"'discovered' by adventuresome white diners"

"Chinese restaurants changed or evolved over time.  Chinese immigrants from Guangdong province started 'chow chows' around the mid-1800s to serve familiar Cantonese dishes that fit the tastes of their countrymen.  These restaurants were located in 'Chinatowns' near large populations of Chinese, their primary source of customers.  They held limited appeal to most non-Chinese when they first appeared.

In the transition to the industrialized society of the last half of the 19th century, a restaurant industry grew rapidly as more people lived in cities than in rural areas.  However, most whites did not patronize Chinese cafes frequently, if at all.  They generally viewed foreign foods as strange and odd.  Few had any interest in eating dishes served by Chinese cafes and restaurants.

However, from the late 1890s to the early 1900s, a surprising reversal of fortune took place for Chinese restaurants. . . .  Even with little or no promotion by the Chinese, their cafes were 'discovered' by adventuresome white diners and the ensuing publicity widened their popularity among non-Chinese.  Prejudices against Chinese immigrants were still strong, but their cuisine was gaining favor.  Restaurants soon became one of the primary forms of self-employment among Chinese.  In Chinatowns, newer, larger, and more elegantly decorated dining facilities were built to attract and accommodate the growing demand.  Partnerships involving both active and silent investors raised capital for the expensive startup costs of remodeling and refurbishing existing facilities or building new ones and for the expenses of hiring numerous cooks, waiters, kitchen helpers, and other staff."

-- John Jung, Sweet and Sour: Life in Chinese Family Restaurants

As an American in South Korea I definitely get strong hunger pangs or cravings once in a while for things you might expect -- stinky cheeses (Korea only does sliced American singles), great pizza (you can find good pizza here, but never great), and purely local memory-foods like Maryland-style boiled blue crabs, served with drawn butter and cans of cold beer, never bottles or pitchers.  I miss American style barbecues as well, either Carolina or Texas versions.  (But if I could only eat Korean style barbecues the rest of my life I'd still die pretty happy.)

What's strange to me are my monthly or so craving for fake-ass, deeply inauthentic Chinese-American food.  I'm talking chicken wings atop greasy fried rice, beef over egg noodles, or oily egg rolls that have been sitting under a heat lamp for half-a-day too long, lathered in packets of hot mustard and duck sauce.

Brains and stomachs and human memories are curious things.

Oh, and on certain weekend mornings I'd probably murder your grandma for a good bagel with cream cheese and unctuous lox.  That's just a complete non-starter here.

Anyhow, Sweet and Sour was a surprisingly good read.

Congrats

I think it's clear by now I'm a conflicted Orioles fan, but goddammit if the Nationals didn't fight the fuck back every step of the way.

Congrats DC!#WorldSeries

— (I Ain't Afraid of No) James (@wetcasements) October 31, 2019

"a real ajumma"

An interview with Korean-American internet sensation Maangchi:

"For years, fans have been tuning in for her. She’s a comforting presence in her consistency, giving viewers the things they know to expect from a Maangchi video: her signature greeting, 'Hello, everybody!' in her thick, endearing Korean accent. Glitzy outfits, complete with elaborate headpieces. The occasional text that pops up on-screen to give personalities to the ingredients she cooks with. ('Oh, we are good looking anchovies! :)') But most importantly, it’s the fact that she’s an authority figure on Korean cooking — a real ajumma, a term of affection for middle-aged Korean aunties — that makes her so appealing.

It’s a relief when I meet Maangchi at a Starbucks in Manhattan and discover that her real-life persona is pretty much exactly as we see her on the internet. She walked in wearing white platform stiletto heels, and after giving me a warm hug, she ordered a caramel Frappuccino with whipped cream. When her drink came out, I regretted not living with the same vigor for life, looking pitifully at my watery iced latte."

Her videos are cute and funny even though I've never cooked (or plan to cook) a Korean dish in my life.  Also noteworthy that her name (Korean word for "hammer") comes from her days as an obsessive City of Heroes player.

Poor Little Dictator...

Take your pick with regards to Cheeto Hitler getting booed at a World Series game in DC.  Let's go with Roy Edroso for now though.  Or Matt Ford.

I'm from the DC area.  And yeah, it skews liberal but not just because it's a historically black city.  It's also because it's filled with Federal workers, and Trump has done nothing but shit on them (not just the "Deep State" FBI and CIA) since he came into office.

Of course he was going to get booed, and the sheer hubris of thinking his one and only foreign policy success ever would change that is, like everything about him, laughable.

And I'm still rooting against my better senses for the Nats, but it looks like the Astros and their shit-headed management have this thing won.

Halloween Growth

When I came to Korea 10 years ago Halloween parties were only to be found in 1) foreigner bars and 2) kindie hagwon, or private academies catering to kindergarten and elementary students.

Things have changed, I guess.  Even in this little suburb of northern Daegu I've noticed a few Korean bars, specifically the bars catering to my college students, setting up for Halloween parties.  (I know for a fact foreigners don't go to the places in my neighborhood, because other than my foreigner co-worker there aren't any.)

There's even one place, a fried chicken joint, that closed down recently.  It was strange to see it hadn't transmogrified into a noodle restaurant or coffee shop or even (this being Korea) a new fried chicken joint.  In fact, it's been gutted and is being turned into some kind of Halloween haunted house with stupidly expensive tickets (like 40 bucks or so).  Not that I'm going, but I'll be disappointed if it's not all-you-can-drink at least.

So I think it's fair to say Halloween has "made it" as an adopted Korean holiday.  (If you're wondering, Christmas is actually an official Korean holiday, with a real day off and all that.)

The Debate Over High / Low Culture In Movies Is Kind Of Stupid But Also Kind Of Important

There's far more stupid in the world today than necessary, so can we put the whole "Marvel and Star Wars movies aren't really movies" thing to bed?

Yes, they are trite and formulaic.  But there is world enough and time to appreciate "easy" movies as well as, say, the latest Yorgos Lanthimos or Claire Denis.

Same thing for books.  Or music.

I think what's really going on behind these arguments (remember Roger Ebert and video games?) is just territorial marking.  And it's mostly harmless.  Stay in your lane, nerds, and don't taint our supposedly superior cultural norms and forms.

It is elitist as hell to say only critically accepted directors (almost entirely white men) are allowed to create something called "art," and I'm fine with those arguments getting Twitter-mobbed by the nerdly, neck-bearded masses.  (I have little bad to say about Scorsese other than he's slightly over-rated but woo-boy, Coppola has made some genuine crap in his career.  I'll take B-level Marvel over Jack any day.)

At the same time, so much nerd and sci-fi culture has been bought up by Disney now that what used to be healthy, enthusiastic, and sometimes subversive fandom is now basically rooting for Mega-Corporations.  And these corporations can never be criticized for putting out tepid, obviously soul-less shit, but god forbid they write in a chick or a black dude or a gay couple.

Blindly self-identifying with corporations is always dangerous, even if they happen to put out the more easily digestible comfort culture that you love.  But not being willing to recognize that nerd shit has broken through to a wider audience of people who don't always look like you, who identify differently than you, is also dangerously stupid.

And to bitch and moan otherwise makes you look like the entitled bigot you may have been all along, not so much the misunderstood cultural outsider you wish you still were and can never be again.

Why Bother?

It takes a lot for me, a life-long Orioles fan (stop laughing) to root for the Nationals in this World Series.  But lo and behold, an overpaid douche-bro sexual violence apologist managed to do the trick!

Go Nats!

(Ugh.  Why do I bother with sports at all?)

"a badge of professional failure"

Adriana Gomez-Weston is a published writer trying to make it in Hollywood.  She also works at McDonald's to support herself.  Why does this bother, if not infuriate, so many of her fellow Americans?  Because:

"Unfortunately, the fast-food job has been pigeonholed as a badge of professional failure. Social media has further pushed this narrative through memes, viral videos and a culture of instant gratification and clout-chasing. Fast-food workers aren’t harming anyone, and we’re just doing our jobs. What’s so wrong with that? Working a fast-food job to make a living isn’t something to be ashamed of, but to many people, it is. To some, fast-food work is a last resort and implies that I didn’t make the right decisions in life. Due to the assumptions, it’s easy to not think about the people behind the counters. What people don’t know is that I went to college, left my hometown and decided to pursue my dreams in the entertainment industry. So riddle me this, what if you made all the right choices, but still don’t end up exactly where you want to be and work in fast food for stable income while you are still pursuing your passion?

As a society, we love to demand goods and services, especially greasy, unhealthy food. Yet we make fun of the people delivering those things. In the past, the fast-food job was seen as a launching pad to the American dream. These restaurants were havens for character-building and for social mobility. In some ways, they still are, but not like they used to be. The likes of Jeff Bezos, Jay Leno, Keenen Ivory Wayans and Lin-Manuel Miranda, among many others, worked at McDonald’s before becoming wildly successful."

One of the greatest con jobs ever pulled was convincing the majority of Americans that class doesn't matter, not in the land of bootstraps, grit, gumption, and a laughably inadequate minimum wage.

The fact is, Americans are some of the biggest class snobs on the face of the earth.  Most Republicans hate people who actually work for a living.  And at the end of the day, work is work and there is no such think as "unskilled" labor.

Also, if you can't leave a good tip don't go out to eat.

Always Be Hating

Halloween is stupid and over-rated and if you're over 13 you shouldn't participate.#discuss#constroversialtweet

— (I Ain't Afraid of No) James (@wetcasements) October 22, 2019

"failing upwards"

Nick Cohen on what links the sheer incompetence of men (almost always men, white men) like Boris Johnson and Donald Trump as they drag us all down to a hell of their own making:

"Johnson’s career of failing upwards since he left Eton illustrates that overconfidence is class determined. In politics and so many other British institutions, you see mediocrities take jobs for which they are not remotely qualified, because wealthy families and a private education have emboldened them.

In all spheres, catastrophic men and women are united by an imperviousness to the suffering they cause. Even on the most optimistic assumptions, UK in a Changing Europe found Johnson’s 'deal' will take £16bn from already dangerously underfunded public services and all who depend on them. (The pessimists believe £49bn will go.) The PM’s lack of concern for them is typical. Dixon described the siege of Kut in 1915 in what is now Iraq: an operation that led to 30,000 British and Indian army casualties. It distinguished itself, even in the First World War, for having no military purpose whatsoever."

Arguably, England is screwed even worse than America right now, because Brexit will last for generations.  Not that Trumpism is going away any time soon (there is no difference between Trumpism and Republican ideology), but at least we can start to turn things around next year, given some exceptional luck in the polls.

Swimmingly

Apparently What The Book? (I know, I know) has shut down -- the best resource for English-language books in South Korea.  So, I just gave Book Depository a shot for the first time.  They offer free delivery to Korea, so we'll see how it goes.  I'm ordering paperbacks, and nothing too obscure (N. K. Jemisin, Kim Stanley Robinson), so it should go swimmingly.