Who Was the White Gang Leader In "Beat It"?

On my drive to work yesterday morning, I was doing the usual, hitting the Scan button on the radio, probably out of habit. I stopped it when I heard those familiar notes of "Beat It" by Michael Jackson.  


I usually change the station when MJ comes on.  Not because I don't like him but his stuff has put treads on the airwaves.  Yes, I can indeed get too much of a good thing.


I was transported to being 13 years old, when Mtv still did their damn job and didn't ignore the "v" in their name.  I remember the house we lived in, I remember the kiss up against an elevator wall while skipping school that happened at about this time.  The amazing thing being that I still kiss that guy....and it's just as good.  (Kids can't get away with diddly crap these days like we could back then!  Latchkey Who?)  


What stood out to me the most was that white gang leader who busted out into non-tough guy choreography.  I wasn't sure but I thought he was rather cute back then.  But who was that masked with a five o'clock shadow man!?


Turns out, this man is Vincent Paterson.  He was the man who willingly stuck his wrist out in the "Beat It" video in order to be tied to the the rival gang leader so that they could dance and air stab each other for a couple of rounds.  Vinny, (may I call you Vinny?) also choreographed Michael's "Bad" Tour, along with "Dancer in the Dark" (can you say Bjork?) and Madonna's "Blonde Ambition" Tour.  The last that I see him being a part of currently is a judge on Bravo's Step it up and Dance (which now I want to see of course!  Ah, nostalgia breeds curiosity...). 


What I never knew about this video was that MJ wanted to bring down the rivalry of two Los Angeles gangs, the Crips and Bloods.  He figured if he could get them to do the video together, it might weld a sort of bond.  So he had 80 gang members along with 18 professional dancers and four whole break dancers.  I'm feeling a high score on the Impressed portion of this program.  What an awesome concept!  A tasteful way to do reality tv without actually doing reality tv!


What I'm not clear on is if Vinny choreographed "Beat It".  Was it he who decided the rival gang member would show up via forklift?  Or that one gang member would abruptly leave his bar stool, yank his girlfriend's head back by her hair and kiss her before putting his beer down and following the leader out the door to "this ain't no Truth of Dare"?

How Ripe Can Bananas be for Banana Bread

Another blog of mine that needs the dust blown off of it.  I am ashamed at my neglect!  Therefore, I should eat something!  Ah, here's a nice recipe for vegan banana bread with blueberries in it.  Only too bad the bananas that I have are still yellow.  I'll wait until they turn brown.


5 days later....


Well they're brown all right.  Is that WET that I see on the skin?  Can I still use these?  How ripe is ripe for banana bread?  


I'm calling Google.  


As it turns out, they can be pretty damn brown.  And gross looking. I guess we would draw the line if there were any type of mold on the skin.  So we mashed those babies up and the heavens opened up any jars of "f**king awesome" they had so we could smell the greatness down here on the earth...in my kitchen, when the oven door opened.  


Check out the video to see how gross you can really push the limit to.  THAT'S a pile of ripe bananas.  Don't fear.  Just eat.  

Pickles and Ice Cream

I found out recently that my daughter and her honey are having a baby. At 41, I could still be having babies myself! In fact, my daughter was not patient enough for me to be more than 17 when I had her. Things to do, art to create and babies to make.

The subject will naturally turn to symptoms, the good, the bad, the fugly and the cravings. Which somehow led me down the path of Where did the idea of pickles and ice cream come from to stereotype cravings for pregnant women?

I thought this might possibly be something that could have started when “I Love Lucy” was around. Maybe some weird patriarchal society type thoughts. But admittingly, I am slightly perplexed. Google usually can answer any question that I have. When I can’t find the answer, it blows my mind. Like how can it NOT be out there? There HAS to be a history to this.
Wisegeek.com tells me that survey data suggests that women experience increased cravings for salty and sour flavors in the advanced stages of pregnancy, and sweets are often desired in the early stages. Bitter foods in the first trimester *can* signal the presence of a toxin which could hurt the fetus.

Of course psychologically, it can be depicted as a possible self-fulfilling prophecy.
Either way, it is noted that this combo craving is comparatively rare. I have to agree….I don’t know anyone who had such a craving.

In fact, I clearly remember with Miz Eye, I was craving deep fried chicken nuggets in the first tri. And then almost immediately, it was like a window slammed down on my gag reflex and one day I simply couldn’t stand the aroma….a trend that would continue until she was born.

With my 2nd daughter, the Humanling, I was 29 and pregnant as opposed to being 17. An interesting contrast for me. While some things were easier, some were slightly more challenging. Cravings in this case had to do with things that were not edible. Or shouldn’t have been. I yell at the cat for trying to gnaw on the metal faucets that are installed in the wall behind the toilet. But during that 2nd pregnancy, my cravings were bizarre. I noticed one day that walking into the basement was like a Baskin-Robbins to my Ol-factory. The smells of pipes, stone, paint, mustiness were something I had to inhale daily. Another one was sediment. The water fountains at my job at the time spouted water that had a sediment-pipey taste. I chugged it. I couldn’t get enough. If I could have eaten a plate of moist dirt I would have.

It wasn’t until years later that I found out there is a name for this type of craving – pica, which is a syndrome (a syndrome!!!! I was AFFLICTED by a syndrome for cripes sake!) in which people eat or crave things which are actually inappropriate for eating. The gist being that these cravings may actually stem from malnutrition or pathological factors. I don’t need to know what mine stemmed from. Let’s pretend we never had this conversation.

But back to the pickles and ice cream theory. According to Articlealley.com almost 68% of women crave for ice cream and pickles…however – do they mean together or independently of each other?

There is even a chain maternity store named Pickles and Ice Cream….and I’m reading that they are the oldest and largest in its field.

Now I really feel out of the loop. It’s all a myth to my particular chemistry….no pickle topped dulce de leche for me. No Vlasic and Haagen Daas marriage in my bowl. And to boot, the chain store has never infiltrated my brain until now. What next, I’ll start calling boneheads “Bucko” to seal the deal and own the keys to my brand new unhipness?

Ogling Oogle

You could have random thoughts all throughout history. And then you could simply wither away and die pondering them. WE are the lucky, the advanced, the ones with Google. Pretty much anything you’ve ever wondered has an answer out there on the internet. I admit, I can be whirring along in Corporate America Village (yes, Village. I like it to be quaint if I have to be there.) and one of those bizarre out of nowhere questions strikes me. It’s a brain-jolt that reminds me that I live in an era where I’ve slogged through the library and thumbed through the card catalog. I KNOW what that mental walk uphill on razorblades with two Indian Elephants on my shoulders is like in comparison with having Google in my life.

I don’t try to hide my cyber crush on any website. I’ve got my segregation of types. My book site crush – hands down is Amazon.com. Amazon is probably my biggest website crush. However, my search engine crush goes to Google. I’m on Facebook constantly but there’s no crush. Facebook is a NEED.

But Google….ah, sweet, find my answer in mere seconds Google. The best I can do for it is to click in appreciative adoration.

So that’s really what this blog is about. All those burning and deep thoughts that I can merely type in….touch upon Akasha on the net and pull up an actual answer. At least most of the time…unless I’m having an original thought (how rare) that no one has Internetly documented.
My first post then is going to give a nod to a question from 11th grade back in 1986.

We had this teacher who, God love her, dealt with a class of disinterested delinquents. The class was Astronomy. I transferred from Chemistry because I realized that I truly suck with numbers. And if I don’t, then I’m simply so disinterested that my brain has sealed over a barrier that doesn’t allow computations to go on beyond the simple four. My job for the last 12 years you ask? Accounts Receivable.

In this class were the lazy, the bored, the easy A’s. In fact , we were given a report to do on the solar system. I actually still had a report that I did in 3rd grade on the solar system. I simply left my 8 year old drawings on the report and re-printed in 16 year old handwriting, the exact words that I wrote 8 years earlier.

Yeah, that pretty much is the epitome of slothiness. But it was graded and I passed.
People took too much advantage of this poor teacher and she did not have the confidence to aggressively tame the pack.

One day someone in the classroom asked a question.

What would happen if you shot a gun on the moon?

For whatever reason, this question really grazed her britches. She gave that person detention. I was under the impression that she thought she was being messed with. No matter how many times the kid reiterated and even had back up from the rest of us, she refused to answer.
So guess what. I never got an answer. I graduated high school, had 2 babies, and have a Grand Fetus at the moment. But I still don’t know the answer to that question.

Now I will.

After checking around on a few links, I’ve decided to go with the one with an EDU after the “dot”. Now no one, as far as I know, has ever actually done this. So it’s all a guesstimate.

Curious About Astronomy has answered, after creating an equation that resembles R = v^2 * sin (2a) / g , that holds hands with a couple of others, that “neglecting air resistance, the bullet will go about 6 times farther on the moon than on Earth. Once you take air resistance into account, the moon bullet has an even bigger advantage!”

Would I still in be Accts Receivable if I had just known the answer to that in 1986?