBE to this blog and won’t have to guess if a new one has been posted.

 

Lata!