Nonogirl Radio

I Stand Corrected

OK, maybe I reviewed the series too early, so my critique was pre-mature.

On my way up to Santa Rosa for Thanksgiving, I heard Talk of the Nation's feature on This I Believe.

Initially, I was upset that the first two essayists I heard were Isabelle Allende and Colin Powell, two people who already have a stage to express themselves. But as the series has evolved, I've enjoyed hearing a Burmese American talking about feeding monkeys on his birthday, a woman who always goes to the funeral, and another woman who believes in being cool to the pizza delivery dude.

These are stories diverse in their lessons and I do feel that this is one tangible way that radio is being used to its democratizing potential.

I stand corrected and hats off to you Jay Allison.

Pat Morita 1932-2005

When my phone rang at 8:30 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving, I thought, "Who died?" Unfortunately, it was my Asian American hero, Pat Morita.

He was the first Asian American I saw on television, by way of Happy Days, and I don't remember it being type-casted for an Asian. Of course, in Karate Kid, I loved that an Asian American received stardom, but more importantly, I loved how he brought our Japanese American experience into the Miyagi character. And when I interned for Visual Communications, I saw how he participated in community projects, like working on Hito Hata and emceeing for events.

I met him in 1997 when I worked in Japantown for the Asian American Theater Company. Steve Nakajo, the unofficial mayor of J-town, brought him around the JCCNC offices. The two of them stood in the doorway andI turned around, Steve introduced me.

There was my hero and all I could say was, "Hello."

I met Rich Kim in 2002. He won the AtomFilms contest and cast Pat Morita as a sushi chef in Talk to Taka. Rich gave me Morita's fax number and since then, I've dreamed of taking a road trip with Mike Sakamoto out to Las Vegas to do a Pat Morita documentary. I'd ask him about the comedy circuit and his relationship with Redd Foxx, about the internment scene in Karate Kid and what role he played in shaping the content of that scene, about who *his* heros were.

But now, I just get to pay my respects. December 14, I'm heading down to L.A., hopefully to find others that have embraced him like I did.

** Day to Day carried a moving story on his passing.
** Pacific Time aired my story about his role in the Asian American community.

Do You Know Justice?

I've been gifted with a beautiful night to be free of responsibilities, so I cruised from the Gen Art H&M opening down to Balazo for some brown&down punk rock. The night was so beautiful, I biked in just a skirt, t-shirt, and hoodie.

All kinds of characters were there including 1) the old, punk rock Popeye that I've seen around forever; 2) some older, ponytailed guy with glasses and a tattooed neck that suggests a covered torso; 3) a large, bald-headed, Latino dude with suspenders who reminded me of a large bowling ball in the mosh pit; 4) some crazy dude in a wife-beater who moshed with extened arms in a "v," either upwards or outwards like a radar, shoving anyone who came in his range.

I caught a bit of Los Dryheavers and once again, they had their shirts off (ew!) revealing too much info! The Sick rocked on next and I'm sure the Music Genome Project's Pandora website would put them on the "Hot Water Music" station. Melodic bass riffs, emo/uplifting lyrics, and a hardcore foundation. I liked them and they're local. Then La Plebe was awesome, of course.

The ponytail man received much man-love, with sincere hugs from almost everyone that approached him. I later found out it was a benefit for him because he's been out of work for over four months and he's not here legally.

Tonight reminded me that punk rock CAN make a difference. Not just to the guy at the benefit, but for bringing people together in the spirit of fun, trust, and anti-authority. It's just a matter of infusing that with some organization, education, and action.

On my way out, I realized the guy who had eyed me early in the evening had been to my house a couple weeks ago. After this uplifting evening, I was very happy to say to him, "Do you know Justice*?" And he replied, "Yes."

* Justice is this free-spirit dude I met at a party years ago, who completely randomly, ended up living with a friend of mine.

Cell Phone Tip

Too much going on and my arms need to avoid the computer as much as possible, but on my way to the Ira Glass/Chris Ware event last night, I learned about Google's SMS service.

No need for internet access, you just text in a question and send it to GOOGL. What comes back are the details you need. In our case, we put in "Breads of India Berkeley" and got back the phone number and street address. SACRAMENTO, not San Pablo!