The Great New Year Monkey

Aww, look at SAM being all pessimistically optimistic back in 2003. 2004 was decent. Yunjin Kim and Daniel Dae Kim started their killer run on Lost and Far East Movement was working their asses off. Meanwhile guys like Yao Ming and Ichiro Suzuki were soaring into super stardom. All in all not too shabby. Although there was the nightmare of a tsunami in the Indian Ocean.

Happy Secret Asian Holidays

Thought I'd post a little early since tomorrow everyone will either be in a sugar frenzy or a food coma or both. This one is for people who feel bad that they don't have money to spend on gifts. It ain't about the gifts. Get creative and people will appreciate it far more than a dancing Santa that drops his pants. Well, most people will. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Old School Wednesday: Racial Justice Lego Style

Poll results: Women rule

So women came out the clear winner (68%) of the SAM poll asking what Presidential first we can expect next. I'm inclined to agree. There's a great interactive map at Rutger's Center for American Women and Politics that shows where women are/have been/or never have been members of state legislature, Congress, or a governor. If you click on the states it'll show you the detailed stats for that state.

Notably, out of the 129 total votes, not a single person chose Muslim as the next likely first. Wonder how that makes Muslims politicians feel. There have been a couple of Muslim Congressmen and a Mayor.

Pride or Pay?

Cloaked Alien Ship Near Mercury? WHAT?!

I love conspiracy type stuff like sasquatch, living megalodons and UFOs. How the hell did I not hear about this?! What are the chances of this being an actual space craft? Maybe there are sasquatches in it!

Applying for College? Don't Check Asian!

Normally these guys do a lot of world news/celebrity stuff so it was refreshing to see something close to home (having mixed race kids and all).

Old School Wednesdays: Asian Holiday

That reminds me, I've got to get to Target for their Meeting of 9 Evils Day sale. They have these really cute cupcake holders.

Captain Feathersword = Flava Flav

We've been listening to a Wiggles LIVE CD in the car with our 2 year old. It's like audio crack. As I'm listening to the psychopathic antics of Captain Feathersword it hits me that he's the hype man for the Wiggles. He is Flava Flav. I think they should switch jobs just for a year and see how many people will tell the difference.

Presidential firsts

I've long thought that I'd never live to see the first Asian American president. But then again I never thought I'd see an African American either. We've had some notable first already like Buchanan was the first unmarried president, Kennedy was the first Catholic and George Washington was our first white president. I'm pretty sure we're going to see another broken barrier at some point in the near future. What do you think it'll be? Let me know in the little poll on the right.

Jedi George Takei

For whatever reason George Takei is really hitting his stride, becoming a pop culture icon far beyond the boundaries of playing Sulu. More power to him. He's doing some amazing social commentary is his own wonderful way. His latest calls for Star Trek and Star Wars fans to unite against a common threat. Awesome.

I'll Take a Large Simon with Pepperoni

A Weird Visual Journey

This started as an observation about Newt Gingrich's wife Callista. She really reminded me of John McCain's wife Cindy McCain. Then Cindy McCain made me think of Arizona governor Jan Brewer who made Iggy Pop jump into mind and finally ended up at Ron Paul. I stopped short of finding a photo of Magneto next and the snow owl came to mind at the end there. So what's the point of this? Not sure. I guess that Ron Paul is a descendant of snow owls?

FreeScore.com dudes

It bothers me how all three FreeScore.com guys are totally generic looking white dudes. Was there a decision made to cast them like this? I'll give them the benefit of the doubt but then again... I suppose at least the bad credit score guy being white too is some consolation.

Unfortunate Name

So I was watching the footage that Fox News used of riots in Greece saying they were in Moscow when I got completely distracted by this guy's name. Soooo many names to choose form. Why "Tiny"? Poor little guy.

Spy on the Shelf

The Elf on the Shelf. I never heard of this tradition until this year. I think it started the same year the Patriot Act was signed.

Basically you get a little elf guy who and put him somewhere in your house and tell the kids that if they're bad the elf will tell Santa and he'll send the gifts to China or something. The idea is to move it around so the kids never know where it could be. To be honest it kind of creeps me out. I half expect it to show up taped to the bottom of the toilet lid or suddenly see it in my rear view.

Tomo Anthology

I have a 12 page SAM story in an anthology called Tomo ("friend") from Stone Bridge Press to be released March 2012. It features stories relating to the earthquake and tsunami all from young adult's POV.

The story is titled "Kazoku" which means family. In this alternate universe, a 16-year old SAM comes to terms with his American upbringing and his ties to Japan.

Sale proceeds to benefit relief efforts in Japan. Here is an interview about it. Check out a 16-year-old me in a kimono.

Old School Wednesday: Pearl Harbor vs. Atomic Bomb

Here's one that got a lot of undies in a bunch when it came out.

On the one hand, we have the tragic deaths of 2400+ US soldiers at a military base who were (as we now discover) allowed to be raided in order to give president Roosevelt a reason to enter the war against Germany and Italy. One the other hand we have 200,000+ civilian deaths (men/women/children) over several months resulting from the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Two very different events occuring at the beginning and end of the US's involvement in WWII.

Both are horrible tragedies in their own right but as a Japanese American I have very personal and conflicted feelings about them. Is there a difference in "value" between servicemen and civilians? How is it that a military mission that was well broadcast against a military target a sneak attack and the mass bombing of hundreds of thousands of civilians was justified and necessary? We send drones out to take down terrorists all day long and I doubt we send an invite before we do so.

Despite my apparent lack of patriotism please give a thought today to those who lost their lives in Pearl Harbor.

Too Proud to Work?

If you got laid off/downsized out of a decent job and was having trouble finding something of equal pay/stature would you be too proud to take a job bagging groceries or delivering food until you did?

ComicaziCon - Badass Bazaar

I'll be at the Comicazi Con Badass Bazaar all day Sunday with plenty of DigBoston gear, SAM books and good times. It all goes down at the Dilboy VFW Hall in Davis Square, Somerville from 10am-4pm. Lots of local artists selling their wares. Come out and support!

Akira Final Cast Announced!

Looks awesome! Neo Beverly Hills is about to explode!

My X-Mas List

I know there are at least a few of you billionaires out there waiting to blow some cash so here's my short wish list for Santa. Bonus points if you can somehow combine all three in one sweet suit.