Top Ten Christmas Songs!

Cocoa Popps has put together a top ten list of Christmas songs. What would be your ideal Christmas song mix?


10. Another Lonely Christmas-Prince

9. Let It Snow-Boyz II Men

8. This Christmas-The Whispers

7. Sleigh Ride (Very Merry Christmas)-TLC

6. Give Love on Christmas Day-Johnny Gill

5. A Charlie Brown Christmas-(The Whole CD-various artists)

4. All I Want For Christmas-Mariah Carey

3. Santa Claus is Coming to Town-Jackson 5

2. The Christmas Song-Nat King Cole

1. This Christmas-Donny Hathaway

Happy Holidays!!!

Dumbass of the Week--New York Governor David Patterson

We here at Cocoa Popps try and respect our elected officials, but many are making that hard these days. Chicago's Blagojevich has clearly gone mad, and New York's own Governor David Patterson has unfortunately earned our "Dumbass of the Week" award.

Why? Well, one, he has no sense of humor. "Saturday Night Live" did a little skit about Patterson, mainly about how he fell into the position of Governor of New York unprepared after former Governor Spitzer scandalized the state with his overworked libido and under worked brain, consistently soliciting a prostitute--classy!

(it was hilarious!)


Apparently Patterson felt the skit was disrespectful to disabled people and implied that people with disabilities are incompetent. Uh, no, the skit implied you are incompetent Mr. Patterson. Some people are calling the skit racist-and yes, SNL can be racist as hell, but we have to admit they make just as much fun of dumbass white politicians as they do anyone else.

And two, his solution to putting more money into the "impoverished" state of New York (meanwhile we have money to fund art projects like red flags in Central Park and waterfalls off the Brooklyn Bridge) is to tax.....soda. What????

Seriously? Will the money raised from this tax offset our Transit Authority's threat to raise the price of a metrocard by nearly 20%, making it even harder to get to work to pay for the soda? Probably not. Why, in this state, is the solution to raise money to tax and raise the prices for the people who already can't afford to live here? Are most of the people who drink soda filthy rich? Uh, probably not.

Studies show that the people with the worst dietary habits are usually undereducated and therefore, more than likely, underemployed--er, uh, poor! So they buy soda because it's......cheap. Yeah, water is free, but who the hell wants to drink a tall glass full of pharmaceuticals? We don't see you working on that Gov'nah! Never mind that little Shay-Shay will grow up with a third nip -- on his back! And how will people gain access to better education if the tuition for New York's public universities goes up as well?

This "Obesity Tax" is stupid. Yes cigarettes are taxed , but one can always argue that cigarettes are a major threat to public health. They don't only affect the user, but the entire environment. (And meanwhile has that deterred any smoker from buying up those cancer sticks? Nope.) But drinking soda and eating junk food never caused anyone to die of second hand fat!

We've become a state that criminalizes bad habits. So why not be fair and tax cocaine use and adultery, some of Patterson's past past-times?

Sorry Governor Patterson, but you are the "Dumbass of the Week"!

What do you think of Governor Patterson?

Cocoa Popps "Fierce Award" to Taraji Henson

We wanna give some Cocoa Props to Taraji Henson, who should have been nominated for a supporting actress Golden Globe Award for her role in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". The early reviews of the film have been favorable, and Henson's performance has been mentioned as being particularly stunning. And rightly so, as she is one of the most naturally talented actresses in Hollywood.

Taraji is versatile in her ability to make us laugh like she did in Tyler Perry's "The Family That Preys", and to move us as she did in "Hustle and Flow". She owns every scene with confidence and gives her all as we also witnessed in her spirited portrayal as "Petey" Greene's feisty girlfriend in "Talk to Me".

Thank God Black don't crack because it takes a long time for us to get our due. And the recognition for this wonderful actress (and down a$$ chick) is long overdue. Henson is making her steady rise to Hollywood's A-list, but she has been at the top of our list all along.

So even though Hollywood's award circle is still very small and tends not to let a lot of outsiders in, (let's keep it very real, especially if you're brown) we here at Cocoa Popps know what's up. Taraji, we give you the Cocoa Popps "Fierce Award" for excellence!

Keep shining!

Oprah Goes Public About Being Fat Again...Again

Oprah has admitted she’s put on, ahem, a little weight. That was like the official announcement of the recession. Uh, duuuuh! Anyone whose been watching can see that “The Big O” has gotten bigger. So what? Does she owe the public an explanation? No. Should she instead use her show to galvanize a conversation about falling short of personal goals, yes.

As the premiere self-appointed life guru, Oprah apparently feels obligated to be truthful about her weight gain, having reached 200 pounds, and be honest about the fact it wasn’t just a thyroid issue, as she spoke about earlier this year. It was also an eatin' too damn much issue. (I knew it!) She’s even gone so far as to do promos for next year’s shows where she sits on a couch, as if facing a therapist, talking about the hypocrisy of setting an example she hasn’t followed herself. Okay, honesty is great, but in going public with her latest battle of the bulge is it necessary to publicly berate herself?

Oprah announced, “I look at my thinner self and think, How did I let this happen again?...I'm embarrassed…I'm mad at myself… I didn't just fall off the wagon. I let the wagon fall on me”. Winfrey went on to discuss how she didn't want to do the taping of her show featuring Tina Turner and Cher because she "felt like a fat cow". O-kaaay. Isn’t one of the paramount values Oprah tries to convey to her audience is to love yourself, even if you’ve disappointed yourself? Now no one’s saying Ms. Winfrey doesn’t love herself, but shouldn't self love come with some kindness, and some room to be flawed? And instead of making a public admission (as if it’s a crime) that she’s put on weight, couldn’t she have just said something like, “Yeah, I’ve got some stuff to work out, as we all do, and we can do it together". Because everyone can relate to having fallen short of a personal goal. And it is in fact, no crime. It’s just being human.

Yes to some, Oprah may not seem human having accomplished an astronomical level of fortune. I will not be surprised if on the last day of her show she pulls of her mask revealing an intricate motherboard and computer chips, but until that happens, we have to go with the premise that she is, like everyone else, human. And humans stumble, trip, and fall the hell down. Getting back up and keeping it moving, while being loving and forgiving to yourself is the victory. That is something most of us “strong black women” have a little problem with.

We’ve all disappointed ourselves. I've gained a bit of weight myself but trust I looked at myself in the mirror today and said, "You know what? I'm doing all right." We can all chronicle when we ate the wrong thing, said the wrong thing, chose the wrong partner, wasted too much money, wasted too much time... But damn isn’t that our right as human beings? Isn't it okay to mess up as long as we clean up? It’s okay to fall short—the win is in recognition and then action.

Ms. Oprah, you don’t owe nobody an explanation about your weight. You never have. (And for that matter neither has Star Jones.) You owe it to yourself to be the best version of yourself that you can be, remembering that the state of “best” fluctuates.

So let us all accept the stuff we’ve let fall through the cracks. Look at it, take it in, and keep moving-one foot in front of the other. We’ll feel more self love, which is the best love you can get, and probably loose some weight!

; )

"Cadillac" Cruises to the Bottom

Is anyone interested in seeing "Cadillac Records?" Apparently not. It opened at #9 on the top ten box office list and only made 3.5 million dollars. By industry standards, that's a flop, and that's a shame.

I, a movie lover, did not flock to see it either, and I'm not sure why. I love Jeffrey Wright, and have much respect for the writer and director, Darnell Martin whose parlayed his career from being one half of the most memorable soap opera couples ever (remember him as Jesse on "All My Children"?) to a talented figure behind the scenes. So I can only guess my hesitation in supporting this film is...Beyonce'.

I know there are other performances in the film worth seeing, (Mos Def, Cedric the Entertainer, to name a few), but Beyonce' is the marketing vehicle for this film. Though her performance is getting great reviews, after her cardboard characterization in "Dreamgirls" I just don't feel that moved to come out of pocket to go see "Sasha Fierce" onscreen.

My hesitation to risk a 10 spot on this flick may also have to do with the fact it's not playing anywhere near me. "Cadillac Records" is only showing in 686 theaters in the country. (That's way below average.) How does a studio expect a film to succeed if they don't even make it accessible? And the failure of this film will be just another example that people who don't want to make black films--at least about anything interesting or substantive, will use to say, "Well, Black movies just don't make money".

You know, something great has just happened...I've just jumped off the fence and I'm going to support this Black film! Apparently I will have to seek it out, but I want more Black movies, so I'm willing to do my part. Are you?

"Dumbass of the Week"-Plaxico Burress

With all the stupidity floating around these days, Cocoa Popps feels compelled to introduce a new recurring piece, “Dumbass of the Week”.

Our inaugural “Dumbass Award” goes to New York Giants wide receiver, Plaxico Burress, who apparently feels the need to go clubbing while strapped. His dumbass went out for a night on the town but for some reason decided to take his gun. Uh, just what goes through one’s mind when leaving the house to go out and party? “Okay I got my I.D., keys, wallet, gum, and oh yeah, my glock”? But wait, it gets way better. Apparently Mr. Plexico, or as we like to call him, Mr. Dumbass felt his gun sliding down the back of his pants and in an effort to grab it before it fell, the gun went off shooting him in the thigh! I’m glad his dumbassness only managed to get his self injured and no one else. That would have been sad on top of stupid.

Okay football players don’t have a reputation for being the sharpest knife in the drawer (ironically had he chosen a knife, he may not be in this pickle), but haven’t there been enough dumbass moves by other athletes (Michael Vick) and other entertainers (T.I.) who’ve shown us that it would be wise to think twice before contemplating a dumbass move like carrying around an illegal, unregistered firearm? And to put dense on top of stupid, Plaxico was already suspended back in September for another infraction. Didn’t that learn ya’? Apparently not.

Cocoa Popps will never understand the mentality behind someone who “makes it”, and then purposely tries to f it all up on some bull$%#!. Plaxico should’ve had a little sit-down with the “Common Sense Consultant". Had he, it probably would’ve gone something like this:

"I’m thinkin' 'bout gettin' an unregistered gun and then carryin' it aroun', you know? 'Specially when I go to the club".

"Uh, that sounds real dumb Plaxico. It’s illegal and unsafe. And what do you need a gun for? You’re a millionaire football player. If you feel the need for protection, hire security. I’d rethink that if I were you".

"Okay, yeah, maybe I should. Aw'ight, bet".

See how easy that was?

Peace