Jason Koo And Poetry Of The Week

Last year I posted up on Jason Koo, author of Man On Extremely Small Island who was the winner of the Denovo prize (Jason also teaches out at NYU, is the Poetry Editor of Low Rent, and also earned his paper - BA, MFA, and Ph.D - from Yale, Houston, and Missouri-Columbia) -- and I heard from Jason that his poetry just got featured up on SharkForum.

Check it out here.

Getting Your DIWO (And A Release) On: Children Of Invention + White On Rice

Definitely some slick news sent in my way that I wanted to make sure and post on up about a little 'ol film called Children Of Invention (and don't even tell me you don't own the DVD because if you do I'm just going to have to come on over and beat your ass down):

We are finally releasing CHILDREN OF INVENTION theatrically--in Boston (Brattle) on 2/26, New York (BIG Cinemas Manhattan) on 3/12, and Los Angeles (Downtown Independent) on 3/12:

http://childrenofinvention.com/screenings.htm

We are particularly excited that our NYC release will be a "DIWO" ("Do It With Others") effort with the hilarious and heartfelt comedy, WHITE ON RICE by Dave Boyle. Read more about this filmmaker alliance here:

FESTIVAL DARLINGS “CHILDREN OF INVENTION” AND "WHITE ON RICE" JOIN FORCES FOR JOINT THEATRICAL RELEASE

Award-Winning Filmmakers Embrace "DIWO Distribution" and Shifting Release Windows in the Current Independent Film Revolution

More: http://bit.ly/5jTKzq

We're psyched about being able to bring our film back to these cities, so if you missed it on the festival circuit, don't miss it in the theaters!

Hammer to Nail also named Children Of Invention "One of the Top 13 Films of 2009," and it was also listed as "One of the Best Undistributed Films of 2009" by Jeff Deutchmann (IFC Films), Tom Hall (Sarasota & Newport Int'l Film Festivals), and Alison Willmore (IFC.com).

Pretty cool huh?

At the same time, I just wanted to put out there that you can help defray the costs of distribution - and support AA filmmakers - by getting on out and donating up via their Kickstarter campaign.

Donate as little as a buck here.

The Year In Music Videos By Asian American Artists

Part of the reason I love doing what I do here is that I get exposed to so much great music, so many talented artists who put themselves out there for the world to see - not just as Asian Americans - but as musicians, singers, songwriters, activists - people who have a story to tell, a point to get across, a portrait of what they've felt and what they've been through.

In that way, probably even more so than film this year, the combination of music and images kept on taking me to another place -- and I loved going there. I loved seeing Asian American faces intertwined with each unique style - these palettes of colors and beats from hip hop to slow jams, mainstream to indie, pop to acoustic, all with their own place and their own setting - and hopefully - giving us a view of what's coming next.

This definitely isn't an all inclusive list, just what I liked and what I vibed too, or what came around my way. Feel free to add on or just enjoy the ride.

Sleep By Deep Foundation f/ Jay Legaspi



Lovely to Me (Immigrant Mother) By Taiyo Na



Keep Pushin By Kero One



Black Wedding By Meg And Dia



Addicted by Kawehi



Feel By Marie Digby



Closer - Ne-Yo (KNY Remix) By Vudoo Soul, Taiyo Na, Magnetic North, Alfa, G*LEE, Marie Choi, and SiC



Leave Me To Dream By Heather Park



Careless by Mud



Wicked Smile By Cast of Thousands



Fetish By Far East Movement



Come Back To Me By Utada



Not One For Words By After School Special



Won't Even Start By David Choi



Bitter Heart By Zee Avi



Got What It Takes By The Upstarts



Pushed Aside, Pulled Apart By Lyrics Born



HI-808 By Blue Scholars



Rapper-O's By Dumbfoundead



Date An Asian By Jen Kwok



Words That Define By Big Phony



Mike Relm vs Zoetrope By Mike Relm



Here's To You By Good Asian Drivers



Lipstick By Nylon Pink

Monday Misia

AAIFF 2010: Call for Entries

Time to get your film festival submission on:

33rd Asian American International Film Festival
July 15 - 24, 2010

Submit your film to the first and longest running festival to recognize the works of Asian and Asian American media makers. The 33rd Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF10) is now accepting submissions in the following categories.

* Narrative Features
* Documentary Features
* Short Films
* Music Video
* Screenplays
* Works-In-Progress
* Youth Films (by filmmakers under 20)

Early Deadline (postmarked): Jan. 27, 2010
Final Deadline (postmarked): Feb. 24, 2010

(click here for submission details)

Alex Park And Macho Bravado

Because it's never too early to start thinking about Spring.

In Pictures

Atlanta MC Sam3day (same-uh-dee))

Flickr Link

SWATs based Sam3dy stopped by the studio to talk about being an MC, being an asian MC (Cambodian), the struggle of being a native Atlantan doing his brand of Hip Hop, his history, sound and upcoming projects.

Nyob Zoo Xyoo Tshiab 2009-2010

Flickr Link

This is me :D
title is in Hmong. Translation "Happy New Year 2009-2010"
My sister took this photo when I wasn't even ready but it turned out okay.

Conducive Mag And Helping Facilitate The Discussion

Got this sent in my way and wanted to post it on up because it's an important topic:

Suicide is a prevalent, yet largely ignored, issue within the Asian American community. Through an ongoing feature, Conducive Mag wants to facilitate the dialogue around Asian American suicide and bring it to the attention of a larger audience. The first article in this feature is an interview with Dr. Y. Joel Wong, Assistant Professor of Counseling Psychology and Counseling/Counselor Education at Indiana University Bloomington. He is one of the few researchers working to fill the gaps in public discourse through his research on suicide among Asian Americans. Wong discusses his current research on the topic and his recommendations for future research.

http://conducivemag.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=126:what-can-we-do-about-suicide-among-asian-americans0107&catid=38:innovative-thinking&Itemid=61

In addition, Conducive Mag has a new advice columnist, Dr. Mai Kieu-Loan. Besides working as a psychologist for the past decade, Dr. Mai Kieu-Loan has also done research on community service, and advocacy work on improved access to care. In order to make a better world, we first have to better ourselves. Sometimes a little advice can do you wonders.

http://conducivemag.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=71&Itemid=603

Traveling Asians Make Great Art: SF Thomassons Performance Tours

From KSW To MySpace To You:

SF Thomassons Performance Tours

An original performance project / bus tour presented by Kearny Street Workshop and Kaya Press

Saturday January 23, 12noon – 2pm and 3 – 5pm

Tickets: $10 advance; $12 at the bus
Tour begins at 953 Mission St. @ 5th St (Mint Mall, lower level)

Have you ever noticed a third floor door opening into the air? Useless pipes or poles jutting out from the sidewalk or the sides of buildings? Join KSW and a group of performing artists for a bus tour to discover some of these overlooked Thomassons around SF. This unique tour will feature local artists including Allan Manalo, Philip Huang, Anthem Salgado, Kennedy Kabasares, Adderly Bigelow, Christina Miglino, Dennis Rodis, Rob Trinidad and others, doing a variety of on-site interpretive acts ranging from dance to comedy to aerial performance. Afterwards, you will see your everyday surroundings in a whole new way.

SF Thomassons is a collaboration between KSW, API Diaspora publisher Kaya Press and Bay Area artists Allan Manalo and Seng Chen, responding to conceptual artist Gempei’s historic book Hyperart: Thomasson. Kaya Press recently published the first English language translation of the book, which opened up an opportunity to revive interest in this historic intersection between art and urbanism. Check out the project’s dedicated website for more information and to see Thomassons that our community has discovered in the Bay Area and beyond!

Led by Asian American artists, SF Thomassons continues KSW’s ongoing practice of hands-on, audience participatory art-making and response to community change and displacement. Affected repeatedly by San Francisco’s boom-and-bust real estate cycles, KSW has always been directly involved in neighborhood activism and demographic change through: neighborhood mural projects of the seventies and eighties; our activism in the I-Hotel eviction struggle and rebuilding; innumerable site-specific performance collaborations; our 2001 artists mapping exhibition; and literary workshops on writing place.

RESERVE YOUR SEAT NOW!

FM, Cinemax, And Tour Stories

Just a quick post that if you're interested and want to catch more FM and what life if like on tour, check out Tour Stories January 23rd on Cinemax.

That's it.

Hottest Asian American Male Who Makes People Spontaneously Soil Themselves To Get Booted Off A Network Television Show

Daniel Henney



There just wasn't enough naked Daniel Henney going around in "Three Rivers" to keep it afloat. I mean yes - he needs to have lines - and he's good at saying those lines - in fact - he's a great actor with star charisma who has a long career ahead of him in both television and film - but c'mon - if you want a medical drama to succeed - on CBS no doubt - you need more naked Daniel Henney.

In fact, I think if they just would have titled the show "Naked Daniel Henney Swims Down Three Rivers" aka "A River Runs Through A Naked Daniel Henney" with a 75/25 ratio of naked to non-naked Daniel Henney (because plot is important) the show would still be around.

So let this be a lesson to network execs everywhere who put Daniel Henney in their next show:

More naked Daniel Henney = not getting it cancelled.

And you may want to make him the lead versus the White Guy.

Just putting it out there.

Best Game Changing Vampire Movie Of The Year Which Also Had The Most Bizarre Threesome

Thirst



While it was great to see heartthrob Justin Chon on the big screen in New Moon this year you knew a vampire film by Park Chan-Wook was going to be exactly what you thought it would be - visceral, thought provoking, imagery that catches you by surprise when so many other films don't almost making you think "Did he just redefine the whole genre?".

Park took the Hollywood veneer off and gave us not just one of the most unique stories the year had to offer but did it in a way that gave us a whole knew perspective stripping it to its core: A love story. A portrait of longing and desire. The juxtaposition of where we are versus who we really are - and that balance - that loosely tethered line we all walk between doing what we want and what we need to do.

In that way - cinematically engaging on every single level -- I think the answer to the above is a simple yes.

Runner-Up: Låt den rätte komma in (aka Let The Right One In)

While the 2008 film Let The Right One In premiered in fall of 2008 in the U.S. it was in limited release with the DVD coming out in 2009 finally giving U.S. viewers a chance to see the Swedish film - and if I wouldn't have seen Thirst last year - this definitely would have topped the list because it was just that good.

Laotian Americans, The Twin Cities, And Getting A Scholarship

There's a great read down by Bryan Thao Worra on the state of Laotian Americans and higher education including getting your hands on those scholarships:

In many ways, it's time for high school seniors to start preparing for college and applying for scholarships. For Laotian Americans and other refugees from Southeast Asia rebuilding our lives in the US, this is particularly important for the long-term success of our communities.

For the ethnic Lao, for example, Census 2000 figures suggest that while many in our community successfully graduated high school, few attended or graduated college. In a 2006 study by the Asian American Justice Center, research indicates that in education, Lao in Minnesota lag behind at least seven other Twin City Asian American groups: Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese, Korean, Asian Indian, Filipino and the Japanese.

Compared to all Twin City adults, only 17% of Lao adults have a 2-year college degree or better compared to 43% of all Twin City adults. Further, 42% of Lao adults have less than a high school education. Compare this to just 9% of all Twin City adults. There are many factors that go into this.

Read it in full down at his blog.

Getting Your Art On: FADA Los Angeles Art Show 2010

Wanted to reprint up the press release on the some of the galleries and art that will be out for the LA Art show happening this January 20-24:

The Los Angeles Art Show will bring a large grouping of Asian Art Galleries to the City on January 20-24, 2010. Now in it’s 15th year, the Los Angeles Art Show will feature important galleries from South Korea, India as well as notable Asian American galleries from the US. Each showcasing contemporary and cutting-edge Asian Art, the Asian Art Galleries exhibiting at the Los Angeles Art Show juxtaposes the Asian Arts from Asia and Asian Americans against an American backdrop.

Participating Asian Art galleries include; Warnock Fine Arts, Palm Springs, CA ; Verne Collection of Japanese Prints, Cleveland, OH; Egenolf Gallery of Fine Japanese Prints & Drawings, Burbank, CA Chung Jark Gallery from South Korea; Art Company. Misoolsidae from South Korea; Gallery Miz from South Korea; Arushi Arts from India; Jay Gallery from South Korea; Korea Art Center from South Korea; Pyo Gallery, Los Angeles, CA / Beijing, China / Seoul, Korea; Sandra Lee Gallery from San Francisco CA; Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Beverly Hills / CA New York and Hong Kong; China Square from New York NY; Gana Art Ny from New York NY; Artgate Gallery from New York Ny; Eli Klein Fine Art from New York NY and Andrew Shire Gallery from Los Angeles Ca.

The LA Art Show will feature 100 galleries from around the world, showcasing more than 10,000 significant paintings, sculptures, photographs, drawings and prints on display and available for purchase. The IFPDA’s 25th Annual Los Angeles Fine Print Fair will accompany the Los Angeles Art Show.

The Los Angeles Art Show continues to be the largest art fair on the West Coast and a must-see for both the art connoisseur and the arts-curious. With 2009 posting a record-breaking attendance of 35, 000 visitors and exceptional sales, the 2010 show promises to be larger and more encompassing.

Presented by the Fine Art Dealers Association (www.fada.com), the Los Angeles Art Show takes place on January 20-24, 2010 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 South Figueroa Street,

Los Angeles, CA 90015. Los Angeles Art Show programming is included with show admission. For additional information about the Los Angeles Art Show, to register for a lecture or purchase online tickets, please visit www.laartshow.com. General admission to the Los Angeles Art Show is $20. General Show Dates: Thursday-Sunday, January 21-24, 2010. Opening Night Preview and Gala: Wednesday, January 20, 2010. For additional information about the Opening Night Preview or to purchase tickets, please call the Los Angeles County Museum of Art 323-857-6501. Media inquiries please contact Agnes Gomes-Koizumi at agnes@agkmedia.com or call 323-937-5488.

Esther Chae, The Asian Women Giving Circle, And So The Arrow Flies

I don't know about you - but I'm definitely intrigued:

“Amazing and beautiful show.” —David Henry Hwang (Tony award-winning author of M Butterfly)

“Chae skillfully absorbs the audience into a world of espionage and deception...fascinatingly gripping.” —Edinburgh ThreeWeeks festival magazine

The Asian Women Giving Circle is pleased to present

Introduced by the Fabulous Jeannie Park

Esther Chae
2009 Grantee in her one-woman performance So the Arrow Flies

A North Korean spy.
A Korean-American FBI agent.
Who will be taken down first?

Wednesday, January 27
Cherry Lane Theater
38 Commerce Street, NYC
6:30 Doors open, Cocktails
7:30 Show

Reception immediately following show

(performance approx. 1 hour 15 min.)

$1,000 Big Mama Papa Patron
$500 Super Friend
$250 Be a Pal
$100 Ticket

To purchase tickets for this event, click here

If you have questions, please call 646-300-6173
or email angie@asianwomengivingcircle.org

The fair market value of the ticket is $50 and the remainder of your contribution is tax-deductible.

Pick up tickets here and support Asian American women using the arts to further activism.

To learn more information about The Asian Women Giving Circle go to www.asianwomengivingcircle.org.

You've Crossed Into North Korea Bringing God's Love

I'm not going to say that there's anything wrong with proselytizing one's faith - unless you go door to door and interrupt my masturbation time, don't take no for an answer, and then proceed to sit out on the stoop where I feel guilty and invite you in only to realize you're like a vampire and now that I've invited you into my home you have carte blanche.

That being said - I do have to question people who go around into NK spreading God's love.

And then get caught.

I just can't help but think to myself that as many good intentions people have when it comes to their faith they just don't know when to quit - they question nothing and just think it'll all work out because some higher power is going to protect them.

I'm not saying no one wants that protection or that it's not innate to our human nature to want that (and I'll pay for it just like I do the local bookie) - but to me there's a point - a line you draw and I can't help but to think to myself that if someone's God led them into NK spreading the word that maybe there was an Internet line down and you only got half the message.

I do hope though that Robert Park comes back safe and sound.

Hell - I'll even invite him into my home.

Rafu Shimpo's 2009 In Review

Because you can never have enough In Reviews from across the nation I give you the Rafu Shimpo's 2009 In Review:

More than any other year in American sports history, 2009 was the year of the Asian athlete. From the highs of the WBC championship between Japan and South Ko­rea—the best baseball game of the decade—to the tragic lows of Yao Ming being lost for the entire NBA season, the final year of the decade has been one filled with faces from the Far East doing big things in the West.

Extreme juxtaposition.

No doubt, due to the inescapable aura of American celebrity fetishism, 2009 will be remembered for Tiger Woods’ spiral from the greatest-golfer-of-all-time to the punchline of a litany of dirty jokes.

But we would be better served remembering how an unheralded South Korean named Y.E. Yang drove a 3-iron 210 yards to within eight feet of the 72nd hole of the PGA Championship at Hazeltine to ice out the coldest golfer alive, thus claiming the first major victory by an Asian in PGA history.

Read it in full down at the Shimpo.

Joseph Cao Comes Home

Just wanted to post up a link on Representative Joseph Cao (Cao Quang Anh) and his return trip back down to the homeland.

The first Vietnamese-American elected to the US House of Representatives has returned to Vietnam in what he called a bid to increase understanding between the Vietnamese community in the US and Vietnamese back home.

In a meeting with Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials this week, Joseph Cao Quang Anh, a Republican, noted there had been times his comments were not in line with the best interests of the Vietnamese government, but he said such disagreements would not prevent the two sides from working together.

Read it in full here.

P.S. To Google Spellcheck

I think you should get some Viet names in the lexicon.

Best Abs On Billboard Who Also Showed Just How Hot Asian On Asian Images Really Can Be

Jay Sean



If you didn't move your head even just a little when you heard Jay Sean's #1 Billboard hit "Down" it just begs the question of if you have any groove whatsoever - but more importantly - if you didn't like seeing the imagery of a hot Asian male getting his groove on with Asian women who weren't a geisha cum fuck me comfort doll WMF I don't just want to not know you - but I don't even want to know that you exist - because while you may not like the hooks of Jay Sean and Cash Money - you just can't deny what he's doing for the images of Asian men and hot Asian on Asian action.

Down

Jay Sean - New Music - More Music Videos

Do You Remember

The Committee Of 100 And Helping To Build The Wall

I caught this interesting article down at the Northwest Asian Weekly about The Committee Of 100:

The Committee of 100 (C-100), in partnership with the USA Pavilion, will build an exhibit entitled, “The Chinese in America — We are Family” at the USA Pavilion at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.

The exhibit will demonstrate the United States’ unique strengths as a nation, which include embracing diversity, offering freedom of choice, and providing opportunity for all to succeed.

For this exhibit, C-100 plans to rally everyone of Chinese descent across America to submit their headshots to create a wall of photographs organized by Chinese family name.

Check out more down at The Committee Of 100 and Comebuildthewall.com.