Mallika Sherawat, The Aquarian Gospel, Shilpa Shetty, and Quantum of Solace

Bollywood's taboo-breaking blockbuster celibate yogni actress Mallika Sherawat (aka Bollywood's Bardot) will be starring in an upcoming Hollywood film about Jesus Christ called The Aquarian Gospel, where she'll play the character Saraswati, a loyal friend of Christ, when he travels through India - and like some of her other roles, this one's starting to make conversation too.



At the same time, after winning the UK Celebrity Big Brother and getting kissed by Richard Gere (that picture still makes me queasy) - it seems one of the next stops for Shilpa Shetty is in the next James Bond movie Quantum of Solace where it's rumored that her role will be more like Madonna's in Die Another Day.

Ben Woo

The Seattle Times on the life of Ben Woo, and how he helped create a space for Asian Americans:

If a person's life can be measured by grades of community betterment, then Ben Woo's 84 years would have to be at the top of the charts.

The Wing Luke Asian Museum; the Chinatown-International District Preservation and Development Authority; local activists and politicians; even mushroom enthusiasts — all were touched to the core by Mr. Woo, who died Feb. 8 after suffering a stroke this past November.

While his passing is a loss to Seattle and particularly the Asian-American community, the way he lived his life ought to serve as a beacon of inspiration for future generations.

Read the full op-ed here.

Utah: Looking back at Racism

Pictured above is Allan C. Jackson - I hope I look that good at 104 - who was in attendence for the showing of the documentary, The Wisdom of Our Years: Stories of African American Utahns, taking a look back at some of the stories that have encompassed the African American experience in the state.

Here's an excerpt from an article about the documentary from the Salt Lake Tribune:

Eva Sexton's late husband worked as a waiter at a restaurant called the Coon Chicken Inn that featured a sign with a cartoonish black man with exaggerated lips. Her grandfather was a slave.

Frank Satterwite spent a career in the U.S. military defending his country yet could not live in many places in Ogden. And James Green, 104-year-old Allan Jackson, Florence Lawrence, Anna Belle Mattson and the late Dovie Goodwin all experienced the kind of Utah racism that forced them to sit in the balconies of Utah movie theaters, refused them service at many restaurants, only opened a public swimming pool to blacks in Ogden on the day when the lifeguard was off duty, and forced them into taking jobs well below their education.

Yet, if the 40-minute movie that premiered before a multi-racial crowd of hundreds in the Calvary Baptist Church gymnasium Sunday conveyed one message, it was one of hope.

Read the full article down at the Salt Lake Tribune.

Vote for Ailee

Check out R&B singer Ailee down at her MySpace page if you're looking for some new tracks (Undeniable and No One are two standouts), and then go on over and vote for her in the Hottest Undiscovered Talent contest where she's competing against six other contestants (via the Maury Show). Vote as much as you want and don't let the Maury set fool ya - Ailee's got skills.

Lucy Liu - the new All-American Girl?

As Lipstick Jungle already seems to be an afterthought, it seems fitting then that Lucy Liu and Cashmere Mafia are still getting favorable writeups - and Joyce Tang wonders if Lucy Liu is the New All-American Girl:

Over the past few decades Asian Americans have been slowly eking their way into casting rooms and onto sets in Hollywood. (Think Lost, ER, Grey’s Anatomy, Heroes, Entourage, Gilmore Girls, etc.). Exposure is a good thing, but Asian Americans for the most part are still relegated to ancillary roles.

In Cashmere Mafia, Mia isn’t immediately identifiable as the protagonist via voiceovers a la Carrie Bradshaw, but she’s clearly the leader of her pack. And Liu has first billing (plus the most star power out of the cast).

Read the full article down at the The Riff Blog.

Herbie Hancock, Lang Lang, Rhapsody In Blue

Updated with YouTube Video 2/12/2008

Here's a shout out to legendary musician Herbie Hancock for taking away the Grammy last night for Album of the Year, and also to Recording academy president Neil Portnow who had this to say on the win:

I don't think sales has anything to do with what the academy decides in awarding albums or records. It's about excellence in music.

At the same time as winning the Album of the Year, Hancock also joined up with Hong Kong piano virtuoso Lang Lang for their take on George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" - which proved to be one of the best duets of the night receiving a standing ovation.

Check it out below

2008 Grammys: Amy Winehouse Video

Updated with YouTube Video 2/12/2008

Just in case you missed it, or want to watch it again, here's the performance by Amy Winehouse that had everyone talking:

YWCA and Supporting an end to Racism

Check out a good article down at The-Review on Cindy King, chair of the Alliance YWCA Black History Committee:

Cindy King, chair of the Alliance YWCA Black History Committee, believes the process to end racism has to start within each person. So, she helps plan YWCA events for Black History Month. And she does not stop there. She promotes the organization's work on racism in Alliance all year round. She is also a mediator and uses those skills to problem solve on racism-related issues throughout the community.

Read the full article here.

Dear AsianWeek: Stop Loving Yourself

So in a recent AsianWeek column (put out today), they decided to go with a theme for Valentine's Day specifically targeting Asian American men - and I just have to ask myself what type of myopic people write columns like this?

Here's one of my major complaints from the article which reads:

Asian American men in this country have historically gotten the short end of the dating stick. In addition to being subjected to the inaccurate but pervasive stereotypes about being small, nerdy and effeminate, they must also face the reality that Asian American women have among the highest out-marriage rates for women of all races and ethnicities.

Let's get this straight - so AsianWeek is saying that Asian American woman should only be dating Asian American men - that Asian American women, because they decide to go out with whoever it is that they want too - they're one of the problems for Asian American males that can't get themselves a date?

I wonder if the staffers down at AsianWeek think that Asian American women should basically be at the beck and call of Asian American men - to be their playtoys - just because they're Asian American?

Or rather do the staffers down at AsianWeek think Asian American men should only be dating Asian American woman because of some sort of "purity" standard?

Is the AsianWeek staff afraid of some mudbloods?

What's funny about this AsianWeek column is that at the end of it, the staffers down at AsianWeek say:

Finally, we hope that in the future Asian Americans will craft a dating method centered on mutual respect between the sexes — free of outdated stereotypes, misogyny and notions of "the game" — and based on love for our community, cultures and traditions.

I think AsianWeek should be taking their own advice.

Cashmere Mafia 1, Lipstick Jungle 0

Hopefully you didn't catch the premiere of Lipstick Jungle - because I did - and it was an hour of my life that I wish I could get back. I'm all for having Asian American faces on the TV, but let's at least give them a show that might not get cancelled in a few weeks (and yes - it will get cancelled).

Here's to hoping Lindsay Price can get a cameo on Cashmere Mafia.

Clinton, Obama, the Asian American vote, and lots of whining

So I've been listening to the rhetoric (and that's what it is) since Super Tuesday and listening to how everyone has been rationalizing how the Asian American vote helped Clinton versus Obama - and really - it's just a lot of excuses from the Asian American segment that are Obama supporters.

But that's to be expected a little isn't it?

I mean, everyone wants to support their candidate - and that's great, because you should - but while discussing reasons why Asian Americans voted for Clinton versus Obama - a lot of Obama supporters also ended up trashing the segment of Asian Americans who decided to vote for Hillary instead of Obama.

Here are some of the dumbass statements and inferences from the Asian American Obama support clubs and article writers after Super Tuesday:

Asian Americans who voted for Hillary are like sheep because they follow their community leaders blindly, who ended up giving their support to Clinton

Yeah that's spot on. I guess we really are all a collective who can't think on our own. Oh wait, maybe that's just the people that bought into one article by Jeff Chang as the reasons for people not voting for Obama - because you know - he's like God.

Asian Americans didn't vote for Obama because he was black

As much as #1 relegates Asian Americans who voted for Clinton to being sheep - this inference - and it has been inferred - is that Asian Americans who voted for Hillary only did so because they didn't want to vote for a black candidate.

Yeah - this is just sewage being spewed from people who can't wrap their plebian-like minds around the fact that maybe, just maybe, these Asian Americans liked Clinton's overall experience and platform to that of Obama's.

But then again what do I know?

I'm probably just a racist Asian American guy who doesn't like black people (oh wait - don't I do this blog where I post on race and racism for all people of color...hmm - I must be more messed up than I thought).

Asian American's who voted for Clinton are just immigrants with accents who don't really know any better

I love this one - because a lot of the rhetoric that's come out from Obama supporters on why certain Asian American groups voted the way they did, or on Asian American voting coverage, do in fact infer this.

So let me see - I'm an immigrant who's lived here the majority of my life, and I know other immigrants who happen to have accents - I guess that means regardless of who we might vote for, that we don't really know any better because well - we're just dumbass immigrants?

And an accent makes someone even less intelligent?

Because someone wasn't born in this country that somehow makes their choices - no matter who they voted for - less than those Asian Americans who were born in this country?

What? Immigrants can't read?

I mean seriously - are these Obama supporters in the Asian American community such incredible poor ass losers (on ST) that they couldn't help but denigrate the Asian American community that did in fact vote for Clinton in the states that she won - all because their candidate didn't?

Vote for whoever it is that you believe in - that's your right - but don't trample over other Asian Americans like you're a racist white guy, just because they didn't vote the same way you did.

Alec Baldwin, Rick Murphy, and The Independent

In a previous post I ranted on Rick Murphy, who wrote a racist op-ed piece in The Independent, which caters mostly to an affluent white crowd - and apparently some of them, including Actor Alec Baldwin, didn't like the racist "satire" either:

Alec Baldwin joined dozens of Hamptons residents at a town hall meeting to voice outrage over the racist, sexist writings of a community newspaper columnist.

Many of the 60 people demanded editor Rick Murphy be fired from the Independent Newspaper Group for columns written in the supposed voice of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

If I was Rick Murphy, I'd step on down now because the next thing you know, first it's a voicemail detailing out the dates and times Alec's going to come down to kick his ass, and the next thing you know - it's a roundhouse to the head.

Zhang Ziyi: Singing in the New Year

Is TLC turning a blind eye to Anti Semitism for profits?

If you're a fan of reality tv and tattoos, a few of the shows you've probably been watching are TLC's Miami Ink and TLC's new series LA Ink - and if you've been watching, you probably also know about the bad split between Ami James and Kat Von D where the latter ended up getting fired from the shop - only to later get her own show.

So what's happening now? Isn't it all good in tattoo land?

According to recent reports, before Kat Von D left, she handed another artist from Miami Ink (Chris Garver) an autographed photo of herself with some anti semitic comments on it - all of which were handed over to a handwriting analyst who said there was a 99% probability that Kat Von D wrote the message, and then over to TLC.

After receiving the letter and info from a Miami Ink lawyer, apparently TLC wrote a letter back that simply acknowledged getting the information, and then said "We trust that this information will be kept strictly confidential.”

Artist Kat Von D denies that she wrote it since it's made the news, blaming it on bad blood between her old shop (see video) - and TLC had this to say in a PR statement:

A publicity photo was brought to the network's attention eight months ago that contained extraordinarily offensive language. A full investigation was immediately conducted to determine whether anyone associated with the network was involved. Kat vehemently denied authoring the text and after completing the investigation, it was determined that insufficient evidence existed to conclude that she had. Therefore, no disciplinary action was taken. The network always takes these matters seriously and follows what we believe to be an appropriate course of action as dictated by the circumstances and available information.

So when two of the stars on a network's show bring something like that against a new star of a show the network's currently promoting (but which had yet to premiere) - what do they do?

From all accounts, it seems like they pretty much just swept it under the rug.

Kit Yan: Slamming Asian American Stereotypes

Out on the road with filmmaker Melissa Li as the duo Good Asian Drivers, Kit Yan is helping to break and broaden what it means to be an Asian American:

Two years ago, Yan joined a national slam team and won the world’s largest individual slam competition and he hasn’t stopped since.

Now 23-years-old, Yan is taking his poetry on the road with award-winning composer, singer-songwriter and lesbian filmmaker, Melissa Li. The duo performs under the moniker Good Asian Drivers (goodasiandrivers.com) to confront negative stereotypes. Next month they hit the road on a cross-country tour through 30 states that they hope will raise awareness of queer Asian Americans. Capitalizing on Li’s filmmaking skills, they are also videotaping weekly video blogs, “to sort of take everyone with us,” Yan says.

Read more about Kit and Melissa Li down at the San Francisco Bay Times.

Asian Americans and Advertising

Interesting article on the Asian American population and advertising:

According to the Selig Center for Economic Growth, Asian Americans represented $253 billion in spending power in 2001, and this number is projected to reach $528 billion by 2009. While Hispanics make up the largest minority in the U.S., there are 13.5 million Asian Americans (residents who say they are Asian or Asian in combination with one or more other races) according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau findings. This group comprises 5% of the total U.S. population. There is also a sizeable proportion of Asian Americans who are business owners and entrepreneurs.

Rather than an afterthought, Asian Americans should be of special interest to marketers. While Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco have the highest Asian populations, other cities are increasingly becoming urban hubs. According to a 2005 report titled "Asian Americans in the U.S." written by Dr. Robert Brown and Ms. Ruth Washton for Package Facts, specific goods and services, including computers and Internet services, home electronics, and automobiles are more likely to be owned by Asian Americans than other ethnic groups.

Read more from the press release.

Go Go New Year

Whether you're starting to celebrate the Chinese, Korean, or Vietnamese New Year - well wishes to everyone out in blogosphere, and may your days be Asian and Slanty.

Lipstick Jungle airing tonight

Lipstick Jungle airs tonight with another Asian face in Lindsay Price. The show is on NBC at 10/9c.

Hot Track: Bushido by Zeebra

Check out the MV for Zeebra's new track Bushido which officially gets released for purchase on March 5, 2008 and comes with a bonus DVD:



Go to Zeebra's MySpace page for more vids and songs.

2008 Korean-American Film Festival New York

If you're in the mood for some Korean American film check the 2008 KAFFNY this weekend:

The new 2008 KAFFNY launches on Feb 9. KAFFNY is the Korean-American Film Festival New York - and that means the one gathering in NYC for emerging Korean-American talent. Last year, over 300 strong called out to us for only 184 seats. This year, we booked the 860-seat Skirball Center for The Performing Arts at NYU. Transformed and ready to entertain, KAFFNY is making another step forward to its ultimate endgoal, to realize new opportunities for Korean-American filmmakers in the American and international film markets.

Get tickets and learn more about the films and the fest at www.KAFFNY.com