stir-friday night presents buddha call

This is for all my people in Chicago, some laughs to get you through those cold winter nights... Asian American sketch comedy and improv troupe Stir-Friday Night! presents its latest original revue, Buddha Call, running now through January 26, Saturday nights at Donny's Skybox, Piper's Alley. Shows start at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $12 for General Admission and $10 for Students. Reservations can be made by calling the Second City box office at (312) 337-3992 or through their website. Here's a blurb from the press release I received about the show:

As much as people would like to believe that their strength and ambition leads their lives, Buddha Call argues that fear is the primary motivator. "As we get older, our responsibilities increase and sometimes life doesn’t hold the promise of possibility as in our youth," said new Artistic Director Harrison Pak. He added, "I think that this show comes from a place where we're still struggling with what we're trying to do with our lives and what we want to say as Asian American artists. As representatives of the Asian American community, we're trying to reconcile the "Asian" with the "American" identity that we're still trying to forge and our shows are great vehicles to express that struggle."

Honestly, that doesn't tell me much about the show. I get a little leery these days with works that say they're trying to "reconcile the "Asian" with the "American" identity." But I figure after twelve years of existence, Stir-Friday Night probably knows what it's doing, continuing on its mission to provide a voice for the Asian American comedic actor. For more information, visit the Stir-Friday Night website here.

You want sexual content? Come and get it.

Ang Lee's World War II-era espionage thriller Lust, Caution was one of my favorite movies of the year. I loved it. But while the film is great, what probably got the most press was the NC-17 rating it earned for its graphic, candid sex scenes. If you've seen the movie you know that stars Tony Leung and Tang Wei are engaged in all sorts of crazy sex. Man, they really do get it on. When all is said and done though, at least for myself, that's not really what stays with you about the movie.

Nevertheless, it seems that in China, where the film has been censored, mainland movie fans are flocking by the thousands to Hong Kong to see the uncut, fully sex-ified version of Lust, Caution. It appears that the Chinese government cannot get in the way of its people and risque sexual content. Have at it, then.

More here: Cinephiles, Pack Your Bags. An Uncut Version Awaits.

aaa fund's "ask a staffer"

The Asian American Action Fund is a Democratic political action committee whose goal is to increase the voice of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders on every level of local, state and federal government in America. To achieve this goal, they try to address the chronic under-representation of APAs as campaign volunteers, contributors and candidates for political office.

The organization's blog team has started a new and ongoing interview series called "Ask a Staffer" with Democratic campaign staff, in order for more APAs to get informed, and get active in the political process. Their first interview is with none other than S. R. Sidarth, more famously known as "macaca" after Senator George Allen referred to him as such at a political rally last year. He's currently on the Richardson for President campaign, and offers his "on the ground" perspective: Ask A Staffer: S. R. Sidarth

download films from caachi

Check out Caachi. Started by Charles Choi and Tom Hicks, it's a site for independent filmmakers to distribute their films directly to viewers through the magic of the internet. They just recently got started, but there's already a handful of films on the site that are Asian-themed, like Dat Kho, a film made during the Vietnam War but never released until just recently, Eric Byler's my life... disoriented, Jonathan Yi's Shift, and Karen Lum's Slip of the Tongue.

Of course, you have to register first and download the Miro Player. Most of the films also require a small fee to download and watch (though many are free), but they're high-resolution, and $0.75 of every dollar directly supports the filmmakers. Plus, it's an opportunity to watch a few films that you many not otherwise get a chance to check out—stuff that usually doesn't get much viewing life after the film festival circuit. There's some pretty cool stuff, so check it out. Learn all about Caachi here.

benazir bhutto assassinated

By now you've probably heard that Pakistan former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated: Bhutto assassination transforms park into scene of horror. She was killed Thursday evening in a suicide bombing and shooting attack as she left a political rally in the city of Rawalpindi. The attack killed more than 130 people. Crazy. The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security has issued a bulletin citing an alleged claim of responsibility for the attack by al Qaeda: Al Qaeda claims responsibility for Bhutto killing. Here'a an obituary for Bhutto from the New York Times: Benazir Bhutto, 54, Weathered Political Storm. CNN also has all sorts of coverage here.

UPDATE: Here's an article on reaction to the assassination amongst New York's Pakistani American community: Shock in Pakistani Enclaves in New York. And reaction from the Pakistani American community in Southern California: Shock, horror in Southland over slaying

the amazing junk boat journey

This is a crazy story looking back at the six men who sailed 6,000 miles across the Pacific from Taiwan to San Francisco in 1955: A Junk's journey: Family wants to save craft that sailed across Pacific in 1955. Five Chinese fishermen and an American consular officer—Paul Chuan-Chun Chow, Reno Chia-Lin Chen, Marco Yu-Lin Chung, Benny Chia-Cheng Hsu, Loo-Chi Hu and Calvin E. Mehlert—sailed for 112 days, surviving a typhoon and a gale on a crazy quest to enter an international yacht race, and, in effect, obtain passage from Taiwan. Today, fifty-two years later, one of the junk-mate's daughters is working to commemorate that triumphant voyage and jump-start a restoration effort bring the boat they sailed on back to life. It's a pretty incredible story—somebody should make a movie about these guys...

for your reading list

Some books that have come to my attention recently...

Julie Black Belt: The Kung Fu Chronicles by Oliver Chin and Charlene Chua. This is a great little children's book published by Immedium back in September. It's about a girl named Julie who takes a kung fu class, thinking that getting a black belt will be easy. She finds, however, that the moves don't quite come that easy. It's going to take a lot of hard work to be as good as her matinee idol Brandy Wu. Colorful, energetic and beautifully drawn, it's a fun little story with a good lesson for the kids. Learn more about the book here.

The Adventures of Eddie Fung: Chinatown Kid, Texas Cowboy, Prisoner of War, edited by Judy Yung. Eddie Fung has the disctionction of being the only Chinese American solider to be captured by the Japanese during World War II. He was then put to work on the Burma-Siam railroad, made famous by the movie The Bridge on the River Kwai. In this memoir, written with his wife Judy Yung, professor emerita of American studies at the University of California Santa Cruz, Eddie tells how his childhood in San Francisco's Chinatown and young manhood as a Texas cowboy helped him survive. More info on the book here.

Saturdays in Chinatown by Christina Seid. This is another children's book, a bilingual picture book following a kid whose senses are awakened every Saturday morning during his family's errands and adventures in New York's bustling Chinatown. The book is written and self-published by Christina Seid, co-owner of the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory in New York City. Check out the Ice Cream Factory's blog here. It's good stuff about food and the Chinatown community. And learn more about the book here.

First Daughter: White House Rules by Mitali Perkins. Stumbled across this while browsing stuff on Amazon. It's a novel following the adventures of a Pakistani American teenager named Sameera, daughter of the President of the United States. It's apparently the second book in a series. While there have been previous movies and books and stuff about First Daughters, and even narratives about an Asian American President, this seems like a different kind of spin. Judging from the cover though (I know, I know), it's probably not quite my kind of book.

Solstice by Ulises Silva. This is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller about Scribes, people who have the ability to write things into being, and Editors, the covert specialists who watch over them. The author, Ulises Silva, is Mexican American, but he actually wrote the book with Latino and Asian readers in mind. The novel's protagonist is a Latino-Asian heroine (Japanese-Mexican, specifically), and two of her eventual companions are Lao. I'm only about a couple of chapters in, but so far it's pretty intriguing.

philadelphia inquirer's citizen of the year

The Philadelphia Inquirer recently named Helen Gym, a concerned parent and community activist, its 2007 Citizen of the Year: Helen Gym. She's one of the outspoken members of Parents United for Public Education, an organization that has spent the last two years speaking out at School Reform Commission meetings, poring over budgets, pushing the City Council to commit more resources to education, and insisting that the Philadelphia Parking Authority live up to its promist to help fund city schools. Gym was chosen from dozens of worthy nominees because Parents United's grassroots efforts reach across economic, political and racial divides... and produce results. Read more about Helen's activist efforts here. (Thanks, Jim)

ravi's big scare

This is just awesome. The other night in Chicago, the local ABC news broadcast was interrupted by a minivan crashing into the studio from the street. Live, on the air. It's all captured on the video clip above, with news anchor Ravi Baichwal totally freaking out when he hears the crash. The best part is the look of absolute, genuine terror in his eyes. That's good television, Ravi.

I first heard about this over at TV Squad, which offers a few funny thoughts about what might've been going through Ravi's head when the minivan busted through: Minivan crashes into Chicago TV station during live news broadcast. Luckily, nobody was injured in the accident. The driver of the vehicle in question, Gerald Richardson, apparently has some personal problems. He has been charged with felony damage to property: Driver faces felony in studio crash.

internment and hot dogs

This is a really interesting NPR story from The Kitchen Sisters and their "Hidden Kitchen" series, about secret, underground, below-the-rader cooking in America, contemporary and historic... This one focuses on the unique food, culture and traditions borne out of the Japanese American internment experience: Weenie Royale: Food and the Japanese Internment

They lived in barrack-like conditions, standing in long lines for little food, eating off tin pie plates in big mess halls. They were fed government commodity foods and castoff meat from Army surplus — hot dogs, ketchup, kidneys, Spam and potatoes. The Japanese diet and family table were erased.

In the early years of the incarceration, grizzled old Army cooks, used to feeding armies of men, now fed women and children. It was wartime, with strict rationing for everyone. At the Topaz Internment Camp in central Utah, it was decided that no one except children under 12 would receive milk — 6 ounces a day. Pregnant women, because their children were unborn, were not allowed any milk. Tami Tomoye Takahashi, who gave birth to two babies at Topaz, found a Sears, Roebuck catalog and ordered calcium tablets to benefit her unborn babies.

In the chaos of the dining hall, families no longer ate together. Teenagers wanted to be with other teenagers. Old people, who had once sat at the extended family table, were isolated. Grandparents, parents and children broke apart in the face of mess hall dining. Mothers no longer could cook for their children. The family table, with its traditions and conversations, began to fade.

According to the story, it was in the internment camps that many Japanese Americans began to acquire the taste for hot dogs, making their way into various hybrid-Japanese recipes and postwar cooking. The story even includes a nice little recipe for Weenie Royale, which is basically hot dogs, eggs and soy sauce over rice. Yum.

film festival entry deadlines

This one's for my filmmaker friends, some film festival entry deadlines coming up... The third annual DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon is spreading the word about its call for entries. They're looking for films and videos that challenge, expand, and document the depth of the Asian American experience. The early deadline is January 18, and the late deadline is February 8. Submit your film! And if you take my advice, you can save a few bucks on the entry fee. For you, my friends, write the code "ANGRYASIAN" on the top of your entry form, and you'll get a fee waiver. Download the Call For Entries PDF here. DisOrient happens April 24-27, 2008.

On the other side of the country... the Asian American International Film Festival in New York is now seeking entries for its 31st annual festival. As the first and longest-running Asian American festival in the US, the AAIFF is the premiere showcase for works by filmmakers of Asian descent, or about the Asian community. To submit your work online, go to withoutabox.com. For more information about the submission process, go here. The early deadline is January 31, and the late deadline is February 16. The 31st AAIFF happens July 10-19, 2008.

Finally, the submission deadline for the 24th edition of the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, presented by Visual Communications, has been extended to January 11. They're also doing the online entry thing through withoutabox.com. Or download the PDF entry form here. So get your crap together and get your entries in. The festival will run May 1-8, 2008.

merry christmas. let's have chinese food.

Saw this one over at Racialicious. Chinese food, a classic American holiday tradition. Though today, I'll probably be ordering in. Merry Christmas, everyone. Stay Angry.

appleseed: ex machina trailer

I just took a look at the trailer for Appleseed Ex Machina, and damn, it's hot. Lots of guns and robots and cyborgs and all that sci-fi action nonsense. I love it. Directed by Shinji Aramaki, it's the latest movie in the Appleseed anime series, based on the classic manga by Shirow Masamune. I'm actually not too familiar with the series, nor am usually much of a fan of motion-capture CGI stuff... but I love the look of this movie. Take a look at the trailer here. According to the website, the movie will be available on DVD here the U.S. from Warner Home on March 11th.

update on japanese american veterans stamp

Some more news on the campaign for a commemorative postage stamp honoring the contributions and sacrifice of the Japanese American veterans of World War II: A stamp of approval for Japanese American veterans? The movement is gaining quite a bit of momentum, with pushes happening even from outside the Asian American community. At a press conference in Los Angeles last week, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Museum of Tolerance pledged support for the campaign and called on the U.S. Postal Service to approve the proposal when its commemorative stamp review committee meets next month.

There's just a month left before the stamp committee meets to decide on this stamp. If you support this campaign, consider sending letters of support and signing a petition as soon as possible, by the first week of January. You can ask your Congressperson to sign the Congressional Letter of Support for this stamp, if they haven't already done so. You can even use the following script:

"Hi my name is _______. I am a constituent who lives and votes in your district in the city of _________. My phone number is ________. I respectfully request that you sign the Congressional Letter of Support for a U.S. commemorative postage stamp honoring the American World War II servicemen and women of Japanese heritage, also called the "Nisei." This 'Dear Colleague' letter from Congressman Mike Honda has already been signed by both Democrats and Republicans to recognize these patriots of World War II with a U.S. postage stamp. Please contact Congressman Honda's office with any questions. Thank you."

Twenty-one representatives have signed so far. For more information on how to contact your political leaders, go here. And for general information on the Nisei WWII Veterans Commemorative Stamp Campaign, visit the website here.

joel de la fuente in canterbury's law

Just read that actor Joel de la Fuente has joined the main ensemble of the upcoming Fox TV series Canterbury's Law. You might recognize Joel from his frequent recurring role the last couple of years as TARU Tech Ruben Morales on NBC's Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. The new show, starring Julianna Margulies, is a legal drama about "a defiant female defense attorney who's willing to bend the rules in order to protect the wrongfully accused." Joel will be recurrently appearing on the series, playing Assistant Attorney General Peter Upton, and makes his debut in the second episode: FOX Sets Premiere Date for 'Canterbury's Law'. I also noticed on Joel's website that he's got a role in M. Night Shyamalan's new movie The Happening. It's scheduled for release in 2008.

asian americans and the vote

Here's a pair of articles on the influence of Asian Americans at the polls... This one, from Politico, describes a recent widespread trend of young Asian Americans abandoning the Republican Party: Asian-American youth trend Democratic. According to data gathered from an online survey by the Institute of Politics at Harvard University, 47 percent of 18-to-24-year-old Asian Amerians identify themselves as Democratic, 15 percent Republican and 39 percent independent—making them more Democratic than any other ethnic group except African Americans in the survey.

And this one, from the Metro Times in Detroit, covers a recent gathering of students, professionals and activists for the Asian Pacific American Leadership Summit: Asian influence. The event's keynote speaker, Doua Thor, executive director of the Washington D.C.-based Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, proposed that Asians and Pacific Islanders are poised to make a difference in future elections both nationally and in Michigan... but not without more unity and involvemnt from the community. Amen to that.

kristin kreuk is chun li in street fighter

Well, we have our Chun Li, and it's not Jessica Biel. It's being reported that Kristin Kreuk of TV's Smallville will play Chun Li in the upcoming Street Fighter movie, based on the popular Capcom video game: Kristin Kreuk is Chun-Li in Street Fighter!. Street Fighter: Legend of Chun-Li will be directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak (the guy behind such killer films as Romeo Must Die, Exit Wounds and Cradle 2 the Grave), and starts filming in Thailand in March 2008. Goodness gracious.

It appears that pretty young Kristin doesn't give much of a damn about her career. That's sad. According to ComingSoon.net, the movie is focused on female fighter Chun-Li and "her journey for justice." Oh, that makes me laugh. I am personally fond of CHUD.com's humorous take on the news: KRISTIN KREUK LOOKING TO FINALLY END THIS CAREER NONSENSE. Still, I'm glad the role went to Ms. Kreuk, and not Jessica Biel, as previously rumored. That had to be a joke. For me, however, the definitive Chun Li will always be my girl Ming Na in the 1994 Street Fighter movie. Totally awesome.

kycc serves changing face of koreatown

Here's a good profile on the Koreatown Youth & Community Center in Los Angeles, which is doing some great, important work in the community: Koreatown after-school center serves a diverse clientele. Interestingly, a majority of the families served by the agency are Latino, reflecting Koreatown's demographics: 65% Latino, 25% Korean and 10% white, black, and South and Southeast Asian. The Center has had to address the huge demographic changes in the community while respecting the history of the organization. To learn more about KYCC, visit the website here.

east west's ten to watch

East West Magazine has released its annual Ten to Watch list, featuring ten individuals—some are newcomers, some are already well-known—who are all poised to make something happen in 2008. The list includes some of the most compelling figures making an impact in Asian America, including Governor-elect Bobby Jindal, baseball's Hiroki Kuroda, Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit, actress Camille Mana, comedian Russell Peters and more. It's a pretty solid list. They also revisit and review some of the names on last year's list, and how those folks did in 2007. Take a look over at eastwestmagazine.com.

vietnamese americans moving to houston

The Los Angeles Times has an interesting story on the recent of trend of Vietnamese Americans from California who are moving to Houston, lured by cheap real estate, a lower cost of living, abundant business opportunities and a thriving, growing Vietnamese community: Flocking from SoCal to Houston. It used to be that California was the place to be. San Jose and Orange County are home to the country's largest Vietnamese enclaves, but skyrocketing rents and staggering housing prices are driving an out-of-state migration to Houston. The city's Vietnamese community is now the third largest in the United States. Houston's where it's happening.