Although I haven’t seen this IKEA commercial on television yet, I did spot it over on another blog. Actor Russell Wong, most known for his days in Vanishing Son, stars as the husband. I’m not sure who the actress playing the wife is. No offense to the actress, but I do have to agree with one of the YouTube comments that the wife looks a bit older than the husband. Then again, cougar wives are all the rage now. Right, Ashton?
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K-Popstar Rain takes a temporary hiatus from his stardom to join the military as required by South Korea: “The 29-year-old singer and actor gave a military salute to tearful fans Tuesday before walking into a boot camp in the city of Uijeongbu north of Seoul. Many of the hundreds of fans gathered in front of the base were from Japan and China.” Like many countries in Asia, all abled body males are required to join the armed forces for a period of time regardless of their social status.
Shopping With GASP!
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. Sometimes, we have the best intentions. For example: here we an announcement talking about a new Facebook Fan page and redesign of our shopping blog, GASP! and our new GASP! editor, Susan. Well, it starts out as an announcement, at least.
Susan: Got a call from my mother today. At some point she said she’d been reading GASP! and asked who wrote the blurbs. I told her it was me. She thinks I’m funny. I just wanted to tell y’all.
Joz: At least she didn’t say you’re funny looking. (BTW, great job on GASP!)
Mike: Aw, that’s sweet of your Mom. Did she like the Tiger and Bunny mousepad too?
Efren: OMG. Why did I suddenly have “we like the cars, the cars that go boom…” in my head? And yes, I’m seriously dating myself. (None of you under 30 and are not from the Bay Area will get this reference.)
Design blog Brand New has a great piece on the recent re-branding of San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum. From 8Asians reader Raymon: “The logo (an inverted ‘A’) is pretty contemporary and doesn’t have any cliche ‘Oriental’ elements in it. I’m curious to hear if others think that the identity does a good job of representing the museum, which is one of the largest museums in the Western world devoted exclusively to Asian Art.” No Oriental arguments, you say? Let us remind you that the inverted A is used in math symbols to mean “for all” or “all encompassing.” (Yes, they are aware.) Personally, I see the logo and will forever wonder if there’s an Asian in danger or something.
By Cynthia
When I was a little kid, I remember getting creeped out hearing the story about the guy who picks up a lady hitchhiker. The guy lets the hitchhiker wear his jacket. Then the hitchhiker disappears when the driver reaches her house. Later he finds out she has been dead for X number of years, and when he visits her gravesite, he finds his jacket on her tombstone. You know, that one?
How ’bout feeling your heart ache over the ’80s Hong Kong movie where this character played by the late Leslie Cheung falls in love with a ghost? You know, that one? Mmm…hmm…
Ghost stories and spooky tales are pretty big in Asian cultures. With Halloween around the corner, I thought it would be fitting to share a few of the many kidlit books I’ve read that spotlight spook from an Asian or Asian American perspective, after the jump!
We’re not always happy with how pictures of ourselves turn out. Red eye? Check. Bad angle? Check. Weird person making a face in the background? Check. With this Pow the Panda Polaroid Necklace ($12.75), you can have a perfect picture any time. Simply slip on the necklace, and voila! A perfectly poised panda Polaroid pendant. (Note: this necklace may not ward off red eye, but at least it’s cute.)
While South Koreans scientists have been known for cloning beloved pets that have died, they have also found much more practical applications of this technology. Cloned super sniffing dogs nicknamed “Toppies” (for “Tomorrow Puppies”) now patrol Korean airports, checking for drugs. These Labrador Retrievers have proven extremely successful in their job. You might ask, why is this a big deal? It turns out that the economics of training sniffing dogs make cloning, despite its expense, worthwhile.
Hey everyone – you have just 1 hour left to submit your name and receive free tickets to to see ‘The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom’ (Limited Engagement), provided by 8Asians and the filmmakers! Tonight is your last chance to catch this film in the Los Angeles area at the Fallbrook 7. See Koji’s 8Questions interview of Lucy Walker, the director of the film and read this post for more information on the giveaway, and enter now!
I think I first blogged about professional golfer Michelle Wie when I first spotted her in a McDonald’s commercial last June. Recently, Wie spoke at a McDonald’s sponsored Education Workshop in Queens, NY for a one day bilingual (English and Korean) college workshop and sat down to speak briefly with blogger Ellie Lee.
I thought what was most interesting to learn, is that when asked what she would be doing if she wasn’t a golfer, she said she’d probably be a professor, since on her father’s side of the family, they were all academics and just thought she’d be following in those footsteps while growing up. Now that is what I call a true scholar-athlete! A communications major, Wie graduates from Stanford in June of 2012.
Apparently in 2011 (through October in NYC, Seattle and Portland), McDonald’s has been sponsoring eleven college workshops in eight cities throughout the country. Being the first to apply and go to the college in the United States in my family, I think such a workshop would have been very helpful when I had applied in the late 1980s!
What is up with Japanese people and their fascination of making face replicas of themselves? Back in August, we found out that LaughingSquid, a Japanese CloneFactory can make 20” dolls that look exactly like you. Now, there is a Japanese Company called Real-f that makes 3D human face masks or 3D human face heads. The technology they use can even get down to the individual pores on your face.
For a whopping price of 3,920USD, buyers can get the 3D face mask. If you want more masks of yourself, you just have to pay an additional cost 780USD each! But wait, if the mask isn’t creepy enough for you, you can even get a replica of your loved one’s head or yourself for just 5,875USD and additional copies for 1,960USD. Did you ever have people tell you, “Ew! Take off your mask, it isn’t Halloween yet!” Well, now you can turn the joke on them!
[Photo Credit: www.facebook.com/REAL.f.jp]
Keeping track of your loose change can be mundane, so why not let a feline friend do it for you? Take advantage of this neko’s fascination with shiny things and keep him happy with your coins. To use the Itazura Coin Stealing Cat Piggy Bank ($18.95), simply place coins on the box and he’ll pop up and take it. Word to the wise: it might be harder to take it out, those sharp claws can be tricky to negotiate.
Being that my mother is from Japan, I feel a connection to that country that many Japanese Americans do not. So when the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster hit in March, I felt it in my gut. I was worried not only about my relatives but also friends and strangers alike. At home, I made it point to take another look at my family’s earthquake disaster plan and make sure we all knew what to do. However, after only seven months, life has returned to normal for me.
That’s why when when I watched The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom, it brought back all of those memories and made me remember that much of Japan is still trying to recover. I got a chance to ask the Lucy Walker, an Academy Award nominated filmmaker, some questions about her very moving documentary.
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