8Links: Asian-American studies, Asians on television, and “The Filipino Assassin”

Posted on March 10, 2015 by jasmine

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8Links is a series which occasionally highlights interesting content from sites we read. Got a tip for us? Let us know about a link you would like to see on 8Asians.com by suggesting a link!

″The idea of an Asian in the news for being controversial and unapologetic, for having strong opinions… Asians are supposed to work hard and do well but not to make waves. Not to create controversy. When you’re raised to think that’s not your place, to me, it’s important to make that space. It’s okay to be loud and rude and opinionated as an Asian. It’s a good thing.″ Arthur Chu is “The Ombudsnerd”. [The Awl]

Students at Dartmouth College are pushing for an Asian-American Studies program. [The Dartmouth]

Criticism and debate have been triggered by a kiss between two women characters on the Korean television show “Seonam Girls High School Investigators”, the first of its kind for the country. [Yahoo! News]

Philippe Nover: Nurse by day, MMA fighter “The Filipino Assassin” by night. [Feet in 2 Worlds]

″But simply watching people of color having a private conversation, one that’s not primarily about white people, is a huge deal. It changes who the joke is on.″ The New Yorker’s Emily Nussbaum talks “Fresh Off the Boat”. [The New Yorker]

 

 

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Traveling Japan: Learning Japanese

Posted on March 9, 2015 by tinabot

IMG_20141224_073719-EFFECTS

Japanese was one of those languages that I’ve always sort of known but never fully mastered. One of my grandmothers was a Japanese language teacher in Taiwan and grew up in the era of Japanese colonialism. Both she and my grandfather told me they spoke Japanese more fluently than any other language, which makes sense since they grew up formally schooled in the language.

I’ve also watched my share of Japanese anime for over two decades now, which means I learned to say some pretty useless things in Japanese, such as “I am a Vampire Princess.”

In any case, it always seemed like a waste to not try to obtain some decent level of proficiency in the language, and a trip to Japan was the perfect reason to really get cracking on this long delayed goal.

Since I couldn’t really afford (in terms of time) to take a formal Japanese language class at the local community college or anything like that, I turned to my trusty Audible account and transformed every commute into a Japanese lesson.

I started with the Pimsleur series, which is very drill and repetition based. Each lesson has a dialogue that is repeated twice at the beginning of the lesson, and the time in between is interspersed with pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, explanations, and dialogue response situations. What’s learned before is returned to in a cyclic manner in later lessons to refresh and solidify what you learn. For example, you might learn how to say “train” in lesson 3, and out of the blue in lesson 7, they’ll ask you “How do you say ‘train’?”

For Pimsleur, there are 3 phases or courses you can run through, with each phase containing 30×30-minute lessons, all adding up to a total of almost 50 hours of instruction and practice.

Pimsleur Japanese Phase 1
Pimsleur Japanese Phase 2
Pimsleur Japanese Phase 3
Continue reading →

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8$: SOMEONE ELSE: a feature film

Posted on March 8, 2015 by jozjozjoz

8$ is a series which occasionally highlights interesting crowdfunding projects. Every day, the 8Asians team is inundated by many worthy pitches. We are unable to highlight every one that comes our way, or even the ones we might individually support. The projects selected for 8$ are not endorsements by 8Asians. (To be considered for 8$, we highly suggest you not harass the writers or the editors of 8Asians.)

WHO: Writer/director Nelson Kim

SOMEONE ELSE is my first feature film. Making it has been one of the great adventures of my life. I got to collaborate with an incredible group of people who inspired me with their talent and dedication. And I’m happy with how it turned out—love it or hate it (obviously I hope for the former), it’s a distinctive, original, and highly personal piece of work.

Finally, we get to share it with the world. We’re thrilled to be having our world premiere at the Miami International Film Festival on March 13!

8A-2015-03-08-AaronYooWHAT: Kickstarter project: ‘Someone Else,’ a feature film

SOMEONE ELSE is a surreal drama about the clash of wills between two Korean American cousins and the woman who comes between them.

Jamie (Aaron Yoo), a shy young law student hungry for a more vivid, risk-taking existence, visits his wealthy playboy cousin Will (Leonardo Nam) in New York City. Jamie has always looked up to Will for following his personal pursuit of pleasure in a way that Jamie’s own cautious, reserved nature has never dared.

In his quest to emulate Will, Jamie sheds his old identity and gets involved with a mysteriously alluring girl named Kat (Jackie Chung). But in a series of surprising twists, Jamie’s adventure spirals out of control, and his dream of self-transformation becomes a nightmare that threatens to destroy him.

WHEN: Deadline to contribute is Wednesday, March 11, 2015 (2:00pm PT).

WHY:

Following the launch of the film, we want to bring SOMEONE ELSE to U.S. theaters as soon as possible, either by partnering with a distributor or releasing it ourselves. Then, after the movie’s theatrical run ends, we’ll release it on DVD and on Video On Demand platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more.

But to do all this, we need your help. Your contributions will go toward festival travel and expenses, publicity and marketing, sales and distribution expenses, legal fees, and more. In today’s independent-film world, getting the movie made is only half the struggle. The other half is getting it out into the world, and all the money we raise here, minus the fees charged by Kickstarter, will be devoted to doing just that!

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Asian American Commercial Watch: Microsoft Cloud & Empowering Cancer Research

Posted on March 6, 2015 by John

http://youtu.be/GY2Bg0op-Kc

Professor_Wu_Feng_Microsoft_CloudA lot of people today still don’t know that Microsoft has a large “cloud” business, and with a series of commercials, Microsoft is trying to change that perception. In this commercial, Microsoft highlights Virginia Tech computer science Professor Wu Feng’s work utilizing Microsoft Cloud to sequence and analyze the genome of a cancer. I’m really optimistic that with increasing computational power, a lot of genetic based illness can be solved and treated in my lifetime.

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Invicta FC11 Inoue Loses by Decision to Grasso

Posted on March 5, 2015 by tinabot

Your co-main event for tomorrow night @alexa_grasso vs. Mizuki Inoue | #InvictaFC11

A photo posted by Invicta Fighting Championship (@invictafc) on

Mexico’s Alexa Grasso defeated Japan’s Mizuki Inoue in last Friday’s Invicta FC11 event at the Shrine Auditorium in promotion’s first show in Los Angeles.

What an incredible performance from @alexa_grasso last night at #InvictaFC11!

A photo posted by Invicta Fighting Championship (@invictafc) on

I was able to witness the fight in person this time, and I really like both fighters, so I was just excited to see the two of them go at it. There was a lot of support for the fighters from Mexico in the audience, so I focused on yelling and supporting Mizuki since Grasso was already getting so much love.

My own private nickname for Grasso is “Princess”, because for some reason, she gave off that vibe, not in a bad spoiled princess way, but just like she had some kind of noble blood in her or something. She didn’t look daunting when I first saw her step into the cage in previous Invicta fights because she seemed really prim and proper, but when she let those fists fly, I was impressed by her focus and skill, but I just kept calling her “Princess” after that. Later, I found out that it’s her father and family that run the gym she trains at, so I realized my name for her is quite appropriate, as she is technically Team Grasso’s MMA gym princess, or “O-jou-sama” as the Japanese would call her.

As expected, she and Mizuki won fight of the night and even got performance bonuses. Grasso was very gracious in her win, acknowledging what a tough opponent Mizuki was, repeatedly stating that she knew this was going to be the hardest fight she’s had so far, and it lived up to those expectations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqSc52SjCe8

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Watch online: ‘Fresh Off the Boat’ (Episode 7: “Showdown at the Golden Saddle”)

Posted on March 4, 2015 by jozjozjoz

CONSTANCE WU, HUDSON YANG, RANDALL PARK, LUNA BLAISE

We’ve already passed the halfway mark for Season 1 of Fresh Off the Boat. (Catch up online: Episodes 1 and 2, Episodes 3 and 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, and if you haven’t downloaded the pilot for free on iTunes and Amazon Instant Video, definitely do that, too.)

Episode 6 ratings on (2/24) were solid, holding strongly against NBC’s show The Voice, according to FutonCritic: ABC’s Tuesday Holds Against The Voice Premiere – Fresh Off the Boat and Repeat After Me Gain Younger Viewers:

Fresh Off the Boat (8-8:30pm – 5.8 million and 1.9/6 in AD18-49): At 8pm opposite the start of NBC’s 2-hour The Voice premiere, ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat held steady week to week in Adults 18-49 (1.9/6) to match its best Tuesday performance. In addition, the new comedy was up for the 2nd week in a row in Adults 18-34 (+9%), tied a series high in Teens 12-17 and set a new series high with Kids 2-11 (+50%). The ABC freshman was Tuesday’s #1 comedy for the 3rd consecutive week in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.

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 7: “Showdown at the Golden Saddle” (S1E7)

“Showdown at the Golden Saddle” – Things are looking up for the Huangs when Louis gets the restaurant a billboard in a prime spot in Orlando. They even get an invite to the country club. But when someone repeatedly vandalizes the billboard, they’re left wondering why. Eddie works hard to get the attention of the girl he’s crushing on (Luna Blaise as Nicole), but it doesn’t help matters when his mom hires her to babysit him, on “Fresh Off the Boat,” TUESDAY, MARCH 3 (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, Paul Scheer as Mitch, Chelsey Crisp as Honey, Ray Wise as Marvin, Steve Little as Finnegan, Luna Blaise as Nicole, Trevor Larcom as Trent, Evan Hannemann as Barefoot Dave and Alex Quijano as Officer Bryson.

“Showdown at the Golden Saddle” was written by Keith Heisler. Lynn Shelton directed.

“Fresh Off the Boat” is broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC’s selected HDTV format with a 5.1 channel surround sound.

About the show:
It’s the ’90s and 11 year old, hip-hop loving Eddie (Hudson Yang) just moved to suburban Orlando from DC’s Chinatown with his parents (Randall Park and Constance Wu). It’s culture shock for his immigrant family in this comedy about pursuing the American Dream. Fresh Off the Boat is based on Chef Eddie Huang’s memoir Fresh Off the Boat.

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.

Fresh Off the Boat is executive produced and written by Nahnatchka Khan and executive produced by Jake Kasdan for 20th Century Fox Television.

SEASON 1

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‘Fresh off the Boat’ Episode Review: “Showdown at the Golden Saddle”

Posted on March 4, 2015 by Mitchell K. Dwyer

Fresh Off the Boat, Season 1, Episode 7: “Showdown at the Golden Saddle”
Original airdate March 3, 2015.

*Watch Online*

HUDSON YANG, LUNA BLAISE, IAN CHEN, FORREST WHEELERMicrosynopsis: Eddie plots to share his Parental-Advisory-stickered CD with Nicole in an attempt to show her how grown-up he is. Louis puts up a new billboard for Cattleman’s Ranch, but despite its effectiveness, it leads to trouble for him and Jessica.

Good: Evan and Emery are really funny. There are some good gags centered on the billboards. There’s some good relationship development for Louis and Jessica. Nicole gets a chance to be more than a caricature, and she even smiles at Jessica. Eddie reminds us that he’s still really a tweener, even calling out to his mom for comfort. It’s kind of sweet. This episode is rather plotty, leaning heavily on our familiarity with the characters to propel the story without too much explanation, and it works. My favorite thing about this episode is the way Louis continues to hold the show together: Randall Park’s acting is strong enough to let Jessica and Eddie be all over the place from week to week. I would never have predicted that he’d be the part of the show I look most forward to, but that’s what he’s turning into.

CONSTANCE WU, HUDSON YANG, RANDALL PARKBad: I’m really not fond of potty humor in a family show (or really any show), and one of the plots kind of depends on it. This is normally enough to turn me completely off, but I’m trying to think of a more horrifying situation for Eddie to find himself in while Nicole is over, and I have to concede that this is probably it. I thought last week’s episode was sappy (and admitted that I bought it), but this one’s sappier. I would like to have seen just a little bit of edge in Jessica’s and Louis’s opening up to each other, although that can be really tough to pull off. In a family show, none of us really wants sincerity to tip over into irony.

FOB moment: Jessica says, “They’re calling us sneaky Asians!”

Soundtrack flashback: Kool Moe Dee’s “Wild Wild West,” Ice Cube’s “Check Yo Self (clean version),” and The Notorious B.I.G.’s “One More Chance / Stay With Me Remix.”

Final grade, this episode: I’m totally down with the relationship-building between Louis and Jessica; I think we all want to believe that Eddie’s family is built to last, and that he can count on them for all the good parent things we should expect in a TV family. Yet I still think a lot of the silliness is too easy. You know that moment at the end, when Nicole says “Hey” to Eddie, who’s so stunned it takes him a long second to return the greeting? That’s a note-perfect moment when lazy writers might have hurried things along unrealistically. Moments like this tell us that there’s potential here for cleverer silliness, so I’m not letting anyone off the hook. B.

SEASON 1

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8Books Review: Across a Green Ocean, by Wendy Lee

Posted on March 3, 2015 by Lily

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Wendy Lee’s debut novel Across A Green Ocean presents the story centered around two siblings, Michael and Emily Tang, struggling to find their identity as the children of immigrants and after the passing of their father. When Michael finds a letter to his father sent from China, he decides to avoid his problems in the US–his unwillingness to come out to his family, his recent layoff–by finding the mysterious sender. In the process, he hopes to learn something of his equally mysterious father. His sister Emily pushes against her mother Ling’s yearning for grandchildren, throwing herself into her career as an immigration lawyer.

Touching on familiar themes of loss, identity, family, and immigration, Lee spins a deeply emotional and transnational tale. At various points honing in on the relationship between two specific characters–be it Ling and Emily, Emily and her husband, or Michael and his father’s childhood friend–the novel allows its characters to grow within these ascribed roles.

Overall, Across a Green Ocean is lyrical in what one might call an easy page turner (and by easy I don’t mean simplistic, but rather smooth and well paced). Not overly cheery in content, it is also not overly grim with a networked plot that flows swiftly without stalling–jumping time periods and focal characters without giving the reader whiplash.

Continue reading →

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NYTimes Travel video: 36 hours in Koreatown, Los Angeles

Posted on March 2, 2015 by John

8A-2015-02-NYT-Koreatown-LAThe New York Times does a nice 6 minute video overview of Koreatown in Los Angeles, even highlighting the Wi Spa that Conan O’Brien and Steve Yeun recently visited.

BY Fritzie Andrade, Max Cantor, Jessey Dearing, Louie Alfaro and Will Lloyd

As the most densely packed part of Los Angeles, Koreatown is also one of the city’s most strollable, with Art Deco buildings, palm-lined streets and East-meets-West restaurants.

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Mizuki Inoue Co-Headlining Invicta FC 11 Tonight

Posted on February 27, 2015 by tinabot

InoueFINALLY, Invicta FC11 is in Los Angeles! And to add frosting to that cake, co-headlining the event will be Japan’s Mizuki Inoue in a bout against Mexico’s rising star, Alexa Grasso. Although everyone’s totally excited to see Cris Cyborg back in action and there are a ton of other great match ups, the projected fight of the night is Inoue’s. Inoue has been recognized as a striking prodigy but is formidably skilled in all other aspects of MMA, and Grasso has razor sharp focus and is well-rounded as well.

Here’s Grasso in action:

The fight is on tonight starting 7pm Pacific of UFC Fight Pass!

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Asian American Commercial Watch: Staples Price Match Guarantee “Tom Foolery” with Aaron Takahashi

Posted on February 27, 2015 by John

http://youtu.be/GenYiFolO30

Staples_Price_MatchI guess Aaron Takahashi is becoming the next Randall Park for commercials. The last commercial I saw him in was for Kmart. Here, Takahashi portrays a customer at Staples asking how does he know he’ll get the best prices at Staples? Apparently Staples has a price match guarantee.

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Hannah Hong: Elite Yelp Restaurant Reviewer

Posted on February 26, 2015 by Jeff

hannahhong1Many Asian Americans are foodies, but Hannah Hong’s more than 1300 Yelp restaurant reviews (including review updates) since 2012 has put into higher level of foodie, the Yelp Elite Squad.   While there are individual Yelp reviewers who have generated more total reviews, but her pace of more than one review a day is incredible – that’s a lot dining out! Yahoo Food talked to her about her life, food, and reviewing.

Hong, 31, is an elementary school school teacher from Alexandria and was raised in Chicago.   She feels that her mom and Aunt’s cooking is the best Korean food that she has ever eaten. As you might have guessed, she doesn’t cook very much, and the Yahoo article says she can’t remember that last meal she cooked.  Her favorite place to eat is New York’s Masa Restaurant.

Her reviews are known for being rather lengthy for the form, ranging from 300-400 works and including a lot of pictures.  If you look at the screen grab of her Yelp Profile, you can see the enormous amount pictures that she has taken and uploaded.  Her rating distribution is fairly generous, with most places getting between 3-5 stars and lower ratings reserved for very bad food and service that is “rude, offensive, or non-existent.”

Seeing the amount of work she puts into this, I wonder what she and many other Asian American Elite Squad members get out of their efforts.  Hong says she writes to share her passion and experiences.   Yelp Elite Squad status does bring some perks like a special badge on profiles, invites to special events, and giveaways, although some have criticized the program for encouraging boorish behavior.

 

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