I was too busy being sexy on the beach to write on the internet. B-)
Anywho, I figured that I'd catch up on a few back topics that I missed...First off, the men from the Doghouse Radio Show-- J.V. and Elvis (blog page: http://jvandelvis.blogspot.com/).
A few months ago, these radio COMEDIANS were fired for making supposedly racist comments against Asian Americans.
Basically, they did this prank phone call to a Chinese restaurant where they had a computer speak to the restaurant workers. They made some dumb remarks (e.g. "slimp flied lice") and being the post-Imus era, the so called "representatives" of the Asian American community got into a huge uproar which eventually led to the Doghouse show being canned (and ultimately, the scrapping of the entire radio station, 92.3 Free FM).
Counter-protesters called upon the free speech rights in the United States Constitution to defend J.V. and Elvis, but I also disagree with that.
Hate speech should NEVER be tolerated, but J.V. and Elvis' remarks were anything but hate speech.
It was a JOKE (albeit a pretty stupid one).
If the Organization of Chinese Americans wants to advocate a cause, they should be looking to better conditions for immigrant workers in Chinatowns across America or helping out Southeast Asian refugees who aren't able to obtain the resources they need to create a better lives for themselves.
It makes me sick that some activists called the firing of J.V. and Elvis a "victory for the Asian American community". They do NOT speak on behalf of anyone but their own small group and they certainly do not represent my own opinion.
J.V. and Elvis are COMEDIANS and as comedians, it is their job to make jokes-- which can sometimes fall flat. They apologized for their comments (and J.V. even mentioned his wife, who happens to be Asian American) and made it very clear that they are NOT racists. They've done this EXACT type of prank to Catholic Book Stores, Hotel Receptionists, etc. (with much funnier results) numerous times!!If Asian advocacy groups really want to find entertainment that is blatantly racist against Asian Americans, maybe they should look no further than those moronic "Rush Hour" movies, which somehow keep topping the box office. =P
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In another Asian American-related topic, I wanted to mention that lunatic who tried to jump off the George Washington Bridge in June.
In the middle of the morning rush hour, some crazy man decided that he'd walk up the cables of the George Washington Bridge and throw himself off.
Instead of actually following through with his plans, though, he just stayed on the bridge for hours as police and fire workers tried to talk him down-- eventually climbing the cables themselves and rescuing the man.
I personally don't know what it feels like to be severely depressed, but I believe that if I ever were feeling that badly, I would never cause the type of disturbance and waste in resouces that this man caused. People were stuck in their cars on the bridge for 3-4 hours because of him!!
Someone called these values I have very Asian-- since I feel this need to cause as little inconvenience as possible for the people around me-- and I kind of wonder if it is...
We live in this culture of shame, where we are so conscious about how everyone else sees us and try so hard to hide our shortcomings.
I once came across a blog by an Asian American woman, who had some interesting insights about mental health in the Asian community (blog site: http://wrathfulgrape.livejournal.com/):
"... if there is one thing we Asians are good at, it's covering up things with a shiny perfect veneer while denying that there are very real problems that we should not be ashamed to address."
From your perspective, what does clinical depression feel like?
"I am an Asian American and in the general perception among Asians, I am not allowed to feel this way. I am expected to just pull myself up by my bootstraps and deal with it."
Sadly enough, I feel that she is right and somehow, I wish I could solve all these problems in our community...
=(
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And in a psychosis-related topic, I've been listening to these two versions of a song by my FAVORITE rocker, Ryan Star.
He has one song called Perfect which I've related to multiple times.
In an acoustic version (on his piano), the lyrics are as follows:
"Rubber bands are holding me together,
I need the perfect smile for my mother.
Look, we've done away with our disease.
When I'm dead, you'll know me by my teeth...
You're perfect now, just smile."
This version of the song (from his "songs from the eye of an elephant" album) had a very personal feel and I could just imagine someone looking in the mirror, thinking these thoughts to himself as he felt like he was falling apart.
In a newer version (on Ryan's "Dark Horse" CD), the song is performed with a live band at a concert and the lyrics sound more like he's talking to someone else (instead of to himself):
"I wish that you could see what I am seeing,
A mirror in my eyes for your believing.
I'll never know the reason that you cry.
Just know that I believe you'll be all right...
You're perfect now, just smile."
To me, I hope that it means that after being able to convince himself that he's perfect, he's able to pass along the feeling to another person...
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Anyway, that's the end of my random rambling/ranting/catching up for this cloudy Sunday afternoon...
Thanks to anyone who still reads this stuff! ;-)
