Nasty Nate's Ultimate Blog destination

Good times... GREAT times...

2006-04-26T18:17:00.000-07:00

Well classmates, it has truly been an honor learning with such an excellent group as yourselves. Now that the semester is over... This is Nate signing off.

Good luck and God speed...

Some links on the "urban decay" of Detroit

2006-04-13T06:47:00.000-07:00

Looks like I wasn't the only one who took interest in Detroit's urban decay...

http://www.seedetroit.com/pictures/urbandecay/

http://www.flickr.com/groups/decay/pool/51586455@N00/

http://www.urbanpl

anet.org/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t7389.html

http://forgottenmichigan.com/gallery/UE

Detroit Train Station

http://www.freep.com/legacy/jobspage/academy/sugrue.htm

http://web.syr.edu/~gavan/psc129/araceli.html

http://www.forbes.com/2003/04/29/cz_jf_0429flint.html

http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/2379/fragile_prosperity.htm

Arguement paper

2006-04-12T10:39:00.000-07:00

Alright, my town blows. There is nothing of importance to even argue about. It's Clinton Township and there is absolutely NOTHING going on! What am I suppose to write about? The streets are too clean, the neighbors are too quite, the police department is adequately staffed... I've got nothing. I've been looking for some time and with the way things look, I'll have to do a follow up with the photo essay. I am extremely upset with the given circumstances. Nate OUT!

Photo essay - Bonus Features - "The commentary"

2006-03-31T11:23:00.000-08:00

I'll start by explaining the title of the essay. It may seem harsh to call Detroit an 'industrial wasteland' but it's something that I've always used when explaining to people who ask me "So what's Detroit like?" It's not like I'm exaggerating. If you look around while driving on the expressways through Detroit, it's pretty evident of what I mean. Anyways, while conducting this assignment I some how was unintentially immersed into the whole concept of urban decay. I can be really apathetic towards homework assignments, but this one was different... probably because of the whole reality of things. I mean, this wasn't just some trivial topic, this stuff was hapenning all around. Driving through some of the streets, I saw home after home either boarded-up, burned down, or torn up. While taking the pictures, I'd see homeless people walking... just walking, in an almost sedated state like zombies roaming through a land of the dead. It kind of gave me shivers. Not because it was scary, but because it was just an eerie feeling. Imagine walking through an empty lot or around an abandoned building. It's dead silent and the streets are completely void of life except for this one person walking towards your direction. Well, I stood there and it felt like I was the last man on earth and everyone had become the living dead. I'm not trying to be wierd, but that's just what came across my mind. So some of you may notice in the writings that I try to bring out that feeling of desolation... as if mankind was wiped out from the mother of all bombs and this was all that's left. Sadly though, this is all that is left for the homeless and poverty stricken detroiters. It's their neighborhoods, there homes. Even though it may not have been caused by a giant bomb , the decline in Detroit's industrial economy sure has made its impact. And I hope that I was able to convey that through the photo essay.

GET SOME!

2006-03-31T09:26:00.000-08:00

Class Critiques

2006-03-30T14:12:00.000-08:00

By an overwelming POPULAR DEMAND I will include an introduction for the photo essay. Originally I was going the implicit route, but since most were in 'awe' by the pictures, it still left people scratching there heads wondering, "Where is he coming from and why?" Even though everything was composed intentionally to engage readers, I will appease the masses and develop an introduction that will clarify things a little more.

INDUSTRIAL WASTELAND (FINAL)

2006-03-29T10:52:00.000-08:00

Photo Essay by: Nathaniel LeBlanc

I've seen many cities throughout the United States and across the world. Every place has its ugly side, I'm not going to contest that, but none can compare to the deindustrialization of Detroit. This city has suffered a serious case of urban decay due to the globalization of industries. Although it's not a war-torn city or was struck by a devestating hurricane, its current state is a sobering situation that impacts all of its residents and those in surrounding communities. The photographs depicted below are all areas within a five mile radius of downtown Detroit and most can be seen while traveling on I-94 or I-75.

An eerie sense of desolation and despair lingers. Not a soul can be seen, only the twisted metal and piles of debris inhabit this vacant wasteland.

Detroit once prided itself as the great capital of industrialism, but has slowly deteriorated in the shadows of its former self.

Like ancient ruins, the remnants of factories continue to stand throughout the city, reminding residents of a prosperous past.

Today, urban decay has spread like a cancer, leaving its destructive mark through scorched homes scattered across neighborhoods of Detroit.

A lonely tree in a barren city park overlooks downtown Detroit. Meant for recreation, the park is ghostly and unwelcoming without children playing and families relaxing.

Two abandoned homes rest behind a barricade of barbed wire and chain-linked fencing with their windows boarded up. Home owners must resort to these measures to combat the plagues of theft, vandalism and arson in this industrial wasteland.

In a place that seems void of hope and prosperity, a homeless man finds his sanctuary on a park bench reading holy texts.

A testament of astonishing architecture and the dynasty of a once great city, the Detroit train station now stands
alone, vandalized and scarred.

Along with the degradation of Detroit's urban society, walls around town have become tatooed with graffiti. Some are interestingly and beautifully designed with an artist's touch, but others could be seen as repugnant blemishes on the city.

Shown above are the remains of an old loading dock to an abandoned factory. Where products once shipped out and produced economic gain for local workers, the dock now serves no purpose as it rests in a rubble of concrete and steel.

A graffiti artist leaves his intricately designed mark on the side of a decrepit building, sending out a cry for acknowledgement in a forgotten city.

Abandoned factories, remains of schorched homes, graffiti, empty lots, dumped garbage and the homeless are just some of the few effects in the urban decline of this now industrial wasteland. In a city stricken with poverty and hopelessness, Detroit's future of prosperity seems to be a thing in the past.

thoughts on "Graffiti: Tunnel Notes of a New Yorker"

2006-03-28T10:34:00.000-08:00

First, I would like to start off by saying that there is NO WAY that everything during the first couple pages was going on in an eight year-old child's mind... NO WAY. If he was truly thinking all that at eight years-old then he needs to stop writing essays, books or whatever, and take over the human race. Anyways, I liked the analogy that Graffiti is the barometer of urban decline. I think in some sense this is true... the more graffiti, the more rund-down a city becomes and vice versa. But I would have to say that majority of graffiti is done either maliciously or out of rebellion. It's not too often that you see the true art form of graffiti. And those who are serious and passionate about their art form are probably very few. Everything else I've seen around Detroit are just ignorant obnoxious monstrosities that serve no real purpose.

INDUSTRIAL WASTELAND slideshow

2006-03-24T17:34:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to see what this looks like...

Sarajevo? Chechnya? Belgrade? No... it's effin' Detroit!

I'm on a mission from God

2006-03-23T05:30:00.000-08:00

Today I will attempt to take my photos in the heart of the Detroit neighborhoods. Wish me luck...

If it's not fast and not dangerous... I don't want to know about it

2006-03-21T19:20:00.002-08:00

ISLE OF MAN, located in the Irish Sea between England and Ireland, holds possibly the fastest races on two wheels in the world... and I'm probably going to be there some time in the next couple months for the TT races. If everything goes accordingly, I'll be on turn three, drinking my Guinness in a pub and watching the bikes speed by.

Fortification

2006-03-21T12:42:00.000-08:00

I can understand where Vergara is coming from when he speaks of inequality taking material form through bricks, cinderblocks and razor wire. For those who live in the inner city neiborhoods, their opportunities are limited due to an array of unsolved social issues. And the majority has no choice but to fortify themselves because there is no way out of these violently and criminally infested neiborhoods. Vergara mentions that even the cops are hesitent to respond to calls, forcing residents to provide their own security with weapons and fortifications.

Aside from physical barriers, Vergara mentions the disabled and elderly residents requiring police or security guard escorts, or shelters and welfare offices having guards. People also using magic and religious protection against evil. and signs with warnings. It's important because it shows the lengths that people are willing to go just to feel safe.

What's goin' on?

2006-03-21T12:19:00.000-08:00

I'll tell ya what's going on... Marvin Gaye is about to get crunked on Hennessy and he wants detroiters to join the fun. Wooh... WOOOOH!

idea for assignment

2006-03-20T18:07:00.000-08:00

I think I'm going to capture the deindustrialization of Detroit. Probably have a few pics of some abandoned factories, buildings, homeless people... maybe a stray dog with three legs. Who knows? the possibilities are endless... lets hope this homey doesn't get shot in the process.

Photo essay?

2006-03-19T14:29:00.000-08:00

I'm having a hard time understanding what this assignment really is, and I'm really starting to think that it's not a photo essay. All the examples given to us through links are photo essays but they're not visual rhetoric with thesis included. The only example close to the thesis requirement would probably be the "God in the Temples of Government" article because it poses a question, but still has no real thesis. Yes, each one of them are photo essays... they all convey a story through images with very few words, but where is this visual rhetoric with thesis included. I think the Bosnia and AIDS photo essays would be considered visual rhetoric because the written captions were very compelling, but no thesis could be found. Maybe, the essays were so implicit that a thesis didn't need mentioning. Can we do that? I'd like to know. The three student examples certainly didn't, their work was done to the 'T' as described in the assignment handout. As you can see, I'm confused. I was going to do my photo essay just like the previous students, but our examples of professionally published work is nothing like our task. Some are a little more artistic than others, but most are just regular photo essays. I think Bill is taking his scholastic powers to the extreme and creating hybrid-mutant assignments that are too extrordinary even for professional photojournalists. If you're smart, keep an eye on him. I think he's up to something... something diabolical.

thoughts on "Open Spaces"

2006-03-19T09:56:00.000-08:00

"Open Spaces" seemed to have all of the basic assignment requirements... and that was it. I didn't see anything spectacular about it. The writer did have a percised focus on his topic which I thought was a strength... he never did sidetrack on anything. Although, I'm not sure if constently using 'open spaces' in the writing was a strength... he may have been trying to be poetic or something, but it just sounded dumb and annoying to me. I thought the topic was somewhat interesting and relevant to his community, rather than something trivial like 'people need to cut their lawns more often.'

Some of its most noticeable weaknesses were definitely the photos. They were not well composed and I had to read the captions to understand exactly what was going on. Not a single photo jumped out at me; every single picture was just a point-n-click landscape shot. I think the writer should have been more original with the photography and convey his story without words. He had a good opportunity to get picture with a close-up of the sign saying "Grosse Isle Open Spaces Please Keep it clean" with the construction equipment in the background, but instead he just took a pic across the street and then snapped a close-up of just the sign. I just thought that most of the photography was half-assed. The only picture I liked was the empty dirt road, probably because it had some form of symmetry to it. And the last weakness was the fact that, yeah he did get his point across about the issue, but didn't even offer a resolution or conclution. That's great that people are hacking down your wildlife preservation, but what the hell is it that you want people to do about it?

RANDOM BLOG POST

2006-03-19T09:41:00.000-08:00

Colonel Sandurz: Now. You're looking at now sir. Everything that happens now, is happening now.
Dark Helmet: What happened to then?
Colonel Sandurz: We passed then.
Dark Helmet: When?
Colonel Sandurz: Just now. We're at now, now.
Dark Helmet: Go back to then!
Colonel Sandurz: When?
Dark Helmet: Now.
Colonel Sandurz: Now?
Dark Helmet: Now!
Colonel Sandurz: I can't.
Dark Helmet: Why?
Colonel Sandurz: We missed it.
Dark Helmet: When?
Colonel Sandurz: Just now.
Dark Helmet: When will then be now?
Colonel Sandurz: Soon.
Dark Helmet: How soon?

Wild and Crazy Restuarant review

2006-03-09T12:52:00.000-08:00

My restuarant review was on the Wild Woody's Chill and Grill . I basically, told in extensive detail a one night excursion to the establisment with a group of friends. During the critic of the rough draft, my fellow classmates gave me positive feedback... so that's a good sign. Only criticism was the lack of cleanliness... I think I could easily work that into the restroom attendant portion of the review. Other than that, the papers I read were really good Kendall's description of the atmosphere and food was great. And Jeremy's attention to detail was thorough, maybe a little too thorough. Overall, the workshop was a positive experience.

Let a thousand cities bloom

2006-03-08T06:35:00.000-08:00

I really don't have much to say about Shaw's article. Nothing really jumped out at me saying, "HEY, we've got some issues here and we NEED to tackle them." No, instead, all i read was blah blah blah welfare... blah blah blah police... blah blah blah kill city planners. Maybe it was too satirical for me, I'm not sure. Anyways, if we were to beef up the police force in the manner that Shaw proposed, local citizens would take that as a threat. I mean, it's not like we're living in "Cold War era" East Germany or Russia. Citizens would get the feeling of oppression... oh and if they are a minority, then it's just seen as flat-out racism. As for the city planners, I could probably see where he's coming from. The way he made things sound is that the city planning was just a bureaucratic means to making easy money by cutting corners rather than focusing on the downtown's actual development. Either way, Shaw should rethink this article, decode it, and then elaborate on what the f&$! he's trying to tell us.

Not to worry... I'm okay

2006-03-06T16:37:00.000-08:00

Alright, so I made it back from a downward spiral into madness during my spring break. Looking back, it was all worth it. Even when I almost got arrested. I can't disclose much information at this time, I still have to speak with my lawyer... let's just say that I was behind the wheel of my friend's new Jaguar XJR (If you don't know, it's fast... really fast) and I was supposedly driving recklessly at excessive speeds. Who knows what that means, I mean, come on... Anyways, I didn't have the stereotypical "Girls Gone Wild" spring break. The first weekend was completely rained out and it was cold, so that ruled out the beach. But I did make it to the Carolina Coast to see a bunch of friends. We drank heavily, got into fights, and obnoxiously hit on women... just to sum things up. Afterwards, I headed out towards my old roommate's house near Chapel Hill (No, that wasn't me on the news) where I spent the rest of the week. There, I fired an armory of weapons, drove fast cars and bikes, went spelunking, hiked the mountains, and partied almost every night. To say the least, it was a successful break. Now, I just have to figure out what to do next year.

Spring Break 2006

2006-02-28T11:06:00.000-08:00

If there is an edge, I'm driving straight for it until I go over... booze, fast cars, fast bikes, women, guns, and more booze have been the tempo of my break. These savages have cracked open my skull and consumed my mind. Recklessness is our theme and we are determined to break down the very foundation of sanity. This one could be for the books boys and girls, I just hope I make it through to tell about it.

Some sites for everyone to enjoy

2006-02-26T17:56:00.000-08:00

Links

BBC News
Rotten Tomatoes
The Onion

I'll update this as I continue to find other interesting and useful sites. So take 'em home and chew on 'em in the meantime.

Pampa loopas makes me chuckle inside

2006-02-23T12:48:00.000-08:00

Well, the review seemed really upbeat in the beginning, kinda giving it a spin to the readers that says "Hey, check out this place!" Then when she went into her dining experience, she made it seem like a nightmare, especially with the high prices. So overall, I thought it was an interesting article. It kind of took me, as a reader, for a ride and then into a crash-n-burn at the end. All, I could say is that, it was interesting enough (even with a negative review) to check it out.

http://www.metrotimes.com/metropolis/restaurants/review.asp?id=9193

Dead man walking

2006-02-07T05:09:00.000-08:00

The story was touching, but I guess the reason why death row inmates are there in the first place must have been irrelevant to the author. If someone were to deviate from society's norms and commit an atrocity that merits death row, I'd think that what they're put through is mild compared to what some other countries would do; or even what has been done throughout history. As for the judicial system, I can't say how fair and balanced the law was when Mumia Abu-Jamal was convicted, but it has come along way through forensic advancements and technology, giving a lesser margin of error.

Game Over!

2006-02-06T14:25:00.000-08:00

THANK GOD THE SUPER BOWL IS GONE! I honestly didn't think I was going to make it alive through this past weekend. I'm about several hundred dollars short and I think I need a new liver. That is what happens when you start your Super Bowl weekend on a Thursday night and don't stop until Monday morning. I've burned too many brain cells to explain what happened, so you'll have to wait another time when I get my shit together.

Dave Chappelle comedy tour saga continues...

2006-02-03T13:22:00.000-08:00

(editor's note: This is part II of 'it's story time kids'. Read the prior article before venturing into the following shenanigans, if you choose.)

All right, James had no ticket and this would be the cue for the A-team van to come crashing through the campus with guns a-blazing. But to no avail, they did not show up; we were on our own. The only way into the auditorium was through the main entrances, which consisted of four doors. Each door had a security personnel and a ticket checker. They were checking bags, padding people down; it felt like we were about to go through an airport checkpoint. How could we pull this off? Well, we had three press passes and three tickets, so it actually became quiet simple. James gets a ticket and the rest of us will just flash our badges as we walk by. So that's exactly what we did. James went ahead of us to use the ticket, Joe had security check our camera equipment, and then the three of us walked through with our badges clipped to our shirts. We walked in there as if we owned the place, and the ticket checker just knoded and waved us in. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

The story doesn't end there, though. Once we got in, we still had to play the media role. About 15 minutes before the show, Stephanie found us and introduced us to Dave's Comedy Central rep. This guy was well dressed and reeked of Hollywood. The dude was in an all-black (what looked to be Armani) suit; he had a Mr. Clean bald head and sporting a goatee. Golden rings glistened on almost every finger and he had a gold chain to match. All I could think was, "this is the corniest get-up I have ever seen. Could you get any cheesier?" Anyways, this guy thought he must have walked out of an '80s gangster movie, or better yet, he looked a lot like Colin Farrell in the movie Daredevil. But I didn't say anything; it was, after all, his show. We all shook hands, introduced each other and he laid down the rules. "All right guys, once Dave is on stage, I'm giving you five minutes to take your shots and get out." Yeah well, this guy couldn't make up his mind. Within those 15 minutes before the show, he had told us five minutes but no flash, to two minutes and still no flash, then 30 seconds but we could have flash. This mission had become more tasking than we thought, but it was cool 'cause when Dave jumped on stage, we were popping shots like mad men and actually got some really cool pics. After the media frenzy, we sat in our seats and enjoyed probably the best comedy show. We heard bits that would later air on season two of his show, he cracked jokes about how white people still don't know what "Skeet-skeet" means, how cigarette prices are so outrageous that for $3 more he could buy crack rocks on the street corner, and so on. Funny stuff.

Afterwards, we still were not satisfied. So, Mike got the bright idea to take things to the next level.
Mike: "Nate give me your phone."
Me: "Why, what do you need my phone for?"
Mike: "I've got an idea, just play along. I'm calling up Hammerjacks and we're going to pose as club promoters from New York."
Me: "Mike, you are a f*$%in' genius."
Mike: "Bro, this is fool-proof. We'll just tell them we're in town for the show and that we'd like to scope out the city's hottest spots."

stay tuned...

SUPER BOWL XL... Party like no tomorrow!

2006-02-02T21:54:00.000-08:00

Be jealous 'cause my name is on the list for an exclusive celebrity Super Bowl party. Through my network, I've managed to make it happen. With people like Kid Rock, D12 and Eminem who are expected to be there, should make it interesting. I think this qualifies as research of our great city of Detriot. I'll give a full blog report of the events afterwards and make you wish you were there.

Nate

Blog update

2006-02-02T21:45:00.000-08:00

Although my garbage man idea was a good concept for the next assignment, I have decided to do my article on a Marine recruiter. Yes, I do have ties to the Marine Corps and have an extensive knowledge of the military, but I'm not chosing this to skate through an assignment. I want to get inside his head and find out in what way he believes that he makes an impact on the community, especially with what's going on in today's world. Plus, he'll probably be a seasoned Iraq vet so it should be interesting... guess we'll have to see.

it's story time kids...

2006-02-02T08:20:00.000-08:00

Since I have nothing to blog about, I will treat all my readers out there a little story.

(editor's note: I advise not to immitate any of the following events since there may be legal repercussion... we just got lucky and pulled it off.)

A couple of summers ago, while I was in North Carolina, the Dave Chappelle comedy tour was going to perform on campus at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. This was a huge event that couldn't be missed. When tickets went on sale three weeks before the show, they were gone at a record rate. We knew this and expected it, so we decided to cheat our way in. A buddy of my mine, we'll call him Joe, worked for a local publication. He took the initiative to contact the student who was cooridinating the event and was able to get three press passes from her. Now let me tell you about Stephanie, this girl was a peach. She was your average 20-21 year-old college student. I believe she was part of the student body which could only explain why she was responsible for this task. Although we've never met this girl, every time we had a question about the event, this girl would get back to us within, no later than, five minutes. She also made sure that we had floor seats during the show.

So the pieces were set. We had three top-of-the-line digital cameras to make it legit, and we were ready to go. It would be myself, Joe and another friend who I will call Mike, attending the event. But there was a dilemma, another buddy, James, wanted to go with us at the last minute. We had only three press passes and no way of getting him in. But we said he could come along and we'll figure something out when we get there. The four of us piled into Mike's Ford Explorer and we headed off to Wilmington. We got into town a few hours early, so to kill some time we hung out at the Hooters to eat wings and drink some beer. James brought in one of the cameras to make things more interesting. He managed to get pictures of almost every waitress in cute and sexy poses, and before we left we had to take a group photo with him and all the girls. Guess it wasn't a bad idea to bring him after all.

After Hooters, we headed to the campus. There we found Stephanie infront of the auditorium. She was a lot cuter than any of us had expected. Slender body, wavy brown hair and gorgeous green eyes... naturally, one of us had to find out what she was doing later that night. After she explained everything and handed us our tickets and press passes, Mike got the jump on us and asked her, "So what are your plans after the show?" Stephanie answered, "Well, Me and a few other girls plan on going to Club Hammerjacks afterwards." All of us knew Hammerjacks really well and even though it wasn't our original destination after the show, Mike says, "Oh really, that's exactly where we were going to hang out." Stephanie replies, "Oh, that's cool, maybe we'll see you there." With over confidence, Mike tells her, "Count on it, and a round of shots on me when you find us."

So far, things were going really well. Hooters was awesome, we got our tickets and press passes, we have a few girls to party with afterwards, but there's still the dilemma at hand... James does not have a ticket.

to be continued...

Brain Storming

2006-01-31T13:03:00.000-08:00

Well... from the papers I've read, the fellow classmates seem to have good concepts, but can't deliver with an original thesis. I can understand where Bill is coming from... but then again, I can understand where the students are coming from too. I mean, there are only so many thesis statements you can say about the Joe Louis Arena or the Yost Ice Arena. Both are great places and are worthy of written articles, but for two places where it's the fans that make them so great, it's hard for a writer to not state this as his thesis. I can't even think of any suggestions for these topics, especially something that's going out on a limb.

New York, New York

2006-01-19T09:16:00.000-08:00

Alright, I just want to begin by saying Charyn is a nutcase for writing this. You just don't tell people (who more than likely have never been there) to go out experience the "real" New York. That's like putting a couple of steaks into a blind man's pockets, pushing him into a cage full of lions and then locking him in there. People will die or end up missing if they follow this advice. If you want to see the "real" New York, you better have a New Yorker as a friend, otherwise, stick to the site seeing.

Place/Artifact assignment

2006-01-18T16:28:00.000-08:00

Alright, I've thought long and hard about the topic for the first assignment. I've notice there's quite a few who are going historical. Well, since my neighborhood has been existence for a little over thirty years, I really don't have the luxury. So, I have decided to cover the Clinton-Macomb Public Library. For those of you who don't know anything about it, it is a technologically advanced juggernaut of a building. At 84,000 sq.ft. it is the largest library in Macomb County and the 7th largest in Michigan. It has all the state-of-the-art commodities you could ask for. Although, it's not historical, it does provide a great service to my community. So, it should meet Bill's criteria for 'Analysis of a Place/Artifact.' If anyone has a better idea, let me know.

Homeplace Article

2006-01-16T12:27:00.000-08:00

Hooks' article was a clear and valid piece about the 'social roles' of the past and present black women in America. At first, I thought it was just an article trying to honor the black women of the past who had endured the hardships of slavery, oppression and segregation. But then as I went on further, I realized that the point she was getting to was the sense of the homeplace, the social haven and 'site of resistance,' had been lost. In the article she mentioned how black women constructed a safe environment in their homes so black people could support each other and heal wounds together inflicted from racist domination. During these times, the homeplace was important to the African-American community and key to their survival and resistance. But after the civil rights movement, oppression became less severe, making the homeplace less necessary. In doing so, this also devalued black women and their role in providing sanctuary from the outside.

Hook then spoke of a new dilemma among today's black women where black men have assumed domination over them and the homeplace. Hook also mentioned, "many black women, irrespective of class status, have responded to this crisis of meaning by imitating leisure-class sexist notions of women's role, focusing their lives on meaningless compulsive consumerism." I think what Hook was saying here is that black women are imitating the female identity of what they see on music videos and what they hear in lyrics, and by mindlessly trying to obtain this identity through looks, materialistic means and sensual behavior, which all concepts were conceived by their male counter-parts for the sole purpose of men's gratification. All this adds up to more devaluation to black women, and as long as they continue to conform to this identity, Lil' Jon will continue to put out songs about girls getting low to da floor and bouncin' dat ass. Hook believes the answer for modern black women is to reach back to their roots of the homeplace and renew their political commitment and sense of community. She also went on to say that only then will they be able to further grow, sharing insights and awareness, helping other young women, and sharing feminist thinking and feminist visions. I would have to agree with Hook, everything begins at the most basic unit and in this case it's the homestead. It seems that there is a lost and confused generation out there that takes advice and adopt identities from the TV shows and music that they're exposed to, but what they really need is something substantial like experience, wisdom and knowledge which could be found in a sanctuary like the homeplace.

Niki's Window

2006-01-13T16:56:00.000-08:00

Herron makes out Detroit and its history to be a giant illusion. It's almost as if he believes that its original past had been covered up with smoke and mirrors to create a larger, more appealing and glamorous past. He may be right about the fact that Greektown is a fabricated ethnic district designed to bring in more revenue and people into the downtown area, but it doesn't necessarily mean it goes for the entire city. Basing an essay on a single glass pane from an old garage shop is a poor metaphor and example for the 'ambiguity' of Detroit's past. The Dodge Brothers worked there for a few years and they more than likely worked in a dozen other shops during their time. Maybe, we should ask Herron what happened to those shops, I bet they're probably now parking lots or townhouses... or even worse, a Starbucks (He would have field day with that one.) So, I really don't see how credible the article is. If there were a few other examples of historical sites being covered up with a false sense of nostalgia, then I may consider it. But he talks as if someone had turned the Independence Hall into a Cantonese restaurant and calling it Philadelphia's China Town. But that's not the case here, it was just an old garage that has been renovated over and over for the past 100 years. Detroit is a 'what you see is what you get' kind of city. There's really nothing obscure about it. It is the automotive capital of the world and predominately a blue collared, industrialized city. One big reason why Detroit is the most humiliated city is the fact that it is the automotive capital of the world which puts all eyes on it. There will always be people around the world rooting for either the success or failure of Detroit as long as cars are built here.

See Nate... See Nate Blog

2006-01-13T14:38:00.000-08:00

Okay, I am by no means a blogger, myspacer, or anything of that matter. But since Bill is so adamant on this information age mega-fad (and the fact that it's his assignment to the class), I will entertain the notion.

Alright, I'm guessing the way these things work is that you either drone on about the lame day you had, which no one in their right mind would even care about to begin with, or babble on about mindless gossip in your life or that of a celebrity. "Oh, really? Angelina is having Brad's baby..." Blow me! I don't care! The day Angelina shows up to my doorsteps, then we'll talk. Until then, it makes no difference to me about who's doing what and who's doing who. Oh, and another thing, I will KICK a kitten SO hard that its kidneys will bleed if I hear another girl talk about moving to Orange County because she loves the shows "The OC" and "Laguna Beach." For those of you who are spending your, otherwise, useless time reading this blog, you will not find these things on this webpage. In fact, aside from the homework assignments, I will only write about events and opinions that are worth writing.

My 'hood

2006-01-12T08:11:00.000-08:00

Well, there really isn't a list of interesting things in my neighborhood that I coould give, but there are a few uninteresting things that I can list.

The place is your average suburban neighborhood. The houses on the street vary in the types of models, but none-the-less, they all look the same.

During the day, the place looks barren like out of a cheesy 1980's cold war movie. There are no children playing, no dogs barking, the parked cars look abandoned and there's not a single person in sight.

The only interesting things I saw in my neighborhood were a couple of tattered American flags wavering on top of some of the neighbors' mail boxes. These weathered flags kind of show me that a sense pride has been long forgotten. That these neighbors may have got caught up in the patriotic frenzy after the events of 9/11, and then shortly after eased back into their busy lives, not concerning themselves anymore about the symbolism of that 'dollar store' flag they so proudly display infront of their house. Or who knows? I could be wrong, they may have just put it there to decorate the mailbox.

into the rabbit hole...

2006-01-10T18:09:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my world