Hua Hsu

Spent the past week reading books about maps, and came across this surprisingly absorbing video of Al Franken drawing the U.S.A.How Teenagers Consume Media: a report from a 15-year-old summer intern at Morgan Stanley. It's caused quite a stir in the UK, though I'm not sure any of the "findings" will be all that shocking. Still no answer to the question of how/why a 15-year-old interns at Morgan Stanley.(Spotted over at the Postadvertising blog, which is neat.) More »

I'll be moderating a panel on "Nerds" this Saturday at the first-ever Asian American Comicon in New York. More information (and discounts) here. More »

Jared (Big City/Bumpshop) on WNYU's "Downtown Affair" with a ridiculous 70s soul mix.Africa by way of Chicago by way of the future, House all the same: Portable vs. Bodycode (they're both the same dude) podcast.And via Piotr: Asaf's excellent boogie, disco and synth bombs over at 100 Limousines (New World's "We're Gonna Make It" = the jam)Speaking of Jared, New World and good music... New Yorkers: last-ever (?) Bumpshop party this Saturday. It's going to be… More »

Trailer for a really great documentary about Bolivian wrestlers my friend Betty recently completed. Watch for it at at festival near you: More »

Given how fanatical Michael's fans can be, why didn't any of them ever go after Joe, the root of all Jackson-related evil? (Script idea...)Is Tyrese really that famous?I wonder if more people will see Mister Lonely now.Unexpected: MJ's affection for KFC.Expected that MJ drew this crowd; but astounded that 80,000 people showed up to greet Cristiano Ronaldo yesterday.Nobody has put Stevie's clip up yet, but until then, this: More »

As a sucker for print, I will buy almost any magazine at least once. I just came across Chimurenga, an excellent biannual (?) out of South Africa and I am at least one-dozen issues/three years late. It's a smart mix of fiction, reporting, essays, manifestos and art, all pegged to a vision of the pan African. In particular, the futbol issue -- which features fantastic interviews with Lilian Thuram and Diego Maradona (on his way to an anti-poverty rally) and intrepid… More »

Rapper: This is Hua.Rapper's mother: Hello there, Hua.Rapper's aunt: Hi.Rapper: So this is where I grew up.Rapper's aunt: Hey, aren't you doing an interview today with Vibe?Rapper: Yeah, this is him, I'm showing him around the block.Rapper's aunt (to me): Oh! You're Vibe! So are we vibin' now!? We're VIBIN'!* * *Jeff posts a fascinating roundtable (all done on Twitter? How ironic...) with Alan Light and Raymond Roker about the future of magazine publishing and the… More »

Via Matos: Woebot's really nice c. 94 ambient jungle mix.Fresh daily Boogie over at Beat Electric.Great live past/present/future of disco set from Rub N Tug.Topical: O-Dub's excellent mix of MJ/J5's "underappreciated" moments.NOT A MIX BUT STILL DYPE:Chairman Mao's stirring blog post about MJ and the tribute he and Just Blaze put together last Saturday night...And a hypnotic, one-take MJ tribute from Dwele: More »

Upcoming Newark/Cory Booker documentary that was supposedly shot/edited Wire-style. Looks great. More »

I totally forgot to post this whenever I started writing it. So pretend it's a couple weeks ago...In the Chronicle, Princeton University Press' Peter Dougherty offers a "Manifesto for Scholarly Publishing." Dougherty's claim that university presses actually need to publish more is a rim-rocking one, insofar as anything associated with the academy can be that splashy. It's probably true that universities and not-for-profit presses offer "difficult ideas" a valuable… More »

(Thanks to James)Also, I wrote this for Foreign Policy on the "globalization" of MJ.More regular posting as soon as I'm in the same city for more than two days at a time. More »

I was waiting for the N train on the elevated platform in Astoria, Queens when I first read that Michael Jackson might have died. I had received an email on my phone from my friend James. I tried to click through the links embedded in his email before our train snaked underground, toward Manhattan and out of range. "I think Michael Jackson just died," I murmured, my phone inert in my hand. Could it be? I projected an MJ-related sadness onto the faces of everyone… More »

The untouched glee of a sincere fist-pump (0:17); a pubescent voice-crack reminds us he is small for a chiseler (0:29); the zealous purity of his kid-sized equations for spiritual conversion (0:36); "I want some religious ceremony cash!" (0:46); making it rain, shaking alive wrapped presents (0:50); a daring, transgressive leap over the limbo pole (1:30); that swagger (2:07): yes, Bobb'e J is not only the best rapper alive, he is the future of everything. More »

I just need to remind you to read whatever Philip Sherburne has to say about electronic dance music. Over the past year, he's written great pieces for The Wire on Vladislav Delay, Ricardo Villalobos (not exactly an easy interview to score), Carl Craig and now Moritz von Oswald of Basic Channel. I've always appreciated the thoughtfulness and care of Philip's descriptions. As someone who ran out of ways to describe a "dope beat" years ago, it's really refreshing to… More »

+ Gang of Four, techno and everything in-between: Darshan from Metro Area and Tim Sweeney on Sweeney's Beats in Space show.+ Hypnotic thumb piano, primitive synth drones, Minor Threat dirges, "heartfelt lyrics" and the astounding Group Doueh: explore the weird world of Banjo or Freakout over at Allez-Allez's blog.+ Not quite a mix, but still: Scott Saul with a moving, MP3-assisted essay on Vinicius de Moraes over at Soul-Sides' summer annex. More »

speaking of bygone "youth cultures" -- Arthur Magazine with the stunning artwork that accompanied a 1969 LIFE piece on Jimi Hendrix More »

Saw yesterday that Brian Graden -- the longtime MTV honcho who oversaw the network's shift from music video to youth lifestyle programming -- is leaving at the end of the year. It's hard to say whether the music industry's decade-long--has it only been a decade?--slump can be attributed to the willful negligence of boosters like MTV (unlikely) or whether Graden simply understood the importance of fast dorm room Internet connections and knew that the music industry… More »

What happens when there is nothing left to spoof?Is "viral content" merely the "infomercial" of the current moment? Does Charlie Murphy really yell "I GOT TASTE?" And what are we supposed to buy? I need to know!(More on Leroy Smith at Viralblog and Adverblog) More »

Utterly entrancing ramble of hurt feelings, rickety metaphors, sideways subliminals and amorphous, the-audience-deserved-better criticisms.0:40-1:11You said you wouldn't get mad. I'm not mad! More »

Blow your whistle: unbelievable Greg Wilson essential mix. Joey Negro vs. The Clash, Gwen Guthrie's "Seventh Heaven," Brenda Taylor, Stevie Wonder edits...this is stunning.If this Eamon Harkin set (recorded live at one of those Gowanus Canal/Sunday Best events--GO!) makes you want to drink a cool beverage and eat food outside, then it worked.Phill Most Chill a.k.a. The Soulman knows his way around rock records, too. More »