Monthly Archives July 2012

Sometimes kids say the damdest things. Sometimes they also do the damdest things, like pestering their parents to get with the program. Kudos to the Obama girls for getting their dad to get off the dime on LGBT marriage equality. It’s about time!

Do you know how much I LOVE Pam Grier??? I have got to get both of these for the Museum Of UnCut Funk Collection.

This is what President Obama thinks Congress should be working on before they take their summer vacation…I agree. Get to work! #CongressToDoList

Here is an updated, comprehensive list of what President Barack Obama has accomplished since he took office, in the face of unprecedented disrespect and obstruction from the opposition. Things to keep in mind as we are 100 days out from the election in November.

Here is a prototype for the show. The video has been retouched somewhat. The Sista ToFunky (Pam) mini-me character first pops up at 1:29, and then a couple more times throughout the video. This was one of the first videos that we did, so Pam has become more comfortable and natural in front of the camera in subsequent segments. Also, the lighting in the kitchen has since been upgraded, so future videos will not be so bright. We redid this one to show how we would accent the cooking tips throughout the show. Also, we have added the short animation and logo in the front.

What is a friend?  I’ve always said and still say that my love and friendship are eternal.  It’s just the way I’m built, the way I am, the way I was brought up.  Unfortunately not everyone holds this to be true.  Someone once said that “Friendship is the golden thread that ties the hearts of people around the world.”  According to “Google,” a friend is a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically exclusive of sexual or family relations.

Shit White Girls Say To Black Girls is a parity of a popular viral video series called Shit Girls Say. Franchesca Ramsey, the 28-year-old New York-based blogger, graphic designer, comedian and creator of the series wanted to make a video series that would make people laugh while hopefully opening some eyes. As you can imagine, when she introduced her videos earlier this year she received a lot of buzz, both good and bad.

A good number of Black people have heard it in some colloquial way. “Black folk don’t …” add your own phrase. Who defines this? That is complicated and complex but worth an attempt at an explanation. In some cases, “Black folks don’t” is a statistical fact. Black folk don’t go to the doctor in the numbers they should.

Sista ToFunky presents Carl Ziznewski, son of Maruchy, owner of Rebel Gummies, making his recipe for Mojito Jelly Shots. Rebel Gummies is where Molecular Gastronomy meets Mixology. Rebel Gummies is taking the gummy bears you loved as a kid to the next level! They make hand-crafted, alcohol-infused gummies in various yummy flavors, shapes and sizes. They will also make custom gummies for you. So make sure you check them out!!!

Here is Murchy’s recipe for Cuban style Arroz con Pollo.

Sherman Hemsley will best be remembered for his incomparable portrayal of George Jefferson, the short, militant, sharp-toungued, chauvinistic, politically incorrect, HNIC on the sitcom The Jeffersons.

I am an Olympics junkie. I especially love the summer Olympics, being a track and field fanatic, so this is one of my favorite times in sports. One of the things that I love most about the Olympics is hearing the stories of the athletes. Rarely in sports do you get the back story about the athletes and their struggles to make the team. Then you get to watch their journey as they strive to be the best they can be and beat the best in the world. A very compelling sports two-fer. Most of the stories center around personal triumph or tragedy. However, sometimes the stories are much bigger than the individual athlete and are of greater global importance. And sometimes these stories change history.

Larry Levan was the man that made NYC and the rest of the world move. He was the legendary mix master at The Paradise Garage, also known as The Garage to those of us who had the opportunity to dance there until the sun came up.

Soul Britannia is a three-episode documentary from BBC 4 that examines the dynamic impact of Black American and Caribbean sounds on British music and the very fabric of British society. From the 1950s to the present day, Soul Britannia investigates vinyl obsessions, Soul dancing, imitation, innovation and much more. Soul Britannia aired in July, 2007.

This film is the story of a cultural legend as told by the innovators of an important, and in some cases overlooked, era in Black culture. Spanning the late 1980′s through to the early 2000′s, this story goes deep into the fabric of soul music, it’s definitions, it’s pioneers, it’s offspring, it’s movements, the challenges with the “mainstream” industry and the evolution of the FunkJazz Kafé, a music and arts movement born of Atlanta’s diverse musical heritage.

Here is a really good documentary on the history of house music, NOT TECHNO, but the real origins of real house music.

The Montgomery Story comic book was commissioned by the Fellowship of Reconciliation with the permission of Martin Luther King, Jr. The actual creators of the comic are unknown and the artist is said to be a blacklisted comic artist of the time. The purpose of the comic was to spread the message of nonviolence and to get the word out about the Montgomery Bus Boycott. You can read this comic below.

One of the things that was really cool about the 1970′s was the Kung Fu flicks that I used to watch on TV and in the theaters. I recently discovered a really cool martial arts based online comic series called Urban Shogun. The minute I saw this work, created by Mase, I knew it would be a great fit for the Aesthetic Grooves blog.

I’m a huge fan of Anthony Bourdain. I have religiously watched A Cook’s Tour, No Reservations and The Layover. So as a collector of graphic novels and comic books I’m very excited to get my hands on a copy of Get Jiro!…I hope you are too.

The Hanna-Barbera cartoon series the Harlem Globetrotters aired from Sept 1970 through Oct 1971. Gold Key created a 12-issue comic book series for cartoon that ran from April 1972 through January 1975. You can see all of the covers from this series in one of our previous blog posts. You can read Issue 7, from October 1973 below.