California Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 1088, which requires better data collection on Asian Americans by California state agencies that collect demographic data. An issue with studying the Asian American community is that data from various Asian ethnic groups are often aggregated together. This causes problems with determining which ethnic group may have unique needs, from academic to health problems. Data must be disaggregated into the same categories used by the U.S. census. AB 1088 was sponsored by Michael Eng from Monterey Park and co-sponsored by the Asian Pacific American legal Center, Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality, and Asian and Pacific Islanders California Action Network.
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When I heard about a new ice cream store that had opened in Seoul, inspired by San Francisco’s gastronomic ice cream shops that are so popular, I put Fell + Cole on my schedule, during my recent vacation to Korea. With this Seoul ice cream shop offering beloved ice cream flavors such as salted caramel and honey lavender –favored by SF fans, I was curious to visit.
I, too, am a big fan of beloved SF ice cream shops such as Ici and Birite Creamery. And similar to Fell + Cole owner Tristan Choi, I sometimes make my own ice cream from scratch (with David Lebovitz’s Perfect Scoop as my trusty recipe guide). But how did this humble ice cream shop in Seoul garner such attention, halfway around the world?
Shopping With GASP!
While Asian American designers, CEOs, and chefs may grab our attention, it becomes easy to forget that many of the first Asian Americans came over as plantation and farm workers. An exhibition called “From Fields to Family: Asian Pacific Americans and Food” at the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience deals with the contributions of Asian Americans to the food industry as well as the role of food in Asian American culture. In this interview with Cassie Chinn, the museum’s executive director, she reveals that exhibit was put together with community input and by a group from the local Asian American community.
As a fan of The Amazing Race, I was unfortunately traveling abroad for work in Shanghai and missed the premiere of the latest season a few weekends ago. In the past, the Amazing Race has done a terrific job of representing Asian Americans in the reality TV series, including:
- Ronald & Christina Hsu (twice)
- Tammy & Victor Jih
- Joe & Heidi Wang
- Maria Ho
- Michael and Kevin Wu (“Kevjumba”)
- Kat Chang
I may be missing some contestants, as I have not watched every single season … This season, Cindy Chiang (a 30-year-old Brand Manager from Chicago) will be racing with her fiance, Ernie Halvorsen. And to kick off the season, The Amazing Race’s first destination was Taiwan.
It’s Monday. And that means that you have the entire week ahead of you: why not break out this Hello Kitty Monopoly Set ($28.21) and start one of the cutest Monopoly games you’ve ever seen? The game tokens include a bow, teddy bear, and apples. Of course, you can always use your classic game pieces (money bag anyone?) on this themed board, but why not immerse yourself in Hello Kitty for a while.
You may have already seen this flash mob marriage proposal. Although flash mob proposal videos have been around for a while, why has this one become so popular? Is it just the sheer romantic nature of the video or something else? Let’s take a look at this video and two other ones and perhaps see why.
This past weekend, Jerry Brown signed and vetoed SB 185 among dozens of other bills. His official statement on his decision was the following:
I wholeheartedly agree with the goal of this legislation…[However] Our constitutional system of separation of powers requires that the courts — not the Legislature — determine the limits of Proposition 209…Signing this bill is unlikely to impact how Proposition 209 is ultimately interpreted by the courts; it will just encourage the 209 advocates to file more costly and confusing lawsuits.
If you’ve ever seen me in person, then you know that when I’m not dressed up for work I’m wearing Teruo Artistry clothes. I like it because it’s simple but hip, something I can wear to make me look a little less weird and awkward. I decided to interview brothers Brian and Tim Watters, the founders of the Teruo Artistry, who happen to be hapa (and my best friends).
From their website, Teruo Artistry (pronounced teh-roo-oh), “[o]riginating from the Bay Area and based in Los Angeles…is a creative lifestyle clothing brand inspired by a collective of artists who dedicate their lives to creating something from nothing. Embodying art, music and fashion, Teruo Artistry is always creating – by any dreams necessary.”
Who are you and what do you do?
BW: My name is Brian Watters and I am the President of Teruo Artistry – I head up the marketing and strategy for the brand and I also produce music. My brother, TTW is the Chief Creative Officer for Teruo and is also an oil painter. Murph handles the operations and sales side of the business and Prophet is our Lifestyle Director and MC/songwriter for the band 7Lions.
Amit Gupta, founder of popular camera website Photojojo, has been diagnosed with Acute Leukemia, and is appealing to South Asians on the Internet to get swabbed for a possible bone marrow match. The National Bone Marrow Registry has 9.5 million records on file, yet the chances of someone from South Asian descent of finding a match are only 1 in 20,000. Author Seth Godin has also offered $10,000 to the first person who is a match for Amit.
Last week, the United States Senate approved a bill apologizing and expressing regret for the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, which explicitly rejected Chinese immigrants until 1943 because of their race, and a number of other anti-Chinese laws passed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries:
“The bill also expresses regrets for racial violence that happened in San Francisco and cities around the country during that time, and for the persecution and harsh detention of Chinese immigrants at the Angel Island Immigration Station, which operated from 1910 to 1940 in San Francisco Bay.”
I had blogged about how the state of California had already issued an official apology, and I believe the House version passed sometime over the summer, which was first introduced by the first Chinese American woman elected to Congress, U.S. Representative Judy Chu, (D-California). True immigration reform did not really happen until 1965, and that is when Chinese and overall Asian immigration really started occurring, and that is about the time my parents immigrated to the United States. I am sure that the House and Senate will reconcile the bill and no doubt President Obama will sign the bill into law.
LUCY WALKER – The Tsunami And The Cherry Blossom from millerstephen on Vimeo.
Survivors in the areas hardest hit by Japan’s recent tsunami find the courage to revive and rebuild as cherry blossom season begins. The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom is a stunning visual poem about the ephemeral nature of life and the healing power of Japan’s most beloved flower. Directed by Academy Award Nominated filmmaker Lucy Walker (Waste Land), featuring photography by Aaron Phillips and music by Moby.
Limited Los Angeles engagement at:
Laemmle’s Fallbrook 7
6731 Fallbrook Ave
West Hills, 91307
818 340 8710
Directed by: Lucy Walker
Produced by: Kira Carstensen & Lucy Walker
Director of Photography: Aaron Phillips
Music by: Moby
Edited by: Aki Mizutani
Executive Producer: Tim Case & Charles V. Salice
Playing October 7-13, playing every day at 5:15pm.
Ok, ok, you just want to know how to get free tickets? Read on!
MMA fighter Nam Phan revenged a controversial robbery loss against Leonard Garcia at UFC 136 by outpointing Garcia 29-28. This rematch was originally scheduled for March 2011, but an injury forced Phan to withdraw. Phan was replaced by Chan-Sung Jung, another Asian who lost a controversial decision to Garcia. Sung won using an incredibly slick submission. Phan’s win breaks a two fight losing streak (arguably a one fight losing streak) and gives him his first victory in the UFC octagon. He was gracious to Garcia in victory, no doubt eased by the fact that each received a $75,000 fight of the night bonus.
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