Archives for August 2010

As a child I used to sit at the table, with my fork in hand, and nostrils flaring from the sweet aroma coming from the kitchen. This is a Saturday ritual at Grandma’s: waiting to be served the same dish that is the national dish of Barbados. Watching my grandmother turn the cou cou (cornmeal and okra) with a wooden paddle that looks like a miniature cricket bat, made me feel as if at that moment nothing come between me and what was being made in the pot. We were one, me and the soon-to-be-ball of cou cou. The turning of the yellow cornmeal with the cou cou stick – which may also double as a discipline tool in some homes – in the aluminum pot always made me feel warm and protected.

Being taken in as a step-granddaughter, cou cou gave me and my newfound grandmother a bonding moment. It was the glue in building our relationship, as we approached the starting of a new family. Cou cou became a family thing and unified our likeness for this one plate of food. My Southern background and my step-grandmother’s West Indian heritage combined on one plate with something we could both relate to: cornmeal and okra.

Flying fish, a flaky white fish that can be steamed, fried or broiled, is usually served on top of the cou cou and can be found in the West Indies and parts of Asia. The ingredients for cou cou are not expensive, which promoted its popularity as a comfort food dish traditionally served on Fridays and Saturdays.

Cou cou is deeply rooted in the country’s African heritage. Because of easy access to cornmeal, okra and other ingredients that are vital in making cou cou, it became a primary food source for African slaves brought to Barbados.

Cou cou looks like a sphere of yellow dough with white and green specks, because of the okra skin and seeds. There are two types of cou cou, stiff or mellow. The stiffer the cou cou, the easier it is to shape and mold it the way you want.  When a cou cou is mellow, it’s loose.

My grandmother’s grandmother was known throughout her parish, Saint Michael’s, Barbados, for being a good cou cou maker. She would ask her neighbors, “Do you want a stiff or mellow cou cou?” and then prepare according to their preference.

My grandmother has always made a mellow cou cou, and it was smooth, soft, you may find a lump or two, but it went down with ease.

Summer 2010 has been by far the most exciting summer ever.

I have achieved one of my greatest accomplishments: having my article posted on a New York Times blog. This is the ultimate achievement in journalism, to me at least. The class itself was a wonderful experience that was a little out of my comfort zone. That forced me to work harder.

The class exposed me to community news. I live in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. My neighborhood lacks community news outlets and I feel like my job as a journalist would be to be the voice of the West Indian Community. As someone who lives in the community and knows it well, I feel my job is to fill that gap between East Flatbush, or other West Indian communities, and the media.

However, the summer wasn’t all work. I did manage to spend a lot of time having fun.

I started off my summer in Washingon, DC for the West Indian Carnival. I thought it was boring if you weren’t playing in the mud and 85% of the participants in the parade were all decked out in mud. I didn’t come to the carnival with the intentions of ruining my clothing.

The summer was also filled with loads of parties. The best party was “Lipstick Jungle.” This was the party that my best friend and I threw.

Originally I wanted to write about a fun summer playlist that I enjoy, but I decided to write about my journalism class experience. Sadly, today is the last day that I would reunite with my journalism class.

Twenty-seven points, seven rebounds and four assists from MVP Andre Barrett helped team Gold’s Gym win its first championship in the Nike Pro City Tournament that took place on August 6 at Baruch College. The final score was 120 to 90 in a straight-out dog show between defending champs Nike 1 and underdogs Gold’s Gym.

“All the team has to do is control the tempo of the game and put a body on every man and we’ll be fine,” said John Strickland, coach of Gold’s Gym team in a pre-game speech. It was Gold Gym’s first time championship game. Strickland made footprints in Nike Pro City history by becoming the first player/coach to win a championship.

The Nike Pro City tournament raises money to build community centers for kids in under-served neighborhoods. After winning previous citywide tournaments, adult players – or Big Dogs – from leagues at Gold’s Gym and Nike 1 faced off in Pro City.

Before the tip-off, the teams huddled and swayed, yelling “Let’s go!” and “This is our house!” as the player’s names were announced. Ten men took the court and the game began.

It was a competitive first half but the hunger for victory showed more in the players of Gold’s Gym. Coming out in the first quarter, pushing the tempo of the game and getting mostly fast break points was an advantage for Gold’s Gym, whose players were younger than those on Nike 1, and quickly tired them out. By the end of the first quarter the score was 20 to 14 and predictions on who would win the game rumbled through the crowd.

The second period started off with a powerful dunk by Tyrone Grant that made the rim squeak and gave Nike 1 fans hope for their title-defending squad. But after three minutes of the second quarter the pace was slow, going into halftime with Gold’s Gym leading 58 to 43.

Starting the third quarter, “Eye of the Tiger” must have been playing in Barrett’s head since he came out hitting three consecutive 3-pointers from the same spot. This shooting performance lowered the momentum of Nike 1, allowing team Gold to take advantage of the game and extend their lead going into the fourth quarter with the score of 88 to 60.

By the start of the fourth quarter both teams knew who the winners would be but the final celebration included both teams with smiles, trash talk and a bet on who would win next year.

Walking into the Brooklyn Museum exhibit, “Andy Warhol: The Last Decade,” the first thing I saw was pink, purple and blue self-portraits covering the walls. This pop art had the same dizzying effect of walking into a fun house at Coney Island.

The show, “The Last Decade,” features work Warhol did in the late 70s and 80s. Many teens, born nearly 10 years after the artist’s death, relate to the decade by incorporating its style and energy in their wardrobe and the bright colors of Warhol’s late work makes him still relevant for younger generations. In fact, Warhol’s famous portrait of Marilyn Monroe, which was featured at the museum, is on many teenager’s Myspace profiles and layouts.

“Oxidation Paintings” of 1978, use a mix of uric acid and metallic pigment. The curator said that Warhol had his assistants urinate on metallic canvases to create the green tones. This was by far one of the most creative pieces in the entire exhibit and the unique painting materials would definitely generate a response among teens.

This holds true for Warhol’s theory that art should be abstract, yet tangible. Everyday items inspired his work. His painting of Cambell’s Tomato Soup, which is at the museum, is well known for accomplishing this idea. The art most teens are exposed to is boring and historical and to see that art could be inspired by kitchen cabinet items is engaging.

Exhibit goers learn that Warhol collaborated with fellow artist, Jean Michel Basquiat, on Sin More (Pecca di piu) (1985). They both partnered with Francesco Clemente on Origin of Cotton (1984). For that one, Warhol did the background painting, Clemente did the faces and Basquiat did the writing, similar to graffiti that is seen on New York City subway stations.

The spookiest part of the exhibition was the last self-portraits Warhol did before his death. He portrayed himself with intense eyes, facial expression and elaborate wigs. Seems like Lady Gaga may have been inspired by some of Warhol’s dramatic paintings.

The gallery will be on view until September 12. This would be the ideal way to spend a summer afternoon right before school starts again.

Unidentifiable fragrances shocked me as I entered the American Airlines airplane to become a part of a unique group of people, the 1.5 Generation.

I first heard this term during the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development Convention in Anaheim, Calif. in May 2008. I previously classified myself as a Chinese-American immigrant. I was unaware that being raised in China until 7 years old and then coming to the U.S. and having a second childhood here put me in a whole new group –the 1.5G.

When people ask me to identity myself, they ask: “Are you the first generation or the second generation?” I always had a hard time answering them. I came here young enough to assimilate into the American culture, but I was also old enough to have certain ideologies picked up from my seven-year experience in China. I am both.

I don’t blame them for not knowing that 1.5G exists because the problem is we didn’t know we have this category to define our experiences. We are not American-born second generation. Nor are we the first generation who came here as mature students, with our native country’s ideologies and traditions.

We are individuals that know a little of everything. I can read, communicate, and type Chinese but not write in Chinese. Like what my friends say, “Your Chinese sounds American.” I use the English styles for Chinese writing, which they say makes no sense.

We know at least two languages but don’t necessarily master both. Like many others, I still carry my Chinese accent. Some of our English is not good enough to be like the American Born Chinese (ABCs) and our Chinese is not good enough to be like the first generation. This confuses some 1.5Gs and makes us feel out of place with the ABCs.

When my first-generation friends say, “you are so ABC!” after I’ve done something clumsy, I respond, “No, I am CBC [Chinese Born Chinese]” because I want to fit in with them.

Sometimes I love it when people think of me as an ABC. It feels superior and better to be ABC, for some reason. The second generation’s language advantage gets them better access to resources and makes them well assimilated to the American culture, giving them power over the first generation.

Sometimes I don’t know if I like the things I purchase or I’m trying to act ABC. The high Nike shoes, American Eagle, and Holister: do we really like the design or is it because all the other ABCs and Americans wear it?

Feeling out of place, as 1.5Gs we shouldn’t have to choose which group we want to be like. More information and studies need to be done on us to preserve our uniqueness and to encourage us not to assimilate and disappear into other groups.

Some people see magic as an escape some see it as smoke and mirrors but some people don’t use props and use deserted isolated place to perform. Some people feel that magic is a lie but you need to believe in any thing if you have dreams you must believe in anything to make your dream a reality and to become famous you must believe it is mot magic it does not happen that way you can’t just snap your fingers an poof you have fame and money you have to work hard and believe in what you want. Just create a dream follow it and work for it and any positive way don’t let any negative feedback bring you down like if you want to be a singer you have to practice till your voice is perfect or for any instrument you have to practice till its perfect and sound right. You cant forget those who helped you get there because without them there would be no magic or fame and you would be just a normal person like everyone with a dream wanting more from life. You need to pick a star and follow it as my best friend would say to me.

My whole life, the only thing I could think of was giving up. It’s like there are only so many things that can hit a person at one time while growing up. Especially when the person is so young. People say just because I’m a teenager, I have nothing on my plate, meaning I’m not going through anything. That isn’t true at all. My problems started at the age of 5. And I have always let them get the best of me. But not anymore.

The fact that I’m such an isolator makes things worse. People say in order to get something or get somewhere you have to open your mouth to get it. And I don’t know how to do that.

But this time, I’m going to make a change. Being locked up isn’t going to help me get anywhere any time soon. I’m going into my senior year and I’m going to stand out. Being the little innocent, quiet girl is cute, but it can only be used in certain places and at certain times.

As my school’s Peer Leader my job is to open my mouth and say how I feel, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

My anger and attitude problems aren’t going to get me anywhere. Often times I can’t help it because of what I grew up with. And sometimes I don’t notice it, but it is now my job to be happy and stay happy because you can only live life once, and to live life always sad and frustrating isn’t healthy and I’m going to wake up one day and regret it.

It will be a different me going into 12th grade. I notice I am growing up and that means that I’m not getting any younger, so why waste time on things that aren’t worth wasting time on?

I feel that I was put in this world to make a difference, and that’s exactly what I am going to do.

There aren’t many times when you can see a female lead in an action movie but Angelina Jolie does an admirable job playing the character Salt in this summer’s action movie by the same name.

“Salt” was written by Kurt Wimmer, who wrote action movie “Equilibrium” in 2002, and was directed by Phillip Noyce, who directed and got his ideas from similar movies such as “Patriot Games” and “Clear and Present Danger.” Salt was released in July, giving the summer a great action movie to be proud of.

Evelyn Salt (Angelia Jolie), a CIA agent, is accused of being a Russian spy and goes on the run from the CIA, FBI and Secret Services to prove that she is innocent of crimes.

Her co-worker Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor) doesn’t believe her when Salt says she’s not a spy, while Salt’s co-worker Winter (Liev Schreiber) tries to convince Peabody that Salt isn’t a spy.

Salt goes through a series of flashbacks in the movie that make her seem more than an innocent person on the run. The flashbacks make the movie a little confusing: it’s hard to know whether Salt was supposed to be a Russian spy or not, but the flashbacks made the movie more interesting, and had the audience guessing.

Salt’s biggest fear is that her German husband (August Diehl), who once was tough enough to bust her out of a North Korean prison, could be affected by the claim that she is a Russian spy.

Scenes in the movie such as Salt jumping from truck to truck on the highway are very exhilarating, as she tries to escape the blame of being a Russian spy.

The ending of the movie is confusing because whether Salt is supposed to be on the run for the rest of her life isn’t exactly clear.

This movie is worth seeing. It talks about a character who is constantly being accused of being this Russian spy. But the character doesn’t know who she is herself, and what see was went to do. As she goes on the run, flashbacks bring back memories of what she was made to do.

From previous movies Angelina Jolie did, such as “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” Jolie brought more performance in Salt. To be a 35-year-old action female star, Jolie does great acting, and does a super job with bringing her character out, which explains why the Daily News made her number five of the top 10 female action stars of all time.

While the oil spill may be capped, the repercussions will be long lasting. BP would like to say they are optimistic about their future, but the truth is that there are still many questions to be asked and it is unlikely that people will put their trust in BP ever again. They have ruined their reputation and as anyone who has been scorned by the media can tell you, a tarnished reputation can be almost impossible to get back.

So what will it take for BP to gain some trust and have the eyes of the world taken off them? For one thing, they need to take stronger precautions, so that this type of spill, or any spill for that matter, will happen again.

As I’ve seen and read, it is inevitable that they will drill more. The government and the companies make too much money from it for it to be to stopped. With corporations, money comes before safety. Being that it is inevitable, BP has to lead the way in safety precautions now. They have to show the world that they have learned from their mistakes and take the initiative, so that the other corporations will enact the same safety measures. I am against drilling because even when something does not go wrong, it is still negatively affecting habitats and innocent animals, but if there is no way of changing the minds of the companies and the government, then at least, we must ensure the safety of individuals and make it a somewhat less dangerous job.

Another thing BP must do is answer any and all questions the public may have and show they have some sense of selflessness. BP’s former CEO, Tony Hayward, enraged many Americans affected by the spill, when he said that he wanted his “life back.” Americans saw this as the ultimate selfish remark and looked at BP in an even worse light. The corruption and lack of communication inside BP has been incredible during this spill, and needed to take a backseat while they found a way to cap this spill. Now, that this spill seems to be somewhat fixed, BP needs to communicate within themselves and to the public. BP needs to be ready to address everything they’ve done since April and face the American Public.

While BP’s reputation is most likely forever tarnished, by doing these things, they may reduce the amount of scorn they are receiving.