4.28.2005

hate radio (again)

First Miss Jones and now this. Quoted from Asian Media Watchdog Citizenspeak Campaign. (please click to that and fill out the form)
To Whom It May Concern,

[your personal statement inserted here]

During the April 25th (Monday) edition of “The Jersey Guys”, hosts ‘Carton and Rossi’ displayed the most heinous and irresponsible radio talk show “entertainment” that New Jersey has ever heard.

Carton and Rossi repeatedly displayed Edison Mayoral Candidate Jun Choi as an enemy of New Jersey residents and Asian residents of New Jersey were repeatedly referred to as if they could not possibly be American citizens. They also repeatedly mocked Jun Choi’s name and incited racial animosity by insinuating that all Asians will vote for the Korean American candidate.

Among Carton and Rossi’s ON AIR hateful quotes were:

- “Damn Orientals and Indians.”

- “There should be like Asian-only rooms in casinos”

- “Well you know, ching chong, ching chong, you bombed us”

More info here http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/middlesex/index.ssf?/base/news-0/111458008975470.xml
Here's a lovely quote from that article
"I don't care if the Chinese population in Edison has quadrupled in the last year, Chinese should never dictate the outcome of an election, Americans should," Carton said.
Ah, there it is again. Another example of Asians as perpetual foreigners. Chinese people who are American citizens are not considered American, but rather Chinese. Third generation Chinese Americans are still considered Chinese and not really American. When American skater Tara Lipinski beat fellow American Michelle Kwan, the headlines read "American beats Kwan." Yes keep excluding us you bastards. It's the same shit over and over and I'm so sick of this. Third generation Dutch or German Americans would be considered "real" apple pie eating baseball playing Americans because, well, they are white.

4.27.2005

green card

So from conversations with married and soon-to-be-married non-Americans lately, I've learned a few things. If you go into a greencard process already married, it appears that the spouse getting the gc from their employer also scores a gc and working permit for his/her spouse.

If you get to a certain point in the gc process I-485 (?) and you're not married, but just engaged, your future spouse gets screwed out of a work permit and greencard. You just end up as "spouse of greencard holder" meaning you're free to live in the country and go to school and stuff but you don't have a right to work without finding a company to sponsor a work visa.

Any immigration lawyers out there who can confirm this?

What is the point of no return, the point at which you better elope or your future spouse gets ripped off big time?

If our layman's logic serves correct, the lesson here is do the drive-through wedding before your partner gets too far in the gc process or someone loses out big time.

4.26.2005

health insurance and stuff

Got a flyer today at school for cheap health care, $48 per year! But I just checked out the website and you need to be under 24. So I guess if you're a poor 29-year-old student you're fucked. That's fantastic especially since I chipped my tooth yesterday eating barbeque pork (siew yook). Oh and my vision is blurry out my right eye (again). And did I mention I don't have dental or vision coverage? *sigh*

I learned last week that Assistant Profs in the CSU system make $55k/year. So if I end up teaching at a Cal State School in 5 years after I finish my Phd, I would've paid $20K tuition for my MA (Phd should be paid for thru stipends and assistantships) so that I can take a $20K pay cut from what I was making in software. That is such a grim way to look at it. But I just have to remind myself that when I'm up at 2am pounding out my thesis proposal, I'm enjoying it a hell of a LOT more than flying back and forth to Houston and going in to work 60 hours a week to write brochures and sales programs for some piece of software that I don't give a flying shit about. Life's too short to do a job that doesn't stimulate, challenge and excite you.

4.25.2005

around the world for AIDS

Every once in a while you come across a really inspiring teenager. One who has the maturity to spend time doing things other than copying Jack Ass stunts, to think beyond what he's going to buy next to show off to his friends. Well one of those teens happens to be my cousin's (Lonny's) cousin on the other side of the family. Relatives on my side of the family (myself included) are... uh not so outstanding, but I digress.

His name is Bevan Barton. He's a senior (that means he's in grade 12 for my Canadian readers) at a prep school in Oakland and an accomplished athlete. He's planning to defer college one year and ride his bike around the world starting this summer to raise money for AIDS reasearch. Check out his web site http://www.rideagainstaids.com/

4.22.2005

mini-update

Thanks to Densetsu for busting the 420 police radio code myth. Check this out
http://www.snopes.com/language/stories/420.htm

Got a vmail from the campus police from some detective. I'm being called in to check out some photos of perverts to see if one of them is the guy I reported on Tuesday. How exciting, my first trip to a police station. No really, I am excited. Anyone who loves to watch cop shows like Law and Order would be.

4.20.2005

what I learned at school

When I first moved down here my roomate was always talking about 420. I never knew what the hell she was talking about until she said it refered to smoking pot. When I asked her why she said she didn't know. Well today while shootin' the shit in the grad lounge I learned something new. 420 is the police code for pot, whether they mean the possession or use of, I'm not sure specifically. Not sure why I never learned this in Vancouver, maybe the police codes are different? Who knows. Anyways, apparently 4/20 as in today's date is an unofficial day of celebration. I actually heard people say 420 a bunch of times on campus. Celebrating this day is supposed to involve toking up at exactly 4:20pm on April 20th. Ya learn something new everyday.

my 1st police report

Something rather unpleasant happened to me today. I was leaving campus at 5pm. I was walking up Holloway, crossed Juniperro Serra and walked a bit more just past the stone column at the entrance of the Ingleside neighbourhood. A white guy in his early 20s in a red shirt and khaki track pants was standing behind that stone column jerking off. He had his manhood right out there in his hand for all to see. He made eye contact with me and didn't say anything. He obviously did this with the intention of getting reactions from female passersby. I walked past him quickly and kept walking but I looked back twice to try to remember what he looked like. Each time I looked back he looked straight at me and for a minute he seemed as though he was going to start walking after me which freaked the shit out of me. I turned a corner and grabbed the cell phone out of my bag and turned it on. I kept walking and looking back but I guess he didn't follow me afterall. I had my Snapple in one hand and my laptop bag in the other so I waited to get to my car another block away to call the campus police. They dispatched the call as I was describing the guy on the phone. In 2 min the cops were at my car taking a statement. Unfortunately, he was gone by the time they went looking for him. Dammit. Quite the wake up call though. I don't think I'll ever forget my cell phone or leave it uncharged ever again. Sad thing is, this is the second time this has happened to me. An old man was doing the same thing in a drug store in Vancouver when I was about 5. I was wandering down an aisle by myself when I passed him. Fucking sicko.

4.19.2005

blog alert

Another friend has joined us. I've created yet another blogger. This is my friend who will, because of the sensitive nature of his blog, remain nameless. But he's an old friend from Vancouver and we sometimes call him Tiger so that might help you figure out who it is. Still...shhhhh
http://beans0308.blogspot.com/

I'd recommend linking to this one. He's one of the funniest people I know for damn sure.

4.17.2005

consumption

Just wanted to share a little quote from a guy I'd consider a media rockstar. Sut Jhally, Simon Fraser University (Go SFU!!) alumnus now at UMass Amherst.
"Society does not fall from heaven fully formed. It's made and constructed by
ordinary people. Deep down, people know the world in which they live is not very
satisfying because they're geared towards consumption. In America, people just
work way too hard. Why? To buy stuff. What for? Because the market system has us believing happiness will come from it. Well, happiness doesn't come from it."

4.15.2005

Friday

and a weekend of homework to look forward to. Yay.

Borrowed from daydreamy from http://fridaysfeast.blogspot.com/

Appetizer
What was your first "real" job?

Age 16 coaching recreational gymnastics at my gym club

Soup
Where would you go if you wanted to spark your creativity?

Someplace warm with a view of some body of water

Salad
Complete this sentence: I am embarrassed when...

I see Asian women playing dumb and cutesy (or sexpot trashy). I'm embarrassed both for them and by them.

Main Course
What values did your parents instill in you?

Pinch your pennies and never waste food.

Dessert
Name 3 fads from your teenage years.

Tight rolling my jeans so they're narrow at the ankles, Esprit tote bags, teased bangs with lots of hairspray.

there

So my very tech savvy research methods prof today talked about there.com. Actually the topic of the day was ethnographic research and whether it's really possible to do such research virtually but she got to mentioning there.com. It is the weirdest thing. It's an online "meeting place" but not like NetMeeting or Webex because those have goals and things to accomplish for business type stuff. Kinda like party poker but even on that site you're there primarily to, well, play poker. On there.com you are just there. I kinda figure it to be like a chat room but with avatars to represent you and others in the room. Or perhaps kinda like playing Sims but you (are supposed to) play yourself. I dunno. I guess it'd be appealing to those with extreme social anxiety disorder and stalkers? I wonder if it'll ever catch on.

In unrelated news, I got a letter from Blue Cross saying they accidentally billed everyone twice for the month of April. I'm thinking don't they automate that shit?? I read a little further, "Please contact us at the address below to request a reimbursement." How the hell is that fair? You guys screw up and I have to do extra administrative work to get my money back? You idiots, just credit my account!

4.13.2005

neighbours

My next door neighbour is this couple. Nice skinny soft spoken guy about our age, or a bit older, and his wife who I hear yelling at him at the top of her lungs all the time. They've been getting along like this pretty much since we moved in a couple years ago. I'm really not sure how they keep it together. What I do know is he delivers pizza at night for extra money because he said he likes driving around anyways. I'm thinking it's more like he needs the extra time out of the house. Simon and I have actually not met the wife because we're scared of her so we walk extra slow or hide behind a post when we see her coming up the stairs. The weird thing is that often they fight at like 6:30-7am. Weekdays and weekends. It actually wakes me up most times. I have to admit I strain to hear what they're saying. Can't help it. If they're gonna wake me up I deserve a little amusement. My question is what the hell is there to argue about that early in the damn morning?

4.11.2005

classmates and wine

Classmates.com is huge but if you are too cheap to pay like I imagine most of us are, you don't find out much about your old classmates except that they're alive, married (or not), their pets, country they live in and political views. But alas, there is always a free, though not quite as popular, alternative. Might I suggest http://graduates.com/ and I was going to suggest kitnetwork.com but dammit it got bought out by reunion.com. Bastards.

On an unrelated note, I have finally found dozens of people with the same sensitivity as I have to red wine. http://www.nobody-knows-anything.com/mtarchives/2003/10/wine_allergies.html

With most reds, my nose gets stuffy, I get abnormally red, my head throbs, and then the asthma hits and if my inhaler is not in my purse I get pretty damn uncomfortable. I get this (namely the asthma symptoms) once in a while with other alcohol especially if I drink on an empty stomach but not the way it hits me with red wine. What works for me is a Reactine (non drowsy allergy med I get in Canada because it's not available here without prescription) an hour before drinking. I've been assured by a doctor acquaintance that that is OK and typically it keeps the symptoms tolerable. Anyone else have weird alcohol allergies? I have friends who either pass out (literally) or black out (ie conscious, standing, talking, but can't see while their eyes are open) from drinking.

4.09.2005

living vicariously

Simon called twice tonite from LV where he's whooping it up for his friend Dan's stag. First call, he shared that they were invited to come watch the taping of Celebrity Poker in their hotel, the Palms (one of the guys has lost a lot of money on several occasions, hence the free room). That sounded pretty cool. I can't begin to explain how many hours of that show I've had to sit through. I didn't recognize the names of the celebs he listed except one, Wendy Pepper. The middle aged lady whom everyone hated on the reality show Project Runway. Apparently she's lost weight but still looks awful in real life. Phil Gordon and the other host whose name escapes me were also there but their commentary is taped in a back room by the loser's lounge. I'll let Simon share the details when he gets back. His second call was a more exciting one. "I just shook Tony Almeida's hand!!" he exclaimed. Apparently Tony from24 (does anyone really know the guy's real name?) was hanging around the hotel, probably next in line for another taping of Celebrity Poker. Simon said to him, "hey you're Tony from 24!" Despite the popularity of his character, I guess the guy doesn't get much attention on the street. He was apparently visibly excited to be recognized and shook Simon's hand. Simon says he looks a lot younger in real life. He's my favourite character on the show next to Jack and Chloe. I wish I were there. Instead I'm at home doing homework, blogging and watching the Lifetime network.

4.08.2005

APAs aren't notable?

For non-liberal arts/media scholars, cultural hegemony is defined as "the concept that a diverse culture can be ruled or dominated by one group or class, that everyday practices and shared beliefs provide the foundation for complex systems of domination." It's a theory rooted in Marxism and coined by Gramsci. According to Gramsci, the dominance of ruling class values is so engrained in the very institutions of a society that these values, no matter how contorted, become normalized and the dominated peoples are effectively complicit in their own subjugation. The most modern day example for me still is Asian Americans thinking there's nothing wrong with wearing Abercrombie after they put out that line of racist t-shirts and lost a class action suit for not hiring minorities or keeping them safely hidden in back storerooms. Sorry I cant stop blogging about that but I go to a college and every day I see that, it pisses me off to no end. How stupid can you be really?

But I have another example. I was tutoring one of my charming 13 year old students and was reading over his list of important Americans in history. He had to pick one to do a research report on. It was a two page single-spaced freakin list. Mostly white men. There were maybe 5-6 women listed in the "feminist" category and a couple token African Americans (MLK and Malcolm X of course) and Cesar Chavez, the only other non-white guy.

And of course, there was not a single Asian American. How about Fred Korematsu? How about the Asian Americans who dared to take a stand during the many decades of institutionalized and unjustified anti-Asian American racism around the turn of the 20th century? Or some APA scientists?

What does it say to youngsters when our list of "heroes" or "notable people" doesn't include people of their own color when there are numerous untold stories of heroism and bravery? And the fact that this list looks a lot like the lists of notable historical figures I had to choose from in jr. high 15 years ago (ie all white guys) means no one's spoken up to make a change. We've accepted lists like this as "normal." Just like it was normal that there were no Asian characters in the piles upon piles of Sweet Valley High books I read in elementary school. Just like it was normal that all the dolls in the store had white skin, no black, no yellow, no brown. Unless you want to contribute to this ongoing silent subjugation, you as an individual need to do something. The first step is to see that this is not normal or natural or right.

4.06.2005

stags and stuff

SF International Film Fest is coming soon, thanks to GuppieLuv for the reminder http://sfiff.org/fest05/ Who wants to catch a film or two? I had some bad luck at the SF Asian American fest because tickets sold out before we could get there because we missed the cut off for online purchases. But I did get to at least catch Cutie Honey when it ran last month. I wish there were a (free) indie film channel. I'd never leave the house.

This weekend Simon is off to Vegas for Dan's stag. (is that a Canadian word cuz apparently Americans don't know what a stagette, aka bachelorette, is?) I'm thinking I'm going to use the time to hibernate at home and catch up on my thesis proposal which so desperately needs my attention. Also got 2 hours and 50 min worth of lecture notes due for my pedagogy class. Crap I have a lot of thinking and writing to do. Need to go out drinking less and do more homework and exercise. Oh and do taxes. Dammit. I need another spring break really badly.

4.05.2005

taxes

Just need to vent. I HATE filing taxes. I typically get a refund but it's not incentive enough to want to do them. Just seeing the jargon and grids and questions (yes even in Turbo Tax) makes my head hurt. Honestly, I'd rather do 3 hours of academic research or write a paper than do my taxes. HATE it. I can't believe I know a woman who just completed her Masters in Tax. I'd rather chew off a limb than do that degree.

BTW a tip from my friend Randolph (haven't tried this yet)
If you go to the IRS site, you can link to turbotax and file for free. It's only free for federal taxes and it only works if you link from the IRS site.
To file state taxes for free, go to the California Franchise Board website.
You basically take the info you got from the Turbo Tax site and it'll automatically calculate how much you owe

really dumb

Simon says he'll give me $5 to link to his blog again now that he's been blogging regularly and posted Google Ad words on his site, so here it is again --> http://simonma168.blogspot.com

So I did something profoundly stupid tonight. I get really annoyed when there's food stuck on dishes and utensils that go in the dishwasher, especially rice because it sticks to everything and hardens. So before I put the rice scooper thing in the washer I like to eat the rice clean off the scoop before I put it in the wash. Well, not sure if you knew but poor kids in Asia sometimes use a grain of cooked rice as glue to stick paper together. You just smoosh it together, let it dry and voila, cheap glue. It works I tried it when I was little. So anyways, I stuck the whole rice scooper thing in my mouth (I really like rice and really hate wasting food). The rice had kinda half dried and the effect was much like licking a really frozen popsicle. It stuck to my lower lip and stupid me, I pulled it out of my mouth and took some skin with it. Dammit. Last week I got a deep cut in my thumb from eating crab, in Cabo I broke off a disturbingly large chunk of my toenail when I had had a few too many Dos Equis and tripped on a stair on my way to the bathroom in some karaoke bar. Kinda reminds me of my gymnastics days when I'd nail a beam routine and then turn around and trip on a crashmat or walk into a door. It only takes a small lapse in concentration (or a couple drinks) before disaster strikes.

4.04.2005

San Jose

We made a rare trip south to go for drinks on Saturday, all the way down to downtown San Jose. The Sofa Lounge to be exact. The place itself was kinda nice, lots of seating, hardwood floors, some art on the walls and a couple plasmas showing Austin Powers, and later JackAss. Drinks are cheaper than in the city too. But the DJ was trainwrecking left and right and when more people filled the lounge, he made the switch from downtempo to hip hop. blech. We left early to meet up with some late comers but apparently last call happens at quarter past one and you can't get in anyplace. I ended up ducking into a biker bar to use the bathroom. We ended up at La Victoria for some late night Mexican food. The place sells their hot sauce for $6 a bottle so they have a guard at the door making sure no one makes off with the hot sauce provided at the tables. When you walk out to your car, the streets are lined with cops, 5 or more of them standing with hands on their hips, side-by-side. I dunno. It's just weird. I think I'd rather be out for drinks close to home at Stinger. I just wish the place were a bit bigger and in a more happening neighbourhood like downtown Palo Alto or something.