Currently Listening Viva La Vida By Coldplay The Escapist (hidden track) see related

"Are you Alice?"

I was at the hospital with my mother earlier today as she needed to get a check up done and as I was sitting in the waiting room minding my own business, reading an Entertainment Weekly and listening to my iPod (specifically Andy Skib's debut album "To Have Heroes" - out on CDBaby now, baby!) the funniest yet oddest thing happened to me which is why I am sharing it with you all now.

This older woman, I assume was a nurse kept calling out a lady named Alice. I turned towards her as she stood beside an older man sitting in a chair avidly watching the latest sports news on the TV. I turned back to my magazine as it wasn't any of my business and in the background of Andy's voice, I could hear the nurse's voice getting screechier and louder. Then she shouted, "excuse me! Are you Alice?" I looked around and then stared at the old man who appeared to have mustard stains on his Blue Jays t-shirt, turning back to the nurse and said very softly and awkwardly, "No."

I really wanted to say, "seriously lady - do I look like an Alice?"

That's all I wanted to share. I thought it was really funny, especially when I do the nurse's voice to my sister. She cracks up everytime. You'd think the nurse would have figured out by the second call that I wasn't Alice.

By the way, I got a MySpace page as well...just to get in on the phenomenon. I know - a little too late, right?

Currently Listening Girls and Boys By Ingrid Michaelson The Way I Am see related

George Clooney received the 2007 Peace Summit Award from Nobel Peace prize laureates yesterday in Rome with Don Cheadle for their efforts in Sudan's Darfur region and George's speech was moving. I couldn't help but tear up at his fine words and I thought it was worth sharing and so, here it is:

"First I wanted to say what an honor it is to be here with such a distinguished group… in a county that I hold dear, with my friend Mayor Veltroni as our host.

I have to tell you when Don and I got the call to come here, it was a little bit intimidating… the group of people that we would be standing in front of… this group right here… all individually have been celebrated for making part of the world better. For saving lives. And for succeeding wildly in the face of immeasurable odds.

Don and I on the other hand…stand here before you as failures. The simple truth is that when it comes to the atrocities in Darfur…those people are not better off now then they were years ago.

The murders continue. The rapes continue. And some 2 ½ million refugees are yet to go home.

Don and I are a tiny part of the thousands of people trying to bring an end to this conflict. There have been massive rallies, concerts. We’ve met with heads of state from China, Egypt, France, England, the UAE, The UN Security Council. Everyone wants it to end. Laws have been passed to punish the companies who profit from these atrocities. People have raised millions of dollars - written books - done documentaries - built health care facilities - negotiated treaties. AND yet as a group fighting for peace, all of us have yet to succeed.

Yes, people are now aware. But public attention can never be a substitute for political action!

With the help of China the UN made some progress this summer. The Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir told the UN Secretary General that he quote "unconditionally accepted" a strong, joint UN – AU peacekeeping force. A force of 26,000. He promised to facilitate its deployment. On the basis of this agreement he was invited to Rome to meet with the Pope and the Prime Minister.

But in the last few weeks President Al Bashir rejected ALL of the key elements of the UN resolution. He rejected UN leadership in the force. He placed severe restrictions on the peacekeeping force (that renders them powerless to protect). He rejected "ready to deploy" troops from Thailand, Sweden, Norway, and Nepal. All of this summer’s progress towards peace has stopped.

So Don and I are here today to speak for those voices that can’t be heard over the sound of the violence. We’re here to plead for help.

It all starts with China. We ask the Chinese government to hold President Al Bashir to the agreements he made with them.

To the Arab communities, whether you consider it genocide or simply a civil war, you cannot deny the disproportionate amount of deaths. These deaths are Muslim, and they are looking to you for help.

We ask the United States to appoint a "FULL TIME" high level envoy. Not just a part time professor to engage all parties in aggressive peace talks.

We ask the rest of the world leaders to make this a priority. President Bashir came to this city in September and met the Prime Minister and the Pope. He shook their hand. He should be held to his word.

We ask President Omar Al Bashir to bring an end to the violence. To allow the international community to give aid. To allow journalists in. If you have nothing to hide then let the world look for themselves. We ask you to actively drive a peace process between rebel factions. And to help get these refugees back to their homes to live out their lives in peace.

And finally for the people in this room… We need you. We need your voices. We need your minds, you’ve all done this before.

Someday this will all end. Whether all of us succeed or not. It will end someday. And when they write about this, the question will be asked "Where was the rest of the world?" And the answer will be …It just wasn’t a priority.

I’m the son of a journalist. And I understand that freedom of speech doesn’t give you the right to run into a crowded theater and yell FIRE. Unless of course there is one. There is a fire!

You all here in this room have taught us so much. You’ve taught us that none of this comes easy… Taught us that "Peace, like war, must be waged." And you taught us to walk into a room where someone might give you an award and spend the entire time asking for help.

On behalf of the scores of people waging PEACE in Darfur… I can’t tell you what an honor it is to be here. And thank you."

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!

One of my favourite movies is apparently featured at Google Video; here's for those who haven't seen "It's A Wonderful Life", a Christmas classic starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed! It's been re-released on DVD fully remastered in color so be sure to pick it up!

Currently Listening X&Y By Coldplay see related

I found this animated GIF my cousin Ali made a few years back from one of his friends site and it's really pretty funny. I'm adding it because it's hilarious and Ali would have wanted us to see his GIF production. Who would have thought he and I share a passion for creating GIFs??

I'm not writing the following entry for pity or attention but rather for myself. I've found in the past few years writing helps me deal with issues bothering me most. I allow the loops and arches of the letters to carry a bit of the weight for me as I work it out so in other words, writing heals me.

I'm going to be honest here. I'm not in the best position to be talking to anyone as I don't feel or think there's much to say except that I am saddened and most devastated with last Friday's news. Quite frankly, it's unfathomable and makes me upset just at the thought of it.

On Friday morning, my family got disheartening news from my uncle that my aunt Molly's son died in a house fire 2:30am that night. It was an awful moment because even though I knew I had gotten up from bed, I still felt like I was sleeping - like I wasn't there at all and this was all just a nightmare. None of it made any sense.

I went to sleep after that and got up hours later staring blankly at the wall wondering if anything that I had heard from in the morning was an ounce of reality and as I sat up I heard my mother's stifled cries through the walls and knew this was happening. The unthinkable, the unimaginable was happening and as the incredible randomness of life rolls on, it was all happening to my family.

My family and I weren't able to go and see my aunt Molly and her family because our passports expired which was pretty stupid timing, however my uncle and aunt went. And I never thought in all my years that the broadcast journalism tagline of, "if it bleeds, it leads" would affect and anger me so deeply. A day upon my uncle and aunt's arrival in Rochester I was reading up on news via the web pertaining to the house fire and came upon news reel footage from different networks of my family members weeping and wailing outside of my deceased cousin's off-campus house. Watching that footage was heartbreaking and I cannot explain exactly how it felt but it was depressing and definitely too much for words to carry on their own.

The fire was accidental and originated on the first floor. There are some reports that it started in my cousin's room, in his fireplace but I'm still not sure and care to think of just what went down.

Now the funeral was yesterday and as the days pass for me, normality starts to kick back yet  I've no clue where I am on the grieving process though I'm pretty sure I'm nowhere near the end.

My cousin -  my beautiful cousin who resembled my aunt Molly greatly is gone but will never ever be forgotten. The thing that hurt me most was that I didn't know my cousin, Ali like I know my other cousins very well and it gnaws at my chest. I met my relatives a long time ago and a lot's changed in those years and I'm upset mostly with myself for not speaking up or reaching out because I'm too damn shy at times. My last memory of him will always be a sweet one though because I remember him being playful and funny as he ran down the hall with his younger brother and our other cousin running behind him in my uncle's house.

Ali Turab, 21 was a student at the Rochester Institute of Technology and was a fourth year communications major. From what I've heard and seen on Facebook (didn't know he had an account till after), I wish I had known him much better because from the looks of it, we had stuff in common. Ali was a circulation desk assistant at his RIT library - he'd put books back on the rack while I toss them off in my bag. We'd work well in perfect symmetry, huh? Another thing I learned was that he was extremely good at commanding attention and public speaking and I forgot to mention, when I had last seen him he was in this NASA program of some sort. My cousin was a genius! All his friends and teachers rant about him being so incredibly smart and talented and it makes so proud and honoured to be his cousin. Another thing he would do was quote and refer classic novels in everyday conversations. We would have had some pretty good conversations.

I'm not angry at God. I can't be but I am saddened and devastated. Mostly though, I am proud of Ali. He was a good guy. Funny and intelligent doesn't come easy, you know? I'm proud of the person he was and the person he was going to become and I will never forget that.

That's all I have to say.