Thursday, November 14, 2013

IS THAT MOUNT EVEREST?


Once again a group of misinformed people with too much time on their hands are attempting to make a mountain out of a mole hill. Or should I say make a Mount Everest out of an ant hill.

            The other night on the Jimmy Kimmel show in a segment called “Kids’ Table” something was said and of course this group of people got their panties in a bunch.  They are calling for Kimmel to be burned at the stake or fired by ABC Studios. In these days of multimedia overload, when any group is unhappy about something they come off as the biggest gorilla in the room.

If you don’t think that’s true just ask the Westboro Baptist Church. That little group of hatred spewing mouth breathers number only 40, but when it comes time for them to bash the gay community or the Jews you would think their numbers were in the millions.

The groups in question for the Kimmel attack are not as organized as Westbrook, but they are equally clueless. The only thing they have on their side is the ability to use Twitter and social media better.

The “Kids’ Table” segment on the Kimmel show takes a page out of the Art Linkletter/Bill Cosby notebook for “Kids Say The Darndest Things”. For those of you too young to remember, it was a television show where Cosby would ask the young guests a question and get impromptu outrageous responses. So the premise is certainly not a new one.

The question that was asked of the panel at the “Kids’ Table” was “How should America pay its $1.3 Trillion Dollar debt that we owe China?” One of the kids responded “kill everyone in China”. It was an outrageous thing to say, but it was an off the cuff joke made by a child who couldn’t be more than 8 years old tops.

Of course some small Rosemead based Chinese American group, who obviously doesn’t have a grip on reality or a sense of humor, has decided to spend its time trying to punish one of the funniest men in American for something he didn’t even say.

But ABC Studios folded like a cheap suit. They and Kimmel issued an apology almost immediately, which should have been the end of the matter, but no. The groups who started this witch hunt obviously saw a good way to get some free press for their organization and want to drag out their pointless little vendetta as long as they can. Not unlike Westboro Baptist does. Maybe you two should get together and share notes.

The apology was given. Sorry is as sorry does, so get over it!

The pure absurdity of the child’s words should have made this a non issue to begin with. The population of China is 1.3 billion people. That is 1/5 of the entire world’s population. So really? This is the fight you want to pick?

And excuse me for asking this, but aren’t your group and all of these protests taking place here in the United States? You would think that if a group was going to be protesting it would be people living in China.

So “Roundtable of Chinese American Organizations” whoever the hell you are, if you are looking for your pound of flesh or a better apology you will have to get it from young Braxton who spoke the words to begin with. That is if you are into punishing children, which indirectly is what you are doing to young Braxton through all of your media hype and press.

There are bigger fish to fry in today’s world. There are much larger events happening in our lives that you could devote your attention to and do more good than attempting to punish a television comedian.

I don’t know if you heard about it, but the Philippines was just hit by the largest typhoon in history, Typhoon Haiyan. It is estimated that as many as 10,000 people are going to be in need of assistance of all sorts. How about channeling your vindictive energy towards something positive?
You can do so by doing one of the following:

Donations can be made online or by texting RELIEF to 864233 to donate $10.00.
           To donate to the Salvation Army's Typhoon Haiyan relief efforts, visit its
website or text TYPHOON to 80888 to donate $10 and reply YES to confirm
your donation. The organization uses 100% of all disaster donations in
support of disaster relief.
          The U.N. World Food Programme is urging Americans to make donations to
support its emergency food relief after Typhoon Haiyan. You can donate
online or by texting the word AID to 27722 to donate $10.00.
          The American Red Cross has volunteers spread throughout the region and
accepts donations online. You can also mail a check to your local American
Red Cross chapter designating Philippines Typhoons and Flood in the memo
line.


These are just a few of the things you can do. There are many more that you can find online if you do a search.
Somehow I think you folks at RCAO won’t have a problem clearing that hurdle.

Bill Dunn has been a published opinion columnist for 15 years. Any comments can be sent to either our exalted editor at tmiller@beaconmedianews.com   or to Bill directly at dunnsinferno@casegod.com   You can also find Bill on Facebook at:   www.facebook.com/WhenAllisSaidandDunn                         

Saturday, March 9, 2013

A HUI HOU BAHOOKA



When the Dunn Clan moved to Temple City in 1959, there was no Bahooka Family Restaurant two blocks away. That changed in 1976 when the restaurant that opened in 1967 in West Covina, moved to its current and final location on Rosemead Boulevard.
            It has enjoyed a long and prosperous run there, but that is about to come to an end on March 10th. The owners are throwing in the towel and have sold the place to someone that is interested only in the location, liquor license, and the over 100 fish tanks, but not the Hawaiian/Polynesian motif.
            There have been conflicting reports as to the exact reason for its closure. One is that the family has health issues. Another has some employee evoking the "let's blame the President and Obamacare" statute and the reason that I believe, is that the owners are just ready to retire.
            Whichever reason you choose to accept one thing is for sure. When the doors do close the owners will be leaving with a tidy little nest egg thanks to the cat being let out of the bag that the Bahooka's days are numbered. The joint has been jumping ever since the word got out.
            Not unlike the morbid curiosity that accompanies the death of a celebrity there has been a constant stream of mourners lining up at the door to say their final  goodbyes.  When we drove past last Sunday there was a line of easily 50 people waiting to get in for the lunch service. When we drove back by an hour and a half later there were still people waiting to get in.
            Anyone who has eaten there, and has taste buds, will tell you that this phenomenon is due solely to sentimentality towards the atmosphere of the place and not the food. Which, to be kind to the deceased, can only be described as fair.
             It was that very sentimentality that led my wife and I to make the two block pilgrimage a couple of weeks ago after hearing the news of its imminent demise. We wanted to refresh our memories as to why we didn't go back more often to some place so close.  After we  had read some posts on the Internet and Facebook by people moaning about its closure we felt as though maybe we had been ignoring it unjustly.
            Our memories had not been betraying us. The food and drinks were what we had remembered. The food was just so so and the drinks, even though they tried, were nowhere near the caliber of say Don the Beachcomber.  As a matter of fact, being a bit of a rum snob myself, I know I could have made a better Mai Tai at home.
            The one thing I could never duplicate was the vibe of the place which is what everybody is going there to get a final taste of. The dust covered plastic parrots, tikis, foggy fish tanks, and assorted shipwreck memorabilia that hangs from every inch of available ceiling, makes you feel like you stumbled into an unfound section of Adventureland at Disneyland.  It is what is truly special here and what will really be missed.
            It is joining the ranks of places like the Temple Theatre and The Shrimp Boat that have faded into the sunset. Places that people of my generation grew up with and remember fondly and miss every time we pass where they used to be.
            Hopefully whatever is replacing the Bahooka will be able to fill the void that it will be leaving, but I doubt it.    
            As the crowds are proving, good food and drink is not always what you crave.

Bill Dunn has been a published opinion columnist for 15 years. Any comments  can be sent to either our exalted  editor at  tmiller@beaconmedianews.com   or  to Bill directly at dunnsinferno@casegod.com   You can also find Bill on Facebook  at :   www.facebook.com/WhenAllisSaidandDunn