When Ernie wrote about Ramiele Malubay, the 20-yo Filipina on this season’s American Idol, I thought, “Hey, she’s pretty damn talented! That’s a good voice!”

Then I thought the same thing Brian thought: “That Ramiele is an absolute cutie. And I feel like a creep.”

So when I saw Jen’s post on Disgrasian, “Boobs. Oh My God…Boobs.“, I felt more than just being a creep. I felt… dirty, so dirty.

Despite feeling like a dirty old man, I found these pics pretty damn funny. The Hollywood Gossip doesn’t think so though. They called these pics a “scandal“. But please, what do you expect out of a saucy 20-yo fun-loving girl? Dyed hair, low-cut tank tops, and boob grabs – it’s all part of goofing around and having fun. (I’d make a joke about, “Hey, I’d grab that boob myself!”, but then that would be kinda scandalous. Ahem.)

My dilemma with sunglasses is finally over! Thanks to these Asian Fit sunglasses from Oakley!

(heh heh heh)

But in all seriousness… This is an interesting way to address a very real niche. There are very real physical differences between major ethnicities. Heck, just look at any cosmetics store and you’ll find entire lines dedicated to different ethnicities. It was only a matter of time before someone did the same with other physical differences.

Oakley describes this fit as one that will feel comfortable if “sunglasses tend to sit too low on your face or slide down your nose, touch at your temples or cheeks, or feel narrow at the sides of your head.” I’m guessing they got such information from market research and listening to their customers complain about fit issues.

And they’re not the only ones. Smith Phenom also has a pair of Asian Fit Goggles designed “for those flatter faces without a pronouced (sic) nose bridge.”

Even the military has similar products, such as Eye Safety System’s Asian-Fit Goggle Series, which was “made with molded face foam and a flatter lens curve and frame design.” They are now standard issue for the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).

I’ll admit, when I first heard about these “Asian Fit” sunglasses, I raised an eyebrow. But upon deeper reflection, it sounds like a really cool idea. The reaction from the blogosphere seems to be the same as mine too. Josh @ hyku had a similar initial reaction: “At first glance the term ‘Asian Fit’ seemed a bit direct for me?” Larry @ The Nut Bar concluded: “So I guess Oakley has found a way to address an overlook niche. You can’t really argue against it since it helps out a large group of people and I’m sure it isn’t hurting their bottom line.” And Alex @ Lost in Colonisation actually purchased a pair: “I have to say it fits very well, much better than I expected.”

Have you ever tried Oakley’s Asian Fit sunglasses? How do they fit?

I, like many Asian Americans I know, turned lactose intolerant a few years ago. And it totally sucked ass. No more Cold Stones and Ben & Jerrys. Goodbye Pizookies. Hello soy milk.

To be fair, this isn’t a case just for Asian Americans. A lot of people are lactose intolerant, all around the world. It’s just that, historically, many Asian groups don’t regularly consume milk in their diets, leading to the natural state of lactose intolerance.

So why would I want to be able to drink milk? I’ll give you three reasons: Cold Stones, Ben & Jerrys, and Pizookies. I have a thing for sweets, what can I say?

One day, a friend casually mentioned to me that yogurt contains live bacteria that aids in lactose digestion. Hmm, I thought. So I did some research and found that:

When yogurt is consumed, bile acids disrupt the cell wall of the bacteria in yogurt. This releases the enzyme beta-galactosidase (related to lactase) into the intestines, where it can enhance lactose digestion.

Not any yogurt will do. It must contain live active bacteria.

This is because yogurt contains acidophilus, a dietary supplement often used to reduce the symptoms of lactose intolerance.

With this in mind, I decided to try this very unscientific experiment:

1. Eat yogurt every day, for two weeks
2. Drink a glass of milk at the end of each week

The results?

Week 1
Lactose intolerance still there. And how. I admit, I didn’t drink a full glass of milk. But the effects were the same.

Week 2
Lactose intolerance… gone! Holy crap! (Or lack thereof.) Hello ice cream, goodbye soy milk! I’ve been drinking milk semi-regularly since then, with no problems at all.

I can hardly say this experiment is reliable or conclusive. What worked for me may not work for you – just like acidophilus works for some, but not others. If you want to try this, consult your doctor or nutritionist first. After all, maybe humans are lactose intolerant for a reason. (And if you’re allergic to milk, that’s a very different ball game.)

Now pardon me while I enjoy this cup o’ Cold Stone ice cream. Mmmm!

(Flickr photo credit: NickPiggott)

Is that really… Lil’ Kim?? She looks, um, different.

This photo was snatched from gossip blog TMZ. Here’s a video the paparazzi took. She’s also been seen wearing that same outfit, so I guess she must really dig it.

Extra kudos goes to krismar for funniest comment eva: “SHE HAS THE MICHAEL JACKSON RACE CHANGING DISEASE…..”

Hehehe.

In case you didn’t get it, this is comedy. Japanese comedy at its best. It was created by the Japanese comedy troupe The Rahmens. (Get it? The Rahmens? HA! Oh man that cracks me up.)

If you’re familiar with Japanese customs, you’ll find this even funnier. I didn’t know this at first, but a friend told me that traditional Japanese restaurants will place a bowl of salt outside the door to ward off evil spirits. Knowing that little bit of culture will make the closing scene that much more funnier. Hehe.

“Maa maa maa maa”

“Oh toh toh toh”

“Maa maa maa maa”

“Oh toh toh toh”

Now, Zhou’s article isn’t as blatantly hateful and racist as Eng’s, but the same level of cultural stereotyping and ignorance is there. His central theme is that Latino parents are “less active” than Asian parents in “[pushing] their children to move toward academic success”. Therefore, “while few Hispanic students enter the honors track, culturally influenced lack of preparation, not prejudice, is to blame” for “the Hispanic student population as a whole [lagging] behind its Asian counterpart.”

Wow, yikes. He’s a few fries short a happy meal it seems.

A friend forwarded me this article and actually knew him back in high school, where he published this paper. (Oops: I mistakenly referred to Robin as a “she,” but I had misheard my friend and Robin’s really a “he.” My bad.) His description of Robin struck me as a revealing peek into the mind of someone who’d write an article like this.

“I’d describe him as an over-achiever,” he said. “Straight A’s, very studious.”

“Shy and introverted?” I asked.

“Nope. Very extroverted. Very involved. But I never saw him hanging around with any Latino students. I think all of his friends were Asian.”

“Was he born here?”

“Yup, an ABC. First generation. After his article was published, the LA Times picked it up and there was a huge uproar in the community, especially from Latino parents.”

“Did he apologize for what he wrote?”

“Nope. He just said that next time, he’d keep his thoughts to herself.”

“So he didn’t feel bad for what he wrote? He didn’t see anything wrong with it?”

“Nope on both.”

Stereotyping is a funny thing, isn’t it? I could argue that every one of us has exhibited some form of stereotyping before. In many ways, it’s a necessary psychological trait. Our minds are built to make generalizations of unfamiliar things, because it’s impossible to know everything out there. It’s a defense mechanism.

For instance, say you see a saber-toothed tiger bite the head off a neighbor. You’re bound to stereotype all other tigers, be they panthers or leopards or cougars, as head-biting animals after that. Rare will be the person who’ll stand there and go, “Well now, this tiger-looking creature doesn’t have orange stripes like the last one. It’s got polka-dots. Same claws though, and fangs and—” CHOMP!

Still, this holdover trait from a previous era isn’t an excuse for an Eng or a Zhou, just as genetics isn’t an excuse to not hire someone based on their ethnicity. I once had a job interview where the interviewer actually said to me, “This position will require a lot of math. But that’s no problem for you since you’re Asian.” Sir, there’s a big fat WTF on line 2 for you.

Ignorance is perhaps a better explanation for Zhou’s article. He’s obviously academically intelligent. So why the arrogance of her assumptions? Why the naivety behind publishing such an article and not realizing its social impact on her peers? Why the broad declarative statements based on purely anecdotal and biased observations of her own? Where’s the data, the socio-economic analyzes, the objective reporting? (Granted, this was high school, but still…) Sadly for him, academic intelligence does not beget social intelligence. He never bothered to look beyond the sample set he made up in her own mind.

“So where there any Latinos in the AP classes there?” I asked.

“There were,” he said.

“And were there any Asian Americans in the remedial classes?” I asked.

“A few.”

I guess those were the ones who weren’t good at math, huh?

I’m conflicted about writing this. Not just because its such a painful subject, but because news reports of suicides can sometimes lead to copycat suicides.

I’ve known friends and acquaintances who’ve had to deal with seemingly insurmountable depression and anxiety before. I know that suicide seems like the easy way out. But there are easier alternatives. There is help; there are people and places you can turn to that will genuinely offer support—even for Asian Americans, where mental health issues and therapeutic care are suppressed.

On behalf of 8Asians.com, our heart goes out to the Ruiz family. You have our deepest condolences.

According to SFGate.com:

A Marin County Sheriff’s Department search and rescue team found the body of a woman at 1:38 p.m. in Slide Gulch Ravine, sheriff’s Lt. Doug Pittman said.

The body was “concealed by trees and shrubbery” about 30 or 40 yards from a trail, Pittman said.

“We are characterizing it a suspicious death,” he said.

It’s too early to know for sure that it’s Veronica Ruiz, though that’s the most popular assumption. There’s a lot of speculation about how and why, but all I can say is: Part of me hopes that this nightmare is over now and the family can find closure, and part of me hopes they’re going to find her in Southern California somewhere, alive and well.

I was talking to a friend about this last night, who happened to be hiking in the same general area a week ago. She and a friend had assumed that the trails were so easily marked that it would be impossible to get lost. So they marched on ahead of everyone else—and started along what seemed to be a trail. Only it was a dry ravine. They got a little freaked when the “trail” got so steep that they had to skid down on their butts. Another friend, an experienced hiker, fortunately realized that they had veered off course and found them.

“I had no idea how easy it is to get lost around here,” she related. “Even one wrong turn can send you off to another part of the mountain.”

Let’s hope a good turn is coming for the Ruiz family and that this ordeal will end soon.