My Music

Music to me is more than just lyrics and beat, its culture. Music makes the culture we live in today. Music is basically my life. Everywhere I go I'm listening to music, whether I'm in the car or my phone is ringing. I am a HUGE fan of Lil Wayne. /1.bp. I know your first thought is "Oh my God she's so ghettho," I'm really not. I love his rhymes. If you sit and listen closely he has some of the sickest rhymes. I also love the beat of his songs. I think that majority of people can say that this summer they were jammin to his hit single "Lollipop".http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIG1Vr0h_aE

I'm also a big fan of Kanye West. I like Kanye because he is different than all the others. He's always has a fresh style. His glasses became a huge hit. Two of my favorite songs by Kanye are, "Love Lockdown" and "Heartless". The lyrics are nothing like you heard before and the beats can have you humming all day.
As I previously stated, music is a culture, another one of my musical preferences comes from my culture. I love Arabic music. My overall favorite Arabic singer is Amr Diab. I like his songs because he sings all the love songs. I first fell in love with his music when I went to Lebanon two years ago. Some of the words I didn't understand at first, but I sang along anyway and no matter what CD is in my car now, you'll always find at least one track with him.

Speaking the Unspeakable

I think the reason that he had to sign the paper was ridiculous. I think that he should have every right to speak about what happened because he lived it first hand. I can agree when they wanted him to sign to protect what happened but 50 years later I think that he should be able to talk about it. Now teachers are teaching about things that happened during this time and he would be a perfect first hand help.

Genocide: Chechnya

September 30, 1999 was the beginning of a Genocide for Chechnya. Chechnya was invaded by Russian Military through air and artillery. Russians invaded Chechnya to denominize it as a Russian society. The invasion caused massive amounts of violence towards the Chechen people. Chechen people were hit hardest when their capital, Grozny, was completely destroyed. Then in the Spring of 2000, Russian President Vladimir Putin pacified Chechnya. The pacification didn't change much. Russian officials were still taking advantage of Chechen citizens and abusing with extortion, torture, murder and more. Chechens aren't succeeding because they have no efforts to rebuild their home, and along with the abuse from Russian officials the abuse was now being brought on by their own Chechen citizens.

Genocide is not something that should be taken lightly. I believe that Genocide is one of the most ignored crimes. Honestly, I had never heard of half the places on the list. I think people ignore because they feel like there is nothing that they can do, and that thought, in my opinion, is ignorant. Whether crimes like Genocide happen around us or half way around the world, we should all help each other because one day we might need a helping hand.

MAUS

After reading the story "MAUS", my opinion of the purpose of art has not changed. I still believe that art is to show self expression and show someone's feelings. In "MAUS" the narrator's feelings of his mother and father and even of the Holocaust are brought up. I believe that art has no obligations. Although art has no obligations, I do believe that some pieces have the power to lift people up and bring them down, depending on the way that the pieces are perceived.

Art Response

After watching sculptor Theo Jansen's presentation, I was astonished. I knew things like "Animari" would soon be invented by someone but not this soon. I think that the fact that he believes they will survive on their own one day is fascinating. The animals move themselves along gracefully just with the use of wind. They move like completely real animals. "Animali" is quite the break through in science.
The purpose of art is self expression yet a way to show others about you. My grandmother has been an artist for 60 years and everytime I look at any piece, I can see a piece of her. I also believe that the purpose of art can mean many things as well as self expression. Art could be to express feeling or as Theo Jansen used it to show his research. The way Theo used art was to show new technology to society. I don't think art has one meaning. I think the meaning of the art comes from the artist and their piece.

The Presidential Election

I feel that the results of the presidential election were in a way predictable. Although we thought that it could be between either, there were so many strong followers of Obama. I think that a large issue that has to be taken care by the new president elect is the war in Iraq. I'm sure everyone can agree when I say that the war needs to be resolved and ended. The election relates to the identity we've been exploring in our class because it shows that no matter the race or the religion of the candidate its about their beliefs and what they are going to do to help our country. We learned in multiple stories about individuals that stand up for what they believe in.

Hawkville

The smell of fresh Mediterranean cuisine
when you pull out on warren
where every nice car is seen.
Rims, tints and chrome, anything to make your turn,
because money is a number one concern.
Many cultures from the north, south, east and west sides
choose Dearborn as their home to reside.
Twelve o'clock on the dot,
The Mobil Station on Schaefer is the spot.
Everyday you must watch what you say and do,
if not their sure to talk to about you.
Instead of privacy, were all about show.
Because everything you do, everybody knows.

A Night in Japan

“Irasshai” is the Japanese term for welcome. When you dine at a fine restaurant like Benihana’s you're sure to get an astounding welcome. The Japanese cuisine Benihana’s has three locations in Novi, Troy and Dearborn, Michigan. I visited the Dearborn location on October 19, 2008 at about 5:30 p.m. Benihana’s serves two types of Japanese cuisine. Half of the restaurant is the grill side, where there is everything from teriyaki steak to chicken hibachi, vegetables, rice and all, cooked to completion right in front of you. In the middle of the restaurant is the sushi bar where you can watch five to six sushi experts prepare your meal and the regular bar.

Benihana’s is decorated in a modern Japanese style. On the outside of the building, there are brown walls with Japanese writing on beige panels. When you first walk into the restaurant, your greeted by a large, red Japanese decoration built right into the wall. The wall makes a bit of privacy between the people waiting for a table, and the people eating. Once around the wall, there are two sides, to the right and left are the grills and the tables around them. In between the grills and tables is the sushi area and the bar, with booths and seats at the sushi bar. Aspects like the Japanese decoration on the wall when you first walk in, and a similar design hanging above the bar and the sushi area are qualities that keep people coming back for more. The space creates a relaxing mood with the Asian ambiance. The light scent of cleaning products, lets you feel more relaxed about using a public restroom. You could feel the cleanliness of the dishes by the warmth of the plate on your table. Depending on whether you use chopsticks or silverware, the chopsticks are brought in a paper wrapper and the silverware in your napkin.

The food not only had a fresh look, it had a fresh taste. I had gone with my best friend and we ordered Las Vegas Rolls and Crunchy Shrimp Tempura Rolls. Las Vegas rolls consist of fresh salmon, avocado, cream cheese, spicy mayo and their topped with crunchy jalapenos, then the rolls are deep fried. The crunchy shrimp tempura rolls are made with shrimp tempura, freshly cut avocado, cucumbers, crabsticks and crunchy tempura crumbs rolled around each piece. The meal was simply delectable. All the food was scrumptious tasting and smelling.

The bill added up to about twenty dollars. Although the meal wasn’t much, it is a bit expensive for the average person. Each set of sushi, with about eight rolls, can vary anywhere from $7.50 to $12.25. For an appetizer like soup or salad you can expect to pay anywhere from $3 to $5 dollars. Entrees can range in price from $17 to $26 dollars. There are only two desserts on the menu. One is just ice cream with choices from orange sherbert to the classic vanilla for $2.75 and the other is banana tempura for $6, which is just a deep-fried banana.

Although the meal was great, the timing of the meal was longer than expected. To get our first set of sushi, it took about twenty-five minutes and for our second set of rolls, it took about fifteen. The staff was extremely nice and very helpful. Reservations aren’t required at Benihana’s, but they are highly recommended, especially on weekends. Depending on how busy the restaurant is, the time of your wait is unexpected. I can say that in the past, I waited about an hour and a half, without reservations, to be seated. I would definitely recommend Benihana’s to anyone who loves Japanese cuisine and sushi. It’s a great place with decent prices for any kind of occasion. Not only will I go back to Benihana’s, I’m going to try to at least go once a month. The atmosphere, food and staff, makes you feel like you spent a relaxing night in Japan.