Reed Behind the Lines Tonight
Filed under: Blog Entries, Entertainment & Sports, Family
Watching some reruns of the Cosby Show this weekend, I learned about a new Cosby-like show on BET starring Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Tracee Ellis Ross called Reed Behind the Lines. I try to support quality black TV shows when they premiere, so I’ll be watching to see if it lives up to the hype.
I was listening to Malcolm pub the show on the Tom Joyner Morning Show yesterday and he piqued my interest. I have a special place in my heart for the Cosby Show because everywhere I went as a kid, I had to hear the “Theo Huxtable” references regarding my name. I didn’t mind the attention, but sometimes it got old.
According to the show’s website Reed Between the Lines follows a modern-day blended family as they navigate life’s ups and downs with wit and humor. According to Warner, BET has signed the show for a full season. It’s good to see BET making the move to get family shows on the network.
Reed Behind the Lines debuts tonight (October 11th) at 9pm CST. Check out the video below for a sneak peak of the show.
The Wiggles Experience
So last week my wife and I took our boys to the Wiggles concert. Before kids, I used to laugh at parents who had to watch the videos and listen to songs all day long. Six years later, I find myself singing these same songs with my kids and wondering what toppings I’d like on my Wiggly Waffle.
The Wiggle Experience was definitely one to remember. As expected, there was lots of singing and dancing to all the different songs from the Wiggles’ repertoire. But what impressed me most was the number of dads in the audience. I’m always impressed with how fatherhood has changed over the years. There was a time when you couldn’t drag a guy to an event like this, but I saw dads just like me, dancing and singing right along with the kids.
All the time, I was thinking “the things I do for these boys”. And to close out the night, my youngest made a personal request to hear ALL the same songs over again on the way home (thanks Rhapsody). I never would have seen myself doing something like this before kids, but it makes me happy to see them happy. They had fun and we got to spend a memorable event with them. Creating memories. That’s what it’s all about and that’s why I do things I never thought I’d do.
The only downer was Jeff (the purple Wiggle) was missing for the first time in 20 years. They said he’d had surgery to add a pacemaker and was doing fine. Get well Jeff!
President Obama’s Weekly Address – 06/18/11
Filed under: Blog Entries, Community, Family, Life, Obama, Relationships, Society & Culture
I thought this video was a great example of what father’s job should be.
On Father’s Day weekend, President Obama reflects on his experience as a parent and discusses the challenges and necessity of being a good father.
Happy Father’s Day: Not Much Has Changed
Filed under: Blog Entries, Family, Life, Photo Phinish, Relationships
Today marks the ten year “anniversary” of my dad’s passing (interesting that it falls on Father’s Day). I was looking through some old photos and found this one of the two of us chillin’ in his favorite chair. I have a couple of photos like this with my boys and I hope when they look at them they’ll remember the love I have for them.
Before my dad had his first stroke, we spent a lot of time together. He’d take me to work with him during the summer, to choir rehearsals during the week and I’d always see him working in the church. I learned a lot about the value of hard work and eventually took on one of his favorite hobbies (photography). While I hated some of the sayings he used (“You got McDonald’s money”), I find myself using them with my boys. He had a definite influence on my life and I appreciate all the lessons he taught me.
I miss my dad and I wish he’d had a chance to meet his grandsons. I’m sure he’d love them as much as he loved me. It’s up to me to pass the torch and I’m going to make sure they learn some of the same lessons he taught me. That’s what it’s all about. Be it their dad or someone filling in the role, boys need a male role model. They need someone who understands the challenges they’ll face as men to prepare them for the future. My dad was tough on us and being a dad raising two boys in today’s society, the need for those life lessons that dad can teach are more important than ever.
I love my boys and it’s my job to make sure they get what they need to be successful in life. It starts with getting them a good education and understanding of who they are. It’s not an easy task, but I’m up to the challenge. I helped bring them into the world, so the least I can do is be their primary example of what a man should be.
Happy Father’s Day to all the dads who know where I’m coming from.
Change
Filed under: Black Blogger Postings, Blog Entries, Business, Community, Education, Entertainment & Sports, Family, General, Health, Laughable, Legal, Life, Monday Motivation, Music Reviews, My Thoughts, My Utterz, MyBlogLog, Obama, Our Rights, Personal Finance, Photo Phinish, Podcasts, Podcasts - Tha Brothas, Politics, Relationships, Society & Culture, Technology, Think Global, Twitter
It’s been a while since I’ve posted on theotalks.net and I’ve had it on my task list to do this for a while. I’ve been debating it for some time, but I really think it’s time to start fresh. I’ve mentioned in other posts that blogging is hard work. If you’re not dedicated to the cause, you can easily suffer burnout. I’ve seen it before from some of my favorite sites and if you look at the last date I posted, you’ll see it here.
But despite the lack of posts, I still get a decent amount of hits and readers are still leaving comments on some of my older posts. I’m not the most prolific writer and I don’t consider myself to be well-versed in a lot of the stuff I blog about. But there’s something about this blogging thing that keeps sucking me back into it. I’ve grown to love the black blogger community and it has allowed me to meet some amazing people. There are a lot of people out there with some strong opinions about society and the world as they see it. Those are the people who I like to showcase and support.
I’m making some changes to the blog and what I blog about. I love the current theme and focus of theotalks, but I want to remove the restraints and give myself the opportunity to be all over the place. The new theme of the site is “Random thoughts about everything and nothing”. While it may be a little vague, that’s how I want to run the site from now on. My current theme of focusing on the black community is great, but there are so many other great bloggers out there consistently doing it. It takes time to put those posts together and right now, I’m at a different place in life.
So from here on out, expect the unexpected. As I feel moved, I’ll post about whatever is on my heart at the moment. I’ll also be showcasing some of my favorite bloggers and will work to get some of the guest writers back (you know who you are) to help a brotha out.
I haven’t decided if I’m going to start the podcast back up, but I might try my hand at video blogging. Only time will tell. Thanks to everyone who supports and reads this blog. It definitely keeps me motivated to stay at it.
God Bless.
Theo
Once Again It’s On!
Filed under: Blog Entries, Community, Education, Family, Health, My Thoughts, Obama, Politics, Society & Culture, Technology, Think Global
Earlier this morning President Obama began filing papers to seek re-election for President in 2012. The first thought in my mind was “here we go again”. I was surprised the first time he sought election and shocked when he beat out the Clintons for the Democratic nominee. But watching him over the past couple of years has shown me Obama can handle the critics and is willing to complete the tasks he promises to those who elect him.
Sure we don’t have our American utopia critics felt he promised in 2008, but let’s remember the downward spiral our country was going in before he was elected. Money was being thrown all over the place to fund the Iraq war, the housing sector was trash and companies who were too big to fail were in the corporate welfare line waiting for their share of the taxpayers’ money. It wasn’t pretty and I til this day can’t understand why he wanted to run for office in the first place. But he won and the country has never been the same since.
Our previous president told us that holding the office of Commander in Chief is hard work and I agree. I couldn’t imagine having to be responsible for making decisions that affect millions of people, but I feel President Obama has done what he feels is best for America and deserves a second term. I feel confident that despite all the political bickering, he thoughtfully considers every decision and moves after he’s heard all the options. Yes, not every decision is effective. But what president, CEO or executive can make the claim that all of the decisions they’ve made have worked? In the end, he’s the one held responsible. So let’s give him four more years to see if the laws he’s implemented work.
Texas PTA Legislative Action Alert
Filed under: Community, Education, Family, Health, Politics, Society & Culture, Technology
I received this email from our PTA. Earlier this week during a youth Bible study class, one of the students asked us to pray for their teachers in Plano ISD. Over 400 of them were losing their jobs and 40 were just let go from her school that week.
This is sad and shows how much our representatives in Texas care about the future of our youth. While my kids might not personally benefit from all of these programs, there are a lot of kids who will. For those parents who might not have the money to send their kids to private school or get outside help for their kids, these programs and grants are needed. If you live in Texas, take a little time to call your representative and ask them to fund public education.
—————————————————————————————————–
WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!
PLEASE CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TODAY
ASK HIM/HER TO FUND PUBLIC EDUCATION
IN HB 1
THE BUDGET BILL FOR 2012-2013
CALL TODAY!!!
What you need to know:
Friday, April 1, the Texas House of Representatives will vote on the budget for the next two years. The budget on which they will vote makes deep cuts to public education.
- HB 1 proposes giving $7.8 billion less to the Foundation School Program (FSP), the main source of funding for local school districts. This is 18% less than is required by current law.
- Depending upon how a local school district chooses to address this reduced funding from the state, Texas could expect layoffs of thousands of school employees.
- In addition to cuts to the FSP, HB 1 cuts or severely reduces funding for
- Reading, Math and Science Initiatives
- Pre-Kindergarten Early Start program
- Early Childhood School Readiness Grants
- Science Lab Grants
- Texas Advanced Placement Incentive Program
- Virtual School Network
- Middle School Physical Education Grants
- Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program
- Extended Year Programs
- Limited English Proficiency Student Success Initiative
- Communities in Schools Programs
- Student Success Initiatives
- High School Completion and Success Initiative
What you can do:
CALL YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE TODAY
ASK HIM/HER TO SUPPORT AMENDMENTS TO HB 1
THAT INCREASE FUNDING FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION
To find contact information for your state representative, visit http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us. Enter the requested information into the fields listed (this includes your street address and ZIP code) and then select “HOUSE” from the District Type pull-down field and click the submit button. You will be taken to a page that lists the name of your state representative as well as their Austin (512) phone number. This is the number you should dial to register your concerns about HB 1.
Partnership For A Healthy Texas Conquering Obesity
Members and Friends of the Partnership for a Healthy Texas -
Both the Steering and Legislative Committees have been quite busy of late reviewing legislation, serving as issue area experts and making sure the Partnership priorities are both promoted and reflected appropriately in the budget and in legislation. We appreciate your patience during our lack of communication.
We have developed two documents; one, outlining the bills that fall into the Partnership’s legislative priority areas and; another, outlining the bills related to obesity and nutrition that the Partnership is tracking (click on the links to download each in PDF format). Below, is a rough outline of the budget as it relates to our issues. As you are probably well aware, the Senate version of the budget is still being hammered out while the House will discuss HB 1 on the floor tomorrow.
We anticipate calling upon our membership more as the process moves along. In the meantime, let me know if you have any questions.
TEA – HB 1
HB1 would cut $66 million from School Health and Safety, which includes implementation of coordinated school health, counseling and mental health, physical activity, nutrition, and health education, and health services. This is a 70% reduction in funding compared to the current budget.
In addition to the 70% reduction in School Health and Safety, HB1 would end the state’s investment in:
- Prekindergarten grants and Early Childhood School Readiness programs (down $223.3 million), meaning 144,000 fewer children would benefit from quality-assured public prekindergarten and school readiness programs each year
- Middle School Physical Education grants (down $20 million), resulting in 425,000 middle school students no longer having access to programs proven to increase performance on Fitnessgram physical fitness assessments and with demonstrated positive correlation with TAKS Reading and Math scores
- Life Skills Teen Parenting (down $19.7 million), meaning that 26,000 pregnant and parenting teens will have supportive services for graduating high school and learning healthy parenting skills
- School Bus Seat Belt grants, reduction of $10 million that would have gone to assist school districts acquire school buses with three-point seat belts
- Communities in Schools (though $9.7 million in federal TANF funds remain). 64,000 fewer students at risk of dropping out of school each year would no longer receive services that connect them to community resources that supports their success in school and beyond
The HB1 proposed cuts would be on top of reduction already made to the TEA budget in the current biennium:
- $2 million cut to the Education Service Centers that provide technical assistance for implementing coordinated school health
- $3.5 million cut to Communities in Schools
- $41,000 for School Lunch matching
- $850,000 for AVANCE family support
DSHS cuts
- Community-based obesity prevention (HB1: 53% cut equaling $15.6m to all chronic disease prevention, SB1: same)
- WIC Nutrition Supplements and Farmer’s Markets (HB1: $33.5m cut, which is 25,500 fewer recipients on monthly WIC Nutrition caseload, a 1% caseload cut, SB1: same)
TDAg budget recommendation:
There is a rider in the TDA component of the budget supporting the Texas Department of Agriculture’s capacity to coordinate existing farming resources and expand the Farm-to-School program by raising the Department’s full-time equivalent employee cap. This will allow the Department to create a Farm-to-School Coordinator position that will not require any appropriation of state funds. This coordinator position represents an opportunity to support the health of Texas children in a Legislative Session where cuts to children’s health services are endemic. A Texas Department of Agriculture Farm-to-School Coordinator position would additionally help support the growth of Texas farms, increase the availability of quality of food in Texas schools, and create valuable opportunities for nutrition education amid a costly obesity epidemic.
Carrie Kroll
Partnership for a Healthy Texas Chair
March 2nd – Fund Texas’ Future Day
Filed under: Blog Entries, Business, Community, Education, Family, Society & Culture, Technology, Think Global
I received this email from the local PTA in our district. As everyone might know, Texas is having some budget issues and education is one of the areas needing to make some major cuts. It’s funny how our politicians claim to care about the future of our kids and then force the school system to get rid of teachers and cut funding.
I’m sure we’d definitely see some results if this were a debate on raising taxes. Our priorities are so messed up. Please spread the word about March 2nd. We can’t let them get away with this and it’s going to take a unified effort to let them know we won’t stand for it. Don’t let them put Texas’ future on the back burner.
Read below for more information.
——————————————————————————————————————-
Dear Board, APs, CPs and Past Presidents,
In response to the numerous phone calls and emails regarding our position on funding education, Texas PTA is sponsoring a grassroots one-day event on March 2. The email below is scheduled to go out to our membership tomorrow and again next week, describing this email event and how the grassroots members can get involved by contacting their representative. Please use this email to help get the word out about this event or to answer any questions that may come your way. And, as always, please do not hesitate to contact Texas PTA with any questions.
Thank you!
March 2 – Fund Texas’ Future Day!
Dear Public Education Advocates,
Forward this email to everyone in your community who cares about Texas students!
It’s the biggest crisis in Texas history. Nearly five million Texas students need our help. Texas PTA is proclaiming Wednesday, March 2, as “Fund Texas’ Future Day.” It’s imperative we make sure our “house is in order” – the Texas House of Representatives in Austin, that is. Please light up cyberspace by emailing your state representative on Wednesday, March 2.
Find Your Representative
Use this website to find your representative:
http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us
Once you’ve identified your state representative, use this format for his/her email address:
First name (dot) last name (@) house (dot) state (dot) tx (dot) us
Then utilize the points below that will most influence your state representative.
Please personalize your message, but here are some important points to include in your email to your state representative:
- Texas PTA’s legislative position is that funding public education is a priority.
- Regardless of what your campaign promises might have been, there are nearly five million reasons for you to look at all sources of funding to protect public education.
- Cutting funding to public education is not acceptable.
- The Rainy Day Fund and all revenue sources should be considered to fund Texas’s future.
- Texas children are our future.
- Texas businesses cannot thrive without an educated workforce. The economic viability of our state is directly related to the education of our children.
March 2 is the day for PTA to take over cyberspace and let our voices be heard to protect our future – Texas students!
In addition, beginning March 2, Texas PTA encourages all schools to include the message, “Fund Texas’ Future” on their marquees.?
Old School Jet, Ebony and Black Enterprise on Google Books
Filed under: Blog Entries, Business, Community, Education, Entertainment & Sports, Family, General, Politics, Relationships, Society & Culture, Technology, Think Global
When Google announced the release of Google Books, I rushed over and was pleased to see that they’d scanned in some of my favorite magazines. The best part was that I could view them all online for free.
In my searches I was able to find issues for Jet Magazine (1950-2005), Ebony Magazine (1950-2000) and Black Enterprise (1970-2000). While they don’t include the most current issues, it’s great that I can see what was going on before I was I born. If Google keeps this up, I can’t imagine the kind of information my kids will have access to.
This will give those in my generation and forward the ability to research our past and learn more than we’ve ever had about entertainment, politics and society, than we’ve ever had. The odds of me getting my hands on a volume 1 Jet Magazine is one to impossible. But thanks to Google, I have access to it.
We are in the Information Age and I hope everyone is ready to get on board. In 2011, I plan on increasing the number of black history books I read and I’m going to use Google Books to do this. There are a lot of good free books out there for us to read. I as I finish them I’ll blog about them here on the site.
Here’s to a New Year in books.
Sign Petition to Keep Willowridge HS and Christa McAuliffe MS Open
Filed under: Blog Entries, Community, Education, Family, General, Society & Culture
Last week, I blogged about the potential closing of my middle school and high school. While still upset, I’m glad to see the alumni and current students move to action. No one in the community wants this to happen and you can help. Even if you aren’t associated with the schools in ANY way, those of us who are can use your help.
An online petition, identifying alternatives to closing either school, has been started and are we looking to collect as many signatures as possible. I’m asking everyone I know to sign and show their support in keeping these schools open.We need to let the Fort Bend ISD board know that people support this cause. Thank you in advance for your support.
Click here to sign the petition
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