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12.31.2004
11.30.2004
10.31.2004
10.06.2004
utada hikaru, reggae artist
Exodus, the U.S. debut album from Utada Hikaru hit stores this week. I guess that's a pretty dig deal, because she's only like the BIGGEST pop star in Japan. So I'm told. Anyway, her single "Devil Inside" is #3 on the US Billboard Dance Club Play charts this week.
You know, I went to the store because I was thinking about picking up the CD, but when I got there, it was nowhere to be seen on the pop music rack. What's up with that? Haters. Now I'm hearing reports that it was apparently placed in the wrong category, perhaps under the World Music section. They see an Asian face—must be a foreign-language album, right?
Funny enough, someone went to Best Buy and snapped the above photo. Take a look at the price sticker. Dude, no wonder. I should've been looking under "Reggae." Tell me, does this CD look like it has anything to do with reggae? (Thanks, Lou.)
9.30.2004
9.09.2004
This Is An Actual Book: How To Date a White Woman
The secrets have finally been revealed!
What the hell? This is for real: How to Date a White Woman: A Practical Guide for Asian Men by Adam Quan -- an actual book available for purchase on Amazon. You gotta love this crap... Because, of course, we Asian men are hapless and pathetic when it comes to finding ourselves a woman. Especially a white woman!
What the hell? This is for real: How to Date a White Woman: A Practical Guide for Asian Men by Adam Quan -- an actual book available for purchase on Amazon. You gotta love this crap... Because, of course, we Asian men are hapless and pathetic when it comes to finding ourselves a woman. Especially a white woman!
9.07.2004
yuta tabuse signs with phoenix suns
Yuta Tabuse, waived after training camp last year by the Denver Nuggets, has signed with the Phoenix Suns and will make another bid to be Japan's first player in the NBA: Tabuse set for Japanese NBA breakthrough. Here's the official Yuta Tabuse Press Conference Transcript.
I should add that while Tabuse might be the NBA's first player from Japan, he is not the first basketball player of Japanese descent. That distinction belongs to Wataru "Wat" Misaka. In 1947, the New York Knicks drafted Misaka, the first NBA player of Asian descent, in the first round.
Misaka, a 5-7 guard, appeared in three games and scored seven points for the 1947-48 Knicks before he was cut for reasons never made clear to him. Perhaps America wasn't quite ready for an Asian baller. Nevertheless, he was truly a pioneer who broke the sports color barrier. Read some more here: "Wat" A Player
I should add that while Tabuse might be the NBA's first player from Japan, he is not the first basketball player of Japanese descent. That distinction belongs to Wataru "Wat" Misaka. In 1947, the New York Knicks drafted Misaka, the first NBA player of Asian descent, in the first round.
Misaka, a 5-7 guard, appeared in three games and scored seven points for the 1947-48 Knicks before he was cut for reasons never made clear to him. Perhaps America wasn't quite ready for an Asian baller. Nevertheless, he was truly a pioneer who broke the sports color barrier. Read some more here: "Wat" A Player
8.31.2004
7.31.2004
7.24.2004
q & a with john cho and kal penn
Ready for something different? By now, you've probably heard the hype. Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle is a mainstream Hollywood comedy starring two (count 'em!) Asian American lead actors. Whoa. And it's funny as hell. Make no mistake—Harold and Kumar is a stoner comedy, with all the low-brow, to-hell-with-PC humor you need/want/expect from the genre. It's not a movie about being Asian American. Yet somehow, for the very same unapologetic reasons, it is. It takes on the usual Asian stereotypes, and promptly craps on them. And it's completely refreshing.
Recently, I had the brief chance to sit down with John Cho ("Harold") and Kal Penn ("Kumar") to get their perspective on the movie. The two guys are pretty cool, and I had a good time.
DISCLAIMER: Unfortunately, my tape recorder sucks. Due to a some technical difficulties, parts of the recorded interview were skewed and incomprehensible. So, my apologies to John and Kal—they had a lot of great stuff to say, but my recorder jacked it all up. I had to try really hard to edit it down and piece together something readable. Sorry.
Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle opens this Friday, July 30 in theaters everywhere.