"just stop walsh!"

uh... i jaywalked at this same exact intersection just last week. no lie. i didn't want to. i wanted to take the bridge, but my colleague (who will remain nameless) peer pressured me into it. well, i am lucky because this clearly could've happened to me.



another quote: "hey, did you get the part on camera when he hurt-" "-where he socked her? i saw that *%#%!"

traffic

http://www1.voanews.com/policy/editorials/Laos-Fights-Drug-Traffic-94614404.html

the u.s.a. gave Laos 650,000 bucks to fight drug trafficking. i found the comments on the article interesting - here is the first one:

"Lao government is not going to do anything, only accept the u.s. money to put in their pockets."

a quadratic equation

quadruplets... how many is that anyway? Lao people are coming up in a meaningful way. this is a nice article about a sacramento family with a lot of daughters born who look a lot alike - and it's their 7th birthday. (apparently the odds of identical quadruplets are only 1 in 11,000,000). the video link has a reporter saying "when you're all the same age, it's the birth order that matters..." well, i am interested to know who is really the oldest and who is the youngest. because i understand that in Lao tradition, when it comes to multiple births, the child born first is actually the youngest, because the older child would remain in the womb to help the younger one out first. thus the older-younger designation would be reversed in this situation. well, it makes sense to me.
see the link below :

http://www.kcra.com/news/19013463/detail.html
thanks wl for this link!

blue bayou

i have resisted posting anything about louisiana and the oil spill. in fact, i turn the radio off whenever news comes on about it - avoidance being my only defense against this mess. it's a tragedy that highlights the problems with oil exploration, and once again spells disaster for the people of the southern louisiana - and the whole coastal region of the gulf of mexico.

the vietnamese community down in louisiana is also affected. a documentary about their coming together after hurricane katrina airs on pbs this evening at 10 pm. see the link here for specific showtimes in your area. the website describes the film, entitled, a village called versailles, as "the empowering story of how the versailles people, who have already suffered so much in their lifetime, turn a devastating disaster into a catalyst for change and a chance for a better future"

hopefully, the gulf coast communities can come together after this tragedy as well.

here is an article link from voices of america about the situation and how it particularly affects the vietnamese fishermen down in louisiana:

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/usa/Gulf-Oil-Spill-Presents-New-Challenges-to-Vietnamese-Fishermen-in-Louisiana-93860029.html

best in show

i should be writing a post about lost and its final sendoff, but this just appeared in my newspaper this morning: unlce boonmee who can recall his last lives, a thai drama of sorts, just took the big prize at the cannes film festival. i don't know much about the festival, or what sorts of awards it gives out, or even how to pronounce its ostentatious name, but its interesting to see a thai film get accolades. thai cinema definitely has its own feel - especially their bigger name films (last life in the universe, beautiful boxer, 6ixteynin9.) i've always been impressed with the cinematic quality, even with some of the lesser known thai films (their horrors, comedies, etc.)

here is a link to an article about the prize:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karin-badt/tim-burton-announces-palm_b_586491.html

one blog in bangkok

thanks stacy for telling me about your friend's blog. it's such an interesting perspective, i am posting the link here - i hope she doesn't mind.

http://elissaslifestory.blogspot.com/

elissa's pictures are fascinating, so i have posted one of them above. (a little more insight into the term 'redshirts.')

bangkok dangerous

wow. red shirts, yellow shirts, thaksin vs. vejjajivait, it's all really confusing... most people have already heard about the recent violence consuming bangkok, thailand and killing it's land-of-smiles-and-etc tourism industry, but i thought i would post a couple of links anyway. i also read in the paper this moring that maj. gen. khattiya sawasdiphol did finally die after being shot while giving an interview to the nytimes reporter last week. but if you want to catch up on what's going on, the seattle times posted a good article this morning with a time line of events leading up to the recent escalation of violence. i have posted it with its link here.


http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2011883084_thailand17.html
here is an update from this morning on the situation there:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2011884099_apasthailandpolitics.html
and here is a fascinating article detailing the king's silence amidst the conflict:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2011883041_thaiking17.html

amelia

so i ended up going to see the opera myself. (i had emailed my friend to ask for his review, and he in turn invited me along with him, since his wife wanted to sit this one out!) and by the way, the mccaw hall is an awesome facility if you aint never been there.

i can't say i am much of an opera critic, and i probably never would've seen an opera had my brother not taken it up as a career upon his move to germany some 12 years ago, but i go pretty regularly, so maybe that qualifies me somehow. but this opera was dang different from the 'classic' operas i've seen... (i usually see the ones everybody has seen: for example, i've been to 'marriage of figaro' 3 times.) the music was rather discordant- that kinda singing you'd expect to hear from someone whose making up a song as they go along - or something you might sing yourself if you were making fun of opera, never having been to one before. but despite that criticism, i really liked this opera. the story was compelling enough to hold my attention for the duration (2 acts; 60 minutes each, with a half hour intermission.) in fact, with the 'old' operas, i usually get sleepy part way through the soprano's big aria (the aria when she is only 45 minutes out from her death by suicide, murder, or the consumption as is the case with la boheme.) but this one kept me riveted, leaning forward in my seat to get a better view of the impressive scenery.

but let me get to what i am getting to - about vietnam. so the opera is built around the story of a daughter, amelia, who was named by her father for amelia earhart, and her father has now gone off to war in vietnam, and he is conducting bombing raids there.

the story is told in a non-linear fashion with flash forwards and flashbacks - past and present scenes being acted out simultaneously - with amelia earhart making several appearances to sing alongside the modern characters, her plane flying ominously above the house or the final scene in the hospital.
and there's even a flash sideways of sorts - for fans of lost - where the mythological story of icarus is played alongside a scene from 1996. but a scene from 1985 reveals the details of amelia's father's death after ejecting from his plane during a bombing run on a power plant at haiphong vietnam.

this part is played with intensity and fast-paced action that is unusual for an opera. (they usually take so long to die!) and the superimposition of two time periods in vietnam on top of each other will leave "lost" fans frothing at the mouth. the viet singing is done well, and doesn't sound near as weird as the english singing. (i thought obama had outlawed all opera in english at the same time as when he reversed george w's official pronunciation of nucuelar back to nuclear.)

my only confusion was on the scenery for the vietnam scene. the backdrop is beautiful, showing the interesting limestone mountains common for a north vietnam coastal town. but the houses looked almost south american. they were brick structures with stucco on top. i guess i might be in danger of false stereotypes here, but i would've expected something on stilts with a bamboo thatched roof? but i am sure they researched it, so i must be the one that's wrong. and maybe the stucco is just reflecting the french colonial influence that undoubtedly was found in the cities.

well, i guess i am also in danger of reviewing this opera here without having said anything of substance. so i will paraphrase what stan hall, my co-opera fan, said: usually, with operas, the story is something mythological or so far removed from reality that the listener must rely on the music to carry the performance. but this story here is so contemporary and relevant to our modern-day experiences and emotions, that it really has the ability to draw in its audience, despite the music that is somewhat difficult to connect with.

so the seattle opera gets credit for premiering 'amelia' here; seattle is definitely on the forefront of culture with this one. and i recommend yall get out there and get your tickets before it's done.

and also, i think its cool that stephanie meyer, the vampire loving author of twilight, lent her image for the promotional posters:

seattle opera keeps it real

the seattle opera is premeiring amelia this week, and it is believed to be the first opera in america to be performed in viet and english. and according to some of the comments on the seattle times article, the viet part is the best part. but it looks like they went all out to properly represent vietnam and the language, so kudos to the seattle opera. i will ask my friend, stan hall, who is a season ticket holder, what he thought about it and post his review here in the next couple days...

see the link below for the video and article:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011825569_vietopera10m.html

and here is more on this at seattleopera.blogspot.com

prison breaking bad

so a small note on a popular tv show that's turned unpopular. and by the way, has anyone even seen this show? (or should i say, seen it to its painful end?) prison break started off with this semi-cool premise of a guy purposely getting put in prison just so he can break out of prison (with his death-row inmate of a brother in tow)). and that's just season one. well... it goes on for three more seasons after that until they really run it in the ground in the fourth and final season. (and they probably would've kept going in the direction of middle earth had fox not pulled the plug in a death with dignity style decision.)
but let me get to the point of why i am bringing up this bad tv show on my blog. well, not far into the last season, we found out that the bad guy, "the general," is counterfeiting Lao currency with plans to flood their markets with it... and we see him, with a menacing look on his face, holding a Lao kip note in several scenes.

well, the Lao kip he's holding is none other than the 20,000 kip note. that's kinda funny because 20,000 kip is worth $2.40 with today's exchange rate, and it was worth even less than that last year when the episode aired. and its not like Laos isn't printing larger denominations than that.

but i guess it's not too strange considering that the per capita gnp for 2005 was $442. but anyway, as i've said in the past, you know Laos is coming up when it gets a nice place in the plot of a great tv show like prison break...

wing luke's refugee exhibit

click on the image to enlarge and see the details. this will be a great opportunity.

concert this friday & saturday

on friday, 04/23/2010, sat 4/24/2010

time: 9:00PM - 1:00AM
location: yo’s bistro
admission: $10
205 SW 152nd st in burien, wa 98166

happy Lao new year! celebrate with leading Lao star sam intharaphitak from vientiane, featuring guest artists illaphant, dj satellite, and dj raticus. all proceeds will benefit cultural programs of the Lao heritage foundation!

to prepay, go to http://www.laoheritagefoundation.org/rsvp/

this is the worst news koreatown has gotten in years

i will keep my opinions on this limited to what you see in the header. but apparently, a casting call has gone out for a "jesey shore"-style reality program featuring asian americans; the title is purported to be"koreatown," and i am encouraging href="http://eatpadek.blogspot.com/2010/01/bachelor-finds-cambodia.html">our friend from the bachelor to submit an application. so here is the link to all the info you need to ruin your life forever.

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/jersey_shore_for_asians_79AF3hIhiODbUMHwRZyC1L

thanks to anthony for sending me this, i think.

weird people eating part 2

so a few months back, i posted a link to james mcbride's blog, a seattle pi blogger , where he recounted his visit to the local Lao store. then i went on to make a quick review of his review. (click on the links to catch yourself up.) well, he received some negative comments about his article - some people who stumbled across my blog went on to comment on his article - to which the white blogger offered his defense, which i copy and paste here, without his permission. (but since i know people that look like extras in a john woo film, i think i'm okay.)

I appreciate your comments, unregistered user. I'll respond.

It's hard to make observations about another culture without seeming racist. Many believe we shouldn't generalize, but can a culture exist if there were not common characteristics to define that culture? It seems like some people want to tell us which generalizations are the right ones. Even if you say one society is "very family-oriented," you're making an assumption that may not be true of every member. Someone might be offended.

You say, "Your blog [is] the definition of why people hate Americans." You're implying there is some negative characteristic present in Americans that has surfaced in my blog. Isn't this also a generalization?

In a civil society, I understand that we must be tactful in order to get along. I try to respect people. I also try to entertain. Occasionally, I fail in both respects.
I can understand your objection to my John Woo comparison. On the surface, it seems ignorant. However, look at the context of my blog. Look at all the different foods I've tried. I've lived in Southeast Asia. I've been to China. Obviously, I know all Asians aren't Chinese. But honestly, the guy reminded me of a stock character in a John Woo movie. That's what popped into my head. If I were a better writer, maybe I would have come up with something more original.

Keep in mind that every character in a John Woo may not be of the same ethnicity. They could be Han, Uighur, Mongolian, Montagnard, Tibetan... and even within an ethnic group, they won't all look the same. Maybe the guy in the store shared enough features with someone in a Chinese movie to remind me of that, I don't remember. But I think it was mostly his clothes and hairstyle.

As far as how I judged the store, it is true I went in with all my preconceptions about how a store should be set up. I grew up in the United States. It's hard to shake those notions. But guess what? I shop in the "immigrant stores" regularly. I go to the International District almost every week, and not just to Uwajimaya. Read more of my blog, you'll see. I give those businesses my money, and not just for my blog.

I'm white, and I know a lot of white people. None of them spend as much time in the ID as I do. But I'm human. I'm going to see things through the lens of my "whiteness." I grew up in a rural white state. I have my own cultural walls to fight through. Anyone who says their background doesn't affect how they view the world hasn't spent much time around cultures besides their own. They're naive. Culture forms our identities and our beliefs. The trick is to understand this is all window-dressing and see past it. But it's not always easy.

ok... that's his comment. and while reading it, i was already penning my rebuttal in my head - i would start with comparing his claims of "i shop at immigrant stores!" and "i've been to china!" and listing off all the ethnic minorities living in china, and his "i give them my money, read my blog!" to what we used to say back home in louisiana growing up: "i'm not racist, three of my best friends are black." and at that point we may even list off their names... (i could always list dwight guillory, because he even wrote in my 8th grade yearbook that we were best friends. btw, where are you dwight?)

but alas, i didn't need to pen in a thing. i scrolled down a bit and found that maly had already done just that, and way better than i ever could. maly, where is your blog? with writing like that, you should be blogging for the pi, or somebody - or let me guess, you're on the staff of a famous monthly magazine.? i can't even begin to tell you how much i enjoyment i got out of your response!

but anyway, i'll post maly's response here, without permission, but i don't think maly would mind.

Posted by unregistered user at 3/30/2010 3:49 a.m.

"But guess what? I shop in the "immigrant stores" regularly. I go to the International District almost every week, and not just to Uwajimaya. "

I'm sorry but I had to have a big, fat ROTFLMAO at this. Why don't you just bust out the old 'I'm not racist; I have an Asian friend!' defense already? I grant you, actually having experience living in Asia is a credit to you but, come on, it isn't some sort of a 'get out of racism free' card. You are incredibly unaware of the latent overtones of privilege and entitlement that lace your piece. (Can I bust out my "I have white friends so I don't hate white people" badge before I continue my post? No, I won't because I do have white friends and I love them like I love all my friends but I KNOW I have a problem with and prejudice about white privilege. I'm not going to pretend I'm not prejudiced.)

Jason, the other commenter suggested you read up on cultural competency because of, at least through your writing, what seems like an unawareness your sense of white privilege and entitlement. The narrative strain of this whole piece reads like a leitmotif of 'White Dude Saunters into a Community of Color for an Evening of Cultural Tourism and Mocking. Fun! Hurrah!'. You squeal at the ooky food and then exert indignation at your privilege being challenged ("I was little put off when he told me not to take pictures. Legally, I could have." Ooh, you couldn't take pictures . .how dare he oppress you like that! Why don't you just respect his request? You're on his turf. It is a simple request.

Do you really not see why people are incensed by the tone of this piece? There are lines that are completely condescending and reek of superficial and flippant judgment. You spent two paragraphs defending your John Woo comment. I found that comment banal and direly unfunny (I appreciated the "Laap Dance" pun MUCH more) but I was much more offended by the glib stereotypes of these lines instead:

"with all the metal bars you would expect from the type of business that might attract after-hours robberies."

"A Lao at the counter, whose gelled head of hair and unbuttoned polo shirt made him look like he should have been selling his merchandise out of the back of a trunk"

oh my! this place is just laced with danger and vaguely criminal seeming underpinnings! Way to further grind in the underlying stereotypes that plague a low income, underprivileged community. Is there anything else you'd like to do to help contribute to the class oppression? Did you forget to mention the litter outside the store or the roving homeless nearby?

You say, "It's hard to make observations about another culture without seeming racist."

NO, IT ISN'T. Just own up to your own personal experiences and biases and don't project your sociocultural judgments on other communities. And this doesn't come naturally to anybody so we all have to work on it and not just blast our crap on other people just because we think there'll always be at least one person who'll be offended so why even try? That's how lazy people avoid being anti-racist (or anti-sexist or anti-homophobic or just anti-a%*hole) and, morally, that's not sound.

I read your long rebuttal to the other commenter and tried to give you the benefit of the doubt so I read your other blog entries. I enjoyed them much more because you keep the condescending, ethnocentric comments and sociocultural judgments more to a minimum and focus more on actual observations on the food. Stick to that style, please. And as much as I and other commenters have ripped you to shreds for this piece, it seems that you, ironically, are the harshest critic of yourself: "this is the kind of prose that keeps me from getting the good writing jobs"

Wow, BURN! Look, honestly, I hope you keep working on your writing (like I said, I enjoyed your other forays into food blogging) and on your cultural competency. Here is a decent place to start:

http://carw.org/

Please check them out. Thanks.

-Maly, who is too lazy to register as a user

p.s. I had a second big LOL at the gentle reader who entreated you to "have positive non racist sounding experience in the future".

the mystery of zomia

i like to think i know everything, but i can't say i've ever heard the term "zomia" before. but it's even got a link on wikipedia, so i guess it's for real. has anyone else heard this term before? apparently it refers to the mountainous regions of southeast asia that are beyond government control and influence.

anyway, here is a link to a boston globe article about it- and it's review of a book i haven't read yet, but maybe i'll send away for it from amazon. but i love the subtitle of the review: in the lawless mountain realms of asia, a yale professor finds a case against civilization. maybe we all should read it and get educated together, because one more case against civilization may be all i need to put me over... go all chris mccandless out here.

yes we did

vang vieng part 3

i know i am beating a dead horse here, but just one more on the tragedy that is vang vieng. i especially appreciate the article's quotations from brett dakin, the author of "another quiet american." (a good book if you haven't read it yet. he tells of his experience interning at a government agency in Laos.)

here is the link to the article:
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/travel/world/idyllic-laos-threatened-by-sex-drugs-and-debaucherous-behaviour/story-e6fref03-1225841761972?from=public_rss

also one of the comments by a reader is interesting as well. in reference to the uxo that litters Laos's countryside, one reader says, "Naked bodies never blew arms and legs off of children. They need to get their priorities correct. The real obscenities lay hidden under the ground!"

vang vieng part 2

i am fascinated by how quickly laos has changed since i first visited in 2001. a third bridge in under construction in khammouan province, viengchanh has a "mall," and vang vieng continues to slouch towards idiocy that way surpasses anything i saw when i was there.

this is a very interesting investigative piece about the issues facing vang vieng. it covers the backpacking culture and how it's effecting the town. very well done. i am not able to embed this video, so please follow the link here.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BKdnmuFoV0

lost its soul

whenever i go to a developing country, i like to get drunk, half-naked, and start kicking it crazy-style, all while i ponder the economic inequality in the world and my place within it all. i see it as a political statement really.

here are a couple youtube clips from vangvieng, Laos, of people doing just that:



well, at least these whities are contributing to the Lao economy right?
the link to the article i ripped them from:
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/asia-at-large/100111/laos-tourism-vang-vieng

destruction of hmong graves

according to this website run by national hmong grave desecration committee (nhgdc), hmong graves have been destroyed and may continue to face destruction in thailand at wat tham krabok close to a former hmong refugee camp.

the official reason for the removal of the graves was that the remains of the hmong are contamenating the local water supply. thus, the bodies were exhumed and cremated. however, the families of the dead were not notified, and apparently the exhumations were carried out in a way that violates hmong custom, i.e. "the exhumations sometimes included dismemberment, separation of parts of the corpses and cremation." cremation is a buddhist practice and violates hmong tradition. hmong funeral rites are very specific and if not followed can lead to restless spirits and physical problems for their living relatives.

additionally, some charge that the reasons given for the exhumations is not consistent with what occurred durinig the exhumations. this is evidenced in that the ethnic chinese graves situated next the the hmong cemetary were left untouched. additionally, in many instances, the flesh and clothes were removed from the bodies and placed back in the graves.

please visit this website to sign a petition protesting the desecration of hmong graves in thailand. feel free to contact me with any comments regarding this.