With a few weeks left until the November election, there are more and more political ads on televisions (especially here in California with Meg Whitman spending a record $140 million so far to run for Governor). However, I am always pleasantly surprised to see Asian Americans of all political ideologies and parties running for public office, as well as when I see political advertisements for them on television or the web. Even in California, where Asian Americans make up 12% of the overall population, Asian Americans are not seen as leaders – either in business or in government. So I’m always excited to see advertisements promoting Asian Americans involved and interested in civic leadership. See some political advertisements on the city and state level from John Chiang, Leland Yee, Jane Kim and David Wu, after the jump. Continue Reading »
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Okay, so China and Brazil has a basketball game — ironically, a “friendly” match — which is then cut short when the game ends in a brawl. (Check out the video of Chinese players kicking a couple of Brazilian players on the ground, and get your seventh grade revenge fantasies out while you can, folks.)
While that isn’t too worthy of a blog post, what is is this miserable excuse for a sports column by Oklahoma based “humorist” Stan Siliman, where he pulls out every cliched Asian reference in the book, starting out by quoting the song “Kung Fu Fighting,” makes a Chuck Norris AND Jackie Chan reference, a couple more references to kung fu; his article is less about the altercation and more about his ability for him to make snarky comments to Chinese products at Walmart and the US Chamber of Commerce. Xenophobic, chip-on-the-shoulder much? (His mailing address, phone number and e-mail are freely available on his website if you want him to know what you really think of the article. [UPDATE: From a commenter, the phone number may be incorrect.] Hat tip: Koji)
Shopping With GASP!
One of my favorite J-Rock artists is Gackt Camui, who has one amazing voice and pretty much reminds me of the old 80′s ballads, but better. He originally came out of the visual kei bands but has since led a brilliant career of singing and acting. However, I’m not really sure what he was thinking with naming his latest album Are You “Fried Chickenz”?? which puts together some of his latest hits from different albums. Apparently there was even a tour in August called Yellow Fried Chickenz. The last thing I want to do is think of him as Colonel Sanders, so I’m curious as far as why this album is even named as such. Drunken stupor perhaps?
In any case, it seems that Gackt is also making his move towards Hollywood. He stars along side Josh Hartnett in Bunraku, which was featured at this year’s Fantastic Fest in Austin and San Diego Comic-Con. But that’s not all! There are several other A list names on the cast, including Demi Moore, Woody Harrelson, and Ron Perlman.
And as long as Gackt doesn’t don one of these costumes, I’ll probably go check the movie out. Oh gawd. What were you thinking with that album name?
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).
Angela E. Oh serves as the Executive Director of the Western Justice Center Foundation (WJC), a non-profit organization that advances peaceful resolution of conflict. She has worked as an attorney, public lecturer, and teacher of Zen meditation. In addition to her job with the WJC, she remains Of Counsel to the Century City law firm of Bird, Marella, Boxer, Wolpert, Nessim, Drooks & Lincenberg, where her law practice involves monitoring consent decrees, providing mediation services, and training about the laws related to discrimination in the workplace. She continues to be engaged in matters that involve parties interested in resolving their disputes, outside of litigation.
When you’re a former CEO of Ebay, billionaire and have pledged that you’re willing to spend up to $150M of your own money to run for governor of California like Meg Whitman has, the sky is the limit on what you can do. Whitman has just launched her commercials in Mandarin and Cantonese, which I’m sure will be playing in local Mandarin and Cantonese television stations in San Francisco and Los Angeles, if not in other major Californian cities. Whitman’s website is already translated into Chinese. To her credit, I certainly appreciate that Whitman is reaching out to the Chinese language press and audience; I’m just against Whitman trying to suffocate the airwaves with all of her ad spending. I’m against millionaires and billionaires on both sides of the isle to overpower their opponents, whether it be Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Governor and Senator Jon Corzine. For the record: as a Democrat, I am supporting Jerry Brown. Plus, I’m not a fan of former executives who shove their Asian American employees.
I mean, it sounds innocuous enough on paper: Jacinta Lal, a 21-year old woman with a Fijian-Indian father and New Zealander mother, enters New Zealand’s Miss India pageant, Miss IndiaNZ. Oh, but she has blond hair and blue eyes. And she wins. And is promptly booed by spectators upon winning.
The organizer stands by his decision to allow Lal in the contest: “This event is called Miss IndiaNZ, with an N-Z, and I strongly emphasize that this event is not an Indian event, it is a Kiwi-Indian event, so you must have New Zealand residency, New Zealand citizenship and you must have some sort of Indian background.”
So, question to you, dear commenters: should this blonde, blue-eyed, girl with Indian heritage — but let’s be honest, completely white looking — been allowed to enter the Miss IndiaNZ project? And if so, what message does it say to us Asian Americans, when a white-looking girl takes on the standard of “Asian beauty” — and wins? Discuss in our comments!
Who doesn’t like free t-shirts? Starting TODAY, 8Asians and Rabbit Candy Apparel will be giving away a free tee to a lucky Facebook member EACH DAY until this Saturday. Also, Rabbit Candy Apparel wants to give all 8Asians fans 15% off by just using coupon code ’8Asians’. Coupon expires October 31st.
All you have to do is become a fan of the 8Asians Fan Page AND Rabbit Candy’s Fan Page on Facebook and every day, a winner will be randomly selected to receive the featured shirt for that day via Facebook.
TODAY’S FEATURED T-SHIRT IS: NEW WORLD LEADER — one lucky winner will receive a t-shirt in mens or women’s sizes.
So what are you waiting for? Log into Facebook and “Like” 8Asians and Rabbit Candy for win a chance these awesome and exclusive shirts until the end of the week!
I happened to catch this commercial recently for the new BlackBerry Torch. At first, I couldn’t really tell with the guy’s helmet whether or not the courier was Asian since the commercial doesn’t focus on the his face for too long. But through some Internet sleuthing, I discovered the biker is Asian. In fact, Japanese American Fergus Tanaka is not only not an actor and a bike messenger, but he’s also the current president of the San Francisco Bike Messenger association!
You know, if I hadn’t been living in the Bay Area for the past 11 years, I would have been surprised to see an Asian American as a bike messenger and would have experienced what I have termed, the Californian Asian American Culture Shock.
What I love about this commercial is that it takes place in San Francisco. I recognized a lot of the streets, hills, buildings and neighborhoods of the city, including Chinatown. The last time I noticed a commercial that featured San Francisco was a Sony Bravia HDTV LCD commercial that ironically never aired in the U.S. (I’m told it aired only in Europe).
The second volume of Secret Identities is coming out. Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. This is where I quietly freak out in my chair as I am writing this article and I am going to tell you why:
When Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology was first released, I remember the sheer joy that I felt as I ran to my bookstore to buy my copy after a friend told me about it. The idea that I could have the same vivid imaginations of worlds beyond while having superheroes who were three dimensional Asian Americans was not just mind-blowing; it gave me the indescribable feeling that I am valid here, and that my dreams and wildest ambitions are possible. I know that I am not alone in feeling this.
Cigar Guy’s 15 minutes of fame is just about expired, as London based analyst Rupesh Shingadia has turned himself into The Daily Mail after he had the intrawebs milling frantically asking, “Who is Cigar Guy!?!”
It started early last week during the Ryder cup, where Tiger Woods fowled a shot and ended up sending the ball directly at Daily Mail photographer Mark Pain (that’s his real name). Pain may have suffered a nice shiner, but scored a classic photo with the ball mid air and the crowd’s delayed reaction—but one mustachioed individual stood out and became an instant hit with his goofy expression, an elaborate get up of a red pony tailed wig, ridiculous Super Mario mustache, and a cigar that will go down in the annals of web meme history.
It turns out that his get-up was in effort to honor Spanish golfer Miguel Angel Jimenez. Rumors filled the web as people thought he was a Photoshop hoax or an elaborate prank, but Rupesh admits he had no intention of pulling a prank or becoming a quasi-celeb.
Regardless, the Internet had its fun with this meme while it lasted, which resulted in a series of discussions, a place in the digital pages of Wikipedia, and some good old-fashioned Photoshop love.
Fore!
Character Baljeet Rai studying during summer vacation
One of my sons’ favorite shows is a Disney Channel cartoon called Phineas and Ferb. It’s about two stepbrothers who have adventures while looking for things to do on a summer day. Phineas and Ferb are excellent engineers and builders and create incredible machines and other constructions. As a continuing plot device, their older sister Candace tries to get them in trouble, and every episode she tries and fails to reveal their incredible handiwork to their mother. Phineas and Ferb have a pet platypus named Perry, who is really an undercover secret agent. An ongoing subplot is Perry’s struggle with the evil Doctor Doofenshmirtz. Their fights often destroy Phineas and Ferb’s work just as Candace is about to show that work to their mom.
But what does Phineas and Ferb have to do with Asian-Americans? Continue Reading »
Meet Brandon, the new 8 year old star in Indonesia, thanks to his skill for hitting the dance floor in their version of televised talent show, The X Factor. What happens when the bitter crowd here at 8Asians encounters someone younger and already more successful than us? Plenty of snark.
Ernie: holy crap, he’s like a dancing little person
Ernie: hahaha, Big Bang – that boy band is ridiculous
Moye: i feel like i’ve seen better asian kid dancers
Moye: and younger, too.
Moye: and all he can do is dance. what about sing?
Moye: and math equations? SAT scores?
Ernie: it IS indonesia
Moye: OOOH SNAP
Aaand back to reality.
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