FAQ- U
For a number of reasons, not the least of which is ripping off Almejor I've decided to include a Frequently Asked Questions page to this blog.
So. . .burning questions? Things you need to know?
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Noviembre 22, 2004
Noviembre 19, 2004
Meme- Blame Freesia
No Way, yo
I donˆ‚t get it, I really donˆ‚t get it.
Whatˆ‚s the deal with this scandal over T.O. and Nicolette Sheridan on Monday Night Football? Thanks to Cody and Red Iˆ‚ve now seen the footage of the skit and I seriously donˆ‚t see what the issue is; Iˆ‚ve seen worse during MNFˆ‚s commercial breaks. What more can I say that hasnˆ‚t already been said? Look at the footage for yourself, is this any worse than the Coors twins? (Which were brought to us by former Republican Senate candidate Pete Coors) Is this any worse than the Enzyte commercials?
I think the leagueˆ‚s being incredibly hypocritical about this whole thing. How is it OK for them to be sponsored by Levitra, but not OK for the MNF skit to air? As I look at the gallery of people offended and outraged by this incident Iˆ‚m left to wonder what the hell theyˆ‚re thinking, left to attempt to understand why theyˆ‚re so bothered.
I can understand why Tony Dungyˆ‚s bothered by this. He feels, as an African-American male, that T.O.ˆ‚s role in the whole stunt has played into stereotypes that Dungy himself has worked hard to overcome. I can respect that, however maybe Dungyˆ‚s onto something here, maybe heˆ‚s giving us the keys to understanding why it is that so many people are outraged by this incident. Maybe the discomfort people are experiencing wrt this situation is racial ˆñ
There are a few ways to look at this. The first is a modification Dungyˆ‚s way; that Brian Urlacher, for example, would never have been asked to participate in this skit because heˆ‚s white and you just wouldnˆ‚t ask a white athlete to participate in this kind of stunt. Iˆ‚m not so sure I buy this one, but itˆ‚s a discussion worth having.
The way of looking at this that makes more sense to me deals with the fear of miscegenation. Maybe the reason that people are so bothered by this is that it was a white woman (and an attractive and sexually available one at that) jumped into the arms of a black man, not just any black man but one who plays a game that embodies the American sense of strength and by extension- virility. Iˆ‚m relatively certain that the uproar over all of this would have been greatly different (or non-existent) had Ms. Sheridan jumped into the previously mentioned Mr. Urlacherˆ‚s arms. Whereˆ‚s the danger in a naked white woman jumping into the arms of a white man? Isnˆ‚t that what this nation is all about; isnˆ‚t that what the right is trying to defend when it bans gay marriage?
As Red so deftly put it, as a heterosexual male thereˆ‚s nothing remotely titillating about Ms. Sheridanˆ‚s body in that scene. Beer commercials are more arousing than that skit, so whatˆ‚s the deal? Rationalizing like this, miscegenation is the only thing left to be offended by, unless youˆ‚re Tony Dungy and then you have a whole other set of issues to deal with.
Honestly, the only thing that offends me about this is the way T.O.ˆ‚s been treated throughout. They made the man apologize when the only thing he did wrong was look at a naked white woman. Granted, I guess it is a big step forward when all society has done is make him apologize, a few years back, heˆ‚d have been lynched.
Judith Butler, Franz Fanon and Homi Bhabha where are you now? Seriously, some post-colonial whoopass needs to be brought to bear on this situation.
Noviembre 15, 2004
Randomosity
I'm back from the ATL. It was what it was and there'll be more about that at some later point, probably tomorrow. . .or later today depending on when it is that you read these missives.
Sorry to the cousins for not calling and seeing what I had to do while in their old hometown/vacation haunt but I figured it'd be best to not taunt myself since I was going to be there on business.
A few quick observations to give folks a taste of the goings on of Nenielandia.
Damn, Da Bears are kicking some ass right now. They've won their last three (against crappy teams, but I'll take it) and I was going to post about how they were going to totally SLAY the rest of the division and retake their rightful place atop the NFC North. But then I read this. Urlacher's out 4-6 with a leg injury.
Didn't I complain about how the abscense of Urlacher in the middle makes the Bears a crappy team last year? Yeah, I did ... twice. Oh well, se la vie. I still think the Bears are going to go 8-8 and make the playoffs, though. They've shown me something this week, they've shown me that they're going to fold against Indy next week and be on the cusp of the postseason when Urlacher comes back. Tup, my Bears will win four of their last seven. They're going to surprise you.
The second observation is about Nena. She's in Wichita and had some time to kill today so she went to the movies. What did she see? "That new one with James Bond, Salma Hayek and Woody Allen."
What? Huh? I was totally confused. "You like Woody Allen?" I ask her. . .cuz Nena's many things, but she never struck me as a Woody Allen fan. "Yeah, I can like Woody Allen, can't I?" She says.
Yeah, if you're wondering what the hell movie this is, you're not alone.
Then, at home I saw an ad for this a movie with Woody HARRELSON, James Bond and Salma Hayek. I tell you, my wife is the only person in the world who would confuse the laid back pot head with the neurotic Jewish guy who has a thing for young Asian girls.
Yeah, she's adorable, yo.
Noviembre 11, 2004
Choppin' at the Knees.
Yarr.
Iˆ‚m leaving for the ATL in a few hours and Iˆ‚ve spent the morning packing, cleaning and watching West Wing episodes Artooˆ‚s been saving for me. Including the pilot and last nightˆ‚s episode. Damn, I donˆ‚t want to give any spoilers away so I wonˆ‚t, but damn. I kinda miss Sorkin right now. Great storylines, great characters but itˆ‚s missing that punch. All the same, itˆ‚s nice to have my show back. I guess I needed last season off.
But thatˆ‚s not what Iˆ‚m here to talk about today. Nena, Das Nibblet and I went to see Ozomatli last night and it was just as good as Iˆ‚d been hoping itˆ‚d be.
They were tighter than Iˆ‚ve seen them before, but itˆ‚s also the first time Iˆ‚ve ever seen them indoors. My previous Ozo shows were outdoor festivals like KCˆ‚s Festival in the Heartland or Spring Concert @ Carleton (someone remind me to finish the post I started in May about the festival. . .) Outdoor festival v. small club makes a big difference and it was good to see that Ozo can rock both equally hard, but boyhowdy do they rock a small club well.
As per normal the three of us were up near the front of the stage, at times varying from two to four people back (depending on how many stoned sorority girls were in our vicinity) and the show was pretty intense from up there. Not that thereˆ‚s a bad spot to stand at The Granada itˆ‚s small and intimate, but plays like a much larger room. Kinda like a middle ground between the now defunct 7th Street Entry and First Ave in MPLS or mini Aragon in Chicago. . .OK, a really mini Aragon, maybe more like The Metro.
The boys played all the standards and had folks chanting along with them. What was kinda sad was how little Lawrence specific interaction they had. They were in a red state and played the room as such. The only time they seemed to forget this is when WillDog said ˆ¨let them hear you all the way in Ohio!ˆÆ Yeah, Raul and Sheffer nearly died laughing when they heard that line.
Ozo was great, though. Some local DJs played an hour set before Ozo went on. I know the DJs from KJ and theyˆ‚re apparently really nice guys, but they were totally more into their set than the crowd was. Ozo rocked their way through a 90 minute set that sadly, never had them spill out onto Mass. I guess it was too much to ask to have them stop traffic on a rainy and cold November night in Kansas, right?
The crowd around us was pretty good as well. There was one fanboy near us that was trying to pick up women with his apparently superior knowledge of all things Ozo. ˆ¨Yeah, itˆ‚s not like back in the day when you could just hang out with the band, yknow?ˆÆ he was heard to tell two white girl J-Lo wannabes with matching fedoras. There were some Rez Cholos right in the middle of the stage and then some underage (18>21) girls right in front of me. They were hilarious, yo. They reminded us of those white girls in How High. Then, half way through the show, these obnoxious, stoned out of their mind sorority girls showed up. I swear- I was this close to cutting off one of their ponytails. She managed to hit me a few dozen times in the face with it, and I wonˆ‚t get into the way she mauled Nena with that thing. Luckily, she didnˆ‚t touch Das Nibblet. . .cuz sheˆ‚s feisty, she totally would have kicked ponytail girlˆ‚s ass.
As it did in May, what really stood out though was how brown the crowd was. At the Festival of the Heartland Nena and I just assumed that the event had brought every Latino in the tri-state area out of the woodwork. But a Wednesday night show at the Granada is a different animal. We figured that the folks in the house last night mustˆ‚ve all been local, in some sense of the word. We were floored; we kept looking around to see all the brown faces that surrounded us for the majority of the night. It was like weˆ‚d left Lawrence for a short while and had been transported to some strange multi-ethnic universe, where Latinos and Indians were just as likely to be found as small blonde girls.
ˆ¨Shit, I didnˆ‚t know there were this many brown people in LawrenceˆÆ Nena kept telling me. And she was right, yo. It was pretty freakinˆ‚ amazing I hadnˆ‚t seen that many people wearing Haskell shirts in the same place before. It was as if weˆ‚d entered some sort of Platonic ideal of home.
Thatˆ‚s really the big thing I took from the show last night. Iˆ‚m home here. I know Iˆ‚ve mentioned this countless times before, and Iˆ‚m sure Iˆ‚ll say it again and again until folks would do anything to shut me the hell up- but this really is home. ˆ¨Lawrence you with US?ˆÆ MC Jabu kept asking us ˆñ yeah, I was totally with them, because this is home, Iˆ‚m willing to answer the hailing now.
Noviembre 10, 2004
Strikes and Gutters- My Way
Saturday was relatively uneventful. Nena had to work, which always blows. What the hell do they want from her? She's on the road all week, and then they have her working Saturdays. At least the kids she was talking to were unappreciative, that makes it all worthwhile.
After she got home we did some grocery shopping and went home to start dinner when Todd finally arrived from Iowa City. I hadn't seen Todd in a few years and Nena'd never actually met him. . .just heard a lot of stories (mostly all true) and had me mention that we could crash at his place the next time we were in Iowa City with time to kill. .that hasn't happened in a long time, yo.
It was nice to have Todd around this weekend. We never did make it to the Bob Schneider show I mentioned a few posts back. By the time we finished dinner (mmm, stir fry chicken in peanut sauce) and got settled all we wanted to do was play a game of Pop Culture Trivial Pursuit
I took an early lead, picking up all six pie pieces before Nena and Todd could pick up six between the two of them . . . then I decided to be nice. I didn't go for the hub for a few turns (after rolling a perfect six on the first try) and as a result I was punished by the trivia gods. I missed final question after final question once I did make a move for the hub and then couldn't roll the right number . . . ugh, it was ugly. Things I couldn't remember to win it all: The name of Calvin's babysitter (Rosalyn) or the name of R.E.M.'s first EP (Chronic Town I said Murmur.) There were other things I screwed up (because I incorrectly answered 7 final questions) before finally knowing who Jimmy Kimmel's first co-host was (Snoop Dogg, whose appearance is memorable for many reasons I can go into later if someone's really that interested).
By the time the game ended Nena and Todd were stalking me in the hub, it was after midnight and Todd'd been up for over 24hrs. . .so we all crashed.
Sunday morning Nena and I got up and went downstairs to make breakfast. While I was frying up some turkey bacon, we heard a really strange hammering coming from outside the house. Being used to Todd I immediately thought to ask, ˆ¨whereˆ‚s Todd?ˆÆ The answer was; outside the house reattaching the gutter thatˆ‚d fallen off the back of the house during the last big storm we got ˆ´round here.
Thatˆ‚s Todd in a nutshell, he saw that the gutter had fallen, knew that this was something he could fix and so he set about doing it. After breakfast I helped him finish his work, took down the trellis that our grapes had been growing on, fixed the shed doors and attempted to remove the roadspikes that are buried in our back yard. Nena, never one to be outdone bagged all the branches weˆ‚d cut down last month and removed the stump of a pine tree I cut down six weeks ago and generally kicked all sorts of yard ass. Yes, this is the same Nena who used to read books so she wouldnˆ‚t have to help her parents fix up their house. Lifeˆ‚s crazy sometimes.
It was amazing; Todd edged the front lawn for the first time in six months while I FINALLY fixed our mailbox. Itˆ‚s amazing, it doesnˆ‚t wobble anymore! All it took was a new 4x4 pounded into the ground by another 4x4 and a utility knife 
used to cut the mailbox so itˆ‚d fit over the new mailbox spike. d00d did we kick all sorts of ass, it was freakinˆ‚ incredible. The back yard is now a LOT better than it was when we bought the place and almost at a point where I can start to dream of what kinds of changes weˆ‚ll make in the spring. I know thereˆ‚ll be a deck, and maybe a bocce court . . .but as for the rest, who knows.
Oh, and yes, we did take out the bamboo growing up on the side of the house, though it still needs to be bagged and disposed of. But itˆ‚s a good start, yo.
It was seriously good to see Todd, though and it was really nice to see that he and Nena got along so well. Granted, heˆ‚s heard me talk about her so much and read so much about her here that he probably felt as though he already knew her, but itˆ‚s still really nice to have folks that are important to you get along.
The downside to all this is, as I said a few posts ago, Iˆ‚ve been needing a weekend to recover from my weekend. Unfortunately, thatˆ‚s totally not going to happen for a while, unless, of course, you include my impending trip to the ATL. Should be fun, even if it is a trip for work. ;)
Fast Wednesday
Itˆ‚s Wednesday and Iˆ‚m hungry.
Iˆ‚m pretty aware of how much food runs my life, but itˆ‚s never more apparent to me than when Iˆ‚m fasting. During fasts I realize how much my days are structured around when I eat, what I eat, how much if it I eat. Amazing things to realize, yo.
Iˆ‚m fasting as part of the KU Muslim Student Association Fast a Thon. To raise money for a local homeless shelter (and no doubt raise awareness of the Muslim faith as A-OK) local business are giving the MSA money for every non-Muslim that fasts during this, the last Wednesday of Ramadan.
Man, I thought itˆ‚d be easier than this. I fast during the Fridays of Lent, but the rules for Lenten fasting arenˆ‚t apparently as strict as those for Ramadan and Iˆ‚ve been conditioned to accept the Lenten fasting. . .two decades of it gets you pretty used to not eating during Fridays in the spring. But this one, yeah, itˆ‚s going to be a challenge. . .but Iˆ‚m going to make it.
Iˆ‚ve been trying to remember to fast once during Ramadan for a few years now, ever since that fateful Bears game with Faisal; a story that Iˆ‚m sure folks have heard so often I wonˆ‚t bore you with it here. . .unless Iˆ‚ve misidentified my audience and you want to hear that story.
Maybe Iˆ‚m doing this because I want to understand the faith of my friends. Maybe Iˆ‚m doing this because itˆ‚s my way of thumbing my nose at people who donˆ‚t think like me. Maybe Iˆ‚m doing this as part of a class project on performance art. . .Iˆ‚m not sure. All I know right now is that itˆ‚s after 12:30p, and I havenˆ‚t eaten since 5a when I got up to have a pre-sunrise breakfast. Iˆ‚ve got just under five hours to go and Iˆ‚m getting really in tune with my body right now.
Itˆ‚s a fascinating thing, learning what your body needs to keep going, how it runs optimally, and what hunger really feels like. When I got up this morning I wanted breakfast because it was breakfast time, not because I was hungry. Before I taught my first class of the day I thought I was hungry, and now Iˆ‚m moreso than I was previously. Iˆ‚m starting to wonder if either of these hungers has been ˆ¨realˆÆ or just my conditioned response to living in the industrialized world.
Yeah, Iˆ‚m glad Iˆ‚m doing this. Iˆ‚m also really looking forward to dinner and tonightˆ‚s Ozo show. WHOO! Gonna be sooo hott.
Noviembre 08, 2004
Incredible Friday Night
Yˆ‚know, I really need to stop having weekends that end up requiring me to have a weekend wherein I recover from the weekend I just completed.
Seriously, yo. Itˆ‚s pretty hardcore around here.
Friday night Nena and I went on our date that, thanks to time restraints and other issues ended up being a trip to Runza and a viewing of The Incredibles. Seriously, yo. . .the regular Runza, hold the cheese, is the food of the minor deities. So amazingly good. . .
Whatˆ‚s a Runza? The Runza is a favorable German, by way of Nebraska, cousin of the almighty Chilean empanada; Chilean being favorable to the Colombian because of the Colombian versionˆ‚s issues with saturated fats.
Nena loves her some Runza. She loves her some Runza so much that somehow, even before the timecrunch hit, I knew weˆ‚d find a way to go to Runza. Itˆ‚s just been too long since Nenaˆ‚d been there. . .she was due for her Runza fix and I was due to go with her.
The timecrunch was OK, because tanks to Nenaˆ‚s forethought we actually, for the first time ever, managed to see a movie in Lawrence at the time we intended to see it. Yup, we wanted to see a movie at 7p and we saw the movie we wanted at 7p. It was freakinˆ‚ awesome. Seriously, I donˆ‚t know why we donˆ‚t buy our tickets on the internet every time. . .cuz getting tickets to a showing thatˆ‚s been sold out for an hour and getting pissed off looks from all the parents of small children who arenˆ‚t as smart as your wife is the COOLEST THING EVER. How much do I love this woman? You honestly have no idea.
While in line with the small, loud and wound up on pop and Ju-Ju Bees children Nena turned to me and remembered our experience on the opening weekend of HP: Chamber of Secrets and said, ˆ¨Why do I listen to you? Why do we always end up seeing these movies with the crowds on opening weekend? You make no sense to me.ˆÆ
This illuminates out one of the fundamental differences between Nena and me and our respective Carleton experiences. I (and many of my friends) lived for the crowds on opening weekend, because to us, you didnˆ‚t just go to the movies for the narrative, you went for the overall experience. We were there for the movie, to be sure, but we were also there for the crowds, the watered-down pop, the cherry slushies. Sure, you could watch the movie at home, but the fun lies in seeing it in a crowded theater with a bunch of strangers, thatˆ‚s what makes it an experience, yo.
Nena still thinks I'm crazy, but she also thinks Iˆ‚m cute enough to humor by going to movies on opening night.
Now, my review(s):
The Revenge of the Sith trailer was awesome. Was it the best of the Star Wars trailers? No. Was it still awesome? Yes.
Man, Iˆ‚m getting really geeked about this movie. Darth Vaderˆ‚s origin on film, one of the most amazing light saber duels ever, the conception of Luke and Leia (which will hopefully be implied not seen) the death of the Jedi order. . .This is going to be such a dark movie, Iˆ‚m so unbelievably psyched for it. . .even if it makes me a fanboy dork to admit it. I mean, Iˆ‚m geeking about the TITLE. Which, Iˆ‚ll go into detail about if someoneˆ‚s really that curious as to why Iˆ‚m geeking about a movieˆ‚s title.
The Incredibles is even better than the Star Wars trailer was. Holy shit, what a great movie. Yes, the effects are great; yes Pixar rocks my pathetic world. But one of the things Iˆ‚ve always loved about Pixar is the way they tell stories that are more amazing than the technology used to tell them. Yes, this is a superhero movie, but itˆ‚s also about growing up, growing old, family and strength.
Such a simple story, such an uncomplicated concept for a film: superheroes, by law, canˆ‚t be super anymore. . .they have to be normal. Somewhere in all this simplicity the folks at Pixar managed to tell a story that reminds us that sometimes, just sometimes, weˆ‚re at our strongest when we admit that weˆ‚re weak. Sometimes, the love of and for family (however YOU define it) will do you more good than any super power ever could and at the end of the day all we ever want is to feel special. . .and totally blend into the scenery.
Yeah, all that from a cartoon. The best movie Iˆ‚ve seen in a very long time, just a really well told story that does drag from time to time, but that doesnˆ‚t change the fact that itˆ‚s a brilliant story that is brilliantly told. If only more movies would remember to tell a good story well. . .
Noviembre 05, 2004
A Disturbing Trend
Right, so why the hell am I only updating once a week? This really isn't a good thing. I can tell when I don't seem to have a handle on my life by how often I'm blogging. As of right now, I guess I'm just really, really busy and not budgeting my time well.
I'm assuming that this comes from the funk I'm currently in. No, it has nothing to do with the elections. It' does, however, have everything to do with the fact that Nena's never home. Seriously, yo. The reason she moved to Kansas was so we could be together. But this job of hers has her on the road from Mon-Fri. . .I didn't sign up for this, and neither did she when she took this job. Thereˆ‚s more to say about this. . .but Iˆ‚ll save that for another post.
Suffice it to say, her job is pissing me off almost as much as itˆ‚s pissing her off. . .and itˆ‚s really affecting my mood.
In other news, the election wasn't anything I didn't expect and I'm already moving on. Mistakes were made, yadda, yadda, yadda and I really want to understand the other side. I'm with folks like Al and Xay who want to know how folks who voted for Bush think. But more importantly. . .Iˆ‚ve come to a conclusion.
Iˆ‚m tired of being on the sidelines. Iˆ‚m tired of being a footsoldier. I think the time for me to step up and put my money and my mind on the line is coming really, really soon. Iˆ‚m getting impatient, Iˆ‚ve wanted to get into the game since I was a little kid. . .but after a while I stopped telling people for fear theyˆ‚d laugh at me. But I think Iˆ‚m over that now. I want to be the mythological "The Guy" when I grow up; and I think it's time I grew up. I donˆ‚t know what this is going to entail, I donˆ‚t know where itˆ‚s going to happen, but itˆ‚ll be soon and Iˆ‚m going to need a whole lot of help to get things done. . .whoˆ‚s with me?
Other, that is, than the folks whoˆ‚ve already told me theyˆ‚re with me.
Should be an exciting weekend; Nena and I are going on a date tonight. Dinner TBD and then a 7:10p showing of The Incredibles at one of the theaters around here. I donˆ‚t know which one, Nena bought the tickets yesterday. Iˆ‚m so freakinˆ‚ pumped. This movie looks so fucking hardcore. . .and theyˆ‚re premiering the trailer for Revenge of the Sith before The Incredibles. Yeah, I know, I know. I really shouldnˆ‚t still be this geeked about a new Star Wars movie, but I am.
I actually liked Attack of the Clones. It did everything I needed it to do. Anakin grew up, married Amidala, started the Clone Wars, surprised me about its origins and what it actually was, showed the beginnings of Anakinˆ‚s descent and it ended on a seriously ominous tone. Yeah, there was a cheesy romance in there, but itˆ‚s how Luke and Leiaˆ‚s parents got together, told in the serial genre. What the hell were you expecting, yo?
Yeah. . Iˆ‚m really excited.
Toddˆ‚s also coming down tomorrow. I havenˆ‚t seen this kid in far too long. . .I think it was January, 2003. . .yeah, it was. It was while I was still living in Missouri. And itˆ‚s also been a while since Iˆ‚ve seen him for longer than 12hrs at a stretch and not in Iowa City. So. . .yeah, Iˆ‚m pumped. Weˆ‚re going to see Bob Schneider tomorrow night at The Bottleneck. Should be an interesting show, and I havenˆ‚t been to the ˆ´neck since the smoking ban kicked in. Itˆ‚s amazing how this ban has totally changed some of my favorite places. . .But more on that in another post that Iˆ‚ve been working on for some time now.
Oh, and I think Toddˆ‚s gonna help me get rid of the bamboo, yes, bamboo, thatˆ‚s growing up around my house. Nena wants to get a panda to handle the problem; I think Todd and I will just mow that shit down instead.
Oh and as a preview to next week. . .Nena, Das Nibblet and I are going to see Ozomatli at The Granada. If youˆ‚re in the greater L-Town area. . .you really, really need to go to this show. Itˆ‚s going to be in-fucking-credible. And then, Thursday morning I leave for the American Studies Association Conference in the ATL. Damn, gonna be a good week.
Noviembre 01, 2004
Election Questions
Hey, yo.
Do you live in a battleground state? Do you live in a state that COULD be construed as a battleground state? (FL, MN, MO, IA, OH, NM. . .) Do you want to be on the radio?
Well, I'm helping put together KJHK's Election Night Extravaganza and I'm looking for my friends, or friends of friends to help me out on the interview front.
I'm looking for folks willing to call in and talk to us LIVE on-air Tuesday night about the situation in wherever it is they live. All you need to do to be a part of this is email me ASAP to either my normal email addy or slimdj
Also, if you're near the internet, listen to me LIVE tomorrow night from 7p-12a CST on kjhk.org. It's going to be a hellagreat show. We're doing the live call-ins, remote broadcasts from different campaign HQs, and all sorts of dumbass punditry. It's gonna be awesome.
And we guaruntee that we will call Florida more times, more incorrectly than any other major news source.
If you're lucky, we'll fuck up Illinois and Ohio, too.