"Loves Gonna Getcha" Ft. Dynamic Duo, Kero One And Dumbfoundead

Heartstrings + Mitchell Grey

That's Just Dumb...

See Asia like Asians Do....yeah....okay.

Next.

You're A First: Damn You, Love You, And Congratulations Erik Spoelstra

As much as I can't stand it in some ways, you gotta give credit where credit is due and getting to the Finals, winning it all - I can respect it no matter who it is.

And I have to admit - I did crack a smile.

I mean how I could not be happy for Erik Spoelstra - first Asian American, Filipino American coach in American pro sports who's reached the pinnacle of the NBA?

Epic.

Historic.

And I'm glad I was watching it live when it happened.

Here's what ESPN said from an article today on what an NBA championship would mean for Spoelstra:

Spoelstra, meanwhile, has a chance to join one of the most exclusive groups around: active coaches who have won an NBA championship. Gregg Popovich, Doc Rivers, Rick Carlisle. That's it. That's the list.

Winning championships doesn't necessarily help a player improve. However, it can help a coach be more effective. When a coach diagrams a play his players might pay a little more attention, if they see the light reflecting off his gaudy championship ring. When he discusses his concepts they're a little more likely to take if he can prove that they've worked in the past.

So now it's true:

Erik Spoelstra has joined one of the most exclusive clubs in history - both on and off the court.

David So + Get Over Her!

Internet Icon Ep2

Oh Erik....

I'll be happy for you, but I'll also be sad.

I guess it was just fate that you happened to coach the Miami Heat, and sure, OKC could make an incredible comeback...but if it happens....

I'll still be happy for you.

Vincent Chin And Looking Forward

Have things gotten better since Vincent Chin's brutal death 30 years ago? I'd like to say yes, but honestly - I just don't know. You can go into small towns across the U.S., a "neighborhood bar", or just be in your car when a cop decides to switch lanes for no apparent reason and roll up on you - all the time feeling on edge - and that you're being targeted in some way or another because of your race and ethnicity.

And not always safe.

Sure, you can make a case that the Phanthavong/Senser trial, or the case of Koua Fong Lee, the students at South Philly High - all of these and more (because these are just a few of the injustices we've seen) - that they are worlds apart from Vincent Chin.

But only if you really want too.

Because you can also make the case that they are leaves from the same tree - if not from the same branch - and that time alone doesn't make things better and that in all reality, our lives, as seen by some, aren't worth any more than what Vincent Chin's was to Ebans and Nitz, his attackers thirty years ago.

What killed Chin, what drove those two men to murder him was the simple fact that we as Asian Americans were not seen as a group of people that belonged, even in our own individual greatness - and that hasn't changed as much as some people want to believe - it hasn't changed as much as I want to believe.

From the workplace and government, to television and film, to even the most simplistic things like ordering food and not getting a receipt that targets your race - people still don't see us as individuals always worthy of getting the same respect and opportunities as everyone else - and that's what needs to change first.

That's what has to change in order to really say that things have gotten better.

Links

APA's For Progress

BCB

Bao Phi

Rafu Shimpo

Detroit News

Justice Breaks

Friday, June 29, 2012
5:00pm until 9:00pm
170 West Rose Avenue Saint Paul, MN 55117
Justice Breaks

Friday, June 29th 2012

All Ages Community B-boy Jam

Community School of Excellence
170 West Rose Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55117

$5 Entrance Fee

Doors Open at 5pm

5 vs 5 Crew Battle

1 vs 1 Solo Battle

WINNERS will get Trophies!!
(1 Trophy per Bboy or Bgirl)

DJ Soul Spin
(Luchie Lee B-boy from Floortribe Crew)

MC: Stepchild

Judges: Digi, Ozzy,

Two Bboys: Monsta Matt (Looney Tunes Crew) and Finisher (Optimistic Crew) will be head instructors for two different middle schools: New Millennium Academy in Minneapolis and Community School of Excellence in St. Paul. Both instructors will get the entire school year to develop their students into a bboy crew and at the end of the school year the two crews will battle each other.

Both instructors Matt and Lue are going to teach about the history of Bboying and social impact of the Hip Hop movement to make sure they pass on knowledge for the next generation. They will also be mentors in encouraging students to strive for goals in education as well as the arts, how to connect parents to their passions and how to give back to the community through involvement in hip hop.

Proceeds of this event will go to support the development of two dance programs for Middle School Students in the Twin Cities building towards the future of the Bboy scene as a positive alternative for youth in leadership, physical health, community involvement and artistic expression.

Presented by United Prodigies

Sponsored by the Community School of Excellence

Supported by Omega Zulu Twin Cities Chapter



UP MISSION
The mission of United Prodigies is to nurture at-risk Hmong youth into conscious and effective community organizers through artistic, educational, leadership, and social justice development

I Love You Betty Liu

Sure, it may be unrequited and kind of like in a stalker sort of way, but what great romance hasn't started out like that?

New Shows: Dev Patel + Olivia Munn + HBO's The Newsroom

I like news. I like Asian people.

HBO - I'll be watching.

Character Bios

Neap Sampat (Dev Patel)

Character Spot: Neal Sampat

Neal writes Will's blog and scours the Internet for stories and leads others have missed. Just 21, he's a self-made newsman, having covered the London subway bombings with his camera phone.

Sloan Sabbith (Olivia Munn)

Character Spot: Sloan Sabbith

The network's financial news reporter, Sloan could be earning much more money as an analyst at Goldman, but her calling is economic reporting.

Now: Shenzhou-9 + Liu Yang

First Chinese woman to go up in space.

Boys over girls? Men over women?

Symbolic.

If Bristol Palin Runs For Office, Someone Should Chop Their Dick Off

I don't know who that should be - and surely not me because I like to masturbate way too much and even if I didn't I'm not going to chop my dick off for some dumbass White Girl who's only claim to fame is that she's the daughter of a dumbass White Woman.

YOMYOMF Network, Acting For Action w/ Sung Kang, BFFs, Mandarin Time, And A Whole Lot More

So I'm a little late in posting this up (I blame it on laziness), but in case didn't know, YOMYOMF Network is one of YouTube's new premium channels and is a collaboration (why do I want to spell that with a K?) between director Justin Lin (Fast Five), and YouTubers like Ryan Higa, KevJumba, Chester See and others.

They put out their promo a little over week ago, and having been steadily putting up a lot of content over the last few days. Check out a few of their latest videos.

IT HAS BEGUN: BANANAPOCALYPSE



Acting for Action w/ Sung Kang - Lesson 1



Mandarin Time



BFFs Trailer (OFFICIAL)

The Asian American Writers' Workshop Launches 3 Magazines

From the PR (and good luck, the magazine business seems to be brutal)

Yeah, you read that right. We're launching three magazines. (Three!) We’re trying to think big--as big as a world where China and India are ascendant and where Asian Americans are bursting out of the margins as a new creative class rewriting what it means to be a global and American citizen. The Margins will be our flagship magazine and Workshop front-page--it’s where we’ll invent the future of Asian American intellectual culture. CultureStrike will share the best of immigrant counterculture in an online magazine at the vanguard of arts and politics. Open City: Urban Asian America will tell New Yawk stories in a time when the city is 70% people of color and home to more than a million Asian Americans. We’ll post videos of Maxine Hong Kingston, Junot Diaz, Teju Cole, Jeff Chang, and Amitav Ghosh and work from director Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Das Racist’s Ashok Kondabolu and Amitava Kumar--so you’ll be able to join us even if you’re not in New York. And we want you to come to our June 28th LAUNCH PARTY to celebrate it.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be working out the kinks in our beta launch and come to our exclusive launch party on June 28 from 7pm-midnight at Projective Space (below). You’ll see Das Racist’s Ashok Kondabolu present a special custom show just for the party. Literary enfant terrible Tao Lin will deliver a slideshow about his Vice magazine columns about “Drug-Related Photoshop Art.” We’ll also feature two signature Remy Martin cocktails (the Remy Victory Tea and the Remy Royale), Tiger Beer, a photobooth, and DJing by Gigantic magazine editor James Yeh. Save the date and RSVP in advance.

Gearing Up For The Elections: From Mike Honda With Love

Congressman Mike Honda Today Released the Following Statement in Reaction to President Obama’s Speech in Cleveland, Ohio

“Today we heard the President articulate two fundamentally different visions for how we grow the economy, create middle-class jobs and pay down the debt. We in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community know what’s at stake in this election, and it’s clear that the path laid out by the President is the right course for America’s economic future.

President Obama understands that we must invest in our middle class now in order to create an economy built to last. He believes America prospers when hard work pays off, responsibility is rewarded, and everyone gets a fair shot. Mitt Romney, on the other hand, is offering the same failed policies of the past that benefitted a few, crashed our economy and devastated the middle class. The President’s speech in Ohio today was a clear indication of the choice we as AAPIs and all Americans have in this election: We can continue to move forward with President Obama or go backwards with Mitt Romney.”

Kevin So Quartet

Tuesday, June 19, 2012
9:00pm until 10:15pm in PDT
Kevin So - keyboards, vocals
Jeff Paris - guitar
Charles Kim - bass
Abraham Kim - drums

Tickets: $8.00

About K.S.Q.W. ...

KEVIN SO
Kevin So has earned the respect of Keb' Mo', Billy Bragg and Amos Lee, and has built a loyal fan base around the world for the past 15 years. He was recently hired as mulit-instrumentalist in the KEB MO BAND and has been on tour internationally with them since July '11. He has performed on the main stages at some of the most prestigious folk festivals across the US (Kerrville, Falcon Ridge, Newport), and more recently at Carnegie Hall and The Ryman in Nashville.

Kevin was also proud recipient of the 2007 NYC Fringe Festival Award (Best Music & Lyrics) for “Great Wall” – a semi-autobiographical musical soon to be further developed this coming summer in Seattle at The Village Theatre's 2012 Festival of New Musicals, and in collaboration with Tony Award winning playwright David Henry Hwang.

Currently based in Nashville, his songs have been recently recorded by Keb' Mo' and soul songstress India Arie ("Crush On You") and blues singer Shemekia Copeland ("Sounds Like The Devil"). He is blues, folk & soul in its finest blend.

JEFF PARIS
has played with Keb Mo since 2000, performing on guitar, mandolin, keyboards, organ, harmonica and vocals. They met while touring with A Taste of Honey in ‘82. He’s also toured with Ringo Starr, Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), Frankie Valli & The 4 Seasons, Stanley Clarke, George Duke, Bill Withers, Dan Fogelberg, and many others.

As a songwriter, Jeff’s songs have been recorded by more than 60 artists. He’s contributed to gold and platinum albums by Sheena Easton, Jeffrey Osborne, Vixen, Alias, Mr. Big, and Lita Ford. He and Keb’ Mo’ co wrote “Shave Your Legs” and “The Itch.”

As a recording artist, Jeff’s album releases are: Pieces, as part of the band Pieces on United Artist Records, 1980 – Race to Paradise as a solo artist on Mercury/PolyGram, 1986 – Wired Up as a solo artist on Mercury/PolyGram, 1987 – Lucky This Time as a solo artist on Now & Then Records, 1993 – Smack as a solo artist on USG Records, 1997 – Freak Flag as a solo artist on Barenuckle (Japan), 1998 – Broken Chain, 2011

CHARLES KIM
https://www.facebook.com/chucky.kim

ABRAHAM KIM
http://bluebookproductions.com/about/

43 Minutes Of G+ And Kina Grannis

Jessica Sanchez On NBA Finals

And yes - she rocked the Anthem.

Lennox Lewis On Pacquiao

You probably already know that Pacquiao lost the fight (with the outcries still going on) and I thought I would post up a quick tweet from Lennox Lewis:

Pac won the fight. Bradley won the decision. (Arum) won another payday. Boxing lost its integrity and the fans lost confidence.