NKOTB

I only heard the rumors, but their reunion is confirmed.

So these motherfuckers are back. And they're kinda hot in their suits. I'm a little sad they won't be touring Los Angeles.

Now its... ** DYY TRIVIA TIME ** !!!!

DYY's first concert EVER was New Kids On The Block!! Oh yeah!

A Lowenbrau Moment

Balcony view from Parks BBQ on Vermont
Photo by Mr. T

During a toast for Jane's birthday, I felt a fleeting moment of:

Here's to Good Friends..
Tonight is Kind of Special...

But I totally forgot the rest of the lyrics. I knew it was a beer commercial though. In fact, I pictured a group of teenagers drinking this mysterious beverage by the fire at a ski lodge. And two lumberjacks at a random hillbilly bar, clicking their beer bottles to toast their secret love for one another. Do you remember? Or am I making this up? I can't be sure. Anyway, it was Calvin who said "Lowenbrau" after I recited the first two lines.

Calvin was like, Have you ever tasted Lowenbrau? I was like, No.

So I found the rest of the lyrics on rockin' Wiki.

In the 1970s and 1980s in the United States, Löwenbräu was famous for its jingle, sung by Arthur Prysock:

Here's to good friends,

Tonight is kind of special.

The beer we'll pour

must say something more, somehow.

So tonight (tonight),

Tonight,

Let it be Lowenbrau (let it be Lowenbrau).

It's been so long.

Hey, I'm glad to see ya.

Raise your glass.

Here's to health and happiness.

So tonight (tonight),

Let it be all the best.

Happy Asian Pacific American Hertiage Month!

You know, I've known the month of May to be APA Heritage Month for, like, forever. But how did it come about? I found some great historical background about our month to share with you, thanks to the fabulous omniscient world wide web.

May is Asian Pacific American (APA) Heritage Month—a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. Much like Black History or Women's History celebrations, APA Heritage Month originated in a congressional bill.

In June 1977, Representatives Frank Horton of New York and Norman Y. Mineta of California introduced a House resolution that called upon the president to proclaim the first ten days of May as Asian/Pacific Heritage Week. The following month, senators Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga introduced a similar bill in the Senate. Both were passed.

On October 5, 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed a Joint Resolution designating the annual celebration. In May 1990, the holiday was expanded further when President George H.W. Bush designated May to be Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. The majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants.

This year's theme is "Freedom for All—A Nation We Call Our Own."

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