Team Millennia, Quest, Boxcuttuhz, And America's Best Dance Crew

Video of some of the Asian American crews and folks, competing on America's Best Dance Crew this season.

Team Millennia



Quest



Boxcuttuhz

Kartika Review

Found this from trailing out an alert:

Kartika Review publishes literary fiction, poetry, and essays that endeavor to expand and enhance the mainstream perception of Asian American creative writing. The journal also publishes book reviews, literary criticism, author interviews, and artwork. We turn our focus on works relevant to the Asian Diaspora or authored by individuals of Asian descent. Kartika plans to sponsor readings, panel discussions, writing contests, and other creative activities for the Asian American community in Boston, New York City and the Bay Area

Check out the site and download the Winter issue here.

Random MV: Koi no Mahou

Don't Believe The Hype: We're Losing Our Homes Too

If the financial state of the economy hasn't hit you in some way - even if it means going to the dollar g-clubs - well - you're better off then most of us. And contrary to popular belief, we all didn't come to the country and two years later become multi-millionaires throwing wads of cash at naked circus animals for fun while we order insane amounts of wasabi just because we can:

The American Dream of prosperity and home ownership is collapsing on the borough’s South Asians as their mortgages balloon and banks move in to foreclose, deflating the stereotype of Asian prosperity, an advocacy group has found.

According to research conducted by two students of the Milano New School for Management and Urban Policy for the Jackson Heights-based CHHAYA Community Development Corp., South Asians made up the majority of homeowners facing new foreclosures in two Queens neighborhoods over the last six months and comprised a substantial percentage of those facing foreclosure in several others.

“A lot of research has indicated that Asians are not affected in the mortgage crisis,” said Seema Agnani, executive director of CHHAYA. “We wanted to find a way to dispel that myth.”

The nonprofit found that 53 percent of homes about to enter foreclosure proceedings in the Briarwood and Jamaica Estates area belong to South Asian families.

53% percent?

Damn.

Pinoy Captial

Just wanted to post up on a new book caught down at the Philippine American Writers And Artists blog:

Home to 33,000 Filipino American residents, Daly City, California, located just outside of San Francisco, has been dubbed “the Pinoy Capital of the United States.” In this fascinating ethnographic study of the lives of Daly City residents, Benito Vergara shows how Daly City has become a magnet for the growing Filipino American community.

Vergara challenges rooted notions of colonialism here, addressing the immigrants’ identities, connections and loyalties. Using the lens of transnationalism, he looks at the “double lives” of both recent and established Filipino Americans. Vergara explores how first-generation Pinoys experience homesickness precisely because Daly City is filled with reminders of their homeland’s culture, like newspapers, shops and festivals. Vergara probes into the complicated, ambivalent feelings these immigrants have—toward the Philippines and the United States—and the conflicting obligations they have presented by belonging to a thriving community and yet possessing nostalgia for the homeland and people they left behind.

Check more out here.

An Open Letter To The One Who Pissed Me Off The Most In 2008

I wasn't going to write this post, but I thought you know what - it is my blog, and like I've said before I'm not a brand, an organization - hell - I'm no one - so what should really stop me from completely going off about the thing that personally pissed me off the most in 2008?

Sure, some of you might say that there's really no use in it, that it's not constructive, that I should just let it pass, that it does absolutely no good for the community, and you know what?

You might be right.

But if you haven't figured it out by now, I really don't care. In fact, I just can't help myself. We all do things our own way and I had to get this one off my chest.

So, here it is:

Dear fucking cricket that infiltrated my goddamn house this year and kept me up for a solid no-shit fucking week,

Listen to me you crazy motherfucker. I still don't know if you're dead, because I couldn't actually find you, and while you might think that makes you smarter than me, if you are still alive and do happen to resurface, I just want to let you know that I'm gonna seriously fuck you up.

I mean you may not be a racist cricket, a GOP cricket, or a cricket that blamed the black voter for Prop 8, but goddamn cricket, you still pissed me the fuck off to no end this year. And seriously - what was up after Day #3? I mean didn't you figure out by then that you weren't going to get any cricket sex from a cricket hoochie mama by rubbing your scrawny little cricket legs together in my fucking kitchen, or were you just fucking with me?

Because seriously, if I ever find out that you were just fucking with me and it wasn't just some natural instinct of yours (because that sucked ass enough), I'm not just gonna beat you down, I'm gonna beat down all of your fucking people too.

Take my word for it cricket.

You better watch your ass.

Slanty

And You Can't Stop Chinese People From Using The Internet

While the Chinese government may be keeping a watchful eye over the content that people are viewing, in some ways you might think that the Internet usage would plateau (well not really...but that just sounded good) - but in all reality - I guess it doesn't matter:

The government-related information center CNNIC (China Internet Network Information Center) claims the nation’s online population has grown 41.9% in 2008 to an astounding 298 million users, reports the BBC.

That’s about the size of the entire U.S. population, while eMarketer pegs the online population in the States to be about 200 million.

This further cements China’s position as the world’s largest online population, although internet penetration is still fairly low (22,6%) even if it exceeds the world’s average by almost one percent.

I guess I need to get this blog translated.

Most Viewed Asian American Comic Of The Year Who Everyone Seemed To Hate But I Still Didn't Mind

Esther Ku



For me Esther Ku was a mixed bag in '08. I loved the fact that at times she really did push some of the boundaries in some of her standup, and I thought she had a lot of smart comedy, but at the same time I couldn't help but cringe when she simply told some of the jokes that you get tired of hearing rather than actually using them to flip the stereotype in ways that she could have and that she did at other times.

But I still thought there was more of an upshot to her routines then there was that actually pulled her down, and I also can't help but wonder how different we might react to someone like Sarah Silverman versus an Esther Ku (see Ku at the Friars Roast Of Omarosa).

While Silverman can get away with using racial language what happens when it's an Asian American?

Sure, while you can say the above has more to do with delivery, or that there wasn't even a joke there at all (and if you watch the clip you'll know what I'm talking about) we really don't expect anything else from a white comic like Silverman because in a way there's just an assumption that there's something more behind it (that there has to be something more behind it regardless of whether or not there actually is) - but for an Asian American comic?

I'm not actually defending or debating the merits of the routine or the joke itself, but simply asking the question of how far we let comics of all other races go and if that same standard applies to Asian American comics?

I don't really know myself, or even if it's that easy, but I do hope that I'll see Ku and other Asian American comics at least trying to find that answer.

Best Asian Epic Of The Year

Red Cliff



In 2008, or late '07 (with wide releases last year) there were really three films that qualified for the list - Red Cliff, Three Kingdoms, and The Warlords. Three Kingdoms was mildly entertaining, but nothing special (sorry Maggie) so in the end, that really left John Woo's Red Cliff (Part 1) and the Jet Li/Andy Lau/Takeshi Kaneshiro Blood Brothers epic The Warlords.

I almost put The Warlords on the top of the list - I think in part simply because of Andy Lau and Jet Li. Compared to Part 1 of Red Cliff, I couldn't help but think that in some ways they had stronger, better acting.

But Red Cliff pulled me in - even if slowly (because I didn't really get into it until the fifteen minute mark). Maybe it was the grand sweeping shots of the landscape, or Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, or Zhao Wei whispering into a horse's ear, or just the fact that it actually made me want to see Part 2 (which isn't always the case for me) - whatever the reasons really were - I guess in the end I had to agree with the rest of Asia.

Late Nite Spam-O-Rama And The Pork Filled Players

Got this passed to my inbox and sounds like it should be pretty cool:

The Pork Filled Players (PFP), Seattle's oldest sketch comedy group, unveils Late Nite Spam-O-Rama, a monthly late night comedy/live music cabaret, which debuts January 24, Saturday, at 10 pm at the Theatre Off Jackson (409 7th Ave S. in Seattle's International District).

Joining the Players in the inaugural Spam-O-Rama are the Entertainment Show, regular denizens of the People's Republic of Komedy, and special musical guest star, the Dana Sweeney Trio (jazz ensemble with Dana Sweeney, vocals, Dave Anderson, sax, Owen Yen, guitar).

"The I-District and Seattle's Asian American artists have a long history of late night entertainment," says Roger Tang, producer for PFP. "Shows like NWAAT's 11:07 and Hypnotica have long presented the best in comedy, dance and drama. The Pork Filled Players intend to bring this tradition into the 21st Century and beyond."

"PFP plans, each month, to present the best in late night sketch comedy and live music. We've got contacts not only with the top sketch groups in Seattle, but in Vancouver, Canada and across the continent."

Veteran Players Brian Beckley, Maggie Lee, Owen Yen and Yvette Zaepfel welcome Matt Dela Cruz, Laura West and Jon Peck to the monthly madness.

The January Late Nite Spam-O-Rama follows the Cody Rivers Show at the Theatre Off Jackson. Tickets are $6 general, $5 if also seeing the Cody Rivers Show

For more on the Pork Filled Players, check out their site here.

I Drink, I'm Not A Jesus Freak, And I'm Not Really That Creeped Out By Anything

I saw this post down at Legal Technology:

A MySpace blog entry written by a former intern in the San Francisco public defender's office has prompted the superior court and Public Defender Jeff Adachi to look into whether a lawyer in Adachi's office was once told to keep Asians off a jury. The blogger, Carrie Wipplinger, posted an entry on Sept. 3 about a case that she said involved a drunken man whom authorities found receiving oral sex in a car.

"I got to listen in on a conference regarding jury selection," she wrote. "My bosses gave the following advice to the lawyer … don't pick any Asian jurors, because (and I quote): 'Asians don't drink, they love Jesus, and they're creeped out by everything.'" She wrote that the lawyer followed that advice, and the client was acquitted. The attorneys who worked with the intern deny making such a comment, and it appears that at least one Asian-American juror was seated on that jury.

Both the California and U.S. supreme courts have declared that attorneys may not use their peremptory challenges, which generally do not require any explanation, to dismiss jurors solely because of race or ethnicity. The blogger identifies herself only as Carrie, a 32-year-old law student in San Francisco. Adachi confirmed that she is Wipplinger, a Golden Gate University School of Law student who interned during the fall. [...]

During the Summer 2008 term, Wipplinger was named to the dean's list and received an academic award for her work in a constitutional law course, according to the Golden Gate law school's Web site. Her blog chronicles a roughly 10-month period beginning in February and encompasses her four-month internship at the public defender's office, which ended in December. The case involving the potentially illegal juror challenges is one of several internship experiences she wrote about on her blog.

Adachi said he was "dismayed" that an intern would "apparently write a public blog about her experiences here, including supposedly confidential discussions that she was privy to." He said he is satisfied by Gray and Maloof's explanations and though he is "certainly interested" in speaking with Wipplinger, "she's not here and she's not an employee."

Bryan Hawkins, a San Francisco-based attorney at the firm Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis, prosecuted the Robinson case while working at the district attorney's office on a temporary loan program. Hawkins said on Friday that he could not remember whether anyone of Asian descent made it onto the jury, nor whether Gray appeared to be targeting Asians or any other group with his challenges.

Adachi, a fourth-generation Japanese-American who wrote and directed a documentary film about Asian stereotypes in cinema, said he "would be deeply offended by a suggestion that a whole group of people should be excluded from a jury." He said that, with more than 200 staff members and 200 interns working in the public defender's office each year, Wipplinger's blog "doesn't reflect on my administration."

Obviously there's more going on here, but just for the record (again):

I drink. I'm not a Jesus freak. And I'm not really that creeped out by anything...

Unless you count people who don't want a whole race of people (that would be us) to sit on a jury (especially seeing as how in the past we weren't able to testify against white people) because they think we're all Jesus freaks who can't handle a case about a dude getting a hummer in his car.

Random Gina Hiraizumi, Unmei No Ai, And Jason Scott Lee

Not quite my vibe (don't be too shocked) but thought I would post this vid up for any Gina Hiraizumi fans, or anyone that might just want to see Jason Scott Lee with his shirt off.

Jason Koo & Man On Extremely Small Island

Caught this headline and wanted to post this up for all you poetry fans:

POET OF THE WEEK: JASON KOO

I met Jason Koo the day before Election Day at Davidson College where he teaches. At the Chinese restaurant where we had lunch with Tony Abbot, we both decided on General Tso's chicken (well, it's spelled differently in various menus), so I knew we'd hit it off, which we did. I was there for the Appalachain Songbook performance with soprano Jacque Culpepper and pianist Phillip Bush, but I also agreed to visit Jason's poetry workshop. A great group, and Jason himself had the enviable teacher's persona of being both laid-back and incisive. I asked him to send me some work for my blog and our website, so here is his "official" bio. statement, but first a short piece from his email telling me his good news! [...]

Jason Koo’s first collection of poems, MAN ON EXTREMELY SMALL ISLAND , won the 2008 De Novo Poetry Prize and will be published in 2009 by C&R Press. The recipient of a Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, he has had his poems appear in numerous journals, including The Yale Review, North American Review, Verse, Bellingham Review, Cimarron Review, Green Mountains Review, and Gulf Coast. He serves as Poetry Editor of Low Rent and is a visiting assistant professor of English at Davidson College.

Cool.

Worst (Or Best) Term Of The Year To Make White People Feel Better About Having Views That Could Be Considered Racist

Racial Resentment

Maybe it was just me, but this year seemed to be the one that people really started using the term to either cover up their own views, or the views of others which by most standards would seem racist, and at the same time, allowed people to throw back the idea of "reverse racism" - which as we all know, doesn't exist.

In that way "Racial Resentment" made it O.K. to say things like:

I have nothing against black people, or other people, but I just don't trust them, and I know it's wrong, but I can't help it. It's the way I was brought up. I mean, is that wrong of me to think that? I don't think so, but if you think it is I don't know what to say, because it really isn't my fault. I think we just inherently like people of the same color, and I can't help it that I don't really know any black people or sit down and have conversations with them. I already have friends so I don't really need to meet more people. At the same time, and I know this is wrong, I can't help but think what happens if a black President is elected - where does it end? I know I said this was wrong already, but I might tolerate, or have too, a black President, but does that pave the way for a Chinese, or Japanese, or a Muslim? I hate to say it, but I just don't think they've been in America long enough to really understand what it's like to be American and I think you have too in order to lead our country, and don't have anything against them, but I just can't help but think that if we elect a black President that it could actually happen and then I just wouldn't know what to do. I wouldn't feel like America is still 'American'. And I guess, if I really think about it, if you are black you're American, but I really don't know about anyone else yet. I just think it takes time. And I don't think that's really wrong of me to say, because that's just the way I feel and I think that's O.K., because it's not like it was thirty years ago. We've evolved so far past that, but at the same time, we need to take small steps.

They may be somewhat "nice" about it (if you can call it that) - but you can't deny that what they say holds to the same truths that created (and keep running) the machine of institutionalized racism.

There's no way around it.

But now?

Now they have a term to help shield them from criticism - at least a little. Now they have a term to say "I'm not racist. I just have racial resentment" - even though that resentment is for POC who've always been the targets of oppression.

In the end it's like beating someone to death with boxing gloves versus your bare hands.

You've still taken the life.

At the same time, I can't help but wonder if the term "racial resentment" - as much as I don't like it and what comes with it - at times can allow a somewhat more open conversation of race where there might be a starting point in a conversation that may have never happened.

In that way, if people aren't afraid of talking about race because they can be under the protection of "racial resentment", does it at least allow POC to be able to get a chance to say something like "Well, I know you don't think of what you're saying as being filled with racism, but..."?

Could it point to the fact that in some cases as our views may soften, so may our language?

Or is the the language the only thing that's really changed?

Best Blog By An Asian American Musician

Geologic And Prometheus Brown



Maybe it's because I like hearing different voices on both race and film, or that in the "About" section he mentions that he's ranked one spot below Michelle Malkin in the "politics" category down at NetworkedBlogs.com, or just the fact that when I checked out the Prometheus Brown blog this year it wasn't what I expected as I read through the posts.

Whatever the reason - it ended up striking a chord with me, and in turn got a nod in my Year In Review.

Here's a list of links to some posts throughout '08 in descending order from Prometheus Brown.

• Gran Torino (Clint Eastwood, 2008)
  
• Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle, 2008)
  
• Black Presidents in Film/Television
  
• RIGHTS, Vol. 1
  
• Filipin@s in Hollywood
  
• Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (Sidney Lumet, 2007)
  
• Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927)
  
• The Great Debaters (Denzel Washington, 2007) and Resolved (Greg Whiteley, 2008)
  
• Crispin Beltran (Ka Bel), 1933-2008
  
• No Justice, No Peace: Officers Acquitted in Sean Bell Murder Trial

Get In The Video: Magnetic North, Taiyo Na, "I Got My", And A Little Ishle Yi Park

I got word sent from Taiyo Na about a cool video shoot that you can be a part of if you're down in NY, January 18th from 8-11 PM at the Bowery Poetry Club:

On Sunday, January 18th, from 8pm to 11pm at the Bowery Poetry Club's Sulu Series, Magnetic North and I will be shooting our music video for our brand new song "I Got My." While we enter the New Year facing the worst economic crisis since the Depression, much of our concentration has been spent these days on what we are losing and what we don't have. While we fully acknowledge how dire these times are, this song is a hard-hitting anthem about what we do "got" that is worth more than money. One good example of that is community, and that's what we stress in this song and that's where you come in. We invite you to be a part of this video shoot and participate in a number of ways:

A) Be recorded lip-syncing your favorite lyric in the song (For lyrics: http://magnetichiphop.com/igotmy.html)

B) Be recorded with your own line of "I Got My..."

C) Be recorded just being in attendance for the performances or just hanging out!

The night will also include a special guest performance by the incomparable Ishle Yi Park! We've waived the cover fee just for this night because we really want you there.

You can check out "I Got My" here at http://www.myspace.com/magnetichiphop.

Hope to see you there!

Peace & Love,

TN

Here's also some info from the Magnetic North site:

On Jan 18th in NYC we'll be shooting the music video to I GOT MY at the Bowery Poetry Club. Since half the song is about how we got our fam/friends/crew, we'd love to have ya'll IN the video. Let's face it, we're not all that interesting looking... we need your pretty faces up in here. What do you say? Come mug for the cameras and chill with us?

Join us and lip-sync a line from the song (lyrics are below), spit your own "I Got My" line, be a part of the crowd, or whatever you want that's fresh! There will also be live performances from TAIYO NA, ourselves, and the incomparable ISHLE YI PARK.

So come through!!

It's free, you'll be able to hang out with some cool Asian American artists, and you'll be in a video.

What more could you really want?

Here's some GPS info:

Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery, New York, NY 10012
212.614.0505
(foot of First Street, between Houston & Bleecker F train to Second Ave, or 6 train to Bleecker)
http://www.bowerypoetry.com/ & www.myspace.com/suluseries

Best K-Pop Song I Can Only Sometimes Listen To, With The Windows Rolled Down, Really Loud

So Hot By The Wonder Girls



I have to admit that as much as I love my K-Pop, J-Pop, and everything else Pop, and I'm completely secure in my love for all things Hallmark, there are some days when I'm just not Asian cool enough to be rolling through the hood with the Wonder Girls' So Hot at the loudest of decibels and still maintain my "You wanna mess with me MF?" look.

And sure, some of you may say "That's what you get for listening to the Wonder Girls" and may have already questioned my coolness because of my love for pop-filled hooks (but we all know I love it anyway so what's the use) - but I really can be ultra Asian cool while still listening to the Wonder Girls at max volume with the windows rolled down while trippin' through the hood.

I just can't do it 365 days out of the year.

Random Asian Guy With A Funny Hat Post

Kevin Wong from Engadget down at CES featuring the iCap as part of the Crapgadget CES round up.

And We Have A Winner: Slumdog Millionaire Takes Best Picture

If you haven't checked out Slumdog Millionaire yet, you'll definitely want to see it not only because it's a great film - but also because it just won Best Picture and Best Director down at the Golden Globes (and you do want to be in the know don't you?).

A film with an all Asian cast winning Best Picture?

Damn that's cool.

NewsBytes

Info from blogosphere and beyond.

On DramaFever and International Distribution Licenses

Those who frequent Kpop gossip blogs may already know that drama addicts Stateside can now enjoy high quality streaming of English-subbed Asian dramas thanks to DramaFever. The site’s current catalogue is exclusively Korean, but are engaged in conversation with various content owners to expand the catalogue to not only include dramas from Taiwan, China and Japan but to also include bonus materials, photos, music videos and variety shows.

businessman targeted and killed in philadelphia suburb

Chae, who owned and operated a beauty supply store, was attacked immediately after opening his garage door at about 5:00am on Friday. According to police, the assailants took his wife Janice Chae and the couple's two adult children, who had been sleeping upstairs, to the basement, where they were bound with duct tape. More here: Man slain during home invasion. The fatal home invasion robbery came a month after police arrested five men accused of at least ten robberies in Delaware County and Southwest Philadelphia, some of which involved Asian business owners who were targeted and followed home. There is an obvious pattern here, and it needs to stop.

Hello Kitty Tram!

Where you would find this tram? Italy of course! *boggle*

The Killing Fields

Today marks the 30 year anniversary of the fall of Pol Pot. Under his reign, this man ordered the deaths of everyone who had a trace of enlightenment. Educated people, teachers, doctors, lawyers, and civil servants were all sentenced to death for an unrealistic aspiration of an agricultural utopia free from industrialism. And if you had glasses on, a sign of knowing how to read, you got shot in the face as well. What was America doing when this was happening, you ask? She was recovering from the bombings and air raids on the Indochina peninsula for the past twenty years.

Love In This Slum

There are few films that really touch this wizened heart of mine, touched in a way that makes it difficult for me to look at the film critically. I don't think this is a bad thing, for it disproves what many have avowed in the past: that I have no soul. Some of these films have been relatively well-received, but most wouldn't exactly be included in the great American cinematic canon, and I suppose any wannabe film critic or academic worth his/her salt is supposed to deconstruct the hell out any piece of artwork until it becomes utterly unenjoyable for everyone. But I refuse to do that with my list of heartwarming (some oddly so) films...

DISGRASIAN OF THE WEAK! Panda Gu Gu

Pandas don't like to share toys. Zhang Jiao, of Anhui province, China, had to learn that the hard way this week when he entered a panda enclosure at the Beijing Zoo to retrieve a toy that his 5 year-old son had dropped in and got his ass tore up by Gu Gu, an 8 year-old, 240 lb. male panda (pictured left). Well, technically, it was Zhang's legs that got chewed, and the Beijing News reported major ligaments were torn and Zhang (pictured below) required surgery.

Best of 2008: Asian American Films

APA recaps the year in Asian American cinema with its third annual top ten.

Vivienne Tam HP Mini at CES 2009

We have posted several times on The HP Vivienne Tam ( Fashion Designer Vivienne Tam's HP Laptop, HP Mini Vivienne Tam Digital Clutch, and HP Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam edition now shipping). We got a chance to see the digital clutch at CES and asked HP's Joydeep Bhattachurya to talk about the key features. We found out that the Vivienne Tam HP Mini will come with matching mouse, digital silk clutch and matching scarf.