Contemplating "Unfortunate Truths and Opinions"

(Thanks, Dulce Vita!)

Truth

As if we didn't see this coming, Psychology Today has issued an apology for publishing the racist ramblings of Dr. Housebroken.  Quoted from the Atlantic Wire:

Last week, a blog post about race and appearance by Satoshi Kanazawa was published--and promptly removed--from this site. We deeply apologize for the pain and offense that this post caused. Psychology Today's mission is to inform the public, not to provide a platform for inflammatory and offensive material. Psychology Today does not tolerate racism or prejudice of any sort. The post was not approved by Psychology Today, but we take full responsibility for its publication on our site. We have taken measures to ensure that such an incident does not occur again. Again, we are deeply sorry for the hurt that this post caused.

Now, I personally don't give a shit; if you ask me, "I'm sorry" is rapidly becoming one of the most meaningless phrases here in the West.  "I'm sorry" is not what you say to express remorse; it's what you say to shut people up and get them off your back.  Notice the focus on the readers' reactions - "pain", "offense", "hurt" - which is typical when apologizing while white.  I'd be more impressed with, "We were negligent and irresponsible, and Dr. Housebroken has been summarily dismissed from our staff."

Underappreciated Actor of Another Color #30: Dustin Nguyen

*blink* Because I had to.

~ Special Edition Post ~

After a very important discussion on the Narrative, courtesy of vlogger Kon, I felt this post was looooooong overdue.

Born in 1962 as Nguyễn Xuân Trí in Saigon, Dustin Nguyen comes from a family of artists (apparently they escaped the day the city fell). This would explain why in addition to being an actor, the man's a writer, director, and martial artist (explains the body).

The brave amongst you will admit to loving him in 21 Jump Street, and not giving a damn about dating yourselves in the process.  The shameless amongst you (like Moi) will remember him from that Pamela Anderson show, V.I.P.  *shrug*  Hey, my dad liked the show and I needed something - or someone - to help me get through it.  He was also in Vanishing Son II and IV, among a lot of other things.

Dustin recently completely work on The Gaunlet, playing the character of Jin-Soo, and is rumored to appear in the upcoming film Popular Dysfunctions.  It would appear our main man has stayed quite busy, which is always good to know.  I suggest going to Netflix and just ordering everything with him in it.  I strongly recommind Little Fish with Hugo Weaving and Cate Blanchett.  Dustin does an Australian accent to perfection.

Dustin is a devoted husband; in the infamous car accident which claimed the life of Thuy Trang (the Yellow Ranger, *sniff*), Dustin's wife was rendered paralyzed.  He's stuck by her ever since, and become active with the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center.

Michael Vartan is Unworthy

Case in Point: If her love interest was a black man whites wouldn’t go see it. The first thing the director does in this film is blur her ethnicity. Her exotic appeal to young white boys was definitely a consideration. In this country, being cast opposite a white male lead seems the aspect of success for black women. No formula-driven Tyler Perry movie can do this for Zoë.

~ M. Gibson

You know...I was getting eager to see film this until Michael Vartan's cliched-ass character was unveiled.

This is going to be a straight-up vengeance flick; I get that. I'm not expecting Shakespeare, but come on. This is going to be a film all about a gun-toting assassin portrayed by a woman I'm admiring increasingly...and not only did they have to give her a not-so-essential significant other, but they cast friggin' Michael Vartan.

Contemplating "The New Michael Jackson"

(Thanks Field Negro and Grio!!!)

Um, Bey...explanation, please?

By all means borrow from African culture for your dance and music -- white kids love that! But when it comes to your looks, let's go with the whiter, the better.

~ The Grio

Of course Beyoncé cannot control the color skin she was born with, nor any stigmas attached to it, but the persistent brightening brings back memories of another talented and world-renowned pop star who jumped from black to white somewhere around his third album. Coincidence much?

The truth is Beyoncé is no Michael Jackson. Beyoncé probably isn't bleaching her skin or suffering from vitiligo, but she is complicit in the editorial decisions that light her up until she looks dusty, or Photoshop her photos a few color grades fairer than her true hue.

~ The Grio

Contemplating "Omer"

RIP Zong Vang

 (Thanks, BigWOWO!!!)

From Jaehwan:

...The story? When [Omer Ninham] was 14, Ninham and four buddies approached Zong Vang, who was 13. Vang was riding his bicycle and had picked up tomatoes from the grocery store for his family. Ninham and his friend teased Vang, punched him, and then chased him to the top of a parking structure. Ninham and one of the friends grabbed Vang by the wrists and ankles as he cried and screamed, and then they threw him off the top floor. Vang fell five stories to his death.

Ninham’s lawyer made the argument that crimes committed by kids are different. But honestly, 14 years old is an eighth grader–not exactly a baby. It’s true that kids have different mentalities than adults, but I knew that it was wrong to murder people when I was 14. Especially when this kid had a gang of four other kids who ruthlessly chased down a lone, unarmed boy and threw him off the top of a parking structure; what a terrible death to inflict on another person. I can’t see how that action doesn’t deserve the highest punishment possible. Considering his crime, I find it hard to think of a life sentence as “cruel and unusual,” especially if Wisconsin’s jails are de-facto country clubs like the jails in Oregon.

At the Bar with Dennis R. Upkins

~ Special Edition Post ~

Dennis R. Upkins is a beloved regular here at the Bar, though here he prefers to go by the nickname "Neo-Prodigy". A brilliant, observant, and deeply insightful bookworm, Dennis is an accomplished writer and self-professed nerd. It was an immeasurable delight and privilege to complete this interview with him on May 22, 2011, in honor of his debut novel Hollowstone.

What's the premise of the book, and how did you arrive at it?

It’s the the story of Noah Scott whose life changes drastically when he is accepted to Hollowstone Academy, one of the most prestigious boarding schools in the country. Set in the mountains of Eastern Tennessee, the saga takes place in the small fictional town of Newton. It’s there at the illustrious school that Noah meets his roommate, the charming and enigmatic Caleb Warner. In a world of the privileged, it doesn’t take long for the pair of best friends to find themselves in all kinds of trouble.

Tragedy strikes when Cal is brutally murdered in a hold-up. But when Noah is visited by Cal’s ghost, he soon discovers that the random act of violence was in fact a premeditated one. And when he begins receiving prophetic dreams, Noah also quickly learns that greater supernatural forces are at play. In a race against time, Noah must solve Cal’s murder and get answers before he’s the killer’s next victim.

Irony of the Slave

Dr. Housebroken

 (Thanks to the commenters on BigWOWO)

"MEN LIKE BLONDE BOMBSHELLS: Blonde hair changes with age, notes Dr Kanazawa. Typically, young girls with light blonde hair become women with brown hair.

So blonde hair is a signal of youth* and men who attempt to mate with blondes are unconsciously seeking younger, more healthy women."

~ "I Can't Help Liking Blondes; It's Evolution"

Slave-Thinking

A short while back on the Narrative, I did a piece debunking some myths about black women.  I brought up a quick point about how when POC like Kanazawa here throw themselves at white people and proclaim the white aesthetic to be superior, they don't seem to realize that they've just accepted the role of being "less."  They're so caught up in the thrill of rolling with the supposed king that they don't stop to notice they're not the ones wearing the vaunted crown.

And POC like Dr. Satoshi Kanazawa don't just end things at white worship, mind you; they take it a step further with black devaluation.  They spit on one to impress the other.  And the reason they spit on black, whether they accept it or not, traces its roots back to the enslavement of Africans.  In other words, they reject the slave to appease the king.  The irony here, of course, is the moment POC like Kanazawa roll over and accept white superiority of their own free will, they enslave themselves.

At the Bar with Audrey Kelley

Audrey Kelley is a writer, actress, and owner of Kelley Co. Productions.  Her recently completed project, Audrey & Dre, has made international waves for almost a year now, drawing in a devoted following before the first webisode/mobisode was ever even aired.  I had the privilege of completing this interview with her on May 16, 2011.

So, Ms. Kelley, I guess my main question is...how?  How did it all get started?

I started my company, Chrysopoeia Enterprises (d/b/a The Kelley Co. Productions) in July of 2008 to provide a platform for myself and others to create and present original, creative projects. In the world of fantastical alchemy, the transforming agent that turns metal into gold is called "chrysopoeia." I named my company Chrysopoeia because we create something out of nothing. An analogy would be that a jewelry maker takes pearls, gems and precious stones, then strings them into fine jewelry. If my company were into jewelry making, we would take the earth and make the pearls, gems and precious stones, then string what we made to make beautiful jewelry.

As you can guess, I’m very interested in your new show, Audrey & Dre. How did the idea come about? Who are the writers and directors?

I wrote Audrey & Dre to learn how to make a film. I have other projects on the table that I'm looking forward to producing, but without any producing experience under my belt, I had to create a project to teach myself the process.

At the Bar with Hayat Ali

Hayat Ali is an author who's steadily amassing a cult following.  She came highly recommended on the Blasian Narrative, and on Amazon.com, her fans abound.  I had the privilege of completing this interview with her on May 13, 2011.

First, let me just say thank you so very much for doing this, and that you have a really beautiful name. Could you tell us about it?

Thank you for opening your forum to me. It's really a pleasure to do this.

My name Hayat means "life" in Arabic. It is also happens that my favorite ancient Egyptian symbol, the ankh, means the same thing.

For those who are unfamiliar with you and your work, could you tell us a few things about yourself and what you do?

I am an attorney by trade ironically like many of the sci-fi authors I like. I was a public defender. Now I do primarily contract work in addition.

Men are Not Strictly Visual

Julia Pace Mitchell.  And yes,
hetero men want some of this.

A woman I know is currently a size six, formerly a size twelve or so, and now seeking to become a size two.  While she claimed up and down it's strictly for health reasons, she also slipped up and stated she's simply "accepted the fact that men are strictly visual creatures."

Um...no, they're not.

Now, I'm not going to weigh in on this too heavily because I'm not a guy and I can only speak from my experiences of interacting with men.  My father in particular stressed to me that concerning heterosexual men of worth, a woman has to be more than what meets the eye.  And the gay men I've known have been not so shallow with their tastes, despite the stereotypes.

While I've noticed that some men may start out judging only the visual, the moment their person of interest makes the wrong move, that pretty face/rocking body be damned.   Men also want to be listened to, comforted, appreciated, and even occasionally rescued.  And most men seek actual compatibility with a potential significant other.  They want someone who will read their poetry, listen to their music, hold them in their darkest hour, and have their backs in a jam.  More than simply being paired with an attractive mate, most men want to be loved and understood.  Because as time passes, looks fade, and contrary to popular belief, men know good and well they need more than looks to be able to deal with the same partner for decades.

Remember what Chris Rock said about life not being short, but long?  Especially if you make the wrong decision?

"Niggas of All Races"

After Julian Curry's powerful denouncement of the word "nigga", I decided to quit using the term.  But after moving back to H-Town, I've found it haaaaaard, hard, hard to abstain.  Because while this town most certainly has its perks, Houstonians have some tendencies which can make a pygmy's braids' hurt.  As the lil sis says, there's "niggas of all races" down here, and folks...they are fucking with my sunny disposition.

First of all, POC down here need to get their ish together and treat one another better.  And the best way to start is by pulling heads from respective asses.  POC, news flash: all the little stereotypes you attribute to "other" POC?  They're attributing the same damn stereotypes to you.