From the Tumblr: Yuta Onoda

Posted on November 3, 2009 by Guest Writer

The 8Asians tumblr highlights Asians [& uber talented non-Asians] who draw, dance, build, film, sing, write, invent, paint, teleport, and of course, tumble. It’s moderated by Jun, Moye and Ernie.

Posted in (simple), The Arts | 1 Comment

Original “Anime Hip-Hop Martial Arts Musical” to be Workshopped by East West Players Writers’ Gallery in L.A.

Posted on November 3, 2009 by jozjozjoz

You read that right– anime hip-hop martial arts musical! It’s all that and a bag of chips!*

East West Players has gathered a creative team to develop a new musical that utilizes all three art forms and a 25 minute presentation of this work in progress will be performed on Friday, November 20, 7:30pm at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. A Q&A discussion will follow.

The working title for the production is KRUNK-FU BATTLE BATTLE.

Description: The heart of hip-hop is in the battle. Young Norman Lee must learn this if he hopes to survive his new high school life as an Upper Westside import now transported to Bushwick, Brooklyn, after his Mom loses her 6-figure salary job. After being bullied, beat-down, and watching his Mom swallow her pride by accepting a job as a fast food fry cook, young Norman Lee enlists the guidance of Sir Master Cert to help him learn the ways of b-boy to compete against the baddest crew in Bushwick for respect, honor, and a chance to prove to his Mom that this life away from material wealth can and will work.

The creative team includes: bookwriter Qui Nguyen, lyricist Beau Sia, composer Marc Macalintal, hip-hop choreographer Jason Tyler Chong and anime consultant Jane Wu. The presentation is directed by East West Players’ artistic director Tim Dang and reunites Dang, Chong and Macalintal after their successful collaboration of the 2008 hit run of PIPPIN.

The Writers’ Gallery offers public readings of works that are being considered for the mainstage at East West Players and are presented in conjunction with the Japanese American National Museum and The National Center for the Preservation of Democracy. This workshop is made possible in part by The James Irvine Foundation and The National Endowment for the Arts which believes that a great nation deserves great art; and by the support of individual donors.

The Writers’ Gallery presentation of KRUNK-FU BATTLE BATTLE (working title) will be on
Date: Friday, November 20th
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: National Center for the Preservation of Democracy
111 North Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Admission: free

For more information, please call East West Players at (213) 625-7000 or visit www.eastwestplayers.org. Dates and details are subject to change.

*Ok, I lied. No chips– no food and drink allowed inside at National Center for the Preservation of Democracy

Posted in Entertainment, Music, Southern California, The Arts | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

CNN: Margaret Chin Poised to be 1st Chinese-American to Represent N.Y.’s Chinatown

Posted on November 3, 2009 by John

margaret_chin_cnnAs blogged earlier in September, Asian American candidates in the New York City primaries did well.  CNN just did an excellent profile of Margaret Chin, who is on the verge of being elected to the city council and being the first Chinese American ever to represent New York City’s Chinatown:

“For Chin, a 56-year-old Hong Kong immigrant, the long road to political victory has not been easy. As she closes in on a probable November victory, though, she’s confident the lessons learned along the way will serve her — and her constituents — well. Chin’s American story began almost a half century ago, during the Kennedy administration. Her father, seeking new opportunities, left China for Colombia. A few months later, he became an undocumented U.S. worker, scratching out a living as a waiter in the Bronx section of New York. When the family’s immigration papers came through in 1963, he borrowed money to bring them to America. Margaret, the third of five children, remembers her dad’s exhaustion and pain after spending long days on his feet.”

Maybe I’m ignorant, but I think these kind of stories can only be made in America: Chin has run for city council three times before, but lost in the Democratic primaries. Because of greater Chinese-American involvement and through experience, Chin was able to win in her primary. Since New York City is predominantly Democratic, the chances of her losing to her Republican candidate is slim (must be frustrating to be the token opposition). Best of luck to Chin – I look forward to reading about her victory!

Posted in Current Events, New York, Politics | 5 Comments

Events: Film Festivals in SF and Austin

Posted on November 2, 2009 by Guest Writer

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  • Intro to Movietelling (Neo-Benshi) with Dennis Somera – Join KSW for a unique workshop in Movietelling/Film Narration. This art form has a long history in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, as well as western nations where silent films have called for narration and/or translation. Film narrators—called Benshi in Japan, Pyonsa in Korea—not only narrate the on-screen happenings, but seamlessly incorporate the poetic and political, as they hold the power to reinterpret the visual scene. Experimental poets in the Bay Area, including Dennis Somera, have rediscovered the practice and have been creating “neo-benshi”/movietelling work for several years. (Tuesdays, November 3, 2009 at 7pm to December 15, 2009 at 9pm, San Francisco, CA)
  • 7th Annual San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival – The Seventh Annual 3rd I San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival is November 5 – 8, 2009. Four days of shorts, documentaries, and feature films from South Asia and the South Asian Diaspora, including: India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kashmir, Australia, Canada, Germany, UK and the USA. (November 5, 2009 to November 8, 2009, San Francisco, CA)
  • Taiwan Film Days – The San Francisco Film Society in association with Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco, Taiwan’s Government Information Office and Taiwan’s Tourism Board presents Taiwan Film Days. This most recent addition to the Film Society’s expanding fall season highlights the best of contemporary Taiwanese cinema and provides Bay Area audiences with unique opportunities to view bold new Taiwanese films and engage with visionary filmmakers. (November 6, 2009 to November 8, 2009, San Francisco, CA)
  • Austin Asian American Film Festival – The 6th Annual Austin Asian American Film Festival will run from November 12th through the 15th at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar. From the more than 300 films submitted from over 20 different countries, the best 50 have been chosen. Aside from the film screenings, this year the festival has been expanded to include: two discussion panels at the University of Texas at Austin; an exciting Opening Night Party at KTV, Austin’s only downtown karaoke club; a Bollywood themed party at one of Austin’s hottest new bars, Mal Verde; and a concert featuring underground Filipina-American hip hop superstar, Jenro. (November 12, 2009 to November 15, 2009, Austin TX)
Posted in (simple), Local | Leave a comment

End of SF’s Energy 92.7 Brings Format Changes, Anti-Asian DJs

Posted on November 2, 2009 by Ernie

For people who are fans of seeing (hearing?) positive Asian American images on the radio, this will be a one-two punch: Energy 92.7 – the independent radio station which regularly brought BoA to San Francisco was bought by new owners a couple of weeks back, and immediately changed formats. To add insult to injury, Elvis — formerly of The Doghouse, the team of shock jocks fired in New York for a series of anti-Asian American pranks — is the new morning DJ. SFist has been writing about Elvis’s anti-gay morning pranks and include addresses where you can write about your displeasure.

Posted in (simple), Discrimination, Music, San Francisco Bay Area | 1 Comment

Asian Americans in Los Angeles Overwhemingly Supported Obama in 2008

Posted on November 2, 2009 by John

In a recently released study by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, 63% of Asian American voters supported Barack Obama for president, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. But as usual, Asian American registered voter turnout was below average, with only 71% of Asian American registered voters voting versus the overall 78% of all registered voters in the country casting their ballots. For more information, check out the study (.pdf).

Posted in (simple), Observations, Politics | Leave a comment

Small Asians, Big Eaters

Posted on November 1, 2009 by Jeff
Competitive Eater Juliet Lee
(Flickr photo credit: Vidiot)

One of Number Two Son’s favorite shows is Man vs Food.  In this show, host Adam Richman goes to various towns and cities and indulges in the local fare.  Toward the end of each show, he engages in a local food challenge where he needs to finish either some huge amount of food, something extremely spicy, or some combination of both in order to win a prize or recognition.  Richman is a fairly big guy, and while he says that he is not a competitive eater, more often than not he wins the challenge.  Despite his size, bulk is not necessary to win eating contests.  Take for instance, Juliet Lee. This 5 foot tall slightly over 100 pound mother and beauty salon owner is also ranked #11 in the world of competitive eating (believe it or not, there are rankings for competitive eaters).   She has eaten 34 hot dogs within minutes!

She is not the only Asian big eater with a small stature.  We have written about 128 pound Takeru Kobayashi, long time champion of the Nathan’s July 4th Hot Dog challenge (53 hot dogs in 12 minutes), and formerly #1 ranked eater.  He is not a huge guy.  Neither is 100 pound Sonya “Black Widow” Thomas, ranked #6 in the world and eater of 41 hot dogs within 10 minutes.  How can these small Asians eat so much?  According to the International Federation of Competitive Eating (yes, folks, there really is such an organization), smaller Asian “gurgitators” (their name for eating competitors) often do better than huge guys because they don’t have a belt of fat around their waists that restricts  stomach expansion.

I look at these Asian “gurgitators” with a mix of pride, disgust, and envy.   Pride, from the idea that these skinny Asians break stereotypes of big eaters.  Disgust, from just thinking about how much they eat.  Envy, from the fact that these three are still so skinny after eating so much food!  I can gain a pound by just looking at a cheesecake.

Posted in Food & Drink, Sports | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Finding Your Roots

Posted on October 30, 2009 by Tim

flight_pathAs someone who came to the United States when I was only 2 years old, it was always expected that I would go home to visit the “mother” country. It was never hard to imagine doing, as I had plenty of relatives who still lived in Taiwan. But, my parents never had the money or the time to take me when I was growing up. The only times they ever went was because someone in the family was sick or dying. And then, only one of them would go and the other would stay and take care of the kids. My first trip back to Taiwan wasn’t until I was in college, using a frequent flyer ticket from my mom. I’ve been back many times since, and now I’m a parent struggling with the same issue. My own daughter is getting older and I’m trying to decide when is the best time to expose her to her roots.

It turns out I’m not the only parent facing this same dilemma, as Wayne Chan writes this week about his decision to take his children to China in Northwest Asian Weekly. Chan’s wife confronts him the with the 8 simple words, “Maybe we should go to China this year”, and his immediate reaction is dread, as he has visions of the long plane ride, and the the hot summer weather (the only time he can go as his kids are school age). But in the end, he reminisces on his own first trip to China, and the life-changing event that it was for him, and he realizes:

I went to China that year as an American who happened to be Asian. I came back as an Asian American. So in all seriousness, “Maybe we should go to China this year.”

It’s that same life-changing experience I dream of for my own daughter, and I know it’s really too early for her, since she’s only 4. But there are a lot of other reasons for taking her back to Taiwan. We’re going for our Thanksgiving break this year. It’s actually a trip I’ve wanted to make for the last two years, but we were never able to go. Originally it was supposed to be three of us who were going, my mom, myself and my daughter. I had even purchased the tickets 2 years ago, but my mom got too ill from her cancer. In the end we had to cancel the trip, and cancer won the battle.

I view this trip to Taiwan, partly as a way to honor the memory of my mom. I’ll be taking my daughter to do all the things I wanted to do with her and her grandmother. She’ll get to meet all the relatives (many of whom are also getting on in age), including aunts, uncles, and cousins. I’ll make sure she sees the sights of Taipei. She may not remember any of it when she’s older, but at least I’ll have the photos to show her, and I’ll know I’ve done my duty to her and to the other elders in the family. My only wish is that this isn’t the only trip to Taiwan she gets to go on before she’s in college.

Posted in Family, Observations | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Newsflash: Some Asian Men Cheat on their Partners

Posted on October 29, 2009 by Efren

Ever since the Internet has been available to Asian Americans, we’ve heard random shit about Asian American men: They’re effeminate. They’re child abusers. They’re wife beaters. They’re undesirable to women (or men, for that matter). They’re drunkards. They’re socially inept nerds who prefer playing WoW or D&D than having actual conversations in real life, where the sun shines.

So it shouldn’t be a surprise that we have yet another stereotype to be aware (or proud?) of: We’re cheaters!

Normally, this wouldn’t even register on my radar — ooh, straight Asian guys are having sex. yay — but then realizing how the stereotypes of Asian men have been since at least the 1960s, when apparently Asian men couldn’t have sex with anyone except themselves, it’s good to know that American women (read: middle-class white women) are finally acknowledging this basic fact: Straight Asian men are getting it on. WITH WOMEN. WHITE WOMEN. AND THEY CHEAT.

Of course, when you read the article, it’s painted with incredibly broad brushstrokes (“Asian” culture? Gag.), but it does point, however awkwardly, that straight male privilege is the same in nearly all parts of the globe.  Men are expected to be the breadwinners, work excessive hours to maintain their jobs and their families, and are lucky to see their wives/partners/etc. more than once a week, while having to deal with their stress by excessive drinking, womanizing, etc., because the workplace culture demands it.  And of course, if the writer is assuming this by dating ten or even twenty Asian men, that’s still not enough to make any generalizations.

At least it’s better than the assumption that Asian men are all docile little pussycats that would be the nearly-white men that these white women can take home to meet their (incredibly racist but overly polite to mention it) mothers.

So, to the original writer of that post: Asian men are still men. And some Asian men are douchebags and assholes who will cheat on your complacent white ass (like a certain Asian American man who’s been WAY overexposed who’s known for having eight kids.) And some Asian men are the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. You’ve just been unlucky to meet a whole slew of douchebags.

Posted in (featured), Dating, Lifestyles, Observations | 21 Comments

Profile: Chris Lu, Obama’s Cabinent Secretary

Posted on October 29, 2009 by John

President Obama has already made history by appointing secretary cabinet members Energy Secretary Dr. Steven Chu, Veteran Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. Last week, The Washington Post did a nice short profile on lesser known Chris Lu – Obama’s former Harvard Law School friend, classmate and former aide who is now Obama’s Cabinet secretary – the chief intermediary between the White House and the federal agencies.

Posted in (simple), Politics | 1 Comment

Asian Basketball Players: With Yao out, will it be the Year of the Yi?

Posted on October 28, 2009 by phil
Yi Jianlian of the New Jersey Nets

It’s my favorite time of the year again; basketball season! Unfortunately for Yao Ming fans, Yao may be out the entire season due to having surgery on his broken left foot. However, besides watching the L.A. Lakers defend their title as the NBA champions, I’ll also be closely watching the progress of  the New Jersey Nets – Yi Jianlian. Inevitably compared to Yao Ming, he’s been listed as the third ranked celebrity on Forbes Lists  of celebrities in China. One major problem – He’s a totally different player than Yao. He’s a much more athletic player than Yao and scores in a variety of ways (including dunks), while playing as a PF. However, for the past two seasons in the NBA, Yi has  seemed to be limited to mostly a jump shooter while also struggling to play in the post.

Also news controversies with Yi seems to be keep growing, which include questions over his age, finishing third amongst Eastern Conference forwards in All-Star Votes, and the possibility of Yi having to miss the start of his third NBA season to compete in China’s National games.  Apparently Chinese officials went as far as pleading to the NBA’s commissioner, David Stern, for the Nets to honor a contract stipulation (from the rookie contract he signed with the Bucks) that would have released Yi Jianlian to go back and play in China. Yi had already competed this past summer for China at the 2009 FIBA Asia Championship, where China placed second.  Fortunately for Yi, he will be staying to play in the NBA and he seems to have made improvements during the off-season. In his last three pre-season games, Yi’s averaging 17.0 points and 10.3 rebounds while shooting .475, twice posting 20-10 double-doubles and not attempting a three. His last pre-season game with the Nets, he ended with 22 points and 11 rebounds, and that was without the Net’s star player – Devin Harris, who definitely has  noticed.

Some additional analysis on other Asian and Asian American basketball players, after the jump.

Continue reading →

Posted in Sports | Leave a comment

Would You Like a Japanese Whopper with your Windows 7?

Posted on October 28, 2009 by John

windows7_whopperWindows 7 launched worldwide this past Thursday, but in what has to be one of the strangest, most bizarre cross promotions I think I have ever come across, Microsoft teamed up with Burger King in Japan to promote Windows 7 by offering the 7 layer Whopper – that’s seven beef patties. The whole burger is about 2,000 calories, all for about 777 Yen, or about US$8.50. But what does a Whopper have to do with Windows 7? I s Burger King is going to be selling copies of Windows 7 at their stores? And it’s not like I’m more interested in upgrading to Windows 7 because Burger King is running this promotion; I guess the only value for Microsoft is that it gets some free press. [EDITORS NOTE: Like, you know, this blog post.]

Posted in Current Events, Food & Drink, Technology | 4 Comments