Popular Posts on 8Asians in the Past Month

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Guest Writer

Here are some popular posts on 8Asians in the past month that you may have missed:

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Tammy Duckworth Running for Congress Again

Posted on July 15, 2011 by John

I don’t think I’ve blogged about Tammy Duckworth before, but she is running for Congress again. Her story and background is pretty compelling:

Duckworth lost both her legs and partial use of an arm when the Army helicopter she was co-piloting in 2004 was shot down by an Iraqi insurgent. President Obama appointed Duckworth to be assistant secretary in the Department of Veterans Affairs. She left the post last month, amid speculation that she would run again for the U.S. House.

Duckworth lost her run in 2006 but due to redistricting, the 8th Congressional District she is running for is friendlier to Democrats. Duckworth does face a primary challenger. Since she served in the Obama administration and has good name recognition, I’m pretty sure she’ll have a good chance of winning the Democratic nomination. However, if the economy hasn’t improved by November 2012, I am sure all Democrats, including Duckworth will have a hard time winning against Republicans. But as someone once said, “All politics is local.”

 

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Asian Woman Tries Craigslist Dating, Hilarity Ensues

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Ernie

From Jezebel: “I’m a tall, half Asian woman. I’m a performing artist and a healer. I dance in nightclubs, as well as talk to people about their problems. I have tattoos. I dress in black and chrome a lot. I’m Buddhist. I speak Texan fluently. All of these could be qualifying or disqualifying factors depending on who you’re talking to in the online dating world. All of this swirls together into a bewildering racial and cultural stew that defies straightforward presentation […] So, I decided to try an experiment with Craigslist.”

Posted in (simple), Dating, Lifestyles | 4 Comments

No Look Pass Doc Takes A Look At Basketball & Coming Out

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Efren

In No Look Pass, Emily Tay is an extraordinary young woman born to Burmese immigrants, raised in Los Angeles Chinatown, Harvard educated, starter for their women’s basketball team, and now a professional basketball player in Germany living with her female partner. But she faces a dilemma: coming out to her parents, and she is afraid of being rejected and disowned by them.

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Posted in Entertainment, LGBT, Local, Movies, Southern California | 1 Comment

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan Director Wayne Wang on APA Identity in the Media

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Dino-Ray


It’s been a while since we have heard from Wayne Wang. In fact, it’s been a while since we have seen him cover some Asian ground in film — but that’s where Snow Flower and the Secret Fan comes into play.

Since Joy Luck Club, Wang has been laying low when it comes to Asian identity movies. He’s done more commercial fare like Anywhere But Here, Maid in Manhattan, and Last Holiday. He even did an very, very, very racy movie called The Center of the World — which he is proud to call a guilty pleasure. (He also has an affection for comedies like The Hangover, Animal House, Old School, and Dumb and Dumber — especially Dumb and Dumber).

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Posted in Books, Entertainment, Movies | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Koreans, Stressed and Depressed, Avoid Therapy

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Ernie

From the New York Times: “… Koreans — while almost obsessively embracing Western innovations ranging from smartphones to the Internet to cosmetic surgery — have largely resisted Western psychotherapy for their growing anxieties, depression and stress. Talk-therapy modalities with psychiatrists, psychologists and other types of trained counselors are only slowly being accepted, according to mental health experts here.” The suicide rate in South Korea is nearly three times higher than in the United States.

Posted in (simple), Family, Health, Lifestyles | 3 Comments

APA Spotlight: Richard Katsuda, Kay Ochi, and Kathy Masaoka, Co-Chairs, Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress (NCRR)

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Koji Steven Sakai

APA Spotlight is a weekly interview of Asian Pacific Islander Americans (APIA) community leaders. It is a spotlight on individuals who have dedicated their careers to issues surrounding the APIA community with the goal of bringing much deserved recognition to their work and cause(s).

The Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress (NCRR) is an all volunteer, grassroots, community organization based in Los Angeles. The group formed in 1980 to seek individual monetary reparations for Japanese Americans who were forcibly removed from the west coast and incarcerated in America’s concentration camps during World War II.

Formerly known as the National Coalition for Redress/Reparations, NCRR worked throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s on the historic redress movement and is a founding member of the Campaign for Justice (CFJ). The CFJ organized in 1996 to seek equal reparations for Japanese Latin Americans (JLA) who were forcibly removed from their homes and businesses in Latin America and placed in the Crystal City, Texas camp during WWII.

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Is The Breakfast at Tiffany’s Boycott Unnecessary?

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Edward

In New York, an Asian American group is planning to boycott the 1961 Audrey Hepburn film Breakfast at Tiffany, which is being screened in Brooklyn Bridge Park on August 11th. The film is being shown as part of the Park Conservancy’s free outdoor “Movies With a View” series, which receives some city funding but is primarily sponsored by the SyFy network.

While mainstream audiences will remember the film as a classic, it is also notorious for featuring  Mr. Yunioshi, a Japanese character played in ridiculous yellowface by Mickey Rooney. Many consider Rooney’s role to be one of the worst caricatures in Hollywood history and I want to make sure that everybody is absolutely clear on this matter.

But is this film really worth protesting about?

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Posted in Current Events, Discrimination, Entertainment, New York | Tagged , , , , , | 54 Comments

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan Opens in U.S. on Friday

Posted on July 13, 2011 by jozjozjoz

I had a chance to see a VIP screening of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, directed by Wayne Wang and based on Lisa See’s bestselling novel and while an official review by Edward will be up later this week– in Edward’s words– “this is not Joy Luck Club 2, as some people have feared.”

The movie is based on a novel by New York Times bestselling author Lisa See and directed by Wayne Wang (Dino’s got an interview with the director coming soon!), who has directed over 20 movies including The Joy Luck Club and Last Holiday, and is billed as “a timeless portrait of female friendship.” Lisa See spent most of her formative years in L.A.’s Chinatown. Her family’s history was the basis for her book On Gold Mountain (1995), which is a “must read” for any Asian American Studies major. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and another novel, Shanghai Girls, were both honorable mentions for the Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature. She has also written a guidebook for L.A.’s Chinatown and was awarded National Woman of the Year in 2001 by the Organization of Chinese Americans and the History Makers Award by the Chinese American Museum in 2003. In an article published in Time magazine, See wrote of being multi-racial and the strong influence her Chinese heritage has had on her life.
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Posted in Entertainment, Movies | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

AKIRA Live-Action Film (With White Actors) Scrapped, Then Re-Instated

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Ernie

From Comics Alliance: “The live-action American adaptation of AKIRA that pretty much everyone agreed was a terrible idea has apparently been shelved. Director Albert Hughes walked away from the project in May, shortly after George Takei popularized bitter fan sentiment about controversial casting rumors, and now concept designer and comic book artist Chris Weston has revealed that he redesigned Kaneda’s iconic motorcycle before the project ‘floundered.'”

UPDATE: Nope, just kidding! “Variety is reporting that WB has hired new director for Akira and ‘being re-envisioned as a $90 million tentpole.’ Seems the project is unfortunately still alive and kicking.” (Hat tip: nannaia)

Posted in (simple), Entertainment, Movies | 2 Comments

A Japanese Tornado in the History of Baseball

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Guest Writer

This article was originally posted on Perfecting The Upset and has be reposted here with permission.

By Masahito Ogasawara

With the abundance of Japanese baseball players in the Majors these days, it’s not difficult for any average baseball fan to name one of them. Ichiro? Sure, who hasn’t heard the perennial All-Star’s name? Hideki Matsui? Come on, he’s Godzilla. How about Daisuke Matsuzaka? The Red Sox Nation will laugh at you for not knowing that one. The list goes on and on with the likes of Hideki Irabu, whom George Steinbrenner once called a “fat toad,” while Mets fans might recall Tsuyoshi Shinjo and Kaz Matsui, both of whom made their presence known more with their dyed hair and bright-colored wristbands than their play on the field. But if you asked me the same question, I only have one answer: Hideo Nomo. The one who started it all.

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