So two weeks ago, the JV and Elvis Dog House morning radio show crank-called a local NYC Chinese take-out. The DJs ordered "shrimp flied lice," asked about the Chinese man's "tiny egg roll in (his) pants," surmised that he "probably can't drive for shit," and my favorite, requested to "tap (the) ass" of the "hot Asian girl that answered the phone."

While it is hardly surprising that morning "shock jock" talk show hosts use this kind of tiresome "humor," and that this same brand of triteness runs rampant in society, I am rather amazed by the fact that it's aired not once, but twice (April 5 and 19) on the CBS-owned station -- after the whole Imus scandal. Imus was fired on April 12 for his April 4 "nappy-headed hos" comment about the Rutgers women's b-ball team.

Of course, everyone knows Imus wasn't axed by CBS purely over ethics --advertisers were pulling out. This is America after all, a country built on free speech, greed and racism. Not to mention slaves, Chinese railroad workers and endless immigrant labor.

Anyway, the Chinese restaurant worker, who sounded like a Brooklyn-native, played it impressively cool. My theory: he's either used to this crap and doesn't have the energy to get into it, or a decent guy with no interest in pissing off customers, even if they are douchebags. Meanwhile, an Asian-American advocacy group is attempting to take the hosts down.

Here's the radio show's blog text:

"Jeff Takes Kung Fool:

JV calls a Chinese food restaurant using voice software. Honestly, this was absolutely hilarious. The entire office here as cracking up for the entire call. Podcast? Hells yeah!"

And is it just me, or do you often get the feeling that when people preface a statement with words like "honestly" or "to be honest" or whatever, everything else they've been saying is bullshit?

Read this Times article, too.

I really don't know which way to go or even where to begin with the Virginia Tech tragedy -- only that it's the first media circus I've actively paid attention to in a long while, for obvious reasons. Number one being: in addition to the world-at-large's general horror and sadness, you could sense the collective heart-sinking of the Asian community when Seung-Hui Cho's identity was revealed. But how much should race really come into play when you're essentially dealing with a psychopath?

(Photo copped from this morning's front page of The New York Times)

However, the gun issue is more tangible, and here is the best opinion I've read on the matter so far, posted as an anonymous comment on newscientist.com:

"Okay, fine. There should be one, simple, rapid-loading hand gun distributed to every person in the U.S. No matter the age, no matter the criminal record. (Because we all have a right to bear arms, right?) Everyone gets a gun. Then we'll all be safe from gun-toting madmen ... except that we'll all be gun-toting madmen, paranoid about all the other people who are carrying guns. I've never understood the gun culture, but i guess that's because I don't have a need to kill things. And last time I checked, that's what guns do. But there's no point in arguing because trying to have an intelligent conversation with a gun-lover is like trying to find good pizza in Boston." Cheers to that.

The first time I saw (and ever heard) Blonde Redhead was live in New York City, at Tramps on West 21st. Kazu wore a red shirt. In fact, so did the brothers, Simone and Amedeo. But they looked like underfed trapeze artists while she looked ridiculously hot.



It was the late '90s, a few years after Cibo Matto's seminal (yes, seminal) Viva! La Woman, when it seemed every weird little band or musician that came out of Japan got hype -- Kahimi Karie, Takako Minekawa, Buffalo Daughter, Cornelius. Yoko Ono was posing on the cover of Ray Gun Magazine, Giant Robot was on the rise. But right around the time Grand Royal kicked, that trendy J-School music scene died, too. What ever happened to Kahimi? Who cares. That show blew my fucking mind. Kazu may be Japanese, and I might have gone to my first Blonde Redhead gig because I myself was a weird little Asianophile, but that's as far as that went.


It's rare when you hear a band for the first time and they swallow you whole -- obsessively, mesmerizingly, covered in sweat and tangled hair. Soon after, I interviewed Kazu for GR. It was as difficult to understand her whispery speaking voice as it is her lyrics when she sings. And for some reason, the clearest detail I remember is her telling me that her favorite restaurant was the Four Seasons, a posh place she dined at only when someone else was footing the bill. Anyway Kazu is still hot, and Blonde Redhead's latest album, 23, comes out tomorrow.


If you're so inclined, check out their free show at the Apple Store in Soho tomorrow night. 103 Prince Street, 8 pm.