Sketches include:

• TORTURE!
• ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS!
• KOREAN BBQ!
• And more!

The Contemporary Asian Theater Scene presents The 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors at The 9th Annual Asian Comedy Night!

Friday, November 20, 8pm (with cast reception)
Saturday, November 21, 7pm and 10pm

San Jose Woman’s Club
75 South 11th Street, San Jose 95112-2018

TICKETS:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/84600
Friday show and reception with cast: $25
Saturday shows: $20

What you could win from 18MMW and CATS: two tickets to either performance on Saturday, November 21.

That’s right! The lucky winner wins a pair of tickets to see 18MMW Saturday night!

How do you enter?
Simply leave a short comment stating why you should win. (Be sure to use the email address you’d like to be contacted at if you’re the winner.)

Hurry, the deadline to enter is: Wednesday, November 18 at 11:59 pm (Pacific Time) One lucky winner will be selected and contacted on Thursday.

Rules for entering:

1. Please be in the San Jose area (or willing to travel to SJ on your own dime) and serious about using these tickets; if you’re too busy to use these, please don’t take them away from someone who will!
2. Tickets are non-transferrable; they are good for you and a guest.
3. Contributors to 8Asians and their immediate family members are not eligible to win.

Prizes courtesy of: 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors and Contemporary Asian Theater Scene (CATS).

BY ANY DREAMS NECESSARY
LIVE ART. LIVE MUSIC. LIVE FASHION.
OPEN BAR. DON CHOWS TACO TRUCK.

Date & Time: November 14, 2009, 8pm – 1am
Venue: Gallery 1018, 1018 Santa Fe Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90021

Artwork by TIMOTHY TERUO WATTERS
Live Music by JESSI MALAY, TERRA INCOGNITA, SIX REASONS and more…
Live Fashion by DANIELLE KELLY
JOSEPH GETTRIGHT, DJ IZM, TRUTHLiVE, BZ and ED GOLD spinning all night

OFFICIAL RELEASE PARTY FOR DJ SKEE MIXTAPE “ENDANGERED SPECIES” featuring BRIAN “DEEP” WATTERS, PROPHET and SIX REASONS

TERUO ARTISTRY debuting its Fall Men and Women’s line
COL.ABO presents KORRUPTION: A Vinyl Toy Project

Art raffle benefitting A PLACE CALLED HOME

Sponsored by EVERYDAY and JLP “The President’s Tequila

Want to learn more about what Teruo Artistry is about? Check out these videos by Skee.TV:

h/t: Koji

East West Players has gathered a creative team to develop a new musical that utilizes all three art forms and a 25 minute presentation of this work in progress will be performed on Friday, November 20, 7:30pm at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. A Q&A discussion will follow.

The working title for the production is KRUNK-FU BATTLE BATTLE.

Description: The heart of hip-hop is in the battle. Young Norman Lee must learn this if he hopes to survive his new high school life as an Upper Westside import now transported to Bushwick, Brooklyn, after his Mom loses her 6-figure salary job. After being bullied, beat-down, and watching his Mom swallow her pride by accepting a job as a fast food fry cook, young Norman Lee enlists the guidance of Sir Master Cert to help him learn the ways of b-boy to compete against the baddest crew in Bushwick for respect, honor, and a chance to prove to his Mom that this life away from material wealth can and will work.

The creative team includes: bookwriter Qui Nguyen, lyricist Beau Sia, composer Marc Macalintal, hip-hop choreographer Jason Tyler Chong and anime consultant Jane Wu. The presentation is directed by East West Players’ artistic director Tim Dang and reunites Dang, Chong and Macalintal after their successful collaboration of the 2008 hit run of PIPPIN.

The Writers’ Gallery offers public readings of works that are being considered for the mainstage at East West Players and are presented in conjunction with the Japanese American National Museum and The National Center for the Preservation of Democracy. This workshop is made possible in part by The James Irvine Foundation and The National Endowment for the Arts which believes that a great nation deserves great art; and by the support of individual donors.

The Writers’ Gallery presentation of KRUNK-FU BATTLE BATTLE (working title) will be on
Date: Friday, November 20th
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: National Center for the Preservation of Democracy
111 North Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Admission: free

For more information, please call East West Players at (213) 625-7000 or visit www.eastwestplayers.org. Dates and details are subject to change.

*Ok, I lied. No chips– no food and drink allowed inside at National Center for the Preservation of Democracy

The curse of a great song like Jay Sean’s “Down,” the kind which hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, is that it gets played it like a million times on the radio until you don’t want to hear it anymore.

The flipside of a great song is that it might get covered by a talented artist like Dawen. So even though you’re listening to the same song, it’s really not the same song after Dawen works his magic on it.

Want more Dawen? He’s performing twice at Breaking the Bow this weekend in L.A. Check him and all the other cool artists of The 1st Annual Independent Asian Pacific Islander Performing Artists and Writers Festival out at the Miles Memorial Playhouse through Sunday.

UPDATE: Balloon Boy Falcon Heene Found Alive in Box in Attic of Family’s Home!

The news event that has captured the attention of the world today surrounds a 6-year-old named Falcon Heene from Fort Collins, CO. Falcon’s father, Richard Heene, is a “storm-chaser” and built an experimental aircraft which was essentially a homemade helium balloon. One of Falcon’s older brothers reported seeing Falcon getting into the gondola attached to the balloon and setting it loose from his parents’ home. The escaped weather balloon soared 7,000 feet over eastern Colorado, prompting attention from the FAA and local police (who were following it via car on the ground), as well as various news helicopters which were following it in the air.

While Falcon supposedly went up with the balloon, he wasn’t with it when it made a soft landing in a field near Keenesburg (Weld County)– about 60 miles by road from Fort Collins– more than an hour and a half after the balloon took off. Reports out of 9News in Denver show a photo taken by a neighbor which appears to show an object falling from the balloon as it soared over Fort Collins. The box was also not found with the downed balloon craft.

The Larimer County Sheriff’s Office said the “homemade flying saucer” was made of plywood and string and was never intended for flight.

Falcon’s parents, science enthusiasts Richard and Mayumi Heene, were featured on the 100th episode of ABC’s prime-time program “Wife Swap” in March. According to the network’s Web site, the Heene family “devote their time to scientific experiments that include looking for extraterrestrials and building a research-gathering flying saucer to send into the eye of the storm.” CNN iReport has a video of the Heene family, identified as storm chasers, shooting the eye of Hurricane Gustav in 2008. Richard, Mayumi and their three boys Bradford (9), Ryo (7) and Falcon (5) –their ages at the time– are part of that adventure.

While I’ve seen numerous mentions to the obvious comparisons to the movie UP on Twitter and Facebook, we can now only hope that the outcome of Falcon’s adventure is as happy as a Pixar movie ending. As my friend Gil Asakawa (who lives in Denver) said when it all started, “Either this kid will be on the Today Show tomorrow morning, or the story will end in tregedy.” Here’s hoping for that it’s the former and not the latter.

Photo: Frank’s Funnies

(h/t: Ernie)

iPod Nano Commercial Video Camera from Harry Shum on Vimeo.

It’s Wednesday night, which means it’s Glee night! In honor of my favorite new show of the season, I’d like to give a shout-out to Harry Shum, Jr.

We haven’t seen him– or rather his character Mike Chang– too much yet, but according to IMDB he is appearing in at least 9 episodes this season. I’m hoping they’ll do a little more character development on some of the newer members of the McKinley HS Glee Club soon, but until then, I’m glad to see this talented guy singing and dancing in the background.

If you think Harry looks familiar, then maybe it’s because you’ve seen him in any number of other incarnations– as a member and choreographer of the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers (The LXD), as a recurring guest actor on iCarly, as a dancer in Step Up 2, or any number of iPod commercials. Not only is Harry in the newest iPod nano commercial (he’s silver/grey in the video above), he was one of the original “silhouettes” in the highly successful Apple iPod commercial and print campaign. Harry’s resume is extensive and impressive, and I’m sure we’re only going to see more of him!

About his heritage, Harry tells Asiance Magazine:

I have a unique story. I am full Chinese. My father is from Fujian and my mom was born in Hong Kong. I was actually born in Costa Rica because they moved there to start a business. My sisters were born there as well. I feel I have the best of so many worlds. I speak Chinese and Spanish. Spanish is actually my first language before I learned Chinese and English, so it kind of messes with your brain when there are three different languages going on. It can be pretty intense but I got through it. [full story]

I’m glad that I get to have a weekly Wednesday night date with this hottie on Glee! You can follow him @iharryshum and check out his moves from his reel from over a year ago:

Wanting to get to know our new friend even better, Jee and I decided to see if Lac would play along with us in a round of 8 Questions with 8Asians. And what do you know? He was game!

You’ll find our questions — his answers — after the jump.

8Qs for Lac Su, author of I Love Yous Are For White People
1 ) Aside from “I Love Yous,” what else are for white people?
This is a trick question! Seriously, I don’t want to perpetuate more stereotypes. It goes against what 8Asians, Angry Asian Man, Disgrasian, my comrade Mr. Minority Militant, and other Asian Pacific American bloggers are passionately against. If you recall, the title of my memoir, I Love Yous Are for White People, came from my father (not me) the first time I told him, when I was a child, that I loved him. The premise of the book is the difficulty and resistance our older-generation Asian-American parents have expressing those three words. Colleges are offering courses in Asian-American studies to explore why this is so. I’m glad to see that my memoir is being used to explore these cultural differences. Growing up, part of the hardships I endured stemmed from the need to hear those three words. The “American” side of me wanted the affection and sentiments I saw on T.V. or in my “white” friends’ homes. My interpretation (at the time) was that, since my parents didn’t give me what the “white people” gave their children, I was going to find it somewhere else. For me, it was in the streets. You need to read the book to know who my Pa deemed “white people.”

2 ) What if, any, alternate titles did you have for your book?
If it was up to me, it would have been titled Lac’s Story. But my publisher wanted something more catchy and “provocative.” At first, I didn’t care too much about what the title of the book was going to be. I was busy writing. But the more I wrote, the more excited I became about wanting people to read my stories. Then I regressed, and realized that my editor was a genius for suggesting that the book get a “provocative” title. If I wanted people to read this book, it needed a “provocative” title—for me as a first-time author and an Asian-American one at that. We get no love in the literature department in the mainstream. Dan Brown could title his book Ape Shit, and millions of people would want to read it. I want to be the Dan Brown for Asian-American literature. You feel me? Especially when I have important stories to share. For alternative titles, I toyed with This Much Is True, Learning to Fish, The Crippled Walk, and The Sun Has Yet to Rise. (Not so catchy or “provocative”). J

I Love Yous Are for White People was already a chapter title when I was looking for a “provocative” title. While I was editing this chapter, the title jumped right out at me, slapped me in the face a couple of times, and said, “Hey, dumbass, why don’t you use me as the book title?”

3 ) You probably had thousands of other memories that you could have shared. How did you pick and choose (narrow down) what stories from your childhood and youth you would share in your memoir?
It was very easy to choose the stories that became this book. Before I sat down to write, I asked myself, “What are the stories that have shaped and defined the person you are today?” It also helped that some of these memories—from my dreams—still wake me up in the middle of the night as an adult. My friend Vu and grandmother Ne still pop up in my slumber from time to time. Vu is the way I remembered him. And Ne always stirs me awake with the message, “Learn to love more, son.” The trick for making this book work was to weave these stories together in an organic and cohesive way.

4 ) Was there anything cut from the book that you wished you could have included?
Yes, I talked in the epilogue about a story that didn’t make it into the book. It was on the day of my sixth-grade graduation ceremony—a very special day for me. That afternoon, I thought about how I had entered an “American” school seven years prior not knowing a lick of English to then receiving a diploma as a gifted student and an award for being the “Best Artist” in school. I was so thrilled. I wanted to share the excitement and pride with my Pa because he always emphasized education any chance he got. The sad thing for me was, Pa didn’t show up to the ceremony; neither did any of my family members except for my little sister Quy. He didn’t feel a sixth-grade graduation was worth his time witnessing. I remember tossing the diploma in a metal trash can, but I kept my art award.

5 ) What superpower do you wish you could have?
What?! Superpower? Okay, well, if you must ask, I wish I could shut the world up any time I want. Anytime. The world is so freaking noisy at times. The kind of noise that bothers you even when you’re in isolation. In which case, I also wish I could stop the noise inside my head created by the noise in the world. Sometimes, it seems as though silence is not quiet enough. At times, I yearn for just fifteen minutes of muted bliss. Will you grant me this superpower? LOL.

6 ) What was your father’s reaction to you marrying a “white person”?
Ah…I hope to answer this question in detail in my sequel. I can’t wait to complete it to share it with you. I’m making slow progress—still recovering from the emotional trek writing I Love Yous Are for White People. All I can say at this point is that love has many faces.

7 ) What’s your guilty pleasure?
What?! Well, if you must ask, I like to drink a 40 oz. of Old English from time to time. I’m alone in my garage with a box full of old family picture albums. I look at each picture and try to bring the moment back—how I felt, what I was thinking, where I was. It’s nostalgic and bittersweet to reminisce about the days of my childhood. I reflect on how far I’ve come. I often shed tears. But by the time I dust off the corner of my 40 oz., I smile and tell myself that it’s okay now—I can let go. Billy Holiday, The Carpenters, The Smiths, Jose Alfredo Jimenez, Stevie Wonder, Tupac, Common, or Mag Flux usually blares from my speakers. And I sit there and think…until my eyes grow heavy and I fall asleep. So much pleasure…

8 ) What’s next for Lac Su?
Well, I wrote about the top ten things I need to do before I say “see you in the next lifetime” in the epilogue of the book. But for the short term, every single day, I’m learning to be a good father. It’s more difficult for me because I was never taught how to be one or had a model father I want to mirror. My Pa is a good father in his own way. I will pass down all the valuable lessons, wisdom, and principles he has taught me. So you can say I want to be a “white” father who will pass down the Asian traditions to my children. You can call me Mike Brady-Su, hence, American-Asian.

Thanks for playing, Lac!

If you haven’t checked out I Love Yous Are For White People, you can order it on Amazon, or stay tuned at 8Asians for an upcoming giveaway of an autographed copy! Thanks again, Lac!