In Louisiana, Inklings of a New (True) Champion of the Right: Here's a recent story on Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, who many are calling the future of the Republican party. With many speculating that he could be John McCain's choice to balance his ticket, this guy could be your next Vice President.
Once a Pride of the Yankees, Irabu Slipped Out of Sight: Japanese pitcher Hideki Irabu was once the Yankees' most promising player, touted as the next big thing in 1997 when he deliverd nine strikeouts in six and two-thirds inning for New York in his debut game against the Detroit Tigers. So what happened?
Nas Reveals 'N*gger' Video, Album Cover: Rapper Nas recently revealed the video for "Be a N*gger Too," the lead single from his upcoming untitled album. The video, apparently inspired by Spike Lee, is directed by Rik Cordero, and features cameos from the likes of actor John Cho and James Kyson Lee.
Outside Ethnicity: The New York Times reviews Nam Le's recently published collection of short stories, The Boat
, which includes a story about a fictional Vietnamese American writer also named Nam Le who is struggling with writers' block but neurotically trying to avoid exploiting "the Vietnamese thing."'Godfather' of Silicon Valley's Asian-American political community steps into spotlight: Paul Fong, who has long been a behind-the-scenes power broker in Silicon Valley's Asian American political scene, just won the Democratic primary battle for California's 22nd Assembly District seat.
'Kung Fu' actor rallies for diversity: Here's an interesting article on veteran actor James Hong, who has been in the business for 55 years and has probably appeared in every other movie or TV show requiring some sort of variation on the "old Asian master" role. You've seen him in pretty much everything.
The Humble Comic: This article is several weeks old, but it's a great profile of Gene Yang, author of the acclaimed graphic novel American Born Chinese—the first graphic novel to be nominated for the National Book Award. And as I have said many times before, I love this book.
Nationwide Targets South Asians With 'Idol' Contestant Sanjaya: Sanjaya Malakar, not quite yet ready to sink away into the post-American Idol obscurity, is appearing in a commercial for Nationwide insurance. His presence is apparently intended to help the company target South Asian Americans.
19 year-old Erika David has just won the MySpace Colgate MaxFresh Karaoke Contest, beating out tens of thousands of entries and getting the opportunity to record a demo with award-winning producer and songwriter Brian-Michael Cox. To see/hear her singing, check out her YouTube channel here. Congratulations.
