10/12/2009
Tonight is Aoki Night in Detroit
Steve Aoki is djing tonight Dec 10 at Vain Ultra Lounge, 1500 Woodward (I know, I never heard of it either).
I only bring it up because I want to mention this NY Mag article on his father, Benihana founder, champion wrestler, speedboat racer, and national backgammon champion, the late Rocky Aoki.
Three years after it was written, my brother (who shares Rocky’s birthday) and I still bring this article up about once a month.
For me, Rocky’s story puts into perspective how fabulously boring someone like Tiger Woods and his philandering exploits actually are.
By contrast, even Tiger’s scandals look positively polished, scripted and dull. The photos of Rocky with random celebrities (some bigger than Tiger, some Steven Segal) that line the entrance of every Benihana are more interesting than this story (golf club assault included). To me this suggests not that America is thirsty for hardcore gossip, but rather that we chew up manufactured storylines, both good and bad in a completely routine manner. I’ll take a little Aoki chaos over that any day — it’s still messy, but in it’s own way, far more life affirming.
Text posted at 11:00
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