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... Chapelle, that is. And also Rick James (may he rest in peace). Here's a nice little ditty that I came across today:
[Champ Bailey - Fuck Yo Couch.mp3]
This had me giggling for most of the afternoon at work. The chorus is ridiculous.
brett at 01:56 PM on May 31, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Via Yahoo! News, the pedophiles are organizing!
Dutch pedophiles are launching a political party to push for a cut in the legal age for sexual relations to 12 from 16 and the legalization of child pornography and sex with animals, sparking widespread outrage.
Toddlers should be given sex education and youths aged 16 and up should be allowed to appear in pornographic films and prostitute themselves. Sex with animals should be allowed although abuse of animals should remain illegal, the NVD said. The party also said everybody should be allowed to go naked in public and promotes legalizing all soft and hard drugs and free train travel for all.
Wow. The balls on those guys. I mean it's one thing to be a pedophile, but it's another thing entirely to be a pedophile and campaigning to convince the rest of your country that fucking animals is normal.
brett at 02:44 PM on May 30, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (3)
As usual, some more great letters in today's Journal Star:
On the Lincoln Journal Star front page on May 23 is a color chart of “20 cheap ways to improve your health.”
I want you to know that there is an omission in your chart … the power of prayer and of spiritual understanding. If it were understood that we are the sons and daughters of God, created in His image, and reflecting His goodness and perfection, there would be no need for the 20 material means you list for preventive steps to improving health economically.
Reliance on God for health and happiness is free to all. There is no better bargain anywhere!
Man. Does this mean I can start praying and stop working out, and my blood pressure will go down? This is awesome. I'll be sure and let my grandpa know that all he needs to do to correct his heart problems is to pray harder. I mean, who knew.
I'll also remind all my friends who smoke that they too can correct their various cancers simply by getting down on their knees. Sweet.
Also in the Journal Star today, more positive news for downtown Lincoln.
An old mattress factory in the Haymarket District will soon make way for a new option in downtown housing called Option 13.
Originally coined The Option and planned as a six-story high-rise with 40 upscale condos and penthouses, the project has been scaled back to 13 lofts in two, three-story buildings, with garages and three floors, with an optional fourth-floor penthouse.
I guess they are going to build these at 7th and R at a cost of a little over 3 million. It will be the first new construction of housing downtown in over 40 years.
This is good news.
brett at 08:10 AM on May 30, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
So I'm pretty interested in weight training, but I had no idea that Pat Robertson can leg press 2000 pounds.
That's one ton, people.
Guess I need to step my game up.
brett at 10:36 AM on May 24, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (2)
I've got a phenomenal sense of time. No matter how long it's been since I last looked at a clock, I can almost always guess the time to within five minutes. Often I get it on the exact minute.
Definitely a bizarre talent to have.
But aside from being in sync with the minute hand, my body also seems to be pretty well attuned to the weather. Yesterday I biked downtown to do some reading, knowing full well that it would rain. I had seen the forecast. The exact moment it would rain, however, was anyone's guess. I was out on the Mill's patio, sipping coffee, completely lost in a book.
I read for nearly two hours, just sitting and relaxing. Watching the lightning and enjoying the breeze.
Then, unexpectedly, something in me said: OK Brett. If you want to make it down to the bars, you'll need to leave this very second, or you will get soaked. It said: Brett it's going to rain. Go. Now.
Lightning had been flashing for a good 40 minutes, but there were no sprinkles, nothing to indicate that rain was any more imminent than it had been for the past hour. But I got on my bike anyway, and pedaled down to Duffy's.
When I turned on to 'O' street, a mere 30 yards from my destination, the heaven's opened and began drenching everyone. I was beneath the safety of an awning and not a drop touched me.
Weird stuff.
I'm not sure how I knew exactly when it was going to rain. But I did.
Now I just need to figure out how to make a profit.
brett at 09:41 AM on May 24, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Anyone want in on our World Cup pool? Just join up here. We're doing it through ESPN, and no money is involved. If you know anyone else who wants in, by all means pass them the link.
brett at 09:03 AM on May 23, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
My dreams are so good.
You don't even know.
The life I invent for myself is something else.
She left her number in my forgotten bookbag.
brett at 11:04 PM on May 22, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
I just finished reading Women by Charles Bukowski, and thoroughly enjoyed it, though my thoughts on it aren't completely formed yet.
I did find, on Amazon, a review that quantified some of the protagonist's exploits. I figured I would put them in a list and add some of my own numbers...
A bit of an obscene book, I guess you could say. But beautiful, too.
So there's another book down. I really love this whole summer reading thing, which reminds me tonight is the first meeting of our book club. Exciting.
brett at 12:16 PM on May 22, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
I know this isn't really all that new, but it's still dope.
[DJ Khaled - Holla At Me Baby]
Paul Wall has got to have on of the best hooks of the year on this, and Rick Ross shows up for a nice verse as well. Sick beat, sicker video.
Update: Link to the video.
brett at 07:41 AM on May 22, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
"We always do the same thing there. We go over to someone's big house and sit around like three pools and do nothing."
"I like this a lot better."
She sighed.
The weather was warm and the sun was down.
"I love this."
Straight out of the mouth of a young lady from the OC who had to endure the jeers of classmates and friends in the months leading up to her departure for Nebraska. I suppose it would seem odd, migrating from California to Nebraska for college, especially from Orange County--and yet, according to her, it's a lot better here.
That's because the parties are more creative, the people are more interesting, and the bars are a lot closer together. Among other reasons.
"We would never do anything like this in California," she said, as we watched three or four guys in sweatsuits running around on one another's shoulders while Easy Listening Jams bumped over the PA and they crooned their group name, "New Sensations!" repeatedly. Oh, and there was the megaphone.
Weee-oooh.
I wonder if they know that "New Sensations" is the name of a condom? Probably.
Anyway, it's nice to have confirmed (from an outside source) that Lincoln isn't all that bad. The fact that Samantha from the OC is the one saying it makes it just that much better.
But we already knew that! Right? Husker Power! (ok, maybe kidding a bit there.)
I'm disappointed that it took me until my senior year to meet Sam and Andrew, among other great friends I've made lately, but nevertheless I'm quite happy to have bumped into them. I'm sure we'll probably be in touch for years.
The Mexican food they prepared on Sunday night was stellar. The beans and rice and enchiladas absolutely smoked Arturo's, and Sam's apartment was a fine place to spend the evening. With the sun setting just outside her Haymarket loft, things couldn't have been any more pleasant.
Yum.
Here's to summer, and big windows, train yards and garden parties; music and dancing and Sailor Jerry's; barbecues, knockout, footballs and firsbees; here's to bikes and heat and love.
Cheers.
brett at 07:08 AM on May 22, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (1)
... the same neighborhood!
[Lil Flip - Starched & Clean.mp3]
I like this beat.
brett at 10:32 AM on May 19, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
That little retirement party for my mom was so great. There were a few things (not related to my mother) that were quite off-putting, but I didn't want them to taint the overall feeling, which is that my mom was very, very important to a lot of people besides her family.
I saw a few of her students, and met some of their parents who were very appreciative of my mom's hard work, which was apparent by all the hugs she received. It's unbelievable that she has dedicated her life to teaching, especially at such a challenging school. To simply say I'm proud of my mom would be an gross understatement.
brett at 08:52 AM on May 19, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Friday night is going to involve more than a few of these (which I will be cooking):
If you can't tell, those are some cream cheese stuffed jalepenos.
And Spadt is also preparing marinated mushrooms to toss on Robert's grill. Balsamic vinegar, some Yellowtail Merlot and other various spices will be added to some fat portobello caps to create what will hopefully be a fattening, delicious treat. I think this means that summer is finally here (the 80 degree temps are also helping with that, too). Nothing like a barbecue.
Today is also a special day, not only because it is the gateway to the weekend, but because my mom is having her retirement party. I think this means that I'm getting old. In any case, I'll be celebrating that tonight.
Just imagine: never having to work again. Wow.
brett at 08:47 AM on May 18, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
This has got to be the coolest lunch box that I've ever seen--and not simply because it's made by a Japanese company. Just look at it! When have lunch boxes ever been this cool? I mean, I know the ones from elementary school with Scooby on the cover were sweet but...
I present to you the Zojirushi Mr. Bento Stainless Steel lined lunch jar. Someone buy this for me, now.
See also: Mr. Bento Porn on Flickr.
brett at 12:28 PM on May 17, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Less than a month remains before the US World Cup opener against the Czech Republic. That game will be the only game in which two top 5 ranked teams face off in pool play, and will really help set the tone for the United States and how they will play the rest of the cup.
The FIFA world rankings have the Czechs pegged at number 2, with the US at a closer number 4. In the world. That's right. We have a legitimate shot this year, despite a terrible group E draw--what is being called the "group of death."
But at least we have some confidence on our side. In fact, the other day, after watching a tape of the game, Donovan reflected on USA's failure to beat Germany in the 2002 world cup
"We destroyed them. It wasn't even close. I'd never seen it again, and you'd just think, oh, we had a few chances. We controlled them," Donovan said. "That was very eye-opening, too, because we were a lot better than a team that finished in second place. That has to be inspiring. That has to be confidence-building. It says a lot about our team."
Holla.
brett at 08:39 AM on May 17, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Rolf Potts has shared his reply to the question why do backpackers gravitate to unstable countries? My favorite part of his three paragraph response has to do with the status afforded to travelers when they get home:
Also, anthropological studies have been made of tourist behavior -- and these studies conclude that (like the greater society around them) backpackers' travel motivations are tied into "status" within their own community. Whereas luxury travelers can gain status by staying at expensive resorts, status in backpacker subcommunities revolves around visiting places few others have seen, making personal contact with locals, and spending less money than other travelers.
Hey succinctly states what I had been mulling over in my head for a few years. Namely, that there is much more than altruism motivating most of our travels--even the most honest of us.
brett at 09:25 AM on May 16, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
For hurricane season??!
I know I am! And boy, this year is supposed to be a doozy:
"The 2006 storm season will be a creeping threat," said AccuWeather Chief Forecaster Joe Bastardi. He projected that five hurricanes, three of them with winds over 110 miles per hour, would hit the U.S. coastline.
There's no such thing as global warming.
brett at 11:51 AM on May 15, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Jeremy Buckley has been saying it for weeks, and I confess I was a bit of a hater at first.
I mean, I had lost faith in Danger Mouse after DangerDoom, the terribly disappointing collabo with MF Doom; but DM is back in a big way, this time teaming up with southern crooner Cee-Lo. The album, Gnarls Barkley, is going to make a lot of Top 10 lists come December, and seems like it could be Grammy bound if it gets any pop success here in the US (already has the number 1 single in the UK, based on downloads alone).
So anyway, Jeremy was right, and I shouldn't have doubted him when he told me it was a good album. This is my apology. So go cop that shit!
brett at 08:48 AM on May 15, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
The house is quiet these days.
With Dana in Kansas City and Spadt M.I.A. evey night of the week, the evenings have been reduced to just two of us--Ben and I. Which isn't bad, just different.
It's weird not having a lot of the traffic we used to, but peaceful too, I guess. I miss coming home and seeing Junebug on the couch playing Katamari Damacy for hours at a time, though I think that's probably going to resume as soon as Dana gets back.
Speaking of Dana: I'll be visiting her next weekend, and hopefully will snag a ticket or two to the KC vs. STL baseball game going on, but we'll see.
Did a lot of cleaning this weekend, vaccuumed (finally), dusted, did some dishes, and even rearranged a bit of furniture.
The highlight of the weekend, however, had nothing to do with feng shui. Somehow I ended up at a party with kids born in 1987 and 1988, which is weird because I have memories from those years. Not a fantastic party by any means, but I found myself behind a bar drinking UV vodka directly from the bottle.
I don't even like vodka.
But I guess something told me I would be able to chug it, and guess what? I was. I think I was about as dumbfounded at my own ability to drink so much of the blue liquid (about a fourth of the bottle, no joke) as the kids watching me were.
Weird.
Tina also left this weekend. Gone to NYC for a few months to work at a little newspaper you might have heard of: The New York Times. What a brat. I'll miss her.
brett at 08:36 AM on May 15, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Give me a fucking certificate of eligibility!
You accepted my to your program, great. But guess what? I can't study there for a year if you don't give me a visa.
You suggested that instead of getting a visa, I simply stay until the 90 day tourist visa expires, leave the country, and return with a renewed 90 days of stay.
That's a fine idea, except for the fact that plane tickets are expensive, and I won't be able to rent an apartment without a visa. What kind of landlord would rent an apartment to someone for a year when they can only present a 90 day tourist visa? Give me a break!
So, in sum: buck up and give me the certificate of eligibility! Jesus!
brett at 08:27 AM on May 12, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Who wants to join me in reading Kafka on the Shore, and discussing it over the next few weeks?
Let me know.
brett at 08:58 AM on May 11, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (3)
Well, Tom Osborne suffered his first loss since the Big 12 Championship Game in 1996 when the 'Skers went down 37 - 27 to Texas.
He gave up an early lead to Heineman, and never recorvered, which just goes to show that Callahan is the man for the job (follow my logic? Me either).
But what an exciting governor's race! I even saw Tom on the corner of 13th and O yesterday around noon, pimpin' and pandering for votes (all I wanted was for him to sign my t-shirt...).
It's too bad the coach lost, though. I was looking forwad to joining the ranks of California and Minnesota, states where your ability to govern matters much less than your filmography, or in Osborne's case, how many national championship rings you have on your knuckles.
But now that the primary is over, I'm just waiting for the November elections when Nebraska Party sleeper Barry Richards is almost sure to take the popular vote. I mean, he won his primary with 100% of the votes. Granted there were only 97 votes cast in his favor and he was running unopposed, I still feel like ol Barry has what it takes.
brett at 11:33 AM on May 10, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (2)
From Der Spiegel, a fascinating article about a small Brazillian tribe that cannot count.
The results, published in Science magazine, were astonishing. The Pirahãs simply don't get the concept of numbers. His study, Gordon says, shows that "a people without terms for numbers doesn't develop the ability to determine exact numbers."
Absolutely fascinating. Plus, as a bonus, this research refutes Chomsky a little bit. Neat. Plenty more on this over at Language Log.
brett at 10:33 AM on May 10, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
The Journal Star is running an article by former DN editor Melissa Lee today about the lifestyles of people who ride their bikes everywhere (like me!), and she interviewed a couple of the guys who work at Monkey Wrench downtown.
While friends trade tales of woe about rising gas prices, Woodman remains blissfully ignorant. He doesn’t know what it costs to fill up a tank, and frankly, he doesn’t care. That’s because Woodman, 30, is a hardcore biker. He bikes to work and back. He bikes to the grocery store. He bikes for fun and for sport.
Word.
And speaking of Monkey Wrench, I can't say enough positive things about their business. They've helped me out so many times, most recently when a pedal broke off of my bike downtown at lunch. They not only replaced the pedal, but installed new shifter cables while I ate. It took them 10 minutes and cost me 15 bucks.
Lincoln needs more businesses like theirs.
brett at 07:07 AM on May 09, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
There's a pretty interesting/hilarious discussion over at Metafilter dealing with how the standards of beauty have evolved over the past few decades.
[When did society start telling us that] the ideal of beauty today is one that is ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE to achieve without digitial manipulation?
The comments in the thread are all based on a comparison of Playboy centerfold photos over the past 50 or 60 years, and a general feeling of "jeez, what's happening here?" But beyond this, there are some major problems in today's mass media dominated society that are addressed:
What is disturbing and harmful to both men and women is the constant barrage of the unrealistic and ever-narrowing definitions of female desirabilty ... What is toubling is the ubiquitous and insidious redefining of reality- the denial of the physical variations, and, well, humanity and individuality in all women, at all levels of attractiveness ... Porn, fashion, cosmetics, etc. are all huge industries. All of these industries depend on perpetuating dissatisfaction with reality, and they market products that are largely in demand because they fill a perceived need, one that wouldn't exist if what they offered wasn't artificially constructed.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that what we've ended up with, this fetishized version of female sexuality and beauty, has been driven less by a logical progression of biologically determined preferences, and more by marketing machinations.
This is incredibly frustrating to me, as I know my personal taste in women (in many cases) coincides exactly with that so-called unobtainable body/face/look that is being marketed to women via various fashion industries.
How does one go about changing what they are attracted to, if their attractions have been constructed by the environment around them, an environment that constantly is parading around women who aren't real? Does it mean that being attracted to that type of woman is wrong?
These digitally and surgically altered bodies and faces have become so commonplace that they are what now reads as normal. A naturally lit picture of a beautiful woman with normal human flaws (?), someone who is possible to find in reality, appears oddly dated and jarring, or even ugly to people who feed themselves a diet heavy in the imagery of modern porn and advertising.
brett at 10:25 AM on May 08, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (2)
I think that postsecret is starting to get lame, but then again it could simply be because nothing is shocking anymore. How many different ways are there to say you want to commit suicide, really?
And yet I still check it every Monday morning at work.
No secrets in there about graduating, though there should have been. Thousands of kids--just like me--are graduating all over the country. There's plenty for people to be suicidal, guilty, sad, angry or distraught about. Most of those emotions center around a hopeless future and insurmountable debt, but still. Good fodder for postsecret, I'd imagine.
And they say it's supposed to be a happy day.
brett at 09:05 AM on May 08, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
So guess what?
The grass in our yard is starting to SPROUT. I didn't think it would actually happen. I mean, I know we prepared everything right, but I still had my doubts.
Then, this morning I looked out my window and there's a lovely green carpet starting to poke out of the dirt. Just lovely.
brett at 12:14 PM on May 04, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Slate's running an article about the Spanish national anthem that finally provides me and adequate defense from my father's incessant prodding on the subject: nobody can actually sing it, so what's really so wrong with a Spanish version?
I particularly like this bit of the article, which explains just how difficult to learn our anthem actually is:
The excellent Wikipedia entry on the subject cites the Isaac Asimov story "No Refuge Could Save," in which a Nazi spy is unmasked because he can recite the song's full lyrics—including the story's title phrase: "No refuge could save the hireling and slave/ From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave." No real American would know those lines.
The folks over at the Washington Post are getting in on the Spanish language fun, too.
Perhaps President Bush was speaking from his gut when he said, "I think the national anthem ought to be sung in English." It seems more likely that he was speaking from the part of his brain that calculates how many Republicans dislike his immigration policy. We can't imagine any excuse for the silly resolution introduced by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), demanding that "statements of national unity" be read or sung in English -- never mind that Spanish teachers have been teaching their American students the Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish for years.
Their final though on the issue is probably their best, which is: before judging it, why not actually give it a listen?
brett at 07:25 AM on May 04, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
I know this has been around for a few days now, but if you haven't seen it yet, check out the video of Stephen Colbert insulting the president from 10 feet away at the White House press correspondents dinner. Absolutely brilliant--scathing irony, satire and flawless delivery. The balls on that guy...
brett at 09:40 AM on May 03, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Kool Keith's latest project NOGATCO, is finally out. It's an album and a short film, and looks like it's going to be pretty hot. I'm waiting for my copy to get here in the mail.
(By the way, NOGATCO backwards is Octagon, which is sort of a diss on former partner Dan the Automator, but anyway...)
brett at 09:03 AM on May 03, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (2)
I was reading through some of the posts I had made on my old blog from July through September of last year, and noticed that it was the most revealing information I've ever put out about my emotions. A lot of the stuff I wrote was intentionally vague, but still gave anyone who cared to type those four skeets into a web browser a relatively complete look at what kind of person I was.
Since starting this new blog I've been trying to stay away from the introspective, the posts that are going to tell you how I feel, probably just because I know it makes me vulnerable--and I have an image to project! I need people to see me a certain way! If I'm always whining on here, how am I supposed to be the big player out in real life? My facade is broken so easily with a public journal like this!
But on the other hand, having those entries to return to is wonderful, because it let's me look at just what was going on in my brain, or at least what I was putting out there for people to read.
It sort of brings back a feeling, having those things out there.
It also makes me feel naked.
Over the past few days I've had a boatload of emotion that I've needed to release but have been unable to write it down, or at least unwilling to let myself. I know people will read it, I know what people will think, and maybe that's the whole point? But besides that, I don't know if I can be honest enough with myself--in my head--to expect that what I write down will be any more truthful.
The last post that I started about it was titled "Regret," and I didn't really get very far along with that one.
A couple paragraphs, a couple words, just to remind me so that when I turn around and read it in a few weeks, months, years, that feeling in the pit of my stomach could be replicated slightly.
But I didn't say too much.
Just that I'm dripping in regret. Shame. Embarrassment. Anger.
Someone said to me the other day, you know Brett, moving on is so hard because we're all just getting established, into that rut, back into the comfortable rhythm of things. College graduate. Employee. Etc.
So how can I be expected to pull myself together again for another long term trip--that will ultimately result in what?--when I'm so comfortable in the here and now, and when things feel so... promising?
It's as if every night I go out, the world is on the verge of exploding, some new surprise awaits me when I least expect it. I get that feeling a lot.
I'm drinking too much.
I never used to forget things.
I told that girl she was beautiful, and I meant it, and I hadn't had a feeling like that since, well, we both remember when that was... a long time ago (has it really been a year and a half now?), but I said it to her a few times more than I should have, and maybe it was the alcohol talking but, hey, it's been done. I told her.
I whispered it in her ear.
And the thing is, I never used to forget things when I was drunk.
But I've been recreating that night over and over in my mind and I can't quite place the details. I know that numbers were exchanged with kisses, but how did it come about, how was I acting, was it really as I had remembered it, or was it the complete opposite? Why isn't she returning my calls, why am I even caring about it at all?
Blond and speckled with freckles and blue eyes that demanded attenton.
How good is my memory, really?
This kind of thing never happens to me, so I shouldn't let it.
brett at 09:08 AM on May 02, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Semi-interesting article over at Wired about MySpacecide.
brett at 07:44 AM on May 02, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
I know they say it's better to act and regret than to regret not acting.
But I sure did a lot of acting this weekend, and right now I'm wishing I hadn't acted.
This entire weekend has been one long string of feeling like the bottom of a shoe. Things that are causing this include: school being done, my job at the DN being done, the DN banquet, alcohol, terribly rainy weather, the future, the past, the sadness that comes with realizing who you really are, etc.
Oh, and being alone.
brett at 08:27 AM on May 01, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Today, a wonderfully underused word made its way into a letter to the editor about graffiti:
Fellow citizens — let’s all work together to eliminate graffiti by taking note of your neighborhood as you walk, drive and bike through it. Are there ways you can prevent theses marauders from striking the buildings around you? They are endangering the investments we make in our homes and neighborhoods!
Damn marauders!
brett at 08:16 AM on May 01, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
So the city is trying to get that high-rise built downtown where the StarShip is at. StarShip has agreed to the city's plan, and so has Wasabi, but the Taste of Chine restaurant understandably doesn't want to move.
“This thing, to me, to my family, it’s been hell,” he said. “It’s almost like you’re being hunted.”
Hua hoped he could persuade the mayor to spare his business during a December meeting, but he walked away disappointed, even though he told her she’d have to put a gun to his head to get him to give up the business.
Man. I wish I could stand behind him, because I usually hate this sort of thing, but the bottom line is that the food at his Chinese restaurant was mediocre at best, and the place looks horrible and clearly needs an upgrade--the city had already declared his property blighted years ago.
The best part of this article, though, is that the author somehow manages to equate Lincoln's attempted acquisition of the property to the genocide perpetrated by Pol Pot in Cambodia in the late 1970s. We get this lead in:
There, an estimated one-quarter of Cambodia’s population was worked to death, starved or executed during Pol Pot’s attempt to form a Communist peasant farming society from 1975 to 1979. Hua said his father died of starvation in 1977.
Hua was just a boy during the genocide, but he has vivid memories of nearly starving, being forced to bury children, foraging for anything edible, catching fish with his bare hands, translating for refugees in a mental hospital, subsisting on two tablespoons of rice per day.
...and then a few grafs later:
“I feel I create this thing,” he said. “You don’t want to give up something you have. … This is the only thing we owned in all life.”
It reminds him of the soldiers who, if they spotted anything of value on a peasant, would ask if they could borrow it.
Damn. I know they've been calling Mayor Seng a lot of things, but this is starting to get ridiculous. Here's the story: I'm sorry Taste of China, but you need to get the hell out. Take the money, get a nicer building, reestablish yourself. You've already said you're hardly making money anyway, so use this as a chance to improve your building, menu and staff. It sucks, I know, but you have one of the best locations in town (the corner of 14th and Q) and yet remain empty nearly all day due to the low quality of your cuisine.
I want to hear what you're saying, but I'm having trouble.
Oh, and to the Journal Star writer, I know you're only quoting the guy about the Pol Pot thing, but that kind of loose association is ludicrous and probably shouldn't be included in your story, at least not with the slant you've given it: which is that Seng is the bad guy and this Chinese immigrant is just trying to hold on to his good old family business that he built from the ground up.
How about we recast the story with the simple thesis that this guy, with his failing restaurant, is standing in the way of progress, and is holding out as long as he can to get the most money he can. I don't know if it's true, but we could certainly write it that way, couldn't we?
And please, get it right: this isn't a parking garage they are building. It's a fucking high rise. Every Journal Star article always calls it a parking garage on first mention, when clearly it will be much more than that: a near skyscraper with stories of apartments, a hotel, restaurants, shops, and more. So get it right and stop making the developers look so evil. They're just trying to create a nicer downtown area for us all.
brett at 07:56 AM on May 01, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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