To write an open letter to Lakers fans.

Currently Listening to: Tanya Morgan – So Damn Down

Tanya Morgan’s “Brooklynati” is my album of the year so far; it’s reached “Below the Heavens” status for me.  Just putting it out there.

I’m going to address the Cavs Magic series first.  Cleveland isn’t the better team, talent wise I would rather have Magic 9 out of 10 times because there’s more balance and Dwight can do enough to draw the D.  I think he has to stop relying on that jump hook so much and do what Shaq did and just post up and back down on all C’s out there because no one in the league can guard him, but that’s just me and I’m not the one on the court.  I think he can do it, but I don’t think he does.  That being said, I think their coach sucks. Hard.  I watch him in those little huddles and it makes me sad how no one seems to listen to him. I also think Lebron will never, and I mean NEVER let this team lose until the finals.  He’ll average 45/12/12 if he has to, and he can do it. I have no doubt that he can.

Now, to the issue at hand.

Click Here. Press Ctrl+ F and then search for “5 minutes”, read the question and answer, and then search for “Los Angeles” and do the same.

Dear Lakers Fans,

Stop whining when you think you don’t get the calls, because you always do.  The Lakers are a combination of both the Yankees and the Red Sox for the NBA.  They have a huge fanbase – which seems to include about 90% of Hollywood  stars (even if they’re from say New Orleans), they’re successful, they’re hated by about every non-laker fan in the league, and they have the commish’s silent blessing a la Boston Red Sox.  I’m sick of your complaints about refs, and I’m even more disgusted on how you jump on “bad calls” when the game/series is no longer in contention.

Ex 1.1 Lakers vs. Houston, when Ronny Artest got that technical in game 3 and every Lakers fans updated their status with the likes of “what a shit call NBA”.  Please, that team had 1/3 the payroll you have, no guy over 6′9 when you have two seven footers, and was a good 7, 8 men deep (albeit they took you to seven games.) Every rational mind would know that the Rockets  had no chance.  I digress; that series should’ve been over about five days before game seven but it wasn’t; and you all know it.  The only reason why you didn’t get upset at that one call; and that’s probably the only call you haven’t been upset at in the last 10 years, is because you all knew that.  Everyone knew that.

Granted, that game 1 was lost by the Nugs because the Nuggest have one George Karl as their coach, who – seeing as how I’m watching Game 2 right now, is as red as Violet Beauregarde was blue and is as incompetent in the clutch as SVG.  Those last three minutes were horribly coached and the Ariza steal should not have happened.

Granted, the refs like to play mind games.  I’m pretty sure commsih Stern has them making calls for the other teams for the first three quarters and then for the Lakers in the fourth.  You can say, oh okay that means they get 3 times the many calls we do, but no, the fourth quarter is by far more important than the first three combined.  If you get calls despite being down by say… 15, you can easily come back. Easily.  It means you can play more aggressively without getting calls, and you can miss shots with a greater chance to redeem yourself at the foul line.  In the fourth quarter, the Lakers committed six fouls, while the Nuggets committed ten.

In the last five minutes, the Nuggets committed five whereas the Lakers committed one (when the game was over; the one by Derek Fisher so that JR couldn’t let a three go.)  This includes the offensive foul on Melo drawn by Pau (weaksauce) and the one on Kobe when the game was tied at 99 (from what I remember, it was a drive and justified).  Really?  Really?

This, mind you, comes in a quarter when the Lakers took shots in the key only three times, and the Nuggets took six.

Let’s be honest.  Your team is mentally weak down low, your team plays with no passion, and save Kobe Bryant and maybe Ariza, no one seems to care about winning the Finals.  Pau doesn’t show up until he has to, Fish has secretly become more dirty than Bowen (um.. Scola anyone?; if Chauncey did that to Pau, you would be all over his ass), Bynum lost his confidence when he went down, both (or maybe all three if you include Brown) of your point guards are mostly confused on the court, no one, and I mean no one, outside of LA likes Vujacic, and your bench secretly sucks.  Hard.

At the half its 54-55, if the Nuggets take this game, the Nugs are going to the finals in six.  If not, the Lakers take it to 7 and win because Pau will finally care.  It’s really kind of sad.  The PTI guys made a good point, you cheer for this team because you think they’re good, but you hate to because they play with no passion.  The other three teams, they care.  Dwight cares.  Melo cares a lot.  Lebron cares like the Championship trophy is his only way to go to heaven, or New York, without any consequences.

So Lakers fans.  Please, stop whining.  Stop crying.  Stop yelling.  Stop bitching. You have a one in the win column.

- Kevin

To question whether or not “Racial” awareness leads to dichotomies and otherizations.

Currently Listening to: Ne-Yo – Rich Man
Jay Smooth is officially, and this is said with a heavy heavy emphasis on the following word, COOLEST man on earth.  He even direct msged me about a tweet I made. JAY  SMOOTH.  I mean commit myself to crazy fanboy status right now.  I’m contemplating dropping “yo waddup fellow MA alum” on Toure right now.  Twitter is trippy.

By the way, I want someone to follow me on twitter, cause they’re fans of my post on 8asians.  Please, FEED MY EGO.

I was going to write this on sunday, but I need this right now because I’m about to break because of chinese studying.  First, watch this.

A couple things.  We are not, and I emphasize this every post, in a post-racial world.  Please.  This is a celebration of culture, and we do it because we are NOT in a post-racial world. (and quite frankly a surprise coming from Jon Stewart) I think the rhetoric of “racial-humility” has too negative a connotation, because humility is sort of associated with guilt and holds a handful of negative connotations.  I think the term is racial or social awareness or consciousness, where we don’t make comments like “nappy headed hoes” because we understand that a) its not funny but b) is socially incorrect/irresponsible.  That links to the “foundation” that many other white rappers have right?  Where we need “humility” to have that foundation, but I think we need that foundation to have the “humility”.  Because Asher Roth didn’t group up in a neighborhood or community that was socially aware/diverse, and thus would not have such “humility”.  Social awareness education is very real world and hands on, it is much easier to talk about the Asian American experience if people have EXPERIENCED it before.  That’s what’s been the toughest to do here at CMC, barely ANYONE has that EXPERIENCE.  So that foundation is living, growing, learning, and so on in a community where we recognize social differences and are aware of racial differences.  I mean if you need any further proof that race is still relevant, ASHER ROTH IS IT!  He is the commercialization of P-Unit (and I’m too lazy to link it, but just hit up youtube), growing up in a WASP-y environment that just happened to be exposed to hip hop but never LIVED it.  To be fair, my experiences in society probably put me closer to Asher Roth than Eminem or something, but I think that I’m more aware because I’ve sort of pushed myself into that direction, and being at Milton Academy, simply because of how diverse it was, definitely helped.
That being said, doesn’t Asher Roth sort of emulate what people generally view society as?  I mean they’re sort of socially aware, but generally see the world through dichotomies and generalizations right ?  Hip Hop vs. Music?  Black culture vs White culture?   Isn’t it naievte, entitlement, and white priviledge just the dichotomy of what is generally accepted as “hip hop culture”?

To not use Twitter. Whoops.

Currently Listening to: Epik High – Free Music

http://twitter.com/itzagudwun

this is a mistake.

To share Jay Smooth’s thoughts on Racial Crossroads

Currently Listening to:School Food Punishment – futuristic imagination

When I first started to really get into hip hop late Junior year of HS, one of the few people I started following was Jay Smooth and his website.  This video was basically going to be the response I planned on writing after finals to the new Claremont Independent editorial. Lookit here. In a “Post”-Obama world, people seem to overlook race, and we’re in a “Post-Racial” world where those who do seem to try to tackle race or social issues are “self-segregating” or “reverse racists”.     I don’t think people are racist to prove that they aren’t racist (wtf?), but I do think people are trying to overlook race because they honestly think it doesn’t matter anymore, whereas… it does

Racialicious, the smartest blog on issues of race, on Asher Roth.  I’m going to reserve my comments on him right now.  By the way,  Bread Aisle wasn’t a bad album, but it wasn’t good either.

That it’s just the nature of the Fan.

Currently Listening to: Lupe Fiasco – Put You on Game

I hate Lakers and Boston fans.  They lose with no shame and they celebrate with no honor.  But I think I hate those fans because I’ve lived in those cities, and know so many of those really shitty fans.  Obviously this is a huge generalization, but when I listen to some more… rational people… who learn to accept defeat and win knowing that someone else lost. Well.  I guess I just like maturity.

Which is what Mark Cuban is.  Mature.  Apparently he and Mother K-Mart got into an argument in game 3, and he had pretty mean things to say.  Obviously things are unclear but Kenyon called Cuban out for it and sort of demanded a face to face without the eye of the public and the media.  I think Cuban did the right thing here. But I realized that Cuban’s on to something; it isn’t Boston or LA fans that are shitty, being an asshole is the nature of being a fan.  I just don’t know if I would go and threaten or personally attack a Lion’s, Bear’s, or Viking’s fan.

BTW As a man without an NBA team, if Bill Simmons becomes the Minnesota GM, I would be a pseudo-Twolves fan.  Just putting it out there.

Also, the newest episode of How I Met Your Mother, and there are spoilers ahead, has Ted meeting Stella again and helping her get back with Tony.  I was talking to some people about it, and apparently no one would’ve done what Ted did.  When I was watching the episode, I was thinking that I would’ve done what Ted did, but now that people point it out, maybe I won’t.  I don’t really know actually.  I’ve never been left at the alter, or been to the alter (yeah no.)  but I would definitely help out an ex get back with someone; but probably not if that was the guy my ex cheated on me with or something.  That’s never happened to me before, but eh.

Tomas Unger, if you’re reading this.  I’m writing poetry again.  When I’m done, we can swap.  But this isn’t about nature or politics, but just some girl I’m kind of going crazy for and some social justice stuff.  Maybe I’ll post one up here soon too.  I feel like I’m in highschool all over again, it kind of sucks.

To rock “Gone Fishing”

Currently Listening to: Cool Kids x Don Cannon – Hammer Bros

E-mail I am contemplating sending to Prof.

“Have you ever had to miss something because a mixtape dropped where if you had to wait 75 minutes to listen to it would be a matter of life or death?

Yeah, see you Weds.”

GRAB YOURS NOWW.  What motivates me? the fucking Cool Kids motivate me.

- Kevin

To join “A Coalition of Angry Students”

Currently Listening to: Ice Cube – It Was a Good Day

But really, it wasn’t.  I’m kind of pissed right now.  Anyway, AngryAsianMan posted this a couple days back and I read it but kind of just brushed it off when I read it, but this is FAR more serious than the Tufts Incident I posted about on 8asians.com

A couple links:

Facebook Event regarding the issue

AngryAsianMan post

I’m not going to write a lot about this stuff, because a lot of what I wrote about about what happened at Tufts still applies, but if anything, it clearly shows that it becomes more than an isolated incident and very much still a societal problem across the United States, in the sense that a) so many people were willing to vote down a position dedicated multi-culturalism (for the same reasons, I’m assuming, that people want to shut down diversity groups) b) that racism is the motivation for some of the things people do (If I vote down a position right before I call someone a “dog-eater”, I voted for reasons on race.)  and c) racial slurs and stereotypes remain one of the most harmful and disastrous… things… in the world.  WE KNOW IT IS WRONG. YOU KNOW IT’S WRONG.  RACISM IS WRONG.   That’s why there is such a backlash against such an outburst.  I mean if it’s going to explode across the board, it must be really really pent up in those people.  What’s worse, it probably means that there are more people who can control themselves/ are sensible but share the same beliefs.

BTW, this could be backlash for the shootings that happened a few weeks back, but it could just be a coincidence.