Showcasing the best of Asian American music in Chicago!
Come celebrate Asian Americans in the art for a night of great music and community!
21+
$10 Cover
featuring:
Dawen (with Landy Shores, Leo B., Pharaoh Merchant, and Sue Jin)
http://dawen.us
Parts Per Million (2009 Kollaboration- Chicago winner)
http://partspermillion.com
Raman Sachdev
http://myspace.com/ramansachdev
with DJ Huu T. Ly
hosted by Lily Kim
Also sponsored by:
Bodhi Elephant
International Food Connection
Blacklava
TaiwaneseAmerican.org
Angry Asian Man
Koream Journal
Audrey
Kollaboration Chicago
poster designed by COCOHEAD design
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Our internal e-mail lists have us discussing all kinds of stuff: Asian American identity, representation in the media, the experiences of activism in an academia setting and its progression as we transition to the working, adult world. And sometimes, we talk about the usage of the word “chink” and “nip” and issues of context. Sometimes, the conversation spirals out of control.
Ernie: AngryAsianMan wants you to not use the words “chink” or “nip”, even as regular non-slanderous nouns.
Jeff: It doesn’t seem to me that he advocates never using “chink” or “nip” in any context, just not when discussing Chinese or Japanese people respectively: “I have a suggestion: how about avoiding the use of the term chink — in whatever context — when discussing anything having to with Chinese people? Same goes for nip and Japanese people.” That doesn’t seem to be that unreasonable.
Joz: Reminds me of the whole “niggardly” controversy.
Jun: Kinda like in Clerks II where the guys says ‘porch-monkey’ in front of a black customer cause he didn’t know it was a racial slur… I would read ‘chink,’ giggle at the irony and move on with my rather boring life.
Kevin: Does that mean I will never be able to say “chink in armor” ever again? This takes it too far, I understand when people get offended by “gay”, even then, its sort of evolved into something derogatory, and not necessarily homophobic. This? I would’ve read it and moved on without noticing.
Moye: What if you’re talking about nipples but don’t have time to type out the entire word?
John: When would one not have the time to write out nipples instead of nip? While tweeting or updating your FB status while having sex?
Ernie: Hey, it’s tough to write out “NIPPLE” with one hand on an iPhone.
Efren: And what were you doing with your other hand, Ernie?
John: Efren, Ernie is using his iPad with his other hand.
Ernie: If by “iPad,” you mean “PENIS.”
So, my argument: “a chink in the computer system” isn’t offensive, “a chink in the Chink’s computer system” is totally offensive, but because of the upper-case Chink, not the lower-case chink. “A chink in the Chinese government’s computer system” is… an unfortunate choice of words for someone who probably went to a better college than I, but no, I’m not really ragey. But that’s just me; what do you think?
Shopping With GASP!
A recent study is suggesting that people with Williams Syndrome – a rare neurodevelopmental disorder caused by a deletion of about 26 genes – show that not only are they “inordinately friendly and free of all social anxiety,” but that they may also be free of racial bias. io9 concludes that “that removing social fear from the human emotional range might also cut down on racism.” Really? It took a genetic disorder study on a science and technology blog to get to that? But the study also suggests something that goes against the very core of our politically correct beings – that we’re all wired internally to have some sort racial bias; maybe Avenue Q had it right after all.
Gary Okihiro is the professor of international and public affairs and the founding director of the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race at Columbia University. Hear him speak on where the Asian diaspora stands in Third World Solidarity, especially with the recent economic developments and changing power relations of nation-states and multinational corporate interests. Free admission.
- Ed Wang seeks to become the first Chinese American to be drafted into the NFL. (NW Asian Weekly)
- Jim Kelly on “Enter The Dragon”, Bruce Lee, discrimination (SF Chron)
- Lost’s Yunjin Kim Gets Married in Hawaii (People)
- Bob Dylan is banned in China. (NYT)
- Hooters restaurant underscores mixed sexual messages in China (LAT)
(Clockwise from top left) Deedee Magno, Joyo Velarde, Jocelyn Enriquez, Pinay and Lea Salonga
It’s just a couple of days before the season premiere of Glee (on April 13th to be exact) and I, like millions of others, am more than ready for the TV-meets-musical phenomenon.
A couple of weeks ago, Entertainment Weekly TV writer Michael Ausiello said that Glee is casting a character named Amelda, a “fiftysomething Filipina or Hispanic actress” to play Sue Sylvester’s maid.
Let’s just forget the fact that there is an element of stereotyping with this casting call. For one, Sue (the arch nemesis of the show) is already the most politically incorrect cheerleading coach on the face of the planet. The audience already hates her – so it’s expected. Secondly, Jane Lynch does a brilliant job slipping into the tracksuit of the acerbic Sue. Thirdly, if we spent all of our time dissecting all the culturally sensitive items in this show, we would be here for a long, long, long time – so let’s just enjoy the fun musical numbers on the show!
Nonetheless, if the producers of Glee still haven’t found someone to fill the role of Amelda, I took the liberty to compile a list of Filipina singers/actresses who would be perfect. However, I have taken the detail of “fiftysomething” out of the equation. Asian people don’t age, so that detail is irrelevant.
- Lea Salonga: You can’t mention musicals without throwing in Lea’s name. She was the original Kim in Miss Saigon and she was Jasmine’s singing voice in Disney’s Aladdin. Any time the topic of music-oriented Filipinos comes up, you have to mention Lea Salonga. I think it’s a law.
- Jocelyn Enriquez: I could see it now: a high-voltage choreographed number whilst the Fil-Am queen of dance-pop belts out her hit, “Do You Miss Me” – with a feather duster.
- Deedee Magno: She’s also taken center stage as the lead in Miss Saigon and was in the Mickey Mouse Club-produced pop group, The Party (I have their first album on cassette). I can totally see her in a love triangle with Artie (Kevin McHale) and Tina (Asian American actress Jenna Ushkowitz) to Brandy and Monica’s classic R&B man battle tune “The Boy is Mine”.
- Pinay: The all-girl R&B group originally consisting of Angelica Abiog, Irma De Los Santos-Lazamana, Loredie Lugos and Maylene Briones were cut from the same cloth as En Vogue. Rather than a single maid, their rich harmonies would represent a housekeeping quartet of Filipina soul. They could so get down with Glee club resident vocal powerhouse Mercedes (Amber Riley).
- Joyo Velarde: Ever since I saw this hip-hop soulstress perform at SXSW, I was hooked. I think I have a crush on her. Besides that, I could definitely see her as a sassy maid that would spike Sue’s protein shake with a laxative. I also envision another high-production number that will specifically hone in on the pop-locking skills of the Glee member known as “Other Asian” (a.k.a. LXD member Harry Shum Jr.).
The last time I blogged about Saturday Night Live, I made a comment regarding their portrayal of Asian American men; this past weekend, SNL’s Weekend Update briefly mentioned that producers were in the process of casting for an Asian American version of Jersey Shore, where Seth Meyers wondered how successful the show was going to be with “their version of Snooki.” At least SNL is an equal opportunity offender when it comes to reinforcing Asian American stereotypes.
Having never watched an episode of Jersey Shore and only briefly know what the reality TV show is all about, I’ve heard of Snooki but have no idea who she is really, except that she’s not all that bright from the brief glimpse of her I saw when she was on Jay Leno with some fellow cast members. But I guess the show itself has generated its share of controversy in how it depicts Italian Americans as well; l I’m sure the Asian American version of Jersey Shore will no doubt do the same.
And this weekend’s “I am an assclown” tweet goes to Golf Digest’s Dan Jenkins about Y. E. Yang, a South Korean golfer playing at the same Masters tournament as Tiger Woods this weekend: “Y.E. Yang is only three shots off the lead. I think we got takeout from him last night.” GET IT?! BECAUSE HE’S ASIAN. Although Yang must be a serious hard worker if he’s playing championship golf while working nights at the local Korean restaurant — wait, what do you MEAN Jenkins is being sarcastic?! Or that he’s probably assuming he’s Chinese? Tiger, I know you’re busy trying to have people forget about that whole “I’ve cheated with about fourteen blond girls thing,” but if you just happen to bash this guys headlights in with a nine iron, I’ll personally never say a bad thing about you again.
(Hat tip: Chris Y, David Z)
What’s up everybody? This is Steve from channelAPA.com, and I just want to say that I’m very enthusiastic about the partnership that we’ve formed with our friends here at 8Asians!
Along with the videos that you’ll be seeing on channelAPA’s end, I’ll be releasing exclusive content that you can only find through my channel.
With that having been said, the video shown above is a compilation that I’ve been working on throughout our NYC promotional tour. We pride ourselves in highlighting all facets of Asian American entertainment from all across the country. Throughout my travels, I’ve been reaching out to several New York/New Jersey based artists in order to collaborate and get them more involved with our channel. The making of this video would not have been possible without the help of our sponsor, Blacklava, film composer George Shaw, the channelAPA team, and the support of our followers in the East Coast.
The artists and groups that were featured include Heather Park, Audio Fiction, Triangle Offense, Johnnyphlo, The Notorious MSG, Dave Boyle, Rik Cordero, Teresa Lee of PaperDoll, Taiyo Na, Cynthia Lin, Decipher, Ellie Lee of seoulbeats/aatheory, Misnomer(S), Jen Kwok, Air Tabigue, Jordan White of Racebending, Cliff Chiang, Jeff Yang, Jerry Ma, Deep Foundation, Alfa, Gary King, and Choz Belen.
Join us for the Minnesota premiere of the award-winning documentary film, Last Train Home, by acclaimed Chinese-Canadian director Lixin Fan. Every Chinese New Year, 130 million migrant factory workers make the epic trip home to their rural villages by train, overwhelming the transportation system, human resources, and any sense of personal space. Fan follows the heartbreaking journey of a young family struggling to stay together as China “hurtles towards modernity and global economic dominance.” The 87-minute film will be followed by a discussion with the director to examine the role of globalization on tradition, gender roles, and normative nuclear family structures. Watch the trailer at http://www.eyesteelfilm.com/lasttrainhome. Free admission.
The six member crew of Can Nguyen (19), Lawrence “Law” Devera (21), Andrew “Chad” Mayate (20), Justin “Jet Li” Valles (20), Charles Nguyen (20), and Matt “Dumbo” Nguyen (20) were matched up against the remaining Canadian dance crew, BluePrint, which also featured a very talented Thien-Linh “TL” Truong. They become the second crew whose members are all at least of Asian descent, with Quest Crew being the first. I had originally blogged about them when they had first appeared performing to Taylor Swift, and was interested to see if their style of popping, choreography, and robotics would be able to win it all.
JC Chasez was the toughest judge on Poreotix as he described their moves as being “Tik Tik Tik” and that he couldn’t watch them do isolations as an entire performance. Poreotix eventually won him over after their Disco challenge. Their Last Chance performance had them dancing a video game beat and calling it “Tetreotix.”
Poreotix is also known to bring their humor into their style; when Randy Jackson came to declare them as champions, he said, “Poreotix, you dominated the competition this year with your crazy robotic style and your brilliant sense of humor. You guys are funny dudes.” Jet Li mentioned, “There’s been a lot of controversy about us being too funny and not serious enough. Well, I disagree. Expressing yourself honestly with your craft while being creative are factors that make us who we are.”
Their appearance on the show have not gone without criticism of their humor from viewers, however; I guess we can just call them the Peter Chaos and Ken Jeongs of dance crews.
The San Diego Asian Film Foundation (SDAFF) is proud to announce its 2010 call for entries. SDAFF will celebrate its 11th annual film festival season to an estimated audience of more than 18,000 during 8 days of film, panels, and exciting special events.
The San Diego Asian Film Festival is competitive, seeking entries in the following categories: narrative feature, narrative short, documentary feature, documentary short, and animation. An independent jury selects winners in each category, along with the Grand Jury award, which are announced at the Festival’s Gala Awards Night on Saturday, October 23, 2010. Festival programmers also select a first-time filmmaker to receive the George C. Lin Emerging Filmmaker Award, which is accompanied by a $1,000 prize.
Films/videos submitted must be directed or principally acted by an artist of Asian or Pacific Islander descent; or whose subject matter relates to Asian or Pacific Islander culture.
· Early Deadline: April 30, 2009 ($25 Submission Fee)
· Late Deadline: June 11, 2009 ($40 Submission Fee)
The 11th San Diego Asian Film Festival is schedule for October 21-28, 2010 at the Mission Valley UltraStar Cinemas at Hazard Center. All rules, entry forms, application, and festival info can be found online at www.sdaff.org. The San Diego Asian Film Festival is an event of the San Diego Asian Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting audiences with the Human Experience through the Pan-Asian media arts.
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