Competitive Eater Juliet Lee
After San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced that he was withdrawing from running for governor of California, he disappeared without some of his staff knowing his whereabouts (maybe Newsom was hiking the Appalachian Trail?). In reality, Newsom jetted off to Hawaii to join his wife and baby who was already on vacation. In an unsigned letter, Newsom designated Supervisor Carmen Chu as acting mayor. Legally, if the mayor of San Francisco is not available, the Board of Supervisors President, which would be David Chiu, would be acting mayor. In either case, congrats to David or Carmen for becoming the first ever (I believe) Asian American acting mayor of San Francisco!
(EDITORS NOTE: Mabel Teng was acting mayor of San Francisco in 1995. Thanks to Jim at SFCitizen for the hat tip.)
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By Elaine
We Asians finally have our own version of Aleksey Vayner, the Yale graduate who applied for a job on Wall Street a few years ago with an eleven page resume (complete with video) that claimed he could bench press 500 lbs, leg press 1650lbs, and was employed by the CIA and Mafia, among other things. Meet Jeffrey Chiang — current student at The McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin — whose unfortunate story has been spreading throughout the interwebs like crazy. This 2010 graduate supposedly lied to not one but two big firms: Bank of American and Morgan Stanley. According to Bess Levin of Dealbreaker:
Chiang apparently interviewed at Bank of America, where he was asked if he had any offers from other firms. Jeffrey claimed that he was in his second round of interviews with Morgan Stanley. An associate at BofA then contacted his friend at Morgan about Jeffrey’s prospects. The Morgan guy said that contrary to popular belief, JC had only had a phone interview, at which time he claimed to have gotten a full-out offer from BofA. As proof, JC provided a fabricated email allegedly from a recruiting woman at Bank of America, who would probably be surprised to be informed she’d offered Chiang a job (and that she didn’t know how to spell “America”). The Morgan people forwarded the faux letter of employment back to the people at Bank of America who were doing recon and from there it was forwarded to the entire free world.
Both Blippitt and Dealbreaker also have copies of Chiang’s emails, along with his resume where he claims to have run a “5k marathon.”
Am I the only one truly appalled not by Chiang’s conduct, but by the fact of how boring his fake email was? At this point, lies and deceit in business are all par for the course, and what really gets my goat is the utter lack of creativity and spellcheck he displayed. Levin seems to agree, saying “Obviously, the lies here are not good form but what’s most upsetting is the lack of effort.” Misspelling “America?” Come on!
I have to admit, this story is especially near and dear to my heart because I too am a UT student, albeit one on the opposite side of the spectrum – The College of Liberal Arts. As many of you may know, UT is known for its business school, which usually ranks very highly. This story comes at a rather timely moment; UT is planning major budget cuts with what seems to be extremely vague reasoning. According to the Texas State Employees Union and Communications Workers of America, The College of Liberal Arts may lose 20-33% of non-tenured instructors (about 78-300 people). 40 support staff from IT and the College of Engineering were laid off in the past two weeks. As one of my professors Tom Palaima once questioned, if UT has one of the best business schools in the nation, how are we in this financial mess? I’ll agree with him, and raise him this: If UT is truly one of the best colleges in the nation, how come we make internet news not with stories of success but with stories of ridiculous budget cuts and Jeffrey Chiang?
Photo courtesy: Blippitt
ABOUT ELAINE: Elaine Wang is currently a senior at the University of Texas at Austin. She stumbled upon 8Asians while at work in a research lab.
Shopping With GASP!
Of all the new shows this fall season, one of my favorites is ABC’s Modern Family which tells the story of three inter-related families in a mockumentary style – sort of The Office meets a family sitcom. One of the families is represented by a same sex couple, Mitchell and Cameron, who have adopted a Vietnamese girl, Lily. In the most recent episode, Mitchell accidentally bumps Lily’s head against the ceiling – and being concerned, Mitchell and Cameron take their daughter to see a doctor, who happens to be an Asian American woman who grew up in Denver.
Cameron, being white and feeling he needs to justify the adoption of Lily, makes some inappropriate comments and hilarity ensues.
The 8Asians tumblr highlights Asians [& uber talented non-Asians] who draw, dance, build, film, sing, write, invent, paint, teleport, and of course, tumble. It’s moderated by Jun, Moye and Ernie.
You read that right– anime hip-hop martial arts musical! It’s all that and a bag of chips!*
East West Players has gathered a creative team to develop a new musical that utilizes all three art forms and a 25 minute presentation of this work in progress will be performed on Friday, November 20, 7:30pm at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. A Q&A discussion will follow.
The working title for the production is KRUNK-FU BATTLE BATTLE.
Description: The heart of hip-hop is in the battle. Young Norman Lee must learn this if he hopes to survive his new high school life as an Upper Westside import now transported to Bushwick, Brooklyn, after his Mom loses her 6-figure salary job. After being bullied, beat-down, and watching his Mom swallow her pride by accepting a job as a fast food fry cook, young Norman Lee enlists the guidance of Sir Master Cert to help him learn the ways of b-boy to compete against the baddest crew in Bushwick for respect, honor, and a chance to prove to his Mom that this life away from material wealth can and will work.
The creative team includes: bookwriter Qui Nguyen, lyricist Beau Sia, composer Marc Macalintal, hip-hop choreographer Jason Tyler Chong and anime consultant Jane Wu. The presentation is directed by East West Players’ artistic director Tim Dang and reunites Dang, Chong and Macalintal after their successful collaboration of the 2008 hit run of PIPPIN.
The Writers’ Gallery offers public readings of works that are being considered for the mainstage at East West Players and are presented in conjunction with the Japanese American National Museum and The National Center for the Preservation of Democracy. This workshop is made possible in part by The James Irvine Foundation and The National Endowment for the Arts which believes that a great nation deserves great art; and by the support of individual donors.
The Writers’ Gallery presentation of KRUNK-FU BATTLE BATTLE (working title) will be on
Date: Friday, November 20th
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: National Center for the Preservation of Democracy
111 North Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Admission: free
For more information, please call East West Players at (213) 625-7000 or visit www.eastwestplayers.org. Dates and details are subject to change.
*Ok, I lied. No chips– no food and drink allowed inside at National Center for the Preservation of Democracy
As blogged earlier in September, Asian American candidates in the New York City primaries did well. CNN just did an excellent profile of Margaret Chin, who is on the verge of being elected to the city council and being the first Chinese American ever to represent New York City’s Chinatown:
“For Chin, a 56-year-old Hong Kong immigrant, the long road to political victory has not been easy. As she closes in on a probable November victory, though, she’s confident the lessons learned along the way will serve her — and her constituents — well. Chin’s American story began almost a half century ago, during the Kennedy administration. Her father, seeking new opportunities, left China for Colombia. A few months later, he became an undocumented U.S. worker, scratching out a living as a waiter in the Bronx section of New York. When the family’s immigration papers came through in 1963, he borrowed money to bring them to America. Margaret, the third of five children, remembers her dad’s exhaustion and pain after spending long days on his feet.”
Maybe I’m ignorant, but I think these kind of stories can only be made in America: Chin has run for city council three times before, but lost in the Democratic primaries. Because of greater Chinese-American involvement and through experience, Chin was able to win in her primary. Since New York City is predominantly Democratic, the chances of her losing to her Republican candidate is slim (must be frustrating to be the token opposition). Best of luck to Chin – I look forward to reading about her victory!
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Intro to Movietelling (Neo-Benshi) with Dennis Somera – Join KSW for a unique workshop in Movietelling/Film Narration. This art form has a long history in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, as well as western nations where silent films have called for narration and/or translation. Film narrators—called Benshi in Japan, Pyonsa in Korea—not only narrate the on-screen happenings, but seamlessly incorporate the poetic and political, as they hold the power to reinterpret the visual scene. Experimental poets in the Bay Area, including Dennis Somera, have rediscovered the practice and have been creating “neo-benshi”/movietelling work for several years. (Tuesdays, November 3, 2009 at 7pm to December 15, 2009 at 9pm, San Francisco, CA)
7th Annual San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival – The Seventh Annual 3rd I San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival is November 5 – 8, 2009. Four days of shorts, documentaries, and feature films from South Asia and the South Asian Diaspora, including: India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kashmir, Australia, Canada, Germany, UK and the USA. (November 5, 2009 to November 8, 2009, San Francisco, CA)
- Taiwan Film Days – The San Francisco Film Society in association with Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco, Taiwan’s Government Information Office and Taiwan’s Tourism Board presents Taiwan Film Days. This most recent addition to the Film Society’s expanding fall season highlights the best of contemporary Taiwanese cinema and provides Bay Area audiences with unique opportunities to view bold new Taiwanese films and engage with visionary filmmakers. (November 6, 2009 to November 8, 2009, San Francisco, CA)
Austin Asian American Film Festival – The 6th Annual Austin Asian American Film Festival will run from November 12th through the 15th at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar. From the more than 300 films submitted from over 20 different countries, the best 50 have been chosen. Aside from the film screenings, this year the festival has been expanded to include: two discussion panels at the University of Texas at Austin; an exciting Opening Night Party at KTV, Austin’s only downtown karaoke club; a Bollywood themed party at one of Austin’s hottest new bars, Mal Verde; and a concert featuring underground Filipina-American hip hop superstar, Jenro. (November 12, 2009 to November 15, 2009, Austin TX)
For people who are fans of seeing (hearing?) positive Asian American images on the radio, this will be a one-two punch: Energy 92.7 – the independent radio station which regularly brought BoA to San Francisco was bought by new owners a couple of weeks back, and immediately changed formats. To add insult to injury, Elvis — formerly of The Doghouse, the team of shock jocks fired in New York for a series of anti-Asian American pranks — is the new morning DJ. SFist has been writing about Elvis’s anti-gay morning pranks and include addresses where you can write about your displeasure.
In a recently released study by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, 63% of Asian American voters supported Barack Obama for president, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. But as usual, Asian American registered voter turnout was below average, with only 71% of Asian American registered voters voting versus the overall 78% of all registered voters in the country casting their ballots. For more information, check out the study (.pdf).
One of Number Two Son’s favorite shows is Man vs Food. In this show, host Adam Richman goes to various towns and cities and indulges in the local fare. Toward the end of each show, he engages in a local food challenge where he needs to finish either some huge amount of food, something extremely spicy, or some combination of both in order to win a prize or recognition. Richman is a fairly big guy, and while he says that he is not a competitive eater, more often than not he wins the challenge. Despite his size, bulk is not necessary to win eating contests. Take for instance, Juliet Lee. This 5 foot tall slightly over 100 pound mother and beauty salon owner is also ranked #11 in the world of competitive eating (believe it or not, there are rankings for competitive eaters). She has eaten 34 hot dogs within minutes!
She is not the only Asian big eater with a small stature. We have written about 128 pound Takeru Kobayashi, long time champion of the Nathan’s July 4th Hot Dog challenge (53 hot dogs in 12 minutes), and formerly #1 ranked eater. He is not a huge guy. Neither is 100 pound Sonya “Black Widow” Thomas, ranked #6 in the world and eater of 41 hot dogs within 10 minutes. How can these small Asians eat so much? According to the International Federation of Competitive Eating (yes, folks, there really is such an organization), smaller Asian “gurgitators” (their name for eating competitors) often do better than huge guys because they don’t have a belt of fat around their waists that restricts stomach expansion.
I look at these Asian “gurgitators” with a mix of pride, disgust, and envy. Pride, from the idea that these skinny Asians break stereotypes of big eaters. Disgust, from just thinking about how much they eat. Envy, from the fact that these three are still so skinny after eating so much food! I can gain a pound by just looking at a cheesecake.
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