Red Mango Please Come to Buffalo!

As the healthy snack, frozen yogurt, sweeps the nation, many new stores have opened up. It is something about the tangy froyo that is tasty and healthy for us that keeps this snack so popular and on its uprising! But back home on Long Island, there is one store that I love, Red Mango. Red Mango is by far the best real frozen yogurt I have ever had! You choose from a few flavors of tangy yogurt, and then many healthy topics. Each topic has a certain caloric value next to its label so that you know how much you are intaking! My favorite is original with strawberries, chocolate chips, and the golden gram cereal. I even ask for my topics on top and on bottom of my yogurt so I have an extra amount! Other flavors you can choose from are chocolate, pomegranate, vanilla, white peach, and new flavors are always coming out! Seasonally they even have pumpkin spice! Then you can choose from all different types of fruits, granola, and cereals, it is truly delicious. I used to go to Red Mango everyday back at home, but when I came to Buffalo for school in September, I was saddened to hear that they did not have one near by! It is a popular store that I know is sweeping the nation, Buffalo should open up one! If they opened up a Red Mango here in Buffalo, I would be the happiest girl in the world, and since it is so delicious I know others have to feel the same way!

House Music

The new generation of music is called house. This type of music is a mix of electronic, trance, and techno sounds. It is very interesting to see how the popular genre of music has changed over the course of time. But in todays music world, DJs have produced sounds and beats, some mixed with songs, to produce music that everyone seems to love. This music is usually paired with laser lights, and a big audience that just dance the night away. Recently, the Ultra Music Festival was held in Miami. A big variety of DJs come to perform and it is a 3 day party! All day and all night popular songs by these DJs are played. Although most songs do not always have words, they have catchy beats that intrigues fans to keep coming back for more. The Ultra Music Festival this year was gave its best performances yet! DJs released new tracks that have never been heard before, which gave fans even more to look forward too. It has become the music of our generation. Even pop artists are now working with DJs to produce pop music that has electronic beats. There is only one down fall in society to the uprising of this music. This music has led to an increase in the drug MDMA, or ecstasy. Ecstasy use has increased since this type of music has become popular. It is a clubby type of music that has influenced the use of this drug. But although some people may take it, the music is definitely a new type of sound that is interesting. Say good bye to pop and hip hop and hello to house!

Home sweet home.

I am desperately waiting for 43 more days to pass. Guess why? It is because all the stress from this academic life will be gone away from life for a while. Yes, it is summer break and I can’t wait to go back to my country in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The feeling of living in a country so far away from your family is indeed terrible. Never knew when I made the choice of studying abroad, that I was going to miss my home so much. I miss everything about home. Or maybe it is because the stress level here is too much, due to ongoing studies, involvement in the university and athletics. At home it was just sleeping late till noon, waking up and playing video games with my little brother and going out to have fun with my friends. It is not only that, the food that they provide in the dining halls of the residence halls is nothing close enough to the food that my mum prepares at home. So yes, add that to the ‘miss-list’ too.

We all have about 5 weeks of academic classes left before we each head off to our respective homes. I am just taking these days one day at a time and waiting for the flight on the morning of 13^th May that is going to take me back to Dubai. And I am pretty sure that there are many more like me who can’t wait to go see their family, and finally sleep in their perfectly comfortable beds!!

flexibility expands possibilities

Somewhere along the line of our evolution, we were trained to fit a schedule. There were predators around our caveman ancestors, they couldn’t afford the risk of sleeping eight hours at a time. But, since spears and sharp rocks were replaced by guns and tanks we no longer need worry about predators, thus, we adopted the 8 hour-a-day sleep cycle. But in no way is this our nature.
As civilization advances, we become increasingly reliant on schedules: we sleep 8 hours-a-day, we work eight hours-a-day, we schedule meals. But as we plan more, we become less efficient. If we resorted to our innate flexibility, than maybe we would become more efficient.
The Ted talk video “The science of Motivation” explains how companies experiment with different work-models with surprising increases in productivity. The most efficient method of efficiency is flexibility. Workers are allowed to work at whatever schedule they please as long as they get the work done: they longer had to come into work at regular hours or attend meetings. This surprisingly expanded creativity and increase productivity. Another model is for workers to take 20% of their work time to pursue a hobby then present what they have created. Google uses this model resulting in ½ of their new products from this 20% time gap. Outside of the box thinking, flexibility and freedom are natural human instincts for creation and should be applied to business model to become more efficient. No longer should our society be placed under limitations of 9-5.

http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.html

synchronized minds

It is hard to believe that all our brains can be programmed to function in the same pattern, but the world science festival proved just that. The audience performed in synchrony a pentatonic musical scale. The conductor assigned different parts of the stage a tone which the audience would repeat. The audience would descend the scale in tune then ascend the scale predicting the next tone of the scale. For an entire audience to predict the next tone in synchrony demonstrates that our brains are not as individual as we think.
There always needs to be a constant variable in life to unite us. Some people communicate around a hobby, or meet at a coffee house or unite for a good cause. Whatever the case, constants are a necessary aspect of life to unite people. This video not only proves that music is a unifying constant, but also that it is naturally ingrained in our brains.
If we all can achieve the same tone of a pentatonic scale, then our brains are programmed in a similar way. If we can all sing alike then maybe there is programmed method of thinking too. This video could demonstrate larger principals of our brains patterns



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne6tB2KiZuk

Rebecca Black

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD2LRROpph0

If anyone hasn’t seen this video, although I don’t know how you haven’t by now, I suggest you watch it immediately for a good laugh. Rebecca Black paid a recording company $2,000.00 to record a song written by the owners of the company and make a music video for it. When first signing on to do this, I doubt she even imagined that she would be where she is today, only about two weeks later. Rebecca Black’s song “Friday” went viral about two weeks ago and has been ridiculed all over the world. She has been catapulted into stardom overnight because of her lack of talent and inane song lyrics. The video currently has over 58 million views and has made headlines all over the world. I think it is insane to think that a 13 year old girl can become so famous worldwide so quickly just because of the power of the internet. She is being criticized for “Friday” more than she is being applauded. Although the only reason she has obtained such stardom so quickly is because her song is terrible, companies are still commercializing her because people find it humorous to hear about the things she’s doing. Because she has brought so much attention to herself, regardless of the negativity causing it, I feel that she has started a career for herself and will have many opportunities because people enjoy kicking others when they’re down. Even though I don’t want to pat her on the back for her lack of talent, I must pat her on the back for bringing so much attention to herself and opening a lot of doors. Hey, if I could put out one horrible song and get paid $27,000.00 a week for it, I probably would. Props to her.

The Cost of Freedom

Why is it that the United States can't let some other countries deal with a problem for once? I mean were in the middle of a war in Afghanistan and we came pretty close to adding another war to the list of wars were currently in. I know that America is one of the worlds remaining super powers and that many of our decisions effect the world but come on can't we just let the British or French handle the Libyan conflict so we can focus on ending the war in Afghanistan. The British have less than 10,000 troops in Afghanistan while the United States has well over 50,000 troops. So I'm sure they could spare to send some troops over to Libya but, no the United States once again has to be the one in charge that uses way more of its resources in a conflict then any other country. This isn't to say that I am against freeing countries from dictators but we really need to let somebody else handle something every once in a while.

Why the NFL Should Get Rid of Kickoffs

Steven, I wrote an article for my website about a recent NFL rule change, I hope that can count for my blog post. Here is the link to it.
http://www.mockdraftclub.com/featured/why-getting-rid-of-kickoffs-would-be-a-good-idea

sailing soul(s) - Jhené Aiko

There is a new underground singer that has been catching my attention lately. Jhene Aiko first started out singing on song with the old popular boy band, B2K. She is actually the cousin of one of the boys in the group. Since her B2K day’s she’s been a big songwriter in the R&B music industry. She works with artists such as Omarion, Kendrick Lamar, Drake, and Trey Songz. Her new mixtape she just released called sailing soul(s) is really great for someone who doesn’t have a record deal. Her music is not what you see to day. The general R&B singer crying on and on about boy meets girl, boy cheats on girl, girl is heartbroken. She wrote just about every song on sailing soul(s) and I feel like it’s her own personal poetry. It’s not cliché music at all. I listen to the whole mixtape just about everyday on repeat. You know something is good if you can listen to the whole thing all the way through. Although I can listen to the whole mixtape, my favorite songs on there are you vs them, stranger, july, and growing apart too. Jhene also wrote the popular song July. Everyone thinks that it’s Drake’s song when it’s Jhene’s but it got leaked and when you search it, it says July feat. Jhene when it should be July feat. Drake. It’s crazy how Drake is getting all the credit for her music but at least she’s getting her name out there. The link below is where you can download her mixtape(for free, of course).

http://jheneaiko.com/

Cake Boss

There is a craze about this show called “Cake Boss.” This is a show on the TLC network all about making designer cakes. The show takes place in Carlos Bakery, which is supposedly a famous bakery where people travel miles and miles to try out. On the show they have the whole family involved in the bakery and they all have a certain position. The head boss is Buddy. He is the main baker and cake designer. He has made a lot of cakes for many famous people one being Oprah. He has been on many different talk shows, showing off his amazing skills. The craze about cake designs has seemed to increase simply because it is out in the open now. Before this show I personally didn’t even know designs could be made into cakes. The show has had a couple of spinoffs as well, them being “Kitchen Boss,” and “The Next Great Baker.” “Kitchen Boss” is when the main chef Buddy shows off his cooking skills as an addition to his already proclaimed fame as a cake designer and baker. His other spinoff show “The Next Great Baker” was a competition for other cake designers to get the chance to work at his bakery alongside him. Back to the show “Cake Boss” the show is extremely interesting, whether it be Buddy making a space design cake for astronauts or him making an extravagant wedding cake for a lucky bride, Buddy does it all.

NFL LOCKOUT 2011

http://www.cleveland.com/ohio-sports-blog/index.ssf/2011/03/nfl_lockout_2011_commissioner.html

When will the 2011 NFL lockout end? This important question for avid football fans across America may soon be answered; but how soon? It will be hard to tell as there is much drama surrounding the lockout, but some coaches and many players believe that there will be a 2011 football season. The lockout came about as the owner’s demand for a larger pay cut increased. Although these owners are filthy rich and should have no problems paying for their stadiums or lifestyles, they state that they will keep padlocks on stadium doors to keep the players out until they get the money they are asking for. The players disagree that the owners need more than the billions of dollars they are already pulling in as revenue. So how are the players fighting back? While the owners are refusing to step down and unlock the stadiums, the players have come up with a new idea: to dissolve their union, thus allowing them to individually sue the owners. The players will take the owners to court, filing an antitrust lawsuit against them. On Monday March 14^th, a federal court judge scheduled a hearing for the NFL players on April 6^th. Although the court case will most likely be a long one, if the players succeed and their request for the lawsuit is granted, the owners will be forced to end the lockout and the 2011 football season will be underway, to the relief of the football fans.

On May 8, 2011 rapper Lupe Fiasco released a new album titled "Lasers." This album is the first one to be released in four years since his previous album "Lupe Fiasco's the Cool." After three years of waiting for an album release date, fans finally decided to write a petition to find out the release date for Lupe's third album.
Some of his biggest fans are disappointed by the long-awaited album. The album is filled with techno remixed beats and repeated choruses. As Lupe Fiasco becomes more mainstream, his music becomes more pop-like. Songs on the album include, "The Show Goes On," that holds a beat similar to Modest Mouse's "Float On"; "Words I Never Said," featuring Skylar Gray," and "Out of My Head," featuring Trey Songz. While there are complaints of the obvious genre shift, the album has still received decently good reviews. True fans are obviously going to continue listening to his music even if they are not completely satisfied with the album. Although I do think that I prefer his older music better, I would recommend anyone looking for new music to look into Lupe's new album. It is definitely worth listening to at least once.

Beauty

Growing up, I have heard sayings like, “Beauty comes from within,” and “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder,” but because beauty is such an abstract concept, it is very hard for me to comprehend what it is, and why we need it. The concept of beauty is hard for me to understand because we can search an entire lifetime for the meaning of beauty, but after we die, it is questionable if we are able to keep this knowledge. With this in mind, I googled images of beauty to see what was the general idea of beauty, and come to find out, the majority of the images were Caucasian women wearing make-up. For me, this seems to be very strange because who says that beauty has to be a person? Also, why does it have to be a woman, and not a man? This brings out another question are women suppose to be beautiful? And if so, is a particular race more beautiful than another? I am very disgusted that google images posted these pictures because now young girls who do not fit into that category may begin to hate themselves. There are more important values in life than beauty like family, friends, intelligence, and creativity. And sometimes these aspects can contribute to make life more meaningful. Even though being physically beautiful can be very useful with obtaining certain things in life, I find it to not have any importance at all because once someone dies; it becomes worthless and non-existent.

Shy Ronnie & Rihanna on SNL

Saturday Night Live creates some interesting skits. Here is a skit about a guy name Shy Ronnie and Rihanna trying to rob a bank. They are presented as being Ronnie and Clyde. Andy Samberg plays the character of shy Ronnie on Saturday Night Live. Ronnie is a shy guy but only when Rihanna is around, once she have left the room he turns into this confident, loud rapper. Ronnie and Rihanna collaborated before on a previous show, launching their first song together. Here is the second collaboration. Enjoy.

NFL Season in Jeopardy

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=lc-nfluncertainty031111

On Friday the players union officially decertified, which spawned a lock out by the owners. This is terrible news for football fans everywhere. During a lockout, there are no free agents, trades, or signings. Players can’t workout with the training staff, and injured players can’t see team doctors. Rookies that get drafted in April can’t work with coaches or learn the playbook. I can’t even imagine a year with out football. It’s become so much a part of my life, but I think there’s real possibility that there could be no football in 2011. Like the article said, both sides are firmly entrenched in their positions, and neither side wants to budge. The owners are the ones to blame in the first place for opting out of the current agreement two years ago, but there is certainly enough blame to be passed around to both sides. The problem is that the NFL has been so successful that both the owners’ and the players’ egos have been inflated so high that they feel invincible. Both sides believe that the NFL is so strong that it could withstand a lockout for a year, and I think some of the owners and players want to gamble that the NFL would be fine for a year, and try to get what they want put into the new collective bargaining agreement. There’s a lot of issues at play in the new CBA- Healthcare, a longer season, a rookie wage scale; but ultimately, like many things in this country, it comes down to the money. Both sides want more money, which is egregious considering how much they already have. I just hope that when push comes to shove money is actually what saves the 2011 NFL Season. Hopefully both sides will realize how much money they’ll be missing out on if they don’t play football in 2011, and they work out a deal.

Tunisia Uprising.

How much longer can one take the humiliation that is constantly being inflicted on the local public, due to the reign of a corrupt government? Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire upon being one of the harshest victims of President Ben Ali’s reign. He was a simple street vendor who was humiliated and whose business was wiped out by some municipal officers from the government. And so he self immolated himself on the date of December 17^th, 2010 just to get this message across. This was the beginning of the end for both the President and the Prime Minister of Tunisia.

The protests began as the mobs formed standing as one, against the corrupt government. Protesters defied curfew set up by the government and overpowered the law enforcement. The whole nation was in turmoil as unrest sparked everywhere. Their demands were simple; the resignation of the current governing body.

The chaos did provide salvation for the whole nation, but at the cost of many lives. Some sacrifices such as the one made by Bouazizi were made for the betterment of the entire population. And as for me, I know that giving away one’s life cannot be the answer to this kind of revolution, but if it is for the revival and development for a nation, then it usually works.

This uprising in Tunisia started a chain reaction of revolutions that are now taking place in most of the Arab world. The incidents that took place inside Tunisia was a catalyst that fueled more riots that started taking place in countries such as Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and other Muslim nations.

Parents vs. Gay-Friendly Curriculums in Schools

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/04/education/04bcgay.html?pagewanted=1&ref=education

When a homosexual student at Jesse Bethel High School started to accuse the school district of discrimination, district officials agreed to incorporate gay families and important people in gay history into lessons. This started uproar from parents in the Vallejo area because many of them didn’t want their children being exposed to homosexuality in the classroom. Some parents believe that it’s different to legalize gay marriage than to teach children about it in school. Some students state that if it were not for the awareness in the classroom about their gay peers, their parents would not even bring it up. I believe that the issue is something that people need to be knowledgeable on so they can make their own opinions instead of just believing what their parents have foolishly taught them to hate. I believe that there should not be a problem with children being exposed to homosexuality in school at a young age because if children become more understanding and less ignorant, discrimination of homosexuals will decrease in the future. Although parents should be able to teach their children what they want and should have some input in their education, I feel that learning about homosexuality in a positive way in the classroom can only have a good influence on future generations. If the children of the future learn to look at such a controversial issue in a positive light, discrimination will go down and equality and acceptance will be more prominent.

Crazy Couple in California

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/03/im-guilty-calif-husband-says-of-wild-ride-with-wife-on-hood/1

This article talks about a California man that admitted to driving a minivan at speeds up to 100 mph while his wife was holding on to the hood of the vehicle for about 35 miles. The wife grabbed on to the hood of the vehicle in an attempt to stop her husband from leaving the drive way after an argument they had between each other. This guy clearly wasn't thinking straight. Driving on the highway at 100 mph with your wife holding onto the hood of the vehicle is going to get you arrested almost 100% of the time. Also this guy could have easily hurt or killed himself and others in the process. The weird thing is I think the wife is the crazier one out of the two. Sure the guy was mean for doing this to his wife, but come on, how crazy does someone have to be hold onto the hood of a car going 100 mph for 35 miles. She should have realized that the situation wasn't going to end well while the car was leaving the drive way. She should have jumped off to the side of the car and let the guy drive away. If she didn't hang on the guy probably wouldn't have gotten arrested and both of them could have worked out their problems in a safer way.

The Hangover 2

The Hangover 2, sequel to the amazingly hilarious the Hangover, is set to come out on Memorial Day of this year. The first Hangover was about a group of guys throwing a bachelor party for their friend in Vegas. They also invite the bride’s brother along with them. When they get to Vegas they stay in the Caesars Palace hotel and begin the night with drinks on the roof of the hotel. But what they don’t know is that the bride’s brother spiked each of their drinks with rufalin. They become extremely intoxicated and wake up the next morning with no recollection of the night before. When they wake back up in their hotel there is a random baby in a drawer, a tiger in the bathroom, the groom is missing, a chicken wandering the room and someone has a missing tooth. The movie takes a wild turn as the three run all around the city searching for their friend Doug, who actually was passed out with bad sunburn on the roof of their hotel. I think that The Hangover 2 should live up to the expectations of the first movie and all of its epic-ness and should be equally if not more funnier and enjoyable.

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1262721561/

Celebrity Upkeep

Society today has based its entertainment on one thing, celebrities. These people who act, sing, dance, play sports, etc. control the world around us and their lives are a form of entertainment to the public. One main thing that celebrities do that people base themselves off of is their clothes. Not only do these people walk around in the most expensive clothing you could imagine, they advertise it and convince people to spend their hard working money on these ridiculously expensive clothes. One example of this is an awards show. At the Oscars these celebrities walk down a red carpet in $100,000 and up dresses. Although they do get these dresses to wear for free so they can advertise, who in their right mind has that kind of money to spend on something like a dress that they will wear one time? There are more important things going on in the world where a dress shouldn’t be someone’s main priority.

Another item that celebrities show around are their purses. These items could cost someone anywhere from $100 to $10,000 just for a simple bag. When celebrities are photographed in these items, it makes it more desirable for the people to go out and buy it themselves. Yes, there are fake versions, but some people need to have the real thing to feel special and fit in. To celebrities this money isn’t a big deal because it keeps coming in, in big bulks also. To the average person this isn’t pocket change and cannot just be spent for leisure.

Celebrities are sending out the wrong message, extra money should go to help out different problems going around in the world, like world hunger or disaster relief. I am not saying that an occasional splurge is wrong, but to waste so much money a year of unimportant items is pathetic.

Oscars Award Night

On Sunday Febraury 27th many people tuned in to watch the 83rd Oscars Award ceremony. This year however, ratings and viewing numbers were lower than previous years. Why does this seem to be the case? Does it have to do with the lack on interest for the movies being nominated or are young adults uninterested. The TV networks tried to have hosts such as James Franco and Anne Hathaway who appeal to a much younger crowd. Many people questioned why ratings were lower since there was not a decrease in the box-office sales for the nominated films. One major reason that can be for the lack of support for such a prestigious night can be the availability of viewing and information on the internet. Twitter, Facebook and other websites were giving behind- the scene footage from the award ceremony without commercials or interruptions. The increase in the use of new technology such as the internet has caused a decrease in technology such as television. Young adults were more likely to tune in and receive immediate footage via the internet as opposed to watching the three and half hour ceremony. I think an award ceremony such as the Oscars needs to have more excitement and be shortened to keep the younger audience more interested. The internet is allowing these young individuals to watch and receive a shortened version of the ceremony. As I watched the ceremony, I was very frustrated with the amount of commercials during the ceremony. This made the program even longer and boring because I began to become less focused an interested. How can the producers of the Oscars create a more entertaining award ceremony that will increase ratings before the once famous award ceremony becomes inexistent?