East Infection

Now I cannot seem to decide. I've been toying with taking an English teacher gig overseas but there are a lot of choices. Narrowing them down has not been so simple.


Korea is an easy choice. Used to live there. Love the food. Broads are gorgeous. Urban life is is pretty good. Good remuneration. The photo is Samgachi near where I lived in Seoul. I would catch the subway there. "Chigum... Tangogae."
Japan is a good choice as well. I've spent a bit of time there and must admit to having an historic love affair with the place. In fact, I would not mind living there long-term. Their remuneration , while fair, is modest for such a high-cost country. I would need to be already be there to position myself for the best deal.
China is all over the charts. There are so many opportunities there that it is mind-numbing. Remuneration is also all over the place. But this is also a place that has fascinated me since I was just a kid.
I remember asking my father about China when I was just about 7 or 8 and her told me American could not go there. After all, it was the 1960s and the Cultural Revolution was rocking the country. I am firmly convinced that if you tell any American kid he/she is not allowed to do something, they'll spend the rest of their days with that particular thing in their mind.

Then there is Taiwan, Republic of China - the little engine that could. They'll fly me there and pay me fair and square. As the saying goes: Never been there. They tell me it's nice. The remuneration package is pretty nice.

I have not mentioned all of the other places in the offering. Jeez, there are so many. I just need to sell all my shit and go.

Para-Sonia

Hey, hey Sonia.

This woman, Sonia Deol, can do more with a "hello" than any female I've ever listened to. Really yummy voice and turns of phrase.

Why mention her here? Well I got turned on to her quite by accident several years ago after my first return from India. I heard her say something rather saucy and clever on some BBC program or another and said I need to hear more of this.

I subsequently found out that she had a program on the BBC Asian Network. She does both UK television and radio programming.

I found her radio program and was soon streaming her program via my computer. I fell in love with her morning music and chat show and became a regular listener.

I even responded to something humorous she had said and sent her an email. Sonia read it on-air which, as a writer, I found extremely delicious.

I continued to stream her program while back in Bangalore and introduced her to my Indian colleagues and friends.

I returned to the US and she was suddenly gone. It was announced by the network that she left the show by mutual consent. I was not satisfied by her replacement and have not listened very much since. In fact, it has been several months.

Out of the blue, I pulled up the still bookmarked Asian Network on my PC and checked for programs and Voila! Sonia Deol had just returned (days prior) to the network to fill in for someone else. Which strangely was the methodology of her departure.

She is supposed to remain at this post for only a few weeks more. That part sucks. I missed having her voice in my day. I'll relish it while I can.

Yeah, for many not familiar with the BBC and its various incarnations, Sonia Deol may be an unknown quantity. Well let's do something about that: http://www.bbc.co.uk/asiannetwork/nihal/

Jesus Hussein Christ - Dan Brown's Next Novel

Alrighty then... I begin this morning like many, I catch the tube news. I do this now more than ever before. It is due in part to the absence of certain radio attractions (like a show) that I'd like to begin my days with. I'd also have to admit that the dulcet tones put forth by Ann Curry are rather nice in the a.m. Maggie Rod has also got a rockin bod.

Now, the thing that kinda drives me crazy in the morning is the media notion that Barack Obama is pretty much the return of the Christ child. Yup. Jesus H(ussein) Christ.

Everybody is America loves him. The rest of the world loves him. You will too if only you drink this now. C'mon drink it. ISAIDDRINKIT!!!

Just to set a few notes here. I could care less if his middle name was Osama. I don't care enough about who the rest of the world thinks should run my country. I have to admit my curiosity for it however.

Certain radical groups may consider Obama's "Muslim" background an issue - fundamentalists of both the Muslim and Christian varietals. I, personally, don't a shit. I would, however, give a shit if he was leading services. I mean, look at the ones he was already attending. Oh right. Affiliation matters. Or is it race? I get so confused these days. Never mind.

Well, here is the deal. The polls are divided in half, give or take 5-points. So Obama is the choice for half. Wait. Obama-Clinton was equally divided (more or less) but was bitter. So that means he only got a 25-percent Christ-like following. Hmmmm.

My only plea is to judge this on the merits - Obama is a fucking left-wing ideologue who is running against a liberal Republican. There is no conservative in the race.

We will have change no matter what. I just do not want to be stuck with only pocket change. So let us take this democrat out of the manger or pray that he surrounds himself with at least three wise men.

I like being a guy

Humor Enters Puberty

I was a newly minted teen in 1972, all about building models and reading comic books. I had just recently purchased my first LP - Edgar Winter's "They Only Come Out at Night." Incidentally, his was the first concert I attended.

It was after school and I was on my way over to my friend Alphonso's house. We built models and listened to 45s and comedy albums. Alphonso was a funny guy, not just jokes, but really funny. We would often try to out-funny each other.

Well this one day was going to change things. I arrived at his house and we headed up to his room and closed the door. He had an album he was anxious for me to hear. It was called "Class Clown." It changed a lot of things. Comedy was never the same. I could argue that the country changed that year, in part, due to this man named George Carlin.

Well the man is gone now.

I fell asleep with the radio on last night and was awakened, for whatever reason, to an announcement that George Carlin had died at 71. I was not able to rest for the remainder of the night. I do not know how to put this into words but to say that part of my youth has just died with him.

Knowing full well the irony involved, I say Godspeed George.

K-Pop and Roll

There is always something new to post. There is always something I can (at the very least) pontificate about if I am feeling overly righteous. I get there, I really do.
Much of the time, I want these interludes to be more like exclamations. A declarative sentence will get punctuated with an image, I will add a dash of the delicate phrase or, more likely, something a bit pithy. The cherry on top (for me at least) is the play on words - the too clever for this shirt kinda tag at the top.
Voila! a blog entry.
The trick is to try not to be too full of yourself since nobody is looking, so to speak. Well, there is posterity amongst the cobwebs...
Sometime I am just too freaking distracted, pressed or lazy to take the full weight of an issue to task. Then there is the fact that few will keep going to the end if it is overly long, ergo, the bite-size entry. Si. Not unlike a sound-bite.
Then there is just something I just wanna share. Just for the hell of it.
This is one of those times. I've been trolling for some tunes I remember from the mid-90s when I was living in Seoul, Korea. I found much of what I was looking for. This particular band is called Roo'ra (pronounced roola). The song is "100 days." Many believe they were the best band to come out of Korea that decade. They were my personal favorite. N-Joy.

His collar, not his blood, was blue

It was like losing a member of the family - one that you looked up to and actually liked.

Tim Russert has died at 58. His intellectual honesty in a town known for its sopping insincerity was rare and will be sorely missed.

Today is Sunday and it was, as usual Meet the Press time at 9 this morning. Today, as usual, is my talking heads day and Russert's voice was noticeably absent. There was a tangible element in his discourse that let you knowhis was not bullshitting with you. This was true for either side of the aisle too. I respected the man very much for that.

A lot has been said about his passing. A lot more shall be forthcoming, I'm sure.

For me, a guy in his audience, looked to him because he asked the right questions. His friends looked to him for the things that all friends want from each other - for them to still be there.

This comes from Andrea Mitchell, one of his friends. It actually made me well up.

Siempre...

It was true then...

Kinda how I feel...

Some days more than others

Politics is show business for ugly people...

The Manchurian Candidate

Well it is as official as it can get until the convention - Barack Obama is the Democrat's standard bearer this year. I couldn't be more proud. The Democrats, after an entire lifetime of giving lip service to minorities and women, have actually put forth a candidate that was not a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, accused serial rapist or even an elitist...er. well two out of three.
Well actually, the party didn't do it. The voters did it. Well, actually, the super-delegates...
Historically, if you wanted minorities of any stripe appointed to positions of any significance, you're more apt (believe it or not) to find them in a Republican administration.
If that sounds crazy to you, look at the current one. Also remember that the Republicans have always been the party of Civil Rights. It was the Democrats that put up the American aparteid walll in the south. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a proud Republican. Frederick Douglass was a co-founder of the party.
I do not want to come off as majorly pro-Republican. It isn't that. I am a proud registered independant who just happens to be really anti-Democrat.
Having said all of that, a black American is running for the highest office in the land as the candidate of a major party. Too damned bad he is a left wing nutbag. He is a well spoken nutbag to be sure, but his policies put him virtually in the socialist camp. Alas, that is where the Democrats have been heading for quite some time now. I can just hear the inaugural speech now: "Ask what you can do for your country. Not!"
That is not a place I want to be.

It would be really interesting to read the foreign opinion makers if Obama wins. Very few believed it would be possible. They really have few clues as to how we think intuitively. When they get it right, it always amuses me.

His candidacy is historic. I'll even own up that I kinda like the guy. I don't much care for the missus, albeit she is smokin hot. I just wish he were more J.C. Watts and less J.C. Superstar.

Reading Is Fundamental

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Now that's what I call a hearty breakfast!

And in this corner, wearing a blue pantsuit...

Sunday is one of those days that ends before I even know it hit mid stride. It is usually a heavy political day -talking head shows; a heavy reading day - local and New York Times. I also do some heavy net browsing, letting my fingers do the talking as Ma Bell used to say.

Let me begin this by first mentioning Gina Carano beat the living snot out of Kaitlin Young last night on CBS's EliteXC Saturday Night Fights - an extreme fighting program that has hit the free airwaves. Finally, a reality show I can really enjoy guilt-free. This is one beautiful Italian juggernaut. If people want to see real American Gladiators, watch these fights.

If you go by the match up analysis - www.sportsline.com/.../headtohead/cbs_exc_53108, 3 out of 5 analysts predicted Young to win. One guy simply said that "Nobody named Kaitlin can beat Gina Carano, that's for damn sure."

Speaking of fights, today was another primary fight and that other gladiator, Hillary Clinton, won in Puerto Rico. Yesterday's fight over the Florida and Michigan delegates didn't go over as well. She got her Florida count, well half of them. I thought 3/5ths of a man was considered passe' when it came to voting. Live and learn.

I can still hear it off in the distance... "every vote matters." Remember that bit of bullshit the Democrats were shrieking when Al Gore lost in his bid for the White House? That was about Florida too.

The irony doesn't stop there - Hillary has actually won more votes than Obama, yet the superdelagates will more than likely back Obama making him the nominee "selected" and not elected. I had to bring out that old Democrat gem out of its lock box.

Hmm, where to from here? Next stop Supreme Court.

Tom Dashole was on with Tim Russert this morning and came up with such a quotable phrase. I know I'll keep mentioning it. When asked by Russert if it will be a problem that Hillary actually scored more votes, he casually responded with "It is time to put that behind us."

Wow. Like that'll happen.

The Michigan delegates outcome, on the other hand, was arbitrary in its entirety. Hillary got the lioness' share but her reps are crying foul over Obama getting any. It ain't just sour grapes considering he wasn't on the ballot at all and didn't campaign there.

It could still go to the convention.

Maybe Hillary should announce that Carano would be a great running mate for her. She wouldn't have to worry about Bill giving her a hard time. Harass would turn into his ass.

But first on the agenda would have to be choke out Nancy Pelosi.