Ever play these videogame characters? We'd been drawn, painted, and now this. An honor to be smirking digital people. Was this a school project? Art? Are we in a game?




Minor details for at least me. I don't wear long sleeve undershirts, but sometimes, when it's cold, I wish I did. I don't have Vans Off the Walls. I want some though! Light brown pants? If I had em, I'm not sure I'd wear em.

I like stupid videos like the next person but this is amazing. Real life Mario!

Japanese Institute of Sawtelle. It's literally a few blocks from the stores in West LA. It's right there, but I haven't gone back at all. I went the as a kid for about 10 years+. I hated it at the time. Recently an old classmate wrote me an email after seeing the Calendar Live article about Sawtelle which mentions Giant Robot, GR2, and gr/eats. It reminded me about going to school there and the taunts, the bullying, the fuckfaces all around, but at the same time, there was the good. I learned to play basketball from the single hoop that sat on the pavement. I'd show up early just to shoot some hoops. We'd play three on three, and I think sometimes five on five on a half court. We'd play football with a tennis ball which was basically a hike and mayhem of running deep and trying to catch the ball. Occasionally a fast kid would run one back and ditch every out stretched hand. Sometimes, I swear I remember each side had maybe 10 kids, some really little and young, some older, and it was a battle. We'd even play until it was dark, and the cheap flood lights would come on. I don't want to make you think this was a football field sized place, this is something like the size of a tennis court!



All that said, this post is only a really short memorable look at a place where I spent years and years of my youth. It was neither great nor terrible, and I did learn some Japanese to get myself out of trouble. Yet I wonder what that place is like these days. One day I'll spend a lot of time and write down the things I remember in more detail about the place and maybe someone will read it and laugh since they're going through the same shit. Maybe another old classmate will turn up out of it.

Ray Fongs got pulled! I'm sure a bunch of Asian groups will be happy. The only thing that could have helped is if we got to release the shoe. Oh well. Sayonara to the Fongs.

Adidas pulls back sneaker with caricature
Controversy - The company reconsiders and stops sales of the shoe Asian American groups found offensive
Friday, April 28, 2006
HELEN JUNG



Adidas Group has reversed itself and agreed to immediately halt sales of a limited-edition sneaker that features a caricature some Asian American groups found offensive.

The Y1-Huf sneaker, designed by Barry McGee, a San Francisco graffiti artist, featured an Asian face with slanted eyes, buck teeth and a bowl haircut. The caricature is a design that McGee, who is half Asian, has used before and was meant as a representation of himself, he said in a statement released by Adidas.

The stereotypical image angered some who saw its use, divorced from the artist's context, as offensive. Adidas initially refused to stop sales of the $250 sneaker, defending the artist's work.

But after hearing complaints from several groups since the shoe went on sale April 1, the company changed its mind and said on Thursday that it will pull any remaining pairs, said Abby Guyer, a spokeswoman with Portland-based Adidas America, the North American headquarters for the German company.

"We're an inclusive brand and we felt like we needed to respond to that," she said. "We continue to stand by Barry's vision and by his creativity and by his partnership with Huf (a retailer) in San Francisco."

Most of the 1,000 sneakers that were for sale have probably been bought, she said. The company is assessing how many remain with the 12 retailers around the world selling the shoe.

She said Adidas' "apology is for the offense that was caused and for the unfortunate misinterpretation of our intentions but we can't apologize for the artwork that was created by an artist."

Portland-area groups representing Korean Americans, Japanese Americans, and Chinese Americans were preparing to send a joint letter to complain about the sneaker. But the news that Adidas would no longer sell the shoe satisfied their concerns, said Stephen Ying, president of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance in Portland.

Angie Chuang of The Oregonian contributed to this report.

Helen Jung: 503-294-7621; helenjung@news.oregonian.com; www.oregonlive.com/weblogs/playbooksandprofits

We launched the new front page last night. I original drew this on piece of paper while eating dinner in San Francisco. The food at Medicine Eat Station was something completely different, it was a vegan Japanese restaurant and they say it's what monks at 500 years ago. I have a hard time believing that, but it sounds great. What did monks eat 500 years ago? I'm sure it was minimal everything, nothing tasted powerful, I'm sure the vegetables were plain and the sauces if any were simple. I remember eating the nigiri sushi place that was all raw vegetables and I thought it was either from a recipe by Middle Earth elves or from herbivore space aliens. The miso soup special was $6 and excellent. It was a tasty white miso and I think there was mochi in there. The almond milk drink was thick as white paint. That was a meal on it's own, and I couldn't finish it. The decor of the place was modern contemporary and huge.



I won't go on, since this was already a couple of months ago, but for some reason, sitting near a window overlooking Sutter street, I was insprired to start drawing our website. I took a photo of it, and emailed it to our webstore man, "Mike Mike." Next thing you know, it was on it's way. Was it the food? More than likely, it was because I was alone, it was late, and I had just attended a magazine conference which taught me very little, since all I did was sit there and think what we should be doing at GR, rather than listen to the panelists talk about magazine publishing 101. Back to the camera shy, "Mike Mike," you won't see a pic of him anytime soon, but he did made it happen.

Last night might have been a game for the ages. Giant Robot softball wins it's 7th game in a row continuing from last season. Down 11-2, the team looked defeated. The Union Missions squad just scored 9 and were looking strong. The GR team looked like one of the past blunderous teams, making errors, bad judgements, and were basically off the mark. But a few hits in a row, and the action got going. Next thing you know GR was down 11-9 after a few rallies. A few more innings, and GR took the lead 16-11. The other team made it's comeback and cut it to 16-14, but it ended there. An incredible victory.



It's a great way to start the season, and I know the past squads sans the end of last seasons wouldn't have come back from something like this. Instead there would have been a second meltdown and more sad faces. Maybe one day when my finger feels better I'll play again, but I sort of doubt it. It's getting easier and easier to sit and watch.

Avocado tree. In my backyard is a big ass avocado tree. The shade from it darkens the entire yard, and the branches reach out to two different neighbor's lots. A month ago, my dad came over to clean up the years of leaves that accumulated on the roof from the tree, and from the leaves popped out 6 young possums. Where was the mom or dad? They're nocturnal, and neither parent was around. We put the six on the ground, some got thrown down along with the leaves, but landed safe in the big cushioned pile, and they slowly scurried off into the bushes. I hope their parents found them and they're doing fine. Meanwhile, the avocado tree is producing in big ways. In a few minutes, I can pick 10, and these taste great once they soften up. gr/eats has been using my homegrowns, and they can never disappoint. Anyone out there know about avocados? It seems like my tree produces once every two years. Is that normal?

I'm going to the farmer's market in Santa Monica now that I have my dad's old Astrovan to drive around. Here's what I picked up. Strawberries, straight out of SoCal. They're good. The tomatoes are Japanese Momotaro, you can tell by their pale red color. I can see these a mile away. They smell great through the bag. Cucumbers. Japanese kind. They're shorter and narrow. These make great pickles and taste fine as is with a bit of salt or dressing. And a few good organic apples from the Korean farmers.

Wayne Lo. I wrote about this mass murderer after visiting him in his prison. After the visit, I think our letters (email for me) starting turning for the worse. Shit talk like you wouldn't believe including every possible prison joke, to pimp and ho relationships, and other sick shit. Wayne of course says it's all me, and I of course say it's all him. But in the end, we're both talking mad sick shit to each other. Then I stopped, what the fuck am I doing wasting time writing crap back and forth? I suppose it's easy for me since I'm just writing a quick email. It can take all of 1 minute, but Wayne is scrawling pages and pages of shit. Sometimes a five page letter will show up with no redeeming sentences in it.



But life goes on and now he's found a new hobby! I'm always telling folks that they should work on their art, and I told Wayne the same thing. Now, a few months later, he's already selling it here. Maybe he'll set up an art show in his prison. His work is all about his one time prison band Skid Lo. Right now it's band logos and t-shirt designs.

Musically, Wayne is trapped in the late 80s and early 90s, and he's a huge Sebastian Bach fan, hence the name. After one rockin' show, the band broke up. Wayne told me that the band's guitar player was caught (red handed?) in his cell "doing it" with another prisoner a week later. Rock stars...

Tara Donovan
Untitled (Plastic Cups) 2006
PaceWildenstein Gallery in Chelsea NY
545 W. 22nd Street, New York, N.Y. 10011



Tara Donovan makes environments from everyday items. In this show it's plastic cups, tons of them, and the room turns into a landscape. The work seems simple, but when you find out that she's done a large body of work with this concept, it'll amaze. Walking around the borders, I had the typical stupid questions, how many cups, how long did it take, so on and on. Only the stupid stuff that everyone else was probably thinking.

The great Saelee Oh's show at GRNY won't disappoint. Photos will be up soon in the transmissions and also the gallery section. Saelee combine fine painting skill, characters, cut outs, and a light touch that make her work crafts tight and charming. I haven't figured out which one I'm getting yet! The opening yesterday was pelted by rain! A storm came into NY and showered the town, nonetheless some nice guests, and the idea that no low shelves will be made in the gallery section. Construction in GRNY2 starts next week, and now, a small change of plans for the better.



Harvard GSD Quote of the minute (not by us). We met a cool dude named Landon who reads GR, I think religiously. When we asked, what should we do in Boston? He excitedly replied, "Come to my house!" We were thinking, "huh?" He's fine, no worries.

Harvard GSD talk went well. We'll post a broken down sound file soon. It was a long talk. 6-8pm. We thought it was supposed to be for one hour!

Just like how we opened a year ago, gr/eats is having a promotion. Eat a meal and you get a nice prize right over at gr2. It's been a zoo! Restaurants are tough and I laugh when people tell us to open one elsewhere like in NYC. I just can't do it.




Today, we also decided that the new site should be up next week. This blog and others will be on the front page. It should be six total and hopefully fresh and new often! Also the lounge! Yes our lounge will have a hopefully daily update on what the hot topics are of the day. We may recruit someone from our lounge to help do this for us. The podcasts will be right up there too.

Martin and I are going to be at Harvard GSD. Last time we were there, it was bogus. We were on a panel with a bunch of artists, and the subject of racism came up, then one of the artists stepped up and said they're too young, they won't know what racism is all about. And proceeded to mic hog. In the end, he looked like a dick, especially since he was an Asian american artist censoring another Asian American person from talking. This time, it's all about Giant Robot, and we'll hopefully get there on time. Plane lands at 5pm, we talk at 6pm. I don't like cutting it that close, but oh well, that's what the plane ticket says.

A little more info is on the lounge.

Aya Takano is one of the best Japanese artists. Of course, she's part of the Superflat, Takashi Murakami clan, so that means, she's managed tightly. I've been a fan for a while and thankfully, she's one of the nicest persons around. If you're in Tokyo, you have a little bit of time to check out her show at Parco. It ends 4/24!



Parco is one of the coolest places since it's actually on the top floor of a mall type of building that's filled with "cool" types of shops. Every exhibit has a store at the end of the show. I once saw a Robocon show years and years ago, so you can imagine the goods there. We got some too! Check it out.

Forgot to mention... I'll add more about the "worshipping of raw beef" soon, when I get some images.

We mentioned this in the magazine, but I finally will get my own Yoshitomo Nara candy container and gummies in light blue! At first I was ok without it, and it went to Wendy, our magazine's designer, but then the rest of the colors went to everyone else, leaving me with a brown one! The brown is ok I guess, but in the end, it's the ugliest. So now, I have a blue one! So it comes with gummy candies with the same shape as the container. The question for this $40+ item, when do you eat the candies? Limited edition all around, I almost don't want to eat it, but in the end, it'll just go bad... Wait, will it? It's all sugar.

The container looks sort of "just ok" but once it's in your hands, it's a nice item. The plastic is thick, and the container feels substantial. Even the box it comes in is cool. Get yours from Omotesando Hills. But you'll have to go there. No shipping to the USA.

I'm suffering from a crazy dinner. I don't usually eat beef, but when going to a place that's "famous" for it's beef, you have to try it if you're a true fan of food.



So there's a place in west LA, where the chef at the end of the meal say, "thanks, but don't tell anyone!" with a big grin on his face. This place is not decorated, it's expensive, it's not lit well, there's no sign, and no way of knowing a thing about it. Even the neighbors have no idea what happens there. So long story short since I'll try to add pics later... Ate a meal of many courses of raw meat (raw liver too), bbq meat, and more. Posse: Cousin Dan, and two filmmakers. More of the story later, when I get the pics!

I have this cough that's been going on forever. Maybe over a month! I thought it was going away, but then it came back. So looking for a cure... I go to web m.d. No cure for a cough. So now I'm taking antibiotics. These aren't great for you either. All the technology, brains, etc, and the doctors and scientists can't figure this out?

This seems to happen every year or two and the antibiotics seem to work. 10 days, 20 huge pills and soft stools.

Unreal on how you defend what is obviously a racist symbol. Why don't we put swaztikas on Nikes? That's a cool artistic symbol too. I bet your friend could draw real cool shackles or a noose. When Mr. McGee puts his logo on a shoe, nobody gives two cents about his background and how respected he is in the underground. If he drew something racist, then the thing he drew is a racist symbol. What could possibly be a more racist symbol than a buck-toothed, bowl headed, pig nosed asian? What he did with his hand is a hate crime. Yes, it's art. Racist art. I guess there's such a thing.
-Dennis Martinez

Dennis Martinez, thanks for writing.

Since you say it, let's say there's a Savastika, the Japanese buddhist symbol on a Nike. (It's literally a reversed Swastika, and it's been around for hundreds or perhaps 1000s of years). My guess is 95 or more Americans of 100 would confuse it for the Nazi symbol. But nonetheless, the exact Nazi symbol is different from a Ray Fong. (I'm sure you're saying no it isn't... but it is in this case. Think how one is about pure genocide, and one is a mocking image.) - you know, this is like a puzzle of a paragraph. I apologize.

It's about context.

People won't know the difference, unfortunately, but for those who do will know it's fine. Those who don't will never understand. That said, if there was an artist who did nothing but non-racist swastika art (if this is possible - see how it's different?), and then he was asked to do a shoe, it would be part of his art. This is a farce, but if it's art, it's art.

The Fong image solo, sure it can be seen as a racist image, but in context and how it's used, isn't a racist statement. Imagine African American artists use black-face type images as their art. It's in tons of folk art from the south. Manuel Ocampo does have Swastikas in his art. Are these hate crimes or racist? Wait until you see his Keds!

I'm sure there is a such thing as racist art, but this isn't it. Thanks for writing, and sorry you're offended. I doubt I'll be able to convince you.

At the same time, I've lost control of all this for myself. Time for it to sail away.

We're working on the floor plans for the GRNY new gallery space. Right now, it's pretty clean and cleared out, but it's gonna fill in towards the back. Designing spaces seems like something we can all do. Put this here, put things there, etc etc. Sounds like taking a photograph. Anyone can do it. But not... We're having some great help with creative designs, stuff we wouldn't have ever thought of. That said, sometimes, it's good to leave some design work to the designers.

This is the adidas statement about the project that also addressing the Ray Fong shoe.







Adicolor_Yellow Series_Y1 HUF

Herzogenaurach, April 2006 - With the current introduction of the adicolor series, adidas brings back an iconic footwear concept that celebrates the touch points of self expression, customization and personalization.

Comprised of over 40 unique footwear designs, the adicolor collection is divided in two major parts, the White Series and the innovative Color Series. Represented by six different colors- black, red, pink, green, blue and yellow- the latter series features a number of collaborations between adidas Originals and a diverse group of partners- all icons from the worlds of fashion and art.

Among those is San Francisco-based store HUF, who hooked up with the much-respected West Coast artist Barry McGee, better known by his tag name, "Twist". Working on and inspired by the streets of America’s cities since the 1980s, Chinese-American McGee and HUF chose to feature one of Twist’s favorite characters, fictional bondsman Ray Fong, on the footbed, lace jewel and tongue of their adicolor sneaker.

McGee on his adicolor sneaker: "Ray Fong is a character I developed well-over four years ago for an art installation in New York. The image was made from a picture of me when I was around eight years old. When I look at the photo, I think- cute! The name Ray Fong came from my uncle Ray Fong who passed away over a decade ago. Keith and I never thought the image was “racist” and I am sorry to those people who perceive it that way. All I remember is having Stan Smith’s face on my adidas when I was young, and was elated to put a caricature of myself on a shoe when presented the opportunity this year."

The HUF/Twist sneaker represents the adicolor concept as it takes expression from the contemporary urban world. Part of the most limited-edition package of the adicolor series, these were produced for a one-time run with a limited distribution of only 1,000 pairs available exclusively at just twelve retail locations worldwide. There is no plan to market these sneakers in the future, and they are expected to completely sell out following this limited release. Please visit www.adidas.com/adicolor to see other models represented in the adicolor series.

adidas is excited to have featured HUF and McGee as part of this project. We are committed to understanding, valuing and incorporating the diversity of our communities and various fields of activities among the global marketplace. adidas does and always has valued an open dialogue with its consumers. Therefore, we welcome the feedback we have received from the global community and will continue to do so. It is an unfortunate coincidence that the HUF/Twist sneaker and its inclusion as part of the "Yellow Series" is misinterpreted as purposely offensive. It is not our intention to offend any group or individual as adidas prides itself on being a multicultural organization.

***ends***

For more information please contact:
www.press.adidas.com

Anonymous said...

Thanks Eric for the thoughtful response regarding McGee's continuing contributions to the art world. I completely understand and appreciate the importance art (of all kinds) plays in within society. And I do agree that the Fong shoe, as a point of aggrevation for Asians, is decidedly less of a priority than are other issues at hand. However, I think it's important to acknowledge that the Fong image is void of any artistic context when placed on the shoe -- and that's my "beef" with this one. In my world, context is everything and I believe Adidas (and HUF) has been remiss in not shedding more light on McGee's association to the shoe. There is no mention of McGee in Adidas's press materials, nor in any marketing or point-of-purchase materials. It was THEIR choice to put the image into the marketplace as a stand-alone icon -- perhaps they felt McGee's work was more recognizable? I think the most telling comment that has been made on the matter so far has been from the owner of HUF who said (and i'm paraphrasing): "People should educate themselves before they complain."...uh, isn't that the point? Isn't he actually acknowledging that if you're not familiar with McGee's subversive use of the image then yeah, of course you'd be offended. I know of contemporary artists who have used Nazi icons as subversive elements within their artwork, yet remove the context of art from those icons and...? I'm not going to lose sleep over this but I do think it's worth pointing out. Adidas, I don't think, is displaying racist attitudes, but I do believe they have at the very least been irresponsible and naive.

Hi there anonymous, thanks for writing. I think doing a shoe with Barry McGee makes the shoe more recognizable, but I do believe that Huf worked with Barry because it's an honor. It's one of the reasons why we worked with Barry. It's rare for there to be Ray Fong or Barry McGee products, so this is out of the norm. I'm not sure if I read Huf's comments that way. I think he's saying something like, it's art and there's no problem with it. I could be wrong though! You do raise a point. I still think that it being on a shoe is fine. The press materials will be minimal for an artist limited edition run shoe. Marketing for this kind of stuff is appealing to that small percent who'll understand that shoe.

Can it offend? Of course, and much lesser problems offend more, and much larger problems offend much less.

I just noticed, people can leave notes on my posts! I had no idea.. .anyways, this is from anonymous.

anonymous said:

i can't imagine that adidas would have the balls to put an old school black face darky coon icon on their sneakers and stand by the concept, that it's polemical "art".

there is a right time and place for these kinds of messages, and i'm not sure a sneaker is the place for it. how about a skateboard, snowboard or a t-shirt.

or maybe i'm just not avant-guarde like that.

are white people allowed to say to their black friends "how are you doin' my nigga"

My only comment to the last line is that, white and other ethnicities say this for sure. Of course it's a joke, not a great one, but oh well. I do think a shoe although a utilitarian object is now in an arena that's crossing into designer fashion and believe it or not, art. There are sneaker art shows, so this isn't too far out there.

Posted my Ray Fong editorial yesterday, got some lukewarm comments, some not positive, but at the same time, got positive comments from those who matter most to me, and they were from around the world. Although there were other opinions on it, similar, I didn't feel that they addressed who Barry McGee is and what he means to art. Maybe it really doesn't matter in your opinion, but I think and feel that it does.

I don't get too involved with issues like this usually, so thanks for hearing my opinions out. There'll be more upcoming on this issue, but thankfully, people are getting tired of it. I still believe the shoe is great, and I'd like another pair. The t shirt... that's a bold one! I don't wear huge prints on shirts, so I'd have to be feeling really bold to rock that.



(thanks ebayer for the image)

I know Asian Americans rally through emails. It seems like any worthwhile independent project or controversial topic spreads quickly this way. This is one of them, and honestly, it's not the most important topic, but it is something that I think you should know.

Yesterday, I received a pair of Ray Fong Adidas. They are truly beautiful shoes. The box, laces, and details are amazing. I doubt a sneaker can get much better. I put up some photos at:

http://www.giantrobot.com/blogs/eric

I realize there's a lot of controversy over the Ray Fong image that appears on this shoe. It's been on CNN and BBC in addition to the viral emails I mentioned. As a friend of the artist Barry McGee, I feel the need to come forward and address the topic.

I've known Barry for nearly ten years, and I can safely say that he isn't racist. For many of you who are following this controversy, you should know that Barry McGee is half Chinese-American, and has been featured on the cover of Giant Robot magazine multiple times. We were proud to exhibit the work of Ray Fong at our gallery in Los Angeles earlier this year.

Let me try to explain who Barry McGee is.

Coming from a graffiti artist background in San Francisco, Barry has transformed into an important contemporary artist in America. I personally believe that he has taken aspects of modern graffiti, including bombs, tags, throw-ups, stickering, and scribing, and made them acceptable in the world of fine art. Since his ascension in art, there have been numerous gallery and museum exhibits highlighting the new genre. The movement is featured in books and magazines around the world. One can also argue that it's given rise to a new industry in America, which is young contemporary art and many art-related products including designer toys, clothing lines, and, of course, sneakers. Barry is at the forefront of this, albeit unintentionally.

Making any product is rare for Barry McGee, and the shoe by Adidas should be appreciated as an art object. At $250, it's obviously intended for a select audience, which may but most likely won't include you. The image isn't a joke at anyone's expense; it's part of Barry's artwork. From his own words, the image is actually a no-holds-barred depiction of himself as a child. This isn't a racist Abercrombie and Fitch T-shirt or an offensive Adam Carolla broadcast. Imagery like this is something that's been done by many respected artists including Kara E. Walker, Kehinde Wiley, James Luna, and Manuel Ocampo. Basically it's taking negative stereotypical imagery and using them in a proud manner. Barry McGee's Ray Fong image can be looked at in a similar light, and will undoubtedly outlive us all. It will be placed into permanent collections in museums. It will be written about for years to come. It may eventually be in art history books. I believe that Barry's art is precious, and a
n important part of art history.

As an Asian American, I am proud to have Barry McGee as a role model. In the realm of graffiti and street art culture, there are few Asian-American faces involved, and none with Barry's widespread appeal. He is perhaps the most respected graffiti artist of all, and his audience ranges from broke art kids to billionaire museum benefactors. Most Asian Americans may not know Barry McGee or appreciate his art (yet), and that's a shame, but I recognize him as a hero and rank him among the 50 most culturally important Asian Americans.

Lastly, I know that this will eventually boil over and disappear. Those who hate Adidas for the moment will probably go back and buy a pair of shoes. I was going to let this go away, but after hearing the constant talk and reports of racism associated with Barry McGee, I felt the need to explain the Ray Fong I know. Help spread this side of the story.


Eric Nakamura
Giant Robot magazine
Giant Robot stores
gr/eats

My statement about Ray Fong in length will come later. What's out there isn't right.

Do not fuck with the Fongs! Stop your whining, don't blame adidas. Stop the email forwarding. Actually, do whatever you want. It's ok. The shoes are great. They're amazing.

Gotta work today at GR2 again for a few hours. Guess what? That means we need more staff. I'll stand under Ray Fong once more! Come and visit, it's monday.

GR 41's interview of Star Trek's George Takei Sulu got some small props in the toronto Star. It's a weird column, with a lot of quotes from the article, and small amount of editorial. No one can't deny George Takei is awesome.

I've been working on some side projects, some for fun, but mostly as design exercises. We'll see how everything comes out. You'll eventually see these items I hope!

Worked the full day at GR2. Highlights of the day: the one eyed dog with weird shaved patches on his body, seeing Todd Honma who put me on a zine panel at UCSB, eating a veggie burger, helping out a few nice people, and getting to see the store. I ordered some products that were needed, and I took a bunch of notes which will help make some small but good changes.

It's tax time, so that explains why it's not so busy today. Ate a veggie burger from gr/eats. We're testing! That means I eat a lot over and over until I taste one that's perfect.

By the way, due to scheduling conflict, you can see me make a retail capacity appearance at GR2 - all day today. I'll stand under Fong, Ray Fong.

Ray Fong! Can I say Ching Chong Ching Chong? I bet they'd get mad. It's great to see how art is getting mixed more and more with commerce, and how the ignorant want to jump on imagery that's delighting their senses. Do I have an opinion? Yes, Ray Fong being Barry McGee is an artist, the Ray Fong Chinaman design is a mockery of the long running image of the Chinaman. I used to draw this on my notebooks in more of empowerment and reappropriating a racist image. But in the end, those who are offended are stuck in a quandary, would they rather have a half Chinese American use this image or would they like to see it done by someone else? Does it make it ok? That's just two sides. The third side is that it's an artwork by an internationally known artist who is not racist.

Ok enough said. The Ray Fong show at GR2 has a remnant. The lit Ray Fong sign still hangs in the store flashing, but no one says a thing.

Prang, they make good chalk. Ever buy chalk? I think it's a dying writing utencil. White boards or dry erase boards have been taking the gusto away from chalk boards. It's getting annoying. So I'm going to stand up for chalk and black boards. Join me?

Back from Paris, and I'm welcome to the daylight savings spring forward thing. So now I sleep late and wake up early. I'm getting into the waking up early part. The best is if I can do both -- sleep late and wake up early. I get much more done, even though it's just more work, which is always a lot. But since no one reads this blog. I'm gonna stop right here.