According to Jim

Last evening I had the pleasure of driving to Providence, RI to enjoy dinner with a friend from Chicago. Sarah was in on a business trip for Intelligentsia Coffee where she is employed as a Training Specialist. That is correct - a Specialist.

My mom was born in Providence and grew up a few years in Warwick before relocating with her family to the Chicago area. Grandpa always loved Rhode Island and after spending some time in the quiet of the city, I could definitely see why. I highly recommend a visit to this said location should you ever make it to the East Coast. It was thick with personality and blossoming beauty.

Yesterday morning on my way to work I pulled out my Return to Me soundtrack. It is one of my favorite movies. The soundtrack has a fabulous "Spring" vibe, thus I chose it for roadtrip listening. Truthfully, the driving portion of the trip was hell. Masshole behavior (Masshole: noun - One who drives horribly and has a license plate from the state of Massachusetts) has leaked into the beautiful state of Rhode Island. My conclusion, after noticing Spanish advertisments plastered over most of the city and discovering that 30% of Providence's populations is of Hispanic origin, is that perhaps the language barrier and laws of the road are yet unfamiliar to the pedestrians and drivers of the city. I chose to give them the benefit of the doubt and enjoy my time with Sarah and Brad.

My friend was staying in the Biltmore Hotel, a glorious historical hotel in the center of Downtown. Prior to dinner we chose to walk around and work up an appetite. Two blocks into the excursion Brad spotted a movie set just down the alleyway from where we stood. We cut around from the West side of the set and watched as extras and actors paused and moved at the director's command. The boom lifted and pulled. The C02 was rising from sewer openings on command from a nearby machine. Need I remind you - I'm from backwash Illinois and this whole process intrigued me. The movie? Underdog - based on the cartoon - a Walt Disney Production. Releasing next August.

Dinner was pleasant. Shockingly, we had to request water. The waitress offered us still bottled water and I am quite certain we all looked at her she like was crazy. "No, tap water is fine." You know, the free stuff? I jokingly referred to Return to Me as there is a similar scene with Minnie Driver in the movie. We enjoyed a lovely bottle of white wine, fresh seafood, and filet mignon, turned toward us and said, "So, shall we skip drinks and go straight the room?" I'm almost afraid to know what people were thinking!

After a few hours of refreshing conversation it was time for Brad and I to leave. We had stayed past my 10 o'clock departure time and we still had a two hour drive home. Saying goodbye was not difficult as I know we will soon see one another again. She's just that lucky. Brad and I walked through the beautiful lobby, he opened the door to step aside for a couple of men to come through... and there stood Jim Belushi on what appeared to be the end of a jog. He was only with one other guy so I definitely had this..."man, that guy looks a lot like Jim Belushi" look on my face which in turn received the "Yeah, I'm Jim Belushi - what are you looking at?" look from him. I had my camera with me, but he didn't appear to be in a good mood and since he makes a good angry man, I didn't want to push my luck. I just glanced at Brad who looked back at me and nodded.

Meeting famous people is much cooler when it's unexpected. Especially when it's someone you like. For those of you who don't know, Jim Belushi is also in Return to Me where he costars as Bonnie Hunt's hilarious husband. So there you have it. Providential happenings in Providence.

And seeing friends is even better with a spectacular view.

Nerf for Mayor

Nerf for NYC Mayor

My Dream Jobs

Jeanne inspired me to make a list of my top dream careers. (In no particular order)

1. Tornado / Storm Chaser
2. Independently wealthy world traveler - see Jeanne, I told you.
3. Creative Writer / Children's books
4. Professional Photographer - I would consider myself a photographer already. The professional part indicates some sort of compensation for the photography.
5. Art Teacher - for children - "And this kids is how you draw a turkey with your handprint!"
6. Coffeehouse / Map store / small bookstore owner
7. National Park Ranger
8. Tour Guide
9. Muralist
10. Landscape Artist/Designer
11. Meteorologist - Not a weatherman, though. I'd want to be behind the scenes doing the fun stuff.
12. Graphic Designer
13. Travel Agent
14. Librarian - so I could smell books all day, any day.
15. Elementary School English Teacher

High Recommendation: Dipping

A forkful of homemade baked macaroni and cheese in applesauce.

Television Consumption for April 17, 2006

Thank you to the phenomenon of TiVo, I can simultaneously watch two "live" shows. Simply find your first desired show. Pause. Click over to "Live TV" and select another show. Watch until a commercial. Pause. Click over to "Live TV" and fast forward to the program. Watch until a commercial. Pause. Click over to "Live TV" and fast forward to the program. Repeat until you are sick of watching tv.

Considering I had the flu this weekend and yesterday was the first day of my five sickdays that I could sit up for more than 20 minutes, I soaked in as much estrogen-filled morning television and afternoon reruns that my body (and brain) could handle.

I awoke at 8:30, grabbed a blanket, my pillow, apple juice, and headed for the recliner.
(The shows I watched at the same time are divided with a slashy sign.)

Live with Regis and Kelly / The Weather Channel
The View / The Weather Channel
The Today Show (which I hate) / A Wedding Story & A Makeover Story
2 episodes of the Cosby Show (the early years)
2 episodes of the Cosby Show (the later years) / 1 epidsode of Yes Dear
BREAK
2 episodes of Yes Dear / 1 episode of Everybody Loves Raymond
2 episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond
Friends
24 (the only thing I really wanted to watch)

And I don't feel empty inside.

High Recommendation: Dipping

Submerge your fries in a frosty for optimum enjoyment.

High Recommendations to: Moisturizing Lotion

Today's relief sponsored by Lubriderm

Their Oppression to My Depression

"I place my palms to the east where my people seek peace, and freedom from police control, checkpoints and patrols, Free the P, Domination from another nation; we used to be brothers like Cain; now they got us living under occupation."

Introducing new Arab-American rap sensations, Omar Offendum and Ragtop...

WARNING: Duck tape may be required to keep your head from exploding.

NEW YORK - They rap about checkpoints, military oppression and refugee camps. Their songs express longing for Jerusalem and anger at the hardships of life in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

But they grew up in Tennessee or Virginia, live in Los Angeles and perform in New York City.
Far away from the their parents' homeland in the Middle East, Arab-American rappers are trying to find their own voice in the United States — expressing the frustrations of the Muslim world at a time when anti-Islamic feelings are on the rise following the Sept. 11 attacks.

Their neophyte movement is spurred on by the success that rap and hip-hop have in voicing the grievances and reflecting the lives of other minorities in the United States.

Two of the Arab-American rappers, Omar Offendum and Ragtop of Los Angeles, are on the forefront of this small but growing trend in hip-hop music.

"Hip-hop has always been trying to voice resistance in the face of oppression," said Offendum, the performance alias of 24-year-old Omar Chakaki. "And if you're growing up Arab, politics are very important because they affect every level of your life in many different ways."

"There's definitely a feeling of solidarity with other minorities, like African-Americans, and not just when it comes to the music," added Ragtop, 25, whose real name is Nizar Wattad.

"Palestinians in Israel and the territories are also second-class citizens."

Their political lyrics resonate with young Arab-Americans. During a recent concert, more than 300 fans of mainly Middle Eastern background squeezed into the Coda Club in midtown Manhattan. The gig was organized by the Network of Arab-American Professionals of New York and the bands themselves.

Clapping and singing, the crowd enthusiastically applauded the hip-hop performances of Wattad and Chakaki.

The two artists rapped in English and Arabic, combining electronic samples of popular and classical Arabic music from their parents' generation with fast hip-hop drum beats.

"I place my palms to the east where my people seek peace, and freedom from police control, checkpoints and patrols," Wattad and Chakaki rhymed in the song "Free the P," the P referring to Palestinians. "Domination from another nation; we used to be brothers like Cain; now they got us living under occupation."

Wattad, who is of Palestinian origin and heads a band called the Philistines, and Chakaki, the Syrian-American lead singer of the NOMADS, have been touring, with dates in Michigan in Detroit and Dearborn, as well as in Oberlin, Ohio, and Vancouver.

They are promoting their co-produced album, a compilation of spoken word and hip-hop that features 24 different artists from the U.S., Canada and the Middle East. Like their duet, the album is titled "Free the P."

While many of their songs focus on the plight of Palestinians, Wattad and Chakaki also rap about their own experiences as Arabs, and Arab-Americans, in a post-Sept. 11 world where suspicion of Muslims runs high.

"After 9/11, I got stripped-searched on 17 flights in a row," said Wattad, offering an example of what he perceives as growing discrimination against Arabs in the United States.

Despite their anger about incidents like this, the two rappers reject violence as a solution for conflicts.

"We don't believe in violence on either side of the conflict," said Wattad, referring to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "If we can help to clear up the hate, we'd even play together with an Israeli band."

While Arab immigrants in Europe and Palestinian youths in Israel and the occupied territories have been expressing their political frustrations and anger through hip-hop for many years, the Arab-American version of rap is a relatively new phenomenon.

In North America, there are only a few other Arab-American rappers, including the Iron Sheik from Oakland, California, and the Iraqi-Canadian band Euphrates.

Wattad and Chakaki have independently been producing rap songs for more than three years and both recorded a CD. But it is only in recent months that their music has gotten much media attention and that they have established a fan community.

They hope that eventually their fans will include people beyond the Arab-American community. At the recent Coda Club concert they managed to recruit some new fans, though mostly still of Arab descent.

"They are very political but that is part of who we are," said Mayida Zaal, a 27-year-old design student of Palestinian background who had just bought the "Free the P" CD for her cousins.

"This music is like the original hip-hop from the Bronx before it was commercialized," said Zaal. "I think their music has a future."