When I think of Afghanistan, I don’t think of sand, oil, Sunnis or Shiites – not immediately at least. The first image that pops into my brain is the cover of the New Yorker’s December 10th, 2001 issue. It depicted a map of “New Yorkistan” broken up into smaller countries with “Middle Eastern” names like “Taxistan,” “Irate,” “Irant,” and – my personal favorite – “Youdontunderstandistan.” At 10, I understood enough about the world to know that this was supposed to be funny. At 18, it’s still funny, but it also says something about my knowledge of this part of the world – I really don’t have a damn clue about the Middle East.
Someone pushed us, and as is protocol on the playground, we pushed back.
But our push didn’t just cause our opposition to stumble: it caused the global playground to look at us in a different way. Our push, somehow, was not clearly justified. Our push, from everyone else’s standpoint, didn’t have recognizable intent. We claimed we pushed back in the name of democracy, a push against terrorism. Others claimed we just pushed back because we wanted what they had - oil.
Glee, Fox’s newest television series is aimed at a pretty wide audience, but does it miss the mark? This one-hour comedy-drama is this generation’s first musical to make its way to primetime network television, probably following suit of the success of the Emmy Award winning Disney TV movie, High School Musical, as well as Fox’s own American Idol.
Set in Lima, Ohio, Glee tells the story of the students and teachers at William McKinley High School involved in the school’s glee club, whose failing reputation becomes teacher, Will Schuester’s (Matthew Morrison) task to reinvent. Other main characters include cheerleading coach, Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) with whom Schuester has a rivalry; Rachel (Lea Michele), the talented but geeky star of glee club who has a crush on Finn (Cory Monteith), the star quarterback and glee club member; Quinn (Dianna Agron) is a pregnant head cheerleader, Finn’s girlfriend and an eventual member of glee club. The rest of the characters also follow similarly stereotypical high school roles: the sassy black diva, the flamboyant homosexual, the cocky football player, snotty cheerleaders, an unattractive dork who updates a gossip blog, and a paraplegic – cover’s all the bases, right?
Last spring, I wondered—should I duct-tape my windows closed? Stock up on drinking water and Powerbars? I held my breath, waiting for this new disease to be the next Black Plague.
The swine flu terror took a bit of a back burner come summer, but never disappeared. The World Health Organization declared the disease a pandemic in June because of its spread.
Over coffee with a close friend, I learned of her summer adventure with swine flu. On a trip to Asia, she was evacuated from the plane upon landing and quarantined in a hospital. She spent that week in a drug-induced lethargy, alternating from crying to sleeping. I asked about paying, and she explained that the hospital would not accept her insurance—the government paid for everything, including the cab fare to the airport. After changing a flight in a foreign language and overpaying a cab driver in currency she didn’t know, she was laughing about the ordeal when we talked, home safe and healthy.
But it left me thinking—how bad is this?
Obviously this kid hasn’t seen the statistics. So far, 79% of confirmed U.S. swine flu cases have been among those under the age of 30, while a mere 2% were among those older than 65. It might be hard to believe that your grandma has less to worry about than you when it comes to getting sick but, in this case, it’s true. Because of this, young people are being put at the top of the list for the H1N1 vaccine. Priority is being given to pregnant women, children, adolescents, and young adults up to age 24 and those who take care of them (caretakers, nurses, etc).In April this year, Swine flu had made its mark. It was the illness everyone was talking about. By May, I felt that I’d heard mindless jabber enough about Swine flu.
The nation’s fear seemed legitimate when people were apparently dropping like flies in Mexico from the mysterious pandemic. Listening to NPR’s report on Swine flu in Central America, thoughts of Avian flu, West Nile virus and SARS came to mind and I shuddered to think what kind of symptoms swine flu held in store for us. Would this be the end of Mexico and the United States? Was I going to be taken out by the flu? This seemed serious. Europeans were urged to postpone all travels to the US and Mexico. In Egypt, an order was made to have all pigs slaughtered. I made a mental note to cut down on pork. I worried for the duration of the program until they listed the symptoms: headache, fever, sore throat, chills, fatigue... These sounded suspiciously like the symptoms of the regular flu. How were the two different, again?
Someone had sex with a pig.
Or something like that - I don’t really know. However it started, the swine flu is spreading across the nation, infecting people’s bodies and minds. Literally an entire generation will look back on this era as the era of the H1N1 scare, much like the generation during the Cold War remembers the threat of a nuclear bomb. Too extreme a comparison? I beg to differ.
With their previous releases, Horn of Plenty (2004) and Yellow House (2006), the Brooklyn-based indie rockers of Grizzly Bear cemented their status as a solid group of musicians with a flair for well-crafted hooks and harmonious melodies. With their latest release, Veckatimest (2009), the foursome has pushed that talent to new heights, and the result is shear genius.
Don’t be fooled. The band Monsters of Folk, with their new self titled album, breaks the mold of traditional “folk” music. In fact, the boys combine folk, blues, easygoing rock, country and even pop to create a new unique sound. Each member brings experience and talent to the table, and the result is an experimental adventure that really pays off.
You may know Paramore as the female-fronted band that had a meteoric rise after the release of their sophomore album Riot! in 2007. The album’s catchy hooks and infectious energy has caught many people’s attention over the past two years. But it was this attention that almost tore the group apart in early 2008. 
