Dude, Where’s My Reference Point?

wowowowo...samina shahidi is actually ol` saminasha ? Didn`t realise that ...good work I think...

Saminasha #46 Time to update my Expedition Diary. :-)

Day 2: Food supplies running low. Crew exhausted after reading first sentence of Saminasha`s article. But nevertheless, determined to continue the expedition. Struck with awe upon seeing the magnificent sight of the second sentence of Samina`s article:

`` South Asians have known about New Jersey well enough, particularly the Edison area, and a generation of middle class twenty to forty something Asian Americans continue to make Queens and Brooklyn the Next Move Out of New Jersey.``

Stared at sentence for several minutes, soaking in the depth. South Asians know New Jersey well enough - well enough for what purpose? To be able to find the way from I-295 South (which actually goes North) to entrance to NJ Tpke? And who are these twenty to forty something Asian Americans?

Spent entire day mastering the depths of meaning in second sentence. By late evening the head was spinning.

Set up forward camp at end of second sentence. Crew settled down to rest after exhausting effort. Tomorrow, determined to launch the next stage of the expedition: the dreaded Sentence 4 (where many an intrepid explorer has lost his life).

Tahmed Uncle,

If ``loins`` throws you off, you`d better send for search and rescue...enjoy!

Zeena,

Uh...thanks. And lets leave other writers out of this, yes?


Salim,

How fitting that you and your munha munhoos nicks are on my board. I expect you think you deserve some kind of award for your usual besharami. Well, here it is; and done properly-stick to emoticons-you`ll never know what a real thought or idea is:

``What a waste it is to lose one`s mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is.``

-- Vice President Dan Quayle winning friends while speaking to the United Negro College Fund, 5/9/89 This gem has been added to Bartlett`s `Familiar Quotations`. (reported in Esquire, 8/92) (reported in the NY Times, 12/9/92)

Now stay off my board.

Saminasha
Well,you made it at the front page.Where I can only see Farzana Versey`s monopoly.When ever I see her name on front page I don`t even bother to open the article,b/c I know it would be waste of time.Better to be on UP ,rather than wasting time in reading FV`s articles.
Today when I saw your name on front page,I couldn`t help to read and then,liked your piece to the extent that I couldn`t wait to ,CONGRATULATE,you on your reality based article.Keep it up.

A good piece saminasha. Interesting imagery as Tahmed32 put it. However, to quote Dan Quayle (I remembered this reading some of the responses here) ``Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things.`` then resisted the temptation since it was not that inarticulate and did not want to insult your liberal sensibilities by quoting Dan.

TAhmed32 43, I though et tu for a moment and then thought this is good for both ``He draweth out the thread of his verbosity finer than the staple of his argument`` would be appropriate ;-() (he/she are interchangeable here)

I have started reading saminasha`s review, and will inshallah deliver status reports on where I am on the reading from time to time (you can also follow my progress on my internet website.

Status Report 1: Completed reading first sentence. Am struck by the vivid imagery: ``sprung from the loins of the New Jersey Turnpike``. Am attempting to determine exactly which exit on the turnpike constitutes the loins.

Am reeling from this imagery. Have therefore established base camp at this point. Will make further progress in studying saminasha`s article after appropriate rest and recuperation from this unexpected assault on the senses by this vivid imagery of a turnpike with loins.

mt t: the letter has been signed, sealed and delivered. Now I assume you will get down to deliver on your part of the deal - namely that 7,500 word review of Saminasha`s review that you promised.

tahmed:

pls. wait for my 7500 word response outlining the pros and cons for seeing this movie...meanwhile please go to the link below and sign the petition

hamidm writes ``so, should i see this movie or shouldn`t i ?......... `` Someone else also had the same question.

Now, will someone tell me if I should read this movie review or not? Thank you.

apologies for this instrusion. would appreciate if you take time to visit the ANAA site, read and sign the petition please. every drop in the the bucket would help. ANAA

Given a choice between the oscar winning ``Lost in translation`` and ``Harold and Kumar``, I`d pick harold and kumar any day of the week....

Ras,

Thank you. Although I`ve been finding a million errors in this piece ever since its been posted...

Umer, Scout,

Well you two showing up has made it worthwhile....personally, I`d like to be on the scriptwriting team for Umer and Scout Go To Curry In a Hurry....please let me....

Samina #31
Generally, the middle class that did live in the suburbs, attended private schools, etc., did not organize in the same manner. I can only speculate on why not.
I can offer some reasons.
1. Asians come from hierarchical societies.Even the Chinese confucian socieites are hierarchical. So, to us, the concept of race is not alien and moving around in small cliques is not unnatural to us.Though stereotyping in the west is more on basis of race and less on class
2. Also, personal is not political for most of us.The Asian middle class is largely apolitical even in Asia.They dont see themselves as agents of political and social change.They tend to deal with these things in a personal way.
3. The brown sahibs somehow cant seem to accept the fact that after they have ``arrived``, they have any more ``arriving`` to do. It seems kosher enough to them that they can look down upon the resident desis and play golf with the gora sahib.

Hamid,

Uh huh. See it. I have a feeling you`ll like this a lot more than the womenfolk in your fam will....

SS,

Beautifully written review of a not so great movie.


Ras

so, should i see this movie or shouldn`t i ?......... what is it?........ being a simple minded person i have always taken the cue from ebert and siskel/roeper - two thumbs up, i go see it , two thumbs down, i stay home ....... after reading this review i am not sure what to do - i feel sort of cheated .........

..... as for racism and all that, i don`t know what ms saminasha means by `` hope is that the South Asian and Asian viewership remain less sanguine``......... i don`t know if that means that the movie makes light of racism, or that it is blatantly racist in a mean sort of way ........dumping a chinese geek for a latina hottie is common sense, not racism ............nowadays we have a lot of paranoid progressives who see racism and worse in all kinds of seemingly innocuous speech and art and are going around making demons out of folks like poor lawrence summers and rush limbaugh ......... but sometimes a movie is just a movie ........

........ anyway, i saw napolean dynamite last night with my kids and thoroughly enjoyed it - so what do i know ........