good one, Red



Morgan Freeman has finally won an Oscar, as best supporting actor for Million Dollar Baby. Took them long enough to give him one.

In slightly related news, Morgan Freeman is going to be starring in an upcoming Jet Li flick called Unleashed, AKA "Danny The Dog". Looks interesting.
posted by G at 3:59 PM   | (0) comments

melting pot



I went out to eat with Josh, Val, and Shiv last night at a fancy joint called The Melting Pot in the Seattle Center area. It was my first time there and while the meal wasn't cheap, it was quite tasty.

In my ever-continuing quest for universal truth and knowledge, I now know this: girls really like chocolate fondue. For myself, a lowballer filled with Bowmore 17 year was quite the nice finish to dinner.


.:.


not a Rhodes scholar, just a rogue scholar

In other news, I got some encouraging results back from the Miller Analogy Test I took back at the end of January. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I opened the envelope and this is what letter said:


Scaled Score: 450
Percentile for Intended Major: 097
Percentile for Total Group: 097


Yeeeeeeeah... take that, MAT! *Pelvic thrust of dominance*

Now all I just have to make sure all the schools I'm applying to that want the MAT get the score report...
posted by G at 6:10 PM   | (0) comments

personality expert?

According to Shiv, this result from this personality test website is me... someone from IIStix posted it on the forum.

I'm inclined to never put any real stock into the stuff these tests spit out, but still... I have to admit it's entertaining. My comments are in italics.

So according to the test:

Name Garrett
Tests Completed 2
(208 qstns)
First Login Feb 2005
Intelligent? Very
Good Looking? Definitely

"You are exceptional and unique. Your quest in life is to identify exactly who you are and why you�re here. What�s important to you is the journey of self discovery, determining who you are today is not the same as who you�ll be tomorrow." (True.)

...

"You resist being categorized and are quick to question any social standard that you sense someone imposing on you. Stereotypical gender roles always interest you and, in your mind, connect to issues that most other people would never even consider related." (True, though gender roles? Haha.)

...

"You can �connect� with any individual person and practically read their mind, but you have a natural tendency to match your actions to the expectations you read from their mind and yearn for company that lets you truly, naturally be yourself. You struggle between letting yourself naturally match the sentiment of the group (which feels like putting on a fa�ade) or letting your individuality shine, which may allow people to see how different you are." (I'm not a comformist, but I am non-confrontational. Usually.)

...

"You are particularly accepting of other people and have a special talent for seeing people�s true selves instinctively. It takes time for you to trust your gut instinct about people because even you don�t believe that someone could be so right about another person�s nature so quickly. This intuitive sense about what people are thinking (which is actually your hyper-attention to nonverbal cues) is your special talent. You may think it is available to everyone and that others just ignore it, but in truth others could never develop the skill to the level which comes naturally to you." (I'd like to think I'm good judge of character.)

...

"To you everything happens on a personal level. Your friends come to you for advice because they know that you�ll love them for who they are and put yourself in their shoes to look at the world. Your advice, although varied in delivery, usually boils down to �be true to yourself� and �listen to your heart.� You are also an excellent confidant because things told to you never return to anyone through the grapevine. You exude this quality so strongly that even strangers will sometimes spontaneously begin confiding their deepest secrets in you." (My advice usually consists of "Suck it up" or "Be flexible" or "Ummm, you really messed up".)

...

"Despite all of that, you are not much of a talker. In fact, words sometimes trip you up because you prefer nonverbal communication. Unfortunately, most of the world is not as attuned to nonverbal communication the way you are, so your opinion can get overshadowed if a more outspoken person is part of the decision." (Very true... I'm not much of a talker.)

...

"You focus more on nurturing other�s self esteem than any other type. As a result of this naturally caring nature your close friends often turn to you for moral support."

...

"You are by far the most talented of all types at reading nonverbal cues. In your admirable attempts to convey a message diplomatically, those who aren't sensitive to inflection, tone, insinuations or body language sometimes simply do not get your message because they only receive the verbal half of what you said." (Yeah, nobody gets what I say.)

...

"In the same way that you're the best at reading nonverbal cues, you're also the best at sending them. When you speak they miss the nonverbal half of your message, then they speak and transmit twice the message (verbal + nonverbal) which often gives away more than they intended but is sometimes carelessly inaccurate since they don�t send nonverbal cues as well as you do. When you're tempted to assign bias based on someone�s tone or other nonverbal cues it is wise to have them restate what they said and see if ignoring the careless, unintentional nonverbal half of their message lets the true meaning through." (My nonverbal cues usually consist of raised eyebrows and making funny faces.)

...

"If you have children your focus is making sure that your child has a strong self-image and high self-esteem. More than other parents it is important for you to be friends with your children."

...


"You are more philosophical than most and passionately think about ethics and justice more than other types. It is when ethical issues come up in conversation that you most strongly sense that you are fundamentally different from other people. You become visually emotionally focused when these issues arise, while others easily laugh them off and switch topics to something trivial. To you, it seems that everyone should be passionate about ending racism, sexism and other social ills." (Very true.)

...

"You go by the book and are suspicious of anyone suggesting that rules or laws should be ignored. You think constantly about improving laws, and see that at a major avenue for advancing social change because you see legislation and rule creation as the consensus opinion of the group working together. For you the focus is seeing everyone working together in harmony." (This makes me sound like a congressman.)

...

"You are a healer and probably give great massages and know what foods will make people happy again. You prefer to surround yourself with direct, honest, authentic people who let you reinvent yourself every time you meet. You want nothing more than for there to be peace and harmony in the world, and your actions clearly reflect that vision." (What the hell... massages?! I'm down with cooking, though.)

...

"You are more strongly moved by poetry and artistic expression than any other type. You are interested in the finer points of different artistic mediums, having many complete and incomplete poems and stories in your head if not on paper." (*nod*)


.:.


news hound

Plenty of interesting stuff to read out there...

A review of Million Dollar Baby that resonates with me from RELEVANT magazine. (warning... SPOILERS)

A good ed-op piece about the need for peace in a US-Muslim world context.

An article about Black History Month advertising and the question of exploitation vs. paying homage.

A new report that says 7 out of 10 single women in Japan say they're perfectly happy. Shocking, considering the pressures of Japanese culture on people to get married.
posted by G at 11:32 AM   | (7) comments

never tell me the odds

So I had my interview at Seattle U this afternoon and it was... alright. I hope I made a decent good impression, but given my lack of spoken eloquence... riiight.

Anyways, it was a group interview with 5 other grad school candidates (4 girls and 1 other guy), conducted by 2 people - the head of the school of education and an additional professor. They asked lots of the usual questions, though the topics were of course, all related to school education, teaching, and this country's education system. The interviewees were of course expected to carry on a spirited discussion while the interviewers took notes... a lot of notes.

All the prospective students seemed a little unnerved by it all, myself included, but I did my best to appear to be prototypical, calm-as-a-monk-contemplating-the-unfathomable-universe that of course all Asian men are assumed to be. Everybody had a different set of backgrounds - one girl spent a year in Holland; another girl led park ranger-esque nature tours & day camps; another girl graduated with a degree in psych; and another girl... I'm not sure what she did or is doing, but it's probably something. The other guy there was a fellow UDub grad who currently coaches basketball and track.

Prior to the interview, we all sat in silence, staring at a framed drawing of a double-decker school bus drawn by a 7-year old Vietnamese kid (last name Nguyen). I studied it absent mindedly incase it was going to be used as a test of my powers of observation (1 driver, smiling; 18 passengers, 9 top, 9 bottom; two wheels which had 5 spokes each; and all the people riding top-side are colored blue or white). Ha.

By the time the interview was over, everyone felt some relief until the interviewers broke the news that School of Education had received a staggering over 250 applications for their program... but only 50 applicants would be admitted to next fall's program. You might figure that gives me a 1 in 5 chance of getting into the school, but it's actually even tougher - the group of 50 will be divided into two groups, those interested in primary education (pre-k, elementary, jr. high) and those interested in secondary education (high school).

For the math geniuses, that means the real odds for me are roughly 1 in 10 since I'm interested in primary education. So... I have about a 10% chance of getting in. Ouch.

It's out of my hands now, though. Unless I'm asked for another interview, I should hear their decision in April...
posted by G at 8:01 PM   | (3) comments

looking for refreshment



I bought some bottles of Amino Value this past weekend at Uwajimaya. When I was in Japan, I used to drink a lot of the stuff whenever I felt dehydrated / sick after running, or what was more frequent the case, too much from this particular family of potent potables.

Since my once-fit frame that was built in Japan has now been destroyed by the pitiful day exercises of shuffling around my house or to my car, I don't suppose I've been in dire need of any special drinks. But hey, amino acids are important! Don't just take my word for it.

Lately, I've been feeling the need to be refreshed and made clean, but not in the physical sense... purely in the spiritual. During this Lent season, while I've been contemplating my relationship to God and gauging where my faith is at this particular time in my life, I can still see the gaping gulf between where I am and where I want to be.

Many days, it can be as disorienting for me as it was in the year following my graduation from the UW. Old expectations and hopes linger, and it's almost as if the distance I feel from God grows with each passing day of their unfulfillment. I suppose part of me is feeling like I'm not "making it"... and not only me, but many of the people in my life who I care for and love, aren't "making it" either.

I'm not outraged about it, but I suspect that feeling has evolved into something worst... being bitter. (Ruth 1:19-21)

And I really wish I didn't feel that way sometimes.


.:.


The idea of "making it", the idea of accomplishing an ambition or achieving a dream, is as old as the founding of America itself. Our culture has even encapsulated the ideal in the catch phrase "The American Dream" - the loving spouse, the ideal job, kids, a community, house, car, dog, etc.

However, the painful reality of coming to adulthood (especially in these times) is that a lot of people are not making it, at least in terms of what "making it" used to be. One of the greatest American plays, Death of a Salesman, echoed the question of what it means to not "make it" (the writer, Arthur Miller passed away recently). Even recent favorite movies also address the same issues more or less... Million Dollar Baby and Sideways come to mind.

Willy Loman, Maggie Fitzgerald, Miles Raymond... sketches of facts that we don't want to acknowledge: For every millionaire or billionaire who hit it big starting a new business, there's thousands of people toiling in blue collar jobs who can barely support themselves, let alone a family. For every sports hero or Olympic superstar, there's a thousand has-beens wrecked by injuries, drugs, or missed opportunities. For every successful artist or writer selling a gazillion copies of their latest work, there's thousands of people writing or creating crap that no one will ever listen to or read.

But nobody wants to believe they're part of the thousands. Most everyone has deluded themselves in believing they're the one (watch any old American Idol tryouts for your dose of painfully hilarious, deluded, egomaniacs).


.:.


Of course "making it" is not just fame or fortune... it goes to something deeper, something less concrete. To me, realizing a dream, even the smallest of the dreams I secretly clutch close, is one step closer to "making it". It's been awhile since I've had the benefit of stepping forward, but I want to believe trust God is helping me lurch forward past this drought... to a time in my life where I won't feel so dry, and so tired of everything.

But the cynical part of me, with a mind so fixated on what has happened in the past, is wary...

...and just waiting to laugh at myself if I end up thirsty all over again.
posted by G at 10:37 AM   | (5) comments

holiday

So it's a holiday today... President's Day, which is usually celebrated every 3rd Monday of February. So who were these guys? Check 'em out right here.

More interesting to me though, is that today is the anniversary of the assassination of Malcom X. Yes, I'm not black, but if you've ever read his autobiography, you'd stop and pause when you think about this: This man was killed because he vocally and unashamedly represented beliefs that were counter to what mainstream, white America wanted to accept.

His death was under pretty suspicious circumstances, as was the deaths of other major civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy. Of course, all the evidence indicting anybody but lone nutcases isn't available... but would the government / authorities want to make it available, hmmm?

I'm reminded of these great lyrics in the song "Wake Up" (heard at the end of the first "The Matrix") by one of my all-time favorite bands, Rage Against the Machine:

Yea, the several federal men
Who pulled schemes on the dream
And put it to an end
Ya better beware
Of retribution with mind war
20/20 visions and murals with metaphors
Networks at work, keepin' people calm
Ya know they murdered X
And tried to blame it on Islam
He turned the power to the have-nots
And then came the shot

Wake up. It's not about black versus white. It's not about Islam versus Christianity. It's not Malcom versus Martin.

It's about justice versus injustice. It's about social progress versus oppression. It's about genuine freedom versus fascism.


.:.


books

I just finished 84, Charing Cross Road (thanks Shiv).

To read:

"Asian American X" Various (Thanks Steph)
"The Genesis Question" Hugh Ross (Thanks Chris)
"Anthology of Japanese Literature" Various
"Race Matters" Cornel West
"Democracy Matters" Cornel West
"Kafka on the Shore" Haruki Murakami (haven't bought it... yet)

The booklist is starting to backlog...
posted by G at 6:26 PM   | (1) comments

usually, i'm just sitting



I had forgotten that this fortuitous small note was in my wallet... it was from a fortune cookie I got this last Chinese New Year when my fam when out to eat with Chris, Jay, and the rest of the House of Fong (not to be confused with the House of Flying Daggers).

I don't consider myself to be a very superstitious person, but the fortune did seem to be oddly timely since I'm going through the whole application process to attend grad school at the moment. So is a possible return to school life, debt, poverty, and more work a step toward success? I really hope so, and so far, the pathway to grad school seems to be relatively smooth at the moment.

I got my WEST-B test scores back and I passed, which I was hoping since the test wasn't so difficult. My results:

• MATH:      296 out of 300   PASSED
  
• READING:  296 out of 300   PASSED
  
• WRITING:  285 out of 300   PASSED

Those scores look much more impressive than they really are. Basically, the test shows only that I have mastered concepts that an elementary school level child should know... hahaha. The testing agency even tells you what objectives the test has in this document (PDF). I can now say that a 4.5 hour test has objectively determined that my mind is at least as intelligent as that of a graduating kid of the 8th grade. Whooohooo.

And yes, I'm a bit miffed my writing score was lowest.

Assuming I passed all the other tests I took (I haven't received the scores yet), the next round of fun will be interviews. Seattle U called me and I'll be going in next Thursday afternoon for a interview. I think it's a me vs. admission board panel interview too. Scary.

Did I mention it's almost been more than 4 months since I dressed up for anything, let alone an interview? The last time I was wearing "nice clothes" was this day and this day. Since my time as a working stiff in Japan, it's been hoodies, t-shirts, cargos, sweats, and sneaks. Not a bad thing as far as comfort, but it isn't too impressive to hardworking academic-types to walk into a interview rock'n a pair of frayed cargo pants and a t-shirt that says SLACKERS UNITE! TOMORROW.

Ascend or ascending sounds too glamorous for my life. Bald eagles, angels, greenhouse gases, and ICBMs ascend... not Garretts. A more apt description would include more colorful words like clawing, scratching, or oozing. Well, maybe not oozing, but how often have I ever written the word "oozing"? Never, until now!


.:.


I was going to write something about Million Dollar Baby, but my mind is still marinating on it. My quick thought: Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman have great chemistry, but Morgan Freeman has always struck me as one of the greatest, most underrated actors in Hollywood.


Shawshank Redemption.
Glory.
Se7en.
Unforgiven.
Lean On Me.
Driving Ms. Daisy.
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
Heck, even Bruce Almighty.

Read this list of movies and *what*... this man has never won an Oscar? That just proves right there the whole system is wack-ass movie politics.
posted by G at 5:35 AM   | (3) comments

big brother is watching you

This Google Maps thing is pretty accurate. Almost tooooooo accurate.
posted by G at 4:55 PM   | (1) comments

weekend of love

The title of today's entry might be a little overdramatic.

While I'm sure many couples spent this past weekend celebrating Valentine's Day, my aversion to modern commercialization kept me from spending money on candy hearts, cheesy cards, or balloons... but like June, I'm not a complete Valentine's Day hater. I do have something planned for my significant other on Monday.

Instead, there were a bunch of other assorted activities that happened this past weekend to remind me that love flows in many different forms and in many different relationships. Moi-Moi #2, Coralie, was up visiting Seattle, so I went out to eat with her, Shiv, and Steph at a tasty Korean tofu soup joint on Aurora.

Normally, being exposed to a triple of dose of estrogen is enough to make me yank out of fistfuls of what remaining hair I have... but going out to eat with Steph and Cora is pretty much like going out to eat with my family. Like most men, I can always tell how close I am to somebody by how much I let them make fun of me. And by that measure... I guess they're like my little sisters, haha. Even if I have to be sole man to listen to their gripes against all (Asian) males of the world, I can still laugh and enjoy hanging out with them.


.:.


Saturday, I went with Shiv to see Million Dollar Baby. Wow... great film, even if it does address a rather difficult issue with a controversial message. I can still appreciate the sensitivity it showed towards the complexity of it all, though.

More on Million Dollar Baby later.


.:.


Tonight, there was a cafe night at my church whose topic was - what else? - love. There was a great drama performed by three people, but for me, the moment that made me think the most was a performance by Stuart of "Love Song" by Third Day.

The song makes me reflect a lot about "love", but it also brings back memories of 2002 and CoHi, because my good friend (and roommate at the time) Dave gave a stirring solo performance of song there too. You can download the song right here (shift right + click)

The lyrics:

I've heard it said that a man would climb a mountain
Just to be with the one he loves
How many times has he broken that promise
It has never been done.
I've never climbed the highest mountain
But I walked the hill of calvary

Just to be with you, I'd do anything
There's no price I would not pay
Just to be with you, I'd give anything
I would give my life away.

I've heard it said that a man would swim the ocean
Just to be with the one he loves
But all the dreams are an empty motion
It can never be done
I've never swam the deepest ocean
But I walked upon the raging sea

Just to be with you, I'd do anything
There's no price I would not pay
Just to be with you, I'd give everything
I would give my life away.

I know that you don't understand
the fullness of My love
How I died upon the cross for your sins
And I know that you don't realize
how much that I gave you
But I promise, I would do it all again.

Just to be with you, I've done everything
There's no price I did not pay
Just to be with you, I gave everything
Yes, I gave my life away.

The song really reminds me of a lot things, but one thing in particular: how shallow the faux "love" of a commercialized red & pink holiday is compared to the real, unconditional and sacrificial thing.
posted by G at 10:19 PM   | (1) comments

it isn't really roleplaying if you're not playing a role

WARNING: This entry contains high geek content.

As my friends, GF, and family have noticed, I've been spending a lot of time in front of my computer recently exploring the virtual landscape of WoW. I've never really played a MMORPG (massive multiplayer online roleplaying game) until now, but in search of unleashing my geek potential, I decided to give it a try after my friend Mel gifted me a copy.

And boy, have I gotten sucked in.

RPGs have come a long way since pen & paper, multi-sided dice, and thick rulebook manuals that read like Encyclopedia Britannica. Geek experimentation with RPGs is akin to any other adolescent experimentation, though it's decidedly less cool than booze, drugs, petty crime, or sex. Fortunately, my own potential RPG geek-ness was nullified by an even stronger force of geek-itude: Nintendo!

Today, video games have now exited their status as a pillar of geekdom, but playing RPGs have not... people hold parties to play HALO, not Everquest or Ultima Online. As sultan of spin Senor Stone concisely remarked, "Video games are cool now..."

(pause)

"...ummm, except for MMORPGs".

As a videogame critic myself, I have to say that WoW is so good in that while playing, you're not never really conscious that it's a MMORPG... it's just a fun game to play. By giving the people who play it an easy interface and lots of options for customization, it achieves the gaming nirvana of being both simple and deep.

In any case, what's been fascinating for me to observe amongst my circle of friends who are all playing is how much their "online characters" closely correlate with "real personalities." Sure, we're playing a game in very LOTR/Tolkien-esque world filled with humans, elves, orcs, etc., yet people's behavior is still the essentially the same. The game merely exaggerates certain traits.

For example, I'm not a very social person in real life and it's the same in the game. My online game character is a hunter, able to wander the wilderness alone with only his pet dog and his hunting rifle, shunning groups (except for my friends). Another friend, who's very generous in real life, plays online a character who can brew make magic potions, which he often sends to his friends' other characters.

I suppose it's similar in a way to how a great actor plays a part by not really pretending so much as he is presenting a part of himself in an exaggerated manner - Johnny Depp plays crazy characters probably because he is a bit crazy; Morgan Freeman could play a wisecracking, grizzled old man because he is a wisecracking, grizzled old man.

I could go and on... but often, even when people are supposedly encouraged to "be someone else", people are still can't help but still be themselves. Personalities are sorta like dirty old men in trenchcoats wandering Pioneer Square late at night: they eventually expose themselves.


.:.


digital gravel happiness

Make fun of your local oppressive regime by buying a t-shirt featuring Kim Jong-Il (Movie Makers: Always Shooting), Vladimir Putin (News Correction Services), Donald "I Screw'd Iraq & American Soldiers" Rumsfeld (Guilt-B-Gone Cleanser), or Italian president / media gazillionaire Silvio Berlusconi (DOUGH MAKER$).

I <3 digitalgravel. Too bad the Kaiser Soze t-shirt is sold out. =(
posted by G at 1:58 AM   | (7) comments

xin nian kuai le

Happy Chinese New Year... or for the non-huaren peoples of the world, Happy Lunar New Year. The Seattle Times has an interesting article which suggests that according to Chinese astrology, this is a bad year to get married. Some even call it "year of the widow".

Ouch.

CNN has a list of famous people born in the year of rooster right here. Britney Spears? Rod Stewart? Goldie Hawn? Talk about a sadly populated astrological sign.


.:.


In other unrelated news, there's lots of different things going on at the moment...

But fortunately (or unfortunately) there are ways to be distracted and relaxed - all thanks to Mel, Chris, Stone, Chung, Dave Ko, and this. If you need me, I'm now vicariously wandering its digital wastelands looking to extinguish evil with a rifle in my hand and a faithful dog by my side.
posted by G at 10:31 AM   | (3) comments

Being perennially tardy for everything is a one of the few constants in my mundane life. I have a feeling I'll even be tardy for own funeral someday.
posted by G at 7:31 PM   | (0) comments

scratch one competitive person



Tonight was a bit different than my usual schedule... I actually left the house and ventured out into the world beyond the southend. It's been awhile since I've been out to downtown Seattle on a Friday night, but my little sister was having a little (late) birthday celebration and I thought I should attend - a small party at a bowling / billiards joint on Capitol Hill called Garage (Firefox users beware, mostly IE functional only).

My impression of the place was that it's like Jillian's, except a bit trendier and the crowd a bit younger. It was also a bit pricey, but the pool tables were aight, they were showing the Houston/Minnesota game on TV, and the DJ was playing some good music - Wu-Tang, Outkast, Rage Against the Machine, and the Neptunes.

Since I've always been more of a billiards sorta guy, I ended spending all my time playing 8-ball and 9-ball with Shiv. Since we were just playing for fun, I frequently "adjusted" our games by moving the balls for easier shots for her and letting her shoot twice. I think she found it a little strange since she knows I can be competitive at times.

Being competitive is sorta one of those unconscious, prehistoric male instincts that will continue to endure until evil female scientists someday figure out a way to splice a gene into all males to make them love ice skating, cry while watching Oprah, and spend hours looking over matching color swatches for their housewares.

As a random insight into the maturity of a male: Immature boys are slaves to their urge to compete. Real men can control their urge to be competitive.


.:.


"Looking out for number one" is such a dominant philosophy here in America, especially in the past 30 years. It's almost as if the decadence of the '80s and pre-bust '90s has reinforced a self-centered, amoral personality into our country. The attitude of "F$@k you, what about me?"

If you doubt me, turn on an episode of the American Idol casting calls and witness how many completely un-musical people are convinced that they can sing like Aretha Franklin or Whitney Houston or Marvin Gaye. Hearing their screeching voices isn't nearly as insanely comical as hearing their inflated egos scream out, "I'M THE BEST HEAR ME SING I'M A GREAT SINGER BLAH BLAH BLAH." Seeing the bewildered expressions of people who suck as they're rejected flat-out by the judges can be both funny and sad.

The American Idol competition, Iraq, Afghanistan... it's all related, really. After all, what sort of attitudes causes people to make joke songs about the tsunami victims or not care about 99% of what happens in the rest of the world? We live in a country filled with self-deluded egomaniacs who neither try to understand or can sympathize with anybody who is shred different than themselves or doesn't fit into their narrow definition of humanity.

I love my country, but the signs of the wackness that's so prevalent in modern American culture continue to be displayed prominently.

I'm not sure what I'm trying to say here, but I suppose it's this: competitiveness may have its uses in a game of billiards or bowling, but it isn't a catch-all philosophy for living your life as a human being. People keep trying to compete in a game that doesn't exist. Your family, your job, your GF/BF, your possessions, your lifestyle etc. are not about competition. Cultural imperialism, war, and ignorance are not games that are won by launching missiles, sending our young people to die, or indulging in tokenism.
posted by G at 1:45 AM   | (0) comments

This pretty much sums up my thoughts about the continuing HOT97 drama. The guy in the picture has pretty funny site called YELLOW PERIL. Check it out.

I'm guessing that in 2 weeks, the radio show will hit the airwaves again... as if nothing ever happened. Bleh.


.:.


Recently, I've been listening a lot to Yumiko Samejima (interesting name... the Chinese characters for her family name mean "Shark Island"). One of my students gave me a CD of her music as a "going away" present. It's interesting to hear classical music sung in Japanese. Though, I guess since I heard a lot of Chinese stuff every once inawhile growing up, it shouldn't be so strange.
posted by G at 10:19 AM   | (0) comments

HOT97 update

Picked up an update from AngryAsianMan.com:

Morning co-host Todd Lynn and producer Rick Delgado have been fired, while other members, including Miss Jones, but excluding Miss Info, have been given a 2 week suspension. Those staff with suspensions will have their salaries directly donated to fund tsunami relief efforts via Give2Asia.

Here's a link to more details.

All I gotta say is, "Why hasn't MISS JONES been fired?" Pshhht... they're making steps in the right direction, but I'm still not satisfied.

In case anybody has forgotten the outrage, you can still DL the original offensive song (plus pre-argument) right here.

The blazing response by Jin is also downloadable right here.
posted by G at 7:24 PM   | (0) comments

in?scrip?tion (n-skrip-shun)n.
1. The act or an instance of inscribing.
2. Something, such as the wording on a coin, medal, monument, or seal, that is inscribed.
3. A short, signed message in a book or on a photograph given as a gift.
4. The usually informal dedication of an artistic work.
5. Jeremiah 31:33