Whooah, livin' on a prayer...

Bikes, cars and electronics: Meha’s Expensive Wish List of 2009.

You know what I hate about YouTube? How they mute all songs now. Bastards. Anyway. This is my wishlist for 2009. If you really love me, you’ll (at the very least!) remember me in your prayers and hope I get at least one of the things on the list. 

1. Kawasaki 1700 Vulcan Voyager Motorcycle. I’ve talked about this endlessly, but srsly. It’s in my dreams. Whenever I surf through movies and TV, there’s a commercial or show featuring a motorcycle. God is trying to tell me something, I swear! 

2. Aston Martin One-77. *Cries* 

3. Porsche 911 Turbo Cabrio.  I think I’d look good in yellow, don’t you?

4. Ferrari California, 2009. I’ve wanted a cherry red Ferrari convertible since I was 11 years old. And it still looks awesome. 

5. Canon EOS Camera. Gearing away from the list of unobtainable cars, I’m also searching for unobtainable cameras. And I’ve got my eye on this one. A photographer friend of mine uses it sometimes, and his pics come out amazing. 

6. Flip Mino HD. Much more affordable, and easier for me to use. I hear the sound quality isn’t great, but you can just upload the footage via the USB, which is more than a little convenient. 

7.  AT&T Quickfire, in Lime Green. I don’t know why I want this phone in particular. It’s definitely not as cool as the motorcycle. I don’t even know what features are on it. I just know it matches my current phone, where the lime green sides have mostly scraped off. Sob. 

***EDIT***

8. BLACKBERRY BOLD. How did I not know about this little piece of awesomeness before? I’m so out of it. And I could definitely use the “fastest Blackberry.”

Now. Get praying. I neeeed to have one of the above before the summer hits. 

Meha conquers iMovie.

Ok, so the song is totally copyright. Big whoop. It’s Guns N Roses. They would understand.

If you want to catch a glimpse into the craziness that was St. Louis during the VP debate and see some big names, watch this:

2008 VP Debate: LIVE FROM ST. LOUIS from Meha Ahmad on Vimeo.

((Edited: Because this was originally on YouTube, but they mute music now, so I’ve switched to Vimeo.))

A Bilingual nation?

The Spanish language is the primary language for more than 35 million Americans, and those numbers are growing fast as more immigrants come to the states. But some local governments have passed English-only amendments to immigration bills and in some cases have declared English the official language of that state.

Even though English and Spanish are the most commonly used languages in American, this country has no official language and dual-languages seems an impossible concept.
And to assume that 35 million people have the ability to learn English fluently and overnight is ridiculous.

If you look at the Hispanic immigrant population in America, there are a significant amount who are middle aged, Spanish-only speaking people. It’s unreasonable to attempt to force an older generation to pay for and go to school to learn English. Should there be different customs for their children and younger generations? Of course. Latino youths should learn English and take advantage of the benefit of being bilingual in America.

But declaring English the national language and as a result seeing less Spanish in the media, politics and just day-to-day life isn’t helping but hindering.
English-only laws force assimilation of non-English speakers and are discriminatory.

Some people say that it isn’t about pushing out Spanish, but preserving English. That having one nation under one language can unite the population and make it easier for everyone to understand each other.

But it seems to me that forcing people with Spanish as their primary language to learn English and assimilate is a way to divide the country, not unite it.
Many immigrants even want to learn English. But the lives of many of them is hard enough, and their time is consumed with working long days and feeding their families. It becomes difficult to even find the drive to learn English.

I’m not saying that English isn’t beneficial and that immigrants shouldn’t learn it. It’s a detriment to this country that the ability to speak more than one language isn’t more common among its citizens. But forcing one language on a person who may not have the time, inclination or wealth to learn it is, if anything, un-American.

I, too, am a Twilighter.

About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Kristen Stewart will never win an Academy Award. Second, there was a part of me—and I have a fairly good idea how potent that part is—that wished Robert Pattinson was able to keep just a bit of his British accent. And third, the unconditionally and irrevocably sappy parts in the book turned out to be comedy on screen. —Meha

As a die-hard fan of the series for quite a few years now, I showed up to the midnight showing of Twilight more than an hour before it started. While the theater I sat in was not sold out (but it was full enough), other theaters were completely. Three theater rooms at Loews Cineplex in Crestwood were screening the film at midnight, and they were all sold out by Thursday afternoon. Same with Marcus Cinema in Orland Park. So. Apparently, people read (and then see movies inspired by those books.

The Con

Like I anticipated, I did not love Kristen Stewart’s performance. There were some quirky oddities about how she portrayed Bella that I thought worked. Other times, I just did not see her as Bella. It’s like they were two different mindsets.

Btw—she blinks way too much, she shakes her head way too much, and she butchers lines way too much. I was sad; there was a point when I was really rooting for her to do better, and for me, she fell flat. Not my ideal Bella, but I guess she was an….interpretation of her.

As for Robert Pattinson? When he came on screen, girls in the audience were cat calling. They were cheering, they were whistling, and I think all our hearts kind of flipped a bit in our chest. Then when he came back for his third scene and actually spoke to Bella? It was like my NSync phase (esp. when they sang ballads on live TV. HOT) all over again.

I love him. But I love Edward Cullen more, the most. And Robert Pattinson is still no Edward Cullen. He had a very Hayden Christianson-quality to him in this movie.

THE PRO

I gotta say though: The movie did some stuff I wish we saw in the books. Like Edward is just a hair more witty, a bit more playful with Bella in the movie, which I absolutely loved. Jumping on her car, or when he put his arm around her the first time they walked into school together. He was like a rock star. And even their first kiss—way better on screen than in the book, shockingly enough. Throughout, Robert Pattinson didn’t exactly pull off Edward, but I have faith he’ll smooth out the rough edges for the second movie. And other things I won’t mention because I don’t want to give any more away.

Despite how this review began, there were things I loved about the movie. I loved how the setting could be full of bright-green (ala Forks) but still be vampire-dark. I liked the portrayals of many characters, including Jasper. Man almost never spoke but the actor pulled off that quiet painful way about him. The character of Mike, too. I didn’t like him in the book but found him endearing on screen. As I did with Charlie and Billy Black, trying to be “hip with the lingo” and kickin’ it with the kids. Charming.

I also loved how whenever Stewart and Pattinson gazed at each other for too long, the die-hard fans in the theater (me included) found it hilarious. Or when Bella first meets Edward in biology class. FUNNIEST THING EVER.

The SHOCK-factor of the movie:

CHARLIE!! My God, I did not like Bella’s dad, Charlie, in the books. I felt like his scenes were pointless, his character completely one-dimensional in the worst way and that he wasted perfectly good ink and paper in the book doing nothing but watching TV and fishing. On screen, Billy Burke plays him beautifully. Absolutely hilarious!

Bella: “Dad, Edward’s outside, he wants to meet you.”

Charlie: Really? *cocks rifle* Ok, let him in.

Now that’s more like it!

((Other fave quote:

Rosalie: How do you even know she’s Italian?
Emmett: Her name is BELLA.  ))

FINAL GRADE

I got a lot more thoughts about this movie—I can rant and rant about how they took this part out, they twisted this part, Stepenie Meyers had a cameo!, James was built (tee heeee), and everything but I’d really rather you go SEE THE MOVIE and tell me what you thought.

Grade: I give the movie B-.

Group 3 video

The Death of Racism in America

The  very morning after the election, I turned to the View, to see what Whoopi and that Republican blonde’s first impressions were. Forget the blonde. Whoopi Goldberg said something I’ll never forget. She said that her very progressive-thinking mother told her, she never thought she’d live to see this day. And it made Whoopi realize that while she wasn’t too conscious of it, deep down she didn’t feel at home, welcome wholeheartedly in America.

“As an American I always thought of myself as an American with all of the promise that America holds,” Goldberg said.

“But suddenly last night I felt like I can put my suitcase down, finally.”

She went on to say how now, unlike pre-Obama victory, she can truly be a part of the fabric of this country. The idea of never letting go of your suitcase is something I think that resonates with a lot of minorities, something we’re not conscious we’re holding until we find we can put it down and let go.

The next day, I watched Will Smith on Oprah as he got emotional over our new president-elect. And Smith said something that really struck me; With Barack Obama winning, African-Americans no longer had any excuses. I found myself mulling over his words for another week at least, thinking about whether or not the black population felt that way, if it was true. Here, watch what he had to say.

But I remember every news outlet referring to Obama as a “black president” not just a “president.” Don’t get me wrong—I know that this does suggest definite change and progress. Thirty years ago—hell, even 10 years ago—this would have been unfathomable.

But I don’t think we can look at ourselves as not racist if the main factor we discussed, analyzed and criticized in this election is Barack Obama’s background and race.
So are African Americans, and other minorities as well for that matter, able to finally become part of the fabric of this country rather than an “other?” While I think a leader who happens to be half black may put us closer to a more utopian-like society, I don’t think that being in the age of Obama is exactly the death of racism in America. I’m just waiting for Obama to make one semi-unpopular decision so Rush Limbaugh or some other bigoted moron can say to himself, “that’s what happens when you have a black president.”

TRL ends, marks death of music videos

After 10 years, 18 seasons and more than 1000 episodes, Total Request Live has come to a long-awaited but sorrowful end. Even though I haven’t even seen a minute of TRL since high school, a wave of nostalgia came over me.

I remember junior high in the beginning of the boy band craze and tuning in to TRL to see if NSync’s “It’s Tearin’ Up My Heart” beat whatever the hell Backstreet Boys was peddling that week. Comparing the crowds outside Time Square (seriously, there were always more Nsync fans). And the Britney-Christina war of ‘99. Limp Bizkit (sp?). Blink 182. MTV Summers in Cancun. And who remembers “Making the video” (I must have watched the “Bye Bye Bye” making the video at least 10 times) show? And “World Premieres” made a music video seem like it was a Hollywood movie.

While this post is boy-band heavy, I’m not saying that MTV pimped out boy bands and all other music is useless. FAR FROM IT. I cringe when I see the the videos I used to obsess over. I mean, what the hell was “Dirty Pop?” My point is, MTV used to be all about music videos. Sure, I wasn’t around in the 80’s, when Michael Jackson and the like really gave MTV a definition: Music videos can revolutionize the industry.

Fans wanted to experience their music “on cable. In stereo.” And though I have never experienced the original early concept of MTV—a 24 hour/7 days a week music television channel—I do remember when the channel wasn’t devoted to The Hills and Paris Hilton’s new BFF. Shows like “Daria” and “Beavis and Butthead” would air, but they were highlights of the channel, not the focus.

MTV and TRL were once the launching pads of an artist’s career. No more. YouTube has long replaced MTV as the maker and provider of videos, music or not. Hell, I just found out Justin Timberlake signed a singer onto his label after watching a video of her on YouTube.

Let’s face it, TRL started out as a bright flame that only grew brighter until Carson Daly left and started his crappy late-night show. And even though Total Request slowly lost it’s attraction, it was MTV’s main outlet for music videos. Now it’s gone, the final nail in the visual music coffin, and I think calling MTV “music television” is officially false advertisement.

I want my MTV!

Ask Baba Ali podcast

I’m not big on podcasts. If I want to watch something, I’ll turn on the TV. And I hate waiting for vids to finish “buffering” and constantly freezing because it is almost never “streaming” video. But whatever. But there is one show that I watch that is only broadcast online. It’s “Ask Baba Ali”; To me, it’s really funny. To others, he’s a bit….much. W/e. We’re friends on Facebook.

I like the show because it’s got a real message. And he does online videos because the show is literally on a shoe-string budget. It’s just a guy speaking his word in front of a home camera. And just broadcasts it free on YouTube. But he’s gained a lot of fame in the Muslim world through it. So rock on, Technology.

“Randomly checked” (At the airport):

Stranded at the CTA. Branded a fool.

I get to Midway after a long day of interning (didn’t take that long), schoolwork (took longer than I thought), and video-editing/script-writing. All I want is to go home and see my family, give my cat Oliver a treat, and go to bed.

Then my tire blows.

I pull back into the Midway parking lot, and call my parents. Neither of whom know how to change a tire. Nor does my brother (who was in class anyway, and across town). Nor does any of my nearby friends. Or any of the morons I know, apparently.

But my dad comes anyway and we try to pump air in the tire. The next hour and a half is spent trying to fill it with air. It only is enough to get me to the nearest gas station and try to do SOMETHING, because leaving it overnight at Midway is not an option. They will tow my car’s sorry ass, flat tire or no.

So at the nearest Shell Gas Station we spend the next hour or so trying to change the tire. My dad calls—I CAN’T BELIEVE IT—his almost son-in-law. I kind of want to kill myself (or my dad. I would be happy with either one) as the guy whose proposal I rejected without so much as a second’s thought sits there on the floor of the gas station at night and tries to fix my tire while I continue to bitch on the phone to my mom. On my dad’s cell, since my phone’s battery could not be revived.

Finally, I give up, take my dad’s keys and drive his car home so I can get some work done and leave him to deal with the mess that is my car. So he’s fixing the tire, STILL, now at 11:15 p.m. while I sit here in my PJs at home by the fireplace. I should feel bad. But he did NOT need to call ‘The Ex.’ So my dad shall suffer. But I’ll probably buy him a gift tomorrow for spending his entire night saving his daughter.

….and now I’m watching Dancing with the Stars. I miss Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

Daily Show: “How long do you sit Shiva?”

Just reminds you… “Fox News” is an oxymoron. ;)