This is mainly an excuse to post the above photo, because I find it pretty hilarious. I recently heard about the launch of a new t-shirt site called Awesome Creatures, with t-shirt designs featuring funny little animals. Everything on the site, from the designs to the models and the photography, was created by Asian Americans. The shirts are fun (they've only got a handful of designs right now), and the photos are funny. I was particularly amused by the Man-Creature Pics. Anyway, check out the t-shirts here.
R&B singer VudooSoul, who's got one hell of a voice, is currently in the middle of a short east coast tour, with show dates in North Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York. If you're in the area, check his music out and get a preview of his upcoming album, dut out in winter 2008. To hear some of his smoove sounds, go here.
My man Tak Toyoshima, the creator of the comic strip Secret Asian Man, is going on a short tour of speaking engagements in the South that he is dubbing "The Civil Tour." He'll be visiting the University of Florida, James Madison University and Baylor University, November 6-8. For more information, visit his website at SecretAsianMan.com.
Singer/songwriter Scott Tang is finished with his second album, Radiant, which is now available online at iTunes, eMusic, Rhapsody and Napster. You can sample streaming versions of all the songs at the usual spots, like here, here and here. Also check out his Myspace profile here.
Operation Babylift is a documentary by Tammy Nguyen Lee that tells the story of how over 2,500 orphans came the United States after the Vietnam War, the challenges those adoptees face in America, and where those children are today. Musician Jared Rehberg, who provides music for the film, was one of those children. Watch the trailer for the film here.
Recently heard the music of The Slants, a Portland-based Asian American dance rock band with a sound they hope will melt your faces off called "Chinatown Dance Rock." They recently released an album, Slanted Eyes, Slanted Hearts
. Listen to some tracks over on (where else?) their MySpace profile.Long-time reader Christopher Wong recently opened up restaurant, Curry Up Cafe, in Woodland Hills, CA. The restaurant mixes together cuisines from all over Asia, as well as favorite dishes here in America... to make what they like to call, "Asian American fusion." If you're in the area, and you want to help a fellow reader out, head on over to Curry Up Cafe. Oh, and of course, they've got a MySpace profile. Tell them AAM sent you.
Francis Hsueh and Steven Hahn's new feature film Pretty to Think So is "a story about newfound love and the past which haunts us." From what I can tell, it's a New York love story that has something to do with the era around the dot-com boom. Judging from the trailer, it looks pretty intriguing. And hey, the lead actress Pia Shah is a friend from a while back. It's nice to see her in this. To learn more about the film, go here.
After five years of research and writing, author Irwin Tang recently published his book Asian Texans: Our Histories and Our Lives, which is basically what is sounds like—a comprehensive history of Asian Americans in Texas. Learn more about the book, and purchase it here.
Last month, Chicago Radio Korea launched its first ever English-language radio program, Ill Rated with Ilmoon Jo, an Asian American news/issues/events show described as "the Asian American mainstream experience for your ear hole." The show airs Monday through Friday from 4-6pm CST, and can be heard on 1330 AM radio in Chicago and in its entirety on chicagoradiokorea.com.