Let’s watch, shall we?

Joz: Is this supposed to be cute? Funny? Out of curiosity, would people think it’s cute to dress their babies up like Hitler? Or Mussolini? I remember last year, a Danish artist caused waves when she dressed her baby like Hitler & other “evil despots” but hers was an exploration of evil.

Moye: I think it’s funny and cute. Mostly because it made me realize how much Kim Jong-il DID look like a fat baby.

Moye’s right, you know: Kim Jong Il did kinda have that fat baby look about him. Sure, a fat baby that imprisoned generations of families and had live lobsters shipped to him as when riding in trains through Siberia, but a fat baby nonetheless. What do you think?

(Hat tip: Brian R.)

So 2012 has finally arrived. According to many, it marks the coming of the end of the year. To others, it’s just another 365 days of life. For us here at 8Asians, it’s a chance to refresh, restart, make and break new promises. I asked our team of writers what their personal New Years resolutions for the blog would be, and here’s what they came up with.

John: Cover the 2012 election

Dino-Ray: To be more sensitive to our readers’ feelings…..BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Koji: Will continue to look for body parts on Asian American that I can objectify.

Mihee: To blog more about sports and religion (not necessarily in that order or in that combination).

Christine: I guess mine would be to podcast in a more frequent manner (at least once a month)

Edward: To continue to write more controversial blog posts, especially concerning interracial relations between Asians and non-Asians.

Jeff: To Finish my college admissions series and blog more about health.

Tina: To take up a new martial arts class this year and I WILL blog about it!

Tim: To write about home improvement, Asian American style.

Sunny: I would like to see 8A organize an APA blogger conference of sorts, though I am not sure how we’d go about doing that without biting off existing APA blogger conferences.

Will: To be more current with Asian trends. (Kpop is a mystery to me.)

Moye: I will not blog about Tiger Mom nor feed the trolls.

Ernie: To make 8Asians bigger and badder than ever before.

Readers, here’s where you come in. It’s your job to keep us in line and make sure we stick to our resolutions. And if we don’t…well, there’s always next year! And feel free to share your own 2012 resolutions in the comments. Happy New Year!

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. And sometimes, people talk about Yu Darvish, the half-Japanese, half-Iranian pitching phenom, while other people stand around politely and think to themselves when the next season of American Idol will come out since they know nothing about baseball. (And of course, that someone is me.) Let us watch, shall we?

Joz: The Texas Rangers win negotiating rights to Yu Darvish.

Russell from GASP!: Just watched this video [from mlb.com]. Looks to be a good deal if they can snag him.  Their pitching roster is already good, with them reaching the world series two years in a row, if he can pitch as well as Cliff Lee I’m sure he’ll be welcome. On that note, whatever happened to Okajima and Matsuzaka for the Red Sox?

Lily: Sadly, Daisuke was on the DL I think for allllll of the Red Sox’s last (heartbreaking and disastrous) season and hasn’t had nearly as good of seasons since his first two with the Sox (also not pitching as many games either for DL or management decisions, I think some combo of both). And Okajima is playing for the Pawtucket Red Sox (our AAA team), for non-baseball people that means he got demoted. We’ve got a couple other Asians on the team but I don’t think anyone who is particularly good… but I didn’t watch overly much of the end of the season because well, you know.

Russell: Oh man, didn’t know that Okajima was pitching in the minor-leagues.  Sucks since they were really in need of good closing pitching last season.  Oh well, here’s hoping either of them will make it back into the starting rotation. Oh, and completely off-topic but a good player to watch for is Kolten Wong.  He played for my University and got drafted 22nd in last year’s draft by the Cards.  Since Pujols is gone, hopefully they’ll bump him up from the minor leagues for a DH spot or something; he was pretty awesome when he hit here.

Everyone else: …

Ernie: Yay, sports are great! I love sports!

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. And sometimes, we talk about a recent story of Lia, a minimum-wage cashier at a Southern California Chick-Fil-A who thought she could get away with naming two of her Asian customers “CHING” and “CHONG” on their receipts. And then about the restaurant chain itself that serves crispy chicken sandwiches. Delicious, hate-filled, crispy chicken sandwiches. Let’s watch, shall we?

Ernie: Congratulations Lia from Irvine, California – you just got shit-canned.

John: Funny and scary how quickly the Internet can get you fired.

Moye: “Company officials say the incident doesn’t reflect corporate views and stands in stark contrast to its ethos.” I wonder where anti-gay rhetoric stands in their ethos. Also, it would have been MUCH more appropriate if Lia had used names like “Esther” and “Kevin.”

Tim: And in case you weren’t aware: Chick-Fil-A Fast Food Chain Donated Nearly $2 Million To Anti-Gay Groups In 2009.

Jeff: Wow. I have never even seen a Chick-Fil-A.

Ernie: I finally went to one when I was in Georgia last New Years. They are closed on Sundays, open their stores with prayer and the spicy chicken sandwiches are, ashamedly, kinda delicious.

Joz: They’re popping up all over So Cal these days, especially in OC. For the longest time, the only one in the area was in Fontana, CA and a friend of mine was so obsessed with Chick-Fil-A that he would drive there from Vegas (220 miles) so he could have them. [...] Once, when I made the mistake of riding with him to Vegas, he forced us to stop at Chick-Fil-A for dinner. He dropped me off with the instructions to order 10 orders of 12 piece chicken nuggets while he went to another store to get something. The Manager’s response when I placed the order was, “Is this for real?” When I said that I was being completely “for real,” he suggested that we order the medium party tray of 120 nuggets (which was cheaper). So this is what we were eating on the drive to Vegas.

Susan: At least he was helpful?

Joz: Yes, he helped us save something like $1.38 on our chicken nuggets.

(Hat tip: Marc W. Flickr photo credit: Hector Alejandro)

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. And sometimes, we talk about ADORABLE DOGS THAT WAIT FOR THEIR MASTERS EVEN IN DEATH GAH MY STONE HEART IS MELTING. (EDITORS NOTE: Please note that the video above is NOT about the dog in this article; it’s a blatant ploy by the editors to include a video of puppies running in slow motion. You’re welcome.)

Koji: Loyal dog in China refuses to leave owner’s grave, goes a week without food. This is a sad but cute story.

Akrypti: OMG WHY WOULD YOU POST THIS — THIS MADE ME TEAR UP AT THE OFFICE !!! — *SNIFF* These types of stories need to come with disclaimers. So traumatizing. Poor doggie.

Koji: I showed my dog the story and he told me that the dog is doing good. The dog has the whole town working for him now. He said it is the first step toward dog domination.

Akrypti: Okay, phew. That’s good to hear. Please tell your dog to continue to keep an eye on the China doggie anyway. I worry. Thanks. Plus. Maybe if dogs ran this world, things would be much better.

Moye: Hachiko in Japan did it first and way better.

Koji: Hachiko was an Akita! Rabbit (my doggie) is a half akita… so he knows what he’s talking about.

Akrypti: Akita, huh? Figures as much. I bet the half is from Rabbit’s Mom’s side too, amiright? You know those female Akitas. Always marrying out.

(Video hat tip: Jenny Z.)

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. And sometimes, we talk about kittens OMG OMG KITTEHS OMG OMG YOU CAN PLAY WITH THEM AT A CAFE OMG GAAAAH.

Mike: Now here’s a business model: Cat Cafes!

Moye: So weird. My friend is leaving for Tokyo today and I was telling him about these places!

Tina: I heard about these. LOL, I would probably pay to play with the kittens.

Akrypti: I’m familiar with the one in Taipei. I heart the idea of cat cafes. I’m totally going to open one when I retire.

Mary: I would be more interested in going to a dog cafe ^_^

Tina: They did start in Taiwan ^O^  When I was at a 7-11 in Taiwan with my cousins, they asked me “Do you want a hot dog?” in Chinese. I almost responded, “Oh, I don’t eat dog meat.” Luckily, I caught myself in time.

Christine: I think they have dog cafes in Korea. And I definitely saw a cat cafe in Hongdae. Right beside a sausage shop.

Jeff: I was disappointed when I read the link.  I thought that cats were on the menu.

Akrypti: Japanese, Jeff. The cafes are Japanese. Not Chinese.

(Flickr photo credit: SammyDavisDog)

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. And sometimes, we talk about a recent Wall Street Journal article about U.S. Born Chinese “returning to China” when most were never there in the first place. [EDITOR'S NOTE: The title has since been edited to say "Back in China" rather than "Return to China." But the argument still holds.]

Mihee: U.S.-Born Chinese, Back in China to Set Up Shop.

Joz: How is it a “return” to China? Yay, perpetual foreigners.

John: Yes, there is the perpetual “foreigner” thing, but going “back” can also have the general meaning of one’s roots… I mean, I think Conan O’brien goes to Ireland or even Oprah goes to South Africa to visit her sponsored school, they reference going back to their roots?

Joz: To be fair, I say “back to Taiwan” in Chinese b/c that’s what my parents always used to say “I’m going back to Taiwan next month.” But for a mainstream newspaper to imply that Chinese Americans are going “back” to China when they weren’t from there is kind of weird.

Akrypti: I wrote something about this before on 8A. Like Joz, when I say I’m visiting Taiwan, I say I’m going “back” to Taiwan. But when I’m visiting China, I say I’m going “to” China. Yet every time I said that in China, I got my “grammar” corrected. (“No, dear, you’re coming BACK to China!”)

Koji: I think it’s offensive. This is the “other” type of thinking that allows bad stuff to happen… things like Japanese American Concentration Camps, etc.

Tina: Hm, yeah, I think it makes sense for me to say I’m going “back” to Taiwan because 1) I was born there and 2) I’ve been there before (Like I’d like to go “back” to Japan or Mexico etc.) But I think if a journalist labels me as an Asian American going “back”, then it’s insinuating that that’s where I belong, that I’m a foreigner. If other Americans didn’t see Asian Americans as foreigners, then this wouldn’t be an issue, but there’s definitely the hint that we’re going “back”, away from where we don’t belong i.e. America. When the Virginia Tech shooting happened, a janitor who witnessed it said on NPR when asked about the gunman: “HE LOOKED FOREIGN.” The embarrassed news reporter was like “What he means to say is that the suspect looks to be of Asian decent.” mmhm.

What do you guys think? If my TGIFriday’s loving, Kim Kardashian wedding watching Asian American self has never gone to Asia before and suddenly books a trip there, am I going back if I’ve never gone there in the first place? Darn you, semantics!

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.)

Ernie: But the ones that DO get the reference will tease their hair and do a little bouncy dance. Heyyyyy.

Efren: Those of us who still do have hair, that is. Dammit.

Susan: ?

Jeff: Ha! So young.

Tim: Do you mean this?

Efren: Timmie: yes, and you are over 30 and from the Bay Area, so I’d expect you to get it.

Moye: You guys are so old.

Tim: Well, that’s a given. I even have grandkids. Okay step-grandkids.

Eddy: Step…GRAND KIDS!?! I can’t even imagine having kuds right now.

Moye: I can’t imagine ever having kuds either. Sounds painful.

Eddy: Kuds = typo or kids in cube shaped masses like Minecraft.

Joz: I am an anti-kud-ite.