Lemon Cake — Vol 23
Lemon Cake — Vol 23
Can you pay my bills, you are NOT the father, and Constantly
Happy July Friend! Now we’ve officially made it halfway through the year. I always think June marks the halfway point, but it really is July. Oh well, one year, I will get it right.
Did you have any plans for the long weekend, or are you still on your summer vacation? Is it me, or does the 4th of July seem a little “meh” to celebrate nowadays? I used to love heading to watch a good fireworks show, and now when the holiday rolls around, I’m only excited for the extra day off from work.
Anywho, I hope you enjoyed your extra long weekend. You should be off today, so we got an extended lunch for ya. It’s a good one, so grab your lunch and sit back and relax. Let’s get into some topics.
I’m having my favorite dessert, lemon cake!
Today’s Topics
Missy
Talk shows of the 90s
Concerts
Movies
Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott
The great Missy Elliott turned the big 5-0 on July 1st. You cannot relive the 90s without listening to her music. When Supa Dupa Fly dropped in mid-97, she came heavy with “The Rain.” Do you remember the video?
She had cameos from some of the greatest from the 90s — SWV, Yoyo, Total, 702, Lil Kim, Lil Cease, Da Brat, Puffy, and of course Timbaland. Everyone was doing that little tick & bop dance anytime this song came on.
This entire album was 🔥. Sock it 2 Me feat. Da Brat is a hit. Beep Me 911 feat. 702 had me singing the chorus like I owned a pager when I was 12. Or wait, maybe I did, and I just hid it from my mom. Friendly Skies feat. Ginuwine was this sultry smooth ballad that showed a different side of Missy. And probably my favorite song on this entire album is Best Friends feat. the late great Aaliyah. We don’t get to hear much of babygirl’s voice on streaming platforms, so it’s always a treat when we get something.
Aaliyah’s estate got her catalogs on LOCK. This is the latest update I saw on Twitter about her music earlier this year. They need to stop playing with me!
Missy didn’t let the 90s end without dropping one more album — Da Real World (’99). When All N My Grill feat. Big Boi dropped, it was the summer before my freshman year of high school, and I was singing to the neighborhood boys, “Why you all in my grill, can you pay my bills” like I had a bill for them to pay. I know you loved Hot Boyz. It was the summer jam that had you looking at what kind of car the boys were driving, probably being way too grown. The beat to She’s a Bitch is too raw.
Her third album, So Addictive, dropped in 2001, and it spared nothing. One Minute Man, Lick Shots, Get Ur Freak On, Take Away, I mean I can keep going.
If you haven’t listened to Missy’s first three albums in a while, it’s time you press play and vibe.
Talk shows of the 90s 🗣
You could not watch daytime TV in the 90s without watching talk shows. Talks shows were our reality TV before reality TV became a thing.
Who was your favorite?
Montell Williams — Remember he had the psychic woman who would come on the show and help people communicate with those who’ve passed on? His topics weren’t always eye-catching to me, but I know my mom liked to watch him.
Ricki Lake — Ricki started her talk show at the age of 24, and she was the youngest talk show host in history. Her topics were always tailored to a younger audience. When the doorbell rang, we always were excited to see who would be a surprise guest. In Vol 20, I shared a clip when Lil Kim stopped by on the Ricki Lake show.
Sally Jesse Raphael — She was the talk show host who catered to women, especially the working mom. She did quite a few teen pregnancy shows too.
Maury Povich — I don’t know when Maury became the paternity test guy; he didn’t start this way. But I do remember the paternity test shows always had the highest ratings. His show was slightly tamer than Jerry's.
Jenny Jones — Jenny had the best makeover shows, in my opinion. But people really only remember the one episode that never aired, when a man revealed he had a crush on his best friend, and days later, that friend killed him. Netflix did a documentary about it. I think Jenny was done after this.
Geraldo — His topics always touched on racism, social justice, and things that needed to be investigated. He also loved having controversial guests on his show.
Jerry Springer — Despite the wild fights and topics, Jerry would always give us final thought at the end of each show, telling us something we should have learned while watching his outrageous show.
Rosie O’Donnell — Her show was always fun and games, not many serious or heavy topics. My grandfather used to watch her a lot.
Oprah — I mean, it’s Oprah! Back in the 90s, she wasn’t my favorite, but I still loved her.
Honorable mentions to Queen Latifah and Rolanda, who both had a short run on daytime TV, but still had some great shows.
My favorite show topics were the out-of-control teens, make-overs, and whenever someone started fighting.
So who was your favorite of the 90s? Mine was Ricki Lake!
Concerts 🎫
Concerts are coming back in full swing in the second half of this year. I know artists are ready to get back to the big stage, connect with fans, and bring home that check.
I know for a fact we will hit a concert before the year is up, but just unsure which one to choose. There are so many options to choose from. I recently saw on Chili’s Instagram that TLC and Bone Thugs and Harmony are going on a mini-tour. Hmmm.
But do you remember your first concert? Who did you see?
My first concert was an Immature concert at the mall, and this was before LDB joined the group. This was when Don “Half Pint” Santos was in the group. His parents pulled him from the group in 1994, and it’s almost like his existence was almost erased from the group.
I was about 6 or 7 when my mom took me to the mall to see a mini-concert and get an autograph signed. I have a very faint memory of this day. Still, I do remember we waited in like for a good bit to get an autograph and a picture (I need to find it, I know I have it somewhere), and it was a bunch of screaming little girls and moms when they got on the make-shift stage at the mall to sing a couple of songs.
Do y’all remember when concerts use to happen at the mall? Or was that only something that happened in Baltimore? I feel like back in the early 90s, the mall doubled as a mini-entertainment venue.
Ok what about your most memorable concert?
For me, it’s when I got kicked out of a B2K concert my senior year of high school. I hopped on stage when they were selecting girls out of the audience to sing to. I wasn’t about to wait around for them to select me, so I selected myself and asked for a boost from another screaming teen next to me.
I hit a tuck and roll on the stage and sat in a chair. Not even a second later, security escorted me off the stage and handed me off to another security guard who happened to be someone I went to high school with. So he let me watch the rest of the concert standing next to him, thankfully it was the last song, and then he told me I had to get out. I technically got “banned” from the Celebrity Theater for a period of time, but I did care, lol.
Who do you wish you would have seen in concert, but haven’t?
Sade! My biggest concert regret is when I did not see her during her last tour. I had the opportunity to buy a ticket, and at the last minute, I decided not to. Probably for some reason that doesn’t even matter. I wish I would have gone because who knows when she will go on tour again. But I’ve already told my husband, no matter where Sade tours next, we are going!
My second slight regret is showing up to one of those summer jam concerts late because I only got to see half of Aaliyah’s set, but I got to see babygirl sing at least once on stage, even if it was only 2 songs.
*Sidenote* Did we know that the reason Romeo wore an eye patch is that Brandy tossed a book towards his direction, not thinking it was going to hit anyone, and it hit him right in the eye, cut his retina, detached it, and the lens to his eye had fallen out, and a friend caught it. He had a total of three eye surgeries. WILD!
Movies 🎥🍿
I usually save my recommendations (Jems 💎) until the end, but I’ve been on movies so much lately that I had to make a separate topic for what I’ve watched over the past 2 weeks.
Spiral (HBOMax) — The Saw series is BACK but in a different way. This one stars Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson. They make this version better than most of the Saw series. Saw II is still the best one out of them all.
CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story (BET+) — I am 9 years late watching this movie that came out in 2013, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching this biopic. I had no clue that Drew Sidora played T-Boz; she did a damn good job. Lil Mama had Left Eye down to a science. There were moments when I forgot that I was watching Lil Mama, especially the Honduras scenes. And Chili was THIRSTY over Dallas Austin. I would have never guessed that she was on him like that.
Whitney: Can I Be Me (Amazon/Showtime) — This documentary came out in 2017, and it mainly surrounds her 1999 tour in Germany, showing never-before-scenes of her and Bobby. But also tells a beautiful disastrous picture of her life. Her former Bodyguard was someone interviewed; he gave a little insight into the movie The Bodyguard. So, of course, I had to re-watch that too.
The Bodyguard (Various streaming platforms) — This is a classic movie that will NEVER go out of style. I haven’t watched in a while; there were a few parts that I completely forgot about. I always forget that the songs were written for the movie and not for Whitney, but I still guess they were. Anyways, this soundtrack is a classic and one of my favorites.
The Secret Life of a Celebrity Surrogate (Hulu) — A classic thriller lifetime movie with “bad” acting that you can’t look away from. This movie was wild, but I really enjoyed it.
Safer At Home (Hulu) — This movie could actually happen. The setting is 2022, we’ve all been locked up in the house since 2020, and there are three additional strains of Covid going around.
The Babysitter (Paramount+) — This 1995 film featuring Alicia Silverstone is about a babysitter who has two boys obsessed with her along with the husband of the kids she babysits. A movie like this would never make it to the big screens today, but it was perfect for the 90s.
False Positive (Hulu) — Another thriller-type movie about a couple who has trouble getting pregnant. They go to this world-renown fertility doctor, and it just keeps going left and left and more left.
No Sudden Move (HBOMax) — Don Cheadle was fantastic in this movie set in 1955 in Detroit. A group of small-time criminals is hired to steal emerging car technology, but the plan goes horribly wrong.
Infinite (Paramount+) — An action-packed movie starring Mark Walberg that is very Matrix and Fast & the Furious like.
Ok I think that is it. I’ve elected to watch movies over starting new TV series lately. If you watch any of my selections, let me know what you think!
Jems 💎
#read — #ZolarTwitterThread: I had NO clue about this thread that took over Twitter in 2015. It is now a major motion film that some think will be up for an Oscar nomination in 2022, and it’s already been nominated for an award at Sundance. I wanted to try and catch the film this weekend, maybe later today. But I guarantee you; I will watch it by the next time we have lunch.
#getyalifetogether
#clickthru — all the hyperlinks in this newsletter, especially in the 90s Talk Show segment.
#laughs
I didn’t watch Bobby Brown vz Keith Sweat live, but I watched it. These tweets sum up exactly what happened between the two. Bobby tried; he really tried.
That’s all for our Monday Lunch! I told you I would be back in full effect for our next gathering. How was it? What was your favorite part of lunch today? Reply or leave a comment. I love to hear from you! See you next time.