April 2012

4.30.2012

profile america forum on the asian population: the emerging power of the fastest growing population in the united states, may 2

This week, the Asian American Justice Center and the U.S. Census Bureau will present Profile America Forum on the Asian Population: The Emerging Power of the Fastest Growing Population in the United States, a forum addressing the current social and economic impact of the Asian population on the U.S. It's happening Wednesday, May 2 in Washington D.C. Here are some more details:

Hey writers! The Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE) is currently accepting submissions for the 12th annual CAPE New Writers Awards. But the deadline is coming up quick: Friday, May 25, 2012. [UPDATE: The submission deadline has been extended to Friday, June 29, 2012 11:59PM PST.]

Nice. Some new music for you... Representing the Bay, emcee Justin Park, aka Azuré, just dropped his new mixtape The Umbrella Theory. I was a big fan of his previous mixtape Illusions of Oasis, and the new record doesn't disappoint. Here's the music video for "Paper Planes" featuring Alex Carbonel:

In Fremont, California, police have arrested a teenager who fatally stabbed a high school football player at party on Saturday night: Newark Memorial ballplayer stabbed to death at Fremont party.

18-year-old Osana Futi, a star running back and linebacker at Newark Memorial High, reportedly got caught up in a fight that turned into a stabbing outside of a house party. He died at the hospital.

Futi was just forty days away from graduating high school:

OCA-NY presses on with ongoing efforts to call attention to the tragic death of 19-year-old Private Danny Chen. It was recently announced that any court-martial of the eight individuals charged in connection with Danny's death would take place in the United States at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

The fight for justice continues, and they're asking for public support with their Birthday Card Campaign. Please consider signing and sending a card, calling for justice, in observance of Private Chen's upcoming birthday on May 26. In mid-May, they'll deliver the cards to Members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees in Washington, D.C.

Here are more details on how you can take part:

Received a cool update about the upcoming second edition of Secret Identities, the Asian American comics anthology. Shattered, coming in fall 2012, will go beyond the first book's focus on superheroes, expanding to some edgier themes and genres.

It's one thing to create a collection of conventional stories about Asian American superheroes, but it's an entirely different challenge altogether to create something interesting from the other side, drawing from a "darker range of hues."

Joining editors Jeff Yang, Parry Shen, Keith Chow and Jerry Ma will be an eclectic and impressive lineup of Asian American comics creators such as Gene Yang, Sonny Liew, Larry Hama, Cliff Chiang, Bernard Chang, Sean Chen, Greg Pak and more. Here's a rundown of the creators and stories of Shattered:

Last month, the students at Stuyvesant High School created this charming video inviting none other than Jeremy Lin speak at the Class of 2012's graduation ceremony. Unfortunately, Jeremy can't make it, but he made this funny response video with some jokes and good advice (it helps to watch the original video first to get some of the gags):

Got word of this racist incident that went down last week at Emory University...

On Monday, two teams -- Beta Theta Pi and a team made up of mostly Asian American students -- were competing at a men's intramural volleyball championship. No big deal... until Beta's fans decided to be a bunch of dumbasses.

So your all-white team is playing against a bunch of Asians kids, who also happen to have a bunch of Asians cheering them on. So what's the perfect, racially-charged chant to put your opponents in their place? "USA! USA! USA!"

Not kidding. This actually happened. Here's an editorial written by Emory students Emily Wang, Joanne Kim, Gloria Kang and Daniel Cho, published in the school paper: Beta's Cheers Are Offensive.

read these blogs: sa-i-gu 20th anniversary edition

April Issue: LA Riots, In Our Own Words: KoreAm retraces the days and nights of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, a defining event in Korean America's collective history.

How Koreatown Rose From The Ashes Of L.A. Riots: "Prior to 1992, Korean immigrants considered themselves Korean. But after 1992, they began to call themselves Korean-Americans."

Korean Store Owner On Arming Himself For Riots: NPR's Michel Martin talks to Kee Whan Ha, owner of Koreatown's Hannam Chain store, about arming himself, defending his property during the riots, and the neighborhood today.

Riot Victim's Mom Calls for Peace: The parents of Eddie Lee, the riots' only Korean American victim, say it was social inequality that fueled the chaos that killed their then-18-year-old son.

this week's angriest posts

Not really the angriest, just the most viewed.

chinese students brutally attacked on sydney train

hbo's east of main street: small talk trailer

marion barry has a problem with filipino nurses

missing toronto teen michelle yu found safe

action short already gone, directed by ross ching

jeremy lin is one of the nba's top-selling jerseys

gordon hirabayashi to receive presidential medal of freedom

public service announcement: talking about it

angry reader of the week: timothy tau

two arrested in murder of new york chef

Special shout out to all the great people I met this week at Northwestern, University of Chicago, and University of Wisconsin at Madison.

4.27.2012

epic 18-minute guitar jam by dustin wong

A cool musical moment for you... Yours Truly presents an 18-minute guitar piece by musician Dustin Wong, enhanced by some crazy loops and pedal effects to create an epic kaleidoscopic jam. Pretty good music to have on in the background while doing some blogging. Take a look:

In New York, police have arrested two men in connection with the death of 26-year-old chef Hwangbum Yang, who was shot and killed last week in the Bronx: 2 Bronx Men Charged With Murder In Death Of Aspiring Chef Hwang Yang.

21-year-old Alejandro Campos and 20-year-old Dominick Davis admitted to targeting and killing Yang, who was a chef at the Museum of Modern Art, to steal his iPhone. They were charged with murder, robbery, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of stolen property.

Once again, it's time to meet the Angry Reader of the Week, spotlighting you, the very special readers of this website. Over the years, I've been able to connect with a lot of cool folks, and this is a way of showing some appreciation and attention to the people who help make this blog what it is. This week's Angry Reader is writer/director Timothy Tau.

Some interesting theater news... Off-Broadway's Signature Theatre recently announced the lineup for its 2012-13, and it includes the world premiere of Kung Fu, a new play by David Henry Hwang: NYC's Signature Will Premiere New Works By David Henry Hwang, Sam Shepard, Regina Taylor.

The Residency One: David Henry Hwang Series will feature Golden Child, directed by Leigh Silverman; The Dance and the Railroad, directed by May Adrales; and the world premiere of Kung Fu, also directed by Leigh Silverman. What's extremely interesting is the description for Kung Fu:

I'm posting this because, dude... how can I not post this awesome photo?

That's 6-year-old wrestler Felix Chang of Falls Church, Virginia standing at the top of the winner's podium, wearing the medal of a champ. Hell yeah.

Felix, wrestling whose accomplishments I've posted about before, recently won the NUWAY Nationals in the D1 Light Heavyweight (70 pound) division: F.C. Wrestler Takes Second National Championship.

fund this: clara c & david choi's 2012 fall tour

Check it. Two of your favorite pop-rock musicians, David Choi and Clara C, are going on tour together later this fall. You know and love them from YouTube, and this will be your chance to see them in person, with lots of cool bells and whistles. But in order to make that happen, they're asking for your help. So... here's the Kickstarter pitch for their Fall 2012 Tour:

Is Linsanity over? Nope. Not if you look jersey sales. According to the NBA, Jeremy Lin's number 17 jersey is still one of the top-selling items at the NBA Store in the last year: NY Knicks guard Jeremy Lin trails only Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose on the list of the NBA’s top-selling jerseys.

Jeremy is apparently only second to reigning NBA MVP Derrick Rose on the list of the NBA's most popular jerseys since April of last year. No small feat, considering "Linsanity" as we know it really only kicked off in February, and Jeremy's been out injured for nearly a month:

Domestic violence affects more people than you think. This public service announcement, produced by the San Francisco Asian Women's Shelter, is a message to our community about the importance of talking about it. Take a look at the message... and talk about it:

Today, President Obama named thirteen recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, presented to "individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors."

This year's recipients come from a variety of interests, disciplines and causes, including civil rights icon Gordon Hirabayashi, one of three individuals who openly defied the forced relocation and internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. He died earlier this year. From the White House press release:

action short already gone, directed by ross ching

Check out this three-minute badass action short, Already Gone, directed by Ross Ching and starring Shawn Ashmore and Harry Shum Jr. It's a story about criminals who steal from criminals, based on a longer, completed feature-length script. Watch it like you're being dropped in the middle of a movie that hasn't actually been made yet. You'll get the idea:

Oh hell no, Marion Barry has done it again. So what crazy-ass stupid comment has the Washington D.C. Council Member gone and said this time? This time, he's made remarks about the overabundance of "immigrant" nurses: D.C.'s Marion Barry called 'racist' for remark about Filipino nurses.

Specifically, nurses from the Philippines. Yeah, he went there. This week, at a D.C. Council budget hearing, the former mayor/crack cocaine user argued that the city's schools and hospitals should hire locally -- and singled out the growing number of Filipino nurses -- "foreigners or immigrants" -- in the workforce:

new g.i. joe: retaliation trailer

Oh yesssss. I was already looking forward to seeing G.I. Joe: Retaliation this summer, but this kickass new trailer takes my excitement to the next level. Directed by Jon M. Chu, it's the sequel to 2009's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. I know that movie kind of stunk... but everything I've seen about this one seems to indicate that it's in good hands. Check it out:

Some disturbing news out of Australia, where a violent, racist gang assault on two students aboard a train in Sydney has caused a media firestorm in China: Chinese students fear Sydney.

Six people, ages 14-18, have been arrested on a multitude of robbery and assault charges for the alleged on assault on two international students from China on a train between the Central and Rockdale stations this week.

The assault has drawn international outrage after one of the victims, a graduate student known as Xuan, posted about the brutal attack on the Chinese social media site Weibo:

Looking for some good new tunes? Singer/songwriter Emi Meyer just released a new four-song mini-album, LOL, comprised of rearranged versions of songs written for TV commercials in Japan, as well as two songs featuring the awesome Albert Chiang. First, check out this gorgeous music video for "Still":

According to Deadline.com, none other than director Justin Lin has acquired the screen rights for David Henry Hwang's critically-acclaimed comic play Chinglish: Justin Lin Revs Screen Adapation Of David Henry Hwang Play 'Chinglish.'

Justin Lin will direct and produce the screen adaptation of Hwang's extremely un-Fast Five-like stage play of crossed cultures. To knowledge, Chinglish does not feature any high-speed chases, car chases or explosions... but hey, we all know adaptations can be tricky:

This is so great. HBO just dropped the official trailer for the third season of its heritage month documentary mini-series, East of Main Street: Small Talk, which premieres Tuesday, May 1 on HBO Family. If you remember from the casting call, this year director Jonathan Yi has turned the cameras on kids to hear what they have to say about being Asian American. The trailer is endlessly cute and entertaining. Take a look:

Michelle Yu, the Toronto-area teenager who went missing last week, apparently turned up safe and unharmed across the country in Vancouver. But it's still unclear why or how she got all the way to British Columbia: Missing Toronto teen returns home after vanishing for several days.

Last seen in class at York Mills Collegiate Institute, then later photographed at a bank, her disappearance sparked a massive police search, as well as pleas from her family and friends for a safe return. On Monday, upon arrive home, she apologized for the concern she caused: Toronto teen Michelle Yu sorry for disappearance.

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The 100 Most Influential People in the World: Jeremy Lin: New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin -- maybe you've heard of him? -- leads off TIME's annual list of The 100 Most Influential People in the World.

The 100 Most Influential People in the World: Ai-jen Poo: Also, hell yes. Congratulations to community organizer Ai-jen Poo, whose integral work with the National Domestic Workers Alliance eventually led to New York's drafting its first Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, for making on TIME's list.

South L.A., Twenty Years Later E. Tammy Kim interviews people who lived through the 1992 Los Angeles riots, seeking to find what's changed and what's remained the same, twenty years later.

The Real Reason Why Asian Americans Are Outmarrying Less: Recently, the New York Times published this article on the rise of Asian Americans marrying other Asian Americans, and suggests that they do so because they want to preserve their "culture." Jeff Yang responds.

New Study Shows Black Women Confront Racists, While Asian Women Just Feed Them Nasty Jellybeans: A recent study concludes that African American women are more likely to be direct in confronting racism, while Asian women retaliate indirectly... like, by offering jellybeans flavored like vomit. Women of Disgrasian, we're doing some serious side-eye at this study, too.

this week's angriest posts

Not really the angriest, just the most viewed.

the canadian alexandra wallace

holy moly, hasbro

bollywood actress kidnapped and killed

shah rukh khan detained at the airport... again

missing: 18-year-old michelle yu, last seen april 17

jeremy lin named winner for the nba sportsmanship award

angry reader of the week: amanda zhang

dirty campaign secret: just add china!

asl performance of "no church in the wild"

world premiere of don't stop believin': everyman's journey at tribeca film festival

Much love to the NYCAASC. Chicago and Madison, I'll see you next week!

4.20.2012

angry reader of the week: amanda zhang

Hey guys, time to meet the Angry Reader of the Week, spotlighting you, the very special readers of this website. Over the years, I've been able to connect with a lot of cool folks, and this is a way of showing some appreciation and attention to the people who help make this blog what it is. This week's Angry Reader is Wellesley College student Amanda Zhang.

holy moly, hasbro

Paramount just released a new set of character banners for this summer's G.I. Joe: Retaliation. And daaaaaaaaaaamn. Hands down, the most noteworthy poster has to be this abtastic image of Lee Byung-Hun as Storm Shadow. For obvious reasons. See for yourself:

Damn. This is a horrific story out of India, where a young Bollywood actress was allegedly kidnapped and killed by two struggling actors who were trying to extort money from her family: Bollywood actress kidnapped and beheaded by actors.

26-year-old Meenakshi Thapar, best known for her role in the Indian horror movie 404, was kidnapped by two aspiring actors, Amit Jaiswal and his lover Preeti Surin, who strangled and then beheaded her after demanding a ransom from her family:

the canadian alexandra wallace

And now for some incredible stupidity from the north... Meet [dumbass] of Brampton, Ontario, a young woman who recently posted this racist video rant about the abundance of brown people -- aka "turbanators" and "terrorists" -- at her school. Remind you of a certain former UCLA student? They're calling her Canada's Alexandra Wallace. Here's why:

In Toronto, friends and family are asking for the public's assistance in searching for a teenage girl who has been missing since Tuesday night: Friends, family 'extremely worried' about missing teen.

18-year-old Michelle Yu disappeared Tuesday evening after shopping with a friend. She was last seen at the TD Bank at 354 Bay St. -- not a bank she usually uses and located far away from her home -- at approximately 6:00pm.

Police have released an image of her last known sighting, taken from the bank's security camera footage.

creative narratives: vietnamerica and other stories, april 19

What's up, New York. On Thursday, April 19, the APA Institute at NYU invites you to Creative Narratives: Vietnamerica And Other Stories a free event featuring GB Tran, author of Vietnamerica, a memoir and graphic novel exploring Tran's parents' history as Vietnamese refugees. The author will then curate an artist conversation with comic creators Christine Norrie, Fred Chao, and Jerry Ma. More information:

AList is a new nonprofit, volunteer-based quarterly Asian American magazine set to launch this summer. Its mission is the highlight leadership and professionalism in the Asian American community.

Want to get involved? They're currently putting together a team and are looking for qualified folks to fill open positions, including writers, editors, designers, photographers and other responsibilities. Here are some more details:

Good stuff. It looks like this was released last month, but I just stumbled across the official music video for "Better Side" by indie pop trio Lady Danville, from their recently released EP Operating. Kicking myself for not getting on this sooner -- I really like these guys! Check it out:

Asians behaving badly... drug money laundering toy company edition!

In City of Industry, California, the people behind a toy exporting company have been charged with laundering millions in narco-money: City of Industry toy company accused of laundering drug money.

Co-owners Jia "Gary" Hui Zhou and Dan "Daisy" Xin Li, and several of their associates at Woody Toys are accused of funneling about $6 million in suspected profits for Mexican and Columbian drug cartels since 2005:

For those in New York who are checking out the Tribeca Film Festival this week, you don't want to miss the world premiere of Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey, director Ramona Diaz's documentary on the amazing stranger-than-fiction story of Filipino singer Arnel Pineda, who was plucked from obscurity to become lead vocalist of stadium rock band Journey. Here's the trailer:

Save the date, people. Saturday, June 23rd marks the 30th anniversary of the death of Vincent Chin.

Asian Pacific Americans for Progress is planning on holding a series of events to commemorate the day and analyze the continuing relevance of racial profiling, hate crimes, bullying, media, civil rights, and pan-Asian American and multiracial coalition building.

APAP will be organizing a series of projects with other local and national AAPI organizations to not only reflect on the case, but to discuss the current issues affecting our community, especially as we head into elections in the fall.

Here are some ways you can get involved with APAP's efforts:

Here's something kind of different... Check out this video submitted by Sam Choi and his friends, featuring them dancing and signing to Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild." Signing, as in American Sign Language. Whaaaaat? Just watch and you'll understand:

Oh, great. It's some more awesome news from Texas!

So you're running for Texas' U.S. Senate seat. What's a tried-and-true campaign tactic you can use to rile up voters? China. The magic word. Just associate your opponent with China in some way. Instant attack: Senate race in Texas turns negative on Dewhurst ad.

This week, Republican candidate Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst released a statewide campaign ad attacking attorney Ted Cruz for representing a Chinese tire company, Shandong Linglong Rubber Co., in a fraud case against an American businessman, Jordan Fishman. Here's the ad:

6th annual new york city asian american student conference, april 21

Students! If you're in New York, please check out the 6th Annual New York City Asian American Student Conference, bringing together student leaders, community activists and professionals for workshops and panels on a broad range of topics relevant to our community.

This year's theme is "INK: Imagine aNd RethinK." It's happening this Saturday, April 21 at the Kimmel Center at New York University. Here are some more details:

Here's a great internship opportunity for Korean American students... The K.W. Lee Center for Leadership, based in Los Angeles' Koreatown, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing youth with the tools and opportunities necessary to become future leaders.

They're putting the call out for students who want to participate in their summer 2012 internship, the Korean American Youth Leaders in Training Program, a leadership development initiative for high school and college students. Here are some more details about the program:

Totally missed this when it was released a couple of weeks ago... but what is it? Check out this creepy cool trailer for Waking Summer, a new sci-fi project in the works. Starring Kevin Wu, aka KevJumba, and directed by Sung Kang, it has a really intense vibe and some great visuals. Take a look:

It's official. Dr. Jim Yong Kim, president of Dartouth College and an international expert in public health, has been selected as the next president of the World Bank: Jim Yong Kim named World Bank president.

While Dr. Kim was somewhat of a surprise choice by President Obama for the post, and faced competition against nominees from Nigeria and Colombia, he was widely expected to be approved by the World Bank board. The 187-member institution focuses on development loans and fighting poverty.

Here's President Obama's statement on the selection of Dr. Kim as World Bank President:

Passing along word about another independent film project that's trying to raise some funds... Filmmaker Tony Nguyen is currently working on Giap and the Last Ironing Board Factory, a short personal documentary about how his mother's last day of work at a factory assembly becomes his opportunity to ask the questions of a lifetime. Here's a video with some more information about the film:

Wow. The Philadelphia Inquirer has won for the Pulitzer Prize for its investigation into the climate of violence in Philadelphia's public schools -- including the pervasive anti-Asian violence that plagued South Philadelphia High School: Inquirer wins Pulitzer Prize for school violence series.

The Inquirer's seven-part series, "Assault on Learning," revealed that violence in city schools was widespread and underreported, with 30,000 serious incidents over the last five school years. The report shone a light on how administrators were severely ill-equipped to deal with violence in their schools, and absolutely clueless when it came to racial and bias violence:

Well, this is no surprise. Today, the NBA announced that Jeremy Lin was one of six players named as a divisional winners for the 2011-12 NBA Sportsmanship Award, which honors players who best represent the ideals of sportsmanship on the court. Here's the NBA's press release:

During a recent visit to the United States, Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan was unceremoniously detained at the airport... again: Shah Rukh Khan, Bollywood superstar, detained at Westchester County Airport.

The actor, who has been described as India's Tom Cruise, was held by immigration officials without explanation for more than two hours at Westchester County Airport in White Plains, New York. He was on his way to Yale University to accept an award.

You may remember that this isn't the first time Mr. Khan, who is Muslim, has had a run in with airport authorities. I guess the folks at Westchester aren't big Bollywood fans either.

Later, Khan made light of the incident to explain why he was late to the event:

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Make Your Parents Proud: Eugene Ahn quit his job as a lawyer and busted into the nerd hip-hop scene as Adam WarRock -- and still makes his parents proud.

Loving After Loss: When writer Tanzila Ahmed lost her mother the same day she submitted a final version of her story "Punk-Drunk Love," she feared she also lost her words. A touching story about finding the will to write again -- and to love.

Deportation Video Wins White House Contest, But Disappears: Some serious shadiness going on here. The White House invited the API community to submit videos addressing issues we face and the Studio Revolt team produced My Asian Americana, a short about Khmer Americans forced into exile. Although this short received the most votes, the White House neglected to invite the team to the "Champions of Change" event.

Why Asian American spending power catches advertisers: Including Asians in advertising used to be a courtesy -- now it's a necessity. Here's why.

this week's angriest posts

Not really the angriest, just the most viewed.

bullying led to texas teen's suicide

the uncanny jeremy lin action figure

welcome to the major league, yu darvish

cyclist could face manslaughter charges in fatal bike crash

two usc graduate students murdered near campus

aziz ansari buys a lot of stuff in this amex commercial

vietnamese businessman buys buford, wy for $900,000

restaurant owner charged in scuffle with alleged thief

liza lapira in don't trust the b- in apartment 23

bruce lee... the hawk!

Stay Angry, my friends.

4.13.2012

capal presents the apa heritage ball, may 9

Future public service leaders, here's your chance to rub elbows with some important folks. This May 9, the Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership invites you to its APA Heritage Ball in Washington D.C.

The event will honor past and current APA folks in public service, including government appointees and elected officials. Speakers include Howard K. Koh, Assistant Secretary in the Department of Health and Human Services, and Kiran Ahuja, Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Here's a promo video:

4.30.2012

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4.27.2012

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4.15.2012

4.14.2012

4.13.2012

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