Travis Quarless: Uniondale's Rising Star



Andrew Quarless kissing his Super Bowl trophy



          The year 2010 was a memorable year for the Quarless  family. Andrew Quarless , the son of SUNY Old Westbury Chemistry Professor and Uniondale native, was drafted as the 124th player, 5^th round pick into the NFL by the Green Bay Packers from Pennsylvania State University. Playing as the teams tight end and as number 81, in his rookie year Quarless’ team became the 2011 Super Bowl XLVI Champions. However, Andrew isn’t the only one making moves in the Quarless family.
           I had the opportunity to talk to Travis about his future endeavors, religion, school and his love life. Born June 25, 1991, Travis is currently a sophomore and a business major at Fresno City College located in Fresno, California. Born and raised in Uniondale, Long Island NY, Travis is playing as an outside linebacker for the Fresno City College Rams’ football team as number 15, the 20 year-old is looking to having a career in the business world as well as following his older brothers’ footsteps into making it in the NFL. With football camp that started June 13^th, Travis is also taking African American courses for the duration of the summer.



Travis representing the Green Bay Packers



Me: Congratulations on your brother winning the Super Bowl. How did life change after the super bowl?

Quarless: I actually got to go there, so seeing my brother accomplishing something like that and to see where he came from and to see how far he’s been, it changed my life individually as far as being there. It’s hard to describe that feeling. Seeing my brother win a super bowl in his rookie year is crazy.

Me: What’s your favorite NFL team?

Quarless: I would have to say my favorite team is the Packers, but I’m a big Jets fan, off the fact that's where I’m from.

Me: So let’s say two to three years from now you were to get drafted, what dream team you would like to play for?

Quarless: My dream team would have to be the Packers, just the feeling of being able to play with my brother. Truthfully, I’d be thankful if I get drafted in any team I go to, but as far as if I had to pick a team, it would have to be a team with my brother.

Me: What are some professional accomplishments you would like to achieve?

Quarless: I want win International Business Man of the Year. I want to become All-American but that’s not professional, that’s still college. I want to become a pro-bowler. I also take school very serious, so even if I make it into the NFL I plan to have some business ventures. I think business is going to play a role in my life either way.

What’s your favorite song out right now?

Quarless: My Last by Big Sean.

Me: One thing about you people wouldn’t expect?

Quarless: I’m quite. I’m a fun person to be around, but I like to sit back and watch what’s going on.

Me: So this is for all my girlfriends out there, are you single at the moment?

Quarless: Yea, I’m single.

Me: What do you look for in a girl?

Quarless: There are so many different qualities. She has to be down to earth, and has to have a cool personality.  I don’t like it when a girl has too much of an ego. I’m not a big looker on girls. I’m more into the inner beauty of a girl.

Me:  Are you currently looking?

Quarless: I’m focused right now. I’m not saying there’s not room for any girls right now. I’m just at a point in my life where I’m trying to take my life to the next level and I feel like if I focus on school and other things I can get through it.

Me: I heard you go to a friend of mine’s church, what are some of your favorite bible verses out there?

Quarless: My favorite bible verse would have to be Psalm 73 verse 26.

Me: What does it mean to you?

Quarless: ‘God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.’ It just assures me when I fail at something that God is always behind me. I know God is my strength and my reassurance forever.

Me: What’s your favorite gospel song?

Quarless: I’d go with Smokie Norful ‘God is Able”. I’d also go with Marvin Sapp with ‘The Best in Me’.

Me: Does the time change have a toll on you?

Quarless: The time doesn’t have too much of an effect on me. My first time was kind of crazy. My biggest problem is when I’m calling people at nine when it’s like two a.m. in New York, but I handle it pretty well.

Where do you see yourself doing in five years?

Quarless: In five years, I see myself in China doing business out there. I see myself hopefully in the league because that has always been a dream of mine, and if I keep working this hard I think I can make it.

Holy Hip Hop: Canton Jones

With the type of music that has been mainstream in the past couple of years, many people wouldn't think that this particular song is gospel. A lot of people tend to think that gospel music is boring, has to be slow, or the artist is shouting on the record praising the Lord. Well Canton Jones' type of music is breaking barriers. Although he has been on the music scene for quite some time, this record stood out to me because of what it stands for.

Now don't get me wrong, there's a lot of gospel heavy hitters that has been in the game for countless amount of years, such as the one and only Kirk Franklin, Mary Mary, Smokie Norful and my personal favorite Marvin Saap, but Canton Jones uses his youth as a factor in his music by making it more relevant to today's generation. This song 'Window Over Your Head' is from his latest album 'Dominionaire' which was released Febuary 1st of this year.

Press play and hear for yourself.

To find out more about Canton Jones just click the hyperlink.

Jawan vs Justin ??

I think Justin Bieber might have a little competition! For those that want to know the cure for the "Bieber Fever" that every teenage girl has been sick with for the past couple of years, his name is Jawan Harris.

Released  June 6, Harris has a new song out called "Keisha". Inspired by the late James Brown, this song has the same 60's beat as Brown's song "A Man's World". The 14 year-old also happens to mention Brown in his song as well. And to put the cherry on top, YMCMB star Tyga teams up with Harris and drops a couple of nice bars on the track.

For those who don't know who Harris is, he released his first single featuring Chris Brown called "Another Planet". Harris is cute, has swag, he can dance and he can sing, what is there NOT to like about him? There's nothing like seeing and hearing new, upcoming artist get their inspiration from old school music.  Keep it going Harris! To see for yourselves, check out Harris' video below.

For more info on who Jawan Harris is, check out his fackbook at Jawan Harris.

She's Back!

          There is NOTHING like the original, but JoJo has certainly tried her best in remixing Drake's 'Marvin's Room', by adding her own style and flavor. Released only two days ago, JoJo's version of 'Marvin's Room' has received almost 3.5 million views, basically the most viewed Youtube video this week. By remixing one of the hottest songs out now, this is a great way for JoJo to truely be recognized for her talents (What a way to make a comeback.. Go JoJo!! ). Listening to JoJo's version, absolutely shows that she has a lot of potential. When I heard this song, I definitely felt the emotions she was trying to express in the song, basically saying it doesn't get any better than this.

         

This summer, JoJo will be releasing her new album out called 'Jumping Trains' and she also has a new single out called 'The Other Chick'.

Listen here: JoJo- The Other Chick

Listen here for JoJo's Version of Marvin's Room.

Everyone Has a Gift

          So last night, I went to the movie theaters with an old high school friend of mine (S/O to Yanika) ,and at first we were going to watch 'Bridemaids' , but when we were at the counter to buy our tickets, we suddenly changed our minds and decided to watch 'X-Men: The First Class'; and I must say that movie was certainly worth my $11.25.

          In 'X-Men: The First Class' it basically showed the beginning stages of X-Men forming. Charles Xavier, played by James McAvoy, and his friend since the age of ten, Raven, who's played by Jennifer Lawrence, were working together to help find other new mutants as well as fighting against the humans. However, the point of this post isn't for me to give you a synompsis of the movie or rate it, but instead to help you, the reader, realize that even though we may not have mutant genes in our DNA, but that each and everyone of us has a gift.

           Many people are born knowing what their gift is. Others may have to develop their gift and use it to obtain their dreams, whether its being a world renown violinist, or receiving the title of being the 2011 NBA Champions. Nonetheless, everyone has a particular gift. As for me, even though I am pretty good at a lot of things, I have yet to know what my specific gift is.

          In this movie, every single character played a vital part to prove a specific point. Michael Fassbender, who played Erik Lehnsherr also known as 'Magneto', was tortured as kid by Sebastian Shaw just to motivate Erik to use and develop his powers. Sometimes in life, you need somebody that will give you a hard time just to motivate you more. For instance, when I was younger, I used to get teased all the time because I was fat and it certainly took a tole on me. However, I didn't let it stop me. I used the bullying, teasing and name calling as motivation for me to persevere into losing weight, and to this day I still try my best to watch my figure and eat healthy after losing 30 lbs. But in spite of that, some people need that negativity to keep them determined, focus, prove their enemy wrong and most importantly to help make a better "YOU" for YOURself. Which is what Professor X convince Magneto to do. He convinced Magneto to use that energy that was in the hurt and pain that Shaw caused and transfer it into a way to use his super powers in a more tamed manner.

          Another character in the movie that played a vital role was obviously Professor X. As good-looking and handsome he was, Professor X was certainly a brillant man. Using his powers for good, he took the opportunity to reach out to other mutants and teach them how to use their powers. In life, we need someone like Professor X to give us a push, to let us know that we are capable of achieving anything and everything. If there wasn't a character like Professor X in the movie, there would be no 'X-Men' and the same thing applies in real life. If we didn't have people who believed in us, such as, Martin Luther King Jr.,who inspired others with his 'I Have a Dream' speech, there wouldn't be President Barack Obama. Its these people who see the potential in those who don't believe in themselves help recognize their gifts.

           Nevertheless, one person that I personally found intriguing was Raven, also known as 'Mystique'. In the movie, Mystique is known as the blue creature with red hair that has the ablitity to take the form of any creature she wanted to,a shape shifter. However, Mystique often hid from her true self and always transformed into a blond hair, brown eyed girl just to 'fit in'. But what I found intriguing about this character Mystique is that she was one of the most beautiful creatures in the movie, but for some odd reason she didn't see the beauty within herself. Sometimes, we try so hard to fit in that we tend to lose ourselves, and most importantly forget ourself worth. Some people try so hard to fit into what 'society wants' , but why can't we be content with the way we are? With the pressures that even some of the celebrities are having to deal with, such as their weightloss, it proves that they are also dealing with the pressures of society of fitting in.There's this one quote that always stood out to me: Be yourself , because everyone else is taken. It means that while you're trying to be everyone, or someone else, you should be yourself.

           While Magneto could have cried all his life about his mother being dead, he rather develop his power to its fullest potential to avenge Shaw. Now, we all may not have a personal 'Professor X' in our lives,but this is where self motivation comes into play. We have to be our own cheerleader, because if not, you wont know your gift--> no dream --> and then other people and kids with dreams won't have someone to believe in, which therefore continues a cycle of "dead dreams".

           All in all, nothing is impossible in the world, and even though this movie came out of a comic book, it certainly showed a lot of life lessons. Life is what YOU make of it as a person. You can chose to roll with the punches, OR fight back and give your archenemy a hard time. Life is also about using your experiences as well as the people in your life in a positive or negative way. In addition, life is finding that special gift of yours and whether or not you would use it for good or evil. Some may develop their gift overnight, while others may take years. But, nonetheless its all about what you make of it.

-Thank you Professor Milanes

Ditch the Workout, Join the Party!

          As we are halfway through the year, some people haven't lost sight of their New Year's resolutions. While many people are paying hundreds of dollars to take Zumba classes at places like Bally's Total Fitness, Lucille Roberts, and Planet Fitness, my good friend ,Omari Davis, took it upon himself to offer a Zumba class at his church, Grace Cathedral International at a cheaper price.


Omari is in the front with the grey t-shirt



"My best friend and I were teaching African dance classes, and someone said 'I really think you should start teaching Zumba classes because people really need it, [and] its a good workout ,'" said the 19 year-old. "I started last week monday and the last class is July 1st, 2011. "

          Omari holds classes Mondays and Wednesdays from 8 pm to 9:30 pm and the price is five dollars on Mondays and a free class on Wednesday. However, one can not only attend Wednesday classes just to skip out on the Monday's class fees.

Some of the members of the class

          Because the dance classes are held in a christian facility, Omari tries his best to combine fast pace gospel music as well as the instrumentals of secular music just to make sure he doesn't not offend anyone.

         According to Livestrong.com, the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Zumba is an aerobic fitness exercise that consists of other types of dances, such as, mambo, cumbia, merengue, cha-cha as well as belly dancing and hip hop. Zumba was created by Alberto Perez in Columbia and began his Zumba empire in 1999 peddling workouts on DVD's. With Zumba you have the opportunity to combine fitness, dance and most importantly fun. Zumba uses music to make the exercise more fun and exciting. Luckily for me, I had the opportunity to attend my first Zumba class and boy did Omari give us 'students' a workout. Idealy, one can burn 500 calories or more in one hour of Zumba, depending on how much you weigh and how much work you put into your workout. 

The class doing jumping jacks



          I personally believe that if you have a spare five and is willing to break a sweat and burn calories, what do you got to lose? This Zumba class certainly beats jogging in circles around the race track for an hour. Omari also states you dont have to be a member of the church to participate in the Zumba classes.

          Just to give a little insight as to who Omari is, Omari is an upcoming college Junior and plans to attend Mount Saint Clare University. Omari has been freelance dancing for 11 years and has been professionally dancing for 1 year.

Grace Cathedral International is located 886 Jerusalem Avenue, Uniondale, NY 11553. The head pastors of the church are Bishop R.W. and Novella Harris. To contact Omari for more information, email him at OmariTDavis@yahoo.com.

New Song: Drake- Marvin's Room

There's nothing like listening to a song and completely understanding what the artist is trying to say. Drizzy Drake gives the public another "piece to his story" with his UNOFFICIAL single out called "Marvin's Room", which is on Drake's sophomore album called Take Care. Drake's official single is due early July, just in time for the OVO Festival held in Toronto, ON. Take Care is due October 24th, 2011, the same day of the actor/rapper/singer's 25th birthday.

In this song, "Marvin's Room", Drake uses his singing ablities in the chorus and begins to rap half-way through the song, expressing his emotions over the phone to an ex-lover while he's drunk. Which is why this song as been receiving sooo much attention. One time or another some of us has had to experience an 'incident' like this.

For those who wonder where Drake got the title "Marvin's Room" from "Marvin's Room" is a 1996 film based on play of the same name where a once estranged family grows close through their trials and tribulations they have undergone. Directed by Scott McPherson, the main characters are Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCapro, Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton and many others.

Listen here: Drake- Marvin's Room