As you probably have already figured out, I love reading The New York Times (as well as The Wall Street Journal FYI), so I just read “Las Vegas Adapts to Reap Chinese New Year Bounty”
Zhu Yu was not the least perturbed that faux Italian frescoes — rather than Asian silk screens — decorated the ceiling of the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino hallway where he and his family watched on Saturday as a 25-foot-long red-and-yellow dragon shimmied through a traditional Chinese New Year dance. Chinese New Year is one of the most profitable times of the year for Las Vegas casinos like the Venetian, which featured a dragon dance Saturday. “Oh, it’s nothing like what we did when I was a boy in Taipei, but it’s still very exciting,” Mr. Zhu, 49, said over the din of drumbeats as the dragon paused to send good luck in the direction of those inside the high-limit baccarat room. His three daughters, all younger than 10, stood mesmerized in front of his wife. It was the Zhu family’s fourth straight year ushering in Chinese New Year in Las Vegas instead of in their home city, San Francisco.
This is a Las Vegas version of Chinese New Year,” Mr. Zhu said. “It’s its own thing, but we love it.” So do casino executives. Chinese New Year, a 15-day celebration that is set by a lunar calendar and that usually falls in late January or early February, has become one of the city’s most profitable events, drawing thousands of Asian and Asian-American visitors and hundreds of millions of their dollars each year.
The city’s tourism board does not keep statistics on the event’s economic impact, but executives with Las Vegas Sands Inc., which owns the Venetian, say more money is bet during the two-week period than at any other time during the year. “The Chinese New Year is longer than anything,” said the company’s president and chief operating officer, William P. Weidner, “and we see much higher per-player action.”
What can I say? Asians & Asian Americans just love gambling! I personally don’t like to gamble, unless you count the stock market 
I love this quote:
“The highest quality players will get whatever they want. The Chinese are the highest and best quality players in the world, so they’ll have preference. We don’t care how tall you are, how short you are, how fat you are, what color you are. Green is the most important color.”
Like I said, Las Vegas – Anything for a Buck!
Subscribe to our mailing list
Get the day's stories from 8Asians.com, delivered to your inbox every evening at 6:00pm PST.
Today is Chinese New Year – which is today – Sunday, February 18, 2007! It’s the Year of the Pig (Boar) – I was born the Year of the Pig – so you can guess how old I am! What’s my Chinese New Year’s resolution? The usual: lose weight, exercise more, find that special someone…
Apparently, it’s an especially lucky Year of the Pig and an especially good year for a ‘Golden Pig’ Baby Boom.
Here’s to a great year – especially for those expecting a baby in the New Year!
[Ed: As to why the Chinese character is upside down, this page on Wikipedia should explain things. See, you learn something new every day!]
Shopping With GASP!
What’s a Pinay to do when she really, really loves something? Write a song and sing about it.
That’s exactly what Christine of HappySlip.com did. And whoa boy, does she love that Mac. Watching her with that G5 almost makes me blush. I wonder if the Apple Store employees had to wash it down afterwards. (Word has it this video has even been circulated within Apple’s headquarters.)
Cute, spunky, and hilarious, Christine’s been gaining an audience on YouTube and MySpace. She says she’s not after a career in Hollywood, even though she’s tried auditioning for a few commercials in the past.
What are you tryin’ to do with these HappySlip videos? I’m tryin’ ta have fun, that’s what I’m tryin’ ta do. This is what whole HappySlip thing was born out of, was… (brushes hair back) aaack! Hair in my eye! Hair… in… my… eye…
Since October 2006, she’s created about fifteen videos. Many spoof the Filipino culture and her relationship with her parents (she does a great filipino accent). Lately, she’s been filming a heart-wrenchingly hilarious soap opera with evil twin sisters, drugged apple juice, a Spanish-speaking teenage heartthrob with three kids, and… a horse.
She’s even been able to recruit her parents into a few videos. Her Mom sometimes holds the camera and, uh, massages her feet… See what I mean by hillarity?
Impressively, she scripts, directs, and edits all of these videos herself. She’s a one-pinay production team. And all, of course, on her Mac.
Yul Kwon turned 32 on Valentine’s Day and apparently donated “$50,000 of his cash from winning “Survivor: The Cook Islands” to the Asian American Donor Program, in the hopes the money will help educate Asian-Americans about the importance of bone marrow donation.” according to this San Francisco Examiner article.
As you have probably already read, Yul’s high school friend and Stanford college roommate died of leukemia because he didn’t get a bone marrow donation in time. I donated blood to the Asian American Donor Program many, many years ago because a college friend of mine’s cousin was in dire need of a bone marrow donation. Fortunately, he did get a bone marrow transplant and survived.
However, I know that a work colleague of mines son died of leukemia because his son wasn’t able to get one. A bone marrow match is especially difficult if you are bi-racial apparently (his son was half-Asian, half-Caucasian).
So get yourself into the registry – you could literally save a life!
We’ve previously blogged about Paul Kim being the Anti-William Hung at the American Idol auditions, but did you actually know there are at least three people of Asian/Pacific Islander decent that have made the Top 24? Along with Paul Kim, 22 year old AJ Tabaldo made the final cut. He describes himself as “an ethnic mutt” on his bio page, being “part Filipino and Portuguese with Spanish, French, Italian and Chinese.” Those who actually watch AI (cough, Like me, cough) also learned that this is AJ’s fifth attempt at auditioning for the show. Fifth. Lesson learned here, folks: “Give up on your dreams and become a surgeon, unless you’re AJ Tabaldo, and there’s still a chance you won’t win.”
17 year old Sanjaya Malakar of Federal Way, Washington is the youngest male contestant, which is obvious since he looks like a South Asian version of Shaggy on Scooby Doo. His 30-seconds-of-fame moment on the show thus far is when he made the final round, but his sister didn’t, giving Fox its prerequisite awkward moment for the show.
In any case, go Asians! Unless you guys are bad singers. Then, meh Asians!
From the website:
TaiwaneseAmerican.org and the 2nd generation organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area, TACL, ITASA, TAYL, NATMA 2G, TAF-SF, NATWA II, NATEA 2G, Taiwanese Friends, and Taiwanese Happenings, are pleased to co-host another exciting event in conjunction with TAFNC’s 2007 Lunar New Year Celebration! Year after year, the festival has drawn over 1,000 members of our community.
2nd Gen Program:
| 11 am – 1 pm | Bento Style Box lunches / Organization introductions |
| 1 pm – 2 pm | Guest Speaker Panel Celebrating Identity- Perspectives as a Taiwanese American |
| 2 pm – 4 pm | Collegiate and Young Professional Social Hour / Mixer |
| 1 pm – 4 pm | “Night Market” Games, activities, prizes! |
[Editor's footnote: The guest panel includes the guy the runs Tribe.net and "that Rubik's Cube guy" from Beauty & the Geek 2. Also, their blog is worth a look.]
I’m not a football fan by any means, but from Musings on sports comes this fascinating article about Norman Chow, a man critically acclaimed for his talents at coaching football but has yet to receive a head coach position. Popmatters discusses any subtle racial overtones:
The lack of head coaching opportunities for Chow reflects the ongoing construction of Asian American men, who are framed not in terms of athleticism, strength, or leadership, but as cerebral and creative. Chow can ostensibly craft an offensive strategy, but can’t lead an athletic team defined by its manhood and power. … The absence of Asian American coaches (and players) embodies the long-standing feminization of all things “Asian,” which, in turn, reserves desired athletic and leadership qualities for white coaches. Edward Said explains the Western conception of Asians as physically inferior in his landmark book Orientalism: “There are Westerners, and there are Orientals. The former dominate; and the latter must be dominated …”
Again, I’m not the biggest football fan, but this article is the first I’ve heard of an Asian American of any type being in a football coaching position. Maybe someone else knows more about this situation. Genghis? Anyone?
Do you only date Chinese people? Are you a Chinese-ist? gasp!
Then you’ll probably want to attend Third Thursday’s upcoming discussion, “I only date Chinese“, on February 15th (this week!) in San Francisco. (Apologies to all those not in San Francisco… which is probably most of you…)
Third Thursdays is a “monthly dinner series for people in the nonprofit, for-profit, and government sectors interested in Asian American & Pacific Islander (AA&PI) community issues and service opportunities.” They are an all-volunteer organization that meets, well, every third Thursday of each month in San Francisco or Berkeley. Eight Asian Americans, from both non-profit and for-profit backgrounds, started this in the spring of 2000, and it’s been a way for people to stay active and socialize within the AA&PI community. (Disclaimer: A friend of mine is one of their organizers.)
What they’re going to discuss in this event:
If you say you only date Chinese, you might be going for the largest pool, trying to appease your parents, or just a bit narrow-minded.
This month, we look at what’s often considered the next most acceptable option, inter-ethnic Asian relationships. We’ll talk about why, what, and leave out most of the how. Join us for some perspective.
They have two panelists: Wei Ming Dariotis, Assistant Professor of Asian American Studies at SFSU, andFrederick Y. Huang, M.D., a psychotherapist & general adult psychiatrist. The dinner is free, though donations are welcomed.
Okay, enough of the pitch. Do *I* only date Chinese, you ask?
Continue Reading »
I was mesmerized by Jeff Yang’s article about “Asian Chick Lit” in today’s SF Chronicle. It describes the decline in “regular” (um, read “white”) chick lit at the same time as an explosion of Asian-American authors writing about young, professional, sexy Asian protagonists. Is one of them REALLY called China Dolls? Yes, it is. Cringe. Okay, I haven’t read the book, but the title alone had me wanting to claw my own eyes out.
Then there’s an Asian-American author who says:
“I’m an Asian American novelist who’s written a chick lit novel, but my book is not an ‘Asian American chick lit novel,’” says Julie Dam, a senior editor at People magazine whose foray into the genre, “Some Like It Haute,” was first published in hardcover a year ago February. “My character doesn’t have an ethnicity attached, and that’s a conscious decision: I wanted to think that on some level, we’ve moved beyond skin color, that we can tell universal stories.”
I had to think about it. What does that mean: “doesn’t have ethnicity attached.” That means WHITE. We’ve “moved beyond skin color?” Excuse me while I pass out into a puddle of my own vomit.
Move over Will, we have a new Asian American Idol now – Saratoga, CA, pool maintenance technician (read: pool boy) Paul Kim!
It kinda bothers me when people think about Asian singers, you think: William Hung. And uh, I’m not hating on William Hung, but, I mean, come on…
I kinda hoped he’d sing “She Bangs”, personally. He’s good though. Pretty damn good. And I really hope he gets some press and shows the American majority that Asian Americans can sing. Not that I’m hating on William Hung or anything…
Watch the YouTube dailymotion video after the jump…
Continue Reading »
Sure you would. Because that one-dollar bill has a serial number beginning with “8888″ on it. Seriously.
The U.S. government has done it again. Robbed the yellow man of his hard-earned money. The Bureau of Engraving & Printing released their newest edition to their Lucky Money Collection – the $1 Year of the Pig note. What better way to celebrate the coming Chinese New Year than with a $1 Year of the Pig note that costs $5.95?
Lately I’ve been watching, HBO’s drama series, Rome, where you slowly watch the power struggle of all the players responsible for the downfall of the Roman empire. The show is intriguing and a Hollywood take at a historical lesson. It’s funny that the show makes parallels to modern times. For instance, there was a scene in last night’s episode where nobility smoked hash out of pipes, saying it was the good ish from Macedonia.
And as funny as Hollywood draws on the parallels of America and Rome, so does this writer from the Weekend Economist “Quaerere Verum” . In his most recent post he describes new parallels of modern America and declining Rome.
Continue Reading »
Custom Search
Recent Posts
- Asian American Commercial Watch: May Is Blooming At JCP
- Suicide Prompts Chinese To Reconsider Coming To U.S.
- Winner Of The 2012 “B A Hero” Hepatitis B PSA Video Contest
- Manny Pacquiao, Filipino Homophobia And Masculinity
- The Mindy Project Makes Mindy Kaling Even More Hilarious
- Yes, We’re Open Review & Interview From LAAPFF 2012
- President Obama At Asian Pacific American Institute For Congressional Studies Annual Gala
Recent Comments
- : The referenced article interviews and talks with Chinese citizens who say they are reconsidering jobs in the U.S., and that's actually the point of the... – Suicide Prompts Chinese To Reconsider Coming To U.S.
- : I'm not sure if mr. wang's suicide has any correlation to chinese people in general being more cautious in coming to the US for jobs. wang picked his engineering... – Suicide Prompts Chinese To Reconsider Coming To U.S.
- : I usually think really hard when I decide on who to vote for at each presidential election, but this year is turning out more and... – President Obama At Asian Pacific American Institute For Congressional Studies Annual Gala
- : What about Jerry Sandusky? THAT OLD WHITE GUY IS FUCKING SICK! – Manny Pacquiao, Filipino Homophobia And Masculinity
- : Yeah I have the same feeling. However, I'll watch the first few episodes and hope I can be made into a believer. – The Mindy Project Makes Mindy Kaling Even More Hilarious
APA Events
Oct 14: (Seattle, WA) From Fields to Family: Asian Pacific Americans and Food
Mar 1: (Atlanta, GA) The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps, 1942-1946
Apr 26: (New York, NY) June 4, 1989: Media and Mobilization Beyond Tiananmen Square
Apr 26: (New York, NY) America through a Chinese Lens
Apr 27: (Seattle, WA) SEX IN SEATTLE 20: HAPPILY EVER AFTER. . . (the series finale!)
May 16: (Seattle, WA) May SpamORama
May 24: (San Jose, CA) Sake San Jose
May 24: (New York, NY) A Conversation with artists Arthur Ou, Hai Zhang, and Julie Quon in Conjunction with America through a Chinese Lens
Staff and Contributors
- Editors
Moye Ishimoto
Co-Editor, Editorial
Jocelyn "Joz" Wang
Co-Editor, PR & APA Outreach
- Founder
Ernie Hsiung
Founder
