Watch online: ‘Fresh Off the Boat’ (Episode 12: “Dribbling Tiger, Bounce Pass Dragon”)

Posted on April 15, 2015 by jozjozjoz

IAN CHEN, HUDSON YANG, FORREST WHEELER, CONSTANCE WU

Season 1 of Fresh Off the Boat is almost over. Here we are at Episode 12 (out of 13). (Catch up online: Episodes 1 and 2, Episodes 3 and 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7, Episode 8, Episode 9, Episode 10, Episode 11.)

Remember, aside from the ratings (which are most important), the network is also tracking legal downloads/streaming, as well as social media (Hashtag: #FreshOffTheBoat). So if you want to show the network your support, definitely watch, download, and tweet/post about it.

Multiple episodes are currently available for streaming using the “WATCH ABC” app for iOS. As of now, these downloads and streams are only legit available in the U.S./North America. Sorry to all our overseas readers that we can’t necessarily provide you links; you’ll just have to catch it on satellite for now.

EPISODE 12: “Dribbling Tiger, Bounce Pass Dragon” (S1E12)

Fresh Off the Boat: Dribbling Tiger, Bounce Pass Dragon (4/14)
JESSICA AND LOUIS GET PRESSURED INTO VOLUNTEERING AT THE KIDS’ SCHOOL, ON “FRESH OFF THE BOAT” ON ABC

“Dribbling Tiger, Bounce Pass Dragon” – Louis and Jessica get pressured into volunteering at the kids’ schools because of budget cuts. Eddie sees a whole other side of his dad when Louis – a former semi-pro basketball player back in Taiwan — coaches the basketball team, while Emery and Evan see a side of Jessica they wish they hadn’t when she grudgingly takes on producing their school play, and puts her own spin on it, on “Fresh Off the Boat,” TUESDAY, APRIL 14 (8:00-8:30 p.m. ET)on the ABC Television Network.

“Fresh Off the Boat” stars Randall Park as Louis, Constance Wu as Jessica, Hudson Yang as Eddie, Forrest Wheeler as Emery and Ian Chen as Evan. Eddie Huang provides the voice over narration.

Guest starring are Lucille Soong as Grandma Huang, Amanda Lund as Vanessa, Maria Bamford as Principal Thomas, Connor Rosen as Bed-Wetter Doug, Trevor Larcom as Trent, Prophet Bolden as Walter, Evan Hanneman as Barefoot Dave and Walter Schrass as Dmitri.

“Dribbling Tiger, Bounce Pass Dragon” was written by Rich Blomquist. Rob Cohen directed.

FRESH OFF THE BOAT: SEASON 1

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‘Fresh off the Boat’ Non-Spoiler Episode Preview: “Dribbling Tiger, Bounce Pass Dragon”

Posted on April 14, 2015 by Mitchell K. Dwyer

Fresh Off the Boat, Season 1, Episode 12: “Dribbling Tiger, Bounce Pass Dragon”
Original airdate April 14, 2015.

EVAN HANNEMANN, CONNOR ROSEN, HUDSON YANG, BILL LEE BROWN, KYLE WEISHAARMicrosynopsis: Louis volunteers as coach for Eddie’s basketball team, a group of boys who don’t value team effort. Jessica volunteers as director of Emery and Evan’s school play, despite her disdain for thespian pursuits.

Good: There are a few laugh-aloud moments, and some of the fantasy sequences are funny. Grandma has a couple of strong scenes. There’s a bit of clever, ironic meta-ness about Asians on television, with a completely unexpected (and fun) payoff at the very end, so ride it out at least for that.

PROPHET BOLDEN, HUDSON YANG, RANDALL PARK, WALLY SCHRASSBad: Much of the cartoonish nature of the action can be excused by the thematic tribute (hinted at in the episode’s title), but it goes a bit far. Once again, school life is exaggerated so much that it’s practically impossible to see as part of the same television program. Worst of all, while the episode’s set-up is interesting, the execution is uninteresting at best.

FOB moment: Chickens and a moped at the Taiwanese basketball court.

Soundtrack flashback: “Pass the Shovel” by Gravediggaz.

Final grade, this episode: This is one of those episodes that’s tolerable only because we like and care about the characters. Despite isolated funny moments, the story is kind of a yawn, and the entire school play plot just doesn’t carry its share of the weight. The little bit of self-awareness is well done, but it’s more color than structure, and not enough to rescue twenty minutes of blah. C.

FRESH OFF THE BOAT: SEASON 1

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Giveaway: Ultimate Origami for Beginners and Hokusai Origami Paper from Tuttle

Posted on April 14, 2015 by Lily

download (1)

Origami, the art of paper folding, is a great arts and crafts project for young and old. Tuttle, a publishing company focusing on Asian language, history, and culture, with the tagline “Books to Span the East and West,” offers a wide range of books and products–from young adult novels to language learning materials, from business guides to origami paper.

8Asians is collaborating with Tuttle to give our readers a sampling of some of their stuff, starting with Ultimate Origami for Beginners, a brand new set, and Hokusai Print Origami Paper, which uses the works of one of Japan’s best known artists to create beautifully patterned paper.

9780804844536__48138.1425594687.1280.1280Ultimate Origami for Beginners is not your average beginner’s guide. It includes a substantial booklet with easy-to-follow directions for somewhat more advanced beginner items–an oxymoron I realize–but I say that because this is not the cup, the crane, the box. The booklet includes flowers, animals (baby dinosaur, seahorse), airplanes, and dollar folds. Not to worry, though, the instructions are thoroughly illustrated and described. Plus if you’re really stuck, there’s a DVD guide to take you through the steps one-by-one. I would guess that it is more complicated than a small child would want, but difficult and interesting enough for the slightly older (maybe double digits? Per my own history of learning how to fold, that’s at least when I think I might have been ready for these types of designs though of course some are easier). The accompanying paper, in sizes both large and small, also has dollar bill size papers to test out the dollar bill butterfly and yacht designs.

The Hokusai Prints Paper is a 48-sheet set is the large-size paper at 8 1/4 inches. Check out my brief review and samples of the designs in the booklet and the look of the paper once it’s folded.

Ok, ok…you want a chance to win some origami? Read on!

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History of San Jose Japantown on KQED Radio

Posted on April 13, 2015 by Jeff

sjjapantownlogo

When I first moved to San Jose from the East Bay 25 years ago, one very pleasant discovery has been San Jose’s Japantown. As one of the three remaining Japantowns in the US, I always thought it had much more of a neighborhood and community feel than than the Japantowns in San Francisco and Los Angeles. San Jose Japantown is celebrating its 125 Anniversary, and KQED radio covered the history of San Jose Japantown in this KQED Forum radio show.

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Asian American Commercial Watch: Ian Chen and Lynn Chen in 2015 Porsche Cayenne Ad, “Are We There Yet?”

Posted on April 10, 2015 by jozjozjoz

8A-2015-04-10Ian Chen-2015 Porsche CayenneDo you recognize the Asians in this?

Here’s the “Are We There Yet?” ad for the 2015 Porsche Cayenne, which began airing in November 2014, featuring Ian Chen (who plays Evan Huang on Fresh Off the Boat) asking his mom (played by actress Lynn Chen, no relation in real life), “我們到了嗎？” (That’s “Are We There Yet?” in Mandarin Chinese.)

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Best Anime MMA Walk Out Songs

Posted on April 9, 2015 by tinabot

Last fall, two Invicta FC fighters, Roxanne Modafferi and Jenny Liou (who will both fight in INVICTA 12 April 24th) walked out to their fights rocking out anime songs, which made me wonder, if I had become an MMA fighter, what awesome songs would I want to walk out to the cage to? First of all, the ones that Liou and Modafferi picked would definitely be on my list.

At Invicta FC 10, Modafferi walked out to “Fighting Spirit” from the anime Naruto:

I really love that song, among other Naruto soundtrack favorites. The Naruto songs have this awesome mix of modern and old, metal and traditional Japanese that is just amazing. My real love for ninjas started with Naruto, too, so mixed martial arts with Naruto music is awesome.

Modaferri actually replied to a tweet of mine saying that it was actually the wrong song.

That would probably have been this song:

More people would probably recognize that one more, but I do like the battle feel of the “Fighting Spirit” one, so maybe it was fated. ^o^

Liou and I had a nice chat one time about how awesome the two anime series Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop are, so I was cheering extra loud when I heard her walk out to the Samurai Champloo intro song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F87LlJxgZTk

Pretty legit that one is.

Here are some other anime songs that would be awesome too:
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Watch online: ‘Fresh Off the Boat’ (Episode 11: “Very Superstitious”)

Posted on April 8, 2015 by jozjozjoz

RANDALL PARK, HUDSON YANG, FORREST WHEELER, CONSTANCE WU

Season 1 of Fresh Off the Boat is almost over. Here we are at Episode 11 (out of 13). (Catch up online: Episodes 1 and 2, Episodes 3 and 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7, Episode 8, Episode 9, Episode 10.)

Remember, aside from the ratings (which are most important), the network is also tracking legal downloads/streaming, as well as social media (Hashtag: #FreshOffTheBoat). So if you want to show the network your support, definitely watch, download, and tweet/post about it.

Multiple episodes are currently available for streaming using the “WATCH ABC” app for iOS. As of now, these downloads and streams are only legit available in the U.S./North America. Sorry to all our overseas readers that we can’t necessarily provide you links; you’ll just have to catch it on satellite for now.

EPISODE 11: “Very Superstitious” (S1E11)

Fresh Off the Boat: Very Superstitious (4/7)
JESSICA’S SUPERSTITIONS GET THE BEST OF HER AND EDDIE’S WHITE LIE SPIRALS OUT OF CONTROL, ON “FRESH OFF THE BOAT” ON ABC

Former NBA Star Scottie Pippen, Judah Friedlander (“30 Rock”) Guest Star

“Very Superstitious” – Jessica’s superstitions get the best of her when she sells a house with the address 44 West 44th Street – the number 4 being bad luck in Chinese culture. At the urging of the new school counselor (guest star Judah Friedlander as Ray), Eddie decides to run for school president, but Jessica’s bad luck gets the best of him too when a white lie spirals out of control, on “Fresh Off the Boat,” TUESDAY, APRIL 7, (9:31-10:00 p.m., ET)on the ABC Television Network. Former NBA star Scottie Pippen appears as himself.

“Fresh Off the Boat” stars Randall Park as Louis, Constance Wu as Jessica, Hudson Yang as Eddie, Forrest Wheeler as Emery and Ian Chen as Evan. Eddie Huang provides the voice over narration.

Guest starring are Lucille Soong as Grandma Huang, Paul Scheer as Mitch, Jillian Armenante as Nancy, Scottie Pippen as himself, Amanda Lund as Vanessa, Judah Friedlander as Ray, Vernee Watson as Mrs. Parker, Arden Myrin as Ashley Alexander and Albert Tsai as Phillip Goldstein.

“Very Superstitious” was written by Ali Wong. Alex Hardcastle directed.

FRESH OFF THE BOAT: SEASON 1

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‘Fresh off the Boat’ Episode Review: “Very Superstitious”

Posted on April 8, 2015 by Mitchell K. Dwyer

Fresh Off the Boat, Season 1, Episode 11: “Very Superstitious”
Original airdate April 7, 2015.

RANDALL PARK, CONSTANCE WUMicrosynopsis: Jessica gets her first commission, but her superstitions prevent her from cashing the check. Louis cashes it without her knowledge and convinces the boys that a little white lie is better for everyone involved. Eddie runs for sixth-grade president against classmates with better slogans and celebrity endorsements.

Good: In reviewing last week’s episode, I really had to reach to find the negatives. This week, it’s the opposite: the only easy positive is how especially pretty Jessica is, particularly in the scenes where she’s disagreeing with Louis. It was nice to have Grandma more involved in the story. For once, Mitch at the restaurant is reasonable instead of creepy. And even though I’m going to write about it two paragraphs down, I’ll mention that the soundtrack flashback is an excellent choice, because what else am I going to put in this section? Oh, I guess the return of Eddie’s pimp-walk is pretty cute, but it’s less cute without a later return of Jessica’s pimp-walk.

HUDSON YANGBad: No! Bad FotB writers! Bad! Do not combine the done-to-death little-white-lie-important-lesson theme with the overplayed super-sensitive-school-authority-who-calls-CPS plot and the running-for-school-office story! Do not bring celebrity guest stars playing themselves into the story at all, but really don’t do it in the show’s first season! Don’t you know that’s one of the classic shark jumps? Do not write a butthole joke! Do not show us Grandma on the toilet! Cultural remember-this gags are okay, but do not give us Scottie Pippen, Crystal Pepsi, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Street Fighter II in the same episode! Do not give us wisdom from the custodian! Don’t give us more Phillip Goldstein, one of the most irritating characters in a half-season full of irritating characters, at all! And for crying out loud, stop making Jessica say, “Aww hell no!” It didn’t work the first five times she said it, and it’s not working now!

FOB moment: Grandma burns incense while sitting on the toilet.

Soundtrack flashback: “Me Myself and I” by De La Soul. It’s the second-best thing about this episode.

Final grade, this episode: Seriously, a show that works “chink” into the pilot, includes “Straight Outta Compton” in the soundtrack, and grabs ownership of “FOB” should know better than to include so many tired story elements unless it’s trying to make a point by tempting fate with multiple shark-jumps, in which case it might as well have introduced Ted McGinley (the patron saint of jumping the shark) as a new cast member too. The bad-luck-numbers story is actually kind of cute, as is Evan’s fear of missing something because he’s using the bathroom, but they are strangled by too much badness everywhere else (and uncharacteristic hamminess from Randall Park and Ian Chen). You can’t win ’em all, and even M*A*S*H had the Loudon Wainwright III episode. D.

FRESH OFF THE BOAT: SEASON 1

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8Books Sale Announcement: $2.99 eBooks

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Lily

Everyone loves a good sale, and this one doesn’t even hog space on your bookshelf! For the entire month of April, the University of Illinois Press is offering three Asian American-interest titles for only $2.99. All e-books are available on Kindle, Nook, Google Play, and Kobo.

AsianAmDixieAsian Americans in Dixie: Race and Migration in the South Edited by Khyati Y. Joshi and Jigna Desai
The migrations of Manilamen, Bengali Muslim peddlers, and Chinese merchants and coolies extend the history of Asian Americans in the South into the early nineteenth and twentieth century. Between 1950 and 2000, the Asian American population in the American South increased more than one hundred times, much higher than the national average and the greatest increase among all regions of the United States. Extending the understanding of race and ethnicity in the South beyond the prism of black-white relations, this interdisciplinary collection explores the growth, impact, and significance of Asian Americans in Southern life and discusses the formation of past and emerging Asian American communities in the region. (List Price: $28)

Undercover Asian: MultiracUndercoverial Asian Americans in Visual Culture by Leilani Nishime
In this first book-length study of media images of multiracial Asian Americans, Leilani Nishime traces the codes that alternatively enable and prevent audiences from recognizing the multiracial status of Asian Americans. Nishime’s perceptive readings of popular media–movies, television shows, magazine articles, and artwork–indicate how and why the viewing public often fails to identify multiracial Asian Americans. Using actor Keanu Reeves, golfer Tiger Woods, and the television show Battlestar Galactica as examples, Nishime suggests that this failure is tied to gender, sexuality, and post-racial politics. In contrast to these representations, Nishime provides a set of alternative moments when audiences can view multiracial Asians as multiracial. (List Price: $28)

BaseballNikkei Baseball: Japanese American Players from Immigration and Internment to the Major Leagues by Samuel O. Regalado
Nikkei Baseball examines baseball’s evolving importance to the Japanese American community and the construction of Japanese American identity. Originally introduced in Japan in the late 1800s, baseball was played in the United States by Japanese immigrants first in Hawaii, then San Francisco and northern California, then in amateur leagues up and down the Pacific Coast. For Japanese American players, baseball was seen as a sport that encouraged healthy competition by imposing rules and standards of ethical behavior for both players and fans. The value of baseball as exercise and amusement quickly expanded into something even more important, a means for strengthening social ties within Japanese American communities and for linking their aspirations to America’s pastimes and America’s promise. (List Price: $25)

 

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Traveling Japan: Gundam & Gundam Front @ Odaiba

Posted on April 6, 2015 by tinabot

DSC01002

A trip to Japan is simply not complete without visiting a giant robot. And a Gundam robot no less. Apparently, it had originally been placed closer to the waterfront, so that you can get this really epic feeling that the robot was real and standing at the ready for battle. Now it’s in front of the massive Diver City Mall, which is slightly less epic, as it looks more like a commercial attraction, but it’s still pretty cool because it’s “life-size”.

Just to give you a sense of how big this machine is (they plan on making it move, living up to the “mobile suit” part):

#gundam #giantrobot #robot

A photo posted by Carlomus Prime (@carlomusprime) on

Also, here’s me taking a video from foot to head of the robot:

#gundam #divercity #tokyo #nihon

A video posted by @tinabot on

Here’s a 360 video we took of the thing:

Of course, if I see a giant robot, I can’t just take one picture.

DSC01014
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18MMW declares “Race War” on SNL’s Yellowface

Posted on April 4, 2015 by jozjozjoz

8A-2015-03-18MMW-RaceWarSays Michael Hornbuckle:

18MMW declares RACE WAR on SNL!! Because of all the Yellowface SNL does. And if SNL thinks Asians can’t win a RACE WAR…well, we PROVE that Asians CAN!

ABOUT 18 MIGHTY MOUNTAIN WARRIORS:
Quite possibly the world’s most psychotic Asian American sketch comedy group, the Warriors have been together since 1994 and in that time have created innumerable all-new material feature shows, 4 original collaborations with Culture Clash, Campo Santo, Latina Theatre Lab, Lodestone Theatre, OPM and Cold Tofu and performed in New York City, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Chicago, Vancouver, Houston, and Phoenix, among other cities and at the world famous Comedy Store and Laugh Factory. Inspired by groups such as Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Culture Clash, SNL, and Kids in the Hall, their irreverent style of skit comedy ranges from slapstick to political and takes no prisoners.

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Asian American Commercial Watch: Panera Bread’s Soba Noodle Bowl with Chicken

Posted on April 3, 2015 by John

https://youtu.be/Tm43Apblgx0

Okay, so there are no Asian American actors or actresses in this commercial, but I just saw this Panera Bread commercial for their new offering of Asian-inspired broth bowls, highlighting Soba Noodle Bowl with Chicken.

I really don’t eat regularly at Panera Bread and to be honest, although the quality of their food is generally above average, the ‘value’ has never been for me. I’ve usually gone their for coffee, bagels, a sandwich or salad. Maybe that is why the restaurant chain characterizes the new line of broth bowls as to “Eat Adventurously.”

I’m not totally familiar with Panera Bread’s offerings, but was genuinely surprised to discover that they were offering a soba noodles. The next time I’m at Panera Bread, I’ll have to give this dish a try.

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