Are you a ping pong playa?

From a Blender magazine story on Lil’ Wayne. In the piece, he’s in a testy mood partly because he has a toothache. Unwittingly, the author shows us how Lil’ Wayne wins petty arguments.

When people disagree with you, expose to them their social and cultural blinders. Simply, ask them if they are what they are not. “Are you a insert here that which you are and they are not? No. So don’t tell me what insert plural form of that which you are and they are not here do.”

Somehow, Lil’ Wayne, in two brief statements is able to accomplish what postmodernist ethnic studies scholars and critical race theorists spend dissertations and emotional energy discussing.

I’m sitting across from Wayne with a notepad, Juan is sitting across from him with a tattoo needle, and our conversation has taken a prickly turn. Wayne once mentioned that he keeps a set of encyclopedias on his bus, so I ask about his reading habits. Does he ever pick a subject at random and learn all about it?

“No,” he says. “I’m a millionaire.”

“What’s that mean? Millionaires still have things they can learn!”

“Are you a millionaire?” he asks. “No. So don’t tell me what millionaires do.”

In other news, I'm psyched Ping Pong Playa was picked up by IFC Films for distribution. I missed a few chances to see it in film festivals and in cambridge but will get to check it out now on my own schedule. It's directed by Jessica Yu who I first heard about while watching West Wing and remembered after reading Mark Salzman's True Notebook. Mark is her husband.