Today's paper says that Maryland is the richest state in the union and has the lowest poverty rate.
That's based on the 2006 American Community Survey (an annual survey by the Census Bureau). The numbers may not be as definitive as what you'd find in the decennial Census, but these estimates come out every year instead of every decade.
What struck me is that if you go through household income data by county, you'll find that Howard County is, by far, the richest in the state. Even above Montgomery County.
I used to live in Howard, but I think I lived in the "poor" part. (There were plenty of car repair shops, up and down the main drag (Rte. 1).
I live in a nicer area, today, but my county (Baltimore) is not as affluent overall (that is, according to median household income).
If you compare Howard to any of the listed California counties, a state I used to be quite familiar with, it's still significantly richer.
I doubt that Howard is richer than, say, Beverly Hills, but 90210 is not a county. It's included in Los Angeles County, which is the most populous county in the country. (over 9.5 million). And that means some pretty tough turf is included, as well.
For example, Compton, is part of L.A. County. And I'm sure ya'll know that Compton has a murder rate that rivals Baltimore city.
I'd call myself a science fiction fan, but I've "gaffiated". (Or is that gaffiated away?)
I've been to a couple worldcons in my time, but have lost track of them in recent years. I don't read sf anymore.
These days, I'm more aware of anime conventions. Not because I'm into anime. (I'm afraid I'm not.) But because I'll try to list the convention performances of some musicians in my music website calendar.
So it was a surprise to me to find out that the upcoming worldcon (World Science Fiction convention) will be in Yokohama (Aug.30-Sep.3). That's kindof one-upping the anime folks, you could say, in that they are so enamored of Jpnz. pop culture, yet how many have ever been to Japan?
(I'll admit that's unfair criticism, 'cause the anime fans tend to be much younger than the science fiction fans... so the former would tend to lack the money for trans-Pacific flights.)
Meanwhile, what's interesting about this con is that the co-MC (master of ceremony) for the award ceremony will be George Takei. (I wonder if he knows any nihonjin and will speak it at the event?)
Some people think he has a stentorian voice. I would agree, somewhat, but admit that I'm not terribly fond of his podium style. He can sound a bit snobbish. Not that he's trying to put on airs, but that's the way it sounded.
I heard him speak a couple times and the brittle, slightly snobbish quality of his voice was bothersome. But maybe his voice has changed a little since I last heard him (which was years ago).
Hey, maybe he's mellowed.
Whatever the case, this worldcon should be interesting. I wonder if there'll be large numbers of Asian fans. (Or would they only flock to anime cons?)
One fellow who ought to attend or be invited as a guest would be the Thai fantasy writer Somtow Sucharitkul. I don't know if he's written anything for many years. Seems he's quite busy these days writing and conducting operas and the like.
I met him a few times when he lived in Arlington, VA. Besides writing some paperback f & sf novels, I think he wrote some music on the side. I seem to recall that him writing some arias in an obscure language. (Bronze-age Greek?) and a witty marching song based on something by Isaac Asimov.
Which reminds me that I've got a picture or two of Asimov at one of the worldcons I attended.
In fact, Newt Gingrich turned up at that same con. Can't remember if I have a picture of Newtie, but I should have an audio cassette of him talking at a press conference. (Mind you, this is before he became nationally known.)
I ran across a tongue-in-cheek letter by a Pinay journalist, Vikki Ortiz, with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about how she would help the Milwaukee Bucks draftee, Yi Jian-lian, adjust to life as an Asian American in her town.
Yi is a 6'11" basketball player from China, who is supposedly not keen on going to Milwaukee. His agent may try to negotiate a way that he can play in a bigger city.
Ortiz was trying to show him the ropes of the Milwaukee social scene from an Asian American point of view. (She has a blog about the singles experience at the Journal Sentinal website.)
One of the things she mentioned in her "letter" was how Fil-Ams are considered good entertainers and dancers, and how Yi might find himself associated with this stereotype:
"3. Dance credits. Maybe this one applies more to Filipino-Americans, who're often stereotyped as being good entertainers, but it may come up for you as well. When you look like us, people like to assume you're a great dancer. Even if you hate dancing. Even if you couldn't step to the beat with a gun to your head. I, for one, love dancing, and appreciate the assumption. I'm sure my moves aren't any better than those of my white girlfriends. But people think they are - and that gives me dance floor confidence!"
It may be a stereotype, but if I were forced to choose which Asian American group had the best dance moves, Pilipinos would be right up there.
And when Ortiz says that her moves are no better than her white girlfriends, I'd like to think she's being disingenuous. (Unless she was totally whitewashed growing up, but even still... I'd bet her genetic makeup would predispose her to dance fever.)
The thought of a Pinay dancing diva reminds me of someone I heard on the radio this morning, who's Pinay and loves to dance.
I heard Wilma Consul report on the plight of Latino immigrants in the Baltimore area for WYPR, the local NPR station. (I assume she was talking mostly about undocumented immigrants.)
Years ago, I remember hearing a radio piece she did where she mentioned Fil-Am dance halls or dance parties. I think she was talking about the social dance scene in Daly City and South San Francisco.
Well, anyhow, it's nice to know an acquaintance from the past is on the local airwaves. Yeah, I've met her a couple times over the years.
I even think I've seen her "cut a rug."
Just received the latest ish of Hyphen in the mail.
I haven't held a copy in my hands for years.
After flipping thru the pages, I'd have to say it makes a nice overall impression...
(although I don't know why the woman on the cover is scowling as she thrusts out her bra-encased boobs, with a beat-up "rice rocket" (stock Integra?) in the background... oh, wait... now I get it... It's supposed to be the antithesis of those import tuner mags with the DDD model draped over the hood with a come-hither look.)
One of these days, I'd like to compare the magazine with other North American Asian ones that I subscribe to, namely Ricepaper and Giant Robot.
But that'll have to wait until I take care of some other stuff, first.
I’ve been looking at a large picture book called Inside North Korea by Mark Edward Harris (Chronicle Bks., 2007).
It’s not quite clear how much he was able to shoot without being controlled by government monitors or minders.
The cityscapes seem rather bland. That’s not surprising. Indeed, the place seems quite empty.
The most interesting pics are of the dramatic mountainous areas of Geumgangsan and Paektusan. Of the former, there’s a picture of a poem by Kim Jung Il inscribed on a boulder extolling the area’s natural beauty. The poem is written in Chinese characters. It makes me wonder how North Koreans regard Chinese culture.
A thousand years ago, the place was famous to some Chinese. The Geumgangsan section of the book leads off with a quote from a Chinese Song dynasty poet Shu Shi (a.k.a. Su Dong-Po, 1037-1101):
“If I were to die the day after seeing Goryeo (Korea) Geumgangsan, I would have no regrets.”
It seems that modern-day South Koreans are returning the favor. The recent article in the NY Times about the Wulingyuan natural preserve (a certified UNESCO GeoPark) in Hunan, said that the place is advertised on So. Korean tv.
Maybe I should go there, too, when I finally get around to visiting China. It’d be awesome to see the karst pillars dotted with trees. (The most dramatic scenery I’ve, thus far, experienced in person are the mesas of New Mexico.)
Meanwhile, I’ve also found some articles about North Korea in some of the periodicals I get in the mail:
North Korea’s Best Path Forward; Can it join the global economy? (Courier, Summer 2007)
North Korea’s Last Chance for a Diplomatic Solution by Tanaka, Hitoshi (Chuo Koron Shinsha, Apr 2007) translated for Japan Echo
The Courier article has a picture of Pyongyang which shows many buildings that seem to be smudged by soot (due to coal?). The Harris book doesn’t show any dirty buildings, but his few cityscape shots are obscured by shooting into the sunset. Could it be that some parts of Pyongyang are dirtier than others due to the prevailing winds blowing soot in certain directions?
(Reminds me that my sister’s dissertation discussed a way of describing where coal dust from Chinese power plants would blow on neighboring cities.)