Word: specialize
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...seen these visions glinting in the distance for some time--the prospect that one day parents will be able to browse through gene catalogs to special-order a hazel-eyed, redheaded extrovert with perfect pitch. Leave aside for the moment whether scientists actually found an "IQ gene" last week or the argument over what really constitutes intelligence. Every new discovery gives shape and bracing focus to a debate we have barely begun. Even skeptics admit it's only a matter of time before these issues become real. If you could make your kids smarter, would you? If everyone else...
...biggest stars in rap before retiring from the business. Now he's just an oddly named coed. A spokesperson for the university said Ma$e, born Mason Betha, "fits right in and acts just like any other student," albeit one who has been granted special parking privileges. And while he no longer writes paeans to the high life, his academic interests suggest he has not given up on the material world altogether: he has reportedly decided to major in business...
...producer Lorne Michaels says, "There's always one comic a whole generation imitates. Chris dominates now. There's no one as good." Then again, Jerry Seinfeld, a pal of Rock's, says this about Rock's hip-hopping in-your-face style: "It's the yelling that makes it special. It's very easy to hear what he's saying. Beyond that, I don't see anything special about it." Among comics, such joking put-downs are the ultimate display of respect...
...Rock and Joyner hit the road. Rock was interested in playing smaller stages, black clubs. He wanted to reconnect to audiences, to the street-level reality that had made his act funny to begin with. The result was Bring the Pain, his landmark HBO special. "He opened up his material, and it allowed a larger audience to be receptive to it," says Tim Meadows, a fellow SNL cast member. "Chris started talking about things onstage that he talked about in personal life--social and political issues...
...Rumble in the Jungle, Rock hopes to set his next HBO stand-up in the symbolic location of Africa. "It's weird with stand-up comedy," he says. "It doesn't really translate worldwide. I want to figure out how do I make it worldwide. Do a special in Africa. Can't beat that. Pull that off, then I will have done something." And the guy who got beaten up in grade school, who got whupped on his own TV show, who now rules American comedy, would finally be the undisputed comedic champion of the world...