Posted 6:36 AM by Blah blah

Vienna Teng On David Letterman! Mon, Jan. 20, 11:30 pm

You heard it! The Asian singer-songwriter-pianist Vienna Teng will be on national TV this Monday!!! She thanks her promoters at Virt Records.

She'll be a musical guest on Late Show with David Letterman (CBS), at 11:30 pm ET/PT.

Wow, congratulations, Vienna! Make sure to watch her Monday, everyone! I've met Vienna and seen her perform twice, at Eric's house. They say her music is like that of Tori Amos.

This girl is HOT now. She was on National Public Radio, on their Weekend Edition program! You may hear the broadcast and their interview with Vienna here:

Listen to Vienna's radio broadcast!

Posted 8:21 AM by Blah blah

Belle's Love Poems

In the spirit of the upcoming Valentine's Day, here are three love poems written by Belle. She selected and gave me permission to post them. Do check out her site. It's all-poetry, 24 hours a day. You need to soak in a bubble bath while reading her fine poems:

A Woman’s Lovesong

because I need to write in verses
to make you read my mind

slowly, with uttermost care.
I’ve embellished my tongue
with wine
so you could drink in there.
with you,
I’m drunk with metaphors,
I want you
that fragrance loses its smell.

I want you,
that colors are not enough.


I Can Make Him Feel This Way

I am the scent that
clings to his skin
melting my hands
which slide
the texture like that of
leaves
bathed with dew
I am the crinkle
of a smile
that defines his brow, I

am the dust under his shoes
the curl of his toes, the music
in his steps,
clutching my waist
turning me around and
around.

I am the word that rolls
behind his tongue
a magnet on his lips, I breathe
his essence,
in the mellifluous
utterance of my name,
the air bends
sending a rivulet into
bubbles,
palpitations at the tip of my hair
the murmurs
in the night,
the shade of fire in his
eyes.


Love Triumphant

it’s not the way he marvels
at the satin sheen of her skin
that makes him entranced
but the way she wears his locket
between her breasts
I think it’s the way she made his heart
pounding on his ribcage
when six decades ago she almost
said no, that day carried a tender
imprint
he had so much to thank for.

I think, it’s the throbbing pain of being able
to tug at the ribbon on her hair
and how the wind would spin circles
of light,
this time was no other
when she cultivates flowerbeds
that when he would be unable to bring
her flowers,
she would pluck them,
her arthritic fingers on petals
and both would recite those age-old verses
hopefully,
until a number of seasons
shall pass them by.

As Belle says,

I wish, I could seduce a man
with my poem,
to enslave him
between the commas,
and the line-cuttings.

Posted 9:55 AM by Blah blah

Sandy's Worst Date Ever

I'm stealing this from Sandy, who used to write for Tiger Cafe. When are you coming back here, you "nerd"? You "RET TO GO?" Hehe...it's HELLA funny. Hey baby, I ALSO listen to Wild 94.9 FM in my car. Picked it up from my Vietnamese housemate.

Sandy is so perceptive. Once I asked her "What kinda girl do you think is better for me?"
Sandy: "Oh, that's easy" and rattled off a list of qualities.
Me: "Yes yes!! How do you know so much about me?"
Sandy: "That's what I was looking for too---kinda describes my boyfriend."
Me: "So I need to find a female version of your boyfriend????!!!"
______________________
Thursday, January 09, 2003

As I try and recall the details of my date with "Sean" it sounds like a typical episode straight from "Blind Date." Annoying mannerisms, rude and disgusting habits, tactless gestures and outbursts, shameless sexual advances...etc etc. The only difference is that I KNEW exactly what to expect.

I have such bad judgement when it comes to dating guys, especially when I'm vulnerable and on the rebound. That's exactly what I used Sean for. (I'm just trying to justify why I did it) :p

I met Sean in my Educational Psych. class when I was attending SJSU back in '99. I was on the prowl for something temporary and fun. My ex and I had broken up for the Nth time and I took these mini-breaks to my advantage. I kinda saw it as "my time to have fun" and if I have to slut around in order to get some, then so be it!!!

Anyway, it was towards the end of the semester when Sean finally summoned up the courage to ask me out. He looked like and acted like my ex-boyfriend. I dont want to generalize or offend my fellow asians, but he was what you would call the typical Bay Area Asian boy. He drove a fixed-up Acura, smoked a lot (and did that squat and spit thing), listened to Wild 94.9 (mainstream hip hop/rap and dance music), spoke in Asian-ebonics, "rolled" only with his Asian posse, and wore nothing but Nautica jackets and Tommy Hilfiger t-shirts. It was actually kinda entertaining watching him present his projects in front of the class because he would always stumble and struggle to find the right words... "This was hella tight...I mean, really educational...."

Halfway in the middle of the semester we ended up in the same group. After months of months of endless presentations and stress, we all bonded and hung out quite often after class. We had met at a coffee shop across from campus to discuss our final presentation and Sean asked to "roll out" with him afterwards. He drove me back to my apartment and awkwardly asked me if I wanted to hang out with him sometime. I said yes and so my fate was sealed.

He picked me up the following Sat. night. He left his precious Acura at my place since he didn't want to run the risk of it getting "jacked" or whatever. So we drove out to the Beehive Bar, where he could get plastered and get his hip hop fix. The crowd was mainly black and there were a few asians tucked away in the corners dancing with the walls.

Sean headed straight to the bar and pounded down at least 4 shots. Our conversation was really awkward, and after his 4th shot of tequila he broke the ice by making a complete ass of himself in front of everyone. He'd scream, "yeah thats my jam babeeee! woot woot!!" (fists in the air and all) There was a couple next to us who were heckling him and mocking his drunken arm gestures. Oh man, they were dissing the only asian dude in the club, and I happened to be sitting right next to him.

Then he went and did it. As I sat there stone-sober and fearing this very moment.....He turned around, said something along the lines of, "it's time to get freaky", grabbed my hand and dragged me on the dance floor. I lasted about 5 minutes. He was so uncoordinated, so drunk and so obnoxious. I ended up dancing with another guy who probably felt sorry for me.

Soon he stumbled back to the bar and drank some more. I rejoined him later and the bartender suggested that I should take him home. Translation: Get this dumb ass out of my bar!

But this wasn't the end of my date. As soon as we got to my apartment I knew I couldn't let him drive home drunk. Knowing this and knowing that my mace spray had run out, I knew I was asking for it.

I dumped him in the middle of my living room floor and offered to make some hot tea for him. At this point, we had only exchanged a few pleasantries (before he got plastered) and idiotic out bursts (after the bar). I had no idea what his last name was.

When I came back out with his hot tea, he had miraculously disappeared. I had left him sprawled out on my living room floor and now *poof* he was gone! I checked the guest bathroom....nope, not there. I checked my roomates room (thank god he wasn't there that w'end), nope not there either. As I slowly inched my way up my hallway I had this creepy uneasy feeling that he was in my bedroom. I was right. I knew this immediately when I saw that my bedroom door was closed. I NEVER ever close my door unless I'm undressing. I opened my door and I found Sean BUTT NAKED in my BED. His clothes were thrown haphazardly all around my room and his tightie whities were hanging off my computer chair. He laid there with his hands tucked comfortably under his neck and his legs crossed in the air. He was also ON TOP of my blankets.

I said something like, "oh my God," he turned his face, smirked at me with his eyes half open and gurgled, "hey babe. I'm RET TO GO."

I slammed the door and ran into my roommates room, slammed that door and sat there. After the shock wore off I started giggling. I couldnt let the moment slip away so I called up one of my other classmates. Fortunately, she was a bit older and married with children, so was home to share the moment with me.

I never heard someone laugh so hard. She put the phone down and I could hear her repeating what had happened to her husband. We both concluded that I shouldn't let him stay the night and I needed to get him out of my bed. There werent any door locks to the bedrooms and I didnt want to risk getting smothered or raped by this weirdo. With my tennis racket in my hand, I cautiously opened the door to my bedroom. Surprisingly he was fully clothed, but he was still on my bed.

I woke him up and asked him to leave. He said he had to puke and I helped him to the bathroom. After about 2 hours of retching, he was finally sober enough to go back home. I knew that he was really embarrassed because he couldnt even look me in the eye. He asked me not to tell anyone in class about what happened (oops) and apologized for what he did. I told him that when he was sober enough, we definitely needed to talk things out. Well, that never happened. surprise surprise.

Let's just say the following Monday was 10x more uncomfortable. I avoided speaking to him during class but it was extrememly difficult not to bust out laughing everytime I looked at Rene (the girl that I had called). Everytime I met her gaze I had to literally choke down my laughter and excuse myself for the disruption. Sean never forgave me for snitching on him. How did he find out? Well on our last day of instruction, as we all got up and gathered our things, Rene nudged me and said, "HEY SANDY, YOU RET TO GO?"

Sean took one look at me and he knew instantly I was guilty. Little does he know that I use this little story as a "ice breaker" at social gatherings. muhahahhahaha.

Posted 3:23 PM by jc

On Blogs, Briefly
There’s something truly remarkable about the blog phenomenon. These days, anyone can write anything for an international audience at once ready and willing. The opportunities are boundless.

Many have taken advantage, typing their thoughts for all to read. Yet the substance of these entries is sometimes less interesting than the style of presentation. After all, most of what we read has been said before - and better, besides. Particularly with respect to the contents of this entry, which boasts little to no originality whatsoever.

But I digress. Presentation is key. The insight may be belabored, so long as the telling is unique. The various and sundry backgrounds of those who choose to blog (some rather well, others distinctive in their own right) serve to make web logs at once addictive and compelling.

Of course, stale, redundant online journals exist in large numbers. They simply make the clever ones scintillate. That said, I require a savvy approach which will cajole me into the depth of an entry. My absent attention span simply won’t tolerate dry, chalky discourse. The experience must be at once entertaining and engaging. Hence blogs improve over time as their writers discover style and finesse. Practice makes perfect.


And I need practice.

Posted 10:42 AM by Blah blah

Accidental Playboy

More from my favorite Supermodel Blog. God, the articles on this site always crack me up!

A Feminist's Arduous Task: Getting Paid to Scrutinize Naked Women Was the Last Resort of a Desperate Man (Washington Post, by Libby Copeland):
_____________
It is a little tough to feel bad for Leif Ueland.

"I really got tired of writing about sex," he says mournfully.

When Ueland decided to write Accidental Playboy, about the six-month bus trip he took in 1998, documenting Playboy's search for the Playmate of the Millennium -- during which he was dragged to strip joints, obliged to photograph topless women and forced (well, maybe not forced) to sleep with two tryouts -- his publisher wanted to use the subtitle "Living the Ultimate Male Fantasy."

"I just wanted to shoot myself," says Ueland, descendant of feminists, recovering sexual neurotic, gay-seeming straight and all-around Sensitive Male. He made a counteroffer: "Caught in the Ultimate Male Fantasy." That, he felt, more accurately captured the angst of his journey.

Ueland, a struggling writer, was living in Los Angeles and working on a novel when he was offered a job writing daily dispatches for Playboy.com about the Playmate tryouts. The great-grandson of a suffragette, Ueland worried that the Playboy job would turn him into a "pig." But he accepted the offer, eager for cash and adventure and egged on by his shrink.

Once on the bus, he met his subjects: small-town girls and strippers, young mothers and even grandmothers, with gorgeous faces and worn-out faces, dream bodies and botched boob jobs. He saw the leers of one of the other Playboy staffers, watched the way a set of muscly hustlers tried to latch onto the bus to score dates, and felt "guilt by association," "embarrassed to be a man."...

"There's two things going on," he says, to sum up the surroundings. "There's the objectification and then there's also just the sheer tackiness."

This is the Sensitive Male's burden.

Accidental Playboy is perhaps too honest, the kind of honest that makes you feel itchy. It details Ueland's sexual hangups, his dating humiliations and his frank discussions with his therapist. When he began the job -- handsome but perhaps a little too nice, with no job, no money and no car -- he had not had sex in five years. (Then there's the gay-seeming thing. Ueland is well aware of it but he has little explanation for the slightly effeminate voice and expressive mannerisms. It may be relevant to mention, however, that he was a child underwear model.)

On board the bus, he was at first a poodle among pit bulls. Acutely self-conscious and tortured by "a nonstop inner narrative," Ueland hesitated even to approach women for the clothed pictures required for his Web site dispatches. When charged with the task of filing the semi-nude Polaroids taken of the tryouts, he couldn't seem to locate his libido. "Shouldn't I be feeling something other than numb?" he writes.

But Ueland's sensitivity is what saves Accidental Playboy from being a mere chronology of blond hair, breasts and bright smiles. While he was biased toward the unusual-looking tryouts, like the one whose "nose is the tiniest bit bulbous," as well as the ones who seem to feel a bit cynical about Playboy and its mission, he was surprised by the unquestioning enthusiasm many tryouts seemed to feel for Playboy. For many, making it onto those glossy pages would mean refuge from the smallness of their lives.

He listened to the women's very American stories (Divorced at 21? Inhabitant of 70 -- 70?! -- foster homes?), noted the sense of humor that strippers tend to have, wondered what it's like to possess the open-sesame beauty that provokes instant marriage proposals and wildly exorbitant gifts. (As if to provide evidence, the Hooters waitress serving Ueland tells of a customer who regularly tips her $100 for his $10 meals.)

He watched countless women undress.

"I've never forgotten this," he says. "You would see a pattern of a bruise." With his right hand, Ueland cups his hand around the inside of his left upper arm. He saw that same bruise, over and over -- men grabbing their girlfriends, as in Don't leave until I tell you.

He observed, too, how for himself and his cohort -- the Playboy photographers, the PR woman, the various staffers -- those six months on the bus resulted in a disappointing dissection of beauty. Women became parts, no longer Dolores or Daisy or Cynthia but formless legs or too-close eyes. They became grades: 1, 2, 3. As humble appreciation turned into the expectation of perfection, the tiniest flaws became deal-breakers. The strongest candidates embodied the Playboy ideal of the blond kewpie doll. They seemed "almost slightly higher than human." (The search, however, ultimately yielded two brunet Millennium Playmates, Peruvian-raised twins Darlene and Carol Bernaola.)

"The mind set of the search -- there are very few people that measure up," Ueland says. "It's not what is beautiful, it's 'No, this would prohibit.' "

The tryouts -- well, like women everywhere -- dissected themselves, too. Someone would give compliments, and the reply would be, "Oh, no, I have this weird thing on my thigh."...

Here's what's troubling or heartening about Ueland's journey, depending on your point of view. During its course, he became more comfortable with his own desire. When the women flirted with him, he flirted back. So many of the would-be Playmates turned out to be strippers, the revelation ceased to faze him. He stopped questioning the women's remarkable disinhibition and just went with it. He started inviting his photographic subjects to strip, even though his dispatches weren't supposed to contain nudity, pushing the envelope so far he earned scoldings from his boss. He mentally compared himself to Hugh Hefner. As the trip neared its end, he slept with two tryouts: first with a veteran stripper, then with a college student and Wal-Mart greeter.

All the while, he worried, Am I becoming that kind of guy?

"Whereas we all became increasingly disillusioned with the bus . . . Leif really started getting going towards the end," says Nadine Ekrek, who did PR for the bus and witnessed Ueland's transformation. She describes him like a "kid in a candy store," who slowly became aware that the candy was his for the taking. On the last day, Ekrek says, "He was singing, like, an Alanis Morissette song, and he had tears in his eyes."

Ueland's ambivalence about his journey is evident on every page of his book. He says he wouldn't want to repeat the experience, but he's glad he had it. By the end of the trip, he was burned out, but he'd found his libido. He'd embraced his own maleness.

Sitting in the Hooters, world-weary Ueland says: "I think I do feel like a veteran of the sex industry, like it or not."

Posted 7:01 PM by Anonymous

Political Issues

In the upcoming year we are going to start hearing more and more from potential candiates for the '04 election. I am willing to bet money that the primary issues politicians will be gabbing about are The Economy and Security. Granted these are important issues, but shouldn't they be important by default? What is the point of debating stuff like this when I think its safe to say that everyone is in agreement that something needs to be done. In fact I don't think presidential candidates should even be allowed to debate these issues, they should be required as part of their job to come up with a plan to handle both of them.

The issues I'm most interested in will probably get swept under the rug this election. The problem is everyone thinks too short term. The American public (as a mob entity) isn't very smart. They only believe and place importance on what the media tells them to. I challenge people to expect more from candidates this year than a platform on the economy and security. These are the issues I would prefer to see not only plans for but action taken on!

- Education: Teachers are underpaid and understaffed. The rich have all but abandoned the public school system in favor of private schools. Our national education and literacy rate sucks when compared to other nations. Granted the world needs janitors as much as it needs doctors but come on! College costs are on the rise, will it even be affordable in 20 or 30 years when I have to send my kids? There is a lot of work to be done in this area. While legislation can't cure everything it can certainly start the process. Much of the responsibility lies with parents too.

- State Budgets: The federal government needs to help them out. The majority of states in the country will have huge budget deficits this year. By law many of them are required to have a balanced budget. That means that many of the services we count on are going to be cut, states take care of most of the things we interact with daily. The federal government needs to quit cutting taxes (especially to the top 5% Americans - f-in republicans!) and help out the states some. Honestly, is another $600 check going to enrich your life and stimulate the economy? I doubt it, most people will blow it on frivolous stuff or save it. The government could make much better use of the money. The richest Americans definitely do not need any tax cuts.

- Alternative Fuels: The government needs to face facts and realize that we cannot continue to have our balls handed to us in a sling because 4 or 5 nations (mostly hostile to us) control the oil production in the world. The fact that we need these nations for their oil has caused us so much trouble internationally. The government needs to sponsor some serious programs toward inventing viable transportation alternatives that do not rely on fossil fuels. The big oil companies and car companies will surely protest but the gov't needs to bite the bullet. Its been more than 100 years since we invented the combustion engine, surely in all that time we have been able to think of something that will work better. In fact I know we have but the damn oil companies and car companies buy the patents and ensure they never come to fruition.

- The Environment: I suppose everyone thinks that when we have sufficiently screwed up this planet we can just all load into a spaceship and go to another one. Wrong. We haven't even sent a manned mission to mars much less found another hospitable planet anywhere close by. We need to realize you can't shit where you live. The data is in, the planet is dying day by day, its indisputable. Sure we can only do so much on the home front without the cooperation of other nations but we need to do that. Everytime I see someone driving a gas guzzling SUV it pisses me off (and texas is full of them). Do you really need a vehicle that gets like 15 miles a gallon that ends up carrying one person and a lot of cubic feet of air most of the time? Why should manufacturing plants be able to dump dangerous chemicals into the air and water just because they were "grandfathered in", make them accountable!

Posted 3:47 AM by Jian Shuo

Blogspot banned in China

This is the 5th day since bloggers and readers in China cannot access any web site on blogspot.com, including Tiger Cafe. It looks the same as the ban with Google last Sept.

Maybe it is because blogging has been seen as a threat for the government due to its free speech nature. I am not very sure of the exact number, but do expect the drop in visitor volume if they cannot access it from China.
__________________
[China bans Blogspot: more on this topic here at Openflows. According to a comment on CNBlog, Livejournal may be blocked too. -Raymond]

Posted 12:30 AM by Blah blah

Eagle: The Making of an Asian-American President

I'm already in Volume 3 (out of 5) of Kaiji Kawaguchi's fantastic political comic book, and I'm gripped by its intrigue, drama, and very clever insights about American politics. Kawaguchi carries many half-formed hopes one step further as imagined reality, and he is highly convincing! As I mentioned here, Eagle is a stunning work for adults. If you care about Asian Americans in power and hope to see an Asian U.S. President someday, READ THIS SERIES! I have learned so much already from it about political campaigning and the American system. All from a guy in Japan, writing in Japanese! This series is read by senior members of the Japanese and Taiwanese governments.

From this review:

"When I previously reviewed Kaiji Kawaguchi's Eagle, covering installments 1-9, I pronounced the book a classic in the making. Having read a further chunk of the series (a chunk that I'm reviewing as a group so as not to give away too much in the way of specifics), I'm proud to say that not only was I right, but that the creator of Silent Service has exceeded my expectations. Reading at times like a lesson on U.S. election strategy and at other times like a hyperkinetic thriller, Eagle takes what could be a deadly boring premise and turns it into a propulsive, brilliantly paced masterwork of pure story.

To recap: Japanese reporter Takashi Jo has come to America at the invitation of presidential candidate Kenneth Yamaoka. Yamaoka could be the first Asian-American nominee for president, but he's hiding one mammoth secret: Takashi is his illegitimate son. Takashi must balance his personal feelings about his father even as he tries to cover the amazing events of the campaign (not to mention dealing with a surprising romantic relationship with Yamaoka's adopted daughter, Rachel).

The totally engrossing thing about Eagle is Kawaguchi's fundamentally unfailing grasp on America's politics. Not only does he understand the process, but he intuitively characterizes the import behind such moves as courting the Cattle Group constituents or the proper way to handle a tabloid sex scandal. If it's happened in American politics in the last twenty years, it happens in Eagle, and yet, it all seems new and unexpected as it goes on.

Kawaguchi's enigmatic portrayal of Yamaoka is the heart of the book. We find ourselves cheering for the man on a political level, yet are often put off by many of his personal gaffes and decisions. I believe that it's no mistake that he's meant to remind us of Bill Clinton. Ironically, the Clintons themselves become characters (albeit under different names) as the sitting president tries to hoist a truly shocking running mate on Yamaoka's main opponent.

Viz is still releasing volumes in the Eagle series, and they're welcome to. This is a true landmark of manga; it's a time capsule of a particular era that serves as entertainment, civics lesson, and social barometer all at once. It's thrilling reading. Eagle carries our highest recommendation."

When I mean 5 volumes, I mean the 5 graphic novels, not the monthly issues.

Posted 10:51 PM by Blah blah

Hero Breaks All Records For Chinese Films (Wall St. Journal):

CHINA'S MOST EXPENSIVE FILM has just become the most successful mainland movie ever. [Interview with director Zhang Yimou in Time Asia.]

Director Zhang Yimou's martial-arts epic "Hero" has broken all records for mainland movies, pulling in 200 million yuan (US$24.2 million) in its first 21 days of release, according to Qin Lixin, deputy general manager of Beijing New Picture Film Co. The picture, backed by Miramax Films, also has raked in HK$25.6 million (US$3.3 million) after 25 days in Hong Kong.

The US$31 million film starring Jet Li as a warrior during China's Warring States period, from 475 B.C. to 221 B.C., is poised to outperform "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" in the Asian market. In addition to its theatrical record, the DVD and VCD rights for "Hero" were sold to a consortium of three companies for an unprecedented 17.8 million yuan.

Distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, "Crouching Tiger" set an international benchmark when it grossed more than US$205 million in theaters world-wide. Its success changed expectations in the industry about the potential crossover of Chinese films and generated a slew of large-scale epic films. But the film didn't fare as well in China. "Crouching Tiger" earned 30 million yuan in China, according to its co-producer Bill Kong.

"Crouching Tiger," directed by Ang Lee, stumbled in the mainland largely because local censors delayed the release of the film by three months, allowing pirated VCDs to flood the market. "Hero" was successful in part "because we were able to stop piracy," said Mr. Kong, who also co-produced "Hero."

The film's investors took unusual steps to prevent copying. At preview screenings, attendees were forced to hand over all metallic and electronic devices before entering the theaters.

"We managed to have not one single pirated CD on the market until four days into the release," said Mr. Kong. "That said, the film is so visually stunning that even people who saw the pirated VCDs believed it should be watched on the big screen."

In "Hero," Mr. Li stars as Nameless, a warrior who kills three assassins to save the Emperor Qin -- a ruthless king whose goal is to unite all China. The big-name cast includes Zhang Ziyi, who also appeared in "Crouching Tiger," Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung.

While the film's theme of tyranny and unity has sparked debate on the mainland, reviews by foreign critics generally have been favorable.

"Hero" is slated for release in Taiwan on Saturday. Miramax hasn't yet scheduled a U.S. release for "Hero," but Mr. Kong hopes the distributor will turn its attention to the film as it continues to gain momentum. The movie has received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.

Posted 8:26 PM by e*star

Shaq-Yao Updatings

Since Raymond has called to our attention that Tiger Cafe is one of the top hits regarding the Shaq controversy, I took it upon myself to research more and update what's been going on with this whole mess. It's good to get different resources and different opinions, don't you think? I thought ESPN Insider (a feature of espn.com which you have to pay for/subscribe to) did a pretty thoughtful piece on reporting the whole incident.

*****
Shaq under fire for Yao-bashing
by Chad Ford
Shaquille O'Neal may be one of the most beloved figures in the NBA, but his recent verbal attacks on Chinese big man Yao Ming is starting to raise a troubling question -- is Shaq a racist?

Some feel Shaq's recent comments in his escalating war of words with Yao have crossed the line from trash talk to racial slurs.

AsianWeek columnist Irwin Tang recently called out O'Neal for several derogatory comments thrown in Yao's direction.

"Tell Yao Ming, 'ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh.' " O'Neal said to a reporter recently in a mock Chinese accent.

When asked this summer how he would greet Yao, Shaq said his elbows would do the talking.

"Street," O'Neal said of what is awaiting Yao in the NBA. "Playing in a gym, shooting jumpers and all that ... that's fine. But I'm street. I'm how to take a 'bow to your nose and (make you) think about what I'm going to do next time down."

Those aren't the only times Shaq has threatened Yao or mocked him for being Chinese. And Shaq isn't the only one. Charles Barkley has had his fun with Yao. Even the league itself has perpetuated stereotypes, including a recent Miami Heat promotional giveaway of 8,000 fortune cookies.

Yao, ever the diplomat, has stayed above the fray. He has joked alongside Barkley, sparred a bit verbally with O'Neal and said he found the fortune cookie promotion amusing, even if the Chinese in China don't actually eat fortune cookies.

Insider talked to several people close to O'Neal on Thursday. All of them were emphatic that O'Neal is not a racist. He was trying to be funny, they explained, and would never intentionally degrade someone because of their race. In fact, they were quick to point out, the NAACP recently honored O'Neal with its Young Leaders Award.

But even if Shaq was simply trying to be funny, Tang thinks the NBA, and the media, are employing a double standard when it comes to Asians.

"Let's not beat around the bush," Tang writes. "If a white player had, for instance, made monkey sounds to taunt a black player, it would have been a national controversy. But Yao is Chinese and Asians are fair game ...

"Forgive my bitterness. I grew up in Texas, facing those 'ching-chong' taunts daily while teachers averted their ears. I love basketball, and when Yao was drafted by Houston, I had to suppress my excitement, lest he turn out a complete flop. I went to see the Rockets play the L.A. Clippers on Dec. 12. Yao is a huge young man with huge skills. But he's also a kid in a foreign land. You can tell by the way he carries himself when the ball is not in play. My heart goes out to Yao Ming. Yao Ming is our Asian Jackie Robinson, though he does not face the intensity of animosity Robinson faced. Unfortunately Shaquille O'Neal is the modern-day Ty Cobb, the rough-playing baseball superstar who used the n-word about Robinson."

Tang is not the only one ruffled by Shaq's comments. I've received several reader e-mails over the last week about the issue. One long-time Insider reader wrote me Thursday to express his sadness over Shaq's comments:

"If this is accurate, it is pretty reprehensible," he wrote. "Too bad Shaq did not attend the World Basketball Championships. He might have found it as culturally enlightening as the rest of us. I will never forget the vigor of the Argentinian crowd after Emanuel Ginobili dunked all over Russia, or the Chinese flag-waving, 4-foot-10 Yao fan at the US-China game. ... At least Allen Iverson has seen the light. Yao is truly, 'A gift from god.' "

In a league that has been the model for integration for all ethnic groups, the issue shouldn't just be swept under the rug. Only Shaq knows what his true intentions are. But the thing about racial remarks is that the pain felt by those on the receiving end is very real, even when the intentions are benign. The NBA knows China, and its billion-plus potential fans, deserves better.

Ironically, the NBA announced the results of the latest All-Star voting numbers Wednesday, and Yao had widened his lead over Shaq for the starting center position on the Western Conference team. While some look on in dismay -- Brent Musburger reportedly lamented on ABC's Christmas Day broadcast that "the hordes of China" (another veiled slur?) might stuff the All-Star ballot box -- others will see it as a sign of hope. Hope that the borders that still demarcate the game will one day dissolve. Hope that the league will include the fans who follow the NBA faithfully throughout the world. Hope that there will come a day when we embrace players based on their level of skill and the content of their character, and not on the color of their skin.

*****

Alas! We get a response from Shaq!

Quite, quite poor, might I add. So poor, I regret that a response was even made by Shaq. He just continued to complete getting not only his foot into his mouth, but shove it down his throat.

"I said it jokingly, so this guy was just trying to stir something up that's not there. He's just somebody who doesn't have a sense of humor, like I do. I don't have to have a response to that (the charges of racism) because the people who know me know I'm not,'' O'Neal said Friday before Los Angeles' game against Cleveland.

Nice apology. And thanks to the Associated Press to cover his ass for him, too. They made the article so reconciliatory-sounding. Like, "All is fair, now. He apologized." They even sum it up to his being a "bad comedian" since he was "only kidding." How absolutely horrible. Yeah, Shaq. Thanks for the apology. We appreciate it.

"I mean, if I was the first one to do it, and the only one to do it, I could see what they're talking about. But if I offended anybody, I apologize.''

What the hell does this mean?? Thanks, Shaq--you're off the hook now because guess what! You *weren't* the first one to do it! And you're an NBA star, so that further negates you from any accountability.

Steve Kelley from the Seattle Times also thought the apology was not appropriate. Thank goodness somebody is on our side, and not necessarily an Asian American writer, therefore biased in everyone else's eyes. Thanks, also, to Jim Rome, who also thought the same thing of Shaq's poor apology.

To top this off, I'll just reference, here, other Asian American issue-conscious sites also covering this controversy in full detail.
Angry Asian Man
Paramecium Parachute

That's it. :)
*e

Posted 7:41 PM by e*star

Interracial Dating Posting
I recently joined the Model Minority forums. Interesting articles on there, really. Most recently, I found the article on interracial dating intrigueing. More specifically, it pertains to the plight of the Asian American male and how Asian American female-White male couples are detrimental to that plight. Haha...sorry if my material is getting redundant! Anyway, this article was written in 1991. It is sadly ironic how things have pretty much remained unchanged.

Anyway, so I replied with my own experience with interracial dating--which many of you are familiar with. I revealed my take on it and how I sympathize with the plight of the Asian American male yet can't act upon that sympathy, or empathy, rather, through my own dating experience presently. It is because I am in love with a Latin male, and to say I couldn't date him because he is not Asian would be to deny myself true love when I've found it in its purest form. Untarnished by cultural expectations but maybe coincidentally acclimated to the Asian female-White[-looking] male couple. Anyway, I will let you read on for yourselves...or you can access the actual forum here.

*****
The Asian America That Can Say ''No''
By Hoyt Sze
The Daily Californian
September 9, 1991

Interracial dating between white men and Asian women undermines the integrity of Asian America. Every single day, Asian Americans struggle for identify and dignity. Every single day, this new love connection takes our struggle back one step.

White husbands with Asian wives more than double the number of Asian husbands with white wives, according to the U.S. Census. In San Francisco County, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, the ratio is 4 to 1. Asian American women also greatly outnumber other women of color who choose to marry outside of their race.

I'm so happy that this has become such a hot trend. So hot, in fact, that Asian American males have to bow and withdraw backwards from the room whenever it's discussed. If we whisper the quietest of protests, we're immediately labeled as reverse-racist, sexist or impotent. Pick a card, any card.

There are reasons why Asian America - the unifying culture which only exists in Ethnic Studies texts - has never existed. A large part of the blame should be placed on interracial dating, the deliberate siphoning- off of some of our minority's best and brightest.

Look at Asian America's public figures: Amy Tan, Maxine Hong Kingston, Connie Chung, Wendy Tokuda. Each one made a personal choice to marry a white man. I respect the Asian American woman's personal choice and I don't belittle it as some calculated status grab.

But I also assert that these women's personal choices have societal ramifications. In an arena where Asian American men are perceived as weak, these Asian American women help to perpetuate that myth. In a nation where almost all of us lose our original culture, these Asian American women turn their back on forging a new culture out of the scraps of the old: I have no problem with children of mixed heritage, but I have never seen a product of an Asian-white relationship willfully identify with the Asian half.

I've heard from African American men on campus that African American women stand by them. And I don't think this support is some sick sexist tradition. Both sexes simply understand that, although white society can warp the picture, African American men and women are still their own best allies. I honestly doubt that many Asian American women would agree.

This is not an extension of the old country feet-binding daughter-selling logic. I don't speak from some patronizing, Confucian, male-oriented point of view. The great majority of Asian American males are neither reactionary nor sexist.

I speak out of weariness on seeing television and motion pictures deny us any role besides de-sexed waiters or buck-toothed barbarians. I speak from anger after I read Amy Tan, claiming that Asian American men are adolescent pipe-dreams, bound to be eclipsed by true romance with the white man. And I speak out when I read Joan Walsh stating that my reaction to this unfairness is a "gripe session," and attempt to "mute the pain of personal rejection."

In a nation where people of color have been steadily gaining power and position, an Asian America of emasculated men and exotic women are willing to please can be alluring. But for all Asian Americans, these misconceptions should be seen for the outrageous insults that they are.

I have difficulty writing this column. Many of my good friends are white males who go out with Asian American females. And I don't want to portray interracial relationships as misguided or unnatural. I have no problem, for instance, with Asian Americans having relationships with other people of color.

But in a white society which already tears our community apart - never do you see on television a healthy Asian American couple - this trend is just a part of the larger genocidal picture.

I know the Milton Bradley interracial dating game is probably too popular to be stopped. But if the game requires my my people's emasculation at the hands of supposedly well-meaning white liberals, don't expect me to grin while I play.

*****
My comment:

Re: The Asian America That Can Say ''No'' (Score: 1)
by dieselgrrrrl on Friday, January 10 @ 19:30:02 GMT
(User Info | Send a Message) http://dieselgrrrrl.diaryland.com
I'm an Asian American female and date outside my race. He's Latin--half Panamanian and half Puerto Rican, but quite frankly, he can pass for white. So, when we go out, it looks like I'm with a white guy. We look like your typical AF with WM couple.

For the first 17 years of my life, I grew up in Wisconsin. Here, I could write pages and pages of the racism I encountered. Long story short, while I was in Wisconsin, "Asian Fetish" never was in. Never. Then, I came to Los Angeles to start my undergraduate education. Anyway, I learned about "Asian Fetish", and right away I dismissed the idea. My entire life I had been told how I was worthless because I wasn't white. My way of dealing with this was to **screw what everybody else thought of me** based on race, looks--they don't know me, do they? Now, I was faced with a situation where I'd be "favored" specifically because of the very factor which made me discriminated against in a time and place not so long ago. I would not have this, either--because long ago I decided that I would not tolerate ANYTHING that everyone else thought of me based on race, looks and even sex. I would have been a hypocrite to "take advantage" of the situation--of everyone's tastes of the time. Who is anybody to tell me when my race/sex is "in" or not? I would be in control of my own destiny.

Come my first boyfriend, which was in college. He was Chinese. He grew up in a ~70% Asian high school and only had Asian friends his entire life. When we were together, all 1 year and 8 months, all our friends were Asian. Heck, my school (UCLA) is over 50% Asian. I wanted to have diversified friends, but if any of you are familiar with the dynamic of such a school, the culture basically "sucks you in." That's another issue.

The time came where I was sick of his narrow-mindedness. He told me I drive a German car (a Jetta) because I grew up with white people. He automatically assumed I had a thing for white men, and was insecure because of this. In summary, because I was so secure of who I was as a person--both sexually and racially, this made *him* insecure.

So now I have my Latin, white-looking boyfriend. I am happier with him than I imagine I could ever be with anybody else in the entire world.

What am I doing? Am I rationalizing my being with a non-Asian boyfriend? No--because I am fully aware of the repercussions of my dating non-Asian. In effect, I agree with Hoyt Sze's article. I did not find it offensive whatsoever--I think he says it like it is.

I have faced the facts--that I am not really helping the Asian male agenda by being with a non-Asian. Hell, you can say to me that I'm hurting it. It doesn't mean that I don't sympathize with the cause. The moment I am single, I am always giving preference to the Asian male. However, realizing how happy I am to be with whom I am with means that I have to say "no" to the Asian American cause just this once in my lifetime of Asian American consciousness and activism. I won't lie--I still stop myself from the reflex I've developed of sneering at WM/AF couples. I always have to remind myself: "Don't be a hypocrite," and, "She could be just as conscious about it as you but just love him for him." But, I must admit that I did flash that nasty look at the 20-year old looking Asian female riding in that 60-year old looking white male's Boxster S coasting down Wilshire Boulevard.

*****
The nasty e-mail I found in my Inbox:

You are such a hyocrite!

You ever thought what brings on your ex-boyfriend insecurity? Living in
this country. Look at the news now you have a black man like SHAq saying
things that he did. Look at the hate and punishiment we face everyday. its
open shooting range for AA..... you must know by now that non -asian person
have all shared this kind of humor that its funny becasue I 'm sure you
heard ching-chong comments before. So can you blame your ex chinese
boyfriend?

YOu hatng yourself at one time doesn't morph into your sense of "love"
today? Yea what made you be so drawn into your present boyfriend? Initally,
what was it? LEts be honest, since you are very sincere person from reading
from your comments. was you made the first move or him? if it was him ever
thought you are under the same regime of roles typical of AF? CAN A NON
ASAIN PERSON NOT CATEGORIZES asain people intially? Look in the mirror we
are asian and since we live in aworld that looks are the most important
thing then morality, behavior etc... comes later, can you say , both of you
are in 'true' love.
maybe you are in love in fact you are in love of being in love.

Or was it you , the self -hating asian feamle who must find a way to secure
some sort of solution to the problem. So what if you are in love, the
foundation is rotten to the core all other add ons and extra rooms won't
keep the house on stable ground.

You can't have your cake and eat it too. Can't be dating non -asian person
and fight the cause the same time. I 'm being honest does this sound right
too? doesn't this sound hypocritical? maybe like most females not just asia
you are lost when it comes to what is love and who I am instead of fighting
the medai images of waht is love and who you should be like or look like for
that matter.

eric

*****
My nasty reply to the nasty e-mail I found in my Inbox:

If you knew any bit about who I was...if you even met me...if you had talked to any of my friends about ME...you would know that everything you have just pronounced me to be in your cowardly e-mail is false.

Are you saying that my ex-boyfriend has every right to be insecure and call out things about me that aren't even true because of what this world is like? Everybody is accountable for finding out the truth, not turning out to be a whiny bitch about being a victim in this world. Learn to get a life and take control of it and fight for what you believe in--not accuse the WRONG people of not doing the same.

I was 10 times more active at UCLA in the Asian American department than he ever was. Check out http://www.acabruins.com. I was President of the largest collegiate Asian American association (now over 600 members strong) in the United States 2 years ago.

Some self-hating Asian female I am...that I can be part of such an organization for FIVE years and also be President...lead a staff of 20 hard-working people...take 20 units of Asian American studies.

But all of this is negated because I am not an Asian Nazi and am not dating only inside my race. YOU are the one who is self-hating because you haven't learned to respect your own race enough to respect those in other races. You obviously have an inferiority complex to accuse such false and quite frankly, insulting and inflaming things about me. If you were CONFIDENT in your own ethnicity, nationality and overall background, you would not have to write such e-mails or think such hateful thoughts in order to defend what little pride in your race that you do have.

To answer your question (but not for purposes of justifying myself to an assuming, accusatory whiny Asian male), my boyfriend and I met in a car club. Our interests drew us together.

Lastly, don't you DARE question the legitimacy of ANYBODY's relationship or love therein if you don't know the couple yourself. Have you met my boyfriend? Do you know who he is? How DARE you trivialize his love for me by making such assumptions!! How DARE you trivialize my love for him by saying I am self-hating?

I feel sorry for you. You've just generalized me AND my boyfriend...therefore you have just given every right for any non-Asian to generalize and stereotype you. Thank YOU for degrading, undermining, and regressing the Asian American plight.

*e

Posted 5:48 PM by Blah blah

Letter from Paris

My fashion designer friend, Iris, just wrote me and some other friends this letter a week ago! This is amazing, because she never uses email or the computer. After three YEARS of us pushing her, she finally got email last fall. Yep, those artists adopt technology very reluctantly in Paris. I asked a friend of mine to translate it from Chinese. Excuse the poor sense of the original. Here it is:

Hi:

Paris started snowing! Not only snowing, but huge huge storms!
The other day, at my place, I was watching snowflakes slowly falling from the sky.
Their size grew gradually from small dots into a charming white storm.
I fantasized about dancing at a white palace with the falling snowflakes. Isn't this exciting?

I love watching falling snowflakes, as if they are broken flower flakes flying towards me.
I'm very touched by it, you know?
I love this kind of cold, fresh, clear sensation. It contains an unimaginable fantasy.
Perhaps this is what I dream of.

I've always loved winter.
I love the coldness. I love the strong wind
blowing at my face. I feel my real existence,
yet it is like a dream.

What about you? What have you been doing?
I realize that temperature can change one's mood.
As I warm up myself using memories, as usual,
I realize that my body temperature
changes when I miss a person.
I give you the warmest wish from this icy land. Miss you.

I miss you too, Iris.

Posted 9:28 AM by Blah blah

Sex and the City to End After Sixth Season

HBO plans to air the last episodes of SATC in Jan. 2004. This is also the final season for The Sopranos! Sad I have heard so much about both shows but never had a chance to watch them. In both cases, the shows are ending because their creative staffs want them to, not because of poor ratings.

These two hot shows tremendously helped the popularity of HBO and cable TV as a must-see entertainment source. Sex and the City also influences a ton of you young women (bloggers) out there! So get together with your friends, have the good cry over the show, and carry your lamenting about being a single urban woman over to a private place.

What do you think?

Posted 2:07 PM by Anonymous

When the Lights Go Out.

So it's late, keep your knickers on.

How’s everyone doing with the post-holiday blues? Every year, the janitors in my apartment put up the artificial Christmas tree in the lobby and string icicle lights along the glass paneled entranceway. Every night they twinkle and remind the tenants of the month’s holiday cheer. Yesterday the tree and the lights came down. The lobby looks forlorn, abandoned…desolate. Suddenly it’s the New Year. The neighbour’s illegal pet is chasing me down the front lot in subzero temperature and my rent’s due. I’m jerked back into reality.

My apartment complex is the tallest high-rise on the block. It’s probably the sturdiest building to grace kingdom come on a 4-mile radius from the north to the south. Today, I went down to B1 for a workout. When I turned the gym’s 3 dimensional key in the lock, I opened the door and happened upon a tai chi session. That’s right. All the exercise equipment had been pushed to the sides of the room. One lone Chinese guy led a senior couple through not one, but three 15-minute tai chi routines. I noted that he was wearing thick lilac puma pants, the ones that taper in towards the ankles. Watery new age music swelled my ears. I eased my way over to the bicycle and beeped in my settings: Manual. Sex: 2 (female). Age: 23 (soon to be 24). Weight: er. Minutes: 20 interval. Level: 3, not make that 2, no 1. Session: Standard. Start! I stared at the tai chi’ers through the expanse of mirror. “Definitely intermediate. White guys sure know their moves,” I thought to myself as I pumped my legs harder.

I wanted to ask the Chinese guy if he gave classes. How convenient that would be for me... Then I remembered that I had banana bread in the oven. I sped through my ab reps, stretched and raced out towards the elevator. Why I make banana bread, I don’t know. It’s just one of those things I do that never turn out. Yet I keep trying. I’ve not found a satisfactory recipe.

Back to the stark and grueling job of being a student. There’s no point to this. There really isn’t. Huop-pa!. If you haven’t heard it already, wishing you a healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year. Try for one out of three, kay?

Posted 7:07 AM by Blah blah

Creating Women from Nothing

From my favorite Supermodel Blog (Supermodels are Lonelier than You Think):

"Pictures of Kate Winslet [see pics] digitally altered to give her supermodel proportions have prompted fresh debate about the 'tidying up' of photographs of celebrities.

On her insistence, Winslet is on GQ magazine's front cover in a revealing black basque, showing skinny legs, a tiny waist and razor-sharp cheekbones thanks to computer enhancement. Inside the magazine, the 27-year-old actress poses topless in high heels and tights, looking even thinner with an impossibly flat tummy....

Experts said virtually all glossy pictures of stars these days, except those snapped by paparazzi, were digitally altered. But the Winslet shots sit a trifle incongruously with the accompanying interview, in which she berates women for equating sex appeal with being thin.

Bob Martin, production director of the retouching department of Metro Imaging in Soho, central London, said: 'I would say 95 per cent of pictures have been altered. Those we work on range from minimum clean-ups to major surgery.'

He works with leading celebrity photographers including David Bailey and Mario Testino, whose pictures of Elizabeth Hurley and Sir Elton John were subjected to the process for the cover of Vogue last month.

Hurley, in silk bra and matching knickers, was shown with elegant long legs poised over a piano as the singer, looking half his age, grinned back in a red rhinestone suit.

Mr Martin said: 'We work to a photographer's brief. But, in fact, the advances in technology over the last 10 years mean that you can create women from nothing.' "

Also, read this ironic article from last fall's New York Times: Globalization of Beauty Makes Slimness Trendy!

It's a good break from hearing about
Shaquille O'Neal and Yao Ming or the
naked Carina Lau photo stories.