Interesting Newsweek article written by a Korean American author about her experiences in which people confuse her for other asian women. When she catches herself perpetrating the same "crime", she confesses that some situations are caused by carelessness rather than that old racial outlook that "all asians look alike"
Is this a problem that happens to Filipinos or is it more common among the Koreans, Chinese and Japanese? I admit that I've made the same joke that certain asians look alike. Hey, that asian girl that got kicked off Project Runway looks like Vera Wang too.
During my youth in the 90's, there seemed to be a style guide that enhanced the resemblances. I'm dating myself but the girls always had long straight black hair (the typical pinay dyed theirs), J.Crew top, designer bag, jeans with a slight flare at the bottom and a chunky shoe. Dudes either had floppy bangs or spiky hair. I'm sure times have changed but I'm not around enough young Asian kids to keep up.
In my experiences, people haven't confused me for other asians - instead they've been more confused about my ethnicity. Probably because my features aren't typically "asian". My Japanese wife always points out (in jealousy as she puts it) my straight pointy european nose. In trash talking with friends back in college, a couple chinese guys called me a "mutt". Then there was a Korean-American co-worker who greeted our Chinese-American colleague by saying "What's up blood?" before teasing me by saying my blood was tainted by europeans while theirs was pure. As a kid, my skin was pretty dark (I don't know why its lighter now. Is it because I'm stuck inside an office all day? The whiteness of my company rubbing off on me?) and one day, a teacher kept yelling this other kid's name in my general direction. I kept walking but she kept yelling that name. Finally, I turned around and she embarrassingly apologized for confusing me with my African-American classmate. I laughed it off. Well, I was a dark filipino kid with cropped hair and glasses. He was a light-skinned black kid with glasses.
And I've probably repeated similar stories on here where people have confused me for other ethnicities - most commonly hispanic. The Middle-Eastern gas attendant that greeted me with an "hola". The Korean grocery shopper at the Korean mart who confused me for the Mexican cart collector by pushing her cart towards me in the parking lot. Most recently, the hygienist at the dentist's office greeted me, looked over my chart and asked if I was Italian because of my last name. Now that's a reach. I almost blurted out "Did you really look at me when you shook my hand?!"
Can't say the same for my wife. I don't know if she's been confused for other asian women specifically. But I've witnessed her being confused for other Asian ethnicities. Then you have the more ignorant people who call all asians as "Chinese". Philly people say that all the time. You're either white, black, latino or chinese. They like to keep things simple.
While there is a Filipino presence in certain pockets of South Jersey, I don't think white suburbia is quite aware of it. That's probably why I was overjoyed when a new co-worker guessed my background correctly. He even explained his reasoning at length: "Well you look 'kinda' Asian but your name is more Spanish. And I had a professor in college that looked asian but had a spanish name too. I was curious and asked about his background. He said he was Filipino. After that, I could tell that any asian looking people with Spanish names have to be Filipino."
not who you think i am
ramiele malubay / AI
I have commitment issues with TV shows. Can't follow any new shows and I'm not even motivated hit up iTunes. The shows would probably sit there unseen - much like half of the podcasts that I subscribe to but never catch up to listening. Has the internet killed my attention span? (By the way - here's an interesting read on the first internet generation) Why waste time on a mediocre show when a quick synopsis is at your fingertips and a million people are blogging about it in real time?
Anyway, American Idol is the most numbing and exhausting experience that drags on for an eternity. I haven't followed American Idol closely in years (Jasmine Trias is killing it in the PI), but I may check in occasionally and root for pinay singer Ramielle Malubay. She made the top 24.
sports & politics?
The Roger Clemens/Brian McNamee hearings are a prime example of how the government is broken. Shouldn't congressmen and senators have more important issues than interrogating baseball players and their drug dealing trainers? How about Iraq? Health care or the economy? Nope, these politicians grandstand for 5 hours and pretty much accomplish nothing that we didn't already know. Clemens is lying about using HGH and McNamee is a scumbag coming clean under duress. Is anything going to be resolved? I doubt they're going to get Clemens for perjury. Its obvious he's lying, but there's no smoking gun.
Sports and politics should not mix. Ugly partisanship even rears its head in this issue. Clemens reportedly conducted photo-ops with Republican politicians. He probably signed a few baseballs for them. Can't blame Clemens for trying - special interest lobbyists do the same things to push their agendas. Then in the hearings, Republicans tried to help Clemens by discrediting McNamee as a conman with a fake medical credentials. Dems went after Clemens. Either way it was an embarrassing ordeal for all involved. You had politicians leaving for hours at a time and returning to repeat questions asked 15 minutes earlier. Then they'll give excruciating soliloquys on their efforts against drug use and concerns for the youth. This whole ordeal was created for politicians to self-promote and push their own agendas.
Steroids is an issue that can negatively influence kids. I get that. But is it a crime that requires direct involvement from the federal government? I don't have a problem with them pressuring Bud Selig to clean things up. But federal hearings wasting our tax dollars?
Then you have Arlen Specter interrogating NFL commish Roger Goodell about Belicheck, the Patriots and "spygate". How does this require any government action? This is an internal issue for the NFL. This only bothers fans of football and not American citizens. Senator Spector looks like a wounded Eagles fan trying to explain why his team lost the Super Bowl to the Patriots.
I'm a big sports fan but let's get our priorities straight and recognize that sports is entertainment and there are more important things for the government to deal with.
Palmyra Flea Market
The Tacony flea market takes place every Saturday on Route 73 near the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge to Philadelphia. This event has a lot more hustle than the quaint farmer's market that I visited in the cornfields of Berlin, NJ. The pulse of this event is evident as you step on the parking lot concrete which vibrates with the bass of bootleg hiphop backing up merchants selling pirated CDs and mixtapes. Not suprisingly, the local police feel compelled to "assist" in the proceedings. I don't remember any police supervising the farmers down at Berlin. But this crowd is probably 95% people of color. 75% of the people rocked patterned hoodies or bubble goose.
Plenty of asian sellers - including a 10 year old chinese girl hawking mobile phone accessories on a fold up table. And a middle aged asian lady showing Shaw Brothers movies to a crowd of kids. Instead of dainty houseware, you'll find sports jerseys, fitted caps, sneakers & timbs, kung fu DVDs, bras, fake gucci and fendi bags, and yes, neon patterned hoodies.
Then in the farthest part of the parking lot you'll find people selling whatever junk they got in their house. Old electronics (how about a single tire to go with that double cassette deck or top-loading VCRs?). The collections are almost as interesting as the hustlers themselves. For many, its a family affair. A Saturday ritual where they intermingle with a variety of people from different races and ethnicities to earn an extra buck and to rid themselves of their junk. Junk which transforms into treasure in the hands of its lucky buyer. No treasures for me today, but the walk through was enjoyable.
kina grannis
I was largely disappointed in the ads that ran during the Super Bowl. The most memorable commercial was the Doritos ad presenting the winner of its "Crash the Super Bowl" contest promoting a new breakthrough musical artist. It didn't catch my eye for its humor or cleverness, but because I designed the CD package for the winner, Kina Grannis. I've designed a whole bunch of CDs and DVDs for independent artists that never hit it big, but its satisfying to see Kina get some shine. She is a half Japanese singer-songwriter, now signed to Interscope Records.
chinese new year
Happy Chinese New Year! Seeing New Year's parades in Chinatown always reminds me of the years I spent living there. I shared a house with 4 roomates for 2 years during college. Rent was cheap. Food was cheap and available everywhere at any hour. We were surrounded by a Chinese church/school, an assisted living residence for elderly Chinese, mom & pop corner stores and cheap karaoke bars. Gangs weren't so visible if you lived straight but the occasional group of punks were ubiquitous. We lived off a small side street that was well lit - probably too well lit. Streetlamps streaked through my bedroom window and it was rarely quiet. I remember sleeping very little and at odd hours.
The noisiest nights surround Chinese New Year, transforming the soundscape into a warzone until dawn. Kids run the streets recklessly throwing firecrackers - sometimes under passing cars to shake people up. The smell of powder lingers in the air the next morning as the aftermath litters streets in a sea of red firecracker debris. Its a vibrant red that accents the Dragon dance that attracts followers as it winds itself around each block. I probably gained more appreciation for these events as I moved out of Chinatown and I hope to catch some of the festivities this weekend.
randoms
Utada Hikaru | Stay Gold
Janet Jackson | Rock With U
Idle Warship | Industry Diary
De La Soul | Stakes is High (dela remix)
beau monde
My wife is on the hunt for antiques - specifically vintage pyrex and fire king collectibles. I'm not the type of person that frequents antique shops or thrift stores. I like new stuff. New stuff makes me happy. But I can appreciate the charming designs that adorn these pieces from the 70's and before. So we've been dipping into little shops around South Jersey and last Sunday we hit up some places on South St. in Philly. I thought it would be nice to take a little shopping trip before I submerged myself into the Super Bowl later that evening. We didn't end up finding anything in great condition but found some pieces for inspiration. And we had a conversation with a saleswoman who had the thickest South Philly accent. Difficult to describe it in writing but very distinct to the ear.
Then we landed at Beau Monde, a French creperie with a cozy bar populated by artsy folk. The interior is elegantly parisian with tall windows overlooking 6th and Bainbridge streets. From what I hear, these crepes are pretty authentic - paper thin and non-spongy wheaty envelopes filled with goodness. The taste is fairly light and restrained. You'll feel satisfied but you won't feel the guilty need to work out afterwards.
The menu offers savory style crepes with buckwheat flour and an assortment of fillings - bacon, ham, eggs, andouile sausage, mushroom, salmon, trout, goat cheese. Then there are the desert crepes with wheat flour filled with fruits and topped with nutella or whipped cream. So we ordered one of each and shared to get the best of both worlds. The ham, egg and cheese crepe is a simple yet perfect breakfast meal and the assorted berry crepe with chantilly cream provided a delicious desert mix of sour and sweetness.
upset for the ages
Unbelievable game! Ice water Eli did the unexpected in driving his team to the Super Bowl-winning touchdown with :35 seconds left. Everyone points to the Tyree catch where Eli played Houdini and avoided a sack 3 different times only to loft a floating pass that only gets caught in the movies. Tyree's acrobatic catch pinning it against his helmet and will be placed in Super Bowl lore alongside Lynn Swann's catch in Super Bowl X.
Extracurricular comments: Seeing the Mannings (especially Peyton) in all the commercials has been tiresome, but it was actually nice to see Peyton rooting for his brother. 2 Manning Super Bowl MVPs back to back?? Loved seeing Coughlin and Eli getting sweet redemption. Can't say I was suprised seeing the classless Bellichek running off the field before the end. He looked stunned outta his mind. Funny that Brady scoffed at Plax's prediction of 23-17 by saying at least give us more points than that. Then they get held to 14.
The football gods have struck down on Bellichek and the Pats with the ultimate karma for spygate and running up the score all season. Those same gods rewarded the Giants for not resting their starters and playing valiantly in a meaningless Week 17 game against the Pats. Amazing that its come full circle from that very game. A game in which Eli came of age and where the G-Men gained the confidence to run through the playoffs.
Bill Simmons deserves this after his arrogant season long slobbering of his beloved Pats.
And what's Tiki gotta say now? The only negative is that the '72 Dolphins got to pop some bottles last nite. They were probably poppin' geritol instead of champagne - but I'm sure they celebrated as much as any New Yorker.
anti-war/pro-sneaker
Finally a campaign slogan I can fully support. Courtesy of Shepard Fairly.
Plus his limited edition poster print of Barack Obama.
koi turned sneaker
Cool artwork by yoske nishiumi featuring a koi morphing into a sneaker for Onitsuka Tiger.
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