Word: letterman
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...erasing that image. "We are a sophisticated, intelligent, highly evolved culture," proclaims Hossain, former head of the Federation of Bangladesh Associations of North America. But despite his efforts, non-Bangladeshi Americans have had a fresh stereotype to associate with Hossain's homeland ever since late-night king David Letterman's roving camera strayed into K&L's Rock America souvenir store, hard by his Times Square studio, and discovered Mujibur and Sirajul, painfully good-natured immigrant salesmen whom Letterman's Late Show has transformed into the nation's newest pair of unlikely semistars...
...midst of a televised cross-country tour, the duo are clear successors to veteran Letterman foil Larry ("Bud") Melman -- with one important difference. Melman was a character played by actor Calvert DeForest. Mujibur Rahman, 34, and Sirajul Islam, 39 ("the boys," as Letterman calls them), are real New Yorkers -- and a real problem for their fellow emigres, who have no illusions about what America is laughing...
...Ninety per cent of the people of Bangladeshi origin living in New York can't speak the English of the average American," observes travel agent Mohammed Hossain (no relation to Mukit). "Letterman seems to be enjoying their failure." And yes, standing by the Mississippi last week, the pair triggered the brittle Letterman chuckle by staring blankly at a reference to the Stanley Cup and discovering new consonants in words like Illinois...
Ironically, Mujibur and Sirajul are unknown to many stateside Bangladeshis, who work immigrants' hours and lack both the time and the English to enjoy Letterman's Late Show. But word is spreading. At a Manhattan restaurant popular with Bangladeshi taxi drivers, opinions are as hot as the five-alarm curry. "These two people are stupid!" snaps one hacker. "They joined another stupid person, David Letterman, who does not have any respect for other cultures!" Among better-educated Bangladeshis, the unease is scarcely less intense. The Bangladesh Association of New England meets next month to draft a letter of complaint...
Indigo Girls aren't made-for-video babes. They are not about belly buttons or cleavage or appearing on the Late Show with David Letterman chewing cigars and swearing to get attention, as Madonna did in April. Although their CDs have sold consistently well -- their self-titled debut album went platinum -- both Girls harbor acid feelings about the image-conscious video age. "MTV has hurt music in one sense because people now judge a song by more than just the song," says Ray. But, she concedes, "in the sense of having another art form around -- video -- MTV is probably...