07.31.01
Kung Phooey! is an independent film currently being shot in the Bay Area. It's a kung fu action comedy that spoofs martial arts films. You gotta love a film that makes fun foos like David Carradine, Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme. Hell yeah. Here's the film's website: Kung Phooey: Quest for the Ancient Peach
07.31.01
Watch out for the "Code Red" bug! It's this crazy computer worm that could cause widespread internet slowdowns today. I'm not exactly sure what the heck it does, but it sounds pretty nasty and destructive. The worm was first reported in mid-July, showing up all over place --including government sites. And you know what the bug did? It defaced websites with the phrase, "Hacked by Chinese." What the-?! Who the hell made this virus? That's racist!
07.30.01
Went miniature golfing on Saturday night. Your basic course set up, with tricky holes and castle replicas. One of the holes had this huge red Asian temple thing, with a big ol' sign that read, "YOUR PASSAGE TO THE ORIENT" in stereotypical "oriental" font. You had to hit the ball into the little doorway. I was already playing pretty badly, but with this hole I just stank. My anger was blinding my shot. I wish I had a camera. I'd post a picture here. Freakin' passage to the orient. That's racist!
07.27.01
The new Planet of the Apes movie opens today. Believe it or not, they do have an Asian dude under one of those ape suits. Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa, that Asian dude with one bad-ass scowl, plays one of the apes. You probably won't recognize him under all the make up. But he's there.
07.25.01
Received this last week, regarding the hate crime killing of an elderly Laotian man in New Hampshire. Anger doesn't even begin to describe it.
On July 14, Thung Phetakoune, 62, was struck by Richard Labbe, 35, and hit his head on the pavement. The victim suffered severe head trauma and died two days later. According to news reports, Labbe said that he hated Vietnamese people, and called for "payback" for the deaths of his relatives in the Vietnam War. After a confrontation with an Asian Pacific American apartment manager, Labbe approached the diminutive Phetakoune, who was passing by. Threatening to kill the elderly man, Labbe powerfully pushed him over. When interviewed by the police, Labbe reportedly said, "What's going on is that those Asians killed Americans, and you won't do anything about it, so I will."
Ironically, Phetakoune had fought alongside Americans as a soldier in Laos during the Vietnam War. According to a family friend, Phetakoune represented that he was approximately ten years younger than his actual age so that he could work to provide for his ailing wife. Phetakoune also was a community leader in an emerging Laotian community, whose members view the murder as a hate crime that deserves maximum penalty.
For more information, see the following news links:
The Union Leader -
July 18, 2001
Portsmouth Herald - July 19, 2001
The sad thing is, this isn't an isolated incident. Hate crimes like this occur in the United States all the time, at an increasing rate. Don't let this happen! It's okay to be angry. You should be angry. BE ANGRY. You know why? That's racist!
07.25.01
17-year old Christina Kim shot a freakin' 62 on Tuesday --the lowest score in the history of a United States Golf Association championship. Read about it here: San Jose's Kim fires record 62 at U.S. juniors. Oh yeah, Christina's from San Jo. Woohoo!
07.24.01
So what's the deal with that Conan O'Brien "chink" incident from last week? Here's an update: Conan O'Brien: The Buck Stops Here. Sincerity is questionable of course. Moral of the story: Don't say chink on the air for laughs. Don't say chink, period. That's racist!
07.23.01
Holy crap! Angry Asian Man is the Link of the Week at II Stix! Whoa. Chris, Ki and Min review the my site and offer some thoughts, for the most part positive. I though II Stix was pretty cool before, but now they're FREAKIN' AWESOME.
07.21.01
Check out Generation Rice, a monthly online Asian American magazine.
07.19.01
Actress Linda Park makes her feature film debut in Jurassic Park III. You can see Ms. Park on the new Star Trek show, Enterprise in the fall on UPN.
07.18.01
Who you callin' CHINK, sucka?! An article today about someone on Late Night calling us chinks again. Here's the link: Racial epithet used on "Late Night". That's racist!
07.17.01
ANGER! This happened about a week ago, in Seattle. A group of Asian American students were stopped and detained by police --victims of racial profiling! Read the article here: Police stop of Asian Americans is called case of racial profiling. And here is today's follow up article: Jaywalking stop of Asian American students draws ire. That's racist!
07.14.01
Asian lady in Legally Blond. Early on in the movie, one of the minor characters (white girl) is getting a manicure from this Vietnamese lady. Suddenly, white girl turns to the Vietnamese lady and starts speaking to her in Vietnamese! Subtitles and all! What the hell?
07.13.01
Wai-Ling writes:
I opened up a tazo tea bag package and on the back of each tea bag wrapping for the "Zen" tea, it says: "High in the Kunlun Mountains of China, monks spend days chanting and meditating in hopes of reaching complete enlightenment. Periodically they stop for a cup tea quite like this."
I was just waiting to hear the oh-so-familiar gonging sound and the pipa playing in the background.
Tazo Tea! That's racist!
07.11.01
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within opens in theaters today. Made by an international team of artists and animators, from Asia and America. The main character, Dr. Aki Ross, is Asian. Or, half Asian, I guess. Yeah! She's voiced by Ming Na, that cool Asian American actress from ER. There are also a few animated Asian dudes in the background. Dig it.
07.10.01
Dave has brought a few things to my attention. He writes:
1. There was an article in the sports section of Saturday's Mercury News about a defender on the San Jose Cyber Rays, the new women's soccer team. Her name is Carey Dorn. She's Korean, but was adopted by a Connecticut family when she was really young. The article was talking about how good she is. Here it is: CyberRays' Dorn up for a challange
2.Chan Ho Park made All-Star team so people should look for him tonight. The first Korean to make it.
3.In Oakland and Berkeley, there are billboards for Lunchables featuring an Asian girl.
4.On Sunday's front page of the Mercury News, there was an article about the rising number of Asian players playing Major League Baseball. Here it is: Changing face of baseball
Thank you, Ooj. You're so Suave.
07.10.01
There's an Asian girl on this season's Road Rules. Ellen, 22, Korean American. Here's her bio on the MTV website:
Twenty-two-year-old Ellen is a gorgeous, type-A emigre from Korea. She's had a hard life, but when life gives Ellen lemons, she turns it into lemonade. Ellen doesn't do anything halfway. She works hard, parties heavy and falls in love with men who are all wrong for her. Ellen has always been extremely popular: She was a cheerleader, homecoming court member, and a local beauty queen in high school.
There's also Steve, 23, half-Thai. Here's his bio:
A handsome, clever, adventure-seeking 23-year-old, Steve loves experiencing life and telling stories. He is from Lawrence, Kansas, and studied marketing and advertising at Westminster College. Currently, Steve is a substitute elementary school teacher, a waiter, and a coach for his younger sister's soccer team. Steve is half-Thai, half-Caucasian, and spent some of his childhood in poverty.
Please make us proud, Ellen and Steve. Or at the very least, don't shame us. PLEASE.
07.09.01
Saw an Asian girl in a commercial for some show about college life coming out in the fall... called Undeclared or something. I'm not sure if she's really in the cast or just that scene. We'll see.
07.07.01
Saw Kiss of the Dragon. Jet Li kicks some serious ass. He has definitely redeemed himself in my eyes, after that Romeo Must Die crap he did last year. With some serious kung fu action, he comes out on top. And his English has really improved a lot. Cool. Go Jet Li!
07.05.01
Kiss of the Dragon, starring Jet Li, comes out tomorrow. Good or bad, I'll definitely be watching it. See you at the theater.
07.05.01
Um, props to this guy, in sort of a "excuse me, I'm going to throw up now" kind of way. Just read the article. Ugh:
Hot dog eating record shattered
07.03.01
Seattle Mariners right fielder Ichiro Suzuki received the most votes for next Tuesday's All-Star Game. 3,373,035 votes. Barry Bonds, by comparison, led all National League players with 2, 140,315 votes. Go Ichiro! Not only is he dang popular, he's a DANG GOOD baseball player.
07.02.01
Read this article from MSNBC. It's about Asian neighborhoods planning elaborate displays of patriotism for the 4th of July. Their reasons are partly political-- they can show everyone they are just as American as the rest of the United States. Now, I'm certainly proud to be an American. I am an American. I've always certainly believed this, although there are those who feel otherwise. But the fact of the matter is, America still doesn't see me as an American, because my face is Asian. It's that simple. I shouldn't have to PROVE anything, certainly not my loyalty to the United States. I'm an American, you freakin' racists! Here's the article: We're Americans, Too That's racist!
07.02.01
In its latest issue, TIME names "America's Best" Artists and Entertainers. They name Ang Lee as America's Best Film Director. AMERICA'S best. That's pretty cool.