charlessfo

11:05 pm: this one's for you
yes you, sakura_no_kage

omg, this is even more exciting than the album performance



Tags: japan, latin, music

11:18 pm: Not safe for Hokkien workplaces
( You are about to view content that may only be appropriate for adults. )

Tags: bilingualism, chinese, hokkien, indie, language, linguistics, music, puns, rock

11:30 pm: Daiso vs. Ichiban Kan, or Betrayed by Glico
seaweeds has sung the praises of Daiso, so when I arrived at San Francisco Japan Center Mall and saw signs announcing the opening of a Daiso store there, I just had to check it out. It's tiny, perhaps around 600 sf (55 square meters). But it did have all sorts of gadgets, apparently all for US$1.50 each and all crowded together on the different shelves and all with Japanese labels. I immediately went into overload mode and wandered around the store in a daze and ultimately left without buying anything.

to compare, I decided to go upstairs in the mall to Ichiban Kan...different things. Despite having the subtitle "different things," some of the items overlapped with Daiso, such as the plastic baskets which are sufficiently small that I don't know what I would put in them. and the prices were much more variable, ranging from $0.99 to $23.99, way more than Daiso's uniform $1.50, so obviously they are going after a different market. they also had some food items, including several varieties of Pocky. the Pocky that caught my eye went under the name "Dessert Pocky Chocolate." I decided to buy it and try it. bad move. when I sat down to enjoy it, upon opening it and biting into it, I discovered a weird fruity flavor to the chocolate. wtf, I thought. examining the label, the english ingredients list referred to the product as "Pocky wheat cookie chocolate-orange." arrgh! no wonder it tasted weird. why didn't I notice that? so I look at the original front and it did indeed say "Dessert Pocky Chocolate" with no mention of orange. then I saw it! a picture of an orange without the WORD orange. Glico, how could you do this to me???????

P.S. to Malaysian readers: in case you don't know, it My it is the product you know as Glico Rocky, not Glico Pocky.

Mood: annoyed at Glico >:(

Additional music heard during this post:

Vamo Batê Lata-Os Paralamas Do Sucesso
Wanderers Love Song-Wu Bai and China Blue
Vou Com Você-Dominguinhos
Spiritual Suicide-Elf Fatima
Africa The Land Of Food And Water-Yusuf Ahmed & Village Culture

Tags: chocolate, food, japan, shopping

02:27 pm: I get microagressed
Somewhere in the LGBTQQITSBBDSMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ spectrum belongs a GE for Gender Expression. This is for anyone who engages in activities outside the expected behaviour for their apparent gender.

I'm male, usually consideder butch and occasionally mistaken for straight. But I'm not so committed to it that I can't wear a pink shirt. So, this week I was wearing a pink dress shirt as I walked through San Francisco's Union Square area. (Singaporeans, it's kind of like your Orchard Road but with only one mall and with large department stores and lots of street-facing shops instead.)

I was walking across from Macy's when someone yelled out in what I would identify as an Eastern mountain accent, "Hey, you're wearin' a pink shirt." I looked around and didn't see any obvious source, so guess it was a drive-by. I thought "yeah, so?" Then I realized I had been microaggressed for not conforming to my gender role.

The term "microagression" (Wikipedia'd as "Racial microagression") is coming into use for those little slights for being who you are which are enough to annoy or stress you but not enough to do anything about. All of the discussion I've read so far takes place around racial microaggression, but it can occur with regard to sexual orientation -- someone saying "Those midwestern faggots can't deal with it so they move to San Francisco" as I walked by about 15 years ago; cross dressing -- "Hey, take off that dress!" said to a man in a dress, on Halloween yet; transgenderism, gender and gender expression.

So, LGBTQQITSBGEBDSMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ:

L lesbian
G gay
B bi
T transgender
Q queer
Q questioning
I intersex
TS two spirits
B bear
GE gender expression
BDSM bondage/discipline domination/submission slave/master sadism/masochism
NOPQRSTUVWXYZ some silly stuff I added in the style of writer Ann Rostow

which can be abbreviated to LGBTQ.

Tags: gay, gender roles, lgbt, lgbtq, microaggression

12:38 am: Let's kick some butt!
Lonely Tree Lonely Bird by Wu Bai and China Blue
Live! the way Wu Bai is meant to be heard


El Carro Verde (The Green Car) by Los Olvidados
alas, only the first 40 seconds of a great ska-rock song


大切なもの (Important Thing) by Road of Major
quite possibly the rocking-est song involving cherry blossoms


Paghihintay (Waiting)
This performance by William Galespi is not bad; I prefer the Razorback version but couldn't find a decent version on YouTube


and finally an oldie and goodie

Rockaway Beach by the Ramones


Tags: fast, rock

11:08 pm: The return of Mr. Gym Manners
...unraveling the mystery of gym kabuki for the queer masses

Dear Mr. Gym Manners,

There's this 40's guy at the gym who dao'd me for several years, going so far as to avoid me when I offered him to work in on my machine. Suddenly one day he seemed interested, even going to far one eve as to show off a mari kita to me in the locker room, but after all that dao'ing I was inclined to dao him back as one nvr knows when a dao'er is going to dao again. Anyway, we hv been dao'ing each other back and forth for six years and counting. Tonite he was watching the sports on the TV bike next to mine. Was he trying to get my attention or just too lazy to pick another TV? Is there any hope we will stop dao'ing each other? More importantly, will anything good come of it if we do stop?

Signed,
Average Dao Jonez

Dear ADJ,

Yes, something good will come if the two of you stop. The remaining gym goers as well as Mr. Gym Manners will stop straining our eyes from rolling them in disgust. The two of you are hereby ordered to either permanently ignore each other or start talking. If your implied question is whether a roll in the hay is in the offing, I cannot imagine two guys as able to communicate as well as you two have been doing would be able to let each other know what you want in bed. Find someone you can talk with and see where that goes instead.

Signed,
Mr. Gym Manners

Dear Mr. Gym Manners,

There's this 20's guy in the same aisle at the gym as me. Sometimes when I am changing he sneaks looks at me. Sometimes I sneak looks at him. He has even turned his chair in my direction so he can watch me. When I look at him he keeps a flat expression -- not acknowledging me although it does not rise to the dao level. This evening I even nodded to him with no response in return. Is it a coincidence he is facing in my direction or is he interested? And if he is interested, how do I proceed without feeling like a cheekopek?

Signed,
Nude and Puzzled

Dear Nude and Puzzled,
I'm assuming from the "cheekopek" comment that you are old enough to be his father, if not his grandfather. Have you considered that he is looking for entertainment, that he might wonder what kind of older guy would play this game with a mere snip of a lad? Or maybe he just likes looking at your lanjiao. Find someone a bit closer to your age to cruise and you'll have a better chance of finding a connection.

Signed,
Mr. Gym Manners

Dear Mr. Gym Manners,

But I actually cheated and asked two questions. I am really both Average Dao Jonez and Nude and Puzzled.

Signed,
Third Time's a Charm

Dear Third Time's a Charm,

Let it not be said that Mr. Gym Manners is not compassionate, even though I'm actually quite a bitch at times. I said you'd have a better chance, not a guarantee. And that's three questions.

Signed,
Mr. Gym Manners

(Too true to be funny lol)

Tags: etiquette, gay, gym, humor

11:02 pm: Fifteen movies that will always stick with me
Meme from miak: Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen movies you've seen that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. Tag fifteen friends, including me because I'm interested in seeing what movies my friends choose. (Although apparently only paid account holders can do this.)

In no particular order after number 1.

1. Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
2. Comrades: Almost a Love Story
3. The Consequence
4. Rocky Horror Picture Show
5. The Deer Hunter
6. Formula 17
7. Brokeback Mountain
8. Tampopo
9. The 400 Blows
10. Batman Begins
11. Star Wars
12. Days of Heaven
13. Three Women
14. Alan and Eric: Between Hello and Goodbye
15. Morgan (aka Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment)

Tags: film, movies

12:50 am: Turntable as a musical instrument
Somehow I missed most of this trend (I do have a DJ Qbert CD) but this is too wild. Check it out (final "song" of Invisibl Skratch Piklz final concert, 2000, in San Francisco)




Tags: asian american, music, san francisco, turntablism

10:44 pm: More music
There's a wide variety of popular music all over the world. It's a rare thing when it makes it to American shores. Here is some stuff that through luck I've run across. There's a variety of music, so if you don't care for one number, try the next.

Treaty by Yothu Yindi
Australia

This one combines traditional aboriginal musical instruments with modern ones for a danceable political hard rock number about broken promises.




( more music after the cut )

Tags: Maná, afropop, angelique kidjo, australia, benin, brazil, china blue, hey, mexico, music, os paralamas do sucesso, poland, taiwan, wu bai, yothu yindi

09:26 pm: so salah!

You Should Get a JD (Juris Doctor)

You're logical, driven, and ruthless. You'd make a mighty fine lawyer.

got this from seaweeds, a lawyer who got told to be a doctor

Tags: quiz

11:05 pm: Who knew post-its could be such fun?
I'm going to pass along this fun video DEADLINE by Bang-Yau Liu, a stop-motion animation. Rated G.



although my favorite all-time video remains the Not Safe For Work real life public-transit rage drama of the Hong Kong Bus Uncle (in Cantonese with English and colloquial Cantonese subtitles) in which a passenger goes verbally postal after being told to talk more quietly on his cell phone:



Tags: bus, cantonese, cantonese characters, cell phone etiquette, humor, post-it, public transit, road rage, transit, video

10:51 pm: Beautiful music, sad words
( You are about to view content that may only be appropriate for adults. )

Tags: chinese, chinese rock, desire, linguistics, music, rock, sex, taboo

02:15 pm: Pretty in Pink


The Singapore Pink Dot to support LGBT people in Singapore.

Tags: gay, lgbt, pink dot, singapore

09:36 pm: Daichi for Beatbox Battle Wildcard
I've long been interested in the percussion and other non-literate sounds I can make with my mouth, but this guy is like OMG! Check it out.



Tags: beatboxing, music, sounds

10:43 pm: Songs from my childhood
I don't think I've mentioned that I've got a mental iPod which will start playing random songs in my head. I can often retrieve particular songs with varying degrees of accuracy. some of these songs I have on CD, such as hip hop by LMF, from HK, or rock by Parokya ni Edgar, from the Philippines, or by Mashina, from Israel.

some of these songs exist on scratchy old 45 RPM records (remember records) which I have no longer devices to play them on. a particular song, Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It's Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight, has been going through my head. I'm particularly susceptible to mondegreens and this song has quite a few for me, so I went hunting for the lyrics. well it seems the various transcribers are also mondegreen-challenged, as some of the transcriptions don't seem to make sense, but anyway, for thank goodness for YouTube. the phrase "a bonnie-burning question" does seem to be part of the third verse. I had always thought it was "a commie-burning question" but if I listen closely it does seem to be "a bonnie-burning question." so what does that mean????

this brings back some memories

Lonnie Donegan - Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It's Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight


( more music after the cut )

Tags: fifties, music, rock

11:56 pm: Saddlebacking
( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Tags: dan savage, linguistics, sex

03:58 am: Happy 2009
Wishing everyone a happy 2009. May it bring you happiness and see you on to a happy 2010.

Tags: new year

07:49 pm: Mr. Gym Manners
( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Tags: etiquette, gay, gender roles, gym, straight

01:17 am: HIV And You (H.A.Y.)
Trevvy.com, a gay portal in Singapore, is doing a--I believe--groundbreaking series of short videos interviewing some Singaporeans about their sexual habits and their relationship with safe sex and HIV. The series is called H.A.Y., HIV and You. Some of the videos are marred by poor sound and the one with subtitles is hard to read, but the content is breathtaking. Check it out.

Tags: aids, gay, hiv, singapore

11:19 pm: Music for World AIDS Day
I'm starting World AIDS Day a little early by listening to a song about AIDS, "Ballad" by Laughin' Nose, a Japanese punk group.

It's a spoken word piece, in English, apparently told from the point of view of an AIDS virus. AIDS is not actually mentioned in the song ("I don't have a name. My mother didn't give me one.") but it's pretty clear from lines like "I saw my son last night. He came in through a dirty needle." "I keep banging my head against these rubber walls." and "Now there is a warning. People are terrified of me." that AIDS is what is intended.

From their 1988 CD Meat Market, and reappears on Laughin' Complete EMI Tracks. I can't find this song on iTunes or YouTube, even though Laughin' Nose has a presence in both places. You can preview the instrumental intro (click the oval green button to the right of "#12474") but if you want to buy the song (Y150) you'll have to be able to navigate a Japanese-language website.

Tags: aids, j-rock