Kantahan Strikes Back v.12

THE MEAN CITY STREETS

2008-10-21T12:28:00.002-07:00

I used to wonder every time I pass by a dead animal in the ID. Reason being is because I wouldn't see full bodies like in the 'burbs, but I would only see parts.

A wing here. A torso there.

Today I saw two wings and a tail section of a pigeon as I was walking to Pioneer Square. I also saw a claw and something that looked like a cross between a squished squirrel and a bird.

And that was when it hit me: other street animals eat dead street animals. I've seen it all, seagulls eating rats. Rats eating pigeons. Darwinism at its finest.

Sorry to those who just ate, but that's all I really wanted to say today. Fun times in the city

PATERNITY LEAVE

2008-10-20T19:12:00.004-07:00

So I've obviously been gone for a few. Here are some highlights over the past three years in a neat yet succinct list:

-Got married in friggin' Hawaii
-Had a kid with wifey
-Became Exec Director of a Nonprofit
-Heard a few of my beats at a concert and everyone went crazy when they heard it

I guess you can say I pretty much have everything I've ever wanted. Here are a few things I'm working on for the next few years:

-Compose a hip hop symphony
-Create a self-sustaining hip hop education program
-Hear one of my beats in a club and people go crazy when they hear it
-Live in Hawaii sometime in the future

So anyway, that's what has been going on with the wolf.

THE DANGERS OF PRIVILEGE

2008-09-14T09:30:00.000-07:00

If you don't mind, please take a gander at www.obamawaffles.com and come back. Feel free to take your time, absorb, marinate and come back. I'll wait here.. back? ok good.

Isn't that a perfect example of the right to free speech being abused? So I can take a joke you know, like if someone did a quick photoshop edit of an Aunt Jemima Box and put Obama's head on it and emailed it to folks. Haha, funny, ignorant.

But man, whoever's behind this went through the trouble to form an LLC, hired someone to design the box, set up a website, an online store, registered the domain name. Okay maybe they were an LLC already. I'll give them that. But still, that is hella work right there! And to think through that whole process, that nobody even once thought about how racist it is? Priceless.

In my opinion, the problem here is that this is not just racism. Even though this is some 1900's style racism to me, part of the problem here is privilege. Privilege that blinds a group of individuals and gives them no sense of empathy. Privilege that allows someone to purposefully steer clear of any form of diversity. Privilege that perpetuates the archaic standards of the 1800's like "dark is bad, light is good."

But maybe there's another side to this. Often times there have been things I've seen recently that have been hella racist against European cultures but no one says anything about it. It made me wonder. Here's one example...

BORAT: Sasha Baron Cohen, a Jewish man from the UK (I think), makes fun of the entire nation of Kazakhstan. As much as I laughed, i couldn't help think that it was pretty racist.

If they did an Asian, South American or African country, they would have hell to pay right? People would be up in arms. But how come no Kazak or Scottish groups complain? Should people of color just grow thicker skin? Should we follow the example of white culture and just laugh along with everyone else? If we laugh along with everyone else (like I did), then no wonder people don't understand why we get mad when Obamawaffles.com goes online.

Now to the White people reading this, don't go printing this out or emailing this to all of your friends. I'm not done yet.

So now I have a question for my White homies out there. Did you take offense when a fellow European culture was lampooned or mocked? If yes, then cool. you probably understand then. If no, then I ask, why not? I'm not just talking about during movies, I'm talkin every day life like when you see shit you know is wrong but you just don't say anything. Is it because you as a white person do not associate with your European heritage? I don't know the answer, that's why I'm asking you.

It always trips me out when I talk to a White person about culture and they just say "oh I'm just White" You're not just white to me. And that's why people aren't just "black" or "asian". We have ties to our roots and we are proud of them. When people call themselves white, it sounds to me a lot like internalized oppression (minus the oppression part of course).

Who told you that you were White? Who benefits from you accepting the term "White"? I'm not asking who benefits from being White. (In America, that's a no-brainer.) Something to think about.

So enough rambling, my point is this. America will always have issues with race and ethnicity until people on all sides look at their own shit. By "shit" i mean internalized issues. It is not just on People of Color to "get over it" or "take a joke." It's also on White people to acknowledge their own heritage so that you can understand why we are proud of ours. Then for us people of color, we need to chill with the internalized oppression. Chill with the N, F, C, & B words and the self-deprecating Carlos Mencia type humor. We are sending mixed messages to European Americans.

The more we try to "get over it" we accept racial divisions. Then the more we will be blinded to the simple fact that the underlying issue here in America is Classism. To the poor white cats I see chillin at 7-11, you do not have that much more benefits from being White. To the middle class white cats I see chillin at Whole Foods, you do benefit from being White, but I bet you are paying more taxes proportionately than your rich White counterparts! To the rich white cats chillin at the country clubs, I haven't even met you yet, but don't be afraid. I will meet you someday. Probably at Whole Foods.

Sorry this was long, but Obama Waffles done pissed me off!

INSTANT FAMILY, JUST ADD BABY!

2008-07-21T22:07:00.003-07:00

funny thing about having a kid. you add one to a couple and *bam* instant family. as we've been preparing the house for the baby, it starts to hit me little by little: getting the crib and other furniture, registering for crap at babies-r-us, comparing which stroller has the best safety rating.

every time i see a baby, i can't help but observe how the baby is acting, what i would do in that situation. there are also times when me and lil are out and we realize we won't be able to go out and do things for a while.

friends would come up to us and say "you better get ready. you're never gonna be able to go out. you wont be able to sleep.. blah blah"

i'm not really concerned about what we're going to "lose" moreso what we're going to gain as parents. i'm freaked out, excited and ready all at the same. i'm looking forward to learning and watching our baby learn. the only thing that concerns me is remaining patient and understanding when my baby is crying at say 3am to no avail. back to reading the baby books.

of course we'll be busy playing with the baby and watching him or her grow. it's gonna be crazy. it's definitely time to move on to the next step of life and dedicate it to raising a family. we're looking forward to it.

SPRING AGAIN?

2008-04-05T12:14:00.003-07:00

throughout the nation, people are enjoying the blossoms, the colors and the smells of spring. but here in the northwest, spring has yet to arrive.

it snowed last week.

downtown.

granted it didn't stick, but it came down pretty good. now believe me, i enjoy snow, but not in april. that's just not right.

other than that, nothing to report up here in the 206. i have been contemplating changing my 916 cell number to a 206, after 3 years of living up here. the youth i work with have been asking me when i am going to change my number. "not sure yet" i told them, as if i was waiting for the move back down to cali.

maybe when we're getting ready to move to cali, i'll change my number to a seattle number. just to make it fair. haha

CHECKING IN

2008-03-04T10:33:00.002-08:00

so many things have come up since u last was on here. first of all, lily and I are going to be parents!?! yep, that's right. there will soon be a little wolf/wolf-ette running around.

holler.

THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY

2008-01-04T17:00:00.000-08:00

today I'm blogging live and direct from my iPod touch. I picked one up over the holidays and I must say I am enthralled.

so much so that I will be getting rid of my moto q.

everyone asks why I didn't get an iphone. one answer: 2 year contract.

anyway, so I'm chillin' at home watching "gods must be crazy" and the intro was a commentary about how humans have made their lives complicated in comparison to African bushmen who come across an empty coke bottle. as a community, the bush people determine that the bottle is evil since tribes people began fighting over it.

as I type this on my iPod, I'm realizing that this blog is not going to make sense unless you are watching the movie. anyway, my point is that technology is evil just like that coke bottle.

and I still like it...

THE CRAZY EIGHT

2008-01-02T10:18:00.001-08:00

it's 2008 and to all 3 of my readers, happy holidays etc. i spent half the holiday trying to clean up and prepare for the next year of hijinx. the other half was spent with friends and family and in the car driving around california.

here's to a new year. cheers!

A DOG EAT DOG WORLD

2007-12-11T07:27:00.001-08:00

i was at this gang task force mtg last night. i wanted to see what isbeing done by local law enforcement.

in LA, the police broke down and for the first time asked for assistance from gang interventionists. a move that in my opinion should have happend a long time ago. at least LAPD is doing so now. there are a few good articles on it in the LA times.

anyway, up here, it's a different story. since it was a community forum, heads from the community were allowed to speak. and the first speaker was a mayor pro tempe or something to that effect.
so this cat starts talking about gang members as idiots, illegal aliens and minorities. mind you, there are a lot of people of color there at the meeting. we all looked at each other like it was 1958 and shit.

wow, it's a bit different here.

oh and i saw the nastiest thing the other day. i saw a dead rat in the ID/Chinatown. nothing big right, dead rats, chinatown, seems like they go hand in hand right? ok the nasty part is that a crow was eating from the head of the dead rat. jerking the body around and pulling flesh and consuming it. gnarley.

A REAL WHOPPER

2007-12-07T20:23:00.000-08:00

this has got to be the most gross STORY.

what gets me is the "third bite" hahah

and this quote here "Hartless said he has suffered from vomiting, nightmares and emotional distress. He said he also has incurred medical expenses, because he's worried about whether the condom had been used.

He said stored the sandwich and its original wrapper in a plastic bag in a freezer in his garage"

SLOSHING IN SEATTLE

2007-12-05T07:52:00.000-08:00

whenever i notice that it hasn't rained up here as much as usual, i try to keep it to myself. for fear of angering the rain gods. this past week has made up for the lack of rainfall in the past month or two.

not that it hasn't been drought-like up here

but, it hasn't rained as much as normal. funny that i am actually getting used to the bottom of my pants being wet.

anyway, no we're not flooded in case you're wondering. there was a lot of water flowing down our street. usually it's kept in the sidewalk gutter thingies, but it basically was flowing down the hill across the entire street outside our spot.

THINGS TAKEN

2007-11-26T07:20:00.000-08:00

the holiday of thanksgiving, such a mixed holiday for me this time around. right now i'm reading "lies my teacher told me" by james loewen. it's my bathroom book of choice (ie. i only read for about 10 mins a day).

i just finished the columbus part about the arawak indians and how most of ya'll reading this probably never heard of the arawaks because they're all dead now thanks to columbus.

the glorification and remodeling of history by high school textbook companies are part of a bigger problem of education in this country.

sure we might have higher literacy rates than other countries, but what does it matter when only one side of the story is told?

peep the book if you ever hated history because you felt like you didn't have a place in it.

THE MARRIED LIFE

2007-11-14T23:01:00.000-08:00

it's been a little under a month now since sunshine and i tied the proverbial knot. i can honestly say it feels really good. it got better. don't ask me how but it did.

it still feels like the first year. crazy

ALOHA

2007-10-09T08:33:00.000-07:00

in eight days, i'll be leaving for hawaii to get married. yes you heard correctly, the wolf is getting hitched. it's funny because people ask me if i'm nervous or whatever.

i've actually been getting excited.

i need a vacation. i'm ready for this new phase of life. i have a wonderful woman. why would i be nervous?
the only thing i'm worried about is leaving something at home. or if i rains in hawaii. big deal. bring it on.

anyhow. yeh, i'm feelin' fresh.

speaking of, a song that i produced is playing on local airwaves up here. peep the song "feelin' fresh" on my myspace page and request it at X104. shout out to dj j-tyme for hooking it up.

you can request here...

Philanthropy: Not What I Expected

2007-08-12T07:26:00.000-07:00

i erased a whole blog about this topic because i was just ranting about the inequities in the nonprofit world. i need to be more clear by what i mean.

philanthropy is part of the system. people give because they care, but the money comes with stipulations, fierce competition. foundations prefer organized, big agencies who get big numbers.

makes sense right?

but you don't always have to be big to do good work. you just have 2 play the game. those that know the system fare well. those that don't know? well you know. people work hard to get all that money (ignoring the bratty kids that inherit their wealth) so it makes sense to protect that dough, right?

nowadays, you have to set up your spot to look like just what they want and do what they want. (they=those with hella-money.)

let's do a quick vocab lesson:
rich: those with hella money
middle: those with money
poor: those with no money

in serving those-with-no-money, it is in my best interest to do it the way those-with-hella-money prefer. in school i learned that it's best to craft your services to the needs of those-with-no-money. we called it "cultural competence."

so again, classism exists even in the world of philanthropy. the system to help those with no money is set up like the system that holds them down. that's what pisses me off most. this just doesn't happen in the world of philanthropy, but with grants, gov't funding, etc. part of the blame goes to corruption in the nonprofit world, the system is set to work against that. but the rest is just fuckin classism. c'mon now.

so where does that leave me? well i'm learning the game, how to play. will be making power moves for my agency. i just wish i didn't have to. it's very ironic, the hurdles i have to jump through just to help others.

ps: special thanks to the corrupt assholes who worked scams and stole money from the government via nonprofits. thanks for leaving us with a fucked up system the rest of us nonprofit heads have to deal with.

PEACE TO J-RICH

2007-06-29T19:28:00.000-07:00

man, hate to see #23 go. you were always giving 100% when the warriors were shit. and now you get booted as soon as they get good. damn. that sucks. that's the business i guess.

THEY FIGHTIN' BACK

2007-05-09T16:35:00.000-07:00

times are rough in the south bay. so rough the squirrels are starting fights with people for food.

MIKE TYSON'S PUNCH OUT

2007-04-16T23:01:00.000-07:00

the post below had a code. and the code was a direct link to mike tyson for the original nintendo version of punch out. lithium induced paranoia followed as i tried to stay alive against tyson. got jacked.

yes i still play nintendo. no, the original nintendo i had growing up is under my bed in my bedroom in vallejo. my mom saved everything. i told her not 2 throw the NES nor the transformers away. ebay here we come.

anyway, i got a new phone, the motorola Q and i copped a program so i can play NES games on that shit. hot damn is that shit fun. i mean it's hard to use with the keypad and all, but i enjoy showing off with super mario brothers on my phone.

MEMORY LANE

2007-03-31T06:57:00.000-07:00

007 373 5963

it's amazing what i remember sometimes. if this code means anything to you, make a comment. think 1980s, think lithium,

i'll enlighten ya'll in a few days unless someone does it for me

SHOUT OUT TO THE HEAVENS

2007-03-05T10:20:00.000-08:00

shout out to gilbert entao who's holding it down in heaven today. he passed away last week. i went down to sacramento this weekend to pay respects and to help out. it was good to see old friends and people i've lost touch with. it was with an unfortunate reason that we all reconnected. funny how we only see friends and family at weddings and funerals as of late.

gil's death was unexpected in that he was only 35, in good shape, and just had his second child a few months ago. it has definitely been a reality check with me. i've been re-prioritizing my lifestyle with regards to the stress i face at work.

meditating and deep breathing are now in my daily repertoire.

also on my short list of things to do: getting a physical (it's been long overdue) and going to the dentist (overdue talaga).

back to the grind...

TIM HARDAWAY, YOU LET ME DOWN

2007-02-16T06:23:00.000-08:00

i had to comment on this one. for those who don't know, i'm an avid warriors fan. since the days of joe barry carrol, run tmc, etc. so when tim hardaway said "i hate gay people" that was disappointing, to say the least.

then he tried to take it back.

wtf you can't take shit back like that, son. c'mon now. that's like me saying "i hate you, i do not respect you at all" and then later sayin "oh i'm sorry, i shouldn't have said that." i mean the truth is out now. he outed himself just as amaechi did earlier.

at least hardaway was honest, albeit a little too enthusiastic for my palatte. well, hopefully all this negative backlash will give him a moment of clarity oir something.

at least he was associated with the miami heat, not the warriors.

DECENT PROPOSAL

2007-01-23T22:44:00.000-08:00

sunday night
a question was popped
a solitare rock
presented
bended knee suggested
by the fam
who by the way
were all in the house
or shall i say palisade
restaurant on puget sound
on the edge of downtown
a diamond on a band
found a home
on my girl's left hand
the beginning of a
new journey
a woman and her man, what!

A NEW ERA

2006-12-27T09:17:00.000-08:00

when i initially left the world of "normal jobs" (ie. the corporate world) i left thinking i would have a lifetime free of politics and bureaucracy. for me, the nonprofit world had a lure of idealism and purpose which drew me to work for my people instead of for "someone else" (as in a boss/owner/shareholders) making all the money).

i made that decision in 2000.

six years later, i've realized that the non-profit world is the same as any other working world in terms of bureaucracy and politics. but the major difference is in the foundation. i do this work not for anyone else but for the people we serve. in my case, the people we serve are asian pacific islander americans.

at the end of the day, i can honestly say that i'm making a difference. of course, i was making a difference in my old job, but right now, i'm making more impact here than anywhere else. and that helps me get through the politics, the hardships, the sleepless nights. it's enough to see our youth come in and feel safe when they're with us. it makes everything else worthwhile.

and that is all i need.

MENTAL NOTE

2006-11-20T23:49:00.000-08:00

if you're a comedian doing a show and someone heckles you, here's what you don't want to do...

pull the race card

and not just pulling the race card mind you... throwing the whole damn deck of cards at the audience. it's not surprising as it is shocking. 2006 and it feels like we're walking backwards in time. not just because of this one incident, but a conglomeration of events i've seen happen over the past few years.

Military Commissions Act 2006

2006-10-30T11:04:00.000-08:00

so here's a big one. the buzz around my colleagues up here in sea-town has to do with this act that was signed into law by dubya oct 17, 2006.

click here to watch a report on MSNBC

not much was mentioned about this on the news. it was brought up somewhat when you heard about the guantanamo trials and torture a bout a week ago. otherwise it's been all grey's anatomy and dancing with the stars.

this is quite disconcerting in my opinion, since it was passed under the radar of so many. after reading the bill, i definitely see the issues with it but doesn't it make it intriguing that more people didn't know about this? what does that mean about our govt/media/world we live in. oh well. if anything, i'd like to hear what ya'll think.... hello? *echo*