Thursday, May 28, 2009

Chinatown My Chinatown



Chinatown, My Chinatown.
Written in 1910 by a couple of white guys - who, I have no doubt - were not from Chinatown.

Taking into consideration the political-social atmosphere at the time, the words to the song probably typifies how outsiders viewed American Chinatowns. It was 1910 - to be sure, plenty of **** going on in and around the Gilded Ghettos. People didn't get it. They still don't, but that again is another post for another day.

One has to wonder if Chinatown residents were bemused and/or chagrined by the inane lyrics of 'Chinatown, My Chinatown', which, to my thinking - greatly serve to perpetuate the exotic myth of the Mysterious Orient ... more so in the early 1900's - when the enclave of Chinatown was viewed as a world very much apart.

Maybe no one paid attention to the words.
They were probably much too busy bop bopping to the catchy tune to take note.

I grew up in San Francisco's Chinatown.
We didn't live deep within the bowels of ChinatownMyChinatown, though my Mom did - back in the 20's, 30's and 40's. The rental flat of my youth was located on Mason Street (major claim to fame being that the Powell-Mason cable car line ran right in front of our building). We bordered North Beach and Nob Hill, but 'three blocks up' from Grant Avenue was Chinatown all the same.

As a kid, one of my elementary school teachers at Jean Parker School had the lot of us Chinese-American kids (our school's student population was close to 99% A.B.C.) sing the refrain of 'Chinatown My Chinatown' for a school assembly. Now, that must'a been cute...or patronizing.... or exploitative...acccch....no matter...

At home, my Mom hummed this song with her cronies for a lark. Heck, Mom and I even sang it together a few times.

So - in spite of the politically incorrect lyrics, I do hold a bit of a fond memory.
Go figure.

Now here's your chance to sing-a-long.
Go ahead - - - put that in your 'pipe' and smoke it.

P.S. .....'wing wong'......now that'sa T-A-C-K-Y.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

skip skip skip to my lou



The other day I saw a (nicely dressed, tidy and fit-looking, middle-aged) man skipping down the street. It was a sight to behold. Kinda neat-o.

Children often skip, but adults tend not to. Or do they?

When was the last time you skipped (not school, not work, not TV channels, not dessert and definitely not rope). I haven't skipped like a kid in at least a decade. Maybe two. Perhaps I'll give it a go when next I'm out walking on the track and there's lots of room for me to stumble and fall...

Apparently, there are some heavy duty adult skippers out in the world.
Check out this article about the founder (of the above skipping movement).

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

more what's not to love...



...about wikiHow?!?

This recent wikiHow post offers super fun craftiness and is oh-so-practical:

What with rubber thongs aka flip flops aka zories selling at ridiculously high
prices
, it really makes sense to try constructing them yourself - from an old yoga mat, yet.

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

totally hooked on ...


Cook's Illustrated
and
America's Test Kitchen.

I've been enamoured of the Cook's Illustrated mags and books for some time, and just recently became aware of the filmed cooking shows. (What rock have I been living under?!? So glad I crawled out for a looksee.) Yesterday, I viewed 'Best Baking Recipes' (2007) on DVD and am now totally hooked on the shows as well.

I've always considered myself a good cook / baker, yet there's always so much more to learn about the craft. The DVD on baking was chock full of helpful tips and info. The only problem is getting hungry as you watch. Creating food with just the right ingredients and just the right techniques: Wow and Yum. The cooking demos set my kitchen mojo afire!

Whilst investigating the website, another lovely surprise.
The TV shows can be accessed on our local PBS station every Saturday. Click here to see if your local listings include America's Test Kitchen.

Cook's Illustrated: Another of life's Yippee Skippees.