Universal Pictures Signs Justin Lin to 2-Year Production Deal

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Ernie

Justin Lin, you are now a bona fide Hollywood A-List director: “Universal Pictures has just signed Fast Five director Justin Lin to a two-year production deal for his newly formed company Barnstorm Pictures. Lin has directed three The Fast and the Furious series installments. The last was Fast Five, which has earned more than $600M at the worldwide box office in 2011 and was one of the few bright spots in the studio’s year. … Hoping to branch beyond fast car movies, Lin is developing an action adventure spy film called Leading Man and an untitled project about the 442 Japanese American WWII battalion that is the most decorated in American history.” The last project is surprising, considering he has said that he loses money creating Asian American films; maybe the battalion squad will star Matt Damon and Jessica Alba. (Hat tip: Rahat)

Posted in (simple), Entertainment, Movies | 6 Comments

Giveaway: 4-pack of Tickets to Formula Drift – Round 6, “After Dark” in Las Vegas

Posted on August 23, 2011 by jozjozjoz

UPDATED 8/24/2011: Congrats to our winners: Donny Wong & Jacqueline Wu

The world famous Las Vegas Motor Speedway plays host to the next round of Formula DRIFT this weekend. The “Diamond in the Desert” is just outside the Vegas Strip and has previously hosted events such as NASCAR, IndyCar, and more recently Formula DRIFT. This custom built course is one of the fastest, if not the fastest, drifting circuits in the world. With a very high-speed triple entry, drivers are pushed to put their fears behind them and risk it all when entering the first turn. Fans will not be disappointed with each grandstand seat having a great view of all the action.

8Asians is giving away two (2) sets of four-pack tickets for this weekend’s Formula DRIFT’s Pro-Championship Round 6 – AFTER DARK at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, NV (August 26 – 27 at 4pm).

Ok, ok, you just want to know how to win the tickets? Read on!

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Trishna Brings New Spin To Classic English Novel

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Edward

Trishna is a film directed by Michael Winterbottom and stars Frieda Pinto and Riz Ahmed. The fascinating thing about this is that it’s a film adaptation of Tess of the D’Urbervilles, a novel by Thomas Hardy but instead of taking place in late 1800s England, it’s set in modern day India.

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Posted in Entertainment, Movies, Observations | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Asians Behaving Badly: San Jose Panda Express Sued for Latino Discrimination

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Ernie

Via the Mercury News: “The federal government said Wednesday it is suing a Panda Express restaurant in West San Jose for making its Latino workers clean toilets while Asian employees stood by and enjoyed an easier workload. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in a federal court filing that the general manager of the Panda Express … gave Latino workers fewer hours and more menial jobs. ‘Hispanic workers who worked as counter help were required to clean the bathroom, tables and counters, while Asian employees were permitted to simply stand around and watch,’ the federal agency’s Bay Area office said in a statement announcing the suit. The commission also said the manager more frequently and harshly disciplined Latino employees.” (Hat tip: Adelaide)

Posted in (simple), Discrimination, Food & Drink, Local, San Francisco Bay Area | 4 Comments

Asian Americans and Skin Cancer Prevention

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Mary

Lately, I have noticed many Asian mothers wearing their special sleeves and ridiculous visors with UV protection before getting behind the wheel or being around in the sun. Younger Asians, including me, often poke fun at our elders when we see them wearing those sleeves. My grandmother even told me to use an umbrella to hide from the sun when I go out during the day. Yes, we joke about it now, but it probably won’t be long before we all need to start using these sun protection accessories because of the rising concern of skin cancer in the United States.

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Posted in Beauty, Health, Lifestyles | Leave a comment

American Apparel Employee Crushed to Death on the Job

Posted on August 22, 2011 by sachi

From Huffington Post: In Anaheim, American Apparel employee Tuan Phan was crushed to death by a knitting machine on the job last Friday. According to reports, “Phan was attempting to remove a jammed roll of fabric from the circular knitting machine. He walked into the cage of the machine when the equipment suddenly turned on, crushing Phan. A co-worker found him unconscious and dialed 911.” This is not the first time that an accident has occurred with this type of machine, and it is also not the first sign of trouble for American Apparel. In the past year, founder Dov Charney has been slapped with several lawsuits regarding sexual harassment. The company was previously lauded for “immigrant friendly” practices, but it seems this has fallen by the wayside now that the company is in financial upheaval.

Posted in (simple), Current Events | 5 Comments

American Apparel: Rice Paddy Hats?

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Mihee

From Racialicious: “The good women from Disgrasian have pointed out that American Apparel is selling a rice paddy hat for $15. I’m a little surprised it has taken American Apparel so long to get on with this “trend.” I remember first seeing it on whipster (white hipster) fashion student Nora from the first season of Project Runway, and that was like 8 seasons ago.”

A number of bloggers have talked about the American Apparel hat, and some much more eloquent and interesting than others, so I simply bring it up here to miraculously agree with my husband that I’m tired of the hipster-doofus look, and all the obnoxious hipster-doofus shit out there, agree with the author that the only time and place this would be “appropriate” would be “Halloween. The wearer would be an Asian American female, dressed like a Vietcong guerrilla fighter with a sniper rifle slung around her in a reference to Full Metal Jacket. The hat would look pretty badass,” and grieve the loss of intelligence and thoughtfulness in what used to be one of my favorite brands.

Posted in Fashion, Lifestyles | 4 Comments

10 Reasons Why You Should Like CookingForYouAndMe.com with Ronnie Woo

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Guest Writer


If you visit CookingForYouAndMe.com and read the bio on the website, you will see how Ronnie Woo’s culinary background has developed over the years and manifested into this website. And now he wants to become the Next Food Network Star. Here are ten reasons why you should “like,” “follow,” and “subscribe” to Ronnie online.

  1. Ronnie is Asian. Like, 100% Asian.
  2. There seems to be a lack of Asian Power on the Food Network.
  3. Ronnie would represent!
  4. He makes yummy food! Just look at the pictures!
  5. He is like super duper sexy. Like totally out of this world hot. Right?
  6. Ronnie’s videos are fun to watch.
  7. He loves puppies and kittens.
  8. Ronnie updates with new fun and interesting webisodes twice a week.
  9. You could learn a thing or seventeen by watching the videos.
  10. He is a really good person.

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Posted in Entertainment, Food & Drink | 7 Comments

Georgetown-China Exhibition Match Ends in Brawl With No Winner

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Mihee


By now, videos of the intense brawl that cut short the international “friendly” game between Georgetown and China’s basketball teams have had thousands of views. In an ESPN article, Diamond Leung writes, on Thursday, August 18, “There was ugliness in the form of a benches-clearing, chair-waving, bottle-throwing brawl between Georgetown and the Bayi Rockets. As video of the incident (courtesy of SportsGrid) showed, things got so completely out of control that Georgetown left the court for good.” I have to admit that I rubber-neck periodically and “Oooooooh” while watching a physical conflict (beyond hockey), but in something as dramatic and serious as this confrontation, the question that immediately jumped to my mind was: “Who threw the first punch?” In other words, who made the first offense, who took this “friendly competition” too far, and ultimately, who is to blame? When there isn’t a historical rivalry or animosity to offer an explanation, I can’t help but wonder, “What happened?”

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Posted in Politics, Sports | 1 Comment

Asian Markets Shoot For Fourth Week Of Downturn

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Ben

It seems like we just can’t get out of this slump when it comes to the economy, and these days, it’s global. Just look towards Asia if you want an indication on how the day might fare, with stocks there falling for a fourth straight week. Unfortunately, with the latest downgrade on the US outlook by S&P, it seems that investors are jumpier than ever and are fleeing towards the safety of bond markets and gold. While the economy and Wall Street are not the “same,” they are effected by each other. It’s similar to you can see industry indexes rise and fall with certain companies, even though they’re not directly related; it’s going to be a long and arduous road ahead.

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U.S. News’ Gold Medal High School List & Asian American Students

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Tim

U.S. News and World Report put out their “Gold Medal” list of the top 100 public high schools in the United States. As expected some of the real estate forums in the San Francisco Bay Area picked this up and it started some lively debates on buying housing for the schools and school district; and of course conversations on the Asian American population in those neighborhoods and attending one of those schools.

The first comment in the forums was that ten of the top 100 high schools are located in the San Francisco Bay Area. Basically, 10% of the top schools are in area where approximately 2% of the population of the United States lives. The second comment was of the 10 Bay Area schools, four were predominantly Asian, which led to someone quoting Principal Skinner from the Simpsons: “Well, Edna, for a school with no Asian kids, I think we put on a pretty darn good science fair.” The latest comment talked about building a “Great Wall of Cupertino” (in reference to the large Chinese population in Cupertino, CA).

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Posted in Education, Family | 7 Comments

LAST CHANCE: ‘Amigo’ Poster Signed by John Sayles and Joel Torre

Posted on August 20, 2011 by Guest Writer

Hey everyone – you have just 24 hours left to enter our Giveaway to win an ‘Amigo’ Poster Signed by John Sayles and Joel Torre, provided by 8Asians and Variance Films! Read this post for more information, and enter today!

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