You're A First: Vanita Gupta

From the National Law Journal:

Former American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Vanita Gupta will temporarily lead the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, the department said today.

Gupta will serve as acting assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division and principal deputy assistant attorney general. She steps into the role at a time when the department has zeroed in on civil rights issues with the ongoing tension in Ferguson, Mo., and when a number of department leadership positions, including Attorney General Eric Holder’s, are in transition.

Gupta is expected to be nominated for the position permanently in the coming months, a person familiar with the administration’s conversations told the NLJ. Gupta will then face the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Nice.

Your Friday Russell Wong Pic Of The Day

From HBO Asia's Grace.

Episode 3 Best Selfie Yet

That's it.

Vine Star: Olivia Sui

You may or may not like Olivia Sui (some of the Vines I've seen are pretty funny), but you will not be able to deny her 313,000+ followers and 51 million loops.

And sure we can talk about vines and re-looping but 51 million is still, well, 51 million.

Jo Koy Goes Chinky With Small Penis Asian Jokes On @midnight

I respect a lot of work that people put into their craft,

pay their dues...

etc., etc.,

etc., etc., etc.,

and I even have a couple of posts with Jo Koy's name in it.

But MF.

Really?

That's what you go to?

Small Asian penis jokes with #asianproblems?

Even the White People looked uncomfortable...

Early Morning Kyary Pamyu Pamyu

Who Needs A New Girl? Self Love Is The Best Love. Definitely (^_^) When Watching @SelfieABC + Ratings Don't Lie

Just for the record, not everything sugary and sweet tastes good to me.

But this...

I'd like more please.

More John Cho getting sucked into Facebook circa 2011 wrapped in his grandma's shawl.

More Karen Gillan smelling like dead people because that's how you know it's vintage.

And definitely more John Cho wondering if his ex sees him as a stalker with a lactation fetish because that's just the way I like it (and I hope we see him with some great women of color too).

Timing Is Everything

Even though in the first two episodes I think they're still finding that right balance between comedy and drama (e.g. when Cho is meeting with his ex and we find out he's been a workaholic to the detriment of his relationships) I say give them some time--because they'll get it right.

Blackish, which I'm loving as well, has it's own learning curves, but they're both new, something different we haven't seen.

Let's give them some room to breathe for a while.

Those Rating Numbers Don't Lie

While people can lament number drops from the pilot, the October 7th broadcast of Selfie had a total of 3.99 million viewers, more than Family Guy (1.96 million), New Girl (2.61 million), Supernatural (2.48 million), and The Mindy Project (2.19 million). At the same time its 18-49 share was also the same as New Girl and Supernatural, and more than Family Guy and The Mindy Project.

Call me crazy, but that's not something I'd let go without a fight.

My Offering To The Cult Of Jeon Ji Hyun: The Jeon Ji Hyun Phenom* Remix

A long time ago I had found this mashup video of Jeon Ji Hyun and Phenomena, but shortly after posting it, the video got deleted and while I knew the way it worked (because anything can be taken down at any time) I couldn't help but wonder...and feel a little guilty because it was such a great video...

Fast forward years later and I thought to myself that I should give back to the community...err...cult of Jeon Ji Hyun (of which I belong).

So with new 2014 commercial footage alongside some classics I humbly give my offering for as long as it stays up.

WTF: Harvard Email Death Threats

Sometimes you just have to shake your head and wonder why people send racially charged death threats...

Oh yeah...because they're idiots.

Death Threat Investigation Continues [...]

Dinner Event Focuses on Asian American Identity, Email Threat

Keeping Stats Alive: 71%-76% Obama Loving APIAs

I was reading some strange article on the Asian Republicans...yeah, I know...that picture kinda freaks me out too, but it got me thinking and I just thought I'd post up that stat on how 71%-76% of APIAs voted for Obama (colorlines/slate/politico).

Just trying to do my part to keep stats alive.

The Explicit Spotification Of Michael Nhat + I'm Not Your Asian Sidekick

I love it when my jaw drops because I'm just not expecting it - whatever that might be - and it was great because I was checking out Michael Nhat on Spotify and listened to his song "I'm Not Your Asian Sidekick" and it was one of those moments because it's got this hook that just draws you in and then you get lines like:

I'm the gook this country can't handle I facefuck white girls to "16 Candles"

It's kinda like the militant viet american postal service.

Kinda.

Maybe.

You know what I mean.

Maybe.

Play the album Hyenas And Hyenas.

And for reference.

Read It: What Sleeping Dogs Gets So Right About Being An Asian American

Great game.

Love the write up down at kotaku (some spoilers).

But unlike Wei, who lost his Chinese culture in America, I never had much to lose. My parents split up language duties — my mom would teach me English, and my father would teach me Cantonese. That didn't work out the way they planned. I was in America, and so my parents emphasized that I learn English, really, really well, to the detriment of everything else. Thus, I grew up speaking and writing English exclusively — what little Cantonese I learned was gone by the time I was six. I kept my filial piety, and I still had little signifiers of Chinese culture — three bows at the cemetery, never group things in fours — to hold onto.

Today, I am an English teacher and writer, and so I don't regret my upbringing. But this doesn't prevent other people from finding fault in my monolingualism. Most Asians and non-Asians project a mixture of condescension and pity — proclaiming that I have been deprived of some crucial, cultural component. [...]

Wei also endures this push and pull between two cultures — the Chinese Triad culture, with its familial brotherhood and tribal loyalties, and the American Cop culture, with its objective principles and loyalty to country. Ultimately, Wei manages to split the difference [...]

Definitely a must read.

Seriously.

No, really.

What are you still doing here?

Ken Shima Joins The Slants

Making his debut in Portland this weekend, Ken Shima has joined The Slants after what seems to have been a rigorous set of interviews:

We definitely took our time making sure that Ken was the right fit. He had to fill out an online application with essay questions. Then, he had an audition on stage with the band in front of a camera and was expected to perform as if it were a real live show. After that, we still interviewed him, put him through more vocal training, and had him take a 1200 mile road trip with us to do a few shows before extending the offer. We loved the energy and enthusiasm that he brought to the table and think he's going to be a great fit for our band!

Cool.

More @ The Slants

Random Friday Thought: Is It Wrong That I Have Six Jeon Ji Hyun Commercials On My Phone?

I'm going with no and that I should add in more.

Awesomely Geeked Out: Data.gov/AAPI

Well if you wanted stats on us, you got 'em.

A lot of 'em.

Maybe too many of 'em...

(It's like we're being watched...ssshhhhh)

White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Launches Data.gov/AAPI, Single Place to Find Government Data on AAPIs
The White House Initiative on Asian American and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI), in partnership with Data.gov, has launched Data.gov/AAPI, the most comprehensive hub of government data on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI). The goal of this new resource is to help policymakers and the public understand and address disparities in socioeconomic status, educational attainment, health, and other areas of importance to the AAPI community.

“The launch of Data.gov/AAPI marks an important milestone for better understanding and responding to the complex needs of AAPIs, now the fastest growing racial group in the country,” says WHIAAPI Executive Director Kiran Ahuja.

When President Obama reestablished WHIAAPI under Executive Order 13515 in October 2009, he detailed the need to foster evidence-based research, data collection, and analysis on AAPI populations and subpopulations.

Data.gov/AAPI reveals stories about the AAPI community that are not widely told. For example:

· Asian American veterans are among the oldest in age. Explore the data.

· In the first year of college, Asian American and black students have the highest enrollment rates in remedial education courses. Explore the data.

· Of the immigrant orphans adopted by United States citizens, nearly half are of Asian descent. Explore the data.

· Pacific Islanders have among the highest unemployment rates of all racial and ethnic groups. Explore the data.

· The AAPI community is expected to more than double to over 47 million by 2060. Explore the data.

Data.gov/AAPI features approximately 2,000 datasets and reports from nearly 50 federal, state, county, and city sources pertaining to the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander community. These data have been categorized and tagged according to a wide variety of themes, designed to give researchers easy access to disaggregated data from the government.

Says Ahuja, “We hope that this effort propels new research and analysis to more clearly define the needs of AAPI subgroups and create more effective policies and programs to better serve the community in the long term.”

National Playwriting Competition: East West Players Announces “2042: See Change”

Get Your Competition Ready!

East West Players (EWP), the nation’s premier Asian American theatre organization, announces 2042: See Change, an initiative by East West Players to promote diversity in American theatre. According to census reports, it is estimated that by 2042, for the first time people of color will make up a majority of the United States population. With this shift in demographics, the face of America will look and feel different.

“We want to challenge other theaters to prepare for this change by thinking differently in their artistic programming and their audience development strategy,” says EWP Producing Artistic Director, Tim Dang. “In many areas, the change has already happened. The future is here. 2042: See Change is the perfect launch to initiate and innovate new works for the American theatre that include more opportunities for people of color, women, youth and ideas for the next generation of art making. ”

2042: See Change will have three components which will be unveiled throughout the next six months, kicking off with a national playwriting competition of the same title.

Submissions should be unproduced new works that explore this new reality and represent and reflect the future of the American landscape.

Subject matter may include biracial or multiracial identity; multicultural experiences; international/transnational connections to America; conflict and collaboration between cultures;

American stories with Asian or Asian-American characters in leading roles; or ethnic-specific themes about Asian culture in the United States.

Type of material: Original full-length plays and musicals. If submitting a musical, please enclose a musical sample. No translations or adaptations. All submissions must be professionally unproduced, unpublished, and with no existing attachments for production.

Award: $5000 First Place; $2500 Second Place; $1000 Third Place. The First, Second and Third Place winners will all receive readings by EWP. All winners will be considered for further workshops and/or production; EWP must have the first option to produce.

All three winners of the 2011 playwriting competition, Face of the Future, have gone on to world premiere productions: Eddie Borey’s Christmas In Hanoi and A Nice Indian Boy by Madhuri Shekar were produced at East West Players, and Lauren Yee’s Samsara opens February 2015 at the Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago.

Funding for the playwriting competition is provided by the generous support of the James Irvine Foundation.

Scripts will be judged by a distinguished committee of theatre and industry professionals through a blind evaluation process. Previous judges have included Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang, playwright Julia Cho, and Carmen Smith (VP Creative Development. Walt Disney Imagineering)

Submissions will be accepted beginning October 1, 2014 to January 5, 2014.

Submissions will be accepted electronically only, on eastwestplayers.org.

The submission must include:
· The online entry form

· The script (paginated but without your name on it)

· Two title pages. One with the title of the play, your name, address, phone number and email, and a brief bio (optional). A second title page which lists the title of the play, a 5 sentence or less description of the play, and a list of characters – but does not identify the author.

· A $20.00 entry fee

For more information, please check our website at www.eastwestplayers.org. You may also contact Snehal Desai, Artistic Associate (213) 625-7000 or sdesai@eastwestplayers.org. Please no personal deliveries.

Ramen Massive Attack

If you are in the area and you have the time, I'd definitely check it out.

Eruditic: John Cho On His Career

Definitely loved reading what John Cho had to say including things like:

I have noticed that—for whatever reason—my personality, I think, folds over into what people consider to be a broad definition of American. And I think that I’m very Korean-specific. But that’s just a chance thing. You know, I feel very much like a Korean man that immigrated to the United States. But I think white America would see me as American.

Read it in full down at the CAAM or Xfinity blogs.

Read It: Artists of Color Stand Up Against Discrimination in the Field

From American Theatre:

The straw that broke the camel’s back was Shakespeare.

In 2011 in Washington, D.C., Shakespeare Theatre Company produced a version of Much Ado About Nothing set in Cuba, where the minor characters Hugh Oatcake and George Seacoal were renamed Juan Huevos and Jose Frijoles, after the Spanish words for “eggs” and “beans.” Despite the ostensible locale, only three of the actors in the cast were Latino. “It was derogatory,” asserts D.C.-based playwright-with-an-activist-bent Karen Zacarías. “You’d never write ‘Jonathan Watermelon’! Why does no one realize that this is not acceptable?”

The dustup following Much Ado’s opening resulted in a dialogue, online and in a town hall hosted by STC. An apology was issued by artistic director Michael Kahn for the theatre’s insensitivity and the characters’ names reverted back to Hugh and George. That might have been the end of this particular discussion about the roles (or lack thereof) that Latino artists play within the American theatre—but this had come after a similar controversy a few weeks before. A production of Stephen Adly Guirgis’s The Motherfucker with the Hat at TheaterWorks in Hartford, Conn., had cast white actors in the lead roles, which were originally written to be Puerto Ricans.

TBT: Baiyu Circa 2012

A pic from 2012 when I got to meet Baiyu after she had played at the Japantown Peace Plaza and she was kind enough to let me snap a few pics.