Tango in 5 Gallon Tank

This is my second video ever posted to YouTube. I know I am late in the game of posting videos but it is cool nonetheless to see my beloved betta fish on the internet. Local news and a commercial plays in the background.

Moment Where D.C Police Car Crashed into Raised Barriers

Yesterday on October 3rd, a woman drove around Washington D.C ramming into barriers with a kid in her car. The same video in the news was shown repeatedly of her crashing into the blocked White House perimeter before turning around with police surrounding her car and trying to escape.

There was a brief footage of a totalled police car but the news were only showing the same video of the black car driving through the capitol. This amateur video captures the moment the police car struck the raised barrier in Washington D.C. Contains swearing and is shaky,

Due to the current governement shutdown, police officers on the job are not getting paid.

Doctor Who 12th Doctor Rant

Doctor Who: Peter Capaldi

This is not a blog on who Peter Capaldi is since there is already a bunch of news about that.

The 12th Doctor news

I know this post is a bit late, well 15 days late after the news broke out that the next Doctor was going to be Peter Capaldi but I've been thinking a lot about this, mostly because I'll have to wait until December 25 to watch probably 5 seconds of Capaldi being onscreen as the Doctor. Reading news after news, hoping to glean more information about Capaldi, I finally had to accept that after a few days after the hyped announcement, there wouldn't be any more new, interesting information about the guy. Lifetime fan, punk band, Doctor who/Tucker mashups. Ok, I get it. Same news over and over again.

Tennant and Smith Eras

Frankly, I'm glad he was picked as the 12th Doctor. I'm just glad that Moffat finally picked an older doctor. Nationality, ethnicity and race aside- I'm not upset over it. Of course, a black or hispanic Doctor would've been really cool but I'm just appeased that it's not another skinny actor between his 20-30s with dark brown hair. Nothing against Matt Smith, in fact I was overjoyed that David Tennant was leaving but I like to see more variety in my post 2005 Doctor Who show.

[Tennant's death kind of annoyed me because all this time, ever since Martha Smith (not Jones anymore) became his companion, he became this mopey, depressed character that kept complaining about being too old due to the curse of the Time Lords (and Rose... mostly Rose. When his time finally came he complained about having to switch places with Wilf and I couldn't help think "Enough already. Why can't you die with dignity like the 9th Doctor?") Don't get me wrong. I liked that the 10th Doctor was very dark and emotional but sometimes his woe is me attitude wore thin. His attitude in Water of Mars was refreshing and I wished the writers explored with the idea of a Doctor misusing the rules of time, even cooler if this idea becomes a season arch in future seasons]. Rant over Tennant's Doctor now over-- The only remarkable difference between Tennant and Smith was the chin, the eye color and the length of the Doctor's mopey attitude over a dead companion. Hopefully, the 12th Doctor will be more intense than the 11th and less mopey than the 10th. Unlike some fans who languish about their favorite Doctor I always looked forward to the portrayal of the next doctor- maybe that's because my first Doctor was Eccleston and his run was concise and bittersweet.

Diversity in Doctor Who and futuristic sci-fi shows

The reason why I'm not overally upset over the lack of diversity in the Doctor, is that I know that the writers will expand on the 12 regenerations rule. Eventually, the Doctor will have to be a minority, right? Until then, similar to Tennant's run, I look forward to seeing a more diverse set of companions. As a person who is black and Hispanic, I like seeing diversity in television program. It doesn't matter if the companion is of Asian descent. The writers just need to break away from the same stale white formula and put more likeable, relatable main characters (the Van Balaan brothers were horrible). I also look forward to seeing a black Bond (Elba) before a black Doctor but I digress.The lack of diversity in Who reminds me that instead of complaining about the Doctor not being black, aspiring writers need to preservere and create their own science fiction shows with well rounded leading characters of color. Essentially, I need to stop talking and start writing.

Summer

Summer 2013 Haikus

Ketchup made from scratch

Orange, cinnamon pancakes

Grape juice freshly squeezed

Chilly summer nights

Breezy summer mornings

Sweater draped shoulders

Butterfly gardens

Fruit flies, mosquitoes

Bees draining flowers

Lowes goldfinch feeders

Rasberry Mustang driving

Avoiding potholes

Searching for signal 

Grey bars, internet speed slow

Procrastination

Lounging in bed kills

Groundhog days blur together

Prolonging autumn

US News 

Trayvon Martin case

Zimmerman found not guilty

Sharpton leads marches

Whistleblower Ed

Snowden in Russian airport

NSA leakage

Egypt under rage

Morsi supporters dying

President in prison

Bill Cunningham, NYC photographer

I watched the Bill Cunningham documentary in Digital Photography class a week ago. I'm not really a fan of outlandish outfits but I do admire someone's creativity and bravery to wear something different from the crowd. Bill is someone to easily admire and to choose as a role model.

There wasn't any interesting analysis of the White House Correspondents Dinner and I wanted to take a break from the current news of the Boston bombings thus I thought of Bill. The movie came out in 2010 when there were protests to close down Carnegie Hall so out of curiosity I wanted to find any current news on Bill Cunningham.

I admire several things about the man. He travels in different circles. Although he has connections to celebrity/ fashion events he carries himself as a humble man. Part of that, I think is his sense of values to not get corrupted by money or gifts. He is a rare person and I think a breath of fresh air amongst humanity. I liked that he was not attached to material things and as I begin to join the working world, I hope to avoid the trap of acquiring a bunch of stuff.

Here is the article Life Lessons from Mr. Cunningham. It's not recent but it's something to aspire to. One thing that resonated with me is the advice "When you’re comfortable with who you are, people will always assume you’re someone"
It reminded me of the people in the documentary who thought Bill came from a rich family. I loved the contrast of Bill going to high social events and returning to his tiny apartment surrounded filing cabinets.

There's confidence and then there's being arrogant. Humility, I believe is one of the main reasons why a person with confidence doesn't end up being an annoying arrogant person. The first advice "Pay Your Dues," or working your way up certainly helps with that. Though, it makes me wonder about people/politicians/CEOs who grow up poor and still become arrogant people who don't have any compassion for working class people.

I liked how Bill was really passionate about his job. I guess when you really enjoy your job, you don't mind doing it 24/7. It was also nice to see Mr. Cunningham hanging out with his neighbors from Carnegie Hall and doing something outside of photography. Another thing I really respected about Bill was that he kept his private life and his current relationships with friends a mystery. This is something I think a lot of people should live by. It's alright to keep your close circle of friends a mystery to the outside world. It would have been interesting to see if Bill had any close circle of friends outside of photography or fashion (I am not sure if his neighbors count) but I respect that.

Observing Bill, I think about what it means to have a meaningful, passionate life without worrying about what people might think and staying true to your values.

April 15th Boston News Coverage

News Coverage of the Boston Race

Boston turned into Bagdad

A balmy fifty degrees day on April 15^th

Perfect for a marathon until

Boston turned into Bagdad

Sidewalks splotched in red

Celebratory crowds now casualties

of shrapnel from trashcans

bursting through air like amateur fireworks

Faces streaked in tears sprinting in the opposite

direction of the finish line from the explosion.

Marathoners and spectators blend into one.

The race to existence is the schedule for the hour

Phone wielders morphed into cameramen.

Another heat wave 150 meters from the finish line.

Runners without legs,

Bodies bruised, cartilage, limbs,

 Shrieking mothers                                                                                                                                                                         

kneeling in prayer,

mouthing Hail Mary’s

Scouting for love ones

Neon yellow jackets clearing guardrails

Pushing the injured in wheelchairs

Baghdad turned into Boston.

I wrote this on the night of April 15th. I am not too sure about this poem since this is one of the rare times that I write about serious events.

May 5th

May 5th

Three weeks until May 5th
Until May 5th, four years of this college life will end.
Four years of this college life will end, I putter and stress.
I putter and stress of the life beyond this institution.
Life beyond this institution, like the opening after an enclosed escalator.
The opening after an enclosed escalator encapsulated in artificial glow.
Encapsulated in artificial glow, the optimism of possibilities after graduation.

Waste Land (2010)

    

The Outcome of Art

     Watched the Waste Land (2010) documentary in my Digital Photography class today. It was uplifting to hear people who are being judged for working at a honest, hardworking job feel better about themselves because they are creating artwork that will help bring back recognition and beneficial resources for their community. The artwork provided a voice for the people of Jardim Gramacho to declare to the rest of Brazil that they are important and have value. Just because they work with trash and live in deplorable conditions doesn't mean that their sense of morality is like trash.  

Poverty and Prejudice

       These people are brave to continue to work in looked down conditions and still be relatively proud of their job. I remember one woman who said because of unfortunate circumstances she had to take up the job as a trash picker in Brazil. Then when she was on the bus, people would start wrinkling their noses in disgust; she would confront them and say at least she was not prostituting herself in the city. Not too many people have the dignity and humility to accept taking low paying, unglamorous jobs like manual labor. There is a division between the people who are just trying to live honest lives and the people who think it is okay to steal from their own community and because of the crimes in poor communities, the area is looked is down, neglected by the outside world. Hearing the workers teaching themselves to read from classical books discarded in the trash, reminds us that we should not judge.Vik Muniz himself states that if he did not have his parents and found he had to support himself, he too might have had to work in the landfill. Imagine a famous, well renown artist working in Brazil's biggest landfill because of unfortunate circumstances.

 Colon, Panama

      This reminded me a little bit of Colon, Panama. The people of Colon are looked down upon by the Panamanians in Panama because the once glamorous city of Colon looks run down and there is a lot of crime. Even though tourists from the cruise ships stop in Colon, it is not safe for foreigners. It is not even safe for the locals who live there. (I only have gone because of family. Parts of Colon look more beautiful than Panama- more rural, more greenery and open space). The buildings have a similar architecture to the buildings in New Orleans. If the Panamanian government invested more money in Colon to cut down on crime, provide more opportunity to the people of Colon, I think the Department of Tourism and the local community would both benefit. Colon is Panama's second biggest city-it deserves more respect. Going back to the people in Jardim Gramacho...

 

Overly Positive Outlook      

       The film only portrayed a possible outlook on the future of the trash pickers  but otherwise the content and production was well put together. Most of the main characters were able to move on to a better life but for the people who were not the main focus of the documentary, I feel they did not benefit from the improvement of Gramacho. This reminds me of the situation with the Los Diablos Rojos in Panama. The government improved the bus system by regulating it and making it safer for the public, but now some of the original bus drivers are out of a job. I feel Brazil could have included the trash pickers more into the transformation of Jardim Gramacho instead of just improving the trash picking system and leaving the pickers behind. Despite the happy outcome, it is sobering to know that after the Jardim Gramacho gets shut down, some trash pickers will not be able to get better jobs even after job retraining.

Ursinus Harlem Shake

Ursinus joined the Harlem Shake craze. No, this is not the real Harlem Shake.

Coco El Loco

My dog Coco was put to sleep near the afternoon today. He didn't want to walk or eat ice cream or his treat for hip and joints. The pills that the vet gave him on Wednesday didn't help with the pain of his arthritis and he was crying during the night so my mom decided it was best to put him to sleep. He was 16/17 years old and I knew my mom had a valid point. We took care of him and tried to make him comfortable in his old age.

He was a huge part of my childhood and while I wasn't his favorite person, I'll miss him. I'll miss him transforming from a grumpy old dog to getting excited like a puppy when my mom returned home from work.  I'll miss seeing him narrowly bumping into the walls because of his bad back legs and his cataracts
or staring at you when he wanted your food or
twirling around and barking with excitement because
 you were finally getting up to give him water.
or going after Tio Franklin and Rashad even though
he couldn't see or hear and
almost falling down the basement steps

He got stiff when you picked him up from the back and carried down the stairs. He didn't like being picked up like a baby doll since we didn't raise him that way. I called him my wolf dog. No frilly cute sweaters for him. Maybe a warm sweater for the cold and maybe I did try to braid his hair.

We grew old together.
I'm in my senior year of college and
he was getting on in his dog years.
My mom was right. It was time to end the suffering of an old dog in pain with twisted legs and not wanting to eat ice cream. She has to get ready for work now. My sister too. She's thinking about buying converse and I have to send out applications to internships...

And if I  think the house was empty before because the birds passed away and the cat from 8 years ago,
imagine now. Maybe I am being selfish but my childhood was intertwined with pets and now most of them have passed away due to old age. I wanted him to get better, bounce back to before he got sick and couldn't move from his bed but what is getting better if he is still old and his legs stopped giving the same capability of getting him up and down the stairs? At least he didn't die from the COPD. Suffocation is my worst nightmare. It doesn't sound/feel pretty. At least he doesn't have to deal with the snow anymore.

The dog with nine lives...
I'm pretty sure there's still poop in the yard.