September 2004 Archives

If you are in Chicago and do not plan to watch the Presidential debate tomorrow tonight, and have an interest in art, consider attending the event below.

U-M Chicago Alumni Art Show
Thursday, September 30, 6:00 - 9:00 pm
Acme Artists Community

2418 West Bloomingdale, Chicago

(Two doors west of Western Avenue between North Avenue and Armitage, the Armitage/Western Avenue stop on the Blue Line)

Please join other U-M alums in the Chicago area for an evening filled with fun and art. The U of M Club of Greater Chicago is sponsoring an event for U-M alumni who are artists, writers, composers, and performers to display their work. Approximately fifteen artists have been invited to participate. The affair will be held in the beautiful courtyard and gallery of the Acme Artists Community, a unique work and living space for Chicago-area artists. The art displayed will be available for purchase. Attendees at the event have the opportunity to vote for their favorite artist, and the winner will have the privilege of displaying several pieces at the Johnsonese Gallery in Chicago. Wine and hors d'oeuvres will be served.

Update: Over 100 people attended the Club's 1st Annual Art Show. So mega congrats to the planning committee of which I am a member!

This post is for Racquetball Guy who keeps telling me that Demond Wilson who played Lamont Sanford on Sanford & Son is dead. Granted he has not worked much in the last 20 years, but as I keep telling Racquetball Guy, Demond Wilson is in fact still alive. Proof came for me last week when I saw him on an episode of Girlfriends. Granted it was a repeat, but the episode was originally broadcast May 2004 and nothing has come out since then to suggest he has passed on. He’s alive I tell you. He’s alive!

Goodness, it has been 5 days since my last confession post. I did not intend to go that long without posting, but I went to Minneapolis for the weekend and decided not to pay the outrageous hotel charges to access the Internet. Racquetball Guy and I went up for the Chicago Bears vs. Minnesota Vikings game on Sunday. Unfortunately, the Bears did not win but we had a great time nonetheless. This we managed to do even when you factored in the excessive noise level in the stadium. Granted you expect football games to be loud, but being in a domed stadium magnifies everything to the 10th degree. With that in mind, I will be sure to bring earplugs the next time. Hopefully, we will also be able to tailgate again before the game. That always makes for a fun time. Beyond the game, while in Minneapolis we also went to the movies to see Mr. 3000 which was funny – just not laugh out loud funny. In addition, we also spent some time at Mall of America. I'm glad I went, but I will probably never go back. The sad thing about that place and every other mall in America is that you see the same old stores. There are hardly any stores out there that are not part of some chain. Granted its good to see familiar stores when you travel in the US, but it would be nice to go to other cities and see stores that are unique to that part of the country. Oh well! Two restaurants that I would recommend to those who visit Minneapolis are: Bellanotte and Redstone Grill. Both had good food and a festive atmosphere.

I know school rankings do not mean much to most people, but it is still good to see your school at the top of the list.

Wall Street Journal Ranks Ross School of Business # 1
9/21/2004

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan was named the No. 1 business school in the nation by the Wall Street Journal and Harris Interactive this morning...

Oh yeah!!! Go Michigan!!!

Did anyone else watch LOST last night? It reminded me so much of one of my favorite books (Lord of the flies), that I consider future episodes MUST SEE TV.

I am not a big fan of what many would describe as traditional breakfast drinks. I do not like milk and I taste of coffee repulses me. Therefore, I continue to be amazed that millions of people out there spend about $3 a day for coffee type drinks at stores like Starbucks. Now comes another company called Cerality: Cereal Bar & Cafe that plans to open a chain of fast food type restaurants serving about 30 different types of cereals. Yup! Just cereal! Here too they are hoping that people will plop down about $3 for a bowl of cereal. According to the Business 2.0 article that clued me in on this new specialty chain, the inital restaurant at Arizona State University was so successful that they plan to open restaurants in Philadelphia and Chicago in October and have plans to open another 15 stores next year. So maybe I'll stop by when the open in Chicago. But I really do not see myself jumping on this bandwagon -- but hey, that is just me!

I won't buy the book written about below, but I just might scan it the next time I'm at Borders.

Must Have: An Inner Omarosa

Newsweek

Sept. 27 issue - All black women are angry: it's just a matter of extremes. That's the argument behind "The Angry Black Woman's Guide to Life," which will help you figure out which kind of ABW you are. Are you a "Curse-You-Out-in-a-Heartbeat" kind of girl, like Mary J. Blige, or an "In-Denial" ABW, like Condi? Or perhaps you're a "sister in the struggle" like Hillary Clinton. Whatever the answer, the book will put a smile on your face—and what ABW (or AWW) doesn't need that?

—Allison Samuels

Since I got the new TV and DVD player, I've seen quite a few movies. They include: Mystic River, 50 First Dates, The Cooler, Johnson Family Vacation, In America, Thirteen, & Under The Tuscan Sun. Now waiting for: Fog of War, Manchurian Candidate and Hidalgo to show up from Blockbuster Online, which I signed up for late last week (I chose them because they were a little cheaper than Netflix, they have a distribution center close by and they give you coupons for free instore rentals). Now looking for suggestions on what to add to my queue – so anyone have any ideas? If so, fire away!

No question about it, I'm a cat person. But if I were a dog person, I'd get a pug. They are sooooooooooooo cute and adorable. Of course, not cuter or more adorable than my very own Choo-Choo! He's the greatest cat in the whole wild world!

I am almost afraid to say it, but things do not look so good for Michigan in football this year. Last week they lost to Notre Dame and this week they barely eked out a win against San Diego State University. I mean, come on!!! So what’s going to happen when they start playing other schools in the Big Ten? Something tells me, it is going to be a long long season.

If you are in to chicklit, check out the latest novel by Jennifer Weiner titled Little Earthquakes. No I haven't read it, but if it is anything like her previous novels (think Good In Bed and In Her Shoes), I'm sure it will be a great read!

For inquiring minds, the first photo above is an aerial shot of the Caribbean island Montserrat from which my family hails. Photo was taken in 2001 by a crew member of the second expedition to the International Space Station, "Alpha." In case you are not familiar with Montserrat, well it's a 39 square miles island that was once a luscious green paradise and playground for the British rich and famous. Due to 1997 volanic eruption, two thirds of the island is now mostly covered in ash. And according to scientific estimates, it won't get back to it's pre 1997 state for another 100 years -- provided of course that the volcano stops erupting. Oh the wrath of Mother Nature. Speaking of Mother Nature, what is up with all these level 4 hurricanes? Is this the result of global warming? Or it is the wrath of God punishing us for fighting with one another? Whatever the reason, I do hope that things calm down soon.

The buzz earlier this week about Oprah, was that she game away $7million dollars worth of new cars on the premiere episode of her 19th season. Granted it would have been nice to be one of the recipients of the GM G6, what I really want to know is -- whats up with her hair? Is she now wearing a wig or some sort of hair piece? Not that it really matters, but enquiry minds want to know. It looks fuller and a lot longer than it was last season.

Is anyone out there in blogland renting movies via Blockbuster Online or Netflix? If so, curious to learn more about your experiences. Now that I have a spanking brand new 24" TV and my first ever DVD player compliments of Racquetball Guy, I plan to watch a lot more movies so trying to decide which online service I should sign up for.

Thanks to Michael, I now have a new design for my blog which I really really like. Thanks Michael!

On this day of national mourning, I know it somewhat's trivial to be talking about college football, but it's top of mind. So here's hoping that Michigan whips Notre Dame's butt this afternoon. In addition, let me say that I'm glad to know that Michigan is not on the list of schools who offer college credit to football players for playing football.

Varsity Athletes Get Class Credit Some Colleges Give Grades for Playing

By Mark Schlabach
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 26, 2004; Page A01

One of the classes at Kansas State University meets four hours each weekday afternoon during fall and spring semesters, and is taught both indoors and outdoors. The instructor has a contract that pays him nearly $2 million annually and is credited with turning around a once-dormant department that now raises millions of dollars a year for the school.

At least seven Saturdays each fall, thousands of Kansas State alumni return to Manhattan, Kan., to see the fruits of the students' work. The class? Varsity football. The instructor? Wildcats Coach Bill Snyder. Each semester, Kansas State athletes earn academic credit on the field in practice and games. Some athletes are able to count as many as four credit hours toward their academic degrees by playing on the school's sports teams.

Kansas State Coach Bill Snyder, left, teaches "Varsity Football" in which 84 of 91 students received an "A" this spring. (Lindsey Bauman -- AP)

Kansas State isn't alone in allowing student-athletes to earn academic credit for playing sports. A Washington Post survey of physical education courses taught at the 117 schools that field Division I-A football teams found that nearly three dozen universities award academic credit for participation on intercollegiate sports teams. Eleven football teams in the Associated Press preseason top 25 poll have players earning academic credit for practicing, including defending co-national champion Southern California, which kicks off the 2004 season against Virginia Tech at FedEx Field on Saturday night.

These classes have two requirements: (1) being a member of the sports teams and (2) attending practices and games.

The play-for-grades classes illustrate the challenge of reconciling academic missions with big-time athletics at universities. In April, the National Collegiate Athletic Association approved academic reforms that its president, Myles Brand, called "the strongest ever passed by the NCAA." Those changes will take away scholarships and postseason eligibility from schools that fail to graduate a minimum percentage of their athletes, but they fail to address schools where, for years, going to practice has been a step toward earning a degree.

New York City real estate developer Stephen M. Ross gives $100 million to University of Michigan Business School
September 9 2004

The University of Michigan Business School will be renamed the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan in honor of a $100 million gift from Ross that was announced Thursday. The gift is the largest in U-M history and the largest ever to a US business school. Ross is the founder, chairman and CEO of The Related Companies, a real estate development firm. He graduated from the U-M Business School in 1962 with a degree in accounting. At the press conference to announce the gift, U-M President Mary Sue Coleman called it "an historic moment in the history of the University of Michigan."

Wow!!! That is some serious cash. Thinking this will go along way towards helping the University reach it's goal of raising $2.5 billion by December 31, 2008. Prior to this donation, they had already raised $1.281 billion in cash, pledges and bequest. So I guess I better send in my donation as well. Granted it won't be anywhere near the donation above, but thinking every little bit helps. Particularly since President Sue Coleman indicated that about $400 million of the money raised will go towards student scholarships and fellowships. Knowing how much I myself benefited from these types of scholarships, this is a cause I'm happy to support.

Damn! Damn! Damn! If you wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep, steer clear of your computer. You're liable to find out things that are better processed in the daylight. For example, learning that someone you've grown to admire mostly from afar committed suicide is not easy. Reading about it over the Internet just downright sucks -- especially when this leads to a lot of questions that you know will never get answered. Gosh, I can't help but think back to when this person (Aaron) was in my home a few months ago for a black blogger dinner party. He was such a kind gentle person. Oh how I feel for his family and close personal friends. Damn! Damn! Damn! I just don't understand why he would do it and I suppose I may never will. May his soul rest in peace.

Below is excerpt from recent New Yorker article titled: The Wilderness Campaign. In the article which profiles former Vice President Al Gore, the Vice President shares his current feelings on President George W. Bush.

“I wasn’t surprised by Bush’s economic policies, but I was surprised by the foreign policy, and I think he was, too,” Gore told me. “The real distinction of this Presidency is that, at its core, he is a very weak man. He projects himself as incredibly strong, but behind closed doors he is incapable of saying no to his biggest financial supporters and his coalition in the Oval Office. He’s been shockingly malleable to Cheney and Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz and the whole New American Century bunch. He was rolled in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. He was too weak to resist it.

“I’m not of the school that questions his intelligence,” Gore went on. “There are different kinds of intelligence, and it’s arrogant for a person with one kind of intelligence to question someone with another kind. He certainly is a master at some things, and he has a following. He seeks strength in simplicity. But, in today’s world, that’s often a problem. I don’t think that he’s weak intellectually. I think that he is incurious. It’s astonishing to me that he’d spend an hour with his incoming Secretary of the Treasury and not ask him a single question. But I think his weakness is a moral weakness. I think he is a bully, and, like all bullies, he’s a coward when confronted with a force that he’s fearful of. His reaction to the extravagant and unbelievably selfish wish list of the wealthy interest groups that put him in the White House is obsequious. The degree of obsequiousness that is involved in saying ‘yes, yes, yes, yes, yes’ to whatever these people want, no matter the damage and harm done to the nation as a whole—that can come only from genuine moral cowardice. I don’t see any other explanation for it, because it’s not a question of principle. The only common denominator is each of the groups has a lot of money that they’re willing to put in service to his political fortunes and their ferocious and unyielding pursuit of public policies that benefit them at the expense of the nation.”

Damn! Reading this article in full, I can't help but wonder about what could have been if Vice President Gore had not only won the popular vote but also the Electoral College.

According to Save the Children’s fifth annual Mothers’ Index, the top 10 countries to be a mother are:

Based on the indicators detailed below, how interesting that mothers in the United States barely make the top 10.

Save the Children’s fifth annual Mothers’ Index compares the well-being of mothers and children in 119 countries. The Index uses six indicators measuring the status of women: lifetime risk of maternal mortality, use of modern contraception, births attended by trained personnel, prevalence of anemia among pregnant women, female literacy, and participation of women in national government; and four indicators covering the well-being of children: infant mortality, nutritional status, primary school enrollment and access to safe water.

Link uncovered via Halley's Comment.

I think it's safe to say that most people in America and world at large are not yet ready to say good-bye to former President Clinton. So here's wishing him a speedy recovery from recent quadruple heart bypass surgery. In addition, here's hoping that the next few weeks of recovery are followed by many years of good health and happiness.

Racquetball Guy now shares my passion for scrabble. In the last 24 hours alone, we've played 6 games. So far I've won each of them, but it's just a matter of time before he wins one. With each game we play his score gets closer and closer to mine. Loosing to him wouldn't really bother me so long as it's not all the time. This after all is my game. I was once crowned a scrabble champion. So here's hoping that over the long run, I win more than I loose.

Now I have another reason to watch the second installment of The Apprentice.

A Michigan grad is one of 18 candidates battling it out for the coveted role as Donald Trump's protégé on the second season of the NBC hit "The Apprentice." The show premieres on Thursday, September 9, at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT and will feature Elizabeth Jarosz, '95, a 31-year-old Business School graduate who owns and runs her own consulting company. Jarosz was an Angell Scholar at U-M and graduated with a 4.0 GPA.

Here's hoping Elizabeth does well!

If you live in Chicago you might want to check out Citizen ICAM. It allows you to enter an address and then get a list of crimes reported (not necessarily confirmed) to the Chicago Police within a 1 mile radius of address within the last 14 days. Looking at the data could be somewhat scary, but thinking it's better to be informed than have a false sense of security for your surroundings.

Link uncovered via Gapers Block.

A couple years ago, I sent my great grand aunt a recorder with a list of questions. I wanted her to speak into the microphone and tell me more about her own personal history as well as that of my mother. Everyone now and then, I go back and listen to the tape. Granted it's quite emotional at times, but it's good to hear about their personal histories.

I'm thinking about all this as while taking a break from work yesterday afternoon, I happen to turn on the TV (which I almost never do during the day) and caught one of the premiere episodes of The Jane Pauley Show. Show focused on the fact that all of us have a story and we should document in video/sound for ourselves as well as future generations.

One organization that she mentioned that is helping people do this is called: StoryCorps.

StoryCorps is a national initiative to instruct and inspire Americans to record one another's stories in sound. The project is the brainchild of MacArthur Fellow Dave Isay and his award-winning documentary company, Sound Portraits Productions (SPP). It is one of the largest documentary oral history projects ever donated to the Library of Congress, and it will be one of the first "born-digital" collections to come to the American Folklife Center.

Isn't that cool? I think so. As such, the next time I'm in New York (hopefully with Racquetball Guy); I'll like to sign up for a session at their soundproof booth in Grand Central Station. Of course, I could always just go ahead and do it at home -- so perhaps I'll target that as a project for us to work on after we celebrate our 6 month anniversary. Speaking of anniversaries, today is actually our 5 month anniversary. Yeah for me!! Yeah for us!!

In any event, I thought this was such a good idea, that I couldn't help but share. Reading about my family history through letters and diaries is great -- but there is nothing like hearing the voices behind those words.

Did anyone else out there watch Father of the Pride on Tuesday night? It's an animated cartoon targeted towards an adult audience. Story revolves around a family of lions owned by Siegfried & Roy. The first episode which repeats tonight was so laugh out loud funny that I can't wait for future episodes. So here's hoping the show does well. Not since Daria have I been this excited about a cartoon show.

I haven't watched much of the Republican National Convention but the few times I've turned in; I've seen Stephen Baldwin lurking around. I suppose he is the Republican's answer to Ben Affleck who was pretty high profile at the Democratic National Convention. Only problem is that Stephen is not as famous or as successful as Ben. More importantly, he's not as articulate on political matters. Listening to him explain why he's voting for President Bush was just painful. He kept saving he was voting for the person with the most faith -- the person who is being led by God – the person who is the most vocal about their faith. No other issue mattered. Whatever! I suppose there are worse reasons to vote for someone. What annoys me most about the whole thing is the continued perception that just because you are vocal about your faith makes you a better Christian. This is flawed logic as I can think of so many people both public and private citizens who say one thing and do another. But hey, who am I to judge. More importantly, I suppose I should just be thankful that people are taking part in the political process.