What do you get when you mix a Parsi singer who died of AIDS, with rap, that most homophobic of art forms?
You get Q-Unit, a cheeky Queen – 50 Cent mashup with songs like ‘We Will Rock You In Da Club‘ and ‘Under Pressure All the Time.’
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The ‘stache looks familiar |
A franchise is born. The circle is now complete. And he who was once the pupil has now become the master –
Yes, it’s actually happening: the sequel to Van Wilder: Party Liaison is coming together.The focus of Van Wilder II: The Rise Of Taj is (unsuprisingly) Kal Penn’s character from the first movie. He’ll head to Oxford University to continue his studies and end up showing us stuffy Brits how to party.
Ryan Reynolds is not expected to appear in this follow-up, to be directed by Boat Trip’s Mort Nathan.
The Hollywood Reporter answers the question so many of us are no doubt asking – why?
Bauer Martinez Distribution has acquired North American distribution rights to “Van Wilder II: The Rise of Taj.” The film, being produced by Tapestry Films, is shooting in Romania. “Wilder II” is the sequel to 2002’s “National Lampoon’s Van Wilder,” which made $21 million at the boxoffice but went on to become a cult hit on DVD.
Where once the box office determined our hero’s fate, ’tis now Blockbuster, Netflix, and direct DVD sales.
Keep an eye on IMDB for details as they emerge. Kal Penn will also have a prominent role in next year’s Superman Returns.
Pop quiz: what is this NYT story about?
Kali, Hindu goddess of destruction, thinks otherwise. She is angry, say the colorfully garbed women massing in the holy tree’s dappled shade…
… idol-makers… came from their villages to work their craft for Calcutta’s festival for the 10-armed goddess, Durga, the invincible killer of demons. Statues of Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge, lay cast off under the highway overpass, waiting to be resurrected. [Link]
If you said ‘a mundane highway appropriations bill,’ you’re psychic. New India hands, dust off that pith helmet and shake off those jodhpurs. Here’s the official NYT checklist on what must go into an India story (and what did, in fact, go into this one):
Taj Mahal Sacred cows Camels Holy trees Benares Ganga Hindu theology Bullock carts Rickshaw-wallas Awkward polytheism metaphor Religious nuts from small towns British colonialism Kali (bonus points!)
Mmm, I love the smell of incense in the morning. This story has that touch of Orientalism which wins Pulitzers. What, no bride-burning, snake charmers or Thuggees? If Amy Waldman keeps it up, she could pen something for the South Asian fiction shelves. Maybe it’ll even have mehndi hands and a sari border. Calling Lady Mountbatten — she’s truly gone native.
Here in NYC, we just passed a referendum to build a new Second Avenue subway. The Calcutta Telegraph’s coverage would be terribly incomplete unless it included the following:
The Mall of the Americas Dogs which are (gasp!) allowed into houses Buffaloes Pat Robertson The Virgin Mary toast Christian theology Farm tractors Windshield men Awkward Crusades metaphor Religious nuts from small towns British colonialism Waco (bonus points!)
Otherwise, your readers might not grasp the story. And we can’t have any cultural misunderstanding here. It might make Jesus angry.
In total support of our lone Guest Blogger PG’s apposite timing with regards to World AIDS Day, today’s edition of our weekly nanofiction writing is inspired by December 1, red ribbons and acronyms.
Friend of SM (and my rival for the affections of Goran) Brimful gently dispatched my mild-grade confusion about the need for more AIDS research funding with her edifying post yesterday:
It is easy to dismiss HIV as an area that already gets plenty of research dollars, and that it is overhyped, because of the way it manifests in this country in 2005. In the US, it tends to affect poor minorities, homosexuals, and IV drug users. And even though we need to get that under control, people can live with HIV here, thanks to the availability of life-saving therapies. But we have to figure out how to get these therapies into the hands of the rest of the world. Morevoer, we have to seek out the holy grail- an AIDS vaccine. Though it’s nearly impossible to develop, we have to try. I have heard people remark that HIV infection is preventable. This is true in theory, but when you have the kind of transmission happening in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, it sure doesn’t feel preventable.
In other news, doubts have surfaced about Brimful’s brown heritage, since her post on World AIDS Day actually was published on that day.
For those of you who are just joining us, 55Friday is a weekly event (two months strong!) for aspiring novelists like me who are ADDled commitment-phobes and therefore can’t take on something serious like NaNoWriMo’s 50,000 word requirement. If you’ve been lurking or are new, here is all you have to do: write a very short story with exactly 55 words and post it or a link to it in the comments below. You may write about anything, but for those who prefer, we have a weekly “theme”. Today’s theme is RED, the second time we’ve had a unifying idea that I ripped off from Krzysztof_Kieslowski, for those who are keeping track. Continue reading
Yes, yes I am aware that a good portion of our readers aren’t lucky enough to live on the right coast but I can’t resist liveblogging this huuuuugely important event— my girl crush is goin’ to the chapel and she’s, gonnnnnna get marrrrrried. Besides, the original post on Neela’s nuptials has triggered a fascinating discussion about regional bridal traditions in South Asia; that’s a lovely development, and this way we can feel free to focus on the actual ER ep, here.
So this is what I’m going to do for everyone in a different time zone who isn’t watching with me right now: blogging starts after the jump. You don’t want to know what happens during tonight’s ER? Don’t click that handy-dandy “Continued” box OR the comments OR the permalink for this entry. Everyone wins.
SPOILER ALERT- after the jump. Continue reading
“A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: ‘If ANYONE worships the beast and his image and receives his mark [on his airline ticket], he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the [SSSS] mark of his name.” (Rev. 14:9-12).
Yesterday the Transportation Security Authority (TSA) released its new rules on what can and cannot be taken aboard an airplane. This decision will greatly affect South Asians across America. Before, if you were brown an accidentally got caught with contraband, your life was over. After being strip-searched there was the possibility that you would be stamped with the “mark of the beast.”
Good news for airline passengers: Soon, security lines might move faster because you won’t be stopped for carrying most small, sharp objects, and best of all, you might be able to keep your shoes on.
Transportation Security Administration Director Edmund S. “Kip” Hawley is expected announce on Friday the agency will permit scissors less than 4 inches long and tools, such as screwdrivers, less than 7 inches long to be placed in carry-on items. Because screeners won’t have to take time to intercept the objects, passengers should be processed more quickly. [Link]
I for one am NOT HAPPY 
about this change in policy. You see, I have always carried the mark of the beast on my ticket. No explanation as to why I was anointed so, but who am I to question the infinite wisdom of the powers that selected me to be a chosen one? I have embraced it. I have used it to distinguish myself from you mere mortals, standing there like lambs in your TSA security lines. With the “SSSS” I am freed from conformity. Others worry about taking off their shoes in an orderly fashion. They empty the change, tangled with lint, from their pockets. And the belts. I pity those teenage boys that wear pants that are obviously too large for them. Without their belts, gravity slaps some embarrassment into them, the way their parents should be doing. Conversely, I tuck my shirt in and pull my pants wayyy up. Looking like Urkel, my metal belt is displayed for all to see. Other passengers avert their eyes. “Poor guy, he is going to get a beat down.” With shoes on, belt on, and a roll of quarters in my pocket, I walk through the detector. It beeps so loud that those frolicing on the Elysium Fields look toward the sky remembering past glory. I don’t care. I can do what I want. With the “SSSS” mark I am going to get searched regardless.
“Right this way, sir”
That’s right. They call me “sir” at the airport.
A second genner does that fake, bad Indian accent which gets ad directors all hot and bothered. Watch clip one, two. Here are two more without the desi guy: three, four.
This T-Mobile campaign aimed at Boost is called ‘Poser Mobile.’ Hyphen has the scoop:
The three caricatures of a smoked-out Latino, slit-eyed, grinning Asian, and fat, pimped-out white guy are a new, interesting spin on using racial stereotypes to sell product. Instead of selling mainstream whiteness a la Aryancrombie and Fitch, T-Mobile is itself clearly trying to sell black hip hop cred. The implication of the ads is that whites, Latinos and Asians are not really hip hop, not really street, not really trustworthy. [Link]
I actually think the campaign is pretty funny (fake Ali G = parody of a parody), but the desi accent is incredibly bad, and the Asian caricature treads close to racism. Fer chrissake, get yer ethnic mockery right.
Set your Tivo, sneak out of document review or make sure to watch NBC while on the Arc-Trainer tonight– Mutineers Olinda* AND JaneOfAllTrades alert us to a very special, all-new ER that you’ll be sari to miss:
A NIGHT TO REMEMBER–Back from Iraq, Gallant (Sharif Atkins) surprises Neela (Parminder Nagra) by telling her he wants to take their relationship to the next level. Kovac (Goran Visnjic) and Clemente (John Leguizamo) vie for the same job making the tension between them even thicker…Morris (Scott Grimes) shocks everyone when he stands up to Weaver (Laura Innes) during a medical procedure…TV-14
O M G .
I canNOT believe this…seriously, those story lines are the last thing I would’ve expected from this venerable must-see-TV veteran…Kovac mired in tension with another doctor?? That’s NEVER happened! And…and…Morris giving Weaver lip? What an episode! Who else will be glued to the TV tonight at 10pm? 😀 Continue reading
From the trash talk in the comments of my last post about Bhutan, it’s clear some of its countrymen are indeed untouched by modernity. The Bhutanese dirty dozens are actually kinda sweet:
Once a european expert on “Yak” visited Bhutan. You know what the funniest part. He had never seen a yak in his life. You guys passing comment on Bhutan are exactly like that yak expert. [Link]
Yak insults. I say, yak insults. Boy, they really take the gloves off with yo mamma jokes in Bhutan.
Recently “Bhutan bashing” seems to have become livelihood for some peolpe. And some of these people are having a great life by just doing this… Bhutan bashing is a gold mine for them!!!. [Link]
I’m still waiting for my check, Nepal.
… when the Bhutanese are happy about everything, why are you all making a fuss of something which doesnot concern you. [Link]
The Bhutanese are not happy about everything. For one thing, some of them seem pretty pissed about my post. And this one is only going to drive down that Gross National Happiness, so better get crackin’!
Bhutan is a Third World Country… But we are also [a] highly educated lot. The fact that my english is better than yours proves the point. [Link]
Point proven.
Related posts: Bhutanese Gothic, Bhutan’s gross national happiness, Bhutan designs democracy, Bhutan: bidi ban, badmash!
Breaking News which is Meaningless:
A brown-ish designer, Ashley Isham, is one of the four people America’s Next (Nowhere Near) Top Model contestants go on a go-see with during this episode’s “challenge” in London. Contrary to every model friend I’ve ever had, THESE hapless girls are being told to wear something in the “style” of each designer, i.e. wear preppiness to Ben Sherman versus the typical jeans and no makeup MY friends rocked whenever they did anything.
The twist? The girls have to assemble their punk, preppy, mod and BOLLYWOOD outfits at some flea market. Winner gets a photo-shoot. A Bollywood photoshoot. (UPDATE: There ’tis, above/left.) Oh my. What any of this has to do with being a supermodel is beyond this bear of little brain. Lovely Malayalee Julie of ANTM3, we hardly knew ye, and ye would’ve rocked the shit out of this trifling test.
With the words, “so, look BOLLYWOOD” still ringing in my ears as four confused girls run off to buy something, anything sequined– but will they look appropriate for a frolic through the Swiss countryside?– I hereby notify you that this train wreck is on UPN RIGHT NOW on the east coast. You mutineers on my home coast still have 2.75 hours to get ready for this spicy jelly (Thanks, ANTM fan Rani!).
Liveblogging, after the jump… Continue reading
