lightning crashes, an old mother dies

On my way back from the OC, we stopped in Salt Lake City and took off in the middle of a thunderstorm. About 10 minutes into the take-off I notice a huge bolt of lightning outside my window.
The captain gets on the PA system and says "Uh, yeah ladies and gentlemen, I know that some of you saw the lightning and heard a pop. Yes, we were hit by lightning but dont worry, our entire plane is shielded and everything is okay, it's just a little annoying as the pilot when you're blinded for a second"

ANNOYING?? right.
So i went to go research what this "shield" that protected my plane was all about?

I found out that lightning regularly strikes airplanes. In fact, as far as anyone knows, the odds are that each airliner in the USA will be hit by lightning once a year. (this was my first bad year I guess?)

But, lightning has not caused an airliner crash in the USA or of a U.S. airline plane anywhere in more than 40 years.

These planes are made of aluminum, which is a very good electrical conductor. A lightning bolt's electricity flows along the airplane's skin and into the air. (like a magic carpet)

And apparantly the pilot was serious because the one and only danger is that the flash could blind the pilots for a few seconds, but even THAT has never caused a crash
*sigh*
so, now i'm a little more relieved to be flying back and forth in the upcoming winter. but here is a picture of a not so lucky plane to scare you a little.



and then there is tony blair who's plane was once struck. (probably by the wrath of Allah! muahahahah!!)

taxation without representation ...?

i drove to D.C. with my two lovely cousins this weekend.

cousins:


to visit a third cousin who just moved to D.C., works for the NIH (National Institute of Health) and has a 5 month old incredible happy and beautiful baby with his wife. antonia (my new cousin once removed?) laughs non-stop at all my jokes and funny faces and only takes breaks to drool once in a while...




before i show you some fotografias, let me tell you a story about the intellegent people living in our glorious capital. Former mayor Marion Barry, once quoted for saying
"If you take out the killings, Washington actually has a very very low crime rate." AND ALSO SAYING
"I am a great mayor; I am an upstanding Christian man; I am an intelligent man; I am a deeply educated man; I am a humble man."
After serving as mayor of Washington, DC for 12 years, he was arrested for smoking crack in a hotel room in 1990 (caught on hidden camera) and forced to step down. After serving six months in a federal prison, he was inexplicibly re-elected in 1994. AND NOW, The other day Barry pleaded not-guilty to a DUI charge when stopped near the White House by Secret Servive officers.
folks, we have found a real winner.

so anyway, the weather guys were on our side and we spent a whole day doing lots of tourist-y things and making my new baby cousin laugh. here is some visual stimulation for my illiterate readers... enjoy

behind us, you will find the famous washinton monuement where forest gump made his speech not knowing his long lost love, jenny, was in the crowd



lincoln, most comonly seen on the penny.



fellow californians, this is a picture of FALL, aparantly the season that follows summer... who knew huh?



riding up a really long escalator.



Washingtons mottow displayed on all liscence plates reads: "taxation without representation"



because they don't have anyone in the U.S. senate or a voting member in the house and so they have no say in the federal government and no state rights cause they are not part of one. yet they still pay federal taxes.

why does everyone hate us? we only want to spread freedom??

One of four U.S. soldiers accused of raping a 14-year old Iraqi girl last spring and then killing her and her entire family pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against the others in order to avoid the death penalty.

When the military judge presiding over the case asked Spc. James P. Barker why he did it, he responded: "I hate Iraqis, your honor. Thay can smile at you, then shoot you in your face without even thinking about it."

The rest of the assholes involved in this case have deferred entering a plea.

Barker and the other soldiers were drinking and playing cards while they manned a traffic checkpoint when Army Private Steve Green (apparantly a really intellegent guy) brought up the idea of raping the girl. The 4 defendents are are accused of raping the girl and burning her body to conceal their crimes, then killing the girls father, mother and 6-year-old sister. (why? we dont know...)

so yes, my fellow americans, don't forget to support our troops who are spreading our message to the world loud and fucking clear.

remembered for his earring?

Ed Bradley, 60 minutes reporter, died Thursday, Nov. 9, 2006, of leukemia at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital. He was 65.




he always seemed like a nice guy but his name at Wikipedia reads the following:

He was the first-and to date only-male correspondent to regularly wear an earring on the show. He had his left ear pierced in 1986 and says he was inspired to do it after receiving encouragement from Liza Minnelli following an interview.

way to leave a mark on the world Ed.

nicey? or smelly?

So today on our way home nate and saba developed a fondness for a stray smelly cat. After half-hour of coercing him into coming closer to the gate, they managed to snatch it up and bring home a new addition to the family.





great.

so even though its a wide known fact that I hate cats it's a very lazy Garfield-esque cat that seems to love snuggling with saba and rolling into a ball. So for the time being he is the sixth and newest member of the family.
here are some pics of our new feline appropriately named NICEY.

it's all very new york

i have some visitors this week. I'm hoping to score some points and make it into both of their top-8.
this entry is mainly visual because i'm trying to increase my popularity.
so here's a glimpse into my very luxurious and glamorous life.


it was a magical display of lights. really warmed our soul on a chilly fall night.



this is nate buying his first subway ticket. he asked me to take this cause he was so excited.



this was kanye west's bus outside of this club he was at.



nate set this picture up. he calls it "hip-hop".



my temporary roomates



attack!



it was nuts we randomly ran into this "cutesy" flea market and i found this adorable pink hat. awesome!



after a long day of shopping for bargains, we couldn't wait for the A train.

Home Sweet Edgecombe

I live on 150th and Edgecombe in what is the up and coming newly gentrified West Harlem.



(So technically can I still claim the west-side?)

Here's a little background on a bandwagon we have jumped on that has been in the making for a while now and a question I often ponder: do you think I am a gentrifier? ($1800/month rent)

here are some excerpts from an article that breaks it down:

In the decade after the riots in the '60s, more than 100,000 Harlemites fled to the suburbs. Landlords walked away from buildings that weren't producing profits. The city took ownership of more than 65 percent of the buildings in the community. Miles of land stood vacant. Where Malcolm X's speeches once echoed through these streets, his words now seemed more like whispers buried in the concrete...What happened over those two decades is an urban planner's dream: booming housing and business markets that are mostly the result of the steadfast work of a tight-knit group of planners, professionals, and politicians who took action after too many bad years. And contrary to popular opinion, the change has not necessarily translated into a white invasion, though that population has increased. The long-term gentrification that has been going on in Harlem is predominantly an influx of the black middle class—professionals from all over the country who want to be part of this "Second Renaissance."
Yet many longtime residents are outraged by rents and real estate values that have gone higher than they, or their children, can manage...Over the past five years, the cost of housing has become a problem on all fronts. Brownstone owners receive midnight visits from developers offering $800,000 for their properties. Those on the prowl range from Upper West Side doctors to wealthy entertainers. "You can't even start a conversation to buy a gutted brownstone for under $300,000," Rivera said...Even for those who grew up middle-class in Harlem like Sharon Wilson, a social worker and mother of one, remaining in the community seems impossible. Earning a civil servant's salary, Wilson figures she will have to move out of the neighborhood when she needs more than one bedroom. Buildings in her area are charging $1500 a month for larger apartments. Generally, one-bedroom rentals that once would have been considered high at $500 now go for $1300 to $1500. And holding onto fairly priced apartments is becoming an increasing struggle. This year alone, there have been nearly 200 holdover-eviction cases in the Central Harlem zip codes. "We have seen a sharp increase in people losing their apartments due to landlord harassment for problems other than non-payment," says Nellie Bailey of the Harlem Tenants Council. "Money is in the air and everybody wants to get on the gentrification bandwagon."..Activists don't deny the need for economic revitalization. But why do it at the expense of tenants who can't afford the new community?..It's hard to think those involved in business and housing development are not linked and working toward similar goals of a corporate-run, upper-middle-class Harlem..Where we have come is good, but now it's starting to get bad. This is the time to rise up for city and federal subsidies to moderate prices.


furthermore we do our laundray about a block away where you will find the following sign on the wall. maybe as part of the campaign they should take this down?




here's a link to whole article if you want to read it.
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0238,little,38429,1.html

coming soon: video tour of my apartment

*sigh* immigrant parents

let us rejoice in the joy of having immigrant parents.
however, let us not forget to mention a new development in this joy produced by immigrant parents sending you e-mail forwards and links to websites with "interesting" articles, inspirational poems and pictures of animals with costumes.
for example, take a look at what i deal with:

Good Morning Nastaran Khanoom
Chatori ? means how are you ? Khoobi ? means are you good? ....etc.
becasuse you have lot of time! check this one too and let me know
if you like it.

http://www.paulocoelho.com/engl/tvonline.shtml

Love
Baba karim

in his defense, unlike my inspirational story lover mom, my baba karim usually sends quality forwards and e-mails, (like this paulo coelho link) although a few weeks ago he sent me this tajik-i music video and i had to call him and threaten to block his e-mail address.

here it is in case you are on the verge of suicide and need that last push over the edge:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAiQwdkJ0QI&mode=related&search=

block wars in NYC

so apparantly halloween in new york is this big scary event. half the kids at the high school i teach in, didn't show up for school in order to "prepare" and all the other teachers and families ran home and double locked all their doors shut.
word on the street is that there are huge street wars where the different blocks (like the ones jenny is from) battle eachother with eggs, bottles and paint ball guns.
furthermore anything that moves is a target. innocent bistanders have been known to be hit with anything these hoolagins get their hands on.
one of my students warned me to especially be aware of (and i seriously quote) "the eggs injected with NAIR that kids will throw at your head" in the hopes of having a chunk of your hair fall out?

what ever happened to good old fashioned trick or treating?

in other news, i was an M&M for Halloween. and not a sexy M&M, just a regular blue M&M