Hello Monday. It was a long weekend filled with Hyphen events and appearances. First, thanks to those who stopped by to talk to us Saturday at the Asian American Music Conference, where Audrey was holding down the fort, and the Independent Press Association conference, where I spoke on a panel about niche readership. One thing that was brought up during a discussion at the latter was that some magazines have friendster profiles to help keep in touch with their readers and announce events. Hyphen is one such magazine, so if you want to be our friendster, just look us up! We always love hearing from readers. (If you do a search, our first name is Hyphen, last name is Magazine.)
Also, many thanks to the generous folks who came out to the Tsunami Fundraiser on Friday night at Varnish. Exact figures are not in yet, but we raised more than $2,700 to help tsunami vicitms in Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Best of all, a donor has pledged to match the funds!
Speaking of the tsunami, the latest on the Hot 97 controvery is that an email is circulating claiming that Miss Jones did not write or perform the racist tsunami song and places the blame on producer Rick Delgado.
Right. I can't believe someone would even try to deflect the blame like that, especially if you listen to the clip and hear the yelling that goes on between Miss Jones and Miss Info, the only person on the show who objected to the song. If anyone gets ahold of this email, please post it. I'd like to read it for myself.
(Credit: Pop Life)
Posted by Melissa at 2:51 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack
Hello Monday. It was a long weekend filled with Hyphen events and appearances. First, thanks to those who stopped by to talk to us Saturday at the Asian American Music Conference, where Audrey was holding down the fort, and the Independent Press Association conference, where I spoke on a panel about niche readership. One thing that was brought up during a discussion at the latter was that some magazines have friendster profiles to help keep in touch with their readers and announce events. Hyphen is one such magazine, so if you want to be our friendster, just look us up! We always love hearing from readers. (If you do a search, our first name is Hyphen, last name is Magazine.)
Also, many thanks to the generous folks who came out to the Tsunami Fundraiser on Friday night at Varnish. Exact figures are not in yet, but we raised more than $2,700 to help tsunami vicitms in Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Best of all, a donor has pledged to match the funds!
Speaking of the tsunami, the latest on the Hot 97 controvery is that an email is circulating claiming that Miss Jones did not write or perform the racist tsunami song and places the blame on producer Rick Delgado.
Right. I can't believe someone would even try to deflect the blame like that, especially if you listen to the clip and hear the yelling that goes on between Miss Jones and Miss Info, the only person on the show who objected to the song. If anyone gets ahold of this email, please post it. I'd like to read it for myself.
(Credit: Pop Life)
Posted by Melissa at 2:51 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack
Hello Monday. It was a long weekend filled with Hyphen events and appearances. First, thanks to those who stopped by to talk to us Saturday at the Asian American Music Conference, where Audrey was holding down the fort, and the Independent Press Association conference, where I spoke on a panel about niche readership. One thing that was brought up during a discussion at the latter was that some magazines have friendster profiles to help keep in touch with their readers and announce events. Hyphen is one such magazine, so if you want to be our friendster, just look us up! We always love hearing from readers. (If you do a search, our first name is Hyphen, last name is Magazine.)
Also, many thanks to the generous folks who came out to the Tsunami Fundraiser on Friday night at Varnish. Exact figures are not in yet, but we raised more than $2,700 to help tsunami vicitms in Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Best of all, a donor has pledged to match the funds!
Speaking of the tsunami, the latest on the Hot 97 controvery is that an email is circulating claiming that Miss Jones did not write or perform the racist tsunami song and places the blame on producer Rick Delgado.
Right. I can't believe someone would even try to deflect the blame like that, especially if you listen to the clip and hear the yelling that goes on between Miss Jones and Miss Info, the only person on the show who objected to the song. If anyone gets ahold of this email, please post it. I'd like to read it for myself.
(Credit: Pop Life)
Posted by Melissa at 2:51 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
... in all the wrong places? Me too. *Sigh*. I'll never forget my confusion when I discovered that driving slowly past single men walking down the street and propositioning them loudly out the window was considered culturally inappropriate. How am I supposed to meet men now?
If you have a similar problem, let us play matchmaker for you! I'm organizing an event in two weeks which not only takes the guesswork out of propositioning strange men (or women), but is culturally appropriate, safe, and even respectful and fun. I'm writing, of course, of Hyphen's SPEED YOUR LOVE speed dating fundraiser, a fundraiser important enough to Hyphen for me to feel that I have a right to bust in on someone else's blog day (although I restrained myself, and didn't -- I'm just busting in on my own blog day).
Last year, when we started speed dating, we were asked why we felt that this was an appropriate event for a magazine such as Hyphen to organize. Recently, this discussion has come up again within our staff, especially with regard to the question: do we really want Hyphen to be associated with a frivolous dating event? I think Jennifer answered this best:
"Dating is an important part of life, especially for our readers. For a lot of people, dating is the MOST important thing. I don't think we should dismiss that as frivolous, because it's about a very innate part of most human's lives, mating. It's also about connecting with people and providing those connections between others. Culturally, our people have used matchmakers or go-betweens, parental input and blind dates. In a society that has grown fragmented, Hyphen is not only trying to create a community but trying to fill some of those vital functions. So Hyphen is actually fulfilling a real need. We like speed dating because it's safe, it's fun, it's affirmative."
Of course dating, even event organizing, is not Hyphen's primary purpose, but we certainly don't mind throwing some action your way if it'll make us money. And it will, if you participate! To find out what speed dating is all about, read our event announcement here, or our event FAQ here. To register, go here.
And don't forget: if you don't find anybody, you can still try hanging out on street corners!
p.s.: Here's a testimonial from one of last year's speed daters who will be celebrating a one-year anniversary soon. Congrats Sid and Anita!
"I went speeddating not knowing who I would meet, but met a politically active Asian American feminist woman who, in the name of subverting the dominant white male paradigm, loves to cook, clean, and give massages for her Asian American man. Even after a whole year of being together she's still loving it and everyday I love her more and more." -Sid,speedater #86
Posted by claire at 1:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
... in all the wrong places? Me too. *Sigh*. I'll never forget my confusion when I discovered that driving slowly past single men walking down the street and propositioning them loudly out the window was considered culturally inappropriate. How am I supposed to meet men now?
If you have a similar problem, let us play matchmaker for you! I'm organizing an event in two weeks which not only takes the guesswork out of propositioning strange men (or women), but is culturally appropriate, safe, and even respectful and fun. I'm writing, of course, of Hyphen's SPEED YOUR LOVE speed dating fundraiser, a fundraiser important enough to Hyphen for me to feel that I have a right to bust in on someone else's blog day (although I restrained myself, and didn't -- I'm just busting in on my own blog day).
Last year, when we started speed dating, we were asked why we felt that this was an appropriate event for a magazine such as Hyphen to organize. Recently, this discussion has come up again within our staff, especially with regard to the question: do we really want Hyphen to be associated with a frivolous dating event? I think Jennifer answered this best:
"Dating is an important part of life, especially for our readers. For a lot of people, dating is the MOST important thing. I don't think we should dismiss that as frivolous, because it's about a very innate part of most human's lives, mating. It's also about connecting with people and providing those connections between others. Culturally, our people have used matchmakers or go-betweens, parental input and blind dates. In a society that has grown fragmented, Hyphen is not only trying to create a community but trying to fill some of those vital functions. So Hyphen is actually fulfilling a real need. We like speed dating because it's safe, it's fun, it's affirmative."
Of course dating, even event organizing, is not Hyphen's primary purpose, but we certainly don't mind throwing some action your way if it'll make us money. And it will, if you participate! To find out what speed dating is all about, read our event announcement here, or our event FAQ here. To register, go here.
And don't forget: if you don't find anybody, you can still try hanging out on street corners!
p.s.: Here's a testimonial from one of last year's speed daters who will be celebrating a one-year anniversary soon. Congrats Sid and Anita!
"I went speeddating not knowing who I would meet, but met a politically active Asian American feminist woman who, in the name of subverting the dominant white male paradigm, loves to cook, clean, and give massages for her Asian American man. Even after a whole year of being together she's still loving it and everyday I love her more and more." -Sid,speedater #86
Posted by claire at 1:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
... in all the wrong places? Me too. *Sigh*. I'll never forget my confusion when I discovered that driving slowly past single men walking down the street and propositioning them loudly out the window was considered culturally inappropriate. How am I supposed to meet men now?
If you have a similar problem, let us play matchmaker for you! I'm organizing an event in two weeks which not only takes the guesswork out of propositioning strange men (or women), but is culturally appropriate, safe, and even respectful and fun. I'm writing, of course, of Hyphen's SPEED YOUR LOVE speed dating fundraiser, a fundraiser important enough to Hyphen for me to feel that I have a right to bust in on someone else's blog day (although I restrained myself, and didn't -- I'm just busting in on my own blog day).
Last year, when we started speed dating, we were asked why we felt that this was an appropriate event for a magazine such as Hyphen to organize. Recently, this discussion has come up again within our staff, especially with regard to the question: do we really want Hyphen to be associated with a frivolous dating event? I think Jennifer answered this best:
"Dating is an important part of life, especially for our readers. For a lot of people, dating is the MOST important thing. I don't think we should dismiss that as frivolous, because it's about a very innate part of most human's lives, mating. It's also about connecting with people and providing those connections between others. Culturally, our people have used matchmakers or go-betweens, parental input and blind dates. In a society that has grown fragmented, Hyphen is not only trying to create a community but trying to fill some of those vital functions. So Hyphen is actually fulfilling a real need. We like speed dating because it's safe, it's fun, it's affirmative."
Of course dating, even event organizing, is not Hyphen's primary purpose, but we certainly don't mind throwing some action your way if it'll make us money. And it will, if you participate! To find out what speed dating is all about, read our event announcement here, or our event FAQ here. To register, go here.
And don't forget: if you don't find anybody, you can still try hanging out on street corners!
p.s.: Here's a testimonial from one of last year's speed daters who will be celebrating a one-year anniversary soon. Congrats Sid and Anita!
"I went speeddating not knowing who I would meet, but met a politically active Asian American feminist woman who, in the name of subverting the dominant white male paradigm, loves to cook, clean, and give massages for her Asian American man. Even after a whole year of being together she's still loving it and everyday I love her more and more." -Sid,speedater #86
Posted by claire at 1:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
I got the most recent issue of Entertainment Weekly for this week. It's one of my "guilty pleasure" magazine reads, that I actually have a subscription for.
EN never ceases to amaze me with the (underground) hip-hop albums they review. (Hello, did you catch Buck 65?) Last week I was pleased to read a review for Haruki Murakami's new book Kafka on the Shore. And this week there's an article on books about stupid American tourists in Asia.
They mention Thai American writer Rattawut Lapcharoensap's Sightseeing. I was disturbed that EN didn't rate it at least a "B+," because I bought the book last week and was so engrossed by it, that I read it in two evening sittings.
That's enough for today, I'm off to my evening class!
Posted by Audrey at 5:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
I got the most recent issue of Entertainment Weekly for this week. It's one of my "guilty pleasure" magazine reads, that I actually have a subscription for.
EN never ceases to amaze me with the (underground) hip-hop albums they review. (Hello, did you catch Buck 65?) Last week I was pleased to read a review for Haruki Murakami's new book Kafka on the Shore. And this week there's an article on books about stupid American tourists in Asia.
They mention Thai American writer Rattawut Lapcharoensap's Sightseeing. I was disturbed that EN didn't rate it at least a "B+," because I bought the book last week and was so engrossed by it, that I read it in two evening sittings.
That's enough for today, I'm off to my evening class!
Posted by Audrey at 5:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
I got the most recent issue of Entertainment Weekly for this week. It's one of my "guilty pleasure" magazine reads, that I actually have a subscription for.
EN never ceases to amaze me with the (underground) hip-hop albums they review. (Hello, did you catch Buck 65?) Last week I was pleased to read a review for Haruki Murakami's new book Kafka on the Shore. And this week there's an article on books about stupid American tourists in Asia.
They mention Thai American writer Rattawut Lapcharoensap's Sightseeing. I was disturbed that EN didn't rate it at least a "B+," because I bought the book last week and was so engrossed by it, that I read it in two evening sittings.
That's enough for today, I'm off to my evening class!
Posted by Audrey at 5:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
When it rains, it pours: These next few weeks will be a shit storm of Hyphen happenings coming your way! This week has been all about relentless e-tag and phone-tag, trying to set up speaking engagements and locking down details for events. (And I'm only talking February, here. March is something else altogether.)
As far as interviews and public speaking go, I've been pretty hands off thus far because I've been so burdened by other publisher duties. Having to sit and prepare talking points and psyche myself out to be on good behavior in public just wasn't a priority in 2004. However, next month I throw caution to the wind and, as one of the leaders of your beloved rag, shall do my share of public speaking. I shall also leave the comfort of my home (default Hyphen office) and party with the kiddies (staff) for a good cause.
Friday night I will be tabling with other Hyphen staffers at Varnish Gallery in San Francisco for a fundraiser to aid victims of the tsunami. Check the details:
January 28th 2005
Varnish Gallery
9pm-1am
77 Natoma Street
San Francisco, CA
There will be a $15 cover. All proceeds will be donated to the victims of the tsunami disaster in Indonesia and Sri Lanka through: oneSriLanka Foundation, Padi Nasunthara, and United Way (Tsunami Aid for Sri Lanka).
Saturday I will be tabling solo at the second annual Asian American Music Conference in Burlingame. Please drop by and say Hi and come check out performances by some great up-and-coming Asian American talent! (On the same day, you can catch my roommate/Hyphen's editor in chief, Melissa Hung, at the Defining a New Reader panel at 2 PM for the Independent Press Association's conference.)
Even better, on Thursday, February 3rd I will (play hooky from my evening class) speak at a panel for South Bay First Thursdays ( the sister organization to San Francisco's Third Thursdays). Since February is the Hallmark Month of Love and Hyphen is holding our annual speed dating fundraiser on Saturday, February 12 (have you registered yet?), it seems fitting that I drop my two cents on a panel titled "Man Jose: Dating Challenges in the South Bay." It should be an interesting discussion. I hardly feel like Carrie Bradshaw from Sex & The City, but this is a favor I owe Christine and Gracie at CATS and SBFT.
And finally, on Saturday, February 19, Chris Fan (Hyphen's Special Agent on the East Coast) and I will be in attendance at the East Coast Asian American Student Union conference in Philadelphia, at the University of Pennsylvania. Specifics are still being worked out, but Chris and I will be participating in a Q & A about Asian American media and social change. (I wonder if I'll have a Mountain Brothers sighting while I'm in Philly?)
Generally I like to be incognito--behind the scenes. But I suppose as the publisher of a magazine, that's a contradiction. I'll look at this as my "debut." I like to make new friends, so I hope to see you all in attendance at any of these upcoming events! Hyphen is friendly--we don't bite!
Posted by Audrey at 2:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
When it rains, it pours: These next few weeks will be a shit storm of Hyphen happenings coming your way! This week has been all about relentless e-tag and phone-tag, trying to set up speaking engagements and locking down details for events. (And I'm only talking February, here. March is something else altogether.)
As far as interviews and public speaking go, I've been pretty hands off thus far because I've been so burdened by other publisher duties. Having to sit and prepare talking points and psyche myself out to be on good behavior in public just wasn't a priority in 2004. However, next month I throw caution to the wind and, as one of the leaders of your beloved rag, shall do my share of public speaking. I shall also leave the comfort of my home (default Hyphen office) and party with the kiddies (staff) for a good cause.
Friday night I will be tabling with other Hyphen staffers at Varnish Gallery in San Francisco for a fundraiser to aid victims of the tsunami. Check the details:
January 28th 2005
Varnish Gallery
9pm-1am
77 Natoma Street
San Francisco, CA
There will be a $15 cover. All proceeds will be donated to the victims of the tsunami disaster in Indonesia and Sri Lanka through: oneSriLanka Foundation, Padi Nasunthara, and United Way (Tsunami Aid for Sri Lanka).
Saturday I will be tabling solo at the second annual Asian American Music Conference in Burlingame. Please drop by and say Hi and come check out performances by some great up-and-coming Asian American talent! (On the same day, you can catch my roommate/Hyphen's editor in chief, Melissa Hung, at the Defining a New Reader panel at 2 PM for the Independent Press Association's conference.)
Even better, on Thursday, February 3rd I will (play hooky from my evening class) speak at a panel for South Bay First Thursdays ( the sister organization to San Francisco's Third Thursdays). Since February is the Hallmark Month of Love and Hyphen is holding our annual speed dating fundraiser on Saturday, February 12 (have you registered yet?), it seems fitting that I drop my two cents on a panel titled "Man Jose: Dating Challenges in the South Bay." It should be an interesting discussion. I hardly feel like Carrie Bradshaw from Sex & The City, but this is a favor I owe Christine and Gracie at CATS and SBFT.
And finally, on Saturday, February 19, Chris Fan (Hyphen's Special Agent on the East Coast) and I will be in attendance at the East Coast Asian American Student Union conference in Philadelphia, at the University of Pennsylvania. Specifics are still being worked out, but Chris and I will be participating in a Q & A about Asian American media and social change. (I wonder if I'll have a Mountain Brothers sighting while I'm in Philly?)
Generally I like to be incognito--behind the scenes. But I suppose as the publisher of a magazine, that's a contradiction. I'll look at this as my "debut." I like to make new friends, so I hope to see you all in attendance at any of these upcoming events! Hyphen is friendly--we don't bite!
Posted by Audrey at 2:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
When it rains, it pours: These next few weeks will be a shit storm of Hyphen happenings coming your way! This week has been all about relentless e-tag and phone-tag, trying to set up speaking engagements and locking down details for events. (And I'm only talking February, here. March is something else altogether.)
As far as interviews and public speaking go, I've been pretty hands off thus far because I've been so burdened by other publisher duties. Having to sit and prepare talking points and psyche myself out to be on good behavior in public just wasn't a priority in 2004. However, next month I throw caution to the wind and, as one of the leaders of your beloved rag, shall do my share of public speaking. I shall also leave the comfort of my home (default Hyphen office) and party with the kiddies (staff) for a good cause.
Friday night I will be tabling with other Hyphen staffers at Varnish Gallery in San Francisco for a fundraiser to aid victims of the tsunami. Check the details:
January 28th 2005
Varnish Gallery
9pm-1am
77 Natoma Street
San Francisco, CA
There will be a $15 cover. All proceeds will be donated to the victims of the tsunami disaster in Indonesia and Sri Lanka through: oneSriLanka Foundation, Padi Nasunthara, and United Way (Tsunami Aid for Sri Lanka).
Saturday I will be tabling solo at the second annual Asian American Music Conference in Burlingame. Please drop by and say Hi and come check out performances by some great up-and-coming Asian American talent! (On the same day, you can catch my roommate/Hyphen's editor in chief, Melissa Hung, at the Defining a New Reader panel at 2 PM for the Independent Press Association's conference.)
Even better, on Thursday, February 3rd I will (play hooky from my evening class) speak at a panel for South Bay First Thursdays ( the sister organization to San Francisco's Third Thursdays). Since February is the Hallmark Month of Love and Hyphen is holding our annual speed dating fundraiser on Saturday, February 12 (have you registered yet?), it seems fitting that I drop my two cents on a panel titled "Man Jose: Dating Challenges in the South Bay." It should be an interesting discussion. I hardly feel like Carrie Bradshaw from Sex & The City, but this is a favor I owe Christine and Gracie at CATS and SBFT.
And finally, on Saturday, February 19, Chris Fan (Hyphen's Special Agent on the East Coast) and I will be in attendance at the East Coast Asian American Student Union conference in Philadelphia, at the University of Pennsylvania. Specifics are still being worked out, but Chris and I will be participating in a Q & A about Asian American media and social change. (I wonder if I'll have a Mountain Brothers sighting while I'm in Philly?)
Generally I like to be incognito--behind the scenes. But I suppose as the publisher of a magazine, that's a contradiction. I'll look at this as my "debut." I like to make new friends, so I hope to see you all in attendance at any of these upcoming events! Hyphen is friendly--we don't bite!
Posted by Audrey at 2:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
You've probably heard of it by now, but if not, the latest in racist "shock" radio news is the universally offensive "Tsunami Song" which was airing on NYC's Hot 97 for the past few weeks. Check out some of the lyrics:
"You could hear the screaming chinks and no one was safe from the wave
There were Africans drowning, little Chinamen swept away
You could hear god laughing, 'swim you bitches swim'
So now you're screwed, it's the Tsunami
You better run or kiss your ass away, go find your mommy
I just saw her float by, a tree went through her head
and now the children will be sold to child slavery..."
Listen to the song, which pretty much speaks for itself. Or listen to the clip of the Hot 97 morning show in which Asian American co-host Miss Info is slammed for voicing her objection to the song.
Hot 97 has since issued a lame apology, but you can also sign an online petition or contact any one of the station's sponsors.
Posted by Lisa at 6:13 PM | Comments (25) | TrackBack
You've probably heard of it by now, but if not, the latest in racist "shock" radio news is the universally offensive "Tsunami Song" which was airing on NYC's Hot 97 for the past few weeks. Check out some of the lyrics:
"You could hear the screaming chinks and no one was safe from the wave
There were Africans drowning, little Chinamen swept away
You could hear god laughing, 'swim you bitches swim'
So now you're screwed, it's the Tsunami
You better run or kiss your ass away, go find your mommy
I just saw her float by, a tree went through her head
and now the children will be sold to child slavery..."
Listen to the song, which pretty much speaks for itself. Or listen to the clip of the Hot 97 morning show in which Asian American co-host Miss Info is slammed for voicing her objection to the song.
Hot 97 has since issued a lame apology, but you can also sign an online petition or contact any one of the station's sponsors.
Posted by Lisa at 6:13 PM | Comments (25) | TrackBack
You've probably heard of it by now, but if not, the latest in racist "shock" radio news is the universally offensive "Tsunami Song" which was airing on NYC's Hot 97 for the past few weeks. Check out some of the lyrics:
"You could hear the screaming chinks and no one was safe from the wave
There were Africans drowning, little Chinamen swept away
You could hear god laughing, 'swim you bitches swim'
So now you're screwed, it's the Tsunami
You better run or kiss your ass away, go find your mommy
I just saw her float by, a tree went through her head
and now the children will be sold to child slavery..."
Listen to the song, which pretty much speaks for itself. Or listen to the clip of the Hot 97 morning show in which Asian American co-host Miss Info is slammed for voicing her objection to the song.
Hot 97 has since issued a lame apology, but you can also sign an online petition or contact any one of the station's sponsors.
Posted by Lisa at 6:13 PM | Comments (25) | TrackBack
I share an office here at work, and like all office-sharers, Jane (not her real name) and I share a lot of laughs. She reads out quotes from Martin of the Simpsons ("Miss Hoover, my worm went in my mouth so i ate it.") prints out the 2005 David Hasselhoff calendar, and plays an eclectic collection of music that alternatively soothes, grates, and entertains.
Recently she pulled out the Neil Diamond. I've alway thought of Neil Diamond as sappy music played by lonely women in their fifties, but I don't pay attention to such things. Now, listening to the lyrics, I've learned the Neil is a bigoted ass.
In his song, "Free Life" Neil says, "Sing it like a black man...I'm talking about round, brown women... it don't matter if she's a belle, we'll just have a time." Other songs talk about getting with "a poor man's woman," and generally have the attitude of a white man sampling the women of the world.
Which is nothing new, of course. The thing is, Jane, who is white, is the one that pointed this out to me. "This is so racist!" she says with a laugh. And continues playing it. And plays it for other colleagues who come to chat in our room. "Check out how racist this is!" she says, and we all laugh.
The idea of course, is that we're so enlightened, we're so post-racism, post-PC that we can laugh about it. But can we?
I felt the same conflict when I went to go see Kate Rigg's Chinkorama a few years ago. It was a first and last date because the guy couldn't figure out why I wasn't laughing my ass off. He seemed to think I was a humorless wench or something.
Basically, the show was the reenactment of every bad asian stereotype you've ever heard of. Polynesian tiki girls and dragon lady seductresses and the whole bit. According to her website,
"Kate's Chink-O-Rama deconstructs, repositions, ridicules, explodes, embodies, satirizes, re-visions, dissects, reconstructs addresses, discusses, challenges images of Asian America found in pop culture and mass media.... it's a comedy music revue in the style of In Living Color, but with a decidedly asian slant.
And on a level, I'm sure it was all these things. Rigg is very politically aware and expressed that in her show. But looking around at the mostly caucasian audience, I had the uncomfortable feeling that at another level, it was just a bunch white people laughing at the brown people aping themselves.
Is that okay because it was San Francisco, and the population is supposedly more politically enlightened? Are they, really?
Would it be called into question more if it were rural Kentuckians yukking it up? What if it were African Americans? What if it were all Asians?
That raises that unanswerable question, who is allowed to make fun of who's group? And then someone points out that black people can use the n-word and nobody else can, but some white people who have grown up in the hood feel they can, and if Joe is fluent in Chinese than why can't he laugh at the falling-down nerd skit?
Well here's my humorless answer: I don't think we're there yet. With neo-nazi's targeting Asians in Minnesota, with AA representation in the mainstream media limited to the same narrow, tired, roles, with 30% or whatever Americans saying they don't trust Asians, with the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act less than 100 years away, I don't think Americans have the cultural understanding, sensitivity, and interconnectedness to put on the blackface, make their eyes squinty and their teeth buck, or call their sports teams "the Braves."
I don't think we're far enough away from the colonist attitudes of convert and civilize.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Neil Diamond.
Posted by jennifer at 2:55 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
I share an office here at work, and like all office-sharers, Jane (not her real name) and I share a lot of laughs. She reads out quotes from Martin of the Simpsons ("Miss Hoover, my worm went in my mouth so i ate it.") prints out the 2005 David Hasselhoff calendar, and plays an eclectic collection of music that alternatively soothes, grates, and entertains.
Recently she pulled out the Neil Diamond. I've alway thought of Neil Diamond as sappy music played by lonely women in their fifties, but I don't pay attention to such things. Now, listening to the lyrics, I've learned the Neil is a bigoted ass.
In his song, "Free Life" Neil says, "Sing it like a black man...I'm talking about round, brown women... it don't matter if she's a belle, we'll just have a time." Other songs talk about getting with "a poor man's woman," and generally have the attitude of a white man sampling the women of the world.
Which is nothing new, of course. The thing is, Jane, who is white, is the one that pointed this out to me. "This is so racist!" she says with a laugh. And continues playing it. And plays it for other colleagues who come to chat in our room. "Check out how racist this is!" she says, and we all laugh.
The idea of course, is that we're so enlightened, we're so post-racism, post-PC that we can laugh about it. But can we?
I felt the same conflict when I went to go see Kate Rigg's Chinkorama a few years ago. It was a first and last date because the guy couldn't figure out why I wasn't laughing my ass off. He seemed to think I was a humorless wench or something.
Basically, the show was the reenactment of every bad asian stereotype you've ever heard of. Polynesian tiki girls and dragon lady seductresses and the whole bit. According to her website,
"Kate's Chink-O-Rama deconstructs, repositions, ridicules, explodes, embodies, satirizes, re-visions, dissects, reconstructs addresses, discusses, challenges images of Asian America found in pop culture and mass media.... it's a comedy music revue in the style of In Living Color, but with a decidedly asian slant.
And on a level, I'm sure it was all these things. Rigg is very politically aware and expressed that in her show. But looking around at the mostly caucasian audience, I had the uncomfortable feeling that at another level, it was just a bunch white people laughing at the brown people aping themselves.
Is that okay because it was San Francisco, and the population is supposedly more politically enlightened? Are they, really?
Would it be called into question more if it were rural Kentuckians yukking it up? What if it were African Americans? What if it were all Asians?
That raises that unanswerable question, who is allowed to make fun of who's group? And then someone points out that black people can use the n-word and nobody else can, but some white people who have grown up in the hood feel they can, and if Joe is fluent in Chinese than why can't he laugh at the falling-down nerd skit?
Well here's my humorless answer: I don't think we're there yet. With neo-nazi's targeting Asians in Minnesota, with AA representation in the mainstream media limited to the same narrow, tired, roles, with 30% or whatever Americans saying they don't trust Asians, with the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act less than 100 years away, I don't think Americans have the cultural understanding, sensitivity, and interconnectedness to put on the blackface, make their eyes squinty and their teeth buck, or call their sports teams "the Braves."
I don't think we're far enough away from the colonist attitudes of convert and civilize.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Neil Diamond.
Posted by jennifer at 2:55 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
I share an office here at work, and like all office-sharers, Jane (not her real name) and I share a lot of laughs. She reads out quotes from Martin of the Simpsons ("Miss Hoover, my worm went in my mouth so i ate it.") prints out the 2005 David Hasselhoff calendar, and plays an eclectic collection of music that alternatively soothes, grates, and entertains.
Recently she pulled out the Neil Diamond. I've alway thought of Neil Diamond as sappy music played by lonely women in their fifties, but I don't pay attention to such things. Now, listening to the lyrics, I've learned the Neil is a bigoted ass.
In his song, "Free Life" Neil says, "Sing it like a black man...I'm talking about round, brown women... it don't matter if she's a belle, we'll just have a time." Other songs talk about getting with "a poor man's woman," and generally have the attitude of a white man sampling the women of the world.
Which is nothing new, of course. The thing is, Jane, who is white, is the one that pointed this out to me. "This is so racist!" she says with a laugh. And continues playing it. And plays it for other colleagues who come to chat in our room. "Check out how racist this is!" she says, and we all laugh.
The idea of course, is that we're so enlightened, we're so post-racism, post-PC that we can laugh about it. But can we?
I felt the same conflict when I went to go see Kate Rigg's Chinkorama a few years ago. It was a first and last date because the guy couldn't figure out why I wasn't laughing my ass off. He seemed to think I was a humorless wench or something.
Basically, the show was the reenactment of every bad asian stereotype you've ever heard of. Polynesian tiki girls and dragon lady seductresses and the whole bit. According to her website,
"Kate's Chink-O-Rama deconstructs, repositions, ridicules, explodes, embodies, satirizes, re-visions, dissects, reconstructs addresses, discusses, challenges images of Asian America found in pop culture and mass media.... it's a comedy music revue in the style of In Living Color, but with a decidedly asian slant.
And on a level, I'm sure it was all these things. Rigg is very politically aware and expressed that in her show. But looking around at the mostly caucasian audience, I had the uncomfortable feeling that at another level, it was just a bunch white people laughing at the brown people aping themselves.
Is that okay because it was San Francisco, and the population is supposedly more politically enlightened? Are they, really?
Would it be called into question more if it were rural Kentuckians yukking it up? What if it were African Americans? What if it were all Asians?
That raises that unanswerable question, who is allowed to make fun of who's group? And then someone points out that black people can use the n-word and nobody else can, but some white people who have grown up in the hood feel they can, and if Joe is fluent in Chinese than why can't he laugh at the falling-down nerd skit?
Well here's my humorless answer: I don't think we're there yet. With neo-nazi's targeting Asians in Minnesota, with AA representation in the mainstream media limited to the same narrow, tired, roles, with 30% or whatever Americans saying they don't trust Asians, with the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act less than 100 years away, I don't think Americans have the cultural understanding, sensitivity, and interconnectedness to put on the blackface, make their eyes squinty and their teeth buck, or call their sports teams "the Braves."
I don't think we're far enough away from the colonist attitudes of convert and civilize.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Neil Diamond.
Posted by jennifer at 2:55 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
Sorry to bust in on your day, Mel, but I missed this one last week:
A Minneapolis-based Nazi group was posting fliers last week with pictures of the slain Wisconsin hunters and a caption asking if "diversity" was worth even one American life. Scary, since I usually trust my fellow humans to reject the rhetoric of the extremists, but in these times ... I don't know. Read more here.
Posted by claire at 4:36 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
Sorry to bust in on your day, Mel, but I missed this one last week:
A Minneapolis-based Nazi group was posting fliers last week with pictures of the slain Wisconsin hunters and a caption asking if "diversity" was worth even one American life. Scary, since I usually trust my fellow humans to reject the rhetoric of the extremists, but in these times ... I don't know. Read more here.
Posted by claire at 4:36 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
Sorry to bust in on your day, Mel, but I missed this one last week:
A Minneapolis-based Nazi group was posting fliers last week with pictures of the slain Wisconsin hunters and a caption asking if "diversity" was worth even one American life. Scary, since I usually trust my fellow humans to reject the rhetoric of the extremists, but in these times ... I don't know. Read more here.
Posted by claire at 4:36 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
I go to the post office quite often -- at least once a week. If you've subscribed in the last 6 months, I'm the one who most likely mailed your magazine. I send them out in small batches because a) they're heavy and I carry them by hand with me to work (a good 20 minute walk) and visit the post office during my lunch break and b) I don't want the postal workers at the counter to hate me for bringing in so much stuff because they have to press all these buttons on the machine just to calculate the postage for one item at a certain rate.
The last time I was there, they had the new lunar new year stamps on sale. This year though, they offered not just the Year of the Rooster stamp, but the whole zodiac. The sheet is double sided, so there is a complete set of 12 animals on one side and a mirror image on the other side. Guess what 24 times 37 cents is? $8.88, of course.
For those of you who aren't Chinese -- the number eight in Chinese rhymes with the word for wealthy, thus 8 is a lucky number. I bet the US Postal Service is doing brisk business with these. Also, when I was at Target last weekend, I noticed they were selling red envelopes in the card ailse. The Happy New Year salutation was written in phonetic Mandarin. If they'd done their homework, they would have known that the Chinese in this area are mostly Cantonese speakers. Then again, I don't think Canto folk are going to Target to obtain their little red envelopes. Still, it's nice to see different cultures getting noticed in the larger world of general American commerce. And I'm not talking about the Global Bazaar home furnishing line that Target's been pushing lately with the safari themed decorations and Asiany baskets and pillows.
Posted by Melissa at 3:29 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
I go to the post office quite often -- at least once a week. If you've subscribed in the last 6 months, I'm the one who most likely mailed your magazine. I send them out in small batches because a) they're heavy and I carry them by hand with me to work (a good 20 minute walk) and visit the post office during my lunch break and b) I don't want the postal workers at the counter to hate me for bringing in so much stuff because they have to press all these buttons on the machine just to calculate the postage for one item at a certain rate.
The last time I was there, they had the new lunar new year stamps on sale. This year though, they offered not just the Year of the Rooster stamp, but the whole zodiac. The sheet is double sided, so there is a complete set of 12 animals on one side and a mirror image on the other side. Guess what 24 times 37 cents is? $8.88, of course.
For those of you who aren't Chinese -- the number eight in Chinese rhymes with the word for wealthy, thus 8 is a lucky number. I bet the US Postal Service is doing brisk business with these. Also, when I was at Target last weekend, I noticed they were selling red envelopes in the card ailse. The Happy New Year salutation was written in phonetic Mandarin. If they'd done their homework, they would have known that the Chinese in this area are mostly Cantonese speakers. Then again, I don't think Canto folk are going to Target to obtain their little red envelopes. Still, it's nice to see different cultures getting noticed in the larger world of general American commerce. And I'm not talking about the Global Bazaar home furnishing line that Target's been pushing lately with the safari themed decorations and Asiany baskets and pillows.
Posted by Melissa at 3:29 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
I go to the post office quite often -- at least once a week. If you've subscribed in the last 6 months, I'm the one who most likely mailed your magazine. I send them out in small batches because a) they're heavy and I carry them by hand with me to work (a good 20 minute walk) and visit the post office during my lunch break and b) I don't want the postal workers at the counter to hate me for bringing in so much stuff because they have to press all these buttons on the machine just to calculate the postage for one item at a certain rate.
The last time I was there, they had the new lunar new year stamps on sale. This year though, they offered not just the Year of the Rooster stamp, but the whole zodiac. The sheet is double sided, so there is a complete set of 12 animals on one side and a mirror image on the other side. Guess what 24 times 37 cents is? $8.88, of course.
For those of you who aren't Chinese -- the number eight in Chinese rhymes with the word for wealthy, thus 8 is a lucky number. I bet the US Postal Service is doing brisk business with these. Also, when I was at Target last weekend, I noticed they were selling red envelopes in the card ailse. The Happy New Year salutation was written in phonetic Mandarin. If they'd done their homework, they would have known that the Chinese in this area are mostly Cantonese speakers. Then again, I don't think Canto folk are going to Target to obtain their little red envelopes. Still, it's nice to see different cultures getting noticed in the larger world of general American commerce. And I'm not talking about the Global Bazaar home furnishing line that Target's been pushing lately with the safari themed decorations and Asiany baskets and pillows.
Posted by Melissa at 3:29 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
The world is a vampire.
Okay, now that I have your attention, here's some news.
Hive mind: Iranian American architect Nader Khalili has designed "super adobe" dome houses that, with a little training, tsunami victims could construct for themselves in a matter of days. The main building component? Special sandbags filled with native mud. Why aren't these being built everywhere as we speak? Bureaucracy.
Give a man a fish ... : A study of elderly Japanese American men has revealed a link between weight loss and early onset of dementia. Let's try that again: poor nutrition = early dementia, especially if your grandpa is JA.
But we warned her not to make us mad: A female Iranian American Echostar Executive has filed a lawsuit against her former company for racial and gender discrimination. Allegedly, her boss used to yell at her and humiliate her in front of the other execs. I have nothing flippant or outraged to say about this, except keep an eye on this one.
Am I the only one who finds this scary?: Filipino American officers from the San Francisco Police Department have begun an exchange program with brother officers in the Philippines to exchange techniques 'n' stuff. Against all odds, that doesn't make me feel safer. Wonder what they're doing in their off hours.
Posted by claire at 11:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The world is a vampire.