SNOW DAY?!
Kaizar, the Associate Editor over at Newstrust.net (an awesome site for any news whore or...whoever just wants to be an informed citizen), brought to my attention an interesting Atlantic Monthly piece, the current feature on Newstrust, about the release of Patti Solis Doyle from the Hillary Clinton campaign team. Read this denouncement from the article:
Rather than punish Solis Doyle or raise questions about her fitness to lead, Clinton chose her to manage the presidential campaign for reasons that should now be obvious: above all, Clinton prizes loyalty and discipline, and Solis Doyle demonstrated both traits, if little else. This suggests to me that for all the emphasis Clinton has placed on executive leadership in this campaign, her own approach is a lot closer to the current president’s than her supporters might like to admit.
I think Toni Morrison is one of the most brilliant and seminal writers of our era. If you haven't read any of her work....then you need to get on that. Anyway, here is her open letter to Obama (her first public endorsement of a candidate) which I'm printing here in full:
Dear Senator Obama,This letter represents a first for me–a public endorsement of a Presidential candidate. I feel driven to let you know why I am writing it. One reason is it may help gather other supporters; another is that this is one of those singular moments that nations ignore at their peril. I will not rehearse the multiple crises facing us, but of one thing I am certain: this opportunity for a national evolution (even revolution) will not come again soon, and I am convinced you are the person to capture it.
May I describe to you my thoughts?
I have admired Senator Clinton for years. Her knowledge always seemed to me exhaustive; her negotiation of politics expert. However I am more compelled by the quality of mind (as far as I can measure it) of a candidate. I cared little for her gender as a source of my admiration, and the little I did care was based on the fact that no liberal woman has ever ruled in America. Only conservative or “new-centrist” ones are allowed into that realm. Nor do I care very much for your race[s]. I would not support you if that was all you had to offer or because it might make me “proud.”
In thinking carefully about the strengths of the candidates, I stunned myself when I came to the following conclusion: that in addition to keen intelligence, integrity and a rare authenticity, you exhibit something that has nothing to do with age, experience, race or gender and something I don’t see in other candidates. That something is a creative imagination which coupled with brilliance equals wisdom. It is too bad if we associate it only with gray hair and old age. Or if we call searing vision naivete. Or if we believe cunning is insight. Or if we settle for finessing cures tailored for each ravaged tree in the forest while ignoring the poisonous landscape that feeds and surrounds it. Wisdom is a gift; you can’t train for it, inherit it, learn it in a class, or earn it in the workplace–that access can foster the acquisition of knowledge, but not wisdom.
When, I wondered, was the last time this country was guided by such a leader? Someone whose moral center was un-embargoed? Someone with courage instead of mere ambition? Someone who truly thinks of his country’s citizens as “we,” not “they”? Someone who understands what it will take to help America realize the virtues it fancies about itself, what it desperately needs to become in the world?
Our future is ripe, outrageously rich in its possibilities. Yet unleashing the glory of that future will require a difficult labor, and some may be so frightened of its birth they will refuse to abandon their nostalgia for the womb.
There have been a few prescient leaders in our past, but you are the man for this time.
Good luck to you and to us.
Toni Morrison
I could never be as eloquent as Ms. Morrison, but she expresses my thoughts on Obama's transformative and paradigm breaking message that I find so heartening. And Obama is on such a roll that he felt a one sentence reply would suffice:
Toni Morrison has touched a nation with the grace and beauty of her words, and I was deeply moved and honored by the letter she wrote and the support she is giving our campaign.
[Thanks Lauren!]
Celebrate the true president on President's Day, Monday February 18. This date also corresponds with Dr. Dre's birthday. El presidente. Word. The president of hip hop...and rumor has it that Dre is also the one truly responsible for creating Huckabee. The peeps at LVHRD are having a party in his (Dre's that is, not Huckabee) honor along with free 40s from 10 pm to 4 am.
Thoughts on the new layout. Like? Dislike? Favorite? No favorite? Hungry? No so hungry? The only complaint I have is the prominence of the title "Boy Meets Blog." When I first created this blog I never intended for that title to be a static and enduring. I originally planned on changing it frequently like I used to do with my old blog during my xanga days. This new layout makes the title even more dominant. Not sure how I feel about it. I do like the type font however.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxLK2etT5fM] This is a clever twist that pokes at society's perception or expectations of Asians in this country. Although at the same time it depresses me that an Asian American speaking without an accent is a big "gotcha moment" for a TV show...as we're nearing the end of the first decade of the 21st century. What are the wacky TV writers gonna show America next? Asian American dudes droppin' science with the ladies?
Man, this is some sad sight. What you see above is the burnt remain of the Namdaemun gate, a 600 year old marquee landmark in Korea. This fire occurred a couple days ago. When I was in Seoul some years ago I was fortunate enough to view this treasure and it was quite a sight. This is what I saw when I was there.
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=c8YP5pJOdhI] You know how whenever some fem-anthem is played in a bar or club the girls go nuts. I mean they start screaming, jj's are raised in the air and and the memorized lyrics are shouted. It's adorable to see that. This song by Rihanna, "Don't stop the music" is one of those songs. Except that when bahm-bham-bham beat starts blasting through the speakers I too start freaking out--not spastically (big diff)--and attempt my best SNL Roxbury head nod. Head to the left, to the left, to the left, and...to the right, to the right, to the right. And now hump, hump, hump. Hump, hump, hump.
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=FNkOm3RJ4AM]
Saturday: Thunderstorms. Sunday: Only in Midtown, snow blizzard.
What's next on Monday? Tornados?
For all my curiosity about cosmology and obsession with shows on the History and Discovery Channel about the Universe I realized that I've never considered the question of whether the outer space has a smell or odor. Well, now I have some idea thanks to this NASA astronaut:
It is hard to describe this smell; it is definitely not the olfactory equivalent to describing the palette sensations of some new food as "tastes like chicken." The best description I can come up with is metallic; a rather pleasant sweet metallic sensation. It reminded me of my college summers where I labored for many hours with an arc welding torch repairing heavy equipment for a small logging outfit. It reminded me of pleasant sweet smelling welding fumes. That is the smell of space.
Mmm. O' delicious metallic fumes.
This latest from the Angry Asian Man is yet another reminder why I just have no interest in visiting or living in former Confederate states. I had an interesting discussion with a friend last night about the particulars of NYC and why I consider it "home." For whatever problems this city has, I'm pretty confident to say that I don't think any bar in NYC would ever consider anything like this for a Chinese New Year promotion.
Lately I've noticed a catchy song playing during a Sprite commercial: the one with the basketball players jumping into the court which turns into a pool.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1latJ7K8zc]
Anyway, I decided to look into the song and apparently it was a song specifically created for the Sprite commercial by a music company Human Worldwide.
You can download the song at this myspace profile. And you can find out a lot more information on this commercial at this advertising blog.
[Wordpress complaint: I wish Wordpress would permit mp3 embedding like Tumblr or Pownce. It's such a great additional functionality that makes a blog more dynamic.]
You've been warned. You will be absolutely horrified by what you are about to see. This more than anything else should compel governments and world leaders to come together, put aside differences and self-interested agendas and come up with a solution to address global warming.
Me: Yea, I'll be out for sure with a couple of my friends.
Me: And maybe a few girls if stars align.
Ben: Yeah. That shit is unpredictable. You need like a modern day oracle.
A writer, who describes himself in his own words as a "journalist with bad breath, bad teeth, bad hair, and bad debt" is assigned to hang out with and write a profile on Lenny Kravitz for Spin Magazine. What follows is an experience in sensory overload that can barely be comprehended by this reporter, while for Lenny Kravitz the entire night seems to be as nonchalantly normal as a night at the local pub is for the rest of you pathetic normals. The sum of the article can be described thusly: Lenny is a god at clubs filled with countless gorgeous, exotic, and delicious smelling models (the sexy models and not the weird looking ones) who want to sit next to him, dance for him, get with him. If he's occupied or unavailable and you are sitting next to him, then countless gorgeous, exotic, and delicious smelling models will want to dance for you, at the very least.
"You like this place?" shouts Kravitz."I feel like I'm in Saudi Arabia!" I reply, happily. I'm no longer insecure, but I'm tipsy with a rock star in the kind of club I've never been to before, and Cameron Diaz is dancing again, and she's not even the prettiest girl around.
And the girls come and go -- models and actresses from Brazil, the Netherlands, Denmark, Russia, Japan, France, and New Jersey. Some of them sit and talk with Lenny, and if the girls come in pairs, then one of them talks to me. They'd rather be talking with Lenny, but I must be his friend, they reason, so I must have something to offer.
At some point, I meet a girl with a name that sounds like Samitra, and so I cry out, "Nice to meetcha, Samitra!" and Lenny laughs. Then a Russian girl is doing some kind of amazing belly dance really close to him, and her stomach is exposed, and her rear is a thing of beauty, and Lenny is dancing in his seat, and then she switches to me and is putting that rear right in front of my chin, and Lenny laughs again and says, "What's that look on your face?"
"It's my bachelor-party look," I scream. "Where I act like I'm really cool, but I'm really not! This girl is amazing!" She looks over her shoulder at me and smiles and keeps rotating her rear, mimicking the movements of the earth and the sun, all the things that spiral and are infinite, like the swirl of a beautiful girl's fingerprint on a martini glass which she puts down just before kissing you.
This is about on par for most of my nights out. At times while reading this article, I had to think "Wait, when did I hang out with this reporter?." Serious deja vu. Anyway, you can read the rest here.
What's better than sushi? Sushi ala conveyor belt. Am I right or am I right? I'm right. A new conveyor belt sushi restaurant opened up in Midtown:
Sakae Sushi, 405 Lexington Ave. and 43rd Street.
A conservative group -– Citizens United -– that has produced a film now in distribution attacking Hillary Clinton called “Hillary, the Movie,” has its sights set on a new target: Barack Obama. The group has budgeted about $1 million to produce a documentary film about Mr. Obama that is set to be distributed this summer. At the moment, Citizens United has its researchers poring over Mr. Obama’s records as a community organizer, state legislator and United States senator in the same way that it scoured Mrs. Clinton’s record with a highly critical eye and a sharply conservative point of view.
I hope the mainstream media doesn't jump into the water and legitimize this sure to be swiftboat hack job.
I was browsing the newsletter sent out by the Brown Alumni Club in New York and they are promoting some Valentine's Day social mixer. Here are the advertised drink specials:
From 6 - 9 pm there will be drink specials: $6 Cosmos, $6 Wines, $5 Domestic Beers, $6 Imported Beers.After 9 pm drinks will be full priced.
I am fully aware of the higher prices here in NYC, but this is the least special drink special I've ever come across. Brown University: The Stingy-est Ivy. Brown is always the last to volunteer to buy a round at the bar. When Brown is at a group dinner, it totally "forgets" to toss in the tax and tip. At its wedding, there was a cash bar.