Angry Asian Man

6.09.2011

teen cyclist killed in brooklyn crash

This is some damn tragic news... Last weekend in New York, a Brooklyn teen was struck and killed by a car while riding her bike. According to police, she was wearing headphones, not wearing a helmet, and was pedaling against the light: Tragic teen struck and killed was biking against light: cops.

16-year-old Aileen Chen, a student at Stuyvesant High School, was riding alone Saturday evening when she was rammed by a BMW at 62nd Street and 21st Avenue in Bensonhurst. Friends and loved ones say she was a talented student with a bright future ahead of her:

northern california soy and tofu festival, june 11

Aw yeah, Bay Area. It's time to get your soy on at the very first Northern California Soy and Tofu Festival. Pesented by the Nichi Bei Foundation, it's a day-long festival focusing on the health benefits of soy and tofu, with vendors, performances, games and a dessert competition. It's happening Saturday, June 11 in San Francisco Japantown’s Peace Plaza at Post and Bunchanan streets. Here are some more details:

I am seriously diggin' Illusions of Oasis, the freshly dropped new mixtape from Azuré, aka Justin Park. I'm relatively new to his stuff (posted the video for "As The Globe Spins" a few months back), but the more I hear, the more I like. Check out the new music video for Embedded Love:

Hey, artists. The Asian American Justice Center in Washington D.C. is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Want to help them celebrate? The AAJC is currently seeking submissions for their first poster contest: AAJC Announces 20th Anniversary Poster Contest.

Student artists and graphic designers are eligible to participate. To enter, you have to submit an entry that visually depicts AAJC's mission: "To advance the human and civil rights of Asian Americans, and to build and promote a fair and equitable society for all." Here are some more details:

I recently met filmmaker Carol Liu, who tells me about her project Restoring the Light, a feature documentary about a local eye doctor's quest to provide free healthcare to remote impoverished villages in northwest China. It looks like a remarkable story. Take a look at the trailer:

Saw this one on Gawker... Oh, Australia. You've been giving us some of the best stuff lately. On a recent newscast, they were reporting on a Chinese lottery winner who showed up to collect his prize disguised as Spider-Man. That's funny, but the real story is where the anchorman takes it with his casually racist commentary:

Has anyone been watching The Voice? NBC's singing competition has pop star hopefuls getting teamed up and coached by bonafide music stars Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton. I was skeptical at first about yet another TV talent competition, but the show has definitely grown on me.

I'm currently rooting for 23-year-old Dia Frampton, who you might recognize from the band Meg & Dia. Not exactly coming from complete obscurity (they were formerly signed with Warner Bros. Records), but unknown enough for the purposes of The Voice. I thought her audition was just okay, but last night she completely floored me with her unconventional rendition of Kanye West's "Heartless." See for yourself:

Catching up on some news out the Bay Area, and it's tragic... A couple of weeks ago in San Jose, a Vietnamese American teenager was stabbed to death near his home. Police are calling it a gang-related incident: Vigil held for killing victim; S.J. police investigate another homicide.

18-year-old Vincent Tran Le, who had graduated from high school just days before, was found stabbed after an altercation between two local rival gangs. Tran was apparently friends with members of one of the involved gangs. He died at the hospital:

That's right, people. Quit your racist whining and move along. After all that fuss and debate over the controversial Chinese government-funded "Confucius Classroom" language program, community members have dropped their efforts to recall four members of the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District: Residents drop recall against Hacienda la Puente Unified school board members.

They argued that the Chinese language curriculum was somehow an insidious scheme to spread communist propaganda, and launched a recall effort against board members Norman Hsu, Jay Chen, Anita Perez and Joseph Chang. Simply put, the recall effort was racist bullshit. They apparently abandoned the idea after realizing how much a special election would cost:

I heart hamas: and other things I'm afraid to tell you by jennifer jajeh, june 9-25

Some more Southern California performance stuff... Numerous folks have highly recommended I Heart Hamas: And Other Things I'm Afraid to Tell You, Jennifer Jajeh's solo about Palestinian American identity, which is playing June 9-25 at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Here are some more details about the show:

Just helping to spread the word... API Equality-LA is putting the call out to supporters in the Los Angeles area who would like to walking with them this weekend at the LA Pride Parade. It's happening Sunday, June 12 in West Hollywood. Here are some more details:

America's Best Dance Crew season one winners Jabbawockeez, the masked movers who are currently destroying the Las Vegas stage with their show Mus.I.C, join forces with The Bangerz and director Mike Relm to create this killer video for "Devastating Stereo." Check it out:

Check out this Seattle Times article on Nobel Peace Prize recipient Tun Channareth, a land-mind survivor and international crusader against the use of land mines. He's in Seattle to receive an honorary degree from Seattle University: 'Suffering never stops,' says land-mine survivor.

When he was 22-years-old, Channareth lost his legs when he stepped on a mine near the border between Cambodia and Thailand. Since then, he's worked tirelessly to educate the world about the destructive nature of land mines, and the millions of undetonated mines that still remain in Cambodia alone. In 1997, he accepted a Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.

So next week, the New England Association for College Admission Counseling holds its annual meeting and conference. Well, that's great. But one reader was browsing through the conference program and came across this workshop titled -- I kid you not -- "How to Train Your Dragon - a.k.a. Managing the Deluge from China!"

The session is apparently aimed at college admissions coordinators trying to get a handle on the number of applicants from China. Seriously -- "How To Train Your Dragon"? At the very least, it's in terribly bad taste. Thumbs down for the cultural insensitivity, NEACAC.

sung kim appointed new u.s. ambassador to south korea

It's being reported that Sung Kim, the State Department's top Korean expert and the U.S. special envoy for the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program, has been appointed as the United States' next ambassador to South Korea: Sung Kim tapped as US ambassador to Seoul.

Kim will replace the current ambassador, Kathleen Stephens, who will step down from the seat sometime in August. Kim, born in South Korea, immigrated to the U.S. in the 1970s and obtained U.S. citizenship in 1980. If confirmed, he will be the United States' first Korean American ambassador to Korea:

No joke, last night's episode of ABC's The Bachelorette featured an appearance from none other than Far East Movement performing their hit "Rocketeer," sort of as a backdrop concert for the one of the dates -- right after a surprise flash mob dance, of all things, to "Like a G6." Crazy!

I always enjoy seeing these guys get exposure on national television, from Conan to The Tonight Show... but this has to be one of the most random appearances they've ever done. Still, it's a big deal. Rock on, guys. Watch the full episode here (you can skip ahead to about 7:50).

For more from Far East Movement, check out their website here.

police believe missing nursing student michelle le was murdered

Terrible development in the case of missing nursing student Michelle Le... The case has been classified as a homicide investigation. Authorities have concluded that Michelle has been murdered: Missing nursing student killed at Hayward medical center parking garage, police believe.

Police haven't elaborated on the specific details of their investigation, but evidence strongly suggests that Le was targeted and killed in the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center parking garage where she was last seen May 27.

go!ohana, june 10

Hey, Bay Area friends... Just passing along some info about the latest edition of Go!Ohana, the monthly Pan Asian independent art/performance showcase, presented by RAMA.. June's lineup will include performances from Cynthia Lin and the Blue Moon All-Stars, The Soonest, The league of Pogi Gentlemen, and Wendy and Brian. It's happening Friday, June 10 at the La Pena Cultural Center in Berkeley. Here's some more information about the show:

Got this urgent alert passed along to me from Teresa... In Hayward, California, a second Vietnamese American female has been reported missing. If you're in the Bay Area, family and friends are asking for help finding 18-year-old Morna Tran, who has been missing since last Tuesday.

Morna was last heard from leaving a party on May 31 at 12:40am. She texted her mom to tell her she was driving back, but never arrived at home. She was wearing a black sweater and blue jeans, and driving a bluish gray, four-door 2004 Honda Accord, license plate number 5FBN851. Here's the message from her family:

It was a historic moment in tennis. Over the weekend at the French Open, 29-year-old Li Na became the first Chinese player to win a Grand Slam singles title, beating defending champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-4, 7-6 (0) at Roland Garros: Li's Slam Win a First for China.

She had already made history last week by becoming the first Chinese player to reach the French Open final by defeating Maria Sharapova. She was also the first Chinese woman to win a WTA singles title, the first to enter to the top ten in the rankings and the first to make it to a Grand Slam final. And now she's a French Open winner.

How do you spell victory? Last week, 14-year-old Sukanya Roy of South Abington Township, Pennsylvania correctly spelled "cymotrichous" to win the 2011 Scripps National Spelling Bee. That's right. Recognize, suckas. Another Indian American kid takes the trophy: Youth wins spelling bee with "cymotrichous."

Been seeing this one making the rounds today... To all the Susan Boyles of the world, you've got nothing on Choi Sung-Bong of South Korea, the latest vocal talent plucked from international obscurity. In this clip from Korea's Got Talent, the kid's hard-knock life story will have you in tears before he even starts singing. Then he starts singing. And there's not a dry eye in the house. Behold, the power to make a grown man (me) cry:

"Macaca." The word that toppled a senator. In 2006, Republican Senator George Allen of Virginia used the slur to refer to S.R. Sidarth, an Indian American volunteer working on his opponent's campaign. The whole thing was caught on tape, and it was that one word that arguably cost Allen the race. Well, the incredibly condescending "Welcome to America" probably didn't help either.

Well, George Allen is back, and now running to replace Jim Webb, who is retiring, and get his old job back. Last week, the former senator publicly apologized for the "macaca" incident at the Faith and Freedom Coalition Conference in Washington, D.C.: George Allen Offers Emotional Apology For Macaca Incident.

Congratulations to IaMmE, the season six winners of America's Best Dance Crew! I've been so busy, I neglected to blog about the show this season, but you I've been a fan since season one, and rest assured I've been following along. As you know, ABDC has been a pretty prominent showcase for Asian representation from its start. Were they holding it down in season six?

On Friday, at an emotionally wrenching court hearing, a judge sentenced 26-year-old Raymond Clark III, the former Yale lab technician convicted in the September 2009 murder of pharmacology graduate student Annie Le, to 44 years in prison: Yale lab tech gets 44 years for killing student.

Le's body was found stuffed in a wall of the Yale Animal Research Center on what was supposed to be her wedding day, five days after she went missing. According to authorities, she had been strangled, and her jaw and collar bones had been broken. Clark was arrested four days later and in March pleaded guilty to murder and attempted sexual assault. On Friday in court, he apologized:

win tickets to kollaboration acoustic 5

A reminder, if you're in Southern California, check out Kollaboration Acoustic 5, happening Friday, June 17 at the Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood. Wanna go? I'm giving away a pair of general admission tickets to one lucky reader. Scroll down below for details on how to enter to win.

It's going to be a fun night. Think of Kollaboration Acoustic as the more laid-back, unplugged younger brother to the big and sexy main Kollaboration event. It's one of my favorite events of the year, and this time they're bringing in special guest performer Priscilla Ahn. Here are some more details about the show:

this week's angriest posts

Not really the angriest, just the most viewed.

accidental chinese hipsters

the hangover part II: just like the first one, with more genitalia

missing: nursing student michelle le, last seen may 27

jonas bevacqua, co-founder of lrg, dead at 34

australian politician calls out colleague for meowing

bloody arrest pulls the plug on chinatown park performances

I'm not racist, but...

boycott aladdin: disneyland edition

penn state serial flasher arrested

music video: "cold" by aziatix

Huge thanks to everyone came out to the Hyphen Bittersweet Issue Release / SF AAM 10th Anniversary Party!

6.03.2011

myx tv and tai seng launch movie so good

Old school kung fu movie fans, you'll like this... Asian American cable television network MYX TV has announced the launch of Movie So Good, a throwback Asian movie showcase in partnership with Tai Seng Entertainment. Before Netflix, and before anyone in America knew who Jackie Chan or Chow Yun Fat were, Asian action cinema fans had to track down these movies at the bootleg Chinese video store. Now, you get delivered right to your TV. Here's a promo:

Here's an interesting New York Times story on the decline of the city's Korean grocers -- once a ubiquitous staple of New York City life, whose numbers are now on the wane, due to a number of factors facing these mom-and-pop operations: A New York Staple, Korean Grocers Are Dwindling.

asian american organizations hosting free citizenship day in orange county, june 11

Heads up to folks in Orange County, pass along the word to people who might be interested... the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, Cambodian Family, Boat People SOS and Korean Community Services are hosting a free Citizenship Day next weekend in Orange County.

The workshops are part of a statewide campaign to encourage AAPI immigrants in California to become U.S. citizens, helping participants determine eligibility for citizenship, complete application forms, and apply for fee and disability waivers.

The workshops will be held from 10:00am to 2:00pm on Saturday, June 11, at three sites - Santa Ana, Westminster and Irvine. Although not limited to the specified AAPI languages below, each site will have in-language speakers at the following sites:

Jeff Yang's latest "Asian Pop" for SFGate is a reaction to The Hangover Part II. But rather than join in with the hoarse-voiced chorus and excoriate the movie for reinforcing a multitude of ugly Asian stereotypes (because really, any fool can do that), Jeff uses his column to propose an alternative to allowing Hollywood to continually define Asian images: Looking for a 'Hangover' cure.

Independent cinema is not an easy game. But Asian American indie cinema is damn near crazy. With few exceptions, the simple economics of it have proven it's a losing game, in no small part because our community traditionally seems to have a hard time supporting its own media. The solution? A modest proposal for rebooting and building the Asian American brand and audience: The Two Percent Project.

Holla! Gather 'round, kids. Because 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 my poet hero Beau Sia, the lyricist behind East West Players' current production Krunk Fu Battle Battle.

More crazy strange Craigslist postings... this one comes from Western Massachusetts, where a singing and dancing weirdo is looking for a Dancing Asian Mime to help him/her be a freak when the spirit moves:

My fellow Bruce Lee fans! Just wanted to share this cool painting piece by Yan Pei-Ming, recently spotted by our recently re-located friend Kai Ma at the a Hong Kong International Art Fair. A quick Google search also turns up another cool Bruce painting by the artist here. (Thanks, Kai.)

file under badass: dipprasad pun

This week, Corporal Dipprasad Pun, a Nepalese soldier in the British army, was given the United Kingdom's top award for bravery for his heroic actions in Afghanistan, where he single-handedly fought off more than 30 Taliban fighters. Yes, by his damn self: Queen decorates Nepali for Afghanistan heroics.

Corporal Pun was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, which is given "in recognition of acts of conspicuous gallantry during active operations against the enemy." Pun's brand of gallantry included firing more than 400 rounds, launching 17 grenades and detonating a mine to repel the Taliban assault on his checkpoint in southern Afghanistan:

the colony theatre presents michael golamco's year zero, june 1 - july 3

If you're in Southern California and want to check out some cool Asian American theatre work... The Colony Theatre the first production of its 37th season, the west coast premiere of Michael Golamco's Year Zero, a coming-of-age Cambodian American immigrant story about nerds, hip hop and Dungeons & Dragons. Limited engagement opens this Saturday, June 4 at The Colony Theatre in Burbank. Here are some more details about the show:

Digging this slick music video for "Slappage" that recently dropped into my inbox from Los Angeles-based hip hop artist Simon Oh, aka Surilla. Formerly part of the group The Oddibles, this is his first solo video, and he goes pretty big with the special effects. Check it out:

Are you a wannabe Asian pop star, ready to bust loose? Asian pop culture television network Mnet recently announced that the Korean megahit TV singing competition Superstar K Season 3 will be holding U.S. auditions for the first time in New York City. Think American Idol, but Korean.

They're looking for superstars! Auditions will be held June 25 at The Times Center (620 8th Avenue) in New York, and are open to anyone regardless of age, race or music genre. Here's some more information on Superstar K from the press release:

This is another great Los Angeles Times story on diver Sammy Lee, the first American of Asian descent to win an Olympic gold medal. He won gold in the men's platform at the London Games in 1948, and won again at Helsinki in 1952. The man is a legend: Sammy Lee never let racism stop him from becoming a world ambassador in diving.

Not bad for someone who could only practice the one day a week the public pool was open to nonwhites. Considering the era he came up in, and the many obstacles and day-to-day prejudices that were right up in his face, it's truly amazing what he was able to accomplish:

ESPN has an interesting, lengthy profile on Erik Spoelstra, head coach of the Miami Heat -- you know the team currently going toe-to-toe against the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals? If you didn't know, Spoelstra is the first Filipino American head coach in the NBA. Heck, he's the first Filipino American head coach any professional sports teams in North America: The mystery guest has arrived.

The piece follows Spoelstra's beginnings growing up in Portland and playing basketball in college, to working his way up through the Miami Heat organization as a young man, before being named head coach in 2008. Consensus seems to be clear -- the guy works his ass off, and the work has paid off:

This has to be my new favorite website: I'm Not Racist, But... It's pretty simple. The author searches public Facebook posts for "not racist but" and posts examples of how not racist people are. There appears to be an odd disconnect between what people believe about being racist and saying racist things.

As the recipient of many dumbass emails over the last decade, I have heard from a significant number of people saying, "I'm not racist, but..." And let me assure you that whatever comes next in that sentence is pretty much always racist. Hypocrisy rocks. (Thanks, Joe.)

former california state treasurer matt fong dies at 57

Former California state treasurer Matt Fong, a former Republican candidate for Senate who lost a challenge to Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer, died yesterday at his home in Pasadena after a four-year battle with cancer. He was 57: Former California treasurer Matt Fong dies.

Matt Fong was the son of March Fong Eu, who served 20 years as secretary of state and was the first Asian elected to statewide office in California. In 1998, Matt Fong unsuccessfully ran against Boxer for her Senate seat, positioning himself as a social moderate, centrist Republican:

This is kind of badass. Check out this video of an Australian politician "meowing" at a female colleague when she asserts herself after being interrupted during a debate. But senator Penny Wong isn't taking that shit, and calls out David Bushby for his sexist sound effects: Australian politician caught 'miaowing' at female colleague.

celebrate the launch of gene luen yang's level up

Our friend Gene Luen Yang's new graphic novel Level Up, with Thien Pham, hits shelves next week. It's a great little magical-realist coming-of-age tale that blends video games, med school, stifling parental pressure and a little bit of fantasy -- all the stuff good Asian American stories are made of.

It's another great yarn from Gene, who is no doubt channeling some of his own anxieties into the narrative. Thien Pham's art is deceptively simple, but the story practically demands it; it's hard not to get drawn into the subdued watercolor journey of our troubled hero Dennis Ouyang. It's a great book.

And come on, you gotta love a book cover that models itself after a Nintendo Game Boy. To celebrate the launch of Level Up, they've got a bunch of events planned -- readings, signings, presentations, parties. Even an "epic draw-off." Gene is calling it Level Up Awareness Month. Here's the schedule of events:

In Riverside, California, the city's historic Chinatown has been selected by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as a finalist in the 2011 This Place Matters Community Challenge, competing with sites from across the country for three cash awards (top prize: $25,000).

Winners will be determined by public online vote through the month of June, and will be announced on July 1. You can vote for Chinatown just once throughout the challenge. Here's some more information and background on the historical significant of Riverside's Chinatown:

Check out the music video for "Cold" the latest single from up-and-coming R&B/hip hop group Aziatix -- Eddie Shin, Flowsik and Nicky Lee -- who are rapidly amassing a solid online fan base and picking up some serious heat on the iTunes charts. It's a solid track, and they're definitely showing they've got the chops to hit big in pop music, audience willing. Take a look:

Here's a follow-up New York Times blog post on that incident last month at Columbus Park in Chinatown, where amateur video caught a group of NYPD officers forcefully arresting an elderly Chinese man: Arrest of Musician in Chinatown Muffles Park Performances.

It apparently started off as a noise complaint over a group of musicians who regularly gather to play Cantonese opera in the park. But the afternoon somehow ended up with 64-year-old musician Wu Yizhou bloodied, handcuffed and on the ground. He was arrested on charges of disturbing the peace, using a speaker without a permit and resisting arrest:

More census figure fun... but probably stuff you already could have guessed. According to new findings from the U.S. Census Bureau, Asians and Hispanics are the nation's fastest-expanding large minority groups. The surprising part, to me at least, is actually where that growth is happening: U.S. Sees Surge in Asian, Hispanic Populations.

It's like something out of Grey's Anatomy... Check out this recent crazy segment on ABC's 20/20 on the true story of battlefield doctors who had the dangerous task of removing an unexploded bomb from a soldier's body in Afghanistan (seriously, this was once a story on Grey's Anatomy): Bomb Inside Soldier's Body.

A patrol is attacked, and a guy finds himself with impaled with an unexploded three-foot rocket-propelled grenade, sticking right out of his body. One of the surgeons featured in the story is Major John Oh, who was part of the team responsible for removing the explosive. A human bomb -- in order to save his life, the doctors had to risk their own. It's an incredible story. Watch it here. (Thanks, Wayne.)

driver arrested in yet another fatal chinatown bus crash

Damn, not another Chinatown bus crash. Yesterday, a commercial tour bus traveling North Carolina to New York's Chinatown went off Interstate 95 in Virginia and flipped on its roof, killing four people and injuring many more: Bus crash in Virginia kills four and injures 54.

Police inspectors have ruled out mechanical problems, and have attributed the crash to driver fatigue. The driver of the bus, 37-year-old Kin Yiu Cheung of Flushing, was arrested and charged with reckless driving: Driver Arrested After Fatal Bus Crash in Virginia; Carrier Has Record of Violations.

Damn. Jonas Bevacqua, co-founder and creative director of clothing company LRG was reportedly found dead at his home in Laguna Beach yesterday. Details on the cause of death are unknown. He was just 34: Jonas Bevacqua, Co-Founder of LRG Clothing, Found Dead.

Bevacqua was a college dropout who started the urban streetwear brand Lifted Research Group (LRG) with a friend to make clothes that reflected their lifestyle and interests. The line enjoyed a rapid rise as a hugely popular, influential and lucrative fashion force.

Here's the official statement from LRG:

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