Some Takashi Miike news

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Here's some of the latest news on cult director Takashi Miike and a few of his new films.

Miike flies high at Japan B.O. with "Crows"

Cult auteur Takashi Miike, whose filmography is approaching 80 pics, has had his biggest hit yet with gangbanger epic "Crows." Based on a long-running comic by Hiroshi Takahashi and produced by a consortium led by the TBS network, "Crows" is about gang wars at a boys' high school. Stars include hot male talents Shun Oguri, Kyosuke Yabe and Takayuki Yamada. TBS is bringing the pic to AFM.
Looks like some classic Miike and a fun time at the movies.

View the trailer



Takashi Miike Makes Controversy with SUKIAYAKI WESTERN DJANGO


Takashi Miike is known for making waves with his films, mostly due to his sexually graphic and body fluid-injected scenes. But this isn’t the case with SUKIAYAKI WESTERN DJANGO. The film is about a gunman hired by townsfolk to help with rival gang fights during the Genpei Wars of the 1100s. The plot sounds nothing out of the ordinary, but it was the poster that caused quite a stir. The Association of Shinto Shrines is protesting the DJANGO promotional materials claiming they are a violation of a sacred symbol.

At the same time Miike is also getting questions about his use of the actors speaking non-fluent English in his movie - but does it really matter? And remember - Miike grew up watching spaghetti westerns.

View the trailer

Another coach, another player

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Bad coach, or bad player? Something to keep an eye out for in the coming weeks for college football fans.

UNT's Dodge denies allegations of racism

North Texas football coach Todd Dodge denied allegations by a suspended player of racial bias by his coaching staff Tuesday, when a second suspended player said he will join in a complaint made to the Texas chapter of the NAACP. Junior cornerback Dominique Green filed his complaint Monday after being suspended Sunday. Sophomore defensive back Desmon Chatman, who was suspended earlier in the season, contacted the NAACP on Tuesday to join in the complaint. Both Green and Chatman are black.

10 Asian-American musicians, groups, dj's, and bands on the radar

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Lyrics Born



MySpace Bio Info: Groundbreaking, charismatic, stylish, distinctive - these are just some of the words that have been used to describe Lyrics Born. With a career spanning over a decade, Lyrics Born began as an underground MC who while in college at UC Davis met up with fellow Bay Area artists DJ Shadow, Blackalicious and Lateef The Truth Speaker. This tight knit crew joined forces with famed author Jeff Chang and MTV producer Joseph Patel to form the seminal independent label, Solesides. In 1997, SoleSides released Lyrics Born's first full length debut with Lateef entitled Latyrx: The Album. With the success of Latyrx, LB and co. reinvented the model for independent hip-hop record labels, as the album went on to sell 100,000 copies worldwide.

Cory Lee



MySpace Bio Info: Initially her music caught fire in the clubs across Canada, and radio soon followed with her first single "The Naughty Song" (from her debut album What A Difference A Day Makes). This was just the beginning for Cory with a 2006 nomination for a Juno Award, in addition to a 2006 Indie Music Award for Pop Artist of The Year and 2 Canadian Radio Music Awards. Her sophomore album Sinful Innocence was released through WIDEawake/Universal in Canada in June of 2007 and through WIDEawake/Village Again in Japan in July. She has also joined the cast of the teen drama series Instant Star, by Degrassi producers Epitome Pictures, playing the role of Karma.

DJ Mike Relm



Wikipedia Bio Info: Mike Relm is a Chinese American DJ, turntablist, and VJ from San Francisco, California. As a solo artist, Relm is known for live performances which feature a series of audio mashups paired with video images, manipulated in real-time with a turntable-like device (e.g. Pioneer DVJ1000). Mike Relm has toured with the famous Blue Man Group. He performed at the 2007 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Bonnaroo, as well as the renound Audiotistic-Future Sound Festival which featured Outkast and Mos Def.

Jazmin



MySpace Bio Info: JAZMIN gained nation-wide exposure after being chosen by NBC to participate in their Startomorrow music competition led by legendary music producer David Foster –- who likened them to En Vogue and TLC. During their audition, they had an opportunity to jam with Foster and Mick Fleetwood who thought they were “charming”, advancing them to become one of the Top 100 Bands and including them on a segment of “Extra”. JAZMIN continues to be in demand as the featured artist at numerous festivals, universities, community events and private functions.

Vudoo Soul



MySpace Bio Info: Vudoo Soul does not look or sound like anything the music industry would traditionally label a "soul man". However, driven by an unwavering desire to break that mold, Vudoo Soul is emerging as one of the freshest faces and styles in music today. Vudoo Soul dared to compete in various Apollo Night-style events, where audiences witnessed him beating the odds to win one title after the next. During his performance for ImaginAsian TV in New York, Vudoo Soul even caused Russell Simmons to interrupt his own media interview in order to catch him in action. Moreover, Vudoo Soul has now officially become an international entertainer with his April 2006 debut in Asia. Fans anticipation of his arrival has drawn major media coverage from HK Magazine and the South China Morning Post, Hong Kongs premier English newspaper.

Big Chan



Press Release Info: Big Chan, otherwise known as 'Chan' or 'Snacky Chan,' is a hip hop emcee originally hailing from New Jersey, currently doing his thing in Boston, Massachussetts. Chan has established himself over the years as an emcee with 'true to the art' skills, proving his abilities in underground hip hop venues across the country with his music also being in Mike Kang's The Motel. In the summer of ’07 Chan completed his Japan/Korea tour consisting of 17 shows.

DJ KrisCut


MySpace Bio Info: Catching the attention of many promoters, she has performed in different venues from Boston to Hollywood, up and down the West Coast, and internationally into Canada. She has also opened up for Funk Master Flex, Kid Capri, DJ AM, and rocked celebrity after parties, like Christina Millian's afterparty @ Risque for Memorial Day Weekend. Currently, she is a resident at three Las Vegas nightclubs and continues to travel across the country, sharing her love for music.

Tatum Jones

MySpace Bio Info: Recently formed in 2007, the three members of TATUM JONES come together with over 15 years of experience in the professional music industry, having performed on acclaimed shows such as "It's Showtime at the Apollo", NBC's "America's Got Talent", KIIS FM's Jingle Ball, "Ed McMahon's Next Big Star" and countless others. Currently, the band is working on their debut EP album scheduled for release FALL 2007.

Eugene Huang

While there are only two songs on his MySpace Music profile - Huang definitely knows how to write a tune. Give him a little more time and a finished album (currently being worked on) - and he could have a really successful career.

Gumby Is Pryce

Bottom line is this: How many rappers do you know born in Laos coming out of MN? Dirty Midwestern rap, where with a little more polish could start making some real underground waves. Whether or not they can pull a Master P remains to be seen though.

Amazing Asians: Amazing Race's Ronald & Christina

Tuesday, October 30, 2007



The new upcoming season of The Amazing Race starts soon (November 4th) and two of the contestants are an Asian-American father and daughter team. How they'll fare is anyone's guess, but it's good to see CBS continuing its representation of Asian-Americans on the show - and judging from their information, their backdrop could prove to be an interesting storyline.
Here's some more info on the team from their CBS bio:

Ronald: Tacoma, WA58, VP of Sales
Christina, Washington, DC26, Policy Analyst

Ronald & Christina are a father/daughter Team who are competing in the Race to make up for lost time. Since Ronald was constantly traveling for work throughout much of his daughter's formative years, Christina hopes the Race will allow her father--a self-proclaimed workaholic--to stop and smell the roses and provide them with some meaningful time together.

Ronald, a first-generation immigrant and eldest of five, works as a Vice President of sales for a paper packaging company. His proudest achievements are his thirty-one years of marriage and raising two independent daughters.

Christina is Ronald's youngest daughter and holds degrees from both Duke and Princeton. She once served in the State Department and often wishes her Teammate could be as diplomatic as she.

Dance War: Carrie Ann Inaba

Tuesday, October 30, 2007



If you can't - or won't - be able to get enough of Dancing with the Stars or Carrie Ann Inaba judging the good, the bad, and the danceless - she'll be starring in a new show with fellow judge Bruno Tonioli called Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann.

Two teams will compete against each other - one headed out by Carrie Ann Inaba and the other by Bruno Tonioli where they will then be voted on each week by viewers, and then the losing team will have a contestant voted off by their coaches.

Read more here down at the NY Post.

Racism Roundup

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

More racist graffiti found in Rider University dorm

For the second time this month, racist graffiti has been scrawled inside Rider University's Gee Hall, which police are again investigating as a bias incident, police said. University officials alerted police at about 10:15 p.m. Saturday night that more racial epithets had been discovered on posters inside the residence hall. The posters were advertising upcoming unity and diversity events on campus, spurred partly because of racist graffiti found in the building earlier this month, police spokesman Lt. Charles Edgar said.

How Racism Affects IQ

Closing the education gap between races requires a critical look at early education and health care disparities -- not unfounded statements that black people are less intelligent.

'Racism' protests over the high street hanging black mannequins

A chain of fashion stores has been accused of racism over a window display of black mannequins hanging from the ceiling. Branches of All Saints are featuring headless dummies, with chains attached to the neck, dangling with their feet a few inches off the floor.

Inuit artist says tax auditor wrote racist comments in his tax file

A renowned Inuit artist says a Canada Revenue Agency auditor wrote racist comments about him in a memo in his tax file. Jonas Faber went to a tax lawyer after he was audited and the lawyer filed a Freedom of Information request to get a copy of his tax file.

Adrian Tomine's Graphic Novel "Shortcomings"

Monday, October 29, 2007

Released this month, the graphic novel Shortcomings is from Optic Nerve author Adrian Tomine and is his first foray into the long form graphic novel. Check out some articles on his new collection:

Adrian Tomine in Toronto

Tomine is the highly regarded author of the Optic Nerve series. His masterfully produced, ever-growing body of work is published by Montreal’s Drawn and Quarterly. His illustrations have also been featured in many mainstream magazines, as well as on the merchandise of rock band Weezer. A new novel, Shortcomings, is Tomine’s first attempt at a long-form graphic novel. Its content is collected from its originally serialized format in the Optic Nerve series.
Splitting Image

After finishing each issue of his self-published cartoon, Optic Nerve, a teenage Adrian Tomine would slip the comic into an envelope, slap on enough stamps to ensure it survived the cross-continent journey from the southern U.S. to Canada and drop it into a mailbox with a Montreal address scrawled on the front.
Identity Crisis: Adrian Tomine's Shortcomings


Uptight Asian nerds. Weird arty types. Horny lesbians.

Stereotypes, if you're looking for them, abound in Shortcomings, the new Drawn + Quarterly graphic novel by Optic Nerve series creator Adrian Tomine. And that's Tomine's point: Pigeonholing people by race, gender identity or level of nerdiness can cloud your ability to see anything else about a person, including things that could prove to be way more pertinent. Like, say, the fact that they're crazy!

World Series Winners Daisuke Matsuzaka And Hideki Okajima

Monday, October 29, 2007

Congratulations are in order to the Red Sox - and two of their Asian players Daisuke Matsuzaka And Hideki Okajima - for winning the MLB World Series - and for giving young Asian baseball fans some great faces to look up too.

More news and articles on Matsuzaka:

WORLD SERIES: Matsuzaka and Sox tough it out

Inches last night separated Daisuke Matsuzaka's first career World Series victory from a baseball nation's worth of "This is what the Red Sox got for $103.1 million?" [...] Two bullets, two outs, and Matsuzaka - who had departed with one out and two on in the inning - remained the pitcher of record on the winning side.

Pan Asian Repertory Theatre: Joy Luck Club

Monday, October 29, 2007

If you're in the mood for some theater and some Amy Tan you'll want to check out the Pan Asian Repertory's revival of the Susan Kim stage adaptation of The Joy Luck Club, as well as an interview with four of the leads (pictured above). The show runs from now until the end of November at the Julia Miles Theatre.

The new home at Blogger

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Dear Readers:

As you can see there has been a switch over to Blogger from WordPress for the hosting of Slant Eye For The Round Eye. While WordPress proved to be a good host and service up until this point, with more features and customization, the decision was made to move over to Blogger for hosting.

For the most part there shouldn't be any problems for readers as the main domain http://www.slanteyefortheroundeye.com/ should transfer over seamlessly, however some links to individual posts and feeds may need to be updated.

Please bear with any changes/small hiccups over the next couple of days.

Thanks for reading,
Slant Eye For The Round Eye

Newsbits: Olbermann, Nguyen, Asian Health

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Some links and stories from around the web and blogosphere:

Olbermann Slams Malkin for Daring to Question Clinton Straw Donors

MSNBC’s Keith “Chicken & Waffles” Olbermann attacked conservative blogger Michelle Malkin for “ethnic profiling” of Chinese restaurant dishwashers in New York City who donated to the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. Of course, running off of the liberal Media Matters script, Olbermann failed to note that Malkin’s problem is not with the donors’ ethnicity per se, but that it’s highly suspicious when low-wage earners pony up a few thousand to give a political candidate.

‘21 Jump Street’ star Dustin Nguyen is back in action

Flash back to 1987. “21 Jump Street” was one of the hottest new shows on television, showcasing the talents of young heartthrobs Johnny Depp and Dustin Nguyen. For Depp, already a rising star, it would be a launching pad for enormous big-screen success. For Nguyen, who played Officer Harry Truman Ioki, it was a rare opportunity in the national spotlight during a time when there were hardly any Asian Americans on television or in the movies.

Coverage, Access and Quality Asian-Americans Express Concern About SCHIP Veto, Program’s Future

According to recent U.S. Census Bureau data, 15.5% of Asian-Americans and about 21.7% of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are uninsured. Other Asian-American subgroups such as Korean-Americans and Vietnamese-Americans also have a large percentage of uninsured. However, because some subgroups have relatively higher incomes and education levels and are labeled as the “Model Minority,” the groups’ need for access to health care often is overlooked, the Pacific Citizen/New America Media reports.

Halle Berry caught making racist Jewish joke on Jay Leno - and Leno tries to cover it up

Friday, October 26, 2007


Well - not only is she an Academy Award winner - the first black actor to win the Best Actress award - but now you can add racist joker to her resume as well. On a recent stint on the Jay Leno show while showing distorted pictures of herself in a comic routine, when she came to one of the pictures of her with a magnified nose she said it made her look like “her Jewish cousin”.


That was nice Halle.

And you almost got away with it too, because according to reports you asked Jay Leno to take it out for the actual television showing - which he did - but audience members leaked it out.

So not only was there a racist joke made at the expense of Jewish Americans - you know - those people with big noses who control all the media and never were involved in something called the Holocaust (because you probably think that’s a sham) - but you also had your friend Jay Leno - the man who likes to let comedians rip on Asian people - try and cover it up for you.

Next time maybe you can do some photos of you with some slanty eyes with some chopsticks and a laundry ticket and start sputtering out stereotypes and latent prejudices about Asian people too?

Please? Pretty please?

Then maybe Jay Leno can try and cover that up as well.

B.D Wong B-Day

Friday, October 26, 2007

Just a quick shout out to actor B.D. Wong who had a birthday a couple days ago, and who’s been doing it for years now making it look easy and putting another cool Asian face on the screen for everyone to see.

Daniel Dae Kim DUI video footage

Friday, October 26, 2007

By now you’ve heard of Lost’s Daniel Dae Kim and his arrest for a DUI in Hawaii yesterday - apparently there was a camera outside which caught DDK coming out of the Big House so we can see him in action as he tries to cover his head so the camera can’t get a shot of his “I was just busted for a DUI” mug.





Next time take a taxi DDK.

“Lust, Caution”: Lots of lust but no love? Banned from the Oscars, and Too Chinese?

Thursday, October 25, 2007



While Ang Lee’s film Lust, Caution has been getting great reviews and doing extremely well at the box office internationally and in limited release in the states - there’s been a lot happening lately with the film - and not all of it great either - some of it seeming to have more to do with politics and being myopic than anything else.

Too Chinese?

Apparently the head of the production company that made Lust, Caution is weary of expanding the film in the U.S. because it’s a “very Chinese” film. Huh?

So martial arts and anything having to do with geisha is O.K. - but an art-house romantic war epic featuring Asian people might be too much for the general public to handle.

Banned from the Oscars

Even though Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon had few Taiwanese crew and actors associated with the film, it was still allowed to be nominated for the U.S. Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film category - but this year - Taiwan’s Foreign Language Film Award Selection Committee was notified that Lust, Caution would not be allowed to compete in the category because it didn’t have enough Taiwanese crew working on it who were in “lead positions”.

So the director - famed director Ang Lee - and the screenwriter who are both Taiwanese aren’t “lead position” enough? Because one of the actors is from mainland China (Tang Wei) and they had a Mexican cinematographer and French composer it still can’t be a Taiwanese film?

It isn’t foreign language enough?

No Hong Kong Film Awards - Mostly

It seems HK is no different either. Because there weren’t enough people from Hong Kong working on the film - versus mainland China - the movie won’t be eligible for numerous awards, however it still will be able to compete for the best Asian film category at least - which allows any Asian film, regardless of how many people from HK worked on it.

Brenda Xu Unplugged

Thursday, October 25, 2007


From singer/songwriter Brenda Xu, this is a video that was shot for a promotional piece for the San Diego Asian Film Festival music event, Blowfish: Unplugged.




From her site:

Taking piano lessons from her mother at age 10 was almost enough to scare her off music forever. But San Diego’s Brenda Xu said that within a few years she’d rekindled her love for the music.

Today, the UC San Diego grad is devoting her energy and time to her budding career as a singer-songwriter.

The native of Harbin, China (next to Russia’s southern border), Xu came to the United States at age 5 to live with her grandmother in the L.A. area. At 10, her mother was able to join the family here —- and it was then she decided that Brenda should learn the piano.

But Xu said the lessons didn’t go very well.

To learn more about Brenda Xu and pick up her CD check out her MySpace page.

Reader Love: Tucker Carlson, Cinema Seoul, and sex and the Asian male

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Check out some of these great articles/blog posts for some worthwhile reading:

Take a music ride with Foxxi misQ

Thursday, October 25, 2007



Being in the music scene for about a year now, the trio has been publicized as kind of an Asian Destiny’s Child. Check out their video for one of their earlier tracks Ultimate Girls.

Star Rising: Telly Leung and Rent

Thursday, October 25, 2007


It seems that not only are Asian-American males getting more play in television and movies these days, but also on Broadway too. Case in point is Telly Leung, a 27 year old actor who is playing the role of Angel in the hit musical Rent.

Some of the national shows that Telly has played in (including Rent):

RENT (Angel / Steve and Others)
WICKED - Chicago Shiz Co. (Boq)
PACIFIC OVERTURES (Boy, Oberserver, Sailor)
FLOWER DRUM SONG (Ensemble, Ta u/s

At the same time Telly is also working on a full length feature album for release on MoppTopp records. To learn more about Telly Leung visit his site.

Rudy Giuliani keeps on hiring racists

Wednesday, October 24, 2007


After deciding to hire racist Arthur Ravenel, Jr. for his South Carolina Campaign Chair already noted in a previous blog post here, Rudy Giuliani has apparently decided to keep on hiring racists like Richard Stanek who has a history of racially charged remarks (to put it bluntly).

In 2004 he had to resign from his post as MN’s public safety commissioner because as noted in a deposition, he apparently liked to sling around racial slurs - you know - words like n*****.

While you hate to see people like this get attached to a presidential campaign in any form - if anything - at least it makes everyone else look that much better…

Just another reason to vote for anyone not named Rudy.

Where is that little old racist cop now?

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

If you remember this post from late August - When police officers get racist - and then post themselves on YouTube - you’ll also remember that the cop never actually got suspended but just got pushed over into desk duty.

Well she’s in the papers again - and you’ll be happy to know that she’s resigned amid controversy - but she still can’t believe people would call her racist because she was only trying to do some good.

Here’s her quote from a recent article:

“You try to do something you think is good for America […] and then someone turns around and they go to the lowest level and try to say you’re a racist,” Purtee said. “It was a shock, it never entered our minds.”

It never entered their minds that people would call them racist when they said everyone who wasn’t white was “filthy”?

Imagine that.

Prince and Purple Rain voted Best Soundtrack

Wednesday, October 24, 2007


Who knew that a guy who liked to show his naked butt in public and change his name to a symbol for a while would beat out four Londoners known as The Beatles for Best Soundtrack ever as voted on by Vanity Fair?


Man of color - sweet funky R&B heavy riff guitar OMG did he really do that color - beats out four hard rockin’ change the game it’s never been done like that before white dudes.

And Yoko.

Why Bai Ling is Film Cool and the rest of us are just her minions

Tuesday, October 23, 2007


If you watch Penélope Cruz in any of Pedro Almodóvar’s films, or a movie like Belle Époque, you get a very different feel from her as an actress versus if you watch her in something like Vanilla Sky or Bandidas. This isn’t saying that there’s anything wrong with those movies, but in films like Volver and All About My Mother there is more depth, more added layers to not just the characters, but also in how Cruz portrays them and brings them to life on the screen. There’s a dichotomy between the two Cruz’s. If you only know her from her more American films, you may not realize the full depth of her skills as an actress and an artist.

The same can be said for Chinese actress Bai Ling, where in the states she is sometimes mostly known not for her film roles, but rather her outrageous dress, her spot on the reality show But Can They Sing, and getting cut out of Star Wars: Episode III which coincided with her posing for Playboy.

But just like Penélope Cruz is more than her American roles, there’s more to Bai Ling as well.

That’s a lot of hardware

Bai Ling hasn’t just been awarded one Best Supporting Actress Award - she’s won two - for her work in the segment Dumplings from the film Three… Extremes at both the Golden Horse Film Festival and the Hong Kong Film Awards. The U.S. National Board of Review also gave her the award for Female Breakthrough Performance for her role in the film Red Corner (which also garnered her a Female Discovery of the Year award).

Shanghai Baby and Shanghai Producer

In addition to acting in a plethora of movies, she also serves as the executive producer on one of her latest films Shanghai Baby.

The Beautiful Country, The Crow, She Hate Me, Dumplings

When you’ve been in these movies - ultra cool movies - it says something about your work as an actress - past, present, and future. And with 45+ film and TV credits to her name she won’t be stopping anytime soon.

Is that network TV?

Wasn’t that Bai Ling on Lost? Network TV Lost? Multicultural it’s great to see another Asian face Lost? Just so there’s no confusion - that would be yes.

Because she’s not a docile-feet bound-her lips shut-bowing to the masses Asian woman

The bottom line is that Bai Ling does it her way. She doesn’t conform to any views of what people sometimes expect an award winning Asian actress to be; rather than just keep quiet and nod her head and comply - she does the exact opposite.

And is that any different from any of the other actresses out there? Didn’t Angelina Jolie wear a vile of blood around her neck, profess to be a nymphomaniac, and kiss her brother in a pseudo-sexual way? Wasn’t that Vanessa Williams who was involved in a nude photo scandal? Didn’t Marilyn Monroe have an affair with a U.S. President?

But aren’t they still deemed great actresses (or at least good ones)? Icons even?

Why is it that Asian women in the media seem to get held up to even higher standards than their non-Asian counterparts? Why can’t they be smart, flaky, trashy, demure, serious, introspective, self deprecating - anything they want to be - all at the same time, on and off the screen, and still be considered great actresses?

The answer is that they can - and they should.

Random YouTube Asians

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Angry Silence


There’s really not much to say here…literally - just twelve seconds of angry Asian silent goodness





Charlie Wong


Because you just can’t get enough of Asian guys licking their own hands pretending to kiss a girl. Check out the Beau Sia spoof - nice






Asian Standup


Anzu Lawson performing at the HA HA Cafe. Be warned that there are some hand movements that might be better off viewed in the safety of your own home versus say your office cubicle



Disoriental

Tuesday, October 23, 2007


If that picture doesn’t interest you in the sketch comedy group Disoriental - it begs the question of what will get you out to see them this October 26 & 27 along with the Pork Filled Players at the Theater Off Jackson in Seattle.

Here’s some more info on the trio and the show:

Since winning the People’s Choys Award at the Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre SKETCHOFF!#$%!! in May, Kristal Yee, Edwina Cheer & Brandon Barton (who all met while filming Off Centre Television) have been busy writing, rewriting, performing, and rewriting again […]

Presented by and performing with the Pork Filled Players, Disoriental is a trio of Canadians thrown into a car and told to drive to Seattle […]

Disoriental’s shows are at 10:30 pm, on a twin bill with the Pork Filled Players’ new show, Lard & Order: Pork Filled Intent. Tickets are $10 General/$8 Student or Senior and are available for purchase online at www.ticketwindowonline.com (206/325-6500). For more information on Disoriental’s US debut or about the Pork Filled Players, email oink@porkfilled.com or call 206/365-0282.

Check out their MySpace page here.

Korean star Rain joins with MTV to help campaign against human trafficking

Tuesday, October 23, 2007


If ever there was a good cause to spotlight and campaign against - it would be human trafficking - and half of all the people trafficked are from Asian countries, so its great to see someone as influential as Korean star Rain working with MTV to help in the cause. Here’s some more information:

MTV, one of the world’s largest and influential television network, has launched “End Exploitation and Trafficking” (EXIT), a global campaign to raise awareness about human trafficking. Along with Thai star Tata Young, Korea’s pop singer Rain has joined in the action as the front man for the Asia Pacific region.

Read more here.

Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian two of the stories to watch for in the NBA this season

Monday, October 22, 2007


As the official start of the NBA season approaches, ESPN and their analysts are predicting all the stories, the drama, the teams, and the players to watch out for - and two of them are Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian.

John Hollinger - ESPN’s resident stats man and forecaster - is predicting Yao Ming will have the best Player Efficiency Rating (PER) in the league this year above players like Dwane Wade, Lebron James, and Kobe Bryant. For those of you that don’t follow basketball too much (or the stats) - that just means Yao is predicted to be one of the best players in the league this year.

Pretty cool.

Yi Jianlian, while not as impressive, is still being mentioned in the top 10 of first year players who may be in the running for the Rookie Of The Year award (although mostly due to more guaranteed playing time than anything else). Whether or not he’ll wither from the cold weather in Milwaukee versus LA where he was training for six months, and garnering a base of rabid female fans, might end up being more of the story.

Dean Cain flying into “Five Dollars A Day”

Monday, October 22, 2007


Dean Cain (aka Dean George Tanaka) - after flying back onto Smallville where he played the villian Dr. Curtis Knox this month - will also be in a new movie called Five Dollars A Day starring Christopher Walken, Allesandro Nivola, Amanda Peet, Peter Coyote, and Sharon Stone due out in 2008, which is about a conman and his son who go out on the road together after the father has just gotten out of jail (it’s not apparent what role Cain will be playing in the movie though).


And if you couldn’t get enough of Dean Cain - and who can’t really - check out the Dean Cain News blog

Hot track: 2Backka and Bennie K - Home

Monday, October 22, 2007



The MV for the Japanese band 2Backka’s new single Home released this month, featuring the female duo Bennie K

Devon Aoki and the Mutant Chronicles

Friday, October 19, 2007



This looks like it could be interesting - slated to come out in 2008 called Mutant Chronicles- where Devon Aoki will star alongside Thomas Jane, Ron Perlman, and John Malkovich.


Check out the movie’s official site here.

Shorts: Racist Nobel Winner?, Bombing in Manilla, Teacher Nabbed, China Olympics 2008

Friday, October 19, 2007


  • Apparently you can be really really smart - as in winning the Nobel prize in 1962 for deciphering the double-helix of DNA - but still be really dumb as well. Case in point is Dr. James D. Watson winner of the aforementioned prize who also apparently likes to infer that black people aren’t as smart as white people - and are problem workers too. Hmmm….so much for those museum appearances. But he is trying to apologize and says his comments were not read as he intended them to be. It seems even Nobel winners can get tongue tied..

  • The news coming out of the capital Manilla isn’t looking any better with police saying that they’ve found traces of plastic explosives tied to the mall explosions. As of right now there are eight confirmed deaths along with seventy wounded and general alerts have been issued for the rest of the city as well as the international airport.

  • Christopher Paul Neil, a Canadian teacher was just picked up for sexually abusing underage Southeast Asian children (he posted some of the pictures on the Internet which helped with his arrest). Hopefully this will be a wakeup call to other people like Neil that Southeast Asia isn’t a place you can go and get away with molesting underage children and treat them like disposable paper plates and get away with it.

  • You knew this was going to start sooner or later - the politicizing of the Olympics in China ‘08 - and it’s already starting to get heated with warnings being thrown out on both sides including organizations like the Human Rights Watch. This is going to be one of the most interesting Olympics in years.

Lynne Cheney, being colorblind, and funny but wrong

Friday, October 19, 2007



Listening to a broadcast from the National Press Club with Lynne Cheney - historian, best selling author, wife of Vice President Dick Cheney - there were a couple of noticeable items.

One is that she is a lot funnier than you may think.

Especially for a historian.

The second is that when asked what she thought about the statement that 25% of Republican woman would vote for Hillary Clinton - she said that people shouldn’t let gender affect their judgement - that they should just pick the best person for the job.

Let’s think about that for a moment…

Does Lynne Cheney think that gender or race (or religion) doesn’t matter in these situations and hasn’t already played a part? Does she really believe - and more importantly does she think the rest of us believe - that up until this point ONLY white males have been suited to be the President of the United States because they alone were the best for the job?

The problem with this type of thinking is the same as being colorblind - you can’t be colorblind and pretend as if race, and ethnicity don’t matter or haven’t made a difference in how our world has been shaped. You can’t deny the fact that both sexism and racism have played an overwhelming part in the election of U.S. Presidents, and who has been able to even run for the office (not to mention voting rights).

See - we’ve realized there is an importance to having a diverse and representative mirror of the country in all other facets of our government, media, learning institutions, et al. - and that same standard needs to be applied to our highest elected office.

Just as it’s been acceptable for voters to make the decision that white males would serve better as U.S. Presidents - it is equally acceptable to vote against the status quo for the exact same reasons.

Dirty Sexy Michelle Krusiec, Far North, and the Vagina Monologues

Thursday, October 18, 2007


In case you may have missed it Michelle Krusiec (Saving Face) has been seen popping up in a few episodes of the new ABC show Dirty Sexy Money starring Donald Sutherland and Peter Krause. According to IMDB she’s set to be in a total of four episodes with episode #3 just airing last night - and while her character doesn’t have a huge part - it’s great to see her on the show.


Going Far North

At the same time you can check out more of Michelle Krusiec in her new film Far North also starring Michelle Yeoh and Sean Bean which is getting some good reviews.

Go Go Vagina Monologues

Also - check out her performance from the VDAY Vagina Monologues at the Japanese Community Center in LA earlier this year.



Racism Roundup

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Racist slurs painted on animals belonging to FFA students

His daughters spent the beginning of the school year trying to recruit other African American kids to join the FFA. They love the organization. But now they’re concerned this incident will hurt it.

Jesse Jackson Blasts Nas for Controversial Album Title

Hip-hop star NAS has been slammed by Reverend Jesse Jackson - because the controversial title of his new album NIGGA “makes a mockery” of the race issue.

Columbia says no to racist acts on campus

Wearing orange, a diverse crowd of 40 people stood in front of Dodge Hall on campus and heard speakers. The orange outfits invited attention. Chants of “people united will never be defeated” were peppered throughout the rally. Many in the crowd were students who were outraged by the recent anti-Arab and anti-Semitic graffiti, as well as the noose that was found by Madonna Constantine, a professor who is a person of color.

Spanish GP head brands British F1 fans ‘racist’

The race for the Formula One world championship took another controversial turn after the head of the Spanish motorsport federation was embroiled in a racism row.

A letter to Chi McBride

Wednesday, October 17, 2007


Dear Chi,

An apology must be handed your way for not giving your new show Pushing Daisies the due that it deserved when it first came out, and for thinking that you may have taken a bit part in a badly written Desperate Housewives meets Six Feet Under meets Beetle Juice meets Mary Poppins.

You’re definitely an integral part of the story, and as good as Pushing Daisies is of and by itself - without you it would just be another show with a lot of white people running around trying to find their place in the world - which is 4.5 billion, 965 million, 450 thousand, 2 hundred, and 3 minutes old…

More Tila, More Tequila, More Shots

Wednesday, October 17, 2007


Episode #2 has now passed and as far as celebrity/reality dating shows go - this is definitely different. The attrition of contestants is by far the fastest with the carnage and the clothes pretty much flying everywhere you look.


Sure - scantily clad pseudo sexual indiscretions while watching Tila and everyone else make out with each other is something MTV banked on for people to tune in - but as with everything else, once you get past the exterior (and you will - or at least should) it’s the dynamic of everyone together that proves to be the most interesting - especially the group mentalities of both the men and the women. You can argue that while the show is supposed to revolve around Tila Tequila - in some ways she’s secondary to the colorful group of people vying for her affections - and that’s not a bad thing either (for the show or for her).

Genuine Tequila?

As with everyone else that puts themselves into these situations - it begs the question of how much is for “true love” and how much is for simple entertainment and being on T.V. - and then you get to ask how much producers of the show influence the outcome of who leaves and who stays and how real is the reality T.V….

For what it’s worth - you do get the sense that Tila herself might make the decisions almost exclusively, as some of the people eliminated would have been good for the show’s drama level - but instead of drama - or virgins - the picks have actually seemed genuine to what she’s actually looking for (at least for TV romance).

Did the show come with a whistle?

Watching A Shot at Love makes you wonder what it would be like if someone like VH1 rocker Brett Michaels was put into this situation. Could he handle this much action and would he work the rooms any better than Tequila has done up to this point? No matter what you think of Tila Tequila herself - you at least have to admit that she’s good at working a room and directing the traffic.

So…

Bottom line - in the world of Reality TV dating shows - for what it is - it’s at least nice to know there’s some Asian representation pulling the strings and trying to do some things a little different.

More lists of unknown Asian things

Tuesday, October 16, 2007


  • Kokin Nee-san of Tokyo is the oldest Geisha in the world and will be 100 in about another year. She plans to do a dance when turns the century mark.

  • While staying busy these days with guest appearances on both Larry David and and Nip/Tuck, Tia Carrere also had time to get into the studio over the summer and record Hawaiiana, an album of classic Hawaiian music.

  • Ben Cayetano was the first U.S. Governor who was also Filipino.

  • Michael Chang may get inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2008 and he’s building tennis courts in Shenzen.

  • Sushi can get you sick so they say.

  • 20 women in a religious sect in central Japan were arrested for allegedly beating a member to death. Maybe it was because the $500 bottled water got to their heads…

Aishwarya Rai: The Queen of Bollywood and “The Last Legion”

Tuesday, October 16, 2007


Film star Aishwarya Rai seems to be all over the place these days even more so than normal if that’s actually possible.

From filming the Pink Pather 2 with Steven Martin, charming her way into Ben Kingsley’s heart, getting ready to be seen in a slew of more films like Ram Gopal Varma’s Sarkar Raj and Ashutosh Gowariker’s Jodha-Akbar - Aishwarya still has her pick of pretty much anything she wants to do - but then again maybe that’s why one of her nicknames is “The Queen of Bollywood”…

Check out the trailer for her new Hollywood movie The Last Legion also starring Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley

News Roundup: John Liu, Campus Cinema, Gayasian Heroes, and more...

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Some news from around the way:

10 questions for Councilman John Liu

City Councilman John Liu (D-Queens) represents District 20, which includes Flushing, Queensboro Hill, Mitchell Gardens, Kissena Park, Harding Heights, Auburndale and part of Whitestone. He chairs the Transportation Committee. Born in Taiwan, Liu moved to Flushing at age 5 and entered the City Council in January 2002. […] What does it mean to be the first Asian-American elected city official? […]

Asian American Association Film Festival and Campus Cinema team up

Asian American Association Film Festival and Campus Cinema team up for a free screening of ‘Finishing the Game’.

Gaysian Heroes

Although I’ve been somewhat visible in both the Asian Pacific American (APA) community and the gay community, I’ve never considered myself to be an activist or voice for either group. I mean, I’m much too busy trying to beat my own Ms. Pac-Man high score to do much of anything else. But growing up a double minority, having to work through two different layers of self-hate, and desperately seeking Asian-American role models and subsequently gay role models, I’ve become particularly sensitive to issues surrounding gay Asian Americans.

Asian American organizations file legal brief supporting equal marriage rights

A coalition of Asian American organizations will be filing a legal brief supporting equal marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples in California. This was announced by a group of Asian American attorneys and advocates in Los Angeles and San Francisco last Wednesday, September 26, at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) in downtown L.A. Among the more than 60 local, state, and national organizations filing the amicus brief are the Philippine American Bar Association and Filipinos for Affirmative Action.

Senate May Back Campaign to Change UC’s Ethnic Categories

The ASUC Senate will consider a resolution this week that aims to further break down the Asian/Asian-American category into more specific classifications for the UC admissions process.

The resolution, authored by CalSERVE Senator Maurice Seaty, supports the goals of the Count Me In Campaign, a university-wide group hoping to add 10 new ethnic categories to the UC application, among other plans.

ImaginAsian TV launches weekend South Asian block

ImaginAsian TV, America’s first 24-hour Asian American network, is launching a new 3 ½ -hour South Asian block called “Simply Desi” beginning October 20. The block will feature Pulse-The Desi Beat, Koffee with Karan, ICC Cricket World, Newsweek South Asia, and My India. Announcing the launch at a press meet in Manhattan, Oct 20, J. Edward Lee, President and COO, ImaginAsian said, “It is four years now since ImaginAsian has been working diligently to provide an effective platform for the Asian American community.”

Michelle Yeoh - You’ve been knighted

Tuesday, October 16, 2007


While this happened earlier this month it’s definitely still post worthy (and just in case you missed it…) - but the 45 year old actress received one of France’s highest civil honors, the medal of a Knight of the Legion, by French Ambassador Alain du Boispean for strengthening ties and mutual friendship between France and Malaysia (where she was born), through her stays and connections in the country - and for those that were wondering - yes - she’s also been Knighted in Malaysia.

John Cho Talks About Asian-American Actors in the US

Monday, October 15, 2007

Good article and interview with John Cho down at AsianPopcorn:

Korean-American actor John Cho, 35, has become a household name in the United States, especially for playing parts that don’t have to be played by an Asian. Yet, there remains a challenging upward climb for Asian Americans in Hollywood, according to the star.

“First it’s difficult being an artist, and it’s difficult being an actor, period, and it’s difficult being an Asian American actor. When I started acting… the community was largely Chinese American or Japanese American, so even then I felt like a minority in the minority,” he told reporters during a private interview at a Busan hotel, Tuesday.

You’ve never heard of David Choi?

Monday, October 15, 2007


O.K. - to be honest, not knowing the semi-famous, or maybe rather semi-internet famous musician/producer isn’t something you may feel completely terrible about in regard to knowing culturally relevent information - at least in some circles - but you really should know about him.


Usher, LeAnn Rimes, Monica, Michelle Branch, and the Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am can’t all be wrong

If you have to peg the first moment that David Choi hit the spotlight it would be in 2004 when he won the John Lennon Songwriting Contest for Teens which was judged by musicians and songwriters like Usher and LeAnn Rimes. Out of roughly 9000 student entries his was chosen as the winning song with comments like these from Usher:

“I was struck by how broad the song is and how I could relate to it. I felt like he’s actually speaking for race, he’s speaking for life, he’s speaking for sports, he’s speaking for youth, he’s speaking for adults […] In the future, David may become one of our prolific writers. He has a natural talent […]”

Read an article about the contest in USA Weekend.

And then came Bowie

2004 was a good year for Choi as later on he also won the David Bowie Mashup contest where fans competed to take one track from Bowie’s album Reality and another track from his other albums to create a new mashup single. Combining the tracks “She’ll Drive The Big Car” and “Shake It”, David Choi’s win netted him a new 2004 Audi TT Coupe.

Not bad for someone who just graduated from High School that year.

Being a YouTube sensation

After a workshop with ASCAP, Choi landed at Warner Chappell Publishing as a staff songwriter/producer where he’s been since the Spring of ‘06 working his daytime job and building his credentials - but it’s on social networking sites like YouTube where he seems to be making even more of a name for himself and building a loyal fanbase of listeners and fellow singer/songwriters. At the time of this post he has 23,000+ subscribers to his channel which has been viewed over 1,000,000 times and he is the #10 most subscribed musician of all time on YouTube.

But the numbers, while impressive, are only just part of the story.

Do a search at YouTube for David Choi and you’ll find covers of his original songs that he’s put there - as well as his MySpace pages (which are more polished studio versions of the acoustic versions on YouTube).

Think about that for a second.

These people aren’t covering songs that are commericial hits played on satelite, digital cable, or your old fashioned radio stations - but rather someone’s YouTube songs - David Choi’s songs - because they love them - and him - that much. One of his songs, and probably his most famous That Girl was even partially translated to Korean.

But even better than that - check out the faces - the Asian faces - the younger than him Asian faces that are covering his songs, playing their music, and recording it for the world to see in a mini revolution taking over the Internet’s fiber-optics one bath and bedroom at a time.

Pretty cool don’t you think?

Even if you don’t, at least now you’ve heard of David Choi.

View more down at his YouTube channel and MySpace page.

Film watch: South Korean and Vietnamese Horror “Muoi”<

Friday, October 12, 2007

This looks like it could be an interesting film although it hasn’t picked up distribution yet.

From Variety Asia Online:

Visually at the upper end of the K-horror spectrum, and scare-wise ranking about middle, Vietnam-set “Muoi” boosts formulaic ingredients with classy packaging and sturdy work by lead thesps Jo An and Cha Yereon. Capable helmer Kim Taekyung’s spooky tale about a writer getting more than she bargained for on a research trip to Vietnam marks the first-ever South Korea-Vietnam co-production. Results are encouraging enough to suggest there’s a lucrative V-horror category just waiting to be born.

View the trailer


Hiroshima and Nagasaki in their own words

Friday, October 12, 2007

Hibakusha: Hearing from the survivors in their own words

Retired Nagasaki Broadcasting Corp. (NBC) journalist Akihiko Ito has spent decades — and a small fortune — recording a huge collection of testimonies from the survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which are now online with English transcriptions.

Ito, 70, gathered verbal testimonies from 1,003 hibakusha in the period from 1971 to 1979 and added recordings of another 837 A-bomb survivors collected by NBC from 1986 to 2006.

He produced a series of nine CDs containing the statements made by the hibakusha and, together with copywriter Yoshihisa Furukawa and a group of 18 volunteers, added pictures and English transcripts to the recordings and listed them on a free Website called Voices of the Survivors From Hiroshima and Nagasaki (VOSHN.com).

Malaysians in space

Thursday, October 11, 2007


Image from AFP


Check out some of the news about Malaysia’s first astronaut Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor who trained for a year and was selected from thousands in a local competition.

Malaysians over the moon at their first astronaut (AFP)

Malaysia celebrated Thursday as its first astronaut hurtled through space on board a Russian Soyuz rocket, in a landmark for the nation which is marking 50 years of independence. “It’s a small step for me, but a great leap for the Malaysian people,” said Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, the 35-year-old doctor and part-time model who blasted off late Wednesday from Baikonur in Kazakhstan.

Russian rocket launches first Malaysian into space (Reuters UK)

Thousands of Malaysians watched the blast-off live on television as the TMA-11 rocket carrying Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, an orthopaedic surgeon and university lecturer from Kuala Lumpur, lifted off from Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Kazakh steppe. Russian officials said the rocket lifted off on schedule, at 05:22 p.m. Moscow time (2:22 p.m. British time) and successfully went into orbit, circling the earth every 88.7 minutes.

Audience approval: Getting your Love Hotel groove on while others watch

Thursday, October 11, 2007


Jeepers creepers, your love hotel might be crawling with peepers

If you — and perhaps your lady friend as well — are not sufficiently stimulated by each other’s company, you might want to consider injecting some additional excitement into your trysts, by watching other couples do the dirty deed, unbeknownst to them of course, from a handy peeping perspective, albeit not necessarily a point purposely provided.

Writing in Uramono Japan (October), reporter Hisashi Yamazaki says he developed an interest in this topic from the old days, when the walls of cheaply constructed hotels were so thin one could easily and effortlessly eavesdrop on the affectionately amorous acoustic effects generated by cavorting couples.

After considerable research, Yamazaki has found that indeed, places exist in Tokyo where a strategically situated voyeur can observe the visual action as well.

Kal Penn, Eric Wong, and Willa Kim to be honored by the Asian American Arts Alliance

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

From the AAAA Press Release:

Asian American Arts Alliance (Alliance), a non-profit organization based in New York City will celebrate its 25th Anniversary on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 with a gala entitled “GALAXXY” at the TriBeCa Rooftop. This silver anniversary marks a quarter century of commitment to helping hundreds of local Asian American artists and arts groups in the performing and visual arts to access more funding and visibility for their work. In commemorating this milestone year, the Alliance will honor three outstanding industry leaders who have made strides for Asian Americans in their respective fields. […] “I’m honored to be recognized by the Alliance at their 25th anniversary event,” says honoree Kal Penn. “Opportunities for artists are rare in any walk of life, so it’s particularly encouraging to see the growth of the organization over the years, and their service to the community. Thank you for all of the support and for creating even more opportunities in the arts.”

While you probably already know Kal Penn you may not be familiar with Eric Wong or Willa Kim:



Eric Wong

CMO, Bad Boy Entertainment / SVP, Marketing, Atlantic Records

Eric Wong creates and oversees the marketing strategy for Bad Boy artists, working closely with the Atlantic staff. Previously, he served as vp, marketing at the Island Records division of the Island Def Jam Music Group, where he developed marketing campaigns for such artists as Mariah Carey, Bon Jovi, Fall Out Boy and Hoobastank, among many others. He also worked with the Russell Simmons Music Group. Wong began his music career as a college representative for EMI Records and then spent three years as a product manager at V2 Records.


Willa Kim

World renowned costume designer

Recently inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame, making her one of only a handful of costume designers so honored, Kim won Tony Awards for Tommy Tune’s The Will Rogers Follies and Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies starring Judith Jamison and Gregory Hines and Tony nominations for Bob Fosse’s Dancin’, Peter Allen’s Legs Diamond, Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Song and Dance and Goodtime Charley starring Joel Grey.

Music Interlude: Chemistry - Saigo no Kawa

Wednesday, October 10, 2007


Check out the popular Japanese R&B/Pop duo Chemistry and their latest MV for their (22nd) single Saigo no Kawa here or here and then pick up the official release.

8th Annual San Diego Asian Film Festival

Wednesday, October 10, 2007



San Diego Asian Film Festival is a whirl of activity (SignOnSanDiego)


Here is your intro checklist for the San Diego Asian Film Festival, expected to draw around 15,000 people. There is more to know and, of course, much more to see […] The festival has 130 films, with 20 features and the rest shorts, features already facing commercial lift-off like “Finishing the Game,” Charlie Truc Nguyen’s history drama “The Rebel” (Saturday), David Ren’s romantic “Shanghai Kiss” (Friday) and Rajnesh Damalpalli’s “Vanaja” (Sunday), a dance-driven Indian work coming to the Ken Cinema right after the festival.



An article on Lee Ann Kim who started the film festival

Here is a three-room office in Kearny Mesa, near San Diego’s main hub of Asian restaurants and markets. She sits among a maze of stuff. Kim, three full-time staffers plus many volunteers are in full hive fever before the new festival.

“For us, it’s family,” she calls the fest and its keepers. Kim plans to invite key fest familiars back for the 2009 event, including critic Beth Accomando, “who really plugged me into international Asian film,” and Filipino-American filmer Mark Arbitrario, now in Hollywood, once her pass key to various Asian festivals as Kim got festivated in 2000.

Go to the SDAFF’s web site to view updates on movies, tickets, showtimes, schedules - and everything else.

The trailer for the film festival