It’s been one hell of a decade, hasn’t it? There’s been all kinds of random happenings. And since the Black community is usually prone to being apart of some of the f*ckery that happens over the course of history (OJ, anyone?), I figured that we, here at VSB, might as well get to getting like everybody else and coming up with some kind of list about this past decade. And what better topic of discussion than some of the biggest stories of the decade in the Black community.
Some will be obvious. Some will be curious.
But Panama Jackson will be sexxy. The decade has taught us so.
Allons-y.
10. Tiger Woods becomes a Black man
While Tiger might be the biggest sports story (and possibly one of the biggest general stories of the decade) in the Black community, ole Eldrick’s Black card has been pulled a long time ago. In fact, the last time I think he referred to himself as Black, the Wu-Tang Clan started an investment firm and I’m sure Mos Def was prominently involved. Either way, Tiger learned what happens when you go poking blondes all willy nilly…you lose sponsorhip deals. But hey, Kobe got his back (and called himself the Black Mamba) so the future looks bright for Tiger, though I suggest he begin calling himself Tigga. That way he can start rapping with Jay as Jigga and Dat Ni**a Tigga. There’s lots of potential here.
9. The rebirth of Ike
Apparently Chris Brown’s PR people forgot to tell him that you can’t hit girls past age 7. Well, in February 2009, young Breezy put a hurtin’ on Rihanna and became the story heard ’round the world. Domestic violence is nothing to joke with, so I won’t joke about it. However, keeping Chris Brown, the MJ-heir apparent, from performing at an MJ tribute during the BET awards just seemed egregious.
8. Man’s favorite pasttime gets the “Super” treatment
An odd choice, no doubt. But when you realize how many celebrities bucked the f*ck up once Karrinne Steffans became a household name in 2005, it becomes obvious that very few other people were as significant this decade. Hell, last time this many celebrities read a book, a guy named McCarthy was running amok. And then her subsequent book? That book put every male celebrity on full blast AND inspired an entire nation of video hoes vixens to learn how to read so that they could write their own terrible “memoirs.” Take that Reading Rainbow.
7. Beyonce pisses off lots of women
She went from being the lead singer of a too-young jailbait group out of Houston in 1997 to the most famous pop-star in the world in 2009. That’s no easy feat, especially considering she spent the entire decade being pelted with haterade by women near and far even though every hater has her albums and loves “Single Ladies”. Her accomplishments this decade are nearly unparalleled.
6. “WHY WON’T YOU LET ME BE GREAT???”
Beyonce would be unparalleled, except Kanye West entered the scene circa 2003 with his recently dubbed album of the decade with The College Dropout, and then managed to make himself into the most important figure in Black music today. You read that right and I did not stutter. Hate him or love him, Kanye will always be around because he cares about the music. He’s pretty much the Stevie Wonder of our generation. Plus the whole skinny jeans things has really taken off.
5. Author JL King ruins boys night out
In 2004, author JL King adorned Oprah’s couch and f*cked up dating ever since. He inadvertently convinced women around the nation, especially Black women, that every man was potentially trying to f*ck his homeboys. Almost overnight, the term DL became apart of the Black lexicon.
4. Rosa Parks finally stops suing Outkast passes
One of the icons of the Civil Rights movements, Rosa Parks passed away in 2005. She was one of the few non-Presidents laid-in-state in the US Capitol building in Washington, DC. She was so important to the fabric of this nation that every major media outlet showed coverage of her funeral and procession…except BET who thought their audience would be better served by showing videos since folks could catch the funeral on CNN or some sh*t (btw, I can’t find a single article about this now, back in 2005, BET had a press release explaining why they didn’t show the funeral).
3. Botched engineering and a Hurricane with a Black name give Spike Lee inspiration
Hurricane Katrina needs no explanation. August 2005 is when most of us realized just how little many Black lives are. On the bright side, Spike directed one helluva documentary though.
2. Michael Jackson goes to Neverland
I’m really only putting this at 2 to show deference to the historical context of the obvious number 1, but really, globally, more people were touched by MJ’s death than Obama’s presidency. Hell, I still miss Michael Jackson.
1. Barack Obama ruins “the excuse”
Well, duh.
Did I miss any??
-VSB P aka THE ARSONIST aka TANGLE JIG P aka GIIIIIIIIIIIIIRL, HE A 3
nice list and sh*t, but i think 1990-2000 was the best decade of all time….of all time. hmmm well it sounded good in my head. *kanyeshrug*
lol…but really good list, but i know there are others that should be on here, i just can’t think of them at this time.
@Naomi,
Let me agree. Outside of Obama becoming president, this decade SUCKED ARSE!!!
@Naomi,
it sounds good out loud. It sure as hell was my best decade.
As a child blessed and cursed with the name “Katrina”, I must note that its technically a German name that alot of black girls have. ‘Tis all.
Good list…I know the excuse this was sarcasm right?
what the gucci mane- jeezy beef aint on there? lmao
how about the extension of unemployment pay due to the recession?
how dare you leave these things off.
and of course the jumpoff heard round the world…kobe and lil colorado…he started that shyt….lmao
The Sean Bell and Jena 6 controversies…not necessarily because each individually “rocked” the black community, but maybe because neither did, really.
Girlfriends, the sitcom. I personally loathe that program, but apparently a lot of us would be absolutely nowhere if it weren’t for Tracee Ellis Ross and the big-forehead one. Oh, and the light-skinned slutty one. And isn’t there a materialistic one? Yeah, there’s some sort of master’s thesis hidden in that sh*t.
@myself, I realize and apologize for the redundant nature of the phrase “I personally”, since anything I said is by definition said personally.
Thanks,
Management
@Penelope,
Hated girlfriends, I mean seriously with friends like that… But it was quite the phenom. I think there are other TVs with black characters that are more deserving of recognition than Girlfriends. Start with the Wire and work backward from there. Although I acknowledge, the Wire is not a “black TV show.”
@Penelope,
but apparently a lot of us would be absolutely nowhere if it weren’t for Tracee Ellis Ross and the big-forehead one.
Her big-forehead wasn’t the reason we watched. It was something else that was big on her.
@Humble_One,
they didn’t show it on camera enuff. It might have been a watchable show if they did (and they weren’t so annoying)
@Humble_One & @Deviant,
I would google whatever this asset is for confirmation, but i know neither her character’s name nor her government name.
@BiggFoxy,
(re: the Wire et al) generally I draw a blank when asked to conjure the names of worthwhile Black shows, but it’s also because I’m admittedly biased against damn near all mainstream Black media.
I wish I were more fluent in HTML, because I would italicize “all”. I could at least try to use it, though.
italics fail
@Penelope, I’ll save u the trouble… dey talmbout her @ss… you’re welcome
@Penelope, I think the Jena 6 thing did rock the Black community. I felt that that was one of the times when we were most united – united in outrage. Remember, people were taking buses from all over to go there and march.
@Yonnie3k,
I felt that a lot of people came here (to Louisiana) to support the Jena Six a) without really knowing what they were supporting, and/or b) not realizing the social climate of this state. I won’t get on my soap box about the glacial pace at which we’re still trying desegregate our schools, as though Brown v. Board was decided half an hour ago, not half a century ago. Fewer than twenty years ago, we were this close (snaps fingers) to electing as governor the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Two months ago, a justice of the peace in Tangipahoa parish refused to marry an interracial couple. So the kind of injustice that was manifest with the Jena Six is not exactly a novel idea here. However, I know that it takes some event to galvanize people, so I’ll accept that Jena Six was it. So yes, people came together in outrage, but they left as quickly as they had come. They marched into LaSalle parish–took pictures for FaceBook to make sure the rest of us could see how conscientious they were–and marched right back home to complacency, patting themselves on the backs for what was surely a valiant foray into civil rights utopia.
But what had they done? Which of them ever stopped to look back? Almost none.
And all of that was reinforced for me when, within a year of the incident, four of the Jena Six had been arrested again–each on totally unrelated charges. YES, they should answer for their own culpability. NO, resolving the Jena Six issue is not the key to equality. But to me what happened in Jena is reflective of the disjunct among us, because there is something very very wrong with people referring to themselves as a community, uniting for a cause, supporting that cause, and somehow still failing to effectively rehabilitate the young men with whom that cause originated.
It feels like we missed the point.
@Penelope,
Just getting back from holiday vacate and read this post. Happy New Year, all….Anyhoo, just wanted to say I hear you on the Jena 6 follow-up, or lack thereof. But it’s easy to “miss the point” when the real work requires doing work every day (i.e. fighting for REAL access to everyday jobs for our young Black men and women in our local communities [construction jobs often touted by politicians so often go to other-owned companies and the other workers they employ] …. parents recognizing that the “system” is not the best way to rehabilitate their wayward young and fighting tooth and nail to keep them out of it even on so-called “minor” violations, showing up at the schools on the regular to keep our kids respectful of authority, and authority respectful of and in best service to our kids…..This is all probably a topic for a whole new convo, but I felt inspired…..Peace and here’s to new day in the new decade…..
Taking a hint from “The Batchelor”, VH1′s “Flavor Of Love” has had a tremendous effect on the black diaspora over the past decade. Spawning shows like “I Love New York”, “Real Chance At Love”, “Rock of Love”, the Tila Tequila joint, and “For the Love of Ray J (did I miss any?), it’s influence is wide. These train wrecks were unescapable and has provided hours and hours of laughs, amusement, and side-eyes. Besides, who would think that the “hype man” of one of the most politically-charged, ground-breaking, and socially conscious Hip Hop groups of the 80′s and 90′s would be sought after by 20+ chicks all vying for his attention…or their 15 minutes. It’s utterly genius if you think about it. Yeeeaaahhhh Boyeeeee!
I can’t think of anything right now other than your failure to mention the “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” clause in the Kanye paragraph.
Like, that ish was even bigger than his head.
Kanye the Stevie Wonder of our generation?!? I’m having trouble with that one…
@harlemhoney, You’re not the only one.
@SDot,
Agreed. Stevie is unparalleled. Kanye falls faaaar short. Also, Stevie plays real instruments. I’m just saying.
@harlemhoney,
I think P has something with this, but i think its more of a comment of the state of our music then it is, Kanye being great. Black music of this decade features so few actual instrumentalist that someone who is able to flip someone elses music and make it great is the best we have to work with.
R. Kelly’s Trapped in the Closet-changed music 4 ever(good or bad)
@Stustustudious,
I must admit, that the other day (well, early morning) I watched TITC chapters 1-22 straight…I had seen 1-6 previously when all the hype was still here, but this was the perfect means not to work on my dissertation. I can only say that I’m ashamed. And for some reason…in awe??
@Mis.Education,
Chapters 18-23 are gold, everytime I need a good laugh I watch those. Rufus, Rosey, Pimp Luscious! SMH! And don’t forget the P-P-P-Package!
@Stustustudious,
You know there is a kat here who is putting on a stage play based on the Traped In the Closet series…I wonder if it’s still running…lol
@miss t-lee,
LOL. I am oddly saddened and excited by this. Saddened because it’s a low down dirty shame. Excited, because the ignance in me kinda wants to see it.
@Cheekie,
Trust when I read about it in our free weekly I was like “this has to be joke right?”
LMAO
*I can’t find the link, I think it’s stopped running.
honorable mention: jay & nas beef…that discussion has caused more fights than shoulder bumpings in black nightclubs
oh and lest we forget, vh1.
via flavor of love, i love new york, and for the love of ray j, vh1 not only made some of the LAMEST Black people famous but never in the history of n*ggadom has the overall IQ of Black people dipped at such an alarming rate
Its all there. Kanye cares about THE MUSIC alright, HIS MUSIC. Stevie Wonder’s beads fell of his braids when you said Kanye’ is the Stevie Wonder of this decade…..
@QueenT,
damn right…sh!t even I got a tear down my cheek
@QueenT,
This cracked me up for a good 4.6 minutes.
I think the DL phemon was part of a larger systematic attack on the black family. It was, for a while, the leading mantra in the attack on black men. Can’t have a black family without black men, right? It plays into the “there are no good black men” myth (won’t beat that dead horse here today) along with other topics we are so used to bantering about like college educations, incarceration rates, homicide rates, baby daddy rates etc.
The DL thing did open the black community’s eyes to one issue though. The numbers are real, scary, and undeniable, and still need to be explained–the rate of new HIV/AIDS infections amongst black women. I don’t think this story would have seen the light of day (and it is still not getting the attention it deserves) if not for all the hype about the DL.
@BiggFoxy, A “systematic attack” by whom? Messy black ppl who can’t/won’t/don’t form and maintain nuclear families? No one has a gun to black folks’ heads demanding that they forget the condoms and instead carry OOW babies to term. “The Man” isn’t insisting that gay and bi black men stay in the closet while non-black homosexuals go free.
(The CIA provided the AIDS and the crack, though. 0_o )
Negroes attacked their own families.
Marry Your Baby Mama/Daddy day was an effort to ***foster*** the black family. WHY IS IT NOT ON THIS LIST?!?
While it may not necessarily be one of the biggest news stories in the “black community” this decade, an honorable mention should go to OJ Simpson for teaching black youth a valuable lesson: If you piss off the majority by getting away with murder, it does not mean you can get away with any other foolishness you pursue. Somebody should have told him Cochran was no longer available.
A few of the biggest stories of the decade in the Black communtiy.
-The weakening or elimination of Affirmative Action
-The decline of mainstream hip-hop
- The challenges of professional Black women finding professional Black men.
I finally finished watching it this weekend. Those sleepless nights were worth it though I felt like my best friend died and I wanted to rescue Dukie, save Omar and allathatshyt. I loved it. No other show has taken over my life like that.
The ironies and truths of the Game were upheld and reflect in life.
@malaika,
This editing thing does not like me!! Champ Panama WhatDIDIdooooooo
*wailing*
*kickingstonesandsuicidallychasinglions*
okay Give the speed of internet here which today resembles a snail on malfunctioning Marion Jones steriods I could not edit. The Show is the Wire. I got the season 4 and 5 from my dealer (bootleg of course TIA) and sleep has not heard from me. Been walking around half functioning and dozing off in random places. End of the day it was worth it. Though I must confess to some extreme shadiness………………………………….. wait for it………………………………………………………………………………………………………. I thought Snoop was an adolescent boy with a rough but not base voice.
I found out at the end before Micheal shoots her and she asks him if her hair looks good and he says yes GIRL.
*Did a double take*
Sue me that chest area was non-existent. I looked didn’t see. Going back to rewatch
@malaika,
Chris and Marlo refer to her as a girl several times
@malaika,
I think she only plays a girl on the show. She’s a boy in real life.
@Monk, are you being sarcastic? She’s a girl in real life. Her name is Felicia Pearson.
@malaika,
You didn’t know that was a chick? Okay, To be fair I knew it was a chick because her earliest appearance on the show was when she was slimmer and she was dressed like a girl on the back of a bike to shoot up Omar and his Mom’s on a Sunday. I gotta admit, I don’t know if it would be as clear to me if I didn’t see her in that scene first.
@malaika, Okay I’m gonna request that sometime during 2010, you go back and watch ALL FIVE SEASONS of The Wire. I’m sure they referred to Snoop as “girl” and with female pronouns (her, she) on several occasions. And if you missed the fact that Snoop was a girl, I am SO SURE that you missed so many of the shows more subtle points and nuances. On my last re-watching (its become somewhat of an annual thing for me) I ran across this blog. It is awesome to watch an episode and then read his blog post about that episode. It really enriches the experience. He has all seasons except season 3 which he’ll finish next summer (he started at season 4 and is working his way through 1-3).
Yonnie3k, The Wire snob
Bernie Mac died…
@Deeds,
I know. That was shocking and sad to me. He wasn’t just a comedy great, and even though I didn’t know that man, I felt like he was good people. He seemed familiar and like family. He gave me memories with loved ones who have sense passed where we were crying laughing. That’s a great memory. He is missed!
@legitimate_soul,
*since
Kanye the Stevie Wonder of the decade??? Wow! You lost me there. There aren’t many artists of any genre who can touch Stevie’s classic period of the 1970′s. What Stevie put out was just one of those once in a lifetime things that happened at the right time and we should simply enjoy it and appreciate it…
I’d compare what Kanye’s done to what Isaac Hayes did in the 1970′s…or even what Sly Stone…Stevie is legendary.
@BluesmanJazz, That’s disrespect to both Isaac and Sly, at best Kanye is a watered down Dr. Dre. In reality his style, to his production, his clothing choices, and misbehavior are a ripoff of Juicy J. His work is nearly indistinguishable from much of Juicy J’s Stax sample heavy work of the mid to late 90s.
@Legendary Dash, I stand corrected. You are absolutely right!
*Honorable Mention: Black serial killers. DC, Sniper John Allen Muhammad and Cleveland Serial Killer Anthony Sowell. You could not have convinced me that the DC sniper was a black man before they pulled him out the trunk of that car (I thought it was Remy from “Higher Learning”).Also, black people don’t bury women in their backyard or leave them in the attic and still live with them in the house. Because of these insane acts we can no longer assume it was some crazy white guy.
@Expected Victory, Forget Honorable Mention, the DC snipers should have been number 8. I know the existence of bonafide Black serial killers affected me a lot more than Superhead’s trashy tell-most.
Naw, the Dishonorable Mention should be Black reality shows. A really virulent strain of b*tichassness spread through the airwaves.
@Soula Powa, I agree… black reality show especially “College Hill” and “Flava of Love” have done us a disservice.
“However, keeping Chris Brown, the MJ-heir apparent, from performing at an MJ tribute during the BET awards just seemed egregious.”
So, I know he was the most “obvious” choice, but I still think Chris Breezy’s moves ain’t fluid enough to give MJ a proper dance tribute. That nicca can dance, but it’s spastic as hell. *kanyeshrug*
“Hell, I still miss Michael Jackson.”
I know, same here.
Even though a lot of that “surreal” feeling has mostly worn off from the time I first heard about it, I still have to pause and think “Wow, he’s REALLY gone…” when his song comes on the radio or I see his picture in a magazine.
Worst decade ever. We lost Mike Jack, that says it all
And with #5, the level of paranoia shot up in the community to where now, that is one of the questions asked on the first date by these birds. That dude threw so much shade on straight black men, that no one even pays attention to white pedophiles and serial killers anymore. Now DL black men are the leading killers of the black community according to DL excuse me J.L. Bad thing was it was accepted as a total truth when it was merely more of a device used to further anatagonize black men. The AIDS/HIV thing is simple: People do a lot of unsafe f*cking…no need to add more boogiemonsters to the list.
Good list, but for the record, I strongly disagree with Kanye being Stevie. Negative.
I think a major story was thousands of Black folks being disenfranchised and the Electoral College being challenged when Bush stole an election. During both terms, there were butterfly ballots, hanging Chads, and recounts in Florida and Ohio. The mistrust of voting and politics was deepened in the Black Community and led to not-so-helpful campaigns of “Vote or Die” etc. etc. Obama’s election brought many previously untrusting non-voters to the polls.
That said, I respectfully disagree with the “worst decade ever” sentiments. I had a lot of change, challenges, struggles and growth, but I’m extremely blessed and thankful for them. The decade had triumphs and tragedies like any other.
@legitimate_soul,
Obama’s election brought many previously untrusting non-voters to the polls.
Truth. My mother is
58 56 4030 years old and she voted for Barack Obama. This was the first time she’s ever voted in any election.I spent most of this decade broke, studying, not sleeping enough, and stressing my azz out in for a bachelors and masters degree soon to be working on that Medical Degree. So save a few moments like new President. this decade did not rock. And now I have even more reason to hate BET I had no idea they thought that 106 and Fart is more important than Rosa Parks funeral! Die BET die!
@Blue Skyez, To be fair no one who would actually have cared about the funeral would be watching BET at that time. BET has advertisers and employees to feed. BET stopped being about Black people and uplifting the community a long time ago. Negroes need to get over it. Outside of Ananda Lewis being a dime, Teen Summit sucked. Tavis Smiley was/is an annoying blowhard, and Oh Drama was mediocre.
@Panama – Good list. I can’t really think of anything else that could go on that list. But I can definitely think of a few changes in the black community over the past decade:
- Rap music. Gone are the days of real rappers dominating the game – we still got a few left but rap these days has been reduced to punchlines and nursery school rhymes
- Selling drugs/gangs are no longer such an attractive lifestyle (at least on the East Coast). But I’m not sure if thats just due to the “war on drugs/crime” or if a positive change is actually happening in the black community
- Blacks becoming prominent in sports other than track, basketball and football – now were dominating tennis, golf, and even swimming (there was that dude Cullen Jones on the winning US Olympic relay team w Michael Phelps)
- Besides Obama, I think black folks have been breaking even more barriers than ever before – becoming mayors, CEOs, owning businesses, etc.
But maybe that’s just me being optimisitc!!
@BKSweetheart,
Good post. I’m optimistic too, so I love that energy!
@BKSweetheart,
“Selling drugs/gangs are no longer such an attractive lifestyle (at least on the East Coast). But I’m not sure if thats just due to the “war on drugs/crime” or if a positive change is actually happening in the black community”
If thisis what you see on the East Coast good. Hopefully it can spread. Right now there is a disconnect between what is shown in videos and music and actual real life. You can’t get money like you could in the 80s selling drugs. H3ll you can’t get money like the 90s when the drug game was slowing up. Now we just have to make sure dudes know they can make a living without entertaining or amusing folks.
I think that you should have mentioned Dave Chapelle. I mean dude was on the precipice of some Oprah like richness and gave it all up because it compromised his “morays”. O-0, I mean at the very least he should get the new millenium side eye and sh*t.
I also forgot to mention the Boondocks for portraying my inner turmoil as being both a culturally/socially concious intellectual and an ig’nant sh *t starter with some serious ninja tendancies.
@Neighborhood Hussy, If this was facebook, I’d hit the “Like” button with the thumbs up lol
@Neighborhood Hussy, Ahhh yes Boondocks has made some great eps. that are actually being acted out today. Dave Chapelle;s show too, he did mention that his biggest reason for not accepting the money was his morals. But, he worried that his show was making black people look like a joke rather than show the irony of race relations in America. I’ll admit that’s a lot of money for making fun of stereotypes that 2520′s will never think about fixing
@Neighborhood Hussy, AMEN.
Chappelle’s show was groundbreaking…a classic. Too bad it only lasted two seasons.
LMAO @ your name.
Panama, good look on the Stokely Carmichael(Kwame Toure) pic.
@ PJ the preachers’ son, OJ should have gotten a spot on the list. When they released the verdict, that showed how much the 2520s were hoping for him to get the chair and showed a clear division between us and 25s er’where!!
This is a pretty good list, but in African news…SOMALI PIRATES. Yeah, the number one would still be about Barak Obama though.
In any case, I have to agree with Kanye West being this generations Stevie Wonder. I love him and his music. He is truly BRIGHT RED IN A GREY WORLD!!!
What about James Brown passing on? James was the catalyst of a lot of music we love now and not only did he pass on, but the body was frozen and kept and it was a bunch of drama that delayed his remains being put at rest. James Brown wasn’t a perfect person, but I love me some James Brown and what he contributed to music.
Usually, I don’t let folks on to what sites/blogs I frequent on the ‘net (for whatever reason) BUT tonight, I just had to allow my brother to read this list with me and when I tell ya’ we just finished crackin-the-hell-up for at least 4 minutes @ # 10, I kid u not! That was so damn funny and a great start for the the rest of list. *thumbs up*
But but but… EVERYONE gave a damn about music back when Stevie was biggest… Well, not everyone… But there wasn’t no damn snap music.
Point being, if you wanna call him an old(ish) soul for still caring about the music, great. But… He made an entire album of autotune. Ummm. We don’t believe you. You need more vocals.
(Not to mention Stevie wasn’t an arrogant a-hole no matter HOW big he got.)
@Purplenat, Kanye’s use of autotune was intended to reflect the depression and soullessness he was feeling at that time (death of mother, separation from fiancee) and not out of musical laziness. He no less cares about the music because he used the device.
We all know he’s not a real singer so I highly doubt he was using it to cover up his relative lack of singing talent as is used in virtually every other use of autotune. As I stated, it was to portray a particular emotion and it was very effective as such.
808s and Heartbreak was his best work since College Dropout imo and was akin to a Coldplay or Thievery Corporation album than a rap album. If you’re not into that kind of music and approached it with the expectation of it being hip hop, you may not be a fan. But as a musical piece of work, 808s was smart, gripping, saddening, insightful and an auditory feast. I listened to it nonstop when I first got it and realized just how amazing and diverse Kanye’s talent is.
Katrina
Barack Obama and Election 2008
Jena 6
Sean Bell
The Obama Effect
The Death of Michael Jackson
Michael Vick and the Dogs
Jay beats out Elvis
The WIre – and its effect on popular culture
Marriage is the new Black – Jay and Bey wed
Tiger Woods – Athlete of the Decade
Bill Cosby: Blacks must do better
Thanks, this was a great way to outline my end of the year post.