The funniest thing happened today on the bus. It went in the wrong direction and then did a U-turn in an intersection - in front of a police car, no less. (Luckily, they didn't pull us over) That's what you get when people talk with the bus driver...

Yesterday, as I may have mentioned, we had an electrical storm or two. This occurence is quite rare here so you can imagine that it was quite spectacular even for the few minutes that it was happening. I turned my mobile phone off as I was outside and wasn't quite sure if it would make me a candidate for a lightning strike. I managed to survive without getting struck down although the little downpours that happened afterwards did get me and my little denin jacket a little damp.

Last night, while sitting with a friend in a local Chinese bakery and restaurant, it came to light that in North America (and perhaps Europe) there are no big name bands or singers that are Asian. We got on to the subject because I was saying that, while there are some Japanese performers (that I remember from my time in Japan) touring here, that they weren't really considered as serious artists but more of a novelty act. My guru Claire had once pointed this out because I wondered aloud why some of them didn't get exposure here. I have to say that I had never really thought of this. There are lots of Japanophiles out there but for the most part it is the novelty of the country that makes us interested and, perhaps not what they could offer us here.

Nevertheless, my discussion in the restaurant went on and we even got the owners involved. It was suggested that although no one would really admit it, there is still an underlying tone of racism in our culture. Those things Asian are interesting or different but could never become mainstream. Is it because we believe that these cultures are so intrinsically different from the European values that so many of us hold? Is it because we envy their wealth? Is it because Asians think that we are so narrow-minded that we couldn't even begin to understand their culture? I just don't know. What do you think?

Since then, I have been thinking about this a lot. In my opinion, there are many artists from Asia that I think should make a go of it here but I also know that any attempt at this before have failed miserably.

Take, for example, Toshinobu Kubota who has an amazing ability to project his voice in a soulful, r&b kind of way. When I first came back from Japan, I listened to his music in Japanese and although I didn't understand it entirely, really enjoyed his voice and the music. He even changed his name as you can tell from this website. When he released here, I couldn't even get a hold of a copy of the CD. And then he dropped out of sight...

Then, there is Nokko who released an interesting little album in English. I managed to get a copy of it and was pleasantly surprised.

Then there are stories like that of Seiko Matsuda, who first tried to break into the US market by doing an duet with Donnie Wahlberg of New Kids on the Block fame. Then she tried again with a sexy image and I did not hear one of the songs on radio but did happen to see one of her videos at one of the local gay bars in town one night. (It was alright) She just didn't make it. Not to say that she should because her talent is questionable but she tried and failed.

The only one that I can think of the is remotely Asian that has succeeded in Canada anyway, is David Usher who is, I believe has Asian roots. Have you heard of him outside of Canada?

Is there anyone that I haven't heard of? Oh, I have heard Asian Dub Foundation but well, that's not in North America and we rarely hear anything of them here...

What do you think? Why do you think this is? And, more importantly, how can we change it? Let me know...