For anyone that wanted some more info on JR Celski - no problem - I have you covered:
Celski is a 19-year-old Seattle-area kid from Federal Way, whose mother, Sue, is Filipino. Celski’s dad Robert is of Polish descent and was stationed in Monterey, California, for the Army. It’s where JR was born.
Talk about hybrid vigor, the Filipino Polish thing produced quite a longganisa.
Well folks - the time has finally come - and you know it's going to be one kick ass film festival so there's really not much more to say.
Here's the info one last time.
FESTIVAL INFORMATION
KAFFNY – The 4th Annual Korean American Film Festival New York Date: Saturday, February 27, 2010- Sunday, February 28, 2010 Location: SVA Theater, 333 West 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011 Price: general-$10, students & seniors - $8 Weekend pass: $25 (access to both shorts programs and 2 feature films)
From the shorts program where she also set a new world record
Forget about being a Bond Girl - when you shatter the world record and leave second place in the dust taking the Gold - you're not just the "Queen" - you're better than Bond himself:
When the numbers 150.06 popped up on the scoreboard, her mouth dropped open in delight. It was a world record, which had broken her old record by a whopping 16.11 points. Though her longtime rival Mao Asada had yet to skate, Kim had all but clinched the gold medal. She had made herself untouchable.
For her two unforgettable, nearly perfect performances at these Olympics, the 19-year-old Kim had scored a record total of 228.56 points, more than 23 points ahead of her nearest pursuer.
And Mirai Nagasu Didn't Do Too Bad Either
When you're up against the field she was taking fourth place is nothing to be ashamed of - especially in your first Olympics:
Nagasu closed the competition with a 126.39 point program to selections from the “Carmen” opera. She landed six triple jumps and three double Axel jumps in addition to performing two Level 4 spins.
“I think I learned a lot here at my first international competition,” said Nagasu, who has never skated at an International Skating Union (ISU) championship on the senior level. “It was my first time skating in the final warm-up. It was a great honor and as stressful as they say. But I was able to beat that pressure.”
I still have free weekend passes left for KAFFNY but time is running out. E-mail me up until the end of the day today (passes will be waiting at Will Call).
I'm extending out until the weekend for anyone else to enter for the free Kollaboration 10 tickets (deadline Sunday night).
From the Princeton U site: A conference titled "Too Cute: American Style and the New Asian Cool" is planned for Wednesday and Thursday, March 3-4. Conference sessions will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Prospect House, followed by keynote events at 4:30 p.m. in 101 McCormick Hall.
"Too Cute" explores the relationship between style and race through the lens of "Asian cuteness," featuring scholars and art practitioners from around the world in the fields of literary studies, performance and gender studies, American studies, East Asian studies, anthropology, philosophy, sociology, art and art history. The conference will feature a keynote address by Eric Nakamura, editor and publisher of Giant Robot magazine, and an appearance by contemporary pop artist Yoshitomo Nara.
Participants will discuss the recent explosive transformation of "Asian cuteness" into what might be called the new wave of "Asian cool" as a way to showcase the dynamic and diverse work being done in the field of Asian American studies.
The event is sponsored by the Program in American Studies, the Program in and Department of East Asian Studies, the Center for African American Studies and the departments of anthropology and English.
There's a good article down at the WSJ on Chinese American artist Maya Lin talking about her work at MOCA and her new project "What Is Missing?" - multimedia portrait of the planet that she hopes will help put a focus on species threatened with extinction (with a new site whatismissing.net going live on April 22nd):
The project harks back to the stark honesty of Ms. Lin's design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., which brought her fame (and controversy) almost three decades ago. The monument makes it impossible to ignore the 58,261 names of U.S. soldiers engraved on the shiny black granite. Likewise, it should be difficult to turn away from the sounds and images of a depleted ecosystem.
Just in case you have nothing to do this Saturday and you want to get in the know - definitely think about heading out to the 5 College Pan Asian Network's Conference which looks like it's going to include some great workshops:
Margaret Abraham - Domestic Violence in the Asian Pacific American community
JACL, Bill Yoshino - Asian American and Hate Crimes
Iyko Day, Diana Yoon, Daniel Kim - Asian Americans and Affirmative Action
Joshua Roth - Racial Slurs and Jokes
Floyd Cheung - Reading Asian American Poetry
Eric Hamako - Monsters, Messiahs, or Something Else?: Mixed-Race in Science Fiction Movies
Panel with C.N. Le, Richard Chu, and Eric Hamako- Mutual Mentoring
Panel: Miliann Kang and Elena Volpe - APA Women and Mental Health
Calvin Sun - Social Networking Ettiquette
Eric Hamako - Zombie Orientals Ate My Brain! Orientalism in Contemporary Zombie Film & Fiction
CN Le - Balancing "Asian" and "American" Identities
Panel: Richard Chu, Falguni Sheth, Larry Hunt - White Liberal Racism: An Oxymoron
AALDEF - Human Trafficking
Julia Yang -AALDEF - Asian Pacific American Voting Rights
For more on the conference check out the 5PAN site.
During an interview with Details magazine, Pattinson sat down with Jenny Lumet, a black journalist, and made some comments that just didn't make any sense. The dialogue between Pattison and Lumet went as follows:
Details: Rob, did you know that every time you say actor or acting you lower your voice to a whisper?
Rob: (He's genuinely startled.) "I do?"
Details: Yes, so quietly it's like you're saying Negro.
Rob: (He laughs, lightens up.) "What if we were acting' like 'Negroes'? Then we'd be f*cked -- we couldn't hear anything. . . ."
I've created a bit of a...situation over at KoreAm Journal where I guest blog once a week. I put up was what meant to be a tongue-in-cheek post about this unending rivalry between Apolo Anton Ohno and the South Korean speed skating delegation and that it's a beef that should be dropped. Basically, I thought the culmination of Japanese/Korean tensions manifesting itself around a bunch of guys that skate around in circles in head-to-toe spandex suits was something too absurd to not laugh at. Apparently, I was wrong. Koreans are straight pissed.
I’ve been fascinated by Penis-Gate with the recent “controversy” over how Kate Gosselin joked that Jon’s penis was “stubby” and how his ex-girlfriend Hailey Glassman said that he had a “tiny, tiny, tiny” penis in a recent issue of Us Weekly.
What’s up, party people! If you’re in the Bay Area this Friday, February 26, scoot on down to the Hyphen magazine Trailblazing Issue release shindig. To celebrate the issue, you know, where we’re on the cover? Because you love us, and you love Hyphen, and you love live music and live art (even though, like us, you’re not entirely sure what “live art” is)?
Oh hell no. Saw this here, from a press release detailing the plight of John Suzuki, a former Chevron employee who was forced to take early retirement this month rather than risk his health by returning to work under a supervisor who harassed and threatened him, and called him a "stupid Jap"...
While some fans will be happy to see a female character unveiled at least, supporters of Racebending.com have expressed disappointment because an action figure from the show would have been a rare toy featuring a character of color, while the movie figurine of Katara is white. The change in the character ethnicities is even more apparent in the new movie Sokka action figure.
So when reader Frida sent us in a tip about Carnival in Germany (roughly equivalent to Mardi Gras in the U.S.) I wasn’t quite sure how to handle it. Frida noted that snide and politically satirical floats were par for the course at Carnival, and this year was particularly rife with floats mocking “fallen saviour” President Obama. Nonetheless, this float caught her eye.
I’m only half Buddhist, so let me know if I’m half wrong about this. But isn’t the idea of turning Buddha into a piggy bank completely contradictory to the fundamentals of Buddhism? And would you ever buy a piggy bank shaped like Christ on the Crucifix? Then why would you buy any of these...
How cool is this? The March 16 visualizAsian.com show is going to be a conversation with Eric Nakamura, the owner, publisher and co-editor of Giant Robot magazine. Our call with Eric will be at 6 pm PT on Tuesday, March 16!
From movie stars, musicians, and skate-boarders to toys, technology, and history, Giant Robot magazine covers cool aspects of Asian and Asian-American pop culture. Paving the way for less knowledgeable media outlets, Eric put the spotlight on Chow Yun Fat, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li years before they were in mainstream America’s vocabulary.
SHARAM (Yoshitoshi, Ultra Records) back to New York for Friday night house music throw down. The former Deep Dish partner has had a busy year, releasing his first artist album "Get Wild" and the singles "She Came Along" (w/ Kid Cudi), "The One" (w/ Daniel Bedingfield) and the new single "Don't Say a Word." Opening duties by QUO Friday resident Alex Karalanian and DJ Samio.
Got this release sent in and wanted to make sure and post it on up (thanks Honda camp):
CAPAC Applauds President Obama’s nomination of Goodwin Liu for Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
Washington DC – Today, President Obama nominated Goodwin Liu for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Mr. Liu is currently Associate Dean and Professor at the University of California Berkeley School of Law. Judicial diversity has been a top concern of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), and as such has endorsed Asian American, Pacific Islander, and other diverse candidates for the bench, including Professor Liu. Currently, there are no Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders serving as a federal appellate court judge.
“CAPAC is pleased with the President’s nomination of Goodwin Liu to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. As an acclaimed education and constitutional law scholar, CAPAC members are proud to support his nomination,” said Rep. Mike Honda (CA-15), chair of CAPAC. “Goodwin is a personal friend and leader in my home state of California, and I have worked with him for many years, particularly in ensuring access and equity in our education system. Not only has he been a leader in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, he has proven himself in the legal profession as well, with support from renowned legal minds from a diversity of ideological backgrounds.”
Prior to joining the Berkeley faculty in 2003, Liu was an associate at O'Melveny & Myers in Washington, D.C. He clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the October 2000 Term, and for Judge David S. Tatel on the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit from 1998-1999. Between his clerkships, Liu served as a Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary at the U.S. Department of Education. He has also worked for the Corporation for National Service, where he helped launch the AmeriCorps program.
Liu was born in Augusta, Georgia, to parents who emigrated from Taiwan, and he grew up in Sacramento where he attended public schools. Liu earned a B.S. from Stanford University in 1991, an M.A from Oxford in 2002, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar, and a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1998.
CAPAC Members are pleased that President Obama is committed to nominating individuals of the highest caliber, such as Goodwin Liu, to the federal bench, while at the same time making judicial diversity a top priority. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have been underrepresented in the federal judiciary, constituting less than 1% of the bench prior to President Obama’s Administration. In his first year and a half in office, he has already doubled the federal presence of Asian American and Pacific Islander judges.
So I got hit up by Ky Truong who's started a new Viet inspired t-shirt line called 3 Stripes, and while they're just getting started rolling everything out, they're also opening up voting to help decide what designs actually get printed.
I'm definitely feeling the one posted up here (and I'd also like to see one just of their logo in different colors).
Check 'em out and vote on down at their Facebook page.
Probably over a year ago I posted up on Tiffany Eugenio and thought I'd check in on her YouTube channel and see what she was up to these days and found some new covers.
Yes indeed - in addition to tickets to Kollaboration 10 - if you're on the East Coast (or just feel like traveling) I have passes to KAFFNY that I'm giving away.
Just e-mail me down at slanteyefortheroundeye@gmail.com with your name, address - you know the drill - and you'll get some weekend passes to what's going to be a kick ass film festival (waiting for you down at Will Call).
Seriously - who doesn't want free passes to a cool event that celebrates Asian people on the silver screen?
Exactly.
Thanks to the good folks down at KAFFNY for providing the free passes.
As I'm sitting here watching some American Idol - and watching John Park and waiting for Andrew Garcia - I can't help but just love these comments - especially the one by Kara DioGuardi who said to John Park something to the effect of "I don't know where you go, where your road is in the music industry".
I mean sure - she was the same person that said she didn't expect that voice coming from him in his audition - and don't kid yourself it was because he was Asian - but I just think it's telling when someone from the "biz" looks at the Korean guy and is like "I don't know where you fit in the music industry".
It just says everything there is to know about how far we still have to go for people to accept and understand what we have to offer.
And don't get me wrong though either - he didn't have the greatest performance of the night - but it sure as hell wasn't in the bottom two either and if he doesn't get voted in to the next round I'll just have to wonder why that really might be.
A friend of mine recently asked me what I thought about the piss poor apology by Tiger Woods, and really - I don't have much to say on it - but I did think to myself that he really wanted to say something more like the following:
Listen People,
I'm glad you're all here at my press conference, but you know why I'm really doing this right?
Because I have too. Not because I want too.
Because who really wants to do this?
No one. That's who.
And honestly, what the hell should I apologize for?
I'm MF Tiger Woods.
Everybody wants to sleep with me - even Fuzzy Zoeller - and I'm not going to turn down all those freaky White Women who want to play the back nine on Planet Tigre.
But you know.
I'll get through this with the help of my sponsors.
And my mom.
Even though she kind of freaks me out sitting in the front row because it's kind of like watching a make-out scene while she's in the same room...
Yes indeed KAFFNY is almost here and you know it's going to be a great festival - and if you haven't gotten your tickets yet - I wouldn't wait much longer...
FESTIVAL INFORMATION
KAFFNY – The 4th Annual Korean American Film Festival New York Date: Saturday, February 27, 2010- Sunday, February 28, 2010 Location: SVA Theater, 333 West 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011 Price: general-$10, students & seniors - $8 Weekend pass: $25 (access to both shorts programs and 2 feature films) Website: kaffny.com
There's a great interview down at HM with film producer Mynette Louie (Children of Invention):
Going into Sundance, our expectations were realistic. We understood that distributors don’t know what to do with a movie with no stars and Asian-American actors. We consulted with our executive producer, Dan Cogan [’91] of Impact Partners. It was his idea to start selling DVDs on the festival circuit. We were very hesitant about it. In previous years, if you did this, you were tainting your film. Selling DVDs prior to a theatrical release was basically an admission that you couldn’t find a distribution deal. We’ve done quite well selling the film to audiences at our festival screenings, and actually doubled the advances that any of my friends have been offered for a film. It’s still going to take a couple years to break even.
I finally got a chance to sit down and catch up on some movies and one of them was the Zhang Ziyi flick Sophie's Revenge and like the title already says - it was just - well - cute. And while you might chastize me for using the word "cute" - I can't really help you on that one - because some things are just - well - cute.
Like I promised - I have four sets of tickets to give away to the first stop on the Kollaboration Global 2010 tour in Los Angeles at the Shrine Auditorium this March 6th and yes - they could be yours (and you know you want them).
Making It Easy
All you have to do is email me at slanteyefortheroundeye@gmail.com by February 26th with the the subject "I WANT TO KICK IT TO KOLLABORATION 10" along with your info like name, address, etc. (because you're going to have to show some ID and pick them up at Will Call on the day of the show) and why you want to go.
From there - it's all left up to chance (or something like it) and I'll be picking out four winners who are going to get two tickets a piece to this kick ass night.
Guidelines And Rules
Only enter if you can actually make it the night of the show. There're a lot of great people that would love to go to Kollaboration 10 and support the community of API artists. If you can't make it - give someone else a chance to get the tix.
You have to get on down there yourself. I just give you the tickets.
That's it folks.
Thanks again to the team down at Kollaboration for providing the free tickets to give away - and most importantly - for putting on the show itself.
I don't care how many stories you've read, films you've seen - or how in the know you think you are - every story needs to keep on being heard:
As he got older, Kajikawa said he begin to realize the need for his story to be told. Although there are volumes of books dedicated to World War II, Kajikawa said he felt that the history of Japanese internment camps was a rarely covered subject.
"This is a part of American history, and it should not be forgotten," Kajikawa said. "As long as I'm alive, it will be told. We need to let young people know that what happened to us should not have happened to anybody under our Constitution."
As part of his campaign to educate people about these internment camps, Kajikawa gives talks about his experiences growing up during the war and living in Minidoka. He already has presented his story at an AARP meeting but plans to ask the superintendent of the local school district and the director of the Huntley Area Public Library for permission to share his history with even more people.
"I may forgive my government for what it's done to me, but I will never forget," Kajikawa said. "I want to remind people that they should not let hysteria rule them. I hope that what's happened to us will never happen to anyone else."
Washington and Lee's Pan-Asian Association for Cultural Exchange (PAACE) is hosting an Asian Leadership Conference at the university on Saturday, Feb. 20, in the Elrod Commons.
The conference is open to the public with a fee of $20. Registration begins at 10:00 a.m., and the welcoming ceremonies are at 11:00 a.m.
PAACE, a student club founded five years ago, coordinates campus events and activities to create awareness of and appreciation for Asian culture. Through the Asian Leadership Conference, PAACE aims to cultivate understanding and knowledge of Asian and Asian-American issues.
"We think of the conference as a large-scale brain-storming session," says PAACE co-chair Danielle Ausems, a W&L senior. "Different people's experiences with different campuses will offer alternate solutions in which we might be able to draw from each other's lessons in order to tackle our own problems."
There's a great post up on the NY Daily about the Rising Circle Theater:
Of the many hands in the bowl from which Q Up sprang, none was more prominent than that of Nancy Kim, a Korean-American artist whose one-woman show, "How To Find My Inner Asian," provides both the idea and inspiration for it.
The play is Kim's take on a variety of issues affecting Asian women. She got the idea several years ago after she discovered several self-help books targeting Asian-Americans that she found hilarious.
"One was called 'Dating Asian: A Guide to How to Find Asians and Date them,'" Kim said.
"I wanted to do a show that kinda made fun of these books," Kim said.
"I mentioned that to some people in Rising Circle, and they encouraged me to make this happen."
Kim, 32, performed the piece at the Manhattan Theatre Source in 2008-2009. She kicked off Q Up with a Wednesday night performance for the students. Other instructors in the Q Up program include Brooklyn-based Taiwanese-American Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai and Indian artist Deepti Gupta. Kim said she has long wanted to mount a confidence-building program such as Q Up that would benefit young women like herself.
"When I was a young woman, if I wanted arts in my life, I had to go seek it out myself because I didn't see other people who looked like me doing that," said Kim, who grew up in Woodside, Queens, before moving to Syosset, L.I.
"I wanted to do something for the 16-year-old girl who didn't have a place to go and didn't have people to look up to." Fortunately, Kim also found Rising Circle, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.
What sets Paul’s music and live performances apart from the competition are his vocal abilities: beatboxing, harmonies, and lyrics. He gives new meaning to the term: "one-man-band". Using a loop machine on stage that allows him to produce live multi-track vocal instrumentals, he captivates audiences throughout the country.
His talent does not cap at his unique sound (which draws influence from artists such as Matisyahu, Coldplay, and Jason Mraz) but also extends to his gift of songwriting. Having spent several years as a performer in the genre of spoken word/slam poetry, his lyrics prove to be not only catchy but also marked with a depth that makes people stop and reflect.
Seeking to build a professional music career, Paul is currently working on recording an EP entitled “Run / Fly / Fall” (will be available on iTunes at the end of March '10) and getting exposure (i.e. his MySpace Artist page has 132,000+ hits and counting!). He performs regularly at events throughout LA and Southern California, and will be contending for top honors at the “Kollaboration X” talent show, which takes place at LA’s Shrine Theater (March 6th, 2010 –"BUY DISCOUNT TICKET HERE!") and draws a crowd of 6,300 people.
Just wanted to post this article on up about Ngoc Bay who's trying to bring it on back.
The beginner's class in the heart of Southern California's Little Saigon is a far cry from the theaters in Vietnam where a youthful Bay once crooned to the adoration of her fans. But it is inside this windowless room where she has embarked on a mission: revive an esoteric artform that animated her but is in danger of dying.
The poised choreography of Hat Boi (HACK-boyh) has lost favor in her homeland and failed to take root among the immigrants here in the largest Vietnamese enclave in the United States. Bay hopes to pass on the tradition to her students or at least give them a love for an art she learned to cherish as a girl.
"I hope they can become good like me, before I pass away," Bay says, chuckling. "Here, nobody knows about Hat Boi. They like Western music."
This was posted up on YouTube around the beginning of the year - so it's a little old - but if you haven't seen it - you kinda get sucked on in. And maybe it's just me, but if I was on a dating show (which will never happen) and I was being filmed - I probably wouldn't be breaking out the same opening on the three different dates - because you know - you're being filmed.
Film festival goers - it's time to get your KOFFLA on:
Korean Film Festival in Los Angeles (KOFFLA) As the biggest Korean film festival in the United States, The Korean Film Festival in Los Angeles (KOFFLA) will take place throughout various venues in Los Angeles on March 4-7th, 2010.
KOFFLA’s main purpose is to introduce Korean films to avid film lovers and the industry alike. It aims not only to bridge the gap between Hollywood and Korea but also between Korea and the Korean-American community through the medium of film and visual arts.
Over 70 films will be screened in competition and out of competition throughout the course of the festival. In competition films will be showcased and judged by a select jury board consisting of industry professionals and prominent figures in the Korean community.
Executive Director of the Festival
Korean Director, Chang-Wha Chung, was one of the first to introduce martial arts films to the U.S. through his film FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH, which helped light the kung fu movie explosion in the early 70’s. With the Korean Cinematheque Foundation, his 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Director Chang-Wha Chung will be hosting the 2010 KOFFLA.
Advisory Board Members
Eric Mika, Senior Vice President and Publishing Director of The Hollywood Reporter
Heungjin Park, Hollywood Foreign Press Association and LA Film Critic Association
Chris Lee, Executive Producer of VALKYRIE and SUPERMAN RETURNS
Je-Gyu Kang, Writer and Director of TAEGUKGI and SHIRI
Chan-Wook Park, Writer and Director of OLDBOY and THIRST
David James, Professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts
Gi-Nam Lee, President of Karacter Law Firm
Michael Lee, CPA of Lee and Co.
Schedule of Events
Opening Ceremony, The Egyptian Theater – Thursday, March 4th
Individual screenings, The Egyptian Theater/The Grove/Laemmle Music Hall 3 – Friday and Saturday, March 5th-6th
Master Class, AFI – Friday, March 5th
Actorfest Asia, Korean Cultural Center – Saturday, March 6th
Surprise screening, Laemmle Music Hall 3 - Friday, March 6th
Closing Ceremony, Laemmle Music Hall 3 – Sunday, March 7th
Got some mail from the folks down at Independent Lens that they'll be showing some great films during the months of March and May. Check it out:
On March 30, we're airing Christopher Wong's documentary WHATEVER IT TAKES, an inside look at the first year of a new Bronx high school and its idealistic young Chinese-American principal Edward Tom.
On May 25th, we're airing S. Leo Chiang's A VILLAGE CALLED VERSAILLES which tells the empowering story of how an isolated community in eastern New Orleans originally settled over 30 years ago by Vietnamese “boat people,” turned a devastating disaster into a catalyst for change and a better future. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Versailles residents -- led by the spiritual leader of the community, Catholic priest Father Vien -- impressively rose to the challenge by returning and rebuilding before most other neighborhoods in New Orleans, only to have their homes threatened by a proposed toxic landfill just two miles away.
While you don't have a lot of time to make this - because it's tomorrow night - if you're in the area it sounds like it should be a cool (and see educational) evening with Gail Nomura:
The free event, “Asian American Women: Historical Contexts & Issues,” will take place at 7 p.m. in the Parker Room of the Deccio Higher Education Center at Yakima Valley Community College, 1000 S. 12th Ave.
Gail Nomura, whose research documents Japanese American women in the Yakima Valley, will speak. Her publications and research include “Local Japanese on the Yakama Indian Reservation 1906-1942,” “Nikkei in the Pacific Northwest: Japanese Americans and Japanese Canadians in the Twentieth Century,” and “Asian/Pacific Islander American Women, a Historical Anthology.”
She is a past president of the Association for Asian American Studies and past board member of the Nikkei Heritage Association of Washington/Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington.
I have no idea why I got a kick out of this quote like I did but I couldn't help post it from the article "Dining Out: At Red Maple, dim sum adds up, and then some" by Vanessa Chang:
Usually in large, crowded dining rooms filled with a mix of Chinese-American families and Yelp-savvy Caucasian diners, the volume will be quite high.
I know my White People like good food too - but you know - I had to laugh at the MF.
While I didn't read the magazine a lot myself - I know that other people have - and seeing a magazine devoted to Asian/Asian American faces closing its doors - well - hopefully something new and great comes from it (and maybe it already has):
I know. Trust me, I know that nothing comes from shutting down and shutting out the world, but sometimes, we all need to run away even if it is just temporary. So for all those who have wondered what happened to the decision or where I’ve been. Wonder no more.
I took the last two weeks to just stop. To reevaluate the options, to study the signs, to take a gut check. I needed to do it in silence. While I realize this, like any healthy relationship, requires open communication, I couldn’t bring myself to type [...]
East West, my first love – that comfortable relationship, just doesn’t work anymore, not like this.
I appreciate the contacts and the potential investor conversations over the past month. I appreciate the gratitude for what we’ve created. I appreciate the readers who found the mag and loved the mag. I appreciate the seven year journey.
East West will stop publishing. The main magazine Web site will be updated over the course of the week with this information, reader/subscriber information and possible future projects. Meanwhile, I will ponder blogging more. I’m not sure what is next for me…but I think the path might be an interesting story.
Prize: $1,000, publication in Hyphen magazine and the honor of short story of the year.
Now in its third year, the 2010 Asian American Short Story Contest will name 10 finalists and one grand prize-winner who will win a cash prize of $1000 and have the winning story published in an upcoming issue of Hyphen.
Judges for the 2010 contests include renowned Asian American writers:
Alexander Chee, author of Edinburgh (Picador), and winner of the Whiting award, the Michener Copernicus Prize, the AAWW Lit Award and the Lambda Editor’s Choice Prize
Jaed Coffin, the author of A Chant to Soothe Wild Elephants (Da Capo Press). Our first contest winner Preeta Samarasan was discovered based on her contest winning story. She went on to write the acclaimed novel Evening is the Whole Day (Houghton Mifflin), which was long-listed for the Orange Prize.
What will your story do for you?
PRIZES
One (1) GRAND PRIZE WINNER
$1,000 cash prize Publication in Hyphen to 10,000 eager readers One-year subscription to Hyphen magazine One-year membership to AAWW, the premiere literary arts nonprofit in the country dedicated to Asian American literature.
Ten (10) FINALISTS
One-year subscription to Hyphen magazine One-year membership to AAWW, the premiere literary arts nonprofit in the country dedicated to Asian American literature.
Qualifications and Guidelines
Open to all writers of Asian descent living in the United States and Canada. Previous employees, consultants, or volunteers of Hyphen or AAWW are not eligible. Limited to short works of previously unpublished fiction, including short stories, novellas and excerpts from novels; the latter must stand alone as a separate work. No required theme.
Up to 6,000 words in length.
Instructions
The submission process has two easy steps, both of which must be completed by March 31, 2010 and accompanied by a $20 entry fee.
First, register here and pay the $20 entry fee by buying one ticket. You will receive a registration email with a Transaction ID, so please double check that you are typing your email correctly.
Next, mail us TWO COPIES of your short story with the title, page numbers, and Transaction ID on the top right of every page. The story should not feature any other identifying information, such as your name, phone number, or email address. Submissions should be double-spaced and mailed to:
Asian American Short Story Contest Hyphen 17 Walter U. Lum Place San Francisco, CA 94108.
Manuscripts may be under consideration elsewhere, but please notify us immediately if your story is accepted for publication. Hyphen retains first publication rights and the right to publish a portion of the story on its website. All rights revert to the author upon publication.
Entrants will be notified by or on Wednesday June 16th, 2010. Winner will receive award and payment when story is published in Fall 2010 issue of Hyphen on Aug. 15th, 2010.
For questions: please contact Neelanjana Banerjee at neelanjana.banerjee[at]hyphenmagazine.com.
I was actually on my knees watching this one because how could I not be? Coming out of retirement, last chance to get the gold in their fourth Olympics - possibly the first from China to win it all - I mean - that's just a good story - and then Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo actually pulled it off?
That's what this is all about.
Flawless And Beautiful
While in the end it couldn't be any other way except for Shen and Zhao to get the gold, watching Pang Qing and Tong Jian skate a virtually flawless program when everyone before them hadn't and doing it where you just got lost watching them because they were just so incredible - I stood up with everyone else in TV land.
Back To Back
See? I don't just root for the Asians. In this case I was rooting against the Canadians and the French (jk...well you know) - and c'mon you have to admit that it was pretty slick to see Wescott come from behind and win back to back golds (and he was attacked by teammate Graham Watanabe afterwards...).
Just a few random thoughts on this article by Gregory Kane who was taking up the fight for Tom Tancredo:
Tancredo said at the recent Tea Party Convention "People who could not spell the word 'vote' or say it in English put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House - (his) name is Barack Hussein Obama. The revolution has come. It was led by the cult of multiculturalism aided by leftist liberals all over who don't have the same ideas about America as we do."
Just because you may not know a language well doesn't mean you still can't be competent either when it comes to making a decision. From friends, to family, volunteers - it's just translation. I can not know a language well - even not be able to spell basic words at times - but someone can read me something from a newspaper, and I can still form an opinion of it. At the same time - the bolded quote is just right-wing xenophobia.
In his article Kane asked "Is it asking too much that Americans know just a smidgen about how their government is run before they head into the ballot box to cast their votes?"
Am I completely missing something here because doesn't someone from another country that wants to be a citizen of the U.S. have to take a civics test - which you know - tests people's knowledge on the government? If not - I'm not really sure what the hell I was helping someone study for because I thought that was the MF civics test.
But who knows - maybe it was really about how to bake bread.
In response to Kane saying "Tancredo erred when he used the term 'literacy test.' The lefties howled about how literacy tests were, for decades, used by Southern racists to keep blacks from voting. That’s true, but so is this: The abuse of a good idea doesn’t mean the idea isn’t good." all I have to say is HUH?
If an idea is patently racist to begin with how can it ever be a good idea?
It wasn't a good idea being abused by racists - it was a racist idea being used by racists.
I was catching up on some articles and - well - penises are really in the news including the following snippets (sorry - couldn't help it):
Apparently Roger Ebert called out John Mayer on his Racist Dick, and I don't know about you, but when Roger Ebert starts tweeting on John Mayer's nether regions I have to think something's gone terribly wrong in our world.
Kate Gosslin in US Magazine is now referring to JG's penis as "stubby". Really? Isn't this over yet? Since - I say prove it with pictures - otherwise - it's just cocksay.
If you're down in Maryland for the day, have some time, and want to get a book or two signed - this might be for you:
A day-long celebration of eight of today's most accomplished and exciting Asian American writers. Come to any or all of the readings; stay for the Q&A sessions, and don't forget to get your books signed by the authors.
As a part of Maryland Day 2010, sponsored by the University of Maryland, College Park, the Symposium will be held on April 24th, 2010, from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at Ulrich Recital Hall, Tawes Hall. Free to the public.
Schedule:
-Introductory remarks by AALR editors-in-chief Lawrence-Minh Bui Davis and Gerald Maa and Asian American Studies Program Director Larry Shinagawa -10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Peter Bacho and Ru Freeman -11:30a.m.-1 p.m. Ed Lin and Srikanth Reddy -1 p.m.-2:30 p.m. Kyoko Mori and April Naoko Heck -2:30 p.m.-4 p.m. Karen Tei Yamashita and Sonya Chung -4 p.m.-5 p.m. Book Signing
Sponsored jointly by The Asian American Literary Review and the University of Maryland's Asian American Studies Program, Writer's House, and English Department.
Direct any questions or inquiries to asianamericanliteraryreview[at]gmail.com.
Got this sent in (thanks SK) and wanted to make sure and post on up about the short film The Oak Park Story which is a documentary about a predominantly Cambodian and Latino community in Oakland who joined forces to sue the slumlord of their apartment complex and which'll be premiering at SFIAAFF next month.
The Oak Park Story (22 min, 2010), the new documentary that captures the lives of a predominantly Southeast Asian and Latino community in an Oakland slum, will premiere at the 2010 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. The film is directed, edited, co-produced and co-written by Valerie Soe and co-produced and co-written by Russell Jeung, both of whom are professors of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University.
The film screens alongside Curtis Choy’s documentary about the late great Filipino Al Robles, Manilatown Is In The Heart.
The Oak Park Story (2010, 22 min.) recounts the struggles of three very different families who find themselves together in a run-down slum in Oakland, CA. Khlot Ry arrived first from Cambodia, where she and her granddaughters had fled forced labor camps and invading Vietnamese soldiers. A few years later, Felix and Hortensia Jimenez brought their family across the Mexican-U.S. border without documents, where Felix struggled to earn a living as a day laborer. At the same time, Dan Schmitz left the comforts of his white, middle class upbringing in the suburbs and moved into the apartment directly across from the Jimenez family.
Together, these three households encountered daily life in America’s underclass. Parents raised their children amidst drug dealing, gang violence and prostitution right in their parking lot. Yet their worst problem was their Stanford-educated landlord, who raised rents even when El Nino rains flooded their units. Interviews, home video footage, and photographs from the tenants depict their daily lived experiences in the 1980s and 1990s.
Facing unsanitary housing conditions that led to the hospitalization of several children, 44 households of Oak Park banded together to sue and eventually won a landmark settlement, against their landlord. Despite the victory, this too brought about some surprising, unintended consequences.
The Oak Park Story concludes nearly ten years after winning the lawsuit. What have the children at Oak Park learned from their parents’ organizing? How did the lawsuit impact the lives of the undocumented workers, the refugee families, and the other working poor living there? What ongoing social conditions do they continue to face?
Where: Sundance Kabuki Cinema, 1881 Post Street, San Francisco, CA 94115 When: March 14, 2010 at 2:00 pm and March 15, 2010 at 7:00 pm
I know all you Wordpress bloggers have had static pages for a while - and honestly - I have no idea when this feature became available (and I'm too lazy to look at the actual date because that requires research and time) - but that's just a nice new feature I'll have to start utilizing - and yes I realize that this is probably of no real interest to you and that I should probably wrap up Best Of 2009 before I start playing with that - but at least I'm not posting up on how much I really love Lou Dobbs.
I haven't been watching a ton of the Olympics so far - but I do love me some figure skating and especially the pairs because it's just like my own mini-kdrama (Did he just fall? Is she gonna beat his ass down? That was amazing)- so I thought I'd do a quick post up on some of what I've seen and heard (and yes, happy v-day and lunar new year to you all as well - and my apologies to my stomach for all the dim sum I ate).
Apolo Anton Ohno Is The New Bonnie Blair
Yuko Kavaguti
Some may call her a traitor, but I just think she's a girl who's going after her dreams (and is it really her fault Japan doesn't have dual citizenship?).
Those Chevy Silverado Commercials
Would it kill you to have some Asian people in those MF's?
This year I've hooked up with the good folks down at Kollaboration again for their Tenth Anniversary Show and without a doubt - you'll definitely want to be there to hear and see some amazing artists, guest performers and cool judges - and yes - I am in fact giving away some free tickets again this year...
But Before All Of That
Let's just set the vibe with the Kollaboration 10 performers doing a cover of Train's "Hey Soul Sister".
Gotta love the vibe.
The Artists And Performers
Bhangra Empire – honorary performers at the First State Dinner hosted by President Obama and the First Lady
Clara – winner of KAC Media’s Creative Juice Night and the JC Penney ISA Breakout Artist
Sam Hart – singer/songwriter of the infamous “Mario Kart Love Song” with its 4.4 million+ views on Youtube
Mike Isberto & Alfa – singer/songwriters and co‐winners of Kollaboration Acoustic 3
Paul Jisung Kim – winner of Kollaboration 2001 and lineup from 2005 All‐Stars
Will Volume – producer, director and conductor of 50 piece string orchestrations and freestyle winner of Kollaboration Acoustic 3
Jason Yang – electric violinist and cast member of theatrical rock show, “The Zodiac Show”
Guest Performers
Rex Navarrete – MTV Philippine’s Rex in the City
We Are Heroes – winner of America’s Best Dance Crew season 4
Prepix – internationally awarded street dance crew and choreographers for Korean pop stars
Tony Rock – Actor/Comedian
Abraham McDonald – finalist of Oprah Winfrey’s Karaoke Challenge
Pigeon John – LA based underground rapper
Vudoo Soul – winner of Kollaboration NY
Just Kidding Films – comedic duo
Korean Union Dancerz - dance group
Guest Judges
Lisa Ling – 5 time Emmy nominated international correspondence and journalist
Rex Lee – 3 time SAG Award nominated actor/comedian from HBO’s hit, Entourage
Kev Jumba – Youtube’s most subscribed comedian
Michelle Phan – Youtube’s most subscribed beauty guru
Joseph Kahn – Grammy and multi MTV VMAs winning director
Patty Yoon – CEO of Garco Enterprises
Nita Song – President and COO of IW Group
You Don't Know Where And When?
That would be March 6th 2010 at the Shrine Auditorium in LA.
Kollaboration, North America’s largest Asian Pacific Islander (API) talent show and non-profit grassroots movement which seeks to empower the API community and its emerging artists to support and pursue their dreams in performing arts has reached a historical mark in it s history. Celebrating its tenth annual show in Los Angeles, Kollaboration 10 will be held at the world renowned Shrine Auditorium on Saturday, March 6, 2010.
Kollaboration 10 is anticipated to be a landmark event for Los Angelenos and Kollaboration alike. It’ll mark an entire decade of community building and combined efforts of diverse API supporters of its own artists. Following the success of last year’s sold‐out show, Kollaboration 10 is expected to celebrate another feat at the Shrine Auditorium for its 6,300 attendees.
Read this funny article on Mirai Nagasu down at the Chicago Tribune and just wanted to post it up because it made me laugh because who didn't say what they thought without thinking at sixteen (hell - that still happens to me).
Anything that crosses her mind, she says, often in stream-of-consciousness ramblings.
The candor can get her in deep, as it did three weeks ago with her explanation for why she was so looking forward to the swag that would be hers for having made the Olympic team by finishing second at the U.S. Championships.
"I guess I can be stereotypical and say that Asians are very cheap," said Nagasu, a Japanese-American.
When the subject came up again Saturday in a question about what she had received, Nagasu noted an Asian-American friend who is "very Americanized" had scolded her about the comment.
"But I've already said what's been said," Nagasu continued, then explained how she regetted having arrived only Thursday because a lot of her sizes no longer were available in the clothing provided by the U.S. Olympic team.
And so it went, with Nagasu deadpanning that the change she has made in her free skate since nationals was to add a quadruple jump, then following it with a perfectly timed, "Just kidding."
Got word of this event and wanted to make sure and post it on up.
Breathin’
An Evening of Spoken Word, Music, and Inspiration with Eddy Zheng and Dosh
With Opening Sets by Martin Dosh and Paul Dosh
7:30 pm, February 26, 2010 Smail Gallery, Olin-Rice Science Center Macalester College Free admission
* * * * *
I am 40 years old and breathin’
Inhale @38 I received the Asian Law Students’ Outstanding Leadership Award and Homeland Security ordered my deportation to China
Exhale @31 I was caged in solitary confinement for 11 months for signing a petition
Inhale @30 I organized the first poetry slam in San Quentin
Exhale @18 I was the youngest prisoner in San Quentin’s Maximum Security
Inhale @16 I violated an innocent family of four and scarred them for life I was charged as an adult and sentenced to life with a possibility
Exhale @ 12 I left Communist China to Capitalist America
on 5/26/69 I inhaled my first breath
Take a deep breath and immerse yourself in the remarkable story of community activist Eddy Zheng and the movement to halt his deportation. After 21 years behind bars, he now works for the San Francisco Community Youth Center as a Project Manager. A national advisory board member of the Asian American Law Journal, Eddy is the recipient of the Chinese World Journal Community Hero Award, a member of the Mayor-appointed San Francisco Reentry Council, and the editor of Other: An Asian and Pacific Islander Prisoners’ Anthology.
Sponsored by the Asian Prisoners Support Committee, Macalester's departments of Political Science and American Studies, and the Office of Academic Programs.
We have missed you all very much and we're excited to see you all again at our 2010 Kick-Off Mixer on Tuesday Feb. 16th at 6:30pm at AAARI-CUNY. This will be a great opportunity to catch up and connect with other actors and filmmakers in the NYC area. We will have WINE and SNACKS for your enjoyment!
Asian American / Asian Research Institute, CUNY 25 West 43rd Street (btwn 5th/6th Ave) Room 1009 NY 10036
Another event to keep in mind is a screenplay reading on MONDAY, March 1st at 6:30 from James Bai. He is one of our original members and actual brother of our Founder Steven Bai and he wants to do a screenplay reading on his latest feature script. He will need 10 readers (8 male and 2 female + 1 narrator). We'll send out more info soon and will have updates at our Kick-Off Mixer.
For all the good that people do in their communities - as Asian Americans, Vietnamese Americans, POC - sometimes it's just that one thing that makes people a Grade A MF Dick.
Case in point is Andy Quach responding to the fact that the groups Song That Radio, Gay Vietnamese Alliance, O-moi, and Vietnamese Lesbian and Bisexual Women's Network and Friends are marching in the Annual Westminster Tet Parade.
Dear countrymen,
I'd like to share with you my most sincere personal opinions regarding the participation of the LGBT group in the Tet Parade this Saturday, Feb 13 in Little Saigon.
This is an unfortunate event but as the city official and president of the Tet Parade organization I can not prevent it from happening. As an individual, I protest the participation of this group in the traditional and full-of-joy celebration of the Vietnamese people.
But as officials of the organizational committee in the city of Westminster, we can not discriminate any individual based on his/her political view, religion, sexual or personal preferences. This is the limitation of the law that we all have to obey.
I hope that the Vietnamese in our community will comply within the limit of the law regardless of our individual opinion. I understand everyone of us can voice our opinion. I sincerely thank everyone who had voice their opinions to me in the last few days.
I respectfully ask my countrymen/women to participate in our Tet Parade to demonstrate our unified voice and strength within our Vietnamese community after 35-year in this country that we call our new home. I trust that the officials of the city of Westminster will do their best to ensure the freedom and safety of all participants.
I wish you a new year full of wealth and success.
Respectfully
Andy Quach Councilman of the city of Westminster
I mean seriously Andy - WTF is wrong with you?
What if the tables were turned and my Pho eating hot as hell MF's weren't allowed to march in some July 4th bullshit parade by some White People because of being Viet?
We'd all be screaming WTF is wrong those racist MF's right?
But it's okay for you to discriminate against a group simply because of who they fuck?
While I know I should never count on something like this - I can't help but think that as Asian Americans - people who weren't allowed to testify in court against White People - that even if for some insane reason some APIs had issues with my LGBT crowd that they'd at least "tolerate" people they saw as "different" than them (and yes - I do in fact hate the word "tolerate" because shouldn't we really be doing more accepting than simply tolerating?).
That at least they'd be a little more caring.
Understanding.
But that's not the case.
They'd rather take the same I'm A White Male Who's Not Going To Give You Your Shot Because "Your Different" Attitude - in effect - looking like this:
And I don't know about you - but I don't ever want to look like that dumb MF.
About The Groups
Song That Radio is a grass-root organization which has the dual task of operating a radio program to focus on enhancing community awareness of LGBT issues, with the aim to create social change in attitude towards LGBT people and to organize social and political events that advocate, support and empower the Vietnamese-American LGBT community by increasing LGBT visibility and inclusiveness. Our goal is to improve the quality of life of Vietnamese LGBT people by reducing and eliminating the disparities within the Vietnamese-American community in dealing with LGBT issues.
Ô-Môi is a support group for lesbians, bisexual women, and transgender of Vietnamese descent. Our goal is to provide a support and resource space for queer, female Vietnamese to come out and network.
Gay Vietnamese Alliance provides a safe and supportive environment for gay, bisexual, and transgendered men of Vietnamese descent from all over the world to network, voice issues, promote wellness and foster leadership.
The Vietnamese Lesbian and Bisexual women Network and Friends is a support network of women, young and old alike, who provide support to Vietnamese women who are questioning their identities or simply proud to be lesbians or bisexual women.
Join Them In The March
Time: 9:00 am
Place: Intersection of Bolsa and Magnolia Streets in Westminster, California (Look for the banners: Sống Thật Radio, Ô-Môi and Gay Vietnamese Alliance)
Got sent in some cool info from filmmaker Ivy Lin and I wanted to just post it on up for my folks down in Portland:
I am a member of a small grassroots group with 6 other young Asian Americans who have dreams and hopes to revitalize Portland's Chinatown. We meet once a month and talk about what small projects we can do to help bringing foot traffic and historical awareness for our Chinatown.
This is the first event organized by our group (no official name yet), so please spread the word and come have some fun with us!!
I will be serving/selling steaming hot Chinese dessert "tang yuans" at the entrance of CCBA (Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, the only fully functional historic building in Chinatown). There will be building tours throughout CCBA building, lion dance on the festival street, and my Chinatown doc "Pig Roast & Tank of Fish" will be screening inside the CCBA Main Hall throughout the event. We have just added three exciting events to this celebration--
Taiko drum performance! Ping Pong on festival street!! Dragon parade (we discovered an old dusty dragon that had been sitting on the stage of CCBA Hall for the past 30 years!!)
Remember those red lanterns flying over the courtyard outside of Portland Art Museum during "China Design Now"? They will be flying over Davis Festival Street through Chinese New Year and some of them will be for sale during our event on 2/13.
Proceeds of lantern and "tang yuans" sales will go to CCBA Chinese Language School. Come celebrate Chinese New Year in our Chinatown (the second oldest Chinatown in the U.S.), it will be way more Chinese than celebrating it at the Convention Center or on some parking lot in SE 82nd.
The slantyapolis/seftre blog has served millions of views trying to help in its own way, to give voice to the Asian and Asian American community, as well as document it, over the last 18 years. Sometimes op-ed, sometimes straight news, sometimes off the beaten path--the continued impetus remains that there's power in sharing voices and in sharing your own voice and reflecting that back into the communities you belong to.
If you're looking for the 2008 In Review Posts, the link list has been moved out, but you can still get to them all by following this link which pulls them up by label (they'll be in reverse so go to the oldest post to read them in order).
2007 In Review Posts
If you're looking for the 2007 In Review Posts, the link list has been moved out, but you can still get to them all by following this link which pulls them up by label (they'll be in reverse so go to the oldest post to read them in order).