Music in the A.M.

Have You Heard of Kris Kross? These 90s Teen Hip-Hop Stars Endured Fame and Tragedy

The teen hip-hop duo known for wearing their clothing backwards had everyone jumping in the early 1990s.

By Angela Johnson

If you were around in the 1990s, you’ve probably heard of Kris Kross, the pint-sized rap group that had everyone wearing their clothes backwards and moving to their mega hit “Jump.”

With the help of producer Jermaine Dupri, friends Chris “Mac Daddy” Kelly and Chris “Daddy Mac” Smith started a cultural phenomenon. But it wasn’t long before issues with their image and battles with drug addiction brought their success to a screeching halt. We wanted to take a look back at the careers of these talented teens and the impact they made during their time in the spotlight.

This is the story of Kris Kross. (snip-click through; there’s a slide show with captions. Ah, youth! And we were all younger, too.)

Breakfast and supper on Wednesday. Started on Thursday and finished on Friday.

As some viewers know as my health has been failing over the last couple of years and Ron is starting to show his age also, so we have been spending a lot more time together doing things.  Also I have been not able to spend as much time on the blog as I used to and love doing.  So this morning as a treat to Ron I made a good sized breakfast for us.  Normally breakfast in our home is a catch as catch can.  I normally have leftovers from the supper meal as normally I am unable to eat at night, and Ron cooks grand supper.    Ron normally has a breakfast he cooks / makes for himself.  

I asked him if he would like an egg scramble with bacon and sausage, with a side of toast.  He said he would love it.  So I took a bunch of thick sliced bacon out of the meat drawer of the refrigerator and also some small link sausage from both that place and the freezer below.  Then I prepared two trays that have grill racks over them and on one I placed 8 or 9 long strips of bacon, and on the other I put 10 small sausage links.  I had preheated our very large Black and Decker counter oven.  It is similar to a toaster oven only much larger.  I put the bacon in first at 450.  

While the bacon cooked I got the eggs cracked and put into bowls.  3 eggs in each bowl.  I use a heavy knife on the sharp edge to crack the eggshell then they easily open the shell with no eggshells into the bowls.  I find it works best if the eggs and shells are very cold.  Into the bowls of eggs I add a heavy splash of water.  Enough to make the eggs cook up fluffy but not leave water in the cooked eggs.  Then I set them aside to put the sausage in the oven with the bacon.  The thing about cooking sausage in the oven instead of on the stove in a pan is the sausage come out fully cooked but still juicy and soft.  

Once the meat was cook Ron chopped what we both wanted in our scrambles, and I combined the meat and eggs in a small sauce pot.  Ron had me put chopped opinion and peppers in his.   I use a hard spatula like the kind you would frost a cake with not the kind that flip burgers, to stir the eggs and meats together and make scramble eggs.  I started the toast as the stuff on the stove cooked up.   Just before the eggs finished cooking the toast popped up so I buttered them and called Ron to come get his food.  Even though I was happy to make the food I again was unable to my egg scramble, I ate my one piece of toast with grape jam on it.  I put the scramble in the fridge for another time.  I ate it the next morning and it was great.  

During the afternoon I took another nap.  This is now being written on Friday.  So for supper that Wednesday I had the idea of taking the red sauce I had made the day before to make supper in a different way.  I told Ron my idea and he agreed it sounded great.  So we took an 8 X 11 baking pan and spread a layer of red sauce on the bottom of the pan.  The idea was to use the chicken patties we normally fry to make chicken Parmesan, just with a different cheese.  I took six patties and place them in the pan sort of pushing them a third of their height into the sauce.  Then set in the oven to bake.  When nearly done we took provolone and layered in on the chicken and put them back in the oven.  Serve with spaghetti and sauce.  Great.  

Thursday morning we got up to a rainy cold day … again.  But we needed groceries and I had decided it was better now to go with Ron to help him.  He is 70 and not walking well.  Plus while he is still smart, he does have periods of confusion and gets slow to think or respond.  He complains of becoming very forgetful.  To be honest I am the same way. I will 62 very soon.   But he likes me to drive when possible and he likes the comfort of me being there for him.  

So we went and spent all morning filling a grocery cart at Walmart.   Some people say that you don’t save any money there and some say you do.  Ron has the patience to stand there and compare price and size, unit price, and get the best deal.  I can not do this.  But I walk with him, talk to him, keep him company, watch our cart when he needs to go get something or his back is too it.  I have seen people take stuff from other peoples carts or drop stuff in them.  Ron had one of my dragon canes stolen when he had his back to the cart comparing prices.  Turned back and the cane was gone. We have a game to guess the cost after it is wrung up on the register.  I guessed 260 but he felt it would be well over 325.  It came to 257 and change.   

We were to go to another store but by the time we got everything put away both of use were tired so decided to go this morning.  Temps are better so far than yesterday which had feel like temps in the 30s.  This morning we have feel like temps of 41 degrees.   The high is to be in the 50s.  We plan to hit three small stores and then going to the big flooring store in Fort Myers to pick out the new flooring for the Florida room that I will soon be moving into to.  I am leaning toward a light floor.  The walls are a soft cream, the molding / trim a light tan / brown.  Just enough of a difference to show up but not startling.  The north long wall of almost 30 feet is entirely windows except for three feet at the bottom of the windows, even the turn to the east facing wall which has another large window and French doors made of mostly insulated glass panes in a wooden heavy frame.  The room is very bright and cheery.  Because the door going outside is to the carport and on the same level we were thinking a brown.  But once I saw the shocking difference between the light and dark … I think I want a light floor.  I am thinking a white marble with gray whirls.  Ron thinks it will always look dirty even when not.  So maybe we will go with a tan or light gray?  That is why I have not done much on the blog or computer since Tuesday.  Hugs.  

Mostly civilians were killed in IDF attack on Lebanon village, BBC finds

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgrn0nwn0eqo

Best Wishes and Hugs,
Scottie

And As Soon As I Stop Posting, There’s Another!

View Post

Scary Gary by Mark Buford for January 23, 2025

Scary Gary Comic Strip for January 23, 2025

https://www.gocomics.com/scarygary/2025/01/23

Wallace the Brave by Will Henry for January 23, 2025

Wallace the Brave Comic Strip for January 23, 2025

Wallace the Brave by Will Henry for January 22, 2025

Wallace the Brave Comic Strip for January 22, 2025

https://www.gocomics.com/wallace-the-brave/2025/01/22

WuMo by Wulff & Morgenthaler for January 23, 2025

WuMo Comic Strip for January 23, 2025

https://www.gocomics.com/wumo/2025/01/23

Because They Made Me and Ollie Laugh-

Close to Home by John McPherson for January 23, 2025

Close to Home Comic Strip for January 23, 2025

https://www.gocomics.com/closetohome/2025/01/23

Dark Side of the Horse by Samson for January 23, 2025

Dark Side of the Horse Comic Strip for January 23, 2025

https://www.gocomics.com/darksideofthehorse/2025/01/23

Get Fuzzy by Darby Conley for January 23, 2025

Get Fuzzy Comic Strip for January 23, 2025

https://www.gocomics.com/getfuzzy/2025/01/23

Jim Benton Cartoons by Jim Benton for January 23, 2025

Jim Benton Cartoons Comic Strip for January 23, 2025

https://www.gocomics.com/jim-benton-cartoons/2025/01/23

(Not as funny, but good, so here it is:)
Brian McFadden for January 20, 2025

Brian McFadden Comic Strip for January 20, 2025

https://www.gocomics.com/brian-mcfadden/2025/01/2

Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for January 22, 2025

Pearls Before Swine Comic Strip for January 22, 2025
  • Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for January 23, 2025
Pearls Before Swine Comic Strip for January 23, 2025

https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2025/01/23

Bits of a Couple of Pieces I Found Late, Right Before Bedtime

Fast radio burst found in an old, dead galaxy for the first time

A new discovery adds to the mystery of the source of fast radio bursts.

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are extremely energetic pulses of radio-frequency light which travels across the universe that last just a few seconds or even milliseconds.

Radio telescope array under night sky
Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME). Credit: CHIME, Andre Renard, Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto.

More than 1,000 FRBs have been reported since the first was discovered in 2007. (snip-More; click the title see it all.)

=======================================================

Godless Libs Of Tulsa, OK, City Council To No Longer Force Jesus On People Just Trying To Attend Their Meetings by Rebecca Schoenkopf

Good for you Tulsa, Oklahoma! Read on Substack

Tulsa City Council Facebook Page

The City Council of Tulsa, Oklahoma — faced with the choice of upsetting Christian Republican legislators or making non-Christian community members feel like they didn’t belong — voted 8-0 (with one abstaining) this week to eliminate the practice of starting each meeting with a prayer invocation.

Now, instead of invocations, there will be a moment of silence, so that everyone will have to sit there and feel uncomfortable instead of just those whose religion is not represented by the opening prayer.

As Hemant Mehta of Friendly Atheist reports, this all started last year after the invocation was delivered by Amy Hardy-McAdams, co-owner and creator of the Strawberry Moon Herbal Apothecary & Ritual Center in Broken Arrow. Hardy-McAdams, who described herself as “a Third-Degree High Priestess of the Artemisian Faerie Faith Tradition of Witchcraft” (which I’m sure is a real thing), was invited by retiring City Councilmember Crista Patrick, who also happened to be a Pagan and wished to see her faith represented at the meeting just as Christianity had been. (snip-More; the statements from the Gov and Schools Supt. are worth the click by themselves, but the entire thing is gold!)

Peace & Justice History for 1/23

The 1970 entry reminded me of how, during the W admin in 2001 before and after the plane crashes and USA PATRIOT, Bartcop used to mention and link Paul Krassner’s site (now gone, of course. A great deal about him is gone online, but I found a link to something still up. Anyway.) Anyway, he was hilarious for his time, and wrote a great resistance blog during a few years back then. It was cheering. So here’s the 23rd’s history:

January 23, 1890
The United Mine Workers of America was formed through the amalgamation of the National Progressive Union (organized 1888) and the mine locals under the Knights of Labor, including all workers in the coal industry. The workers faced unstable employment, the prevalence of company towns (where the mine owners controlled all housing and commerce), and extremely hazardous working conditions.
UMWA history 
January 23, 1962

Fifteen members of the Committee of 100, the non-violent direct action wing of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), sat in at the British House of Commons demanding a halt to nuclear weapons testing.

CND history 
January 23, 1970
Called as witnesses, folksingers Judy Collins, Arlo Guthrie, Country Joe McDonald, Phil Ochs, and Pete Seeger were denied permission to sing as part of their testimony for the defense at the trial of “The Chicago Seven.”
Seven leaders of demonstrations at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago were being tried for conspiring to incite a riot as they protested the Vietnam war.


Judy Collins, Arlo Guthrie, Country Joe McDonald, Phil Ochs, and Pete Seeger
More on the Chicago 7 
Paul Krassner’s quite irreverent recollection of testifying at the trial 
January 23, 1973
President Richard Nixon announced a Vietnam peace deal. The president appeared on national television and said that National Security Adviser Henry A. Kissinger and North Vietnam’s chief negotiator, Le Duc Tho, had initialed an agreement in Paris “to end the war and bring peace with honor in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.”
The agreement had actually been initialed six days beforehand.

Henry A. Kissinger and Le Duc Tho initial the agreement.
Read more 
Listen to Nixon’s announcement 
January 23, 1976
The Continental Walk for Disarmament & Social Justice began in Ukiah, California, heading for Washington, D.C. Its purposes were “to raise the issue of disarmament through unilateral action . . . to educate about nonviolent resistance as a means superior to armament . . . and to demonstrate how global and domestic and economic problems are interconnected with militarism and the causes of war . . . .”

Initiated by the War Resisters League, and co-sponsored by the Fellowship of Reconciliation, American Friends Service Committee, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Catholic Peace Fellowship, Clergy and Laity Concerned, SANE, and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, the walk took 10 months and covered 8,000 miles through 34 states.
Comprehensive archive of the walk: 

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryjanuary.htm#january23

AM Nature Science

I saw this title in a couple of places first thing, and thought it’s a great way to get started! Enjoy. -A

Sunfish that got sick after aquarium closed has recovered — thanks to human cutouts

By  MARI YAMAGUCHI Updated 8:27 AM CST, January 22, 2025

TOKYO (AP) — A solitary sunfish at an aquarium in southwestern Japan lost its appetite, began banging into the side of the fishtank and appeared unwell days after the facility closed last month for renovations. As a last-ditch measure to save the popular fish, its keepers hung their uniforms and set up human cutouts outside the tank.

The next morning, the sunfish ate for the first time in about a week and has been steadily recovering, said Moe Miyazawa, an aquarist at the Kaikyokan aquarium in Shimonoseki.

The large sunfish arrived at the aquarium in February 2024 from the southern coast of Kochi in the Pacific Ocean. The sunfish, a member of the blowfish family known for its unique shape and big eyes, became one of the most popular attractions at the facility.

When the sunfish began looking unwell days after the aquarium closed on Dec. 1 for a six-month renovation, its keepers suspected digestive problems, gave it less food and visited the fish tank to comfort the sunfish when there was construction noise, but to no avail.

Then at a staff meeting, one person suggested that the sunfish might have been affected by the sudden absence of an audience.

“We were skeptical but decided to do anything we could,” Miyazawa said. They hung their uniforms and placed human-shaped cutouts with photos of smiling faces outside the tank to cheer on the fish, Miyazawa said.

“I knew (the sunfish) was looking at us when we were placing them, but I never thought it would start eating the next day,” Miyazawa said, beaming. The staff now visit more often and wave at the sunfish.

The aquarium keepers say they hope many fans will return to see the sunfish when the aquarium reopens in the summer.

Another Resource

I read the free Democracy Docket; it’s good, but not complete. However, on items like this, everyone can see it. The more of this sort of thing we have, the better.

https://www.democracy2025.org/

We will fight for people, freedom, and our democracy against any odds

Democracy 2025 is the strategic hub to protect people and their rights should the Trump-Vance administration seek to unlawfully strip away freedoms and prosperity.

We know the playbook, and we’re ready to fight back

The threats are no longer hypothetical. The effort to turn Project 2025 and other dangerous plans into action has begun.

We’ve planned for this moment. In courtrooms and communities across the country, we will use all the tools our Constitution provides to defend our rights and achieve a democracy that works for all people. (snip-Go Visit! Bookmark it, use it, and do what you can.)

Good News