Author Archives: Jeff

About Jeff

Jeff lives in Silicon Valley, and attempts to juggle marriage, fatherhood, computer systems research, running, and writing.

Vegan Filipino Food Vendor Plans to Expand

Posted on January 14, 2021 by Jeff

Vegan Filipino food?  When I first heard about vegan Filipino food almost 9 years ago, I was really skeptical.  But the restaurant  chain Nick’s thrived for a long time, and during this Pandemic, owner Reina Montenegro has rebranded the Nick’s … Continue reading →

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In Praise of Spam: Prose, a Play, and a Poem

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Jeff

Spam, Eggs, and Rice. That was a familiar and comforting meal when I was a kid, and I still feel that way today. While Spam has been condemned as the epitomy of unhealthy processed food, I recently learned about an … Continue reading →

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8mm Review: A Sugar and Spice Holiday

Posted on December 23, 2020 by Jeff

With nowhere to go on yet another night of the COVID-19 lockdown, The Wife and I settled in to watch the first Lifetime movie with Asian American leads.  As we rarely watch the Lifetime channel, I decided to keep my … Continue reading →

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Asian American Commercial Watch: Gift Like You Mean It: Shiori

Posted on December 14, 2020 by Jeff

These days, there are a lot more Asian Americans on TV commercials, so it takes  more than having Asians American on a commercial to get me to want to share it.  This Holiday commercial for Etsy, produced by ad agency … Continue reading →

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8mm Review: Let It Snow

Posted on December 10, 2020 by Jeff

While the upcoming A Sugar and Spice Holiday movie features Asian Americans, another Christmas movie from last year has two Asian American actors, Anna Akana and Jacob Batalon, as significant characters.  Let It Snow was released in 2019.  I finally … Continue reading →

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A Disney Filipino Christmas Ad is Making People Cry All Around the World

Posted on November 27, 2020 by Jeff

Disney Europe is probably the last organization that I’d expect to distribute a commercial that would become viral for Filipinos in the US and all over the world, but people ranging from The Wife to the head of the Filipino … Continue reading →

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Young Kim and Michelle Steel Join Marilyn Strickland as First Korean American Women Elected to US Congress

Posted on November 16, 2020 by Jeff

Young Kim and Michelle Steel will join Marilyn Strickland as the first Korean American women elected to the US Congress.  In that earlier post, we mentioned that Young Kim was in a tight race that had not yet been called.  … Continue reading →

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BIBIBOP Asian Grill giving US Veterans a free bowl on Veteran’s Day 2020

Posted on November 11, 2020 by Jeff

BIBIBOP Asian Grill joins a number of restaurants giving free meals and or discounts to US Veterans on November 11, which is US Veteran’s day.  Says Henry Yonky, BIBIBOP director of marketing, on the chain’s website: This is a great … Continue reading →

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A Short Review: Si

Posted on November 2, 2020 by Jeff

While the short Si was a finalist for the 2020 HBO Visionaries contest, I had some skepticism about it.  What about microaggressions could make a substantial film? Director Thomas Kim, in the interview above (some *spoilers* in it – I … Continue reading →

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Casting calls, Monolids, and Plastic Surgery

Posted on October 26, 2020 by Jeff

Paladino Casting recently apologized for the “no monolids” casting call shown here after being called out by Simu Liu on Twitter.   I think that Dino Ray Ramos put it best when he said that they were basically looking for Asians … Continue reading →

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A Short Review: Fine China

Posted on October 16, 2020 by Jeff

As she says in the interview above, Tiffany So, the director of the Fine China short that was a finalist for the 2020 HBO Visionaries contest, loves musicals.  I do too, and so Fine China was a pleasant surprise.  I … Continue reading →

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Nielsen Report: Asian Americans are a Huge and Attractive Media Market

Posted on October 12, 2020 by Jeff

After reading about HBO’s 2020 APA Visionaries contest winners, I was reminded of another annual Asian American media event, Nielsen’s annual report on Asian American consumers, 2020 edition.  Nielsen claims that Asian American content from performers who are also content … Continue reading →

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