I was reminded today via the Los Angeles Times web site that today is the 64th anniversary of the atomic bombing on Hiroshima. Having always been interested in the subject ever since I did a term paper on the topic, I was able to visit Hiroshima back in 1994 on the anniversary date, which was quite an experience.
There is nothing quite like seeing the remains of an “atomic bomb dome” building — the most famous of the few buildings left standing within the one and a quarter mile radius of the blast area — fenced off standing still in time with modern Hiroshima in the backdrop, or when I visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and seeing a brick wall with the faint outline of a human shadow burned into the wall or a watch frozen stopped in time as the bomb went off.
In a recent poll that the Times referenced, 2,400 registered voters were asked, “Do you think the United States did the right thing or the wrong thing by dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?” Not surprisingly, the results varried based on their age, gender, ethnicity and political groundings:
“Seventy-three percent of voters older than 55 approved of the decision, and only 50% of voters ages 18 to 34 approved. Seventy-four percent of Republicans said the bombings were a good idea, and 49% of Democrats said so. Seventy-two percent of men approved and 51% of women agreed. The poll found that only 34% of black voters and 44% of Latino voters supported the bombs, although pollsters cautioned that those numbers may not be representative because the polling sample was smaller for those groups.”
Given the circumstances and concern for a land invasion of Japan and the past ferocity of Japanese soldiers on such islands as Iwo Jima, I’m not surprised that the military decision to use the atomic bomb on Japan was made. And no doubt, had the atomic bomb had been tested before the defeat of Germany had happened, the bomb would have been dropped on Germany. Americans don’t also realize that it was important for the United States to drop the bomb to demonstrate to Soviet Union our power, as they were increasingly seen as a post-war threat. But then again, maybe that just help accelerate the Cold War and the concept of Mutual Assured Destruction.
I also had the opportunity on the same trip to visit Nagasaki, the second Japanese city bombed on August 9th. After visiting both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, you really get the sense that if those two small atomic bombs had reaked such damage and post-bomb harm through radiation sickness, that you would never want to have atomic or nuclear weapons ever used again. Let’s hope the United States — or any other country for that matter — will never come to that.
Subscribe to our mailing list
Get the day's stories from 8Asians.com, delivered to your inbox every evening at 6:00pm PST.
- The 24th Annual Miss Asian America Pageant – the Miss Asian America Pageant has been the premier event in Asian American community for the past two decades and the longest running Asian American pageant in the United States. $35 for reserved seating. (8/8, San Francisco: More info here.)
- APAture Runway III – Be the first to experience fresh and eclectic collections from ten up-and-coming fashion designers at APAture Runway III, featuring LA-based eco-couture designer Linda Wong of The Battalion. All proceeds benefit KSW’s 11th annual APAture, a multidisciplinary arts festival of emerging Asian Pacific American artists. $10-$20 sliding scale. (8/8, San Francisco: More info here.)
- Lodestone Theatre Ensemble presents: CLOSER THAN EVER – An all Asian American revival of CLOSER THAN EVER, the classic 1989 musical revue which won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical and was nominated for multiple Drama Desk Awards. This is the second mainstage production of Lodestone’s tenth and final “Beginnings and Endings” season. $20 general admission. (8/8-8/30, Los Angeles: More info here.)
Shopping With GASP!
UPDATE: We have a winner!
Back in May, during Asian Pacific Islander (API) Heritage Month, 8Asians partnered with 3 awesome L.A. arts organizations to bring you the incredibly popular first Asian American Arts Stimulus Package.
Since so many folks were so eager to get their hands on this, we’re doing it again… one lucky winner who will be the recipient of a pair of tickets to THREE amazing events in the L.A. area for the Asian American Arts Stimulus Package 2! In addition to East West Players and Lodestone Theatre Ensemble, who are again providing tickets to their new productions, we also have 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors in the fray, as well! Check it out!
1) 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors: Bow Down to Your Asian Masters! An ALL NEW World Premiere!
Runs July 31 – August 23, 2009 (Thurs., Fri., Sat., & Sun. @ 8pm)
It’s the Asian Century. Be prepared to show obedience to your new Asian masters. 18mmw will show you how. We have ways of making you laugh! You will bow down…with laughter. We will torture you…with laughter! You will shiver with…oh, you get the picture.
Starring: Junko Goda, Michael Chih Ming Hornbuckle, Kevin Ocampo, Diana Toshiko, Greg Watanabe, and Peter J.Wong.
Brand New Theatrical Sketches including: David Carradine and Bruce Lee debate “Kung Fu” in the afterlife, The 18 MMW News Show, How to serve your new Asian masters properly, The Dick Cheney Show with special guest Sarah Palin, Meat is murder! So is…vegetarianism, I dated a Zombie, and more!
2) Lodestone Theatre Ensemble: Closer Than Ever
Runs August 8 – August 30, 2009 (8:00PM Thurs-Sat; 2:00PM Sun)
A musical revue in two acts with words by Richard Maltby, Jr. and music by David Shire; Directed by Chil Kong; Music Direction by Akira Nakano
The acclaimed musical revue about life, love and all the doors in between… Starring: Sharline Liu, DT Matias, Blythe Matsui, Paul Nakauchi, Erin Quill, EJ Arriola, Jully Lee, Jiehae Park, & Miley Yamamoto
An all Asian American revival of CLOSER THAN EVER, the classic 1989 musical revue which won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical and was nominated for multiple Drama Desk Awards. CLOSER THAN EVER features self-contained songs which deal with such diverse topics as aging, mid-life crisis, second marriages and unrequited love. This is the second mainstage production of Lodestone’s tenth and final “Beginnings and Endings” season.
3) East West Players: Art, A Tony Award Winning Broadway Play!
Art By Yasmina Reza; Traslated by Christopher Hamton; Directed by Alberto Issac
Runs September 10 – October 11, 2009
Imagine: A 4′ x 5′ white canvas, painted with fine white diagonal lines. Is this art? Serge believes it is and is willing to pay 200 grand for it. When Marc flat out laughs at the ridiculousness of the situation, a third party is brought in for an objective opinion. Yvan agrees with both. When three opinions clash, three friendships are put to the test. At the breaking point, Serge hands Marc a felt tip pen and dares him: “Go On.”
That’s right! The lucky winner wins a pair of tickets to ALL THREE events!
How do you enter?
Simply leave a short comment stating which one of these events interest you most and why. (Be sure to use the email address you’d like to be contacted at if you’re the winner.)
Hurry, the deadline to enter is: Wednesday, August 12 at 12 noon (Pacific Time)
One lucky winner will be randomly selected and contacted on Wednesday afternoon.
Rules for entering:
1) Please be in the Los Angeles area (or willing to travel to LA on your own dime) and serious about using all these tickets; if you’re too busy to use these, please don’t take them away from someone who will!
2) Tickets are non-transferrable; they are good for you and a guest.
3) Contributors to 8Asians and their immediate family members are not eligible to win.
Prizes courtesy of: 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors, Lodestone Theatre Ensemble, and East West Players. Thanks to all the orgs which are providing free tickets to 8Asians readers, and especially Phil Chung for his help with this.
John Hughes is dead of a heart attack. And while yes, Hughes was a director, producer and writer of a lot of awesome movies in the 1980′s like The Breakfast Club and single-handedly put Molly Ringwald on everybody’s radars, consider this thought, paraphrased from twitter user @wafflesgirls: Without John Hughes, there is no Long Duk Dong. And without Long Duk Dong, there is no longer a free pass to laugh at racist jokes for 90 minutes.
Asians who come to the U.S. as children of less affluent parents tend to view some objects or things as a represention of having attained the American dream. A Southeast Indian friend of mine, eYeks, reminded me of this in a recent blog article of his, where he talks about when he was younger in India, and just having a phone line was a representation of attaining wealth and affluency. He does go on to discuss how owning a phone instead of leasing one (if you’re old enough to remember) changed that definition for him, and how finally today he’s come full circle by owning not only the phone, the phone lines in his home, but also his own dialtone.
There was also a time in American history when having a piano in your home meant class, affluency, and a sure sign your family had succeeded in achieving the American dream. When I was younger, I visited wealthier Asian homes, and the centerpiece was always the piano in the living room. (Please no comments about Asian stereotypes and playing piano.) In my family, we didn’t own a piano in our home when I was a child, and I never got to take piano lessons. But my parents did eventually buy a piano some time after I left for college. Personally, I have never felt a need to have a piano in my home. So, it was a surprise when my spouse announced this week that we were buying a piano for our house. Sure enough there was a 1964 Gulbransen piano in our den one afternoon after I got home from work. I guess we’ve finally achieved the American dream.
Some time in the early 1990′s, bamboo floors became the sign of affluence in Asian homes. I remember walking into a home in Danville, CA owned by a friend of my moms in 1993, and how the gleaming bamboo floor monopolized the conversation. Back then they were rare to see in a home, and bamboo flooring was hard to find. Today, bamboo floors are pretty common and the right choice for “green” families.
In today’s growing economic melting pot, it’s harder to say if there’s anything like a phone line or piano that defines having made it to the American dream. It seems like almost everything is affordable to any class, if they truly want it. If there’s some other symbol of the Asian-American dream you’ve always had, please share it, and whether you’ve been able to attain it.
Asian American women, do you hate being objectified? If so, you’re not going to be so thrilled at the hottest wedding photo trend in China and Korea, which is to take pictures of the couple with the bride shrunk in Photoshop and put into totally adorable poses: miniature bride in the hands of the groom, miniature bride sitting on the shoulders of the groom, miniature bride suffocated sleeping in a tiny jewelry box. (No photos of a bride amputated and put into a box exist, at least not yet.) So is this adorable, or completely creepy? (h/t: Laura)
Ever since I saw the opening ceremonies of the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics with a man flying on a jetpack, I’ve always wondered when I could have one of my own. Behold, Canadian-based JetLev, founded by Chinese Canadian Raymond Li. JetLev’s “jetpack” is actually a water-powered jet pack that can launch users 30 feet into the air by pumping water through a tethered 30-foot cable powered by a jet ski motor, and will only set you back a mere $130,000. Now I know what I want after I buy my Segway.
I know, this ad was from the 1960s, so let’s put it all in context: No need to be boycotting Jell-o over this; instead, what we have here is an interesting view back in time as to what was generally considered acceptable in a mainstream American television commercial.
That said, what do you think is most racist about this commercial?
Wow. That’s a lot to choose from. Maybe I should have asked what’s NOT racist about this commercial? Aren’t you glad there are no racist TV commercials on today? (And while we’re at it, does anyone know what 十様蔗露 means?)
(h/t: ProfessorEric)
According to North Korean state-run news agency KCNA, Kim Jong-Il has pardoned Laura Ling and Euna Lee. News of the pardons came hours after former President Bill Clinton met with the North Korean leader to discuss the case of the two reporters who had been indicted, tried, imprisoned, and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor by North Korea for supposedly “illegally entering” the country. According to @LiberateLaura, “Bill Clinton reportedly flew to NK from Anchorage, Alaska. Presumably, that is the way he will return w/Ling-Lee.” Hey Bill Clinton, you’re kinda alright in our book!
I can’t wait to see the new documentary The Cove, about dolphin hunting in Taijii, Japan. Here is the description from Sundance Film Festival: “…the town has a dark, horrifying secret that it doesn’t want the rest of the world to know. There are guards patrolling the cove, where the dolphin capturing takes place, who prevent any photography. The only way to stop the evil acts of this company and the town that protects it is to expose them…” The activists in the documentary sneak into the cove and put cameras in fake rocks to expose the hunters. It’s brave, it’s exciting, and it has the feel of a heart-thumping espionage thriller. Watch the trailer here: (WARNING: The trailer starts playing automatically.)
The cries of the dolphins at the end of the trailer just about broke my heart. Who would want to kill these beautiful, intelligent creatures?
I was flipping through channels when I saw an AVP beach volleyball tournament. Having played and coached volleyball for many years, I settled on that channel. The score display said:
Gibb/Rosenthal 4, Wong/Olson 4
(Flickr photo credit: [sara b and Andy Jou])Guess which Asian is the professional Volleyball Player!
Wong? One doesn’t see many names like that on the beach volleyball circuit. Kevin Wong is a 6-7 professional beach volleyball player (who says that Asians aren’t tall and aren’t athletic?), as is his brother Scott. Kevin went to Hawaii sports powerhouse Punahou High (like Barack Obama), and played at UCLA where he was a three time All-American and his team won 2 NCAA volleyball championships. He partnered with legend Karch Kiraly in 2007 during Karch’s last year of volleyball. Not being one dimensional, he scored a perfect 800 on his math SAT, got a degree in economics, was selected by People Magazine as one of the most beautiful Olympic athletes in 2000, and was honored by the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California which was celebrating Chinese Americans in Sports.
Wong and Olson ended up losing that game, taking second in the Manhattan Beach Open, but Kevin Wong has inspired me to play volleyball again (took a break to let my knees recover, as I find that playing volleyball on sand is much harder on my knees than running). I hope to see more Asian Americans on the beach circuit, especially if they are as well-rounded, goodlooking, and successful as he is.
One of the nice things about being editor is that I can pretty much write about anything without any fear of reprimand, which means I get to blog about this nice interview about follow blogger Jeff on Fil-Am Ako, a Chicago based weblog catering the Filipino American community. Jeff writes about how he got to blogging for us, the Filipino traditions he keeps in his home and inspirations for past and future blog posts.
Custom Search
Recent Posts
- What if Jeremy Lin Weren’t Asian?
- Jason Wu’s Target Collection Debuts With Super Bowl XLVI
- Jennifer Yuh Nelson Wins Annie Award for Kung Fu Panda 2
- Report Reveals APA Gay & Lesbian Organizations Only Receive 0.7% Of Available LGBT Funding
- What I Learned From Posting A Dragon Lady Personal Ad
- Hard Boiled Egg Mold for Bento Decoration
- Is Classical Music Alive For Long?
Recent Comments
- : This is stupid, after a civil war, the loser shouldnt be considered a different country. Civil war in America, Ethiopia, Lebanon etc, didn't end with... – NPR / KQED: Why Taiwan Matters: Small Island, Global Powerhouse
- : @Reechard That's my point... If he weren't Asian, he wouldn't matter (as much). My question is this: Why Jeremy? What makes him special? And what... – What if Jeremy Lin Weren't Asian?
- : Also, I think your fear that if he fails it will spur stereotypes is unfounded. Those stereotypes already existed before Jeremy Lin exploded into the... – What if Jeremy Lin Weren't Asian?
- : Also, I think your fear that if he fails it will spur stereotypes is unfounded. Those stereotypes already existed before Jeremy Lin exploded into the... – What if Jeremy Lin Weren't Asian?
- : I think America pretty much DOES recognize that "LinSanity" is spurred heavily on the fact that he is "Asian-American in a league devoid of them:... – What if Jeremy Lin Weren't Asian?
APA Events
Feb 10: (Los Angeles, CA) CAUSE: Women in Power Annual Luncheon
Feb 15: (Seattle, WA) Pork Filled Players Enter The Year of the Dragon Spam*O*Rama
Feb 16: Adam WarRock and Kirby Krackle: West Cost Tour Dates!!!
Feb 16: (New York, NY) Amar Chitra Katha: Monica Ferrell, Chitra Ganesh, Keshni Kashyap, and Himanshu “Heems” Suri of Das Racist
Feb 17: (Los Angeles, CA) All My Sons
Feb 18: (Stanford, CA) Stanford’s 16th Listen to the Silence Conference- Feb 18: (San Francisco, CA) NAAAP-SF Lunar New Year Gala 2012
Feb 25: (Los Angeles, CA) Past Present I Future Imperatives: Queer Space Time
Staff and Contributors
- Editors
- Ernie Hsiung - Founder, Editor-in-Chief
- Moye Ishimoto - Co-Editor, Editorial
- Joz Wang - Co-Editor, PR & APA Outreach
