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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!
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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.]
No Comments | Posted in: Current Events
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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?
No Comments | Posted in: Discrimination, Sports
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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?
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4 Comments | Posted in: Current Events, Lifestyles
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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.
11 Comments | Posted in: Entertainment, Lifestyles
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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…
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7 Comments | Posted in: Entertainment
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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?
1 Comment | Posted in: Current Events
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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.
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