Sitar grooves: US3 - "You can't hold me down"

How many rap tracks feature not one but 2 sitar solos? Although US3 were never a straight-ahead rap group by any means, with a major acid jazz bent to them. Since I'm a sucker for funky sitars, I absolutely love this, from way back in 2001. But even without the Indian-ness, its a phat track, easily their best since their debut single Cantaloop.


In case you care about such things, the horn parts are from the old jazz standard "Jive Samba." Below is Cannonball Adderley's version of it.



So for all the folks who deride hip-hop's art of sampling as uncreative theft, ask yourself this - who would have envisioned that Cannonball's  recording would sound awesome with a slammin' breakbeat underneath it, and a rapper and a sitar solo on top of it? Or, who for that matter, creates rap music and decides "it's great, but it just doesn't sound Indian enough - let's get some sitars!"
To take something old and imagine it in a new and interesting context - surely a worthy artistic expression.

Don't f*** with monkeys. They will f*** you up.

Planet of the Apes had it right. The simians are rising up against their human masters. In Hubei in China, street performer Lo Wung had taught his troupe of monkeys some taekwondo moves for his act. But if you are gonna do that, you better make sure you stay on their good side, or like Anakin did to Obi Wan, they will turn on you eventually. They fight dirty too - these are some badass monkeys. I'm sure Lo Wung was pissed off that all the spectators just thought it was part of the performance.

Story here.

Mr Wasabi: a crunchy, spicy and racist snack for the whole family

One of the blogs I've really been feeling recently is Sociological Images. Came across this interesting article about someone discovering the below product, Mr Wasabi snacks, and the exchange that followed with the manufacturer when she complained about the racial stereotyping used in the packaging.



A big deal over nothing? Well, I can accept some of the cliched stereotypes of Japaneseness used here (the whole samurai get up, for example), but the ultra-slanty eyes and buck teeth? That's too far. Particularly the buck teeth. I mean seriously, how many buck-toothed Asians do you meet these days?

Miss Indonesia in sex cult rumours

I don't want anyone to think I'm writing a gossip column here, so let me say from the outset that this story is probably mostly bollocks. But here it is anyway, from the Malaysian website Daily Chili:

A fresh storm is brewing around controversial Miss Indonesia 2009 Kerenina Sunny Halim. The 23-year-old beauty has admitted that she is a member of The Family International, a “non-governmental-organisation” for which she did humanitarian work in Aceh after the Asian tsunami in 2004. Kerenina, whose American mother and Indonesian father were members, was born into the organisation. The Family International is the modern day spawn of The Children of God – and admits as much on its website. The name was changed in the 1980s after negative publicity forced it “underground”. Founded in California in 1968 by David Brandt Berg, The Children of God was a counter-culture evangelical group with a foundation of biblical fundamentalism – and bonking. Berg, who was also addressed as “Moses”, “Chairman Mo” or “Dad”, preached free love to his followers, to the extent that females were encouraged to go into the world and engage in “flirty-fishing” of men: essentially to use sex to proselytise, according to the Mail and Guardian Online.

First and foremost, there just aren't enough journalistic articles these days that use the term "bonking."

Reckon that article will actually increase the attraction of The Family International? Because reading the whole article through my "guy" lenses, the stuff about brainwashing and alleged pedophilia of the cult leader was less important than the words "bonking", "free love" and "Miss Indonesia". Which naturally leads to conclusions like:

"Hmm... join up, then hopefully bonk Miss Indonesia... seems like the kind of religious movement I could really get behind..."

Of course, I don't really want to be in a cult, what with all that brainwashing and all ... Are cults still giving out free Nike shoes and Kool Aid these days? I wonder if they have a 30-day-trial or something...? A lot can be accomplished in that time...

...like having my ass kicked by Mrs Eurasian Sensation. Oh well, there goes that idea.

My earlier post about Karenina here:
Miss Indonesia 2009... who barely speaks Indonesian

Random comic genius: Arj Barker on Australian swearing

Any real Aussie knows how true this is, for better or for worse.

Poor visual quality on this video, but you'll get over it. Language warning, obviously.



If you want proof, check these out:

Trent from Punchy

Bogans are funny

He's not racist, he just wanted to kill blacks

Ok, is it just me, or did the definition of racism change recently? Because Victoria's law enforcement bodies appear to have their own definition of racism that is different to what everyone else thinks it is. I mean, there was this case of an Indian man and his wife being bashed with a chair and iron bar while being racially abused, that the police decided was not racist. That was one thing, but this next one takes the cake.

The Herald Sun reports that Clinton Rintoull, 24, was earlier today jailed for the murder of Sudanese 19-year-old Liep Gony, which took place in Noble Park in September 2007. Rintoull received 16 years, while his co-accused Dylan Sabatino will serve 6 years for manslaughter.

Gony's death was a significant one as it led to former Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews announcing he would cut back the intake of African refugees, since they weren't settling well enough in Australia. This was after two white guys had beaten an African to death - which perhaps shows that white people aren't settling well enough in Australia. I wrote about Andrews' statement here.

I have no problem with the sentences handed down, which are probably fair in the scheme of things. In that respect, presiding Justice Elizabeth Curtain got the important bit right. What almost made me spit out my dinner, however, was her statement that she didn't think the attack was racially motivated. Instead, she said he was driven by a sense of anger and frustration and a belief that violence involving a group of youths congregating at the Noble Park railway station was out of control.

Now sure, I'm sure he was motivated by those factors. But not racist? You be the judge - this is what Rintoull did leading up to the attack:

On 23 September 2007, Rintoull was involved in an altercation with a group of Sudanese youths at Noble Park train station, after which he called the police, claiming he had nearly been stabbed. Three days later, drunk and stoned, he sprayed graffitti on the wall of his share house which read "F*** the niggas".

He then found a pole and told a neighbour: "These blacks are turning the town into the Bronx. I am looking to take my town back. I'm going to kill the blacks."

He and Sabatino then came across Gony, who was drunk and walking by himself. Gony was no saint, and was known to the police as a troublemaker, but it seems he was targeted by Rintoull and Sabatino for no other reason than being a young Sudanese man. He was set upon in an unprovoked attack by the two men, who struck him 15 to 20 times with metal poles, cracking his skull. They left him and returned home and washed the blood off their poles. Rintoull told Sabatino's girlfriend at this point, "I bashed a nigger and I think he's dead." Gony was discovered by a passing motorist and taken to hospital where he later died.

Ok, so a quick summary: a man who because of his past bad experiences with one group of Africans, writes racist anti-African graffitti and tells his neighbour of his desire to kill Africans, then kills a man in an unprovoked attack simply for being African.

And this is not racist?

The judge's reasoning for this - that Rintoull had several days earlier made sandwiches for a homeless Sudanese man who was living in a nearby derelict property.

Ok, and this proves what? That Rintoull is not a monster but also has capacity for kindness? Fine; few people are totally evil and I'm sure Rintoull had a nice side as well. But if he could be nice to some black people, does that mean clearly he is not racist? Umm...

There are a number of different definitions of racism, depending on who you ask. But I get the impression that many people, including Justice Elizabeth Curtain, think that being racist means being a member of the white supremacist movement or something. Clearly, Rintoull was no Grand Wizard of the KKK, but clearly he had some racist tendencies.

As do we all, to varying degrees. Too many people perpetuate a racist/not racist dichotomy, which I think is unhelpful. We need to understand that in all of us lie various prejudices, which we can choose to ignore, or nurture, or act upon. His run-in with a group of Sudanese youths did not make Clinton Rintoull racist; it only provided him with an opportunity to nurture his racist thoughts, which he then acted upon.

In the context of the verdict, this matters not; whatever the motivation, Rintoull and Sabatino killed someone and have been punished for it. But for victims like Liep Gony, racism is a big deal indeed, and something we ignore at our peril.

How white America's existential crisis is fuelling hatred of Obama

I want to draw your attention to an excellent piece I read over at the Broadsnark blog. It is perhaps the best article I have found attempting to explain the hysterical level of opposition to Barack Obama's presidency from largely white conservative segments of the US population. (Obviously, right-wingers are always going to oppose a Democrat, but Obama has many carrying on as if the world is about to end, in contrast with many progressives who claim he hasn't really done anything, good or bad.) Its writer Mel refrains from any simplistic accusations of racism, and instead takes a more nuanced look at how a coloured, urbane president is a challenge to the mythology that fuels much of America's identity.
Here is an excerpt from Mel's article - you can read the whole thing here.

There is a certain segment of the American population that really believes in the American foundational myths. They identify with them. They believe that America was built by a handful of white, Christian, men with exceptional morals. Their America is the country that showed the world democracy, saved the Jews in World War II, and tore down the Berlin wall.


These people have always fought changes to their mythology. They have always resented those of us who pushed to complicate those myths with the realities of slavery, Native American genocide, imperial war in the Philippines, invasions of Latin American countries, and secret arms deals.

...

When Americans vote for a president, they want to see that heroic version of themselves looking back at them. They want to see that free cowboy of the mythology. No matter how poor or exploited white people were, they could always take subconscious comfort in the fact that, when they looked at the highest power in the land, they saw an idealized version of themselves.


And then came Barack Obama.

Pop.

It’s a powerful thing to be able to identify with the people who are your leaders, to feel like they are one of you. It’s a feeling that many people in the United States felt for the first time when Barack Obama was elected. It’s equally powerful when your elected leaders are clearly not like you, when the fact that they do not represent you is glaringly obvious.

I had my whole life to get used to the idea that the government was never made to really represent my interests. Many of these angry people are the very white, Christian, men that this country was supposedly built by and for. And this is the first time the myth of America has been unmasked for them.

Undoubtedly, there are some bigots out there who are just angry that they have a black president. Clearly, even for those who don’t feel motivated by personal bigotry, there is a healthy dose of racism underlying the fact that it took a black president for them to realize that their government is as dysfunctional as it is. But I doubt the people we are talking about have an understanding of the difference between bigotry and racism.

And I don’t believe it is just blackness that makes Barack Obama different and symbolic. It is also his intellectual cosmopolitanism. He is a symbol of the privilege that is replacing whiteness – the educated professional/managerial class. And there is a significant amount of animosity directed towards those people who justify their privilege by virtue of their intellect.

And so these people who have lost their foundational myths are out in the streets. They are using all the synonyms for “bad” that our pathetic school system and media have taught them – communist, fascist, totalitarian, socialist, nazi. All the words are interchangeable. They all mean not American. They all mean not them.

Here's why I think this article really hits home: The things that are different about Obama are also the same things that make him appealing to so many people, particularly around the world. His educated and cosmopolitan nature appeals to elites. His coolness (by politican's standards, anyway) appeals to young voters. His multicultural identity and upbringing has strong appeal for nonwhites, who feel like finally they can have a president who understands them. His work as a community organiser can hold sway with poorer voters. But while almost everyone can find a bit of themselves in Obama if they look, they can also find something to fear if they look. Foreign-ness. Elitism. Blackness. Alleged Muslim-ness. Alleged socialism.

To some he is a personification of their dreams and aspirations. To others he is the boogie-man, all their darkest fears rolled into one.

 
Some of my own takes on this phenomenon here, here, here, here and here.

West Indians now more Indian than ever

The West Indies cricket team has been touring Australia for several weeks now. I don't really follow cricket much any more, but one thing about the series caught my attention. The Caribbean side is stacked with players of Indian descent.

Six players who have played in the current test series are of Indian background - Shivnarine Chanderpaul (pictured left), Ramnaresh Sarwan (pictured below), Dinesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Adrian Barath and Narsingh Deonarine.

Indians are not a new phenomenon in Caribbean cricket - their number includes such past greats as Rohan Kanhai, Sonny Ramadhin and Alvin Kallicharan. But never before has their presence been so prominent, in a team that for so long has been completely dominated by players of African origin. Indeed, earlier this decade, three consecutive captains of the squad were Indian - Chanderpaul, Sarwan and Daren Ganga, who is no longer in the squad.

Indians have been a presence in the islands since the 1830s, when slavery was abolished and the British needed to find a new source for cheap labour. The largest communities are in Guyana (from where Chanderpaul, Sarwan and Deonarine hail) and Trinidad and Tobago (home to Ganga, Rampaul, Ramdin and Barath).

These are not especially good times for the side that utterly dominated world cricket in the 70s and 80s (the glory days of Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd, Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner and others) - the West Indies are ranked 8th out of the 10 test-playing nations, ahead of only such cricketing backwaters as Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. A number of reasons have been cited for its decline. Poor administration and internal infighting have played a role, perhaps understandable in a side combining players from 10 different countries. The board has failed to keep up with the increasing professionalized landscape of world cricket, and the region itself has faced a general economic decline.

But the side's cricketing woes have also been attributed to the increasing pull of soccer and basketball on the talented young black athletes that would have once naturally gravitated to cricket. Perhaps it is this factor that has allowed the rise of Indo-Caribbeans in the sport, as their love of the game has not wavered. While a cynic could argue that the presence of Indians in the team may be a reason for the West Indies' deteriorating performances, in fact the team's best-performing players in recent years have been Indian. Chanderpaul is arguably the best West Indian player of the decade, with Sarwan not far behind, and wicketkeeper Ramdin is touted as a future captain.

Indeed, the prominence of South Asians in cricket has increased worldwide, not just in the Caribbean. England has already had an Asian captain in Nasser Hussain, as well as prominent players such as Mark Ramprakash and Monty Panesar, while Hashim Amla is establishing himself as a regular in the South African side. New Zealand has already had a player of Indian origin in all-rounder Deepak Patel. With growing numbers of desis playing youth and club cricket here, will we see Australians of South Asian descent donning the baggy green cap soon? In truth, we have already had two of them. Victorian batsman Dav Whatmore, who had a brief test career in 1979, was born in Sri Lanka and is of Burgher (Eurasian) ancestry. Michael Bevan, rated as one of the greatest one-day cricketers of all time, also has Burgher ancestry.

With India playing an increased role in the game with the inception of the Indian Premier League, and more and more desis representing their various nations, we may be seeing the new brown face of world cricket.

One for the future: 19-year-old Adrian Barath scored a century against Australia in his debut test.

Like this? You may like:

The Surinamese footballing diaspora

The Nigerian diaspora: Athletes

Lushlife, Indian-American rap phenomenon

All about Indians in 90 seconds

Finnish bhangra. This is weird.

I'm not sure what to think about this. Shava are a group from Finland who play bhangra, the dance music originating from the Punjab region in India. The casual listener might think this song, called Päälliköt on Voittamattomii, is no different to other bhangra tracks, like Panjabi MC's Mundian To Bach Ke, which it liberally rips off. Except there's a big difference - instead of an Indian guy singing in Punjabi, its a white dude singing in Finnish. It's a bit of a mindf**k for me watching this - it sounds almost like the real thing.



If there's another thing it reminds me of, it is the white Canadian dancehall artist Snow, who rapped/sang in thick Jamaican patois. Remember his big hit song Informer back in the day? This is just as incongruous. But I wonder: is it really any stranger than the idea of Brazilian band playing hardcore metal (ie. Sepultura) for instance, or a Japanese hip-hop artist (ie. DJ Krush)? Or for that matter, a bunch of white British guys playing rhythm & blues (ie. The Rolling Stones).

But it's also kinda cool that some dudes in Finland found their calling in music from Punjab. And translating the distinctive vocal style of bhangra to the Finnish language is crazy but it somehow works. I'm trying to imagine trying to sing that way in English right now.

So whaddaya reckon? Is this yet another example of the white man keeping the brown man down by appropriating and diluting his cultural expressions? Or is it a heartfelt tribute to the power of music to transcend boundaries of creed and colour? Is this 4 minutes and 14 seconds of sheer wackness? Or is it off the hizzle?


(Hat tip: Sociological Images)


Also check these related posts:

Nigerian dudes sing Bollywood

Mainstream hip-hop's Bollywood flirtations

Tajik Jimmy. This guy is freakin' amazing.

From Bollywood to black America and back - the evolution of a sample

Some Tamil rap for yo' ass - Yogi B and Natchatra

Let's play Spot the Sample: Lata Mangeshkar - "Tere Here Beech Mein"
Daichi, amazing Japanese beatbox kid

Black chicks singing in Mandarin - why not? This is cool.

Lloyd Popp - awesome Indonesian talk-box guy

Artistic interpretations of the Super Mario Brothers Theme

Glenn Beck disses poor people, Indians and India. What a c**k.

Ever hear people talk about the stereotypical "ugly American" and wonder who they were referring to? Well here he is, ladies and gentlemen. Watch this rant from Fox News' ideologue Glenn Beck and tell me you don't feel like punching the guy in his smarmy fat entitled face.


Remember, this is the same Glenn Beck who claimed Barack Obama was a racist. Takes one to know one, I guess.

Why would anyone want to go abroad and pay $12,500 for hip replacement surgery in India when they could pay $40,000 at home in the US? Hmmm, I can't imagine why... perhaps they don't make $23 million a year like Beck does. His total ambivalence to the plight of the less well-off is staggering even from a right-winger.

(See, if you are a US citizen who gets severely sick and can't afford a life-saving operation, you have two choices. You can go overseas and get a cheaper one. Or you can die.)

But if that weren't enough, then he had to go diss an entire country. Beck better hope he never has to go to India for any reason, because there are plenty of folks who would tear him a new one over there.

Comparing the Ganges River to a disease? That's a site of holy significance in Hinduism. I know Beck couldn't care less about what brown people believe in, but that sh*t just ain't cool, man.

Oh, and there are an estimated 35,000 doctors in the US who are of Indian descent, many of whom are immigrants who have studied at Indian universities. I wonder how they feel about their expertise and education being compared to a $4 fake Gucci knockoff.

Is it just me, or is Beck trying to model himself as the right-wing Jon Stewart? Except, Stewart actually comes across as a nice guy who has some compassion for the little guy. Oh, and Stewart is also funny.

C**k.