Month: March 2017

Bringing Up Ballers – Review of Episodes 1 and 2

In the spirit of March Madness, I find it only appropriate to discuss the hot ass mess (but I like it) of a tv show called Bringing Up Ballers that airs on Lifetime.  This show is based out of Chicago and features five mothers of young men  that aspire to be NBA players one day.  Similar to other reality shows, the cast features a THOT girl, a mean girl, a nice girl,  a friend with everyone girl, and a loud girl!

The plot is that these women are for the most part Kris Kardashian’s in the making.  They’ll do pretty much doing by any means necessary to advance their son’s future basketball careers.

As one mother Peytyn aka THOT Girl stated,  she’ll do anything to help her son including sleep with a coach if it will get her son in the NBA.  Oh really now?  Well spoiler alert, she doesn’t disappoint and pretty much admits to having a fling with one of the other mom’s (Heather) ex-husband.  Of course Heather doesn’t know about her. And why should she?  She is divorced! Unless, it went down while they were still married?  Is the ratchetness starting to get slightly intoxicating?  I know right!

Another mom, Johanna aka Mean Girl models (I guess) on the side and is anxious to post her swim suit pics on the internet despite being advised by Nikki aka “Friend with Everyone Girl” that it could actual hurt more than help her son’s basketball future.  Well, she may not make the runways of Fashion Week in Paris but, she sure makes a hell of a good instigator! Johanna is spilling tea, dropping dimes (definitely dropping her cell phone, the face is all cracked on episode 1),  and playing coach on the basketball court while training players.

Tiffany aka White Chocolate aka Loud Girl is not afraid to clap back at anyone that has something to say about her son from the suburbs.  She’ll let you know that she’s loud and proud when it comes to her son, 24 / 7 on and off the court.  She caught me off guard and might be a standout. Watch out Kim Zolciak Biermann!

Because it’s Chi Town AAU basketball, these ladies know each other through the circuit and clearly there’s no love loss between them.

Heather is the Nice Girl who has a daughter that apparently is hella good at b-ball but, has left the game to play v-ball.  Being the daughter of a former NBA player, the apple of his eye and NOT playing the game of basketball appears to be the Elephant in  the room, in the car and everywhere else on this show.  Including the THOT knowing about the entire situation with his daughter and bragging to anyone that will listen.

Honorable Mentions:

Nikki aka “Friend with Everyone Girl” who knows most of the moms, appears to be the level headed one who is trying to promote unity for the sake of the goal of getting these boys to the next level.  I’m expecting her to turn-up over the next 4 episodes.  Stay tuned!

The cast includes:

  • Real estate broker Nikki Burnett and Morgan Park High School’s Nimari Burnett
  • Real estate agent Johanna Edelberg and Skinner West Elementary School’s Amari Bailey
  • Tiffany Thigpen, who runs Big Thig Customs and Auto Repair in Chicago Heights, and Romeoville High School’s Mike Salter
  • Peytyn Willborn, who owns Truth Italian Restaurant in Bronzeville, and George Willborn, a freshman player for the University of Texas at San Antonio Roadrunners and De La Salle Institute alumnus
  • Heather Williams, founder of the Glam Luxe Hair Extensions company, she was formerly married to NBA player Aaron Williams who is a Washington Wizards alum, and their children Danyelle, Cameron and Aaron Jr.
#BringingUpBallers
#Lifetime

A week to remember in the world of Hip Hop (Remy Ma vs Nicki Minaj)

Where are my real hip hop heads at?  Over the past week or so,  social media including radio have not been able to stop talking about Remy Ma’s diss track called “Shether” which goes in on Nicki Minaj.   Talk about a lethal blow.  At a minimum, if Nicki was to be hospitalized she’d be placed in ICU.  As quiet as crickets on a summer night, Nicki did not respond the week following the release of this track.

Kicking the back door in, Remy Ma released another diss track called “Another One”, further calling Nicki out!  Okay, so Nicki feeling some kind of way decides to attack in a different way. Allegedly, she reached out to friends in the industry and low and behold the media announces that the publishing rights to Shether do not belong to Remy but, to another artist (Nas).  He shuts the whole damn thing down! As a result, Remy can’t perform the song, she cannot make any money off of it and to make matters worse; someone allegedly reached out to her Parole Officer citing that Remy is violating her parole with the words (threats) mentioned in  her diss tracks against Nicki.  Is your mouth on the floor yet? If so, pick it up and keep reading!

Where I am from (NY), this is straight up bullshit!  Now, Remy’s out everywhere trying to keep her ass out of jail and keep her pockets wet at the same time. Expressing regrets in regards to going in on another woman and exposing her (whether it be true or  not).  Allegedly, she literally exposed Nicki in half-naked pictures before cosmetic enhancements on a social media,

Now, Remy is talking of women empowerment etc…Yeah, yeah, yeah! We already know, you (Remy) do what you have to do!  Your parole won’t last forever and we all got bills to pay.

So today, Nicki releases apparently 3 songs in a late but, feeble attempt to clap back at Remy. The first  track is called “No Frauds” and features Drake and Lil Wayne.  On a scale of “1 – 10”, it’s a “6”.  Why did I rate it so low? Because, she called on her big brothers to bail her out!  That’s why! Why did she get the two of them involved? Some may say family support (they’re all part of the Young Money label).  I say they got involved for the money.  Here’s an opportunity for 3 popular artists to profit off of not one but, three different fan bases.  Do you see the money just flowing?

Well, it appears as thought that the feud is over.  All I know is that Remy better NOT, do a damn collaboration with Nicki. This would surely be the death of her career.  In an industry where the artists, beats, the lyrics, fashion and all things related to music are constantly changing; will we hear anymore female diss tracks in the near future?  If so, I recommend that before that happens that these young and old female MCs’ do their homework.  They need to listen to the diss track between Roxanne Shante vs. Sparky Dee.  These two went at it! BY THEMSELVES! No collaboration with other artists, just them!  You can barely hear the beat but, the lyrics are tight!  These ladies repped real Hip Hop!

Have we forgot to learn from our history?  Or from the saying, “don’t bring a knife to a gun fight”. Only time will tell what will happen next but, damn the world of Hip Hop needed this past week!  At least I know I did.

 

The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins

The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins.  This is a highly recommended book that can transform your life!  How would like to improve your daily productivity by simply counting backwards saying “5, 4, 3, 2, 1” and then taking action?  Mel uses her own personal experiences and the testimonies of the many people that have used the 5 Second Rule to transform themselves.  “Real talk” testimonies that will resonate with you and thwart you into taking action ASAP!  It’s like the Honey Combs commercials from back in the day, where a mom / dad puts a bowl of foreign looking / tasting cereal in front of their son named Mikey and the whole family stands around waiting to see if he likes it or not…well guess what?  He LIKED it!  That is exactly how the “5,4,3,2,1” rule makes you feel after trying it and you see that it works.  You don’t just like it, you LOVE it!  You will love how you feel and your brain is going  to act like it’s on steroids and will tell you to “feed me” more!  I know  I might be saying and doing to much with this review but, this book has primed my pump and I feel like a person that has just been given the winning numbers for the Mega Millions lottery.  Ha!

Let me get grounded again. You’re probably asking how did I find out about this AWESOME book?  Well, I stumbled upon this book title on www.audible.com. I love listening to audio books.  After viewing that this book had close to a 5 star rating, read what it was about. I had a strong feeling that this book would change my life forever.

I feel that you must meet a few conditions before diving into this book.  Mel @melrobbins, keep me honest and let me know if I left anything out.  I so, hope that you get to read my blog entry. For The 5 second rule to work for you, you have to be willing to invest in yourself, take a risk by committing to do something different, and then following through.  That’s it! Just a couple of things to improve your life forever!  The return on your investment will be the best money and time you’ve ever spent on yourself.  I promise!

Gotta go!  Anxious to getting back to listening to The 5 Second Rule  for a second time…Bye!

#melrobbins
@melrobbins
#5SecondRule

A Day Without A Woman 2017

Where do I start? Today was “A Day Without A Woman” and “International Women’s Day”. The purpose of A Day Without A Woman was to demonstrate the vital role that women play in both the domestic and global economy.  I read that if every woman was to have taken today off it would have been equivalent to $21 Billion of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product)…In my Rihanna voice Who’s Gonna Run This Town?  Clearly women do! Women make up over 46 percent of the U.S. Workforce…If you participated today by attending a rally, wore red in solidarity,  covered for a woman so that she could participate in a rally, and / or did your part anonymously, “THANK YOU”!

The Inauguration of the you “Cannot Make This Up” Blog!

Hello World!  This is my first blog and I am super excited to share my everyday experiences, real life scenarios / situations,  somewhat disturbing interactions, great moments etc. on so many different levels and with so many people from all walks of life, where I can truly say “you cannot make this up.”  I often will do a self swirl with my index finger around myself and say the same thing “you cannot make this up” just because I have the gift of making people laugh, look at me in amazement for most likely doing something or saying something off  the wall, tripping over my feet, coming up with some random word or words to describe someone / something in order to seize the moment so that I can basically talk about people while in the presence of others without them even knowing that I’m talking about them.  I know it sounds a tad cray but, believe when I say that I can be so entertaining! Hence, why you “cannot make this up”.

My goal with my blog is to provide some level of the humor, most likely off the wall type of humor to someone or to people that do not take themselves or life too seriously…I mean who wants to go through life being serious all the time?  I know I don’t!

I would like to think that the people that associate with me (i.e. my husband, friends that I can count on my fingers, and a few work associates) knew what they were signing up for when the accepted me in their life.  Unfortunately, my  children do not have a choice at least, till age 18 to put up with their “oh” so different; in a good way, mother.

If you couldn’t tell by the categories in my Menu, I have a lot to contribute on a plethora of various topics.  I enjoy using the word “plethora” any chance I can because it’s such a cool word that when said correctly, provides not only a certain level of emphasis but, also attitude all wrapped up in one little word.  In a “valley girl” kind of way (“As If”).  If you got that, you’re my peoples!

So, beware that you have a former spelling bee champion (from Catholic School) that will use vocabulary words that you probably have not seen nor heard since grammar school,  pretty randomly or throughout my blogs.

Now, close your eyes and take your index finger, swirl it in a circle (like your making a Halo) near the top of your head and say “you cannot make this up”!

Now it’s official, your now a part of the you “Cannot Make This Up” Club!  Cheers to your addiction to reading my blog as often as you can and laughing your Tuchus off!

P.S.

My privacy disclaimer is that all non video blogs on “all of the above” will often times have fictitious names to protect the anonymity (LOVE Vocabulary) of the people being referenced…and I will never sell your information to third parties.