"We don’t just need one movie with an all-Asian cast. Or one play with an Asian American man as the lead. We need lots of them. We need plays and TV shows that more accurately reflect all the diverse faces of our country. We need to move beyond stereotypes of Asians, Blacks, Latinos, women and LGBTQ people so we can be seen as we are: diverse, complicated and varied in our personalities and our opinions.
One of my good friends is a successful Hollywood writer. Since I couldn’t find a play I liked with an Asian American lead, I asked him to write one. We’re putting the show on in Capitol Hill starting this week. The play, 99 Tropes, is an entertaining comedy about a Hollywood writer’s room. I play C. Chan, a writer whose pilot gets picked up by a major TV network. But when the ratings tank, Chan dreams up a wild new direction for the show — with a shocking twist."
Read more about the show at crosscut.com
99 Tropes, E.J. Gong, Nov. 24.-Dec. 23, At Seattle's 12th Avenue Arts
Tuesday, November 27, 2018Read It + Nugs: I Love America. That’s Why I Have to Tell the Truth About It By Viet Thanh Nguyen
Tuesday, November 27, 2018If you didn't get the chance to read the Thanksgiving article (2018's) by Viet Thanh Nguyen in TIME - definitely get a chance to read it - make some time - because it has a lot of great things to say.
Some nuggets of words I really like:
"An American veteran of the war, an enlisted man, wrote me in rage after reading an essay of mine on the scars that Vietnamese refugees carried. Americans had sacrificed themselves for my country, my family, me, he said. I should be grateful. When I wrote him back and said he was the only one hurt by his rage, he wrote back with an even angrier letter."
"The country in which I am writing these words is France, which is not my country but which colonized Vietnam, where I was born, for two-thirds of a century. French rule ended only 17 years before my birth. My parents and their parents never knew anything but French colonialism. Perhaps because of this history, part of me loves France, a love that is due, in some measure, to having been mentally colonized by France. Aware of my colonization, I do not love France the way many Americans love France, the ones who dream of the Eiffel Tower, of sipping coffee at Les Deux Magots, of eating a fine meal in Provence. This is a romantic love, set to accordion music or Γdith Piaf, which I feel only fleetingly. I cannot help but see colonialism’s legacies, visible throughout Paris if one wishes to see them: the people of African and Arab origins who are here because France was there in their countries of birth. Romanticizing their existence, oftentimes at the margins of French society, would be difficult, which is why Americans rarely talk about them as part of the fantasy of Paris."
"And yet, when I was growing up, some Vietnamese Americans would tell me I was not really Vietnamese because I did not speak perfect Vietnamese. Such a statement is a cousin of “love it or leave it.” But there should be many ways of being Vietnamese, just as there are many ways of being French, many ways of being American. For me, as long as I feel Vietnamese, as long as Vietnamese things move me, I am still Vietnamese. That is how I feel the love of country for Vietnam, which is one of my countries, and that is how I feel my Vietnamese self."
Read it in full here.
Dear (sic) Missississipi
Tuesday, November 27, 2018Dear Missississipi,
I've spelled you wrong.
I don't care.
You're the one state in the US I've never wanted to visit for the same reasons you've just elected Cindy Hyde-Smith.
I'll be at the front row of your hanging.
I'm Gonna Need To Do A Run Of About 250 More Posts This Year
Monday, November 12, 2018Apparently this will be the first year, at my current rate, where I don't average about 1 post per day for a year.
I get it--but you know--I feel like I should at least keep that stat even in my shitty days.
So I think that's gonna happen.
Organically though this time...
And maybe I'll bring back some BEST OF stuff this for this year.
Or just gibberish....whichever.
Cause I just care about stats?
Well...you know.
I'm Big And Sexy And Smell Nice. Asian Man Scent #1049283
Monday, November 12, 2018Honestly, I'm probably not that huge, but I am pushing the scale a little--and that's okay.
I recently quit smoking--and while whatever--you are who you are--those smoke companies do target the shit out of the motherlands and I'm kinda like--enough chucking my money away so I can die a horrible death at the hands of a lung machine.
So you know...a little snack here and there...try to chew gum...but those sour candies keep calling my name...
And nachos...damn you nachos!
And leftover super spicy chicken from the Thai place down the road.
And 2 Whoppers for $6?
You know we like deals!!!!
So if I'm Asian, sexy, and maybe a little stockier--that's okay.
Asian Man Non-Smoker Scent #1049283.
Nice work if you can get it (and if you can get it from me...you need to twerk it 'cause you don't want me to squeeze the breadth out of you when my arms go out cause I've been pumping and jumping for the last hour--cause you know--I have more lung capacity--but my arms can only take so much....).
And on that note....
Watch For Free At CHOPSO
Monday, November 12, 2018
You can check out the free viewings they have @ https://chopso.vhx.tv/watch-for-free and then if you like what you see along with their other catalog, you can check out their service for $4.95 a month.
I do think it goes a long way to have a more options for free viewing--look at other services who started out with ad services--but when you think about other services like this, there aren't that many....or any...out there specific to AAPI.
Live long and prosper.
Is John Cho's "Searching" With $70 Million Worldwide (#65 Worldwide) Even More Of A Message To Hollywood Than Crazy Rich Asians?
Monday, November 12, 2018
What's interesting about this statistic is that while domestically it did about $26 million, the international release is around $43 million.
So while domestically it didn't do a $100 million dollar opening--while the numbers aren't available for the production budget, you know it wasn't as much for Crazy Rich Asians.
It had to be fairly profitable and I'm guessing with a lot less from a set/logistics standpoint (at least thinking in regard to something like CRA).
If you look at the movies in a $10 million range +/- of what "Searching" did--it gives an even more interesting view of the landscape ($dollar amounts are total, domestic, and then international).
57 Den of Thieves STX $80.5 $44.9 55.8% $35.6 44.2%
58 Alpha Studio 8 $80.1 $35.8 44.7% $44.3 55.3%
59 Hereditary A24 $79.3 $44.1 55.5% $35.3 44.5%
60 Dr. Seuss' The Grinch (2018) Uni. $78.7 $66.0 83.9% $12.7 16.1%
61 Tag WB (NL) $77.9 $54.5 70.0% $23.4 30.0%
62 The Spy Who Dumped Me LGF $75.0 $33.6 44.7% $41.4 55.3%
63 Sicario: Day of the Soldado Sony $74.0 $50.1 67.7% $23.9 32.3%
64 Sanju FIP $71.5 $7.9 11.1% $63.6 88.9%
65 Searching SGem $69.7 $26.0 37.3% $43.7 62.7%
66 Book Club Par. $68.6 $68.6 100.0% n/a 0.0%
67 12 Strong WB $67.1 $45.5 67.8% $21.6 32.2%
68 Love, Simon Fox $66.3 $40.8 61.6% $25.5 38.4%
69 Mile 22 STX $65.8 $36.1 54.9% $29.7 45.1%
70 Life of the Party WB (NL) $65.7 $52.9 80.5% $12.8 19.5%
71 Isle Of Dogs FoxS $64.2 $32.0 49.8% $32.2 50.2%
72 The 15:17 to Paris WB $57.1 $36.3 63.5% $20.8 36.5%
73 Adrift STX $57.0 $31.4 55.1% $25.6 44.9%
74 Early Man LGF $54.1 $8.3 15.3% $45.8 84.7%
75 Teen Titans Go! To The Movies WB $51.9 $29.6 57.0% $22.3 43.0%
76 Slender Man SGem $51.7 $30.6 59.2% $21.1 40.8%
77 Breaking In (2018) Uni. $51.1 $46.5 91.1% $4.5 8.9%
Good company to be in and if this didn't do well internationally because of John Cho--hog tie me naked in Sriracha until I pee myself.
And yes - also because of the good story, acting, and direction...
But you get my point.
Yes?
R.I.P: Minority Militant + BigWOWO Podcast
Monday, November 12, 2018I was looking through some files and I had an mp3 file "MinorityMilitant_on_bigWOWO.mp3".
Hadn't listened to that in a while....so tonight I find myself listening to it.
I want to remix it with some music...
Get the original and post http://www.bigwowo.com/2008/11/bigwowo-interviews-the-minority-militant/ AND http://www.bigwowo.com/podcasts/MinorityMilitant_on_bigWOWO.mp3
Damn....
APIA Vote: All You Wanted To Know About The Midterm Election Results
Thursday, November 08, 2018What? DAEWON SONG Leaves Almost...
Friday, November 02, 2018http://theberrics.com/daewon-song-leaves-almost/
One of the most influential skaters and co-founder of Almost skateboards--he's leaving the company he helped found (and I have to wonder what the terms of the agreement were, how much $$ does he get--I am always curious on the financials):
Daewon Song, a pro skater who is known as much for his sponsor loyalty as for his continually progressive clips, has left Almost Skateboards. He made the announcement this morning via Instagram.
Song cofounded Almost in 2003 with Rodney Mullen, and somehow he has managed to be at the top of his game throughout his tenure as a founding pro. Having appeared in the company's two full-lengths—Round Three (a play on Song's game-changing parts in World Industries' Round One and Round 2) and 5-Incher—Song is perhaps more closely associated with the 2006 promo Cheese & Crackers. The video features Chris Haslam (who also left Almost last year) and Song essentially one-upping each other on a mini-ramp, utilizing anything and everything that they could find. The video signaled an era of inventive skateboarding and its influence is still felt in videos 12 years later.
More recently, Song has become established as arguably the most reliable skate instagram account. Much like Cheese & Crackers, there is never a dull moment on Song's Insta. Having perfected the art of selfie video clips, Song is a shining example of the DIY ethic in skating.
Here's the IG post.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Daewon Song (@daewon1song) on
P.S. Random Sad Hot Girls: Lilly Singh + Awkwafina
Thursday, November 01, 2018
Maybe you've seen these, maybe you have not.
Either way - I did not - but I did just watch them and they were funny to watch.
While I'm out of the dating market (or even the right generation) - I am glad I was never one of those dates...or people.
Asian American PSA: Constance Wu And Jimmy O. Yang Want You To Vote!
Thursday, November 01, 2018
Also - just in case you were wondering (like myself) - apparently the organization in partnership does subtitles for everyone, because at first I was like "What? Why do they have subtitles here--they speak English MFs!"...no worries - AG.