I'm leaving tomorrow evening for Reno. I'll only be there 24 hours, just long enough to hit a jackpot on a slot machine, win a suspiciously large amount at the blackjack tables (i can't count cards in my head but I do have a palm pilot), or play out an even bigger gamble: getting voters to the polls.
It's not so much a gamble, really. The donkeys always benefit from high voter turnout. Just that one little fact makes me so frustrated. Why is it such a struggle, election after election, to get that demographic to the polls whose lives are most vulnerable to the vicissitudes of office-holding, and whose votes have the power to swing worse to bad and back again? This is a sleeping dragon that never wakes, and only occasionally switches its tail at a particularly irritating fly. Let's hope Bush is sufficiently irritating.
Back to the happy: the brilliant young 'uns today who have been roused by our near-fascist regime to organize in new and brilliant ways have shown those of us with small political imaginations that we don't have to sit around in our solidly blue states, in our lefty towns, twiddling our thumbs and dreaming of a Californian secession. We can actually (legally!) cross state lines and talk to those people in swing states we're so disconnnected from and (in my case) so afraid of. There's a swing state within a five hour drive or a three hour flight of almost anywhere in the continental United States. So think about calling in sick on Tuesday, and spending the day fighting the good fight. Maybe you'll feel less helpless. I know I do, and I'm not even there yet.
This week I'm volunteering with a group called Driving Votes, who still need lotsa cars and drivers to go to swing states on Monday and Tuesday to drive people to the polls. The org is focusing on Portland, Oregon; Reno; Las Vegas; Albuquerque; Kansas City; Madison; Cleveland; Youngstown, Ohio; Martinsburg, West Virginia; Philadelphia; Manchester, New Hampshire; and Orlando. Check 'em out tonight, they're still taking volunteers!
If you wanna get with the program APA-stylee, check out the coalition of APAs for Kerry who are also organizing volunteer groups to go to swing states. Their target states are Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida. You don't have to be for Kerry to work with a partisan group, since all these groups are doing is GETTING OUT THE VOTE. Plus, you'll be with your homepersons.
If you need extra incentive to get your booty swingin' (or swing statin'), just think on this: in an election as close as this one could be, the tiny voting percentage of new, immigrant voters, who don't vote predictably or in a bloc, could make all the difference. No matter what your party affiliation, getting those new voters to the polls, and getting them in the habit both of voting and of giving their loyalty (or not) to a particular party, can mean planting the grass root for an ethnic or demographic voting bloc that can be swung next time, or the time after that.
And if that's not enough, new voters, especially immigrants, are particularly vulnerable to intimidation from volunteers the elephants are organizing to go to the polls and challenge new voters. Your presence at the polls could be the difference between a new citizen voting, and a new citizen being scared away from the polls, possibly forever. What can you do about it? E-Z, Sneezy. If you're a lawyer or a law student especially, but even if you're not, volunteer on election day to go to vulnerable polling places and monitor the polls. You'll be a resource to vulnerable voters and you'll get the warm fuzzies as well. By the way, the other danger, i.e. Florida 2000-style shenanigans, has already reared its Texan head. I didn't know the extent of the shenanigans until recently, but there's plenty of independent online press about it now, so have a look.
In closing: while I love all the little DIY efforts to mock Bush and support voters, what is up with filmmaker Timothy Bui and his cohorts' website selling t-shirts against Bush? The logo reads "No Bush! We like it shaved" and features the silhouette of a naked woman pumping her fist in the air. The website includes a photo page dedicated mostly to women striking sexy poses in the too-tight t-shirts, showing off their breasts, licking lollipops and, in one instance, stroking the crotch of one of the tough hipster-looking guys. "The red star represents a movement that is spreading in all directions and the female pumping her fist into the sky symbolizes power to the people. The slogan, well... that speaks for itself," reads the site's only comment on the proceedings. The female what pumping her fist into the air? My people call female humans "women." If this site is intended to get that all-important Hooters demographic to the polls, well ... more power to ya, I guess. I just tend to get a little scrunchy when bad writers locate the problem of neo-conservatism in my pubic hair. But that's just me.
Posted by claire at 2:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
I'm leaving tomorrow evening for Reno. I'll only be there 24 hours, just long enough to hit a jackpot on a slot machine, win a suspiciously large amount at the blackjack tables (i can't count cards in my head but I do have a palm pilot), or play out an even bigger gamble: getting voters to the polls.
It's not so much a gamble, really. The donkeys always benefit from high voter turnout. Just that one little fact makes me so frustrated. Why is it such a struggle, election after election, to get that demographic to the polls whose lives are most vulnerable to the vicissitudes of office-holding, and whose votes have the power to swing worse to bad and back again? This is a sleeping dragon that never wakes, and only occasionally switches its tail at a particularly irritating fly. Let's hope Bush is sufficiently irritating.
Back to the happy: the brilliant young 'uns today who have been roused by our near-fascist regime to organize in new and brilliant ways have shown those of us with small political imaginations that we don't have to sit around in our solidly blue states, in our lefty towns, twiddling our thumbs and dreaming of a Californian secession. We can actually (legally!) cross state lines and talk to those people in swing states we're so disconnnected from and (in my case) so afraid of. There's a swing state within a five hour drive or a three hour flight of almost anywhere in the continental United States. So think about calling in sick on Tuesday, and spending the day fighting the good fight. Maybe you'll feel less helpless. I know I do, and I'm not even there yet.
This week I'm volunteering with a group called Driving Votes, who still need lotsa cars and drivers to go to swing states on Monday and Tuesday to drive people to the polls. The org is focusing on Portland, Oregon; Reno; Las Vegas; Albuquerque; Kansas City; Madison; Cleveland; Youngstown, Ohio; Martinsburg, West Virginia; Philadelphia; Manchester, New Hampshire; and Orlando. Check 'em out tonight, they're still taking volunteers!
If you wanna get with the program APA-stylee, check out the coalition of APAs for Kerry who are also organizing volunteer groups to go to swing states. Their target states are Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida. You don't have to be for Kerry to work with a partisan group, since all these groups are doing is GETTING OUT THE VOTE. Plus, you'll be with your homepersons.
If you need extra incentive to get your booty swingin' (or swing statin'), just think on this: in an election as close as this one could be, the tiny voting percentage of new, immigrant voters, who don't vote predictably or in a bloc, could make all the difference. No matter what your party affiliation, getting those new voters to the polls, and getting them in the habit both of voting and of giving their loyalty (or not) to a particular party, can mean planting the grass root for an ethnic or demographic voting bloc that can be swung next time, or the time after that.
And if that's not enough, new voters, especially immigrants, are particularly vulnerable to intimidation from volunteers the elephants are organizing to go to the polls and challenge new voters. Your presence at the polls could be the difference between a new citizen voting, and a new citizen being scared away from the polls, possibly forever. What can you do about it? E-Z, Sneezy. If you're a lawyer or a law student especially, but even if you're not, volunteer on election day to go to vulnerable polling places and monitor the polls. You'll be a resource to vulnerable voters and you'll get the warm fuzzies as well. By the way, the other danger, i.e. Florida 2000-style shenanigans, has already reared its Texan head. I didn't know the extent of the shenanigans until recently, but there's plenty of independent online press about it now, so have a look.
In closing: while I love all the little DIY efforts to mock Bush and support voters, what is up with filmmaker Timothy Bui and his cohorts' website selling t-shirts against Bush? The logo reads "No Bush! We like it shaved" and features the silhouette of a naked woman pumping her fist in the air. The website includes a photo page dedicated mostly to women striking sexy poses in the too-tight t-shirts, showing off their breasts, licking lollipops and, in one instance, stroking the crotch of one of the tough hipster-looking guys. "The red star represents a movement that is spreading in all directions and the female pumping her fist into the sky symbolizes power to the people. The slogan, well... that speaks for itself," reads the site's only comment on the proceedings. The female what pumping her fist into the air? My people call female humans "women." If this site is intended to get that all-important Hooters demographic to the polls, well ... more power to ya, I guess. I just tend to get a little scrunchy when bad writers locate the problem of neo-conservatism in my pubic hair. But that's just me.
Posted by claire at 2:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
I'm leaving tomorrow evening for Reno. I'll only be there 24 hours, just long enough to hit a jackpot on a slot machine, win a suspiciously large amount at the blackjack tables (i can't count cards in my head but I do have a palm pilot), or play out an even bigger gamble: getting voters to the polls.
It's not so much a gamble, really. The donkeys always benefit from high voter turnout. Just that one little fact makes me so frustrated. Why is it such a struggle, election after election, to get that demographic to the polls whose lives are most vulnerable to the vicissitudes of office-holding, and whose votes have the power to swing worse to bad and back again? This is a sleeping dragon that never wakes, and only occasionally switches its tail at a particularly irritating fly. Let's hope Bush is sufficiently irritating.
Back to the happy: the brilliant young 'uns today who have been roused by our near-fascist regime to organize in new and brilliant ways have shown those of us with small political imaginations that we don't have to sit around in our solidly blue states, in our lefty towns, twiddling our thumbs and dreaming of a Californian secession. We can actually (legally!) cross state lines and talk to those people in swing states we're so disconnnected from and (in my case) so afraid of. There's a swing state within a five hour drive or a three hour flight of almost anywhere in the continental United States. So think about calling in sick on Tuesday, and spending the day fighting the good fight. Maybe you'll feel less helpless. I know I do, and I'm not even there yet.
This week I'm volunteering with a group called Driving Votes, who still need lotsa cars and drivers to go to swing states on Monday and Tuesday to drive people to the polls. The org is focusing on Portland, Oregon; Reno; Las Vegas; Albuquerque; Kansas City; Madison; Cleveland; Youngstown, Ohio; Martinsburg, West Virginia; Philadelphia; Manchester, New Hampshire; and Orlando. Check 'em out tonight, they're still taking volunteers!
If you wanna get with the program APA-stylee, check out the coalition of APAs for Kerry who are also organizing volunteer groups to go to swing states. Their target states are Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida. You don't have to be for Kerry to work with a partisan group, since all these groups are doing is GETTING OUT THE VOTE. Plus, you'll be with your homepersons.
If you need extra incentive to get your booty swingin' (or swing statin'), just think on this: in an election as close as this one could be, the tiny voting percentage of new, immigrant voters, who don't vote predictably or in a bloc, could make all the difference. No matter what your party affiliation, getting those new voters to the polls, and getting them in the habit both of voting and of giving their loyalty (or not) to a particular party, can mean planting the grass root for an ethnic or demographic voting bloc that can be swung next time, or the time after that.
And if that's not enough, new voters, especially immigrants, are particularly vulnerable to intimidation from volunteers the elephants are organizing to go to the polls and challenge new voters. Your presence at the polls could be the difference between a new citizen voting, and a new citizen being scared away from the polls, possibly forever. What can you do about it? E-Z, Sneezy. If you're a lawyer or a law student especially, but even if you're not, volunteer on election day to go to vulnerable polling places and monitor the polls. You'll be a resource to vulnerable voters and you'll get the warm fuzzies as well. By the way, the other danger, i.e. Florida 2000-style shenanigans, has already reared its Texan head. I didn't know the extent of the shenanigans until recently, but there's plenty of independent online press about it now, so have a look.
In closing: while I love all the little DIY efforts to mock Bush and support voters, what is up with filmmaker Timothy Bui and his cohorts' website selling t-shirts against Bush? The logo reads "No Bush! We like it shaved" and features the silhouette of a naked woman pumping her fist in the air. The website includes a photo page dedicated mostly to women striking sexy poses in the too-tight t-shirts, showing off their breasts, licking lollipops and, in one instance, stroking the crotch of one of the tough hipster-looking guys. "The red star represents a movement that is spreading in all directions and the female pumping her fist into the sky symbolizes power to the people. The slogan, well... that speaks for itself," reads the site's only comment on the proceedings. The female what pumping her fist into the air? My people call female humans "women." If this site is intended to get that all-important Hooters demographic to the polls, well ... more power to ya, I guess. I just tend to get a little scrunchy when bad writers locate the problem of neo-conservatism in my pubic hair. But that's just me.
Posted by claire at 2:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
In which a librarian does not get it.
Posted by Melissa at 7:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
In which a librarian does not get it.
Posted by Melissa at 7:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
In which a librarian does not get it.
Posted by Melissa at 7:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Last week I was in San Diego for SDAFF's fifth annual film festival. Being a San Franciscan (or more accurately, a "Bay Area-n"), I didn't pack for the sunshine and suffered in my sweater and Triple 5 Soul hoody. (How can I be Filipina when I hate the beach and the sunshine?)
Although my cousins and I missed the sold out screenings of Arahan, A Tale of Two Sisters and Steamboy, I wouldn't say that my Film Festival Mission was a bust. All the free copies I had of Hyphen were gone one hour after setting up my table on the second day of the festival, and my cousins sold subscriptions to their friends!
Highlights from SDAFF:
- Ran into a friend (and ex co-worker from NAATA/SFIAAF): Angry Asian Man.
- Met AJ Calomay of Xylophone Films. My best friend is friends with him, so I've heard his name a lot and heard nothing but good things about him.
- Finally saw the music video for "The APL Song"by the Black Eyed Peas (directed by Patricio Ginelsa).
On another note, I had a strange realization that to some people "activist" may be a "dirty word." Despite all my years of having done work in the Asian American community, sometimes I'm ashamed to label myself as an "activist" because of my sloppy politics and hesitancy to "preach."
I recently learned the term "stealth activist," and I think this description fits me to a tee. I don't wear my "politics" on my sleeve: I don't stand in picket lines, I don't generally sign petitions, I don't like to preach. I just do -- I serve (and have served) "my community" in other ways.
My cousins don't necessarily understand the politics behind what I do. I never really thought that choosing to be "Asian American" was a political choice; I have always thought of it as being cultural and personal. This weekend I finally realized what that saying "the personal is political" really means.
One of my cousins kept referring to all the non-Filipino Asians at the film festival as "gooks." That bothered me, but I didn't bother to correct her. In a previous conversation she revealed to me that she didn't consider herself (or other Filipinos, for that matter) to be "Asian American." She was like, "I've never hung out with Asian Americans before," and I thought this was a funny thing to say because all of her friends are (mostly) Filipino (and I consider myself, and other Filipinos, to be "Asian American").
"Asian America" is all I've known the past six years, so I thought it was an interesting contrast that my cousin and I had such different perceptions of identity. We're polar opposites. (I feign to say that she's the "Before" and I'm the "After" of an Asian American Studies Makeover.) However I didn't feel like schooling my cousin on Asian American Studies 101; I didn't want to "go activist" on her. This catch-all term/thing called Asian America is something that I'm both passionate about and tired of, and so I am sometimes apathetic about spouting off "rhetoric." (Maybe some of you can relate?)
I will admit that I don't know if I really will bother to get "preachy" on my cousin and "enlighten" her to my Asian American world. In the future I'll definitely ask my cousin to not call non-Filipino Asians "gooks." But as far as Asian America goes? I'm content to know that she's proud of being Filipina, without having to wear a bamboo backpack, sleep on a banig, or hit me over the head with a Carlos Bulosan book.
Posted by Audrey at 12:52 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Last week I was in San Diego for SDAFF's fifth annual film festival. Being a San Franciscan (or more accurately, a "Bay Area-n"), I didn't pack for the sunshine and suffered in my sweater and Triple 5 Soul hoody. (How can I be Filipina when I hate the beach and the sunshine?)
Although my cousins and I missed the sold out screenings of Arahan, A Tale of Two Sisters and Steamboy, I wouldn't say that my Film Festival Mission was a bust. All the free copies I had of Hyphen were gone one hour after setting up my table on the second day of the festival, and my cousins sold subscriptions to their friends!
Highlights from SDAFF:
- Ran into a friend (and ex co-worker from NAATA/SFIAAF): Angry Asian Man.
- Met AJ Calomay of Xylophone Films. My best friend is friends with him, so I've heard his name a lot and heard nothing but good things about him.
- Finally saw the music video for "The APL Song"by the Black Eyed Peas (directed by Patricio Ginelsa).
On another note, I had a strange realization that to some people "activist" may be a "dirty word." Despite all my years of having done work in the Asian American community, sometimes I'm ashamed to label myself as an "activist" because of my sloppy politics and hesitancy to "preach."
I recently learned the term "stealth activist," and I think this description fits me to a tee. I don't wear my "politics" on my sleeve: I don't stand in picket lines, I don't generally sign petitions, I don't like to preach. I just do -- I serve (and have served) "my community" in other ways.
My cousins don't necessarily understand the politics behind what I do. I never really thought that choosing to be "Asian American" was a political choice; I have always thought of it as being cultural and personal. This weekend I finally realized what that saying "the personal is political" really means.
One of my cousins kept referring to all the non-Filipino Asians at the film festival as "gooks." That bothered me, but I didn't bother to correct her. In a previous conversation she revealed to me that she didn't consider herself (or other Filipinos, for that matter) to be "Asian American." She was like, "I've never hung out with Asian Americans before," and I thought this was a funny thing to say because all of her friends are (mostly) Filipino (and I consider myself, and other Filipinos, to be "Asian American").
"Asian America" is all I've known the past six years, so I thought it was an interesting contrast that my cousin and I had such different perceptions of identity. We're polar opposites. (I feign to say that she's the "Before" and I'm the "After" of an Asian American Studies Makeover.) However I didn't feel like schooling my cousin on Asian American Studies 101; I didn't want to "go activist" on her. This catch-all term/thing called Asian America is something that I'm both passionate about and tired of, and so I am sometimes apathetic about spouting off "rhetoric." (Maybe some of you can relate?)
I will admit that I don't know if I really will bother to get "preachy" on my cousin and "enlighten" her to my Asian American world. In the future I'll definitely ask my cousin to not call non-Filipino Asians "gooks." But as far as Asian America goes? I'm content to know that she's proud of being Filipina, without having to wear a bamboo backpack, sleep on a banig, or hit me over the head with a Carlos Bulosan book.
Posted by Audrey at 12:52 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Last week I was in San Diego for SDAFF's fifth annual film festival. Being a San Franciscan (or more accurately, a "Bay Area-n"), I didn't pack for the sunshine and suffered in my sweater and Triple 5 Soul hoody. (How can I be Filipina when I hate the beach and the sunshine?)
Although my cousins and I missed the sold out screenings of Arahan, A Tale of Two Sisters and Steamboy, I wouldn't say that my Film Festival Mission was a bust. All the free copies I had of Hyphen were gone one hour after setting up my table on the second day of the festival, and my cousins sold subscriptions to their friends!
Highlights from SDAFF:
- Ran into a friend (and ex co-worker from NAATA/SFIAAF): Angry Asian Man.
- Met AJ Calomay of Xylophone Films. My best friend is friends with him, so I've heard his name a lot and heard nothing but good things about him.
- Finally saw the music video for "The APL Song"by the Black Eyed Peas (directed by Patricio Ginelsa).
On another note, I had a strange realization that to some people "activist" may be a "dirty word." Despite all my years of having done work in the Asian American community, sometimes I'm ashamed to label myself as an "activist" because of my sloppy politics and hesitancy to "preach."
I recently learned the term "stealth activist," and I think this description fits me to a tee. I don't wear my "politics" on my sleeve: I don't stand in picket lines, I don't generally sign petitions, I don't like to preach. I just do -- I serve (and have served) "my community" in other ways.
My cousins don't necessarily understand the politics behind what I do. I never really thought that choosing to be "Asian American" was a political choice; I have always thought of it as being cultural and personal. This weekend I finally realized what that saying "the personal is political" really means.
One of my cousins kept referring to all the non-Filipino Asians at the film festival as "gooks." That bothered me, but I didn't bother to correct her. In a previous conversation she revealed to me that she didn't consider herself (or other Filipinos, for that matter) to be "Asian American." She was like, "I've never hung out with Asian Americans before," and I thought this was a funny thing to say because all of her friends are (mostly) Filipino (and I consider myself, and other Filipinos, to be "Asian American").
"Asian America" is all I've known the past six years, so I thought it was an interesting contrast that my cousin and I had such different perceptions of identity. We're polar opposites. (I feign to say that she's the "Before" and I'm the "After" of an Asian American Studies Makeover.) However I didn't feel like schooling my cousin on Asian American Studies 101; I didn't want to "go activist" on her. This catch-all term/thing called Asian America is something that I'm both passionate about and tired of, and so I am sometimes apathetic about spouting off "rhetoric." (Maybe some of you can relate?)
I will admit that I don't know if I really will bother to get "preachy" on my cousin and "enlighten" her to my Asian American world. In the future I'll definitely ask my cousin to not call non-Filipino Asians "gooks." But as far as Asian America goes? I'm content to know that she's proud of being Filipina, without having to wear a bamboo backpack, sleep on a banig, or hit me over the head with a Carlos Bulosan book.
Posted by Audrey at 12:52 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Not to make this blog too San Francisco-centric (San Francentric?), but I’ve been walking past the hotel workers picketing at the Holiday Inn two blocks from my house in SoMa each night for the past month, feeling pissed that they were still there, night after night, locked out of their jobs. But as Jennifer mentioned yesterday, SF mayor Gavin Newsom threatened to—and actually did—join the picket line today! Maybe mayoral pressure will mean that one day soon I’ll walk past the hotel and not see the strikers, because they will have been able to return to their jobs.
Hearing that neighborhood news was a lot sweeter than reading about the Asian sex slavery that occurred just another few blocks away. A recent raid on a downtown massage parlor found 17 young Asian women hidden in the basement who had been trafficked into the country for forced sex slavery. This topic hit pretty close to home in more ways than one, because I’ve been researching it all week for a documentary that the company I work at is funding, and the statistics are horrifying: of the more than one million women and girls who are sold, transported and forced into sexual slavery each year, 50,000 are in the United States. It makes me wonder about the “Oriental massage parlor” with the blackened windows up the street from my house that I walk past at least twice a day.
Posted by Lisa at 4:10 PM | Comments (0)
Not to make this blog too San Francisco-centric (San Francentric?), but I’ve been walking past the hotel workers picketing at the Holiday Inn two blocks from my house in SoMa each night for the past month, feeling pissed that they were still there, night after night, locked out of their jobs. But as Jennifer mentioned yesterday, SF mayor Gavin Newsom threatened to—and actually did—join the picket line today! Maybe mayoral pressure will mean that one day soon I’ll walk past the hotel and not see the strikers, because they will have been able to return to their jobs.
Hearing that neighborhood news was a lot sweeter than reading about the Asian sex slavery that occurred just another few blocks away. A recent raid on a downtown massage parlor found 17 young Asian women hidden in the basement who had been trafficked into the country for forced sex slavery. This topic hit pretty close to home in more ways than one, because I’ve been researching it all week for a documentary that the company I work at is funding, and the statistics are horrifying: of the more than one million women and girls who are sold, transported and forced into sexual slavery each year, 50,000 are in the United States. It makes me wonder about the “Oriental massage parlor” with the blackened windows up the street from my house that I walk past at least twice a day.
Posted by Lisa at 4:10 PM | Comments (0)
Not to make this blog too San Francisco-centric (San Francentric?), but Ive been walking past the hotel workers picketing at the Holiday Inn two blocks from my house in SoMa each night for the past month, feeling pissed that they were still there, night after night, locked out of their jobs. But as Jennifer mentioned yesterday, SF mayor Gavin Newsom threatened toand actually didjoin the picket line today! Maybe mayoral pressure will mean that one day soon Ill walk past the hotel and not see the strikers, because they will have been able to return to their jobs.
Hearing that neighborhood news was a lot sweeter than reading about the Asian sex slavery that occurred just another few blocks away. A recent raid on a downtown massage parlor found 17 young Asian women hidden in the basement who had been trafficked into the country for forced sex slavery. This topic hit pretty close to home in more ways than one, because Ive been researching it all week for a documentary that the company I work at is funding, and the statistics are horrifying: of the more than one million women and girls who are sold, transported and forced into sexual slavery each year, 50,000 are in the United States. It makes me wonder about the Oriental massage parlor with the blackened windows up the street from my house that I walk past at least twice a day.
Posted by Lisa at 4:10 PM | Comments (0)
When I sleep, my body actually melts and I cease to exist in this physical realm. I become a mist, floating between continents and dimensions.
Every morning when I wake up, it takes a sheer strength of will to reassemble the molecules that make up my bone structure, the little air sacks of my lungs and the synapses in my grey matter. That's why it takes me so long to wake up in the morning, and when I do, I tend to be disoriented.
But this morning, the news on NPR made all of my cells instantly snap into place. I thought I might be confused still, perhaps I misheard:
Ariel Sharon wants to pull all settlements out of the Gaza Strip.
Gavin Newsom threatened to walk the picket line of hotel workers.
Did I wake up in a different dimension?
Ariel Sharon, the man who has been relentlessly bombing, bulldozing, and walling off the Palestinians, is acknowledging that Jewish settlements in the Palestinian areas are only a liability to Israel, and wants to dissolve them. His own party is split on the proposal, as is the rest of the country.
But what a reversal.
Here's a man who, after decades of maintaining a hardline, no-compromise anti-Palestinian position, is basically admitting the error of his previous position. And doing something quite radical to amend it. He has been so obstinate in the past, I'd never have thought him capable of seeing things differently.
And Gavin Newsom, our coverboy mayor. He is always full of surprises. His gay marriagefest won over a lot of skeptics, SF liberals who virulently campaigned against his slick fratboy-ness, his establishment-backed golden boy status in favor of Matt Gonzalez, the Green candidate who we thought could ring in a revolution.
We didn't get Matt, but Newsom has been a surprising treat. Threatening the hotels (including the Four Seasons, the Mark Hopkins, Holiday Inn, and Hyatt), on the side of the workers? Telling them the city will boycott their businesses --for years to come-- if they don't end the lock out of their bellhops and cleaners and servers? Siding, in many ways, with the browns against the whites?
Wow.
I wish we had a president who could surprise us like that.
Especially after hearing the third thing that woke me up:
Chief Justice Rehnquist has cancer.
Posted by jennifer at 10:40 AM | Comments (1)
When I sleep, my body actually melts and I cease to exist in this physical realm. I become a mist, floating between continents and dimensions.
Every morning when I wake up, it takes a sheer strength of will to reassemble the molecules that make up my bone structure, the little air sacks of my lungs and the synapses in my grey matter. That's why it takes me so long to wake up in the morning, and when I do, I tend to be disoriented.
But this morning, the news on NPR made all of my cells instantly snap into place. I thought I might be confused still, perhaps I misheard:
Ariel Sharon wants to pull all settlements out of the Gaza Strip.
Gavin Newsom threatened to walk the picket line of hotel workers.
Did I wake up in a different dimension?
Ariel Sharon, the man who has been relentlessly bombing, bulldozing, and walling off the Palestinians, is acknowledging that Jewish settlements in the Palestinian areas are only a liability to Israel, and wants to dissolve them. His own party is split on the proposal, as is the rest of the country.
But what a reversal.
Here's a man who, after decades of maintaining a hardline, no-compromise anti-Palestinian position, is basically admitting the error of his previous position. And doing something quite radical to amend it. He has been so obstinate in the past, I'd never have thought him capable of seeing things differently.
And Gavin Newsom, our coverboy mayor. He is always full of surprises. His gay marriagefest won over a lot of skeptics, SF liberals who virulently campaigned against his slick fratboy-ness, his establishment-backed golden boy status in favor of Matt Gonzalez, the Green candidate who we thought could ring in a revolution.
We didn't get Matt, but Newsom has been a surprising treat. Threatening the hotels (including the Four Seasons, the Mark Hopkins, Holiday Inn, and Hyatt), on the side of the workers? Telling them the city will boycott their businesses --for years to come-- if they don't end the lock out of their bellhops and cleaners and servers? Siding, in many ways, with the browns against the whites?
Wow.
I wish we had a president who could surprise us like that.
Especially after hearing the third thing that woke me up:
Chief Justice Rehnquist has cancer.
Posted by jennifer at 10:40 AM | Comments (1)
When I sleep, my body actually melts and I cease to exist in this physical realm. I become a mist, floating between continents and dimensions.
Every morning when I wake up, it takes a sheer strength of will to reassemble the molecules that make up my bone structure, the little air sacks of my lungs and the synapses in my grey matter. That's why it takes me so long to wake up in the morning, and when I do, I tend to be disoriented.
But this morning, the news on NPR made all of my cells instantly snap into place. I thought I might be confused still, perhaps I misheard:
Ariel Sharon wants to pull all settlements out of the Gaza Strip.
Gavin Newsom threatened to walk the picket line of hotel workers.
Did I wake up in a different dimension?
Ariel Sharon, the man who has been relentlessly bombing, bulldozing, and walling off the Palestinians, is acknowledging that Jewish settlements in the Palestinian areas are only a liability to Israel, and wants to dissolve them. His own party is split on the proposal, as is the rest of the country.
But what a reversal.
Here's a man who, after decades of maintaining a hardline, no-compromise anti-Palestinian position, is basically admitting the error of his previous position. And doing something quite radical to amend it. He has been so obstinate in the past, I'd never have thought him capable of seeing things differently.
And Gavin Newsom, our coverboy mayor. He is always full of surprises. His gay marriagefest won over a lot of skeptics, SF liberals who virulently campaigned against his slick fratboy-ness, his establishment-backed golden boy status in favor of Matt Gonzalez, the Green candidate who we thought could ring in a revolution.
We didn't get Matt, but Newsom has been a surprising treat. Threatening the hotels (including the Four Seasons, the Mark Hopkins, Holiday Inn, and Hyatt), on the side of the workers? Telling them the city will boycott their businesses --for years to come-- if they don't end the lock out of their bellhops and cleaners and servers? Siding, in many ways, with the browns against the whites?
Wow.
I wish we had a president who could surprise us like that.
Especially after hearing the third thing that woke me up:
Chief Justice Rehnquist has cancer.
Posted by jennifer at 10:40 AM | Comments (1)
I'm the type whose hackles go up whenever someone--almost always a white someone, ya notice?--pooh-poohs political correctness. Yeah, folks, it's really fascist when Asian Americans demand to be called what we wanna be called rather than what ignorant you wanna call us. I tend to think that political correctness is a justice purely on the level of social revenge: if you get to remind me that I'm Asian American all day long, then I get to remind you that you're an ignorant fuck. Yeah, all day long, Hairdo. Me so angry.
Surprisingly enough, Frank Chin is nicer about this than I am.
In his essay "Pidgin Contest on the I-5" (which you can find in Bulletproof Buddhists) Chin redefines "PC" as a "pidgin contest," a contest among speakers of many different native languages using a single, marketplace lingua franca that belongs to no one and therefore to everyone. The contest is to see both who can come up with the best insults, and who can be most civil--which is defined by the best use of language.
I like to think that HYPHEN is stepping up as a contestant in the pidgin contest. But what if the only other contenders are already on our team? This particular round of agonizing was brought to you by my recent argument with a HYPHEN supporter (white, male, dating an AsAm woman) who told me--apropos of almost nothing--that Asian American film festivals are no longer necessary, since there's so much Asian American film out there now. What? Out Where? Of course I immediately took offense, but on second thought, maybe he said this because he was speaking from the center of the whirlwind, where every film he sees is Asian American, every conversation is PC, every face is yellow. (On the other hand, he did also say that he "wasn't PC", in the same voice that urban hoochies with cell phones and sex lives say that they're "not a feminist".)
But p'raps it's true, perhaps here in AsianAmericaLand™ we're too sheltered. We've created the simulacrum of a Happy Society: one in which our circle overlaps others, and isn't just the margin ring of concentricity. Of course, AsianAmericaLand™ contains only about five thousand people nationwide (the majority of whom are unmarried, childless, and under 40) but since it only takes 150 to max out a community (and unmarried, childless and under 40 is skinny and hot) we're pretty Happy. Inside, we never have to hear people ask us where we're from much less tell us to go back there; Inside, all the Asian boys date Asian girls and largely vice versa and they do it both out of love (young, skinny, hot) and out of politics; Inside everybody is crafty and Makes Things, like purses and dolls and films and magazines and fascist idioms.
But Inside is also wealthy and educated. We never have to leave to get dirtyfilthy jobs or send our nonexistent kids to substandard schools. Indeed, Hairdo, what is the point of the work we're doing if we're still only preaching to the silk-clad choir? What if everybody else refuses to learn pidgin? Even while we were releasing our politics issue, the very New York Times verily dedicated a feature story to a Korean adoptee call-girl madam. Do we presume that this is a new cultural trend and not that we love stories about Asian whores? Do we chorus "foul" yet again to deaf ears or do we let this one go?
Or how about this?: none of the reportage on the recent findings that the westernization of Asian American women--measured by their English speaking ability--was linked to an increased smoking rate could resist headlining that speaking English is bad for Asian women's health. Asian American immigrant women constitute one of the most economically and socially vulnerable groups in the country. How much cultural sensitivity does it take to not imply that a skill (English speaking) that increases their political, economic, and social empowerment is causing them cancer? Seriously, am I just being a shrill PC bitch here?
I have no answer, but so as not to end on a down note here, I have to say that I find a lot of hope in the fact that half the "Asian American" news items on the web are pieces from the lifestyle sections of small-town papers discovering that they, too, have an Asian American community. This week's favorite is from Bristol, Tennessee, which now boasts a 300-family Indian American community. The between-two-worlds paradigm may be ho-hum to us As Am Studies graduates in sophisticate DeCentralLand, but it's still news in da provinces. If we can't get excited about this exploding plastic inevitable, then we are too sheltered.
Posted by claire at 12:37 PM | Comments (0)
I'm the type whose hackles go up whenever someone--almost always a white someone, ya notice?--pooh-poohs political correctness. Yeah, folks, it's really fascist when Asian Americans demand to be called what we wanna be called rather than what ignorant you wanna call us. I tend to think that political correctness is a justice purely on the level of social revenge: if you get to remind me that I'm Asian American all day long, then I get to remind you that you're an ignorant fuck. Yeah, all day long, Hairdo. Me so angry.
Surprisingly enough, Frank Chin is nicer about this than I am.
In his essay "Pidgin Contest on the I-5" (which you can find in Bulletproof Buddhists) Chin redefines "PC" as a "pidgin contest," a contest among speakers of many different native languages using a single, marketplace lingua franca that belongs to no one and therefore to everyone. The contest is to see both who can come up with the best insults, and who can be most civil--which is defined by the best use of language.
I like to think that HYPHEN is stepping up as a contestant in the pidgin contest. But what if the only other contenders are already on our team? This particular round of agonizing was brought to you by my recent argument with a HYPHEN supporter (white, male, dating an AsAm woman) who told me--apropos of almost nothing--that Asian American film festivals are no longer necessary, since there's so much Asian American film out there now. What? Out Where? Of course I immediately took offense, but on second thought, maybe he said this because he was speaking from the center of the whirlwind, where every film he sees is Asian American, every conversation is PC, every face is yellow. (On the other hand, he did also say that he "wasn't PC", in the same voice that urban hoochies with cell phones and sex lives say that they're "not a feminist".)
But p'raps it's true, perhaps here in AsianAmericaLand™ we're too sheltered. We've created the simulacrum of a Happy Society: one in which our circle overlaps others, and isn't just the margin ring of concentricity. Of course, AsianAmericaLand™ contains only about five thousand people nationwide (the majority of whom are unmarried, childless, and under 40) but since it only takes 150 to max out a community (and unmarried, childless and under 40 is skinny and hot) we're pretty Happy. Inside, we never have to hear people ask us where we're from much less tell us to go back there; Inside, all the Asian boys date Asian girls and largely vice versa and they do it both out of love (young, skinny, hot) and out of politics; Inside everybody is crafty and Makes Things, like purses and dolls and films and magazines and fascist idioms.
But Inside is also wealthy and educated. We never have to leave to get dirtyfilthy jobs or send our nonexistent kids to substandard schools. Indeed, Hairdo, what is the point of the work we're doing if we're still only preaching to the silk-clad choir? What if everybody else refuses to learn pidgin? Even while we were releasing our politics issue, the very New York Times verily dedicated a feature story to a Korean adoptee call-girl madam. Do we presume that this is a new cultural trend and not that we love stories about Asian whores? Do we chorus "foul" yet again to deaf ears or do we let this one go?
Or how about this?: none of the reportage on the recent findings that the westernization of Asian American women--measured by their English speaking ability--was linked to an increased smoking rate could resist headlining that speaking English is bad for Asian women's health. Asian American immigrant women constitute one of the most economically and socially vulnerable groups in the country. How much cultural sensitivity does it take to not imply that a skill (English speaking) that increases their political, economic, and social empowerment is causing them cancer? Seriously, am I just being a shrill PC bitch here?
I have no answer, but so as not to end on a down note here, I have to say that I find a lot of hope in the fact that half the "Asian American" news items on the web are pieces from the lifestyle sections of small-town papers discovering that they, too, have an Asian American community. This week's favorite is from Bristol, Tennessee, which now boasts a 300-family Indian American community. The between-two-worlds paradigm may be ho-hum to us As Am Studies graduates in sophisticate DeCentralLand, but it's still news in da provinces. If we can't get excited about this exploding plastic inevitable, then we are too sheltered.
Posted by claire at 12:37 PM | Comments (0)
I'm the type whose hackles go up whenever someone--almost always a white someone, ya notice?--pooh-poohs political correctness. Yeah, folks, it's really fascist when Asian Americans demand to be called what we wanna be called rather than what ignorant you wanna call us. I tend to think that political correctness is a justice purely on the level of social revenge: if you get to remind me that I'm Asian American all day long, then I get to remind you that you're an ignorant fuck. Yeah, all day long, Hairdo. Me so angry.
Surprisingly enough, Frank Chin is nicer about this than I am.
In his essay "Pidgin Contest on the I-5" (which you can find in Bulletproof Buddhists) Chin redefines "PC" as a "pidgin contest," a contest among speakers of many different native languages using a single, marketplace lingua franca that belongs to no one and therefore to everyone. The contest is to see both who can come up with the best insults, and who can be most civil--which is defined by the best use of language.
I like to think that HYPHEN is stepping up as a contestant in the pidgin contest. But what if the only other contenders are already on our team? This particular round of agonizing was brought to you by my recent argument with a HYPHEN supporter (white, male, dating an AsAm woman) who told me--apropos of almost nothing--that Asian American film festivals are no longer necessary, since there's so much Asian American film out there now. What? Out Where? Of course I immediately took offense, but on second thought, maybe he said this because he was speaking from the center of the whirlwind, where every film he sees is Asian American, every conversation is PC, every face is yellow. (On the other hand, he did also say that he "wasn't PC", in the same voice that urban hoochies with cell phones and sex lives say that they're "not a feminist".)
But p'raps it's true, perhaps here in AsianAmericaLand we're too sheltered. We've created the simulacrum of a Happy Society: one in which our circle overlaps others, and isn't just the margin ring of concentricity. Of course, AsianAmericaLand contains only about five thousand people nationwide (the majority of whom are unmarried, childless, and under 40) but since it only takes 150 to max out a community (and unmarried, childless and under 40 is skinny and hot) we're pretty Happy. Inside, we never have to hear people ask us where we're from much less tell us to go back there; Inside, all the Asian boys date Asian girls and largely vice versa and they do it both out of love (young, skinny, hot) and out of politics; Inside everybody is crafty and Makes Things, like purses and dolls and films and magazines and fascist idioms.
But Inside is also wealthy and educated. We never have to leave to get dirtyfilthy jobs or send our nonexistent kids to substandard schools. Indeed, Hairdo, what is the point of the work we're doing if we're still only preaching to the silk-clad choir? What if everybody else refuses to learn pidgin? Even while we were releasing our politics issue, the very New York Times verily dedicated a feature story to a Korean adoptee call-girl madam. Do we presume that this is a new cultural trend and not that we love stories about Asian whores? Do we chorus "foul" yet again to deaf ears or do we let this one go?
Or how about this?: none of the reportage on the recent findings that the westernization of Asian American women--measured by their English speaking ability--was linked to an increased smoking rate could resist headlining that speaking English is bad for Asian women's health. Asian American immigrant women constitute one of the most economically and socially vulnerable groups in the country. How much cultural sensitivity does it take to not imply that a skill (English speaking) that increases their political, economic, and social empowerment is causing them cancer? Seriously, am I just being a shrill PC bitch here?
I have no answer, but so as not to end on a down note here, I have to say that I find a lot of hope in the fact that half the "Asian American" news items on the web are pieces from the lifestyle sections of small-town papers discovering that they, too, have an Asian American community. This week's favorite is from Bristol, Tennessee, which now boasts a 300-family Indian American community. The between-two-worlds paradigm may be ho-hum to us As Am Studies graduates in sophisticate DeCentralLand, but it's still news in da provinces. If we can't get excited about this exploding plastic inevitable, then we are too sheltered.
Posted by claire at 12:37 PM | Comments (0)
Some good books came in the mail this week. One is Rivers’ Edge, a tell-all book about the rise of Weezer and the machinations of its musical genius/social misfit of a lead singer, Rivers Cuomo. Rumors of Rivers’ erratic Brian Wilson-like behavior have circulated for years and the book confirms some goodies and denies (or chooses to ignore) the more outrageous ones.
But I give author John D. Luerssen credit for putting out there what many people thought for years: that Cuomo harbors a raging Asian fetish.
From using his celebrity to bonk Asian girls, to documenting his relationship preferences and frustrations on the record (“Across the Sea,” “El Scorcho”), Rivers’ Edge paints Cuomo as a magically talented character obsessed with music and Asian chicks.
During one of the more juicy passages, Weezer was on tour in Japan. 15 girls were in Cuomo’s hotel room but he didn’t have the game to say what he wanted. So he blurted something like “If you’re going to stay here, you have to take your clothes off. Everyone else has to leave.” Four stayed behind and much exploitation was had by all (he for race, them for rock star). Another time, while Cuomo was attending Harvard, he was at a club with his girlfriend (who looked thirteen) and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones’ Dickey Barrett saw him and “busted his balls.” There’s a bunch of other little episodes in the book, confirmed by band members, painting Cuomo as a rampaging luster.
I, too, busted Cuomo on this matter eight years ago when Pinkerton was released. I like Pinkerton as much as the next closet indie nerd but to know that Cuomo banked my cash to fund his Hot Asian Girl habit is a little disconcerting. Maybe he can get with Tania Wang for some advanced game?
Posted by at 4:34 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Some good books came in the mail this week. One is Rivers’ Edge, a tell-all book about the rise of Weezer and the machinations of its musical genius/social misfit of a lead singer, Rivers Cuomo. Rumors of Rivers’ erratic Brian Wilson-like behavior have circulated for years and the book confirms some goodies and denies (or chooses to ignore) the more outrageous ones.
But I give author John D. Luerssen credit for putting out there what many people thought for years: that Cuomo harbors a raging Asian fetish.
From using his celebrity to bonk Asian girls, to documenting his relationship preferences and frustrations on the record (“Across the Sea,” “El Scorcho”), Rivers’ Edge paints Cuomo as a magically talented character obsessed with music and Asian chicks.
During one of the more juicy passages, Weezer was on tour in Japan. 15 girls were in Cuomo’s hotel room but he didn’t have the game to say what he wanted. So he blurted something like “If you’re going to stay here, you have to take your clothes off. Everyone else has to leave.” Four stayed behind and much exploitation was had by all (he for race, them for rock star). Another time, while Cuomo was attending Harvard, he was at a club with his girlfriend (who looked thirteen) and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones’ Dickey Barrett saw him and “busted his balls.” There’s a bunch of other little episodes in the book, confirmed by band members, painting Cuomo as a rampaging luster.
I, too, busted Cuomo on this matter eight years ago when Pinkerton was released. I like Pinkerton as much as the next closet indie nerd but to know that Cuomo banked my cash to fund his Hot Asian Girl habit is a little disconcerting. Maybe he can get with Tania Wang for some advanced game?
Posted by at 4:34 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Some good books came in the mail this week. One is Rivers Edge, a tell-all book about the rise of Weezer and the machinations of its musical genius/social misfit of a lead singer, Rivers Cuomo. Rumors of Rivers erratic Brian Wilson-like behavior have circulated for years and the book confirms some goodies and denies (or chooses to ignore) the more outrageous ones.
But I give author John D. Luerssen credit for putting out there what many people thought for years: that Cuomo harbors a raging Asian fetish.
From using his celebrity to bonk Asian girls, to documenting his relationship preferences and frustrations on the record (Across the Sea, El Scorcho), Rivers Edge paints Cuomo as a magically talented character obsessed with music and Asian chicks.
During one of the more juicy passages, Weezer was on tour in Japan. 15 girls were in Cuomos hotel room but he didnt have the game to say what he wanted. So he blurted something like If youre going to stay here, you have to take your clothes off. Everyone else has to leave. Four stayed behind and much exploitation was had by all (he for race, them for rock star). Another time, while Cuomo was attending Harvard, he was at a club with his girlfriend (who looked thirteen) and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones Dickey Barrett saw him and busted his balls. Theres a bunch of other little episodes in the book, confirmed by band members, painting Cuomo as a rampaging luster.
I, too, busted Cuomo on this matter eight years ago when Pinkerton was released. I like Pinkerton as much as the next closet indie nerd but to know that Cuomo banked my cash to fund his Hot Asian Girl habit is a little disconcerting. Maybe he can get with Tania Wang for some advanced game?
Posted by todd at 4:34 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
If you haven't picked up Issue 5 of Hyphen, there's a great must-read for hip-hop lovers: Bay Area writer Jeff Chang discusses his involvement with Solesides (the record label which spawned DJ Shadow, Latyrx and Blackalicious), to working at Russell Simmons' (now defunct) 360hiphop as the politics editor, to writing his own book about hip-hop. As an undergrad I interned at Quannum Projects (the present day reincarnation of Solesides) for a semester, so needless to say, I'm excited for Chang's book (Can't Stop, Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-hop Generation) to come out.
This week Chang also has an article in the SF Bay Guardian about Jin and his long-awaited debut album The Rest is History. After reading about Jin's rise to Ruff Ryders notoriety, I ended up even more confused about the whole Jin matter. In a twist of (not so ironic) irony, earlier this year I programmed Jin's video for "Learn Chinese" in the music video portion of Directions In Sound, much to the chagrin of Oliver Wang (who didn't hesitate to give me his two cents on why I should have excluded it).
In a few hours I will be flying down to San Diego for a long weekend. In addition to drinking cheap tequila in Tijuana with my cousins, I will be attending the San Diego Asian Film Foundation's film festival. I am primarily going to check out music videos and the Producing Music Videos panel discussion. No, Jin will not be there to teach everyone Chinese -- but Dino Ignacio will formally introduce you to Ana Manananggal.
Although I've seen (and programmed [in my own music video programs]) many of the music videos that are screening at SDAFF this year, I am excited to see Dino's "Bad Thoughts" (by The Skyflakes) on the big screen again. (Dino is one of my most favorite people to sing karaoke with. Have you seen his animation Maritess vs. The Superfriends?) I am also anxious to hear what Patricio Ginelsa (director of "The APL Song" by Black Eyed Peas, and the feature-length film Lumpia) and Evan Leong (director of Lyrics Born's "Last Trumpet" and the documentary BLT: Genesis) have to say about their current and future projects.
Look out, San Diego-ans! Come find me at SDAFF (or across the border) if you want a free copy of Hyphen! (I am only bringing 50 copies.) If I'm not flashing my badge to watch free movies, I'll be sitting at some table next to my friend James Hou, director of Masters of the Pillow, trying to make new Hyphen friends. Just think, you could go home with porn in one hand and Hyphen in the other!
P.S. - Oliver (that's right, calling you out), I'm still waiting for you to sign my copy of Classic Material. I'll trade you adobo for an autograph, if that's any incentive.
Posted by Audrey at 1:22 AM | Comments (8)
If you haven't picked up Issue 5 of Hyphen, there's a great must-read for hip-hop lovers: Bay Area writer Jeff Chang discusses his involvement with Solesides (the record label which spawned DJ Shadow, Latyrx and Blackalicious), to working at Russell Simmons' (now defunct) 360hiphop as the politics editor, to writing his own book about hip-hop. As an undergrad I interned at Quannum Projects (the present day reincarnation of Solesides) for a semester, so needless to say, I'm excited for Chang's book (Can't Stop, Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-hop Generation) to come out.
This week Chang also has an article in the SF Bay Guardian about Jin and his long-awaited debut album The Rest is History. After reading about Jin's rise to Ruff Ryders notoriety, I ended up even more confused about the whole Jin matter. In a twist of (not so ironic) irony, earlier this year I programmed Jin's video for "Learn Chinese" in the music video portion of Directions In Sound, much to the chagrin of Oliver Wang (who didn't hesitate to give me his two cents on why I should have excluded it).
In a few hours I will be flying down to San Diego for a long weekend. In addition to drinking cheap tequila in Tijuana with my cousins, I will be attending the San Diego Asian Film Foundation's film festival. I am primarily going to check out music videos and the Producing Music Videos panel discussion. No, Jin will not be there to teach everyone Chinese -- but Dino Ignacio will formally introduce you to Ana Manananggal.
Although I've seen (and programmed [in my own music video programs]) many of the music videos that are screening at SDAFF this year, I am excited to see Dino's "Bad Thoughts" (by The Skyflakes) on the big screen again. (Dino is one of my most favorite people to sing karaoke with. Have you seen his animation Maritess vs. The Superfriends?) I am also anxious to hear what Patricio Ginelsa (director of "The APL Song" by Black Eyed Peas, and the feature-length film Lumpia) and Evan Leong (director of Lyrics Born's "Last Trumpet" and the documentary BLT: Genesis) have to say about their current and future projects.
Look out, San Diego-ans! Come find me at SDAFF (or across the border) if you want a free copy of Hyphen! (I am only bringing 50 copies.) If I'm not flashing my badge to watch free movies, I'll be sitting at some table next to my friend James Hou, director of Masters of the Pillow, trying to make new Hyphen friends. Just think, you could go home with porn in one hand and Hyphen in the other!
P.S. - Oliver (that's right, calling you out), I'm still waiting for you to sign my copy of Classic Material. I'll trade you adobo for an autograph, if that's any incentive.
Posted by Audrey at 1:22 AM | Comments (8)
If you haven't picked up Issue 5 of Hyphen, there's a great must-read for hip-hop lovers: Bay Area writer Jeff Chang discusses his involvement with Solesides (the record label which spawned DJ Shadow, Latyrx and Blackalicious), to working at Russell Simmons' (now defunct) 360hiphop as the politics editor, to writing his own book about hip-hop. As an undergrad I interned at Quannum Projects (the present day reincarnation of Solesides) for a semester, so needless to say, I'm excited for Chang's book (Can't Stop, Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-hop Generation) to come out.
This week Chang also has an article in the SF Bay Guardian about Jin and his long-awaited debut album The Rest is History. After reading about Jin's rise to Ruff Ryders notoriety, I ended up even more confused about the whole Jin matter. In a twist of (not so ironic) irony, earlier this year I programmed Jin's video for "Learn Chinese" in the music video portion of Directions In Sound, much to the chagrin of Oliver Wang (who didn't hesitate to give me his two cents on why I should have excluded it).
In a few hours I will be flying down to San Diego for a long weekend. In addition to drinking cheap tequila in Tijuana with my cousins, I will be attending the San Diego Asian Film Foundation's film festival. I am primarily going to check out music videos and the Producing Music Videos panel discussion. No, Jin will not be there to teach everyone Chinese -- but Dino Ignacio will formally introduce you to Ana Manananggal.
Although I've seen (and programmed [in my own music video programs]) many of the music videos that are screening at SDAFF this year, I am excited to see Dino's "Bad Thoughts" (by The Skyflakes) on the big screen again. (Dino is one of my most favorite people to sing karaoke with. Have you seen his animation Maritess vs. The Superfriends?) I am also anxious to hear what Patricio Ginelsa (director of "The APL Song" by Black Eyed Peas, and the feature-length film Lumpia) and Evan Leong (director of Lyrics Born's "Last Trumpet" and the documentary BLT: Genesis) have to say about their current and future projects.
Look out, San Diego-ans! Come find me at SDAFF (or across the border) if you want a free copy of Hyphen! (I am only bringing 50 copies.) If I'm not flashing my badge to watch free movies, I'll be sitting at some table next to my friend James Hou, director of Masters of the Pillow, trying to make new Hyphen friends. Just think, you could go home with porn in one hand and Hyphen in the other!
P.S. - Oliver (that's right, calling you out), I'm still waiting for you to sign my copy of Classic Material. I'll trade you adobo for an autograph, if that's any incentive.
Posted by Audrey at 1:22 AM | Comments (8)
And now, for the goody two-shoes public service announcement of the day: A coalition of civil rights group called Election Proctection 2004 is asking for volunteers to help monitor voting in polling places & distribute info about voters' rights. Got legal expertise? Even better. You're needed to help staff a hotline where people can report voting problems. What kind of problems? Besides the obvious (hello uncounted votes), lots can happen, like polling places closing when there are still people waiting in line, poll workers harassing voters, and the failure of some polling places to provide translated materials.
The coalition includes many vernerable organizations including the NAACP, National Asian Pacifica American Legal Consortium, the Asian Law Caucus right here in the Bay, Asian Pacific American Legal Center in So Cal, and AALDEF in NYC.
Click here to volunteer.
Posted by Melissa at 2:27 PM | Comments (0)
And now, for the goody two-shoes public service announcement of the day: A coalition of civil rights group called Election Proctection 2004 is asking for volunteers to help monitor voting in polling places & distribute info about voters' rights. Got legal expertise? Even better. You're needed to help staff a hotline where people can report voting problems. What kind of problems? Besides the obvious (hello uncounted votes), lots can happen, like polling places closing when there are still people waiting in line, poll workers harassing voters, and the failure of some polling places to provide translated materials.
The coalition includes many vernerable organizations including the NAACP, National Asian Pacifica American Legal Consortium, the Asian Law Caucus right here in the Bay, Asian Pacific American Legal Center in So Cal, and AALDEF in NYC.
Click here to volunteer.
Posted by Melissa at 2:27 PM | Comments (0)
And now, for the goody two-shoes public service announcement of the day: A coalition of civil rights group called Election Proctection 2004 is asking for volunteers to help monitor voting in polling places & distribute info about voters' rights. Got legal expertise? Even better. You're needed to help staff a hotline where people can report voting problems. What kind of problems? Besides the obvious (hello uncounted votes), lots can happen, like polling places closing when there are still people waiting in line, poll workers harassing voters, and the failure of some polling places to provide translated materials.
The coalition includes many vernerable organizations including the NAACP, National Asian Pacifica American Legal Consortium, the Asian Law Caucus right here in the Bay, Asian Pacific American Legal Center in So Cal, and AALDEF in NYC.
Click here to volunteer.
Posted by Melissa at 2:27 PM | Comments (0)
When I was in high school, a blonde sophomore in my English class said, "I don't have regrets. Because every mistake you make is a learning experience."
Even then, I found the statement smug and presumptuous.
Even then, I had piles of regrets.
I've been thinking about this again lately, after saying some extremely unkind things to my boyfriend. Things that surprised me on their way out of my mouth. We were arguing, I was bone-tired, and I felt a round satisfaction as I heard the words. Followed by that sick feeling in my stomach, knowing that I'd gone too far.
I apologized, he says he forgives me. But I'm all too aware that I've introduced a tension, like a blob of black in perfectly white paint, that will always color our relationship. A regret.
What's the shelf life of transgressions? Do our iniquities reflect our innate make-up, or can they be forgive and forgotten as temporary lapses in judgement by an otherwise decent human being?
The question seems like philosophical mumbo-jumbo, perhaps. But it's a real issue in the upcoming election. I'm not even talking about Bush's drug use and conversion, or whether Kerry bled enough for his medals.
I'm talking about attempted rape.
That's what voters in Oregon's first congressional district have to consider, in the race between Democrat David Wu and Republican Goli Ameri.
Last week, the Oregonian published an story exposing Wu's attempted rape of a girlfriend 28 years ago, as a Stanford student. He immediately issued a statement admitting he was wrong, apologizing, and said that the incident "changed his life." (Here's the account from the New York Times.)
Ameri, a woman, has seized the issue, saying, "I cannot stand here and pretend that violating the most fundamental human right, a woman's safety, is merely a wrongdoing...In the most civilized nation on earth, we need to have a higher standard for our leaders."
Interestingly, more the 350 readers called or wrote the Oregonian, criticizing its decision to publish the story 3 weeks before the election. "We all made mistakes when we were in college," said one.
I am glad I don't have to vote in that election. To have to decide between Wu, reportedly the first Chinese American to serve in Congress, a Democrat who opposes the Patriot Act and Bush's tax cuts, or Ameri, a woman Republican of color (that rare and very weird breed) who supported all of that, and more.
I'm not sure I could vote for someone who tried to rape a woman. One account (an admittedly questionable account) described Wu as covered with scratches, his t-shirt stretched after the incident, and said he had held a pillow over the victim's face.
"But it was 28 years ago!" the devil on my other shoulder argues. Everyone deserves forgiveness.
And maybe, as it is in my relationship, what's important is what's to come.
Posted by jennifer at 5:49 PM | Comments (2)
When I was in high school, a blonde sophomore in my English class said, "I don't have regrets. Because every mistake you make is a learning experience."
Even then, I found the statement smug and presumptuous.
Even then, I had piles of regrets.
I've been thinking about this again lately, after saying some extremely unkind things to my boyfriend. Things that surprised me on their way out of my mouth. We were arguing, I was bone-tired, and I felt a round satisfaction as I heard the words. Followed by that sick feeling in my stomach, knowing that I'd gone too far.
I apologized, he says he forgives me. But I'm all too aware that I've introduced a tension, like a blob of black in perfectly white paint, that will always color our relationship. A regret.
What's the shelf life of transgressions? Do our iniquities reflect our innate make-up, or can they be forgive and forgotten as temporary lapses in judgement by an otherwise decent human being?
The question seems like philosophical mumbo-jumbo, perhaps. But it's a real issue in the upcoming election. I'm not even talking about Bush's drug use and conversion, or whether Kerry bled enough for his medals.
I'm talking about attempted rape.
That's what voters in Oregon's first congressional district have to consider, in the race between Democrat David Wu and Republican Goli Ameri.
Last week, the Oregonian published an story exposing Wu's attempted rape of a girlfriend 28 years ago, as a Stanford student. He immediately issued a statement admitting he was wrong, apologizing, and said that the incident "changed his life." (Here's the account from the New York Times.)
Ameri, a woman, has seized the issue, saying, "I cannot stand here and pretend that violating the most fundamental human right, a woman's safety, is merely a wrongdoing...In the most civilized nation on earth, we need to have a higher standard for our leaders."
Interestingly, more the 350 readers called or wrote the Oregonian, criticizing its decision to publish the story 3 weeks before the election. "We all made mistakes when we were in college," said one.
I am glad I don't have to vote in that election. To have to decide between Wu, reportedly the first Chinese American to serve in Congress, a Democrat who opposes the Patriot Act and Bush's tax cuts, or Ameri, a woman Republican of color (that rare and very weird breed) who supported all of that, and more.
I'm not sure I could vote for someone who tried to rape a woman. One account (an admittedly questionable account) described Wu as covered with scratches, his t-shirt stretched after the incident, and said he had held a pillow over the victim's face.
"But it was 28 years ago!" the devil on my other shoulder argues. Everyone deserves forgiveness.
And maybe, as it is in my relationship, what's important is what's to come.
Posted by jennifer at 5:49 PM | Comments (2)
When I was in high school, a blonde sophomore in my English class said, "I don't have regrets. Because every mistake you make is a learning experience."
Even then, I found the statement smug and presumptuous.
Even then, I had piles of regrets.
I've been thinking about this again lately, after saying some extremely unkind things to my boyfriend. Things that surprised me on their way out of my mouth. We were arguing, I was bone-tired, and I felt a round satisfaction as I heard the words. Followed by that sick feeling in my stomach, knowing that I'd gone too far.
I apologized, he says he forgives me. But I'm all too aware that I've introduced a tension, like a blob of black in perfectly white paint, that will always color our relationship. A regret.
What's the shelf life of transgressions? Do our iniquities reflect our innate make-up, or can they be forgive and forgotten as temporary lapses in judgement by an otherwise decent human being?
The question seems like philosophical mumbo-jumbo, perhaps. But it's a real issue in the upcoming election. I'm not even talking about Bush's drug use and conversion, or whether Kerry bled enough for his medals.
I'm talking about attempted rape.
That's what voters in Oregon's first congressional district have to consider, in the race between Democrat David Wu and Republican Goli Ameri.
Last week, the Oregonian published an story exposing Wu's attempted rape of a girlfriend 28 years ago, as a Stanford student. He immediately issued a statement admitting he was wrong, apologizing, and said that the incident "changed his life." (Here's the account from the New York Times.)
Ameri, a woman, has seized the issue, saying, "I cannot stand here and pretend that violating the most fundamental human right, a woman's safety, is merely a wrongdoing...In the most civilized nation on earth, we need to have a higher standard for our leaders."
Interestingly, more the 350 readers called or wrote the Oregonian, criticizing its decision to publish the story 3 weeks before the election. "We all made mistakes when we were in college," said one.
I am glad I don't have to vote in that election. To have to decide between Wu, reportedly the first Chinese American to serve in Congress, a Democrat who opposes the Patriot Act and Bush's tax cuts, or Ameri, a woman Republican of color (that rare and very weird breed) who supported all of that, and more.
I'm not sure I could vote for someone who tried to rape a woman. One account (an admittedly questionable account) described Wu as covered with scratches, his t-shirt stretched after the incident, and said he had held a pillow over the victim's face.
"But it was 28 years ago!" the devil on my other shoulder argues. Everyone deserves forgiveness.
And maybe, as it is in my relationship, what's important is what's to come.
Posted by jennifer at 5:49 PM | Comments (2)
I've been so busy at my day job today that I didn't remember it was my turn to blog until I was walking home from work.
We spent last Thursday night stuffing Issue 5 into envelopes and slapping labels on, so keep an eye out for your mailbox. We had two distinct piles: one with renewal letters (if you started with issue 1 or 2, your subscription has expired!) and one with just the mag that we ended up calling the "naked" pile. Special thanks to Andy, who made our labels; Ann Ninh, our new Bulk Mailing Mistress; My, who lugged the things to the post office, and Audrey--for the pizza and beer!
A couple statistics of note from Issue 5:
* 25 percent of APAs voted in the last presidential election compared to 55 percent of the census average
* 84 percent of APAs aged 18 to 24 didn't vote in the last presidential election
* 74 percent of APAs aged 25 to 44 didn't vote either
* Asian Americans are split among the parties. 40 percent claim to be Republicans, 36 percent Democrats, and 24 percent other
* Only 52 percent of Asian American who are U.S. citizens of voting age are registered to vote, compared to 70 percent of all citizens 18 and older
Posted by Melissa at 6:04 PM | Comments (3)
I've been so busy at my day job today that I didn't remember it was my turn to blog until I was walking home from work.
We spent last Thursday night stuffing Issue 5 into envelopes and slapping labels on, so keep an eye out for your mailbox. We had two distinct piles: one with renewal letters (if you started with issue 1 or 2, your subscription has expired!) and one with just the mag that we ended up calling the "naked" pile. Special thanks to Andy, who made our labels; Ann Ninh, our new Bulk Mailing Mistress; My, who lugged the things to the post office, and Audrey--for the pizza and beer!
A couple statistics of note from Issue 5:
* 25 percent of APAs voted in the last presidential election compared to 55 percent of the census average
* 84 percent of APAs aged 18 to 24 didn't vote in the last presidential election
* 74 percent of APAs aged 25 to 44 didn't vote either
* Asian Americans are split among the parties. 40 percent claim to be Republicans, 36 percent Democrats, and 24 percent other
* Only 52 percent of Asian American who are U.S. citizens of voting age are registered to vote, compared to 70 percent of all citizens 18 and older
Posted by Melissa at 6:04 PM | Comments (3)
I've been so busy at my day job today that I didn't remember it was my turn to blog until I was walking home from work.
We spent last Thursday night stuffing Issue 5 into envelopes and slapping labels on, so keep an eye out for your mailbox. We had two distinct piles: one with renewal letters (if you started with issue 1 or 2, your subscription has expired!) and one with just the mag that we ended up calling the "naked" pile. Special thanks to Andy, who made our labels; Ann Ninh, our new Bulk Mailing Mistress; My, who lugged the things to the post office, and Audrey--for the pizza and beer!
A couple statistics of note from Issue 5:
* 25 percent of APAs voted in the last presidential election compared to 55 percent of the census average
* 84 percent of APAs aged 18 to 24 didn't vote in the last presidential election
* 74 percent of APAs aged 25 to 44 didn't vote either
* Asian Americans are split among the parties. 40 percent claim to be Republicans, 36 percent Democrats, and 24 percent other
* Only 52 percent of Asian American who are U.S. citizens of voting age are registered to vote, compared to 70 percent of all citizens 18 and older
Posted by Melissa at 6:04 PM | Comments (3)
Yesterday I spent fourteen hours in Asian America, or at least gazing at the two facets of Asian America that I know best: organizing and karaoke. That is to say, yesterday was our annual HYPHEN staff retreat! At my house, so of course no one told me the time had been moved up, and of course Jason showed up early, while I was still in my jammies, and of course Audrey came with a posse, bagels, and a paper jug (no joke!) of coffee to save the morning. Ernest Mark -- longtime community nonprofit consultant and all around good guy (yes! you can hire him! ) facilitated the retreat, so the drama and bitching and slamming things down on the table, screaming "fuck you!", and marching out the door (yes, I know that's just me) were kept to a minimum.
The result? We decided, 19 to nothing, that we really stood behind our modified collective staff structure -- with a few caveats -- and recommitted to busting our butts in five hour meetings with no pay. What's up next for us? Well, when we get the meeting notes in our inboxes, I'm sure we'll remember, but after the six hour home karaoke marathon, using Stef's extremely phallic Filipino-made magic mic , and after Stef's not-so-harmless ice-breaker drinking games, and Andy's toxic sea breezes, and a few ill-considered minutes alone with Yuki's voice mail ... well, all policy-making is a blur.
The other exciting thing is that I finally got to see our ELECTION ISSUE!, which the rest of the staff insists on calling our "politics issue." Whatever. The good news: It's gorgeous! The always a big bummer: the news just keeps coming, even though our final copy comes in a month before we get the magazine into our hands. So we lost a few interesting stories that way, such as:
Microcosmicomics - this year's Hurricane Ivan delayed a city council runoff election in Bayou La Batre, Alabama , a third of whose 2000-some residents are Asian American. The election drew the attention of the DOJ after incumbent Jackie Ladnier's campaign challenged the votes of a group of mainly Asian American voters, and was accused of racism. The runoff on Tuesday was quiet and resulted in challenger Phuong Tan Huynh defeating Ladnier in the only county race in which the incumbent wasn't returned.
Hiroshima Mon Amour - Japanese American A-bomb survivor advocate Kanji Kuramoto died early this month in Oakland. Kuramoto, a Nisei who returned to Japan for his education and remained there throughout the war, lost his father to the bomb in Hiroshima and went on to become an advocate for the small but significant number of Japanese Americans exposed to the atomic blasts at Hiroshima and Nagasaki who were not eligible for Japanese assistance to A-bomb survivors and also unable to gain support from the US government.
"It's just Chinatown, Jake." - Absolutely no perceptions were challenged last month when Chinese immigrant Zack Zeng, whose heroic self-sacrifice on 9/11 was caught on a Fox video camera and therefore apparently demanded acknowledgement, had a street in New York Chinatown named after him . One wonders why Zeng, a civilian whom no one called upon to sacrifice his life but went and did so anyway, saving two women in the process, can only be a role model for immigrants and Asians, and not the rest of New York City.
Cali, represent! - The first Asian American in the California State Legislature died last week at 84. Alfred H. Song , a World War II veteran and celebrated lawyer, entered politics in 1960 and spent 12 years on the state senate. He withstood a corruption inquiry in 1977 but, largely as a result of the corruption charges, lost his seat to Joseph B. Montoya in 1978. Ironically, Montoya, who defeated Song by running as a "good government" candidate, did NOT withstand later corruption charges and spent 6.5 years in prison. Song is survived by three children, eleven grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchildren.
Posted by claire at 1:22 PM | Comments (2)
Yesterday I spent fourteen hours in Asian America, or at least gazing at the two facets of Asian America that I know best: organizing and karaoke. That is to say, yesterday was our annual HYPHEN staff retreat! At my house, so of course no one told me the time had been moved up, and of course Jason showed up early, while I was still in my jammies, and of course Audrey came with a posse, bagels, and a paper jug (no joke!) of coffee to save the morning. Ernest Mark -- longtime community nonprofit consultant and all around good guy (yes! you can hire him! ) facilitated the retreat, so the drama and bitching and slamming things down on the table, screaming "fuck you!", and marching out the door (yes, I know that's just me) were kept to a minimum.
The result? We decided, 19 to nothing, that we really stood behind our modified collective staff structure -- with a few caveats -- and recommitted to busting our butts in five hour meetings with no pay. What's up next for us? Well, when we get the meeting notes in our inboxes, I'm sure we'll remember, but after the six hour home karaoke marathon, using Stef's extremely phallic Filipino-made magic mic , and after Stef's not-so-harmless ice-breaker drinking games, and Andy's toxic sea breezes, and a few ill-considered minutes alone with Yuki's voice mail ... well, all policy-making is a blur.
The other exciting thing is that I finally got to see our ELECTION ISSUE!, which the rest of the staff insists on calling our "politics issue." Whatever. The good news: It's gorgeous! The always a big bummer: the news just keeps coming, even though our final copy comes in a month before we get the magazine into our hands. So we lost a few interesting stories that way, such as:
Microcosmicomics - this year's Hurricane Ivan delayed a city council runoff election in Bayou La Batre, Alabama , a third of whose 2000-some residents are Asian American. The election drew the attention of the DOJ after incumbent Jackie Ladnier's campaign challenged the votes of a group of mainly Asian American voters, and was accused of racism. The runoff on Tuesday was quiet and resulted in challenger Phuong Tan Huynh defeating Ladnier in the only county race in which the incumbent wasn't returned.
Hiroshima Mon Amour - Japanese American A-bomb survivor advocate Kanji Kuramoto died early this month in Oakland. Kuramoto, a Nisei who returned to Japan for his education and remained there throughout the war, lost his father to the bomb in Hiroshima and went on to become an advocate for the small but significant number of Japanese Americans exposed to the atomic blasts at Hiroshima and Nagasaki who were not eligible for Japanese assistance to A-bomb survivors and also unable to gain support from the US government.
"It's just Chinatown, Jake." - Absolutely no perceptions were challenged last month when Chinese immigrant Zack Zeng, whose heroic self-sacrifice on 9/11 was caught on a Fox video camera and therefore apparently demanded acknowledgement, had a street in New York Chinatown named after him . One wonders why Zeng, a civilian whom no one called upon to sacrifice his life but went and did so anyway, saving two women in the process, can only be a role model for immigrants and Asians, and not the rest of New York City.
Cali, represent! - The first Asian American in the California State Legislature died last week at 84. Alfred H. Song , a World War II veteran and celebrated lawyer, entered politics in 1960 and spent 12 years on the state senate. He withstood a corruption inquiry in 1977 but, largely as a result of the corruption charges, lost his seat to Joseph B. Montoya in 1978. Ironically, Montoya, who defeated Song by running as a "good government" candidate, did NOT withstand later corruption charges and spent 6.5 years in prison. Song is survived by three children, eleven grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchildren.
Posted by claire at 1:22 PM | Comments (2)
Yesterday I spent fourteen hours in Asian America, or at least gazing at the two facets of Asian America that I know best: organizing and karaoke. That is to say, yesterday was our annual HYPHEN staff retreat! At my house, so of course no one told me the time had been moved up, and of course Jason showed up early, while I was still in my jammies, and of course Audrey came with a posse, bagels, and a paper jug (no joke!) of coffee to save the morning. Ernest Mark -- longtime community nonprofit consultant and all around good guy (yes! you can hire him! ) facilitated the retreat, so the drama and bitching and slamming things down on the table, screaming "fuck you!", and marching out the door (yes, I know that's just me) were kept to a minimum.
The result? We decided, 19 to nothing, that we really stood behind our modified collective staff structure -- with a few caveats -- and recommitted to busting our butts in five hour meetings with no pay. What's up next for us? Well, when we get the meeting notes in our inboxes, I'm sure we'll remember, but after the six hour home karaoke marathon, using Stef's extremely phallic Filipino-made magic mic , and after Stef's not-so-harmless ice-breaker drinking games, and Andy's toxic sea breezes, and a few ill-considered minutes alone with Yuki's voice mail ... well, all policy-making is a blur.
The other exciting thing is that I finally got to see our ELECTION ISSUE!, which the rest of the staff insists on calling our "politics issue." Whatever. The good news: It's gorgeous! The always a big bummer: the news just keeps coming, even though our final copy comes in a month before we get the magazine into our hands. So we lost a few interesting stories that way, such as:
Microcosmicomics - this year's Hurricane Ivan delayed a city council runoff election in Bayou La Batre, Alabama , a third of whose 2000-some residents are Asian American. The election drew the attention of the DOJ after incumbent Jackie Ladnier's campaign challenged the votes of a group of mainly Asian American voters, and was accused of racism. The runoff on Tuesday was quiet and resulted in challenger Phuong Tan Huynh defeating Ladnier in the only county race in which the incumbent wasn't returned.
Hiroshima Mon Amour - Japanese American A-bomb survivor advocate Kanji Kuramoto died early this month in Oakland. Kuramoto, a Nisei who returned to Japan for his education and remained there throughout the war, lost his father to the bomb in Hiroshima and went on to become an advocate for the small but significant number of Japanese Americans exposed to the atomic blasts at Hiroshima and Nagasaki who were not eligible for Japanese assistance to A-bomb survivors and also unable to gain support from the US government.
"It's just Chinatown, Jake." - Absolutely no perceptions were challenged last month when Chinese immigrant Zack Zeng, whose heroic self-sacrifice on 9/11 was caught on a Fox video camera and therefore apparently demanded acknowledgement, had a street in New York Chinatown named after him . One wonders why Zeng, a civilian whom no one called upon to sacrifice his life but went and did so anyway, saving two women in the process, can only be a role model for immigrants and Asians, and not the rest of New York City.
Cali, represent! - The first Asian American in the California State Legislature died last week at 84. Alfred H. Song , a World War II veteran and celebrated lawyer, entered politics in 1960 and spent 12 years on the state senate. He withstood a corruption inquiry in 1977 but, largely as a result of the corruption charges, lost his seat to Joseph B. Montoya in 1978. Ironically, Montoya, who defeated Song by running as a "good government" candidate, did NOT withstand later corruption charges and spent 6.5 years in prison. Song is survived by three children, eleven grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchildren.
Posted by claire at 1:22 PM | Comments (2)
So, I’m back in Ohio – yes, Swing State central – getting more and more disillusioned by the number of Bush/Cheney signs that I’m seeing everywhere.
The last 48 hours has consisted of a full day in airports and planes, gorging on the delights of my mother and aunt’s cooking, and trying – in my broken Bengali – to explain to my aunt (a retired Geography professor from Kolkata) about how ridiculously mythologized Thanksgiving and Columbus Day are. On a good note, I did just watch the collector’s edition DVD version of The Sixth Sense. The bonus materials include extensive interviews with M. Night, who talks a lot about being South Asian and how that influences his life and filmmaking -- plus a little outline of clues to follow through the movie. I know Night’s kinda silly and Hollywood, but I can’t help but really appreciate that man and his work.
Anyway, even though my flight back to Ohio the other day was relatively uneventful – except for me missing my flight because I was lying bed and listening to NPR at 6 a.m. – airline discrimination continues to be a major problem in this country. One, as a South Asian woman, I can’t seem to ignore. I remember feeling so stunned when writing this article about Ashraf Khan, a Pakistani American man who got ejected from a Delta flight right after Sept. 11. Now, three years later I am completely uncomfortable when in airports and on planes because of the level of insecurity and fear emanating from everyone.
Just this summer I sat in front of a couple of late 20-something white people on an Air Trans Air flight from Atlanta to Dayton, OH who began to discuss – in graphic detail – the Nick Berg “beheading” right after the seatbelt sign was turned on for our descent. Far from buying into the hoax theory, these people were out for blood. Their conversation went something like this:
Woman (with LOUD nasally voice): “Those people are such barbarians. I can’t believe people are against this war. We should turn [the Middle East] into a giant crater.”
Man (with somewhat of a Southern accent): “Wow, you seem really excited about this.”
Woman (laughing): “Oh, you have no idea. I get so pumped about this stuff. Go troops!”
The woman went on to say how rude Mexicans are for always speaking Spanish around people who can’t understand it; that black people are lazy, etc.etc.etc. At that point, I -- honestly -- was ready to find a parachute and jump out the window or actually make a serious complaint to a flight attendant because I felt really uncomfortable by their conversation. But the seatbelt sign was on and I was afraid I might get taken for being threatening. I wondered what would have happened if I had been having a really loud conversation about the Nick Berg beheading with the black man who was sitting next to me.
This -- combined with a flurry of other incidents that my friends and I have experinced lately -- made me look into what has been happening with all the lawsuits that the ACLU filed, back in 2002, against four major airlines for discrimination. Most airlines have settled by now, paying up to $2 million in damages. The ACLU filed another case just this year against the no-fly list that has been targeting South Asians and Arab Americans since 9.11. Here is the latest on that case.
And just to help piss y’all off as much as me, here is what Ann Coulter had to say about these lawsuits in her column back in May. I try not to pay any attention to what she says, but her continual jabs at Norman Mineta for not racially profiling really make me want to punch her in the neck.
Anyway, stay tuned for more stories about airline woes. In the meantime, read this BBC article about whether “integration is a two-way process”. There is another blonde chick with some killer quotes.
Posted by neela at 10:03 PM | Comments (0)
So, I’m back in Ohio – yes, Swing State central – getting more and more disillusioned by the number of Bush/Cheney signs that I’m seeing everywhere.
The last 48 hours has consisted of a full day in airports and planes, gorging on the delights of my mother and aunt’s cooking, and trying – in my broken Bengali – to explain to my aunt (a retired Geography professor from Kolkata) about how ridiculously mythologized Thanksgiving and Columbus Day are. On a good note, I did just watch the collector’s edition DVD version of The Sixth Sense. The bonus materials include extensive interviews with M. Night, who talks a lot about being South Asian and how that influences his life and filmmaking -- plus a little outline of clues to follow through the movie. I know Night’s kinda silly and Hollywood, but I can’t help but really appreciate that man and his work.
Anyway, even though my flight back to Ohio the other day was relatively uneventful – except for me missing my flight because I was lying bed and listening to NPR at 6 a.m. – airline discrimination continues to be a major problem in this country. One, as a South Asian woman, I can’t seem to ignore. I remember feeling so stunned when writing this article about Ashraf Khan, a Pakistani American man who got ejected from a Delta flight right after Sept. 11. Now, three years later I am completely uncomfortable when in airports and on planes because of the level of insecurity and fear emanating from everyone.
Just this summer I sat in front of a couple of late 20-something white people on an Air Trans Air flight from Atlanta to Dayton, OH who began to discuss – in graphic detail – the Nick Berg “beheading” right after the seatbelt sign was turned on for our descent. Far from buying into the hoax theory, these people were out for blood. Their conversation went something like this:
Woman (with LOUD nasally voice): “Those people are such barbarians. I can’t believe people are against this war. We should turn [the Middle East] into a giant crater.”
Man (with somewhat of a Southern accent): “Wow, you seem really excited about this.”
Woman (laughing): “Oh, you have no idea. I get so pumped about this stuff. Go troops!”
The woman went on to say how rude Mexicans are for always speaking Spanish around people who can’t understand it; that black people are lazy, etc.etc.etc. At that point, I -- honestly -- was ready to find a parachute and jump out the window or actually make a serious complaint to a flight attendant because I felt really uncomfortable by their conversation. But the seatbelt sign was on and I was afraid I might get taken for being threatening. I wondered what would have happened if I had been having a really loud conversation about the Nick Berg beheading with the black man who was sitting next to me.
This -- combined with a flurry of other incidents that my friends and I have experinced lately -- made me look into what has been happening with all the lawsuits that the ACLU filed, back in 2002, against four major airlines for discrimination. Most airlines have settled by now, paying up to $2 million in damages. The ACLU filed another case just this year against the no-fly list that has been targeting South Asians and Arab Americans since 9.11. Here is the latest on that case.
And just to help piss y’all off as much as me, here is what Ann Coulter had to say about these lawsuits in her column back in May. I try not to pay any attention to what she says, but her continual jabs at Norman Mineta for not racially profiling really make me want to punch her in the neck.
Anyway, stay tuned for more stories about airline woes. In the meantime, read this BBC article about whether “integration is a two-way process”. There is another blonde chick with some killer quotes.
Posted by neela at 10:03 PM | Comments (0)
So, Im back in Ohio yes, Swing State central getting more and more disillusioned by the number of Bush/Cheney signs that Im seeing everywhere.
The last 48 hours has consisted of a full day in airports and planes, gorging on the delights of my mother and aunts cooking, and trying in my broken Bengali to explain to my aunt (a retired Geography professor from Kolkata) about how ridiculously mythologized Thanksgiving and Columbus Day are. On a good note, I did just watch the collectors edition DVD version of The Sixth Sense. The bonus materials include extensive interviews with M. Night, who talks a lot about being South Asian and how that influences his life and filmmaking -- plus a little outline of clues to follow through the movie. I know Nights kinda silly and Hollywood, but I cant help but really appreciate that man and his work.
Anyway, even though my flight back to Ohio the other day was relatively uneventful except for me missing my flight because I was lying bed and listening to NPR at 6 a.m. airline discrimination continues to be a major problem in this country. One, as a South Asian woman, I cant seem to ignore. I remember feeling so stunned when writing this article about Ashraf Khan, a Pakistani American man who got ejected from a Delta flight right after Sept. 11. Now, three years later I am completely uncomfortable when in airports and on planes because of the level of insecurity and fear emanating from everyone.
Just this summer I sat in front of a couple of late 20-something white people on an Air Trans Air flight from Atlanta to Dayton, OH who began to discuss in graphic detail the Nick Berg beheading right after the seatbelt sign was turned on for our descent. Far from buying into the hoax theory, these people were out for blood. Their conversation went something like this:
Woman (with LOUD nasally voice): Those people are such barbarians. I cant believe people are against this war. We should turn [the Middle East] into a giant crater.
Man (with somewhat of a Southern accent): Wow, you seem really excited about this.
Woman (laughing): Oh, you have no idea. I get so pumped about this stuff. Go troops!
The woman went on to say how rude Mexicans are for always speaking Spanish around people who cant understand it; that black people are lazy, etc.etc.etc. At that point, I -- honestly -- was ready to find a parachute and jump out the window or actually make a serious complaint to a flight attendant because I felt really uncomfortable by their conversation. But the seatbelt sign was on and I was afraid I might get taken for being threatening. I wondered what would have happened if I had been having a really loud conversation about the Nick Berg beheading with the black man who was sitting next to me.
This -- combined with a flurry of other incidents that my friends and I have experinced lately -- made me look into what has been happening with all the lawsuits that the ACLU filed, back in 2002, against four major airlines for discrimination. Most airlines have settled by now, paying up to $2 million in damages. The ACLU filed another case just this year against the no-fly list that has been targeting South Asians and Arab Americans since 9.11. Here is the latest on that case.
And just to help piss yall off as much as me, here is what Ann Coulter had to say about these lawsuits in her column back in May. I try not to pay any attention to what she says, but her continual jabs at Norman Mineta for not racially profiling really make me want to punch her in the neck.
Anyway, stay tuned for more stories about airline woes. In the meantime, read this BBC article about whether integration is a two-way process. There is another blonde chick with some killer quotes.
Posted by neela at 10:03 PM | Comments (0)
I've been schlepping around Los Angeles this past week working on one thing or another and thought I'd drop a line before I head back up to the Bay Area today.
While I've been in town, a friend informed me of the Asian Hip Hop Summit going on this Saturday, October 16th. I'm bummed that I'm not going to be here for it, but if any of you are in the area, I'd say it'd be worth your five bucks to check out the billion performers they have listed. Granted, this is a Hip Hop Summit, so there's going to be rhyming and breaking aplenty. But if, like me, you aren't exactly what people would call a "hip hop head," fear not: one of the three areas of the Los Angeles Leadership Academy (where the Summit's taking place) will be dedicated to rock/pop, where the likes of Ken Oak and Putnam Hall are slated to perform. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Jeet Kune Flow Open Mic for Asians.
So check out the online flier, tell your friends, and haul ass to LA's K-town if you get the chance. As for myself...I must now scoot off to the Bay. Happy Friday!
Posted by at 8:41 AM | Comments (0)
I've been schlepping around Los Angeles this past week working on one thing or another and thought I'd drop a line before I head back up to the Bay Area today.
While I've been in town, a friend informed me of the Asian Hip Hop Summit going on this Saturday, October 16th. I'm bummed that I'm not going to be here for it, but if any of you are in the area, I'd say it'd be worth your five bucks to check out the billion performers they have listed. Granted, this is a Hip Hop Summit, so there's going to be rhyming and breaking aplenty. But if, like me, you aren't exactly what people would call a "hip hop head," fear not: one of the three areas of the Los Angeles Leadership Academy (where the Summit's taking place) will be dedicated to rock/pop, where the likes of Ken Oak and Putnam Hall are slated to perform. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Jeet Kune Flow Open Mic for Asians.
So check out the online flier, tell your friends, and haul ass to LA's K-town if you get the chance. As for myself...I must now scoot off to the Bay. Happy Friday!
Posted by at 8:41 AM | Comments (0)
I've been schlepping around Los Angeles this past week working on one thing or another and thought I'd drop a line before I head back up to the Bay Area today.
While I've been in town, a friend informed me of the Asian Hip Hop Summit going on this Saturday, October 16th. I'm bummed that I'm not going to be here for it, but if any of you are in the area, I'd say it'd be worth your five bucks to check out the billion performers they have listed. Granted, this is a Hip Hop Summit, so there's going to be rhyming and breaking aplenty. But if, like me, you aren't exactly what people would call a "hip hop head," fear not: one of the three areas of the Los Angeles Leadership Academy (where the Summit's taking place) will be dedicated to rock/pop, where the likes of Ken Oak and Putnam Hall are slated to perform. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Jeet Kune Flow Open Mic for Asians.
So check out the online flier, tell your friends, and haul ass to LA's K-town if you get the chance. As for myself...I must now scoot off to the Bay. Happy Friday!
Posted by at 8:41 AM | Comments (0)
It's been a flurry of Hyphen-related emails the past two days.
Amidst the Hyphen chaos, I was finally able to get to personal emails. One of my best friends who is in a graduate program at Columbia University, forwarded me the link to one of her Oberlin connections. I took a quick break and perused the welcomed diversion. I have a new bookmark to add to my daily reading.
Anyone know who Dante Woo is? That Russell Leong quote has piqued my curiosity.
Posted by Audrey at 3:24 PM | Comments (0)
It's been a flurry of Hyphen-related emails the past two days.
Amidst the Hyphen chaos, I was finally able to get to personal emails. One of my best friends who is in a graduate program at Columbia University, forwarded me the link to one of her Oberlin connections. I took a quick break and perused the welcomed diversion. I have a new bookmark to add to my daily reading.
Anyone know who Dante Woo is? That Russell Leong quote has piqued my curiosity.
Posted by Audrey at 3:24 PM | Comments (0)
It's been a flurry of Hyphen-related emails the past two days.
Amidst the Hyphen chaos, I was finally able to get to personal emails. One of my best friends who is in a graduate program at Columbia University, forwarded me the link to one of her Oberlin connections. I took a quick break and perused the welcomed diversion. I have a new bookmark to add to my daily reading.
Anyone know who Dante Woo is? That Russell Leong quote has piqued my curiosity.
Posted by Audrey at 3:24 PM | Comments (0)
I’m sure only I see the irony here, but before I sat down to blog, I had writer’s block. Then I opened up my (snail) mail and realized what day it is: Today makes it five months to the day since my mom passed away from breast cancer.
In the mail I received an invitation to Hatwalk 2004, a gala benefit presented by the Asian American Cancer Support Network (AACSN). What a great fundraiser! Hatwalk (according to AACSN) “celebrates the value and importance of hats in bringing comfort to cancer patients.” The second annual Hatwalk will be held at the Hyatt Regency in Burlingame, CA on Saturday, November 6. Models will “hatwalk” down a runway in hats designed by AACSN volunteers; there will not only be a three-course dinner, but a silent auction and taiko performance. (For more information, key up their website or email: hatwalk2004@aacsn.org)
According to the Asian American Network for Cancer Awareness, Research and Training, “Cancer is the #1 cause of death for Asian and Pacific Islander females.” I never bothered to think of cancer in terms of demographics (race or gender). It was (and still is) personal to me because my mom fought cancer for over five years and it was hard to not only watch, but live through with her…and now without her.
Since the day my mom was first diagnosed with cancer, I stupidly continued to smoke my cigarettes. (I started smoking when I found out she was sick; of course I hid the fact that I smoked. My excuse to justify the habit was that it was a “stress reliever.”) Today I vow to quit smoking. I never really stuck to that resolution before--I also never really put too much effort in trying to quit. To commemorate this promise to myself, I am writing a donation check (in an amount bigger than I normally would) to AACSN. I’ll consider it a fraction of the utang na puso (“debt of the heart” in Tagalog) long overdue to Mama.
You have permission to chastise me if you see me light up.
Posted by Audrey at 2:24 AM | Comments (4)
I’m sure only I see the irony here, but before I sat down to blog, I had writer’s block. Then I opened up my (snail) mail and realized what day it is: Today makes it five months to the day since my mom passed away from breast cancer.
In the mail I received an invitation to Hatwalk 2004, a gala benefit presented by the Asian American Cancer Support Network (AACSN). What a great fundraiser! Hatwalk (according to AACSN) “celebrates the value and importance of hats in bringing comfort to cancer patients.” The second annual Hatwalk will be held at the Hyatt Regency in Burlingame, CA on Saturday, November 6. Models will “hatwalk” down a runway in hats designed by AACSN volunteers; there will not only be a three-course dinner, but a silent auction and taiko performance. (For more information, key up their website or email: hatwalk2004@aacsn.org)
According to the Asian American Network for Cancer Awareness, Research and Training, “Cancer is the #1 cause of death for Asian and Pacific Islander females.” I never bothered to think of cancer in terms of demographics (race or gender). It was (and still is) personal to me because my mom fought cancer for over five years and it was hard to not only watch, but live through with her…and now without her.
Since the day my mom was first diagnosed with cancer, I stupidly continued to smoke my cigarettes. (I started smoking when I found out she was sick; of course I hid the fact that I smoked. My excuse to justify the habit was that it was a “stress reliever.”) Today I vow to quit smoking. I never really stuck to that resolution before--I also never really put too much effort in trying to quit. To commemorate this promise to myself, I am writing a donation check (in an amount bigger than I normally would) to AACSN. I’ll consider it a fraction of the utang na puso (“debt of the heart” in Tagalog) long overdue to Mama.
You have permission to chastise me if you see me light up.
Posted by Audrey at 2:24 AM | Comments (4)
Im sure only I see the irony here, but before I sat down to blog, I had writers block. Then I opened up my (snail) mail and realized what day it is: Today makes it five months to the day since my mom passed away from breast cancer.
In the mail I received an invitation to Hatwalk 2004, a gala benefit presented by the Asian American Cancer Support Network (AACSN). What a great fundraiser! Hatwalk (according to AACSN) celebrates the value and importance of hats in bringing comfort to cancer patients. The second annual Hatwalk will be held at the Hyatt Regency in Burlingame, CA on Saturday, November 6. Models will hatwalk down a runway in hats designed by AACSN volunteers; there will not only be a three-course dinner, but a silent auction and taiko performance. (For more information, key up their website or email: hatwalk2004@aacsn.org)
According to the Asian American Network for Cancer Awareness, Research and Training, Cancer is the #1 cause of death for Asian and Pacific Islander females. I never bothered to think of cancer in terms of demographics (race or gender). It was (and still is) personal to me because my mom fought cancer for over five years and it was hard to not only watch, but live through with herand now without her.
Since the day my mom was first diagnosed with cancer, I stupidly continued to smoke my cigarettes. (I started smoking when I found out she was sick; of course I hid the fact that I smoked. My excuse to justify the habit was that it was a stress reliever.) Today I vow to quit smoking. I never really stuck to that resolution before--I also never really put too much effort in trying to quit. To commemorate this promise to myself, I am writing a donation check (in an amount bigger than I normally would) to AACSN. Ill consider it a fraction of the utang na puso (debt of the heart in Tagalog) long overdue to Mama.
You have permission to chastise me if you see me light up.
Posted by Audrey at 2:24 AM | Comments (4)
Perhaps you've already caught the link meme about How to Date a White Woman: A Practical Guide for Asian Men
by Adam Quan. Now Amazon.com has "bundled" Quan's book with the classic Ming Tan text How to Attract Asian Women, presumably written for non-Asian men. Although the books are meant for divergent readerships, one could purchase both today for a low price of $44.36.
So wait, do people actually buy this crap? A few more clicks on Amazon.com revealed even more fascinating facts about consumer habits: Customers who bought How to Attract Asian Women also bought such titles as How to Get Laid Today! The System, Korean Bar Secrets II, "Hello My Big Big Honey!": Love Letters from Bangkok Bar Girls and Their Revealing Interviews, The Complete Asshole’s Guide to Handling Chicks and Don’t Be Afraid to Ask!! How to Date a Beautiful Woman, Third Revised Edition (both exclamation points included). Those who went for Quan also went for such titles as Worse Than He Says He Is: White Girls Don’t Bounce and, oh yes, Managing Herpes: How to Live and Love With a Chronic STD.
Quan, an "international business consultant," counts "dating women of many nationalities" as requisite knowledge in "providing the knowledge, framework and tools necessary for an Asian man to understand, to plan, and to put into action the steps to successfully date a white woman.” Tan is, sadly, a fellow Chinese American writer who grew up in New York City. She owns an online dating site that specifically hooks up non-Asian men with Asian women—or, in her words, "has helped numerous men understand and attract Asian women." All quease-inducing racial politics aside, the true lesson learned in my online superstore browsing might best be summed up by this Amazon list: "Why I will NEVER Get Married".
Posted by Lisa at 5:21 PM | Comments (34) | TrackBack
Perhaps you've already caught the link meme about How to Date a White Woman: A Practical Guide for Asian Men
by Adam Quan. Now Amazon.com has "bundled" Quan's book with the classic Ming Tan text How to Attract Asian Women, presumably written for non-Asian men. Although the books are meant for divergent readerships, one could purchase both today for a low price of $44.36.
So wait, do people actually buy this crap? A few more clicks on Amazon.com revealed even more fascinating facts about consumer habits: Customers who bought How to Attract Asian Women also bought such titles as How to Get Laid Today! The System, Korean Bar Secrets II, "Hello My Big Big Honey!": Love Letters from Bangkok Bar Girls and Their Revealing Interviews, The Complete Asshole’s Guide to Handling Chicks and Don’t Be Afraid to Ask!! How to Date a Beautiful Woman, Third Revised Edition (both exclamation points included). Those who went for Quan also went for such titles as Worse Than He Says He Is: White Girls Don’t Bounce and, oh yes, Managing Herpes: How to Live and Love With a Chronic STD.
Quan, an "international business consultant," counts "dating women of many nationalities" as requisite knowledge in "providing the knowledge, framework and tools necessary for an Asian man to understand, to plan, and to put into action the steps to successfully date a white woman.” Tan is, sadly, a fellow Chinese American writer who grew up in New York City. She owns an online dating site that specifically hooks up non-Asian men with Asian women—or, in her words, "has helped numerous men understand and attract Asian women." All quease-inducing racial politics aside, the true lesson learned in my online superstore browsing might best be summed up by this Amazon list: "Why I will NEVER Get Married".
Posted by Lisa at 5:21 PM | Comments (34) | TrackBack
Perhaps you've already caught the link meme about How to Date a White Woman: A Practical Guide for Asian Men
by Adam Quan. Now Amazon.com has "bundled" Quan's book with the classic Ming Tan text How to Attract Asian Women, presumably written for non-Asian men. Although the books are meant for divergent readerships, one could purchase both today for a low price of $44.36.
So wait, do people actually buy this crap? A few more clicks on Amazon.com revealed even more fascinating facts about consumer habits: Customers who bought How to Attract Asian Women also bought such titles as How to Get Laid Today! The System, Korean Bar Secrets II, "Hello My Big Big Honey!": Love Letters from Bangkok Bar Girls and Their Revealing Interviews, The Complete Assholes Guide to Handling Chicks and Dont Be Afraid to Ask!! How to Date a Beautiful Woman, Third Revised Edition (both exclamation points included). Those who went for Quan also went for such titles as Worse Than He Says He Is: White Girls Dont Bounce and, oh yes, Managing Herpes: How to Live and Love With a Chronic STD.
Quan, an "international business consultant," counts "dating women of many nationalities" as requisite knowledge in "providing the knowledge, framework and tools necessary for an Asian man to understand, to plan, and to put into action the steps to successfully date a white woman. Tan is, sadly, a fellow Chinese American writer who grew up in New York City. She owns an online dating site that specifically hooks up non-Asian men with Asian womenor, in her words, "has helped numerous men understand and attract Asian women." All quease-inducing racial politics aside, the true lesson learned in my online superstore browsing might best be summed up by this Amazon list: "Why I will NEVER Get Married".
Posted by Lisa at 5:21 PM | Comments (34) | TrackBack
So, has anybody seen the new, remastered Star Wars Trilogy on DVD? I admit, I'm a big nerd (an elegant, aloof big nerd, mind you) and the very first thing I watched after ripping the shrink wrap from my box set was "The Birth of the Lightsaber" mini-documentary. What can I say, I love special features.
So there I am, learning how they made the lightsaber hum, how the fighting developed over time, yadi yadi, when George Lucas blurted out, "Oriental sword fighting."
That's right, Oriental. And then he said it again, Oriental-style sword fighting!
Now, I would like to think that I'm over my whole PC police phase. But that would assume that people have somehow become sensitive and enlightened, and that still doesn't seem to be the case regarding Asian America. You've heard it before, but G. Lucas would never say something like, "Now here we have some Negro-style cotton pickin'."
This also clears up a lot of questions I've had about the new episodes --the seemingly racist characters of Jar Jar Binks and those vaguely Asian-y alien senators (with vaguely asian-y gibberish) in Episode II. I've long wondered, what was George thinking?
Now I get it: he had no clue.
Not for a second do I think that George Lucas intended to offend anyone, to aggravate racial stereotypes, to use a word has grated on me since my Kansas childhood. I think the man is a genius of filmmaking innovation, someone who will go down in history as an icon who transformed the film industry. I'm not just saying that because he's my boss, either. (And I'm desperately hoping I don't get fired from writing this posting... Mr. Lucas, if you read this, I offer you my pro bono services as an Asian American cultural consultant! Or, um, lunch-fetcher?)
I certainly don't think the use of the "O" word ranks up there with the bevy of other issues Asian Americans face: the Patriot Act, glass ceilings, hate crime, immigration, etc. etc...
But, (the inevitable "but") I do think it matters. Among other issues, the term evokes a time of the Chinese Exclusion act, anti-miscegenation laws, a colonial stance toward most of Asia, and violence against Asian Americans. It offends many.
Mr. Lucas lives in the Bay Area and a lot of Asians and AAs work for him (hopefully I am still one of them). So many people must have seen the interview: producers, directors, sound crew, production assistants, marketing people, engineers from down the hall. Did no one speak up? Did they have a discussion and decide it was no big deal? Did anyone even notice?
More than anything, the incident reminds me of how much work we still have to do in getting the mainstream American mind to a basic level of sensitivity to Asian American issues. In the fight against racism, we can at least try to reach the well-intentioned who live in our own backyards. Eliminating the "O" word is just the first, tiniest step.
In the end, it's our responsibility to define ourselves. African Americans got America to be sensitive to their representation by making a lot of noise. Why should it be different for us? Whining will get us nowhere; being articulate, present, forceful and twice as good will.
I for one, will try to stay employed until the Christmas party, when hopefully I can corner George and we can have a friendly chat...
Posted by jennifer at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)
So, has anybody seen the new, remastered Star Wars Trilogy on DVD? I admit, I'm a big nerd (an elegant, aloof big nerd, mind you) and the very first thing I watched after ripping the shrink wrap from my box set was "The Birth of the Lightsaber" mini-documentary. What can I say, I love special features.
So there I am, learning how they made the lightsaber hum, how the fighting developed over time, yadi yadi, when George Lucas blurted out, "Oriental sword fighting."
That's right, Oriental. And then he said it again, Oriental-style sword fighting!
Now, I would like to think that I'm over my whole PC police phase. But that would assume that people have somehow become sensitive and enlightened, and that still doesn't seem to be the case regarding Asian America. You've heard it before, but G. Lucas would never say something like, "Now here we have some Negro-style cotton pickin'."
This also clears up a lot of questions I've had about the new episodes --the seemingly racist characters of Jar Jar Binks and those vaguely Asian-y alien senators (with vaguely asian-y gibberish) in Episode II. I've long wondered, what was George thinking?
Now I get it: he had no clue.
Not for a second do I think that George Lucas intended to offend anyone, to aggravate racial stereotypes, to use a word has grated on me since my Kansas childhood. I think the man is a genius of filmmaking innovation, someone who will go down in history as an icon who transformed the film industry. I'm not just saying that because he's my boss, either. (And I'm desperately hoping I don't get fired from writing this posting... Mr. Lucas, if you read this, I offer you my pro bono services as an Asian American cultural consultant! Or, um, lunch-fetcher?)
I certainly don't think the use of the "O" word ranks up there with the bevy of other issues Asian Americans face: the Patriot Act, glass ceilings, hate crime, immigration, etc. etc...
But, (the inevitable "but") I do think it matters. Among other issues, the term evokes a time of the Chinese Exclusion act, anti-miscegenation laws, a colonial stance toward most of Asia, and violence against Asian Americans. It offends many.
Mr. Lucas lives in the Bay Area and a lot of Asians and AAs work for him (hopefully I am still one of them). So many people must have seen the interview: producers, directors, sound crew, production assistants, marketing people, engineers from down the hall. Did no one speak up? Did they have a discussion and decide it was no big deal? Did anyone even notice?
More than anything, the incident reminds me of how much work we still have to do in getting the mainstream American mind to a basic level of sensitivity to Asian American issues. In the fight against racism, we can at least try to reach the well-intentioned who live in our own backyards. Eliminating the "O" word is just the first, tiniest step.
In the end, it's our responsibility to define ourselves. African Americans got America to be sensitive to their representation by making a lot of noise. Why should it be different for us? Whining will get us nowhere; being articulate, present, forceful and twice as good will.
I for one, will try to stay employed until the Christmas party, when hopefully I can corner George and we can have a friendly chat...
Posted by jennifer at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)
So, has anybody seen the new, remastered Star Wars Trilogy on DVD? I admit, I'm a big nerd (an elegant, aloof big nerd, mind you) and the very first thing I watched after ripping the shrink wrap from my box set was "The Birth of the Lightsaber" mini-documentary. What can I say, I love special features.
So there I am, learning how they made the lightsaber hum, how the fighting developed over time, yadi yadi, when George Lucas blurted out, "Oriental sword fighting."
That's right, Oriental. And then he said it again, Oriental-style sword fighting!
Now, I would like to think that I'm over my whole PC police phase. But that would assume that people have somehow become sensitive and enlightened, and that still doesn't seem to be the case regarding Asian America. You've heard it before, but G. Lucas would never say something like, "Now here we have some Negro-style cotton pickin'."
This also clears up a lot of questions I've had about the new episodes --the seemingly racist characters of Jar Jar Binks and those vaguely Asian-y alien senators (with vaguely asian-y gibberish) in Episode II. I've long wondered, what was George thinking?
Now I get it: he had no clue.
Not for a second do I think that George Lucas intended to offend anyone, to aggravate racial stereotypes, to use a word has grated on me since my Kansas childhood. I think the man is a genius of filmmaking innovation, someone who will go down in history as an icon who transformed the film industry. I'm not just saying that because he's my boss, either. (And I'm desperately hoping I don't get fired from writing this posting... Mr. Lucas, if you read this, I offer you my pro bono services as an Asian American cultural consultant! Or, um, lunch-fetcher?)
I certainly don't think the use of the "O" word ranks up there with the bevy of other issues Asian Americans face: the Patriot Act, glass ceilings, hate crime, immigration, etc. etc...
But, (the inevitable "but") I do think it matters. Among other issues, the term evokes a time of the Chinese Exclusion act, anti-miscegenation laws, a colonial stance toward most of Asia, and violence against Asian Americans. It offends many.
Mr. Lucas lives in the Bay Area and a lot of Asians and AAs work for him (hopefully I am still one of them). So many people must have seen the interview: producers, directors, sound crew, production assistants, marketing people, engineers from down the hall. Did no one speak up? Did they have a discussion and decide it was no big deal? Did anyone even notice?
More than anything, the incident reminds me of how much work we still have to do in getting the mainstream American mind to a basic level of sensitivity to Asian American issues. In the fight against racism, we can at least try to reach the well-intentioned who live in our own backyards. Eliminating the "O" word is just the first, tiniest step.
In the end, it's our responsibility to define ourselves. African Americans got America to be sensitive to their representation by making a lot of noise. Why should it be different for us? Whining will get us nowhere; being articulate, present, forceful and twice as good will.
I for one, will try to stay employed until the Christmas party, when hopefully I can corner George and we can have a friendly chat...
Posted by jennifer at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)
Issue 5, our politics issue, comes back from the printers tomorrow and I can hardly wait. There is nothing as satisfying as seeing the finished product, hot off the presses. This, however, is quickly followed by the back-breaking work of having to move the damn things, stuff and sort them for mailing, and drive them around for distribution at bookstores. By that point, you’ve noticed the few inevitable typos. And you are no longer in love. I think a lot of staffers have this love/hate relationship with Hyphen because we all volunteer a lot of our time and we do everything ourselves.
This Wednesday evening I’m speaking on a panel at San Francisco State University about new publications. I get asked quite a bit to speak on panels, often at Asian American or media events, probably because there are only so many Asian American publications. You tend to see the same panelists over and over again. It’s a small world. But apparently, according to this post by former Hyphen staffer Oliver Wang, even a small world can’t keep people from thinking all Asians look alike. Our very own Todd Inoue was mistaken for Oliver. If you know these two, then you know they don’t look anything alike. Classic.
Posted by Melissa at 3:02 PM | Comments (0)
Issue 5, our politics issue, comes back from the printers tomorrow and I can hardly wait. There is nothing as satisfying as seeing the finished product, hot off the presses. This, however, is quickly followed by the back-breaking work of having to move the damn things, stuff and sort them for mailing, and drive them around for distribution at bookstores. By that point, you’ve noticed the few inevitable typos. And you are no longer in love. I think a lot of staffers have this love/hate relationship with Hyphen because we all volunteer a lot of our time and we do everything ourselves.
This Wednesday evening I’m speaking on a panel at San Francisco State University about new publications. I get asked quite a bit to speak on panels, often at Asian American or media events, probably because there are only so many Asian American publications. You tend to see the same panelists over and over again. It’s a small world. But apparently, according to this post by former Hyphen staffer Oliver Wang, even a small world can’t keep people from thinking all Asians look alike. Our very own Todd Inoue was mistaken for Oliver. If you know these two, then you know they don’t look anything alike. Classic.
Posted by Melissa at 3:02 PM | Comments (0)
Issue 5, our politics issue, comes back from the printers tomorrow and I can hardly wait. There is nothing as satisfying as seeing the finished product, hot off the presses. This, however, is quickly followed by the back-breaking work of having to move the damn things, stuff and sort them for mailing, and drive them around for distribution at bookstores. By that point, youve noticed the few inevitable typos. And you are no longer in love. I think a lot of staffers have this love/hate relationship with Hyphen because we all volunteer a lot of our time and we do everything ourselves.
This Wednesday evening Im speaking on a panel at San Francisco State University about new publications. I get asked quite a bit to speak on panels, often at Asian American or media events, probably because there are only so many Asian American publications. You tend to see the same panelists over and over again. Its a small world. But apparently, according to this post by former Hyphen staffer Oliver Wang, even a small world cant keep people from thinking all Asians look alike. Our very own Todd Inoue was mistaken for Oliver. If you know these two, then you know they dont look anything alike. Classic.
Posted by Melissa at 3:02 PM | Comments (0)
Oh Waily, Waily! Derrida is Dead! No more lectures! No more glosses! What we have is all that we'll ever get! Will everyone take advantage of the lapse and not bother to understand deconstruction now? Will we continue on our reactionary, creative-writing-workshop-Margaret-Mead-did-it-best-hagiography-as-trash-compacter-tainted way? Will Bush win the election? Will Jacques have failed?
Or will his passing bring him the mainstream prestige he never acquired (nor sought) in life? Will deconstruction become part of high school curricula? Will Asian American writers, en masse, suddenly stop writing first-person, thinly-veiled autobiography about their grandmothers, and talk excitedly over their cigarettes about L-A-N-G-U-A-G-E poets? Will Fil-Am community performers cease invoking Bulosan in favor of Myung-Mi Kim? Will we all finally just understand that everything is meaningless anyway so we might just as well read REPUBLIC OF FEAR over our soju of a Sunday evening as watch a re-run of "Alias"? Will John Kerry have an acid flashback to when he still had balls?
Here are some things that Jacques could have affected if he had but died earlier (Waily!):
• Perhaps Dead Derrida could have convinced those responsible for subcontinental tensions that "Kashmir," "religious conflict" and related issues are really all just "text." Perhaps they'll yet learn to treat Indian American protest as mere "intertextuality."
• Dead Derrida could have helped (and could yet!) Vietnamese Americans to understand that all language is inexact, confusing, and full of contradictions; therefore "Bush" and "Kerry" are really the same word. Moreover, to vote for "Bush," one must actually cast one's vote for "Kerry," creating a seemingly opposite effect that would bring all right (or wrong) in the end. ... Only, once the meanings reversed themselves, wouldn't it start all over again with 71% voting for Bush and only 27% for Kerry? Now I'm confused. Waily!
• Dead Derrida would have rendered the conversion of a US military base into an Indian American-owned technology park a non-event because really, did anything there change except the words?
• Dead Derrida could spread yoga beyond the liberal three coasts by making it clear that body and movement are also text, and therefore meaningless, contradictory, layered, and ultimately an expression of family values and an incredibly effective gay-bashing technique. Rather than lobbying Congress, Christian conservatives could down-dog the *&$%@ out of those Godless perverts, setting up their sticky mats in front of Sen. Rick Santorum's office and rounding out each session with a rousing "Kumbaya," whose lyrics could also be interpreted to mean "anti-bunker nukes are worth your pocket change," "punish the homeless," or "rock me, Amadeus."
Posted by claire at 1:44 PM | Comments (2)
Oh Waily, Waily! Derrida is Dead! No more lectures! No more glosses! What we have is all that we'll ever get! Will everyone take advantage of the lapse and not bother to understand deconstruction now? Will we continue on our reactionary, creative-writing-workshop-Margaret-Mead-did-it-best-hagiography-as-trash-compacter-tainted way? Will Bush win the election? Will Jacques have failed?
Or will his passing bring him the mainstream prestige he never acquired (nor sought) in life? Will deconstruction become part of high school curricula? Will Asian American writers, en masse, suddenly stop writing first-person, thinly-veiled autobiography about their grandmothers, and talk excitedly over their cigarettes about L-A-N-G-U-A-G-E poets? Will Fil-Am community performers cease invoking Bulosan in favor of Myung-Mi Kim? Will we all finally just understand that everything is meaningless anyway so we might just as well read REPUBLIC OF FEAR over our soju of a Sunday evening as watch a re-run of "Alias"? Will John Kerry have an acid flashback to when he still had balls?
Here are some things that Jacques could have affected if he had but died earlier (Waily!):
• Perhaps Dead Derrida could have convinced those responsible for subcontinental tensions that "Kashmir," "religious conflict" and related issues are really all just "text." Perhaps they'll yet learn to treat Indian American protest as mere "intertextuality."
• Dead Derrida could have helped (and could yet!) Vietnamese Americans to understand that all language is inexact, confusing, and full of contradictions; therefore "Bush" and "Kerry" are really the same word. Moreover, to vote for "Bush," one must actually cast one's vote for "Kerry," creating a seemingly opposite effect that would bring all right (or wrong) in the end. ... Only, once the meanings reversed themselves, wouldn't it start all over again with 71% voting for Bush and only 27% for Kerry? Now I'm confused. Waily!
• Dead Derrida would have rendered the conversion of a US military base into an Indian American-owned technology park a non-event because really, did anything there change except the words?
• Dead Derrida could spread yoga beyond the liberal three coasts by making it clear that body and movement are also text, and therefore meaningless, contradictory, layered, and ultimately an expression of family values and an incredibly effective gay-bashing technique. Rather than lobbying Congress, Christian conservatives could down-dog the *&$%@ out of those Godless perverts, setting up their sticky mats in front of Sen. Rick Santorum's office and rounding out each session with a rousing "Kumbaya," whose lyrics could also be interpreted to mean "anti-bunker nukes are worth your pocket change," "punish the homeless," or "rock me, Amadeus."
Posted by claire at 1:44 PM | Comments (2)
Oh Waily, Waily! Derrida is Dead! No more lectures! No more glosses! What we have is all that we'll ever get! Will everyone take advantage of the lapse and not bother to understand deconstruction now? Will we continue on our reactionary, creative-writing-workshop-Margaret-Mead-did-it-best-hagiography-as-trash-compacter-tainted way? Will Bush win the election? Will Jacques have failed?
Or will his passing bring him the mainstream prestige he never acquired (nor sought) in life? Will deconstruction become part of high school curricula? Will Asian American writers, en masse, suddenly stop writing first-person, thinly-veiled autobiography about their grandmothers, and talk excitedly over their cigarettes about L-A-N-G-U-A-G-E poets? Will Fil-Am community performers cease invoking Bulosan in favor of Myung-Mi Kim? Will we all finally just understand that everything is meaningless anyway so we might just as well read REPUBLIC OF FEAR over our soju of a Sunday evening as watch a re-run of "Alias"? Will John Kerry have an acid flashback to when he still had balls?
Here are some things that Jacques could have affected if he had but died earlier (Waily!):
Perhaps Dead Derrida could have convinced those responsible for subcontinental tensions that "Kashmir," "religious conflict" and related issues are really all just "text." Perhaps they'll yet learn to treat Indian American protest as mere "intertextuality."
Dead Derrida could have helped (and could yet!) Vietnamese Americans to understand that all language is inexact, confusing, and full of contradictions; therefore "Bush" and "Kerry" are really the same word. Moreover, to vote for "Bush," one must actually cast one's vote for "Kerry," creating a seemingly opposite effect that would bring all right (or wrong) in the end. ... Only, once the meanings reversed themselves, wouldn't it start all over again with 71% voting for Bush and only 27% for Kerry? Now I'm confused. Waily!
Dead Derrida would have rendered the conversion of a US military base into an Indian American-owned technology park a non-event because really, did anything there change except the words?
Dead Derrida could spread yoga beyond the liberal three coasts by making it clear that body and movement are also text, and therefore meaningless, contradictory, layered, and ultimately an expression of family values and an incredibly effective gay-bashing technique. Rather than lobbying Congress, Christian conservatives could down-dog the *&$%@ out of those Godless perverts, setting up their sticky mats in front of Sen. Rick Santorum's office and rounding out each session with a rousing "Kumbaya," whose lyrics could also be interpreted to mean "anti-bunker nukes are worth your pocket change," "punish the homeless," or "rock me, Amadeus."
Posted by claire at 1:44 PM | Comments (2)
Yipee. Welcome to the Hyphen Blog. A wonderful world of Asian American quirk from the editors/staff of Hyphen.
I was in a bad-ass (or maybe ass-bad would be more accurate) mood on Friday. I was moping in my room watching The Gilmore Girls on DVD under my down comforter, trying to drown out the debate from the living room of my apartment. Isn't that sad? Even with Yoko Ono interrupting my regularly scheduled MTV programming to tell me that this is the most important election of my life, I still could not drag myself out of bed to watch two candidates who are barely any different battle it out on national television. Sigh. I know I'm just being a pessimist, but as a Green Party member and a proud Nader 2000 voter, Kerry just doesn't do it for me. In fact, voting for Kerry is going to make me feel downright dirty.
I went to see writer/anti-globalization leader Arundhati Roy speak in front of a crowd of adoring fans in Berkeley back in August -- and I'm not a huge fan of the charming Miss Roy myself, but that's a whole other entry -- but she did say some stuff about the election that really stuck with me. Writer Sandip Roy-Chowdhury (a Hyphen Advisory Board member) got her to talk about it when he interviewed her for India Currents and KALW's Up Front. In answer to a question about distinguishing between American people and the American government, Arundhati said:
"Look at the clash between Bush and Kerry. Kerry has said he supports the war, Kerry said he would support the war even if he knew WMDs were not to be found, Kerry just wants UN cover. Which means Indians and Pakistanis will go to Iraq and die instead. And French and Germans and Russians can share in the spoils of Iraq. This is a difficult question the anti-war movement has to ask itself. If it openly campaigns for Kerry, is it openly supporting soft-imperialism -- killing me softly?"
Something to think about. Nice one, Arundhati. Now, was it really that necessary to wear a snug-fitting, white tank top in the poster for your speech?
But anyway, whine whine whine, I guess that's not really the point about this upcoming election. Dirty or not, I still want to vote for Kerry and maybe I'll even go join South Asians for Kerry on Sunday in San Francisco for a phone banking for swing states event in order to feel better about myself. I do have to give props to South Asians for Kerry -- this organization is breaking down the boundaries between Indians and Pakistanis and forming a progressive coalition that's been making some serious waves. Plus they have cool t-shirts that say "Just Vote, yaar." Nice.
-N. Banerjee
Posted by neela at 5:31 PM | Comments (0)
Yipee. Welcome to the Hyphen Blog. A wonderful world of Asian American quirk from the editors/staff of Hyphen.
I was in a bad-ass (or maybe ass-bad would be more accurate) mood on Friday. I was moping in my room watching The Gilmore Girls on DVD under my down comforter, trying to drown out the debate from the living room of my apartment. Isn't that sad? Even with Yoko Ono interrupting my regularly scheduled MTV programming to tell me that this is the most important election of my life, I still could not drag myself out of bed to watch two candidates who are barely any different battle it out on national television. Sigh. I know I'm just being a pessimist, but as a Green Party member and a proud Nader 2000 voter, Kerry just doesn't do it for me. In fact, voting for Kerry is going to make me feel downright dirty.
I went to see writer/anti-globalization leader Arundhati Roy speak in front of a crowd of adoring fans in Berkeley back in August -- and I'm not a huge fan of the charming Miss Roy myself, but that's a whole other entry -- but she did say some stuff about the election that really stuck with me. Writer Sandip Roy-Chowdhury (a Hyphen Advisory Board member) got her to talk about it when he interviewed her for India Currents and KALW's Up Front. In answer to a question about distinguishing between American people and the American government, Arundhati said:
"Look at the clash between Bush and Kerry. Kerry has said he supports the war, Kerry said he would support the war even if he knew WMDs were not to be found, Kerry just wants UN cover. Which means Indians and Pakistanis will go to Iraq and die instead. And French and Germans and Russians can share in the spoils of Iraq. This is a difficult question the anti-war movement has to ask itself. If it openly campaigns for Kerry, is it openly supporting soft-imperialism -- killing me softly?"
Something to think about. Nice one, Arundhati. Now, was it really that necessary to wear a snug-fitting, white tank top in the poster for your speech?
But anyway, whine whine whine, I guess that's not really the point about this upcoming election. Dirty or not, I still want to vote for Kerry and maybe I'll even go join South Asians for Kerry on Sunday in San Francisco for a phone banking for swing states event in order to feel better about myself. I do have to give props to South Asians for Kerry -- this organization is breaking down the boundaries between Indians and Pakistanis and forming a progressive coalition that's been making some serious waves. Plus they have cool t-shirts that say "Just Vote, yaar." Nice.
-N. Banerjee
Posted by neela at 5:31 PM | Comments (0)
Yipee. Welcome to the Hyphen Blog. A wonderful world of Asian American quirk from the editors/staff of Hyphen.
I was in a bad-ass (or maybe ass-bad would be more accurate) mood on Friday. I was moping in my room watching The Gilmore Girls on DVD under my down comforter, trying to drown out the debate from the living room of my apartment. Isn't that sad? Even with Yoko Ono interrupting my regularly scheduled MTV programming to tell me that this is the most important election of my life, I still could not drag myself out of bed to watch two candidates who are barely any different battle it out on national television. Sigh. I know I'm just being a pessimist, but as a Green Party member and a proud Nader 2000 voter, Kerry just doesn't do it for me. In fact, voting for Kerry is going to make me feel downright dirty.
I went to see writer/anti-globalization leader Arundhati Roy speak in front of a crowd of adoring fans in Berkeley back in August -- and I'm not a huge fan of the charming Miss Roy myself, but that's a whole other entry -- but she did say some stuff about the election that really stuck with me. Writer Sandip Roy-Chowdhury (a Hyphen Advisory Board member) got her to talk about it when he interviewed her for India Currents and KALW's Up Front. In answer to a question about distinguishing between American people and the American government, Arundhati said:
"Look at the clash between Bush and Kerry. Kerry has said he supports the war, Kerry said he would support the war even if he knew WMDs were not to be found, Kerry just wants UN cover. Which means Indians and Pakistanis will go to Iraq and die instead. And French and Germans and Russians can share in the spoils of Iraq. This is a difficult question the anti-war movement has to ask itself. If it openly campaigns for Kerry, is it openly supporting soft-imperialism -- killing me softly?"
Something to think about. Nice one, Arundhati. Now, was it really that necessary to wear a snug-fitting, white tank top in the poster for your speech?
But anyway, whine whine whine, I guess that's not really the point about this upcoming election. Dirty or not, I still want to vote for Kerry and maybe I'll even go join South Asians for Kerry on Sunday in San Francisco for a phone banking for swing states event in order to feel better about myself. I do have to give props to South Asians for Kerry -- this organization is breaking down the boundaries between Indians and Pakistanis and forming a progressive coalition that's been making some serious waves. Plus they have cool t-shirts that say "Just Vote, yaar." Nice.
-N. Banerjee
Posted by neela at 5:31 PM | Comments (0)
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