Two Turntables and a Blog

Major news: Two Turntables and a Blog has been bought out by another blog! The lack of posts recently is a direct result of the recent dealings. The merger between the the two promises to be bigger than At&t and Cingular combo! Bigger than the Nelly and Tim McGraw duet! More flavor that the seemingly contradictory flavor combo of sweet AND sour sauce.

Two Turntables and a Blog is temporarily down, but be on the look out. In the meantime, you need to put these joints on your itunes playlist titled "sexy" (i know you all have one of those 'crates'). Thank me later.

Caught Up - Musiq Soulchild (9th Wonder remix)
I Found My Smile - D'Angelo (Space Jam soundtrack)
Southside Superbowl - Common and Kanye West
The Rap World - Large Professor
Perfect Timing - Mos Def
Sun, Moon, Stars - Mos Def
Mystic Bounce - Madlib
One Thing - Amerie (Siik Remix)
Where are they now (West Coast Remix) - Nas feat. King T, Ice T, Candyman and hella more quality folks
Heard it all before - Sunshine Anderson (Quantic Soul Project remix)
Doggy Dog World - Snoop Dogg (probably his best ever)

Song of the day - too many!

Happy Holidays.. err. i mean Merry Christmas.

I went to church (catholic) this morning with the family and we got front row seats right next to the nativity scene display (lucky us!). My priest warned us that he hates "happy holidays" because it secularizes what "Christ"mas is all about. So, he demanded that "happy holidays" never comes out our mouth and that we should not compromise our Catholic identity in the public sphere. Well, he didn't say public sphere, but you get the point.

If that wasn't weird enough, the priest says in front of a catholic community (the word the priest loved to use), one that is about 50% Asian (Chinese and Filipino), that "the Chinese are taking over the church @ 4pm." There is a Chinese language mass @ 4pm every week for the large Chinese community here in Fremont. But for some reason, the priest somehow thought they were totally different than the continuency there at the moment. He than differentiated our catholicism by racial lines, ironically, by saying "be nice to them in the parking lots if you see them." What does that mean?

Anyway, here is a sprinkling of Asian American news courtesy of some of the best in Asian American blogging (tho not limited too of course). I just chose these because they were the only ones I really read in the last month.

Soy Makes Boys Homosexual (courtesy of poplicks.com)

Why Asian men diss on White women (at Stanford) (courtesy of poplicks.com)

My Life Disoriented--Can an Asian American show survive on a channel NOT called AZN? (courtesy of poplicks.com)

Sexy Asian American men on TV: Koreans are in style! (courtesy of poplicks.com)

According to missed connections on craigslist.com Ann Arbor, South Asians are apparently the hottest thing in town.

Song of the day "coming where i'm from" -anthony hamilton

Sick day

It’s my second time being sick this semester. Simultaneous fevers and chills in addition to the body aches concentrated in my ankles, ass, and forearms (along with the non-stop headache) have kept me bedridden for the last 24 hours. It has been a while since I have been THIS sick…heck even my explosive doo doo wasn’t THIS bad. I remember telling a friend last week that being sick is a blessing in disguise for graduate students because it gives them license to do nothing and recuperate. For someone who hasn’t gotten sick once in the last 2 years (and perhaps THIS sick since my second year as an undergrad), I didn’t think I would be eating my own words.

Unfortunately, the 200+ books I need to read before the end of next semester, the 15-20 page paper that is due next week, and the 30, 8 page papers that need to be grade by Friday have become a huge burden on me psychically.

A sick day -- you would think -- would be great: a whole day to just sit in bed, watch tv, drinking tea, and eating hot soup. Unfortunately, these sick day delights were not quite the consolation prize to getting sick. Watching ESPN Sportscenter clips 3X in a row (that’s about 3 hours of the same highlights), Demi Moore’s E! Hollywood Story, and then Real World Denver -- believe it or not -- might make you want to get up and go to school.

Song of the day: Ne-Yo “So Sick”

trapped

Djing is not only physically demanding, but emotionally costing as well. The various things I witnessed, experienced and the ways i've been treated djing in this midwest, I would say, are equivalent to the University’s standard of what constitutes “Racial Intimidation.” Those close to me know moving the equipment is difficult (thank you to my man/ager and bodyguard for helping me), but they have also seen that the awkward attention and demands of the audience -- at least here --are borderline racist or perhaps can be read as people's subterfuge ideologies of race.

I djed a halloween house party last nite and I can confidently say that I blew their asses off. There were some pretty interesting costumes (one guy with a homemade optimus prime costume), but for everyone of those there were ten naughty policewomen, school girls, naughty angels, naughty librarians, naughty amish, naughty etc. etc. There were some really...umm... interesting costumes though, like the dude dressed up in faux Native American chief costume and the guy dressed as an Arab but with an American flag draped on his back. I don’t know if this was parodic, satirical, or just patriotic. But given the conditions of the space--a crowd that was predominately white, with a few Asians, Latinos, Arabs, and to a MUCH lesser extent African Americans--I’d say ...well, you get the point.

Here are some highlights from the night. All I gotta say is…White people say the darndest things!

Dude who came up and bothered me for an hour straight, begging but also distracting me to play “California Love.” Whats most annoying is that he doesn’t understand that his request is not only much slower (beats-wise) that the current slew of joints, but that’s he’s SCREAMING in my face for an hour straight. I screamed at him “what don’t you understand about “I’ll play it in a little bit?””

The dozens of request for “hip-hop music.” Let me preface by saying “hip-hop music” at this party is defined by
1) something that has been released in the last 3 years. Anything after that is not hip-hop.
2) Something that is incredibly sexual: must include the words “booty” “ass” “getting low” “sweat” “p*ssy” (and in Spanish too) in the song OR in the title
3) Sexyback and Promiscuous (I honestly could have played these two songs all nite and they wouldn’t have cared). After playing BOTH songs, within 10 minutes, I got requests for those two songs.

I would sprinkle in couple r&b tracks or a random ‘old’ song (as describe by the White folks) between maybe 10-15 recent ‘hip-hop songs.’ Immediately after playing that, some white person would come and demand “play some hip-hop music.” Which I would respond, “what have I been playing for the last two hours?” Which I could get a response like “well, its not exactly new.” Apparently newness is the marker of what “hip-hop” is. The request for “New Stuff” was a little crazy; it seems like a situational amnesia considering that I played top 40 all nite and that anytime I deviated from it, several people would come and regulate me and my knowledge of music.

Surprisingly. I didn’t get any requests for Sinead O’ Conner OR Marilyn Manson like the last time I spun out in public.

Though, I would say that the rudeness was confined to maybe 10-15 people and most people were relatively respectful of space (surprisingly!). When asked to back up off the barrier in front of my dj table (cuz it kept making the record skip), most people obliged and even regulated others who did it. Most people thanked me for keeping them entertained. At around 1:00 when I started going into an “old set”, most of the people--probably too drunk to make requests at this point or to bother bothering me--were surprisingly way into it than I thought they would be. Of course there would have to be that one or two people who had to tell me that “they didn’t know the words” so I needed to change the mood. I responded “everyone else seems to be enjoying themselves.” Those girls gave me major stank face after saying that.

Another thing that was kinda crazy was how people could freak to absolute anything. Towards the end of the nite in my attempt to clear the dancefloor I started to play as much random shit as possible. I played Maroon 5 “Sunday Morning” and the freaking not only continued, but intensified! It was some of the most staid dancemoves I had ever seen.

After djing the party, I realized how much I didn’t like djing house parties. Not that it was a bad experience, but it stressful djing for White people. Especially when they wanna climb on top of things all the time (some dude tried to climb on top of the dj table and then his girlfriend tried to also. I told her no, and her reply was “I’m really light!”). For some reason, djing @ UCSD was never EVER like this…people rarely came up to djs demanding them to fulfill their requests instantly. Or maybe there was more trust that the dj was really able to control the dancefloor. Well, whatever it is, just make sure you got your crew…

Song of the day “Come to Me” -Diddy feat. Nicole Scherizinger. (this song sound hella good loud!)

Find out who's doin' who ... this season on GREY'ANATOMY


Highlight #1.... GREY's ANATOMY!

Over the summer, I became somewhat obsessed with Grey’s Anatomy…for all of two weeks maybe. In the span of about 2 weeks, I managed to watch 2 full seasons worth of the show--that’s about 36 episodes…or rather 23.5 hours … or 1404 minutes. How did I do this? I managed to download all the episodes off some internet site and, eerily, couldn’t stop until I finished them all.

I usually don’t watch dramas and I rarely watch tv outside music videos and a few reality tv shows (Bravo’s Project Runway and Top Chef to be exact). Nor do I really identify with any of these characters either (not even George’s wimpiness stike a chord with me). Perhaps it was the linear narrative of progress and NOT the cyclical or spiral narrative of emotional attachments between Grey and Dr. Sheppard that seemed most enticing. Grad school or academics has a way of making you feel like you’re always stuck in first gear. Or that you're interpellated by a culture of anxiety that makes you think you’re never getting enough done… and that the consequences is that someone(s) are always threats to your own capital, meaning your knowledge production. Grey’s Anatomy--as unreal as it is--offers the typical narrative that even though you struggle, there is something that each character gets out of the day…something to ponder over or some practical skills to become doctors. Honestly, when does someone just learn how to perform open heart surgery in an elevator? I'm hoping that my dissertation project will just come to me in the elevator one day...

Anyway, the new season is a little outrageous and almost at times tired: Grey and Sheppard are at the same point for the umpteenth time; diseases that haven’t been seen since the late 19th early 20th century are on a rampage (what’s next, a chicken pox epidemic?); and formulaic resolutions. And what's up with the random white dude who just starts taking shot at Bailey... did that seem a little contrived? Anyway... Grey's Anatomy kept me entertained in the summer!

Song(s) of the day: J.Rawls "The Liquid Crystal Project" THE WHOLE CD!

#2. T.I. aka TIP HARRIS
Pre-summer joint “Why You Wanna” and film debut “ATL” convinced me that Tip Haris is the next big thing since people started putting French fries in burritos and Mediterranean/Middle Eastern pita sandwiches. Despite the fact that T.I.’s put out a slew of boilerplate snap tracks made with the same generic Super Nintendo type midi music that perhaps sounds more fitting on a Zelda video game, “Why You Wanna” was some crazy grindin’ shit that made fellas feel all sexy and shit. Could possibly be the male version of “Buttons” if you ask me.

And when did T.I. get all sexy? I remember watching his video for “Lets Get Away” with a friend and she said “oooh, he’s REALLY cute.” He kinda has that 2pac sort of rough sensitivity and thoughtfulness (at least on a couple of non-generic tracks), but without all that revolutionary and political sensibilities.

ATL was nothing really to rave about, but I think I just really enjoyed it cuz it gave me an excuse to take a break from the summer work I was doing. People say 50 is a budding actor. If so, TI deserves a fuckin Academy award. On the real though, I think he’s got some talent…


Song of the day "Lets Get Away" - T.I.

I don't quite remember why I left out the last 4 highlights of the summer. Even though we're well into the fall season (at least it is here in Michigan), nothing beats summer nostalgia when its 40 degrees outside and leaves are falling all over the place totally covering fresh doggy doo doo that you didn't know was there until it was too late! Cot damn autumn/fall! Here is summer higlights 4 and 3... #2 and #1 coming tomorrow!

4. Melancholy Chicken and Funnel Cakes.

3. Summer Jams-This summer was perhaps the most disappointing summer of music EVER. Usually Summer is the time when newcomers and upstarts light up the billboard chart with a hit single and make their 10 minute appearance at the local urban radio stations annual summer concert. Summer of 2003, to me, had been one of the best in a while with the Young Gunz “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop”--a hook that has been quoted, cited, appropriated, and circulated in different ways; Pharrel’s “Frontin’; Lil Jon’s “Get Low; Joe Budden’s “Pump it Up” and many many more. This year, all there’s been is Young Joc irritatingly hypnotic joints “I know u see it” and “It’s Goin Down” (why do we sing it if we hate it so much); Ciara’s repetitive modern day renditions of ‘freestyle’ music; Cassie’s “Me and You,” which gets played about every 30 minutes on the radio; and every other Snap music track that sounds like Jermaine Dupri had his hand in it. Funny, ever since watching Monica’s video for “Everytime the beat drops,” I got to turn it up everytime I hear it.

song of the day (for the summer) -- "everytime the beat drops" - Monica

5. Thursday Nites at the Alleybar-My new dj residence began last week though I had begun guest djing there every week for the last month and a half. There’s only one “swanky” graduate student bar in Ann Arbor and the Alleybar is not THAT bar. Rather, the Alleybar is your typical “townies” (what they call provincial, territorial locals) dive bar with a somewhat uninviting atmosphere. Perhaps it’s the layout or lighting or the general crowd…but something is not right. The best nite all summer was when people of color took over the place; but usually there was an awkwardly dancing white girl that we named Garth Algar (based on her looks), rude locals demanding requests, and drink-seekers curiously looking into the bar only to walk-in and realize the place was a little strange, walking out seconds later in a rush. Thank goodness for dedicated manager and friends who came (all 5 of you) there to mediate the weirdness.


Song of the day "Ghost Ride it" Mista FAB

onto #6...














6. Hangin’ with the Mr. and Mrs. Ou. I gave my first conference paper at the Association for Theater in Higher Education conference in Chicago. However, I spent most of my time there seeing my good friends from back home. They currently reside in downtown Chicago. They have a “Cribs”-worthy home. Also they were some of the most gracious hosts ever. Thank you for the bbq and support at the conference. Mr. Ou, hopefully you were able to finally able to sing those songs on your to-do list.

song of the day "buttons" Pussy Cat Dolls