Hasidic Reggae

When BF and I first saw this dude perform for the Chabad Telethon on some public access station, we laughed... for a long time. But after our laughter subsided, and we wiped away the tears, we opened our ears... and discovered that Matisyahu is pretty good. I heard he was featured in the LA Times last month, and now he's a national celebrity.

The 26-year-old has reconciled strict religious demands with a staccato chant pop style that has taken his latest album "Youth" straight into the Billboard charts at number four with 120,000 copies sold in one week. He will be one of the top names at the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago in August.

His rap is hardcore but puts across a positive message:

"Strip away the layers and reveal your soul,

Give yourself up and then you become whole".

That's deep, man. You know, I love Hasidic Jews. I really do. They're so neat. To find one that raps and sings reggae in Yiddish... it touches my heart and expands my love for Jewish orthodoxy.

*Btw, I accompanied Dead Boy to the FISH GRILL today for lunch. The Fish Grill, located in the heart of a Hasidic community in LA, is an absolute must! The prices are good and the fish is so fresh and moist and tasty. Totally casual but clean. Great outdoor patio. Hot men with thick beards. Check them out and support a local Hasidic business: 7226 Beverly Boulevard, a block west of La Brea. (323) 937-7162.

No Rolling Stone in China

I don't generally believe in censorship of any kind... but that's because I live in America. Unless it incites imminent physical harm or danger, nothing in America should be censored. Yet I get so annoyed when Americans or American companies go overseas, and are disrespectful of the laws and culture of that particular country.

Rolling Stone magazine entered the Chinese market early this month with a huge splash, including billboard advertisements, a 125,000-copy roll-out and free Rolling Stone hats with each magazine. On Wednesday, regulators said they would not allow it to publish a second issue.

Apparently, Rolling Stone crossed several red lines. More than half the content in the first edition is translated from the U.S. edition, yet it never received formal approval from the government.

It also ignored requirements that the publication's original Chinese name be printed in large type on the cover with its foreign name smaller and less prominent. In its first issue, Rolling Stone splashed its English name across the front in far larger type than its official Chinese title.

"They didn't go through the proper procedure," said Chen Li, director at the Shanghai Press and Publishing Administration. "There will be no future Rolling Stone content in this magazine. There's no such thing as 'Rolling Stone.' "

Haha.

Seattle Mayor says, "Rave on!"

Despite seven violent deaths last weekend, the mayor gave a reassuring message for the youths who love the all-night music and dancing of the "rave" party scene: Rave on.

That's right, bitches, rave on! Just make sure to be prepared to defend yourself... you could keep your semi-automatic weapon in your glow stick. That's where I keep mine.

Oops, he did it again!

While everyone is talking about and preoccupied with Daniel Edward's sculpture of Britney Spears giving birth to Sean Preston, I am much more amused by K-Fed's latest hip hop album, Playing With Fire, expected to drop in August.

Here are some sweet lyrics from his last album:

I know y'all wishin' you was in my position
Cause I keep gettin' into situations
That you wish you was in, cousin
I'm not your brother, I'm not your uncle, I'm Daddy do

K-Fed, you are fuckin brilliant.

The dangers of an SUV...

it's too heavy for the earth!

A sports utility vehicle is stuck in a sinkhole in the Brooklyn section of New York after a water main break caused the street to give way on Monday. The driver of the vehicle was not seriously injured.

Call fast! Call now!

Learn how to bitch-slap, pimp-style

How to Bitch-Slap some punkass. Refer to the illustrations below:

And there you have it, bitches.

* BT -- thanks for the forward. DYY likes!

Don't Chop a tree for Sticks!

Beijing recently imposed a new 5% tax on manufacturers that make disposable chopsticks.

It's a good way to save the nation's vanishing forests — one chopstick at a time. China carves up about 45 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks a year. That means certain death for about 25 million full-grown poplar and birch trees.

DYY praises this new tax! In fact, DYY believes that we should all discontinue using disposable utensils and carry our own re-useable chopsticks, forks, spoons and knives everywhere we go! They can come together in cute little re-useable sacks with kitchy or cool designs and far-out colors!

Axis of Evil

The New York Times cited from a confidential British memorandum that President Bush was certain that war was inevitable and made his view known during a private two-hour meeting with Tony Blair in the Oval Office on January 31, 2003.

Bush was determined to invade Iraq without a UN resolution and even if UN arms inspectors failed to find weapons of mass destruction in the country.

Oops, she did it again!

Wow - that would be one quick turnaround.

Baby Sean Preston was born in Sptember of 2005 and isn't even six months old yet.

"I'm not a role model..."

Girl, you go with your bad ass white trash self!

The Sleeping Giant awakes...

On Saturday, over 1 million protested against federal legistlation that would crack down undocumented immigrants, penalize those who help them and build a security wall along U.S.' southern border. This was the largest demonstration in the history of California. March organizers announced that the crowd was over 1 million. Univision and other Spanish-language television reported that up to 2 million people marched. The Los Angeles Times, reflecting police estimates, gave the march 500,000 - police estimates have been trying to minimize pro-immigrant rights demonstration for the last few weeks.

Maybe we'll have social security after all

Mike Walls never envisioned his golden years as a fight with drug addiction when a friend gave him a plastic bag of crystal-like powder and a promise of youth nearly two decades ago.

At 55, with rotten teeth, frayed nerves and high blood pressure — all brought on by meth — Walls has become part of a growing number of baby boomers struggling with addiction to the stimulant and seeking help after living with it through middle age.

Hey Grandpa, weren't you part of the Reagan era? Haven't you heard? Say No to Drugs, Bitch. That shit will fry your brains. Save it for the young... we still have plenty of brain cells to fry. Stick with BINGO.

An experiment gone wrong

In London, a medical study was administered on volunteers to determine the effectiveness of a new drug made to treat leukemia patients... needless to say, the drug company still has a lot of work ahead of them...

"It felt like we stepped into some sort of horror film," Raste Khan, one of two men who were given placebos in the trial of TGN1412. "The three other men in my ward started vomiting, then they began to fall in and out of consciousness. The person on my left was begging doctors to help him. I was really scared and was just waiting for it to start happening to me."

The experimental drug caused convulsions and organ failure immediately after it was injected. Two men remained in a coma and four others were seriously ill.

Is it me or does this sound really awful and fucked up? This would never happen during a study of medicinal marijuana...

Can Taiwan resist da'Ling-a-Ling?

Taiwan is refusing two bears unless China recognizes its autonomy. But no nation has yet withstood the onslaught of panda diplomacy.

"The pandas are a trick, just like the Trojan horse," said lawmaker Huang Shi-cho of the Taiwan Solidarity Union party. "Pandas are cute, but they are meant to destroy Taiwan's psychological defenses."

However, most Taiwanese appear happy to have their psychological defenses destroyed by an animal that has melted hearts for centuries. One poll found that more than 70% are in favor of accepting the gift.

"We'd love to have them come to Taiwan," said Zhang Hong-yu, a 32-year-old factory worker from Hsinchu, who traveled to see the furry celebrities here in Wolong, a nature reserve and panda research center deep in the bamboo-laden mountains of central Sichuan province. "We don't care about politics. I'd love to jump over the fence and hug them!"

All-night with ORB

A whole gang of us went to see ORB, the grand-daddy of Ambient and Electronic music, last night, or shall I correctly say, this morning, at the Disney Concert Hall. As much as I resent corporate ownership of public spaces, Disney graciously hosted this concert from midnight until 6 am!

Imagine music-lovin' hipsters and fashionistas cruise the halls and congregate in a variety of sections at the concert hall. The first few acts and the last act sucked, but ORB was truly excellent. We danced at our seats and grooved to their classic electronic sounds.

They officially stopped serving alcohol at 2 am but we were fortunate to befriend a bartendar that continued to serve our tequilla orders. We are forever grateful to that unknown geeky-looking man.

Here I am with Lady Pun at 6 am in front of the concert hall.

Biggest Bitch from the East

The tallest woman in Asia, Chinese Yao Defen, and her friend sit at the entrance of her home in Shu Cha in eastern China's Anhui province March 15, 2006. Yao is 34 years old and 2.36 metres tall.

Thanks for the forward, Blu-tooth. I like how you take pride in your peeps, big or small, marginal or mutant.

Green means your horny

Workers dye the Chicago River green as part of the city's annual St. Patrick's day celebrations in Chicago.

Here's a secret: The river is already pretty green.

Happy St. Patrick's Day, Bitches!
May you find your very own leprechaun to love!

For more leprechaun love, check this out.

This is for my homies...

A recent discovery by a new generation of railway workers building the extension of the Gold Line commuter rail line through Boyle Heights has unearthed a dark but largely forgotten period in Los Angeles history: they found remains that belonged to Chinese male sojourners who died a century ago, the same men who built the railroads during the 1800's!

This reminds me of a poem I wrote years ago, which I shall share to pay homage to these great brothers who sacrificed their lives to build this country. Pass the mutherfuckin' Tsing Tao...

Don’t talk to me like that, you stupid motherfucker!

You must mistake today
some other time back in the day
far away, in a bitter haze
called slavery, they say
quite different from the stories relayed
by my black brothers and sisters of today
for it’s the untold story
with little glory
of folks deceived with promises of gold
“a better life”, my peeps were told
so husbands left their wives behind
Ba Bas kissed their kids good-bye
they sailed for weeks in a fucked-up ship
shocked at the conditions of this trip
brought them into a deadly trap
of a white man’s obscure railroad map
destined toward the east, east side
pimping our working men obliged
cheap labor, a big enterprise
drilling holes through mountainsides
pioneered transportation for today
unknown to white folks sitting on the train
their asses being carried in vain
by the sweat and blood of those slain
killed by haphazard ways
for little-to-no pay
in the bitter cold and rain
loneliness, depression, pain
manhoods castrated, maimed
but were they recognized for all the fame
of building tracks from Cali to Maine?
HELL NO, you know it’s all the same
white folks take credit for fuckin’ everythang
successes which they stole, killed, raped
in order to advance their inferior pace
put my people in shame and disgrace
and today you put down my race?
I see right through your game
you’re the only one to blame
for all the racist shit i go through everyday
i swear to god that i will make you pay
so go fuck yourself, you stupid motherfucker
and don’t ever talk that way to me again
for the fury of my dead people under the tracks
will haunt and kill your ugly white ass!

r.yee. wednesday.august.05.1999. 3:43 pm

Man v. Machine

BF and I went to see the 1962 classic, Lonely Are The Brave, starring Kirk Douglas. The story is based on the book, The Brave Cowboy, by Edward Abbey, who wrote stories about the preservation of the wilderness and man's struggle (and combat) with industrialization. I can understand why BF, the ultimate nature boy, adores him so much.

Now back to the movie, which was a black and white Western, very unlike DYY. In fact, I never sat through an entire Western before... and I fell asleep for only a very small part of it so you should be impressed.

Now what I can't understand is people who are in such disbelief that cowboys could be gay... with their tight jeans and cowboy shirts, and matching handkerchiefs tied perfectly on their necks, it's all so obviously gay. Kirk Douglas looked fuckin gay. Sorry, but he did.

But back to the movie... the acting was awful, action was slow, and the plot was unbelievable (Douglas breaks into jail, breaks out of jail and becomes a fugitive on the run, with nothing to live for but his horse and freedom)... but I did enjoy the story, which I think should be attributed to Abbey. I felt for Douglas' character, who yearned for a simple time when there were "no borders, no bridges". At the end, he and his horse, Whiskey, were hit by a huge semi transporting kitchen and bathroom fixtures.

Damn those toliets! Modernization killed Whiskey!

Awesome... but how much?

The RI-MAN is a seeing, hearing and smelling robot that can carry human beings and is aimed at helping care for the country's growing number of elderly.

This is great and all, but as you can see in the post below, human labor is probably cheaper. Not that you could hire a doula to care for the elderly, but you could easily find a Chinese lady who would cook, clean and provide medical care for your aging and debilitating loved one in exchange for a few dollars and unlimited access to Chinese soap operas.

a public service announcement

Baby Nickel has yet to arrive! He's still chillin like a villian in Lady's Simzie's body. We're actually hoping he'll be born at the cusp of Pisces and Aries, so that he would a hard-working (that's the Pisces side) and ambitious (that's the Aries side) little man.

In the meantime, Liz hired a doula to assist her in her final days of pregnancy, and also with the delivery. Due to my extensive knowledge of the English language, I understood exactly what Liz meant when she told me she hired a little slave girl. Still, Liz suggested that I blog about doulas, for the rest of you to learn.

The word, "doula," comes from the Greek word for the most important female slave or servant in an ancient Greek household, the woman who probably helped the lady of the house through her childbearing. The word has come to refer to "a woman experienced in childbirth who provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to the mother before, during and just after childbirth."

A doula...

Recognizes birth as a key life experience that the mother will remember all her life.

Understands the physiology of birth and the emotional needs of a woman in labor.

Assists the woman and her partner in preparing for and carrying out their plans for the birth.

Stays by the side of the laboring woman throughout the entire labor.

Provides emotional support, physical comfort measures, an objective viewpoint and assistance to the woman in getting the information she needs to make good decisions.

Facilitates communication between the laboring woman, her partner and clinical careproviders.

Perceives her role as one who nutures and protects the woman's memory of her birth experience.

And, apparently, an expecting mother can get her very own slave girl for a flat fee of $395! Now that's a bargain! Call now, while supplies last! 1-800-DOU-LA-LA

The real star of V for Vendetta

Natalie Portman is so cool and so beautiful. I have been a fan of hers from the beginning, since the days of The Professional. Here's a funny Saturday Night Live video of her being gangsta and shit. It's pretty fuckin good. Holla!

Favorite quote from movie: People shouldn't fear their government; government should fear their people.

Word up, bitches!

Addendum to Previous Post

The internet world is in a frenzy over Pumpkin spitting on New York. Here's a comment from Ashlee... I like how she writes.

I think that NewYork is a crazy psycho bitch. Yeah pumpkin was wrong for spittin' in her face but a real bitch like me would've beat that bitch ass for spittin in my face. Spittin' is the worse thing you can do to somebody and that was just over board. That's basically saying that the person just disgust you. I wouldn't care about gettin' kicked off tha show because that was just disrespectful. Pumpkin was a lame for spittin' and runnin too. Ain't none of them bitches bout that real shit so I don't give props to nan one of them. They whack. I just put it like this you ain't considered a bad bitch unless you handle yo business!!! It don't matter what color you are cause if you just bout it then you bout whateva. Flav need to choose hoopz cause she a real ass female and she don't act all sidity and shit. Yeah she is a pretty woman and all but she ain't full of herself like NewYork and she just a cool person.

"Your time is up!"

Last week when my dad visited, I slept on the couch in the living room while he slept in my room. Naturally I turned on the TV and surfed channels, particularly MTV, VH1 and E! Entertainment. Now I know why I don't watch TV anymore...

Flavor of Love, Public Enemy's Flavor Flav's latest reality show, has twenty single women move into a mansion and vie for his affection. Flavor Flav dates all of the women, weeds out the ones who are only after his fame and fortune...and in the end chooses his one true love.

It is really a gross show. Flavor Flav is fuckin old and ugly, while the women seem so desperate and pathetic.

The last episode I saw was hilarious though. Pumpkin, a trashy white woman, spits in the face of New York, a black woman obsessed with Flav. New York grabs the back of Pumpkin's head and tosses her against the camera.

I guess you have to watch to really appreciate the greatness. It's some riveting TV.

China calls out US hypocrisy

China lashed out against U.S. criticism of its human rights record, saying racial discrimination and crime were still rife in the United States and prisoners were being abused at U.S.-run detention centers abroad.

The response came one day after the State Department said the Chinese government's human rights record "remained poor, and the government continued to commit numerous and serious abuses." The State Department study, published each year since 1977, offers a comprehensive analysis of all countries in the world except the United States.

It is "an act that fully exposes its hypocrisy and double standard on human rights issues," said a Chinese report on human rights violations committed in the US, which drew mostly from stories and statistics in the American press.

The Chinese report included:

• private gun ownership in America, saying the "unchecked spread of guns has caused incessant murders."

• secret wire taps and surveillance on American citizens under the Patriot Act.

• the poverty rate and the problem of homelessness.

"We urge the U.S. government to look squarely at its own human rights problems, reflect what it has done in the human rights field and take concrete measures to improve its own human rights status."

I wish I worked on this wage claim

The State Labor Commissioner ordered to shut down Neverland Valley Ranch and fine Michael Jackson $169,000 for failing to pay his employees or maintain proper insurance.

Dude, Neverland is fucken trippy. Check out this Neverland website I found... I believe it was made by a fan. In fact, there are many Neverland websites on-line, made by a number of fans. You know, it's these obsessed fans who allowed their kids play with:

If the glove don't fit...

Poor Johnnie. I wonder if he would have ever suspected his white associates to take over his firm when he died? I give mad respect to Johnnie, but it's his bad for trusting whitee in the first place...

In Bomb the Suburbs, William Upski Wimsatt, a white "hip hop" writer from Chicago, writes, "...But let me offer this advice to black artists: Next time y'all invent something, you had better find a way to control it financially, because we're going to want that shit. And... you won't even get to hear us say 'Thanks niggers'."

D. Chappelle's BLOCK PARTY...

IS SO FRIGGIN' GOOD! What's not to like? A comedy and concert in one!

After the movie, I announced I'm going to buy the soundtrack. Joe said he's going to purchase the DVD. Dude, any movie that convinces our cheap asses to buy rather than burn is FRIGGIN' GOOD. This movie inspires us to be decent, law-abiding citizens. Thank you, David and company (Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Common, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Fugees, Dead Presidents, Kanye West), for making us be good people.

A bit too much school spirit?

A cheerleader who continued to cheer for her team from a gurney despite tumbling 15 feet onto her head said she was worried the accident would distract from the basketball game. Poor girl is pictured here still giving spirit fingers!

"My biggest concern was that I didn't want my squad to be distracted — so that they could continue cheering on the team — and I didn't want my team to be distracted from winning the game," Kristi Yamaoka, 18, told NBC's "Today" show, despite suffering a concussion, a spinal fracture and a bruised lung when she lost her balance atop a human pyramid.

It must be that Asian guilt in her who can't disappoint anyone. Well, Kristi, you continue to represent! I am proud of you even though I think you're a tool.

Evolution is so cool

A team of American-led divers has discovered a new crustacean in the South Pacific that resembles a lobster and is covered with what looks like silky blond fur. The eyeless shellfish, about 15cm long, is named 'Kiwi hirsuta'.

RIP Ms. Octavia

Octavia E. Butler, an internationally acclaimed science fiction writer whose evocative, often troubling, novels explore far-reaching issues of race, sex, power and, ultimately, what it means to be human, died on Friday, February 24, 2006 after a fall near her home in Lake Forest Park, Washington. She was 58.

I was shocked when I heard of her death on NPR. BF just lended me one of her books, Parable of the Sower, a week before. It's one of his favorite books. I've been reading it this past weekend and I'm very impressed. I'm far from being a sci-fi aficionada, but I find Octavia's description of the future compelling. Her story also parallels current concepts of the present. Plus, I like strong heroines ... so does she apparently.

Here's a short description from the book's sleeve: The time is 2025. The place is California, where small walled communities must protect themselves from hordes of desperate scavengers and roaming bands of "Paints", people addicted to a drug that activates an orgasmic desire to burn, rape and murder. When one small community is overun, Lauren Olamina, an 18 year old black woman, sets off on foot, moving north along the dangerous coastal highways. She is a "sharer", one who suffers from a hereditary trait called "hyperempathy" which causes her to feel others' pain as well as her own.

This is a true correspondence

Dear Librarian:

I did not request for this book/audio (the bible) to be held for me. I get my bibles free from motels.

Is someone using my identity to borrow books? Or is this a covert plan of action to indoctrinate lost souls and introduce God to heathens like me? Is the "religious right" a part of this? Please advise, thank you.

Ms. Yee

Los Angeles Public Library wrote:

******* HOLD NOTIFICATION ********

The following item(s) you requested are
being held for you at:

Los Angeles Public Library
Fairfax Branch
161 S. Gardner St.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
323-936-6191 *
*
Bible. *
NIV audio Bible New Interna *
*
The item will be held until: 03/13/06

A bit too much sex, drugs and rock & roll?

Eddie Van Halen at some post-Oscars event

Dude, I know it's difficult to fight osteoporosis, skin damage and senility, but there should be no excuse for your teeth. Eww.

Oscar hits and misses

Here is a picture of Terrance Howard. He didn't win Best Actor as suspected, but he's so FUINE that I had to attach a picture of him from the film Hustle and Flow.

I didn't watch the Oscars because it's usually so damn boring. Although, I'm kinda bummed I missed Jon Stewart, who I absolutely adore. And of course, I heard he was funny.

Nevertheless, I participated in my office pool. $10 a pop. I didn't hit all the categories, but did better than I thought. Well, actually, I knew I would do well. I'm a good gambler. It's in my genes. Hopefully, I will have my hands on the winning pot tomorrow morning.

Hugh highlights: Ang Lee won Best Director (YES!); Philip Seymour Hoffman won Best Actor; Reese Witherspoon won Best Actress; Rachel Weisz won Best Supporting Actress. These individuals were really outstanding and deserve the statuette.

Deep disappointments: How in the world did Crash win Best Picture? I mean, it's not a bad movie but it's not great either, especially when compared to Brokeback, Capote, Munich and Good Bye, Good Luck... all of which are way better. Also, because Crash's depiction of Asians/American Americans absolutely sucked dick with its one-dimensional image of my people, this movie should not have won the Oscar. Paul Haggis must have sucked some academy dicks to get his statuette. Dammit. I knew I should have written a letter to the Times about how poorly Asians were depicted in this movie...

Read one critic's opinion why Crash prevailed over the other more superior movies in the same category. It's right on.

I'm also upset that Paradise Now did not win... but I have to admit that I chose Tsotsi on my pool sheet... c'mon now, I don't fuck with mah money.

DYY's daddy hooked it up

Yip Yee and daughter spent another exciting weekend in San Jose, visiting the other daughter of Yip Yee and her children. My dad is pictured here doing his thang. For those who don't know, he's the best chef in Chicago's Chinatown. And I'm not just saying that because he's my dad. It's totally true and well-known in the community. If you ever visit Chinatown in Chicago, ask anyone about "Tao Chui Yip" (means Head Chef Yip)

He whipped up this meal for us in minutes. Black bean clams, crab in lobster pork sauce, two types of Chinese greens that I do not know the names of in English, steamed fish with green onions (my favorite of the evening) and crackling pork (which we purchased from the deli and was too fatty actually).

Here is another Yip Yee fan, GYY (Grandson of Yip Yee).

Staying true to slogan: Why pay more?

Although Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in America, almost one in six Wal-Mart employees in Pennsylvania were enrolled in the state's health care program for the poor and disabled last year.

For more information, read Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy's (LAANE) fact sheet on Wal-Mart's wages, benefits and workers rights, or lack thereof.

Ash Wednesday rocks on

Since I'm not Catholic, and would never give up meat or my vices, I struggled with how to celebrate Ash Wednesday. Then I read Cardinal Mahony's statement that he would instruct his priests to defy legislation — if approved by Congress — that would require churches and other social organizations to ask immigrants for legal documentation before providing assistance. This provision was included in the immigration bill recently passed by the House of Representatives; a similar proposal is in the version that the Senate Judiciary Committee plans to begin debating this week.

As a regular critic of the Catholic Church for its homophobic and misogynist views, I find Cardinal Mahony's perspective on immigration to be refreshing. DYY rejoices his words on this first day of Lent. Peace be with you.

Hot fashion

A different kind of rodeo

Jacket by Robert Cavalli

MTV Cribs' newest episode

Black bears increasingly visit California neighborhoods, where they grow fat and fertile feasting on trash and the odd avocado.