Party at Brett's House

Best part of the evening. 

photos taken January 29, 2009

Mainly because we partied too hard and blacked out for the rest of the night.  The next morning, we ended up outside his porch with Sharpie drawings all over our faces.  Just another night at Brett's, I suppose.

JK...the party was pretty much over by the time we finished our interview.  My friend, Mike and I were only able to sneak in 2 pieces of hors d'oeuvres before they whisked it away.  When we got to Brett's discotec, we were pretty much the only ones shaking our booty there.

Ratner may be famous for throwing wild and crazy parties in his Hillhaven Lodge but this one sure wasn't it.  It's okay though because for a couple of college kids on the outskirts of the Hollywood scene (for now), we were just impressed with the glitz, lights (and boy, were there plenty aglow) and brushing shoulders with Russell Simmons. 

For now.

Ouch

"Men know how to use the phone. If he's not calling you, it's because you're not on his mind."

-Greg Behrendt, author of "He's Just Not That Into You"

Why would I need to watch the movie if I'm already living the life?

Feedback

Woke up this morning to a pleasant surprise in the form of a buzz on my blackberry signaling that I had received an email from one of my editors at APA:

"Hey J,

You might find this interesting:

http://alpha-asian.blogspot.com/2009/02/dats-fine-with-me.html

I don't like that the blogger calls you a "college reporter" but dat's fine since he shows you much love.  and deservedly too.  Ada's probably told you how good your article is and I definitely have to second it and more.  The piece was engaging from intro to freak ending.  I love how you play the straight man to his lunacy.  Worked out great."

Open Your Eyes, Miley!

I'm a little behind on this but a couple of weeks ago, Miley Cyrus, Disney pop sensation ("sensation" being the right word because this girl's talent and worth is totally sensationalized by the Disney machine) was found in a picture with a group of her friends doing this...

At first glance, one can say, "okay. It's just a picture of a girl having fun with her friends, making some goofy faces."

One can even interpret these faces in many way. Maybe they're pretending to need glasses! Maybe they're potheads! Maybe they're constipated!

But upon closer inspection, it's pretty obvious that this is a completely racist picture of a bunch of white folks pretending to have chinky eyes. Note how the one Asian dude in the shot isn't making the face at all? Note how some people (Miley included) are pulling their eyes taut to achieve the oriental look? Note how one genius in the back even put his fingers up to his mouth to adopt a buck teeth look reminiscent of Charlie Chan's (incredibly racist) Breakfast at Tiffany's character?

Genius

Inspiration

Gotta give him props for being precise and detailed!

Now, I'm not the biggest advocate for anti-racism or anything. I understand that people make mistakes sometimes. We've been brought up in a world where stereotypes exist and racism still lingers. As much as we try to become as open-minded and loving of our neighbors for who they are as a person rather than the color of their skin, it's still typical to make jokes about certain races, to make comments generalizing a group of people, to behave a certain way around them. I'm not saying it's acceptable. Just that it's typical.

However, Miley Cyrus is a celebrity figure. The comments she says, the faces she makes, the pictures she takes, weigh a whole lot more than the average human being. There are little girls who don't even know what racism means who dance along to her songs and sleep on "Hannah Montana" monogrammed pillows at night. I know that she's only 16 herself and just trying to grow up in the public eye but she's been in enough photo scandals to know that anything she does on film will be scrutinized, analyzed and criticized by society. By taking a picture making that kind of face and then letting the photographer keep the picture and post it up online only shows that she doesn't care what message she is sending out.

My sister was in her "7 Things" music video and told me that on-set, Miley wouldn't take pictures with any of the young girls who asked her. Taking pictures with her fans, those that feed her livelihood and made her who she is, is a no no but you know, taking "goofy," ignorant and utterly tasteless shots, that, she will do!

So as is typical "Disney It Girl Gone Bad" fashion, Cyrus has come out with a sort-of statement explaining the photo:

"I've also been told there are some people upset about some pictures taken of me with friends making goofy faces! Well, I'm sorry if those people looked at those pics and took them wrong and out of context! In NO way was I making fun of any ethnicity! I was simply making a goofy face. When did that become newsworthy? It seems someone is trying to make something out of nothing to me. If that would of [sic] been anyone else, it would of been overlooked! I definitely feel like the press is trying to make me out as the new 'BAD GIRL'!"

Girl, you need to (no pun intended) open your eyes if you think that the picture was just goofy. If you think people are "making something out of nothing," why don't we just put up a picture of a bunch of people with hay stuck in our mouths and greasy long blonde hair in our faces and see how you feel about that?

Asians are offended by racist actions like pretending to have chinky eyes because we've had a history of being taught to hate our smaller-than-white-people peepers. We've had a history of thinking that the smaller your eyes are, the less attractive you are. So when you go and take a picture trying to mock our eyes and then say that you weren't trying to do that but was just making a goofy face, you've not only made fun of us once by taking that picture but twice by saying that the face you were making was goofy. Thanks! I quite love walking around with a "goofy" face 24/7.

What Miley Cyrus did was not okay. And I hate how other people out there also think that it was. On Zap2it, the commenters to the article would say these like, "she's only a kid!" and "I don't see what the big deal is!" Um..okay, just because you're a kid doesn't mean that you can get away with racism. If we don't punish her now, how can she grow up to become a responsible, race-conscious adult? And the big deal is that no one ever makes a big deal when there's racism targeted towards Asians. John Imus' infamous "nappy headed hoes" comment drew outrage all over the country, this hardly made a ripple.

On the other hand, there are people who are angry about this and insults Miley back by calling her just another ignorant "country hick." That's kind of racist as well, wouldn't you say? How about we say that Miley Cyrus isn't just another ignorant country hick. She's actually a very lucky girl who's able to live out a dream most other girls would kill for. It's harsh being under the spotlight all the time but you can't expect the fame, glory and moolah to come without some costs, can you? With great power comes great responsibilities (yes, I totally pulled a "Spiderman") and she needs to learn how to be a proper role model whether she likes it or not. If she doesn't want to be one, then GO AWAY. Let Selena Gomez take your place.

Oh! And I also found the Grammy performance Cyrus did with Taylor Swift (whom I girlcrush on madly) She totally ruined Taylor's gentle song with her nasally and crass hooterin' and hollerin'.

Hmm..Taylor Swift's eyes are known for being fairly cat-eyes and slim, I wonder how she feels about Miley calling her eyes "goofy"?

Inspiration for this post: Angry Asian Man

*Edit: FINALLY a real apology issued on her official fan club website...

Posted on Feb 08, 2009

"I want to thank all of my fans for their support not only this week, but always! I really wanted to stress how sorry I am if the photo of me with my friends offended anyone. I have learned a valuable lesson from this and know that sometime my actions can be unintentionally hurtful. I know everything is a part of GODs ultimate plan, and mistakes happen so that eventually I will become the woman he aspires me to be. Peace and love, Miles."

Nick, Nora and Dat

I (finally) just watched "Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist."

And it totally satisfied my heart.

Plus! My interview with "Last Comic Standing" original winner, Dat Phan is up!  Read it, he's quite an interesting fellow.

I should have taken advantage of the California sun and sat out by the parks and hills more.  Who knew that this would turn out to be such a wet week?

On the other hand, I do enjoy the cheery pitter patter of the rain. Time to bust out the rain-boots!

The "25 Things About Me" thing has been going around these days.  I've almost been tagged more times than the amount of people I'm supposed to tag.  It's very tempting to also partake in this trend. I even started on a draft. But after getting to item #8, I realized that I don't really want all this information of me floating around in cyberspace.  In time, I will change, my thoughts will change, my words will change.  I don't want to have to explain myself 10 years from now for something I filled out back when I was a young collegiate who got "tagged" by a couple of her friends. (I didn't even get physically tagged! There were no human contact involved!)  

Besides, I'm trying to be more mysterious.  Is it working?

Surreal

Going to school in Los Angeles, California definitely has its advantages.  For one thing, celebrity sightings are a dime a dozen.  You see them everywhere, pumping at the gas station, shopping at the grocery store, dining at the In N Out.  But I've had an especially star-packed two weeks. 

Last Tuesday, Professor Grobel took our "Art of the Interview" class to a screening by one Al Pacino.  That's right. We sat in the same room as The Godfather himself.  We breathed the same air as him.  We (or at least I could since I sat so close) could see up his nostrils.  

Then on Thursday, my editor at APA asks if I could conduct an interview with this comedian named Dat Phan.  I think, "sure, why not?"  It was just supposed to be a simple phone interview.  

So imagine my confusion when a couple of hours later, I'm sitting right across from him at our school's food court, watching him eat Panda Express.  

The interview should be up online shortly and I'll be sure to link it here. (Don't worry, I know you're waiting anxiously. You'll get to read it, I promise.)

Today is Thursday.  That's college party day.  Most kids will probably be at a Frat house or someone's birthday.  My "Art of Interview" class, however, will be at Brett Ratner's (director of Rush Hour, Family Man, X-Men, etc.) Hillhaven Lodge House of Fun!  Ratner is famous for throwing these crazy parties at his Hollywood home and he's throwing a Pre-Grammy one tonight and we're invited!  You should be expecting craziness.  

I mean, we'll still have to conduct the interview (something we've been preparing for for over 4 weeks) but after that, who knows what madness will occur.

Yea, I definitely take Los Angeles for granted.  Not anymore!