8Questions is a bi-monthly interview of Asian Pacific Islander Americans (APIA) community leaders. It is a spotlight on individuals who have dedicated their careers to issues surrounding the APIA community with the goal of bringing much deserved recognition to their work and cause(s). 
Konrad Ng is a Professor of Creative Media at the University of Hawaii, Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary for History, Art, and Culture at the Smithsonian Institution and to top it off, brother-in-law to President Barack Obama. He recently completed a term as Acting Director of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program. Before joining the University of Hawaii, Konrad was the Curator of Film and Video at the Honolulu Academy of Arts (a fine arts museum in Hawaii) and a film programmer for the Hawaii International Film Festival. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Center for Asian American Media and the Global Film Initiative. Konrad’s dissertation examined constructions of Asian identity in narrative, experimental film and video. He is a happy husband and proud father of two girls.
What is the mission statement of your life?
Do no evil. Remember the importance of empathy. Lead by example. Be a good father, husband, family member, friend and citizen. Help others. Contribute to the communities around me.
How did you end up doing what you’re doing?
Stayed true to my mission statement while nurturing my interest in cinema/digital media and the politics of community representation and organization.
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Back in August, I had heard through a friend that there was a fashion show going on later that evening for designer, Wen Guo for her line, BODITECTURE. Besides the NAAAP fashion show, I can’t recall ever going to a real fashion show before, so I decided to check it out. Besides being held at the trendy Supper Club in San Francisco, what was interesting about the fashion show were the designs themselves:
Each individual piece can be transformed from one style to another by pulling the zipper. A formal office attire dress can be opened up and totally changed into an evening happy hour nightdress. A jacket can be transformed to be a cape in a few second… ready to change yet?
Her fashion line reminded me of a New York Times story about the “Great American Apparel Diet” on re-purposing your closet to wearing only six items for an entire month. I can see for men, especially in Silicon Valley, that this wouldn’t be a problem. I personally hate shopping for clothes. But for women, maybe BODITECTURE type fashions are the right way to go! Too bad there isn’t a collection for men.
I’m always really amazed with people like Wen with full-time jobs who spend their free time to develop their hobbies into a side career. Then again, if you have a passion for something, you usually have the time and energy! To no surprise, Wen Guo of Wen Studio has a design related background with her day job as an architect. I can’t even imagine all the time and effort that goes into designing and then manufacturing the clothing (I’m assuming it’s all done manually!).
Shopping With GASP!
From SFGate.com comes a report about a woman arrested numerous times for vandalizing numerous BMWs and Mercedes all over the Bay Area, and is now being held on $1 million bail in Santa Clara County Jail. Nancy Ni apparently had already been facing numerous charges in Alameda County as well when she was arrested at a mall in San Jose.
At first, when I read the article, I thought it was some rather misdirected message on overconsumption and capitalism since the alleged vandal has been attacking only luxury vehicles. Then I read that she herself drives a BMW. So now I just think she’s m-f’in crazy.
Congrats to Far*East Movement whose single Like A G6 hit #1 on the US iTunes singles charts and #10 on the Billboard charts, making Far*East Movement the first Asian American group to break into the iTunes and Billboard top 10 list. Like a G6 has been getting a ton of airplay.
Since they’re based in LA, I’ve seen FM perform many times over the years so it’s really great to hear them on the radio and see them find such huge success! Whenever I hear this song being played in a public place– like a store or a restaurant– I say loudly to whoever is near me “Did you know this song is by Far*East Movement? They’re Asian American!” Sometimes I get dirty looks for doing this, but most of the time, it sparks a conversation with strangers who say things like, “Wow! I’ve heard this song and didn’t know the group was Asian American.”
But most often people say, “What is a G6*?” Evidently, people are using the Internet (to try) to find out, and here is a sampling of what they would find online:
- Over at ChaCha, some said “The phrase “Like a G6″ is most likely referring to a car, the Pontiac G6″ to which other people responded “Wrong.”
- Someone else said, “Yeah, I dont think anyone would be saying a Pontiac G6 is “fly”. While its an ok car for the average older woman, someone with a lot of money to spend probably wouldn’t buy it. Especially when the Pontiac G8 is so much faster and harder to get. If you’ve ever hung around people with real money, they don’t talk about cars as much as people without money do. They tend to talk about jets, yachts, and planes. ”
- Some people think G6 refers to a musical chord
- “G x 6″ (i.e. “Gangsta x 6″ or “Gay x 6″) is another popular belief
- Some idiot honestly gave a Yahoo Answer of: “The G6 (Group of Six) in the European Union is an unofficial group of the interior ministers of the six European Union member states”
- But the consensus online seems to be that G6 stands for Gulfstream G650, a really expensive jet
In other words, if you want to know the answer to a question, don’t ask the Internet. Instead, I say you should consult the nearest 3 year-old, as per Ford H’s comment on a Facebook thread: “My 3 year old hears and sings the chorus based on his own interest: “Like a cheese stick, like a cheese stick.”
Mmmm! I could use some string cheese about now! (But wait! Am I sure it’s string cheese? Maybe I need to ask “What is a cheese stick?“)
*According to one of the song’s co-writers, “G6″ is open to interpretation.
My friend and writer, Shawna Yang Ryan, was recently interviewed by Author Magazine. She describes how she became an author, her pursuit of writing as a career, and about her novel Water Ghosts getting publish. Recently, the book was re-released with another printing, featuring a new cover. Originally published under the title Locke 1928 back in 2007, the novel tells the following story:
Three bedraggled Chinese women [who] suddenly appear out of the mist one afternoon in a small Chinese farming town on the Sacramento River, and their arrival throws the community into confusion. Two of the women are unknown to the townspeople, while the third is the long-lost wife of Richard Fong, the handsome manager of the local gambling parlor, who had left her behind in China many years earlier and had not yet returned for her… As the lives of the townspeople become inextricably intertwined with the newly arrived women … And when a flood threatens the livelihood of the entire town, the frightening power of these mysterious women who arrived in the mist will be revealed.
Shawna’s first published novel, Water Ghosts has received numerous glowing reviews and was selected as the finalist for the 2008 Northern California Book Award. Locke is an actual town in California that had one of the earliest Chinese settlements in the United States at the turn of the 20th century. Most Chinese and other Asians moved to the United States after the immigration reform in the mid-1960s, so it is always interesting to read about what life was like for Chinese immigrants (as well as descendants of the Gold Rush) of that era.
Back in August, I was able to attend a talk that Shawna gave at the Chinese Historical Society of America Museum in San Francisco where she discussed the historical context of Water Ghosts, the issues of immigration, prostitution, and others in their relevance to today’s culture. I am always fascinated by the Asian American experience prior to immigration reform in the 1960′s. I can’t even imagine the level of discrimination and challenges faced by immigrants prior to the age of telecommunications and jet travel.
Music and dance come together for this unique piece titled “Pushing the Limits” with musician Tony T Nguyen and Can Nguyen from POREOTICS. This original collaboration shows how different artistic backgrounds can come together to make something creative. At the end of this piece, Tony briefly shares his thoughts on how he put the music together.
To get to know more about Tony, I encourage you to read Edward’s previous post which gives you an extensive background behind his music.
- SPONSORED LINK: AsianFashion.com aims to list the best designer clothes and shoes from leading Asian fashion designers!
- Margaret Cho is still kicking on Dancing with the Stars.
- Another article on sexual racism in the GLBT Community. (Hat tip: Lia)
- An Indian American scientist is working on Smart Robots.
- Taiwanese Tennis Pro (The latest generation) Vania King.
As if web hosting company Go Daddy didn’t play the hot girl action enough, they’re now adding Ella Koon to their repertoire of “Go Daddy girls.” Ella Koon is a musician, model, and actress (which is pretty typical of all celebrities in Asia).
I’ve never heard her music, but apparently she’s pretty popular in television dramas such as Revolving Door of Vengeance and Survivor’s Law II. She’s definitely a little different from the usual gals who Go Daddy CEO and Founder Bob Parsons usually promotes but perhaps a different culture deems different types of beauty. All I have to say is that I’m glad they didn’t pick someone with a bowl cut.
Last week, tech savvy bloggers from all over Southern California gathered at Yamashiro Restaurant in Hollywood for the second annual Blogger Prom, celebrating a night of delicious food, drinks, live Tweeting, overflowing gift bags and prizes. On behalf of 8Asians, fellow co-editor Joz and I attended the party, dressed in our finest for the Hollywood glamor theme.
One can never turn down the opportunity to relive high school experiences (especially if one’s school was girls only and therefore, rendering the idea of a prom kind of useless since finding a date was a traumatic realization about one’s lack of a social life…anyway…) but when a committee of dedicated bloggers work their asses off to put together a grown-up party for Internet nerds, the result is amazing! Prom attendees were treated to Yamashiro’s famous view of Los Angeles city lights, mouth watering CalAsian food provided by the in-house chef, endless desserts and the rare opportunity to meet fellow Internet friends face to face. All ticket proceeds were donated to Operation Frontline, offering everyone a chance to give back to the community.
You can’t have a proper prom without a proper prom queen, and I’m proud to announce that our very own Jozjozjoz was voted by all attendees to wear this year’s crown. Yeah, we Asians like to overachieve in every category possible–and sometimes, that includes the popularity contest.
Congrats to Joz! All hail the 2010 Blogger Prom Queen! If there’s one Internet princess who deserves to reign over the web, it would definitely be our very own co-editor. Let’s hope she’ll still return my IMs and phone calls, or doesn’t go all Carrie on us in 2011.
Apologies for the fobby poses. You can’t just throw a camera in our faces without expecting us to do this, right? We didn’t make the Kawaii Clock for nothing.
[Photos courtesy of official Blogger Prom photographer Heather Kincaid]
The Amazing Race premiered this past Sunday, and this season pairs up another Asian American team – this time the Taiwanese American father-and-son team, Michael and Kevin. If you think you’ve seen Kevin before, you may have, because he is an YouTube sensation:
Twenty-year-old comedian Kevin Wu, a.k.a. Kevjumba, is a YouTube sensation with over one million subscribers and 25 channel million views. Collectively his hilarious videos poking fun at Asian American issues and stereotypes and things he finds amusing have garnered over 90 million views.
That’s pretty incredible! To be honest, prior to him being on The Amazing Race, I had not really heard much about Kevin. His most popular YouTube video (from a few years ago) has over 10 million views! And all that is of him answering some questions. His most highly rated video was a response to his question – what career should he choose next? Of course, one of the more popular responses was ‘porn star’ (this is the Internet after all).
We have come a long way- Asians in the media, especially from an era of “Fu Manchu,” Mickey Rooney’s “Mr. Yunioshi from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and of course Apu on The Simpsons.
Yes, the first ever American sitcom to star a primarily South Asian cast has managed to slip under the radar, as it was expected to be so much more, in this ‘”post Apu era.” Last week’s premiere of Outsourced on NBC was an adaptation of a sleeper-hit film of the same name, which was released in 2006.
With the show being a “moon-landing” of sorts, I hosted a private premiere party for some of my closest desi (South Asian) and non-desi friends (complete with samosas and all, of course!). We watched the premiere, and while there were undoubtedly some funny knee slapping moments when the room burst into laughter, there were also some very awkward moments that left the room silent– like when Rizwan Manji’s character “Rajiv” suggests to fire one of the employees because she is of a lower caste. Ouch. Un-necessary.
We sat in silence for about 30 seconds after the credits, milling over the appropriate critique. The words “too safe,” “cautious,” “confusing,” “cop-out,” “lazy,” and “un-funny” entered the room.
We’re all familiar with the mail-order bride. Now, the emergence of an imported mail-order husband business of sorts has emerged by way of Thailand.
Thai women who grow up “always dreaming of marrying a foreigner” are bought as brides by Caucasian men who, by Western standards, are not particularly wealthy. The surprising part is that rather than take them back to their native countries, the men choose to settle in Udon Thani, one of the poorest regions of the country, where they can provide a comfortable life for both their wives and their families.
According to this recent New York Times article, these foreign husbands have expanded to a population of 11,000 in the region. They are usually retirees in their 50s, 60s or even 70s, living off their pensions. Needless to say, these men are often much older than their Thai brides and are attracted to the “low cost of living, slow pace of life, and exotic reputation of Thai women.”
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