Japan Nite US Tour 2008

If you want to catch a bunch of cool bands, this is your chance. Check out the info:

Japan Nite US tour 2008 from 3/16 to 3/23
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*Petty Booka: World famous and loved ukulele chorus duo

*The Emeralds: Samurai Jet Rock'N'Roll Trio

*detroit7: An edgy hard rockin' trio led by barefooted left hand female guitarist Nabana

*ketchup mania : J-pop band winning USA Shojo Beat's "Best Japanese Punk Group" award.

*THE BEACHES : a genre-blending rock form Disco to Reggae. ex:JERRY LEE PHANTOM

*SCANDAL:New rock bands with four high school girls in Osaka.

March 16th (Sun) NEW YORK @Knitting Factory
March 17th (Mon) BOSTON @ TT The Bears
March 18th (Tue) CHICAGO @ Empty Bottle
March 19th (Wed) DENVER @ TBA
March 20th (Thu) SEATTLE @ Hi Dive ( *ketchup mania is not performing here)
March 21st (Fri) SF @ TBA @ Independent
March 23rd (Sun) LA @ Knitting Factory

Tour and artist detail here
http://sxsw-asia.com/JapanNite2008/tourdate.html

Of course we have a show case at SXSW 2008 again. The line is different, we have more new bands this year like Quarts-head , an improvised-electro Jazz and Avengers in sci-fi, cosmic guitar rock trio and new all girl trip Sodopp.

Details here.
http://sxsw-asia.com/JapanNite2008/

SXSW 2008 ~ Japan Nite
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with: Petty Booka/Ketchup mania/detroit7/
sodopp/avengers in sci-fi/quartz-head 02

Date: March 14th (Friday) Start: 8 pm
Venue: ELYSIUM
705 Red River Austin TX 78705

Asian Americans and Clinton

While the Asian American community has come out in support of Obama - which is great to see - at the same time, Asian Americans have been coming out for Clinton as well - and in some cases that seemed to be one of the factors in how Clinton won some of the larger states (as much as you can call them wins):

Asian American Voters Favor Clinton & McCain In Northeast

New York… Asian American voters in New York and New Jersey, two states with the largest Asian American populations in the Northeast, gave overwhelming support to Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Senator John McCain (R-AZ) in the "Super Tuesday" presidential primary elections.

Super Tuesday and Chinese Voters

Chinese Americans definitely don't comprise the large voting blocks of other minorities, but they definitely made their voices heard. Many Super Tuesday states had sizeable populations of Asian American voters, like New Jersey, New York, California, Illinois, and Minnesota.

Asian Americans help Clinton, McCain win

Asian American voters in California overwhelmingly threw their support to Hillary Clinton and John McCain in Tuesday's primary, according to exit polls. Clinton took 75 percent of the Asian American vote and McCain got 66 percent, according to MSNBC's exit poll, in California, the biggest prize in Tuesday's primaries.

No matter who you're voting for - I think it's great that so many Asian Americans came out in such large numbers to support their chosen candidate and that they had such an impact in Super Tuesday.

News Roundup

Some newes from around the way:

Young Japanese Starting to Embrace Diversity

There are many things of which Japan and the Japanese citizens can be proud -- technological innovation, strong economic power, and cultural trendsetter. On the other hand and just like any other country, there are other things for which Japan deserves to be criticized -- nationalistic denials over its World War II atrocities, its insistence on continuing to kill whales, and its reputation for being intolerant of “outsiders.”

The Emergence of a new Clinton Coalition

The results of Super Tuesday primaries left the democratic race where it started – a near even split of delegates for Obama and Clinton. As expected, Obama received strong support from African American, male and young (18-30) voters while Clinton solidified her standings with women, Hispanic and older (45 and above) voters.

Indian Americans make an impact on 'Super Tuesday'

Indian Americans, who have a sizeable population in crucial 'Super Tuesday' states like California, New York, New Jersey and Illinois, voted in large numbers in the presidential primaries to play a vital role in shaping the country's political landscape.

Conversations with Fil-Am Democratic campaigners

San Francisco-based Angelica Jongco, 29, works as a civil rights attorney for the nonprofit agency Public Advocates. One would think that that alone would fill her daily schedule. However, when she’s not defending the rights of Bay Area’s citizens, she’s working full-speed for the Barack Obama campaign. "I first saw Senator Obama speak on TV at the 2004 Democratic National Convention," she wrote in an email interview. "He gave a speech that was electrifying, and I (along with) probably much of the nation did a double take: ‘Who is this guy?’" Fast forward four years later, and Jongco is now an active campaigner for the Obama presidential election team. "I had no idea that I would get so drawn in to volunteering for him," she said. "I’ve never been so excited about a political leader before."

Seattle Takes Steps to Recognize Minorities’ Role in Shaping Region

This year, two new museums and a new traditional gate marking the city’s Chinatown will be completed, formally acknowledging the role minority groups have played in shaping Seattle and the region — even as those roles are changing. The new touchstones will meet dueling misperceptions: that the city has had a bland racial past and that tolerance and unity are among the local natural resources.

Asian Groups Respond to SalesGenie Bowl Ads

Response to SalesGenie.com's offensive and just-plain-dumb Super Bowl commercials has been a bit more muted than I expected, for a good reason. While groups representing Asian Americans are plenty disgusted by the ads' crude ethnic stereotypes, they're also reluctant to give the spots more exposure than they've already received.

Friendster goes to Asia

While other social networking sites are tweaking and making strides, it seemed liked Friendster wasn't really doing much, and has gotten lost in the conversation with Facebook and MySpace.

Apparently though they're still going strong - with about 58 million users - and about 39% of the site's traffic is coming from the Philippines - which has prompted Friendster (also leading the pack of social networking sites in the Asia Pacific region) to add in more features geared toward their Asian users:

Because of the site’s popularity in Asia, the developers have decided to create more innovations targeted to the Asian market. “We’re coming up with lots of big things,” said Jeff Roberto, marketing and public relations director of Friendster. “For one thing, we’re now offering the site in several languages. We used to be a purely English site, but it’s now available in simplified and traditional Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Spanish. That makes for roughly 66 percent of the languages used on the Internet.”

Groundbreaking? Not quite (at least yet). But is it cool that they're embracing their Asian demographic versus just ignoring them?

Definitely.

Interview: Bich Minh Nguyen

There's a good article and interview on Vietnamese American author Bich Minh Nguyen, who wrote Stealing Buddha's Dinner, down at the Miami Herald:

Bich (pronounced Bit) Minh Nguyen doesn't remember fleeing Vietnam with her father, sister and grandmother during the fall of Saigon; she was only 8 months old. But her memories of growing up in frozen, foreign Grand Rapids, Mich., remain clear and powerful, centered on the delights to which her classmates seemed to have effortless access: Pringles, cherry-flavored Luden cough drops, Doritos, Little Caesar's pizza, Bubble Yum, Kit Kats, Sugar Babies.

Read the full interview here, and check out more about Nguyen's book down at her site.

AskMen's Most Desirable Women List: Any Asians?

The site Askmen.com came out with their list of the top most desirable women for 2008, as voted on by users (which according to their stats had 5 million votes). So was there anyone on the list rockin' the Asian persuasian?

Here's the breakdown of who made it and where they stood on the list:

• Vanessa Minnillo #97
• Zhang Ziyi #94
• Mallika Sherawat #67
• Padma Lakshmi #66
• Cassie #62
• Vanessa Hudgens #61
• Reon Kadena #50
• Nicole Scherzinger #48
• Aishwarya Rai #27
• Maggie Q #17

That's not bad actually - a solid 9.9% with two either in, or near the top 25. If we can get the numbers up a little bit on the Asian male side with other lists - things may be looking up.

Movie: Step Up 2 the Streets, Jon Chu, and lots of Asian goodness

While a lot of people are talking about Eric Byler's new film TRE (which is definitely cool) and some AA reality contestants like Kaba Modern (also pretty cool), you should also check out Step Up 2 the Streets (getting released Feb. 14) which is a new film by 29 year-old Jon Chu (making his big screen directorial debut) who is a USC School of Cinema-Television graduate (and received a Princess Grace Award for his student film Silent Beats).

In addition to being directed by John Chu, the film also sports a number of cast members who are representing the Asian demographic like: Cassie (Filipino & Mexican/West Indian), Sonja Sohn (African American/Korean American), and Mari Koda (Japanese, from the RockSteady Crew).

Here's the synopsis for the film from IMDB:

Step Up 2 the Streets is the sequel to 2006's sleeper hit Step Up. It's the story of a rebellious street dancer named Andie, part of Baltimore's most intimidating dance crew, the 410, who is given a chance to attend the prestigious Maryland School of the Arts, the same school that Channing Tatum's character (Tyler Gage) went to in the first movie. She finds it difficult to fit into her new school life while keeping her friends from the 410. Determined to prove her skills, she assembles an eclectic crew of classmates that includes Chase (Robert Hoffman), the schools best dancer, to compete against the 410 in the premier underground dance battle in Baltimore, The Streets.

View the trailer



Go the film's MySpace page to view more about the movie and the cast.

Bodog Music Battle Of The Bands: The Slants go another round, but where's the love?

Some cool news about The Slants and making their way further into the Bodog Music Battle Of The Bands contest (from their newsletter):

Portland, Oregon-based Asian outfit The Slants - Simon Young (bass), Aron (vocals), Jen Cho (keyboards), Gaijin (keyboards), AC (drums), and Jonathan (guitar) - have just won the third round of the second-ever Bodog Music Battle of the Bands. The Asian dance rock band will now be moving on to round four of the competition for an opportunity to win a million dollar recording contract.

So far in the competition, The Slants have obtained first place in every single round. However, it has not been an easy journey as they had the odds stacked against them from the beginning of the battle in Seattle.

"Half of our band was stranded on the way up to the show because of car problems," says founder and bassist Simon Young. "However, a close friend of ours saved the day when he decided to drove from Portland to pick them up-and they barely made it to the show on time! Furthermore, during the rush to get the other members up here, they left several pieces of key equipment - like drumsticks! Luckily, our friends in the band Silversafe were also performing and gave us enough to make it through."

Unlike most bands in the competition, a major portion of The Slants' fan base is made of proponents of Asian culture: appreciators of anime, manga, jrock, and games. In fact, a large portion of The Slants' tour duties include special performances at anime conventions such as Kumoricon, Sakuracon, MTAC, and others across the country.

The Asian media, a very supportive network, has also helped propel interest in The Slants, with publications such as The Asian Reporter, Asian Week, AA Press, and Shojo Beat Magazine doing features on them.

At the same time, there was an article in the The Portland Mercury which had this to say about The Slants:

We get it. The Slants are Asian. The Portland sextet has a boastful bio which constantly mentions it, all of their press seems to hinge solely on that fact, and the band plays up every possible stereotype by booking slots at anime expos and holding a contest for an adorable pink Hello Kitty guitar. Much like a white rapper with confidence issues, the Slants' constant reminders of their ethnicity seem forced, if not a little desperate. Much like any white kid can rock the mic with the best of them, the concept of a few Asian kids playing keyboard rock isn't exactly mind-blowing, nor does the experience lead to, as their bio puts it, "melting people's faces off with 'Chinatown Dance Rock.'" Instead, the Slants offer another take on the sterile dance rock made popular by Depeche Mode, the Faint, and countless others who clutter the stage with an abundance of keyboards and black clothing. While Slanted Eyes, Slanted Hearts (OMG! Slanted eyes, because, you know, they are totally Asian!) was released last September, tonight is another CD release, this time celebrating national distribution for the album. EAC

Reading this is kinda like WTF? So an Asian American band is too Asian for this reviewer (AA, white, black - it doesn't really matter who EAC is)? So you can be as white as you wanna be but being Asian American and loving all things Asian is wrong? Giving something away with a *gasp* Asian theme is stereotypical? Talking about your experiences as an Asian American is desperate?

I mean seriously - who let the intern write this?

Did someone have a deadline they couldn't meet and promised EAC some sexual favors? Don't they have editors down at that paper? Shouldn't the intern be fetching coffee and donuts instead of trying to make a coherent sentence?

Fine if the reviewer doesn't dig the music - but bashing on The Slants' Asian goodness - well, that's what I'd call desperate.

News Roundup

Some news from around the way:

Ulimate Showdown: Who’s More Asian, Barack or Hillary?

DEMOCRATS SAY the 2008 elections will be historic because their candidate will either be a (white) woman or a black man. As ever, the American cultural landscape is painted in blacks and whites—with the occasional splash of brown—while Asians are left out of the color scheme. At TMM, we think it’s high time to inject some yellow in the red, white and blue. Asians make up a whopping FOUR percent of the U.S. population (and 60 percent of us are Democrats).

SE Asian youth want Sue Carcieri to apologize

Soon she turned the conversation to a protest last month against the governor’s layoff of three Southeast Asian interpreters. At a news conference, a 15-year-old Cambodian girl said, among other things, “The governor is sending a clear message to my community that we are not valued or welcome.” And a 16-year-old Vietnamese boy called his actions “racist.”

SalesGenie's Tasteless, 'Racist' Super Bowl Ad

I'll be taking a fuller look later at the worst of this year's Super Bowl ads, but there's one that deserves a dishonorable mention of its own: SalesGenie's idiotic "Panda" spot, starring two annoying pandas with stereotyped Chinese accents.

Screen/Society--Cine-East: East Asian series--with Kim Soyoung

Special screening with S. Korean filmmaker Kim Soyoung! Visiting scholar and filmmaker Kim Soyoung will screen KORYU and I'LL BE SEEING HER: WOMEN IN KOREAN CINEMA, the first 2 parts of her celebrated "Women's History Trilogy." Followed by a Q&A with the director!

Music: Marié Digby

Getting ready to release her debut album this April on Hollywood Records, Marié Digby, who's 1/2 Irish and 1/2 Japanese is starting to turn more heads with her music, and her single "Say it again" is making the rounds on some radio stations across the country including:

KHKZ – McAllen , TX– Kiss 106.3KVLY – McAllen , TX– Mix 107.9KSII – El Paso – Kiss 93 – 93.1KPEK – Albuquerque – The Peak – 100.3WKRQ – Cincinnati – Q102 – 101.9WAYV – 95 Wave – 95.1Sirius - The Pulse WRKQ - Washington, DC 107

If your local radio station isn't on the list they might still have the track, so feel free to go ahead and support some AA music and give it a request.

For more on Marié see her YouTube and MySpace pages (where she has close to 1 million song plays and over 1 million channel views).

Short Film "Touch": Loving mannequins Asian Style

This short film Touch, which will also be playing down at the DisOrient Film Festival, has Kiki Yeung and Yuji Okumoto (from Karate Kid 2 and Pearl Harbor) and was created by the same people (the 1/2 Asian production team) that also brought you the direct to video/dvd flicks The Life and Times of MC Beer Bong and Simply FOBulous.

Here's the synopsis for the short:

A lonely immigrant woman spends her life sewing day after day, watching the world go by from the window of her small tailor shop. Longing for human interaction, she attempts to connect with the passersby, only to be met with rejection and humiliation. She looks to her wooden mannequin, who watches over her daily from the corner of the store, to fill the void in her heart. Her hope for love is realized when the mannequin comes to life and the customer of her dreams sweeps her off her feet.

Because I know you want to see the trailer:



Go to the Touch MySpace page or Kiki Yeung's MySpace page.

Rambo IV: Banned

I haven't seen the film but it is interesting that it seems to be making the news more and more - and now it's apparently been banned in Burma/Myanma and is being used as a focal point in some local talks against the government. Here are some links to some stories:

Stallone says 'Rambo' banned in Myanmar

Sylvester Stallone says his latest "Rambo" movie and its tagline are inspiring real-life opponents of Myanmar's ruling military junta -- and prompting a government backlash.

Myanmar expats raise Rambo battle-cry in Singapore

For some, it was elation at seeing somebody -- albeit a fictional Hollywood character -- taking it to the foot-soldiers of a military regime that has ruled with an iron fist for the last 46 years. For others, it was a painful but telling reminder of real life-and-death encounters. "Everything is almost -- 80 percent -- the same as what the movie showed," said 28-year-old Cinthy, a student who grew up in Karen State, where the mainly Christian people have been fighting for independence for 59 years.

Myanmar nationals remember demo victims with 'Rambo' screening

"Just like Rambo is in the movie, Burma is waiting for a hero or someone to lead the revolution," said engineer Maung Zaw, one of the Myanmar nationals who attended. Another audience member, Thu Yein, said the film showed "what is really happening" in Myanmar.

Obama: Using China to gain votes with the same old xenophobia

Updated February 4th 7:30 PM

You know what I get sick of? I get sick of people who use fear tactics that play on ignorance and xenophobia - and I get even more sick of it when it's turned around to Asian Americans. It's like the auto industry and Vincent Chin - Chin became a local scapegoat who got murdered for an American problem because people took it upon themselves to look at him as the enemy - that slanty eyed enemy who took away American white jobs.

And as far as we've come, it's still happening.

Even candidates like Obama who talk of change and a new America still can't help but lean on this old and tired stereotype. Check out a snippet a friend sent me which apparently is getting even more air play because of Super Tuesday (being cut for different areas):

I’m Barack Obama and I approve this message.

BO speaking to town hall sized crowd
BO Synch: Ordinary people all across the country are struggling from paycheck to paycheck.

If the plant moves to China, and you’ve been working there for 20, 30 years and suddenly you have the rug pulled out from under ya…

And you don’t have healthcare, and you don’t have a pension, you’re on your own.

We gotta stop giving tax breaks to companies that are moving overseas and give those tax breaks to companies that are investing right here in IA

In the United States of America.

Because we as Americans have no idea how to save like the rest of the world *gasp* it's China's fault? Because a U.S. company couldn't provide their workers with health care because of our American system it's China's fault? Because American companies and lobby groups have allowed our government to create tax breaks for large corporations investing all over the world that's China's fault too?

What about the Bahamas? Shouldn't they get some blame as well?

But then again what am I thinking - easier to blame the Asian people right?

Does Obama even know that less than 1% of jobs are actually outsourced - in total? Does Obama know that China really doesn't have anything to do with our U.S. health care system?

See - this is different from talking about fair trade and tariffs - this to me is outright fear mongering at the expense of Asian Americans - because as many know in the Asian American community, the line between China and Chinese Americans - and then Asian Americans in general isn't that hard for some people to connect - no matter how wrong that connection is.

Do I have to bring up the manufacturing of toys made in China, or some food that came out from a plant or two? Do I have to remind people that Asian and Asian Americans are sometimes still seen as a collective who all look alike?

Do I have to say Vincent Chin again?

Even more befuddling at times is how some Asian American media and bloggers come out in support of Obama, but yet they make no mention of this. I understand about supporting your candidate - but nothing? Hasn't this ad been up since Iowa?

What? Because Obama has some people of Asian decent in his family he can do no wrong? We're not supposed to call him on his tactics - the same ones that have been used throughout history to keep down Asian Americans?

I'm not saying you can't be for Obama - you can and maybe you should (just like Clinton or McCain) - I'm not saying Obama isn't a good candidate either. But what I am saying is that Obama, like every other candidate, still needs to be held accountable for issues like this where he is clearly in the wrong.

Hong Kong Film Awards: The Detective, Jet Li, Protege

The nominations for the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards are out and both the films Protege and The Warlords are heading out the nominations. At the same time Aaron Kwok (pictured above) got a nod for the best actor award for his work in the Pang film The Detective (which I happened to write about in my best of '07 movie reviews).

Here's a quick rundown of some of the categories and nominees:

Best Film

The Warlords
Protege
The Postmodern Life Of My Aunt
Mad Detective
Eye In The Sky

Best Director

Peter Chan Ho Sun (The Warlords)
Derek Yee Tung Sing (Protege)
Ann Hui On Wah (The Postmodern Life Of My Aunt)
Johnnie To Kei Fung & Wai Ka Fai (Mad Detective)
Yau Nai Hoi (Eye In The Sky)

Best Actor

Aaron Kwok (The Detective)
Jet Li (The Warlords)
Andy Lau Tak Wah (The Warlords)
Lau Ching Wan (Mad Detective)
Simon Yam (Eye In The Sky)

Best Actress

Teresa Mo Shun Kwan (Mr. Cinema)
Zhang Jing Chu (Protege)
Si Qin Gao Wa (The Postmodern Life Of My Aunt)
Rene Liu (Kidnap)
Charlene Choi (Simply Actors)

For more information check out the 27th HK Film Awards site.

Crash The Superbowl Winner: Kina Grannis

And the winner is....Kina Grannis - who had her 30 second commercial/video air down on the Superbowl today and also wins the recording contract with Interscope records - and while I was hoping Nivla would pull out the win - it's definitely cool that Kina Grannis, another Asian American pulled it out (and if I was a betting man which I am - I had a feeling it was going to be Kina Grannis even if I was rooting for Nivla).

Check out Kina down at Interscope Records or check out her video below.



See a previous post for more info on Kina and her runner up Nivla.

Book: Asian American Women And Men

Asian American Women and Men: Labor, Laws, and Love, by Yen Espiritu, analyzes how race, gender, and class and economics have shaped and continue to shape the relations between Asian American men and women at different points in American history and contemporary society. This book takes a valuable and insightful look not only at the Asian American experience but also at the systems in which we live.

Read more here.

Race and the Packers seen as a motive in slaying of woman

What do you get if you're a 20 year-old black student studying to be a nurse getting your lunch?

If you were Brittany Williams you sadly were shot to death by Kyle Bormann who was dressed in camouflage waiting to pick people off at the local drive-thru, who apparently, in addition to just being "pissed" at black people in general, was also still angry over the officiating from a Packers football game:

Bormann, who had been drinking, mentioned being upset with the officiating in the New York Giants-Green Bay Packers NFC Championship game, Kleine said. Bormann said something about the officiating favoring the black players, Kleine said. In a later interview at Central Police Headquarters, Bormann also described being "pissed'' at black people but gave no specifics, Kleine said.

So basically if the Packers would have won and Brittany Williams would have been white, she would still be alive - but because of some racist white guy who doesn't understand that football's just a game and that people of color aren't connected at the hip and are out to get him, a life was taken - an innocent life.

This is why I'm not against laws that allow citizens to carry guns - I want to know that if some racist nutjob decides to actually have some balls and stick a gun in my face (because let's face it - getting tanked and shooting someone from afar is the most cowardly thing you can do) - well - I want to know I have options.

I'll just blame it on the computer

Just like more and more people are forgetting to remember Chinese characters because they're relying on their computers to do the work wondering what's the harm in forgetting a character here and there - the same goes for spellcheck - which has currently been down here at Blogger for the past couple days - and really - should I have to know how to spell tchotchke off the top of my head?

Getting Bollywood for free

Interesting article on the copyrights of Bollywood films and the public domain - currently the time is set at 60 years, which means some of the classics belong to anyone that wants them:

Did you know that films like Mela, Anmol Ghadi, Neecha Nagar, Shaheed and many Hindi classics of 1940s and 1930s have already lost the copyright tenure and are in public domain. By 2010, evergreen film of the 1950s — CID to Babul — would also lose their copyright tag.

Read more here.

Race Roundup

Some news from around the way:

8 file racism lawsuit against Bridgestone-Firestone

Eight workers at a Bridgestone-Firestone plant in Des Moines are suing the company. They claim they were subjected to years of racial jokes and threats. In a lawsuit filed this week in Polk County, the eight workers, all black, claim they were referred to as slaves by co-workers who compared them to monkeys and displayed nooses and swastikas.

Racism remains alive in El Paso

There are many in our community who dedicate their lives to our brothers and sisters with no thought to gender, ethnicity, nationality, or immigration status. They are color-blind and El Paso proud. Are you?

Acknowledging, not promoting, racism

It would be easy to pretend that the racist letters sent last week to hundreds of Notre Dame students were meaningless garbage. It would be easy to quickly toss them in the trash without a second glance - although their message would certainly continue to trouble many recipients. It would be easy to do, but it wouldn't solve anything.

Campbell reluctant to report racism

GOLD Coast fullback Preston Campbell believes rugby league players could be reluctant to report on-field racism following the recent treatment of cricketer Andrew Symonds.

Comedy Trio Tackles Racism

NWC, the politically-charged show coming to Phi Beta Kappa Hall this Saturday uses sketch comedy, slam poetry and song to deconstruct racist attitudes and terminology.

John McCain and g**ks

Here McCain plays on his reputation as a war hero and POW to justify his actions. And if the comments on this article are at all representative of the public, many people feel that he is justified as well. Additionally, why is he refraining from using the g-word? Because of "regret"? He says "I don’t want to feel the fire." So maybe he regrets being slightly burned, but not that he was lighting the matches.