I mentioned John Layman's upcoming new comic book series Chew last month. The series is a police procedural starring Tony Chu, a federal agent who gets psychic impressions from the the things he eats. Yes, you read that right.
It sounds so utterly bizarre, and the more I read about it, the more I'm looking forward to checking it out. Here's another story on John Layman and Chew: John Layman Bites Back in "Chew". The first issue hits stands in June.
Fun fact: Tony Chu is actually modeled after actor Ken Leung, who plays Miles on Lost. If there's ever a TV or movie version of Chew, Layman insists that Ken is perfect for the role. Now, how cool is that?
I recently heard from Scott Chan, who is working o a project to address problem gambling in Asian Pacific Islander communities in California. As you probably know, this is a pretty serious issue affecting our community. And between the taboos and shame of talking about such problems, and casinos getting more and more aggressive in marketing to Asians, it doesn't seem to be getting any better.
Scott is gathering resources, vidoes and stories that he intends to make available on a website he's working on, with the goal of raising awareness about problem gambling in the API community. So he's putting the call out to you for your stories.
If you've got a story that could help people understand how problem gambling affects our community, you're encouraged to send it in. They can be good or bad... or whatever you want to share on the topic. It can be about friends, neighbors, family members or yourself. There's no word limit and you don't have to be from California.
Email your story to mygamblingstory@gmail.com. Or you can go here and post your story anonymously. Problem gambling is not something you can easily see and point out. Tell us your story so we can start truly documenting what is happening in our communities.
Here's a Washington Post editorial on the case against Virginia educator Ting-Yi Oei, the high school assistant principal who was trying to do the right thing, only to find himself subjected to baseless child pornography charges and an ensuing witch hunt that turned his life upside down and effectively ruined his reputation and career: A Nightmare in Loudoun.
In the age of "sexting" and ever-increasing concerns over the convergence of kids, technology and sexuality, it's understandable that authorities, parents and school administrators would want to be cautious and extra sensitive with anything resembling child pornography. That said, it's ridiculous, given the facts, why criminal charges were ever brought against Oei on the first place.
Okay, my friends. The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival starts tonight, with the Opening Night presentation of Tze Chun's Children of Invention. Hopefully, if you're planning on going, you've already purchased your tickets. It's a great film that I think will resonate with a lot of people. Be there, 7:00pm tonight at the Directors Guild of America. See you there.
While I'm at it, I want to throw a quick plug for the Film Festival Party happening tomorrow tonight, planned and put together by some cohorts of mine. If you're planning on hanging around the festival, this is a good place to go and grab a drink, mingle with filmmakers and filmgoers, and just chill out. It's this Friday, May 1 at Wokcano in Santa Monica. See you there as well.
Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed the Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which will authorize the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute certain bias-motivated crimes based on the victim's actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability: Hate Crimes Bill Is Approved.
Currently, the federal government can only investigate hate crimes motivated by the victim's race, color, religion, and national origin. It will also provide local authorities with more resources to combat hate crimes and give the federal government jurisdiction over prosecuting hate crimes in states where the current law is inadequate.
The bill must be passed by the Senate and signed by the president before becoming law. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill in the next couple of weeks. More here: House Passes Hate Crimes Bill.
The vigil was held at Del Campo High School, where Laura Ling is an alumnus. Members of the community, friends and former teachers of Ling gathered in support her and Euna Lee. Some of Ling's family members attended the vigil, but said they couldn't go into detail regarding her ordeal due to the sensitive nature of the case.
If convicted on the espionage charge, however, the women could face at least five years in prison. That's crazy. At this point, there's little any of us can do except keep these two in our prayers and continue to spread awareness about the situation.
Just read that 25-year-old British TV personality/model Alexa Chung (who?) is hopping over the pond to host her own live daytime show on MTV in the United States, as part of the network's strategy to revitalize ratings and get viewers to care about MTV again: Alexa Chung to front US MTV show.
According to MTV, The Alexa Chung Show is a "one-hour, daily, live entertainment show that our viewers help to create, taking viewer interaction to a new level, making them the stars of the program." It's sort of being billed as the successor to TRL, only now powered by Twitter. So is Alexa Chung -- British and biracial -- being positioned as the new face of American youth?
Heard about another racist incident that recently occurred at Binghamton University in New York... Two incidents, actually, both involving the blatant use of racial slurs directed at an Asian American student, Alice Liou, the Student Assembly's Vice President for Finance. Here's what happened in the first incident, as described to me by fellow student Will To:
In the first incident, following a meeting of Judicial Board and Financial Council, wherein several student groups had brought in grievances against Alice Liou, alleging that she had neglected her duties as Vice President for Finance, Liou happened upon two members of the Student Assembly sitting in an office. The two were Elahd Bar-Shai, Student Assembly speaker-elect, and another member of the SA eboard. When Liou spoke with the two, she was verbally harassed by Bar-Shai, and when she retaliated with a quip on Bar-Shai's thinning hair, he told her that he was surprised she could see it, particularly with her "small, squinty eyes." Alice left the room rather than continuing the argument.
Here's what transpired in the second incident, this time apparently involving a physical altercation with members of a conservative student paper, as described a post over at the APAs for Progress website:
On the night of Monday, April 27, 2009, following a dispute at a Student Assembly meeting, Alice Liou, the Vice President of Finance, attempted to break up an altercation. This near-brawl occurred when a few SA representatives, who are also members of the conservative publication "Binghamton Review", attempted to leave the meeting early. They reasoned that, since they had elected of their own as chair of the assembly for 2009-10, they could then depart, though their absence would leave the Assembly under the minimum number of people required to conduct business, thus crippling the Assembly. As she attempted to separate those involved in the incident, Liou, (who is of Asian-American descent) was told by one of those members to "shut up and go eat a fucking dog" and took a swing at her. At this point, the police were called, and Pipe Dream, our school newspaper, took testimony from Alice--which they choose not to print; instead the editor of Pipe Dream moved to clear the Binghamton Review of all involvement, choosing to take a statement from the editor-in-chief of Binghamton Review over any statement from Liou. Further, this occurred in spite of the fact that all the antagonists have written for and have been involved in the Binghamton Review. Still, we realize that these individuals were not speaking on behalf of the Review but as individuals and should be punished as such.
In terms of student government politics, I don't really understand what's happening here, or what kind of obvious bad blood exists between the parties involved. What I do know is, no one should be attacked in this manner, and nobody should have to deal with this kind of racial hate at their own school.
The Binghamton University administration, as well as the student assembly, needs to respond with appropriate action, or else this will just become yet another instance of campus racism directed towards Asians that simply fades away and is forgotten... until the next one inevitably happens.
Students from Asian Outlook Magazine at Binghamton are organizing a protest during Spring Fling this Saturday at 2:00pm in front of the Cooper Administrative Building, to speak out and call on the student assembly and the administration to action. For more information, see the Facebook event page here: Rally Against Racism and Intolerance.
Hey, community! Asian Pacific Americans for Progress invites you to join in on a nation-wide conference call with leading Asian American voices, including Konrad Ng (President Obama's brother-in-law), a representative from the Obama adminstration, and APA elected officials.
Take part in the call at a local house party, and afterwards, engage in a conversation with fellow guests. Talk politics, make some connections, meet some new friends. Its happening on Sunday, May 31 at 4:00pm EST/1:00 pm PST.
Hey, maybe you can even host a party. There are currently house parties planned in Austin, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington, DC. For more information on how you can get involved, go to the APAP website here.
Check out the trailer for Paper Heart, starring, written and produced by Charlyne Yi. I don't exactly know how to describe it. The film's a pseudo-scripted romantic comedy/documentary about Charlyne's quest to discover the true nature of love, and the real relationship she develops with actor Michael Cera.
I caught this movie at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, and really enjoyed it for what it was. A bit confounding at times, but overall, it's a funny, cute rumination on love, with tender moments from real-life people, and weird, quirky Charlyne Yi doing her awkward shuffle. I'm sure it'll find an audience. The movie opens in limited release on August 7.
Real quick. Hip hop fans, I just heard that Jeff Chang's acclaimed book, Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation, is on sale right now at Amazon.com for just $5.99. That's 65% off the cover price! Pick one up a copy for a cool spring/summertime read, or maybe that perfect present for mom on Mother's Day.
APA Heritage Month is just days away. If you're in Southern California, here's a cool way to celebrate and patronize three very cool arts organizations... Our friends at 8Asians.com are giving away a pair of tickets to three different events: The 25th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, Lodestone Theatre Ensemble's Ten to Life, and East West Players' Marry Me A Little and The Last Five Years.
The lucky winner gets a pair of tickets to all three events -- a very cool way to fill up your May event calendar. To enter, just follow the directions over at 8Asians: Los Angeles API Heritage Month Giveaway: Asian American Arts Stimulus Package. But you gotta hurry -- the deadline to enter is this Friday, May 1 at noon.
Turns out, Danny Pang is Orange County's own version of Bernie Madoff... This week, Pang was accused of defrauding investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars, and arrested by the FBI on suspecion of evading currency reporting laws: O.C. money manager is arrested on suspicion of evading currency reporting laws.
Pang, the founder and former chief executive of the Private Equity Management Group companies, is accused of withdrawing about $360,000 from a company account through dozens of small transactions so he wouldn't have to report the sum to federal regulators.
The SEC also filed a lawsuit against Pang and PEMGroup, accusing him of bilking investors by falsely portraying returns as coming from investments in timeshare real estate and seniors' life insurance policies. The truth is, the whole damn thing was just another Ponzi scheme -- funds raised from newer investors were used to pay earlier ones.
A federal court has frozen his assets, and agents reportedly seized an undisclosed amount of gold bullion during a search of his home. Looks like it's the end of the line for you and your lies, Danny Pang. So... is anybody getting their money back? More here: Calif. financier Danny Pang arrested by FBI.
Check out this great interview with animator/story artist Peter Sohn of Pixar Animation Studios: Partly Cloudy, According to Sohn. He's worked on films like Finding Nemo and The Incredibles, and also provided the voice of Emile in Ratatouille. Next month, you'll see his work in the director's chair for the animated short Partly Cloudy, which runs in front of Pixar's feature film Up.
Sohn was also served as the partial inspiration for Russell, the Asian kid in Up. He's the worst Wilderness Scout in the world, who becomes the traveling companion of the old dude, and together, they're unlikely heroes of the movie. Take a look at Russell, then Sohn's photo, and you'll see a strong resemblance. Also check out this funny clip of Russell knocking on Carl's door. (Thanks, Dennis.)
The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), founded in 1974, is the first organization on the East Coast to protect and promote the legal rights of Asian Americans through litigation, legal advocacy, and community education. They're looking for some qualified individuals interested in housing law and environmental justice to work as interns this summer. Read on for details:
2009 SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
Internships for the summer of 2009 are available in the following program areas only:
Housing & Environmental Justice Project Intern: Responsibilities include conducting field research on housing needs in Chinatown, Sunset Park and other Asian immigrant neighborhoods in New York ; interviewing residents; coordinating data from field research for a housing needs assessment; and contributing to a report on Asian Americans and their housing needs.
Description of Summer Internship Program:
The summer program is ten weeks, from approximately June 1st through August 7th. Interns work full-time and are supervised by attorneys in specific program areas. Summer interns attend weekly brown bag lectures on a range of public interest legal topics along with interns from other legal defense funds and civil rights groups. AALDEF also provides trainings in housing law, naturalization procedures, and immigration law. The position is unpaid. However, in previous years many AALDEF interns have been successful at securing independent funding. Academic credit can be arranged.
To Apply:
- Interested applicants should send a cover letter, resume, and writing sample to be received by AALDEF on or before Friday, May 8, 2009 at the address below. Please indicate why you are interested in focusing on the Housing & Environmental Justice Project in your cover letter. For email applications, please write "Summer Internship Application" or "SIP Application" in the Subject. Fax or email applications are acceptable, but email applications are strongly preferred.
- Any bilingual ability should be stated in the application. Bilingual ability is helpful but not required. Chinese, Punjabi, Bengali, and Urdu-speaking applicants are especially urged to apply.
Summer Internship Search (Undergrad) Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund 99 Hudson Street, 12th floor New York , New York 10013-2815 Fax: 212-966-4303
For more information, contact: Bethany Li at 212-966-5932 x213 or bli@aaldef.org
Looking for something to do this summer? Want to get some experience doing solid, real legal work in the community? Maybe this is you. But make sure you apply now, because the deadline is coming up fast. For more information about AALDEF, visit the website here.
In Alhambra, California, police are looking for two Burmese American brothers, 14-year-old Tial Thawn and 11-year-old Hniang Nawl Thawn, who have been missing since last Wednesday: 2 Young Brothers Go Missing In Alhambra. The two boys were supposed to be on their way to a tutoring session, but never arrived. The older brother apparently has a history of running away. More here: Burmese-Speaking Brothers Missing.
Tial Thawn is described as 5 feet 4 inches tall with a thin build, wearing a light-colored hooded sweatshirt, a black T-shirt, blue shorts and a black and white backpack. Hniang Nawl Thawn is described as 4 feet tall with a thin build, wearing a white T-shirt, tan shorts, a black jacket and a red backpack. The Alhambra Police Department is asking anyone with information to contact them at (626) 570-5151.
When I first saw this, I thought it had it be a joke... but it's true. The actual mascot of East High School in Rochester, New York is the Orientals. Not the Tigers, or the Mustangs, or the Wildcats. The Orientals. So, say, during football season, or basketball season, opposing teams play against the East Orientals. You can even get your East Orientals apparel here. However, East's mascot is an eagle. What?
Some Googling reveals that there's another East High School in Akron, Ohio -- also known as the home of the Orientals. I'm not making this up! Believe it or not, their mascot is Chang the Dragon. Seriously. To top it all off, the school's website is wonderfully adorned with our favorite faux Asian font. They've apparently been the Orientals for many, many years... and everybody's cool with it. I love America.
Here's an ABC News interview with Naren Aryal, author of the new children's book Bo, America's Commander in Leash, starring none other than Bo, the new White House pup: The Presidential Pooch Gets Children's Book. That didn't take very long. But why not? The most famous dog in the world deserves a book. Because children everywhere want to know what this pooch is all about.
Some news of a racist incident out of Canada... Last week in Keswick, Ontario, a 15-year-old Asian high school student fought back after being hit and racially taunted by another student during gym class. He broke the other kid's nose. Now he's charged with assault causing bodily harm: A blow against racism.
The student is also serving a suspension and could face expulsion. Meanwhile, the other boy, who required hospitalization, was also suspended but wasn't charged. Neither boy can be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
According to witnesses, the other boy called the Asian student a "f...ing Chinese" and after a shoving match broke out, punched him in the mouth, causing him to bleed. The Asian student retaliated by punching the other boy and breaking his nose. Now he has to appear in court next month.
A protest movement erupted at the school this week, with hundreds of students skipping classes to hold a rally against racism and to protest the charges against the boy, who they said was acting in self-defense.
I can't advocate violence... but seriously, you can't blame the Asian kid for doing what he did. Some guy comes at you dropping racial shit and hits you in the face, instinct is going to kick in, and you're going to fight back. The Asian student, who holds a black belt in martial arts, was apparently aiming for the jaw, but missed.
Now, I understand that he has to face the consequences of his actions under school rules, and the law... but what about the other kid? Shouldn't the kid who actually instigated the incident, not only making racial comments but also hitting the other student, also face expulsion? And maybe even criminal charges?
You can't tell me that the Asian kid faces criminal charges because he fought back, but the racist kid is absolved because he's the one who actually ended up in the hospital. That's freaking ridiculous. More here: 300 Keswick High School students hit the streets to protest bullying.
If you do the Twitter thing, and you follow me, you might have noticed that I had the opportunity to attend an advanced screening of the new Star Trek movie last week. As a lifelong Trek fan, you know I was seriously geeking out. Like, pee-in-my-pants geeking out. And I loved every minute of it. (Yes, I'm gloating a little.)
With the movie's release still two weeks out, I won't spoil it with a full review. But I will say that it's satisfying on a lot of levels, both for longtime fans of the franchise, as well as general fans of solid summer action flicks. There are also apparently a lot of Asians in the future. And John Cho as Sulu? A bit of a badass.
Star Trek opens in theaters everywhere on May 8. I can't wait to see it again. For now, check out the brief clip above of John Cho as Sulu, Chris Pine as Kirk and Red Shirt Crewman (wink wink) preparing to get into some asskickery. And see some more Star Trek clips here. Live long and prosper.
For a moment, it seemed like adopting kids from China was all the rage. Not quite so much anymore. This is an interesting article on the recent decline in children adopted from China to the United States: Why Fewer Americans Are Adopting Chinese Kids.
Since 2007, under much stricter guidelines intended to limit the overwhelming number of applicants to China's adoption program, many Americans have been ruled out as potential parents. According to the U.S. State Department, international adoptions from China to the U.S. have dropped by 50 percent.
The new regulations require, among other things, that adoptive parents be married, not classified as clinically obese, under 50, not have taken antidepressant medications in the past two years, not have facial deformities and meet certain educational and economic requirements.
There's also apparently been a cultural shift in China, with more Chinese children being adopted at home. More and more and people can not only afford to adopt a child, but culturally, it's more accepted. Throw in some dramatically changing attitudes towards gender, and it's a whole new adoption game in China.
So what does that actually mean for parents in the United States? I've always been kind of curious what drove the trend of all these children adopted from China. Was it simply the fact that it was so easy, with so many children up for adoption? But now, with all these stricter regulations, will families look elsewhere? If so, where?
Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim's wonderful new graphic novel The Eternal Smile is available in stores today. I got my copy last week and devoured it over the weekend. Simply put, it's another incredible piece of work from these two talented artists. The book presents three very different yet thematically linked characters and stories about escapist fantasy in modern life.
Gene Yang's critically-acclaimed American Born Chinese won the Michael L. Printz Award and was a finalist for the National Book Award. Derek Kirk Kim won all three major comics industry awards (the Eisner, the Ignatz and the Harvey) for his debut graphic novel Same Difference and Other Stories.
You know I was a huge fan of both these books, so when Gene told me he and Derek were working on The Eternal Smile together, I was pretty excited. It's a thoughtful, well-written, beautifully-drawn book, with the same kind of humor and wonder their previous works have evoked.
In some ways, this book was actually over ten years in the making, dating back to when Yang and Kim were first starting out as comic book artists (and friends). The first story in the book, "Duncan's Kingdom," was originally published as a black-and-white two-issue miniseries from Image Comics in 1999.
Also, comic books just take a really long time to make. Gene and Derek note that The Eternal Smile, which took over ten years to make, will probably take you an hour at most to read. That's 60.83 days (or 1,460 hours) of work for ever minute of reading. That said, I think the hard work shows, and it's well worth it. Get it here.
Some interesting new developments in the hate incident directed towards Korean American students that occurred a couple of weeks ago at Tufts University... Daniel Foster, the drunk idiot freshman student, who previously denied any wrongdoing, has now admitted to "making racial slurs toward, threatening to kill and spitting at a group of Korean students" at Tufts on April 9: Freshman admits to racial incident with KSA members.
Foster admitted and apologized as part of an agreement he reached with the 13 members of the Korean Students Association whom he accosted. The agreement was made over the past week outside of university channels, although the Dean of Student Affairs largely accepted the terms of the deal. Here's the Foster's letter of apology:
My name is Daniel Foster. I am the one who made racial and ethnic slurs to the students in the Korean Students Organization in the early morning hours of April 9, 2009. I am writing to apologize for the deep hurt that I have caused to these students and to this community. I am also writing to correct the record. I am not going to hide the severity of my words by calling them "obscenities." I was bothering the dancers and refused to leave the common area where they were practicing, I spat at the KSA members, made racial and ethnic slurs against them [calling them "chinks," told them to "go back to China," told them that I would "get them," and "I am going to kill you all," and probably other words that I do not remember.]
My guilt and shame have been eating me away inside. I am genuinely sorry for the pain I have caused not only to the people directly involved in the incident, but for every one else who was affected by the words I sad that night. I know that I should have left the area when asked. I know that there is no excuse for what I said. I know that I should have apologized the next day after I sobered up. That night has haunted my thoughts ever moment of ever day since it happened. The words I used out of anger do not represent who I am. With input from the people that I hurt so deeply, I am taking actions to address the issues that brought those hateful and derogatory words to my mouth.
If I could go back in time I would take back the pain that I have caused to the people I was talking to and the community. I know that there is no reason that the Korea students or anyone else should believe me when I say that I have deep remorse. Why didn't I come forward earlier to correct the distortions in the press that made it sound like I was blaming the other students? If has been like a horrible nightmare that I hoped I would wake up from and see that it never happened. I have no excuse for burying my head in the sand and not taking responsibility and not correcting the facts that were reported and made me look like a victim.
That night has left me hurt as well as confused and unsure. I am left with my integrity; unfortunately this situation has put that on the line as well. This incident painfully reminds me that words reflect values. I, like all students at Tufts, am accountable for my actions. I take responsibility for the events of that night, and I accept the consequences and disciplinary actions resulting from my conduct. My name is Daniel Foster.
Daniel Foster
As part of the agreement, Foster said he would request that the university suspend him for next semester and he would write a signed apology that he would "cause to be published" in The Tufts Daily, not join a fraternity as an undergraduate at Tufts, attend Alcoholics Anonymous sessions and "anti-bias/anti-hate" courses, and enter into and receive treatment from a therapist or mental health counselor.
According to Tom Moon, one of the 13 KSA members who signed the agreement, it was actually Foster who first met and admitted to the Korean American students last week. At first, they were doubtful, but it seemed that Foster was truly sincere about apologizing and regretful about what happened.
I've got to say, this is a shocking turn of events. Not because we've found out that it all did indeed go down as the Korean American students initially reported -- we knew that. I'm stunned by the completely voluntary, thorough and unconditional admission of guilt on the part of Daniel Foster. Just based on the letter, it really does seem like the incident has been eating at him.
Wow. So this is what it looks like for someone to say sorry, what I did was racist and wrong, and I take full responsibility. I've seen and heard about years worth of racist incidents on college campuses, and most perpetrators will deny any kind of wrongdoing until the day they die. It's a refreshing change. No thanks, though, to the Tufts administration for their inability/refusal to take appropriate action through all of this.
Check out this cool video promoting the upcoming Kollaboration New York show: "Closer," featuring Vu, Marie Choi, G*LEE, Taiyo Na, Magnetic North, Alfa Garcia and SIC. Nicely done. Kollaboration New York, showcasing some of the best and brightest in Asian American talent, is going down June 27 at the NYU Skirball Center. It's still a few months away, so save the date and bookmark the website. (Thanks, Slanty.)
Attention filmmakers! Two calls for submissions from festivals up north... The Vancouver Asian Film Festival is Canada's oldest festival dedicated to exhibiting films and videos by North American artists of Asian heritage. VAFF invites submissions for its 13th annual festival, happening November 5-8, 2009. Read on for details on how to submit:
2009 Call for Entries
The Vancouver Asian Film Festival (VAFF) is Canada's oldest festival dedicated to exhibiting films and videos by North American artists of Asian heritage. It is committed to supporting both emerging talent and established filmmakers. Visiting artists have included Jessica Yu, Justin Lin, and Michael Kang, as well as BC filmmakers Mina Shum, Julia Kwan, Nilesh Patel, Eunhee Cha, and Jeff Chiba Stearns.
VAFF invites submissions for its 13th annual festival, November 5th-8th, 2009. Early bird deadline is April 30th; final closing deadline is May 31st (postmarked - no exceptions).
All films in the Open Call must include a North American Asian in a key creative role (writer, director, producer). Earlybird entry fee: $10 (CDN or US); Regular entry fee: $20 (CDN or US). Entry fee is non-refundable.
Genres for consideration include narrative, documentary, animation, and experimental. Exhibition formats accepted are 35mm, Beta SP (NTSC), and DigiBeta (NTSC) and preview screeners may be submitted as VHS tapes or DVDs. No materials or screeners will be returned.
Awards include a juried award for Best Canadian Short. Programming includes Q & A sessions, panel discussions, a Filmmakers Luncheon, and special gala events.
All screenings take place at Cinemark Tinseltown, a multiplex theatre within the city's Chinatown and Downtown districts. For more information and submission guidelines, visit www.vaff.org or email us.
VAFF is a not-for-profit organization that provides a forum for independent North American Asian filmmakers to showcase their work to both Asian and non-Asian audiences. The society endeavours to represent the often ignored North American Asians caught between two cultures. It provides a cultural bridge between the Asian and non-Asian communities as well as within the Asian community themselves.
The good people of the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival is also currently looking far and wide across Canada, North American and around the world for the best new independent East Asian films and videos showcase at the upcoming festival, happening November 11-15. Some more information:
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS THE 13TH ANNUAL TORONTO REEL ASIAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL NOVEMBER 11 to 15, 2009
Reel Asian is Canada's largest and longest-running showcase dedicated to contemporary Asian cinema and media arts from Asia, North America and all over the world. Annually, the festival attracts thousands of attendees to five frenetic days of screenings, industry events and galas. We invite you to submit new independent films and videos by and/or about East and Southeast Asians of all genres.
See SUBMISSIONS GUIDELINES and ONLINE SUBMISSIONS at http://www.reelasian.com
EARLY DEADLINE: FRIDAY MAY 15, 2009 (NO SUBMISSION FEE) FINAL DEADLINE: MONDAY JUNE 15, 2009 (SUBMISSION FEE $20 CAD) Email questions to Artistic Director, Heather Keung at programming@reelasian.com with subject 'submission 2009' or contact the festival office at 416.703.9333
The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, Telefilm and the Department of Canadian Heritage.
All right, filmmakers. You've made your film. Canada wants to see it. But you gotta act quick because both deadlines are coming up fast. Don't you want to show your film and party with the good people in Vancouver and Toronto? Yes you do.
This is crazy news out of Australia... Last week in Sydney, police released a shocking X-ray photograph showing that a murdered Chinese immigrant, 27-year-old Chen "Anthony" Liu, was repeatedly shot in the head with a nail gun: Australian police X-ray shows 27 nails in skull.
Liu's badly decomposed body was last November by two children canoeing in the Georges River. The floating body was wrapped in plastic, wire and an electrical cord. A post-mortem examination revealed that he was shot 34 times in the head and neck with a high-powered nail gun.
The weapon has not yet been recovered. Police appealed for information from anyone who may have seen Liu's late-model Range Rover in the area around the time of his death. More here: Appeal in Australia nail gun case.
Theater fans, this is it... The critically-hailed Lodestone Theatre Ensemble kicks off its tenth and final season with the world premiere of Ten to Life, four one-act plays written and produced by Nic Cha Kim, Annette Lee, Tim Lounibos and Judy Soo Hoo, and directed by Alberto Isaac. It runs May 2 - June 7 at the GTC Burbank.
This being their final year, they've gathered together some of the writers who have been an important, integral part of the company, and asked them to create a show celebrating a decade of Lodestone -- four twisted one-acts touching on the bizarre and unnatural. Here are some more details:
LODESTONE THEATRE ENSEMBLE under the artistic direction of Philip W. Chung & Chil Kong proudly presents the world premiere of
TEN TO LIFE Written & Produced by Nic Cha Kim, Annette Lee, Tim Lounibos & Judy Soo Hoo Directed by Alberto Isaac
Starring: Peggy Ahn, Feodor Chin, Ewan Chung, Elpidio Ebuen, Emily Kuroda, Jully Lee, Janet Song, Carin Chea, Vincent Gabucan, Junko Goda & Joon Lee
A census agent exposes a family's perverse, hidden secret... A desperate loser turns to experimental surgery to seduce his high school crush... A happy homemaker struggles against an ancient evil that lurks in plain sight... A controlling psychologist must protect his life’s love from her memories... Lodestone kicks off its final season with four twisted one-acts touching on the bizarre and unnatural. It's been ten years... Time to pay.
May 2-June 7, 2009 Friday & Saturday 8pm, Sunday 2pm Low-Priced $8 previews, April 30 and May 1, 8pm
$16 general admission $14 students and seniors (w/valid ID) $12 (groups of 10+) All Sunday matinees (except June 7) are pay-what-you-can ($1 minimum) $25 May 2 opening night gala performance (w/post-show reception)
GTC Burbank 1111-B W. Olive Ave. Burbank, CA 91506
The theatre is in George Izay Park between S. Victory Bl. and N. Griffith Park Bl. Park near the jet plane at 1111 W. Olive and walk past the Olive Recreation Center. The theatre is behind the rec center; the entrance faces the softball fields.
Looks like it's going to be a really interesting show, with cool, crazy plays by Lodestone's veteran writers. They're definitely going out with a bang. For more information, call the Lodestone Theatre Ensemble hotline at (323) 993-7245 or visit the website here. Also check out the Facebook event page here.
All right! So President Barack Obama has been in office for 100 days. How has he done? He might have made history as the first African American president, but based on what he's accomplished so far, this AFP article suggests he might actually be America's most important Asian American leader yet: Obama the first Asian-American president?
Obama appointed a record three Asian American cabinet members -- Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Veteran Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke -- and has quickly focused his attention on Asia, inviting Japan's prime minister as his first guest, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton going to Asia for her first trip.
There's also, of course, the President's personal connection with Asia, having spent part of his childhood in Jakarta. Then there's his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng, who is partly of Indonesian descent, and her husband Konrad Ng, who is Chinese American (by way of Canada).
This week marks the 17th anniversary of the Los Angeles riots. The Korean American Coalition in Los Angeles will be holding a candlelight vigil to remember the occasion and celebrate the community's progress since then. LAPD Deputy Chief Terry S. Hara, among others, will be briefly speaking at the event.
It's happening this Wednesday, April 29, 7:00pm in Koreatown, on Serrano Ave. at Wilshire Blvd. To further entice your participation, LA's famous Kogi truck will apparently be parked at the event, serving up bulgogi taco and kimchee quesadilla goodness. For more information, go to the KAC LA website here.
This is cool story in the Boston Globe about a community initiative to help Vietnamese American youth in Dorchester stay out of gangs and avoid street violence, through programs like basketball and breakdancing. The idea is, if they're in here doing this, at least they're not out there doing god-knows-what: A little nudge to play offers aimless teens a turnaround.
The program largely started as a response to a brutal, gang-led beating of two teenagers in August 2007, which was caught on video and widely shared over the internet, shocking the local community. Gangs and violence among Asian youth were nothing to new to the area, but publicity surrounding the incident was a wake-up call. More here: Teaming Up.
Asm Rahman, a Bangladeshi American, has become the first Asian American to head an NAACP chapter in Hamtramck, Michigan: Hamtramck NAACP picks Asian to lead. Rahman joined the NAACP in 2003 after hearing reports about racial profiling and other forms of discrimination experienced by local residents of Bangaldeshi and Middle Eastern descent following the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Pretty cool see some non-traditional faces stepping up in roles like this. Immigrants from Bangladesh and the Middle East now apparently account for almost half the 68 members of the Hamtramck chapter. The chapter, which is at least 30 years old, had been inactive for about two years. Rahman was elected in February. The national NAACP celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.
There have been other non-African Americans who have served in leadership posts at NAACP chapters, including Peter Leung, a Chinese American who served as the president of the Corvalis, Oregon, branch, and Nilakantan Nagarajan, an Indian immigrant who served as state treasurer for the NAACP Delaware State Conference of Branches.
This is for all my people in Southern California. I just want to make sure you know that the 2009 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, presented by Visual Communications, begins this week. They're celebrating the festival's 25th year bringing you the best and brightest of Asian Pacific American cinema. That's right -- silver anniversary, baby.
Things kick off this Thursday, April 30 with the Opening Night presentation of Tze Chun's debut feature Children of Invention, which I saw earlier this year at Sundance and enjoyed immensely. Watch the trailer here.
So Yong Kim's critically acclaimed feature Treeless Mountain, which opened at the Film Forum in New York last week, anchors the festival program as the Centerpiece Presentation. To learn more about the film, go here.
And it all wraps up next week with the Closing Night presentation of Yojiro Takita's Departures, the 2009 Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Feature. For more info on the film, visit the Departures website here.
As part of the festival's 25th anniversary, they're also presenting a special screening of the 1988 Oscar-nominated documentary Who Killed Vincent Chin?, directed by Christine Choy and Renee Tajima-Pena. In my opinion, this is one of the most important Asian American films ever made. If you have not yet seen this film, I recommend attending this screening, on Saturday, May 2, 4:00pm at the DGA.
Other highlights of the 25th anniversary Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival include:
Filmmaking Seminars
THE THREE WATCHMEN - One of the most highly anticipated films of the year - WATCHMEN - was the closet thing to an Asian Amerian film without an Asian American cast. Join the film's writer Alex Tse (SUCKA FREE CITY), cinematographer Larry Fong (300) and editor William Hoy (I-ROBOT) as they discuss the creation of the blockbuster from the initial concept and design to the making of and final edit.
THE NEW HOTNESS - APA SEXUALTY IN MEDIA - Aside from Russell Wong's watermelon scene in JOY LUCK CLUB, Asian American men rarely get a chance to flaunt their sensuality on screen. Join this candid conversation with some of today's hot talent who are now doing more than just being the take-out delivery boy. At press time Leonardo Nam and James Kyson Lee have been confirmed with more to follow.
DIRECTIONS IN TV - Indie filmmakers are beginning to straddle both the feature film world and the television director sphere with great success. For our Asian American filmmakers, the options seem to be opening up. Special guest directors will explore these possibilities and share personal insights into the unique environment of TV directing. Sponsored by the Director's Guild of America.
WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH ASIAN AMERICAN FILM? - In the spirit of the 25th anniversary, join the discussion as we acknowledge, celebrate and criticize the past, present and future of Asian American film with two generations of media makers: the legendary Spencer Nakasako (A.K.A. DON BONUS) and up and coming new school filmmaker Tadashi Nakamura (A SONG FOR OURSELVES).
HOW TO WRITE A SCREENPLAY - SUCKA FREE - So you want to be a screenwriter? This is one of the Fest's most popular panels for new and veteran filmmakers lead by Kris Young, Weiko Lin and special guest Alex Tse. This panel is always an exciting 90 minutes where these pros discuss the story writing process from idea to finished script to the studio and beyond. Sponsored by Writer's Guild of America, West.
ASIAN AMERICAN FEATURE NARRATIVES
CHILDREN OF INVENTION - Tze Chun
DIM SUM FUNERAL - Anna Chi
ALL ABOUT DAD - Mark Tran
I AM THAT GIRL - B. Hayward Randall (written by Grace Rowe)
KARMA CALLING - Sarba Das
SHIRO'S HEAD - Don Mun; Kel Muna
TREELESS MOUNTAIN - So Yong Kim
WHITE ON RICE - David Boyle
DOCUMENTARIES
VIETNAM OVERTURES - Stephane Gauger
CLOSEST MEXICO TO JAPAN - Shinpei Takeda
MANILATOWN IS IN THE HEART - Curtis Choy
PATSY MINK: AHEAD OF THE MAJORITY - Kimberlee Bassford
THE REAL SHAOLIN - Alexander Lee
SOMEPLACE ELSE - Kai Duc Luong; Avisheh Mohsenin
TIGER SPIRIT - Min Sook Lee
WHATEVER IT TAKES - Christopher Wong
WHO KILLED VINCENT CHIN - Christine Choy; Renee Tajima Pena
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILMS
100 - Chris Martinez (Philippines)
ALL AROUND US - Hashiguchi Ryosuke (Japan)
BURMA VJ - Anders Ostergaard (Denmark)
THE CONVERT - Yasmin Ahmad (Malaysia)
DAYTIME DRINKING - Noh Young-seok (South Korea)
DEPARTURES - Yojiro Takita (Japan)
THE EMPEROR'S NAKED ARMY MARCHES ON - Hara Kazuo (Japan)
FUJIAN BLUE - Robin Weng (People's Republic of China)
GRANDMOTHER'S FLOWER - Mun Jeong-hyun (South Korea)
JAY - Francis Xavier Passion - (Philippines)
KOLORETTE - Ruelo Lozendo (Philippines)
KANCHIVARAM - Priyadarshan (India)
LALA'S GUN - Ning Jingwu (People's Republic of China)
LEFT HANDED - Laurence Thrush (Japan)
LOVE EXPOSURE - Sion Sono (Japan)
THE RAINBOW TROOPS - Riri Riza (Indonesia)
WINDS OF SEPTEMBER - Tom Shu-Yu Lin (Taiwan)
YAMAGATA SCREAM - Naoto Takenaka (Japan)
All this, in addition to the people, parties, receptions, and general community awesomeness happening in the spirit of Asian American cinema. Over the next few days, I'll try to highlight more cool screenings and events to check out. For full program/venue information, and to purchase tickets, visit the festival website here. This website is a proud media sponsor of the 2009 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.
Really bad t-shirt alert. As a Bruce Lee fan, I am insulted: Bwuce Wee. But even if I wasn't much a Bruce fan, it's really the description on the website that bugs the hell out of me, simply because it's so idiotic:
Hand's down, one of the gleatest, malsharr altists of oul time.
Bwuce Wee can kick you ass all ovar da prace.
One time he defeat da one hunderd ninja all by himself. And he did it using onry his big toe.
Really? The R/L mixup? You're really going to put that on a shirt? Who is the fool that came up with this brilliant gag? Who the hell still thinks this is actually funny? It was never funny, and this shirt is not funny. That's racist!
This is an funny, interesting little blog entry by KVUE political reporter Elise Hu, taking stock and observing some recent moments in Texas politics that have not been very kind to Chinese Americans: Chinese People Not Having a Great Session. Strange coincidence?
She recounts Rep. Leo Berman's "go home!" retort; Betty Brown's inane suggestion that Asian voters adopt names that are "easier for Americans to deal with"; and State Board of Education Chairman Don McLeroy's comments about "crazy Chinese words" on the reading lists.
To me, each incident has the undercurrent of people -- all, unfortunately, government officials -- who have ignorantly drawn a line in their minds about how one defines an American and who does and does not belong. And in these cases, Chinese words, Chinese names and Chinese people are all unwelcome.
Oh, and speaking of which... here's an op-ed piece by Ramey Ko, the guy who found himself at the center of a controversy that made national headlines, talking about what happened... in his own words: Ramey Ko: What's in a Name?
Last year, we learned about the vicious beating and rape of an 18-year-old high school student in Tampa, Florida. It's been a year since the attack, which left her with life-altering injuries that will require special care for the rest of her life. Known simply as the Bloomingdale library rape victim, the community has valiantly come to her support when her medical expenses became too much for her family.
More than $185,000 has been donated for her care, but therapy is expensive, and the cost still extends beyond what her family can afford. If you'd like to make a donation, go to any SunTrust Bank and indicate that the money is for the Bloomingdale Library Assault Victim. Or mail a check, payable to Bloomingdale Library Assault Victim, to: SunTrust Bank, Special Handling Department, P.O. Box 27572, Richmond, VA 23261-7572.
East Villagers is a new online community dedicated to sharing the stories and lending support to nonprofit organizations and individuals engaging in humanitarian work. The site has been up in and running for a couple of weeks, but the official launch date is May 2.
To celebrate the launch, and to raise awareness about service needs in East Asia, they're throwing a free concert featuring guest band Tim Be Told and hip hop violinist Paul Dateh. It's Saturday, May 2 in Cubberley Auditorium at Stanford University. Some details:
ServiceAsia Concert Raising Awareness for Service in East Asia
Saturday, May 2, 2009 6:30pm - 10:30pm Cubberley Auditorium, Stanford University Stanford, CA
May is Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month and World Hepatitis Month. East Villagers, Asian Central, and the Asian Liver Center presents...
ServiceAsia: Raising Awareness for Service in East Asia
Poverty. Hunger. Lack of Education, Healthcare, and Help.
Featuring guest band Tim Be Told from the East Coast and hip hop violinist Paul Dateh from Los Angeles
Doors open with Pre-Show Concert at 6:30pm, Concert starts at 7:30-10pm, Service Fair and Refreshments to follow. If you work for a non-profit and would like a table at the Service Fair, please contact eastvillagers@gmail.com.
First 200 to signup for East Villagers receives a free East Villagers T-shirt at the end of the show. Once you have registered for the concert on EV, you will receive an email ticket confirmation and parking directions.
If you're in or around the Stanford area next Saturday, come on out, get informed, and get involved. For more information about the event, and to get your ticket (it's free, but you have to register), go here. Also see the Facebook event page here. Watch the concert trailer here. And to learn more about East Villagers, go here.
All right, kids. Hide this article from your parents... Willa Chen, a senior at Canton High School in southeast Michigan, got perfect scores on the ACT, the SAT and the PSAT. Take that, College Board: Genius: Michigan Student Aces ACT, SAT, PSAT. Because, hey, why ace just one?
Willa, who says she doesn't think she studied a lot(?!), participates in the Math Olympiad and enjoys jazz, tap and ballet dancing. She plans to attend Princeton University... where no one will care what she got on her standardized tests, and she can continue to kick ass in all sorts of other ways.
Check out this music video, "I Like Boys" by the Fabulous Miss Wendy, from Quentin Lee and Koji Steven Sakai's indie sex comedy The People I've Slept With, starring Karin Anna Cheung, Wilson Cruz, Archie Kao, Lynn Chen and James Shigeta. Lots of shirtless dudes dancing around, along with some interesting, enticing footage from the movie.
You can also catch another music video from The People I've Slept With, "Crazy Fucked Up Bitch," also by the Fabulous Miss Wendy, in the Cinema Musica program next week at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. Not sure when you'll be able to see the actual movie, but bookmark and keep checking the website (not much on there yet) for details.
My friends at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival and Gilead Sciences, Inc. invited submissions to the Festival's first ever B Real Film Contest to raise awareness within the Asian Pacific American community about hepatitis B. Hepatitis B is a life-threatening liver disease affecting as many as 2 million people in the United States -- more than half of whom are Asian Pacific American.
The contest received 29 short films from 19 talented filmmakers. An expert panel reviewed and ranked all the submissions. Gilead has selected the Grand Prize winner, which will be honored at the Festival's Opening Night ceremony and be shown before each program throughout the Festival.
Now it's your turn to vote. One film will be the recipient of the Community Response Award -- chosen by you. Go here to vote for the film you think is the most effective at raising hepatitis B awareness in the Asian Pacific American community. The filmmaker with the most votes will receive the Community Response Award -- and a cash prize -- on Closing Night of the Festival.
Some football news... This week in the NFL Draft, the New England Patriots picked safety Patrick Chung from the University of Oregon in the second round with the 34th pick. Chung played four season for the Ducks and earned a reputation as one of the best safeties in college football, recording 370 tackles in his career, including 90 in 2008. He also holds the distinction of starting more games than any other defensive player in Oregon history, having started 51 straight games during his collegiate career. More here: Patriots trade down, select Chung. And here: Patrick Chung analysis.
Daaaaaaamn. I am stunned by what I just watched. I do not know how this kid produces the sounds that emerge from from his mouth, but it's absolutely amazing: Daichi for Beatbox Battle Wildcard. Good luck, Daichi. I hope you win, because you're friggin' brilliant.
Some follow-up on the case of Joseph Han, the 23-year-old man who was tragically shot and killed in his home by Folsom police two weeks ago. According to his family, what police and media are reporting, and what actually transpired, are two different things entirely. (Full disclosure: though I did not know him very well, Joseph was a family friend.)
Reporting on the incident thus far has heavily favored the police's account of what happened, painting Joseph as a crazed, "knife-wielding man." But his family says that he had been tasered, placed in hancuffs, then shot. Why was it necessary to shoot him?
His family and friends are now calling on the community for help, to seek justice and spread public awareness about what really happened that morning, and question why Joseph Han had to be shot to death. They're holding a public informational meeting tomorrow to discuss the case and their next steps. It looks like a lot of details are still coming together:
1st Conference for Joseph Han - APRIL 25th
We have arranged a conference meeting for: Saturday, April 25th at 7 PM at the Korean Culture Center. 3641 S Port Dr. Sacramento, CA Chris Lim, a criminal justice professor, is going to be presenting a PowerPoint presentation regarding our rights to a peaceful assembly.
We will also have several leaders from the Korean community coming to speak to us, so that we could work cohesively with the larger scope of the community. The president of the Korean American Association has informed several people about this conference, so hopefully we get some important people that can help us voice our opinion.
If you know anyone in the Folsom community that is knowledgeable about citizen rights and Joe's case, (it could be yourself) please let me know. The more speakers that are well-informed, the better.
Please tell everyone you know. Anyone who feels strongly about Joe's injustice, or about the unfairness of this case at all, are more than welcomed to come. We want people to come and voice their opinions!
The media should not be contacted. This is our time to come together and think of what we should do next. We should decide on several things:
1) Silent protest/Verbal protest 2) Signs/slogans 3) How we want to be portrayed to the public 4) If we want to have a benefit (as mentioned by Dung)
Tell everyone and spread the word.
Remember, it was the police that created the confrontation. It was the police that were the aggressors in this case. It shouldn't have been that way at all.
This is about justice for Joseph Han and his family. The only way they're going to get to the bottom of what really happened is if the community stands behind them. And that starts with spreading the word. If you're near Sacramento, and inclined to help with this cause, oome out to the meeting on Saturday. More details on this Facebook event page here.
After skipping a week, it's time for another Angry Reader, spotlighting you, the very special readers of this website. Over the years, I've been able to connect with a lot of cool folks, and this is a way of showing some appreciation and attention to the people who help make this blog what it is. This week's reader was actually supposed to be last week's reader, but Jack Song is a busy man. So it better be double good...
Who are you? My name is Jack Song. I am 26 years old. However, my mom thinks I am always lying about my age; according to her calculation, I am probably in my late-30s. I'm like Tuck Everlasting or A Wrinkle in Time! I am also the proud owner of an emo chihuahua-terrier named Goldie. Goldie sighs a lot and rolls his eyes at me when I dress him up in costumes.
What are you? I am a hot mess. period. First of all, I am one of the few thousand people in the United States that bought the Hilary Duff's Greatest Hits album. Oddly enough, I also went through my brief Matrix-goth phase in high school. Yes, I was like Emo Cho in Harold and Kumar: I wore all black, all the time, and listened to Marilyn Manson. Thank goodness that phase came and went. On a positive note, I am a super proud UC Berkeley graduate who studied Political Science, Asian American Studies, and Public Policy! Go Bears!
Where are you? I recently relocated from the 99 Ranch Market-friendly San Gabriel Valley to the San Francisco Bay area. I feel very blessed and happy to be part of Bay area's vibrant, progressive, and politically-minded APA community.
Where are you from? I grew up in Taiwan and moved to the U-S-A when I was a chubby eight-year old. I grew up mostly in Temple City and Arcadia, the suburbs of California and land of rice rockets. However, I was the only cool kid on the block driving a shiny red Dodge caravan. Were people secretly jealous of me? I think so...
What do you do? I work in both political and entertainment communications.
I enjoy working on publicity for well-done indie films and socially-conscious documentaries. I was very lucky to have met David Magdael & his PR family while I was promoting Better Luck Tomorrow on my college campus. David introduced me to a profession in communications that I would otherwise never had thought about. I am honored to have worked on projects such as Finishing the Game, Up the Yangtze, Harold and Kumar, Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, and many others.
Currently I work for San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera as the deputy press secretary. I am very proud to be working in a such progressive legal environment. Our office has led the fight of marriage equality for almost five years now. It is also very inspirational to be walking through the halls where civil rights activist, Supervisor Harvey Milk, once stood...
I find it ironic and absolutely sad that on the day after the presidential election, we had "Barack Wins!" and right next to that headline was an article about how California will most likely pass a proposition that will write discrimination into its state Constitution. I kept that LA Times cover page on my fridge to remind myself that there is still a lot work that needs to be done.
What are you all about? I am all about empowering the youth and the Asian American community; continuing to fight for social justice; and introducing people to new ideas and perspectives through media. My goal in life is to be a resource to others and help those in need.
What makes you angry? Oh, I will tell you what makes me angry -- culture vultures. I once dated someone who was of European decent. However, this person completely adopted the South Asian culture! This person was in all the bhangra groups on campus, took all the South Asian courses, and had mostly South Asian friends. One night, during an intimate dinner, this fool said to me- "Come here my little immigrant." And it dawned on me… I felt that I betrayed my Asian American Studies and Ethnic Studies ancestors! I had oh-hellz-no moment. Like when you are trying to dance in the club and be all sexy, and they go up to you and say "Ni How Maaaahh?!" and start singing Utada Hikaru songs in Japanese. As I grow older, I have learnt to turn a lemon into a whiskey sour. Everything happens for a reason and you just gotta work it out!
Okay, this is for film fans in California... Amyn Kaderali's indie romantic comedy Kissing Cousins opens today, Friday, april 24, at the Naz 8 Cinemas in Fremont (in Bay Area) and Artesia (in So. Cal). I caught this movie last year when it was the Centerpiece Presentation at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, where it played to a packed house.
Samrat Chakrabarti is Amir, a "Relationship Termination Specialist"... basically, he breaks up with people. Or rather, breaks up for people, for a fee. Really good at that, but not successful when it comes to his own love life. Until Zara (Rebecca Hazlewood), his gorgeous, charming cousin comes along. Wait. What?
The film is a funny, fresh take on the Desi romantic comedy that manages to be cute and sweet while at the same time completely awkward and uncomfortable... which equals some great laughs.
It's a crowd pleaser, thanks in part to the performances from the movie's two attractive leads, as well as its great supporting cast, which includes Gerry Bednob, David Alan Grier, and P.J. Byrne. Even Jaleel White. Yes, Urkel.
So... if you happen to be near Artesia or Fremont this weekend, buy yourself and ticket for Kissing Cousins. You can catch Obsessed some other time. And spread the word! Indie film distribution is not easy, and Amyn and Co. could use all the help they can get. Watch the trailer, and learn more about the movie, at the Kissing Cousins website here.
You know who's awesome? 13-year-old Ariel Hsing and 12-year-old Lily Zhang, two youngsters who will be representing the United States next week at the 2009 World Table Tennis Championships in Yokohama, Japan: U.S. Child Prodigies will Compete at the World Championships.
These two take their ping pong seriously. Here's a YouTube video of both Ariel and Lily playing each other at the 2008 U.S. Nationals: 2008 U.S. Nationals - L. Zhang vs. A. Hsing - game 5. Awesome. And good luck. (Thanks, Jojo.)
This is an interesting story from the San Jose Mercury News about a recent excavation near San Jose's Japantown that unearthed the remnants and artifacts of Heinlenville, a walled community that was home 2,000 Chinese immigrants circa the 1880s -- the city's last Chinatown: 'The Big Dig' gives glimpse into life in San Jose Chinatown 100 years ago.
The five-acre site was the city's vehicle maintenance yard for decades, and was cleared early last year for a housing development. The archaeological dig is part of a required environmental impact study.
So far, archaeologists and anthropologists have unearthed all sorts of interesting items, including an intact Chinese rice bowl with a bamboo design, a child's jade bracelet, iridescent homeopathic glass vials, piles of pottery shards, bones of fish, pigs and cows, as well as bone toothbrushes, ceramic and glass gaming pieces, and buttons.
During the race riots of 1880, arsonists, determined to drive the Chinese out of San Jose, torched the old Chinatown on Market Street. The displaced immigrants found a friend in John Heinlen, who built the community with an eight-foot fence to protect residents from outsiders. The area became an important site for Chinese and Japanese agricultural workers in the valley.
North Korea has decided to indict Laura Ling and Euna Lee, the two American journalists detained five weeks ago at the China/North Korea border on charges of illegally entering the country and committing "hostile acts": North Korea Decides to Indict 2 U.S. Reporters
According to KCNA, North Korea's state-run news agency, the government has completed its investigation and has formally decided to put them on trial based on "confirmed criminal data." However, it did not specify what actual charges the two will face. More here: 2 US journalists to be tried in North Korea.
Tensions between North Korea and the United States are high, after the North launched a long-range rocket on April 5. Throw in the arrest of these two journalists, and it's full-fledged mess. North Korea likely to use the trial as political leverage against the United States.
Meanwhile, Laura Ling and Euna Lee are caught in the middle of a political standoff between Pyongyang and Washington. Amnesty International has said it doubted that they will receive a fair trial, given the North Korean judicial system's lack of independence or transparency. I continue to pray for their safe return.
Recently spotted my man Danny Cho in this funny commercial for T-Mobile. I guess it's for a promotional contest where the winner could go head-to-head with Dwyane Wade for a chance at $50,000.
Danny is part of this crew who, judging from their skills on the court, appear to have absolutely no chance of beating D-Wade. In any contest. It's funny.
Yes, I know, it sort of plays into the awkward Asian geek stereotype... but let the record show that all the guys are pretty geeky, and there's nothing to accent Danny's Asian-ness. And he's damn funny. Love that leg kick.
I recently heard about this interesting contemporary art show that's happening in San Francisco, running May through August: Present Tense Biennial: Chinese Character. Guest curated by Kevin B. Chen from Intersection for the Arts, the show features work by 30 young contemporary artists displayed at both the Chinese Culture Center and in storefront windows around Chinatown. Details:
PRESENT TENSE Biennial: Chinese Character 31 artists reflect on and reinterpret contemporary Chinese culture
Presented by the Chinese Culture Center in collaboration with Kearny Street Workshop, this biennial exhibition showcases vibrant and diverse perspectives on contemporary Chinese culture. Featuring artists from the Bay Area and beyond, the show includes a wide array of media at the Center’s main gallery and in storefronts throughout Chinatown.
Curated by Kevin B. Chen with Abby Chen & Ellen Oh.
Chinese Culture Center 750 Kearny Street, 3rd Floor San Francisco, CA 94108 www.c-c-c.org 415-986-1822
Satellite Installation throughout Chinatown: 55 Columbus Street 664, 665 and 667 Clay Street 17 Walter U. Lum Place 704, 708, 701 and 716 Kearny Street
May 1 – August 23, 2009
Gallery Hours: Tuesdays – Saturdays 10 am to 4 pm Sundays 12 noon to 4 pm
ADMISSION: Free
Some of the artists include Ken Lo, who is doing a storefront installation about a fake shoe line called K Lo; Fang Lu, who has a video piece called "Straight Outta HK"; Thomas Chang, a photographer who documented a half-constructed, now abandoned Chinese theme park in Florida; and Sergio de la Torre, who has a video piece he shot in Tijuana with Mexican-Chinese teens.
It all revolves around a contemplation of what Chinese culture means today. I was looking through some of the online gallery images, and it looks like it's going to be a really cool, fasinating exhibition. And it's all on view, free to the public, May 2 - August 23. For more information, go to the Present Tense Biennial website here.
Saw this one on CNN the other day... This is not just a story about a Asian guy with a gun. This is about an Asian guy who took a shot at none other than Duane "Dog" Chapman. Yes. Dog the Bounty Hunter of A&E reality show fame. And the cameras were apparently rolling: Bondsman: Springs confrontation caught on tape.
"Dog" and his bounty hunter crew were out to nab bail jumper Hoang Nguyen, who is accused of missing a court date last month on a domestic violence charge. When they found him, Nguyen fired a single shot from a handgun and then fled on a motorcycle. But they managed to catch him later that night. More here: 'Bounty Hunter' reality TV star says fugitive shot at him.
I've been tipped that there will be Asians on tonight's episode of Bones. Chinatown episode? I have no idea. But there are certainly enough Asian names in the guest star cast to indicate that there will be an Asian related storyline... Here's the episode description, according to the Fox website:
Booth's detective friend, Ken Nakamura, calls him from Tokyo in a panic when his sister Sachi goes missing in Washington. Booth and Brennan are on the case, and their investigation leads them to a canal where they find Sachi's decapitated head. Booth and Brennan meet up with Ken and trace his sister's life away from home, and their investigation leads them to an elite escort service. When they discover that her roommate is also missing, they must race against the clock to find Sachi's killer.
This sounds like a pretty cool event for dance fans in the Los Angeles area... Omega Sigma Tau, UCLA's largest and oldest Asian American fraternity, is throwing their fourth annual dance competition, Battle Royale, to raise money for Budokan, the Little Tokyo Recreation Center. Here are some specifics:
Battle Royale 2009
Who: Omega Sigma Tau
Date: Friday May 1st, 2009
Time: Doors open at 9:30pm
Location: Union Station, 800 N Alameda St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Dance Teams: ACA Hip Hop, Samahang Modern, NSU Modern, DSC
Guest Judges: Katee Shean (So You Think You Can Dance), Mike Song (America's Best Dance Crew), Taeko Carroll (America's Best Dance Crew)
Spinning: DJ Bizzy
Budokan, a project of the Little Tokyo Service Center, is a state-of-the-art sports community complex in the heart of Los Angeles, designed to accommodate basketball, volleyball, social service programs, and special events throughout the year. To learn more about it, go here.
The competition will feature UCLA's premiere dance teams: NSU Modern (Nikkei Student Union), Samahang Modern (Samahang Pilipino), and ACA Hip Hop (Association of Chinese Americans), with an exhibition from Dance and Spirit Club (DSC), an exclusive crew consisting of the best dancers from each dance team.
And check this out. The event's judges are Taeko Carroll from America's Best Dance Crew's Fysh N' Chicks, Mike Song from Kaba Modern, and Katee Shean from So You Think You Can Dance. You know I'm a fan.
It's all going down on Friday, May 1 at Union Station in Los Angeles. Dance, community, and good times. And it's all for a great cause. For more information about the event, including how to purchase tickets, go to the Battle Royale website here, and the Facebook event page here.
In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, police are investigating a racially-motivatd attack involving Asian students from Franklin & Marshall College. Three Asian students were walking on the street early Sunday morning when they were attacked by a group of people who physically attacked and shouted racial slurs at them: Pa. college reports racial slurs, physical attack.
Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt. Campus safety officers broke up the confrontation and referred the investigation to city police. But it looks like some in the larger group were also Franklin & Marshall students. I guess there are assholes at every school. Here's the official statement from the school:
"At about 2:30 a.m. Sunday, April 19, two Asian and one Asian-American Franklin & Marshall students were confronted and subjected to racial insults. Two were physically assaulted by members of another, larger group of young people on Nevin Street. It currently appears that some or all of the larger group were male Franklin & Marshall students. Neither of the assaulted students was critically injured, but one student received medical treatment.
Public Safety officers arrived on the scene and acted swiftly, ending the incident. They initiated the investigation and have referred the case to the Lancaster Bureau of Police, which has begun a criminal investigation. The college is launching its own investigation pursuant to our student judicial process.
The Franklin & Marshall community condemns the use of racial insults and physical violence. This behavior undermines the values of mutual respect and trust that are at the very foundation of the Franklin & Marshall community and are essential to its healthy, diverse and civil community."
Why does it seem like we're hearing about crimes like this occurring on college campuses more and more frequently, on a regular basis? Why can't an Asian guy just walk down street, minding their own business, without being hassled and attacked by a group of racist assholes? Friends of the victims are holding a rally for tolerance on Friday afternoon. More here: 2 Asian Students Targeted In Attack. And here: Asian students at Franklin & Marshall College attacked.
This is a really interesting story about the small rural town of West Point, Georgia, which is getting some relief in these tough economic times from an unlikely source -- a Korean car company. Kia Motors Corporation is opening a new automobile manufacturing plant here, and for many residents, it's like blessing from heaven: One Town's Rare Ray of Hope: New Auto Plant.
Considering the harsh reality of the recession, a new auto plant in town -- and with it, jobs -- is like winning the economic lottery. This also means a new influx of Korean workers, restaurants and businesses. The Koreans are coming! And West Point is apparently loving it...
Calling all Hmong American writers! I recently learned about the Hmong American Writers' Circle (HAWC), founded in 2004 as a forum to discover and foster creative writing within the Hmong community. HAWC coordinates monthly writing workshops, and provides educational/professional support and networking opportunities to emerging writers in California's Central Valley.
Now, they're looking for submissions. They've got a publishing contract with Heyday Books to publish an anthology of literary writing focused on the Hmong American experience -- the first book about Hmongs in California written and edited by Hmongs. But they need more writers and stories from Hmongs in the Central Valley. Maybe that's you. For submission guidelines, go here.
Ah, alas. Anoop Desai, our guy with the golden voice, was eliminated last night from American Idol. Having found himself in the bottom three for several weeks in a row, it was kind of a long time coming. But many of us were hanging on to hope that he charm his way to the end. It was not meant to be: Anoop Desai and Lil Rounds make classy 'American Idol' exits. It's back to Chapel Hill for you, Anoop. You had a good run.
This is hilarious, in a you're-a-freaking-idiot kind of way. According to his Twitter, Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) seems to be under the smug impression that he "baffled" Secretary of Energy Steven Chu -- make that Nobel Prize-winning Secretary of Energy Steven Chu -- with a basic science question: Rep. Joe Barton: I 'Stumped' Nobel Prize Winning Scientist.
Barton, so savvy with the Tweeting, is referring to this exchange, in which he asks Chu -- I kid you not -- where oil comes from. The Congressman seems to interpret Chu's stumbly response as a "gotcha!" moment. No, dude. Dr. Chu is just "baffled" by the fact that anyone would waste his time with such a dumbass question.
To fully understand this, you must first be familiar with the National Organization for Marriage's laughably bad "Gathering Storm" commercial. Did you watch it? Yeah, I told you. It's really bad. Sorry. Okay, now watch this parody on Funny or Die, featuring a number of recognizable faces... including our man Sulu, aka George Takei: A Gaythering Storm. Now that is funny.
The report indicates that, despite a positive trend in attitudes toward Asian Americans, racial discrimination and suspicions still exist. Surprise, surprise. According to the survey -- even in 2009 -- the majority of the general population cannot make a distinction between Chinese Americans and Asian Americans in general, treating all as one generic, monolithic ethnic group.
Sure, we've made strides, and there has definitely been significant progress on a lot of levels. But no matter how you slice it, there are still just a lot of people out there who can't seem to wrap their head around the fact that we are indeed Americans too. In the eyes of many, we're still apparently outsiders. Most notable in the dat are the misperceptions around:
- Loyalty of Asian Americans: Despite the approximately 59,141 Asian Americans serving in active duty in the U.S. Armed Services, and the more than 300 Asian Americans who have been injured or died in Operation Iraqi Freedom, there are still suspicions about the loyalty of Asian Americans. Among the general population, 45 percent believe Asian Americans are more loyal to their countries of ancestry than to the United States, up from 37 percent in the 2001 survey. In contrast, approximately three in four of the Chinese Americans surveyed say Chinese Americans would support the United States in military or economic conflicts, compared to only approximately 56 percent of the general population who agrees.
- Political Influence: While the Asian American community celebrated the cabinet appointments of members to the Obama administration - Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, and Veterans Affairs Secretary General Eric Shinseki - there is a significant lack of representation among other federal, state and local elected leadership. There are currently six Asian American members of the House of Representatives from continental U.S. states and two Senators from Hawaii (no Senator from a continental U.S. state), and only one Governor, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. C-100's survey reports that 36 percent of the general population thinks that Asian Americans have the right amount of power and influence in Washington, while only 15 percent of Chinese Americans believe this to be true. However, 47 percent of the general population believes that Asian Americans have too little power in Washington, with 82 percent of Chinese Americans agreeing.
- Leadership in Education Institutions & Corporate America: Although stereotypes around Asian Americans as the "model minority" continue to be perpetuated in educational institutions and in the workforce, the presence of Asian Americans is not matched with representation in leadership.
- Education: The report shows that 65 percent of the general population believes Asian American students are adequately represented on college campuses, with 45 percent of Chinese Americans agreeing and 36 percent arguing that they are underrepresented. In reality, there are only 33 Asian American college presidents in the United States (out of about 3,200) and, while analysis shows that among the top sector of higher education institutions - as listed in U.S. News & World Report's 2005 rankings - Asian Americans are well represented as students (6.4 percent) and faculty (6.2 percent), only about 2.4 percent are represented in the positions of president, provost or chancellor.
- Corporate America: Similarly, while Asian Americans hold only about 1.5 percent of corporate board seats among Fortune 500 Companies, 3 C-100's report found that 50 percent of the general population believes Asian Americans are adequately represented on corporate boards, while only 23 percent of Chinese Americans agree. Forty-six percent of the general population also believes Asian Americans are promoted at the same pace as Caucasian Americans, with only 29 percent of Chinese Americans saying the same.
The full report, available as a PDF, can be downloaded from the Committee of 100's website here. Next week, C-100 will be conducting a panel discussion in Washington D.C. to address the report findings. It's Thursday, April 30 at the Committee's 18th Annual Conference. Panelists will include Congressman Mike Honda; Charles Cook, Cook Political Report; Antonia Hernandez, California Community Foundation; and Ralph Everett, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. For more information, go here.
Forget Miss USA. I could care less. Here's a fascinating New York Times City Room blog post by Jennifer 8. Lee on New York's Miss Subways pageant, which ran from 1941 to 1977, and was one of the first beauty pagaents in America to become integrated: There She Is, From a Trailblazing Beauty Pageant.
Some 35 years before Vanessa Williams became the first black Miss America, the Miss Subways pageant selected Brooklyn College student Thelma Porter as its first black winner in 1948. The first Asian American Miss Subway, Helen Lee, won in 1949. (Too bad she had to be labeled "Exotic," as pictured above...)
Sure, it's just a beauty pageant. Still, you can't deny the symbolic importance for its time. The photo of Miss Subways was on thousands of subway cars each month, and activists believed that image of a black woman would send a powerful media message. Back then it was a subway car... today, it's the TV.
This is a crazy story out of Virginia about Ting-Yi Oei, a high school assistant principal who was accused of possessing child pornography after trying to do the right thing. He recounts the events, in his own words, about the unfounded prosecution and ensuing witch hunt that has turned his life upside down and ruined his reputation and career: My Students. My Cellphone. My Ordeal.
He was actually trying to investigate students at his school who were sending ("sexting") nude cellphone photos of themselves to other students. But a not-so-great understanding of technology got him into an awkward spot, which quickly spiraled into an all-encompassing career-smearing ordeal and serious trouble with the law.
Oei was recently exonerated, with all the charges thrown out of court, but not before his entire life and good standing in the community were dragged through the mud, by a prosecutor who should never have brought charges in the first place. And now he has to pick up the pieces. What a nightmare. More here: Ting-Yi Oei Answers In His Own Words.
I keep forgetting to write something about Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. You know I'm not much of a gamer, but I've been aware of the game for a while now, since Nintendo announced it last summer at E3. That's "Ling" above, holding the giant frickin' sword.
The game was released last month exclusively for the Nintendo DS, and from what I hear, it's pretty much everything you'd expect -- all of the usual mayhem, violence and mature content of the Grant Theft Auto series, transplanted to the good ol' neighborhood of Chinatown: Death, Drugs and Gangs in the Palm of Your Hand.
This, of course, means lots of Asian gangsters, guns, and thugs, and characters with names like Zhou Ming, Uncle Kenny, Hsin and Chan Jaoming. In the game, following his father's murder, Huang Lee must deliver an ancient sword to his uncle to ensure his family retains control of the Triad gangs of Liberty City. But things do not go as planned.
I honestly don't much more about it than that. For those who have played it, does Chinatown Wars support and reinforce the usual Chinese gangster stereotypes? Or does it offer a more interesting, nuanced depiction (for a video game, that is) of the Chinatown gangster story?
I suspect it's probably a little bit of both... but mostly just the stereotypes. Don't get me wrong -- I love a good Chinese gangster plot. I just hope there's no inkling of Jason Statham running around doing the Crank thing in this game.
The Kogi hype continues! ABC News recently ran a segment on Los Angeles' favorite meals-on-wheels sensation, the Twitter-powered Kogi truck, serving up sizzling hot Korean barbecue taco goodness to devoted lines of followers: Cheap Eats at the Taco Truck. Damn, now I'm hungry for a kimchee quesadilla. Better check the Twitter.
The Los Angeles Times has a story on aging Vietnamese immigrants in the United States who have been separated from their families overseas for years, but prevented from being reunited because of strict visa rules: Visa rules widen the rift between Vietnam and U.S. families.
It's increasingly becoming as issue among Vietnamese immigrants as those who fled as refugees to the United States at the end of the Vietnam War now grow old. Many have been separated for decades from siblings, parents and children still in Vietnam. In recent years, as Vietnam's economy boomed, relatives suddenly had the financial means to travel to the U.S for reunions or final gatherings.
However, they're finding that's not so easy. It's often sad, because many of these families just want to travel to the United States to say their final goodbyes to aging and ailing relatives. But many families find themselves entangled in the long, arduous visa process. And unfortunately from some, time is running out.
Check it out. The indie film Treeless Mountain, written and directed by So Yong Kim, opens in today at the Film Forum in New York. Inspired by events from Kim's own early childhood, the film tells the story of two little girls, Jin and Bin, who must fend for themselves when their mother decides to go look for their estranged father, and leaves them with an alcoholic aunt for the summer.
The film has already picked up a number of awards on the film festival circuit, and recently screened as the Closing Night film at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. Next month, you'll be able to catch it as the Centerpiece Presentation at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.
I actually haven't watched it yet, but everyone I've heard from has said it's a remarkable, amazing, beautifully realized film, with some astonishing performances from the two kid actors. I can't wait to check it out. To learn more about Treeless Mountain, go to the film's website here. And here's an article on So Yong Kim and her husband, fellow filmmaker Bradley Rust Gray: Independently Intimate Directors.
Yesterday, a prominent Iranian filmmaker, Bahman Ghobadi, published an open letter calling for the release of American journalist Roxana Saberi, who was convicted last week of espionage by a court Iran. Turns out, Ghobadi and Saberi are engaged to be married: Iranian Fiance of Jailed American Journalist Publishes Open Letter.
Ghobadi is an acclaimed, award-winning director whose first film, Time for Drunken Horses, won a prize at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. His letter, written from inside Iran, was translated into English and published on website of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.
It's a heartfelt, desperate plea for her release. The guy has obviously been going through hell -- even blaming himself -- since he found out Saberi had been arrested, but remains optimistic that she'll eventually be freed.
Saberi has appealed the decision, and hopefully, it'll be reconsidered. Here's a BBC News interview with Roxana's parents regarding her sentence: Jailed reporter's parents speak out.
The Miami Herald introduces us to 12-year-old Sky Choi, the youngest student ever to attend Florida International University, currently double majoring in physics and math and taking a full course load of physics, calculus and Chinese language classes: Pembroke Pines boy, 12, tackling a double major at FIU.
Sky, who is home-schooled, also has a third-degree black belt in tae kwon do and is fluent in Korean. He's dual enrolled and is officially finishing high school at the end of this semester. When he starts classes in the fall as a full-fledged college student, he'll have as many credits as a sophomore.
What were you doing at 12 years old? I was collecting comic books and baseball cards and desperately trying not to fail math. (I did, however, represent my elementary school in the district spelling bee.) The thought of college had barely crossed my mind. Man, that is one smart kid. I hope he grows up to be normal.
If you're in New York, here's a cool theater performance to check out next week... Direct Arts in conjunction with The Performance Project @ University Settlement presents a workshop production of Paper Angels by Genny Lim, Wednesday, April 29 through Saturday, May 2 -- just four performances. Here are some details:
Paper Angels by Genny Lim The seminal play about the Chinese Exclusion Act
Exclusive Engagement Opens April 29, 2009 for 4 nights only
DATE: Wednesday, April 29th through Saturday, May 2nd Special Post-Show Discussion on Friday, April 30th with Peter Kwong, author of Chinese America: The Untold Story of America's Oldest New Community.
SHOW TIMES: Wednesday through Friday at 8:00PM, Saturday at 3:00PM
LOCATION: Speyer Hall at University Settlement 184 Eldridge Street, bet. Rivington and Delancey
TICKETS: $18 adult, $15 student/senior
WEBSITE: www.directarts.org
Set in 1915, the play explores America's historic ambivalence over immigration through a group of Chinese detainees on Angel Island, the Ellis Island of the West Coast. From 1882 to 1943, the Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited the Chinese from immigrating to America. They remain the only ethnic group ever to have specifically been banned against coming to the United States.
Paper Angels was last seen on the New York City stage in 1982 at the New Federal Theatre. Over two decades later, this new production will incorporate archival footage of Angel Island, a 2-piece traditional Chinese music ensemble, Chinese Opera, and an ensemble of 12 multi-ethnic actors.
The cast includes Louis Changchien, Robert Fitzsimmons, Jojo Gonzalez, Wai Ching Ho, Kerry Huang, Ryan King, Victoria Linchong, Doan Ly and Amy Staats. On April 30th, there will be a post-show discussion Peter Kwong, author of Chinese America: The Untold Story of America's Oldest New Community.
Sounds pretty cool, right? And damn, get a load of that postcard art for the show. It's from an actual California laundry detergent ad, circa 1870. This is going to be a really cool production. To learn more about Paper Angels, go to the Direct Arts website here. And to purchase tickets, go here.
We've been talking about Will Smith's Karate Kid remake for quite some time. It was rumored for the better part of a year, then finally confirmed last fall that the movie would star Will's son Jaden Smith, with Jackie Chan as the Miyagi character.
Oh, man. Are you ready for this? Flashback to 1984. I'm on the playground, and some punk ass kids who just saw The Karate Kid come up to me, the Asian kid, asking if I know karate. I don't. They make me prove it. Does this scenario ring a bell for you? But today, we live in more enlightened times. Kids don't have to go through ignorant taunting on the playground anymore. Right? No?
Here's a good blog post by Gotham Chopra, talking about American freelance journalist Roxanne Saberi, who was convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison in Iran for spying, and Current journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling -- a personal friend of his -- who are currently being held in North Korea on similar charges: You can help Roxanne Saberi, Euna Lee, and Laura Ling.
Like many of us, he's considering what more can be done by people like you and me to help ensure the safe and prompt return of these journalists to their families and homes, and desperately trying to get the word out about their situations. He outlines the process of intention, attention, and action. It's kind of new age-y, but it's a start.
Here's the video for "I Did It For Love," the second single from Korean pop star BoA, continuing her attempt to crack the U.S. market. The video's all right. Shiny black leather, some special effects, dancing in the rain. You know, standard music video stuff. This definitely isn't my favorite track off the new album, but I guess the video does what it needs to do -- make BoA look cool and give you a taste of the music. For more BoA, go here.
CAUSE, the Center for Asian Americans United for Self Empowerment, is looking for qualified candidates for CASIC 2009, the California Asian American Student Internship Coalition, designed to prepare elite student leaders to be in the forefront of California's legislative arena.
This program is especially dedicated to developing leadership skills for college students who are interested in exploring a career in public office, public service or community advocacy, which includes becoming an elected or appointed official. College students with an interest in Asian Pacific American are also encouraged to apply. The deadline is May 1.
The internship lasts eight weeks, full-time, June 20 - August 14. It includes a $1,000 stipend (upon satisfactory completion of the program). It sounds like a really awesome opportunity for young people who are looking to get involved in politics. For applications guidelines and details, go to the CAUSE website here.
This is kind of awesome. Julia informs me that her Filipina American friend, Iris Macadangdang, is a finalist in the running for 2009 Name of the Year. Founded in 1983, it's apparently a yearly event, sort of like a March Madness-styled showdown, in which real, actual awesome names are recognized and honored.
How have I never heard of this before? It is awesome. This year, the competition comes down to Ms. Macadangdang and a dude named Barkevious Mingo. While both are stunning, amazing names, it is clear to me who should be the winner. I am casting my ballot for Iris Macadangdang!
Vote here through April 27. And learn more about the Macadangdang Movement here. You know what would be really cool? If she wins, I think Iris Macadangdang should meet up with Texas state Rep. Betty Brown to discuss names that are "easier for Americans to deal with."
Indie rock fans, gather round. San Francisco-based band The Invisible Cities have released their second album, Houses Shine Like Teeth. I've had it on heavy rotation the last couple of days, and it's making me happy.
I've been a fan of these folks for quite some time -- they were awarded "Best Indie Pop Band" in the 2005 San Francisco Bay Guardian's Reader Poll -- and this new album doesn't disappoint, with their signature dreamy, infectious Bay Area indie pop/rock sound. You should hear it too.
You've got a couple of options to get your hands on the new album. It comes in two formats: the physical CD, and the downloadable mp3 version.
Of course, they'd prefer it if you bought the CD, with its superior sound and lovely packaging. Buy it here. When you buy the CD, you'll also get the mp3s for immediate download so you can listen to the album while waiting for the mail to show up.
You can also just download the mp3s. To celebrate the release of the record, The Invisible Cities are offering the digital version for free to the first 500 downloaders. To download the album, go here. You'll need the special code: PARADE.
But that's not all! Whichever format you choose, The Invisible Cities are also giving you a super-rad, specially-curated mp3 mixtape, featuring the music of their friendly fellow musicians like Alex Caton, The Rhombus, The Matinees, Goh Nakamura, School for the Dead, Pancho-san, Nuclear Waste Management Club, Sonny & the Sunsets, Love is Chemicals, Terese Taylor, The Nightland, and Scrabbel.
The Invisible Cities are an unsigned, totally indie, completely do-it-yourself rock band, so they're counting on friends and fans to help get the word out. to learn more about the band, go to their website, MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter. To get your hands on Houses Shine Like Teeth, go here.
If you watched The Late Show with David Letterman last Friday, you might have caught the network television debut of standup comedian Joe Wong, doing the very awkward Asian man thing. Watch a video of his performance here.
Can't say I was a huge fan of his set, but his story is actually pretty interesting. Turns out, his appearance on the Late Show was four years in the making: Tonight on Letterman: A four-year overnight sensation. You at least have to respect his perseverance.
Caught with your pants down! Literally. Some news out of Canada... In Vancouver, a New Democratic Party candidate, Ray Lam, has stepped down due to controversy over racy photos posted on his Facebook account. The mistakes of his youth have come back to haunt him. Oops: Vancouver NDP candidate steps down over racy photos.
In one photo, a smiling man tagged as Mr. Lam hugs a woman in a low-cut dress, his hand on her breast. In another, Lam is with friends, his pants pulled down to display his underwear. The photos have since been taken down, but they were posted long enough to get around. This is the internet, after all.
I guess it never occurred to Mr. Lam that his wild and crazy antics somehow might just end up uploaded on the world wide web. Or maybe he never figured he'd be running for public office. Or maybe he stupidly thought no one would ever bother to take a look at his Facebook account. Not very smart, bro.
What would it be like to go back in time and have sex with every single U.S. president? You don't even want to know. But we now have a strange idea of what it might look like, thanks to this odd art project by Justine Lai: An Alternate Sexual History of the United States.
In a series of paintings called "Join or Die," Lai depicts herself having sex -- in graphic detail -- with every single U.S. president, in chronological order. We're talking Lincoln. Buchanan. Taft. Nixon. She's doing all of them. I am equally fascinated and totally grossed out by these paintings. See it all, at your own risk, here (nsfw).
Check it out... Our boys in the Far East Movement have been invited by Korean hip hop group Epik High to perform as special guests on their first ever U.S. tour, Map The Soul. They'll be hitting four cities:
Date: Friday May 15, 2009 Location: SAN FRANCISCO.. Venue TBA *ALL AGES*
Date: Saturday May 16, 2009 Location: House of Blues Sunset Strip 8430 W Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood, CA 90069 Doors Open at: 8:00pm *All Ages*
Date: Friday, May 22, 2009 7:00 PM EDT (6:00 PM Doors) Location: Hiro Ballroom 363 West 16th Street New York, NY 10001 *21 and Over*
Date: Saturday, May 23rd at 7:00pm Location: At King Cat Theater 2130 6th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98121 *All Ages*
Looks like details for the San Francisco date are still coming together. To get the update, as well as more information about the Epic High x Far East Movement tour, go here. I only recently started becoming acquainted with the music of Epik High, and I'm digging it. This should be a pretty cool tour.
Meanwhile, FM's single "Girls On the Dance" continues to kill it on the radio. On Power 106 FM in Los Angeles, they're sitting pretty at number 3 on the Power 7@7 countdown. And why not? The single is incredible. You can keep voting daily for FM here and help get them to number one.
The Washington Post has a cool story on musician Thao Nguyen and the Get Down Stay Down, who embarking on a spring tour: She's a 'Brave' Girl. You all know I dig her sound -- especially her soulful, unmistakably kickass voice. Her sophomore album, We Brave Bee Stings and All, was released last year. To hear some more of her music, visit Thao Nguyen's MySpace page here.
This is a really great story on the new Secretary of Commerce, Gary Locke --widely known as the nation's first Chinese American governor -- and his fascinating family history, from China to the United States: Family Secrets.
Like many Chinese immigrants, trying to get around the over institutional racism of the Chinese Exclusion Act, Locke's grandfather entered the United States as a "paper son," claiming he was born here but the birth records were destroyed.
As Commerce Secretary, Locke will oversee the decennial census, which takes place a year from now. As defined by the Constitution, the census is supposed to be a count of all residents of the United States -- "actual enumeration," not just citizens. A challenge, for sure.
It's his job to make sure the census count reflects a true portrait of America. Considering his own family's history of immigration, it's significant that Gary Locke is the man for the job. That's a true American story. More here: A Champion for the Census?
With Earth Day on Wednesday, here's a brief interview with Steven Chu, the Secretary of Energy, for the New York Times Magazine's "Green" issue: The Science Guy. As we look to the future, this is the man we're looking to to help make America more energy efficient. So does Dr. Chu celebrate Earth Day? For this man, every day is Earth Day.
Have you been watching The Amazing Race? Just four teams left, and Tammy and Victor are still in it! The brother/sister lawyer team hit a few speed bumps here and there, but they're still in the race and going strong. Last night, the competition landed them in China, and fortunately for Tammy and Victor Jih, their Mandarin isn't too shabby. Pretty interesting video of them talking about their culture and identity: Raised Expectations.
It gave their team a little bit of an edge, though in a race like this, fortunes can change pretty quickly. Still, they finished in the top three. Tammy and Victor completely carried those other two teams on their backs. They're kicking ass, and I'm hoping they'll make it all the way to the end.
By the way, is anyone else completely sick of the two cheerleaders -- well, just one of them actually -- constantly complaining about non-English speakers wherever they go? Talk about Ugly Americans.
An update on the live-action Last Airbender movie and the controversy over its mostly white principal cast. MANAA, the Media Action Network for Asian Americans, was among the many groups and individuals protesting these racist casting decisions, and sent a letter to the movie's producers. Here's the letter they received from Paramount last month in response:
Dear Mr. Aoki,
Thank you for your letter and interest in our film.
As devoted fans of the original series, our goal is to create a film that will not only live up to the expectations of the television series' fan base, but also expand it to a world-wide audience in ways that only a full-length motion picture can offer.
From the outset of the creative process, the Producers and the Director have envisioned embodying the Airbender universe with a large and ethnically diverse cast that represents many different heritages and cultures from all corners of the globe.
The Director's vision for this film is one of world, influenced and inspired by the Asian undertones of the series, and that is both diverse and inclusive in the make up of the four nations represented in the film's cinematic world.
Early casting includes an Indian actor, born in Mumbai and raised in the UK and the US; a Persian actor born in Tehran and raised in the UK, Switzerland and the US; a Maori actor born and raised in New Zealand; a Korean-American actor, born and raised in Chicago; an American actress of Italian, French and Mexican heritage; among several others of varied nationalities from around the world.
The four nations represented in the film reflect not one community, but the world's citizens. These societies will be cast from a diversity of all races and cultures. In particular, the Earth Kingdom will be cast with Asian, East Asian and Africans.
With this global perspective in mind, we believe we can best honor the true themes, ethos and fantastical nature of the Airbender stories and best capture the spirit and scale of the series to appeal to its worldwide fans.
Our challenge and commitment to our film audience is to harness all the elements that have made the series the incredible phenomenon it is.
We look forward to introducing you to THE LAST AIRBENDER next summer.
Sincerely,
The Producers
Rather ridiculous. It's pretty funny that their idea of a "diverse and inclusive" world is a bunch of pretty white folks as heroes surrounded by a bunch of supporting people of color. All this, of course, inspired by the "Asian undertones" of the original animated series. Here's the response from MANAA: MANAA's Response to Letter from Paramount on The Last Airbender.
Funny. Today on Twitter, The Last Airbender producer Frank Marshall posted that "The casting is complete and we did not discriminate against anyone. I am done talking about it." Really? I do recall that casting calls indicated a preference for Caucasian actors, but when it came to background extras, the casting director stated they were specifically looking for "authentic Asians." I eagerly anticipate how stupid this movie is going to look on the big screen.
In Quincy, Massachusetts, a woman is suspected of killing her 9-year-old daughter and her unborn child. 38-year-old Fan Chi-Xue also tried to strangle her 14-year-old daughter, then tried to kill herself. She apparently has had a history of problems: MA woman tried before to kill unborn child.
On Friday, Long Beach Police arrested 29-year-old Duy Tieu on suspicion of killing another man after a road rage fight on the 605 freeway. According to witnesses, after arguing on the on-ramp, Tieu got in his car and rammed the other man, who was standing in front his car. The man was pronounced dead at the scene: Man arrested after fatal road rage incident.
Check out Heather Park's newly released video for "Leave Me To Dream", off the soundtrack to Michael Kang's West 32nd. It's a fairly standard music video, but Heather is looking good and you get to see some cool footage from the movie. The single is available on Heather's album, Dream In Pictures, available on Amazon.com and iTunes. To hear some more of Heather Park's music, go here.
Here's a cool article from last week on 25-year-old Eugene Kang, who is, in many ways, President Barack Obama's right hand man. Need some phone time with the President? First, you need to speak with Eugene Kang: Ann Arbor native is at Obama's side. He's also Obama's "special projects coodinator."
According to the article, Kang shuttles between tasks for the president in the West Wing and organizing events in the political affairs shop in the adjacent Eisenhower Executive Office Building. He sets up phone calls to everyone from a governor to a grassroots activist.
How did Kang get such a plum gig? A native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, he developed an early interest in politics. As a student at the University of Michigan, he unsuccessfully ran for Ann Arbor city council. But after college, he landed a job in Chicago working in the political affairs shop of the early Obama Campaign.
During the campaign, he drummed up support Asian American support for Obama, traveled with the candidate, and even carried Obama's cell phone -- nicknamed "the Bat phone." I guess he's still doing that phone thing... for the President of the United States. Indeed, he is the guy behind the guy.
The administration has opened a judicial investigation into the incident. Meanwhile, student groups on campus have organized an effort to get the word out about the incident. About 200 people gathered for a rally on Thursday afternoon, calling for the administration to take action: Rally goers: We will not be silenced.
Of course, the freshman denies ever instigating the fight, claiming the Korean American students are actually the ones started the fight. He does admis shouting obscenities after the fight, but denies uttering any racial slurs. And his totally awesome friends are totally backing him on that.
Right. So the KSA students made the whole damn thing up -- they were in the middle of rehearing their dance routine, but decided to take a break to pick a fight with the drunk guy. And the drunk guy was there because he was just genuinely taking an interest in Korean students... and dancing. At 2:00 o'clock in the morning.
Another racist incident on a college campus. How will the Tufts administration respond? How many more of these have to happen until someone finally listens and does something about it? How many more people have to stand up and shout and rally before the same old ignorant shit stops?
This Tuesday at UCLA, students and community members will come together for the 3rd Annual Mighty Mic 2009 Human Rights Awareness Concert at UCLA, Benefit for Burma. Last year, this student-run non-profit concert raised over $20,000 for refugees of the genocide in Darfur. The concert is for UCLA students only (bring your Bruin card).
This year Mighty Mic will highlight the struggle for human rights in Burma, which has been under the rule of an oppressive military junta for 43 years. Come on out on this Tuesday, April 21 and learn about what's going on in Burma, and hear an eclectic mix of artists -- all in support of a worthy cause. Some details:
THE 3rd ANNUAL MIGHTY MIC HUMAN RIGHTS AWARENESS CONCERT: Benefit for Burma
SPEAKERS Edith Mirante Min Zin The All-Burma Monks Alliance (U Pyinya Zawta, U Gawasita, U Agga Nya)
The concert will also include an onsite art gallery featuring Burmese artist Maung Maugn Tinn, interactive educational activities, and booth space for non-profits, sponsors, and student-organizations. Although the concert is free, donations are highly encouraged as all proceeds will go towards Doctors Without Borders, USA and US Campaign for Burma. For more information, go here.
On Saturday, President Obama named Aneesh Chopra to the newly created post of Chief Technology Officer -- apparently somewhat of a suprise pick in technology ciricles, where speculation over the past three months had focused on more high-profile candidates: Obama names first US chief technology officer.
Chopra, whose background is in health policy, has served as secretary of technology for the state of Virginia and as an executive in a company which advises hospitals. Here's an interesting profile on Chopra from several years back: He's No Technologist, But Moves in Tech Circles.
As the country's first Chief Technology Officer, Chopra will use technology to "improve security, ensure transparency, and lower costs." He'll work closely with Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra, who is responsible for setting technology policy and federal technology spending. More here: Obama Picks Technology And Performance Officers.
To say New York Yankees pitcher Chien-Ming Wang had a bad day yesterday would be an understatement. The Indians beat the Yankees in a brutal 22-4 smackdown, with Cleveland scoring 14 runs in the second inning. The game matched the record for the most runs the Yankees have allowed in a home game: Indians' Rout of Yankees Is for the Record Books.
Things started off bad for Wang, and just got worse and worse... After allowing eight runs in one and a third innings Saturday, Wang has permitted 23 earned runs in just six innings this season. Apparently, no Yankees starter has allowed as many earned runs in his first three starts of a season.
He now faces one hell of an uphill climb. In three starts, Wang is 0-3 with an earned run average of 34.50. He would need to throw 48 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings to reach a 3.79 E.R.A., his career mark before this season. Ouch.
It was an all-around disaster for the Yankees. It was, however, a good game for the Cleveland Indians' Shin-Soo Choo, who started off the rout with a three-run homer in the second inning: Choo's three-run jack. At least someone had a good day.
Came across this odd headline today: Jackie Chan: Chinese people need to be controlled. Jackie Chan was recently participating in a panel at the annual Boao Forum in Hainan, when he was asked to discuss censorship and restrictions on filmmakers in China... and replied with comments that could clearly be construed as supportive of one-party rule.
The action star apparently hasn't been a vocal supporter of the pro-democracy movement in his hometown of Hong Kong, but this sounds like he's coming around to a stance. I wonder if he'll catch any kind of flack for this... oh wait, that didn't take very long: Jackie Chan's China comments prompt backlash.
Saberi was arrested in late January and initially accused of working without press credentials. But earlier this month, an Iranian judge leveled a far more serious allegation, charging her with spying for the United States.
The White House said President Barack Obama was "deeply disappointed" by the conviction, while the journalist's father told a radio station his daughter was tricked into making incriminating statements by officials who told her they would free her if she did.
The conviction complicates the Obama administration's efforts to break a 30-year-old diplomatic deadlock with Tehran. This is obviously not the end of this, but it's pretty bad news. More on Roxana Saberi here: Profile: Roxana Saberi.
The New York Times has a story on bloggers who have leveraged their blogs' success into book deals: Public Provides Giggles; Bloggers Get the Book Deal. One of the guys profiled is none other than Ben Huh, the mastermind now ruling the "I Can Haz Cheezburger" empire. His book of cute cat photos and funny captions, based on the blog of the same name, has sold more than 100,000 copies.
The latest blogs-to-books trend is the "the lazy, Tom Sawyer approach to authorship." The creators come up with a goofy or witty idea, put it up on a simple platform like Twitter and Tumblr, and wait for contributors to provide all of the content. The authors put their energy into publicizing the sites and compiling the best material.
The result: quickie humor books, which agents and publishing houses can't seem to get enough. They sell for $10 to $15 in gift shops and hip clothing stores like Urban Outfitters. You know you've seen them.
I Can Has Cheezburger was on the New York Times bestseller list for thirteen weeks. Not bad for a silly feline photo site. Ben, you were a journalism major in college! I remember. What would your professors say if they knew this is how you have made your fortune? No matter. The man has made his mark on the world.
An update on the fight to keep a casino out of Philadelphia's Chinatown... Last week at a gaming board meeting, Foxwood Casino execs were faced with a massive influx of anti-casino activists organized by members of Casino-Free Philadelphia, Asian Americans United, local clergy and other community groups. Flustered by the large crowd, they got the hell out of there, ushered by the police through the back door: Casino Executives Flee From Protesters.
Hell yes. Big props to the anti-casino activists for seriously representing and bringing the fight to the meeting. Casino-Free Philadelphia members said it was the largest turnout of Philadelphia representation they had ever seen at a Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board meeting... and they were not quiet: Boos greet casino magnate in Harrisburg.
The Media Mobilizing Project, an independent media out, took several videos at the meeting... Here's Lai Har Cheung of Asian Americans United on why they were there at the meeting: Lai har on What Casinos will do to Philly. Here's footage of the Foxwood Casino executives hauling ass out the back door: Casino Moguls Avoid Protest. And here's Philadelphia activist Deborah Wei explaining what's at stake (this video is from last fall): Casinos Destroy Philadelphia Communities.
Well, brace yourself. Crank High Voltage is a piece of garbage, and it just doesn't care. The movie opens in theaters today. I have not seen it, and don't really plan to. (Less Bai Ling in my life is just better for my health.) But I will leave you with this awesome review from an associate of mine who did see the movie, and did not hold back:
FYI - saw CRANK HIGH VOLTAGE. So offensive. The icing was David Carradine cast as the head of Triad. So fffed up. Asians, Blacks, Latinos, women, gays are all played out offensive stereotypes.
You could tell a bunch of stupid ass WBs were sitting around thinking it was funny and clever. And Bai Ling - damn why do they do this shit?
I don't recommend seeing it except to be informed.
It sets everyone back decades. These guys must have gotten beat up by people of color and this is their revenge.
Ewwwwwwwww
There you go. That's all I really needed to hear, from a trusted source. That, and the tweets from Aziz Ansari's freaking hilarious live Twitter session while watching the movie: Crank 2 Live Tweets.
If you saw Observe and Report, the dark Seth Rogen comedy that opened in theaters last week, you saw twin brothers John and Matt Yuan as a pair of Chinese security guards with a fondness for firepower. Wired has an interesting interview with the Yuan brothers, talking about how they got the part: Gun-Loving, Zombie-Hating Twins Geek Out in Observe and Report.
The twins had previously worked as security guards for Motorola in Austin, Texas. Director Jody Hill, who knew them from when they logged tapes for a reality TV show he was working on, apparently wrote the part for the Yuans when he realized his movie needed a couple of gun experts.
Based on the interview, you can tell the Yuans are the real deal -- a pair of genuine, unabashed geeks, complete with a knowledge of zombie movies and Dungeons & Dragons. This, of course, does nothing to dispel a variety of common stereotypes (Asians are geeks, Asians like guns, Asians all look alike) but hey, you can't blame them for being who they are.
UPDATE: John and Matt, the Yuan brothers, actually wrote in with a very cool email saying hello and wanting to clarify one thing about the origins of their characters in Observe and Report:
While we weren't aware of the gun-loving Asian stereotype we fully own up to the geek and look-alike knocks (Although we think we have a pretty good excuse for the latter).
However, in all seriousness, we do want to make one thing known - Jody Hill made every effort to avoid stereotyping us. In fact, that is the reason why our real names were used. He does not speak Chinese and the only real Chinese names he knew were ours. He didn't want to make anything up that might be offensive and so he asked if he could use our real names and we agreed.
There you go. Some behind-the-scenes info for you. I have not yet seen the movie, but John and Matt do indeed sound like they're closely based on two very real dudes -- John and Matt.
Remember Tiny Toones? They're a b-boy troupe for impoverished youth started by Cambodian Americans who grew up the United States but were deported to Cambodia. The organization is embarking on their first ever U.S. tour through multiple cities this month, April 14 to May 5.
It's the first time these kids are coming to the U.S., so it's a pretty big deal for everyone involved. A film crew is following them around to create a documentary about the tour. Here's a video clip of a sidewalk battle after a 19-hour flight: Motion Mid-West Rhythm Monster Attack Disorderz vs. Tiny Toones.
They'll be roaming through the country, making stops in Madison, New York, Philadelphia, Seattle and Los Angeles. Here are some details:
Madison, WI (April 14-20)
Breakin' the Law: Floor Phy6ix Friday April 17, 6:00PM-11:00PM Saturday April 18, 5:00pm-10:00PM Goodman Community Center 149 Waubesa St. Madison, WI 53704
New York (April 21-24)
Radio 23 Launch Party, featuring Tiny Toones Thursday April 23rd The Bellhouse (off the Gowanas Canal near Park Slope, Brooklyn) 149 7th Street Brooklyn, NY 11215 8pm - 1am
Tiny Toones Cambodia - NYC Fundraiser Friday April 24th, 7:00PM - 10:00PM Bob Rock Studio 873 Broadway (@ 18th Street above Union Square) Suite 302 (Intercom - 0013) NY, NY 10003
Philadelphia (April 25-28)
Breakdown Poverty - Rebuild Cambodia: Tiny Toones Fundraiser Sponsored by the Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia Saturday April 25th, Noon - 2:00PM Sunday April 26th, 2:00PM - 4:00PM Khmer Art Gallery 319 N. 11th Street Philadelphia, PA 19107
Seattle (April 29-May 1)
Tiny Toones Community Celebration Thursday April 30th, 6:00PM - 8:00PM Wing Luke Asian Museum 719 South King Street, Seattle 98104
Tiny Toones Community Fundraiser Friday May 1st, 6:00PM - 8:00PM The Greenwood Collective 8537 Greenwood Ave North, Seattle 98103
Long Beach & Los Angeles (May 2-5)
Sunday May 3rd, 5:00PM - 10:00 PM Chuco's Justice Center 11357 E. Redondo Blvd Inglewood, CA 90321
I was really impressed when I first read about this organization in the New York Times last fall, and it's great to hear that they're going places with these kids. For more information about the group, how you can support them, and further details about the tour stops, go to the official Tiny Toones website here.
This is my every-couple-of-weeks update on what's been happening on Lost... Just wanted to note that last night's episode was all about Miles "He Talks To Dead People" Straume, which means that actor Ken Leung had the spotlight.
Miles has been a bit of an enigma since the show introduced him at the beginning of last season, and while he quickly became one of my favorite characters, we haven't had much information to go on. What's up with his special ability? What's his connection with the island? Why $3.2 million?
There were definitely some interesting revelations -- a few things that many astute fans saw coming -- but I won't mention them here just yet. I heard from too many angry folks last time saying that "spoiled" Jin's resurrection. But come on, it already aired. If you're a real fan, you tuned in last night! (Seriously, in the age of Tivo and TV on DVD, how long does one have to wait before safely discussing what happened on a show?)
Things are starting to come together. Anyway, Ken Leung was fantastic as usual. The episode also featured Francois Chau returning as Dr. Pierre Chang, Leslie Ishii as Miles' mother and Lance Ho as Young Miles. All around, a good episode that felt way too short -- I wanted more!
Check it out! Secret Identities, the Asian American superhero comic book anthology, was featured on an online ABC News segment, with co-editor Jeff Yang explaining what the book is all about, and reasons behind creating such a collection: SECRET IDENTITIES ABCNews Online Clip.
It's brief, but very cool to see the project get this kind of exposure. To learn more about Secret Identities, and the current tour the editors are doing to promote the book, go to the website here.
In his fiscal 2010 spending plan, Fenty proposes consolidating the office within the larger Office of Community Affairs, which would allow the city to cut four positions and save $300,000. He claims they're not eliminating outreach to the API community but rather streamlining agencies to "save money on redundant administrative costs."
But activists contend that the office, which has seven employees and a budget of about $1 million, would be swallowed by the larger agency, which focuses on aiding seven different constituent groups. There's no guarantee the community affairs office would focus on helping Asians. To learn more about the Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs, go here.
The update includes several recent sightings (she can't be in all those places at once, can she?), plenty of first-hand accounts on her elaborate lies and scams, and an actual email Ferrell sent early this morning to a friend.
The plot thickens... It's like this weird car-wreck situation. This girl's got serious issues, but it's fascinating, and I can't stop reading about her crazy exploits and massive web of lies. Looks like it's all catching up to her now.
When I first saw these two commercials for K-Y Intense, I had to laugh because it's my man Randall Park -- who often plays awkward, buttoned-up dudes -- in an ad for arousal jelly. There's a second commercial at this link: K-Y Intense Will Make A Gusher Out Of The Meek Ones.
Not very subtle, but funny. But what's up with featuring an Asian American couple as the quiet, reserved folks who need a little bit of help in the bedroom? Lame. Not cool with that stereotype... but hell, at least it depicts two Asians as actual sexual beings.
I first heard about plans for a Hollywood remake of Red Dawn sometime last year. If you've never seen the original awful-but-awesome 1984 film, it's basically about a bunch of midwestern small town teens who defend their town -- and America -- from invading Soviet military forces. Very scary stuff back then, feeding everyone's Cold War nightmares.
Well, a remake is underway, and since the Soviets are out of the picture, guess who's invading the United States this time? Why, it's China, of course! Movie site LatinoReview.com has gotten a first look at the script, and indeed, the enemy is China: First Look At the Red Dawn Reboot!
The Chinese apparently invade the United States within the first sixteen pages of the script... but of course, the new generation of "Wolverines" will be there to withstand the Chinese forces. According to Latino Review, the group of insurgent teens includes a character named Erica Yu, "the 17-year-old knockout Asian American captain of the cheerleading squad." Oh boy.
Expect to see hordes of evil Chinese military men invading the nation, including a particularly villainous leader named "Lo." Then expect to see scrappy American youth killing as many faceless Chinese soldiers as possible in an hour and fifty minutes. Because, hey, those invaders deserve it. If they actually go through with making it, expect to hear a lot more about this movie.
The unlikely endorsement came in a speech Starr gave at Yale Law School last week: Starr backs Koh for State Department. This is after respected conservative attorney Ted Olson, who served under both Reagan and Bush, also endorsed Koh. The loony attacks are losing big. Time to give it up, fools.
Lots of blogs and news articles have been buzzing about Kari Ferrell, a petite, charming, 22-year-old Asian American woman... who just happens to be a crazy con artist and one of the Salt Lake City Police Department's Most Wanted. Girl's got some serious problems: The Hipster Grifter.
Wanted in Utah on five different warrants, including passing $60,000 in bad checks, forgery, and retail theft, Ms. Ferrell skipped town, and has apparently been creating quite a dirty reputation for herself in New York circles, leaving a trail of scammed victims. She even lied lied lied her way into a job with Vice magazine.
Hipsters, beware. This tattooed, oversexed pathological liar will seduce you and break your heart... but not before taking your money, convincing you she's pregnant, and/or is suffering from cancer. She'll even steal your cell phone. More here: Hipster Grifter Guilty of Conning Fellow Hipsters.
She apparently isn't too bright though -- the folks at Vice apparently Googled her name and found out she was a wanted felon: DEPARTMENT OF OOPSIES! - WE HIRED A GRIFTER. Pesky internet. Next time, you might want to change your name before embarking on a path of thievery and deception. Just a tip.
My apologies to our neighbors to the north... I had no idea that there was a Canadian version of Project Runway. I'm informed that the season two finale was last night, and when all was said and done, 32-year-old film student-turned-fashion designer Sunny Fong was declared the winner.
I recently heard from Lori Kido Lopez, a doctoral student at USC, who is studying representations of Asian Americans in the media. Her current research is on how Japanese Americans view images of Japan in the media, and she is seeking Japanese Americans to fill out a survey.
She's hoping to learn more about how Japanese Americans construct their identities, and their relationship to media about Japan. If you identify as Japanese American of any generation, and are willing to help her out, fill out Lori's survey here. I'm told it should only take twenty mintues of your time.
Some news out of Virginia... another Chinese takeout driver killed while making a delivery. 36-year-old Yong Sun, who worked at the Great Wall Chinese Restaurant in Richmond, was shot through the driver's side window after delivering a $10.89 order: Slaying of delivery driver rocks a once-peaceful community.
Police are describing it as an attempted robbery that ended in a homicide, though they aren't even sure if money was taken. They haven't made any arrests. A witness described the suspect as young man who was "well-groomed and wore dark clothing, including a black coat with gold or silver markings." (What?)
If you scroll down to the bottom of the news article, there's a brief list of other recent delivery-driver slayings in Virginia, incluing a pizza delivery guy and another guy who was abducted then killed while making deliveries for his parent's Chinese restaurant.
Why must delivering Chinese food be so dangerous? I know food delivery -- Chinese or otherwise -- has its share of hazards. But it seems like I'm hearing about a Chinese food delivery worker being assaulted or killed on a regular, almost monthly basis. And not just in New York or other metropolitan areas, but also in small cities and the suburbs. It's like an epidemic.
All right, another reminder... I'm posting this again, because I'd really appreciate your input. I've received lots of great suggestions so far, and it's shaping up to be a really great list. But I want to hear more...
Looking ahead to the month of May, I'm putting together a feature called The 30 Most Influential Asian Americans Under 30. Over thirty days, I'll be profiling thirty young individuals who are making an impact in their respective fields, in their communities, and the world at large.
I'm still sort of figuring out how to do this. The now-defunct APA political website politicalcircus.com put together a list like this many, many years ago, and I always thought it was a pretty good idea. So I'm bringing it back. But I need your help.
I'm putting the call out. I already have several people in mind who are going to make the cut, but this list won't be very good unless I get some suggestions from you. It could be anyone -- artists, activists, athletes, politicians, entrepreneurs -- as long as they're 30 years old or younger. It could be someone you're aware of on a national level, someone in your own community, or someone you know personally.
To nominate someone, email me (with "30 UNDER 30" in the subject line) with the person's name, age, what they do, and in a hundred words or less, why you think they are one of the 30 Most Influential Asian Americans Under 30. I'll be accepting nominations through the end of April.
To whittle down the list to thirty, I'll be conferring with a select team of (not yet determined) editorial consultants. If your nominee is under consideration, I might contact you with some follow-up questions. For the sake of my sanity, one nomination per person please. So make it a good one. And please, spread the word.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Alex Tse, the screenwriter of Watchmen, has been hired to handle another graphic novel adaptation, Paul Pope's forthcoming Battling Boy: 'Watchmen' scribe taking on 'Battling Boy'.
The story line follows the son of a god who comes down from the top of a mountain at his father's urging to rid the giant, continent-sized city of Monstropolis of a plague of beasts. The book will be out this spring from First Second Books.
Tse's other projects include a live-action adaptation of the anime Ninja Scroll, an adaptation of the Ray Bradbury short story collection The Illustrated Man for director Zack Snyder, and the hitman drama Frankie Machine for director Michael Mann. You could say things are going pretty well for him.
This week, I received the tragic news of another police shooting involving a young Asian American man. In Folsom, California, 23-year-old Joseph Han was fatally shot by police during an altercation on Sunday morning: Man Fatally Shot By Folsom Police. However, the details of what actually transpired are unclear.
According to initial news reports, family members apparently called police saying that Joseph was not acting like himself, hallucinating, hadn't eaten for days, and had locked himself in a bedroom.
Police said that he approached them with a 8-inch long knife, before he was hit with a Taser twice after refusing to stop. But he reportedly continued to charge the officers and was shot twice. He died at the hospital: Folsom Police Shoot And Kill Knife-Wielding Man
The family, however, is questioning the officers' use of deadly force. Was shooting Joseph really necessary? All three officers are on administrative leave with pay while investigators are still determining exactly what happened: Folsom police role in fatal shooting unclear.
On top of that, Korean news stories about the incident have been reporting details that other outlets have been leaving out. According to Joseph's family, he was actually placed in handcuffs after he was tasered and was shot when he recovered and resisted again: Another Ethnic Korean Shot Dead in US.
I knew this guy.
I didn't him know well. But he's the cousin of a longtime family friend, and when I heard the news, I was shocked. So this news really hits home. Was it really necessary for the cops to shoot Joseph dead, right in front of his family? They deserve answers. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family.
Gotta tell you about Live, the new CD from ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro. Maybe you've been a longtime fan, or you're one of those folks who first saw Jake when he performed on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, or maybe this is the first you've ever heard his name. Whatever the case, you need to know that Jake Shimabukuro can play the hell out of a ukulele.
I know to a lot of people, the ukulele is largely considered a toy, or a novelty, or a musical joke instrument. But Jake ain't no joke. He seriously rocks on that thing, with a presence and technique that will make you rethink what the ukulele sound is all about. Get your head out of the luau.
If you've heard his previous albums, Dragon and Gently Weeps, you know what I'm talking about. However, I've never had the chance to see him perform live -- I'm told it's a whole other level awesome. This new album, while no substitution for the real thing, is a pretty cool approximation of the concert experience, with live cuts selected from a variety of Jake's best performances.
The CD includes twelve original songs (nine versions of his best-known compositions, plus four brand-new tunes), as well as Jake bring his unique uke stylings to five covers -- everything to Bach to George Harrison to Japanese folk. There's even an interpretation of Michael Jackson's "Thriller."
Live is out this week, and is available pretty much everywhere. It's all good stuff, so I recommend checking it out. To learn more about Jake Shimabukuro, and see/hear more of his music, visit the official website here. Next, I'm hoping to see Jake live for real.
You've read about his now-infamous encounter with Texas state Rep. Betty Brown, now hear from the man who launched a thousand blog posts: lawyer, leader and activist Ramey Ko. After testifying last week in the Texas House of Representatives, Ramey found himself in the middle of a lot of unexpected attention. Hear from the man himself how it all went down.
On Thursday night, April 16, join in on a national coference call hosted by AAA-Fund, chatting with Texas State Rep. Hubert Vo, Congressman Mike Honda, Mini Timmaraju of Asian American Democrats of Texas, and Ramey Ko. Hear from Ramey, and learn about what all of us can do to make a difference in Texas and across the country for voting rights and other issues.
It's happening tomorrow night at 8:00pm ET/5:00 pm PT. To join in the call, you must RSVP. For details go to the AAA-Fund blog here: Meet Ramey Ko and TX Rep. Hubert Vo. Of course, for those of us who were aware of Ramey's coolness before all of this went down, there's the I Liked Ramey Ko BEFORE He Was Cool! Facebook group.
Since February, a United Nations-backed tribunal in the Phnom Penh has been trying the first of five Khmer Rouge leaders charged with crimes against humanity, for the brutal experiment in communism that took at least 1.7 million Cambodian lives between 1975 and 1979 -- one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century.
Three decades later, for many survivors of the "killing fields," the experience remains a painful, traumatic memory. The Los Angeles Times has a story on an outreach effort in Southern California to help survivors of the Khmer Rouge era deal with their emotional suffering: Khmer Rouge survivors give voice to their 'silent suffering'.
Last week marked the 15th anniversary rock icon Kurt Cobain's tragic death. Lots of music blogs ran tributes, but this one over at Pitchfork was particularly fun, showcasing various covers of Nirvana's most enduring song, "Smells Like Teen Spirit": Kurt Cobain R.I.P.: April 5, 1994.
Among the many different versions of the song, this one particularly sticks out: 11 Year Old Nirvana Fan. An Asian kid doing what Asian kids do best: rocking your face off with his badass musical skills. The kid, Sungha Jung, totally kills with that guitar, and offers his own unique acoustic take on the song. Insane. (Thanks, Minghan.)
This news is a couple of weeks old... but hey, everybody loves Chow Yun-fat. Variety reported a while back that Chow Yun-Fat, star of films like, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Hard Boiled, will star as ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius in a new biopic backed by the Chinese government: Chow Yun-fat signs on as Confucius.
I'm sure a lot of people are reading this and thinking, wait, Confucius was a real dude? Indeed, he was a real thinker who lived more than 2,500, and not some dumb dispenser of faux fortune cookie wisdom. Unfortunately the idea of Confucius has largely been reduced to a punchline: "Ah, Confucius say..."
This is for all the women bloggers out there... I recently heard from the organizers of the inaugural Blogalicious 2009, the Social Gathering for Women Bloggers of Color, happening October 9-11 in Atlanta.
This three-day event is described as an opportunity for women bloggers of color to get together, get connected, and celebrate their diversity and their love blogging. Atlanta isn't going to know what hit it.
You know who are. I'm just trying to help get the word out. Hey, Asian American women bloggers, how about representing for us in Atlanta this fall? For more information about the event, and to register, go to the Blogalicious website here.
Believe it or not, 20th anniversary of the publication of Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club, a seminal, defining moment in Asian American literature -- for better or for worse. In honor of this occasion, and APA Heritage Month in May, our friends at the Hyphen blog are putting together a blog carnival, asking for submissions of your own short, personal Asian American immigrant narratives, in 300 words or less. Read all about it here: he Joy Luck Hub: Call for Submissions!
Yes, that is indeed comedian Bobby Lee you spotted in the music video for Eminem's latest single, "We Made You.". It's Eminem being his usual juvenile self, making fun of everything and everyone. Bobby plays a Sulu-like starship dude and an Eskimo comrade in Sarah Palin's office. YouTube embedding has been disabled, but you can view the video here. The video, by the way, is directed by Joseph Kahn.
Calling all filmmakers! The DC APA Film Festival celebrates its tenth anniversary this fall, October 1-10, and is looking for a few good films. Maybe you've got a short film you want to show the world... but time is running out. The early submission deadline, with a reduced fee, is the end of this week, April 18. But they'll be accepting submissions through the late deadline, May 9. To find out how to submit your film to festival, go to the Withoutabox page here.
Also, for folks in the greater D.C., Virginia and Maryland area, you've got a chance to get involved with the festival. Mark your calendar for the festival's first Volunteer Happy Hour on Tuesday, May 7 at Current in D.C. The festival can't run without its volunteers, so if you've got the time and energy, come on out. For details, go here.
Oh cool. Inland Territory, the latest album from singer/songwriter Vienna Teng, was released last week. I haven't had a chance to listen to the whole thing yet, but I'm told that her fourth album is her most ambitious yet. Listen to some samples here. You might also be able to catch Vienna on her U.S. Release Tour. For more information about the album, go to Vienna Teng's official website here.
Some more on the bias incident that happened last week at Tufts University, in which a group of Korean American students were harassed with racial slurs and physically assaulted by a drunk-ass idiot white student while they were practicing for a culture show...
Students at Tufts are organizing a rally on Thursday afternoon, 12:30-1:30pm on the Tisch Library steps, to support the victims of the incident and speak out against such acts. For more information, go to the Facebook event page here: Rally in Response to 04.09.09 Bias Incident.
Another sad outcome of the economic downturn: less love for Indian men. The Wall Street Journal has a story on the wobbly economy making Indian parents hesitant about sending their daughters to the U.S. to marry. Indian guys who otherwise would've been considered "good catch" are apparently finding less luck with potential brides: Ineligible Bachelors: Indian Men Living in U.S. Strike Out.
Indian parents used to think it a plus to marry off their daughters to Indian men living in wealthier countries. But as India has grown more affluent in recent years, the demand for overseas Indian grooms has been fading. While India's economy is also slowing down, it's still growing, and layoffs aren't as widespread as in the West. And I guess that means a lot more Indian bachelors in the U.S.
All right. This is the very very last video for Secret Identities, the Asian American superhero comic book anthology. This one's a 10-minute documentary about what the project is all about, and how it all came together, with interviews from the editors and a comprehensive overview of the book's contents and contributors: "What is SECRET IDENTITIES?"
The book is in stores this week! Tuesday, April 14. Look for it in bookstores and of course, Amazon.com. Can't find it in bookstores? They may be hiding it from you. Or they might have shelved in the wrong place. Or maybe they never planned to carry any copies of the book. What's up with that? Boo on them.
Co-editor Parry Shen has written a letter appealing to you, the Asian American community, asking for your support of Secret Identities, explaining what they're trying to do, and why this particularly book is an important piece of popular culture: SI Editor's Letter.To learn more about the book, head over to the Secret Identities website here.
Just heard about this news from a few weeks back. Navy Lt. Florence Bacong Choe was killed last month in northern Afghanistan when an insurgent posing as an Afghan National Army soldier opened fire on troops assigned to Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan at Camp Shaheen, Mazar-e-Sharif: Navy lieutenant, mom admired by everyone.
Lt. Choe was serving as a medical administration and logistics mentor to the Afghan National Army. Her home duty station was the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, where she was born. She had volunteered to serve in Afghanistan.
I've been hearing from a lot of folks about KevJumba's latest video, in which he rants a bit about the Hollywood live-action Dragonball movie that hit theaters over the weekend, and why the hell they had to cast Goku as a white dude: Asians Just Aren't Cool Enough?.
You might be happy to know that the movie debuted in a really really sad eighth place at the box office. Coming at it as someone who is a lifelong fan, KevJumba is particularly on point. The point, of course, isn't that Asians are lame.... it's that Hollywood thinks we're really lame.
Despite her documented love of goofy, racist gestures, it seems that America still loves Miley Cyrus, with Hannah Montana The Movie taking the top spot at the box office over the weekend. Some folks, however, aren't letting it go that easily.
Remember Lucie J. Kim? She's the woman who filed a lawsuit against Miley Cyrus on behalf of all Asian Pacific Islander Americans in Los Angeles County. That suit is still ongoing. I heard from Henry M. Lee, the attorney representing Ms. Kim, who tells me Miley Cyrus has resonded to the lawsuit:
We received a response from Miley Cyrus to the lawsuit. As expected, she filed a demurrer, which is a type of motion to dismiss the case. What I wanted you to know is what Cyrus argues in her papers....here is a direct quote:
"If Plaintiff or others were offended by Defendant's facial expression as depicted in the intended private photograph, then they are free to not patronize Defendant's Image --- or at least stop being a fan." Demurrer, p. 12, lines 14-16.
Wait, so basically, she's saying if Asians are offended by mocking, racist gestures, then they just stop being a fan. Oh, it's as easy that, right? Once again, it's all on us. The "offended." Obviously, this is not over. I'm sure there will be more on the Miley lawsuit to come...
Heard about this crazy story out of Orange County about a woman who was shot and killed by a Santa Ana police officer last Friday after leading police on a high speed chase through several cities, from Buena Park to Santa Ana: Police ID woman killed after chase with baby in her car.
37-year-old Susie Young Kim died at the scene of the shooting after a 30-minute pursuit. The crazy part about it all is, she had her 13-month old daughter in the back seat through the entire chase. Fortunately, she was unharmed. What the hell was this woman thinking?
Details are apparently still unclear about what led the officer to shoot. An officer tried to stop her after suspecting she might be driving under the influence, but she took off, leading the cops on the kind of high-speed chase Southern California knows all too well. Only this time, there was a kid in the backseat.
Okay, everybody. Time to make some plans. The place to be on Thursday, April 23 is the Mystery of Sake, a sake and food tasting event benefiting the Little Tokyo Service Center. You want to be there to sample some sake, a little bit of food, and hang with friends -- all in support of a great community nonprofit organization. It's Thursday the 23rd at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Here are some details:
Mystery of Sake: A Sake & Food Tasting Event benefiting the Little Tokyo Service Center
California Science Center 700 State Drive Los Angeles, CA 90037
Thursday, April 23, 2009 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Honoring Mutual Trading Co Awards Ceremony during VIP Reception 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm VIP Catering Provided By: Andy Nakano
Event Features Sake provided by Mutual Trading Co Hors d'oeuvre Stations by LA's Top Restaurants Private viewing of "CSI: The Experience" exhibit Silent Auction and Opportunity Drawing
General Admission $60 Pre-Sale $70 @ the Door, Subject to Availability
It's going to be a really fun evening. Sake! And lots of it. How can you go wrong? And best of all, it's for a great cause, helping the Little Tokyo Service Center continue its mission in "Helping People, Building Community" by providing social services and developing affordable housing in Los Angeles. For more information about the event, and to purchase tickets, go here.
This is a cool New York Times piece on artist Jean Shin and her latest installation, starting on May 1, at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington. It sounds pretty cool: Because Everyone Deserves a Trophy.
From what I can tell, "Everyday Monuments" is a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd in miniature -- modeled on the protests and celebrations seen on the National Mall in D.C. -- created from the refashioned pieces and figures of discarded trophies.
To create the installation, she gathered the donations of more than 2,000 trophies with the help of the Smithsonian and local donors. That third-place softball trophy that was gathering dust on in the basement has found new life as art.
Check out our man Ramey Ko on the local Austin news, talking about his now-infamous encounter in the Texas Capitol last week with Rep. Betty Brown, who suggested in her awesome ignorance that Asian American voters might want to adopt names that are "easier for Americans to deal with." The guy has suddenly found himself in the center of a national discussion. It even earned itself a joke on Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update! Ramey speaks out: Ramey Ko reacts to Rep. Brown's remarks.
Last week, I got word of a possible police brutality incident that occurred on the evening of April 3 in Flushing, in an arrest allegedly involving over twenty officers assaulting one man. From what's been described to me, the incident happened after a middle-aged Chinese American driver ran a red light and crashed into a police car. The violence was apparently witnessed by the members of a church next to the accident site:
Then, according to my mother, 20 to 25 officers pulled the man out of the vehicle. He was not resisting arrest and once again not under the influence of any drugs/alcohol. After pulling him out of the vehicle they repeatedly assaulted the man by kicking him and punching him. She said the man cried out for help and expressed pain by screaming. My mother and church members went over to obtain evidence by trying to take a picture or video, but one officer shouted "Get out of here." So instead they tried to stop the officers from beating the man but they were surrounding the man in a circle and my mother being a tiny woman couldn't do anything to help him. After nearly an hour of torment, they arrested the man and took him to the precint.
I've been looking around for more news about this, but unfortunately, it doesn't appear as though any mainstream news outlet has picked up on it. The only space offering any kind of news of information is on this Facebook group page: Police Brutality in Flushing. April 3, 2009.
Obviously, this is just one person's take on what happened, gathered from a variety of eyewitnesses and sources. I don't know what exactly happened, but it doesn't it required that kind of violent level of response. At the moment, I would just like more information. Is anyone else out there talking about this? Has anyone seen any media coverage?
Asian Behaving Badly... crooked Chinese scientist edition! Last week, Quan-Sheng Shu was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison after admitting he passed space technology to China and bribed Chinese government officials to obtain what could have been a lucrative contract worth millions: Scientist to serve 51 months for giving technology to China.
Shu, owner of AMAC International Inc., provided China assistance in the design and development of a cryogenic fueling system for space-launch vehicles to be used at China's space facility in Hainan.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of violating the federal Arms Export Control Act and one count of bribery. Ack. Come on, man! Really. Come on. It's bad enough, ever since the Wen Ho Lee debacle -- even after it was made clear that he did nothing wrong -- there are those who still think there are rampant Chinese spies among us. But this guy was actually trying to do it. Serious fail.
I got this forwarded along to me, some information about a bias incident that happened at Tufts University last Thursday, involving a drunk freshman idiot harassing some Korean American students. From the Facebook group: 04.09.09 Bias Incident at Tufts University
There was a bias incident involving members of the Korean Students Association (KSA) that took place in the early morning hours on Thursday, April 9, in Lewis Hall Lounge, while the club members were practicing for their culture show.
Thirteen members of the KSA were preparing for their culture show at approximately 1:45AM. A white freshman male living in Lewis Hall approached five male members who were practicing their dance. He claimed that he had been drinking at a bar prior to arriving at Lewis Hall. He insisted several times that the KSA members teach him the moves to their dance and was repeatedly asked to stop. Despite this request, he continued to molest the dancers, imitating the dance moves and declaring, "This is the gayest shit I've ever done." The KSA members then asked him to leave, to which he responded, "Fuck you. Fuck you, I could take all of you. I'll kill you all." He then threatened to get his fraternity brothers to help him retaliate. At this point, he began to physically harass the dancers, spitting at one member and shoving another one of the guys. An altercation ensued during which the freshman ripped two shirts and inflicted minor cuts to a member's forehead. In order to restrain him, the KSA members pinned him to the floor and put him into a headlock, at which point the freshman mentioned that he could not breathe and the person holding him down immediately let go.
At this moment, the freshman's friend and his girlfriend, who watched from the side, stepped in to take him away. When he got up, he started cursing "Fuck you, fuck you" and spitting at the dancers again. As he was being dragged away, he shouted, "Fuck you all, you fucking chinks, go back to China! Go back to your fucking country, you don't belong in this country." His friends took him to the bathroom, where he could be heard repeatedly shouting, "If I see them again, I will fuck them all."
The fight was reported to an RA, who wrote and sent in a bias incident report. According to the RA, submitted within the report was testimony from his girlfriend supporting the fact that her boyfriend initiated the altercation.
Thirteen people, members and friends of KSA, were present during the fight. In the aftermath of the dispute, members were shocked and saddened that such racism and hostility could be found at our school. It is the collective wish of KSA and affiliated students, both of Asian and non-Asian heritage, that this event come to the attention of our community in order to shed light on discrimination among our peers and our ongoing fight for cultural understanding.
You could just dismiss it as some drunk white fool coming back from a night of partying and just acting like an idiot. Or you could say that it points to a larger problem of anti-Asian sentiment on college campuses, something that easily emerges and rears its ugly head when a guy decides to get drunk ... and honest.
Why is it that a group of Asian American students can't just gather, minding their own business, doing their thing, without some racist jerk getting all up in their faces and doing the whole "you fucking chinks, go back to China!" thing? That's racist!
Hey! We've got another Angry Reader of the Week, spotlighting you, the very special readers of this website. Over the years, I've been able to connect with a lot of cool folks, and this is a way of showing some appreciation and attention to the people who help make this blog what it is. This week's reader is immigration attorney Jen Tse.
Who are you? Jennifer Tse. My friends call me Jen - with one "n," not two. And hardly anyone can pronounce my last name.
What are you? I am a second and a half generation Chinese American. My mom was born in China, but grew up in Wichita, Kansas (hence the second and a half gen) and my dad was born in Hong Kong. I am a loud and proud UCLA Bruin, I hold a JD from Santa Clara University School of Law, and I am a former Hollywood agent wannabe before I chose a career in law. And I'm actually not that angry. I'm more often mildly irritated and occasionally frustrated.
Where are you? Right now, in my extremely air conditioned office in Atlanta, Georgia. I've lived in California nearly all of my life, with brief stints in Sydney and New York City, but I have recently become an official resident of The South.
Where are you from? I hail from Torrance, California (a lovely suburb of LA) where I was born and raised. I attended the original Torrance High School, home of Beverly Hills, 90210 and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
What do you do? I currently work for the Southern Poverty Law Center where I am working on a class-action human trafficking case of guestworkers from India. It is an honor to work for such an acclaimed civil rights organization, and to be paid to do great work with a group of talented, social-justice-minded, passion-driven lawyers. I aspired to do international human rights work when I decided to go to law school, but I realized how much work needs to be done here domestically, so I fell into immigration law, with an emphasis in immigrants' justice advocacy. I've done refugee work for Amnesty International in Sydney, asylum work in the Bay Area, and I was a legal intern working in human trafficking at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF). I am so proud and happy when I see AALDEF's work featured on AngryAsianMan! I almost always wear hoop earrings and flip-flops, scuba dive if I can afford it, drink obscene amounts of coffee, can talk endlessly about food, vote when I catch American Idol, and shamelessly cry whenever I watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
What are you all about? Faith. Hope. Courage. I thrive from the energy of people from all walks of life, but especially from my friends and family, my constant source of strength and laughter. My mom once chastised me in the 3rd grade when I thought I was being foolish and funny, grand standing in front of my classmates. Having embarrassed her, she set me aside and quietly reminded me: Treat all people with respect, but you treat the people who are nearest to you with an even greater level of respect.
What makes you angry? Ignorance and injustice, generally. The exploitation of vulnerable people, especially. CA Proposition 8 The flaws in our country's education system. The "model minority" myth of Asian Americans. That there are not more Asian Americans in the judiciary. Those who speak but do not act. Those with a misplaced sense of entitlement. Those who lack basic consideration of others. Rudeness. Ann Coulter. Being called "exotic." P.F. Chang's and Yoshinoya. Loathesome. How poorly UCLA did in this year's NCAA Basketball Tournament.
Here's a good piece by Andrew Lam reacting to recent high-profile incidents of violence in the Asian American community -- Virginia Tech, Binghamton, and now the Korean Catholic retreat center -- and the media's unhealthy habit of "finding the ethnic angle": Debunking the 'Ethnic Angle' to Mass Murders like Binghampton and Virginia Tech.
Whenever something like this happens, there is inevitably an attempt to understand what drove the killer to such horrible acts. Why is it when we're talking about an Asian shooter, the discourse tends to swirl around something to do with "revenge" and "losing face"? Lam suggests that we should be shifting our attention to what's right in front of our face: America's gun culture.
An update on the situation with Texas state Rep. Betty Brown, whose comments regarding Asian names during House testimony on voter identification legislation got a lot of people angry. Basically she suggested that Asian Americans might want to adopt names that are "easier for Americans to deal with." This, of course, did not sit well with a lot of people. And dear old Betty heard about it. Here's the official apology from her office:
Statement from State Representative Betty Brown Thursday, April 9th, 2009 Contact: Jordan Berry – 903.288.7581
State Representative Betty Brown apologizes for her remark in the Elections Committee on Tuesday, April 7th. Representative Brown appreciates Ramey Ko's testimony which made the Elections Committee aware of experiences Asian-American's have when acquiring identification. Representative Brown appreciates the diversity of Texas and the enrichment that the Asian-American community has brought to our great state.
She would like for you to be aware that the quote that is being circulated is one sentence out of a conversation she was having with Mr. Ko, who represents the Organization of Chinese Americans, while he was testifying. The conversation was regarding possible difficulties in translating names. Later in the conversation Representative Brown explained what she had meant by her comment. "I'm not talking about changing your name. I'm talking about the transliteration, or whatever you refer to it, that you could use for us."
Representative Brown expresses gratitude to her Asian-American friends for their demonstration of support by her during this misunderstanding.
Ramey Ko, the guy who was giving testimony in front of the committee, who had the exchange with Brown, actually spoke with her on the phone yesterday afternoon. She called him up to personally apologize and try to explain where she was coming from. Here's Ramey take on Brown's apology, posted up on the AAA-Fund Blog:
In my conversation with [Texas Rep. Brown's] Chief of Staff yesterday, she explicitly said that they were releasing the statement through [former Texas Rep.] Martha [Wong] rather than making it publicly because they didn't want it to be in the press anymore.
I'd also note that the apology doesn't address her use twice of language that implies Asian Americans aren't Americans:
"Do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here."
"Can't you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for both you and for people who are pollworkers, if there were some means by which you could adopt a name just for your poll identification purposes that would be easier for the Americans to deal with?"
I think that implication is reflective of a lot more than just misspeaking about names.
And regardless of whether she is talking about explicitly changing Asian names to Westernized ones, she clearly is asking Asian Americans to shoulder the burden and cost of somehow "streamlining" our names in order to vote.
"Alright, I see a need here for young people like you, who are obviously very bright, to come up with something that would work for you, and then let us see if it will work for us."
And finally, it shows a lack of appreciation for the fact that whatever solution she might come up with, millions of Asian American voters today will be affected by the legislation.
I have to agree. Again, I have to say, I don't think Brown was trying to offend. Hell, I think she was actually attempting to be helpful. But the statement definitely reflected a great deal of ignorance, and a complete lack of understanding of what it means to be Asian American -- or even just plain "American." But really, doesn't that always seem to be the case?
An update on the hate crime assault that occurred in from of a frat house last month at UCSB... According to a police report released this week, the attack appears to have been perpetrated by "a single aggressor": PIKE Frat Faces Assault Penalties.
Let me get this straight. Thanh Hong and Paul Elekes were walking by the PIKE house, when somebody from a group out front started hollering and yelling racial slurs at them. When the two tried to walk away, they were attacked from behind, both punched in the face, and called more racial slurs... for no reason at all.
All this happens -- and only one guy is responsible? You mean to tell me nobody else participated in this, and nobody else is at fault? Even if this group of five or six dudes did not actively participate in the beating, as they claim, they still just stood by and didn't do a damn thing while these guys were being assaulted.
As a result of the incident, PIKE's campus charter has been placed on interim suspension and the fraternity is no longer allowed to host its annual Fight Night or recruit new members this quarter. Well, what a relief. That'll show 'em.
Seriously, PIKE. You get your Fight Night taken away and you're the victim? You're worried about your negative reputation? Two guys walked by your house and got their ass kicked for no reason, except for the fact that Thanh Hong is Asian. That's racist!.
Here's a cool opporunity for Asian American youth... The Asian American Institute in Chicago is a non-profit, community-based organization that advocates for, empowers, and educates Asian Americans. They're currently looking for young Asian Americans in Illinois who might be interested in their annual summer Impact Fellows Program. Here are some details and guidelines:
The Asian American Institute is accepting applications for its third annual Impact Fellows Program (IFP). IFP seeks to foster the development of young leaders and to create a pipeline of leaders to act as informed and active representatives of the APA community. This program will take place in Chicago from mid June thru early August 2009.
Impact Fellows Program (IFP) is a summer leadership program that incorporates 98 hours of training and 96 hours of internship hours at one of AAI’s Community Partners over a 7 week period. This program helps develop emerging leaders by providing them culturally competent trainings and perspectives which they can incorporate within their own value systems and skill-sets.
For additional information on this program please visit AAI’s website (http://www.aaichicago.org/main_ifp.html).
Fellows' Qualifications:
- Illinois residents (residency or school) - Aged 17-22 - Demonstrated leadership and/or community service - Knowledge of, or a desire to learn about, issues facing the APA community.
Deadlines for applications:
Early Deadline: Monday, May 4, 2009 (rolling admissions afterwards until Final Deadline) Final Deadline: Monday, May 15, 2009 Applicants will be notified of our decision by Week of May 25th.
AAI also invites the participation of Community Partners, which includes community-based organizations, government agencies, and foundations. The Community Partners will host fellows during the internship portion of the program. AAI seeks Community Partners that are nonprofit CBOs or GAs that work directly or indirectly with the APA community.
Like I said, unfortunately, it's only open to Illinois residents. But maybe that's you or someone you know. For more information, download the Impact Fellows Program fact sheet here, and an application here. Or just visit the Asian American Institute website here.
Here's an interesting Los Angeles Times article on Binghamton's Vietnamese American community reacting to Jiverly Wong's shooting rampage last week at an immigrant services center. Wong, an immigrant from Vietnam, killed 13 people before taking his own life: Binghamton's Vietnamese reflect on gunman's struggles.
In many ways, the details that emerged about Wong's life -- recently laid off, troubled by poor language skills, unable to find a toehold in the U.S. -- reflect the struggles of many in the Vietnamese American community at large. Hopefully, we can find a way to turn this tragedy into a way of discussing and addressing these problems.
In theaters today... Dragonball Evolution, the live-action Hollywood adaptation of the wildly popular manga/anime series. It's directed James Wong, produced by Stephen Chow, and stars Chow Yun-Fat, Joon Park, Eriko Tamura, Jamie Chung, Randall Duk Kim... and a white dude as Goku.
Yes, that's Justin Chatwin looking kind of ridiculous as the cartoon hero come to life. As you know, the fans were not happy with this casting decision. If it's any consolation, the movie looks awful, reportedly is indeed a bag of crap, and I have a strong feeling it's going to bomb hard at the box office.
Also out today, the wicked Seth Rogen comedy Observe and Report. I'm told by someone who's seen the movie that it's funny... but really, really wrong. I dont' know what that means, but I hope the "wrong" doesn't involve John Yuan and Matt Yuan, pictured above. According to the credit last, they play guys name John Yuen and Matt Yuen, respectively. I'm not making this up.
In theaters next week... Crank: High Voltage, which has come up a coupleof times in the last few days, for some very bad reasons. This movie looks straight-up awful, on almost every level. I'm basically mentioning it here again as an excuse to post this batshit crazy photo of Bai Ling from the trailer.
Opening in limited release next week, the documentary Every Little Step, which traces the journey of the musical A Chorus Line, from its initial idea to its current Broadway revival. The film features choreographer Baayork Lee, who played Connie Wong in the original show, and Yuka Takara, pictured above, in the current production.
Later this month, Channing Tatum stars in Fighting, about a guy who gets involved with the underground bare-knuckle street fighting circuit. Spotted MMA fighter Cung Le in the trailer, though I'm guessing he isn't in the movie for very long. But I guess he's there to make the fighting seem more legit.
And finally, in limited release at the end of the month, Mutant Chronicles. It's a sci-fi movie set in the distant future, where a band of warriors must protect Mars from an alien force of undead mutants. Devon Aoki and Tom Wu are in the movie as part of the mutant-fighting warrior crew. Though if you watch this clip, you'll see that things don't end up so well for Tom Wu.
Happy birthday, Jackie Chan. The action movie superstar turned 55 this week. His most recent movie The Shinjuku Incident is being touted as his move away from action into more "serious" roles. Can you really blame him? The guy has put his body through hell and back, and he isn't getting any younger. He certainly can't do the stuff he was doing back during the Police Story days.
Ling Liu from TIME recently solicited readers for questions to ask Jackie. Here are ten of them... with Jackie's answers: 10 Questions for Jackie Chan. And here's some video of Ling asking him questions. And here's a Jackie Chan photo slideshow. By the way, how many times do you think Jackie Chan has been asked if he could beat Jet Li in a fight?
I know, this is probably the last thing anyone wants to hear about these days... Some more details about the shooting rampage that occurred this week at a Korean Catholic retreat center in Temecula, California. The alleged gunman killed one and injured four: Gunman's rampage leaves Korean community reeling.
According to Riverside County Sheriff's deputies, on Tuesday evening, 69-year-old John Chong, a maintenance man at the retreat, shot Chuneui Yun in the head, killing her instantly, then shot her husband Jong Pil Yun in the chest, leaving him gravely wounded.
Chong then walked to the cottage owned by Joseph and Juliana Kim with plans to shoot them as well, but the Kims fought back ferociously with fists, furniture and weights. It sounds like it was an insane brawl. Literally, for their lives.
What the hell happened? Investigators haven't established a motive for the shooting. Some believe Chong might've just reached his breaking point, but there's no way of knowing for sure. Unfortunately, that seems to be the only answer we're getting a lot these days.
This is pretty frickin' cool. Paper Shapers, curated by Giant Robot, kicks off this Saturday, April 11 at Scion's 4,500 square foot Installation L.A. Gallery in Culver City. It's a group show featuring ten artists who work with paper-not "on paper." The exhibition will feature works that are cut, torn, folded, and sewn into unique creations. Like robots!
Renown paper artist Shin Tanaka will be making a rare U.S. appearance at the opening and will be on hand to show original pieces and fold paper with attendees. I've seen his stuff in recent issues of GR, and it's pretty damn kickass.
A variety of paper artists from around the world will also participate in the exhibition, including Ana Serrano, Annie Vought, Brian Dettmer, Hunter Stabler, Peter Callesen, Polly Verity, Richard Sweeney, Mu Pan and Ryohei Tanaka.
The Papershapers exhibition runs April 11 - May 2. The opening reception will be on Saturday. For more information, take a look at the flyer above, or go to the Scion Installation L.A. website here.
Goodness, people. Don't encourage her! io9 has a feature on Bai Ling, in which she genuine comes off as craaaaaaazy. Or maybe on serious drugs. Or perhaps an extraterrestrial (she actually claims she descended from the Moon, via satellite, then landed in Asia). Or maybe it's all an ingenious act: Bai Ling Wrote Her Own Crank 2 Dialogue.
Whatever the case, everything she reveals about her character in Crank: High Voltage pretty much confirms what you already know -- this movie is bad, and it just doesn't care. Bai Ling (good lord, she wrote her own dialogue) doesn't care either. You know the movie's bad news when even star Jason Statham is saying it's "the most offensive" script he's ever read.
This is a really cool NPR story on Afterquake, a new folk/electronica music project that's just been produced in Sichuan and will be released as a seven-song EP on May 12 -- the anniversary of the massive earthquake that struck southwestern China last year -- with a portion of proceeds going to Sichuan Quake Relief: Earthquake Soundscapes.
The project is a collaboration between Abigail Washburn, who's been singing old-time Appalachian mountain music in Chinese(!), and Dave Liang, the guy behind the Shanghai Restoration Project, which I've mentioned here many many times. Considering the kind of music Dave puts together, it makes perfect sense.
The two have collected recordings in rural Sichuan of what they call "earthquake soundscapes" -- construction sounds, playground noise, song performances by children from the quake zone, and the voices of their parents. Based on what I heard from the NPR piece, it's pretty amazing stuff. It says the CD will be available on May 12.
I've been seeing this funny Southwest Airlines commercial on TV a lot lately, though if I'm not mistaken, it's actually a couple of years old. That's comedian/actress Amy Anderson as a woman who really really doesn't like to stop. Should've waited for the next one, dude.
A little more on the good news we heard the other day... Lori Phanachone, the Laotian American high school honor student in Iowa who faced suspension for refusing to take the school district's mandatory English language exam, will indeed be reclassified as an English proficient student. Here's the press release from AALDEF:
AALDEF COMMENDS IOWA SCHOOL DISTRICT'S DECISION TO RESTORE HONORS AND RECLASSIFY LAOTIAN AMERICAN STUDENT AS ENGLISH PROFICIENT ----- Honors student previously disciplined for protesting English Language Learner testing
New York, NY – In a welcome but abrupt about face, Storm Lake School District has reclassified Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) client Lori Phanachone as English proficient and restored her National Honor Society membership. After stripping the 3.98 GPA student's National Honor Society membership for refusing an English Language Learner (ELL) test, the school district has met AALDEF's demand to restore her membership. The district has also met AALDEF's demand to reclassify Ms. Phanachone as English proficient.
Khin Mai Aung, Ms. Phanachone's attorney at AALDEF, said: "Storm Lake is finally moving in the right direction by reclassifying Lori as English proficient, and restoring her hard earned National Honors Society membership. We are thrilled about this development, but continue to seek assurances from Storm Lake on other pending matters.” "
Ms. Phanachone was mislabeled an ELL for naming Lao as her home language, without an English proficiency assessment, when she moved to Storm Lake two years ago. Ms. Phanachone has since been subjected to yearly ELL testing while excelling in advanced courses taught in English. This year, she boycotted a yearly ELL test in protest, resulting in a 3- day suspension, exclusion from extracurriculars and loss of her National Honor Society membership.
Lori Phanachone said: "We still need a lot of answers, but I feel really good that my academic honors have been restored, and I no longer have to worry about being classified as an ELL."
Among other things, the following demands by AALDEF are still pending with Storm Lake School District:
* Remove all references to Lori Phanachone's suspension and other disciplinary action from her school records; * Assure in writing that it will not impose further disciplinary action on her; * Clarify Storm Lake's procedures for classifying students as ELL upon enrollment; and * Explain how and why Lori Phanachone was initially classified as an ELL under Storm Lake's classification procedures.
Thank you, Storm Lake. Turns out, you can actually speak an entirely different language at home and still be completely proficient in English. suspension and other disciplinary action You rule, Lori Phanachone. As the statement says, hopefully this also means that all references to her suspension and other disciplinary action will be removed from her school records. And let's also hope that Storm Lake seriously rethinks its criteria for who should and shouldn't be classified as an English Language Learner.
Following up Texas state Rep. Betty Brown's ridiculous, offensive suggestion that Asian American voters, with our strange and exotic Asian names, should adopt names that are "easier for Americans to deal with" ... whatever the hell that means. But if you're actually interested in following Rep. Brown's advice, here's a handy Betty Brown Name Generator.
Is your name too hard to understand? Pesky Asian heritage got you down? Change your weird, unwieldly, foreign Asian name into a more digestible name that Americans can "deal with." Betty Brown Approved! God forbid anyone would have to deal with un-American sounding name, or anything other than Smith, Jones or Brown.
Granted, the name generator isn't very sophisticated. I've entered a number of names and just keep getting variations on 'Billy-Ray "Chicken and Dumplings" Brown.' But hey, according to Betty Brown's standards, the simpler the better, right? Don't want a name that's going to trip up "Americans," like those difficult Chinese names.
This week, the Ontario Human Rights Commission released its third and final report investigating a series of racist assaults and incidents of harassment against local Asian fishermen, tracing back several years: Race was bait in attacks.
You might remember reading about it a few years ago, when a number of Asian Canadian fishermen fell victim to what the kids were calling "nippertipping." Yes, you read that right. They call it nippertipping. That's no coincidence.
The commission inquiry, which spanned two fishing season, found that they were indeed being targeted, but victims were often afraid of reporting the incidents, or just didn't know how to report them. And it's apparently still happening. That's racist! More here: Asian anglers can't shake harassment.
More on Roxaana Saberi, the American freelance journalist who has been detained by the Iranian government since January 31.. According to an investigative judge, she has been charged with spying for the United States: Iran charges American journalist with espionage.
The espionage charge is a hell of a lot more serious than earlier statements by Iranian officials that the Saberi had been arrested for working in the Islamic Republic without press credentials, or speculation that she had been arrested after buying a bottle of wine.
Saberi, who grew up in North Dakota (a former Miss North Dakota, actually), and is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Iran, has been living in Iran for six years. She has reported from there for several news organizations, including NPR and the BBC.
How the hell did the charges jump from reporting without accredtation... to spying?!According to the judge, she is accused of gathering classified information, under the cover of a journalist, and passing it to U.S. intelligence services. She will reportedly stand trial next week.
Fame! I'm gonna live forever! Just try to get that song out of your head. I dare you. The teaser trailer for the new Hollywood remake of the 1980 musical Fame recently hit the web. The movie is about the New York City High School of Performing Arts, where students from all walks of life sing, dance and strive for their chance in the spotlight.
Above, that's Anna Maria Perez de Tagle, who plays Joy. And the movie is directed by Kevin Tancharoen. After directing a number of television shows, he's helming his first feature film. Definitely someone to watch. The movie is scheduled to open in theaters on September 25. Remember!
Some interesting news of political dumbassery coming out of Texas... In Austin, during House testimony on voter identification legislation, state Rep. Betty Brown suggested that Asian Americans might want to adopt names that are "easier for Americans to deal with" when they want to vote so their names will match what is on registration rolls: Lawmaker suggests Asian-descendant voters should adopt names "easier for Americans to deal with." There's video here.
That's sensitivity. Brown made her statements during testimony from our very own reader Ramey Ko, who was there representing the Organization of Chinese Americans. I'm sorry, Betty, if our strange, exotic Asian names cause such an inconvenience to you and your people. I guess you forgot the fact that us crazy-named folks are your people too... whether you like it or not.
Similar to laws that passed in Indiana, Georgia, and Florida, the voter ID bill under discussion would create more restrictions on the types of identification a voter would need to produce at a polling place -- a government-issued photo ID or two forms of non-photo ID from a designated list. This isn't particularly good news for the poor, elderly, college students, and minority groups.
Here's how it all went down, according to our man Ramey, straight from the Texas State Capitol. As he describes, it's a doozy:
I testified on behalf of OCA, and I used my three minutes of testimony to discuss how such a law would burden the APA community specifically. I talked about how Asian Americans are less likely to have photo ID, how poll worker discretion can create problems for Asian Americans, how burdensome and expensive getting naturalization documents can be for naturalized citizens, and also about how name-matching has been a particular problem for Asian Americans in states such as Florida, because of our use of transliterated names, adopting "Americanized" names for certain purposes, having multiple parts to names, frequent confusion of and misspelling of our names on documentation, etc.
After the testimony, the committee members could ask questions. State Representative Betty Brown asked me several questions, including a few on the name thing. A link to the video of yesterday's hearing is below. The questioning starts at about 3:31:30 (so go back three minutes to see my testimony). Brown makes several offensive statements during the course of the questioning, so take your pick.
Here is the exact text of one of the things Rep. Betty Brown said:
"Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese - I understand it's a rather difficult language - do you think that it would be to you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?" (there is not a word missing there; that's what she said)
And then Betty Brown puts the onus on the Chinese-American community to not be disenfranchised by the Voter ID bill:
"I see a need here for young people like you, who are obviously very bright, to come up with something that would work for you and then let us see if we can't make it work for us."
In contrast, Dr. Alma Allen responded:
"I'm not a proponent of changing your name, I think names mean something in families…We don't want to damage cultures and ask people to change their names for the purpose of voting."
After that, you can see Rep. Brown kind of realizing the import of what she said, and she tries to do a little mea culpa at the end, saying she didn't really mean that we should change our culture, etc.
Not really that objectionable (except for the assumption that I'd know, I guess), though funny, she also asked if photo IDs were required to vote in China, to which I responded, "I don't think there are elections in China."
Zing! Good one, Ramey. I can see that Rep. Brown wasn't necessarily trying to be offensive... but that didn't stop her from digging a deep, dark hole and filling it with ignorant and disrespectful comments. Li, Wong, Park, Huynh, Chong... we're all here to stay, and we're not changing our names for you. "Deal" with that.
The Texas Democratic Party is demanding she apologize: Lawmaker defends comment on Asians. But Brown ain't having it, saying that Democrats are blowing her comments out of proportion, and making it "just about race." You're damn right it's about race! She made it about race, alienation, and the other. That's racist! (Thanks, Ramey.)
All right, time for one last video preview for Secret Identities, the Asian American superhero comic book anthology. The eighth and final trailer is for the superhero "Peril,", written by co-editor Keith Chow, with art by Jef Castro.
In the story, a young man named Mason Wong learns that his father has been incarcerated and accused of spying on the United States. His father, Dr. Benjamin Wong, was a research scientist who helped develop a series of nanotechnology prototypes that gave people superhuman abilities. Mason is sent on a quest by his father's partner, Dr. Malcolm Eady, to retrieve a weapon before it gets into the wrong hands.
"Peril" was partially inspired by the real life case against Dr. Wen Ho Lee, a Chinese American scientist who worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In 1999, he was indicted on 59 counts of espionage, jailed in solitary confinement for several months, and released on time served after the government failed to prove its case against him.
Secret Identities hits shelves next week, on April 15. I received my copy in the mail last week, and it smells good. You can pre-order it now on Amazon.com. To learn more about the book, head over to the Secret Identities website here.
Last week on Bainbridge Island in Washington, a groundbreaking ceremony was held at the future site of a memorial commemorating the exile of 227 Japanese Americans from the island in March 1942 as a result of Executive Order 9066: Bainbridge Island breaks ground for Japanese-American internment memorial.
Because of their proximity to naval bases, the Japanese Americans on Bainbridge Island were the first sent to internment camps. Among the internees who were at the ceremony was 98-year-old Fumiko Hayashida, who lived on Bainbridge Island and was interned at Manzanar sixty-seven years ago.
A satellite of the Minidoka Internment National Monument in Idaho, the memorial so far features trails, footbridges, cedar gates and a pavilion that were completed in 2006. Projected to cost $9 million, the site will eventually have a pier and an interpretative center. Coordinators say they've raised $2.7 million so far.
Last week's groundbreaking ceremony launched construction of a 272-foot, stone-and-cedar "story wall" that will one day have the names of all 276 Japanese-Americans forced off the island on March 30, 1942.
I know violence within the Asian American community is nothing new... it just seems like these days, the news is all coming at once. Last week, 20-year-old Kate Yi, a nursing student at Cal State Long Beach, was strangled to death in her apartment by her boyfriend Jonathan Huynh: CSULB student dies from asphyxiation strangulation.
Huynh was arrested on Saturday night, with bail set at $1 million. The investigation is ongoing. Police are gathering information about Yi and Huynh's relationship and looking to see if Huynh has a criminal record. Anyone who has information about the incident can contact LBPD Detectives David Rios or Daniel Mendoza at (562)570-7244.
If you're in the San Diego area, here's a cool Asian American music showcase happening this week that you might want to check out: Luminance, featuring Sam Kang, Olivia Thai, Seriously, and Jennifer Chung. This Friday, April 10 at The Loft at UC San Diego. Here are the details:
The Loft at UC San Diego Presents
LUMINANCE Featuring Sam Kang, Olivia Thai, Seriously, and Jennifer Chung The Loft at UC San Diego Friday, April 10, 2009 / 8:00 PM Doors: 7:30 PM UCSD Price Center East, 2nd Floor La Jolla, California General Admission: $8 UCSD: *Pay As You Can 858.534.TIXS or www.theloft.ucsd.edu
The Loft shines a light on these rising Asian-American stars. Watch them illuminate the stage as they break into the mainstream.
I'm a fan of all of these artists, and I'm pretty sure I've mentioned them all here before, except for Olivia, who I only recently discovered. But I'm definitely a new fan of hers too. This should be a really fun show, so if you have the chance, do check it out.
The goal of the Asian American Suicide Prevention Initiative is to raise awareness of mental health issues and to stop Asian Americans from becoming one of the more than 30,000 Americans who die from suicide each year. Some common Asian American suicide risk factors include family problems, depression and poverty.
Chicago Public Radio recently aired a stunning, haunting story on suicide in the Asian American community. It includes Asian Americans sharing the stories of family members they've lost to suicide: Reducing the Stigma of Suicide in the Asian-American Community.
Check it out. Singer/songwriter Kevin So just released a new solo acoustic album, Best Foot Forward. The guy is one hard-working musician. He's downright prolific, having released an album almost every year for the past 13 years... and yet he still manages to keep his music fresh and soulful. I have not yet heard this one, but I'm sure it kicks much ass.
If you're in New York, the "official" CD release in NYC is tomorrow night, April 9 at the Bitter End, then scattered tour stops all over throughout the spring. For more information about Kevin, and hear some music, go to his website here, and purchase the new CD here.
This is for all of you in Washington, DC... I saw this posted on the AA-Fund Blog: Take Action: Save the DC Office of APIA Affairs. Basically, Mayor Fenty's 2010 budget proposal completely eliminates the DC Office of Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs (OAPIA), and they need your help to save it. Here's the letter that's been circulating:
Dear DC AAPI Caucus,
If you have not heard already, we have incredibly disappointing news regarding the DC Office of Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs (OAPIA). In Mayor Fenty's 2010 budget proposal, the office will be eliminated completely with the budget zeroed out. The office's services will be transferred within the Office of Community Affairs and at least 60% of the current OAPIA staff will be eliminated.
It is outrageous that the Mayor would decide to eliminate OAPIA, which has been in existence for over 20 years, currently serving over 20,000 API residents in the District. This office was implemented due to the needs of the DC API community over the past two decades and many API leaders fought hard to create and sustain this office. In addition, this is the only ethnic minority office that the Mayor has decided to cut.
This issue is now in the hands of the City Council. The budget hearing is set for April 24th. We are asking everyone to contact their City Council members and asking them to:
* Reinstate the Office of Asian Pacific Islander Affairs and maintain the office as an independent agency with its own budget chapter and cabinet-level position within the Mayor's Office; and * Maintain the office as the District's point of contact for the API community.
Currently, other API leaders in DC have been working hard to meet with Councilmembers and reaching out to key people (other constituency organizations, national leaders, Commission on API Affairs, and the DC Democratic State Committee). We will circulate sample petition letters and postcards ASAP.
Every member of the AAPI Caucus should: 1) Contact Councilmembers. Please reach out to your Councilmember by letter, phone and/or requesting a meeting, and reach out to any Councilmember with whom you have a relationship with. Please let us know if you secure a meeting with a Councilmember, and who you contact. We want to keep track so we can make sure we reach out to all Councilmembers. Key Councilmembers: Vincent Gray (Chairperson), Yvette Alexander (Chair of the Committee of jurisdiction), and other committee members of jurisdiction Mary Cheh, Michael Browne, Jim Graham, Harry Thomas, Jr. However, we do want to reach out to ALL Councilmembers. 2) Reach out to allies to help advocate for this effort. Ask key national and/or local leaders to write a letter in support of the office, or contact city council members. 3) Press outreach. If you have any contacts to media outlets, such as WaPo, please let us know. A number of people are already reaching out to contacts they have, but if you know of any journalists who would be interested in writing about this, please reach out to her/him. 4) Prepare a testimony for the council hearing on April 24th. Let me know if you would be available to testify before council for OAPIA.
We only have a few weeks to get the word out, so if you have any other ideas, please let us know. Mayor Fenty explained in the council hearing that he's eliminating OAPIA, but not the Office of Latino Affairs or other offices such as African Affairs and LGBT because they have a "different" function. While we do not understand what he meant by this, we do not want to give the impression that the Asian community will not put up a fight to ensure equal footing with the other offices. Let's make sure our voices are heard and our community is served, and we prevent this from happening!
We will keep you posted as things develop. Please contact Wylie at dcaapidems@gmail.com if you have any questions or would like to help.
- Caroline
According to Mayor Fenty, he's eliminating OAPIA, but not the Office of Latino Affairs or other offices such as African Affairs and LGBT because they have a "different" function -- whatever that means. How can it go down like this? Do not let this happen without a fight! But time is running short, and there's only a few weeks to get the word out. For more information, go here.
Yesterday in Peru, former President Alberto Fujimori was found guilty of mass murder and kidnapping and was sentenced to 25 years in prison, a rare instance of a former head of state being found guilty in his own country on human rights charges: Former Peru President Fujimori convicted of mass murder, kidnapping.
Fujimori was found guilty of ordering massacres in the Barrios Altos area of Lima in 1991 and at La Cantuta University in 1992 that left 25 dead. He was also convicted in the 1992 abductions of a journalist and businessman. I'm guessing right now he's really really regretting coming back to South America after fleeing to Japan in 2000.
This is for my people in New York... My friends at NetKAL (Network of Korean American Leaders) are throwing a big-ass fundraiser this week and could use your help: MATCHED: NetKAL Spring Mixer 2009. It's this Thursday, April 9 at Arario Gallery in New York. Tickets are $20 at the door. Grab a drink, meet some new people, mix with new professionals, and, um, meet your potential match. All the info's on the flyer above. NetKAL thanks you.
Some more information on Jiverly Wong, the Binghamton gunman... Basically, he sounds like he was a pretty disturbed individual. Before going on his shooting spree, Wong sent a letter to a Syracuse television station, postmarked on Friday, blaming the police for his troubles: Police Had Few Contacts With Killer.
In the two-page letter, written in choppy English, he identifies himself as "Jiverly Wong shooting the people," and outlines a series of outlandish complaints about his encounters with the police in New York and California during the 1990s.
He blamed the cops in California for controlling his television and fan and for "connect the music into my ear." He also accused the police of breaking into his home numerous times in the 1990s, stealing $20 from him and trying to force him into car accidents on the highway.
The thing is, according to local police, it only had two interactions with Wong, both more than a decade ago. In August 1998, Wong walked into the Johnson City police department's headquarters to say he suspected someone had tried to break into his apartment through a window.
Two days later, a uniformed officer pulled over Wong in his car. He was issued a traffic ticket for an uninspected vehicle. Wong paid a $20 court charge, and the fine was waived. Both appear to have nothing to do with anything Wong indicated in his letter, which he ended with "Cop bring about this shooting. Cop must be responsible. And you have a nice day."
I know that in the coming weeks and months, people will continue to try to make sense of why Jiverly Wong did what he did. But the more information that comes out, it all seems to make less and less sense...
Good Lord. Just got news of one dead and three others injured in a shooting rampage at a campground in Temecula, California. The shooting reportedly happened on Tuesday evening at a "Korean religious retreat": Multiple shooting at Temecula campsite, one dead.
The victims were all Korean, and authorities are apparently struggling with a language barrier to get all the facts. The suspected gunman is in his his 70s, and is believe to be one of the four persons shot. More here: 4 shot, 1 dead at Korean retreat center in Calif.
I'm sure we'll get more details about this story later... but seriously, what the hell happened here? A 70-year-old shooter! At a Korean church retreat, of all places! Hey, is anyone else extremely tired of hearing about all this goddamn gun violence?
What's up, my people. Just thought I'd repost and remind everyone about this. I would still love to hear your input...
Looking ahead to the month of May, I'm putting together a feature called The 30 Most Influential Asian Americans Under 30. Over thirty days, I'll be profiling thirty young individuals who are making an impact in their respective fields, in their communities, and the world at large.
I'm still sort of figuring out how to do this. The now-defunct APA political website politicalcircus.com put together a list like this many, many years ago, and I always thought it was a pretty good idea. So I'm bringing it back. But I need your help.
I'm putting the call out. I already have several people in mind who are going to make the cut, but this list won't be very good unless I get some suggestions from you. It could be anyone -- artists, activists, athletes, politicians, entrepreneurs -- as long as they're 30 years old or younger. It could be someone you're aware of on a national level, someone in your own community, or someone you know personally.
To nominate someone, email me (with "30 UNDER 30" in the subject line) with the person's name, age, what they do, and in a hundred words or less, why you think they are one of the 30 Most Influential Asian Americans Under 30. I'll be accepting nominations through the end of April.
To whittle down the list to thirty, I'll be conferring with a select team of (not yet determined) editorial consultants. If your nominee is under consideration, I might contact you with some follow-up questions. For the sake of my sanity, one nomination per person please. So make it a good one. And please, spread the word.
Lori, a senior who ranks seventh in her class and has a 3.9 grade point average, refused to take the English Language Development Assessment several times last month, saying the test was demeaning and racist. The exam was mandatory for Lori because she indicated on her school registration that English was not the first language spoke in her home.
But Lori was born in California and lived in New York before moving to Iowa with her family in 2006. She's never been enrolled in any English Language Learning or English as a Second Language program. There was absolutely no reason for her take the damn test.
And now she doesn't have to. The school district has made changes in the curriculum requiremens, including a reclassification in the English Language Learners program. Hopefully, this also means that the discipline that was imposed upon her will also be lifted. And let's hope they reconsider the guidelines for who they require to take the English assessment.
Last week, I heard from Mandy, a student at Vassar College. She informs us of an odd issue that recently flared up up at her school. Every spring semester, Vassar offers "minicourses." Non-credit, student-run courses that are open to the student body and approved by Vassar. One of the courses that recently popped up was entitled The Language of Ladies, led by student Daniel Abramson, and described as:
This course aims to take a critical look at dating across lingual/cultural barriers. Experts in each local will be brought in to the class for instructional purposes. Coming out of this class students should feel informed enough about different mating rituals to approach women of different national backgrounds.
Yeah. Sounds pretty awful. And from what I hear, the first class in the course pretty much ended up being what you'd expect. Here's an article in the school newspaper, The Miscellany News, written by an Asian American female student who attended the first session: Mini-course raises issues of sexism and racism. The title alone should tell you how that went:
The first class of The Language of Ladies was entitled "Orienting Yourself for Women of the Orient." This sparked some discussion of the word "Orient" and its degrading connotations. What it points to is an entire colonialist narrative that has made "Asian" women objects of lust and feminized "Asian" men. I say "Asian" because Orientalism applies not just to East Asians but to Indians, Iranians and South East Asians--any country that was colonized by another country has been subject to Orientalism.
It goes on to describe all sorts of racist and sexist stereotypes and misperceptions the class seemed content to perpetuate. You've got to be kidding me. I don't know what's worse -- the fact that that this course is being taught, or that there are folks who legitimately signed up for this class hoping to learn something.
Due to complaints from student groups and community members, the course has since been canceled. Those responsible for organizing and approving the minicourses were apparently under the impression that "The Language of Ladies" would not be what it actually turned out to be. Seriously? Big fat fail.
Okay, spoiler alert. If you watch House, and didn't didn't see last night's episode, stop reading this now. Skip over elsewhere. Final warning. Okay. Last night on House, Kal Penn's character, Dr. Harold Kutner, was unexpectedly killed off. Or rather, he killed himself.
I didn't see it, but I read about it last night over at Sepia Mutiny. Thought it might be some kind of joke, but it ain't. Then checked over on Kal Penn's Twitter, and saw the tweet from the man himself: "Thanks for watching, and thanks for a great 2 seasons on "House"!" Cutner is dead.
For fans of the show, it was apparently a rather shocking departure that nobody saw coming. However it had actually been planned for a while, between Mr. Modi and the show's producers. Here's the scoop: 'House' exclusive: The shocking story behind last night's big death.
Kal Penn has definitely left the show for good. He wasn't fired. He asked to go. Why? Well that's the thing. The guy we all know and love as Kumar has a new job... in the Obama administration. No joke. For the time being, he's moving out of acting.
Kal, who was extremely active during Obama's campaign, is going to be the associate director in the White House office of public liaison, where he'll reportedly be working with the Asian American and arts communities. He's apparently been thinking about going into politics for a while, and this seems like a pretty good fit for him.
Well, if the trailer for Crank: High Voltage, sequel to Crank, didn't properly convey what kind of movie you'll be getting into, these two wallpaper images should do it. Look, it's our two favorite people: David Carradine and Bai Ling! Both in one movie. Carradine apparently playing -- you guessed it -- an Asian man, and Bai Ling... well, being Bai Ling.
That deadly combo is pretty compelling evidence alone that this flick is just one bad, offensive train wreck. But really, it's the quotes that drive it home. That's racist! The movie opens in theaters on April 17. If you a buy a ticket, I imagine you'll get what you pay for. Crap.
So I'm guessing you've heard about the right-wing assault on Harold Hongju Koh, President Obama's pick for the top lawyer position at the State Department. They're making the crazy claims that Koh is dangerous, fanatical, and a promoter of Sharia law. Go on, Fox News, keep scaring the crap out of America with fear-mongering and misinformation. It's what you do best.
However, the Koh-is-the-anti-American-Devil movement took a major blow last week when Theodore Olson, the top conservative attorney who served under Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, dismissed the attacks against Koh, defending the pick as a "man of great integrity": GOP Legal Heavy Ted Olson Dismisses Right-Wing Assault On Obama Nominee.
Olson, who was solicitor general under Bush, apparently has quite a bit of influence among conservatives, so his defense of Koh is likely to take the steam out of the right's campaign. Koh worked under Olson in the Reagan Justice Department. Take that, Koh haters. I think you just got schooled by one of your own.
Recently got word from Diana at APALC about API FLAG's (Asian Pacific Islander Parents & Friends of Lesbians and Gays) "Think, Write, Win: Choose Love" College Scholarship Essay Challenge, an opportunity for API voices to speak out about love and why they support gay marriage.
It's a challenge to all graduating college-bound high school seniors and returning undergraduates: write a sharp, well-argued essay in favor of same-sex marriage and win a college scholarships split between an English language category and a Chinese/Korean language category. Total prize winnings are more than $5,000.
The contest is open to all students who permanently reside in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. For rules and more information about the contest, go to the API PFLAG blog here, and read the full press release here.
I don't know much about skateboards. But I'm pretty sure that this skateboard deck/graphic is not cool: Enjoi Cairo Foster Asian Driver Deck. What's up with this thing? It's a blatant racial stereotype, straight up. Not even trying to be clever. It's made by Enjoi, and the skateboarder whose name actually on the design, Cairo Foster, is actually Asian American. Boo to that, man.
This is a news report from a couple of a weeks back on the high rate of poverty in New York's Asian American community: A Community in Crisis. According to the report, in New York City, one in five Asian families is poor, making less than $20,000 a year. And though Asian Americans make up 12% of New York City's population, they only receive 1% of government and private foundation aid.
That's an outrageous disparity. Definitely makes you rethink the minority myth, doesn't it? I hope a lot of people saw this, and it bust those notions wide open. That's a major misconception that stands in the way our community going forward, and it's got to go. Despite the lame intro, it's worth taking a look. (Thanks to all the folks who sent this one in.)
Another update on Lori Phanachone, the Laotian American high school senior in Iowa who is defying school administrator by refusing to take the mandatory English language exam calling it demeaning and racist... According to AALDEF, who is representing Lori, the Storm Lake School District has revoked her National Honor Society membership -- directly going back on its word from earlier assurance. Here's AALDEF's press release:
AALDEF DEMANDS REINSTATEMENT OF IOWA STUDENT'S NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP AFTER UNJUST DISCIPLINE *** Storm Lake School District violates earlier assurance that honors student's membership is safe
New York, NY... Directly violating earlier written assurances, the Storm Lake School District in Iowa has revoked the National Honor Society membership of Laotian American student Lori Phanachone, after the 3.98 GPA senior refused an English Language Learner (ELL) test. The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), which is representing Ms. Phanachone, has called for reinstatement of her membership and removal of all disciplinary action from her school records.
Khin Mai Aung, the AALDEF staff attorney representing the student, said: "Storm Lake explicitly assured us in writing that Lori Phanachone's National Honors Society membership is safe. Now it has gone back on its word. This demonstrates precisely why Ms. Phanachone needs full redress, including removal of all disciplinary action from her record."
Ms. Phanachone was mislabeled an ELL for naming Lao as her home language, without an English proficiency assessment, when she moved to Storm Lake two years ago. Ms. Phanachone has been subjected to early ELL testing while excelling in advanced courses taught in English. This year, she boycotted a yearly ELL test in protest, resulting in a 3-day suspension, exclusion from extracurricular activities, and loss of the National Honor Society membership. Contrary to earlier written assurances from Storm Lake's attorney, Ms. Phanachone received a letter revoking her membership on Friday, April 3. In the letter, Craig Lyon, faculty advisor for the school's National Honors Society chapter, stated that Ms. Phanachone's membership was dissolved due to her failure to maintain "standards of scholarship, leadership, service and character[.]" AALDEF is appealing the dismissal.
Lori Phanachone said: "This has really thrown me into a loop. The school's lawyer promised my National Honor Society membership was safe, and now they've revoked it. I'm mad, sad and confused at the same time--I just don't know what to expect anymore."
Among other things, AALDEF has further demanded that the Storm Lake School District also:
-Remove all references to Lori Phanachone's suspension and other disciplinary action from her school records; -Assure in writing that it will not impose further disciplinary action on her; -Clarify Storm Lake's procedures for classifying students as ELL upon enrollment; -Explain how and why Lori Phanachone was classified as an ELL under Storm Lake's classification procedures; and -Reclassify Lori Phanachone, and other affected students if appropriate under Iowa and federal law, as English proficient.
This is bullshit. The Storm Lake School District is bullshit. I can't express how angry this particular story makes me. According to the the faculty advisor for the school's NHS chapter, Lori's membership was apparently dissolved due to her failure to maintain "standards of scholarship, leadership, service and character." If you ask me, from what she has displayed, Lori Phanachone is a student who exemplifies all of these qualities. Stay strong, Lori. Fight this.
Ed Jew, the disgraced former San Francisco Supervisor who was convicted of trying to extort $80,000 from constituents, was sentenced last week to more than five years in federal prison -- a punishment that exceeded the prosecutor's request: Former S.F. supervisor sentenced to prison.
It was the tapioca shakedown. Jew pleaded guilty in October to one count each of mail fraud, bribery and extortion for trying to shake down business owners of tapioca drink shops, who spoke little English and were new to city bureaucracy. Basically, an elected city official exploiting his own people.
Now, he's got 64 months long months behind bars to think about everthing he's done wrong, starting on July 1, when he has to turn himself in. See ya, Ed. Political extortion sucks, doesn't it? Prison sucks more. Watch your back in there.
Jon M. Chu, director of Step Up 2 the Streets and the guy behind that big-ass online dance battle from last year, presents an official sneak peek of The LXD: League of Extraordinary Dancers, an epic original online series he's been working on with Agility Studios for the past six months.
It looks pretty cool, but to be honest, I have no idea what's going on in this video. But I'm intrigued. I guess that's the point of a good teaser. There are dudes in suits, a scary guy in a mask, and shirtless man hooked up to an IV. I imagine it's all largely an excuse to showcase some really kickass dancing. Anyway, it's coming. Subscribe and learn more here.
Bollywood star Anil Kapoor, last seen as the game show host in Slumdog Millionaire, is about to have the longest day of his life. He's joining the cast of Fox's 24 next season: Slumdog Millionare's Anil Kapoor Joins 24.
He'll reportedly play "a Middle Eastern leader who comes to the U.S. on a peacemaking mission." I'm sure that at some point during the "day" Jack Bauer will kick his ass... or he'll help Jack Bauer kick someone else's ass.
After seven seasons, I can't believe this show is still on. That's a week's worth of asskicking, and counting. If I were an associate of Jack Bauer, I would just get the hell out of his life. The guy is a serious magnet for trouble.
Heads up. The 6th Annual California Asian Pacific Islander Policy Summit is happening next month, May 26-27 at the Sacramento Convention Center. Be part of a long-term strategic planning effort to strengthen and build API advocacy capacity. This year's theme is "Connecting the Dots: the Catalyst for a Stronger Community Voice." Here are some specifics:
6th Annual California Asian Pacific Islander Policy Summit
"Connecting the Dots: The Catalyst for a Stronger Community Voice"
Be Part of a Long-Term Strategic Planning Effort to Strengthen and Build API Advocacy Capacity
In partnership with: Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality (AACRE) Asian and Pacific Islanders' California Action Network (APIsCAN) Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus California Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus Institute Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs (CAPIAA)
May 26th - May 27th, 2009 Sacramento Convention Center - 1400 "J" Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 http://www.sacramentoconventioncenter.com/
At This Empowering Two Day Summit:
Demonstrate the collective power of APIs and increase our visibility at the State Capitol
Connect with key state agencies and non-profits at the API Summit Resource Expo
Empower your staff and volunteers, improve your organization's advocacy operation, learn how to play a role in the state legislative and budget process, and discuss new API community issues and research data
Meet with elected officials to build long-term working relationships and advocate on API issues
Develop legislative proposals with other stakeholders at API Summit issues tracks
It sounds like it's going to be a pretty valuable event for organizing API community members, community based organizations, non-profits and elected officials under a collective movement. Be part of the change! For more information, and to download the registration forms, go here.
Aw come on, stop stalling. North Carolina Senator Richard Burr has delayed President Barack Obama's nomination of Tammy Duckworth to be an assistant secretary at the Veterans Affairs Department. He apparently wants Duckworth and the White House to answer to some of his questions: Senator stalls Duckworth's nomination.
The Senate Veteran Affairs Committee didn't vote on the nomination last week because Burr, the top Republican on the committee, asked that the panel hold off. Dude, just confirm her for the damn position. Duckworth, an injured Iraq war helicopter pilot, is obviously a qualified nominee who has served and sacrificed for her country. Get on with it.
April 15 is quickly approaching. Have you filed your taxes yet? Better get to it, or it could mean trouble between you and the U.S. government. The Financial Freedom Boyz break it down for you in "I Pay My Taxes," the latest single off their album Maximum Refund. Happy Tax Day, dawg. This silly video moment is brought to you by The Sketch Comedy Show.
MetroDad, one of my favorite blogs, follows the adventures of Pierre Kim and his thoughts on life, marriage, and fatherhood. It's incredibly thoughtful, funny and well-written, and I've been a fan for years. In his latest post, he brings up some very frank observations on race, and discloses some very interesting news: Oriental is a Rug: Five Quick Thoughts on Race.
Here's the cool part. Pierre is currently is discussions with several production companies to turn MetroDad into a network television sitcom. All three companies are apparently big time, and their interest has resulted in Pierre getting agency representation and a potential book deal (it's about time, in my opinon).
What's most interesting to me is the question he poses at the end the post: How strong should he be willing to push to keep the main character Asian American? He obviously feels strongly about the need for the media to portray a better representation of Asian American men -- we all know this.
But Pierre also knows the score. The sad reality is that no network is likely to pick up the sitcom if the lead character is Asian American. We all know this too. But hey, what if? If the characters are compelling, and the material is funny enough, should it even matter?
Personally, I think it's worth fighting for. Cast a guy like John Cho (a relatively new father himself) to star, or another funny up-and-comer, and hey, you've got a potential hit on your hands. And heck, get Peanut to play Peanut. She's adorable enough. Anyway, Pierre is inviting readers to weigh in on his dilemma in the comments. Go here to read all about it.
Seriously. I'm glad I'm not only who thinks the support and response for the two reporters has been less than adequate on the part of, well, everyone. According to Pyongyang, these two women are going to be tried for "hostile acts" -- that's ten years hard labor. In North Freaking Korea.
But the story seems to have barely registered on anyone's list of concerns. Where is that concern? Where is the outrage? Where's Al Gore?
Welcome to the big time, Justin Lin. The really big time. The director has definitely proven he's got the skillz to pay the billz. Fast & Furious, the fourth film in the auto action franchise, earned an estimated $72.5 million at the box office this weekend -- the biggest opening weekend so far this year: Fast & Furious' accelerates to $72.5M opening.
The movie also set a record for an April release, easily passing the previous best of $42.2 million set by Anger Management in 2003. Ironically, if I'm not mistaken, Better Luck Tomorrow opened in limited release that same weekend in 2003, beating out Anger Management with the highest per screen average.
It's also a substantial victory for Universal, defying the expectations of those who doubted the idea of a fourth film. It was a smart move to open the movie in April, steering clear of the crowded summer blockbuster season. More here: 'Fast' wins weekend with $72.5 mil'.
Man, what is it with all the bleak news lately? Some news out of Indiana about a gunman, 41-year-old Tan Tran, who killed his girlfriend Christine Ong, then shot himself in the head, at their home in Shelbyville on Saturday morning: Police: Man Killed Woman Before Shooting Himself .
Why does it seem like we're getting news like this every other day now? It's seriously disturbing, and I don't know what to make of it. More here: Two dead in Shelbyville shooting. (Thanks, Gary.)
This Associated Press story takes a look at some of the victims -- many of them recent immigrants to the United States -- of the shootings on Friday at the American Civic Association in Binghamton, New York: A look at victims of the Binghamton, NY, shootings.
The victims included Marc and Maria Bernard, from Haiti; Parveen Ali, from Pakistan, Lan Ho, from Vietnam; Layla Khalil, from Iraq; Dolores Yiga, from the Philippines; Roberta King, an English teacher; and Maria Zobniw, a caseworker at the center. More here: Binghamton shooting victims came from 8 nations.
North Korea has done it. North Korea has launched a rocket on Sunday, 11:30am local time, claiming that it was designed to propel a satellite into space... but they're not fooling anyone. The rest of world is pretty sure that it's an effort to prove that North Korea is edging toward the capability to shoot a nuclear warhead on a longer-range missile: North Koreans Launch Rocket Over the Pacific.
You can call it one giant rocket-sized bid for attention. Should you be freaked out? I won't lie -- this scares the crap out of me. However, like everyone else, I'm holding out with the idea that North Korea leaders are just hungry and desperate... as opposed to insane, hungry and desperate. The question is, how will the world respond: Obama Calls on U.N. to Punish North Korea Over Rocket.
Meanwhile, as the North Korean government pumps money into their precious rocket, millions continue to starve, two American journalists remain detained and face trial, and pundits prepare themselves to provide a frenzied news cycle of anti-Korean rhetoric and scare tactics to a concerned American public...
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