August 24, 2007
SFist Blotter
Uh oh! Did you stop by the Jamba Juice on Lincoln Avenue in Willow Glen in San Jose any time during the first two weeks of August? An employee may have given you hepatitis A. Turns out one of the food handlers didn't realize she was sick and she might have given it to you if she didn't wash her hands properly. If you were at the JJ from August 9-16, get a shot. If you were there from August 1-8, watch for symptoms (diarrhea, fatigue, jaundice), because the shot won't work for you anymore. Jamba Juice says that the store has been thoroughly cleaned, no one has come down with symptoms, the chances of getting the disease are small, and if you do come down with hep A, they'll reimburse you. Hep A is fairly rare in San Jose -- there were only 25 cases last year and for this year, only 6.
Samson Wong, the editor of Asianweek, reports that a local Asian media group has rejected an apology from the San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation for screening Sixteen Candles in Dolores Park a few weeks ago, because of its negative portrayal of Asian-Americans. Wait, wasn't Samson Wong the person saying just a few months ago that people should be allowed to express whatever race-based beliefs they had and he didn't have a problem with that?
And sorry we forgot to get to this yesterday -- Rachel Gordon at the Chron reported that we're at an all-time high of 34 deaths on San Francisco traffic-related accidents this year, with three deaths just last week (one at Park Presidio and Balboa, one in the Castro, and one in SoMa near the Embarcadero). And your most dangerous intersections: Oak and Octavia, Gough and Market, Park Presidio and Fulton, 19th and Sloat, and Broadway and Van Ness. Step lively, folks.
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SFist:
You clearly got it wrong on this one, and you're increasingly obtuse views are a threat to your own ability to expand your readership base. Shame on you!
Samson Wong's "Expressing whatever race based beliefs" that one has is clearly different from cruel and egregious negative stereotypes - and Sixteen Candles advocates stereotypes of broken Engrish, belittled sexuality, and uber-dork hairstyle.
Those aren't my words, those are the words directly from your link to radaronline. For shame!
ummm, the white people in the movie get portrayed even worse! They make fun of everyone except for Jake. Watch the movie again and pretend that white and see how you feel.
You dont spell it. You eat it.
canine cologne!!!
On the Samson Wong issue, I'm not disputing that Watanabe's character is an extremely negative portrayal of Asian-Americans. But I really am curious to hear what people think about the differences in his position on the whole Kenneth Eng "Why I Hate Blacks" flap (where he justified running the article because we need to hear all different sides of the arguments on race-based issues, even flagrantly-biased ones) and his position here that we shouldn't watch Sixteen Candles because of its negative portrayals of Asian-Americans.
I'm personally feeling very ambivalent about the whole issue -- on the one hand, whatever. On the other hand, it's true that they probably shouldn't have picked Sixteen Candles to screen in the first place too.
I wonder how Jamba Juice will "reimburse" any Hep A victims. Are they talking full coverage for any medical expenses, or a coupon for 25% off their next smoothie?
I want Jamba Juice to pay for the lipo i'm going to need after downing all those sugary drinks of theirs.
The Chron's pedestrian death tally included a few preposterous statistics, including someone who was hit by a car in 1982, but whose death 25 years later is attributed to that same accident.
Lake. Big lake.
Of course Octavia is in that list. The pedestrian crossings take forever, and most people don't realize that you have to press the crosswalk button or you'll be waiting indefinitely. A lot of people don't press it, then get fed up and make a run for it.
Regarding the whole 'Sixteen Candles' thing: WHATEVER. I am Asian American and I don't find their protrayal of Long Duck Dong offensive. I think it's more of a matter of people being over-sensitive.
Plus, Samson Wong is the same guy who published Kenneth Eng's ridiculous editorial. It's ok for Eng to talk about why he hates blacks, but they can't show 'Sixteen Candles' in the park, a funny, harmless teen movie?
Come on. It's not like they were screening 'Soul Man.'
I'd like to add my vote to the "whatever" column regarding Sixteen Candles. If you don't like the movie, go rent Ya Ya Sisterhood instead and stay home.
Barring the two deaths stemming from accidents in the 80's (however that works...), we would still be at 33 deaths right now (a man was struck and killed by the J-Church last night), which is still higher than any year since 1998...
I think Long Duc Dong might have run over a couple of pedestrians while drunk driving "grand-a-pa's ah-toe-moe-beeel". Those may have been included in the Chronicle's count. No more yanky my wanky, indeed.
Also -- it IS legal to run over all of the jaywalking cracked-up shitheads in the Tenderloin, right? Because I have no issue with it.
I certainly agree this is a problem, and I myself have nearly been hit numerous times crossing Van Ness. However, I'm frustrated with articles quoting WalkSF, a group that does two things I'm suspicious of: a) includes in their pedestrian death tally those people killed while walking (!) on the freeway in the city (I believe in the southern part of the city; being hopped up on something and streaking the interstate is *not* the same as getting hit in an intersection); b) they *charge* for membership! WTF? So just because I'd like nicer, cleaner streets (not that WalkSF sponsors any cleanup efforts, mind you, they just "advocate"), I have to pay them a membership fee every year? Um, no. If I want to have an impact, I can join any neighborhood group for free, and make more of a difference than by "joining" WalkSF.
That being said, though, what the hell is up with the pedestrian death caused by a skateboard that the Chron article reported? How does someone die from that?!