white house: wishy-washy wankers!

survivors don't want to die pissed off at their leaders

we're as mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore!!

nutshell: us government doesn't want to pay out reparations to chamorro survivors of the japanese occupation--they're waiting for more of them to die so it doesn't affect the war budget so much. some local folks are a little pissed about this.


from the PDN:

SPEAK OUT

You can address your concerns and comments to:

President Bush

# Tel: (202) 456-1111/1414

# Fax: (202) 456-2461

# E-mail: president@whitehouse.gov


# Write to: President Bush, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C., 20500

Guam Delegate Madeleine Bordallo

# Call her Guam office: 477-4272

# Call her Washington, D.C., office: (202) 225-1188

# Fax: 477-2587

# E-mail: madeleine.bordallo@mail.house.gov

# Write to: Delegate Madeleine Bordallo, 427 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20515

Rep. Richard Pombo, R-California

Chairman, House Resources Committee

# Call (202) 225-1947

# Fax: (202) 226-0861

# E-mail: rpombo@mail.house.gov

# Write to: Rep. Richard Pombo, 2411 Rayburn HOB, Washington, D.C., 20515

Interior Secretary Gale Norton

# Tel: (202) 208-3100

# Fax: (202) 208-5048

# E-mail: gale_norton@ios.doi.gov

# Write to: Secretary Gale Norton, Department of Interior, 1849 C St. NW, Washington, D.C., 20240

Gov. Felix Camacho

# Tel: 472-8931~6

# Fax: 477-4826

# E-mail: governor@mail.gov.gu

# Write to: Gov. Felix Camacho, Office of the Governor, P.O. Box 2950, HagÂtÒa, Guam, 96932

Also share your views with your local elected officials:

GUAM LEGISLATURE

Democrats

Speaker Ben Pangelinan

# Telephone: 472-3552/4/5

# Fax: 472-3556

# E-mail: senben@kuentos.guam.net

Vice Speaker Frank Aguon Jr.

# Telephone: 479-4486/4828

# Fax: 479-4827

# E-mail: fbaguon@ite.net

Sen. F. Randall Cunliffe

# Telephone: 477-5310/5319~21

# Fax: 477-5300

# E-mail: frcunliffe@netpci.com

Sen. Carmen Fernandez

# Telephone: 472-4826

# Fax: 472-4827

# E-mail: sencarm@ite.net

Sen. Lou Leon Guerrero

# Telephone: 472-3582=85/3576

# Fax: 472-3591

# E-mail: senlou@ite.net

Sen. Tina MuÒa-Barnes

# Telephone: 472-3455~8

# Fax: 472-3400

# E-mail: munabarnes@hotmail.com

Sen. Rory Respicio

# Telephone: 472-3545/6/7679

# Fax: 472-3547

# E-mail: rjr@ite.net

Sen. John Quinata

# Telephone: 479-1457/9/1460

# Fax: 479-1458

# E-mail: senatorjq@hotsheet.com

Sen.Toni Sanford

# Telephone: 479-8664

# Fax: 479-8667

# E-mail: senatorsanford@ite.net

Republicans

Sen. Joanne Brown

# Telephone: 472-3450/1

# Fax: 472-4090

# E-mail:jmbrown@ite.net

Sen. Mark Forbes

# Telephone: 472-3407/8

# Fax: 477-5036

# E-mail: senforbes@yahoo.com

Sen. Larry Kasperbauer

# Telephone: 475-5437

# Fax: 475-2000

# E-mail: lk4kids@ite.net

Sen. Robert Klitzkie

# Telephone: 472-9355

# Fax: 472-9358

# E-mail: bob@bobsoffice.org

Sen. Jesse Lujan

# Telephone: 477-8477

# Fax: 477-8478

# E-mail: jal@netpci.com

Sen. Ray Tenorio

# Telephone: 479-4826

# Fax: 479-1329

# E-mail: rtenorio@ite.net

i know what i want for christmas!

fireworks. during a lightning storm.

flags at the war in the pacific park, liberation day.

guam news: not guilty verdicts in uranao case. when kuam asked gerry yingling for a comment, all the he said was "merry christmas." (you know what, mr.yingling, it's stupid, smug, flippant comments like that along with the tens of thousands of tax-payers' dollars you spent in luxury suites and strip clubs that really makes me unsympathetic to whatever woes you think you've suffered.)

the pdn reports that philippine president cory aquino is likely to visit guam. have you ever seen this woman in person? she's short. she's like a little doll. my dog comes up to her waist. she's really short.

there's a nice editorial in the pdn about what liberation day is about. the more stories i hear about the atrocities that occurred here on the island and to its people (many who are still alive), the more i feel that a great injustice is being served to its citizens. guam has been american land since 1898, it has one of the highest armed forces enlistment rates per capita, and yet as citizens of this country who have been tortured, raped, starved, and forced into internment on american soil, they have not received any monetary reparations for their suffering, or for the military taking their land in the name of national defense. (i know some reparations should really be asked for from the japanese government, but the treaty of san francisco put the kibosh on that.) they, although u.s. citizens, are still not allowed to vote in national elections nor are they recognized by most americans as being american. i know that particular shortcoming has more to do with the ignorance of others, but when the most ignorant (in terms of guam at the very least) man of the land is the chief of state, it's a real fucking downer.

ab asia pacific also reports about guam asking for an apology from the japanese government. good luck, there, nenes.

*wow*, i'm getting all nationalistic and shit. i think it's because i can't forget the story of one survivor was forced by japanese troops to watch her mother being raped, and when her father tried to stop help his wife, they executed him, then proceeded to beat her teenaged brother unconscious. i can't help but think about the terror and pain that those who survived the march to manenggon valley. i know my mom and dad's families suffered in the philippines during the war, but they never talk about it, i don't know if i have the courage to ask them what happened and what they remember. my mom told me how their family managed fairly well because they had a farm and they could subsist on what they grew, but she also talked about how other families would come to them with their jewelry and family heirlooms to trade for something to eat. my uncle was forced into the bata'an death march. he survived, but other relatives will tell you that he was never the same after that. how could anyone?

in other sort of non-news, it's nice to see so many younger people on island being courteous and friendly to the dozens of veterans visiting the island for the festivities. i was in denny's the other day, and a visiting couple walked in. the busboys all stopped to say hello, and surprisingly (to me anyway), the couple knew several people in the restaurant, who had introduced themselves earlier in their visit around the island. an elderly chamorro lady came to shake the vet's hand, she saw his photo in the newspaper, and remembered him from all those years ago.

happy liberation day.

saw a b2 bomber practicing maneuvers on sunday. it's seriously a serious aircraft. it looks like a manta ray in the sky, but when it's in profile it virtually disappears. it looks like a ufo. i suppose that's why it's called the stealth (durrrr). i know this sounds stupid, but i've only seen its shadow which is completely obvious, but when you look up, there's nothing there. and the damn thing is quiet. i suppose $2.2 billion buys your nuclear payload a pretty pimped out ride.

kurt, chris and i are supposed to see the lloyd cole and the commotions' 20th anniversary/commemoration of the release of "rattlesnakes" gig (sheesh. a little longer there, lloyd?) october 15th, hammersmith apollo, london, england, uk, the world. i have the tickets to the gig, but not for london.

i'm worried about flying through "bush country" just before november elections, i know i shouldn't be, but i am. i could always go through tokyo, i suppose. there's also a matter of having the dosh for the dealio. london is ex-pen-sssssive. chris says they've spent their london cash on a new washer and dryer, and i spent mine on a dyson. we probably spent the same amount of money. i know, i know, i've heard some middling things about dysons, but omigod, if you had seen how much stuff i sucked up with that thing on the first go. really makes you aware of what you step on, you know? i had to wait 4 effing months of this thing, but it is worth it. i think.

if nature abhors a vacuum, then what am i, as i destroy them? in the past five years i've had to buy six (dyson's the sixth). burnt motors, crazed sucking action, no will to live....i'm hoping the dyson will survive. it's great--light, sturdy, quiet, efficient, bagless...there must be something really wickedly wrong with it. i've already started the dyson death watch--we're at one month, two full house sweeps, about one rug away from maximum canister capacity. hey, can i start a dyson death watch blog? maybe someone already has one....


my dyson full gear, arrived june 11, 2004. at one month, five days: so far, so good.

teresita and i want a makeover!!!! actually, we want the cash, clothes and whatever else the networks are willing to throw at loser girls who don't give a shit about tv and who sees them but really, really, just want a new wardrobe.

we were watching "what not to wear" (us ed.) a couple weeks ago, and a girl named turbo was on. we didn't think that she look all that bad to begin with--her biggest crime seemed to be that she enjoyed socks--as she was cute, wore stripey tops and anoraks; very indie 'i ? wilco' girl. anyway, her 'after' look was alright, but we both thought it was a little boring. nick arrojo is a geeeeeenius, but the haircut he gave her is the haircut i'm trying to get away from--it works well, but nen, >yawn< already. teresita and i both felt they took her edginess away.

i guess what it really means is that we identified with turbo, we dress sort of like her, and damn! if we're gonna go through the humiliation of tv, we better look a heckuva lot smarter than that!

personally, i'm gunning for queer eye for a straight girl (yes, girl). baby needs a new living room suite! if anyone wants to nominate me (pleeeeeeeease), click here.


trinny and susanna, still the dominatrices of style....

i love la!

east of the sun, west of the moon, another guam-based blog, reports that pulawatese canoe quest is on its way to palau.


pj borja/pdn

the quest was brought to guam by master navigator manny sikau, who sails using only the ancient means of navigation--the constellations, water, wind, and the surrounding wildlife. the canoe was heavily damaged during typhoon pongsona, and only recently have repairs been completed. while the craft is seaworthy, the crew is understandably wary of sailing to palau during typhoon season.

i'm kinda, sorta, almost thinking about getting a new car. and maybe actually selling one.

for those of you who don't know the family history, we're not the type of people to sell or trade cars. we tend to hang on to them until they die, or pass them on to someone else in the family. or keep them.

currently, i've got four cars registered in my name--a 1997 toyota 4-runner (currently vehicle du jour), a 1993 dodge ram pick up truck (must have for hauling typhoon debris--for that alone i shall have it for a long time), a 1992 miata convertible (now the company car!), and the beloved 1993 volvo 240dl station wagon, aka "the james bond ikea car".

my dad's hunk-o-junk cressida that only goes 40 miles per hour at top speed, may be on the way out, so i was planning on giving him the 4-runner and getting a hybrid vehicle. however, my dad's none too keen on driving a big car, so he's been looking at cars on the sly. i think he's looking at scion. i think we're both sweet on the xb--really, a bread box on wheels. the island's suddenly had a scion spore explosion, there are xb's everywhere. my mom hates them, thinks they look like someone cut it in half.

the good thing is she's partial to the mini. i think i swooned when i saw that mini cooper display at the tokyo auto show--i was giddy. theodore and i used to see the same one in la all the time. theodore's only comment was that he would like to see a mini in an accident on the freeway, then see how many clowns came out. anyway, now it looks like dad's looking into getting a mini cooper. although he still calls it an austin cooper (bless).

maybe. a mini-maybe.


a paul smith limited edition mini!

the car that may be, maybe, on the auction block (so to speak), is the--ergh, i can't even say it--volvo. yesssss, i know, my beloved, lovely icebox white-in almost pristine condition-had famous people innit-has just over 50,000 miles on it-volvo 240dl. i love it, i love it large, but it just *sits* in los angeles, unused for about 10 months out of the year. for the past couple of years it has cost me a couple of $ks to keep it up, which is a lot for a car i see once a year. i'm not sure if it's worth the upkeep, it might be (just slightly) cheaper to rent a car when i'm in town.

i don't know. maybe if i find someone who'll love it. maybe i'll just have a teenager masquerade as its owner and have mtv pimp my ride. i'd like it aya takano'd out maybe even takashi murakami'd. not louis vuitton'd out. well, maybe a few cherry blossoms. oh heck, why not. take that j.lo! think your soooo 2003 eyeball pouchette's hot now?


takashi murakami

maybe i can get murakami-san to design it himself. i'd get it all tricked out by west coast customs to his exact specifications, hire pr to get the car in select media, have the perfect sound bite ready ("it's like having the biggest vuitton bag in the world!") then be the opportunistic cow and sell it on ebay like this girl. or this guy.


2004 aya takano/kaikai kiki co., ltd.

i received a strange phone call last night. it was from one of my schoolmates from high school, a girl named utako. she was several years ahead of me, and older than the average senior, as she had been held back because of her lack of proficiency of english.

utako was, as a teenager, irrational, tempestuous, manic and fun—she could be at the driver’s seat on an impetuous drive to ojai, smoke a pack of cigarettes, eat an avocado and crochet a whole dress all at the same time, all in record time. she was a tiny slip of a thing, but looked like a ‘50s pin-up with all the curves, the big eyes, boufy hair. she was crazy—crazy fun, not crazy crazy—because her life was crazy—crazy crazy, not crazy fun. her father, still in japan, was up to his ears in debt, her cute little brother a gorgeous, rebellious drag queen who would later come to a tragic end. i think she was dating a 16 year old when she was 19, and she was betrothed to an older japanese guy who promised to settle all her father’s debts. eeek.

i heard from her sporadically throughout the years, but last night was the first time in maybe five years. she was surprised i was still where i am (frankly, I’m a little annoyed by that—not that she was surprised, but by the fact i’m still here), but very, very happy that i was. we didn’t talk about much--no real reason to catch up—and ours was always a relationship where she would talk (and talk), and i'd just listen (and not comprehend, sometimes). suddenly she said “i’m in the middle of a divorce.” i know she married an older man; i’m not sure it’s the same man who promised to settle the family debt, but this guy was well-off, and from what i understand, kind of famous in the japanese sports world. in our spotty recent history the only thing i remember saying about him is “i’m plotting to kill him. you work in a pharmacy, can you help?” uh. ok, i guess there are some…difficulties, but she’s been with him for seventeen years, had three kids with him. there has to be some kind of affection,right? she didn’t seem upset but then again, she was calling me at 3am, her time. i didn't know what to say to her. again, it didn't seem to matter; all she needed was an ear. it was only afterwards that i realized she was probably lonely, and her lack of freaking out was just a sign she was really freaking out. i hope that in some way i helped.

well, at least this time she wasn’t asking me to help kill him.

University of Colorado, LASP

the cassini-huygens probe returns images from saturn.

how totally paul smith! i'm thinking spring 2005 palette ??


University of Colorado, LASP

'love is never a burden'

the most tragic thing to come from the tropical storm that passed over the island was the amount of casualties incurred--six people have died from being swept out by the tide. one man was swept out as he walked on the reef by the hilton, and five workers for seawalker tours went under when their kayaks capsized in the hazardous surf.

i don't ever recall there being so many deaths during a typhoon, let alone a tropical storm before. i don't know what made this one so different (besides the amount of water), but you could definitely feel its malevolence. it tested guam's infrastructure and showed it to fail; it tested guam's people, and we did not.

i hate the writing in the pdn for the most part; i normally don't read it because it's painfully tabloidish. however, oyaol ngirairikl's cover story in today's paper is touching. i don't know if it's because i'm particularly upset by the tragedy that i'm overlooking the flaws, but i think the story's main strength is that it is mostly quotes taken verbatim from the family and friends who are searching for their loved ones. their strength is amazing, you can only hope that should you be in such a situation, you will be as strong.

busted!

on june 17th, a bust of jack lord was unveiled at the kahala mall, apparently put there because he liked to take a daily constitutional around the mall, maybe picked up a free sample at see's candies and said hello to the purdy wahines.

i wasn't able to go, but i heard the university of hawaii marching band played the theme song (my first recital piece!), and a special hula was commissioned. (by the way, you can find the 40-pound head near the entrance of macy's)

mr. lord used to come to guam in the seventies, sometimes bringing his vast jade collection to show to the public. i saw him once when i was a kid, wearing a delicate cotton caftan, and looking well-coiffed. my jewelry teacher in university saw him once wearing a burgundy velvet pimp suit and a matching fedora.

way to go, steve-o! next time i'm at macy's i'll stop and say aloha.



*check the foodie blog for jack's favourite cheesecake recipe soon!

the molotov cocktail hour is still on kxlu, 88.9 fm, tuesday nights at 11pm to midnight. it's broadcast on the web, so listen in if you can!

i bought the .com name a couple years ago, but didn't know what to do with it; luckily, stevie karl is setting everything up, so hopefully it will be up and running sometime this year. should be fun, hopefully informative, too.

anyroad, just want to mention some molotov-related passings, of augie colon, "grandfather of hawaiian percussion" and the man behind the bird calls and jungle sounds of martin denny's "quiet village", and tau moe, the "odysseus of the hawaiian steel guitar scene" (who comes up with these? they're awesome!). i knew a little about augie colon from the martin denny connection, and in his own right, from his solo albums, including "sophisticated savage":



i hadn't heard of tau moe before. a samoan raised in hawaii, tau and the moe family performed native island music and dances around the world in the twenties and thirties, meeting and performing for diverse audiences, including many social and political leaders, from mahatma gandhi to adolph hitler. tau and his wife, rose, were responsible for helping many jewish musicians escape germany before the war. they continued to tour and live around the world for 50 more years, until they decided to move back to hawaii in the 1970s.


publicity photo of the moe family from the thirties

we at the molotov mourn their passing.

didn't watch state of play. i caught the first fifteen minutes, was too disconcerted by the thom yorkey-ness of the lead guy. i kept thinking someone would break out in song, as if it was an episode of cop rock as directed by lars von trier. karma police, indeed.

no archie, everyone's laughing at you, not with you.

thank you abc asia pacific for pimping my ride! whoops, for showing monarch of the glen, which started tonight at 9.30pm. a series set in the scottish highlands, it is based on the novels of compton mackenzie, and follows the trevails of thoroughly modern archie (the guy in the funny trousers), as he struggles as the new laird of the family estate, glenbogle. no, it's good, really. really. it's definitely better than home and away, anyway.

actually, abc asia pacific (channel 35) is also going to premiere a bbc-produced miniseries, state of play, an espionage thriller, tomorrow night at 7.30pm (and then again at 10? uh, okay). i've not seen it yet, but it stars some pretty talented actors: david morrissey (fergus from born romantic), bill nighy (the ageing rock star in love actually, also the uh, ageing rock star in still crazy), kelly macdonald (the underaged shag in trainspotting and the mystery-solving maid in gosford park), and john simm (bernard sumner--!--in the excellent 24 hour party people). should be fairly good.


the other morrissey: don't i look like that freaky lead singer from radiohead?

today is my birthday, i woke up slightly wigged out because i was thinking, "holy ****, wasn't i supposed to spend this year seriously thinking about sprogging or whether or not my soon-to-be-forty-more-sooner-than-later-menopausal body could handle it" or something like that, and realised, no i hadn't thought about it much, too busy acting like a child than wanting one, crap, i'm gonna die alone in a house on a cul-de-sac that no one wants to visit at halloween because it's creepy and smells like bus fumes and bacon. oh, yeah, and my dogs will eat me when i'm dead. so of course, that left me askew and askance today, on top of the fact that we celebrated my birthday with a party that was technically a baby shower for tinette, but really that was just a disguise for the fact that i wanted an all pink buffet for some sort of retrograde amelie-esque nest magazine think pink flamingoes sort of affair. so i'm surrounded by all this baby stuff and pregnant girls much much younger than me, and i have to explain to people no it's not a shower for me, it's for the woman with the 10-toilet square sized waist (it's a shower game thing), yeah it's my birthday but we're not celebrating it yeah all the drinks are pink so's the food, yeah the sushi isn't spoiled it really *is* pink, need a beer yet 'cause i do....

anyway, about an hour into the party, maui asked me how old i was and i said "38" to which she was taken aback, because, despite my haggard appearance and courtney love-britney spears stressy acney immature bad skin bad clothing choices lifestyle, i actually do look about five years younger, at least ten on the mainland (thank you prematurely ageing caucasians!). and then my mom said, uh, no, you dolt, you're 37.

i am??

i am!!

*phew*. okay, guess i don't hafta think about that breeding thing just now.

oh my giddy aunt!


richard ambo/the honolulu advertiser