Lemme make it easy for ya...
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Rosa Brooks is saying...
She writes for the L.A. times. A newspaper that is NOT small, nor unpopular.
With McCain still strying to put the numb side of his swollen face into the American pie, some of us are shutting off the ovens. The smell of yesteryears bullshit does not equate to nostalgic bliss. We remember the Keating 5.
Keating 5? Yes.
Keating 5? Yes.
Keating 5? Yes.
Keating 5? Yes.
Keating 5? Yes, still...
And when you come back from that article I have something pleasant to share with you...
Have a nice day...
Your friendly cyberhood
Uncle Samurai
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Idiocracy in effect...
"Without immediate action by Congress, America could slip into a financial panic and a distressing scenario would unfold...Ultimately our country could experience a long and painful recession. We must not let this happen."
-President G. W. Bush
And this is what some of the ladies are saying to that already...
So...what I'm assuming is that this human being we've been calling the president for the last 8 years... has spent all our money. And now he is warning us that it's gonna be our problem.
Did he learn this from David Blain? Is this some sort of dumbed down 3rd grade magic trick we are supposed to be impressed with? A slight of brain trick, maybe?
That's like if I were to go down to some suburban neighborhood, take candy from all 12 year olds and then tell ALL the 4 year olds that there has been an increase in candy snatching...resulting in a decreasing surplus of candy. Knowing that the 4 year olds won't be able to do anything about it until they are 18 or working. Whichever comes first. And HEY there's a brand new candy store opening up at my house! It's just a coincidence. But all positions are filled, so don't apply.
BUT we are serving HOLY candy. It has been blessed by the sacred hershee scriptures and you will be rewarded with the forever-ever-candy-land-pass that will insure you permanent tooth decay protection....so eat sweet, be fat and cavity free in candy heaven, with your big fat ass.
(sigh)
Yeah it's ridiculous. It was once funny, too. But the average I.Q. of America is being recorded and processed by the average I.Q.
Resulting in a dumbing down effect. Which makes a perfect audience for people like GW.
And just a mental note: These people BREED like rabbits...and will out number us all soon.
So I suggest the rest of you smart people start fuckin'.
Here is some proof of what I mean.
Peace in your grill...
Your friendly cyberhood
Uncle Samurai
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Down the Rabbit hole...
Hello.
Here is a nice link...
Here is an awful link...
...it's your choice
Have a nice day!
Have a nice day!
U.s
Monday, September 22, 2008
Vote early against Palin-face
Do it here...and have a nice day voting against her.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Uncle Samurai
Saturday, September 20, 2008
The rhythm of a young minded heart
I was born a poor Black and Japanese child
in world that I knew would be crazy and wild
it was the 70's and mornings were discreet
we made powdered milk and watched sesame street
Rotary phones were quite appalling
you had to say hello to find out who was calling
my tonka truck was metal and built to last
I could ride it through the house to make time pass
All my friends had hotwheels too
lincoln logs and tinker toys and we knew what to do
cities were built and then demolished
and all of these toys would soon lose their polish
Afternoons you'd find us in the middle of the road
configuring plays and new scrimmage line codes
jacked up on sugar and safeway soda
I'd score a touchdown by the blue Toyota
Girls played hopscotch in the sun
I'd steal the ball and jacks and run forest run!
they'd chase me up the old ladies tree
and I'd climb so high I couldn't hear them scream
Then there was the time I yanked a tooth
with a string on the door of an old phone booth
my friend's mouth bloody in the sun
laughing all the while just because we were young
I couldn't keep my mouth shut in class
or my eyes off Celeste any time she would pass
I didn't know if these thoughts were crass
8 years old and I was thinking 'bout ass
lunch time was like a circus ring
in the game of structure tag I was king
calloused hands would move me like the breeze
acrobatic moves with the greatest of ease
Swinging through the air like chimp
walking back to class with a nonchalant limp
drawing sharks instead of doing math
playing pencil after school on the wood-chip path
And soon it was the music that found me
now I notice hardly anyone's around me
until I grab the microphone and my guitar
and my inner child shines like the brightest star
I don't ever want to grow up in this world
If the world is your oyster be a pearl
all the people who refuse to let this be
watch children in a state of jealousy
The music never lies about a thing
it doesn't care about diamond wedding rings
it will laugh at the merging of the banks
and shed a tear about the wars we create
it will sigh about the love that we share
and the sex that we have without a care
the melodies of life will always start
with the rhythm of a young minded heart
in world that I knew would be crazy and wild
it was the 70's and mornings were discreet
we made powdered milk and watched sesame street
Rotary phones were quite appalling
you had to say hello to find out who was calling
my tonka truck was metal and built to last
I could ride it through the house to make time pass
All my friends had hotwheels too
lincoln logs and tinker toys and we knew what to do
cities were built and then demolished
and all of these toys would soon lose their polish
Afternoons you'd find us in the middle of the road
configuring plays and new scrimmage line codes
jacked up on sugar and safeway soda
I'd score a touchdown by the blue Toyota
Girls played hopscotch in the sun
I'd steal the ball and jacks and run forest run!
they'd chase me up the old ladies tree
and I'd climb so high I couldn't hear them scream
Then there was the time I yanked a tooth
with a string on the door of an old phone booth
my friend's mouth bloody in the sun
laughing all the while just because we were young
I couldn't keep my mouth shut in class
or my eyes off Celeste any time she would pass
I didn't know if these thoughts were crass
8 years old and I was thinking 'bout ass
lunch time was like a circus ring
in the game of structure tag I was king
calloused hands would move me like the breeze
acrobatic moves with the greatest of ease
Swinging through the air like chimp
walking back to class with a nonchalant limp
drawing sharks instead of doing math
playing pencil after school on the wood-chip path
And soon it was the music that found me
now I notice hardly anyone's around me
until I grab the microphone and my guitar
and my inner child shines like the brightest star
I don't ever want to grow up in this world
If the world is your oyster be a pearl
all the people who refuse to let this be
watch children in a state of jealousy
The music never lies about a thing
it doesn't care about diamond wedding rings
it will laugh at the merging of the banks
and shed a tear about the wars we create
it will sigh about the love that we share
and the sex that we have without a care
the melodies of life will always start
with the rhythm of a young minded heart
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Assumptions- #1
Take a breath...let it out....take a breath....let it out...repeat....
but you probably know how to do this by now...
Have a nice day
U.s
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Being scared of "McCan't" is a natural and instinctual human reaction...
If you look close, you can still see the lipstick on her snout...Palin -face and McCan't are really scary pig dogs. That is just a personal opinion of which I am glad I have right now. I would really dislike myself if I was some Botox-ridden, apathetic, conservative, republican yuppie with no opinion, whatsoever. All I hear from folks that I know is how scary these two pig dogs are, and how SCARED people are.
GOOD. That's the first step in realizing something as important as this. Now that we are all scared about the same thing, we can start dealing with the second step.
ANGER. Hello and welcome to my world of rants and raves. Yeah, I have always been the good listener. Ask anyone at the coffee shop who decides to sit down and dump a bunch of their morning frustrations on me, tell me they enjoy my guitar playing...and then bounce off to work.
Don't get me wrong, these are my friends I'm talking about. I just never say anything back and usually just walk home and turn all of this into song material. Like Rumpelstiltskin spinning straw into gold, I guess. But with the latest concoction of the republican candidates, I find it difficult to "Bob Dylan" my way through this particular sequence of political mayhem and rhetorical feces. It would probably be nicer for my next door neighbors if I didn't monologue this stuff first...but...you know, it would also be nicer if Obama was already our president.
SO...here is a link that I got from my friend Rachel about McCan't. It has some quotes directly from the horses mouth. His opinion on nuking Iraq to teach them a lesson...um...his thoughts on more Nuclear bombs that should've been dropped on Japan...his opinion of American women....it's more than disgusting, vile and crass. It gives us a clear definition of the minds of the people who want someone like this in charge of our ENTIRE stock of Nuclear weapons.
I know that blogging will achieve very little...but it sure feels GOOD!
Ok...
Uncle Samurai
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Virtual civil wars on Youtube
This is one idiot in a field of millions.
Ok...richrwb...lemme guess, rich republican white boy. Took three whole game show seconds to figure that one out.
Anyway, I was listening to Obama on you tube and had to walk in to this dude.
If we were on the street face to face it would be a fist fight, believe me.
These guys are the problems that women face in America. It's guys like this that make women so screwed up in the head. Dating is difficult enough. Without biggots like this running free..(sigh)
Have fun reading...
Ok...richrwb...lemme guess, rich republican white boy. Took three whole game show seconds to figure that one out.
Anyway, I was listening to Obama on you tube and had to walk in to this dude.
If we were on the street face to face it would be a fist fight, believe me.
These guys are the problems that women face in America. It's guys like this that make women so screwed up in the head. Dating is difficult enough. Without biggots like this running free..(sigh)
Have fun reading...
richrwb (2 weeks ago) Show Hide
Let me solve this black/white issue with OBAMA.....
His dad was recognized by the Kenyan govt. as 85% Arabic, 15% African, and his mother was a white liberal hippie.....
that would make Barry; 50% white hippy, 43% Arabic-American (to be PC), and only 7% black!!! Sorry to rain on your parade, but I wonder how far he would have made it if he ran as the first Arab-American for president?
Still got HOPE for Change?
His dad was recognized by the Kenyan govt. as 85% Arabic, 15% African, and his mother was a white liberal hippie.....
that would make Barry; 50% white hippy, 43% Arabic-American (to be PC), and only 7% black!!! Sorry to rain on your parade, but I wonder how far he would have made it if he ran as the first Arab-American for president?
Still got HOPE for Change?
He's still black haha
LAZY? You are saying that slave owners were not?
Then you are sort of a 'terrorist' to Americans?
Actually, 'Obama supporter,' do you know where Obama's first fundraiser for his presidential run was held?....I'll inform you. At Bill Ayers house!!! In case you're too stupid to know who Bill Ayers is, he was convicted of bombing the Capital, bombing the NYPD headquarter, bombing the pentagon...etc. etc...and the morning of 9-1-1, he said he should have done more bombings. The libs at CNN pass him off as a Professor at the U of Illinois.... How am I a terrorist...idiot.
lol
...thanks Kain5th. I didn't know if the point was obvious or not.
...thanks Kain5th. I didn't know if the point was obvious or not.
No, I was just trying to ask you a question. We seem to both be Americans on line here. I mean, if we both had to go to war, we'd be on the same side. America. I just found some of your arguments quite hostile, is all. Nothing personal. But, then I forget that we can do that here on youtubes comment box. I gotta get back to work, richrwb...have a good one. I'm gonna go smile at my American flag again.
Peace
unclesamurai
Peace
unclesamurai
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Bill, Kerry and Dan kick Steel in the proverbial nuts
Bill Maher is saving me some frustration time with republicans. On his Real Time with Bill Maher show on HBO I got to see something I love to see most of the time. Republicans eating their own fecal jargon; spoon fed by Dems.
Starring :
-Bill Maher as the host and mediator ( GO BILL!!! )
With...
-Mike Steel an African American Republican (Dickhead...how can he say the things he says?!)
-Kerry Washington a lovely African American actress (Democrat. Hella fine. Hella Smart.)
-Scott McClellan- Ex white house press secretary (Independent. Turned against the Bush Administration)
And (snare roll)
-Dan Savage- Journalist and sex advice columnist who is Gay.(This guy ROCKS!!!)
Ready for a snip?
:)
And now...my muzic page...
-link-
U.s
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Alex McMurray in Berkeley... Thanks Mikie!
Alex McMurray anyone?
One of my heroes in the songwriting world. A man so talented with melodies, rhythm and rhyme that I swore to get back to writing tunes the very first time I heard him. Not that I wouldn't on my own, but a man like Alex will put a proverbial foot in your pencil's ass, and paper will never be the same again. Songs shall manifest density.
The first time I heard him was when my friend Mikie Lee Prasad played me a 'Royal Fingerbowl' cd. It sounded like country music had just crawled out of bed with some cheap New Orleans hooker and took a bath in some gator filled swamp. It was the best thing I had heard in a very long time. The most original compositions. The depth in simplicity. I was back in metaphor heaven! Who was this dude, Alex McMurray?! Well, by the time I had his songs memorized in my skull, Royal Fingerbowl had become an historic landmark in New Orleans musical past. And I would never see them...ever. Meanwhile, my friend and fellow guitar player Mikie Lee Prasad went to go find him. Mikie, bless his suedo-groupied heart went down to New Orleans, met him and actually played with him. Repeatedly. In fact the last time Mikie called me from New Orleans it was during an Alex McMurray set. He held the phone out to me so that I could hear Mr. McMurray live via the wireless satellite systems of North America. Alex has this little project called the Tinmen. Tuba, washboard and some good old fashion magic song writing, ala McMurray.
How many times have I written the dudes name on this page?! Not as many times as I have listened to his music and sighed with relief that YES, someone out there is writing songs that we can sing again!! Even the children! And the tramps, and junkies, and pimps and drug users and DRUNKS from all over the continental United States of America!!
He's playing on September 24th with Mikie Lee Prasad and Amber at Beckettt's Irish pub
in Berkeley. That's on a Wednesday night...
Peace in your face
U.s
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Oh woe are we...Oakland Raiders misery...
The first game...(sigh)
We already can't stand the Broncos. We loathe them forever, it seems.
(sigh)
We usually do pretty well on Monday Night Football.
(sigh)
Here is a song that we Raider fans will be singing for the remainder of the week...to share the pain and suffering that is inside our hearts...as we question the meaning of life, itself, pondering the endless nuance of agony...
Lord, please taketh away this pain from our hearts and minds
and bringeth forth yonder fruit from thy winning tree...
DIE HARD SILVER AND BLACK!
U.s
Monday, September 8, 2008
Someone Like Me
OK...enough of the political ranting and raving. I think that if Sarah Palin was trapped in a fire, I would not hesitate to rescue her. Politics is another way to observe people. And that should be a reminder of how buddhist my nature is.
Getting back to what I do best...
Music. I live and breathe it. I sacrifice social time for it. I walk away from some of the most beautiful women and relationships because of it.
It is the blood of life for me.
MUSIC.
Perhaps, it might to be one of the last true ambassadors between individuals. A remedy that provides no solution. A simple melody to enhance the beat of our hearts as we pass through moments of time. To dance the night away. A quick break from the office or a soundtrack to a commute through the city or country.
As I watch technology advance, I sit back and ponder the endless possibilities of 8 simple notes.
A real live instrument, as I have said, is something that cannot produce a sound while unattended. It must be played, manually in real time. It takes time to learn this. It takes time to create muscle memory. It takes more than a simple notion to edit rough drafts into acceptable phrases and stanzas; melodies that become codependent. And during this long and drawn out process I have become a musician. It sure feels good some days. I remind myself everyday...
Anyway, I found an old song that I recorded maybe 6 years ago, before my trip to London. It was all I could say to a woman before we ended our 2 year relationship.
I played all instruments and performed all singing duties. Recording this one track at a time with my good friend Jon Robin at his studio. He felt empathy for my troubled heart and refused to charge me a single cent. I will always feel indebted to him for his kindness.
This song entitled "Someone Like Me"
-play-
U.s
Sunday, September 7, 2008
??? Ye Old Testament ???
This is taken from the Old Testament word for word. It is found in the book of Deuteronomy.Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is the thinking of the republican evangelical society that is lobbying for the rule of the White House this November.
Check this out. This is part of the roots of religion to some folks in America.
(I'm a buddhist, so I find this stuff interesting)
What do y'all think?
13 If a man takes a wife and, after lying with her, dislikes her 14 and slanders her and gives her a bad name, saying, "I married this woman, but when I approached her, I did not find proof of her virginity," 15 then the girl's father and mother shall bring proof that she was a virgin to the town elders at the gate. 16 The girl's father will say to the elders, "I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he dislikes her. 17 Now he has slandered her and said, 'I did not find your daughter to be a virgin.' But here is the proof of my daughter's virginity." Then her parents shall display the cloth before the elders of the town, 18 and the elders shall take the man and punish him. 19 They shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver [b] and give them to the girl's father, because this man has given an Israelite virgin a bad name. She shall continue to be his wife; he must not divorce her as long as he lives.
20 If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the girl's virginity can be found, 21 she shall be brought to the door of her father's house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done a disgraceful thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father's house. You must purge the evil from among you.
And now...for something completely different :
Have a nice day...
U.s
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Palintolgy #2
An e mail came to me the other day.
It read:
It read:
I received this from a Republican friend:
As an Alaskan, I am writing to give all of you some
information on Sarah Palin, Senator McCain's choice for
VP. As an Alaska voter, I know more than most of you about
her and, frankly, I am horrified that he picked her.
The most accurate description of her is red neck. Her
husband works in the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay and races
snow mobiles. She is a lifetime member of the NRA and has
worked tirelessly to allow indiscriminate hunting of
wildlife in Alaska , particularly wolves and bears. She has
spent millions of Alaska state dollars on aerial hunting of
these predators from helicopters and airplanes, dollars
that should have been spent, for example, on Alaska 's
failing school system.We have the lowest rate of high
school graduation in the country. Not all of you may think
aerial predator hunting is so bad, but how anyone (other
than Alaska wolf-haters, of which there are many, most
without teeth), could think this use of funds is
appropriate is beyond me. If you want to know more about the
aerial hunting travesty, let me know and I will send some
links to informative web sites.
She has been a strong supporter of increased use of fossil
fuels, yet the McCain campaign has the nerve to say she has
"green" policies. The only thing green about
Sarah Palin is her lack of experience. She has consistently
supported drilling in ANWR, use of coal-burning power
plants (as I write this, a new coal plant is being built in
her home town of Wasilla), strip mining, and almost
anything else that will unnecessarily exploit the
diminishing resources of Alaska and destroy its
environment.
Prior to her one year as governor of Alaska , she was
mayor of Wasilla, a small red neck town outside Anchorage.
The average maximum education level of parents of junior
high school kids in Wasilla is 10th grade.
Unfortunately, I have to go to Wasilla every week to get
groceries and other supplies, so I have continual contact
with the people who put Palin in office in the first place.
I know what I'm talking about.
These people don't have a concept of the world around
them or of the serious issues facing the US . Furthermore,
they don't care. So long as they can go out and hunt
their moose every fall, kill wolves and bears and drive
their snow mobiles and ATVs through every corner of the
wilderness, they're happy. I wish I were exaggerating.
Sarah Palin is currently involved in a political
corruption scandal.
She fired an individual in law enforcement here because
she didn't like how he treated one of her relatives
during a divorce. The man's performance and ability
weren't considered; it was a totally personal firing
and is currently under investigation. While the issue
isn't close to the scandal of Ted Steven's
corruption, it shows that Palin isn't "squeaky
clean" and causes me to think there may be more issues
that could come to light. Clearly McCain doesn't care.
When you line Palin up with Biden, the comparison would be
laughable if it weren't so serious. Sarah Palin knows
nothing of economics (admittedly a weak area for McCain),
or of international affairs, knows nothing of national
government, Social Security, unemployment, health care
systems - you name it. The idea of her meeting with heads of
foreign governments around the world truly frightens me.
In an increasingly dangerous world, with the economy in
shambles in theUS , Sarah Palin is uniquely UNqualified to
be vice president. John McCain is not a young man. Should
something happen to him such that the vice president had to
step in, it would destroy our country and possibly the world
to have someone as inexperienced and inappropriate as Sarah
Palin. The choice of Palin is a cheap shot by McCain to try
to get Hillary supporters to vote for him. When McCain
introduced her today, Palin had the nerve to compare
herself with Hillary and Geraldine Ferraro. Sarah Palin, you
are no Hillary Clinton.To those of you who, like me,
supported Hillary and were upset that she did not get the
nomination, please don't think that Sarah Palin is a
worthy substitute. If you supported Hillary, regardless of
what you think the media and the democratic party may have
done to undermine her campaign, the person to support now is
Obama, not Sarah Palin. To those of you who are independent
or undecided, don't let the choice of Palin sway you in
favor of McCain. Choosing her shows how unqualified McCain
is to be president. To those of you who are conservative,
Iguess you have no choice for president. But please try to
see how the poor choice of Palin tells us a great deal
about McCain's judgment.
While the political posturing inherent in the choice of
Palin is obvious, the more serious issue is the fact that
the VP is, literally, a heartbeat away from the presidency.
Sarah Palin is totally and unequivocally unqualified to be
vice president, let alone president.
I know this is a lengthy and emotional email, but the
stakes are high. I thought it might help for all of you,
regardless of political affiliation, to know something
about Palin from someone who has to live with her
administration in Alaska on a daily basis. Here's some
basic background:
She was elected Alaska 's governor a little over a
year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of
Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. Palin is strongly
anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or
incest. She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for
president in 2000. Palin thinks creationism should be taught
in public schools. She's doesn't think humans are
the cause of climate change. She's solidly in line with
John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy.
She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says
renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the
Bush administration for listing polar bears as an
endangered species—she was worried it would interfere
with more oil drilling in Alaska. Here's a sample of
Alaskan's responses:
She is really just a mayor from a small town outside
Anchorage who has been a governor for only 1.5 years, and
has ZERO national and international experience. I shudder
to think that she could be the person taking that 3AM call
on the White House hotline, and the one who could
potentially be charged with leading the US in the volatile
international scene that exists today. —Rose M.,
Fairbanks , AK
She is VERY, VERY conservative, and far from perfect.
She's a hunter and fisherwoman, but votes against the
environment again and again. She ran on ethics reform, but
is currently under investigation for several charges
involving hiring and firing of state officials. She has NO
experience beyondAlaska . —Christine B., Denali Park , Alaska
As an Alaskan and a feminist, I am beyond words at this announcement.
Palin is not a feminist, and she is not the
experience beyondAlaska . —Christine B., Denali Park , Alaska
As an Alaskan and a feminist, I am beyond words at this announcement.
Palin is not a feminist, and she is not the
reformer she claims to be. —Karen L., Anchorage , Alaska
Alaskans, collectively, are just as stunned as the rest of
the nation. She is doing well running our state, but is
totally inexperienced on the national level, and very much
unequipped to run the nation, if it came to that. She is as
far right as one can get, which has already been
communicated on the news. In our office of thirty employees
(dems, republicans, and nonpartisans), not one person feels
she is ready for the V.P. position.—Sherry C., Anchorage
, AK
She's vehemently anti-choice and doesn't care
about protecting our natural resources, even though she has
worked as a fisherman. McCain chose her to pick up the
Hillary voters, but Palin is no Hillary. —Marina L.,
Juneau , AK
I think she's far too inexperienced to be in this
position. I'm all for a woman in the White House, but
not one who hasn't done anything to deserve it. There
are far many other women who have worked their way up and
have much more experience that would have been better
choices. This is a patronizing decision on John
McCain's part- and insulting to females everywhere that
he would assume he'll get our vote by putting "A
Woman" in that position.—Jennifer M., Anchorage, AK
Please forward this to everyone you know!
Friday, September 5, 2008
Palintology #1
I pledge allegiance to this flagbecause it's holding in my disgusting rolling flabbiness.
And to this flabbiness in which I am,
one lipstick wearing, gun toting, female k9 impersonator
with out a clue for what human decency is, representing all
flat bootied republican bimbos with the ability and talent
to use their index fingers as a means to take lives.
What's the difference between this hockey mom and a pitbull?
I'd feed a pitbull...
U.s
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Yonsei means 4th generation Japanese...
Being a Black and Japanese American is kinda cool, sometimes.
Wanna know why I think so?
Met this lady at the coffee shop one fine morning. She came across the street to ask me for a light. It was a nice day, as I remember. I was wearing a sleeveless t-shirt. It wasn't cold. She was showing skin, too. She was kind of hot. In the good looking kind of way. A bit nervous, a little shy, a little stand offish, but she said that she appreciated the light I gave her. She stood about two feet away from me and took a few drags from her cigarette and said something about the weather. I agreed that the weather was great. We said nothing for about 3 more drags of sweet nicotine. She looked down at the shirt I was wearing and read it out loud to me.
"Yonsei?"
I looked at her and said, " Yes, it means fourth generation Japanese."
Her eyes widened.
"You?" I nodded with a look of certainty and replied with, " I'm half Japanese and half African American....with a 16th Cherokee and a 16th Blackfoot Indian."
"Really?" She asked.
"Totally." I replied. Thinking to myself...wow...I'm, like, exotic.
"Wow..." she exclaimed, " That's quite a mix. So...who is..."
"My mother is Japanese, " I interrupted.
"Oh...wow. That's fascinating. " she remarked.
"Did they meet in Japan? Was, like, your dad in the army?"
"No..." I said, " They met at the Post Office in Berkeley...."
And the conversation just kept picking up speed after that. The more Japanese I was, the more interested she became. She asked me if I rolled sushi. Or if I drank Sackee. I corrected her and said that Sake was pronounced with the short vowel 'e' and that no, I don't drink alcohol and I have only rolled sushi once in my life. Then I just started blabbing away about myself, trying to keep my eyes from her heaving cleavage. I told her that I am descended from a royal samurai clan. Which is true. I also told her that my grandfathers family was turned to ash in the Hiroshima bombing. Which is also true. To which she shuddered like most folks do. I told her that my same grandfather left internment camp and joined the U.S. Army and became a decorated Nisei soldier. The very reason that my American Flag is in my room, still. Even before 911 it was on the wall. And after we finished the conversation, she expressed her compassion and empathy for my late family and walked to work. With my phone number in her phone. She called me that night and asked me if I would consider drinking sake with her. I got to her apartment later and replied, "No...I don't drink alcohol. But I do love a cup of Gen Mai Cha." She asked what that was.
"It's tea. Green tea."
She blushed...until morning.
Anyway,
That happened a few years ago. But, like I said...being a Black and Japanese American is kinda cool, sometimes...
U.s
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Taj Mahal (musician)
That's Taj Mahal.
Have you heard of him?
Have you heard of Jimmy Cliff?
Well, Jimmy Cliff wrote a song called "Johnny Too Bad"
Classic reggae tune. Well Taj Mahal did a version that I heard today, for the first time, that blew my mind away.
It's a perfect song for our current situation, politically, right now.
Ya see...
In the U.S.A., we, the people are singing this song to the republican administration everyday now.
And with about 139 days left...I figure every version helps. Especially this one.
If you already have an Imeem account you can listen to the legendary Taj Mahal at this link. If not, it takes two seconds to register.
You won't regret it.
I will be back with a more in depth blog on
U.s
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