08.30.01
David, a fellow brotha in the struggle, writes in a little sumthin' about racist TV:
It's the TV Show "Bonzai!". It's a game show from the UK where the viewer bets on a number of bizarre games. The hosts, however, are these really stereotypical Japanese people with thick Hollywood Japanese accents. Before and after commercial breaks this fake "Zen" monk appears and says "Bonzai!" I don't know if the show has its own web site, but CityTV here in Toronto has picked up the show, and its web site is here:
Damn. Thanks David. You're right. That's racist!
08.28.01
Another freakin' hate crime: Police investigate racist vandalism. That's racist!
08.28.01
Last night was an Angry Asian evening at the movies. Jo and I went to see American Pie 2. Interesting. We saw a preview for The Musketeer... They showed the Musketeer dude crazy swordfighting with all these guys, and I'm thinking to myself, dang, this looks a lot like a hong kong martial arts movie --except it's set in 18th century France and everyone is white. But then they say in the trailer, something like, "Alexandre Dumas' classic is reimagined, with fight choreography by Xin Xin Xiong." At that point I laughed. There's even a fight scene involving a whole mess of ladders, strongly reminiscent of Once Upon a Time In China. That's crazy. Everybody's doing the HK action thing these days. We also saw a trailer for K-Pax with Kevin Spacey. The movie looked pretty interesting, but the real reason I'm bringing it up is because I spotted Ajay Naidu aka Samir from Office Space in the preview!! That almost made my day. So American Pie 2 starts... I must say, the real props of the evening goes to John Cho, aka the MILF guy from the first movie. They brought him back, and he gets a considerable amount of screen time, for a minor character. Not only do they include him in one of the films NASTY moments, he has some great lines, plus he gets some action. Nice. Represent! Anyway, I don't really recommend American Pie 2. Pretty gross, and really just lacking the heart of the original... But spotting Samir and seeing MILF guy have such a big role was pretty satisfying, so I'll leave it at that.
08.28.01
Last week's multiple covers of TV Guide featured the cast of Enterprise, including one with Linda Park as Ensign Hoshi Sato. My site could slowly grow to become a Linda Park fan site --and I haven't even seen her in the role yet. Eagerly anticipating Enterprise...
08.27.01
The movie Bubble Boy opened on Friday. Looks lame-ass. Also looks racist. We got an email with comments from someone who saw it:
A character in the film is South Asian (East Indian) and is played by a white actor. He drives an ice cream/curry truck topped by a "six-armed Shiva who will bitch-slap anyone who offends her". This character is made fun of non-stop about his religion and at one point is shown to be inconsolable because he ran over a cow. His wearing a turban is also poked at with glee. Of course, English is his second language as these filmmakers never heard of Indian-Americans.
A group of about 20 to 30 Asian characters are ethnically unidentified, but look as if they could be of Chinese heritage. Naturally, they speak ESL and hold up fists full of money at a mud wrestling club and screech in broken English, "Five hundred dollah! Five hundred dollah!"
At the end, two elderly white male twins fly a plane with an older Asian woman sitting between them. She is dressed like a geisha yet the implication is that she is Chinese as she's tagged with the Chinese-sounding, but originally African American/African Caribbean slang words, "poontang" and "punani."
The mostly white audience roared with laughter at these depictions.
I saw the commercials for this movie. "Five-hundred dollah!" That's racist!
08.27.01
The San Jose City Council has decided to rename San Jose International Airport in honor of Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta. This is awesome! Here's an article: San Jose To Name Airport After Norman Mineta
08.23.01
So last night I'm doing my usual at-home-loser thing, watching the UPN. The latest monster they tackle on Special Unit 2 is a mummy. Not just any mummy. A super special mummy from Japan. Because you see, regular Egyptian mummies are sort of boring and just walk around all creepy-like. But this mummy from Japan was a Samurai warrior in his previous life, thus, this mummy knows KARATE, and that makes for a more exciting show. Get it now? Of course the Japanese mummy know karate! That's what Japanese mummies do! That's racist!
08.23.01
Hey! Vote for Swaroop, a new cartoon about a cool Indian boy, his hip-hop older brother and his traditional parents and grandmother living in New Jersey. It's a Warner Bros. pilot that needs your vote --if it wins, it becomes a series, the first TV show about East Indians ever made for American television. To vote, just go to www.cartoonnetwork.com. This weekend (August 24-26), the Swaroop cartoon will air 4 times (along with 9 other competing shorts). Here is the schedule for the Cartoon Cartoon Premiere competition:
Friday August 24th Evening - 9:00pm
"Swaroop" is the 6th short so it will be on approximately 9:45pm
Saturday August 25th Morning - 9:00am
"Swaroop" is the 3rd short so it will be on at approximately 9:25am
Saturday August 25th Evening - 9:00pm
"Swaroop is the 9th short so it will be on at approximately 10:10pm
Sunday August 26th Morning - 9:00am
"Swaroop is the 6th short so it will be on at approximately 9:45am
Sunday August 26th Evening - 9:00pm
The shorts with the top 3 highest votes will air at this time. Maybe "Swaroop" will be one of them!
For more information here's the Swaroop Website
08.22.01
MANAA President Guy Aoki and Comedienne Sarah Silverman will both be on ABC's "Politically Incorrect" tonight, 12:05 am PST. Say "chink," Silverman. I dare you. Let's see what's up with this. The REMATCH, baby.
08.21.01
The case against Wen Ho Lee = RACIST. That's pretty much all there is to it. Read this article: If There's No Racism In Wen Ho Lee Case, We're All In Trouble
08.21.01
Maybe you're like me, and you've found yourself home on Friday night, sitting around in your underwear, watching the friggin' UPN. Well I got to see one of the stupidest shows in the history of television: Manhunt. The contestants have to travel across this island, and these mean Hunter guys are chasing after them with paint rifles. Three marks, you're out. The first contestant to cross the finish line on the sixth day wins a whoppin' $250,000. Lame. Anyway, two of the contestants are Asian. Here are their bios from the Manhunt website:
Karen Cha, 30, Biochemist. Karen was born in Seoul, South Korea and raised in Las Vegas. Her quiet, measured tone defines her ideals of elegance and integrity well, and should not be confused with a lack of confidence. "I am a jack of all trades. Iím very detail-oriented by nature; I use that in my profession, and Iím good at it. If something is not right, Iíll notice it right away." And she looks forward to the challenge of the hunt with her head held high, saying, "Iím gonna try to do everything I can, physically and mentally, to win this game. I think I owe that to myself, or I wouldnít be here."
Jim Lee, 36, Minister. The oldest contestant in the group, Jim grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As the third of four boys in his family, he learned early on to fight for what he believed, and that sometimes when youíre pushed you need to push back. He now divides his time between his job as an airline pilot, his calling as a pastor, and his beloved wife, Monica. "I want to win Manhunt," says Jim, "so that my wife can quit her job and focus on writing songs and performing them."
Alright, whatever. Gooooo Asians! Don't get hunted down! At the end of the third episode, Karen had two marks against her, and Jim had none. Represent!
08.20.01
Follow up: Richard Labbe, 35, has been charged with the July 14 hate crime killing of Thung Phetakoune in New Hampshire. Here's an article: Hate Crime Charged in Death of Thung Phetakoune
08.17.01
Freakin' racist.... A minor league baseball sound effects operator was fired for playing freakin' racist crap when South Korean player Choi Hee-Seop came up to bat. Thanks to Nelson Tai for sending me this article: Effects operator fired for music choice for Korean batter. Yo, that's racist!
08.17.01
Have you met Angry Little Asian Girl? It's Lela Lee's cartoon about an angry little asian girl. I can relate. I've been a fan for a few years now, and ALAG definitely knows what's up. Here's an article: Look Out For Lee's Angry Little Asian Girl.
08.10.01
When you cast your vote in the Ammy Awards Survey, be sure you vote for Same In Blues by Vincent Tsu, in the Best Short Film category. Vince is my buddy from high school! So dig that!
08.09.01
Watching TV last night. Special Unit 2 is this lame show on UPN... It's about a special division of the police force investigating paranormal activity --A LOT like Men In Black. Anyway, they're secret, so Special Unit 2's headquarters is hidden behind a dry cleaner storefront. Manning the counter is "Desk Seargent Ming Wah." At least that's what he was introduced as --he didn't have any lines. He was just standing there, being Asian. Of course! The most inconspicuous person to place inside a dry cleaner would be an Asian dude. Racist...
08.08.01
You've got to be kidding. Read this friggin' article. Report Finds Race Not a Factor in Wen Ho Lee Probe. Not a factor, MY ASS. That's racist!
08.07.01
Okay, another article to make you angry. This one is about a New York Post front page article blaming teachers with less-than-stellar English skills, namely teacher Sunny Liang, for a bad school system. Basically, one line sums it up: "If my name had been Sunny Smith instead of Sunny Liang, do you think it would have been a front-page story?" That's racist! Read it here: New York Tabloid Slams API Letter-Writer
08.07.01
They've got a new cartoon on the Cartoon Network called Samurai Jack. Here's the description from the website:
Samurai Jack is a bold adventure show from Genndy Tartakovsky, creator of the hugely popular Dexter's Laboratory. In the distant past, an evil shape-shifter named Aku has brought destruction upon the land. As the citizens' last hope, a youngster is sent away to train as a samurai warrior. But when he returns as an adult to confront Aku, the warrior finds himself flung into the future through a time portal, landing in an unknown time and place. There, the locals dub him "Jack" and help him in his quest to return to the past and undo the evil brought by Aku. Samurai Jack's adventures and battles are portrayed through a groundbreaking style that combines stylized cartooning, minimal dialogue, split-screen visuals, rich backgrounds and pulsating music--making Samurai Jack a true Cartoon Network original.
It certainly looks interesting. I really like the art and promos from the website. However, as we all know, given the subject matter, it has the possibility of being racist. Let's be wary, eh? Samurai Jack premieres on the Cartoon Network, August 10 at 7:00 PM eastern pacific.
08.07.01
Se Ri Pak won the women's British Open on Sunday. She is now 3/4 of the way to completing the career Grand Slam. Mi Hyun Kim came in second, just a couple of shots behind Pak. Yo, what is it Korean women and golf? Koreans kick golf ass!
08.06.01
An Asian friend of mine recently moved (to an apparently not-so-Asian area) and had this coversation:
"Where are you from?"
"Houston."
"No...I mean...where were you born?"
"Houston."
"Well, then where were you parents born?"
(as this point, annoyed, I resort to lying.)
"Arkansas."
This is getting old. Why must these conversations continue to happen? That's racist!
08.06.01
What in the...? Check out this site. Asian Infatuasian is a web clique dedicated to the adoration of ASIAN MEN. (But do they love ANGRY Asian men?) Who's responsible for this? Some lady with a major love for Asian dudes --I'd scream "FETISH!" but it's so rare that I, as an Asian American man, feel fetishized. It's a strange, special, exotic feeling.
08.03.01
Rush Hour 2, starring Chris Tucker and JACKIE CHAN, opens today. Judging from the previews, there's a lot of Asians in the movie. Unfortunately, the portrayals don't look so positive. And it looks like Chris Tucker just makes a whole lot of racial jokes. That's no good. Still, I suppose I'll watch it, simply because Jackie Chan is the man. Oh, and Ms. Zhang Ziyi looks good.
08.03.01
From "The Rules" by Esquire magazine: "Rule No. 256: Hip Asians are hipper than people from any other ethnic group." If you say so.
08.03.01
Racist stuff going down over on Market Street in the city. Some questionable Altoids advertisements out there... they're all over the financial district in San Francisco. A fu-manchu-martial-arts-master type character dressed in what seems to be ethnic garb is holding a box of altoids while in the oh-so-authentic crane position. The title at the bottom: "Use only in self defense." Curiously strong? Curiously racist!