Way back in May, I didn’t write about it, but I should have. In one week during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, the character played by Masi Oka in the terrific series “Heroes” helped save the world, Olympic skater Apolo Anton Ohno won the coveted prize in “Dancing with the Stars” and a lovely Chinese American hapa woman, Tessa Horst, was chosen to wed the Navy captain on “The Bachelor.”
Yeah, yeah, this is shallow, mass-entertainment pabulum. But you know what? It’s so seldom to see Asians on the boob tube, that to have them hogging the spotlight was just a plain thrill.
Watching that much TV on consecutive nights for so many weeks may have turned my brain into mush, however….
KCUV-FM in Denver is celebrating the official kickoff of summer by recreating the sound of Denver’s FM radio from 1967, complete with news items, radio commercials from back then, and typical playlsists, all presented by the airstaff of progressive radio from the time, including guys like Bill Clarke (who’s on Channel 7 now but came to Denver in the ’60s as an early Top 40 and progrock radio jock), and Thom Trunnell (wow, that’s a name I hadn’t heard in 25 years, from KFML days).
It’s very strange hearing Clarke, who’s on now through 10 am, talking as if the news is happening now, and griping about the cold rainy weather for July 21, 1967 (it’s hot in reality today, and reporting about the Monterey Pop festival as if it just ended the previous week.
It’s going on all day. Kinda weird, but interesting. I’ll tune in all day just to hear strangeness they pull out of the hat.
UPDATE April 13, 2009:I went to drop off some shoes with Claude the King of Shoes in advance of an out-of-town trip, and was disappointed to see he wasn’t at his usual spot at Welton St. and the 16th Street Mall in Downtown Denver. As I turned to go back to my office, I saw him — about 75 feet away from the intersection, looking lonely.
He told me the Downtown Denver Partnership organization was forcing him to back away from the intersection at least 50 feet, or pay for a vendor’s license of over $500 a month. I wondered if he makes that much more than that. Here’s a story from the Denver Post.
He’s also being criticized for making remarks at people (and their shoes) as they walk on by. Today as I waited he commented to a man walking with a woman, “You must the key to heaven… because you have such an angel with you.” He got a smile from both the man and woman. He called out to another woman, “I can’t imagine the world without your beauty in it.” She smiled too.
Some people (maybe even me, if I didn’t know Claude) might take these comments to be sexist and inappropriate. But in the context of his “act,” they seem awful cute to me. It’s how he gets peoples’ attention to sell his top-quality shoeshines.
He’s been shining shoes downtown for 14 years, he said, and 11 of those years now, at one intersection: 16th and Welton. He’s trying to raise money for a lawyer to help him fight the “eviction” on grounds that it’s limiting his ability to make a living, and on freedom of speech ground (it’s true — like me, many people seem to not see him when he’s away from the corner, and he can’t keep up his nonstop upbeat patter at passersby).
I wish him luck.
I’m glad he was able to shine my shoes, and also handle the three pairs I dropped off. (The following post was written April 29, 2007; I made the video above about a year later.)
OK, I’m feeling sheepish about admitting this. But I signed up this week for a lifetime membership … to get my shoes shined by Claude, the King of Shoes.
I’ve seen Claude for years. In fact, he’s plied his trade on the corners of Denver’s downtown 16th Street Mall for nine years. A few weeks ago, as I was hurrying back from lunch to my office a block off the 16th Street Mall, Claude looked up from a customer’s wingtips and glanced my way. “Are those “Bjorns?” he asked. Yes, they were, and yes, they look ratty, but I was in a hurry to get back to the office, without acknowledging the question.
A few days ago I was out to lunch again and saw Claude on the corner, shining up another customer’s shoes, using his fingers to work in some liquid leather conditioner. He looked up again — I wasn’t wearing my Bjorns this time — and so I asked him if he really recognized my shoes. He remembered me from the Bjorns, for one thing (OK, maybe my beret and Asian face had something to do with that part), but he explained with some patience, like I shouldn’t have to ask, that he’s seen every brand of shoe that god’s put on Earth and he knows what to do to take care of every one of them. Continue reading →
I don’t watch “American Idol” (“Dancing with the Stars” is enough reality TV for me), but I’ve been mildly curious about this 17-year-old kid, Sanjaya Malakar, who managed to squeak through week after week of elimination on “AI” with his breathy singing voice, toothy grin and bizarre variety of hairstyles.
Well, he finally got voted off the show last week, but over the weekend he got a consolation prize as a guest at the annual White House Press Correspondents’ Dinner, a big deal in DC.
Malakar interested me because he’s Asian American; his parents immigrated from India, and he identifies himself as an Indian American, hoping to be the “next” Indian pop star in the U.S. (was there a previous Indian pop star in the U.S.?).
Unfortunately, Indians don’t seem to share his enthusiasm for Sanjaya. The Indian media seemed relieved when he lost last week. One South Asian I know pointed out that the name “Sanjaya” went against Indian convention because ending a name with “a” is a female signifier, and though his name should be “Sanjay.” Continue reading →
It’s silly, and I’m a little embarrassed to admit it, but Erin and I are addicted to “Dancing with the Stars” this season. We hadn’t watched it at all in the past, but began tuning in because 1) it began during the down time for new episodes of “Heroes” on Monday nights and 2) it features dancer/choreographer Carrie Ann Inaba, who’s Japanese American, as one of the judges and 3) this season one of the stars featured in the competition is Olympic speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno, who’s also JA. Continue reading →
