Spring 2014 semester

The Spring 2014 semester has come to an end.

During that semester I have taken 2 classes in UH-Manoa's Library and Information Science (LIS) program.

The first one was LIS 612 - History of Books & Libraries

This was the last class to be taught by Dr Rebecca Knuth before she retires at the end of the semester.

The class starts off before there were books and libraries.  We went way back into cavemen times, where the first attempt at written communication appeared via cave art.   The scientists who studied it don't think it's just random art of what caveman saw, instead they noticed patterns. These were patterns of trails, animal movements, land and water forms, etc.

We then learned about early civilizations in Mesopotamia. They preserved their writings (done in cuneiform) on clay tablets. These were hard to break and many have been preserved to this very day.

The Egyptians used papyrus (an early form of paper) which was very delicate and didn't last. 

The Greek, and later the other Europeans, used parchment which was made of animal skins. It was much more durable than papyrus, but not as heavy as clay tablet.

Paper as we know it today, came from China. So did the early form of printing. However, the printing revolution didn't really come into full bloom until German entrepreneur Johnannes Guttenberg added the wine press to the printing machine, which made printing much more efficient. 

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Within many civilizations, librarians had much prestige and the scholars lived the good life ..........................................until the next set of conquerors came in.

And that leads us to another aspect of history --- vulnerability of written records, books, archives, museums, etc.  

Once a new regime or a new conquering group comes in, much of the cultural artifacts gets destroyed.  There is much gaps in our knowledge of the past due to this. 

The professor even wrote 2 books about the destruction of books & libraries.  One of them "Burning Books and Leveling Libraries" was covered in another class (LIS 611: Intellectual Freedom). For this class, we covered "Libricide, which discusses government sponsored book destruction in the 20th century.

http://www2.hawaii.edu/~knuth/publications.html#books

The class then went over many of the  other developments related to the history of books and libraries including

• various writing systems
• Reinassance
• development of the modern university
• scriptoriums (I did a presentation on this)
• Library of Congress
• Melvil Dewey 
• preservation of books and other formats
• early computers
• saving of artifacts during wartime
• and much, much more 

You can check the papers and power-points I have done for this class at http://pwegesen.wix.com/pablowegesendlis#!lis-612-projects/c1czm

http://pwegesen.wix.com/pablowegesendlis#!lis-612-projects/c1czm

Partial screenshot of LIS 612 projects page

The other class was LIS 615 - Collection Management

This was an online class. 

I would've preferred an in-classroom class, however, this required course is only offered online. 

I prefer being in a classroom, having discussions, asking questions, presenting projects, etc instead of just hiding behind a computer (which is how online classes are done).   

[note: the professor already knows how I feel. The professor is a nice person, so I don't want to talk trash about him. We just have a difference of opinion on online classes, that's all!]

Anyways, back to the topic of the class -- Collection Management. This is a class about how libraries organize their items, starting from figuring out what books to purchase to figuring out what books  are so old and  outdated  that it's best to get rid of them. 

Factors that come into play of those decisions include

• what the surrounding communities are interested in
• suitability to age groups being served
• what books are available to be purchased
• making sure all the relevant topics are covered in the library
• making sure the book collection doesn't reflect the librarian's personal bias

Within the life-span of the book, libraries also have to focus on preservation of books. In very humid places (like Hawaii), books are very vulnerable to mold. This is why libraries tend to be air-conditioned 24-7 , which ends up costing a lot of money.

It's not just about books. Libraries also collect periodicals (magazines, newspapers, journals), audio & video materials, and are now in the electronic resource business (ie. e-books, database access, etc).

Issues related to those issues include

• having the latest formats available
• what to do with outdated formats (ie Betamax)
• licensing agreements for database access
• copyright issues
• do we keep print periodicals if the online versions are available
• much, much more

Even posting links on the library's website is a collection management activity. The library needs to post a credible link that is still working. Very few things are more embarrassing to a website than "dead links". [Just look at some of the links I posted in past blogs. Some of them don't work anymore]

You can check out some of the writings I have posted from this class at http://pwegesen.wix.com/pablowegesendlis#!lis-615-projects/c1x1q 

http://pwegesen.wix.com/pablowegesendlis#!lis-615-projects/c1x1q 

Partial screenshot of the LIS 615 projects page

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Special Activities 

Being in the LIS programs, I was able to take part in some special activities. I wasn't able to do all that was offered, but I did a few including 


Dr Knuth's retirement party 

 Dr Rebecca Knuth (who I mentioned earlier) had her retirement party last month. I wrote about in the following blog post.

 http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2014/04/my-speech-at-dr-knuths-retirement-party.html

Guest speaker

There are several guest speakers who came, but for most of them, I wasn't able to make it.

However, I was able to see  Gail Dickinson, the president of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) 


She talked about how some schools are laying off librarians, yet other schools are scrambling to find new librarians.

She also mentioned how we always talk about "preparing our students for 21st century learning"  but that we need to prepare the new generation for the 22nd century, being that they will be the ones who will set the foundation for 22nd century life.  

Afterwards, we all took the following picture

http://www.hawaii.edu/lis/

Oh yeah, when they were about to take this photo, I was just coming out of the restroom so I ended up rushing towards the group. That explains why belt was hanging in that photo.  Embarrassing. 

Tours 

I took several tours of LIS related tours this semesters


The first one was a  tiny  on-campus  library, Sunset Reference Center, which was to serve UH-Manoa's Travel Industry Managment (TIM)  students. There were various travel journals and reference sources. 

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The second one was for the newly completed Information Technology Center on the UH-Manoa campus. This is the new headquarters for the UH system's  info-technology services.    

Pablo Wegesend's photo

Information Technology Center

Due to the sensitive nature, most of the building is off-limits to the general public. But the public was invited to take a tour on 3/11/2014. 

Pablo Wegesend's photo

Just one of the many rooms inside the

Information Technology Center

There were conference rooms, tech training rooms, emergency management rooms, and much more.

Pablo Wegesend's photo

The smartboard in the Emergency Management Room

Hopefully, there will be another tour of the Information Technology Center, so a new set of students can mark the smartboard like that :)




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The third tour was an off-campus tour sponsored by the Na Hawaii Imi Loa (a student organization dedicated to preserving Hawaiian information resources). This was the Kamehameha Schools archives tour.  The archives is in the bottom floor of the high school library.  

We watched a video about the school's history, then we checked the old pictures from the past. I got to see pictures of some prominent Hawaiians from their high school days at Kamehameha. They included Kimo Kahoano, Roland Cazimero, Keola Beamer, Vicky Holt Takamine, and Walter Ritte.


I also enjoyed the ride to and from the tour. I won't reveal details, but we had a great conversation during the ride with two people I rarely have the chance to meet outside of class.  That's probably the best thing about out-of-class activities  :)


"Wild About Reading" story telling 

This was a program at the Honolulu Zoo where people could read animal-related storybooks to children.  I was under the supervision of a prominent children's librarian and I read a few stories for about a half-hour.

I do some story-telling as a substitute teacher, which I think is harder than doing it at a public event. As a sub teacher, you are probably the only adult in the room, so you have to keep order. In a library (or other public places) there are other adults there, so I don't have to worry too much about keeping order nor do I have to worry about the children being tested on what I was reading. 
 

Children's Literature Hawaii book sale 

This was on the UH-Manoa campus. While it might seem strange to have children's books being sold on a college campus, let's remember that professors and students are parents too. Plus, the younger college students have younger siblings they can buy books for.  Plus, going through the children's books collection can give you memories of your childhood.

I only volunteered for a few hours and I wish I had more time. But it was a very fun experience. I get to meet new people and talk about stuff I'm interested in. 


Hamilton Library shelf-reading

Actually, this was shelf-reorganization. Some of the books got disorganized due to the renovations of certain sections of the library when the air-conditioning got reformatted.  So me and a few other LIS students helped re-organized a few shelves. It was major fun. 

Research reference help at Sinclair Library

 The week before Final Exam week, a table was set up to help patrons with research.

I was one of the LIS volunteers at the table. A few patrons did ask research questions, though most ask general questions (ie "where's the restrooms", "how long is the library open"). 

While I have worked in the libraries in the past, this was first time I did any reference desk work. My previous library jobs were mostly organizing books and other items. 


The Banquet

 At the end of every semester, the LIS program has a banquet to honor the latest group of graduates. 

This time, it was at Willows. And of course, there was a buffet, and as usual, I ate more than you can eat .............which isn't always a good thing, since I had "to go" twice during the speeches.  Not a good feeling.

But what was a good feeling is having conversations with classmates (and their significant other), professors, alumni ............... and of course, congratulating the new graduates. This might be the last time we have a conversation, so it was a time to treasure the moment before they move on to the next phase of life.

As for me, I have about a year (and maybe a half?) more to go! I'll keep you updated!



 

Dont lock the bathrooms during a blackout

But that's exactly what happened at UH-Manoa's Campus Center and Hemmenway Hall during today's blackout (circa 11am).


Here's what I sent to the UH Chancellor Tom Apple

Dear Chancellor Apple,

During today's blackout, I was in the Campus Center Dining Room. I finished my meal then went to use the bathrooms. They were locked. Since I was already planning to go to Sinclair Library, I stopped by Hemenway Hall to use their 1st floor bathroom. Right after I went in, I heard staff members saying they will shut down the bathrooms.

Look, this was during lunchtime. There are many people around Campus Center and Hemmenway at that time. Being that some people might've finished their lunch, there could be people have to use the bathroom really,really,really bad. Yet, the bathrooms are locked!

The usual response to such complaints are that "this is done for safety." I don't know what is safe about scrambling from building to building to find an open bathroom when you really, really got to go! That is the opposite of safe.

Just because the electricity is shut down, doesn't mean our bodily functions shut down.

Ghetto isn't always scary

One of my friends posted a link to an article on my facebook page, about upward mobility in the African-American community.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/04/desean_jackson_richard_sherman_and_black_american_economic_mobility_why.html?wpisrc=obnetwork

Many of the circumstances mentioned in the article can go beyond "black and white".

But let's start with the following.

“We didn’t run from where we grew up. We aren’t afraid to be associated with the people who came up with us.” 

That’s Richard Sherman of the Seattle Seahawks writing in defense of his friend, DeSean Jackson, who was cut from the Philadelphia Eagles amid reports of gang ties. Sherman isn’t trying to litigate the allegations or exonerate Jackson—he doesn’t know the details. But he doesn’t think it’s wrong for Jackson to associate with the men from his childhood. 

And why would it be? Yes, some of them have criminal records—and for some, that includes gang activity—but leaving home is hard, and the social distance of wealth makes it even harder. As Sherman writes, “In desperate times for people who come from desperate communities, your friends become your family. I wouldn’t expect DeSean to ‘distance himself’ from anybody, as so many people suggest pro athletes ought to do despite having no understanding of what that means.”

These circumstances aren't  limited to African-Americans.  These circumstances are common to anyone who grew up in the ghetto.

I grew up in Kalihi, where are multiple public housing complexes, all built to serve low-income families. I grew up in one of the smaller, lesser-known public housing complexes Lanakila (officially called Puahala Homes, but come on...... only bureaucrats call it that).

If you grow up in such communities, guaranteed you will be going to elementary school with kids who end up joining gangs and sentenced to prison. 

To the people who didn't grow up in the inner city, they see "all gang members are a menace". To those of us who grew up in the inner city, we remember them as classmates who made us laugh back at elementary school.   We remember them as kids we walked with on the way home from school.  We remember them from before they started the life of drugs, alcohol, gang rivalries and prison sentences.

This is what Richard Sherman was referring to when he mentioned how hard it is for NFL players (and NBA players too) to distance themselves from childhood friends who are in a gang. 

Now, as time goes by, you do get distanced from former classmates. 

But if my elementary classmates who became gang-affiliated sees me in public, I'll be like "what's up homie, I haven't seen you in a long time". I'm not greeting them as "gang member", I'm greeting them as former classmates from elementary school, or former residents of our childhood community! 

Now obviously, if they want to invite to "go drinking", "smoke some weed" or some other illegal activity, I'll just tell them "no thanks", and remind them that I got real-life adult responsibilities I have to take care of. 

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Now, back to the article I mentioned earlier

I don’t know if Sherman sees it or not—my hunch is that he does—but in a few sentences, he’s put his finger on the pulse of something overlooked in our discussions of poverty and economic mobility as they relate to black Americans: neighborhood. Sherman’s experience of being pulled back to a poor neighborhood, even as he accumulates wealth, is common among blacks.

The difference for ordinary black Americans, as opposed to NFL stars, is that this has been a powerful driver of downward mobility. Just a quick comparison of black and white neighborhoods is enough to illustrate the particular challenges that face black families as they reach for middle class, or try to keep their position.

The key fact is this: Even after you adjust for income and education, black Americans are more likely than any other group to live in neighborhoods with substantial pockets of poverty.

and 

It’s tempting to attribute this to the income disparity between blacks and whites. Since blacks are more likely to be poor, it stands to reason that they’re more likely to live in poor neighborhoods. But the fact of large-scale neighborhood poverty holds true for higher-income black Americans as well. Middle-class blacks are far more likely than middle-class whites to live in areas with significant amounts of poverty. Among today’s cohort of middle- and upper-class blacks, about half were raised in neighborhoods of at least 20 percent poverty. Only 1 percent of today’s middle- and upper-class whites can say the same.

In short, if you took two children—one white, one black—and gave them parents with similar jobs, similar educations, and similar values, the black child would be much more likely to grow up in a neighborhood with higher poverty, worse schools, and more violence.

While the article compares Americans of European and African ancestries, it goes beyond "black and white".

It mentioned about middle-income African-Americans who haven't left the ghetto even though they could afford to move out.

Some people might have a hard time understanding that. But I think I know why.

For those who never lived in the inner-city, they think that "ghettos are scary". After all, that's how it's portrayed on TV.

For those of us who grew up in the ghetto, we  don't just see the ghetto as a "scary place", it's our childhood home. 

 We have some good childhood memories from the place, had some uncles & aunties (not always genetically-related)  in the hood , know all the mom & pop stores....... so even if we don't like the drugs and violence, we see something more than that!

I remember back in middle school, when I invited a friend to visit my home in Lanakila Housing, he got creeped out when he saw the graffitti on the wall. He asked me "is this a dangerous neighborhood?"

My brother told me he had the same experience when he invited some middle school friends to our house.

(by the way, that middle school -Kawananakoa - had a mix of ghetto kids from Lanakila, as well as upper-class kids from Alewa, Nuuanu, Pacific Heights.  How's that for a clash of cultures?)

But for me, Lanakila Housing wasn't some scary place to avoid.

It was where, as a kid, I spent a lot of time just bouncing a ball in the backyard, not really to practice a sport, but just to bounce a ball. It was where I enjoyed watching the rain make the backyard look like a swamp. It was where the neighbors used to greet me and my family. It was where my neighbors expressed pride when I won the elementary school's Geography Bee. It was where my grandma was also living, giving us access to oral history of Hawaii's past. It was where my mother grew up.   It was where I used to sit on the backyard bench and chill. It was where I used to be inside, read books, listen to radio and just chill. 

Does that sound scary to you?

Of course, the hood also had its alcoholics and drug addicts, domestic abuse cases, graffiti, gang members walking around drunk at night, and extremely loud house parties that kept neighbors awake. 

But the hood was more than just that! 

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Unfortunately, my parents were making too much income to stay in Lanakila Housing.  My mom was working in the bank, my dad was rising in the construction industry. After all, the complex was for "low-income" people.

And yes, I did say "Unfortunately, my parents were making too much income to stay in Lanakila Housing." 

To me, the hood wasn't some "scary place to avoid", it was the land of my childhood memories. 

My parents had to move. Unfortunately, they wanted to "buy a house" (really: be a sucker who allowed themselves to be stuck with a mortgage) in some suburb in another side of the island.

Duck Fat! 

At first, my parents moved me out there. I have never forgiven my parents for that decision! 

(I would've been much much more forgiving if they just found a place to rent nearby, which wasn't that hard to find)

Fortunately, my grandma sticked around the neighborhood. She lived there for decades, it's definitely much more than a "ghetto" for her, it was home. 

Fortunately for me, I was able to finish my high school career living with my grandma back in Lanakila Housing, instead of staying in a sucker suburb (trust me, I had much more offensive words to say about the suburbs than that)! 

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So, it's not much mystery why some rappers and athletes still praise their childhood ghetto, even though they now make more $$$$$ than your average suburban resident.

Because to the rappers, athletes and your normal working person who grew up in the ghetto, the ghetto is more than just a scary place to avoid. It is a land of childhood memories, it is where they made wonderful memories with their friends, where they had neighbors who were like uncles and aunties, where they visited all the stores and had adventures in the park 

So even though many of us grew up and got legal incomes that put us in the middle class, we can't just brush away our ghetto past. Nor do we want to! 

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Also, it's not much mystery why the Somali teenager was hiding in the airplane while trying to find a way back to Somalia. To him, Somalia is more than just "land of wars and famine" as is commonly portrayed in the US media. To him, it was his childhood home. I'm sure he had fun memories with childhood friends there, some great adventures that the average suburban American person can't relate to. Plus, he still have family there. I can't blame him. 

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20140428__Stowaway_struggling_in_America_parent_says.html

He was young, displaced and frustrated, and he wanted nothing more than to reunite with his mother in their native Africa. 

The 15-year-old Somali boy had been arguing at home, and in the kind of impulsive move that teenagers make, he hopped a fence at San Jose International Airport on April 20 and clambered into a wheel well of a Hawaii-bound jetliner. 

He survived the trip, and he has not spoken publicly about the ordeal. 

But his desperation and frustration — borne from a life in a new country and new culture, all of it without his mother — is becoming apparent through interviews with friends, family and law enforcement agents. 

The boy is "struggling adjusting to life in this country," his father, Abdul­ahi Yusuf, said in a statement issued Sunday through the Council on American-Islamic Relations' San Francisco Bay Area chapter.

My Speech at Dr Knuth's Retirement Party

UH-Manoa's  Library and Information Science (LIS) professor  Dr. Rebecca Knuth is about to retire, and we had her retirement party earlier today.

Pablo Wegesend's photo

LIS professors 

Andrew Wertheimer and Rebecca Knuth (retiring)

This was my draft of the speech I gave

Hello everyone, my name is Pablo, I am a current student in the LIS program.

I want to thank Dr Knuth for being a great academic advisor and a great professor. I took her class in Intellectual Freedom last semester and I am taking her last class, History of Books and Libraries, this semester.

The overall themes of both classes include the importance of recording and storing information and the importance of allowing for the diversity of ideas and how we can’t take it for granted, knowing how vulnerable our libraries, archives, museums and even our computer systems are.

I know the LIS department is still in the process of finding the next professor. It is my hope that the next professor will have the same level of patience, open-mindedness, humility and friendliness that Dr Knuth has.

Dr Knuth, the LIS students will miss you greatly, and we wish you good luck in your new adventures.

Obviously, during a speech, most of us don't even read the draft word-for-word, we  deviate a bit from the speech, adding a few words and phrases.


But somewhere in my actual speech, I did mention that Dr Knuth was a living treasure and I mentioned a few things about the 2 of her books ("Libricide" and "Burning & Leveling Libraries"


But overall, my speech captured the spirit of the above draft!

Pablo Wegesend's photo

Me giving the  speech

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There were also many other speeches at the party, some from colleagues, others from former and current students.


The most powerful speeches included one from a member of the alumni association, as well as one from a current LIS student who had her class in the past.


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At the party, I saw a few of my current classmates, as well as a recent graduate from last year. I also some librarians I have recognized from visiting various public librarians. We all talked some stories and did some networking.


Thank you to everyone who organized this event. I really appreciate it!


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BONUS PHOTO:

Pablo Wegesend's photos

Me and a few friends at the party!

In Memory of Francis (Sammy) Silva

I still remember the time in high school PE, when the sport of the day was indoor soccer. I volunteered to be the goalie. I was like "cool, I don't have to run around much". I was on cruise mode, then all of a sudden, one of the big football guys kicked the ball towards my goal ---- "oh ****, being a goalie wasn't as easy as I thought!"

I have just found out that classmate Francis JE Silva has just passed away! So far, what I heard (PLEASE correct me if any details are inaccurate) was that he got a heart attack and was in a coma.

Mr Silva, because he was big for his age, seemed intimidating at first. But he's a cool guy. Even the smallest member of the football team (hint, hint) told me nothing but positive things about Mr Silva!

Rest in peace, and condolences to your family Mr Silva!

The above was the facebook message I sent last night after finding out that Francis (aka Sammy) Silva passed away.


This sent shock-waves throughout the McKinley High School alumni community.

As I checked the various facebook messages about Mr Silva, the one thing keeps coming up: He  is known as the "gentle giant" ..............
...........(Unless, of course, you're at the wrong end of his indoor soccer goal)

Seriously though, Mr Silva was good person. He loved to play around and joke with people, but it was all in good fun.  I have never heard a single complaint about Mr Silva from my high school peers.

One of my close friends (Aaron G. -- who happened to be the smallest guy on the football team) told me that when him and Mr Silva were teammates,  Mr Silva was his protector.



Mr Silva was a lineman on the football team  and a team captain of the 1997 season. Silva, Solo, Viliami, Aukuso, Charlie, Imi, Mostella, Dae (and a few others I might've forgotten) were all stars on the best team McKinley High School had when I was a student there. The team had a hard act to follow after they graduated.

I also remember being in the audience at one of the team's games at Aloha Stadium, me and another student noticed how calm Mr Silva was, while another player was expressing his anger with full-blown rage.

Mr Silva also played on the school's basketball team as well.

The last time I met Silva in person was his high school graduation. He was a grade-level ahead of  me, so I was just in the audience congratulating him.

Years later, after I graduated high school, I was at a McKinley football game, me and Aaron G. noticed that Silva was one of the coaches on the sideline.   However, we never got a chance to get up close to meet & greet.

I did connect with Silva on facebook and we were on each other's friend's list, but we didn't chat much. But it did give us a chance to see each other's status updates, which by itself is a valuable thing.

Then sometime last year, Silva posted a video on facebook. One of his legs was amputated and there was now a prosthetic leg.   It was rumored (please correct me on any inaccuracies) that it was due to diabetes. It was freaked out many of our former classmates that one of the most physically strongest classmates was now in that condition.

And now, to find out that yesterday, first that he was in a hospital due to  heart-attack/coma and a few hours later, passed way.

Words can't express how tragic it is! You can't take life for granted!

Kurt Cobain -- 2 decades later

2 decades ago, Kurt Cobain committed suicide with a shotgun.




Cobain was the lead-singer of the rock band Nirvana.

KurtCobain.com

Kurt Cobain

Nirvana was part of what was then an emerging rock sub-genre called grunge, which came out of Seattle.


Grunge had element of punk, alternative and heavy metal, all mixed in a style that matched Seattle's gloomy, grey-skyed image.




Other bands in the grunge scene included Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Meat Puppets and Candlebox




Nirvana started making records in the late 1980s but didn't hit mainstream until late 1991 when their biggest hit "Smells Like Teen Spirit". While that song had a more heavy metal sound, it was a symbol of the rise of alternative rock.

Scenes from 

"Smells Like Teen Spirit"

video

Around the same time, the most popular rock genre was hair metal, in which male rock stars had long, blonde hair. Those bands included Motley Crue, Guns N Roses, Warrant, and Poison.



Metallica was also popular, but they're were more like trash metal, whereas hair metal tend were more "pop + metal".



But with the rise of the grunge and alternative scenes, the "hair metal" scene started to fade.



MTV (which played music videos back then) started to play more grunge and  alternative rock.



While grunge has its masculine elements, alternative rock had a more feminized, soft image, which offended many heavy metal fans who believed rock music should be macho, tough, hard core and be ready for a fight. Alternative  was more about feeling sad and melancholy. Many heavy metal fans had a problem with that.  As you could see, this was part a major rivalry between various rock scenes.



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As for Kurt Cobain, he just wanted to play music.



When he started, his style of rock music wasn't mainstream.



But with his "Smell Like Teen Spirit" song and the "Nevermind", he became a rock star. He wasn't mentally prepared for that.  He wasn't mentally prepared to be recognized everywhere he went. It bothered him greatly.



Also, the fame and fortune could never erase his childhood traumas. His parents divorced and he moved around a lot when he was a child.  He had a hard pleasing his father who demanded to he played sports, when he preferred art & music.



Cobain also had chronic stomach-aches. The one thing  that " helped"?  Heroin. Of course, that brought in another set of problems.  He got addicted and survived an overdose in 1993.



He also had a troubled relationship with his wife, Courtney Love, who had her own band "Hole". Courtney Love behaved erratically.

 Kevin Mazur / WireImage

Kurt Cobain , Courtney Love with daughter Frances Bean in 1993

While Cobain proclaimed himself a "feminist" and criticized other rock stars for being misogynistic, he got into a fight with his wife, and the police arrested him. Based on what how Courtney Love usually acts, most people would later believe that she started the fight and Cobain defended himself.





Cobain was also a supporter of LGBT rights before it was even considered "cool".  At the time, gay rights was still considered a fringe thing. Cobain didn't care. Even though he was a heterosexual, he wasn't ashamed to have gay friends.





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In early April 1994, Kurt Cobain was missing. His bandmates couldn't find him. His wife couldn't find him. His friends and family couldn't find him





Then an electrician saw Kurt Cobain's body lying inside his home. Then he saw his shotgun.  Then he saw the note.

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I still remember where I was when I heard the news. I was in 7th grade. I just came home and watched MTV, expecting to see music videos. Instead, there was news coverage of his suicide.




Then my friend Russell (who was a major rock fan) called. I thought "he is going to tell me that Kurt Cobain died."  He didn't even know, he just was calling to have another everyday conversation. He then turned on the TV and saw it for real.
---

Cobain's death  was heavily memorialized by many rock fans who lost their icon. Cobain was compared to other rock stars who died young  like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Van Morrison and John Lennon.



However, even in death, his death was mocked.



Andy Rooney, who was the "60 Minutes" comic relief, had his segment mocking Cobain's fashion sense and his music. I still remember watching it and my dad being angry at Andy Rooney. My dad knew of Nirvana but wasn't a major fan. But the fact that Rooney mocked Cobain so shortly after his death was bad enough.



Rush Limbaugh called Kurt Cobain "worthless piece of human debris". But it was Rush Limbaugh, like Kurt Cobain, who turned to drugs to cure his pain. Whereas Cobain turned to heroin to cure his chronic stomach pains, Limbaugh turned to painkillers after multiple surgeries.





 Lesson: Be careful what you make fun of, it might soon be you!

Stephen Colbert, Kim Phan and priorites

The thing about inside jokes is that people from the outside might take it the wrong way.

I mean, me and my friends had our inside jokes, and when guests come by and chill, they don't even get it! Sometimes, me and my friends have to remind each other to tone down the inside jokes when non-insiders are around!

Last year, Mountain Down had a TV ad with Odd Future, a rap group that is known for attention-grabbing outrageous lyrics. Unlike "reality rap" artists who say controversial stuff to make a bigger point, Odd Future just says stuff just to be silly. I mean who would take statements like “KILL PEOPLE, BURN SHIT, F___ SCHOOL,” or “go skate, rape sluts and eat donuts.” literally?

http://www.salon.com/2013/05/01/the_most_racist_commercial_of_all_time/

So Odd Future's Mountain Dew ad had a goat in a police lineup along with members of Odd Future. The goat threatens an older  woman viewing the police line-up.

You can call that style of humor all kinds of things --- vulgar, lame, idiotic.

However, Dr Boyce Watkins called that ad "the most racist racist commercial in history" as if Mountaint Dew just plucked a random group of African-American extras to portray criminal suspects in an ad to mock African-Americans, nevermind that the ad's idea itself came from Odd Future's leader Tyler the Creator!

It was an inside joke for Odd Future's fans!

But again, inside jokes aren't going to be understood by ad viewers who aren't familiar with Odd Future and their style of humor!

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So on to Stephen Colbert, a well-known comedian who portrays an idiotic character on his Comedy Central. His character says all kind of silly stuff, and ask all kinds of silly questions to guest to get them to say something stupid. It's all part of an act!

It's called satire.

Or as Rush Limbaugh would call it -- "illustrating the absurd by being absurd!"

So Stephen Colbert was making fun of Dan Snyder, the owner of the NFL team Washington Redskins.

As you may know, many Native Americans feel the term "redskins" is a racist slur. They point out that nobody dares to call a team "blackskins", so why should we accept the term Redskins.

So Dan Snyder is now starting an outreach group called "Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation" as a charity organization to assist Native Americans.

Well the name "Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation" a fuel for satire by Stephen Colbert.

By illustrating the absurd by being absurd, Colbert's character says

“I am willing to show #Asian community I care by introducing the Ching-Chong Ding-Dong Foundation for Sensitivity to Orientals or Whatever.”

It was pure satire, illustrating Dan Snyder's absurdity by pointing how it would sound if another ethnic outreach group had an absurd title!

The same quote was Tweeted on Stephen Colbert's account (run by Comedy Central)

OMG, those who didn't get the inside joke over-reacted!

Internet pundit Suey Park started a #CancelCorbet campaign, acting as if Stephen Colbert was some anti-Asian bully making a joke ridiculing Asians, nevermind that it was obvious to the audience that it was a satire making fun of clueless racist people!


And guess what?

Suey Park doesn't speak for most Asian-Americans!

There were a whole bunch of Asian-Americans who think that Suey Park doesn't get satire and that she is overly sensitive!

 http://www.scpr.org/blogs/multiamerican/2014/03/29/16229/cancel-colbert-twitter-suey-park-hashtag/

"In an ideal world, anyone should be able to point out that yellow face is wrong,"  said Ti, who is Chinese-American. "It’s not hard."

But Ti questioned whether all Twitter campaigns are equally constructive. He for one, thought the campaign against The Colbert Report, was not worth all the angst.

“There is a part of Asian-American community that I wish would pick its battles a little bit more and focus,” Ti said.

 

 

Another sign that Suey Park doesn't speak for most Asian-Americans.


I have seen ZERO people on my facebook NewsFeed wanting to #CancelCobert, even though my facebook list includes graduates from McKinley High School (which has the largest Asian immigrant population in all of Hawaii, and whose district includes Chinatown and Ke'eaumoku [aka Koreatown])

Plus, my university (UH-Manoa) has a large Asian-American population, my state (Hawaii) has a large Asian-American population, and the same with my  various worksites (mostly schools, with their mostly  Japanese-American staff)


Apparently, all my Asian-American friends have more important priorities than Suey Park does.


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If Suey Park, as well as other trolls like Brittney Cooper and Randa Jarrar were really about fighting racist, then why were they silent about the brutal beating death of Kim Phan?


Kim Phan, a  23-year old Vietnamese-American woman, was brutally beaten by 2 Latinas outside of a Orange County nightclub!

photo by Christine Cotter/AP

 (From left to right) Marisol Meza, Ruben Mata and Tony Galvan stop to look at a street-side memorial for Kim Pham. Local businesses and the city’s government have drummed up $10,000 for information leading to the arrests of all suspects.

 http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/arrest-made-beating-death-kim-pham-santa-ana-nightclub-article-1.1590642

Many people are hesitant to call the incident a "hate crime". I'm not!

I will say that the beating death of Kim Phan was a hate crime committed by racist Latina bullies!  


It's no secret that there are Latino vs Asian gang rivalries in many inner-city neighborhoods in California. .

It's no secret that many Asian gangs have started for the purpose of protecting themselves from Latino gangs!

But many "progressives" are hesitant to say anything about Latino racists (besides a so-called "white Latino" in Florida)  because they don't want to be seen as anti-Latino!

No, they only want to push a narrative of "white racism" and go to great depths to portray white belly dancers and white rappers as "cultural appropriation".

Nevermind that in the 1992 LA riots, Korean stores got looted, and none of the looters were neo-Nazi skinheads nor neo-Confederate wanabees.They were looted by African-American and Latinos.

Nevermind that that an African-American teenager  Latasha Harlins, who was racially profiled and shot in the head, wasn't killed by a neo-Nazi nor the KKK. She was profiled and killed by a Korean store owner

Nevermind that an African-American teenager Cheryl Green was gunned down in cold blood by racist gang members. And no, the gang wasn't KKK nor Aryan Brotherhood!  It was a Mexican-American gang!


And again, back to Kim Phan, she wasn't attacked by neo-Nazis or the KKK!

Her death had NOTHING to do with so-called cultural appropriation. Her death had NOTHING to do with Stephen Colbert's satire. Her death had NOTHING to do with "white privilege".


If Suey Park, Brittney Cooper, Veronica Bayetti Flores and Randa Jarrar really cared about social justice, they would stand up for Kim Phan!

They would take a strong stand against violent  racist bullies (and not only the KKK, Aryan Brotherhood or the police)!

They would take a strong stand against real racism, instead of misinterpreting an inside joke from a satire show!

They would encourage cultural exchanges, instead of whining and hating on white belly dancers and white rappers winning awards!


But that's not how Suey Park, Brittney Cooper, Veronica Bayetti Flores  and Randa Jarrar roll!
 They are just trolls

(i know, it rhymes)

To hell with them!