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| Wow, its been almost exactly a year since I posted on here. I forgot about this account. Well, as a follow-up to my last entry, yes I have been kicking this program's ass, and it shouldn't be much more than a week or so before I get my official letter of entry. Life is good. Lots of stuff happening in the media right now. Al Sharpton... apparently the ambassador for black America. I want to know, why is it that Imus apologized to Al Sharpton? And why is it that the "Reverend" Al Sharpton did not accept the man's apology? I mean, maybe I just didn't hear about that part of the exchange between the two, but I did hear that Al Sharpton followed Imus's apology with a demand for his resignation/firing. What the hell is that? Being a "Reverend", shouldn't he take every opportunity to teach the values of Christianity? I mean textbook Christianity is repentance, is that not a perfect time to say "Okay, Don Imus, following Jesus's example, your apology is accepted no matter the terrible things you have said. I hope you can move forward from this apology with love for your fellow man, and a greater understanding of race relations." Nope, our favorite "Reverend" instead denounces him further. I can understand how people get angry, that's okay. But as a man of God, one has a responsibility, especially on the air, to keep calm and do one's best to teach (or provide a good example) the lessons important to whatever religion that priest/reverend/minister/etc comes from. This is also assuming that Don Imus needed to be apologizing to Al Sharpton in the first place. I think that Imus needed to apologize to the girls at Rutger's before he did anything else (which thank God that they had class enough to accept his apology and get on with their lives, demanding nothing further from an already beaten man). I think that perhaps another apology on the nightly news or his own radio show to the African American community would be prudent. Then BAM, we can all move forward.
Sigh, that's just what I think. Then there is this other story that I read, where a German drill sergeant was telling a junior soldier to envision an African American gangster saying awful things about his mother to psyche himself for killing. Once again, Al Sharpton is demanding an apology from the German military. I think that maybe we should think about why the German drill sergeant so easily conjured this image of a black gangster. On my last trip to Europe, I noticed that the Europeans go goofy for American rap music, at least in the clubs. Hmmm. So if they listen to the music, they probably watch the music videos? And if they watch the music videos, then wow, there is your image of the black gangster committing some disgraceful act. And most likely these music videos are the only exposure to African American culture that the German people have on a daily basis, so again wow, is it that far-fetched that a German drill sergeant was conjuring these images as a motivating factor for young soldiers (assuming that they too had seen the music videos)? Maybe its time for Al Sharpton to demand an apology from the rap music recording artists and the industry in general for disgracing the image of African Americans worldwide. I understand, not all rappers degrade women in their music and preach senseless violence. But the vast majority of successful rappers do. So just picket the offensive rappers. Only demand apologies from those music companies that published music that did carry this message. Once again, that just what I think.
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| I will be a member of VCU School of Dentistry's D.5 program in the Fall
of 2006. Basically, this program is for people that they knew had
great potential, but that applicant was missing something relative to
the rest of the applicant pool (my GPA is a little lower than the
average applicant). They select five courses from the first year
curriculum: Mammalian Physiology, Dental Biochemistry, Immunity and
Infection, and two others that I can't remember off the top of my
head. You have to get a "B" or better and they place you in the
D1 class the following year, minus the classes you have already
taken. The nice part about this program is that it splits the
first year into two years, theoretically allowing you to get a better
GPA (more time, fewer classes) and be more involved in social life
(many presidents of any particular dental class came from D.5,
historically, because of all the free time they had in the
beginning). So basically this program is awesome and you can't
apply for it. You are selected from the applicant pool after they
have filled their D1 class. Unless UNLV sends me an acceptance in
the next few months (doubtful, but still possible), I will be in
Richmond, VA next year. The apartment hunt will be fun during the
first few weeks after graduation and then I might just get a job
waiting tables in Richmond until the time comes for me to attend my D.5
classes. Anyway, just thought I would update here.
Goodnight and booyah.
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| Союз нерушимый республик свободных
Сплотила навеки Великая русь
Да здравствует созданный волей народов
Единый могучий Советский Союз!
An invincible Union of free republics
Great Russia has joined forever,
Created by will of the people, oh thrive [in other words: long live]
the united and powerful Soviet Union!
That is one awesome National Anthem. I have always thought that
the USSR got it right when they made this song their anthem. That
is a translation I did myself. I was being lazy and looking up
translations online but they were all full of flowery words that had
nothing to do with the original script. Here is one such
translation, notice the differences:
United forever in friendship and labor,
Our mighty republics will ever endure.
The great Soviet Union will live through the ages.
The dream of a people their fortress secure.
Wow, someone definitely copied and pasted someone else's bad joke or
they knew nothing of the Russian language. Naturally, you have to
change word order and maybe some grammar to make it comprehensible in
English, but adding words like "fortress" and "dream of the people" is
just wrong and irresponsible. Another common mis-translation I
enjoy seeing is in the chorus, Отечество, which clearly means
"Fatherland," not "Motherland". Otyetz (pronunciation in Western
script) is the word for father, where as Mat (with a slight s sound
after it) is the word for mother. So the line in the chorus that
should say "Oh Glorify yourself, Fatherland," in some jackasses'
translations become: "Long live our Motherland" (because they also
don't know what Славься means).
Anyway, sorry, my original post was going to be about the strength of
the Soviet Anthem, and how weak I find our anthem to be. I got a
little side tracked because it pisses me off when people fuck around
with such a beautiful and inspiring piece. In my opinion, the
flowery language people use in bad translations makes the anthem sound
cheesy. I guess all of this typing is moot anyway, because the
country this anthem represented disgraced itself with numerous
atrocities and now does not exist.
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| "You're as useful as a poopy flavored lollipop." Patches O'Hoolihan, Dodgeball.
I would like to start my entry off with that quote
in honor of the president of Iran. "Israel should be wiped off
the map." What a douche. Basically he is telling the world,
"Please, oh please let me be next on the list to be invaded and
restructured by an overzealous US president!" Combine his
comments with a blossoming nuclear development plan, and you have one
scary fucking world leader in the Middle East. Anyway, enough on
that.
I have been useless myself on the school front
lately. And what's funny is that I might have my greatest GPA
ever this semester. Least amount of work, best GPA.
Odd? Yes. But very satisfying. I have my dental
school interview a week from this thursday. Kicks ass. I am
just praying that I get an acceptance letter in December, because I
will absolutely stop working next semester. Like I might work a
full time job instead of going to class. I can just aim for a 3.0
and let it be. Life is fantastic.
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| Since a long time friend, Brian Bostian, decided to post on this site I have decided to resume my postings on this site. Modern communication is wonderful, isn't it? He is in Diwaniyah, Iraq, and is currently serving the rest of his time there. He is probably the most loyal friend I have ever had, and I know that I owe him much of the happiness I had during the early years of my life. The worst time I ever had was in the eighth grade, and he was the only person I could really depend on during that time, and later when I went to Culver Military Academy in the freshman and sophomore years of High School, he continued to support me. So I am going to try to put regular postings on this site in order to keep him better updated about my activities, since I hate email with a passion. And plus, this can serve as a sort of journal for myself. Anyway, time to get working. LOTS of work to do, Summer break here I come! | | |
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