This will be a better year

Long time no talk, huh? I've been busy doing everything and nothing. That's how it seems to go sometimes. This post will be full of randomness so hold on.

First off, Happy New Year! We all have a fresh new start. And if your 2008 was as shitty as mine, you need it! We've got a fantastic new president who will hopefully not only fix the problems we have but make us seem a little more human to people in other parts of the world. We care. We know. We see what's going on. And we want change too.


I spent New Years Eve in White Plains at the Lazy Boy Bar with my cousins, eating wings and listening to songs on the jukebox. A DJ played later on in the night, much to my disappointment. I made Jeazette look in her bag for a solid 5 minutes for 50 cents so that I could play "The Sound Of Settling." Sad to say that I never got the chance to sing "Bah Bah. Bah Bah."

I saw The Wrestler and Slumdog Millionaire in the past month. Both were great. I was happy to see Mickey Rourke take home the best actor trophy at the Golden Globes and very happy for Slumdog for taking home every award they were nominated for. A lot of great movies have come out lately and that's kind of rare.

Jeazette's birthday was this week so we went out for dinner on Saturday. She picked a Thai place in White Plains called Reka's. It was phenominal! I had spring rolls and the chicken pad thai (I usually go for the chicken pad thai if I've never been to the restaurant before. If you mess that up, everything else will taste like poo most likely.) Also had fried ice cream for dessert. When we got home that night, Jeazette and I watched Funny Games with Naomi Watts and Michael Pitt. I'd wanted to see it for a while. Totally twisted and a bit unsatisfying I have to admit. But totally creepy in the "this could totally happen in real life" way which isn't often the case with horror/thriller movies. So at the very least, I appreciate that. Also, I've had a crush on Michael Pitt since Murder by Numbers. Holla at ya girl Napoleon!

There seem to be a lot of birthdays this month. Why is that? Kind of weird. My aunt, uncle, and two of my cousins all have birthdays this month. Not to mention my grandmother and several friends. Anyone else been buying a bunch of birthday cards this month? My wallet is empty.

Yesterday, Adhalia, Jeazette and I went into the city to hang out with Micky. We had lunch at this really nice cafe on 9th and 30th (or was it 29th?) in Chelsea. Can't for the life of me remember what it's called but the food was great (I had a burger with fries) and if you order something on the brunch menu, you get drinks to go with it (we all got mimosas). Then we hit up a few stores on Broadway before going back to Micky's and hanging out for a bit. We listened to his Santogold station on Pandora and I was surprised that I had most of the records that were being played (Lily Allen, The Cure, Metric, Yeah Yeah Yeahs).

Well, I think that's all I have for major updates in my little world.. So here's a little housekeeping.

The Walkmen are on Conan tonight. Watch it. Don't know what song they'll play, but it's sure to be awesome.

The Duke Spirit is playing Music Hall of Williamsburg on the 16th. I'm pretty sure I'll be going. I know that I'll have a good time and it's always fun going to a venue that I've never been to before. They're also playing at Maxwell's in Hoboken. Small venue and I'd love to see them there. But can you take the Path to Maxwell's? And how late does it run? I'll have to investigate. The band is holding a contest where the winner gets to go to a show of their choice and annouce them on stage. All you have to do is make a YouTube video. Get the deets here.

COYH have a new video for their song "Turn Cold." They're gonna be on tour with Ra Ra Riot soon. Tour dates here.



The Harlem Shakes record comes out in March. Listen to "Strictly Game" on their MySpace. It's my new anthem.

Ok, I think that's all I got for now. I'll try to be a better updater.

Nothing will happen to me

When we were at Barnes & Noble on Sunday (killing some time before seeing Mirrors) I bought the novel Towelhead by Alicia Erian. It was so good that I've already finished reading it. The film version comes out tomorrow and stars the fantastically talented Toni Collette and the very suave Aaron Eckhart. While I haven't seen it, I hear that Summer Bishil, who plays 13 year old Jasira (the main character) does a phenomenal job. I read a profile of her in I think Paper magazine a while back and it made me really want to read the book.

Without giving too much away, Towelhead really made me think about how we see ourselves, how we see others and what makes people do the things they do. While Jasira could be considered a very lost little girl who often does things when she knows she shouldn't, you can't help but feel sorry for her. A lot of her actions are just reactions to things in her life that no child should have to deal with. And who says any of us wouldn't have done the same things at her age, especially if we were confused, scared or just lonely. While there are times where you just want to shake some sense in to her, at others you just want to give her a hug because you realize that's what she really needs. I think a lot of people will empathize with her.

The title Towelhead will surely shock some people as well. But I'm sure that is its intent. Racism is definitely a strong theme in the book, especially since it takes place in 1990 when the US is involved in the Gulf War. When Jasira's Irish mother sends her to Texas to live with her Lebanese father, she encounters racism from kids at school, the 10 year old boy she babysits next door, and even her own father, who, although he claims not to be a racist, does not want Jasira to hang out with Thomas, a black boy who she likes at school. Is he really only concerned that Jasira will have to face the same rough time he and her mother did when they were married? Or is it his own underlying prejudices?

I was only nine years old in 1990 and so I can't really recall the racial sentiments in the country at that time. But in the grand view of the history of the world, it wasn't that long ago. And it always saddens me that people, even 18 years ago, could hold such prejudices against others just because of their ethnic background. It still goes on today. But just maybe, this book will make people realize that racism is something that should be left in the past.

And while the sexual awakening of a young girl will surely make some people very uncomfortable, I think its important to show how necessary it is for young people, especially girls, to feel comfortable with their bodies and who they are. They should also feel comfortable enough to go to the adults in their life who they trust, respect, and look up to and have them give them honest and straight forward answers to the questions they have, without making them feel ashamed for asking them. Too many bad things can happen when there's a lack of communication, and I think that is shown quite well in the book.

Over the past few years, I've tried to read books before I see the movie. The book is better 99.9% of the time. But I have a good feeling like this movie will most certainly due justice to the book. I believe in Toni, Aaron and especially in Summer.