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So not to toot our own horn or anything, but this week quickly went by with an ever-so-slight milestone: This humble blog has been around for six months. Six awkward, badly designed months, but hey. This blog was started as an experiment of many things; a way of trying to get a diverse group of people of Asian decent to talk about a myriad of topics, trying to keep it relevant about Asian-American awareness while trying not to become cliche. And while I’ve learned some stuff thus far, the experiment isn’t over yet.
So, here’s a question for you, 8Asians.com reader: how have we been doing? What topics do you want us to focus on, and what can we do to make this blog better? What kind of writers do you want us to include as part of the 8Asians? Is it possible for me to write a blog post composed completely of questions? (The answer to that one is, of course, no.)
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So no doubt, you have heard within the past few months, that Chinese food products for human and pet consumption and products have had some problems - that indeed, many of the food products have had substitute ingredients that are not exactly healthy…. The latest report being that “F.D.A. Curbs Sale of Five Seafoods Farmed in China” , “China shuts 180 food factories for using illegal chemicals” , “Tainted [Chinese-sourced] toothpaste more widespread” , “Chinese tire recall to start Monday” , ” Can tainted toys spark U.S.-China trade tiff?” , and of course, the original scandal that started things off,
“FDA’s Ongoing Pet Food Investigation.”
A Taiwanese-American friend of mine questioned whether or not this was becoming an alarmist and possibly racist response for fears of China’s economic rise. To be honest, in any rapidly rising economy, I always have my doubts as to the quality (and in the case of food products, safety) of any food product or products in general. The short-term incentive is to skim on quality and purity to make a quick buck. But a country quickly learns that short-term shortcuts can cut into long-term profitability. Japan, Inc. is the clearest example that in post-World War II Japan, quality suffered, but they learned with a vengeance and now Japan = quality. China has quickly compressed its conversion to capitalism from the early 80s to the present…. and has not had the learning curve adopted over time for consumer protection and a general appreciation for quality and safety.
And surely with America’s increased dependence on imported goods, the United States needs to make more of a concerted effort to do a better job of educating exporters and hiring more inspectors.
6 Comments | Posted in: Current Events, Discrimination
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So sorry for the time between shows - I was actually on a very long vacation - listen to the podcast to see where I went!
This edition of POP 88 has your requests, plus new music from Clazziquai, J and Crystal Kay plus winners announced from the Round 2 of the SPRING WALTZ Caption This! contest.
For playlists and artist info, you can check out Popcast88.com and leave comments. Would love to hear from you. If you would rather email, you can send it to christine [at] popcast88.com. (Continued)
No Comments | Posted in: Entertainment, POP 88
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remember that story last month about asian posergurrll at stanford?
well ridiculous shit is happening in the chink community.
some of you more responsible non-violent types might be appalled. me? i’m glad, because it’s about goddamn time people realized how fucked up asian families are with their “you must getting in top ten school or should slitting wrists” attitude. (the severity of the tactic attesting of course not only to the extent of the guy’s dementia, but also the extremity of internal cultural pressure. if you think MIT is a “pressure cooker,” you should send in an application to the institution that is chinkdom)
i mean y’all whities think it’s just an exaggerated prep school attitude, but O SRSLY it is so much more
No Comments | Posted in: Current Events
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Round 2 has ended and … man … you couldn’t throw a rock without hitting a kimchee or Rain reference.
Some selected non-winning entries from Popcast88:
- “What am I doing here. This HURTS!”
- “I’m too sexy for my shirt … too sexy … too sexy.”
- “That damn Rain, thinking he’s all that with all those muscles. Well I’ll show him.”
- “How many pounds would I have to do in order to be hot?”
- “I like looking in the mirror and seeing my jersey being read
the right way.”
And the winning Entry goes to Margerthe:
“This helps keep my mind off the fact that Rain was in People” and I wasn’t.”
Some selected non-winning entries from 8 Asians:
- “Dude, when am I going to fire my stylist!”
- “Did I wash my hands after going to the bathroom?”
- Thought bubble: “Can I really bring purple back? The Gap brought pink back two summers ago. I’m ahead of the curve. Just act cool. Be cool. ACT COOL DAMNIT!
- boy thinking: “alright, i’m fresh and so clean, i’m good to bust a move. oh sh*t! my finger smells like kimchee!”
And the WINNING entry goes to Heedan Chung from NY:
“Smell my doenjang.”
(we Babelfish-lished 된장 - and got “Soybean paste”)
Congrats to our winners, we’ll be contacting you shortly.
In the meantime - we’ve still got some more to give, so here comes Round 3 … you know what to do already.
No Comments | Posted in: POP 88, Promotions
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Joz just discussed those who wish they weren’t Asian and now Boston Progress Radio (BPR) writes about those who perhaps wish they were. BPR is an online radio station dedicated to featuring Asian-American music, and they recently posted this humorous list of 7 Mainstream Artists You Thought Were Asian but Aren’t.
Some artists made the list thanks to rumors, others thanks to their um, paying homage to elements of Asian culture via wardrobe or the set of their music videos or concerts. I wonder, is this imitation the ultimate form of flattery or is it kind of insulting? I think it depends.
One example that comes to mind is Quentin Tarantino. Or should I say, that motherfucker Quentin Tarantino, if only to use his own played out vernacular. I am seriously annoyed with Tarantino lately, especially after this lame spread in GQ. Dude, QT, I get it. You dig a certain genre of Asian films. You’ve worked hard to rip them off pay tribute to them and have been mildly entertaining at times. But you have crossed the line, the line of respect and common sense, and it is not motherfucking cool. It’s like watching an adolescent boy who doesn’t know how to express his feelings for a girl beat her up.
So some unsolicited advice to those who would um, pay homage to other cultures or even represent*: be mindful. It’s a fine line between imitation and mockery, flattery and jackassery.
*see what I mean
thanks to AngryAsianMan for this entry, which led me to the scans of the GQ spread on ampha, which eviscerates QT far better than I ever could.
5 Comments | Posted in: Entertainment
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College-level activists know how invaluable their leadership experiences with student organizations become once they graduate and enter the professional world. Managing an office staff or working as part of a Board of Directors seems strikingly similar to serving as president of an undergraduate student association. For instance, the hierarchies and interpersonal relationships of corporate America eerily resemble participation in a social fraternity. These extracurricular activities prepare a young professional for her career more effectively than how seriously she took her academic major or that un-compelling internship she landed sophomore year where her most important duty each day was to present hot coffee to the boss. Yet academic studies and internships are the very activities that a professional resume emphasizes, meanwhile allowing no room for the activities that actually matter.
Large conservative corporations may be impressed by high GPAs or college degrees, but rarely do these same companies value zealous efforts in, say, the Asian American Student Union. Who cares that one published dozens of widely disseminated articles on human rights in China or spoke out against the political apathy of Diasporic Asians? In this entry, I want to raise an issue I see many APAs struggle with, but rarely has it been addressed in isolation with the attention it deserves: the professional stigma attached to being a political activist in one’s ethnic community.
4 Comments | Posted in: Discrimination, Lifestyles, Politics
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A friend of mine recently wrote about a childhood magnet she found under her parents’ fridge (ew, what was she doing down there?). The magnet says “Ellen is a Super Kid” (obviously her parents have an ironic sense of humor). She added something about the story that caught my eye though:
As you may notice, the girl on the magnet originally had blond hair. I colored it with a black sharpee when I was about 7 years old. See, I was such a smart kid. Make that a “SUPER KID”!
No, it’s not that she’s got a corny sense of humor, it’s that the magnet’s little girl was originally blond.
How many times, in your past, have you had gifts & items with Caucasian characters on them?
To be fair, businesses have noticed this and entrepreneurs are already rising to fill the niche of non-Caucasian characters for minority markets. Like Dolls Like Me, for instance. (And if you see a niche not yet filled, what are you waiting for?)
Which makes me wonder - is anyone going to fill the niche of creating Japanese-looking mannequins in Japan? That’s got to be a great niche. And filling it would make you a… Super Asian American!
No Comments | Posted in: Lifestyles
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