It combines Soul Train, a show that I practically grew up with, with Daft Punk’s great new single, “Get Lucky.” The mash-up is great, because it combines two of my favorite things-one old and one new. The Daft Punk song is one of my favorites out now, and one of many great songs that I have heard so far in 2013. And for me, Soul Train will never leave my heart.

And after all, when I was growing up, Soul Train came on TV on Saturdays, so it is only fitting that I post this video mash-up today.

Enjoy.

P.S. Yes the track is sped up just a bit. So what. It makes you think that dancers could have rocked it to this all those years ago (Don Cornelius’ suit has to be buried in a time capsule somewhere).

This jolt comes from WordPress.com’s Daily Post blog. And with it being Mother’s Day, and needing something to write about, I decided to give it a shot.

Having already seen Mom today for Mother’s Day, I probably don’t need to write this at all. But then again, it is an exercise, and the mind needs an exercise. So I’m going to write a letter to my mother.

Dear Mom,

Hi! It’s your son. On this Mother’s Day I want you to know that I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you have done, and all that you continue to do for me. Even though I have been a grown man for a long time, I never tire of hearing you tell me that you are proud of me and are in support of me. Especially as I face the great unknown in my future.

As you know, the last few years have not been the greatest for me. I have had several setbacks; and may have more to come in the future. Yet you are still there, telling me you will be there for me, to help me in any way you can. If anything, our roles should be reversed-I should be doing more to help you, to visit more often and talk to you more often. In many ways, you have now become my best friend. When others ignore me, or turn their backs away, you are there. They say you can always go home again-and I should. Even though you don’t live in our home anymore, wherever you are, that is home to me.

There may be difficult days ahead for me. I may not be as cheerful as I could be, because I get anxious about how things will play out. You always remind me to keep praying, and be patient. That God will work things out for my good and that everyone goes through struggles. I’m sure you went through your share, raising my sister and me as a single parent. Yes, you had help from our grandmother for a time, but when she passed, it was mostly you. Even when things look bleak-and they haven’t looked as bleak as they do now, you tell me to keep my head up. I have to tell you though, it is so hard to stay positive and keep the faith when it seems I am always bombarded with bad news. This may be the first time in my life where I have had to deal with adversity in any real way. But with your support, love, guidance and prayers, I know that I will get through. It may not be as soon as I would like, but it will happen.

Thank you for being there for me, for believing in me and for supporting me. Through the good times, and especially through these tough times I am going through now, I appreciate now more than ever those three things. Because they are the greatest gifts that you have ever given me, and I appreciate them more now that I’m older than any other birthday gift or Christmas present I ever received-and they have lasted throughout my time here.  So Happy Mother’s Day, and forever and always, I love you.

Your son,

T.

I think this habit was borne out of watching sporting events. Even when I was younger, I can remember staying up late to watch games-especially Monday Night Football. And even now, with more and more sports in prime time or starting later in the evening, it is nothing for games to end well after eleven at night. Even some nights, I’ll stay up and watch the late news. This of course, can find me only getting five or six hours of rest before I head back out for the next day and a six A.M. wakeup call. And on weekends, it’s nothing to be up well past two or three in the morning.

But this habit has to change for two reasons. One, I’m getting older now, and it’s hard to keep up that kind of pace. Many is the day when I am regretting being up so late when I feel like I need an afternoon nap. Or it becomes difficult to keep my eyes open at the unbelievable hour of ten in the morning (not every day, but some days). The second, and most important, is for my health. I was recently diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea, which meant that I would stop breathing occasionally during the night. Not good. So now, I am trying to eat healthier and get more rest with a CPAP machine. And though I have taken a break from the machine for the moment, once I get some new supplies I’ll be back on it.

But, be warned. The NBA playoffs have started-which means games ending well past eleven. And of course, I will try to watch as much of it as I can. I love sports, after all. But the light will go on at about 10:30 to tell me that maybe that game isn’t really that important-certainly not as important as getting a good night’s sleep.

Thanks to The Daily Prompt for the inspiration for this post.

As I write this post, I can proudly claim that I have finally caught up. Tonight, when the first new episode arrives after three long weeks (for those of you who watch in real time), I’ll be ready to join in the fun. I spent the last five days watching almost nothing but Scandal. A good many of the episodes I watched with my daughter, and to her credit, she didn’t give anything away. So, what will happen tonight? Will we find out who the mole is? What will Cyrus do with the knowledge that Fitz killed Verna? Can Cyrus repair his happy home? What about the star of the whole show, Ms. Olivia Pope? What will she think about the guy she slept with spying on her? And what will she say to Fitz if/when she finds out it was under his watch that Jake Ballard had her apartment under surveillance?

All that and more, in a show that seemingly offers up new questions as soon as we get answers to the old questions. For once, I’ll be there in real-time, and I can’t wait.

Here’s the answer:

Hilarious, but not without some truth to it. And I’m pretty sure they aren’t going to change back to the way we remember it.

Who can forget waiting for Yo! MTV Raps to come on with Dre and Ed Lover? How we camped in front of the set to see the premiere of Michael Jackson’s Thriller? When seeing a new music video by your favorite artist was a big event?

How Michael Jackson broke the glass ceiling that kept R&B and other black-oriented music videos from even airing on the channel? The VJs? Can you name the original five?  Let’s see…there was J. J. Jackson, Martha Quinn, Alan Hunter, Nina Blackwood and one other guy, right? I definitely remember “Downtown” Julie Brown (wubba wubba wubba!). And then after that era, not too much else. Fact is, once I got into my twenties, MTV started drifting away from my consciousness.  And of course, there were other channels that came along to provide competition, even MTV’s sister channel VH-1. Not to mention BET, CMT, etc. Who needed MTV when you could watch videos on those channels?

There is a larger post that can be written about how the consumption of music has changed the importance of the music video. Yet they still appear, mostly on YouTube. And they can even be found occasionally on television, just not all day long and with the frequency they used to back in the day. MTV does still have a music video awards show, though; so there must be enough of them out there to choose the best of the best. Just don’t look for them in huge blocks of their network’s programming.

Fast forward many years later, and while cleaning out some old papers, I found the playlist. And with Valentine’s Day having just passed, I decided to make the playlist on Spotify and publish it. Basically, what I tried to do is take the song titles and make them into a love letter. You might have to fill in a few words here and there, but for the most part I think the titles make a decent, if somewhat overlong, letter.

If you love the “Quiet Storm” and old school R&B, this list is for you. Enjoy.

A special thanks to the late Melvin Lindsey and Kevin James, for the inspiration in many Quiet Storms and Slow Jam programs. These songs will be around as long as people want to slow dance and remember classic soul ballads.

You can’t really go wrong with either choice. Bryant, love him or hate him, over the course of his career, has earned his way into the conversation of all time great players. But I think Jordan’s argument loses some weight when he gives Kobe credit for his five championships (and Bryant should get credit; he was on the team after all). Does Jordan forget that the most dominant big man of his time was on the Lakers squad that got Bryant three of the championships? In other words, Kobe did work for those titles, but he had a mountain-sized amount of help in the person of Shaquille O’Neal in the post. If O’Neal had stayed with the Lakers, and won two more titles, would he be in the argument with LeBron instead of Kobe?

As for LeBron, yes he only has the one championship. What people seem to forget here is that he has never had the talent around him that Kobe had, before he won the title last year. Also, Jordan himself had to go through the same type of struggle before he won his first title that LeBron did. Jordan was recognized as a signature talent, much like James was, but had to go through some heartbreak before he finally won a title. Now that LeBron has joined forces with players like Dywane Wade and Chris Bosh, he has the personnel to possibly win multiple championships. Maybe not as many as Kobe, but I wouldn’t bet against James winning more than one title.

Yes, championship titles are an easy way to determine who is a better player; after all many NBA players and fans can count. Championship rings
are instantly measurable-you can count them and see who has more. But is that the only standard to determine the better player? Michael Jordan uses the metric to form his opinion. I think you have to look a little further; plus it seems to me that at this point, the comparison is a bit premature. LeBron has many more years to go in his career; Kobe is on the downside of his time in the league. Bryant can push his legacy to great heights in the next few years; he may even win more championships to pass even Jordan. But looking at where LeBron is right now, in the heart of his prime, it can also be said that he may surpass Kobe and many of the all-time greats before his time is done in the NBA. In the end, it’s one of those questions people ask that can start conversation and stimulate the debate. The real answer (if there even is one) can be determined more fully when both players have finished their careers.

If you have opinion on Kobe vs. LeBron, vote in the poll or leave a comment.

This Ravens team, in my opinion, wasn’t quite as good as last year’s team that fell one game short of the Super Bowl, yet through faith, resilience and amazing play from Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco, got the job done. Of course, I’ve never felt more proud of a team than I did with this group of Baltimore Ravens. They were always counted out, yet they managed to prevail time and again. Of course, few people thought that they would be in this position after three dispiriting losses in December. But with a change in offensive coordinator, and improved health among key members of the defense, no challenge proved too great.

I’m also proud to say I got to watch one of the best to ever do it, Ray Lewis, go out on top. Yes, he may be too emotional, and not everyone’s cup of tea. But we can give the “murderer” stories a rest. But then, people will believe what they want to believe-and say what they want to say. What I’ll say is that Ray is one of the best, and maybe the greatest leaders the game has ever seen. Certainly he wasn’t at this point in his great career what he once was. But for this run, he was good enough. It was also great to see Ed Reed, who many thought was on the team that won the Super Bowl twelve years ago, get a ring in what may be his last game as a Baltimore Raven.

Most of all, I was pleased to see Flacco become the quarterback that many thought he could never be. If you go back to last season’s AFC Championship loss to the Patriots, you could see the beginnings of a great quarterback right in front of your eyes when he outplayed Tom Brady in a losing effort. This year, he outplayed not only Brady, but Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck and Colin Kaepernick to bring the title to Baltimore. Sure, I got on Joe when his efforts were less than the best; but we believed in him because he always had the potential to do what he did in this amazing playoff run. It was great to see the fans’ patience and belief rewarded.

Looking forward, I have to admit it will be strange to see the Ravens run out on the field without #52 doing his dance and getting the fans in a fever pitch. It also might be weird to see them without #20 deep in the defensive backfield. And there are several other Ravens who may not be back, as they are free agents or may leave. Matt Birk may retire. Cary Williams, Dannell Ellerbe, Paul Kruger (who also had a great run this postseason) and Dennis Pitta are all free agents the brain trust must make decisions as to whether to bring them back or let them go. And also there is the draft, with Ozzie Newsome and company looking to keep their reputation for shrewd, smart procurers of talent. Many pundits often mentioned that the Ravens defense was old-well they were old in some positions. But Haloti Ngata is in his prime. Terrell Suggs is nearing the end of his prime years, but the remaining linebackers are young. The defensive backfield may be the youngest group on that side of the ball, and was that way even with Reed. And the offense isn’t exactly old either. So the Ravens, with right moves and some tweaking, may still be a force going forward.

Favorites to return as champions? Probably not; I don’t think they would be picked even if they were as young as the San Francisco 49ers team they just defeated. But for this year, until they are either eliminated from playoff contention, knocked out of the postseason tournament or win it all again, they are the champs. And I couldn’t be more proud and pleased. So just like the power outage at the Superdome yesterday, the Ravens turned out the lights on the 2012 NFL season-a season that found them returning to glory.

Those horns may make you hurt something. My Lord. I saw a comment on YouTube (where I watched it a second time) that said that if it wasn’t for the horns, Ms. Allo (and I suppose by extension the song) would be dull as a sleeping pill. Well, that may or may not be the case; I happen to think the song is good. All I know is I was grooving through the whole song.

Truth of the matter is, this sounds like something Prince would toss off just as a matter of something for him to do. You can feel his influence in this. If you feel this, or if you think it’s not all that great-leave how you feel in the comments.

Wrap your ears around this new cover, and don’t be surprised if your head nods or your shoulders shrug.

On top of that, if you want to know how this cover came together, the group made this video showing how it all was created.

As always, leave your opinion in the comments.