01.28.01
We all know that the Super Bowl broadcast is THE prime time for commercials. I was impressed with the number of high profile ads with Asian Americans in them. Among others, there was a pretty effective spot for Accenture (formerly Anderson Consulting). Interesting.
01.21.01
Ang Lee has won a Best Director Golden Globe award for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. This is pretty cool news, in light of the fact that Steven Soderbergh was a strong favorite to win. He was nominated twice in the same category, for Erin Brockovich and Traffic. Good stuff.
01.20.01
Saw a preview last night for a movie called The Fast and the Furious, which apparently looks like a movie about rice rockets and the people who drive them. One of the actors featured was none other than Asian pretty boy Rick Yune. You last saw him in the Slow and the Serious movie, Snow Falling On Cedars. Go Rick!
01.15.01
Today we celebrate the spirit and memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but I do not get the day off from work. Apparently my company doesn't observe this holiday. So instead of doing something cool like reflecting on the "I Have A Dream" speech or something, I'm stuck with another day of filing. That's racist!
01.13.01
Went bowling this evening. I was sitting in the bathroom, taking care of business, when I noticed someone had scrawled a small, sharpie-pen swastika on the inside of the stall. As I sat there on the can, I was truly angered. Who would be so filled with ignorance that they thought it was a good idea and worth their time to draw this? Surely common sense would prevent it. But there it was, right underneath the toilet paper dispenser. Probably while taking a crap, for that matter! So I was angry, but at that moment, what could I do? Like I said, I was on the can. I had no pen with me to scribble it out. So I used my own saliva to affix a square of toilet paper over the design. At least I wouldn't have to look at it. That's racist!
01.11.01
President-elect George W. Bush has nominated former Peace Corps director and United Way chief Elaine Chao to be the next secretary of labor. Now, I don't necessarily dig President George W., and I'm not even familiar with the political leanings of Ms. Chao, but I'm down with high profile Asian American political figures making a difference.
01.08.01
This morning on the way to work I was listening to Sarah & Vinnie on Radio Alice 97.3 FM. They were reading a list of the critically acclaimed films of the year 2000, and when they mentioned Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, they had to go off on this whole deal about how they just didn't get how a "karate" movie could be one of the best movies of the year, and how kung fu movie subtitles and dubbing and all that is so funny, etc. They didn't once mention Asian cinema or anything like that, but the whole bit just smacked of ignorance and made me shake my head. Now, don't get me wrong, Sarah & Vinnie put on a pretty fun morning show, but it just made me realize how "white" they are. They've done this before when it comes to issues of dealing with Asians and stereotypes. That's racist!
01.08.01
Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun-Fat are on the cover of this week's Entertainment Weekly.
01.05.01
A clothing line with a mission: Blacklava was formed by a group of southern California students to create a focused consciousness about Asian American issues and culture. On the site you can order tee shirts with messages that raise urgent issues and combat stereotypes. One tee shirt simply displays the name of hate crime victim Vincent Chin and the date of his death. Another shirt displays a mock personal ad, "Single white male seeks Asian Female..." and then goes on to list all the stereotypical submissive expectations. It's a cool site. Check it out, buy a tee shirt.
01.01.01
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. This movie is fantastic! It's hit it pretty big in the United States, and has generated unanimously high praise from critics, as well as some impressive earnings at the box office. It's gorgeous, exciting, romantic, and highly entertaining. I've already seen it twice, and I hope to see it again. If it garners a Best Picture Oscar Nomination, as expected, it will be the very first Asian language film ever to be nominated for that category.