NOT THAT THIS IS ACTUALLY IMPORTANT AT ALL BUT...

...I think it was the hair.

--O.W.

TANGLED IN IVY

What is it with Harvard students and silly examples of writing controversy? First it was Nick Sylvester. Now it's Kaavya Viswanathan.

Check out that story and this one, which goes more in-depth into the points of "comparison" between Viswanathan's and the two books by Megan McCafferty she's accused of plagiarizing. A few thoughts:

First of all, I know this "alleged" plagiarism but you look at these examples and you don't need to be a comp lit professor to ascertain that Viswanathan is looking mighty guilty right now. Let me put it another way, if this had been a class paper that I was grading, I would have failed the student immediately and do it with the full confidence that any academic review board would back me up. I mean, it'd be one thing if Viswanathan had ripped off the "story architecture" but these are basically entire lifts of paragraphs, sometimes verbatim, sometimes with the most minor of changes. What I want to know is this: don't they teach Harvard students smarter ways of ripping off other people's writing and ideas? Or at least, how to steal from better books?

On that note, what is even more astounding is that Viswanathan - or anyone - would want to plagiarize prose so banal to begin with. No offense to McCafferty but I'm pretty sure her two novels were not in the running for the Pulitzer. Viswanathan couldn't come up with anything better than this on her own: " “Sabrina was the brainy Angel. Yet another example of how every girl had to be one or the other: Pretty or smart."

Lastly, if it seems like people take undue joy in seeing the downfall of young, successful people, especially Harvard undergrads who get half-million book deals when they're 17...well, yeah, duh. I mean, I thought Nick Sylvester got overly reamed for what was really a minor offense but in this case, the violation is far more egregious and there's a lot more at stake, including a movie deal and second book. The fall will be swift and well-deserved. At least Viswanathan will be spared the indignity of being ass-whooped by Oprah on national television.

---

Speaking of Ivy League students, I had to rub my eyes to make sure I was reading this right. Apparently, Cornell students are feeling insecure over the fact that people forget that they're part of the Ivy. I quote (emphasis mine):

"Their fear is being viewed as a country cousin to Harvard, Yale and Princeton, more like a Midwestern flagship state university than a core member of a prestigious club. "Because of when most people go to college, their identity becomes closely associated with the identity of their university," said Peter Cohl...Let the college's standing drop in publications that rank universities, he said, and "my value as a human being feels like it's dropping."

G.M.A.F.B.

Provided, I attended a school with its own issues around elite status, but Berkeley folks tend to worry more about rising tuition rates and student diversity than whether U.S. News and World Report has a bearing on our self-esteem. Quotes like that and this one are probably harming Cornell's public image more than helping:

"We deserve more respect," said Heather Grantham, a senior who is now co-chairwoman of the image committee. "I am glad I came here," she added, "and it saddens us if it's not properly marketed."

Wait, let me get my violin out.

--O.W.

GEORGE BUSH DOESN'T CARE ABOUT DJS

It's enough trouble to book a wedding reception in some fancy Palm Springs hotel but then The Prez comes to stay and shuts down your dance. Guess he's tired of hearing "Celebration" too.

--O.W.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK #54

Why the CWA claims Starbucks promotes homosexuality

This Week's Question:

You are a poor, progressive, struggling writer who supports independent businesses and opposes the growth of multinational corporations.

Starbucks asks you for permission to put a quote of yours on the side of their coffee cups, which will significantly increase your visibility and book sales.

Do you grant permission?

--Junichi

WHAT'S WRONG WITH HIP-HOP?: THROWBACK EDITION

ain't no love
From the January 1991 issue of The Source:

"As we move into 1991, what is the biggest problem facing rap music?"

1. "There are too many wack albums out there. Artists should have to have a successful 12-inch before they get an album deal." - I. Waner, Washingotn D.C.

2. "That wick-wack white rappers like Vanilla Ice can make an unintentionally offbeat song and it sells like crack." - F. Hamreman, Davis, CA

3. "The media and other conservatives making it seem like 2 Live Crew and Geto Boys are representatives of what rap music is all about." - J. Sledge, NYC

4. "Too many rappers trying to 'teach and preach.' That stuff is getting played out; it should be left to the real teachers like PE, BDP and X-Clan." - T. Duncan, San Jose, CA

5. "The negative publicity concerning publicity (2 Live Crew, Geto Boys), violence (Lench Mob, ATL), sampling (MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice), and the disregard of Houston as a burgeoning rap industry." - G. Wilson, Prairie View, TX

6. "This new R&B mixture with hip-hop is threatening hardcore rap on the whole." - J. Cox, Durham, NC

7. "It's adaptation by white, as was previously done with Jazz, Blues, and Rock n' Roll." - L.S. Ahead, North Miami Beach, FL

8. "Many radio people (from music directors to DJs) talk about how great hip-hop is, but few actually play it." - B. Warren, Philadelphia, PA

9. "The lack of intelligent black women stepping up to the mic and giving black woman a voice." - O. Freeman, Middletown, CT

10. "The CD industry. Records are quickly becoming scarce. What are the DJs going to use? Hip-hop will lose the one tool that has truly separated it from all other musical genres." - E. Whiteside, Mt. Vernon, IL

11. "The large tours are not being supported. Tours might become a thing of the past." - DJ Woody Wood (Three Times Dope), Philadelphia, PA

12. "There is too much violence at rap shows. It makes you not want to go out and support rap artists when their tour comes to town." - P. Derlich, Los Angeles, CA

The 2006 Cynical Remix:

1. Change "12-inch" to "mix-CD hosted by Clinton Sparks or Green Lantern."

2. Change "white" to "snap" and "Vanilla Ice" to either D4L or Dem Franchise Boys.

3. Change "2 Live Crew and Geto Boys" to "50 Cent."

4. Remove everything after "That stuff is getting played out."

5. At least you can take the "disregard of Houston" off that list. Sampling too.

6. In the end, who crossed over to who? Seems like hip-hop took over R&B, not the other way around.

7. It was already too late in 1991.

8. Now the complaint is why NY rap radio doesn't actually play any NY rap. See #2.

9. From Queen Latifah to Remy Ma? Oof.

10. Ah, little did Mr. Whiteside known about this on the horizon.

11. Tours became a thing of the past...for Three Times Dope.

12. Still too true.

--O.W.

30 MORE FACTS THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO ACCEPT

David Gest gets funkdafied. Must ... look ... away ...

1. David Gest (ex-husband of Liza Minnelli) and rapper Da Brat apparently hooked up.
   


2. The Defense Department has acknowledged that it conducted "inappropriate" surveillance of gay and lesbian groups at several universities across the country -- including UC Berkeley -- that were opposed to the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law.
   


3. On national television, Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston revealed to the world that Bobby once manually removed a "dootie bubble" from Whitney's rectum.
   


4. According to Yale's Economist Ebonya Washington in a forthcoming article in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, white Republicans are 25% more likely to vote for the Democratic senatorial candidate when the GOP candidate is black.
   


5. According to that same study, in congressional house races, white Democrats are 38% less likely to vote Democratic if their candidate is black.
   


6. When Patrick Dempsey was 21, he was married to his manager, Rocky Parker, who was 48.
   


7. Before she became a famous sex expert, Dr. Ruth served in Israel as a sniper.
   


8. Ex-Lax was invented by Hungarian immigrant and pharmacist Max Kiss and named after the Hungarian slang term for parliamentary deadlock.
   


9. Cruise control and automatic transmission were invented by a man named Ralph Teetor who was blind starting at the age of five.
   


10. Bluesman Ledbelly was charged with murder -- twice -- and later pardoned by two different governors after they heard him sing.
    


11. According to Harper's Index, a new blog is created every second.
    


12. Tom Cruise told Diane Sawyer that his religion's practice of giving birth in silence is "really about respecting the woman."
    


13. Chuck Norris was once Steve McQueen's karate teacher.
    


14. It is a violation of federal law to use the U.S. flag "for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever." 4 U.S.C. sec 8 (i).
    


15. In 2005, Dick Cheney received more income from Halliburton ($211,465) than from his salary as the Vice President ($205,031).
    


16. Seattle, the Rainy City, gets less rainfall than either Washington D.C. or NYC.
    


17. There is actually a street in Lake Havasu City, Arizona called "Broomrape Lane." Here's the Google Map. And here's the visual proof:
    




18. In 1949, the New York Giants baseball team offered Fidel Castro a $5,000 signing bonus. Castro turned it down.
    


19. Goldie Hawn's real name is Goldie Jean Studlengehawn.
    


20. Since 1996, abstinence-only programs have been given $1 billion in federal funds; none of the programs provide information about safe sex or birth-control methods, other than discussing their likelihood of failure.
    


21. A study on these federally-funded abstinence-programs reports that the curricula erroneously teaches children that "a pregnancy occurs one out of every seven times that couples use condoms" and "a 43-day-old fetus is a 'thinking person.'"
    


22. Horses in Charleston, SC have had to wear diapers in public since 1975.
    


23. In the United States, there are currently 2,225 prisoners serving life sentences with no parole for crimes they committed while juveniles. Outside of the U.S., there are only twelve prisoners serving such sentences.
    


24. One of the Top 15 best-selling singles of all time in the United States is Bryan Adams' "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)," which sold over four million copies.
    


25. The word "nerd" first appeared in Dr. Seuss's book If I Ran the Zoo, published in 1950, where it was the name of one of Suess' many imaginary animals.
    


26. Ex-Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan collected a reported $8.5 million for his memoir.
    


27. Dick Cheney himself was once on the receiving end of an accidental shotgun blast during a hunting trip in the late 1990s.
    


28. Prussian Blue, the 13-year-old female singing duo from Bakersfield, California, sent aid for Hurrican Katrina victims earmarked for Caucasians only. (Of course, this is not surprising since the two tweens are white nationalists.)
    


29. The book that holds the world record for best-selling copyrighted series of all time is the Guinness Book of World Records.
    


30. This is a real photo:

--Junichi

WHERE (NOT) TO MOVE

Your uterus is not free to move about the country

USA Today just published an article that analyzes the states likely to criminalize abortion if the Supreme Court eliminates women's reproductive rights, which, in my opinion, will be gone in a MMMBop.

As you can see from the above map, the dark blue states -- the places likely to keep abortions legal -- can all be found out west or in the northeast. You'll notice a strong correlation between the blue states above and the blue states from the 2004 electoral college map.

Which is to say, once Roe v. Wade is reversed, we'll see a lot more women from the south and the midwest travel out-of-state for unplanned vacations.

* * *

Neighborhood map courtesy of Megan's Law: blue square = sex offender

Speaking of maps, while those of you in South Dakota ponder moving to less oppressive areas, you may be curious to visit the state-specific Megan's Law website.

Curiosity certainly killed my inner cat. After being provided a link, I couldn't resist looking through California's sex offender registry to learn how many offenders live within a two-mile radius from my home. (Answer: seven. Coincidentally, they're all dwarfs.)

I also learned their full names, their exact addresses, their crimes, and viewed their pictures, which was a creepy experience on multiple levels.

On the one hand, I appreciate knowing whether my neighbor is a registered pedophile. (He's not ... yet.) I suppose I find it comforting to discover that there are less convicted rapists than Starbucks cafes in my town.

On the other hand, these registries uncomfortably infringe on privacy rights and are almost as invasive as my wedding registry.

While I believe sex offenders deserve punishment, these registries penalize those who have already served their time. (Yes, I know, the Supreme Court doesn't agree with me.) With the growth of the Internet, these registries render it much more difficult for the "registered" to become fully rehabilitated, re-enter society, and receive trick-or-treaters on Halloween.

Of course, the biggest issue posed by these websites is that other troubled people can easily navigate them to create a mapped and illustrated hitlist in just seconds.

Predictably, this happened yesterday when Stephen Marshall murdered two registered sex offenders in Maine. As of now, there is no evidence that Marshall knew either of his two targets. But it's clear that he had government-sponsored access to the victims' photos, addresses, and list of crimes.

In light of yesterday's Easter-morning double homicide, I wonder if the Supreme Court would still maintain that these Megan's Law websites are not punitive.

--Junichi

QUESTION OF THE WEEK #53

This toy is the bomb!

This Week's Question:

What do you wish you could buy that is currently illegal, no longer in existence, or unavailable in the United States?

--Junichi

GOLDFISH LEFT LINCOLN LOGS IN YOUR SOCK DRAWER

Don't look for eggs there.

I hope everyone had a wonderful day "commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus by telling [y]our children a giant bunny rabbit left chocolate eggs in the night."

If that quote doesn't ring a bell, download Bill Hicks on Easter.

--Junichi

POPLICKS ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

This week represents the one year anniversary since the official launch of Poplicks.com.

Over the last twelve months, we've managed to rack up 456,637 page views, which is an impressive statistic, considering only half of them were by me and Oliver.

To celebrate, O-Dub and I will be giving away some prizes by conducting a trivia contest to be released sometime in the next few weeks. Details tba.

We're also hoping to revamp the graphics on this site. If you're a graphic artist and would be interested in creating a new banner for us, please send us jpegs at junichi @ poplicks.com and oliver @ poplicks.com (without the spaces, of course). We'll shower you with shoutouts and whatever spare change we have in our pockets. (For your reference, the old banner can be found here.)

If Oliver can spare some time from changing his daughter's diapers and I can spare some time from changing my own diapers, hopefully we'll work up some special anniversary week posts.

Thanks for reading!

--Junichi

TUESDAY NIGHT PROJECT

Shameless plug alert

SoCal peeps: I'll be performing this Tuesday, April 18th, at the Union Center for the Arts in LA. Spoken word all-stars SKIM and Eddie Kim will be reading, as well. Come check it out.

More details here.

--Junichi

THANK YOU MYSPACE USERS

Teacher / statutory rapist Pamela Rogers violates probation through MySpace

Dear MySpace users:

Thank you for your refreshing honesty, your candid confessions, your revealing photos, your list of friends, and your carefree posting of contact information. It makes our lives easier.

Very truly yours,

Employers deciding whether to hire you, The cops, Sexual predators, Missing persons investigators, Stalkers, Your parents, and Rupert Murdoch, owner of MySpace and profiteer


P.S. Hey former student - after perusing your MySpace page and reading critical comments about me, I have decided I cannot, in good conscience, write you a letter of recommendation. However, I was greatly amused at this photo of you from spring break and have forwarded it to your other instructors:

--Junichi

ADIDAS RESPONDS (FINALLY)

no comment from kermit's spokespeople yet
Given that int'l press has been picking up on the controversy over the Y1 Huf Adidas, the company decided to release a press statement explaining their (and co-designer Barry McGee's position):

Herzogenaurach, March 2006 - With the current introduction of the adicolor series, adidas brings back an iconic footwear concept that celebrates the touch points of self expression, customization and personalization.

Comprised of over 40 unique footwear designs, the adicolor collection is divided in two major parts, the White Series and the innovative Color Series. Represented by six different colors- black, red, pink, green, blue and yellow- the latter series features a number of collaborations between adidas Originals and a diverse group of partners- all icons from the worlds of fashion and art.

Among those is San Francisco-based store HUF, who hooked up with the much-respected West Coast artist Barry McGee, better known by his tag name, “Twist”. Working on and inspired by the streets of America’s cities since the 1980s, Chinese-American McGee and HUF chose to feature one of Twist’s favorite characters, fictional bondsman Ray Fong, on the footbed, lace jewel and tongue of their adicolor sneaker.

McGee on his adicolor sneaker: “Ray Fong is a character I developed well-over four years ago for an art installation in New York. The image was made from a picture of me when I was around eight years old. When I look at the photo, I think- cute! The name Ray Fong came from my uncle Ray Fong who passed away over a decade ago. Keith (HUF) and I never thought the image was “racist” and I am sorry to those people who perceive it that way. All I remember is having Stan Smith’s face on my adidas when I was young, and was elated to put a caricature of myself on a shoe when presented the opportunity this year.”

The HUF/Twist sneaker represents the adicolor concept as it takes expression from the contemporary urban world. Part of the most limited-edition package of the adicolor series, these were produced for a one-time run with a limited distribution of only 1,000 pairs available exclusively at just twelve retail locations worldwide. There is no plan to market these sneakers in the future, and they are expected to completely sell out following this limited release. Please visit www.adidas.com/adicolor to see other models represented in the adicolor series.

adidas is excited to have featured HUF and McGee as part of this project. We are committed to understanding, valuing and incorporating the diversity of our communities and various fields of activities among the global marketplace. adidas does and always has valued an open dialogue with its consumers. Therefore, we welcome the feedback we have received from the global community and will continue to do so. It is an unfortunate coincidence that the HUF/Twist sneaker and its inclusion as part of the “Yellow Series” is misinterpreted as purposely offensive. It is not our intention to offend any group or individual as adidas prides itself on being a multicultural organization.

No real surprises here except that Adidas might have been a lot better served had they released a statement like this earlier. I stand by my original point: I think the shoe is entirely defensible on artistic freedom grounds especially given that it's not a mass market item BUT Adidas could have displayed a greater awareness that there might be some controversy involved given that the Ray Fong image is so clearly a caricature with racial overtones. On the flipside, there's no question that this controversy has garnered the shoe a lot more publicity than it otherwise would have earned.

By the way, on some what of an aside, I've always liked Adidas for its design sensibilities even when I didn't find their shoes to be all that comfortable (sorry, that's why I wear Sauconys and Air Maxes) and there are a few shoes in the Color Series which are fantastic, including the Bill McMullen Yellow and Claude Closky Black.

--O.W.

MORE RANDOM TOP 10 LISTS

Swayze reenacts the Tyson-Holyfield fight

TOP 10 SONGS THAT REFERENCE PATRICK SWAYZE

1. "Bring The Pain" - Method Man
2. "Typical American" - The Goats
3. "Runnin' (Dying to Live)" - 2Pac feat. Notorious B.I.G.
4. "In The Flesh" - Jurassic 5
5. "It's All Good" - DMX
6. "I Think Patrick Swayze is Sexy" - Kane Hodder
7. "And Then What" - Young Jeezy feat. Mannie Fresh
8. "Shake Your Booty" - Public Enemy
9. "Boon Dox" - EPMD
10. "Swap Meet Louie" - Sir Mix-A-Lot

(Oliver's Note: This is a Top 10 out of at least 80 choices. Act like you know.)


TOP 10 HANNA BARBERA CHARACTERS THAT SOUND LIKE ADULT FILM STARS

1. Dick Dastardly
2. Punkin Puss
3. Droop-A-Long
4. Shag Rugg
5. Melody Valentine
6. Bamm Bamm Rubble
7. The Great Gazoo
8. Gloop and Gleep
9. Dorno
10. Quick Draw McGraw

(You can confirm the existence of these characters here.)


TOP 10 DUBIOUS CRAYOLA CRAYON COLORS

1. Shadow
2. Beaver
3. Jazzberry Jam
4. Inch Worm
5. Outer Space
6. Timber Wolf
7. Flesh*
8. Manatee
9. Razzmatazz
10. Macaroni and Cheese

* = was changed to peach


TOP 10 SONGS THAT FEATURE BREATHING SOUNDS

1. "Find A Way" - A Tribe Called Quest
2. "Breathe Me" - Sia
3. "Jesus Walks" - Kanye West
4. "I'm A Slave 4 U" - Britney Spears
5. "Let's Go Crazy" - Prince
6. "Do Me" - Bell Biv Devoe
7. "Oh Sheila" - Ready for the World
8. "Lose My Breath" - Destiny's Child
9. "U Make Me Wanna" - Usher
10. "Tipsy" - J-Kwon

--Junichi

IS THE DALAI LAMA A HOMOPHOBE?

Spreading the word on the difference between holes

Seems the answer is yes.

Buddhism is arguably one of the more open-minded religions, but when it comes to sexuality, it may not be any better than the others.

I just learned that the Dalai Lama, an otherwise steadfast supporter of human rights, doesn't condone gay relationships. His holiness also condemns all sexual activity involving "the other two holes."

From an article in telegraph.co.uk:

Although [the Dalai Lama] is known for his tolerant, humane views, he is a surprisingly harsh critic of homosexuality. If you are a Buddhist, he says, it is wrong.

"Full stop. No way round it."

"A gay couple came to see me, seeking my support and blessing. I had to explain our teachings. Another lady introduced another woman as her wife - astonishing. It is the same with a husband and wife using certain sexual practices. Using the other two holes is wrong."

At this point, he looks across at his interpreter - who seems mainly redundant - to check that he has been using the right English words to discuss this delicate matter. The interpreter gives a barely perceptible nod.

"A Western friend asked me what harm could there be between consenting adults having oral sex, if they enjoyed it," the Dalai Lama continues, warming to his theme. "But the purpose of sex is reproduction, according to Buddhism. The other holes don't create life. I don't mind - but I can't condone this way of life." (Credit: Americablog)

Apparently, his holiness is unaware of how much life I can create with my other holes.

I have no idea what that last sentence means.

Anyway, to be fair, the Dalai Lama has also stated that Buddhism prohibits all oral, manual and anal sex for both gay and straight people. Banned are what my friend Brandon would describe as "the fun stuff."

Nonetheless, his statements disappoint.

I have great respect for him, but sadly, there seems to be no meaningful distinction between his views on gay relationships and, say, the Pope's.

--Junichi

QUESTION OF THE WEEK #52

Orenthal J. Simpson, Heisman Trophy Winner

This Week's Question:

If the following sports stars all died ten years from now ...

1. Barry Bonds
2. Kobe Bryant
3. Jose Canseco
4. Tonya Harding
5. Ben Johnson
6. John McEnroe
7. Pete Rose
8. O.J. Simpson
9. Sammy Sosa
10. Mike Tyson

... who would be the most likely to be memorialized for his/her athletic accomplishments and the least likely to be remembered for his/her scandals, accusations, convictions, and/or bizarre off-court behavior?

--Junichi

MIGRAPHOBIA

Sign on I-5 on my way to work

Hundreds of thousands marched this weekend in rallies for immigration reform. An awesome sight, indeed.

But I don't share some marchers' frustration with the Senate's failure to pass the compromise immigration reform bill.

Granted, the bill was a step toward pulling so-called "illegal" immigrants out from the underground, as it would have paved the way (for some of them) toward a guest worker program and, possibly, citizenship.

But the proposed legislation would have also beefed up border security (more la migra = more deaths) and, in my opinion, led to a dragnet-style crackdown on all Latino immigrants -- legal and illegal.

Yes, the bill would have allowed those who have been in the US for more than five years to apply for citizenship. But it also would have led to the deportation of anybody who has lived in the US less than five years, with only some given the option to apply for guest worker status.

Frankly, I don't trust the Department of Homeland Security to fairly determine which immigrants have been in the United States for more than five years. Heck, DHS doesn't even know that numerous pedophiles occupy senior positions within its department.

Even worse, the Senate Bill would have been renconciled with the draconian House Bill, which would have classified illegal immigration as a felony, criminalized giving any form of aid (e.g., food, shelter, blankets) to illegal immigrants, and authorized a 700-mile fence along the Mexican border.

To me, this smells like Proposition 187, Part 2: Electric Fence Boogaloo.

Is there any other country that has considered throwing people in jail for giving a glass of water to a person dying of thirst?

In my opinion, while the right-wing senators were the ones that defeated the bill, they may have done everyone a favor.

* * *

On a related note, this movement towards positive immigration reform has undoubtely awakened the xenophobes across the country.

According to a new AP poll, for every American who believes that the economy is the biggest problem facing the United States, there is another American who believes that immigration is the biggest domestic problem. And by "immgration," they mean that "immigrants" are the biggest domestic problem. And by immigrants, they mean all brown people.

If you know someone suffering from "migraphobia," please check out this animated cartoon by Mark Fiore.

--Junichi

MY HO CHI MINH HERITAGE

If you haven't visited it yet, MyHeritage.com is a great place to waste an entire day.

The most amusing feature on the site allows you to upload a photo and find out which celebrity the subjects most resemble. The program runs algorithms that compare the structure of your face to celebrities in its database.

Is it accurate? You be the judge.

First, after uploading a photo of my wife and me, I obtained the following results ...



Dima = Mariah Carey? Maybe. But Me = Ho Chi Minh? Ho, please.


Next, I experimented with a weird photo of myself and used a variety of crop marks to get different results ...



Now this is definitely more accurate. I can't tell you how many times I've been asked whether I am the love child of Jet Li, Imelda Marcos, Benjamin Netanyanhu, and LL Cool J.


Finally, I uploaded a photo of Oliver ...



I never noticed until now, but O-Dub is definitely Meryl Streep's Doppelganger.

--Junichi

(NOT) LEAVING LAS VEGAS

It's been a bad day. Like Murphy's Law bad. It started good - I'm on my way to Minneapolis and at SFO, the airplane PA system was strangely picking up KMEL or some other hip-hop station. I first caught a whiff of Jamie Foxx's "Unpredictable" but then I really perked up when Juelz' "Oh Yes" came on, followed with T.I.'s "Bring 'Em Out." That's called flyin' right.

Everything went to s--- in Vegas though (not an uncommon occurrence here). First, the bathroom stall had no toilet paper (I, of course, discovered this after the fact). Then I realized that the reason I couldn't find my connecting flight on the displays was because I was in the wrong terminal and for whatever reason, McCarran doesn't show flights leaving from other terminals (which would, you know, be rather useful). THEN, in trying to rush over to make my connecting flight, I ended up walking into baggage claim by accident which meant I'd have to go through security again. Then the check-in kiosks wouldn't read my credit cards...then...

To make a long story short, I'm about halfway through an unplanned six hour layover at McCarran right now. I was tempted to hit the Strip, catch Tom Jones, put the Circus Circus buffet on smash and then gamble away Ella's college fund but I figured, the day was turning out so bad already, no sense in testing my luck any further. What stays in Vegas is what I'm staying away from.

Upside: McCarran has free WiFi and so, here we are.

I've been meaning to write on XXL's new blogs for a minute but just haven't had the time. I'm glad I waited.

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING...



I was initially skeptical about how this was going to go...for one thing, I wasn't sure why XXL wanted to create a squad of bloggers. The medium seemed more apt for, I dunno, Murder Dog or Kronick but it wasn't clear what XXL's endgame would be for them. As some noted, it was like XXL was trying to copy SOHH's formula but a few weeks into the experiment, the XXL blogs are taking off quite nicely and, in my opinion, are already a few steps ahead of anything comparable, including SOHH.

I think part of my skepticism arose over the fact that XXL went after a few well-known bloggers already, namely Tara Henley, Kris Ex, Noz and most infamously, Byron Crawford. Given that some of these folks, especially Noz and Bol, already blog prolifically to begin with, would they have any steam left for an experimental, magazine-sponsored blog that didn't pay (the latter is still surprising)?

As it turns out, the fears were unfounded. Not only have Henley, Kris and Noz found a happy alternative that doesn't compete with their home blogs so much as they complement one another but first-time bloggers like Sickamore and the YN himself, Elliot Wilson, have turned out to be surprisingly good (especially Wilson - doesn't he have, uh, a magazine to run? Instead, he's posting up dozens of Ghostface O.G. samples.)

And then there's Bol, whose Evil Crafty Genius™ has exceeded even my considerable imagination. Seriously, the beauty in watching Byron work (even when you're on the crosshairs end of the view) is that as outrageous - even reprehensible - as many of his posts may seem, he's just floating out the chum and waiting until far crazier folks snap it up as they almost always do. Nothing attracts hate like hate and in the process, Byron - who is clearly, consciously pushing buttons with the skill of a young Stern (as Kris Ex once noted) - has managed to engineer the exact kind of debacle as he sets out to do.

It's like popping off a gun in a crowded club and then watching people react except, in this case, people are running towards the shots.

Case in point - in dissing Southern rap fans, Byron was obviously trying to stir things up and smarter folks would have just had a good chuckle and then left it alone. Instead, he managed to bait a parade of commentators to come on and rant themselves into a froth that demonstrates 1) a lack of basic reading comprehension, 2) poor fact-checking and 3) an over-reliance on calling someone "a p----" when they have nothing left to fire. I'm not a fan of hate for hate's sake but the ways in people react without thinking is pretty entertaining. As well as despairing. But mostly entertaining.

However, the proverbial next level was attained when someone claiming to be Bun B decided to climb into the ring and try to son Bol. And for a moment, it looked like Bun might have claimed the upper-hand until Byron, came back undaunted and unapologetic.

First of all, the fact that a blogger - any blogger - could encourage a rapper at Bun B's level to respond (via comments no less) is pretty astounding and either says a lot about how far the blogging world has come or about how much downtime some rappers have in between cover shoots and mix-CDs.

Second of all, there was once a time when writers/critics were knee-pad reverential about hip-hop artists, seeing themselves as the vanguard of defending/promoting rap artists. Even when criticism was meted out, it was usually done as diplomatically as possible (i.e. "his lyrics are two years out of date but, uh, the beats are knockin'). Nowadays, thanks to the Internet, there are no sacred cows, no artist is above being crapped upon. I'm not saying this is an improvement but clearly, something significant has changed. If artists like Jeru and Ice Cube (not to mention, um, J--- G---) were pissed off at writers in the past, I can't imagine what shit must look like as the blogger community gains even more influence and visibility. Bloggers these days write stuff that makes the criticisms of earlier writers seem like back rubs by comparison. Kris Ex predicted last year that it's only a matter of time before someone catches a beatdown over a blog post but it has yet to happen. Emphasis on "yet."

Lastly, and this is just a personal note, I think it's hilariously ironic that people who are hating on Bol are calling him a "disgrace" to "hip hop writers/journalists" since I think Byron would take more offense to being labeled a "hip hop writer/journalist" than "a disgrace." Some of his favorite targets are people he sneeringly calls "hip hop journalists," though strangely, Touré has been one of the lone people in this category to get a total pass.

--O.W.

CHRONIC CANDY

Now there's some Pop Licks!

It's ironic.

Alameda's got the Chronic and the Lakers beat the Supersonics.

But now, Alameda County -- home of People's Park, birthplace of the Free Speech Movement, and arguably one of the most pot-friendly areas of the country (relatively speaking) -- may become only the third county to ban products by Chronic Candy, which makes "marijuana-flavored" suckers, chewing gum, and other candies.

None of the Chronic Candies contain THC or other illegal ingredients. But in pushing for a ban, various Alameda Board of Supervisors are arguing that it promotes illegal behavior and is a gateway to drug use.

Supers, please. Obviously, it's the other way around: marijuana is a gateway to Chronic Candy. Everyone knows you get the munchies after you've taken a hit.

If Alameda County wants to ban anything that "promotes" marijuana and other illegal behavior, it would have to outlaw entire genres of music, close 75% of the stores on Telegraph Avenue, cancel multiple college courses, shut down most political rallies, infiltrate countless advocacy groups, and block college kids from going to the SF Planetarium, which is essentially what the Patriot Act does.

While this proposed law might be laughable, its passage would be scary since it essentially bans a person's (or company's) point of view, which is clearly protected speech. It's the equivalent of banning ganja t-shirts or Cypress Hill albums.

Granted, I think Tony Van Pelt, Chronic Candy's owner, is entirely disingenuous when he suggests that concerned parents should use the candy as a tool to teach their children about the dangers of drug use. He suggests that they "use Chronic Candy to have that conversation at home about drugs. ... Say why this product isn't for us as a family." Whatever. Mr. Van Pelt knows that such a family conversation will boost sales of his "Sticky Icky Buds" by 900%.

(And what kind of a fake name is Tony Van Pelt? That's Linus and Lucy's last name! Considering the origin of Snoop Dogg's moniker, marijuana advocates apparently like to reference Peanuts characters. Isn't that right, Peppermint Potty?)

Needless to say, this ludicrous proposal is a clear violation of the First Amendment and, ultimately, counterproductive.

How many licks does it take before the Alameda County Board of Supervisors realize that a proposed ban -- even if passed -- will only increase Chronic Candy's sales by 9,000%?

--Junichi

QUESTION OF THE WEEK #51

Wafah requests a loofah

This Week's Question:

What do you think about Wafah Dufour Bin Ladin, Osama bin Laden's niece, getting her own reality show?


(If you need more background on her, the proposed show, or the critical response, click here, here, or here.)

--Junichi

KICKS CONTROVERSY

shoes that shock?
I woke up this morning, checked my email and received three separate messages from people, drawing my attention to this brewing controversy over a new shoe by Adidas, the Y1 HUF.

UPDATE AT BOTTOM

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING...

Apparently, some Asian Americans are upset over what they see as a racist stereotype being depicted on the shoe's tongue. In the words of one of the people heading a write-in protest campaign to Adidas:

"This image perpetuates negative stereotypes of Asians, and Adidas shouldn't be allowed to make money off of such a concept. Adidas needs to know that this is not a fashion statement - it's an insult."

A few things should be made clear right off the bat. This limited edition Adidas shoe was created by graffiti artist Barry McGee aka Twist. He is half-Chinese and moreover, has used Asian caricatures in his past artwork not out of spite or self-loathing, but rather, a subversive statement of self-identity and racial prodding. In fact, this kind of retasking of stereotype is frequent in Asian American art and cinema; it's a form of detournement.

The email campaign partially nods to this, stating:

"we think it is, at the very least, a bad marketing decision on the part of Adidas. And, taken out of context, it represents an outdated stereotype.

I have to say something here that pains me to do because, politically and intellectually, I understand the power of "negative images" and the importance of challenging the ways that popular culture shapes the image of our community. HOWEVER:

This complaint (and thus campaign) lacks merit . It's also completely frustrating for reasons I'll get to in a moment.

In terms of baseless-ness: you cannot ignore context. Yeah, sure, "out of context," the shoe's imagery could look offensive but "out of context," almost ANY IMAGE could be construed as offensive. Take, for example, this image from KMD's Black Bastards. "Out of context," it might look incredibly offensive, say on a KKK t-shirt. But when you realize that this is KMD's statement about killing off the sambo stereotype, then it takes on a completely different meaning. Context matters, especially in art, especially when you're talking about potentially subversive art.

I think the problem here is that the context with the Y1 Huf is that it's on a shoe made by a mega-conglomerate. If, for example, this shoe had been put out by the folks at Blacklava.com, I suspect we'd hear nary a sound.

(Then again, some of what BL puts out is rather didactic and McGee's design is more subtle, and thus, open to misunderstanding. You can't really misunderstand a "I Will Not Love You Long Time" t-shirt. By the way, am I the only one who thinks it's kind of ironic that the logo appears on a clingy tank-top and that most of the photo gallery pictures of women wearing them tend to be provocative in a way that counters the message? Way to protest the objectification of Asian women by um, accentuating bust lines. Anyways...)

So yes, Adidas does not necessarily have a shining reputation as a socially progressive company but the mere fact that they're releasing the shoe - and I'm almost positive there were less than 1,000 pairs of these made, if not less than 500 - isn't grounds for protest either. Please keep in mind: these shoes cost $250 (now that's offensive!) and it's not like you're going to see every hipster in from SOMA to Williamsburg willing to shell out that kind of money for these. Especially since most are still too busy buying BAPES.

By the way, just to note the obvious: the design is on the tongue. Which usually is not visible on someone's feet when they're wearing pants. (Which should be all the time since rocking these kicks with shorts would be a really, really bad look in any situation.)

Here's my larger point: Asian Americans, politically speaking, need to expend as energy on issues of urgent social justice import rather than getting perpetually hung up on the issue of negative images/stereotypes.

I know Jeff Chang had a similar point to make a few years back, over the "Tsunami Song" debacle, and it bears repeating: in principle, yes, fighting stereotypes has a political, progressive purpose. However, on the grand scale of social justice issues, it feels like our community becomes disproportionately caught up on fighting stereotypes when much of that rigor and passion might be more usefully expended elsewhere.

For example, I have yet to receive an email blast asking me to write to my political representatives about opposing the HR 4437 immigration bill (though I do not doubt, for a moment, that there are many Asian American organizers working to oppose this legislation). Nor do you often see the same kind of grassroots campaigns being circulated on the internet to draw attention to environmental justice issues affecting low income neighborhoods near polluting industries.

In an ideal world, you shouldn't have to choose but in a world of realpolitik, it's important to choose your battles wisely. Believe me, there are times when I think people should be rightfully indignant over how Native American imagery is caricatured on sports logos, especially given the saturation of those images nationally.

But with this Y1 Huf debate...what are we protesting exactly? It's a limited edition shoe, destined to only be bought be a few hundred people, designed by an Asian American artist known for subtly subversive work, and located on a part of the shoe that most people will never see. How does this really merit anyone's outrage considering all there is to be outraged in our nation and world today?

Just to be clear: Despite appearances, I'm not trying to single out this campaign for scorn or ridicule. Rather, I'm trying to draw attention to a far larger tradition within Asian American activism that I think really needs to be rethought, especially in these dire times. The need for social justice campaigns that deal with 1) issues of multi-racial import and 2) issues that materially - rather than just symbolically - affect people and families, has rarely been greater in our contemporary history. Let's not get caught, staring at our feet.

(By the way, I have to say, even with the bucktooth guy, I really love what McGee did with the design. The brown/gold colorway is gorgeous, especially with the pinstripes. I'd actually consider buying these if not for the $250 price tag. Ouch.)

UPDATE: As it turns out, the person who originally helped kick start this campaign (not who sent out the email but the person who upped them on the controversy to begin with) is actually someone I know and he called me earlier this evening and explained where he was coming from. I feel kind of bad because I know it seems like I'm shitting all over the campaign and that wasn't really my point. It's just that when you see the umpteenth "protest negative stereotypes" campaign, it's the proverbial last straw. This said, my man had some important things to say and after a long, and at times heated, conversation, I could appreciate better where he was coming from.

The gist of it is this: I'm not mad at the shoe because I think I know where McGee is coming from and so while I find the image - divorced of context - to be problematic, as an art object, I apply a different standard than I would, say, a movie billboard or mass produced t-shirt with an anonymous designer behind it.

However, there were some blanks that my man filled in, namely that this shoe has created some waves inside both Adidas and Nike and mostly what's happened is that a bunch of White folks have simultaneously defended the shoe's image as well as dismissed complaints about it. However, their dismissal is not based on them claiming, "but it's McGee's art" because most of them don't know McGee from Adam. Rather, their retort is, "I don't get it - this doesn't look offensive to me, why are you being so pissy?"

Rule of Thumb: It's never a good look for White people to ask why people of color are offended by something they find racist even if said object's inherent racism is up for debate. I mean, you might be right but even then, you'll still come off looking like an asshole.

Back on topic: From that perspective, I can now understand why my man was so angry at the sneaker (and this is a dude who personally knows and grew up with McGee): it wasn't about who made it but rather, how the shoe was received, and how it exposed the many layers of racism within the shoe world (both corporate and collectors) for not even respecting the fact that some people might be offended by the image. To that degree, I can appreciate why this whole affair must be frustrating: it's like all the sports fans who argue that there's nothing wrong with the Cleveland Indians logo even though it's clearly a Red Sambo to anyone who isn't blind.

Notably, my friend was giving me examples of proposed logos for shoes that the legal dept. shut down over concerns and they were all far less controversial than the Ray Fong image. When you see that kind of double-standard being applied, it's easy to understand why the Fong image is so exasperating, even understanding what McGee's intent might have been behind it.

My original post above was really about two different issues. One was to ask, "what's the big deal?" and I now understand better why this shoe would rankle so many people - it's bringing out all this latent racism by dumb asses who think it's "cool/cute" to rock a buck-toothed Chinaman on their shoe as well as shoe execs who can't understand why Asian Americans might be upset. Just to make things worse, the people who are paid to know better, i.e. staff at Nike/Adidsas, might be able to defend the shoe on the merits of artistic freedom but instead, their main response has been, "man, these Orientals sure are sensitive." If that's not enough to make you want to lace up some steel-toes and go ass whooping around Portland and Beaverton, I don't know what is.

The other point of the post is something I still stand behind: negative images are important (clearly) but I have a wider hope that, as a community, we don't invest ALL our time in fighting this one area and end up neglecting other important battles that need dedication and focus too. Ha, already, I've written what amounts to three posts on this thing even though my point was that I didn't think people should invest precious time on it. Color me contradictory, oops.

In any case, all this ends my aspirations to buy the shoe and I have to say, I'm a little sad since, logo aside, it really is a spanktacular shoe but giving the choice between my wardrobe and respecting a friend, there's no question what's far more important. (And besides, my wardrobe needs help far beyond what a $250 pair of sneaks could do for it).

--O.W.