We’ve blogged about the 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors before — they’ve recently released a follow-up video to Illegal Immigrants called Thailand about a guy booking a “business trip” to the country with a stigma. Focusing less about racial activism, Thailand has humor geared more towards a, uhm, YouTube-appropriate audience.
But the thing about YouTube is that the website caters to a global audience, not just the small bubble of Asian American sketch comedy fans. And the Thai commenters on YouTube are not pleased:
ikcroe: This video is pathetic. It’s not true! There is NO SEX in THAILAND!
godblessbig: I’m Thai. Everything that you show mean everything that you are,Right? I pity you.
rungkamolk: hhahahahaha, THe only people who finds this video funny are the people who lacks education! and fyi.. we do not use the term third world country anymore… its more like developing country or developed country.
The 18 Mighty Moutain Warriors clearly break one of the clearly established tenets in Asian American activism: YOU CAN’T OPENLY MAKE FUN OF OTHER ASIAN AMERICANS. It’s like black people who secretly know that OJ Simpson did it. (I learned that from watching Barbershop.) What makes this video funnier than the previous video — and it’s much funnier than their previous video — is that he sets it up as how the client clearly wants to disassociate from Thailand being a sex capital of the world, only to be set up for the giant punchline. (And for fans of creepy physical gags, be sure to watch the segment at the 3 minute, 15 second mark.)
(Hat tip: Joz)
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I have to admit that I was disappointed with the third installment of the Mummy movie, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Yes, I finally got it on Blu-ray and watched it, but it seems like as those Mummy movies progress, they get cheesier and cheesier.
In this one, it’s about this frightening Dragon Emperor (Li) that was to conquer the lands and was cursed by a witch (Yeoh) since he had prevented her love with his general (Russell Wong). The entire story was somewhat reminiscent of The Forbidden Kingdom in which a kid goes through a Chinese fairy tale. What’s funny about both of these movies is the fact that the it probably would have lost the cheese factor a little bit if they had thrown out the bits of the script that involved white people — no offense to Brendan Frasier, but his character was absolutely…. blech. I was more amused by John Hannah (Rick O’Connell’s brother-in-law) than I was with the main characters.
Strangely enough, outside of Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh, every single one of the other main “Asian” actors were mixed. Like Isabella Leong. Absolutely gorgeous, along with the handsome Russell Wong. Even Anthony Wong, which I knew about but it was interesting that so many were mixed Asians.
Personally? The movie just didn’t strike a chord with me. If you want to collect all three, then by all means buy The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Shopping With GASP!
“When you get past the first gate, you drive in for a while and then you have to get through another gate in order to get to her house.”
“You mean she lives in a gated community within a gated community?”
The Higley 1000 web site, a web site that investigates racial segregation in wealthy American neighborhoods, states that Asian-Americans are over represented in the wealthiest 1000 neighborhoods in the United States, with Asian-Americans being 4.4% of the population in these areas compared to being 2.9% of the general population. Of the top 25 most heavily Asian-American wealthy neighborhoods, the most concentrated neighborhood, the Mission Peak foothills, is 74.6% Asian with a median income of $211,773. This area was #633 on the list. The Fremont Place neighborhood in the Los Angeles area is #29 out of the 1000, 54.2% Asian with a median income of $381,500. 3 out of the top 4 neighborhoods are near Mission San Jose area near Mission San Jose High School, which was discussed here on 8asians.
The above conversation with my Daughter happened when I was getting directions to the house of one of her Asian-American classmates in the fourth wealthiest Asian-American neighborhood of Avalon Heights in Fremont. And yes, her friend really lives in a gated community within a gated community.
While the Higley 1000 concentrates on the wealthiest neighbors, I think it would be interesting look at segregation in the poorest neighborhoods. I would suspect that the income distribution of Asian American neighborhoods would be bi-modal, with large numbers of both wealthy and poor Asian-American neighborhoods.
David Chiu makes San Francisco Board of Supervisors history by becoming the first Chinese American elected as Board President. Normally I wouldn’t even have noticed a news event like this one, as I’m already familiar with other Chinese Americans that have attained higher status in political positions.
What made me take a second look at the news event was the name David Chiu, which was also my father’s name. The name David Chiu is of course pretty common, as it’s also the name of a famous poker player. Interestingly enough the article touches on luck/superstition (the topic of my previous posting), discussing the fact that David Chiu was elected President of the Board of Supervisors on January 8, with 8 being a lucky number.
The article also discusses the possibility of a Chinese American attaining the city of San Francisco’s highest position, mayor, a position which to my surprise hasn’t been held by an Asian American. On reflection I guess it should be no surprise to anyone in the Bay Area, since as recently as 1968 (which brought the Fair Housing Act), Asian Americans couldn’t even own a home in many parts of the Bay Area due to “Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions,” or CC&R’s, written in by home developers. When purchasing my first home (built in 1963) I had to sign CC&R’s at closing that indicated I could not own my home or live in it (except as a servant to the white owners). I signed anyway, as the escrow agent assured me all illegal parts of the CC&R’s were not enforceable.
Because we take so much for granted these days, it’s important to realize that small victories like this one for the Asian American community are pretty big, given how far we’ve come in such a short amount of time.
Who is Jo Koy? He’s a Filipino-American comic who started his career in 1994 as a stand up comedian in Las Vegas. Born Joseph Glenn Herbert in Tacoma, Washington he’s being lauded as a “rising star” and has been on two seasons of BET’s Comic View and appeared on Showtime at the Apollo.
And now, Jo has is own his first hour-long stand-up special on Comedy Central, Jo Koy: Dont Make Him Angry! which was recorded during the 2008 New York Comedy Festival.
Here are a couple of clips for your perusal: This one shows Jo’s Mom in the audience as he talks about how Filipinos are Asian, but they look Mexican… and how you can tell them apart.
And in this one, Jo talks about Wiiing with his Mom:
What do you think?
MAC Cosmetics has announced that they will release their Hello Kitty makeup line on February 12, 2009. Have you seen Hello Kitty so edgy?
Whether you like Hello Kitty or not — the colors in the collection seem a bit too bubble gum pink for me — the packaging is really cute, I may just be convinced to buy something from the collection. Expected to be one of the most popular makeup lines for Mac, don’t miss it — you can sign up for an email reminder on the Mac website.
Many couples in Taiwan are rushing to get married before the Chinese lunar new year — January 26, 2009 in the Western calendar — because they believe that next year will be an “unlucky” year in which to get married, since next year is marked as the “Gu-luan” year (similar to Western leap year in that there are two days marked for the arrival of spring). This superstition, like many in Chinese culture revolves around the fact that word gu sounds similar to the Chinese word for lonely, thereby dooming any marriages that happen in a Gu-luan year to end early or tragically.
Westerners would probably find this superstition silly or quaint at best, but superstition is a world I’ve had to live with my entire life. My mother would take her three children out of the house when my dad had to work late, because she feared the spirits the roamed the house, and we’d end up at a local amusement park or mall until my dad could safely take us home.
Throughout my life, I’ve found myself mired in superstition; when my sister was pregnant with her first baby, she was warned not to eat “cold” foods, not cold as in served cold, but cold as designated by category (watermelon is cold regardless of what temperature it is), and to only eat “warm” foods. When I bought my first house in California, I found myself digging up the tree in the front yard at my mother’s request and moving it because it was in an unlucky position, blocking the front door. Even more recently, my own wedding date was chosen because it was supposed to be lucky; my partner and I married on 08/08/08 because we thought the triple 8′s would be lucky for us, and so did many other Chinese grooms and brides as we found out trying to book a location for our wedding.
Many Chinese superstitions I practice unconsciously now: I don’t even think about considering a clock or knives as gifts, and I gravitate towards 8′s and 9′s when looking at numbers.
My incredibly strong mother, the one who instilled me with all my superstitions is approaching the end of her life. She’s battled breast cancer for almost 12 years. She’s in the hospital this week, having overcome sepsis which would be fatal for most of us. As strong as she is, my mother still clings to her beliefs and I suppose I do as well.
The American side of me continues to remind myself that I’m a little ridiculous in my beliefs. But I also look at my mom in the hospital bed and think it’s lucky the way her bed points towards the door, and I’m daunted by the fact her room number contains the number 4.
I guess I still believe we all need a little luck in our lives.
If you’re looking for more on Chinese superstition, back in 2004, Christina Eng wrote a beautiful article on Chinese superstition that I really admired and find myself coming back to time and again.
On a recent episode of The Daily Show, Indian American comedian and Daily Show “correspondent” Aasif Mandvi is hilarious in this segment on CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s possible appointment as Surgeon General, playing to the stereotype of Indian Americans, as well as Asian Americans, questioning with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, General Shinseki and Dr. Steven Chu, who will win “the great Asian cabinet race?”
Wednesday was a great day for basketball, at least for Asian or Chinese fans.
Whether you think Taiwanese is the same as Chinese, or you think Asian or Asian-American, what do you think of when you hear the name of Jeremy Lin combined with Harvard? An Asian guy, majoring in the medical field or studying to become an engineer? how about sports? Martial Arts, or Table Tennis?
Not in this case. If you had the chance to checkout Yahoo Sports College Basketball’s front page or one of ESPN’s NCAA basketball headlines, you would have seen the name Jeremy Lin. And to answer all the questions that will come to mind… an Asian? An Asian-American? And he’s not 7 feet tall? Yes, he plays basketball and he’s pretty good.
Jeremy Lin of Harvard (every Asian parents dream, his parents must be really proud) who was previously named Harvard’s Player of the Week played a ranked team for the first time: Boston College, who had previously upset #1 North Carolina, ranked #24 in the ESPN/USA Today and #17 in the Associated Press Polls. Lin helped lead his team in a upset victory over Boston College, 82-70, finishing the game with an amazing stat line of 27 points, 8 assists, 6 steals, 2 blocks, and 3 rebounds. On the other end, he helped hold BC standout Tyrese Rice to just 4-10 shooting and 5 turnovers.
In NBA News, the night was also going good for other NBA/Asian/Chinese players.
Yao Ming (Houston Rockets) helped lead his team to victory over the Boston Celtics, 89-85. The Rockets were also without one of their superstar players, Tracy McGrady, who decided not to play back-to-back games due to injury and chose not to play vs Boston. The Rockets handed the Boston Celtics only their 2nd lost at home. Yao Ming finished with 26pts, 8 rbs, 4 assists, and 2 blocks.
Yi Jianlian (New Jersey Nets), previously coming off one of the best games of his career, had another solid performance vs the Memphis Grizzlies. Yi finished with 20 pts, 6 rbs, 2 steals, 3 assists, and 1 block as the Nets won 100-89. Hammad Haddabi of the Memphis Grizzlies was in uniform but did not play.
Rookie Sun Yue (Los Angeles Lakers) also got some playing time in the second quarter vs the Golden State Warriors. Lakers were without players Jordan Farmar, Luke Walton, and Lamar Odom due to injury. The Head Coach of the LA Lakers was quoted saying about Sun “He’s not ready yet, but he’s going to have to play. He’s just going to have to play because he’s called upon right now.” Sun Yue recorded his first NBA block tonight vs the Warriors. If you were watching the game, you could hear some fans — probably Asian/Chinese — cheering Sun as he missed his only shot attempt with a three.
Final Thought: Jeremy Lin is of the few, if only, Asian-American basketball players to have a great performance and lead his team in a upset win over a ranked team this season. He’s a solid player; will he make the NBA? Who knows, but his performance versus Boston College deserves much credit. Also great game for Yao Ming leading his team over one of the best teams in the NBA, even without T-Mac. Rockets have been plagued with injuries this season, so any win for the Rockets is crucial for them if they want to have a good spot in the standings.
Yi Jianlian has been struggling to stay consistent in his second season in the NBA. Head Coach of the Nets, Lawrence Frank, acknowledged during the pre-game that his team is young and it will take some time. In my opinion, Yi just needs to keep staying aggressive on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor; he has to face the controversy of both his age and the attention from the All-Star votes, but everything eventually falls on his performance. It should also be noted that Yi has been playing lots of basketball because he’s obligated to not only play for his NBA team, but also the Chinese National Team — hopefully Yi receives time the summer to work with the special coaches and trainers, as the off-season is a time many other NBA players use to improve on their skills. As for Sun Yue, who doesn’t have the high expectations of being a superstar from China or a NBA lottery pick like Yao or Yi, hopefully he can continue to learn and take advantage of the training he’s receiving, and hopefully the results are a solid future career in the NBA.
Who knew that these cuddly fuzzy animals are really harbingers of death and destruction? Gu Gu, a panda at the Beijing Zoo has attacked a visitor… FOR THE THIRD TIME. According to the article, the man had climbed into the panda’s enclosure to retrieve a toy dropped by his child.
A spokeswoman says Gu Gu, which weighs 240 pounds, clamped down on the intruder’s leg and refused to let go.
Yeah, that’s him in the picture above. Can’t you see the fear in his eyes?
I’m in shock. I thought pandas were our friends, just like how the Berenstain Bears told us! What’s next, sleepy koala bears smothering babies to death?? This is outrageous! I guess I’ll have to add them to my “do not cuddle” list (which also includes narwhals and hedgehogs.)
So here’s a cute panda video to make you feel better.
Those who frequent Kpop gossip blogs may already know that drama addicts Stateside can now enjoy high quality streaming of English-subbed Asian dramas thanks to DramaFever.
The site’s current catalogue is exclusively Korean, but are engaged in conversation with various content owners to expand the catalogue to not only include dramas from Taiwan, China and Japan but to also include bonus materials, photos, music videos and variety shows. [EDITORS NOTE: The website is still in beta mode but priority registration will be given to 8Asians.com readers with the special registration code "8asian".]
It’s free, completely legal and about time — the only catch is that it’s currently only available to US residents. And for those unaware, I’m located in Canada — pointed out by the funny way I spell catalogue. Fortunately, I was privy to peruse around the site before the geo-blockers got turned on; it pained me so much that I’ve only visited the site once so I will not get hooked onto watching anything available on the site.
This means that I still resort to *cough* alternate means of feeding my Asian drama addiction while the good people at DramaFever.com try to figure out International Distribution rights and how to get their site beamed directly to my house in Canada legally.
So, how do international distribution rights work? A quick overview, after the jump.
Continue Reading »
A group of ex-prostitutes in South Korea have come forward in bold move accusing their former government leaders of enabling prostitution, and encouraging it near the US bases in South Korea.
While prostitution is often commonly found near military bases, the shocking part of this story is that both the U.S. government and the South Korean government were actively involved in this activity (prostitution is illegal in Korea.) South Korean government leaders actively supported the prostitution, calling the women “dollar-earning patriots,” fueled by the desire for foreign dollars as well as fearful that the American soldiers would want to leave if they were unhappy. The women were made to wear numbers so soldiers could easily identify sex partners. Very concentration camp-like, no?
US government leaders became involved when fears of STDs spreading prompted regulatory action. Women were routinely raided at night clubs, detained if they looked sick, and locked up in “monkey-houses” with bars on the windows, forced to take medication until they were healthy. Women subsequently gave birth to mixed race children, many of whom were given up for adoption overseas.
The women — now in their 50′s-70′s — are now making the news as they seek an apology and reparation from the Korean government. South Korea, as many know, have been in protest against the Japanese government, demanding an apology for the wartime practice of prostituting Korean women during the war as “comfort women”. But when the same practice is a direct financial profit and benefits South Korea, it’s okay and encouraged. The hypocrisy is shocking.
My dad recently served several years as a US soldier at the army base in Korea (named “Dragon Hill” or “Yong-San”) and I lived with my parents for a few months there. It was well known that “hooker hill” was nearby, but hardly did I pass by thinking that this was instituted by the government.
“Our government was one big pimp for the US military…”
I applaud the women who have come forward; they are extremely brave, and hopefully history will remember them as heroes who stood up against illegal acts and demanded recognition.
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