15 years ago today, gangsta rap pioneer Eazy-E died from AIDS.
Eazy-E was the the leader of the gangsta rap group NWA, which also featured Dr. Dre, MC Ren and Ice Cube. That group shocked the world by insulting police, rapping tales of violence, and its explicit sexual tales.
Eazy-E's talent was his ability to make us laugh at stuff we know we shouldn't laugh at. I mean, not everyone can do that! I mean, many of us say inappropriate things as youth in an attempt to be funny, but in many cases, even our friends aren't laughing with our jokes. This is something not every could do, but Eazy-E was good at that. Even if others wrote his lyrics, his delivery made it humorous. While Ludacris also had that talent, Eazy-E was more extreme!
1) While many stereotype rap music as "all about being a gangsta, talking about bi-----s and h--s", it wasn't anything like that before NWA came on the scene. Hip-Hop was mostly party music. House parties, block parties!
After NWA, many gang-affiliated youth and the wanabees found that making their own gangsta rap records is a legal way for them to make money without conforming to the standards of the corporate world!
Some blame "white-run corporations" for promoting gangsta rap! But in reality, most big music corporations wanted NOTHING to do with gangsta rap in the beginning. Eazy-E's businees partner Jerry Heller was trying to get major labels to invest in his music. Their reaction was "nobody would listen to that garbage."
Remember, this was the 1980s, when Micheal Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Cyndi Lauper and Lionel Richie were the major stars! Rap was just coming out, and everyone thought it was another fad.
So, NWA ending up selling tons of records WITHOUT much video or radio airplay. And remember, this was before the Internet became popular! But once someone heard it, they ain't going to keep it a secret from their friends. That, plus the controversy over "f---- the police" made people want to buy NWA records.
And it wasn't limited to African-American kids. European-Americans, Mexicans, Asians, and Pacific Islanders got into it! And other people as well!
(I mean, even here in Hawaii, after all these decades, I still hear car stereos blasting Eazy-E's solo hit "Boyz N the Hood", and even last year, I heard students at Kalakaua Middle School rapping the lyrics to that song, even though it came out before they were born. And that school has mostly Filipinos, Polynesians and Micronesians. Major proof Eazy-E had more impact than he realized!)
This underground popularity got the music corporations thinking "maybe people want to listen to that after all". Soon, nearly every major music corporation had a gangsta rap group signed in!
Some claim those records label caused gangsta rap to overshadow positive rap! But even when Will Smith, Black Eyed Peas and other positive groups had major airplay, most hard-core young males rather be Eazy-E, 2pac, Snoop Dogg, Master P,Lil Jon or 50 Cent.
When you're a young male, you want to be seen as tough guy not to be messed with! You also want to have sexy women on your side. You also want to drive a car with loud stereos. No other music can express those desires like gangsta rap! One can complain about corporations pushing gangsta rap, but those kids aren't going to satisfied with other corporate approved trends like teen pop, pop-punk, emo or R&B. While heavy metal has its tough side, it doesn't express the desire to be the stud/pimp, so that's why it got overshadowed by gangsta rap!
2) Where was I during all this? Back in 1991, when I was in 5th grade, my older brother Ramiro introduced me to NWA! At the time, the only rappers I really knew about were the pop rappers like Hammer!
So hearing rap music making the same dirty jokes my school peers were making was eye-opening!
Ramiro told me not to mention his NWA tapes to anyone. But my big mouth mentioned it where my oldest brother Frank (more of a classical music guy) heard it and he told my mom, and she wasn't happy!
A few years later, in 1993, MTV finally played more gangsta rap videos, especially from former NWA member Dr Dre and his new sidekick Snoop Dogg! Dr Dre & Snoop Dogg dissed Eazy-E on the "Dre Day" video. But MTV hardly played Eazy-E response track "Real M----F----n G's" and I thought it was unfair that MTV was taking sides. But I heard that Eazy-E's track from car stereos way more often than " Dre Day"
In 1994, Eazy-E introduced the Cleveland rap group Bone Thugs N Harmony! That group combined gangsta lyrics with R&B styled harmonies! That group was MEGA-POPULAR in Hawaii! While all groups listened to it, the most devoted fans tend to be Samoans. That might surprise many in Cleveland, where the only exposure many have to Samoans is NFL games and WWE. That shows even the most hardcore music can transcend cultural lines.
Then during Spring Break 1995, on a middle-school sponsored field trip to the Volcanoes National Park on Hawaii's Big Island, me & a few other male students were riding in a van. One of my peers suggested playing one of his CDs. That CD was the same Eazy-E CD my brother had. The chaperone told that student to play a few cents per swear word being played!
Then when I returned to Oahu, guess what? I found out Eazy-E died from AIDS. Interesting coincidence. Remember back then, it was a few years before the Internet was popular. There were no text messages on cell phones back then. So we were isolated from the world during that field trip.
3) Before NWA, most of the popular rappers came from New York. NWA helped put Los Angeles as the new center of rap music. For a few years in the 1990's, LA outshined every city when it came to the most popular rappers. However, after that LA rap faced a dramatic decline in nationwide popularity! Here's what I wrote in the "End of the Decade"post on 12/31/2009 http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2009_12_01_archive.html#938211719538244940
However, the Southern California hip-hop has faded! Yeah, Snoop Dogg still make hits. Black Eyed Peas are from there, they're not your stereotypical Southern Cal rap group! But overall, the LA rap scene has faded!I wonder if the population changes had something to do with the decline of LA rap! In the last 2 decades, South Central LA went from being mostly African-American to mostly Latin-American!Latinos have their G-funk rappers but they didn't get the attention that African-American g-funk rappers did in the 1990's!
I admit, I should've mentioned in that post that The Game and Nipsey Hussle had underground popularity the last few years.
But, overall, LA rap has extremely been overshadowed by Southern rap in the 2000's.
Though, there has been a new trend coming out of LA that might gain more momentum soon. It is the "jerk movement". The "jerk" is a dance popularized in LA, usually to beats inspired by Southern-style beats. Instead of wearing baggy pants like NWA, the "jerk" rappers prefer "skinny jeans". The New Boyz, Audio Push, Pink Dollaz and Vixenz are part of that movement.
Could it bring the West Coast hip-hop back? We'll see!
Friday, March 26, 2010
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
The end of the Bob Nash era
Yesterday, the University of Hawaii's men's basketball coach, Bob Nash, was terminated from his job.
Nash was the head coach for the last 3 years. All of them loosing seasons :(
Before that, Nash was an assistant coach under Riley Wallace for 2 decades. Nash was also a legendary player for UH, as part of the school's version of the Fab 5 in the early 1970's, and was in the NBA for a few years.
1) Firing someone isn't something I take lightly.
Sure, we all get frustrated when someone performs poorly on the job!
But that person is a human being too. And being fired means not being able to pay the bills, and could lead to self-esteem issues!
So while we could pretty much fire people almost any way you want, legally speaking, we as humans should do it as ethically and with as much class as possible!
Which is why I think UH Athletic Director Jim Donovan showed a lot of class when announcing the termination of Bob Nash
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100308/BREAKING02/100308032/Nash+fired+as+UH+basketball+coach+
"It's probably one of the toughest days of my career," said UH Athletic Director Jim Donovan said to open today's press conference at Stan Sheriff Center. "Bob Nash is a tremendous man. I have the utmost respect for him, what he's done for this university as a player, as assistant coach and where his heart is for this program, but I'm announcing this morning that he will not retained next year as head coach."
[skipped paragraphs]
"We are grateful for the way he represented the school and for the example he has set for our student athletes," Donovan said in a prepared statement.
"He may no longer be our coach, but he will forever be a Rainbow Warrior."
I'll let his players be the judge on that!
Some also criticized the lack of team spirit among his players, and of course, the lack of wins
However, Nash's reign as head coach was also impacted by external factors he couldn't control!
-------
For example, the timing of his hiring!
In December 2006, (in the middle of basketball season), Wallace announced he was going to retire after the season's over. The local gossip was that Frazier pressured Wallace into retirement (or "fired" Wallace, depending on who you ask). When asked about it Wallace said he wasn't pressured into retirement, and that he was going to retire anyways.
When Wallace announced his retirement, he said he wanted his assistant coach Bob Nash to be his replacement.That was in December 2006.
What did Frazier do? He waited until March 2007 to officially announce the job vacancy for head basketball coach ! He waited until March 2007 to start a committee that will screen and interview candidates for head coach for men's basketball!
You would think if someone announced their retirement that will take place in a few months, you'll start searching for replacement now!
While Nash was hired, it wasn't even officially announced on April 13, 2007.
To make problems worse, that was after the recruiting period started. Some basketball players who were interested in playing for Hawaii didn't want to wait any longer to find out who was going to be their coach, so they ended up signing up with other colleges.
So that did have an effect on Nash's 3 years as head coach! Just imagine if Nash was able to get them signed up early! We could've had a more talented roster and maybe Nash wouldn't be in the situation he's in now!
I really believe Herman Frazier needs to apologize to Bob Nash about taking too long to hire him! Frazier needs to apologize to Nash about waiting after the start of recruiting period to hire him!
This issue, plus taking too long to negotiate a new contract with ex-UH football coach June Jones, was one of the reasons Frazier was fired from his job as UH Athletic Director in January 2008.
-----
And this year, the team has so many injuries. Bill Amis, the best player from the previous year, was injured right before the season started! He couldn't play this season. Other guys also missed time due to minor injuries!
This was why some UH fans were reluctant to see Bob Nash fired this year!
3) So now UH will have to find a new head basketball coach!
Certain challenges are out there!
For one thing, most of the top boy's athletes in Hawaii focus on football! Even a local athlete who is slim and 6-3 (who could play point guard in basketball) would most likely focus on being a wide receiver or a defensive end in football!
This makes local recruiting difficult! Many of the state's top male high school basketball players do play college sports ....... as football or volleyball players! Here, basketball is just something to do when football or volleyball season is over!
It is a different situation in places like New York or Philly, where the young athletes focus on basketball 24-7!
Some say that the difficulty in local recruiting for basketball is because Hawaii doesn't have that many African-Americans. But there isn't that much African-Americans in Logan, Utah either, but that didn't stop Utah State from being the top team in the Western Athletic Conference!
While different ethnic groups may prefer one sport over another, I don't think it's the main factor in all this!
Don't get wrong, we had great local players of different races playing for UH in the past --- David Hallums, Jarrin Akina, Alika Smith, Julian Sensley and Bobby Nash (the coach's son)!
And UH did recruit great players of different races from the mainland (especially Anthony Carter and the subject of today Bob Nash) and from other countries like Canada, Serbia, Lithuania, Israel, Nigeria, etc.
International recruiting has gotten more difficult now that the NCAA has been stricter about it! Youth sports are run differently in foreign countries, and some amateur athletes there play organized team sports with paid players! The NCAA doesn't like that! I think the NCAA doesn't make much sense there! The NCAA should allow those amateurs to play college sports in the US!
So whoever is the next coach needs to be good at recruiting locally, nationally and internationally! We shouldn't be losing recruiting battles to Utah State, New Mexico State or Idaho!
And hopefully, the next coach can coordinate something with the youth programs. Rich Miano, an assistant coach for the UH football team, has a Speed & Quickness Clinic for young kids aspiring to become college football players. Why not have that for basketball?
We have a strong recruiting base for football and volleyball! Let's make it a strong recruiting base for basketball too!
Nash was the head coach for the last 3 years. All of them loosing seasons :(
Before that, Nash was an assistant coach under Riley Wallace for 2 decades. Nash was also a legendary player for UH, as part of the school's version of the Fab 5 in the early 1970's, and was in the NBA for a few years.
1) Firing someone isn't something I take lightly.
Sure, we all get frustrated when someone performs poorly on the job!
But that person is a human being too. And being fired means not being able to pay the bills, and could lead to self-esteem issues!
So while we could pretty much fire people almost any way you want, legally speaking, we as humans should do it as ethically and with as much class as possible!
Which is why I think UH Athletic Director Jim Donovan showed a lot of class when announcing the termination of Bob Nash
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100308/BREAKING02/100308032/Nash+fired+as+UH+basketball+coach+
"It's probably one of the toughest days of my career," said UH Athletic Director Jim Donovan said to open today's press conference at Stan Sheriff Center. "Bob Nash is a tremendous man. I have the utmost respect for him, what he's done for this university as a player, as assistant coach and where his heart is for this program, but I'm announcing this morning that he will not retained next year as head coach."
[skipped paragraphs]
"We are grateful for the way he represented the school and for the example he has set for our student athletes," Donovan said in a prepared statement.
"He may no longer be our coach, but he will forever be a Rainbow Warrior."
--
It's hurtful for anyone to be fired! But to be fired from your alma mater! That's gotta sting even more!
So I think Donovan made the best statement, the one I highlighted in green!
I'll let his players be the judge on that!
Some also criticized the lack of team spirit among his players, and of course, the lack of wins
However, Nash's reign as head coach was also impacted by external factors he couldn't control!
-------
For example, the timing of his hiring!
In December 2006, (in the middle of basketball season), Wallace announced he was going to retire after the season's over. The local gossip was that Frazier pressured Wallace into retirement (or "fired" Wallace, depending on who you ask). When asked about it Wallace said he wasn't pressured into retirement, and that he was going to retire anyways.
When Wallace announced his retirement, he said he wanted his assistant coach Bob Nash to be his replacement.That was in December 2006.
What did Frazier do? He waited until March 2007 to officially announce the job vacancy for head basketball coach ! He waited until March 2007 to start a committee that will screen and interview candidates for head coach for men's basketball!
You would think if someone announced their retirement that will take place in a few months, you'll start searching for replacement now!
While Nash was hired, it wasn't even officially announced on April 13, 2007.
To make problems worse, that was after the recruiting period started. Some basketball players who were interested in playing for Hawaii didn't want to wait any longer to find out who was going to be their coach, so they ended up signing up with other colleges.
So that did have an effect on Nash's 3 years as head coach! Just imagine if Nash was able to get them signed up early! We could've had a more talented roster and maybe Nash wouldn't be in the situation he's in now!
I really believe Herman Frazier needs to apologize to Bob Nash about taking too long to hire him! Frazier needs to apologize to Nash about waiting after the start of recruiting period to hire him!
This issue, plus taking too long to negotiate a new contract with ex-UH football coach June Jones, was one of the reasons Frazier was fired from his job as UH Athletic Director in January 2008.
-----
And this year, the team has so many injuries. Bill Amis, the best player from the previous year, was injured right before the season started! He couldn't play this season. Other guys also missed time due to minor injuries!
This was why some UH fans were reluctant to see Bob Nash fired this year!
3) So now UH will have to find a new head basketball coach!
Certain challenges are out there!
For one thing, most of the top boy's athletes in Hawaii focus on football! Even a local athlete who is slim and 6-3 (who could play point guard in basketball) would most likely focus on being a wide receiver or a defensive end in football!
This makes local recruiting difficult! Many of the state's top male high school basketball players do play college sports ....... as football or volleyball players! Here, basketball is just something to do when football or volleyball season is over!
It is a different situation in places like New York or Philly, where the young athletes focus on basketball 24-7!
Some say that the difficulty in local recruiting for basketball is because Hawaii doesn't have that many African-Americans. But there isn't that much African-Americans in Logan, Utah either, but that didn't stop Utah State from being the top team in the Western Athletic Conference!
While different ethnic groups may prefer one sport over another, I don't think it's the main factor in all this!
Don't get wrong, we had great local players of different races playing for UH in the past --- David Hallums, Jarrin Akina, Alika Smith, Julian Sensley and Bobby Nash (the coach's son)!
And UH did recruit great players of different races from the mainland (especially Anthony Carter and the subject of today Bob Nash) and from other countries like Canada, Serbia, Lithuania, Israel, Nigeria, etc.
International recruiting has gotten more difficult now that the NCAA has been stricter about it! Youth sports are run differently in foreign countries, and some amateur athletes there play organized team sports with paid players! The NCAA doesn't like that! I think the NCAA doesn't make much sense there! The NCAA should allow those amateurs to play college sports in the US!
So whoever is the next coach needs to be good at recruiting locally, nationally and internationally! We shouldn't be losing recruiting battles to Utah State, New Mexico State or Idaho!
And hopefully, the next coach can coordinate something with the youth programs. Rich Miano, an assistant coach for the UH football team, has a Speed & Quickness Clinic for young kids aspiring to become college football players. Why not have that for basketball?
We have a strong recruiting base for football and volleyball! Let's make it a strong recruiting base for basketball too!
Here's Wes Nakama's comment on local recruiting in basketball
http://preptalk.honadvblogs.com/2010/03/09/next-uh-coach-shouldnt-ignore-local-hoop-talent/
4) Bob Nash was paid $240,000 per year. Because of the wording in the contract, Nash also gets another $240,000 for doing nothing next year as well! (some boosters have stepped up to pay for that extra year, so that UH can use its own funds on the next coach)
Riley Wallace said that the UH Athletic Department should pay $500,000 to $600,000 for the next coach.
http://warriorbeat.honadvblogs.com/2010/03/08/end-of-nash-era/
Riley Wallace, who likely will be one of Donovan's advisers in the selection process, said the position needs to be filled by an established coach who can recruit. Such a coach would cost about $500,000 to $600,000. Thing is, UH paid Nash $240,000 annually and the position's ceiling is $400,000.
"They need seven spots to fill," Wallace said. "You're going to have to pay. The price is going up."
Just watch the sports-haters go bezerk about this!
Remember, they went bezerk over June Jones making $800,000 a year during the previous decade, even though he was one of the best coaches out there, and even though what Jones made was CHUMP CHANGE compared to his current job at SMU!
I don't mind the next basketball coach getting paid good money, especially if he brings great success!
But what's gotta end, is paying coaches for leftover years after being terminated! We should pay for great performance, not paying big money to someone to do nothing!
The Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics at Vancouver, Canada, ended over a week ago, and I have a few thoughts on it!
1) In the beginning of the Olympics, there were concerns about not having enough snow for outdoor events!
Not enough snow in Canada?
Ironically, at the same time, it was snowing in 49 states of the US (Hawaii being the non-snow state).
Global warming? More like Global Wierding!
2) Being that the Olympics were held in Canada, the Canadian Olympic officials had a slogan "Own the Podium", meaning Canadian athletes should strive to dominate all the Olympic events on their home turf.
In the first few days of the Winter Olympics, Canada was falling behind the medal count, and people were ridiculing the idea of Canada "owning the podium".
I don't have a problem with Canada promoting its "Own the Podium" slogan! [Though I do prefer the US to "own the podium" which is did :) ]
If you're going to compete in the biggest stage of sports, you better have a competitive spirit! You better give your countrymen some pride! You better have the "Own the Podium" attitude!
Striving for the best shouldn't be ridiculed, even if its from the underdog, even if its from your biggest rival!
3) As the Olympics went on, the Canadians were able to get more medals and move up on the medal count!
However, it was the Russians who had dramatic declines this year!
Russia was traditionally a Winter Olympic powerhouse! It was expected for a BIG country with tons of snow.
Yet, they were 11th place in the medal count!
This was so humiliating that the Russian president demanded resignations of Russian Olympic officials!
Now that the next Olympics will be in Sochi, Russia, the feeling is urgent that Russia needs to dramatically improve its winter sports programs!
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/medvedev-furious-at-olympic-failure-1914308.html
4) Sports always come with risks of injuries, even death!
The luger from Georgia, Nodar Kumaritashvili, died in a pre-Olympic practice!
That's gotta be one of the worst things in the world! You practice for years to achieve in the biggest stage of world sports and to die just before the games begin!
5) On the lighter side of things, I was happy to see the accomplishments of prominent US athletes.
Speed-skater Apollo Ohno broke the record for the most Winter gold medals by a US athlete!
Skier Lindsey Vonn overcame a shin injury to win gold medal!
Another skier, Bode Miller, who didn't live up to the hype in the 2006 Olympics, finally lived up to the hype in 2010, winning gold!
6) The US hockey (both men & women) were able to make it to the championship game. Unfortunately both lost to Canada!
Even more embarrassing for the US women hockey, the Canadians rubbed it in by smoking cigars & drinking champagne on the ice after the game! It's like a Big Poppa-style rap video on ice!
7) The next Winter Olympics will be in Sochi, Russia. That town is close to the Russia-Georgia border. Those countries had a mini-war about the same time as the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing!
Will those tensions continue!
Hopefully, it won't ruin things in the next show on ice & snow!
1) In the beginning of the Olympics, there were concerns about not having enough snow for outdoor events!
Not enough snow in Canada?
Ironically, at the same time, it was snowing in 49 states of the US (Hawaii being the non-snow state).
Global warming? More like Global Wierding!
2) Being that the Olympics were held in Canada, the Canadian Olympic officials had a slogan "Own the Podium", meaning Canadian athletes should strive to dominate all the Olympic events on their home turf.
In the first few days of the Winter Olympics, Canada was falling behind the medal count, and people were ridiculing the idea of Canada "owning the podium".
I don't have a problem with Canada promoting its "Own the Podium" slogan! [Though I do prefer the US to "own the podium" which is did :) ]
If you're going to compete in the biggest stage of sports, you better have a competitive spirit! You better give your countrymen some pride! You better have the "Own the Podium" attitude!
Striving for the best shouldn't be ridiculed, even if its from the underdog, even if its from your biggest rival!
3) As the Olympics went on, the Canadians were able to get more medals and move up on the medal count!
However, it was the Russians who had dramatic declines this year!
Russia was traditionally a Winter Olympic powerhouse! It was expected for a BIG country with tons of snow.
Yet, they were 11th place in the medal count!
This was so humiliating that the Russian president demanded resignations of Russian Olympic officials!
Now that the next Olympics will be in Sochi, Russia, the feeling is urgent that Russia needs to dramatically improve its winter sports programs!
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/medvedev-furious-at-olympic-failure-1914308.html
4) Sports always come with risks of injuries, even death!
The luger from Georgia, Nodar Kumaritashvili, died in a pre-Olympic practice!
That's gotta be one of the worst things in the world! You practice for years to achieve in the biggest stage of world sports and to die just before the games begin!
5) On the lighter side of things, I was happy to see the accomplishments of prominent US athletes.
Speed-skater Apollo Ohno broke the record for the most Winter gold medals by a US athlete!
Skier Lindsey Vonn overcame a shin injury to win gold medal!
Another skier, Bode Miller, who didn't live up to the hype in the 2006 Olympics, finally lived up to the hype in 2010, winning gold!
6) The US hockey (both men & women) were able to make it to the championship game. Unfortunately both lost to Canada!
Even more embarrassing for the US women hockey, the Canadians rubbed it in by smoking cigars & drinking champagne on the ice after the game! It's like a Big Poppa-style rap video on ice!
7) The next Winter Olympics will be in Sochi, Russia. That town is close to the Russia-Georgia border. Those countries had a mini-war about the same time as the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing!
Will those tensions continue!
Hopefully, it won't ruin things in the next show on ice & snow!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
The Tsunami Warning
This past Saturday (February 27), Hawaii recieved a tsunami warning! The tsunami was generated by an 8.8 earthquake in Chile!
1) It was 6am as I woken up by the tsunami siren!
Everyone in Hawaii hears a tsunami siren being tested every 1st weekday of the month at 11:45 am!
This sure wasn't a time for testing that's for sure!
This wasn't a test. Everything I learned about what to do in a tsunami warning is now going to have to be acted upon!
I turned on the radio to hear the news. I heard phone calls to the radio station saying certain parts of Oahu didn't hear a siren! So I called my parents (who live in another part of the island) to make sure! They were up even before the siren, and they heard the sirens!
I ducted tape the big drawer with all the papers, yearbooks, photo albums, etc.
I live near Puck's Alley. It's not next to the ocean, but it's not high up in the mountains either!
I'm not taking chances.
I put all my medicines, folders with important documents and other valuables in a grey plastic box. I also put some big water bottles in my bag!
Since the radio announced the tsunami will likely hit in 4-5 hours, and the buses are still running, I just took the bus up to Manoa Valley District Park. (otherwise, I'm walking up that hill towards UH)
Once there, I already saw a bunch of people getting off a big bus! Some of those guys told me they came from the homeless shelter in Kakaako!
It seemed like for some of them, it was their 1st time in that neighborhood. Some asked me where was the nearest store. I told them they would have walk about a few blocks "that way" (pointing east) until they see a big street (East Manoa Road).
About an hour later, I saw the same guys coming back with stuff from the store. I was happy that they were able to find it!
I just sat on the bench near a tree, near the bathroom. Perfect.
I stayed on the bench for a few hours! There were no radios, TV, or internet, so we were isolated from the world!
About 1am, I saw people from the surrounding neighborhoods using the park like a normal day!
About 1:45 , I got a call from my mom, mentioning the governor gave the All Clear signal!
Time to go back to normal! And I saw those from the homeless shelter going back to their big bus. I just took the city bus back to my apartment!
2) We were lucky.
But next time, we may not be so lucky! So the next warning, I'm not taking chances. I'm going back uphill to Manoa Valley District Park again!
We're also lucky that we got an early warning!
4) The people of Chile weren't so lucky. Building and freeways crashed down and many are trapped inside!
Hopefully, they can all recover and go back to normal again!
1) It was 6am as I woken up by the tsunami siren!
Everyone in Hawaii hears a tsunami siren being tested every 1st weekday of the month at 11:45 am!
This sure wasn't a time for testing that's for sure!
This wasn't a test. Everything I learned about what to do in a tsunami warning is now going to have to be acted upon!
I turned on the radio to hear the news. I heard phone calls to the radio station saying certain parts of Oahu didn't hear a siren! So I called my parents (who live in another part of the island) to make sure! They were up even before the siren, and they heard the sirens!
I ducted tape the big drawer with all the papers, yearbooks, photo albums, etc.
I live near Puck's Alley. It's not next to the ocean, but it's not high up in the mountains either!
I'm not taking chances.
I put all my medicines, folders with important documents and other valuables in a grey plastic box. I also put some big water bottles in my bag!
Since the radio announced the tsunami will likely hit in 4-5 hours, and the buses are still running, I just took the bus up to Manoa Valley District Park. (otherwise, I'm walking up that hill towards UH)
Once there, I already saw a bunch of people getting off a big bus! Some of those guys told me they came from the homeless shelter in Kakaako!
It seemed like for some of them, it was their 1st time in that neighborhood. Some asked me where was the nearest store. I told them they would have walk about a few blocks "that way" (pointing east) until they see a big street (East Manoa Road).
About an hour later, I saw the same guys coming back with stuff from the store. I was happy that they were able to find it!
I just sat on the bench near a tree, near the bathroom. Perfect.
I stayed on the bench for a few hours! There were no radios, TV, or internet, so we were isolated from the world!
About 1am, I saw people from the surrounding neighborhoods using the park like a normal day!
About 1:45 , I got a call from my mom, mentioning the governor gave the All Clear signal!
Time to go back to normal! And I saw those from the homeless shelter going back to their big bus. I just took the city bus back to my apartment!
2) We were lucky.
But next time, we may not be so lucky! So the next warning, I'm not taking chances. I'm going back uphill to Manoa Valley District Park again!
We're also lucky that we got an early warning!
4) The people of Chile weren't so lucky. Building and freeways crashed down and many are trapped inside!
Hopefully, they can all recover and go back to normal again!
Friday, February 19, 2010
The Austin plane crasher
Remember after 9/11, when anti-immigration fanatics screamed that "we better stop letting Middle Eastern immigrants in in order to protect us from terrorism"?
Remember a few years back when a Mexican illegal alien in Virginia killed 2 women in a drunk-driving accident, and Bill O'Reilly went nuts at Geraldo Rivera for saying "it's not an immigration issue, it's a drunk driving issue" ?
And the anti-immigration fanatics kept screaming "how you would feel if you were a victim of Arab terrorists?" or "how would you feel if your car got hit by an Mexican illegal alien drunk driver?"
Well, now that an European-American by the name of Joseph Stack crashed a small plane into the IRS building in Austin, the anti-immigration fanatics are silent!
http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpp/news/local/who-is-andrew-joseph-stack%3F
As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter if I am killed by a European-American, an illegal Mexican alien or an Arab terrorist. Either way, I still would be dead!
Remember a few years back when a Mexican illegal alien in Virginia killed 2 women in a drunk-driving accident, and Bill O'Reilly went nuts at Geraldo Rivera for saying "it's not an immigration issue, it's a drunk driving issue" ?
And the anti-immigration fanatics kept screaming "how you would feel if you were a victim of Arab terrorists?" or "how would you feel if your car got hit by an Mexican illegal alien drunk driver?"
Well, now that an European-American by the name of Joseph Stack crashed a small plane into the IRS building in Austin, the anti-immigration fanatics are silent!
http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpp/news/local/who-is-andrew-joseph-stack%3F
As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter if I am killed by a European-American, an illegal Mexican alien or an Arab terrorist. Either way, I still would be dead!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
The Attack of the Sports-Haters
1) In a recent issue of Newsweek, Christopher Hitchens blamed EVERY social problem on sports! '
He think sports only have "negative" effects on society. He dismisses any positive that comes out of sports
Hitchens said:
On the contrary, Mr. Rossi, what we are seeing is the very essence of sportsmanship. Whether it's the exacerbation of national rivalries that you want—as in Africa this year—or the exhibition of the most depressing traits of the human personality (guns in locker rooms, golf clubs wielded in the home, dogs maimed and tortured at stars' homes to make them fight, dope and steroids everywhere), you need only look to the wide world of sports for the most rank and vivid examples.
MY RESPONSE:
You gotta be kidding ... it's "sports" fault that someone tortured dogs, use drugs, and vandalize stuff? It's "sports" fault that a bus got shot at in Africa?
That is so stupid!
Does anyone really believe that other professions are immune to society's ills?
==================
Hitchens said:
Yes, yes, I know about Invictus and am a slight friend and strong admirer of the author of the original book. But it was the use of rugby and other sporting cults to reinforce and exemplify apartheid that had been the problem in the first place. And no clear-eyed observer of the South African scene thinks that the Invictus moment was any more than a brief pause in the steady decline of friendship between the country's ethnic groups: a decline that has much to do with sporting rivalries and the idiotic loyalties and customs on which such allegiances depend. So here's something so toxic that it's even Mandela-proof.
MY RESPONSE:
The problems in South Africa happened way before sports got into the picture!
And in real life, sports even encouraged people of different races to get along! Just watch "Remember the Titans".
I mean, yeah, even on a sports team, some players might have stereotypes of other ethnic groups! But even if you think your teammate has a "funny accent", "from a weird culture", blah, blah, blah, when the game is on the line, that teammate is your best friend! When the game is on the line, you gotta pass the ball to that team-mate! At that point, it doesn't matter if his ancestors hurt your ancestors, or his cousins made fun of your accent, or whatever!
I even heard plenty of people say "being on a sports team allowed me to hang out with people I otherwise wouldn't hang out with!" When the game is on the line, you don't have time to be distracted by stereotypes in your head!
====================================
Hitchens said:
Meanwhile, the sponsorship racket means that a string of thugs and mediocrities is regularly marketed and presented for "role modeling" purposes, and it's considered normal for serious programming to be postponed or even interrupted if some dull game goes into (the very words are like a knell) overtime.
MY RESPONSE:
Here, Hitchens stereotypes athletes as "thugs". You can sense he only focus on bad things athletes have done, and CHOOSES to ignore the good things athletes have done
And OMG, what an emergency, his favorite program is postponed because a sports game! It's called wait! Suck it up!
============
Hitchens said:
I can't count the number of times that I have picked up the newspaper at a time of crisis and found whole swaths of the front page given over either to the already known result of some other dull game or to the moral or criminal depredations of some overpaid steroid swallower. Listen: the paper has a whole separate section devoted to people who want to degrade the act of reading by staring enthusiastically at the outcomes of sporting events that occurred the previous day. These avid consumers also have tons of dedicated channels and publications that are lovingly contoured to their special needs. All I ask is that they keep out of the grown-up parts of the paper.
MY RESPONSE:
You don't want to read about it? Just turn the page! It's not that hard!
==================
Hitchens said:
Or picture this: I take a seat in a bar or restaurant and suddenly leap to my feet, face contorted with delight or woe, yelling and gesticulating and looking as if I am fighting bees. I would expect the maitre d' to say a quietening word at the least, mentioning the presence of other people. But then all I need do is utter some dumb incantation—"Steelers," say, or even "Cubs," for crumb's sake—and everybody decides I am a special case who deserves to be treated in a soothing manner.
MY RESPONSE:
Hello, it's a sports bar, you're supposed to make loud noise! That's the whole point of being there! You want quiet? Go to a library!
=========================
Hitchens:
Noticed how the sign of a bad high school getting toward its Columbine moment is that the jocks are in the saddle?
MY RESPONSE:
You think it's the fault of "sports" that some kid couldn't handle his problems, got mad at the world and shot a school? GET REAL!
While the focus was on "jocks" being arrogant, so are other people on any high school campus?
Does anyone really believe that all students who are good at art, music, math or science are all "Models of Humility"? GET REAL! Anytime you have a group of geniuses, prodigies, etc. at least a few will be arrogant! That's just reality!
As far as I'm concerned, the wanabee thugs who think they're tough stuff, even though they're not tough enough to be on a sports team or a real gang, are bigger problem than a small minority of so-called "arrogant jocks"
2) That article by Christopher Hitchens reminds me of this UH professor named Dr. Gordon Knowles.
He was a sociology professor who taught classes on juvenille delinquency! He blamed EVERY SINGLE PROBLEM at the university & society in general, on sports
You might think I'm exaggerating!
That's because you weren't in his class!
(go to http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.html#7021379845494626806 and look at part 2 & 3 of that blog post!
Also look at http://pablothemadtiger.blogspot.com/2003_11_01_archive.html and scroll down to November 21. 2003's post)
He loved to scream "what is the #1 priority of this university, education or sports? Sports!"
He was so angry at then UH football coach June Jones for making $800,000 a year, that he blamed EVERY problem in Hawaii on the coach's salary (which by the way, is chump change compared to what coaches at Alabama, Florida, USC, Oklahoma and even SMU [June Jones' current school] make) When the video projector wasn't working ... guess what he blamed it on? The school spending "too much" on the coach's salary! Your car got broken into? "It's because the cops not making enough money because we spend too much on the coach's salary! " (He actually said something like that, I'm not making that up!) But it wasn't just the coach that earned Dr Knowles' ire. It was sports in general.
He was mad that workers were renovating Waianae High School's athletic fields while the teachers were striking! Hello...... what they're supposed to do .... leave the fields unsafe so that the kids can be more vulnerable to injuries?!
He even blamed "sports" for teen smoking & teen drinking because tobbacco & alcohol companies advertise at sports venues!
And this complaining about UH spending too much $$$ on sports is Bull-Nonsense! The UH's athletic budget is chump change compared to the athletic budgets of Ohio State, USC, Notre Dame, Florida, etc.
3) So why all the hating from Christopher Hitchens and Gordon Knowles?
Here are comments to Hitchens' editorial
http://www.newsweek.com/id/233007/output/comments
Posted By: mfohl @ 02/15/2010 1:32:49 PM Mr. Hitchens has exactly the mentality he decries in sports fans. He is violently opinionated, and has all the facts to back up his opinions. Take it easy, fella. It's better to yell at, or against, a sports entity than it is to yell at something "more civilized".
Posted By: hamlet7 @ 02/15/2010 1:22:39 PM Mr. Hitchens would be well advised to heed the wisdom of the late Earl Warren. When asked why so important a person read the sports pages before he read the front page the Chief Justice replied,"I want to read about man's achievements before I read about his failures."
MPosted By: Kutzscher @ 02/15/2010 2:57:03
Mr. Hitchens, You have rightfully staked your claim as the ultimate naysayer and curmudgeon over many years, and I enjoy your informed point of view immensely. On the subject of the Olympics, however, you have missed the mark. You sound like the nerdy kid in class who just wished that the jocks would go away so you could finally be popular. Your dislike of sports is your own choice, but you are clearly writing on a subject about which you are clueless. I just hope that my faith in you, my assumption that you are well informed when you give your contrary points of view, is otherwise justified.
Posted By: newsweekandsportsfan @ 02/12/2010 3:41:54 PM Dear Chris: Sorry you got picked last to play dodge ball in grade school and were the first to get ???tagged??? out. You should try your best to get over those days; you???re an adult now. Besides, the world needs drama queens like you just like it needs sports heroes. Glad I won???t have to fight you for a spot in front of the big screen at my local sports bar!
The last point is something I want to address!
Anybody who was in my PE class knows I sucked at sports. Slow runner, slow reflexes! But I could never understand why people would hate somebody just because they're good at something they suck at!
I mean, even if I was unathletic, I still respected the athletic skills of Micheal Jordan, Deion Sanders, John Elway, Hakeen Olajuwon, Ken Griffey, Evander Holyfield, Oscar De la Hoya, and other stars who were at the top of their game when I was growing up
Even at a young age, I understood it's better to focus on what you're good at, instead of having hateful envy at those who are good at other things!
It's called maturity!
4) I earlier mentioned that sports allow people of cultural groups to get along!
It also gives tough guys from hard backgrounds an incentive to strive for something that is legal!
I mean, if you're on a school sports team, and you gotta make the grades, you have an incentive to actually study and stay out of trouble! Especially if you want a college scholarship!
I'm not saying sports make people perfect. Arts, sciences, and math don't make anyone perfect either!
But many can say being on a sports team gave them an opportunity to get a college scholarship and do something with their life, even if they don't make it to the big leagues!
The haters will point out some college athletes who flunk or commit crimes! That's stereotyping! Besides, even the astronauts at NASA have gotten into trouble with the law! Doesn't mean they're all going to get in trouble with the law!
The haters will also whine "why is it that people in the ghetto focus only on sports for a chance to make it out of the ghetto, what about those who are unathletic!"
The answer is to expand opportunities for both the athletic and the non-athletic!
Sure, not every kid is interested in sports, but not every kid is interested in the arts or the sciences either!
5) Enough hating already!
Just find something you're good at, and focus on that!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Nelson Mandela - 20 years later
20 years ago, South African President Nelson Mandela was released from prison. He was in prison for 27 years for opposing the apartheid regime in South Africa. During the apartheid era, the natives of South Africa weren't allowed to vote, and lived under the same types of racist segregation laws that Martin Luther King protested against in the United States!
He later became the President of South Africa.
1) A historical background
Around the 1500's -1800's, the Europeans were looking for new lands to conquer. They conquered the Americas, Australia, the Pacific Islands, and large parts of Africa and Asia!
While the Europeans conquered major parts of Africa, they didn't send much people to settle there! Most Europeans had no desire to live in the jungles or deserts which covered large chunks of Africa.
However, South Africa was far below the equator and had a lot of good farmland. So the Dutch, and later the British settled there! Those 2 European groups even fought over land the African groups settled in centuries before!
The Europeans who conquered South Africa wanted all the good farmland to themselves. They also kept all the well-kept suburban lands to themselves.
They didn't allow the native South Africans to vote, or to enter European-dominated neighborhoods. Just like the Jim Crow laws in the southeastern US, those of African and European ancestry had to use separate facilities, attend separate schools, and couldn't marry each other!
Many native South Africans got tired of that. Nelson Mandela became a leader of the protest movement.
In 1962, Mandela was convicted of treason!
During the 1980's, after decades of struggle, the anti-apartheid protests have gotten more violent. Many felt non-violence has gotten them nowhere! The police has gotten more brutal! The rest of the world watched in horror, as South Africa was increasingly isolated from the rest of the world!
It got to the point where many white South Africans feared that if black South Africans don't get equal rights, things will get even more violent.
In 1990, South Africa had a new president F.W. De Klerk. Though he was once an apartheid supporter, he felt that things would get worse if apartheid was to continue.
FW De Klerk decided to release Mandela and all other political prisoners. Apartheid laws were repealed. All South African adults had gotten the right to vote!
1994 had the first multi-racial elections. Nelson Mandela won the presidential election. He was the 1st native South African President.
2) Some South Africans of European ancestry feared what would happen if the native South Africans took over.
In Zimbabwe, a country just north of South Africa, the British settlers and their descendants had apartheid laws there as well. Robert Mugabe led the armed resistance against white-domination of Zimbabwe.
When he became president of Zimbabwe, Mugabe tolerated and encouraged hate crimes against citizens of European ancestry. Mugabe took property away from European-descendants.
It was totally different under Nelson Mandela! Mandela wanted a multi-racial democracy! He wanted everyone to get along. He understood that South Africans of European ancestry didn't chose to have ancestors who stole African lands!
While Zimbabwe disintegrated under Mugabe, South Africa had prospered under Mandela.
While Mugabe wants to be Zimbabwe's dictator for life, Nelson Mandela chose not to run for re-election in 1999. He wanted the next generation to continue democracy in South Africa.
There are challenges in South Africa. It has one of the highest AIDS rate in the world. It does have a violent crime problem.
But things could easily have gotten worse. This is why leadership matters. Robert Mugabe is all about hate, grudges, grievances and revenge. Nelson Mandela is all about unity, tolerance, and reconciliation.
3) There was the silly perception of Nelson Mandela being a "communist".
While some anti-apartheid leaders had communist sympathies, and while the anti-apartheid movement did get support from communist nations like Cuba and China, that didn't mean Mandela was a communist.
Mandela's presidency proved he wasn't a communist.
While Mandela was more left-leaning than would be tolerated in the U.S., private businesses were continued to be allowed to prosper. In fact, new foreign investments came in during Mandela's presidency!
Freedom of speech, assembly, religion and other civil liberties were allowed under Mandela's presidency! Totally opposite of what goes on in communist countries!
4) Mandela is still alive at age 91 and still doing well!
Check out
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/11/nelson-mandela-release-remembered/print
5) In other South Africa news , that country hosts the soccer's World Cup this year! The 1st World Cup to be held in South Africa.
While Brazil hosts South America's 1st Olympics in 2016, will South Africa host Africa's 1st Olympics in 2020? Only time will tell.
He later became the President of South Africa.
1) A historical background
Around the 1500's -1800's, the Europeans were looking for new lands to conquer. They conquered the Americas, Australia, the Pacific Islands, and large parts of Africa and Asia!
While the Europeans conquered major parts of Africa, they didn't send much people to settle there! Most Europeans had no desire to live in the jungles or deserts which covered large chunks of Africa.
However, South Africa was far below the equator and had a lot of good farmland. So the Dutch, and later the British settled there! Those 2 European groups even fought over land the African groups settled in centuries before!
The Europeans who conquered South Africa wanted all the good farmland to themselves. They also kept all the well-kept suburban lands to themselves.
They didn't allow the native South Africans to vote, or to enter European-dominated neighborhoods. Just like the Jim Crow laws in the southeastern US, those of African and European ancestry had to use separate facilities, attend separate schools, and couldn't marry each other!
Many native South Africans got tired of that. Nelson Mandela became a leader of the protest movement.
In 1962, Mandela was convicted of treason!
During the 1980's, after decades of struggle, the anti-apartheid protests have gotten more violent. Many felt non-violence has gotten them nowhere! The police has gotten more brutal! The rest of the world watched in horror, as South Africa was increasingly isolated from the rest of the world!
It got to the point where many white South Africans feared that if black South Africans don't get equal rights, things will get even more violent.
In 1990, South Africa had a new president F.W. De Klerk. Though he was once an apartheid supporter, he felt that things would get worse if apartheid was to continue.
FW De Klerk decided to release Mandela and all other political prisoners. Apartheid laws were repealed. All South African adults had gotten the right to vote!
1994 had the first multi-racial elections. Nelson Mandela won the presidential election. He was the 1st native South African President.
2) Some South Africans of European ancestry feared what would happen if the native South Africans took over.
In Zimbabwe, a country just north of South Africa, the British settlers and their descendants had apartheid laws there as well. Robert Mugabe led the armed resistance against white-domination of Zimbabwe.
When he became president of Zimbabwe, Mugabe tolerated and encouraged hate crimes against citizens of European ancestry. Mugabe took property away from European-descendants.
It was totally different under Nelson Mandela! Mandela wanted a multi-racial democracy! He wanted everyone to get along. He understood that South Africans of European ancestry didn't chose to have ancestors who stole African lands!
While Zimbabwe disintegrated under Mugabe, South Africa had prospered under Mandela.
While Mugabe wants to be Zimbabwe's dictator for life, Nelson Mandela chose not to run for re-election in 1999. He wanted the next generation to continue democracy in South Africa.
There are challenges in South Africa. It has one of the highest AIDS rate in the world. It does have a violent crime problem.
But things could easily have gotten worse. This is why leadership matters. Robert Mugabe is all about hate, grudges, grievances and revenge. Nelson Mandela is all about unity, tolerance, and reconciliation.
3) There was the silly perception of Nelson Mandela being a "communist".
While some anti-apartheid leaders had communist sympathies, and while the anti-apartheid movement did get support from communist nations like Cuba and China, that didn't mean Mandela was a communist.
Mandela's presidency proved he wasn't a communist.
While Mandela was more left-leaning than would be tolerated in the U.S., private businesses were continued to be allowed to prosper. In fact, new foreign investments came in during Mandela's presidency!
Freedom of speech, assembly, religion and other civil liberties were allowed under Mandela's presidency! Totally opposite of what goes on in communist countries!
4) Mandela is still alive at age 91 and still doing well!
Check out
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/11/nelson-mandela-release-remembered/print
5) In other South Africa news , that country hosts the soccer's World Cup this year! The 1st World Cup to be held in South Africa.
While Brazil hosts South America's 1st Olympics in 2016, will South Africa host Africa's 1st Olympics in 2020? Only time will tell.
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