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10.31.2007

This blog is no more

You can find me here now:

http://thomaswriteswords.typepad.com/blankspace/

http://thomaswriteswords.typepad.com/i_saved_latin/

http://thomaswriteswords.typepad.com/the_sunday_best/

posted by Thomas @ 14:14 1 comments

5.31.2007

Blogs are dead - long live blogs!

I really want to maintain a "web-presence" but I have to be honest - without a need to distract myself in classes I've pretty much lost all desire to spend hours and hours online. Or at least hours spent writing about YouTube videos. (Speaking of which, have you seen this cute with Chris guy? Amazing.)

I'm still writing for The Tyee though, and my latest is apparently my greatest, as all two of my fans have attested.

1993: The Year Rap Died

And here finally is my picture with Win Butler, lead singer of Arcade Fire:

That there is Win Butler

posted by Thomas @ 15:47 2 comments

4.16.2007

Maybe moving to the States isn't such a good idea

At least 33 killed in Virginia Tech shooting. (NY Times)

posted by Thomas @ 14:03 0 comments

4.14.2007

Unicorns - A Digital Short

Some good information about the Sasquatch too if you watch to the end.




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posted by Thomas @ 15:20 1 comments

4.12.2007

Recent Pics






posted by Thomas @ 20:00 3 comments

Paloozahead


Create Your Own PaloozaHead - Visit Lollapalooza.com

posted by Thomas @ 18:30 1 comments

4.09.2007

Laughter - A Digital Short

Probably as gross (in that PDA kind of way) as SNL's are hysterically funny. Three years of law school and I still can't write a memo, but I can make no-budget videos of my friends.




(Yes, the title music is a typewriter. Welcome to the 21st Century.)

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posted by Thomas @ 13:14 4 comments

4.05.2007

From God of War to BMW

Entertaining flash-based game for BMW (from Josh Spears).

Pursuit Across Europe

posted by Thomas @ 14:27 0 comments

3.31.2007

Gmail is rich, beeyatch.

Sm. suggests emailing all your photographs to yourself and getting gmail to print them and mail them to you...for free.

Gmail Paper


posted by Thomas @ 21:56 5 comments

3.29.2007

Get up with the get down

While shopping in Value Village for vintage YSL ties, I came across this keyboard - perfect since Sm. had recently said she wanted one.

It is, as they say, le awesome:



The Casio Rapman. With 32 authentic tones, and a large surface scratch pad, this is THE keyboard for aspiring Ludacrii.




posted by Thomas @ 14:37 1 comments

3.20.2007

Because she has so many other options...

Seems Hermione is tired of being Hermione. Forgive my impertinence, but I've always thought her the weakest of the three. (via kottke)

posted by Thomas @ 10:13 1 comments

3.17.2007

Kindly ask me no more questions

posted by Thomas @ 15:10 3 comments

3.15.2007

Bank People

The library is great - not for research (well, maybe for that), but to get Season 3 of The Kids in the Hall on DVD. This may or may not be part of Season 3, but it's definitely one of my favourites.

"I'll eat pancakes on your grave."


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posted by Thomas @ 22:52 1 comments

3.08.2007

I love all people

From Bill Simmons recent running diary of the Houston/Boston basketball game:

9:42 -- Coming out of commercial, we see a replay of Yao's finger getting bent back on a rebound and Yao screaming in pain, followed by Gorman reporting that Yao went to the locker room to get it checked out, then Tommy joking, "That was his chopstick finger, too, he may not be able to eat anymore!" and Gorman changing the subject as fast as humanly possible. (The lesson, as always: It's never dull when anyone older than 70 is allowed near a microphone during a sporting event.)

I can't wait for the "hey, he DOES use chopsticks, doesn't he?" responses.

posted by Thomas @ 19:51 1 comments

Don't download this song (RIAA disclaimer)


Books - The Acorn

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posted by Thomas @ 14:52 0 comments

3.05.2007

100 years...has anything changed?

2007 marks the 100th anniversary of the Vancouver race riots in Chinatown and something called Japtown. During the riots a white supremacist group marched to city hall to demand a "white Canada." 2007 also marks the 60th anniversary of the repeal of the Chinese Immigration Act, a wonderfully misnamed piece of legislation that eliminated all Chinese immigration to Canada.

The face of Vancouver has certainly changed since then, and it is possible to live in parts of Richmond and never have to speak a word of English. (Possible for some - impossible for me as I do not speak Chinese).

I use this information to provide context for something I came across recently on the Angry Asian Man blog, something so astounding I actually wrote to the authors of the work to ask, "What gives?"

The following is an excerpt, now removed, from a book called Skits That Teach, published by Zondervan, and written by The Skit Guys, Eddie James and Tommy Woodward. The book is meant as a teaching tool for Christian youth leaders.

"Herro, Dis is Wok's Up Restaurant calling to confirm your order. . . . I think that, yes, you total is 14 dollar 95 cent."

"Herro? This is Wok's Up Restaurant again. We have drive and drive, and we can't find you house. We don't find you house soon, you pu pu get cold. Pu pu good when it hot."

(Hostile) "Okay, we drive for long time looking for you house. I tell you, you go outside and I look for you. I am driving a red Rincon (Lincoln) Continental. You pu pu still getting cold. Bye!"

"Okay, I drive for long time and I stil not find you house. So I am eating you pu pu! Ruckiry it still warm. I was hungry, so I eat it. Mmmmm . . . this pu pu is good. (Smacks lips a few times) You on my bad rist. You don't call us anymore. Bye!"

As you can imagine, this caused quit a stir in the sizable Asian Christian community, prompting this apology from The Skit Guys. Mark Oestreicher. who works for Youth Specialties, the company that is responsible for the publication, offered this apology on his blog. All of this prompted me to write this letter to Mark, which I forwarded to Eddie and Tommy.

Hello.

My name is Thomas Wong and I am a Chinese Scottish Canadian living in Vancouver. I was a regular church goer for over 20 years. I am currently in law school and am graduating this year.

I came across the excerpt from James and Woodward's book, Skits that Teach, on the Angry Asian Man site at http://www.angryasianman.com/angry.html. It's a good read for people who, for whatever reason, seem to struggle with the idea that racial stereotypes are offensive.

Mark, I am a reasonable man, and I read your apology with great interest. I believe you are sincerely trying to do good work, and that you were mortified by the content of the book. I also believe that James and Woodward are genuinely apologetic.

Having said that, there is one point that I feel is being lost, or at the very least misunderstood. I will reproduce the excerpt here for reference.

(See excerpt above.)

Without being Asian yourself, I am sure you can see how this is repugnant, foul, and abusive banality. It is, quite simply, inexcusable. I do not mean that it is beyond forgiveness. I mean that content such as this has no possible excuse. It is wrong in every sense of that word.

The part that I feel is being glossed over is the idea that James and Woodward did not mean to be offensive. You state this in your post, and they mention this in their apology. I suppose this is meant to indicate that they were not deliberately setting out to abuse anyone, which is undeniably a good thing. However, the fact that they did not intend that effect does not make this somehow less abusive. In fact, to me it makes it far more abusive, since it indicates that they wrote the skit, believing it to be humourous, completely oblivious to the possibility that an entire ethnic group, a stunning one third of the earth's population, might find it horribly offensive.

In other words, they were CASUALLY horribly racist. They wrote it the way a young child might write a swear word in a letter to Grandma, not knowing what it means. They wrote it thinking they were being funny - and that was it.

This utterly baffles me. It makes me wonder just how insular the church is these days, as it attempts to justify and stake out increasingly untenable positions. My own personal views on the church are not my main point. Intended or not, this hurt me. It made me angry.

It is the 100th anniversary of a race riot in Vancouver that almost burned down Chinatown. It is also the anniversary of the passing of legislation that forbid Chinese immigration to Canada. Racism is not a laughing matter. I would expect, nay demand, that followers of someone as enlightened as Jesus would know this inherently. I don't think the writers need to "consult" with Asian church leaders. I think they need to consult the Gospels.

Sincerely,

Thomas Wong

As of this posting only Eddie James has written back, with what I believe is a genuine apology. However, I feel that the fact that the book is still being sold, albeit in an altered form, indicates that this is being handled from a financial perspective. A true apology would rip this book from the shelves and demand their return from bookstores.

My favourite part about all of this? That the racism is being called a "sin," and that this is evidence that we are all susceptible to "sinful ways." Racism isn't a sin. It's at best stupid and offensive, and at worst an excuse for genocide.

posted by Thomas @ 17:11 1 comments

3.04.2007

These United States


How many States can you name in 10 minutes? I managed 38, and when the 12 I missed came up there were no surprises. I simply couldn't remember them.

50 States in 10 Minutes

(The clock starts immediately).

posted by Thomas @ 11:23 4 comments

2.27.2007

Well...shoot

posted by Thomas @ 15:04 1 comments

Oh man, people are going to be pissed

James Camerson discovers the coffins of Jesus Christ and his family.

Every time I see a story like this, I always wonder - why does no one think that people before a certain time would play a practical joke? That is to say, why is it that things found hundreds of years ago are never thought to be the work of historical jackasses? "Hey, let's write famous people's names on this stuff and hundreds of years from now people will be TOTALLY fooled."

No? No. No?

King of the world indeed.



posted by Thomas @ 14:10 0 comments

2.26.2007

Chinese, Japanese, Korean...whatever

This, from Warren Ellis' morning update:

* Martin Scorcese got his "fuck me,
are you still here?" Oscar for
remaking a Korean crime flick. Since
he's had a hard-on for Oscar for
some thirty years, I suppose it's
nice for him. But it still seems a bit
sad to me.


To his credit, he wrote back a minute after my email to say he was thinking about another movie.

posted by Thomas @ 09:54 2 comments