Posts Tagged ‘Great Big Story’
‘Officer Clemmons’ Speaks On Being Black In “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” (Video)
February 15, 2019
Hope you got to spend Valentine’s Day celebrating love in some way. I sat down and watched a documentary on a legend who lived a life of love; influencing generations to be better people as he made his way in the world. Man, if only we had Mr. Rogers around now. Rest in peace to the legend Fred Rogers.
Then IÂ found this Great Big Story on ‘Officer Clemmons’ on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. So wonderful!
Remember Officer Clemmons, the policeman from “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood?” Actor Francois Clemmons was initially reluctant to take the role. Growing up in the late ’60s, Clemmons didn’t have a positive opinion of the cops at the time. But Fred Rogers convinced him, and Clemmons became one of the first Black actors to have a recurring role in a children’s TV program.
– Great Big Story
You gotta watch this story and check for the “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” documentary on HBO or on-demand on YouTube. Well worth watching!
– @ojones1
Cree Summer Has Done WAY More The Be ‘Freddie’ On “A Different World” (Video)
October 23, 2018
Of course, a lot of us are going to remember Cree Summer as super-cutie hippie Hillman chick on “A Different World” on NBC back in the day… but “Freddie” has done a LOT of work – in voiceovers. Check it out!
Recognize this voice? That’s right—it’s the sound of your childhood. As the vocal force behind Rugrats’ Susie Carmichael and Tiny Toon Adventures’ Elymyra, Cree Summer has made some of your favorite cartoons come to life.
– Great Big Story
– @ojones1
Posted in Activism, Animation, Celebrity, Craft, Series, Videos | 
Tags: Bringing a New Voice to Cartoons, Cartoon voiceovers, Cartoon voices, Cree Summer, Great Big Story, voiceover artist, voiceovers | 
No Comments »
The Dog Ate Ate Your Dollars? Yes, The U.S. Mutilated Currency Division Can Help (Video)
September 17, 2018
Fascinating story! Seems like, when you take into account the labor spent on validating the tattered currency, that it costs a lot to do this. But it’s gotta be worth it to someone who would otherwise lose their money.
Let’s set the scene: you’ve just discovered your pup chewed away at your entire life savings. Or, last month’s rent was suddenly burned to a crisp after being left in the oven. Bizarre mistakes happen, but what can you do? The Mutilated Currency Division has got you covered.
– Great Big Story
– @ojones1
Doug Jones May Not Be Famous, But His Movie Roles Are (Video)
March 13, 2018
Yoooo! Dude’s been in a LOT; so much I declare it true… Didn’t know who Doug Jones was, but I will be checking for him and his work in the future.
You might not know his face, but you’ve seen his work. With over 150 movie and TV credits to his name, Doug Jones has been every creature, monster, and villain known to Hollywood. From the Amphibian Man in “The Shape of Water,†the Silver Surfer in “Fantastic Four†to the Thin Clown in “Batman Returns,†Jones has been spicing up your movie-watching experience for the past three decades.
– Great Big Story
Thirty years, 150 movie & TV credits. Now, that’s beasting it out on the on them Tinsel Town streets. Salute!
#HollywoodAndGrind
– @ojones1
Posted in Film, Human Interest, Television, Videos | Tags: Doug Jones, Great Big Story, The Most Famous Actor You’ve Never Seen | No Comments »
Ultramarathoner Mirna Valerio Breaks Stereotypes With Every Race (Video)
March 13, 2018
I’m Black I’m a woman and I’m fat… I know I’m breaking a mold…
– Mirna Valerio
Go for it, Mirna. Let me say it, too. Thank you for being you and letting us see you. Your best you. Go get ’em!
After suffering health complications, Mirna Valerio knew she needed a change in lifestyle. She dedicated herself to fitness and has spent the past eight years running marathons and ultramarathons across the state of Georgia. With every race, she’s on a mission to challenge assumptions about what it means to be a runner.
– Great Big Story
– @ojones1
Posted in Health and Wellness, Human Interest, Lifestyle, Videos | Tags: Breaking Stereotypes, Great Big Story, Human Condition, Mirna Valerio, Ultramarathoner | No Comments »
Food & Culture: Fried Flowers? We Can Eat Flowers… Fried? (Video)
November 3, 2017
We all know that everything tastes better deep-fried…
Not saying I’d take a trip to Thailand just to try this, but not saying I wouldn’t… if someone else was paying for the ticket. I got my own fried flower money! Something tells me that this is delicious.
Plus, the li’l lady selling ’em looks like a sweetheart 🙂
– @ojones1
Posted in Food, Human Interest, Product, Travel, Videos | Tags: Bangkok, blossoms, Boonrod, bougainvillea, butterfly pea, Flavors, fried flower, fried flower petals, Great Big Story, ixora, Koh Kret, Thailand | No Comments »
Travel: Diving The Underwater Thermal Tunnels Of Budapest (Video)
August 11, 2017
Hmmm… This might be a place I could go and check in for the Jayforce.com Travel Squad. I’d roll with the family. My bro BoneBreaker Jones is a SCUBA enthusiast, and this cave diving stuff would stoke him, to say the least!
As one of Europe’s most famous cities, Budapest has become a tourist hotspot known for its history, its architecture and its love of water. While most people soak above the surface in the city’s famed geothermal baths, below the metropolis lies a secret subterranean world ripe for exploration. The Hungarian capital is home to over 80 geothermal springs. As this naturally heated water flowed deep below the Earth’s surface, it carved out hundreds of caves, making Budapest home to the largest collection of thermal caves in the world. Though divers have charted more than four miles of tunnels since the 1950s, much remains to be explored.
– Great Big Story
Full disclosure: If we go, I’m staying topside in those thermally-warmed pools. Maybe hunt for some Hungarian Honeys. Nice!
– @ojones1
Posted in Nature, Travel, Videos | Tags: Budapest, Dive Into Budapest’s Hidden Underwater World, Diving, Great Big Story, Hungary, SCUBA, SCUBA Diving, Thermal Caves, Underwater | No Comments »
Saving An Ancient Language Using Pop Music (Video)
May 4, 2017
Something very Hip-Hop about this story. We (Hip-Hop Nation, Black people, all people) know about griots who tell stories they were told, preserving history through generations, how slaves communicated stories (and plans) through song, and how Hip-Hop built on those traditions, speaking to and through the Culture… Well, Renata is doing that at the essence; not just speaking stories, but attempting to save the mode of speech (her language) itself using songs.
Renata Flores is a 16-year-old singer from Peru who is using her voice to save an ancient language. Though Quechua is the second-most spoken language in Peru, native speakers have suffered from discrimination and social stigma for generations, and today, many young people aren’t learning the language at all. But with her powerful vocals to covers of pop songs by Michael Jackson and Alicia Keys in her native tongue, Flores is sparking a renewed celebration of Quechuan language and culture.
– Great Big Story
– @ojones1
Posted in Activism, Film, History, Human Interest, Investigation, Series, Travel, Videos, Youth | Tags: Ancient Language, culture, Great Big Story, Human Condition, Peru, Pop Music, popular music, Quechua, Quechuan language, Renata Flores | No Comments »
Hiplet: Now Hip-Hop Is En Pointe (Video)
March 21, 2017
I will admit to turning a ‘side eye’ to Hip-Hop dance brought into a ballet milieu. Though I was not mad like the why-are-THOSE-PEOPLE-invading-our-artful-dance ballet purists. I was mad like F##K-their-fancy-shmancy-dancy-sh!t, we got our OWN legit dance practiced by the WORLDWIDE Hip-Hop Nation!
But seeing this helped me realize that whatever we do that aspires to LOVE, PEACE, UNITY, and HAVING FUN (word to Africa Bambatta and Soul Brother #1 Mr. James Brown) is a good thing.
A man of color forges a new art form that allows anyone to be down; first and foremost the have-nots and those previously left out. That art form grows, gets embraced by those for whom it was meant and is spread to, through and by everyone who enjoys it. Sound like a familiar story? This IS Hip-Hop showing its essence in another form, no less true. And it is beautiful.
So are the ladies doing it in the above mini-documentary. Wowee-wow-WOW. I love these HIPS… I mean Hiplet dancers!
(Hey, they are fine af ok? You see ’em. And if you’re mad at that, you can stay mad. Ha!)
Watch this. Enlightenment awaits. I was thoroughly edutained (educated and entertained, word to KRS-ONE). Bet you will be, too!
– @ojones1
Posted in Art, Dance, Education, Hip-Hop, Honeyz, Human Interest, Interview, Videos, Youth | Tags: Ballet, En Pointe, Great Big Story, Hip-Hop meets Ballet, Hiplet | No Comments »
The Step Team Building an Unbeatable Legacy (Mini-Documentary)
December 16, 2016
Wow. The brother said he and his team destroy their bodies preparing for a show they’ve won 11 years running! Wow…Â No let up, no chill! You can see why this is part of ‘The Greatest Homecoming On Earth.’ And you can see the rest of the ‘Great Big Story’ above.
The art of stepping—choreographed stomping and clapping—has been practiced by historically Black fraternities and sororities for decades. It’s a performance of skill and precision. And every year at North Carolina A&T’s “Greatest Homecoming On Earth,†Greek organizations hit the stage to compete for a coveted title. The brothers of Phi Beta Sigma have won the step show 11 years in a row. This year, as pressure to maintain their legacy mounts, step master Byron Hannah tries to lead his brothers to another victory.
– @ojones1
Posted in Dance, Education, Human Interest, Investigation, Videos | Tags: Byron Hannah, Fraternities, GHOE, Great Big Story, Greatest Homecoming On Earth, Greeks, North Carolina A&T, North Carolina A&T University, Phi Beta Sigma, Sororities, step master, Step show, stepmaster, Stepping, The Step Team Building an Unbeatable Legacy | No Comments »
The World’s Most Expensive Cheese… Is Made From WHAT???!! (Video)
November 21, 2016
$500 a pound? How did 2 Chainz not try this as The Most Expensivest cheese? But the $500 tag…not the standout fact about this cheese. It’s what it’s made of: not goat or cow milk. Naaah, son. DONKEY milk!
At the Zasavica Special Nature Reserve in Serbia, Slobodan Simić creates the world’s most expensive cheese with milk from his herd of donkeys. Donkeys only produce a tiny amount of milk, so that—coupled with the fact that Slobodan is the only one with the recipe—means that his cheese goes for around $500 dollars per pound.
So… ASS cheese. Is that’s what’s hot in these streets? When you get your paper way up, you can have donkey cheese on that expensive ass burger. Ha!!
– @ojones1
Posted in Food, Human Interest, Lifestyle, Product, Travel, Videos | Tags: Donkey, Donkey milk, Great Big Story, Serbia, Slobodan Simić, World's Most Expensive Cheese, Zasavica Special Nature Reserve | No Comments »
Surprising Origins Of Six Awesome Foods (Video)
November 16, 2016
Lobster, nachos, dipping dots and more awesome food origin stories. It’s like how they do background stories for comic book heroes, but for food. No less interesting, though…promise!
– @ojones1
The Very Best of the Lasts (Video)
October 11, 2016
This is fascinating watching. You probably did not know that these crafts, craftspeople, exotic animals and occupations existed. And before long, they won’t anymore. All the more reason to press play and stay for the whole docu-short.
From mermaids to barbers, kings to rhinos — these are some of the very best of the last of their kind.
– Great Big Story
– @ojones1
Posted in Environment, Human Interest, Lifestyle, Nature, Series, Travel, Videos | Tags: Great Big Reel, Great Big Reel 109, Great Big Story, The Very Best of the Lasts | No Comments »
Jaw-Dropping Dwellings (Video)
October 6, 2016
No need to ask, “Do people REALLY live like that?” Even though the stories around the homes featured are so not-the-norm, you see above that they actually do!
In this reel, we explore just what “there’s no place like home” really means. Especially when that home is, say, an old airplane…
– Great Big Story
By the time the video is done, you’ll probably think to yourself: “You know what, why not?” I did. Amazing stories!
– @ojones1
Posted in Environment, Human Interest, Lifestyle, Nature, Series, Travel, Videos | Tags: Dwellings, Great Big Reel, Great Big Reel 113, Great Big Story, homes, housing, incredible homes, Jaw-Dropping Dwellings, unusual homes | No Comments »
The Lone Buddhist Monk Who Stood Against The Communists And Saved His Temple (Video)
September 30, 2016
One man can make a difference. Full disclosure: There is no fist fighting in this docu-vignette. This monk fought Communist aggression against his temple in a different way, but he definitely stood his ground.
Very few of Mongolia’s Buddhist temples survived the Soviet era. But one particular temple in Erdenetsogt still stands thanks to the efforts of one monk, who risked a long prison sentence to save it.
– Great Big Story
– @ojones1
Posted in Activism, History, Human Interest, Travel, Videos | Tags: Buddhist, Buddhist Monk, Chulaanbat, Communists, Erdenetsogt, Gachen Lama Khiid, Gotovyn Dambibaljir, Great Big Story, Head Lama, Jungles, Jungles in Paris, Lama, monastery, Mongolia, Monk, TEMPLE, The Buddhist Monk Who Saved His Temple, The Last Temple Standing | No Comments »
