Just as I finally put up a "When I Read" post and started preparing some more books/stories/poems to share, I find out that one of my three favorite shows about reading (Reading Rainbow, Wishbone, and yes Learn to Read with Famous Amos because I was a cable-less child) is ending. Wishbone, which ended in 2001, was a classic and shared a variety of stories. But as great as the little Jack Terrier was, there was never a comparison to Reading Rainbow. The show, which is older than I, introduced young folk to the love of reading and featured real little kids with their favorite books. For those with a love of books, it opened you up to exploring different types of stories and also exposed young readers to a variety of cultures and historical moments through contemporary children's literature. Wishbone was great for portraying the "Great Books" tome of literature (and ensuring that I would not have to read to sound smart when I reached high school). Reading Rainbow took you beyond the "great books" culture to various communities. There would also be the real life segments and guests that illuminated lessons from the book and applied it to real life.
The line of reasoning for cutting the show, that honestly I didn't know still came on, was because it taught kids to love reading instead of how to read. Apparently educational shows have to teach now, because of Bush's educational policies. Whatevs.
And while I'm sad to say I can't remember one book in particular, I remember my love for the show. I'm also sure it's the only reason I attempted to watch roots when I was little. Kunta Kente? Nah, its LeVar Burton.( Recently I read he was dead broke. Really...is this helping him at all).
NPR Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112312561 Check it out for yourself.
A while back I mentioned that I actually read when I was little. Mother's an English teacher so I had no real choice. And while I prized books- especially series about babysitters in Connecticut- I also loved a good poem. Unsurprisingly, most poems I read, memorized and spoke out loud dealt with the African American experience.
Well one Christmas, like any teachers child, I opened up my wrapped books to find a thin paperback copy of black poems. I excitedly read it, and then my sister and I did our first Last Poets-esque piece around the Christmas tree. I don't think the recording ever worked, but I'll always always love this piece.
This You Tube piece also had Digable Planets "Rebirth of Slick (Cool like that)" as the background piece...and I mentioned my admiration of them in this OSF piece.
Happy Wednesday!!!
We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks
THE POOL PLAYERS.
SEVEN AT THE GOLDEN SHOVEL.
It's icky. I've finally started using the Air Conditioner. I've been waiting around for the hottest day of the summer to show up to start spewing thoughts on Do the Right Thing, which my slight obsession with has been documented several times on this site. But with the not so hot, but still disgustingly humid summer New York has been having, I realized that it shall be difficult to correspond my coverage with the timeline of the film (which is just the hottest day of the year).
So lets get it started. In honor of the news that the Muppets will be incorporating Mad Men into their show, I bring you the unofficial Sesame Street spoof. Ernie is Mookie and Big Bird is Buggin' Out. Great casting if I've ever seen it. I've never wanted to see Big Bird curse tho :(
I was doing some research on new music, and came across this article which discusses cartoons and music in light of comic-con. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2009/07/toons-and-music-unite-phineas-and-ferb-and-da-jammies.html (One day I need to make it to a convention that honors people obsessed with a pop culture genre to the level of geekdom.)
While reading this I felt validated in my love of Phineas and Ferb. I know for many there will never be harder cartoon rockers than Jem or Josie and the Pussycats. But I have to say, growing up and owning my own green sweater vest, white tee and khaki shorts I thought the Beets of Doug fame were right there with whichever band was in the Top 40. I assure you, you will be singing Ooo Ee oo Killer Tofu for a while after this.
Of course musical legacy in cartoons comes from a variety of areas. Where else can chimpmunks sing and create a Christmas legend...
or would Andre 3000 get to lead a class in music that was super appropriate...
Really, these cartoons can stand up to California Dreams any day. I'm a little ambivalent at the moment on Da Jammies. In writing it sounds great, but in visual this eerily reminds me of the PJs. Multicultural cartoons are something I harp on a lot. So this could be promising.
We're in desperate need of a funky cartoon that will leave us dancing in the aisles.
In the words of a friend: "Grab your crotch and scream." If we're going out we're going out with a bang!
Fittingly, this week's OSF has been altered to a Michael Jackson memorial. I'm sure between the lot of us, we'll cover a decent share of his catalog, but we won't get anywhere close to hitting the majority. The man was eccentric and for many people it was a love from a distance feeling, but if my twitter and fb feeds say anything, he's one of few ppl that can unite across gender, race, creed, age, nationality and the other things that separate us.
My first choice came out during my childhood from a movie I loved then (tho if u asked me about a whale now, I'd say ppl first).Seriously, I had a Free Willy necklace.
The clips inserted sow the sheer star power that Michael Jackson had. Remember the people fainting and the shrieks?
For a pop artist who came up with innovative dances and lived in a childhood fantasy land, he was beyond socially conscience. Songs like this, Black or White, Heal the World and Gone too Soon all point to cultural activism through music.
With condolences to the family.
Join in on the Old School Friday Fun! Anyone can join in on the OSF fun. Check out the rules here and peep other participants below. HAPPY Old School Friday!
Apparently this is my most visited page. I have no idea why, but with good reason I figured I'd update you all with more American Girl news. As seen below in my last Old School Friday post, I really like being a girl.
Honest disclaimer: I still have not watched the American Girl movie. But I do respect the all around movement to expand upon the gender norms imposed within our culture by including girls of different races and cultures. Maybe we'll get around to allowing different perceptions of girlhood, but that will be problematic. I know I for one am not promoting Ciara's "Love, Sex, and Magic" steez even though it is an annoyingly catchy song.
American Girl is adding one more to their collection with a Lower East Side Jewish girl. I really wish they got A.O.Scott to write this article since he reviewed the last movie and I would have loved to see a journalistic continuation of the discussion. But the sad dying writer inside of me understands how a newsroom works. Salkin delves into the discussion and yes, the Jewish American girl has brown hair.
I'm still waiting for my revolutionary black afro flaunting girl of the 70s in the American Girl collection along with a blond hippie friend. I know that is the most contrived image, but I always though they belonged in the series.
But on another note, this girl is coming back to blogging slowly but surely. It's going to happen.
(removed imeem songplaylist)
Today's Old School Friday is all about the children. And I couldn't help but go to the reggae child singers.
First up is Lil Vicious. He came out at the Martin Luther King Wingate Concerts a few years back because Doug E. Doug was performing and did this same song. His brother was in my sister's class in our small Christian elementary school. Yes it's alright if you shake your head at this little boy singing about "some gal a freak."
And now for more children singing about inappropriate matter, that you just sang along with anyway. This time we go about a decade earlier than Vicious and across the pond to Britain, where Musical Youth covered a song, "Pass the Kutchie" by The Mighty Diamonds, and renamed it "Pass the Dutchie." I'd dare say this is infinitely more popular than the original.
I remember the day it clicked for me that my mother called her soup pot a "dutchie." Oh, synonyms! No joke, Musical Youth has some really good songs. I suggest checking out their catalog. The rest of their songs are more kid friendly as well.
In case you were wondering, child reggae performances are still as relevant today as ever. I present: my senior year of college.
I'm hitting post before I change this into child singers on A Different World and post the episodes with "The Boys," "Immature," and "Kris Kross," or before I post my favorite Brady Bunch Songs.
HAPPY OLD SCHOOL FRIDAY Anyone can join! Check out other OSF posters and rules here:http://mrsgrapevine.com/old-school-music-meme/
This one is a little tough for me. Growing up, road trips consisted of two tapes played over and over again: one was by the Grace Thrillers and the other was by the Grammy Award winning Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. Trust me, "The Midnight Cry" is not exactly what you want to hear as a kid on 3 hour car trips in the rain and in the dark boonies. You will be convinced the world is ending that night.
Thankfully, I also went on school trips where we sang songs loudly in the back of the bus. Killing Me Softly and Fugee-la-la were faves, as was any reggae/calypso/soca song of the moment.
Yea...we were special...There's a joy singing songs that call for dancing, in situations where you can't dance.
Then I went to high school and met the wonder that was Billy Joel's Piano Man. But nothing beat listening to my team belting this song on the bus after tournaments.
It's the last of the WB cartoon clips. This week I pull from the Anamaniacs, to show not only Yakko, Wakko and Dot; but also some of my other faves: the GoodFeathers and Pinky and the Brain! Enjoy!!!
"The Party's Just Begun!" Somewhere in doing research for my dissertation and watching Hollywood Shuffle, I remembered the joy that was the WB 11 Saturday morning cartoons. Sometimes ABC just didn't do it for you. Keeping in line with the rest of this weeks posts and my homage to comics in character form with Robin Harris in all his Bebe's Kids glory on this season's cover, this week's throwback is Wayne Head. This wonderful little cartoon, based on the wonder that is the Wayans family, was definitely a favorite of mine. I'll keep going with the WB toons in later weeks.
Wayne Head was in the same multicultural vein of CBear and Jamal but a little less Hey Arnold and probably a bit more like Fat Albert. And since we're paying homage to comics in cartoon form we can't leave out Bill Cosby who's done it to himself not once, but twice. Unfortunately there are no appropriate Little Bill video clips online. They are all a little warped and perverted.
Peep this trailer for the Black Disney Princess movie from the good folks over at Bossip/Livesteez. Where did that reject Song of the South fly come from? Come on Disney you've done the random black sidekick for Disney's heroines before. Neither Harry Belafonte's Sebastian or Eddie Murphy's Mushu was that frightening. The verdict is still our because the movie's not done yet. Well at least Anika Noni Rose and Jenifer Lewis are working. But still, this movie is officially getting the side eye treatment of the week.
And I promise this is not becoming the Disney Blog. I wouldn't have a big ol pic from Bebe's Kids if it was.
While browsing That Black Girls Site I noticed an article on Disney' s search for a black princess. I had previously spoken about Disney's struggle with princesses and my excitement for Maddy in this piece about American Girl ("American Girl Movie. A Playlist and An Apology"). Apparently my dream is never going to come true. According to this piece it has been reported that the princesses' name has been changed to Tiana, she's going to get with some non-black dude, and they will live in a fictional land. Well for one this disproves my theory that non-white Disney princesses are all localized in order to deal with the issues of ethnicity. Don't they owe the South one after the horror of Song of the South?* However, it does bring up other issues that are too numerous to mention.
I can talk all day about race, cartoons and children's programming as its something that I've wondered about since the days of Doug and the Puzzle Place (really the Funnys and the Beets were white, everyone else included rich lil Bebe was funky colored). But I won't.
Instead I bring the past which I may be looking at through rose colored glasses. HBO used to do a great series that was also available for purchase called Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child. The stories were "politically correct" and featured a range of races and ethnicities for the characters. There was this one Caribbean one that my family watched and laughed at over and over. Robert Guilliame narrated and there was quite the cast (voices) of minority actors (Magaret Cho**, Raven-Symone, Sinbad, even Pauletta Washington). The stories were really good with a little moralistic lesson as well as not demeaning the life of women. Apparently the episodes still come on in the morning. If you subscribe to HBO Family check it out: the schedule's here.
Here's a very short clip from "The Princess and The Pea:"
Also a Wikipedia article including links to the IMDB and HBO website. If you're really interested you can buy some episodes on Amazon.
*At 20 years old after seeing the movie the year before I went to Disneyland to try and ride Splash Mountain. It was sadly closed. Still that was a great way to spend senior year Spring Break. **Crazy as Magaret Cho may be you have to admit she rocks hard for the kids. This and C-Bear and Jamal were the ish.
-The American Girls (screen shot from http://www.americangirl.com/agcn/index.html)
As old as I am, I should not be this excited for the first theatrical release of an American Girl story. Even though I have no idea who this new Kit girl is, I always loved American Girl. As presents when I was little I received the purple and black modern American Girl Varsity Bomber jacket that I rocked hard with my red,green, yellow and blue plaid uniform as well as the starter set of Addy books. At the library I read through all the books in each series, gaining knowledge about American history as I went. I also collected American Girl trading cards and I still have some sitting on my bookshelf at home along with my Hello Kitty and Spice Girls paraphernalia. My favorite characters were Samantha, the posh Victorian who was friends with dirty and poor Nellie; Molly with her 40s charm that prompted me to ask my mother if I could pin curl my hair; and of course Addy, the fearless freed slave girl who came to New York and longed for her family to be reunited. Unfortunately I did not connect with Kirsten as much and Felicity was a bit too history book American for me. I got lost after they brought out Josefina, but was happy that they kept doing different eras and slowly added more diversity to the historical sisterhood. I'm still waiting for the Civil Rights Era doll, but I won't hold my breath.
(Imagine this in a kids size...yea, I was styling)
A.O. Scott of the New York Times, describes the film and its importance in this New York Times Article and he does hit on some solid points about the film industry and target audiences. We've seen it with Tyler Perry and the continued success of Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen's pre-NYU empire and all the Disney Channel productions (Lizzie McGuire, Cheetah Girls, High School Musical, That's So Raven, Hannah Montana). Even a Barbie theatrical production a few years ago prompted signs of joy and relief that girls could still partake in the idealism. Even more relief was prompted when Disney announced it would make another cartoon fairy tale, and this time starring Maddy, the black princess from NOLA.* There is an audience that needs films like this and in the hypersexualized culture that we live in, the innocence of being an American girl is something to be desired. Sure we know its not all sugar and spice and everything nice. Life is something more like that's portrayed in crazy movies like KIDS or Thirteen, but people do still want a bit of the fantasy, the escape, and the idealism. NOT a crazy essentialized idealism, but something that's not on the wild and crazy end of the spectrum and not on the Disney Channel. It also can't hurt to have a nice little Depression Era story in this crazy recession.
Of course this is not an end all be all. Coming out of the American Girl franchise its still steeped in ideas of consumerism and promoting good little shoppers and brand loyalty out of American girls who will see the film, dolls in hand and probably dressed in some of the costumes from the catalog. Proper gender roles will still be inscribed and who knows what Abigail Breslin may do in a few years. But still, it has to be better than when my sister was forced to take me to the Spice Girls movie after Saturday School at the old Flatbush Pavillion on Flatbush and 7th Avenue in Brooklyn and my friends and I bought Spice Girls lollipops everyday to get the free stickers that I collected. For that, I apologize Shirley.
Celebrate all it means being a girl:
*Really Random: Ever noticed how these modern ethnic minority fairy tales are all localized: Mulan was Chinese in China, Pocahantas was Native American in emerging colonial America, and now this black girl is from the South. Understandably Jasmine was from the Middle East, that was based on the Arabian Nights stories. I also do understand why these characters need locations to make their stories work, but I still find it interesting. I wonder if the Grimm Brothers gave locations to Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty.
So it is unlikely that this awesome concierge position will actually be my future. (I have no real future career). But it does remind you of that special time in elementary school when this question is first asked and wide eyed optimistic children respond with the careers that society seems to be based around. You then have a classroom full of doctors, nurses, teachers, police officers, fire fighters, U.S. presidents and hair stylists. However as you get older reality starts to set in, as well as likes, dislikes and your parents desires change those goals and more diverse careers emerge like lawyers,journalists, fashion models, actors, and artists.
At some point when you start college you learn what an investment banker is and that there are these organizations called consulting firms and hedge funds. (Some kids know what they are growing up, but I'm not talking about those privileged ones.) Once again career ideals change and people who once wanted to be a doctor or teacher see the lure of business and venture there. But is there anything inherently wrong with that?(Full disclaimer: I went to the dinners, decided Boston Consulting Group was the only firm I liked, started my cover letter and then remembered I did not really want to do that so never applied.)
The New York Times visits the issue this week in a piece entitled "Big Paychecks or Service." The author discusses the pull on students who once had other goals to enter business fields where they can make loads of money. Usually its a base salary around 60-70 thousand and then tens of thousands of dollars added on in bonuses-serious cash for a 21-23 year old to make on their first job, and a salary that most people in other career fields,say primary education or journalism, spend their careers attempting to earn.
The article does address a huge issue in that many people do lose sight of their larger goals in life chasing money at a young age. I have also seen the torture it wreaks on students in the process. There are countless interviews and math evaluations. You fly around the country so that different offices can determine their approval in the midst of working on your thesis, carrying a full course load, and you are still expected to participate in student life. Students take the leap from "I came here to go back and better my community" to "I came here and want some money so I can ascribe to the lifestyle in front of me, the community will figure it out eventually."But it also ignores the fact that many people also choose this path for other reasons. For one, some people actually have families that need financial assistance and this is perhaps the best way out at the moment. People also have plans for their lives post banking. This often serves as the launchpad for one's own business ideas. Many do go back to working towards their goal and this was simply a fun or necessary financial detour along the way. Similarly, just like young people that go about their grand tour post college, this banking lifestyle is a great way to travel and live in other cities essentially on your jobs dime.
Also there are tons of students that just don't have a clue as to what they are doing post graduation. They flit and flutter around during the summer and find a job that often is not in hard core business. Others do go for further education bettering themselves and building more debt in the process. And still several do reach their original goals simply taking detours along the way. It's not a dichotomy of "we help people" vs. "we help ourselves." Often it's more of a mix and I have heard of quite the fair share of students doing teaching programs just to get the free education masters whether or not they will ever actually use it. Even more, there are some people that actually enjoy the idea of investment banking and consulting and hedge funds and all that business jazz. They love quantitative evaluations
This long ramble was just to say that I found the New York Times article biased. Within the limits of the line or word count I am certain there was a way to take into consideration the other side of the story and not simply paint a wide brush over the students that pick a different route. Maybe colleges should enact more loan forgiveness programs like the ones available at several law schools. Perhaps that would help in the battle.
Sidenote: I did like the point about schools homogenizing their students. While not necessarily in the case of careers, there is a point there.
This is a topic that has no ending. Every show has repeatedly used guest musical stars as a method of cross promotion. However some episodes will remain with you forever. This will obviously have to be part one of the series, because really I could place every episode of New York Undercover under this title and at least one special episode from every season of The Cosby Show. So let's get the party started. As usual, clips at the end if they can be found. There are also several little Michael Jacksons in here.
Of course there are my requisite A Different World references (of which I probably won't be able to find an online clip). But for me three guest star episodes stand out. One of them is of course the En Vogue episode where the talented girl group are incorporated into the script as Mr. Vernon Gaines's nieces that Ron then uses in his night club performance. Then there is the Gladys, Gladys Knight episode. Whatever happened to the opera singer, she could blow? The third is when Kriss Kross performed in yet another classic episode concerning youth violence following on the give back to your community theme propagated by Sinbad's community center. The episode name is "Original Teacher" and yes at one point in my life I considered wearing my clothing backwards "because inside out is wiggedy wiggedy wiggedy wack."
Fresh Prince also had its share of stars even though they didn't always sing. It also is the number one example of lets ignore my career outside of this show. So besides for the fact that it starred Will Smith, Jazzy Jeff and little MJ #1 Alfonso Ribiero, the show produced by Quincy Jones also brought in a few characters. Who can forget the episode where Tevin Campbell comes and sings for Ashley Banks' birthday. She swoons, faints and then ended up in half of his videos afterwards. Then good ol' Philly boy Will of course knows all of Boyz II Men because everyone in Philly knows each other. Vanessa Williams was also on an episode. She mentioned Saving the Best for Last and gave birth to a baby. There was no singing. Sadness. Of course Tatyana Ali's singing career began on the show as well. Sigh, that boy was playing with her mind.
Then there was Family Matters. The place for relatively unknown stars to go and remain relatively unknown. Besides for their constant references to current musicians like Bobby Brown and their 10 second rendition of My Perogrative (which made the show relevant then, but super dated now), I remember two distinct performances. One was by Seal and another was by Portrait. The Seal episode deserves its own, My Favorite Scenes reference: the I'm a teenager sneaking out to a really cool club/music performance even though my parents already told me no. The Portrait episode is also a recurring theme: performance at a school concert. We also can't forget the many times that Eddie Winslow and Aunt Rachel (of Tony and Dawn fame) got an opportunity to sang and Urkel did something like singing and Carl and his friends did a rendition of old jammy jams (it was his h.s. reunion episode that taught me the intricacies of the Mash Potato). There was also that time that Shanice and Eddie had something strange ocurring. So that brings the count up to three. Should also be pointed out that little Ricky was a scary miniature little MJ and I think probably looks just as creepy now. Sister Sister, with its bevy of shows dedicated to Roger, Tia and Tamera's singing abilities also had its fair share of singing guests. Of these three stand out in my mind. The Brian McKnight Episode, where Tia develops a crush on him as he plays her teaching assistant. Maybe not as much singing as it was playing his song in the background. Tia and Tamera, always open about their faith, also did an episode using Kirk Franklin. Of course they were in the choir, but we can't blame them. There's also another favorite scene reference that emerged with the prevalence of 90s stars having dual careers: the let's forget I have a job outside of the show. Roger, also known as Marques Houston, f.k.a. Batman of Immature/IMX fame outside of the show performs on the show as part of his teenage boy band group. The girls swoon. No one admits that Roger and Batman look exactly the same. It also serves to note that this was probably one of the few jobs that Kid could get post House Party (also serves to note that Immature was in the last installment of House Party ..the black 90s is all one big 6 degrees, which yes starred Will Smith). Sister Sister also took both sides of the rap game showcasing some man that disrespected women in one early episode and then the Goodie Mob/Cee-Lo in another episode. They also went to Freak-nik...not what you generally think of your wholesome teen show.
Following his older sisters, Tahj Mowry also had his own vehicle: Smart Guy. While this show had its fill of never to be realized potential (Omar Gooding, Essence Atkins, Tahj Mowry, and Jason Weaver) it also had its singing moments. How could you not let little MJ (Jason Weaver was in The Jackson Five movie as little MJ) sing? There's also the Destiny's Child episode where they do their rendition of Amazing Grace and Beyonce explains to Marcus (Jason Weaver) that she spent Thanksgiving in a airport eating a turkey sandwich. I failed to shed crocodile tears. A DIFFERENT WORLD
I didnt reference this one of The Boys, but since I can't find Kriss Kross I'll supplement.
Family Matters
And I can't find the Seal episode, so here's New Edition. I think they had a love affair with the group and its fall out:
and the Tracy Spencer Episode:
FRESH PRINCE
Tatiana Ali in TC vid
Sister Sister =0x54abd6">
Smart Guy
So yes, this episode of My Favorite Scenes is far from over. There will be plenty more, including more My Favorite Scenes cross references. We haven't even gotten to Queen Latifah/Khadijah and Living Single of the horrible nature of Joey Lawrence and Blossom yet or Moesha. How could we be done?
And now for some more six degrees: Thelma Hopkins (Aunt Rachel) of Family Matters would later play Essence Atkin's father's baby mama on Half and Half. The new (and wacker) Aunt Viv on The Fresh Prince is married to Ray from Sister, Sister in Real Life. Of course Tia, Tamera, and Tajh have all starred on each others shows, and were all on Full House. About half of these people are going to be in the greatest resurrection of the black 90s sitcom in soem movie about stepping that I swear me and my friend dreamed up back when drumline came out. If only we wrote a script.
I'm in a puppet mode since I saw Avenue Q last night, with some friends. We scored some pretty cool box seats and it was a much needed laugh. I've been alerted that Fraggle Rock is now becoming a movie so today's throwback is all about some of our favorite Jim Henson buddies and creations following his genius.
Go to You Tube to finish watching the episode and for many more!
This one isn't really of the week, but more like the month. I've been busy with school for a bit, but I'm still here bringing you real information and get ready for a jam packed Black History Month!
Back to the clip.
Remember this toy. Looking back at this is really hilarious. I actually knew people who had a "My Buddy."What made it worse was that the Chucky "Child's Play" movie series was also very popular around then...I had my doubts about My Buddy. He was the only male doll.
Can you imagine a male doll being marketed to little boys today?
A few weeks back AOL had a feature on Mario and the timelessness of the game. At that point I thought it would be a great post for Vanity Dark, but kept saving it for a throwback post. Unfortunately I cannot find it anymore. But now the NYTimes has beat me to the post, and I can't stand for that anymore. So click on the link for the article and get lost in the wonder. All of the new hype is because a new game is coming out, so if you're still into gaming this may be one to buy. It's not HALO, but its classic....
Mario is indeed a cultural phenomenon, from the addictive tune to that cheesy movie , to its ability to attract people from all walks of life and various age groups to the mission of getting to the princess in time. Goodness there was even a cartoon:
It's funny that Mario has all the basic elements of violence that other games have, but no one attacks it as such because its coded in traditional fairy tale language. Ordinary plumber goes on mission to save the fair maiden. This is the game that came in a package with Duck Hunt, which used an actual gun as the player control and you pointed at the screen.
This video became a viral hit a few years back and I thought it was brilliant when I first saw it:
There is no such thing as American history, only a frontier. -Don Draper, Mad Men.
They did the same thing to Jesus. They did the same thing to Martin Luther King. They do the same thing to every great leader. --Po-Prah, "I Want To Work For Diddy" Episode 2.
Morning conversations)Mommy: What did you have for breakfast? Kimmy: cookies! Mommy: Cookies aren't breakfast, unless they're oatmeal raisin. But I know you and you had chocolate chip. Kimmy: I had chocolate chocolate chip cookies. Mommy: (sigh) Alright my child, I have to get ready for work.
