Letter to the Mayor of New York City

Karel F. Suarez
Composition #10
Draft #3
December 07, 2009

Letter to the Mayor of New York City

Dear Mayor Bloomberg:

I heard that you are trying to improve the life of families in our community. Two options are on the table, one is free day care for children everyday and the second one is a small amount of money which you could give to parents so that they could stay at home with their children. I believe that giving a small amount of money for one parent to stay at home with their children is the best choice because parents could have a close relationship with their children, they could take care of their children, and also they can help their economy.

Parents could have a close relationship with their children if one of them stays at home. As we know, many parents have to leave their child in a day care center almost all day, and parents don’t have enough time to share with their children because when they go back home they are tired. If one of the parents could stay at home, they could create a closer relationship with the child. Parents and children could spend time together doing different activities. For example they could go to the park and play together, this is important because they are sharing important time with the children and at the same time they are creating a close relationship with them. In addition parents and children could do things together at home like read books, paint, watch movies, which are funny for the children and important in order to have a close relationship with them as well.

If one parent stays at home with their children, the parent is going to be able to take care of their children. First of all, the parent could take care about what their children are eating. When the children go to the day care, they only eat sandwiches and snacks with a lot of sugar. If children could stay at home with one of their parents, and the parent could control the food that the children are eating by cooking healthy food. Secondly, the parent could take care of the children’s physical health. They could go for a walk and do exercises together. Finally, the parent could take care of the children’s education. The parent could teach their children to draw, paint, write, and read. The parent could also teach the children about God, which is something that many schools don’t teach.

If one parent stays at home with their children, this could be beneficial for the economy of the family. First of all, the family could save money in gasoline or fair because they would not have to go to the day care center every day. In addition they would not pay for the day care center, so they would save money too. Finally, the parents could take advantage of the situation and take care of the other children in their house and obtain extra income this way.

For all the points I mentioned above, I believe, that giving a small amount of money for one parent stay at home is your best choice. Also, it is something that people will consider when they are voting in the elections.

Sincerely,

Karel Suarez.

Singles: Movie Summary

Karel F. Suarez
Composition #9
Draft #3
December 09, 2009

Singles: Movie Summary

Singles is a romantic comedy directed by Cameron Crow set in Seattle, Washington. The main actors are Kyra Sedgwick as Linda, Campbell Scott as Steve, Bridget Fonda as Janet, and Matt Dillon as Cliff. Singles is about a series of interconnected stories which shows us various Seattle singles who are temporarily part of a relationship. In this film the actors speak directly to the camera, and that gives the movie a different perspective, it makes the movie informal because you feel like the actor is talking directly to you.

The movie opens with Linda, the female protagonist, talking to the camera about her new status, which is single. She is happy because she has her garage all to herself, and this symbolizes her freedom. After a few days Linda meets Luis, a foreign student from Spain, who helps her with her car. Linda slowly becomes interested in Luis but he has to go back to his country because his visa is running out. The night before Luis travel back to his country he goes to Linda’s house, and as a promise to come back he gives Linda a ring. Linda gives Luis her remote control for the garage door, which is very important for her because it symbolizes her freedom and she is willing to lose it for him. When Linda was working at the environmental office, she talks with Ruth, who is Linda’s friend and confidant, about the idea of marrying Luis in order for him to stay in Seattle. Ruth is surprised and she asks if they would continue going together out to dance. That night Linda and Ruth went out to dance and Linda saw Luis, who supposedly had to be in Spain, with another woman. Linda is devastated, her reaction is to run out of the club and cry.

Steve, the male protagonist, was coming out of a difficult relationship. One night Steve went with his friend Bailey to see a gig, and suddenly Linda caught his eye. Steve went to talk with Linda, but she was reluctant to meet more men due to the bad experiences that she had had, so she scared Steve away. When Steve and bailey were going home, Steve saw Linda and he started a new conversation. Steve and Linda became friends and after a few days they started a romantic relationship. Their relationship was awkward because both were still a little bit afraid of the idea of taking the relationship seriously. They were following the ritual of a single life: Who calls who first? How many days do you wait before you call? One day Linda told Steve that her period was late and that probably she was pregnant. When they took the pregnancy test, the result was positive. Steve was surprised, he didn’t know what to do. Linda was more relaxed than Steve, and she told Steve that she could take care the baby alone, but Steve asked Linda if she wanted to marry him and Linda said yes. But they couldn’t go through with the wedding because they had a car accident and Linda lost the baby. After this happened, Linda traveled because of work for a few weeks and to get her head clear. When Linda came back from her trip, Linda and Steve decided to end their relationship. They continued their lives on their own, but while the time was passing by they missed each other and they didn’t stop thinking about each other. Linda realized that she wanted to be with Steve, so she went to Steve’s house and when they saw each other they hugged and kissed like nothing had ever happened.

Other protagonists of Singles were Cliff and Janet, Steve’s neighbors. Cliff is a singer in Citizen Dick, a grunge rock group. He works in a coffee shop on the side. Janet works in the same coffee shop and she is saving money for school. They have a relationship, but the only one who takes it seriously is Janet. She is head-over-heels in love with Cliff and she is willing do to everything for him. She even thought about getting breast augmentation because Cliff likes women with big breasts. When Janet went to see the doctor for the surgery, the doctor suggested that she did not need the operation because she looked fine the way she was. Janet decided not to have the surgery and hoped that Cliff would accept her the way she was. When she realized that no matter what she did Cliff would not pay attention to her, she decided to leave him. Horever, as soon as she left Cliff, he realized that he wanted to be with her. So he started to do things that he never did before, like give her a serenade and install a good sound system in her car. But Janet was firm in her decision and did not pay attention to him. One day they met in the elevator and Janet sneezed. For the first time, Cliff said “bless you”, those were the words that Janet always wanted to hear, and they got together again.

Singles is a good film, filled with interesting rituals of single life. What I liked most about Singles was that you could identify with many of the characters. You could look at the characters and think, “I know someone like that.” It is very apt at depicting the attitudes of people who have been struggling through successful an unsuccessful relationships.

Perfect Paragraph

Karel f. Suarez
Composition # 5


Perfect Paragraph

I love my English class. First of all, I love my English class because I am learning new vocabulary. When I arrived to New York I could barely speak English because I didn’t know many words. I felt intimidated by the language. After four months in the CLIP program, I learned new words, and now I am able to speak better. Secondly, I am improving grammar skills. Every day in class we work on elaborating paragraph, always maintaining the same momentum of learning and this feeds my ambition to immerse myself in the study of grammar. Finally, I love my English class because when I am there I feel relaxed. The way the professor teaches the class is unpredictable and entertaining and that makes it a relaxing learning experience. For the reasons I mentioned, I love my English class.

Guns -N- Roses: Use your Illusion II

Karel F. Suarez
Composition #8
Draft #3
December 08, 2009

Guns -N- Roses: Use your Illusion II

Guns and Roses is a heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California, who created its name by combining the last names of Axl Rose and Tracii Guns, in 1985. Initially the group was formed by Axl Rose (vocalist), Izzy Stradlin (rhythm guitar), Tracii Guns (lead guitar), Ole Beich (bass), and Rob Gardner (drums). A short time later, Ole, Tracii, and Rob were replaced by Duff Mckagan (bass), Slash (lead guitar), and Steven Adler (drums). Currently the only one who stayed in the group is Axl Rose and all the band members are new. Guns and Roses have six albums, Use Your Illusion II is the fourth album recorded with Geffen Records, which was released in conjunction with the Use Your Illusion Tour in September 1991, and has sold 25 million copies worldwide.

Use Your Illusion II represents a change in the style of music that Guns and Roses played because without abandoning the heavy metal flavor, they incorporated elements of blues, classical music, and country. In addition, Guns and Roses incorporated in this album a cover of Bob Dylan’s song, Knocking on Heaven’s Door, and one track, 14 Years, sung by Izzy Stradlin. This album has fourteen songs (Civil war, 14 years, Yesterdays, Knocking on Heaven’s door, Get in the Ring, Shotgun Blues, Breakdown, Pretty Tied Up, Locomotive, So Fine, Estranged, You Could Be Mine, Don’t Cry, My World) with more political content and less reference drug use than their previous work.

Use Your Illusion II ’s first song is, Civil War, which is a protest song about war. This song has great lyrics, which talk about the dark side of war and the damage it inflicts on society. It also shows us Guns and Roses’ feelings about war, which are shown in the following quote, “My hands are tied for all I've seen has changed my mind, but still the wars go on as the years go by with no love of God or human rights.” They feel helpless because they can’t do anything about the violence. 14 years is the second song on the album. It is about Axl and Izzy’s friendship because they had known each other for 14 years. This song talks about the difficult times in Axl and Izzy’s realtionship. Yesterdays is the third song in the album, this song is about not paying attention to the past. Knocking on Heaven’s door describes the feelings and impressions of a person who is dying.

Use Your Illusion II ’s middle songs are, Get in the Ring which has more bad words than the others songs. This song is about the band wanting to be left alone and how the media writes lies about their lives. Shotgun Blues has a fast paced rock beat. It is about how you eventually pay for everything you do in life. Breakdown was one of the most complicated songs to record because the guitar, drum, and piano parts were hard to synchronize. The song talks about the difficult times in life when a person feels everything is against them. Pretty Tied Up begins with an Indian sound and incorporates the classic rock sounds. This song was inspired by a dominatrix and her client. Locomotive is another song from the album that has an intent to showcase the funk-metal style, the title of this album was obtained from a line in this song. This song talks about the struggles of a relationship and how a man loves a woman but, at the same time, wants to stay away. So Fine was written as a tribute to Johnny Thunders, a punk rock musician. The song talks about the story of a man where everything is wrong in his life, but he was madly in love with a woman who he wanted to give a star to every night.

Use Your Illusion II ’s lasts songs are, Estranged, which is the longest song. It has many verses, and no set chorus. It has distinguished guitar and piano solos. This song talks about losing a loved one and how you are never ready for that time. “I’ll never find anyone to replace you. Guess I'll have to make it [through], this time. Oh this time without you.” You Could Be Mine, is the theme of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. This song talks about a relationship that has gone wrong. I like this song because from the begining you can feel that your adrenaline is going up. Don’t Cry is the thirteenth song in this album. It is the second version of this song, the lyrics are different from the first version and the melody is slightly different too. This song talks about how a person must have hope despite their problems in their life. My World is the fourteenth and final song on the album. It is the shortest song on the album and is a mix of rap and rock. This song was an Axl Rose solo and most of the members did not even know it existed. “You want a step into my world. It's a sociopsychotic state of bliss. You've been delayed in the real world. How many times have you hit and missed? You cat-scan shows disfiguration. I want laugh myself to death with a misfired synapse with a bent configuration. I'll hold the line while you gasp for breath. You want to talk to me so talk to me. You want to talk to me you can't talk to me. You don't understand your sex. You haven’t been mindf…. yet Let's do it.” This song talks about Axl Rose’s world, how he thinks and what he thinks of other people. I don’t like this song because I don’t undertand the lyrics and I can’t find a meaning.

It is difficult to say which songs of this album are the best because personally, I like all of the songs with the exception of the last one, My World. This album would have deserved five stars if it had not included the last song, which changes the style of the album a little bit, and in my opinion does not have lyrics that inspire or make sense. I would recomend this albun to everyone who enjoys good Heavy Metal with great rhythm and lyrics.

Censorship

Karel F. Suarez
Composition #7
Draft #3
December 07, 2009.

Censorship

The First Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees freedom of speech, press, and religion, if it does not cause “immediate lawless behavior.” This freedom is often forgotten and the government tries to step on the rights of ordinary people by the censorship of their work. This was the case of Chris Ofili a painter and Ozzy Osbourne, a singer. Similarly many countries of South America have the same freedom of expression, but in Chile the government violated the rights of “Los Prisioneros” a rock band, and as a result the group split up. Chris Ofili, Ozzy Osbourne, and “Los Prisioneros” were the victims of censorship, but “Los Prisioneros” never recovered.

In 1999, the Brooklyn Museum of Art had an exhibition with a controversial painting. Chris Ofili, a young English painter who had African roots, made a painting called The Holy Virgin Marry, using elephant excrement and obscene pictures cut from adult magazines. Mayor Guiliani and some Catholics were offended by the painting. They believed it was disrespectful for Catholics and The Virgin Marry. Guiliani threatened the Brooklyn Museum of Art that he would take away public funding if they kept the picture in the exhibition. The Brooklyn Museum Art wanted to challenge him by keeping the painting in the show. The censorship wasn’t successful because it was against the First Amendment. Joan Bertin, the head of the National Coalition Against Censorship, supported the Brooklyn Museum Art. She thought that the community had the right to make the decision about what they wanted to see or not. The government is not allowed to take away financial support just because it was offensive for some of them. I don’t agree with censorship in this case because I believe that the BMA had the right to make all kind of exhibitions and the community can choose if they want to go or not.

Another example of censorship is the case that the McCollums brought against Ozzy Osbourne with the purpose of punishing him. In October, 1984 the McCollum’s son, John, killed himself with a handgun. The McCollums blamed Ozzy Osbourne’s song Suicide Solution for his death. They sued Osbourne and CBS Records in a California civil court, alleging that their son was having problems with alcohol and depression, and he was vulnerable “to being influenced by Ozzy Osbourne’s music”, which had violent content and influenced persons to injure themselves. The California civil court dropped the case, citing the First Amendment. Consequently the McCollums took their case to the California Court of Appeals, but the result was the same. The court said that people should understand that music is a kind of expression and not like a command to do something, even though the music may say that killing yourself is an option. Singers are protected by their constitutional right of freedom of expression. I don’t agree with the kind of music that Osbourne writes; that’s why I don’t listen him, but I don’t think that his music should be censored. Everybody has the right to choose what they want to listen to and Ozzy has the rights to sing what ever he wants.

Finally, another example of censorship is from the Chilean rock band “Los Prisioneros,” formed in San Miguel, Santiago, Chile in 1982. During that time Chile was under a military regime impose by Augusto Pinochet, who ruled from 1973 to 1990. “Los Prisioneros” began as a local band with protest songs, and in 1985 they signed with EMI group (Electric & Musical Industries Ltd.) In 1987 the Chilean group recorded their third album “La Cultura de la Basura” (Trash Culture), which reached mainstream popularity in South America, Central America, the US, Canada, and Europe. “La Cultura de la Basura” was strongly opposed by the military regime in Chile because of the social content of the songs. “Los Prisioneros” were banned on television and radio. Their gigs in all the cities of Chile were canceled by the military and this resulted in major economic losses for the group. They toured around South America, promoting their message against the military regime of Pinochet and this caused them to be expelled from Chile. In 1991 when Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship ended, Chile became a democratic country and “Los Prisioneros” returned to Chile for the first democratic Viña del Mar festival. They had the support of all the public, but the band did not feel the same and they decided to split up. I believe that “Los Prisioneros” was one of the best rock bands in the history of Chile, but the censorship that the Pinochet military regime imposed on them caused them to end their artistic career. This was tragic because they had so much potential in the music world.

Despite the freedom of the expression that US and many countries in South America have, you can still see that it is common for a government to try to censor the things that they do not see as proper. This was the case of Chris Ofili, Ozzy Osbourne, and “Los Prisioneros”.

Letter to the Mayor of New York City

Karel F. Suarez
Composition #6
Draft #3
December 07, 2009.

Letter to the Mayor of New York City

Dear Mayor Bloomberg:

I heard that you have received money and you have to think about the best way to use it. Two ideas are on the table, one is to improve the schools or the other is to improve a neighborhood. I believe that improving the schools is the best option because it will increase jobs, improve classrooms, and create new art programs.

By improving schools you can provide an opportunity for construction workers to find a job. In order to remodel schools it is important to hire painters, carpenters, and electricians. Currently the unemployment rate is very high. Hiring people to remodel the schools is going to lower unemployment which is also beneficial for the City. Secondly, it is also important to hire nurses because they can help if an accident happens. Sometimes students injure themselves while playing and sometimes they feel sick. Hiring nurses in schools not only will give students the attention they need, but will also the number of unemployment nurses are going to decrease. Finally, hiring a counselor would be helpful for the students. If the students have personal problems and they need to talk with someone, they can find help with the counselor. By hiring different workers you could improve the economy and also the schools.

In order to improve the classrooms three things are important. First of all, you could buy new computers and printers for the Computer Lab because ninety percent of the computers have the letters on the keys erased, the monitors have broken on and off buttons, and the laboratory does not have a printer. Secondly, classrooms don’t have a television and DVD player, which are important because teachers could use it in order to make the class more interesting and less monotonous. Finally, new desks are necessary too because many of the desks are missing the writing platform and students have to go to look for other desks in other classrooms. Students waste time and bother other teachers when they do this. Improving a classroom is important because students stay in the classroom seven hours per day and it is important that they have all the tools that they need to learn better.

In order to improve schools it is important to think about art classes such as music, dance, and painting. First of all, you could buy new musical instruments for the music class. Currently schools have a music program but they don’t have enough instruments and the students feel limited because they have to wait until somebody finishes to use the instrument. Sometimes the class ends and many students did not have the opportunity to play. By buying new instruments you would encourage students to develop their music abilities and give them the opportunity to train their talent. Secondly, hiring an art teacher is important because many schools don’t have an art program. Students who are interested in painting are going to have the opportunity to join this class and improve their talent and maybe in the future they could go to higher education and be successful in this area. Finally, schools need supplies for the dancing class. Floor mats and stretching poles are necessary for warm-up exercises so that the students will not injure themselves. Mirrors are also important because students have to see what they are doing and where they need to improve. Art classes are important to help the students develop their abilities in these fields.

Improving schools is the best option because you are going to be able to create new art programs, improve classrooms with new technology and desks, and help the unemployment rate by hiring different workers. This decision is also going to be important because people will remember this when the time to vote arrives.

Sincerely,

Karel F. Suarez.