The NBA Playoffs

The time has come once again for the Playoffs and I'm hoping that the Pistons make up for their collapse last season. Overall, the Eastern conference is weak. It's obvious that the NBA champions will be coming out of the west this year. It's hard for me to say because I am a huge Detroit Piston fan. I do believe that the Pistons are the best team in the east, and I think they will make the NBA finals. I pray that they win it all but going up against either Dallas, Phoenix, or San Antonio will be a hard task to complete.

Tragedy at Virginia Tech

Yesterday, I alongside the rest of America was shocked at what happened at Virginia Tech. This is proof that no one is safe from violence of any kind. Cho Seung-Hui killed 33 students and faculty and to be honest, it has got me on edge. I say that because if you aren't safe at school, then where is a place that can be considered safe. I'm appalled, saddened, and shocked that anyone could commit such crimes. This is deadliest shooting in American history, and April 16, 2007 will be a day that the United States will never forget. God bless each person that was murdered and their families.

Some of the Family

Above is a photo of 4 of my 9 nieces and nephews. To the left is 11 year old Jayelo, 11 year old Jackie is in the middle, and 12 year old Carriese is to the right. Each of them are very intelligent individuals and each has a bright future ahead of them. They will not get caught up in the bad shit that goes on in Detroit. I know that I'm a positive influence on them and I'll do anything I can for them as well. All I ask in return is for them to finish school and do something positive with their lives. The little one is 8 month old Davion. He's a bad baby, but I wouldn't change nothing about him because he's one very enchanting and lively child. I love them all to death.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs

I along with everyone in Detroit hopes that the Red Wings won't get put out of the playoffs early. It's been going on for a few years now but I think this year will be different. This year they seem much more physical and their goaltending is far superior than what they had last year. Dominik Hasek is old, but he has proven himself throughout his career. Additionally, they are simply better than Calgary. They should put them out in 5 to 6 games. I feel that the only team that can pose a threat to Detroit is San Jose and/or Vancouver. The Red Wings are prepared this year, they better not let me down.

Getting it Together

I can't believe that I have not gotten my photo essay done yet. It is most definitely not my fault. My assignment was suppose to have been done but, the idiots at CVS screwed up my photos, and Rite Aid hasn't received my other photos yet. Why can't I catch a break? I hope to have it together by Thursday, and I really hope it comes out right. I hope I can get my point across with this assignment as I took a bit of a different path.

Wrestlemania---An Unforgettable Night

Sunday night, I had one of the best times in my life at Wrestlemania 23. There were 80, 000 plus fans in Ford Field and the atmosphere was amazing. I have never seen so many people in my life. Vince McMahon's head was shaved bald as you can see, but there were many other astounding moments as well. Seeing the Undertaker's win streak continue was the best moment. I feel bad for those who didn't get a chance to experience Wrestlemania live. It was truly a night to remember.

Detroit Tigers

I'm really interested in seeing how the Tigers will handle the pressure of being favorites to win the World Series. They caught everyone by surprise last year, but can they keep winning. They do have a better team on paper with the additions of Gary Sheffield, but will it pan out to better or even success? I sure hope so because I never got into baseball until last year, and I am not ready to get out of not enjoying the Detroit Tigers.

Tentative Thesis Statement

Affirmative action is needed in Michigan to level an uneven plating field in the state's Universities.

This issue is really important to me because I know that it will affect thousands of African Americans who are trying to succeed in life. I actually spoke to a counselor in UC, and she stated that some scholarships will become terminated because of proposal 2, and that's not fair. Diversity is needed on campuses and banning affirmative action will not help the cause. There are alot of potential sources that I can use, but I have to carefully view them first.

Arguing a Local Issue

Last semester in my speech class, my final assignment was a persuasive speech on a current event. During this time the elections were just ending, and some of the results were controversial. The controversy came from the results over proposal 2, which banned affirmative action. This topic was, and still is extremely important to me. This topic forced me to pay attention to the news, and I don't even watch the news.

This topic is not something that I want to do just to complete the assignment. Since day1 of this class, I knew that this was what I wanted to write about for the last paper. Moreover, the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative used systematic voter fraud in order to get its name on the ballot. 58% of Michigan voters voted in favor of the banning. These results will potentially push Michigan back to a time when minorities(especially African Americans) were discriminated against. I think that everyone knows that it's a very uneven playing field in our society, and affirmative action tried to level the playing field evenly. I believe that diversity is essential everywhere, especially on college campuses. The banning of affirmative action will not help at all!

Bad Luck

Yesterday, I couldn't even make it to class because m car was trippin!! This is the third time that my car acted up this school year. I think it's time for a new one because I'm sick of the one I have now. Additionally, those stupid idiots at CVS screwed up my photos. Some of my pictures were not on my disk, and the other pictures were not even ready. It's suppose to be a three day process, but they need to hurry up.

Possible Topics

I really wanted to do a photo essay about infidelity---why do men and women cheat--who are the better cheaters. That would have been so fun, and I know that I could pull it off. Unfortunately, I can't do this because of Professor Degenaro's request. I will either do a photo essay on high school students who skip class, or the everyday life of a real drug dealer(sounds so fun and interesting). I didn't know if Professor Degenaro will allow me to do the drug dealer photo essay, so I went ahead and did both. Whichever one I think is best is the one that I'm turning in.

The Photo Essay Process

The entire photo essay process is really wrecking my nerves. There are many things that I want to try for this assignment because I want to set my self apart from other peoples topics. I love to take risks and I really want to take a big risk with this assignment. I don't think people are interested in safe topics nowadays. People want to see something that they tell/show their family and friends. People want to respond to something fun, interesting, daring and creative. I don't want to go down the predictable route with this particular assignment. I want to do something different. Honestly, I don't think I can! But I'm in college now, which means that I should be able to take bigger risks. I'm really confused.

Detroit Graffiti

On flickr.com, there are alot of interesting photos of graffiti that has an important message, some are fun to look at, but others are utterly rediculous. I happen to be a big opposer of graffiti, and I happen to find some photos that support my argument. I was surprised I didn't see any gang signs or R.I.P signs. The funny thing is that I've seen the 8mile sign in person and it still does not make sense to me. What is the real point with these photos? What about the direction sign. Is that suppose to scare anybody that takes that path? I really don't understand. One of the pieces of graffiti that like was the "don't cry for us, cry for them photo" I think that's an interesting viewpoint that alot of people might agree with. Other than that, it was just pointless. my favorite is the throw away your two-faced smile piece of graffiti. I think that sends an important message, and it's a quote that many people can use. I can't wait to browse through some more graffiti photos so see more of what I'm accustomed to.

Graffiti

Leonard Krigell's Graffiti is sort of odd to me. His version of graffiti does not correspond to my version at all. He talks about politics, religion, etc. Some of the paragraphs are relly interesting to read such as when he quotes Norman Mailer, and the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs on page 203. I think I will like Kriegel's version of graffiti much more, because at least it sends a message. The graffiti in my community is completely foolish, and done by foolish people. There are either tons of profanity, R.I.P signs, or words representing a specific group all over buildings, houses, etc. That proves why I think graffiti is pointless.

POOR Britney Spears

What's really going on with this girl? She divorces Kevin Federline(thank GOD), she neglects her children, she goes partying without underwear with Lindsey Lohan and Paris Hilton, then she shaves her head. Is it just me, or does it seems like a publicity stunt. She probably knows that her career is dying and she needs to make some headlines. She has no singing talent at all, and other female artists such as the stunningly talented Christina Aguilera and the beautiful Beyonce, are leaving her in the dust. I think that Britney knows her time is up, and she is doing all of this on purpose to rejuvenate her career. She needs to realize that sometimes talent is more important than sex appeal. Now that she has shaved her head bald, no one may never look at her as a sex symbol again anyways. She definitely can't sing, but she can work an audience, and that''s what I think she's doing. Britney please GROW UP!!

THE PHOTO ESSAY

This process is something that I've never done before. It seems simple, but I'm not really sure. I know for a fact that I will have it done on time, I just don't know what I want my photo essay to be about. There are many possibilities that I can choose from, and they are all in my neighborhood. There are so many storylines that I can use from my neighborhood, that are important. I don't stay in a bad neighborhood, but there are certain people that can sometimes bring the community down. Or maybe I will do something that's not part of my neighborhood. This will be a really interesting assignment.

The NCAA Tournament

Without a doubt, this is the best time of the year in sports. Yes there's the Super Bowl, the MLB, NHL, NBA playoffs, and College Football's bowl season, but none of those sporting events are more exciting than March Madness. The NCAA Tournament is so enthralling. every year there seems to be a Cinderella team , which makes it stand out from other team sporting events. There are many favorites to win this year such as Florida, North Carolina, Kansas, Georgetown, UCLA, and Ohio State. My sentimental favorite is Gonzaga because for some reason, I love that program. I think that either Kansas or North Carolina will win the championship. Only God knows and only time will tell. I will certainly be tuned into every game to see if my brackets are accurate. A little mini prediction is ...... Gonzaga will make it to the elite 8!! I sure hope so. GO ZAGS!!!

The Free Press

What really caught my attention is the story about the teenage student who brought a gun to school. He attends Redford high, and I know alot people that go there. What's interesting to me is the fact that no one knows why the guy brought the gun on campus anyways, or no one knows his intentions. Another story is the Tara Grant case, which is really shocking. I don't really know why he murdered Tara, but I would love to read on to find out. The Comerica headquarters are moving to Texas and that's terrible for the state of Michigan, and the city of Detroit. I guess he has a point because Michigan is not growing at a fast rate, but it's a terrible loss for Detroit. I wonder if the Tigers have to change the name of their ballpark.

Anna Nicole Smith

Last Friday, Anna Nicole was finally laid to rest long after her death. This lady has been through so much, and I found myself feeling so sorry for her. She's been in and out of court for years upon years, she gained weight, her husband died, she became bankrupt, her son Daniel died three days after the birth of her daughter, and she was addicted to drugs too. How much can a person endure? I'm surprise that she didn't die sooner. Hopefully she's in a better place. Now this innocent baby is a part of a huge ordeal that she can't handle. Who's the baby's real father? That's a big question. Danielynn could be worth millions of dollars, and I don't think anybody wants the baby, they just want what's she's worth, and that's a shame.

Wrestlemania 23 at Ford Field on April 1st

I was very fortunate to get tickets to this years wrestlemania. I have been watching wrestling since I very young, and now that wrestlemania is in Detroit, I was not going to miss out on this opportunity. On April 1st, I will be at Ford Field alongside 70 to 80 thousand fans, and I can't wait. I'll be in the 24th row, but that's fine with me. I would have been blogged about this earlier because I have had the ticket since December. I waited until it was close enough, and decided to blog about. I'm sure that I will have an unforgetable experience!!

Spring Break

This has been one my most enjoyable spring breaks in quite a while. I didn't go anywhere, but I have been getting alot of much needed rest. I've been so exhausted this entire semester, and I need the time off. I have been spending alot of time with family, and my girlfriend, which is always good. I hope to come back to class rejuvenated, because I was such a drag before the break. Only time will tell.

Restaraunt review process

The process for my restaurant review is going well, but I'm having a hard time choosing which restaurant to choose from. I'm definately will do a soul food restaurant because that's what I'm most familiar with. I don't want to give my choice away at this moment because I might switch. I also beleive that this paper will be easier to write, but I may be wrong. Stay tuned.

Opinion On Restaraunt Review

The entire style is completely different from what Im accustomed to. There is no grabber statement, the review just gets to the point. I also noticed that the reviewer talked about Arrgentinian food before he wrote his review. The review seemed to have an upbeat tone throughout. All of the paragraphs were not really parqgraphs, and he discusses the downfall during the end of the review.

Final Draft Plans

Hopefully, I can get in contact with my former teacher so that I can ask her the extra questions that I'm missing. I also have to put a little more details into a few of my paragraphs. I plan to expand and possibly change my introduction to fit my essay perfectly. Additionally, drama is so important to her, and that's where I need to add more detail explaining why drama is important to her, and important to her students success. If I do so, I believe I will have a very good paper.

I Just Wanna Be Average

What's really the point in this essay. The entire piece of writing is just a bunch of memories that I really did not care about. This is by far the most boring article that I've read in this class. I really didn't get any connection with the title, because it sort of misleading. It felt like he was an average person, so why would he want to be average, if he already is. I'm a little confused by this essay, and hopefully the class and professor Degenaro can shed some light.

Peer Review # 2

Once again the peer reviewing process has helped. I don't think it helped more than last time because I know that I put more of my time into this paper, so there's not too much that I need to fix (at least I don't think so). I'm interested to see Professor Degenaro's comments because ultimately, his comments are more important. This paper was way more fun to write because the point is to try to get to know a person more than you already do. I'm glad that my peers in my class actually does take their time and read through each paper, to give the writer a solid response. Before I had this class, I could never say that.

My Academy Awards picks

Every year I give my opinion on who should go home with Oscar gold. Here are my picks for the important categories.

If I had my way, "The Departed" will win the award for best picture of the year. This is Martin Scorsece's best movie since "Goodfellas". The best movie of this year in my opinion, didn't get nominated. Mel Gibson's "Apocalypto" was fantastic. It's extremely violent, which is always good, and there's action throughout the movie. Dreamgirls would be my pick if it were nominated, and Apocalypto wasn't. Neither was nominated for best picture, so I went to my third favorite movie, which was The Departed.
The best director would go to Martin Scorsece because he deserves it. He is considered by many as the best director in the world, but has never won a Oscar for best director. He should win. Forrest Whitaker better win the Oscar for best actor because his performance in 'The Last King of Scotland" was amazing.Helen Mirren is the front runner to win best actress, but I'm not so sure. Judi Dench's performance in "Notes on a Scandal" was so fun to watch, and I think she should win.

Mix CD Songs

I f I were to make a mix CD that represents my communtity, I would have Ludacris's "Runaway Love", because I'm sure alot of people have gone through what the songs emplies. Mary J. Blige's "No More Drama", because my neighborhood is all about drama, and sometimes I get sick of it. Christina Aguilera's "Hurt" because anybody from any neighborhood can relate to a death of a family member, or close friend. Busta Rhymes song "In the Ghetto" featuring Rick James because I reside in an urban neighborhood. E-40's "You and Dat Booty", because if I see a girl with a nice ass, I will try and pick up on her, and so will everybody in my neighborhood!! Rhianna's "Unfaithful" becaue so many girls and guys in my neigborhood cheats on their significant others. Last but not least, Rick Ross's "Hustlin", because so many people in my neighborhood have to hustle to make it through life.

The Grammy Awards

It's been a long time since I really enjoyed a Grammy award show, but this years show was different. I really didn't care who won for album of the year because I don't listen to any of the nominees music. I was happy for Mary J. Blige, and Ludacris, and they're performance was entertaining. Beyonce looked beautiful as always as she sang "Listen". The performance of the night was by Christina Aguilera. I don't listen to her music, but her performance had me in awe. This was one of the best Grammy award performance I have ever seen. James Brown would be so proud, as Christina stole the show, and proved that she is the best female singer in the business. I'm not the only person who thinks so. Check out this article!

Live From Death Row

Live From Death Row by Mumia Abu-Jamal is by far the most powerful story that I've read so far in this class. I liked so many things about this article. I liked how he described so many occurences with the reader. Examples of this includes the visit from his daughter, which was heartbreaking, Harry Washington, the body cavity strip search, and the daily two hour exercise, which got me so angry because everyone in prison should have been treated equally.
So many lines in this story made me think, such as "death row prisoners are the best behaved and least disruptive of all inmates, law is politics, a black man has no rights that a white man is bound to respect", etc. It's really a sad story, and it could potentially change people.What did he actually do?

Winter Discussion

I think I'm the only person that really enjoyed winter. Everyone else seemed to dislike it. It's only bad when you want it to be. Just try and work it to your advantage. I would much rather be cold, because at least I can bundle myself up. Being hot in the summer is what's not fun. In the summer time, people will start wishing for cooler weather anyway, so that's really ironic. I think someone said that snow makes them feel gloomy, but it's the rain that makes me feel that way. At least people can play in the snow, but nobody wants to go out and play in rain. Winter is my favorite season, followed by the summer. There's actually not a season that I dislike.

The Final Draft

The process has been going quite well for my final draft. The peer reviewing really helped save my paper. I may be ashamed of saying this , but I didn't write my paper until the night before the rough draft was due. I had alot of jumbled thoughts that was not put together smoothly. I think that I have a much better paper now that I have analyzed it, and put a little more of myself in it. I'm hoping everything turns out right in Professor Degenaro's view.

Super Bowl Sunday

Every year I make an annual pre-season prediction on who is going to the Super Bowl. Sometimes I get one team correct, but I can never get both teams. This year was exactly the same, as my prediction was wrong. I thought that the San Diego Chargers would square off against the Carolina Panthers. As everyone knows, it's the Chicago Bears against the Indianapolis Colts. I'm hoping that the Colts win because I think Peyton Manning deserves it. If the Bears win, then I wont be upset because either way it goes, there will be a Black head coach that will win a Super Bowl for the first time. It's a win-win situation and my support goes out to both Black coaches (Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith).

THE "D".

Before I start to talk about how I feel about The D. I just want to say that I really like the logo. It's sleek, metallic and futuristic. I think it sort of symbolizes the present and future of the city of Detroit, because they didn't use the old English D. When I think of the D, I think of the Detroit Tigers because it's the only thing that comes to mind. I really didn't know all the ideas that's being planned until I read the article. I think that trying to connect to a younger demographic is a great idea. It remains to be seen how the plan will work out, but as far as I can tell, it's going to be great. When I think about it, Detroit has it all. Diversity, cars, gaming/casinos, a history of great music/musicians, and plenty of succesful sports franchises. I hope this idea really takes off.

The Peer Review Process.

The whole peer review process was helpful for me, and I hope my peer review helped other as well. Their responses will help my paper for sure, as they brought alot of things to my attention. Reading theirs was insightful too. I never knew all that much about Hall Road until I read Michaels paper. The reviews that I got from my peers was quite possibly the best I ever had. My previous peer reviews where not helpful, because they didn't tell me what I did wrong, they just tried to make the peer review process quick. Hopefully I can make some revisions to make my paper better, because I know that I'm capable.

Change of Plans

It's a little ate, but I have decided to write my paper about Cody High School. I know about this place inside and out, so it will make my paper a bit easier to write. If you read my earlier blogs, you would have known that I was going to write about U-D Mercy, because it was across the street from where I live. So far, the process is going rather smoothly, and I'm eager to finish to see the responses I get from my peers and my professor.

Progress on my Paper

The whole process for me is going quite smoothly. I have mostly everything that I need to complete it. There is just one problem though, I might change my subject (place). I know that people may say "why change your place if you've already started?", and I would respond by saying that I love to write, and that changing a topic is really not a big deal to me. I still may write about U-D Mercy, but I think that I may have some better/interesting ideas. Only God knows, and only time will tell.Stay tuned.

Jiving With Java

I thought Jiving with Java was really interesting because it touched on some facts that are true, and some that I felt were a little bit false. On the second page of this article, it stated that "Americans still want their MTV, too, but after a decade of cocooning and silent night of cruising the internet, they've begun to crave for real convversation". I don't know about anybody else, but to me , that quote is very true. Everyday of my life I have some kind of genuine conversation with someone, rather it be a family member or sometimes a stranger.

This article also made me want to experience a coffeehouse for myself because I never drink coffe or even been in a coffehouse for that matter. I just wanted to see if the stuff that was being said was true or false. When I dragged a few of my friends out to a coffehouse, I was so surprised because mostly everything that the people were saying in the article were true. There were people just as young as I was in their drinking coffee, as well as the older people reading their newspaper. I asked one lady how many times did she come in here, and she said everyday.

Coffeehouses are a good place to study because it's a quiet and relaxing place, even though there were alot of people in there. Maybe I found myself a new study place, but I will never drink coffee.

Homeplace

I really enjoyed reading this particular piece of writing. I liked the fact that she was very focused on Homepalce and the fact that she tells the reader what it really is about. The only problem I had was that it was a little repetitive in terms of what was trying to be said. I'm sure that every reader will get a firm grasp on how important this place was, without talking too much about the same thing.


Other than that I thought that it was very interesting. I am an African American, so maybe that's why I think so highly of it. The writer brought up the issue of sexism, and I really don't understand why. At the same time, I'm glad the author did because it really made me think about the subject alot more than I ever have. The more I thought about it, the more I disagreed with what she was talking about. I say that because I'd much rather have a female caregiver/provider, than a male one. Not to say that women are suppose to do it, but because they are better at it. Back then, certain women wanted to be the caregiver, not a worker, because working is what men had to do because not too many opportunities were available for women as far as jobs are concerned. I may be wrong , but this is my opinion.

As far as African American women are concerned, I don't think that African American women would be as strong as they are now without the struggles from the past. Not saying that I'm glad that Black women had to face those struggles, but to overcome those struggles is something that they can all draw back to, and become more stronger than they already are.

DDD

Detroit Demolition Disneyland was the image that affected me the most. I say that because I have seen this image in person and the photos do not do them justice. It begs the question to why do the city allow these biuldings to just sit, collect dust and make the city look worse. http://www.detroitfunk.com/2006/01/tiggeriffic.html

Visiting Sonic

On Detroit Funk, there is a very weird image called Visiting Sonic. It's so werd that i don'y even know why it was posted. It can poosibly make people look at Detroit worse than what some already do. But if you think about the word funk, you probably would think that some of these posts are suppose to be on this site. It's a must see!!

gaming world

There is a big debate going on about the newest gaming consoles. The debate is, which system is better? Is is the Sony Playstation 3 or the Nintendo Wii. In my personal opinion, the ps3's graphics are not that much better than the xbox 360's, but they are far superior to the Nintendo Wii. Why pay 600 dollars for a ps3, when you can buy the xbox 360 for 200 dollars cheaper. On the other hand, the Nintendo Wii is fantastic. It's something that every gamer should experience. It's also far cheaper, only costing 250 dollars. I have a Wii, but I'm not the biggest Nintendo fan. If you are going to get a console, get a Wii, it's cheaper, but alot more fun to play. Pass on the ps3, and get both the WII and the xbox 360.

artifact possibilities

The process of finding an artifact is really harder than I previously thought. I live in a nice neighborhood, but I can't quite figure out what to choose. I could possibly write about the University of Detroit Mercy because I reside directly across from their campus. The problem is that their campus doesn't interest me at all, and it's kind of dirty. There are some other possible locations that might seem interesting, but I want one that I could discuss in detail. Stay tuned.

Niki's Window

In Niki's Window, Jerry Herron argues that the citizens of Detroit are constantly reshaping its past. Herron stated that not too many Greeks resided in the city of Greektown. The question is why is it called Greektown when so many other cultures resided there? Jerry Herron uses the word pastness to refer to the quality of being past. For example, he referred to Trapper's Alley as being pastness. He says that because that specific part of Greektown went through reproduction fittings, which shows shows how they have changed the actuality of Greektown into a marketplace. Herron also used the word nostalgia. Nostalgia means longing or desire for the something past. Once again referring to Trapper's Alley, the text says that it's a place where the past gets interpreted into a carnival. Nostalgia is used in this case to explain the way the visitors long for the past, or possible ways to return home through history sharing. They basically want to learn more about the past. Humiliation is also a word that Herron utilized. It's used to show how some people consider Detroit to be a disgraceful city. I may be wrong, but it also is used to show the false version of the actual place. But why should it be considered humiliation? It's a great place to visit and it's actually good for the city of Detroit, in my opinion.