Initially, I was reluctant to help out my lion dance team in performing for the Olympic Torch festivities.  My politics leans towards my own personal ideology of justice.  Some of the movements I support include: Tibet’s Independence, the return of the states of Dakotas to the Native American, the sovereign movement of Hawaii, the independent state of Palestine, Myranmar’s end of martial law, and Taiwan’s independence.  But the torch coming to SF was going to be a once in a lifetime kind of event, so I eventually came to perform. 

There were at total of 6-7 different lion and dragon dancing troupes present at the ceremony at Justin Herman Plaza that afternoon, and in the beginning we had a section where we were performing.  But once the torch was lit and the torch left McCovey Cove, the protesters came en masses to interrupt the entire event.  So when we began our 2nd round of performing and to get closer to the mainstage, we were mobbed by the protesters.  Now remember, I support what the protester demanded.  They want the Tibetans to be able to exercise their existence without interference from the Chinese government.  Fair enough.  It’s been clearly documented that China’s human rights record is nowhere near exemplary.  So it’s safe to assume that they demand that the Chinese government should
allow the basic Human Rights as described in the United Nations
declaration of Human Rights to the people in China, and in Tibet.

When I visited the Hunan Provincial Government banquet, I addressed in person to the risk of my teammates from The Salvation Army.  (I spoke about sacrifice and Jesus and tied it to religious freedom)

Don’t get me wrong, I am totally CLUELESS about China’s involvement w/Darfur, and I am interested in knowing more about China’s role there.  I only say that because I saw a large constituent in regards to that issue. 

I’m a lion dancer, and the lion dance and dragon dance has NOTHING to do with the Chinese government.  I’m not a part of the Chinese government, and I’m not a part of China.  I can also speak for most of those who participated in the lion and dragon dancing. THEY are also not a part of China.  So you protesters had absolutely NO RIGHT WHATSOEVER to push us, spit on us, taunt us, damage our equipment, kick us, hit us and call us “Chinamen” and what not.  Let me ask you mutherf*kers something: you’re demanding human rights, but you deprived us of ours?  WHO THE F*CK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?  In the midst of the pushing, kicking, and hitting, I witness a mother holding her 6 mos old child being pushed around by the protesters.  Yeah, you’re really practicing human rights there people. 

Personally, my take on the protesters is that they’re a group of racists who are holding onto an excuse to openly discriminate against Asians, especially Chinese.  They don’t really give a rat’s ass about the rights of the Tibetans at all.  Any protesters demanding human rights would be the first to respect the basic human rights of others.  That was certainly not the case yesterday.  Oh and the protesters who are coward enough to cover their faces during the protest, if you’re really stating your case on behalf of who you’re protesting for, what are you afraid of that you don’t want to show your identity?  Let’s be real here, you only showed up to f*ck sh*t up for the sake of f*cking sh*t up.  You are man enough to take on any of us face to face.  (Of course not, you were too chicken sh*t to show your f*ckin faces)  Oh, wait a second, you did remove your bandana that was covering your face when I walked by carrying our lion head so you could spit on my face.  Whoops, my mistake, you did have some courage taking a shot at me when my hands were occupied. 

So protesters, I’m putting you on notice: I’m not against you because of your stance; I’m on the same page as you are supposedly.  The next time I see some “Free Tibet” “Human Rights in China” or “Shame on China” tshirt wearing person with a bandana, I’m making sure the favor you gave myself and my fellow lion and dragon dancers is returned 10 folds.  It’s not politics, it’s personal. 

I knew her parents were gonna strangle me for getting her that gift, but I had to do it.  Although it could easily be viewed as a parents’ nightmare, it was a step of faith.  Let me share a story first before I continue on:

A farming town was experiencing a major drought, and the local farms and businesses were suffering as a result of it, so the council held a meeting in order to find solutions to address the problem.  Some thought shipping water in was a solution, others thought damming a river was another.  Finally the town preacher suggested that the town meet the following day to pray for rain.  The town laughed until the mayor agreed to try it first but added that the townspeople were to bring their item of faith with them.  So the following morning the townsfolks came to the city center along with their crucifixes, family Bibles, lucky dices, rabbits foot, 4 leaf clovers, ect.  They prayed and waited for a week.  They met again bringing their items w/them until the town preacher stopped them.  “I know why our prayers didn’t work last week and why it won’t work now,” he said.  “The Mayor asked you to bring along with you an item of faith, and none of you did.”  The townsfolks was baffled at the comment, but the preacher continued: “not one of you brought with you an umbrella or a raincoat.” 

So Sophia’s mom was ready to strangle me when I gave Sophia her baby drum for her birthday.  Its cute to see a 2 year old banging away making a lot of noise.  It’s annoying to the parents, that I know.  It all seems more than mischieveous if you knew the entire situation.  My friend, Sophia’s mom is battling breast cancer and is scheduled for surgery next week, so giving her own daughter a tool to annoy the parents would be considered inconsiderate.  Naturally, my friend asked me why of all things to give to her daughter such a gift and my response was the story of the drought.  Then, I challenged my friend that if she wanted to get even with me for giving Sophia such a gift, she must “RETURN THE FAVOR.”  I simply challenged my friend to get even with me.  “Now YOU have to wait until my firstborn turns 2, THEN you could give him/her that drum to annoy me and their mom.”

Not only did Sophia received a drum as a present for her 2nd birthday, it “doubles” as an “umbrella” for her mother as she battles the storm or breast cancer.  It takes a lot of faith to not only get the gift, but to also posed her the challenge because my friend is under enough pressure as is already obviously.  And believe me, my friend has a right to be concerned not because of her health situation, but also because of my situation: a) I’m not married yet. b) I don’t have any kids. c) Not only am I not married, I’m not even dating anyone right now.  So the real question is, who’s umbrella is this actually? 

BOTH

My friend countered the challenge because of my situation.  She lives and survives, she WILL attend my wedding, be there when my first child is born, and when that kid turns 2, return the drum so my wife and I will be annoyed for never ending nights.  So I’d BETTER find that right someone soon, and I agreed with her and we shook on it. 

Just wait til I bring a DVD of Singing in the Rain with me when I visit her during her recovery phase…

I wasn’t the one scheduled to take a bath.  It was Sophia who was supposed to bathe as soon as we got home from dinner at Cardinals. 

Awhile back, a friend of mine lamented on the costs of going out to eat dinner.  He commented on having to pay between a 25-30% gratuity.  So my natural response was “your cost for dinner is costly because you’re overpaying the tip.”  His response: “Jarrett, I have a 2 year old.”  Until today, I didn’t know what his comment meant until we ate at Cardinals tonite.  Today, I learned that 2 year olds detest sitting in a high chair.  I also learned that I could save on average of $300 per 8-10 weeks session on voice building if could just follow the advice on a 2 year old on letting loose on voice.  I learned that strapping a 2 year old to the high chair without their permission will trigger a tour de force onset of their vocal range.  Then, I learned that an average 2 year old will find a way to make a bigger mess than the initial food they were given.  (Is this some sort of an instinctual magic tricks done by little children?  How do that do it???)  The price I had to pay for all these lessons learned today: 25% of the total bill including the local sales tax. 

By the time we returned home, Sophia was wearing more of the food from Cardinals that she actually ate.  Therefore, it was bath time for her.  I didn’t know that the water was required of a certain temperature before they were allowed in, and the whale thermometer was cute.  The rubber duckys were also cute as well as the Mickey Mouse sailboat.  Oh yeah, trying to keep the lather out of Sophia’s eyes was the cutest attempt I ever gave in barking instruction: “okiieee, close eye eyes now.” 

She didn’t close them, so she started to panic a little.  During her little crisis, she made an inadvertent discovery.  After clearing out the lather in her eyes, she realized that the moment she hit the surface of the water, the water traveled everywhere.  And when she realized that I responded to that with ducking, she couldn’t resist doing it over and over and over and over…

She discovered how to splash the water.

Finally when I returned her to Mommy after drying her, I was asked if I wanted to shower afterwards.  My reply was “no thanks, not only did I just have one, but I did laundry too!”