DO THE HUSTLE

wait, will I have to dance on stage too?
Academy Award nominations came out today and we noticed that, as one of the three songs up for the "best original song" was a track from Hustle and Flow: "It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp."

Personally, we can't wait to see this performed live on the Oscars, especially after Eminem snubbed the Academy by deciding not to perform "Lose Yourself" a few years back (despite winning the category). The audience shots should be interesting too: we'll see which of Hollywood's A-list can get their bounce on.

Oh yeah, Terrence Howard scored a nom for Best Actor too (though we'll be rooting for Hoffman).

--O.W.

PAGING GOOGLE-OLOGISTS

I've been curious about something: a good number of the hits we get here at Poplicks are from people using Google Image search. In other words, they're not really looking for us, rather, they're doing some random searches for images and they end up here.

How does that happen? Does anyone know how Google image ranking is done (I'm assuming it's a similar formula to their page rank system). I have to say, while I'm glad to get the traffic, it does distort the numbers here a bit since most people searching for images don't usually read the page the image resides on.

By the way, here are the greatest hits (i.e. top five image searches that end up back here) thus far:

"2004 map"

"japanese family"

"rize"

"cadaver art"

"destinyschild" (but only if you forget to put a space between the two words)

By the way, what happens if you do an image search for poplicks? See for yourself.

--O.W.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK #44

This dance ain't for everybody ... only the sexy people!

This Week's Question:

You are the DJ for your best friend's wedding. Your goal is to pack the dance floor as quickly as possible. You want music that is accessible/recognizable/danceable for the older crowd, but something hip enough to lure in the younger crowd. What is the first song you play?

--Junichi

THE NAIL IN THE COFFIN

Final Score - Right-wing: 500, Moderates/Liberals: 0, Kobe Bryant: 150

Welcome to the death of the moderate judicial branch.

I'm happy to go on the record with this statement: the most perdurable impact of the Bush Administration will undoubtedly be the nominations of Judge Alito and Judge Roberts to the Supreme Court.

Oh, I'm not ignorant of how many lives have been snuffed out by the war in Iraq, how badly the world's image of the United States has deteriorated, how many environment regulations have been gutted, and how much the war on terror has drained our resources and decimated civil liberties.

Say what you will about the current Supreme Court, but it has, over the last 40 years, managed to serve as an important check on authoritarian presidents and reactionary laws, while preserving important rights for women, people of color, immigrants, the disabled, the young, the poor, and, to some extent, gays and lesbians.

In the last twelve years, the Court abolished juvenile executions, upheld the right of universities to use affirmative action, preserved the right to an abortion especially to protect a woman's health, struck down indefinite detentions of immigrants, and mandated that government remain neutral in the arena of religion.

In my opinion, neither the current legislative nor the executive branch had the spine/balls/courage/compassion to make these decisions.

But most significantly, all of the above opinions were decided 5 to 4 with Sandra Day O'Connor in the majority. She was the pragmatic, pivotal fifth vote in an otherwise split octet.

Which is to say, Judge Alito's eventual confirmation and takeover of Justice O'Connor's seat will truly fundamentally alter the landscape of our rights and liberties. Mos mos mos mos def. (The Roberts/Rehnquist substitution didn't really alter the balance much.)

If you think the Court is conservative now, you ain't seen nothing yet. We're about to see cans of whoop ass on a Costco-size Super-Sized Super Big Gulp level.

Normally, I'd try to give new justices the benefit of the doubt. After all, some of the most progressive justices -- Earl Warren, William Brennan, David Souter -- were appointed by Republican presidents. But let's be real. Alito has a reactionary track record as long, consistent, unwavering, and ominous as a steel Dirk Diggler strap-on.

From broadening police powers to protecting large corporations, Alito represents the promised land for the far and religious right in America. U. Chicago Professor Cass Sunstein described Alito's record of dissents as "stunning" given that 91% of his dissents "take positions more conservative than his colleagues ... including colleagues appointed by Presidents Bush and Reagan."

Unlike Judge Roberts, he has made personal statements -- not in the capacity of a client's attorney or a government employee -- that Roe v. Wade should be overturned.

Unthinkably, he defended Nixon's illegal wiretaps, which make it easy to predict how he'd rule on Bush's illegal wiretaps.

Worst of all, he once touted his membership in CAP, the extremist group of Princeton grads that opposed the increasing presence of women and people of color on campus, despised gays and lesbians, and defended the interests of rich, white male alumni and their sons.

Perhaps Bush's Supreme Court nominations weren't/aren't high on the radar of most Americans because there are so many other evil deeds worthy of alarm and pants-soiling.

But Bush isn't going to be nominating his clueless friends to emergency management positions after January 2009.

Judge -- make that, Justice -- Alito and Chief Justice Roberts, on the other hand, will join forces with the other conservative justices until they die, which may not happen for a few more decades.

If you, like me, imagine Alito as an Optimus Prime who is about to merge with the other Autobots to transform into a giant Death Star after a Jedi holocaust, let's work on our dated mixed metaphors together while the right-wing celebrate their sweep of all three branches and kill us slowly.

--Junichi

ONLY JESUS CAN SAVE US

No comment.

--Junichi

365 DAYS OF SNOW

no, no, the other kind
As I mentioned in an earlier post this month, one of the things that stood out about hip-hop in 2005 was the incredible popularity of crack rap. I mentioned in both my pieces that many of my ideas were spurred by conversations with Hua Hsu and he wrote his own musings on the subject the other week in an essay called "After the Snow," for the Village Voice. A few key lines to note:

"Crack morphed into an adjective (most notably Kanye West's "Crack Music") and it became interchangeable with the enthusiast (Santana's "I Am Crack"); the tone moved from survival to sport. Everything felt bad morally and good aesthetically."

"That violent sliver of New York history known as the "crack wars" has become a discrete historical moment, free for all kinds of post facto analysis and nostalgia. Twentysomething rappers have their uses for history; it's the 1980s again in the streets, all me-first, get-rich-quick flash. Upstairs, veterans of the war are returning home after 15- and 20- year stints behind bars; survivors survey what has become of the city, listen to the music that was made in their name, and decide there is room for their stories as well."

"With the epidemic behind us, crack, for those who aren't still in its throes, has become a clean surface, an impetus for stories retold. New York may have celebrated its 17th consecutive year of declining crime rates, but there is still an odd fixation with broken windows and restless summers."

Not to be outdone, the Voice ran a second piece on crack rap this past week in the form of Nick Sylvester's review of both the Clipse's We Got It For Cheap Vol 2 and Young Jeezy's Thug Motivation 101. I have to say, the title for this was genius: "Trapped In the Kitchen" (R. Kelly title detournement = always a good look), even if it seems odd that the Voice was half a year late in reviewing either the Clipse's mixtape or Jeezy's summer smash album. That said, Sylvester also has some good points to make:

"[Jeezy] can "do it for the hood" only because the hood can't; he escaped the 'jects because he kept his customers trapped there."

"In return for the free pass on the moral issues, is it too much to ask for motivation beyond rags-or-riches, or rappers who can rhyme "shotta" with more than "shotta"?"

"Deeply wronged and psychologically motivated, Clipse are closer to Scarfaces and spaghetti western gangstas than mere get-out-the-ghetto hustlers. Jeezy and Juelz are entertaining, but Clipse appeal to our sense of justice. Our sympathies mount the more viciously they flow: "All the snow in the timepiece confusing them/all the snow on the concrete Peruvian/I flew 'em in, it ruined men, I'm through with them/blame for misguiding their life/so go and sue me then." Compare that to Jeezy's lame excuses when haters press him about young fans wearing his snowman shirt."

--O.W.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK #43

Replacing kickball in P.E. class?

This Week's Question:

What cultural practice or norm from a foreign country do you wish that Americans would adopt?

--Junichi

IT'S OFFICIAL: NAS AND JAY-Z JOIN FORCES

money > beef
Forget Cam'ron dissing Jay-Z for a moment. While all NYC is abuzz over the latest rapper beef, Jay-Z and former rival Nas have managed something arguably even more newsworthy: going into business with one another. Def Jam (the label where Jay-Z is the president) and Sony (which has been Nas' label throughout his 12 year career) are going to join forces under a new deal just announced. The short story is this:

Sony and Def Jam are partnering up to release Nas' next four albums, with Def Jam handling the production and marketing. This probably means, among other things, that it's almost certain Jay-Z and Nas will record at least one song together, I've even heard rumors that the two men are working on a joint album. Kind of like Best of Both Worlds but hopefully with no R. Kelly-esque diva meltdowns during the tour.

In all fairness, who knows how this will play out? The only clear winner right now is Nas' short-term bank account: he's supposed to earn at least $3 million upfront for each of the first two albums under the deal. Ironically, Jay-Z will now be put in the position to try to help improve Nas "one hot album in every ten year average."

I'll say this much: cynicism in today's hip-hop world is at an all time high, especially in the blogosphere where nothing seems ripe for dismissal more than unabashed excitement but f--- it: I'm excited by the possibility that: 1) Def Jam might help Nas stay more consistent, 2) Jay and Nas might make at least one good song together, 3) hell, who needs a #3?

(Source: NY Times)

--O.W.

LET THE BATTLE BEGIN

ain't no love in the heart of the city
People were waiting for some beef to cook off for 2006; some thought it'd be DMX after he left Def Jam. Maybe 50 Cent...who's making making subliminal moves against Jay. Instead, Dipset jumped up (to get beat down?)

Much as I like Cam, for a first shot, this was rather weaksauce. Expect to see Jay come back and crush Killa with his reply.

To quote Cam: "you ain't got no 'Ether' for us?"

Also, how many days until Kelefa covers this in the NY Times? Start the clock!

(Credit: Catchdubs)

--O.W.

JB + MJ + PRINCE

A friend had told me about this video recently and lo and behold, another friend just passed along the youtube.com copy of it. It's 1983 concert footage from a James Brown concert where he calls up Michael Jackson - apparently out of the audience, and then MJ gets Prince to come on stage. It's completely, absolutely INSANE. I mean this both figuratively (Prince loses a few marbles) and literally (it's awesome).

(Credit: Ronnie Brown)

--O.W.

ON WHOSE KNEES?

one size fits all
Sharon forwarded this recent Atlantic Monthly essay to me this morning. The author, Caitlin Flanagan rips into a book called Rainbow Party (by Paul Ruditis) and uses it as a way to talk about the perception of an "oral sex epidemic" amongst today's teens and what it means, in particular, for the sexual identities of young women. In the process (this is at least a 4,000 word essay), she manages to cover a wide berth of topics, including 1) how models of positive female sexuality have gone from Judy Blume to Lil Kim, 2) how the media has whipped up hysteria around the "oral sex epidemic" (OSE for short), 3) theories on why sex seems more casual and debased than ever (she blames hip-hop, porn and a perversion of feminist ideals among others).

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING...


[Quick summary of my post for those too lazy to read the whole thing: Flanagan writes about the hysteria around the oral sex epidemic. She has some funny writing, some serious writing. Some good arguments but her section on hip-hop is wack. And she doesn't realize that there is clear data out there that oral sex is not as one-sided as everyone presumes it is. This oversight weakens her argument considerably.]

I have to say: I should read more book reviews first of all. There's so much more freedom to ruminate on a variety of different topics in a book review vs. a music or even movie review. Flanagan manages to touch on a variety of different mediums and sources, from books to television to music to public healthy to government policy, etc. She does have the tendency to meander now and then but she never really goes "off topic." Her discussion of Blume is especially insightful.

Second, I like Flanagan's writing; she has a nice balance between irreverence and seriousness. Especially given the topic, there's more than a few LOL moments to be had here but also some powerfully stated arguments. Here's a selection:

"A huge report was issued by the National Center for Health Statistics. It covered the topic of teenage oral sex more extensively than any previous study, and the news was devastating: A quarter of girls aged fifteen had engaged in it, and more than half aged seventeen. Obviously, there was no previous data to compare this with, but millions of suburban dads were quite adamant that they had been born too soon."

"...what these kids allegedly engaged in combined the degeneracy of a satanic cult with the agility of a Cirque du Soleil troupe. We are told that a common after-school activity in Conyers was "the sandwich," in which a girl would be simultaneously penetrated by as many as four boys (the fourth, apparently a Johnny-come-lately, would somehow shoehorn himself into an orifice already occupied by one of his pals)."

"The oral-sex hysteria has attributed to American boys not only superhuman virility but also wanton emotional cruelty. The one is laughable; the other in the main is just not the case. Like the medical dodge, the demonization of boys oversimplifies the problem and spares one the arguably sadder truth."

I was actually quite impressed with the general arc of Flanagan's essay...until she got to hip-hop. Then things started to fall apart. Here's what she has to say about rap music and attempts to address its content. (Emphasis mine):

"One of the most astonishing things to happen during the 1990s was that rap music that included some of the most violent, sexually explicit, and misogynistic lyrics ever recorded slipped seamlessly and virtually unnoticed into the households of so many apparently responsible American families."

"Tipper Gore's heroic campaign to get explicit music rated and labeled was born after she decided to do something few parents had even attempted: actually listen to the albums her kids had bought. She was ridiculed by many factions, including those forces on the American left who cry censorship whenever anyone attempts to protect the public, including children, from smut (and in the case of rap, smut emanating from a source the left valorizes: black urban America)."

"The protests of white senators' wives and African-American senior citizens have not had much effect on music sales, and have not prevented a large number of poor and middle-class kids alike from becoming saturated by the world of spoken-word, hard-core pornography that is rap music.

As someone who firmly believes that misogyny in hip-hop is a serious problem, I still had to take a pause and utter underneath my breath: "c'mon, give me a fucking break."

For a pundit trying to counter how the media has whipped up hysteria around the OSE, Flanagan seems to have no qualms, whatsoever, in breathlessly engaging in her own examples of hyperbolic presumptions and accusations. I find the turnabout so striking because it's so superficial and unlike most of the rest of her text.

I can't say, for certain, that the fact that Flanagan is a middle aged white woman has anything to do with her narrow views on hip-hop (but of course, I'm saying that is has something to do with them) but anyone who would call Tipper Gore "heroic" is pretty much wearing a very particular kind of racial and cultural politics on her sleeve already. For certain, she doesn't lay (all) the evil of the world upon hip-hop's shoulders so I won't press this point too far, but it was one of the few areas where her argument, so impassioned and intelligent elsewhere, comes up so short that it deals a severe blow to her credibility.

However, when I was reading through her essay a second time, I realized there was something even more problematic with her entire essay, an omission or oversight so grand that it basically topples over some of her most salient conclusions. Moreover, what makes this oversight so egregious is that it was such a simple thing to do: check your facts.

Understand this: the OSE hysteria - as well as the conclusions that Flanagan draws about it - rely on one important idea: that teenage girls are willingly going out into the world, giving out blow jobs like they were candy, and expecting nothing in return. She takes this following argument for granted and never really questions it:

"Fellatio, which was once a part of the sexual repertoire only of experienced women, is now commonly performed by very young girls outside of romantic relationships, casually and without any expectation of reciprocation."

Ok, that makes things pretty clear, no-strings-attached oral sex, yada yada. Flanagan actually takes this idea and threads it into the heart of her conclusion where she suggests,

"The modern girl's casual willingness to perform oral sex may -- as some cool-headed observers of the phenomenon like to propose -- be her way of maintaining a post-feminist power in her sexual dealings, by being fully in control of the sexual act and of the pleasure a boy receives from it. Or it may be her desperate attempt to do something that the culture refuses to encourage: to keep her own sexuality -- the emotions and the desires, as well as the anatomical real estate itself -- private, secret, unviolated. It may not be her technical virginity that she is trying to preserve; it may be her own sexual awakening -- which is all she really has left to protect anymore."

Powerful words but the problem is that they rest on a faulty assumption.

Here's the thing...if you go back to the September 15, 2005 report issued through the CDC and reported on by the National Center for Health Statistics, what you find is this under Table 16 (which is the main set of data that most news outlets - and Flanagan - draw from):

% of girls, 15-19 who have GIVEN oral sex to an opposite sex partner: 43.6

Suburban moms and dads everywhere gasp in horror! But wait, keep reading...

% of girls, 15-19 who have RECEIVED oral sex from an opposite sex partner: 49.6.
% of boys, 15-19 who have given oral sex to an opposite sex partner: 38.8
% of boys, 15-19 who have received oral sex from an opposite sex partner: 51.5

. Sure, there is an imbalance here - clearly, boys are more likely to receive than give. But hold the friggin' presses...according to this, MORE teenage girls receive oral sex from boys than give it.

Unless I'm reading this data wrong, it pretty much, um, blows a hole in this idea of hordes of teenage girls on their knees without ever expecting some downtown action in return. It's such a simple fact to look up: took me all of five minutes and yet, it completely demolishes one of the most hallowed underpinnings of the OSE hysteria as well as Flanagan's own arguments. Her conclusion, that perhaps girls are giving oral sex as a way to protect their own sexuality, simply doesn't work any more. These teens that we're talking about are sexually active in the fullest sense of the term: they're not simply giving pleasure but it seems fairly clear: they are receiving it too.

It might very well be that sex has become far too casual amongst teens today - oral or otherwise (notably, most of the media outlets wouldn't go anywhere near touching the rising rates of anal sex amongst teens. It's an obvious corollary but still too taboo for many). I don't doubt that the average 16 year old is far, far more sexually experienced - and perhaps blasé - than I was when I was 16 in the 1980s (then again, I was a total square back then). Nor do I doubt that there are probably many teenage girls out there with a debased sense of self who are willing to satisfy men sexually without ever asking for reciprocation.

But according to the data, they are, by far, the exceptions and not the rule. What seems far more likely is that you have a generation of teens experimenting with sex together rather than it being a purely or even mostly one-sided affair. Not to say that it still isn't awkward or traumatic but I would think that today's girls are just as curious about their own bodies and own pleasure as today's boys seem eager to learn.

I would have liked to see Flanagan take these facts into mind in her essay and see how she might have drawn different conclusions. It just seems a shame that such a lengthy and thorough essay otherwise would suffer from such a simple oversight.

--O.W.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK #42

Why is this man unemployed?

This Week's Question:

If a qualified job applicant is not hired simply because he/she is ugly, should he/she be able to sue the employer? In other words, should "unattractive" people be a protected class for the purposes of employment anti-discrimination laws?

--Junichi

PROGRESS? WHAT PROGRESS?

just like old times
Harvard's Civil Rights Project released a report yesterday outlining how American schools in many states, especially California, have resegregated in the years since Brown vs. the Board of Education. This is not "new" news - scholars and activists alike have been ringing the alarm on this trend for years now - but the Harvard study does provide a long view on what's happened as well as a few ideas on why.

Some key points and findings:

"In large measure, landmark Supreme Court decisions in the last decade have steadily eroded the progress in educational integration made in the past thirty years. Author Gary Orfield commented: "Anyone who thinks that the Supreme Court does not make a difference should look at the quarter century of decline in the segregation of Southern schools though the late l980s, the continual, year-by-year growth in segregation since the Court authorized ending desegregation plans in 1991, as well as the impact of the Court's 5-4 decision against city-suburban desegregation in 1974."

Geographically, the most dramatic trends in resegregation are seen in the South and the Border states for black students and increasing segregation for Latinos in the West. From 1991-2003, the number of black students attending majority nonwhite schools rose sharply across all regions. In the South, this percentage increased from 61% to 71%. Latinos constitute the largest minority and are increasingly segregated in regions where they are concentrated. Asians are the least segregated group of students and are most likely to attend multiracial schools... Since the 1990s, the percentage of students of every race in multiracial groups has increased. Segregation is no longer black and white but increasingly multiracial.

While South and Border regions are resegregating, black students in the South and Border states still have among the highest levels of exposure to white students. Nationally, Asians are more likely than students of other races to attend multiracial schools. Conversely, white students are the least likely to attend these schools. Despite an increase in diversity, white students remain the most isolated group.

More than three quarters of intensely segregated schools are also high poverty schools."

That last point seems particularly relevant today since, as many know, at the end of Dr. King's life, he was working to combine his traditional civil rights work around racial integration with a blossoming belief that an anti-poverty campaign was integral to any social justice efforts. The study acknowledges this with its sobering opening:

"Were he alive today, Dr. King would doubtless be concerned about the increasing isolation of children whose only chance lies in a good education from the nation’s stronger schools and the profoundly multiracial composition of today’s schools."

--O.W.

WE HEART DIANA ENG

Poor Diana, we hardly knew ye. Since Project Runway is Sharon's favorite show since, well, ever, I've been watching religiously too. As S says, "fashion people make for great television," and even though I can't tell Moshino from Mossimo, any reality show where competitors have to demonstrate actual talent is a plus. Besides, fashionistas are so delightfully bitchy to one another; they're more fun than their designs sometimes.

Anyways, Diana Eng was doing ok but alas, she and her partner came up with the drabbest of drag designs in this week's episode and both got booted. Still, thanks to EW Popwatch's coverage, I discovered her little "Fashion Nerd" buttons (pictured up top) as well as her blog. I have to say, it's a little ironic that for a designer, Eng's blog could use a serious overhaul. It's not as bad or ugly as the average myspace or xanga site but it could stand to be less cluttered.

This is not important however. What is more notable is that she has some entries which are basically awesome. This one is from 2003, when I think Eng must have been like...19 or so.

"I was just dancing around like everyone else, when the DJ on the microphone said something like "there are some really hot girls dancing out there tonight, especially that asian connection in the corner." I looked around to see who he was talking about and discovered that the only asian person there was me. Gee, being a minority is so swanky cool. Anyways, mr. politically correct DJ kept talking to me on the mic, then followed me out when I left the club.

I've decided that being asain is like having really big breasts. It attracts guys, but for all the wrong reasons. Being asain with really big breasts must suck.

And then this one is far more recent, from last November:

"I spent last month dating Mr. OCD. While he was an immediate winner because of his sexy glasses, I was also keen on him because he has medically diagnosed obsessive compulsive disorder. Visiting his apartment is all sorts of awesome, because everything is lined up and evenly spaced. Even the dirty forks and spoons in his sink are rinsed off and in a nice neat row. It's the designer's dream, like real life minimalism. I conducted little experiments all the time, by moving things in his house ever so slightly to see if he moved them back. I don't think he enjoyed that much, and we broke up. So the moral of the story is, even if it's for scientific reasons, I probably shouldn't do mini-experiments on people I am dating."

By the way, she doesn't actually sell these but she should:
(You have to see the episode where she was drunk. Again, just a lil' bit awesome).

--O.W.

SEXISM AND HIP-HOP, THE CONTINUING DISCUSSION

not really helping either
I meant to post this a few weeks back but hadn't have the time. I originally read this interview with Lauren Harkrader (aka Duke's DJ Chela) on hiphopmusic.com, but unfortunately, the story is no longer available at its original source (however, Google cache is the best, true that).

Harkrader makes some excellent - or at the very least, provocative - points about the perpetuation of misogyny in hip-hop. Good food for thought. Here's a few of the more compelling parts of the interview:

HARKRADER: Society is misogynistic, American society is patriarchal and so on, so it already sets things up. But a lot of the commercial music takes that to a higher level and really endorses it, or normalizes it, makes it something acceptable. Young, impressionable people are going to buy into that. And the whole cycle perpetuates.

THE N&O: This is something that has been an issue in all kinds of music, not just hip-hop. Do you think there's something different about hip-hop?

HARKRADER: I would definitely compare where hip-hop is right now to the big-hair rock phase of the '80s, when the men were just very hypersexual and very destructive. And it's a completely different arena and different form, but it's that same thread of just-over-the-top behavior.

But hip-hop, in terms of the social political landscape that it comes from, is always going to be different. At the same time, it's pop music, and a lot of young white kids are buying into it for a lot of different reasons. Young white kids want to rebel, and they see this struggle of people -- it's a different struggle than their own -- and they want to adopt that and buy into that, but it's a very superficial presentation of that. It's like they are buying into the ignorance that's being marketed that comes out of exploitation and prejudice.

So it's this crazy cycle, and it's also a tragic cycle, I would say, because at the end of the day, who gets affected? I would say these young women having babies at 15 or 16 years old and young men and women that feel that gang life is the best way they can assert their power and be powerful people and be leaders.

THE N&O: Is the subject of hip-hop and how it represents women something that you hear discussed much among women?

HARKRADER: Sadly, not as much as I feel like I would expect. I went to school at Oberlin College, and that environment was very much questioning everything. But when I came back to Durham, I definitely just saw a resignation in women and a lack of perspicuity, really looking at the issue as to why it is.

Women are the main consumers, so it's up to us. We could boycott the hip-hop music we don't agree with or that we feel disrespects us, and we could make our own music. There are so many different things we could do, so I think that we definitely need to have more conversations that bring us together because there are so many things that can divide us.

You would think women would stick together more, and the truth is, we really don't. A lot of women have internalized the sexism and oppression that exists and look at other women as a threat and don't want to work together with other women.

--O.W.

30 FACTS THAT ARE DIFFICULT FOR ME TO ACCEPT

Popov strikes out in court

Here are 30 more facts that are difficult for me to accept:

1. An advertising agency angered Johnny Cash's family in 2004 when it proposed using Cash's "Ring of Fire" for hemorrhoid cream ads.


2. Alex Popov (owner of Smart Alec's in Berkeley), who originally caught and then litigated to keep Barry Bonds' record 73rd home run baseball, ended up winning only $225,000, half of the auction sale price of $450,000. However, Popov ended up accumulating over $473,530 in legal fees. His former attorney then sued Popov for the money, causing Popov to spend even more on a new lawyer. Which is to say, Alex Popov lost over $250,000 from catching Barry's ball.


3. The title of Paul Simon's song -- "Mother and Child Reunion" -- derives from the name of a chicken and egg entree he spotted on the menu of a Chinese restaurant.
   


4. Red Bull is a foreign import from Austria, although it is based on a Thai beverage popular with rickshaw drivers called Krating Daeng (กระทิงแดง), which translates into English as Red Bull.


5. In Numbers 22 of the Bible, the Biblical figure Balaam has a conversation with a talking ass.
   


6. "Don't Phunk With My Heart" was nominated for this year's Grammy award for Best Rap Performance By A Duo or Group.
   


7. Donald Rumsfeld holds the record for being the oldest Secretary of Defense ever, as well as the youngest Secretary of Defense ever (when he served under President Ford from 1975 to 1977).


8. Ghost was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.
   


9. There is a word for the sexual pleasure derived from enemas: klismaphilia (or klysmaphilia)


10. Young MC has released five albums since "Stone Cold Rhymin'" in 1989.


11. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which forbids capital punishment for juveniles, has been signed and ratified by all 194 UN member countries except for two: the United States and Somalia. (According to Wikipedia, Somalia is currently unable to ratify the treaty because it has no recognized government.)


12. Jodie Foster began her acting career four decades ago, in 1969, when she made her acting debut on television with a guest spot on Mayberry R.F.D.


13. The cost of obtaining the rights to the Clerks soundtrack (approx. $27,000) was more expensive than the entire production costs of the film itself (approx. $26,800), which was a first in motion picture history.


14. The cost of the Iraq war may exceed $2 trillion.


15. Stephen Chow, director of Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer, tried getting Canadian citizenship but was denied by Canadian immigration because of his alleged links to underground gangs in Hong Kong.


16. Somebody is making a movie based on the arcade game Pac-Man.


17. Dubya's first appointment to the FEMA directorship was his friend and campaign manager, Joseph Allbaugh, who also lacked experience in emergency management.


18. Porn star Paris Hilton made the list of Top 10 Most Inspirational Celebrities of 2005 in a poll of teenage girls.


19. Some spend thousands to travel to South Africa for "scalpel safaris," where patients undergo plastic surgery and look at exotic animals while recovering.


20. In 2002, a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader raked in only $50 per game.
    


21. Charles Ingram won the top prize in Britain's version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" with the help of his wife and a system of "coded coughs" from a friend in the audience. (They were later convicted of cheating.)


22. The state motto of Wyoming -- which has passed significant anti-gay legislation and has yet to pass hate crime laws protecting gays and lesbians, despite the murder of Matthew Shepard in that state -- is "Equal Rights."


23. Bill Ripken's (Cal Ripken's brother) 1989 Fleer baseball card included the phrase "F@CK FACE" on his bat.


24. In 2005, Hollywood studios brought in revenue of $8.9 billion, compared to the estimated $12.6 billion worth of pornography sales in 2005.


25. 1 in 5 Americans think the best way to become wealthy is to win the lottery.


26. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito was once a member of Concerned Alumni of Princeton, a campus group opposed to the growing numbers of women and people of color accepted into Princeton.


27. Despite fact #26 above and Alito's extensive record as one of the most right-wing appellate judges, 77% of Americans still don't have much of an opinion on him.


28. George Takei (a.k.a. Mr. Sulu), who recently came out of the closet, is now the announcer on Howard Stern's show on Sirius. And he's a great addition to the show.


29. After Hurrican Katrina, the conservative Heritage Foundation actually had the gall to capitalize on the disaster and issue position papers that advocated repealing the Clean Air Act and rewriting the Clean Water Act, permanently eliminate capital-gains taxes on all investments made within the area, suspend all zoning regulations, and slash the wages that private contractors are required to pay workers on federal reconstruction projects. (Source: RS)


30. Not too long ago, we Americans -- while at war, led by a president implicated in numerous scandals, and during hearings regarding a pivotal Supreme Court vacancy -- would not have cared much about whether Angelina Jolie is pregnant with Brad Pitt's child.
    

You can also check out the previous 30 facts and the original 50.

--Junichi

QUESTION OF THE WEEK #41

O-Dub on his first date

This Week's Question:

As the chairperson for this year's high school prom, what is your worst idea for the prom's official "theme song"?

--Junichi

SEXUAL PREDATOR SUNDAY

The Real O.C.: Ms. Bench-Salorio puts the middle in middle school

Over in my neck of the woods, a female 29-year-old Orange County middle school teacher is now doing time in the clink for fornicating with students half her age. Ms. Sarah Bench-Salorio, whose husband was once a school board candidate, was sentenced to six years of time in the hoosegow and required to register as a sex offender for her 29 counts of lewd conduct.

Aside from the seemingly new trend of female teachers having sex with their underage male students, there isn't much newsworthy here. But it does take a special defendant - on trial for sexual molestation - to mouth the words "I love you" to the victim during a preliminary hearing.

I also enjoyed this quote from Deputy District Attorney John F. Christl:

"I do not subscribe to the locker-room science where a boy should feel privileged to be molested by someone twice his age."

Also, I figured out that the victims' fathers were probably born around 1966. This means they were big fans of rock music when they were 18, which was in 1984, which is also the year that produced the hit Van Halen single "Hot for Teacher."

* * *

In other sexual predator news, The Today Show's movie critic Gene Shalit is justifiably in hot water for saying, in a recent film review, that Jake Gyllenhaal's character in Brokeback Mountain strikes him as a "sexual predator."

GLAAD has wisely responded that "It seems highly doubtful that Shalit would similarly claim that Titanic's Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) was a 'sexual predator' because he was pursuing a romantic relationship with Rose (Kate Winslet)."

It makes you wonder about the health of Gene Shalit's relationship with his son, Dr. Peter Shalit, who is an openly gay physician and the author of "Living Well, the Gay Man's Essential Health Guide."

The other parts of Shalit's Brokeback review are especially worth viewing to hear lines like:

"The sheep do nothing special as they bleed around the bush. But Jack and Ennis do something special namely - they have sex."

and

"Its unconventional theme is outside the buns."

When, exactly, did Shalit lose all his marbles? No doubt, he is getting better at impersonating Saturday Night Live's Horatio Sanz's character called "Gene Shalit."

I wish I knew how to quit you, Gene Shalit!

--Junichi

BEST TELEVISION OF 2005

Sister Act 3: Back in the Nasty

I hope it's not too late to post yet another 2005-related list: here below lies my Best Television of 2005 - Top 10 List:

1. The debut episode of Extras - In this HBO series opener, Kate Winslet has a cameo as a crass version of herself acting in an Anne Frank movie. From her acting out phone sex while dressed as a nun to her admitting she's only playing the role because holocaust movies lead to Oscars, Winslet's performance was gut-busting, shocking, against-type, and the mother of all stunt casting. Predictably, Ricky Gervais is a comic genius.


2. The final five episodes of Six Feet Under - Not surprisingly, the show that began each episode with a death knew how to end the series with a bang -- kill off all the characters. The last few episodes masterfully wrapped up loose ends, provided closure, and haunted me for weeks. The last episode was a stunning finale, using Sia's "Breathe Me" as a soundtrack during the ending minutes during which the writers committed cast genocide.


3. Arrested Development - The writing in the third season hasn't been as consistent as the first two; Charlize Theron playing an MR F (mentally retarded female) was a lame story arc. But some of my favorite episodes came from this season -- most notably, the episode where Buster teaches everone not to use one-armed people to teach others lessons. Plus, AD in 2005 birthed the soon-to-be-ubiquitous job title "analrapist" (analyst + therapist). The most recent episode - SOBs - was brilliant, making constant references to their impending cancellation. As of now, only four more episodes left. Please, Showtime, pick this up.
   


4. The Office - Any show where Steve Carell is the seventh funniest character has got to be good. The episode where Michael gave a video iPod in an office gift exchange is a classic. Strangely, I feel more invested in Jim and Pam getting together than any other romantic couple on the boob tube.


5. "The Word" on the Colbert Report - While The Daily Show spits out the most reliable, smart, and witty political commentary, I submit the Colbert Report is actually funnier. Colbert's character is a delicious mockery of the self-righteous right-wing talking heads on Fox News. And the segment called "The Word" is the most on-point. If you hit the link, watch "Satisfied?".


6. The "Muslims and America" episode of 30 Days - Super Size Me's Morgan Spurlock created this smart show that documents various persons undergoing significant lifestyle changes for 30 days. While the "living on minimum wage" episode was compelling, the show in which a Christian man lived in a Muslim family's home was the most informative discussion of Muslims on American television. (And it's on a Fox network!) If only the other 99.9% of America watched this show, maybe villifying Islam wouldn't be our country's foreign policy.
   


7. Entourage - This show used to be an escapist guilty-pleasure for me, but the show has matured into a respectable, endearing series about male bonding. While Ari Gold's lines keep getting all the attention ("I would say lets hug it out guys ... but I don't wanna draw wood"), Johnny Drama is the clutch character. What other show has characters getting cock-blocked by Bob Saget and bulge commentary by Brooke Shields?


8. "This Week in God" on The Daily Show - TDS's religious commentary best showcases their writers' brilliance. My biggest fear about Stephen Colbert getting his own show was his departure from the "This Week in God" segment on TDS. Thankfully, Rob Corddry is a worthy electric boogaloo. Peace be with you. Now peace be with the ladies!!


9. Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson - This one-time roast upheld the finest tradition of ripping the honoree a new one with nasty barbs flavored with love. Interestingly, a drunken Courtney Love, who was on stage, ended up the most singed. Sarah Silverman brought her A-game.
   


10. Grey's Anatomy - The quality of the writing on this melodramatic show fluctuates, but the acting is superb, with one of the most diverse casts on TV, to boot. Dr. Bailey aka "The Nazi" (Chandra Wilson), George (T.R. Knight), and the outrageous medical predicaments showcased on the show ensure I can't look away. If only Meredith Grey were more sympathetic and Sandra Oh's character were more three-dimensional, I'd elevate its status above guilty pleasure.

--Junichi

BEST SONGS OF 2005 (JUNICHI'S PICKS)

I hereby submit the following as my picks for the hottest 100 singles of 2005:

1. Random - Lady Sovereign
2. Multiply (Gonzales Mix) - Jamie Lidell
3. Breathe Me - Sia
4. Beverly Hills - Weezer
5. 1 Thing (remix) - Amerie feat. Jay-Z
6. Cosy in the Rocket - Psapp
7. Signs - Snoop Dogg feat. Charlie Wilson & Justin Timberlake
8. Break It On Down (Battlezone) - Flii Stylz & Tenashus
9. Go - Common
10. Mr. Brightside - The Killers
11. Shake - Ying Yang Twins feat. Pitbull
12. What Sarah Said - Death Cab for Cutie
13. Since U Been Gone (Jason Nevins remix) - Kelly Clarkson
14. 10 $ - M.I.A.
15. Arc of Time - Bright Eyes
16. Extraordinary Machine - Fiona Apple
17. It's Like That (David Morales Club Mix) - Mariah Carey / Fatman Scoop
18. Heard 'Em Say - Kanye West
19. Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap
20. Hollaback Girl - Gwen Stefani
21. Wait (The Whisper Song) - Ying Yang Twins
22. Kirsten is a Fu@kmachine - Tiger Tunes
23. Corners - Common
24. Catch My Disease - Ben Lee
25. Brand New - Rhymefest & Kanye West
26. Lose Control - Missy Elliott feat. Ciara & Fat Man Scoop
27. Mesmerized (Freemasons Mix) - Faith Evans
28. You're Beautiful - James Blunt
29. Nahmean Nahm Sayin - The Herbaliser feat. Jean Grae
30. Goodnight and Go - Imogen Heap
31. My Doorbell - The White Stripes
32. Shine - The Lovefreekz
33. Hell Yes - Beck
34. Nasty Girl - The Notorious B.I.G. feat. Diddy, Nelly, Jagged Edge
35. Feels Good Inc. - Gorillaz
36. Welcome to Jamrock - Damian Marley
37. Galvanize - Chemical Brothers feat. Q-Tip
38. Bad Man - Missy Elliott feat. Vybez Cartel & M.I.A.
39. 16 Military Wives - The Decembrists
40. Chewing Gum (Headman Vocal Remix) - Annie
41. Dem Boyz - Lil' Mo
42. Can I Have It Like That - Pharrell feat. Gwen Stefani
43. Collide - Howie Day
44. Hit The Floor - Twista feat. Pitbull
45. A Little Bit of Shhh (Smallstars Remix by Adrock) - Lady Sovereign
46. My Humps - Black Eyed Peas
47. Middle of Nowhere - Hot Hot Heat
48. All Night - Damian Marley
49. Ruby Blue - Roisin Murphy
50. Bucky Done Gone - M.I.A.
51. Errtime - Nelly
52. When I'm Gone - Eminem
53. Best of You - Foo Fighters
54. George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People - The Legendary K.O.
55. Brothers on a Hotel Bed - Death Cab for Cutie
56. Hey Mama - Kanye West
57. Hung Up - Madonna
58. Marvo Ging - The Chemical Brothers
59. Touch the Sky - Kanye West
60. Hate It or Love It - The Game & 50 Cent
61. Stay Fly - Three 6 Mafia feat. Young Buck, 8-Ball and MJG
62. Just A Moment - Nas feat. Quan
63. Que Onda Guero - Beck
64. Talk - Coldplay
65. So Seductive - Tony Yayo feat. 50 Cent
66. E-Pro - Beck
67. Be Easy - Ghostface
68. 9 to 5 - Lady Sovereign
69. The Get Down - Z-Trip feat. Lyrics Born
70. Say Somethin - Mariah Carey
71. Trapped in the Closet Ch. 1-12 - R. Kelly
72. Dare - Gorillaz
73. Was It You? - Spoon
74. Lovin' It - Little Brother
75. Walk Away - Kelly Clarkson
76. The Mask - Danger Doom & Ghostface
77. Knuckle Down - Ani DiFranco
78. We Might As Well Be Strangers (DJ Shadow Remix) - DJ Shadow vs. Keane
79. Petrified - Fort Minor
80. In The Kitchen - R. Kelly
81. La Breeze - Simian
82. Let's Get Blown - Snoop Dogg
83. So Sick - Ne-Yo
84. I Know Why - Sheryl Crow
85. Mamacita - Pharrell feat. Daddy Yankee
86. Twin Cinema - The New Pornographers
87. There It Go (The Whistle Song) - Juelz Santana
88. New Whirl Odor - Public Enemy
89. The Hand That Feeds - Nine Inch Nails
90. Furious - Z-Trip
91. These Boots Are Made For Walkin - Jessica Simpson
92. Talkin' About - Amerie
93. Daft Punk Is Playing At My House - LCD Soundsystem
94. Can't Let Go - Anthony Hamilton
95. Oh - Ciara feat. Ludacris
96. Daughters of the Soho Riots - The National
97. Get It Poppin' - Fat Joe feat. Nelly
98. Dance, Dance - Fall Out Boy
99. Change - Tracy Chapman
100. Still Tippin - Mike Jones feat. Slim Thug
     

I've temporarily uploaded songs #1, 2, 3, 8, and 28. While I prefer the original versions of "Random" and "Breathe Me," I uploaded the interesting remixes, for the hell of it.

Yes, I am aware that some of the above songs were technically released in 2004.

Bonus list: Top 10 Music Videos of 2005

1. Twisted Transistor - Korn (featuring Snoop, David Banner, Lil Jon, Xhibit)
2. We Will Become Silhouettes - Postal Service
3. Caught Up - Usher
4. Trapped in the Closet Ch. 1-12 - R. Kelly
5. Only - Nine Inch Nails
6. Testify - Common
7. Beautiful - Moby
8. Dream - Dizzee Rascal
9. 1976 - RJD2
10. Rappcats Pt. 3 - Quasimoto & Madlib

--Junichi

ONE LAST LOOK AT 2005 IN MUSIC

who is hip-hop speaking for?
This morning, NPR ran a segment which I recorded two weeks ago on looking back on hip-hop in '05. The piece itself is actually an adaptation (and condensing) of an essay I wrote for the SF Bay Guardian which ran in early December.

A few small things to correct right off the bat:

1) When I recorded the piece, 50 Cent had been designated as the year's most successful artist in terms of album sales but in the last two weeks since, Mariah Carey's Emancipation of Mimi came back hard and ended up nudging out 50's CD.

2) I was watching the video for "Heard 'Em Say" again and I forgot: at the end, they're back on the streets, but it's not raining anymore. Minor point but hey, accuracy is accuracy.

3) For Houston-ites who want to point out otherwise, I'm aware that the original version of "Still Tippin" from '03 had Chamillionaire instead of Paul Wall and a totally different beat. But the version everyone knows...

As for my comments on crack music: First of all, Hua Hsu deserves much of the credit here: it was my conversations with him that got me thinking about this.

Second, the NPR piece was short by necessity and I elaborate things better and further in the SFBG essay. The thing is: I don't have a real problem with rappers rhyming about crack and hustlin'. Hell, you look at my Top 10 list and at least two of the year's worst offenders (Jeezy and Juelz) are both listed. However, I think the trend towards celebrating and valorizing crack is, to say the least, interesting, especially coming now. I really thought that after 2002 (where the Clipse and Scarface came with two big albums that were all about the hustle), we hit an apex and rappers would move on. Instead, now you have Juelz printing instructions on how to cook crack in his liner notes while Jeezy was genius with his snowman logo.

Maybe if Katrina didn't hit this year, I wouldn't have made such a big deal about it, but I continue to be struck at how talk of the trap game seems inverse to talk around the Gulf Coast disaster. Sure, a lot of rappers like Bun B and Lil Wayne make reference to both but there are far, far fewer folks - it seems to me - really pushing awareness (let alone criticism) around the disaster even though its implications, for what it means to be poor and/or Black, are so far-reaching and troubling.

Thankfully, you do have folks like David Banner or the Legendary K.O. in the mix, but what I've seen in 2005 - from artists - has been general apathy. I said the same thing in 2004; you would have thought Katrina would be a wake-up call. This is especially stark when you see how many rock and jazz musicians (and I'm talking mainstream artists) seem far more compelled to take interest and be involved affairs related to both the politics of the disaster as well as the reconstruction efforts. It's not like I'm asking for an either/or: why can't we have our crack and our critiques? Ok, wait, that didn't sound quite right...

--O.W.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK #40

I am spying on you.

This Week's Question:

A time traveler returns from the year 2007 and tells you that President Bush was just impeached and convicted of a specific offense. For what, specifically, would you guess he was impeached?

--Junichi