There is a venue within the Downtown Los Angeles area where you will find one of the longest running free performance art spaces to feature multi-disciplinary artists of Asian Pacific American descent, as well as artists from around the city. Hold up. A venue with performances that features spoken poetry, music, theater, and sketch show pieces and you can watch all of this for free? Could such a place possibly exist??
Such a place DOES exist and it’s called Tuesday Night Project!
Founded in 1999 by Traci Kato-Kiriyama, the TNP is home to the 1st & 3rd Tuesday Night Cafe series, a venue that I have been able to experience since moving to Los Angeles over 5 months ago. I’ve gone to several since then and each time, I have always been blown away by the quality of the performances and the open mic performances from those who you could totally see them becoming the next big thing. Hosted by a larger than life Johneric Concordia, there is always a vibrant energy that encapsulates every single Tuesday Night Cafe and that’s something I bring home with me as I grow only inspired from experiencing such energy.
Yesterday, TNP hosted Blogger’s Night and invited major APA blogs from the Los Angeles area to come out and see what the venue was all about. Koji Steven Sakai and I came out to represent for 8Asians and tonight’s performances featured Dawen, Brown Star, Room to Improv, Wells, and many more. Each of these artists were fantastic and I highly recommend checking them out whenever these guys perform in your area. I’m especially looking forward to Brown Star when they perform again in Los Angeles later this weekend.
While Tuesday Night Project has been able to perform their cafe concert series free for many years, they can only do so with generous love and support from the Los Angeles community, especially the Asian Pacific Americans in this city. Donations are always encouraged and speaking of which, TNP will be hosting their annual benefit on July 31st at the JACCC Plaza! You can check out the benefit event here.
The next Tuesday Night Cafe will be on July 20th and from then on, it will be the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays Tuesdays of every month until autumn. Be sure to come out and show some love to the hardworking staff of TNP and to the fantastic artists that come perform for no charge whatsoever. It’s a selfless act that not a lot of people do these days and it is one more reason why you should support Tuesday Night Project.
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If you’re a stamp collector like I am, you’re familiar with the terms commemorative and definitive. Commemorative stamps are typically limited issue, and typically honor or celebrate a certain theme, individual, event or object. Definitive stamps are the ones issued for everyday use, and typically have much more common objects, like the US Flag. When I was younger, I was a an avid stamp collector and sought out commemorative stamps, wherever and whenever possible. I loved the trips to the United Nations building, where I could buy unique commemorative UN stamps, ones I didn’t see on a typical days mail.
Stamps with Asian themes though were always rare, unless of course they were from an Asian nation. So, I sought out US stamp issues with an Asian theme the same way I looked for ones that were Disney-themed and Astronaut-themed, a couple of my other favorite topics. It turns out Asian themed US stamps were much rarer than I imagined as a child. The US only produced 43 Asian themed stamps since 1957 and almost half of these were to celebrate Chinese New Year.
This week, I was pleased to learn that Asian American members of the US Congress last month appealed for the Postal Service to issue more stamps depicting the Asian American community, using the argument that Asians have been under-represented in stamp issues from the US.
In a letter to the Postal committee, the Asian American members of Congress came up with some suggested potential honorees including the Chinese who built the Transcontinental Railroad, Japanese Americans interned during World War II, and also individuals such as Chinese American film star Anna May Wong and Indian-born Dalip Singh Saund, who was elected in 1956 as the first Asian American member of Congress.
“Stamps are like history teachers, educating us on significant, and often omitted, social, cultural and political occurrences in America’s past,” said Representative Mike Honda, a Democrat from California and head of the Asian Pacific American caucus. The issuance of more Asian American stamps is “a necessary next step in mainstreaming a minority group that remains marginalized from the postal service’s primary platform for remembering America’s history,” he said.
I figure if the Simpsons can be honored on US stamps, then I don’t see why we can’t have the Monkey King, Pigsy and Sandy on a US stamp (but of course we’d be following Canada’s lead, since they already put the Monkey King on a stamp!)
Shopping With GASP!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfJnqbudMzs
The first time I saw this ad some time in late May for South Korea’s Kia Soul was in the movie theater, and for whatever reason, I instantly loved it. I liked the tune by Black Sheep, as well as the hip-hop hamsters. A part of me was wondering – are these hamsters computer generated or humans wearing costumes? When I saw that the SUV got 31 MPG and started at $14k, I thought, “Wow, if I were to get an SUV, I might seriously consider the Kia Soul.”
Apparently, I am not the only person who seems to really like this ad. Not only has this ad gone viral on the Internet, but it has really helped to boost Kia sales:
“In June, Kia Motors America’s retail sales surged 45% over the same period last year. While Ford, General Motors, and Toyota also posted smaller year-over-year increases in June, their sales fell from May by 11%, 13% and 14%, respectively. Kia’s rose 1.5% month-to-month. Perhaps not surprisingly, dealers also love the hamster campaign. “People come in and say they want to drive the hamster car,” says Edwin Menasaka, general sales manager at Glendale Kia in the Los Angeles area.”
Amazing when a creative ad actually helps also drive sales. I mean, that is the whole long-term point of advertising, right?
- Will Justin Bieber be performing in North Korea thanks to 4Chan? (BBC)
- Cancer screeners are a hard-sell for Korean Americans, where 40% have no health coverage. (NAM)
- Sex tourism in Bali: not for the men, but for women tourists with male surfers. (LAT)
- Asians behaving badly: Arizona Candidate Barry Wong would cut utilities from illegal immigrant homes. (Guanabee)
- M. Night Shyamalan has a new movie project! It probably won’t be very good.
At what point do you draw the line between crazy Japanese television shows featuring a Barack Obama impersonator doing a magic show and offensive blackface? Let’s just settle on the fact that his awful impression of our President is way off. He sounds more like Donald Trump. Oh, Japan.
July 9th and 10th
Where: AMC on Van Ness
When: 12nn-4pm
For more information, contact Catherine at [email protected] Best of luck!
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=124074684301951&index=1
On July 4th, Joey “Jaws” Chestnut defended his title (and winning for the 4th time in a row) in Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest by eating 54 hot dogs in 10 minutes. Due to a contracts dispute with Major League Eating & International Federation of Competitive Eating (yes, that organization is for real!), six-time hot dog-eating contest champion winner Takeru Kobayashi did not compete, but did attend the Coney Island annual event to supposedly support his fellow competitors.
Caught up in the excitement and by his chanting supporters (chanting “Let him eat! Let him eat!), Kobayashi jumped on the stage. Shortly after he got on the stage, he was arrested by officers and charged with obstruction of governmental administration, resisting arrest, trespassing and disorderly conduct and jailed overnight. He was released and then this somewhat serious press conference took place. What I found hilarious was one reporter’s question, “Did you have any hot dogs while in jail?”
Personally, I think the whole controversy was staged – like how wrestling is setup. I mean, Kobayashi was wearing a T-shirt that said, “Free Kobi.” And this only extends the coverage of the hot dog eating contest and Kobayashi’s fame. The New York Times does a great backgrounder piece on how the Nathan’s contest has grown and how competitive eating has taken the world by storm (amazing what good PR can do for a person, sport or company – aka Twitter).
UPDATE, 7/16/10: This giveaway is closed. The final winner list is below.
If you weren’t paying attention to 8Asians over the 4th of July weekend because you were too busy BBQing, then you might have missed the announcement of our 8Asians ‘Inception’ Prize Package Giveaway.
In anticipation of the upcoming Christopher Nolan film Inception starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Ken Watanabe, we’re going to be releasing a new trivia question every few days or so– until we run out of prizes. You can enter every time a new question is posted; check the original post for complete details on the rules and how to enter.
I will not be making a new post on the main 8Asians blog every time the question changes, so keep checking back to the contest page or follow us on Twitter and/or Facebook if you want to see if there’s a new chance to win!
Here are the correct answers to the trivia questions:
Question #1) What theater company did Ken Watanabe begin his acting career at? En Troupe (Engeki-Syudan En). Also acceptable: Madoka
Question #2) Name 3 of the 6 countries that ‘Inception’ was filmed in. Japan, UK, France, Morocco, USA, and Canada)
Question #3) What TV game show did Dileep Rao appear in, where he scored one of the game show’s largest single-day winnings? Jeopardy!
Question #4) Why is Ken Watanabe’s character (Saito) referred to as “The Tourist?” Because rather than having the experience and skills to go into dreams, he pays his way in to the dream world.
Congratulations to the Winners:
- kejia (Correctly answered Question #1)
- Michelle V (Correctly answered Question #1)
- Eddy Chen (Correctly answered Question #2)
- EricAsian (Correctly answered Question #2)
- Amanda H (Correctly answered Question #2)
- “John Nishiyama” (Correctly answered Question #3)
- Eugenia Beh (Correctly answered Question #3)
- Kevin N (Correctly answered Question #3)
- Willis (Correctly answered Question #3)
- Leo Fong (Correctly answered Question #3)
- Mike G (Correctly answered Question #4)
- Kevin C (Correctly answered Question #4)
- Cory Z (Correctly answered Question #1)
- Jess W (Correctly answered Question #2)
- Emma (Correctly answered Question #3)
(Updated as of 7/16/2010, 4:45pm Pacific)
I’ve blogged about the Taiwanese dumplings restaurant chain Din Tai Fung in the past, and just saw this article posted on Facebook from a friend – Din Tai Fung is coming to Seattle. The restaurant will open in a suburb called Bellevue, Washington (which coincidentally happens to be the headquarters of HTC America). Here are some more details:
[T]he opening date is slated for early fall, when a 7000-square-foot, 220-seat den of dumplingfied deliciousness will be unveiled on the second-level at Lincoln Square, next to the skybridge connecting to Bellevue Place.”
Now I know quite a few people think that Din Tai Fung is overrated (but read the Yelp reviews!) but I don’t care! As I have mentioned before, I’ve been to a Din Tai Fung in Taipei, Shanghai and Beijing, as well as in Arcadia, California. In fact, I took some colleagues there back this January when we were in Southern California for a trade show and they loved it!
I am annoyed that Seattle is getting a Din Tai Fung instead of San Francisco Bay. I have literally emailed Din Tai Fung’s U.S. site every six to twelve months asking them to open a restaurant up in the Bay Area. That place would clean up big time. I mean, Cupertino is sort of like the Little Taipei of Northern California – Din Tai Fung in Cupertino Village would be a natural fit.
I don’t know what franchisee David Wasielewski (who was born-and-raised in Taiwan until middle school) did to convince Din Tai Fung to give him a franchise since he’s never owned and operated a restaurant before in his life. I need to contact some hotel and restaurant friends of mine, since I think opening one up in the Bay Area is a no-brainer and would be a goldmine!
I’ll be one of the first to generalize about my people: Koreans love drama whether it’s on tv or in real life. Of course, the drama of the 2010 FIFA World Cup was compelling: all the Asian countries made a great start especially South Korea coming out strong in the first round against Greece, and then the agony of their subsequent losses to Argentina (oh, it was brutal) and Uruguay, though they did tie Nigeria. After the loss to Uruguay, I immediately thought “What’s going to happen to the coach?”, while only being able to imagine the immense expectation he carried on his shoulders and the difficulty of returning home with the team as losers.
I guess it’s not surprising, and definitely almost a relief, then to hear that the South Korea coach, Huh Jung-Moo is calling it quits or, “letting his contract expire so he can spend more time with the family.” AFP reports:
In the group stages South Korea beat Greece 2-0 but suffered a crushing 4-1 defeat to Argentina, which sparked a barrage of cyber attacks on the coach notably over his decision to shuffle his defenders by bringing on Oh Beom-Seok for Cha Du-Ri. Huh’s wife, Choi Mi-Na, told the Chosun Daily that she and their children had been deeply wounded by hurtful Internet postings. ”I told him he should quit … The coach and all my family members have been hurt enough,” she said.
It makes sense for him to take a step back and take care of himself and his family. The pressure and weight are enough to crush someone, and sometimes to death. Whoever says that “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is delusional. Words matter and can have a terrible impact. Cyberbullying is a phenomenon that occurs everywhere and tragic when it results in an innocent, young person taking her life. And of course, since cyberbullying has become rampant, it is all the more reason to focus on one’s health, or it may result in something like the suicide of Choi Jin-Sil, a South Korean actress a couple of years ago. If I were Huh’s wife, I’d be concerned for him. Certainly, preserving one’s life and well-being, even if it means quitting, is way more important than dealing with the daily drama of being the coach of a football team. Besides, there’s always 2014.
(c)The Nanny Business. Used by permissionEdelyn Pineda holds a picture of her daughter
On our family vacation in Vancouver Canada, the Wife and the Brother-In-Law were buying atis and lanzones in Granville Island‘s public market, so I minded the kids. While I was watching them, I noticed some Filipinas who were also taking care of children. These children were white and didn’t look like hapas, so I figured that the Filipinas must have been nannies. I had heard about Filipina nannies in Hong Kong, and I met some when I went there. As many people migrated from Hong Kong to Vancouver, Canada, it appeared to me that the custom of hiring Filipina nannies seemed to go with them.
In the Philippines, I had heard the occasional story of exploitation and abuse by employers of Hong Kong nannies. The documentary The Nanny Business talks about the exploitation and abuse of Filipina nannies not in Hong Kong but in Canada. A Canadian law offering fast track residency for immigrant caregivers has caused Filipinas to seek nanny jobs in Canada. The documentary follows some of these Filipinas. Edelyn Pineda paid thousands of dollars to a Canadian recruiter and then arrived in Toronto to find that her “employer” did not want her services. She had no money or a place to stay. Joelina Maluto lived in her recruitment agent’s basement with 16 others for two and a half months before getting a job where her employer forced her to work 18 hour days. Journalist Susan McClelland puts their stories in a larger context. “I’ve written about sex trafficking, but caregiver trafficking is something we are now finding out about too,” she says. Her article on this subject won a Canadian Amnesty Award.
The Nanny Business was written by Shelley Saywell and produced by Deborah Parks. It will be broadcast on Global Television’s summer documentary series ‘Currents’ on Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at 10 pm.
Ninja Say What — posted as an offhand remark by Edward in an 8Asians Talkabout post, was recently blogged by The Daily What, which pretty much instantly gives YouTube videos a one-way ticket to Viralville, population Cat Playing Piano. Stick around for the end of the video for the special bit at the end.
“Ninja Please” may be one of those things I may start saying ironically, and then start saying unironically because I say it so much; much like actually saying the phrase “LOL” out loud, or singing “Party in the USA” just to annoy my former co-workers and having it get caught in your head the next three weeks afterward. (Trust me, at 33 years old, I’m very much singing Miley songs ironically. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.)
(Hat tip: Edward and Ariel)
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