Got this sent out from MySpace and wanted to post it on up:
P.I.C will not only be playing our first show of ‘09, but will also be shooting the entire set for a live performance video! We'd love to capture all of your awesome body-shaken-smilin'-faces on tape. Don't miss the chance to be in the video. Come on out and bring some of that feel good energy to the dance floor this Saturday, January 31, when P.I.C will not only be playing our first show of ‘09, but will also be shooting the entire set for a live performance video! We’d love for your swank selves to grace the screen!
When: Saturday, Jan 31, 2009 11:30 PM
Where: Arlene’s Grocery 95 Stanton Street (bet. Ludlow & Orchard) New York 10002
Goh Nakamura and Big Phony are going to be playing live down at Cafe Du Nord (The Goh Birthday Show). Here's some more info on the show:
Tickets are $10 at the door, but believe it or not- we actually sold it out the place out last time, so you can buy advance tickets here. I'll be playing 2 sets, with many special guests and with an opening set from one of my favorite singer songwriters Bobby Choy aka "Big Phony". Check out some beautiful live video performances here and some mp3's.
When: Friday, Jan 30, 2009 8:30 PM
Where: Cafe Du Nord 2170 Market Street San Francisco 94114
While I can definitely understand where The Black Artists Association is coming from - because it was a great opportunity to show a black designer's work - versus (or maybe rather in addition too) someone like Jason Wu, who pretty much everyone knows now - I gotta be honest that when I heard about "the gown" and that it was from a "Wu", I just thought that was pretty cool news - because it was an Asian face in the spotlight.
At the same time I can't help but think one specific thought:
In some ways you couldn't pay me enough to be the President or the First Lady because think about all of us that they have to try and satisfy on multiple levels.
Sometimes good music just finds you, and in this case, it literally happened. I popped onto MySpace and in my friend requests was the band Ming Dynasty fronted by Ming Chan (who also plays bass, piano, and synths) and seriously - you need to take a listen to them because they have some hands down incredible hot MF tracks.
Go to their site at mingdynasty.tv and listen to these four songs from the alternative/indie/rock band's new CD "Yellow Tiger" (you can also pick up the CD before the release party from CD Baby and iTunes):
01. Yellow Tiger 02. Twisted Flower 06. From Below 10. Bad Reputation
CD release party at Arlene’s Grocery
Ming dynasty will have it’s official CD release party for Yellow Tiger At:
Arlene’s Grocery 95 Stanton St, NYC Thurs Jan 29th at 10 pm. Admission is 8 dollars
Over a million people filled the mall in the nation's capitol for this historic inauguration. Colorlines cameras were there to ask people on the streets why they came to DC and what are their hopes for the next four years?
The 12th annual "Bringing the Noise" celebration filled the over 900 seats at the Herbst Theater. By all accounts it was a great success for Youth Speaks who brings together literary arts education, performance, youth activism and social change empowerment.
Did anyone notice that Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert left off a most important line of Reverend Lowery's benediction in their inauguration coverage last night?
As I was writing The Accidental American and reflecting on the dismal immigration and civil rights record of the nation since 9/11, a prominent economist told me the question I would have to answer as I peddled the book: "Rinku, why do you hate this country so much?"
I am one of thousands of activists who had come to DC to petition my government many times over the years. And to me, that dome had come to represent an impenetrable domain that benefited a privileged few. But standing there today I felt something different.
I spent most of the morning at the Oakland Coliseum tearfully watching Barack Obama take the oath of office and become our 44th President. I suspect, like a great deal of people today, I've been caught up in Obama-mania.
I'll give you two thoughts in brief, besides the session's overarching theme that you likely already know better than most - the real work now begins to make Obama follow-through on all of his grandiose promises for change and hope.
Now, at this moment, we have a black president. Black like many black people are, with a lot of other stories woven into his blackness, having organized for justice for years. Black in ways that many black people are not, with known relatives in Kenya and a clear knowledge of his ties to Africa.
Hundreds are gathered in DC, a day after inaugurating our new president, to demand A New Day for Immigration. Led by Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM), immigrants are marching to demand an end to the raids on their communities.
On Sunday, we were among the tens of thousands gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to hear artists like Stevie Wonder, Garth Brooks, and Beyonce. Check out a few photos from the event.
So I've been catching more and more of these promotions from Wave Releasing for Owl and the Sparrow and wanted to post up this one I caught down at BPR with Nhu Loan and Vudoo Soul.
Like the previous post before this said, I've just been taking everything in over the last few days. MLK day, the inauguration right after, just feeling it for what it is - a moment in history that says so much about who we are as a nation, what we've become, and where we could go.
I have to admit that it took me a while to get it. It didn't just hit me over the head like everyone else. I was all over the board. From McCain to Clinton to Obama, I figured it was a fair fight for everyone and I'd listen to what each had to say. I knew McCain, I knew Clinton, but I had to get to know Obama because I didn't really know much about him.
At the same time I couldn't help but root for the underdog of the Democratic Party in some ways - because in a lot of respects, Clinton was the underdog. There was something that drew me to her simply because of that - because I like a good fight.
But the more I learned, the more I began to know, even if pretty much 50/50, I ended up leaning just a little bit closer to hear what the now President of our nation had to say.
But I was also still apathetic in a lot of ways regardless of what I was watching, reading, or even blogging about. Even though I wanted to know what was going on, even though I sometimes became entrenched in certain events or the perceptions of the Asian American community throughout the process, I still wondered if it really was going to make a difference no matter who won and how historical it was going to be.
Fast forward after the primaries and my vote was sealed. I knew I would go Democratic simply because of certain issues, but in a lot of ways, still didn't quite get it.
I heard about it. I technically knew about it. On a historical level and what I was witnessing I got it (how could I not get such a monumental shift in history?) - and I loved every bit of it.
But still, deep down - I didn't feel it. I didn't get that buzz from Obama himself that everyone else was getting on a personal level, that connection they seemed to have with him. For everything there was about the election that I was into, as much as I was rooting for him to win, that was still missing for me.
Flashback to March and April -- I was back to the Mother Ship in SE Asia leaving during the time that Obama gave his "A More Perfect Union" speech and while I'd heard references to it here and there after that, I never actually sat down and listened to it.
But then one day I did.
And I don't actually recall how I ended up there - but I heard and saw this conviction of truth on matters of race in our society from someone who by all measures didn't have to say as much as he did - as honestly as he did - and by the end - I felt it.
I got it in a way that hadn't hit me before.
--
So when I saw him standing there taking the oath, making his inaugural speech, I couldn't help but feel a sense of awe and admiration that I haven't felt before, something I know I'll never quite feel again - and while I know it had so much to do with the history, the electing of our first black President, a President of mixed race, a President of color - I also know it had everything to do with what I heard, and what I'm still hoping to hear.
Just like everyone else I've been taking in everything that's been going on - letting it soak on in - thinking about what it all means, and just enjoying the moment...back to regular posting soon.
You shouldalready know about Kollaboration 9 and the artists that are going to be there:
Jane Liu, Paul Dateh, David Choi, Kenichi Ebina, Jazmin, Kina Grannis and Lilybeth Evardome. They'll also have special performances by Kaba Modern, Fanny Pak, Norman Ng and Jo Koy, and celebrity judges that will be there are Moon Bloodgood, James Kyson Lee and Teddy Zee.
Now you can win free tickets to the show and the afterparty.
So not only do you get to see great performances by David Choi, Kina Grannis, the dancers from Kaba Modern and a slew of other cool AA artists, but you also get to hit the afterparty, where who knows, you just might get to rub shoulders with a few of them too (I'll get you there but the rest is up to you).
What do you have to do to win tickets?
The folks down at Kollaboration gave me four tickets to give away, so I'll either give away 2 sets of 2 for you and a friend, or some singles.
Just e-mail me down at slanteyefortheroundeye@gmail.com with why you want to kick it to Kollaboration 9, who the artists are that you really want to see, and then I'll pick 2-4 from there (if you want 1 or 2 please let me know in the e-mail along with the names of the people who will be going as your tickets will be waiting for you down at Will Call the day of the show).
I'll post the winners (first name only) and what you sent my way in a few days.
Speaking of Yellow Face (see the previous post), here's an exclusive interview with David Henry Hwang from the Asia Society:
David Henry Hwang on Asian American racial identity and "the face we choose to show the world [versus] who we are" -- in his new play "Yellow Face." With excerpts from a January 2008 performance at The Public Theater in New York. Exclusive interview conducted by the Asia Society.
I was watching Bedtime Stories over the weekend and caught the clip above and had a few thoughts pop up:
1. We have blackface and yellowface, but is there even a word that's been coined for someone doing the same thing to American Indians? To be honest I couldn't really come up with anything off the top of my head and then kind of realized what that said - about a lot of things.
2. Is Rob Schneider kind of like our Mickey Rooney?
3. I'd really like to see a lot more POC playing white people. I think it'd be funny and entertaining.
She definitely was the coolest white lady to hit the screen (or floor for that matter) in what was one of the best Asian Or Asian American films of the year in Benson Lee's Planet B-Boy where I got sucked into the world of Ichigeki and Last For One - and while I'd like to tell you more - if I did - it would ruin the ending and then you probably wouldn't clap at the end like I did - and really - I did clap at the end because it was just that damn good.
I don't know about the rest of you, but when Stage 6 shutdown last year, I think I almost cried. There just wasn't another site that could match the breadth of videos that you could watch in hi quality and automatically save to your computer if you were so inclined too (which really happens automatically, and I always made sure this just happened with the public domain movies...which was a great channel)
Easy to find videos - tv, music, film - it had everything you could ever want, but even more so - it showed the power of the technology. It showed the way that a small indie film or music video could get a lot of traction in a short amount of time in a format that rivals pretty much almost any other as far as quality and streamability is concerned (when you can take a 7G movie and shrink it down to around 600-700MG and stream it to the user with little buffer time, while still keeping great quality - that's a winner).
And while you'd think that a lot of other sites would have jumped up to fill Stage 6's place, surprisingly enough, not many have. Sure there are some out there that have tried - but a lot of them are more torrent/pirate sites then anything else, and they lack any type of corporate branding like Stage 6 had behind it, so there aren't any contests like Stage 6 had that showed off the technology and the content creators where there video could also be copied to disc and then played on your DivX compatible DVD player.
Coming up on April 25, 2009, the first (annual?) Southern Arizona Asian American Pacific Islander Conference, will be held here in Tucson at the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center, 1288 W. River Road, just east of La Canada. The theme is "Unity Through Diversity: the Asian American/Pacific Islander experience."
Keynote luncheon speaker will be Robert Kiyosaki, well-known author the bestselling book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad.
This conference will be an all day affair, 8 to 6 p.m., sponsored by the Pan Asian Community Alliance, a local non profit organization which "promotes and develops education and community services of Asian and Pacific Islanders".
For further information, contact Ross Iwamoto at rmiwamoto@comcast.net or Dorothy Lew at dorothylew@aol.com or (520) 512-0144. Please spread the word to the diverse Asian communities in Southern Arizona, as this is an inclusive event, with conference registration set at $40 ahead of time, $50 at the door, $10 for students, and some scholarships.
Saw this out on Salon.com and thought to myself "Are people finally starting to take notice a little more?"
Asian-American political profile rising in US
When three newly elected Chinese-American city supervisors climbed on stage in Chinatown, flanked by dragon dancers and lit up by camera flashes, they were hailed for making history in a city their forebears have shaped since the Gold Rush Days.
Now their November sweep has been topped with the election of one of them, David Chiu, as president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors -- the second most powerful position in local government.
It is fitting that San Francisco, which is 34 percent Asian and home of the nation's oldest Chinatown, is leading the way on Asian-American political representation. But the country's fastest growing minority group also is reaching new heights on the state and national stage.
Experts say their newfound clout is not due to numbers alone.
The political engagement of Asian-Americans is growing. Many immigrants are earning citizenship. Community organizations are mounting voter registration drives. Ethnic media increasingly are endorsing candidates and covering political campaigns. And politicians are scoring victories, even in areas without a strong Asian electorate.
Countrywide, there are more than 2,000 Asian and Pacific Islander elected and appointed representatives, according to UCLA's Asian American Studies Center. In California, Asian-Americans hold two seats in the state Senate, 10 in the Assembly, plus the posts of state controller and chief of the Board of Equalization. A decade ago, there was only one high-ranking Asian-American official, the state treasurer.
If you've been following - or even if you haven't, Yo-Yo Ma picked the winners to his mashup contest, and after listening to 350+ submissions -- today he choose a winner.
Well, two winners, actually:
Ma encouraged musicians of any stripe to download his own version of the traditional tune "Dona Nobis Pacem," then add their own rendition, mix the two and upload the result to the music site indabamusic.com.
Now, after listening to 354 submissions, Ma has chosen not one, but two winners — hear him pick the winning entries by clicking the link above — whose musical DNA couldn't be more opposite. Toshi is a native of Japan whose father wanted him to learn their country's traditional music.
"Instead, I chose to bang my head," Toshi says. "That was the beginning of my heavy-metal history. Thanks to Iron Maiden. I formed my very first band when I was 15."
Now, Toshi writes music for his band Antiquus, based in Vancouver.
From the opposite end of the aural spectrum comes the gently clanging tones of hand bells, courtesy of composer and arranger Kevin McChesney. His music has won him a number of awards, and he now directs the Pikes Peak Ringers from his home in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Since Toshi and McChesney won the contest they'll get to sit down and collaborate with Ma on some new music.
Check out more out about the winners and listen to Yo-Yo Ma down at NPR.
Tim Kang can be seen in the upcoming feature film "Mr. Sandman." His other film credits include "Rambo," "The Forgotten," "Two Weeks Notice" and "Robot Stories."
His television credits include "Third Watch" and "The Unit," on the Network. He has had guest-starring roles in "Ghost Whisperer," also on the Network, "The Office," "The Sopranos," "Monk," "Chappelle's Show," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and "Law & Order: Trial By Jury." Kang can also be seen on a wide variety of national commercials spots.
Kang graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a B.A. in Political Science and went on to receive an M.F.A from the A.R.T. Institute at Harvard University. He was born and raised in San Francisco and currently lives in Los Angeles. His birth date is March 16.
Interesting and cool (although just remember I never said this was always going to be exciting - unless you think this stuff is exciting, and then I just have to pat myself on the back and say "Job well done", because this could be exciting, depending on who you are):
Trustee Niranjan Shah was unanimously elected to serve as chairman of the Board of Trustees during Thursday's meeting on the Chicago campus.
He is the first Asian-American to serve as chairman of the Board, and succeeds trustee Lawrence Eppley who served as chairman for six years, and chose not to seek re-election.
"That is what the American society is all about," Shah said. "We give everyone a chance."
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).
