July 2013

7.31.2013

Kollaboration San Francisco, August 3

This is for all my people in the Bay Area... Kollaboration San Francisco returns! The Bay Area edition of the world-famous Asian American talent showcase is back with a new lineup of performers. Special guests will include Mayor Evan Low, Joey Guila, Jimmy Ouyang and more. It's going down Saturday, August 3 at the California Theatre in San Jose. Here are some more details about the show:

Hey filmmakers! Check out this awesome opportunity... AT&T and ISAtv recently launched Take Your Shot, calling on aspiring Asian filmmakers to enter to win a unique opportunity to collaborate with Asian American filmmakers Wong Fu Productions, Freddie Wong or Jon M. Chu. Three finalists will be paired up with one of the mentors to create their short films to debut in the AT&T Mobile Film Festival online in October.

Here's a video with some more information on the contest:

Kero One plus Esna equals Kesna. One of my favorite emcee/producers has teamed up with vocalist Esna to make sweet tunes as the soulful duo Kesna Music, with a sound inspired by their love of vintage soul, funk and jazz of the 1970s. Here's the official music video for their debut single Is It Love? Good stuff. Check it out:

News of another hate crime out of Southern California... This week in Jurupa Valley, California, a Sikh house of worship was vandalized with hate speech: 'Terrorist' marked outside Sikh place of worship.

Sometime Monday night, some ignorant asshole spray-painted the word "terrorist" on the walls outside the Sikh Gurdwara of Riverside. This apparently isn't the first time the temple has been vandalized in its twenty-plus year history, but it's the first time the graffiti has involved hate speech.

The Riverside County Sheriff's Department is investigating the vandalism as a hate crime.

Oh snap. Almost missed this while I was on vacation last week... For fans of Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston, check him out in the trailer for the upcoming thriller Cold Comes The Night, directed by Tze Chun.

Alice Eve stars as a motel worker struggling to make ends meet. When she finds a dead body and a bag of money in one of the motel rooms, she and her young daughter are taken hostage by a Russian criminal (Cranston) who comes calling for the money. Take a look:

"The Annihilator" is comic book legend Stan Lee's new Chinese superhero. Because Stan Lee (not Chinese) is a savvy guy, and he knows it's probably not a bad idea to get in on some of that China Money.

This week, news broke that Taiwanese American singer-actor Wang Leehom will star as the titular hero in Magic Storm Entertainment's movie adaptation of Annihilator: Singing Sensation Wang Leehom to Star in Adaptation of Stan Lee's 'Annihilator.'

Annihilator tells the story a young Chinese prisoner, Ming, who undergoes a dangerous genetic procedure that gives him extraordinary abilities. He proceeds to use those abilities to kick some bad guy butt.

So what's Jeremy Lin been up to this summer? Here a video, recently posted to his YouTube channel, featuring scenes of him working out at the Gatorade Sports Institute, the Rockets practice facility and at home in Palo Alto. See Jeremy running, jumping, shooting, and getting hooked up to some kind of strange tubular breathing apparatus:

Aw man. Come on. All right, so you may have heard that News Corp/21st Century Fox CEO Rupert Murdoch is splitting with his wife of fourteen years, Wendi Deng. This is not news I give a crap about, but...

This week, during a segment of CNBC's Power Lunch, Robert Frank used the phrase "chink in the armor" to describe Deng and Murdoch's pending divorce. This did not sit well with the Asian American Journalists Association: CNBC Reporter's Use of "Chink in the Armor" Condemned By Asian American Journalists.

Okay, I understand that this is a legitimate phrase. And I can recognize when it's being used innocently enough... But of all the things you could say to express these particular ideas, and all the words you could use in this situation, "chink in the armor" is simply a really bad choice. Here's video of the broadcast:

AAIFF Screenplay Reading: The Chinese Delivery Man, August 1

If you're in New York, check out this special table read of Isaac Ho's The Chinese Delivery Man, winner of the 2013 Asian American International Screenplay Competition, co-hosted by Asian American Film Lab, Asian CineVision and the A/P/A Institute at New York University. It's happening Thursday, August 1 at NYU.

Chosen by jurors from over thirty scripts submitted to the competition this year, The Chinese Delivery Man is inspired by the true life murders of Chinese delivery men in New York City. The reading will be conducted in an "Unfinished Works" style, which will allow the audience to participate directly in the creative process.

Here are some more details about the event:

K-POP FANS. This one's for you. KCON is back. The first-ever large-scale convention dedicated to "All Things Hallyu" returns for its second year. It's happening August 24 and 25 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

The convention was launched as a flagship pop culture event for American K-Pop fans to connect with each other as well as artists and professionals in the K-pop industry. culminating in a star-studded concert featuring some of your favorite Korean pop acts. This year's lineup includes EXO, 2AM, TEEN TOP, and F(x).

Want to go? You could win a VIP trip to KCON 2013.

New York rapper David Lee, aka Rekstizzy, recently visited the West Coast to shoot this freshly dropped music video for his single "One Track Mind," riding that poolside summer vibe and featuring cameos from the likes of Los Angeles icons Dumbfoundead, Roy Choi and more. Great beats, fun flow and I'm loving that hook by Ann One. Check it out:

Remember Daniel Chong? He's the San Diego student who was at a friend's apartment smoking some pot last year when Drug Enforcement Administration officers showed up, took him into custody, and threw him in a holding cell... where he was forgotten about and left for nearly five days without food and water.

When DEA agents finally got around to re-opening the 5-by-10 cell, they found Chong severely dehydrated, suffering form kidney failure and covered in his own feces. During his horrific ordeal, he began to hallucinate, drank his own urine, and tried to kill himself.

If you think Daniel had some pretty serious grounds for a lawsuit, you'd be correct. He sued the federal government for $20 million, and this week, his lawyers announced that he reached a $4.1 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice: DEA settles left-in-cell case for $4M.

Based on the great response I got from the Bruce Lee MIMOBOT giveaway, it seems you like designer USB flash drives. So, my fellow Star Trek fans, here's one that you're going to like: Mr. Sulu MIMOBOT.

The Mr.Sulu MIMOBOT is a limited edition designer USB flash drive -- limited to 1,000 hand-numbered pieces -- made in the likeness of George Takei from the Original Series (apologies to all the John Cho fans out there). Available in up to 128GB and USB 3.0 capabilities, the Sulu MIMOBOT comes preloaded with a bonus suite of wallpapers, icons, avatars and other digital content. Oh my. So... who wants one?

I happen to have two of these Mr. Sulu MIMOBOTs to giveaway to lucky readers. Here's how to enter:

I don't really know where to start with this. At the risk of giving this more views than it deserves -- and it deserves none -- this is the music video for "Asian Girlz" by a band called Day Above Ground, aka a bunch of miniature white dudes in a cage. This racist, yellow fever bullshit is an actual song, and it is possibly the worst song I've ever heard. If you can somehow get past the first minute of this shit, I commend you (honestly, you really don't have to watch this -- just read the lyrics below):

All right, I have to address this because it keeps getting passed along to me...

This screenshot (perpetuated by this article) of a Korean TV news broadcast's alleged tit-for-tat poke back at KTVU has been doggedly circulating since last week. Because two can apparently play the fake name game.

It's fake.

Have you seen this car? In Los Angeles, police are searching for the driver of a distinctive Nissan GT-R who is responsible for the hit-and-run death of an elderly bicycle rider in Koreatown earlier this year: Distinctive Nissan GT-R Sought in Fatal Koreatown Hit-&-Run (VIDEO).

LAPD has released dash-cam video footage of the collision, shot from the next lane over, that killed 90-year-old Joo Yoon when he was hit by a dark gray or gun-metal Nissan GT-R while crossing a Koreatown intersection on April 27. The video shows the Nissan hitting Yoon, waiting for a moment on the next block, then driving off:

AAIFF'13 Panel Discussion: Where are the Asian Women in Film? July 30

Short notice, but if you're in New York, the Asian American International Film Festival is co-hosting a special panel with the Museum of Chinese America: Where are the Asian Women in Film? with director Nadine Truong, actor/producer Di Quon, director/professor Christine Choy and filmmaker/moderator S. Casper Wong. It's happening Tuesday, July 30 at MOCA. Here are some more details:

Just another reminder for all you up-and-coming filmmakers in the Los Angeles area... The deadline for the latest cycle of Visual Communications' prestigious Armed With a Camera Fellowship is quickly approaching. Make sure you get in on this great opportunity and apply by this Friday, August 2.

What's in it for you? Now in its 12th edition, the Fellowship has guided 90 up-and-coming filmmakers to launch careers and express the perspectives of the Asian Pacific American communities. You'll be supplied with funding, training, resources and an elite presentation venue -- the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.

Along with unique mentorship, training and networking opportunities, fellows will receive $1,000 in cash as well as a $1000 equipment rental stipend to complete your short project.

For further information about the Fellowship, including eligibility, project criteria and application guidelines, go to the Visual Communications website. And act fast -- the deadline is the end of this week.

Music Video: Far East Movement wreaks office havoc in "The Illest"

Some new music for you... Far East Movement recently dropped the music video for their latest track, "The Illest" feat. Riff Raff (and a whole bunch of cameos). I don't know know what the heck is happening in here, but it's fun. Note Prohgress rocking those Bill Lumbergh/Office Space suspenders:

Skills. Think you're a pretty good chess player? Chances are, Carissa Yip can beat you. And she's only 9 years old: Mass. girl, 9, becomes youngest US chess expert.

Carissa, who will be a fifth grader at McCarthy Middle School in Massachussetts, is the youngest player ever to reach the expert level, and ranked higher that 93 percent of the players registered with the U.S. Chess Federation. But you know what's extra impressive? She only started playing three years ago.

She's also in the top two percent of all female players. But she has her sights set on eventually becoming the first female to win the overall championship. Get it, girl:

Linsanity is back! And it's coming to a theater near you. Linsanity, the movie, that is. Director Evan Leong's feature documentary, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, officially has theatrical distribution -- and a release date: Jeremy Lin's 'Linsanity' Documentary Gets Distribution.

This announcement was a long time coming. The documentary, which recounts the amazing, against-the-odds rise of NBA star Jeremy Lin, will be released on October 4 in Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and 10 to 15 other cities from Ketchup Entertainment.

A powerful, important piece of history... In Idaho, researchers have uncovered the near-forgotten site of an internment camp where the United States government first used people of Japanese ancestry as a workforce during World War II: Kooskia Internment Camp Discovered In Mountains Of Idaho.

In the remote mountains of northern Idaho, archaeological work has been underway to uncover artifacts from the long buried, little-known history of the Kooskia Internment Camp, which operated from 1943 to the end of the war and held more than 250 detainees:

OH HELL YES. Randall Park and Co. return with another episode of the hilarious web series Baby Mentalist, starring his baby daughter Ruby -- and this is it! All good things must come to an end. The cutest little kid cop retires from crime-fighting with an epic ten-minute series finale. (If you've never watched the series before, I suggest watching all previous episodes first or you'll be totally lost). Check it out:

Catching up on some news that dropped while I was out... In case you hadn't heard, some folks did indeed get fired for the racist name prank that made it on the air in the wake of the Asiana Airlines crash earlier this month: KTVU producers fired over Asiana pilots' fake names.

Last week, KTVU confirmed that the station fired three veteran producers over the four fake names that should never have made it on the air. Investigative producer Roland DeWolk, special projects producer Cristina Gastelu and producer Brad Belstock were all given the boot after an in-house investigation into the matter.

Meanwhile, the station has been quietly trying to the get all the clips of the on-air gaffe pulled from YouTube, citing copyright infringement:

Back to Blogging

I'm back. And dammit, my vacation was waaaaaay too short. I'm going to need a moment to get things back to normal around here -- you'll have to excuse you me while I catch up on news and sift through the giant heap of email that piled up while I was away. But huge thanks to all the great friends who stepped up to contribute some amazing guest posts to keep things going during my time off. I owe you all a drink!

Here's a rundown of all of last week's guest posts, in case you missed any:

10 Things I'll Do With My Soon-To-Be Twin Brother

Guest Post by Dan Matthews

Hey, folks! I'm on vacation, taking a much-needed blog break. Some batteries need recharging. But don't worry -- I've enlisted the generous help of some great guest bloggers to keep things fresh around here while I'm gone. Here's Dan Matthews sharing about his journey to meet his biological family -- and his twin brother(!) -- for the first time.

This week I'll find out if I have a biological family. And I'll find out if I have a twin brother.

I mean, I know I have a biological family somewhere, hence... me being alive (maybe not necessarily a twin brother... unless everyone has a twin sibling they don't know about). But this week I'll find out if I'm actually related to the biological family that had recently revealed themselves to me. My honest to God, this is your blood, FAMILY. I'm maybe 5 days from finding out. And it's FREAKING me out.

So, I could think of no better way to fill up the void of this blog space left by Angry Asian Man than to write about how it feels to be in emotional limbo while waiting to hear back from DNA results determining whether or not someone is related to you.

Saving My Mother With a Safety Pin

Guest Post by Jen Wang

Hey, folks! I'm on vacation, taking a much-needed blog break. Some batteries need recharging. But don't worry -- I've enlisted the generous help of some great guest bloggers to keep things fresh around here while I'm gone. Here's Jen Wang of Disgrasian on her mother, happiness and life-saving safety pins.

A recent study published by the London School of Economics found that happiness peaks at two times in your life: age 23, and again at age 69. My mother turned 69 this year. And she'll tell you she's happy, very happy, in fact, the exact words she used to describe herself just the other day.

This was in the same breath as her telling me that she has no energy or the desire to do anything any more, and she's worried sick about getting older. She's worried that, like her own father, she'll get struck down by a heart attack. (She's had two angioplasties in the last 20 years.) She's worried she'll have a stroke. She's afraid when she comes to visit me for long periods how far away she is from her doctors. She vows that her next move will be to a home closer to the hospital.

"Oldest-and-still-running-Asian American blah blah blah..."

Guest Post by Traci Kato-Kiriyama

Hey, folks! I'm on vacation, taking a much-needed blog break. Some batteries need recharging. But don't worry -- I've enlisted the generous help of some great guest bloggers to keep things fresh around here while I'm gone. Here's Traci Kato-Kiriyama on art, community, and the unsung heroes of Little Tokyo.

If you've heard about a thing called "Tuesday Night Cafe" you might have heard this line: "We're one of the longest-running, free, public art+community series in Downtown L.A. and the oldest-and-still-running Asian American-run open mic space in the country..."

What does that even mean?

After saying that at a recent TNC celebrating several kick ass LA-based AAPI LGBTIQ organizations, it made me pause and take a look back...

Angry Reader of the Week: Philip Wang

What's up? It is time for another edition of 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 Philip Wang of Wong Fu Productions.

How to Be Mistaken for a Prostitute in China

Guest Post by Dorcas Cheng-Tozun

Hey, folks! I'm on vacation, taking a much-needed blog break. Some batteries need recharging. But don't worry -- I've enlisted the generous help of some great guest bloggers to keep things fresh around here while I'm gone. Here's Dorcas Cheng-Tozun with a step-by-step guide to being mistaken for a prostitute in China.

Step 1: Marry a white man.

When I was a senior in college, a Chinese American student wrote a scathing op-ed in the school newspaper about the bane of white men dating Asian women on campus. He blamed the men for poaching Asian women; he blamed the women for not giving their Asian brethren a chance; he blamed all parties for perpetuating nasty stereotypes. His column ignited a vigorous debate on campus.

The paper did a follow-up article on just who these outrageous white-Asian couples were. My then-boyfriend -- now husband -- and I were interviewed for the article. (Ned is technically half-Turkish and half-Jewish, but in this context, that didn't matter. He's white enough.) We talked about the challenges of cross-cultural romance and how we tried to be sensitive to one another's heritage. But we were confident we could find a way to make it work. And we did.

We married four years after graduating and enjoyed copious amounts of marital bliss. See? I wanted to tell that guy from college. Asian-white relationships can be a beautiful thing.

Three years later, we moved to China -- and I realized I had no idea what I was talking about.

Asian Americans: Yes, we're slackers. No, it's not a good thing.

Guest Post by Karthick Ramakrishnan

Hey, folks! I'm on vacation, taking a much-needed blog break. Some batteries need recharging. But don't worry -- I've enlisted the generous help of some great guest bloggers to keep things fresh around here while I'm gone. Here's Karthick Ramakrishnan on the dangers of Asian American slackerdom.

First, let me clarify that I'm not against all slackerdom. The model minority myth continues to have a powerful hold on our society, and it doesn't help when news organizations and research institutes continue to perpetuate them. And slacker exemplars like Harold and Kumar have single (double?) handedly taken down the myth by a few notches. And that's a good thing. There's very little good that comes out of seeing all of us as monolithic, hyper-ambitious, over-achieving, over-qualified. I get it.

Asian Bad Guys from Die Hard, The Karate Kid Part II & Rambo II Still Kick Ass

Guest Post by Stephen Dypiangco

Hey, folks! I'm on vacation, taking a much-needed blog break. Some batteries need recharging. But don't worry -- I've enlisted the generous help of some great guest bloggers to keep things fresh around here while I'm gone. Here's Stephen Dypiangco of National Film Society on his love for Awesome Asian Bad Guys.

Dreams come true. Seriously. This past June, I had the unbelievable privilege of collaborating with several of my childhood heroes while co-directing and co-starring in the forthcoming action comedy web series Awesome Asian Bad Guys. How and why did this all magically happen? Well back in 2011, my National Film Society filmmaking partner Patrick and I made a video celebrating the kickass Asian actors who played bad guys in countless action movies we watched growing up in the 80s and 90s. These actors were cool as hell, but we had no idea who they were or what they were like. Their characters rarely had any dialogue, and they usually ended up maimed, beaten to a pulp or dead.

Patrick and I wanted to make an Expendables-like project that called these Asian badasses out of the shadows and placed them front and center. Thus was born Awesome Asian Bad Guys.

Here Lies Love - A New American Musical Experience

Guest Post by Raymond J. Lee

Hey, folks! I'm on vacation, taking a much-needed blog break. Some batteries need recharging. But don't worry -- I've enlisted the generous help of some great guest bloggers to keep things fresh around here while I'm gone. Here, Raymond J. Lee interviews Jose Llana, one of the stars the musical Here Lies Love.

There's a new musical taking New York by storm and it is composed of a majority Asian American cast singing and dancing to the electric music of David Byrne and Fatboy Slim. Here Lies Love tells the story of Filipina First Lady Imelda Marcos and her rise to political stature. Featuring a cast of amazing Asian American triple threats, the show is now enjoying its fourth and final extension at New York's acclaimed The Public Theater. Directed by Alex Timbers, the show has already won an accolade of awards including the Outer Critics Circle for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical.

I got the chance to see this show the past month and it absolutely blew my mind. Not only it is a vibrant show filled with sensational music and award-worthy performances, but it is one of the first full-out Asian American musicals solely about Asian characters that has reached widespread popularity and critical acclaim in the past few years.

I got the chance to sit down with Jose Llana, one of the stars of Here Lies Love to talk about the show and his career as an Asian American actor.

My Parenting Style: Ignorance and Optimism

Guest Post by Elizabeth Jayne Liu

Hey, folks! I'm on vacation, taking a much-needed blog break. Some batteries need recharging. But don't worry -- I've enlisted the generous help of some great guest bloggers to keep things fresh around here while I'm gone. Here's Elizabeth Jayne Liu of Flourish in Progress on parenting failures and shining moments.

I had two things working against me when I became a mother: ignorance and optimism.

I was 18 years old and operating on a very limited budget when I got pregnant, so I didn't buy any parenting books. It seemed simple enough. Did I need to spend $19.95 for an "expert" to explain in hundreds of pages what I could distill down into a few easy steps?

Hollywood isn't racist. It's worse.

Guest Post by Tak Toyoshima

Hey, folks! I'm on vacation, taking a much-needed blog break. Some batteries need recharging. But don't worry -- I've enlisted the generous help of some great guest bloggers to keep things fresh around here while I'm gone. Here's Tak Toyoshima, aka Secret Asian Man, on race, casting and Hollywood indifference.

For years, Hollywood has been a target for the Asian American community to fire off wave upon wave of wrath-filled petitioning and highly organized protests. Occasionally Hollywood rears its swollen head and notices and offers up a luke warm apology beginning with the words "We apologize to anyone who was offended. It was not our intention." Translation: "We're sorry you have a problem with it."

But after watching controversies come and go, from the flaccid hug between Jet Li and Aaliyah in Romeo Must Die, to the whitewashing of The Last Airbender, from the proposed all white cast of the hopefully doomed live-action Akira movie to the sadly soon-to-arrive remake of Oldboy by Spike Lee, I've come to the conclusion that Hollywood is actually not racist against Asians. It's indifferent. You know, the opposite of love.

Part of Memory is Forgetting

Guest Post by Cara Van Le

Hey, folks! I'm on vacation, taking a much-needed blog break. Some batteries need recharging. But don't worry -- I've enlisted the generous help of some great guest bloggers to keep things fresh around here while I'm gone. Here's Cara Van Le, Angry Asian Intern, on awkward interaction and the question of ancestry.

I'm not a social butterfly. I like the warmth of my cocoon. It was only after a year of dodging invitations and one particularly difficult teaching day that I agreed to attend a happy hour with my co-workers. We arrived at the bar, assembled tables together, shuffled chairs, and before I knew it, I was locked somewhere in the middle, unable to make a getaway without getting my chair's legs tangled with those of someone else's. We exchanged the usual pleasantries. Work, weather, drinks of choice. And like clockwork, exactly what I was expecting to happen did.

Angry Thoughts

Guest Post by Roy Choi

Hey, folks! I'm on vacation, taking a much-needed blog break. Some batteries need recharging. But don't worry -- I've enlisted the generous help of some great guest bloggers to keep things fresh around here while I'm gone. Here's Roy Choi with a list of things that make him angry.

Phil asked me to write a post.
I said yes.
Here you go.

All the things I'm angry about and sometimes wonder about:

Why a "Little Bit of Racism" Isn't Something to Sing About

Guest Post by Jeff Yang

Hey, folks! I'm on vacation, taking a much-needed blog break. Some batteries need recharging. But don't worry -- I've enlisted the generous help of some great guest bloggers to keep things fresh around here while I'm gone. Here's Jeff Yang on his least favorite part of the musical Avenue Q.

You know the puppet-powered alt-musical Avenue Q? Well, I loved watching it. I thought it was smart and wickedly hilarious, a work of passing satirical brilliance, I'm glad it's still playing Broadway, and I'm weirdly happy to see a small play featuring foulmouthed muppets subversively ensconced in big-budget-extravaganza-laden Las Vegas.

But if there's one thing I really regret about its popularity, it's that it accidentally created the ultimate weapon of mass distraction for those seeking to dismissively minimize acts of racial insensitivity: A handy theme song. If you know the words, feel free to sing along:

How to Work It

Guest Post by Lisa Lee

Hey, folks! I'm on vacation, taking a much-needed blog break. Some batteries need recharging. But don't worry -- I've enlisted the generous help of some great guest bloggers to keep things fresh around here while I'm gone. Here's Lisa Lee on saying "yes," always asking, and doing what you love. And hustling. Always hustling.

Being asked to guest blog for this site is no joke. The invite was an honor, so I decided to procrastinate until the very last minute to see what I could possibly offer up in this space. Because you know, that's what feels truthful.

Jokes aside, I spent some time mulling over the words that you're about to read. I thought about doing a reflection on what Thick Dumpling Skin has taught me in the last two plus years, what it means to be an activist (if I can even call myself that) in corporate America, or the clichéd "Asian Americans past, present, and future!"

What I've decided, is to talk about the three rules that I've (tried) to live by these last few years. They may not be "Asian American" specific, so to say. However, I've found these golden nuggets to be exactly what I needed to help me curb what I think are learned behaviors, as an Asian woman, that have held me back from achieving my full potential.

Crossword Puzzle: Asian Americans in Film

Guest Post by Ada Tseng

Hey, folks! I'm on vacation, taking a much-needed blog break. Some batteries need recharging. But don't worry -- I've enlisted the generous help of some great guest bloggers to keep things fresh around here while I'm gone. Here's Ada Tseng testing your knowledge of Asian American cinema.

Have you ever thought about how cool it would be to have an "Asian Americans in Film" crossword puzzle? A fun game to reward anyone who's been following and supporting Asian Americans in entertainment -- aka you, the loyal readers of Angry Asian Man?

Truthfully, I hadn't either, but when Phil asked me to contribute a guest post, an idea was born. I'm grateful for this opportunity to take some of the films I've watched and people I've learned about in my last (almost) decade of covering Asian American entertainment for Asia Pacific Arts online magazine and to stick their names in vertically and horizontally-linked squares.

Have fun!

Unmasking Boba Fett

Guest Post by Dante Basco

Hey, folks! I'm on vacation, taking a much-needed blog break. Some batteries need recharging. But don't worry -- I've enlisted the generous help of some great guest bloggers to keep things fresh around here while I'm gone. Here's actor Dante Basco, aka Rufio, on carving out our little corner in popular culture.

I'm here today at Comic Con, checking out the madness, rolling around and just enjoying the sights -- the crazy cosplay costumes, the amazing exhibits and the advertising displays. All of this has got me thinking about this blog post.

First off, I'm Dante Basco. I'm an actor, writer, poet and producer, but I'm known and remembered through the fandom worlds for two characters I played... Rufio, the leader of the Lost Boys in Steven Spielberg's Hook and Prince Zuko in Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender. So here I am at the biggest fandom event in the world... just geekin' out with all the geeks.

You're angry too, you just don't know it yet!

Guest Post by Lela Lee

Hey, folks! I'm on vacation, taking a much-needed blog break. Time to recharge some batteries. But don't worry -- I've enlisted the generous help of some great guest bloggers to keep things fresh around here while I'm away. Here's Lela Lee, aka Angry Little Asian Girl, with some thoughts on being angry.

Hey everyone! Happy summer. I am honored to be a guest blogger this week. Phil and I are kindred spirits in that we are both angry Asian people. And lest you wonder, I am older and was angry first, but it doesn't really matter, as we need more Asians to realize that they too are angry.

Why am I angry? First off, for those who don't know me, I draw the comic strip "Angry Little Girls" which started with the original character "Angry Little Asian Girl." I created ALAG in video form in 1994 while I was an angry college student. Why was I angry? I was angry partly because my Korean parents were so frickin' strict and adhered to weird country rules about listening to the eldest even if the eldest was lying and making shit up. I was the youngest of four girls and sisters/girls/siblings can be mean.

Hey everybody! We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to take a much-needed break from the sweaty business of blogging. I'm on vacation! But don't worry -- I've enlisted the generous help of some great guest bloggers to keep things fresh around here this week. Enjoy.

I'll be posting scattered updates on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, but for the most part, I'm off. Please try to make things a little easier on me by not emailing anything while I'm on break. Thanks. And stay angry.

7.21.2013

Read These Blogs

How to Ask Someone About Their Ethnicity Without Being an Asshole: "Fret not, dear reader. I'm here to sift through insane Yahoo! Answers and my own Brown Girl Feelings to tell you exactly how not to be an asshole when asking a Not White Person about their ethnicity. It's really very simple once you get the hang of it! Let's practice together, shall we?"

[UPDATE] 9 Wack Things White Guys Say to Deny their Asian Fetish: Boom. When Kristina Wong calls out white dudes on their long history of dating Asian women, here are nine stupid answers she gets.

My Termination from the OCA Summer Internship Program: Juliet Shen, former intern with OCA, shares about the anti-corporation sentiments and actions that led to her termination from the internship program.

Having more diverse newsrooms won't always prevent errors like KTVU's, but it would help: How can media outlets minimize such ridiculously racist WTF moments like KTVU's? Perhaps more diversity in the newsroom.

Immigration Disguises Severity of Poverty Among Asians in U.S.: According to a new report by the National Coalition for APA Community Development, "AAPI poor are one of the fastest growing poverty populations in the wake of the Recession."

This Week's Angriest Posts

Not necessarily the angriest, just the most viewed.

Take that, racists. These kids have no idea why anyone would be upset over a Cheerios commercial.

NTSB fires intern who confirmed fake, racist Asiana names

Asiana Airlines suing KTVU for racist fake name report

Love, Zombie Style: Maggie, Glenn and a crazy hot kiss

I was up until three in the morning watching b-boy battle videos. It was totally worth it.

Sound and Fury Podcast Episode 10: Steven Yeun

Uh, never mind. Asiana Airlines is not suing KTVU.

Tim Lincecum throws a no-hitter against the Padres

Classy, TMZ: "Johnny Depp Ready to Drop His Bomb on Japan"

Justin Lin is working on a Bruce Lee TV project

Hell of a week. I am in serious need of a vacation.

7.19.2013

Angry Reader of the Week: Marian Bacol-Uba

Hey everybody! Once again, it's time for you 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 Marian Bacol-Uba.

Texting While Driving: It Can Wait

Win a brand new Blackberry Q10

I took the pledge. Will you? The AT&T campaign It Can Wait encourages drivers to make a pledge to never text and drive. Any text message you send while driving risks your life or the lives of others. In way too many cases, texting while driving is a deadly mistake. Is that message really worth it?

Good readers, will you take the pledge? To raise and spread awareness about the dangerous practice of texting while driving, I've partnered with It Can Wait for a smartphone giveaway. Take the pledge, and you'll be entered for a chance to win a brand new BlackBerry Q10® -- that you will not use to text while driving.

Here's how to enter:

Sound and Fury Podcast Episode 10: Steven Yeun

Podcast listeners! We're back with the latest episode of Sound and Fury: The Angry Asian Podcast. Episode 10 -- yes, we made it to ten! -- features a great conversation with actor Steve Yeun, who stars as Glenn on the popular AMC zombie drama The Walking Dead. Not only a talented actor, but a real nice guy to hang out with.

Thanks for listening, and for all the great feedback so far. These shows have been a blast to put together. At the very least, they've been a fun opportunity to sit down and chat with friends and folks I really admire, and it's my pleasure to share them with you. You can get a rundown of the previous episodes here. To get them delivered to your device as soon as they're released, be sure to subscribe.

But without further ado, let's talk zombies:

Love, Zombie Style: Maggie, Glenn and a crazy hot kiss

This one's for The Walking Dead fans... specifically fans of Steven Yeun as Glenn and Lauren Cohan as Maggie. Check out this awesome photo, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly of the AMC zombie drama's hot young couple, who have been holding things down on the romance front as the world turns into a post-apocalyptic undead hell. Hot? It gets even hotter as an animated gif:

On second thought, maybe not. Asiana Airlines will not pursue a lawsuit against KTVU for those racially offensive names that made it on the air last week: Asiana won't sue KTVU for mistake.

Take that, racists. These kids have no idea why anyone would be upset over a Cheerios commercial.

By now, you know about that adorable Cheerios commercial that got racist fools riled up because it depicts a mixed race family. However, The Fine Bros. latest "Kids React" video features a bunch of precocious kids who thought it was pretty good commercial. In fact, they had a hard time understanding why anyone would get upset over it. The children speak:

7.31.2013

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7.16.2013

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