Posts by John
I'm a Taiwanese-American and was born & raised in Western Massachusetts, went to college in upstate New York, worked in Connecticut, went to grad school in North Carolina and then moved out to the Bay Area in 1999 and have been living here ever since - love the weather and almost everything about the area (except the high cost of housing...)
Governor Christie Makes History by Nominating Phillip Kwon for New Jersey Supreme Court
Current Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, made a historic nomination last week by nominating Phillip Kwon to the New Jersey Supreme Court: “One nominee, Phillip H. Kwon, a Korean immigrant who lives in Bergen County, worked under Mr. Christie when Mr. Christie was the United States attorney for New Jersey, and now works in his administration as first assistant attorney general.“ Kwon will be the first ever immigrant and first ever Asian American to [...] Continue »
Asian American Commercial Watch: Target’s Old Pipes
The latest Target commercial highlights the first interracial Asian American couple since I’ve been blogging about Target commercials. It’ll be interesting to see if Target highlights another couple with an Asian American Man (AM) with a White Female (WF) like McDonald’s recently did. In this television ad, this couple has moved into their newly purchased home. And that home has a kitchen sink that doesn’t exactly work. There’s always Target where you can buy a [...] Continue »
Asian American Commercial Watch: Roger Fan in Quicken Loans’ “Border Patrol”
I saw this commercial with Roger Fan (of Better Luck Tomorrow fame), though I guess it first aired last Fall. At first, I thought maybe the actor was Randell Park, with his hair styled a little differently – but the voice didn’t match. Then I thought, maybe that is Roger Fan? Fan blogs about this commercial and how doing commercials helps pay the bills while making a name for oneself in Hollywood. Fan says he’s [...] Continue »
President Obama’s Lunar New Year Message for 2012, Year of the Dragon
President Obama wishes all Americans, including Asian American and Pacific Islanders, a Happy Lunar New Year, which is the Year of the Dragon, beginning today, January 23rd. I like the fact that Obama recalls his childhood growing up in Hawaii (which is predominately Asian), as he sincerely recalls his youthful memories of Lunar New Year celebrations past – with parades, fireworks, and small family gatherings. And how Obama reiterates that America is stronger because of [...] Continue »
Kung Fu Master Teaches Dance
Every once in a while, I’ll get an email or a blog posting about a commercial I blogged about, like the McDonald’s commercial. The actor I highlighted, Vince Foster, sent a shout out thanking for profiling him and wanted to showcase a recent skit he helped put together with his friends. Funny, while just looking at his “What’s New” section of his site, I realized that Foster is also in the Samsung commercial mocking Apple [...] Continue »
Asian American Commercial Watch: Southwest Airlines’ “Celebration”
I was watching the New England Patriots pummel the Denver Broncos this past Saturday and saw this commercial. I’m a fair weather Patriots fan, having grown up in Western Massachusetts. I remember as a teen when the Patriots lost to the Chicago Bears as well as the Boston Red Sox lose to the New York Mets in the World Series. So it’s a quite the juxtapose how Massachusetts teams are doing so well in this [...] Continue »
Asian American Commercial Watch: McDonald’s – Egg McMuffin of Boyfriends
I was watching one of my favorite shows last week, Modern Family, and came across this McDonald’s commercial for the egg McMuffin. To my absolute surprise, I see a young couple with an attractive Asian American young adult professing his love to his girlfriend. His white girlfriend. I was kind of a bit shocked. I had blogged about Randall Park in his Ally Bank commercial, but this is McDonald’s!
Family of Marine Jet Crash Victims in San Diego Awarded $17.8 million
I had blogged about this terrible accident in San Diego, California back in December of 2008, when an U.S. Marine F/A-18D Hornet crashed into a home and killed Korean immigrant Young Mi Yoon, her two daughters, and her mother; Young Mi Yoon’s husband, Dong Yoon, was at work when the crash occurred. Three years to the month, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Miller, awarded the following damages: “Don Yoon, whose wife, Youngmi; daughters, Rachel and Grace; [...] Continue »
Yo-Yo Ma Honored in 34th Annual Kennedy Center Honors
Earlier this past week, CBS aired the 2011 Kennedy Center Honors celebration, which took place earlier in December. Yo-Yo Ma was one of the six honorees, which included singer Barbara Cook, singer and songwriter Neil Diamond, saxophonist and composer Sonny Rollins, and actress Meryl Streep. I think it goes without saying that when one thinks of a great cellist, one thinks of Yo-Yo Ma. The Kennedy Center Honors is an annual honor given to those [...] Continue »
CEO Clara Shih of Hearsay Social Named to Starbucks Board of Directors
A few weeks ago, CEO & Co-Founder of San Francisco-based Hearsay Social Labs (a social media enterprise company) Clara Shih was named as a director for Starbucks. Quite an accomplishment for anyone, but especially at the ripe old age of 29! Considering how few Asian Americans there are at the CEO, upper management or board of directors level, I was pleasantly surprised to hear about Shih’s news. And women are notoriously poorly represented in Silicon [...] Continue »
Kickstarter’s Co-Founder & CEO Perry Chen On NBC Rock Center
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy I had heard of the crowd funding site Kickstarter before, initially from a TechCrunch article on raising money for a project to make an iPod Nano wrist watch band called the TikTok. But I didn’t know much about the company itself and caught this NBC Rock Center segment on the company. After a backgrounder on Kickstarter, co-founders Yancey Strickler and Perry Chen are [...] Continue »
Tiger Mom Reveals Herself As Laissez Faire College Mom Almost One Year Later
It’s almost been a year since the Wall Street Journal excerpted Amy Chua’s book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, in an article called “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior” on January 8th, 2011 – which became the most popular article ever shared on their website. I reviewed the book. Chua’s daughter Sophia got into both Harvard and Yale (and chose Harvard). Sophia gave a high school graduation speech. Sophia started a blog. The Journal interviewed [...] Continue »
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Recent Posts
- Rolling Stone Releases List Of 10 Kpop Groups Most Likely To Break In The US
- Watch Yul Kwon’s “America Revealed” PBS Series Online
- LA County Supervisor To Announce Repeal Of 1942 Resolution On Japanese American Internment
- Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg Gets A New Asian Wife!
- Koji’s Top 10 Favorite 8Asians Comments
- Nguyen Girls’ Yearbook Prank: No, We’re Not Related
- Long Delayed K-Town Reality Show To Be Released On YouTube In July
Recent Comments
- : ahaha this post is hilarious - my dad is white as a swan but he does the long pinkie nail thing too! He's a musician... – Asian Guys and that One Long Pinky Fingernail
- : I think it's weird that you posted Asian wife rather than "wife" these labels segregate sometimes... – Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg Gets A New Asian Wife!
- : You realize I was kidding, right? – Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg Gets A New Asian Wife!
- : is it the model minority site i just hate and is amused by that website at the same time – Koji's Top 10 Favorite 8Asians Comments
- : I don't think she qualifies as a trophy wife. Considering her education and status, she doesn't really need anyone. I think giving her that description is... – Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg Gets A New Asian Wife!
APA Events
Oct 14: (Seattle, WA) From Fields to Family: Asian Pacific Americans and Food
Mar 1: (Atlanta, GA) The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps, 1942-1946
Apr 26: (New York, NY) June 4, 1989: Media and Mobilization Beyond Tiananmen Square
Apr 26: (New York, NY) America through a Chinese Lens
Apr 27: (Seattle, WA) SEX IN SEATTLE 20: HAPPILY EVER AFTER. . . (the series finale!)
May 24: (San Jose, CA) Sake San Jose
May 24: (New York, NY) A Conversation with artists Arthur Ou, Hai Zhang, and Julie Quon in Conjunction with America through a Chinese Lens
May 24: (San Francisco, CA) Literasians 2012: Writers Converge on the APIA Literary Continuum
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