EPISODE 282 - Sho Am Good

IMAGE CREDIT: “Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat” from Universal PicturesYou’re probably wondering right away what’s up with the racist cartoon at the left. I’ll do one of my famous top-of-the-show teases and tell you to stay tuned! Since we were away last week, we had a little catching up to do with regards to the Winter Olympics. More specifically, the rather bizarre conditions journalists ran into at their hotels when they arrived in Russia. From piss-colored drinking water to alleged “spy cameras” in the showers which one Russian official admitted were used to spy on western journalists but later backtracked on those comments. Then there’s Bob Costas’ Conjunctivitis. NBC journalists say their accommodations are great. So maybe Bob’s Pinkeye isn’t due to a poopy-pillowcase. He’s doing better now and will be back on-air tonight. Our live stream was Saturday, the day after Valentine’s Day and a recent study found that couples expect their significant others to spend a significant amount of money on them. An average of $240! That’s a far cry from the actual amount two lovers shell out. For men, they spend about $100 on their gal. And the ladies go a little less with just $70 for their man. The new DVDs this week include a snuff film. That’s all I’m gonna say. Another famous tease for you. Tune in for the details. And with no more IRON MAN films planned, at least for the immediate future, Jarvis is out of a job… or is he? Paul Bettany, the British voice behind the computerized butler/OS with whom Tony Stark banters, has landed another computerized Marvel role in THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON. He’ll be playing The Vision, an android created by Ultron. I couldn’t convince any of the guys to try a little visual test I ‘chanced upon’. It’s called the McCollough Effect and it’s believed that it can literally break your brain. The idea is that two colored squares with black lines through them can rewire how your brain processes colors and shapes if you stare at them long enough. A YouTube series showcasing the McCollough Effect recently went viral and explains how it all works. You could potentially be seeing apposing colors or no colors at all when tilting your head after you’ve gazed at the shapes for up to 15-minutes. It’s also reported that the rewiring can last for up to three months! The video, which includes the squares, is in the Show Links below. Try at your own risk. Something else you might want to try is changing your gender setting on Facebook. That is, if you don’t necessarily identify with the standard male/female options. Facebook recognized this might be the case for some of its users and has introduced 50 additional options like trans-gender, fluid-gender, androgynous and even neither. Now onto that racist cartoon. It comes via the Who Asked You? Cafe… a place we haven’t been in a while. First, in Washington DC, 7-Eleven is testing out a new product in conjunction with Doritos. They’re called Doritos Loaded and they’re what one Twitter user described as the texture of a mozzarella stick and the taste of a Nacho Cheese-flavored chip dipped in queso sauce. If you listen to the show, you live in DC and are a masochist, please sample these at your local 7-Eleven and report back to us. Meanwhile, a private high school in San Francisco decided to hold a feast in honor of Black History Month. The menu was simple and included fried chicken, cornbread and… watermelon. As you can imagine, this outraged parents and the school removed all three items from the planned meal. There are some questions here however that need answering. And answering them launches us into a spirited conversation. These foods are not “black people food”, they’re American foods popular in the southern states where they were often eaten by ALL people living there including African-Americans. The stereotype behind black people liking these specific things comes from the way they were depicted during the 30s and 40s like the cartoon image above which was taken from “Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat”. You can watch it in the Show Links below. The short is now in the public domain, but I’d like to give full credit where credit is most definitely due so that you know who made it. It was distributed by Universal Pictures. Walter Lantz, who created Woody Woodpecker claims he directed it. And Mel Blanc did some of the voices. The incredibly accurate depictions of black people in it were animated by Alex Lovy and Frank Tipper according to Wikipedia. THIS is why watermelon and fried chicken are associated with African-Americans the way they are today. Dennis doesn’t have a problem with watermelon being on this Black History Month menu. He says its delicious. Mike and Jabari aren’t convinced. This brings up another question: when are these foods offensive and when are they not? People are so easily offended these days it’s tough to predict what’ll set someone off. We offer up our suggestions for a proper Black History Month meal. They could always have Paula Deen cater it! And lastly, Toni Tennille of The Captain & Tennille might just “Shop Around” for a new husband. She has filed for divorce from The Captain whose real name is Daryl Dragon. She “Never Done It Like That” before as the couple has been married for nearly 40-years. “Love WON’T Keep Them Together” and it looks like The Captain will have a “Lonely Night” or two ahead of him and might “Need A Woman Tonight”. Okay, I’m done with the song title puns. Tennille says her feelings have changed over time. The Captain, on the other hand seems bewildered by the filing. It’s believed from reading the divorce documents it may be related to a medical condition The Captain has that’s preventing him from ticklin’ that Casio keyboard. That’s “Love On A Shoestring” I guess. I’m done now, I swear. Show Links: 2014 Winter Olympics Marvel.com: “Avengers: Age Of Ultron” IMDb: Paul Bettany Wikipedia: The McCollough Effect Change Your Gender On Facebook The Consumerist: Doritos & 7-Eleven Team Create Unholy Snack Food Alliance… The Captain & Tennille Lakemaid Beer