Feeling incredibly grateful to have spent the day with my friend Frit for my birthday! We really took our time in a freezing 2 degrees Celsius, to explore London’s South Bank!
Sadly I ended the night alone in my hotel, first at he restaurant, then working on my laptop at the bar, and finally back at the hotel room.
But the outpouring of birthday messages and Charity Water donations throughout the day made it worth it!
That’s why this Steve Harvey episode is so upsetting. He speaks openly about issues facing the black community, he is a man of God, and he has a huge platform to speak from. Unfortunately, he’s also the type of guy who orders Krug champagne for himself and Cook’s for every one else. For his own personal profit, he’s willing to perpetuate the emasculation of Asian men regardless of how hypocritical it is. He isn’t the only one doing this in 2017, but as I told myself on New Year’s, I’m not drinking anymore of this Cook’s they’re trying to pour, and neither should you.
A controversy dating from a few weeks back, but still worthy of attention. At the same time when Steve Harvey was under fire for meeting with Trump, there came a point where he found the time to comment on the masculinity of Asian men — or, in his eyes, lack thereof.
The response above was published in the Times, and written by Eddie Huang, fan-favorite restauranteur, TV show host, and Guardian of the Culture. (Yes, he’s like the person I wish was my older brother or cousin.)
Oh how I’ve missed the U.K.: much more than I thought.
Staying in Kensington tonight. Went to the popular and highly recommended Khan’s Restaurant, and ate a delicious Vegetarian Thalis before heading to the movies.
I’ve got a special request today:
I’ve started re-reading Jack Cheng’s These Days. This moment when the two protagonists first met kind of struck me:
It was a prelude to a deeper embrace, a hug that said, pay attention, there’s something here.
I’ve known some of this, recently. It’s funny the signs that one’s body can give if you pay attention. [≠]
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"It’s a problem that too many Silicon Valley CEOs “are from South Asia or from Asia”."
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the quote above comes from Pupeteer in Chief Stephen “Palpatine” Bannon. In 2017, that mindset has to go. No more tolerance for bigotry.
[≠]
Three musical recommendations to start your Monday:
Syd’s band The Internet released an amazing album in 2015: “Ego Death”. A sexy r’n’b album with a soul-infused jazzy vibe. Her debut album as a solo artist is an incredibly sexy LP. Talking about her rise to indie fame, success, and flirting with women, the artist formerly known as Syd Tha Kid conveys such a great sexy vibe in this album.
Listen to it with your lover!
It’s been great to see Big Sean’s evolution from the “punchline”/joker rapper out of Kanye’s G.O.O.D. Music imprint, and onto a more mature style. For what it’s worth, I actually bought an iTunes copy of his second album, the one that was rumored to have sold barely any copies — I’ve been a long time fan.
On I Decided his fourth release, Sean Anderson is realer and seemingly more self-aware than he’s ever been. In this so-called “concept album” he grasps where he stands in the rap world, what he’s been through so far, and schemes for a more honest future. I’m going to listen to this album a few more times, but it’s definitely one of the better ones he’s put out!
And finally. How do you talk about the guy who’s been known as Pop Music’s Secret Weapon?
Sampha is a genius lyricism with an incredible voice and sensibility. His album was highly anticipated by both professional critics from the industry, and myself, as a fan of the guy. This album is rather peaceful, alternative, mellow, and great all around, I don’t know what else to say except please give it a listen.
Featured image by Clique.
The Fifth and final part of the Family Trip to Vietnam — another walk in Mai Chau, a quick stop in Hanoi, and the final days on the island of Phú Quốc.
With all the negativity around, I thought it was time to get back to something creative… Like a new music mix for example.
[mixcloud www.mixcloud.com/tibz/amaz… width=100% height=400 light=1]
Moonlight isn't a story as much as it is a journey. The journey of a young boy, growing into a teenager and later into a man.The movie explores a topic not often depicted in films: black sensibility and sexuality – and even further: the day to day life of a man who finds himself attracted to other men.
Through this prism, we see Chiron, the main protagonist, go through different stages and overcoming obstacles that life gets in the way.
For his directorial debut, Barry Jenkins has made a very impressive and sensitive film. Moonlight is an important film and I can only recommend it!
[≠]
"It feels good every time The A gets a win—and right now, The A is winning."
[≠]
For the past 4 years, I’ve decided to celebrate my birthday in a different way. On February 9th 2017, I’m turning 26 and to celebrate the big milestone I’m organising a fundraiser for Charity Water and pledging my birthday to collect $2600 in donations!
I’ve been lucky enough to be born and raised in this western world. I haven’t been in a position where I’ve my life has been in danger and I’ve never lacked basic resources to live. When it comes to material comfort, there’s nothing I really need and I’m living a happy and fulfilled life. So since 2013, I’ve decided to celebrate my birthday by trying to help others.
It’s worked great so far: since 2013, we’ve raised nearly $4000 and brought clean water to nearly 1000 people.
26 years old is pretty symbolic: a quarter of a century, the real coming of age. So to celebrate, I’m hoping to raise $2600! It’s a huge goal!
I’m not usually the type of person who would ask for a gift. However this is for a really good cause and it matters a lot to me. So whether you’re a close friend whom I’ve known for years, or whether we’ve met online recently, it’d mean a lot to me if you could spare a little bit of your time & money to make a donation.
Thanks again for taking the time to read this post! I hope to see you amongst the first generous contributors and will be sure to send an update about the campaign very soon!
—Thibault
The best way to help is also the simplest: to achieve my goal of raising $2500, I need donations. So if you’d like to help, please donate to my campaign here: http://bit.ly/tibz26
Another simple way to help out is just to share this campaign with the people around you, whether it’s a post on your favourite social networks (I’m at @iTibz on Twitter by the way), or you can also talk about it with your friends, family or coworkers!
Just had another case of “stepping away from the keyboard” to do something else instead of staying stuck for ages!
Can’t recommend it enough: after an hour or so, I’m getting back inspired and refreshed, not to mention unstuck.
I can’t tell whether I’m sick or allergic, but imma fight it!
After Ha Long, we discovered the Mai Chau region, while being hosted by a local family.
Hello there!
Tibz here, back with moar personal news, links, and the usual mixture of random thoughts
I’ve been pretty inspired lately. Inspired to do more, create more, push more things into the world. Inspired to write more too, after seeing my digital friend and writer William, and catching up with my friend and former colleague Elliot too.
So, as you can expect, these past few weeks have been eventful to say the least. It started with trying to chase after a girl (unsuccessful), getting a new tattoo, at last, and working on four new projects (successful so far). You win some, you lose some, amirite?
For sure, I guess most of you are starting to know me by know… But let me break it down into more digestible chunks:
Project Number Two is for work too: I'll be working with the same agency, freelancing on behalf of a new client they've signed. This will be an ongoing mission throughout 2017, a welcome addition to my revenue stream as I prepare to go on a big trip later this year.
Project Number Three was to publish and edits my blogs from Vietnam in a fast and efficient way, so as to avoid wasting weeks and months. I was away last weekend, and found the time to take care of it. Long story short: all the Vietnam Vlogs are available on my Youtube channel, over here. This is also your reminder to subscribe, give a thumbs up to the videos, and comment if you want to.
Finally, Project Number Four is the one you might be most familiar with: the yearly Charity Water campaign. More on that in the second part of this email.
I’ve decided to challenge myself to follow a vegetarian diet for 2017.
It’s been going well so far and I haven’t had any type of cravings. Anyone who’s known me for long enough knows how obsessed with food I can get, so this is no small feat. But I’m getting along and strangely enough I haven’t missed meat/fish too much.
My desire to follow this type of diet comes from multiple factors:
So it’s been an interesting month, cutting fish & meat out of my diet completely, compensating by eating more vegetables, tofu, grains and superfoods.
This year, I’d like to write more, and write some more personal articles too.
There has been a resurgence in independent blogs in the past 18 months, and with the current political climate, this is bound to grow even more. So my desire to write more comes at the right time.
I won’t always share it via social networks if it gets too personal, like the post I’ve written and scheduled for the beginning of February.
But I’d love it if you could share your feedback, and subscribe by RSS or Email — once I fix this goddamn newsletter form.
I’ve also enabled comments here, so you can easily leave your messages over there after the content of the articles, it really couldn’t be simpler.
In the third part of the Winter Vlogs from Vietnam, we’re visiting the magnificent Ha Long Bay!
I’ve spent some time this morning looking at my dates, flights, and Airbnbs.
Something will go wrong of course, but as it stands right now, I believe I’ve locked in all flights until December, and the first Airbnb for the beginning of my trip (between April & May).
All I need to do now is actually pay for the damn things. Oh and have a look at Visas and Insurance.
In Part II of our big Winter Trip, we’ve traveled to Hanoi, discovered the beautiful chaos that is getting around this city, and later went to visit the Lào Cai region, up north, close to the Chinese border.