Angry Asian Man

3.14.2013

Scott Sassa resigns from Hearst over sexting scandal

Ooooooh. Scandal! According to Page Six, Scott Sassa has resigned as president of entertainment and syndication of Hearst Corp amidst an alleged scandal involving an extortion plot, some sexting and a stripper -- three things that never go well together: Scott Sassa out at Hearst Entertainment.

Sassa resigned after the New York Post published a story saying that he had been exchanging a string of naughty texts with a stripper, who in turn tried to blackmail him, saying she'd expose the messages to senior officials at Hearst if he didn't pay up. He didn't. And things blew up:

Got this info passed along to me, and I am intrigued... If you're attending the MacArthur Foundation's Digital Media and Learning Conference this week in Chicago, check out this panel on Civic Dimensions of Play, which will include a presentation by 13-year-old Gabriel Tajima-Peña -- yes, son of filmmaker Renee Tajima-Peña -- on the virtual Japanese American internment camp he constructed using the multi-player online building game Minecraft. Here's some more background on the presentation:

AADP presents Laugh For Lives, March 15

Laugh for a good cause, San Francisco. This Friday, March 15 is the Laugh for Lives comedy benefit hosted by AADP, a non-profit that advocates for patients with leukemia, lymphoma, and other blood diseases. This year's line-up includes comedians Monrock, Jimmy Ouyang, and Kevin Shea.

East West Players presents Evoke: A Festival of Diverse Voices, March 14-17

If you're in Los Angeles this weekend, catch EVOKE: A Festival of Diverse Voices at East West Players in Little Tokyo. This second installation, which runs March 14-17, focuses on new work from South Asian artists. Following each performance is a post-show discussion. Here's some more information, including the list of performers:

Heads up. The White House Champions of Change series spotlights ordinary citizens who are demonstrating extraordinary commitment to their community, their country, and their fellow citizens.

This May, on the occasion of AAPI Heritage Month, the White House Office of Public Engagement, White House Council on Women and Girls, and White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders will honor a small group of AAPI women as Champions of Change. That's where you come in.

Do you know an AAPI Woman who is a Champion of Change? Members of the public are invited to submit nominations online. A small group of AAPI women who represent diverse experiences and backgrounds will be honored as Champions of Change and invited to the White House for an event in early May.

Go to the White House website to submit an awesome AAPI woman as a Champion of Change (under "Theme of Service," choose "AAPI Women Leaders"). The nomination deadline is March 29.

Music Video: "Slow Motion" by Azuré feat. LV

Been slowly catching up on a bunch of new music that recently came my way... Here's the latest music video from Bay Area rapper Justin Park, aka Azuré: "Slow Motion" featuring LV. I've always got some time to listen to some of that Azuré flow. I always enjoy this guy's stuff. Check it:

Revisiting this case... Remember that accident last year in San Francisco, where a speeding bicyclist plowed through a crowded crosswalk and fatally struck an elderly pedestrian? The cyclist will be tried for felony gross vehicular manslaughter: SF bicyclist faces manslaughter trial.

Last week in San Francisco Superior Court, a judge ruled that 36-year-old Chris Bucchere should face the felony charge for the collision that killed 71-year-old Sutchi Hui, who was walking with wife this through the intersection of Castro and Market streets when he was hit in March 2012:

This week, American Muslim civil liberties groups released a new report documenting the devastating impact of the New York Police Department's extensive surveillance programs targeting American Muslims throughout the Northeast -- surveillance efforts that ultimately failed to generate a single lead over the course of six years: New Report: "Mapping Muslims: NYPD Spying and its Impact on American Muslims."

Mapping Muslims: NYPD Spying and Its Impact on American Muslims is a collection of voices from affected community members reflecting how the NYPD's spying and infiltration creates a pervasive climate of fear and suspicion that encroaches upon every aspect of their religious, political, and community lives.

From AALDEF's press release:

When I Walk is a personal feature documentary by filmmaker Jason DaSilva, chronicling the deterioration of his body -- but not his spirit -- as a young man affected by multiple sclerosis. Six years in the making, and fresh from its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, the film is ready to hit the big screen, and they've launched a Kickstarter campaign to help make that happen. First, watch this trailer:

Been seeing a lot of this commercial featuring an Asian American family... In this fun spot for TD Ameritrade, Bob, "an architect with two kids and a mortgage," considers reasonable retirement planning that won't require him to retire at age 153 -- vampire age. Take a look:

What the hell, police man? Get this. A man has filed a lawsuit against the Oakland Police Department for putting him on the list of the city's "Most Wanted Criminals" -- even though he wasn't actually wanted for anything -- and detaining him for three days without charges: Police Kept Man on 'Most Wanted' List for Months Even Though He Wasnt Wanted for Anything: Lawsuit.

Chau Van discovered that his name and photo were published in a feature on Oakland's most wanted. When his lawyer got in touch with police, they admitted that there was no arrest warrant. But when Van showed up at the police to clear his name, he was held for 72 hours and then released without being charged.

Here's the best part. The Oakland Police Department then released a statement saying that, in a win for justice, they had successfully taken one of the city's most wanted suspects off the street!

Midnight Makeout Session: A Play by Dante Basco, March 13

Short notice, but if you're in Los Angeles, you might want to check this out... Our friend Beau Sia directs Midnight Makeout Session, a new play by Dante Basco. They've been hard at work at this thing and are ready to share it with a few folks. It's Wednesday, March 13 at Art Share LA. For one night only! Here's some more information, in Dante's own words:

All right, people. It's that time again. Hyphen is looking for a few good men. Are you the next Mr. Hyphen?

It's the annual community celebration awesome Asian American men, going down April 27 at the Brava! Theater in San Francisco. If you're dedicated to community activism and social justice work, you (or maybe someone you know) might have what it takes to wear the crown of Mr. Hyphen 2013. But the deadline to apply is coming up fast, so get on this! Here are some more details:

Finally got around to listening to Versus Tigers, the new full-length album from San Francisco-based indie rock quartet The Gold Medalists. Originally started as a side project of guitarist/vocalist Peter Nguyen (Ee, Total Shutdown), they're now a fully-realized, asskicking rock band. You can preview the full album on Soundcloud:

We're getting poetic up here. It's time for another installment of the Angry Poetry Corner, a semi-regular spotlight where we present the work of various poets from the AAPI community -- not necessarily angry poems (though there are certainly some of those too) -- curated by Cara, our Angry Asian Intern. Because you could use a little more poetry in your life.

In the corner this week, a poem by Bao Phi:

When I heard that Warner Brothers was commemorating its 90th aniversary with a year-long celebration of deluxe Blu-ray releases from the Warner Archive, I was crossing my fingers that the schedule would include an new edition of the martial arts classic -- and my favorite movie -- Enter the Dragon. And indeed, it is on, my friends. The Enter the Dragon 40th Anniversary Ultimate Collection's Edition will hit shelves on June 11.

Gawker points us to this "comedy" music video making fun of old Asian ladies who rummage through trash to collect bottles and cans for cash, cleverly titled "Yo Grannys In My Garbage." Hi-LAR-ious, right?

The artist behind the video, Maria Campanella, denies that the video has any racist or insulting intention, and claims that it has "nothing to do with Asian or homeless," and should be taken at face value. Sorry, I guess I missed the part where the sight of an elderly woman sifting through trash is supposed to be hysterical.

At the risk of giving this thing more views, take a look. What do you think?

This is something cool for fans of old school Japanese robots and totally awesome USB memory drives. If you liked that rad Voltron USB Drive, designed by Alan Yen, I posted a couple of years ago, you'll dig this fully poseable Grendizer USB memory figure, licensed and in the works from Incubot Productions. They're currently winding down a Kickstarter campaign to make it happen. Watch the video to get all the geeky details about the figure:

I recently heard from Emily Sun, a 36-year-old Australian woman of Chinese ancestry who has been undergoing treatment for Non-Hodgkin's Primary Mediastinal Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (PMBCL). Her chances of survival depend on an allogeneic stem cell transplant, and she is in dire need of a healthy donor.

Are you the person who could help save her life?

Read These Blogs

Audrey Celebrates Women's History Month | Top 10 Asian American High School Girls Next Door: In celebration of Women's History Month, Audrey magazine compiles a list of their favorite Asian American girls next door, from Tina Cohen-Chang of Glee to Lane Kim of Gilmore Girls.

Further examining the "Why I'd Hate to Be Asian" video: Remember "Asians in the Library"? Now there's "Why I'd Hate to be Asian." Who should we really be directing our anger at?

Fixin' to Go Mainstream: With API populations nearly doubling over the last decade in several Southern states, conditions are ripe for growth in the number of API elected officials and the political influence of API communities in the South.

VIDEO: Immigrants Behind the Wheel: There are 42,000 cab drivers in New York City–and 82% of them are immigrants. Many from them from white collars jobs back in their home country. Jia Guo delves into the lives of the drivers zipping you around the city.

This Week's Angriest Posts

Not necessarily the angriest, just the most viewed.

Yet Another Stupid Racist Video: "Why I'd Hate To Be Asian"

The Real Asians of Miami University

Love in the Age of Social Media: A Twitbook Proposal

Family of Japanese student killed by NYPD patrol car wants answers

More Mandarin in the new Iron Man 3 trailer

This Phoenix music video is a Korean drama fever dream

This a cappella cover of Stevie Wonder's "I Wish" will make your day

Mr. Chow is back to cause trouble in The Hangover Part III teaser trailer

A Message to the Producers of Hawaii Five-0

Nobody Loves An Angry Asian Man Photo: Elmer

Stay Angry, America.

3.08.2013

Beyond the Bad & The Ugly: Summit on Asian American Stereotypes, March 23

If you're in Southern California, make plans to join an amazing assortment of stereotype-busting personalities and conversations at the Beyond the Bad & The Ugly, the first-ever Asian American summit on stereotypes, happening March 23 at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. Organized by Jeff Yang, the gathering will include actors, filmmakers, bloggers, poets, activists and more. Even an adult film star. Here are some more details about the event:

What's up, my people. Time to meet another 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 filmmaker Ramona Diaz.

Oh, hell. This latest bit of racial dumbassery comes out of Vermont... This is a photo of a back-page newspaper poster, printed up on The Caledonian-Record in support of the St. Johnsbury Academy's basketball team's upcoming game against Rice Memorial High School. FRY RICE. Get it? And of course, the ching chong font brings it alllll together. I'm sure whoever came up with this thought they were being really clever.

It's a cheap-ass joke that actually didn't have to go there. And yes, I'm saying the font needlessly racializes the joke. To the staff of The Caledonian-Record who thought of and approved this, you're a bunch of suckas. And if you used this poster to cheer on the Toppers in the state championship game against Rice, you're a sucka too. Here's the Asian American Journalists Association's response: Caledonian Record's team spirit falls flat.

UPDATE: Despite the controversy, The Caledonian Record sees no problem with poster, defended the slogan, and is overall cool with the use of racial and ethnic stereotypes for jokes -- even if they offend. Stay classy, editors: Vt. paper defends 'Fry Rice' sign supporting team.

3.07.2013

This Phoenix music video is a Korean drama fever dream

What in the world did I just watch? French alt-rock band Phoenix just dropped this music video for their song "Entertainment," and it appears to be some kind of crazy fever dream inspired by Korean dramas. I have no idea what it all means, but everything from the lighting to the longing looks feels like a compilation of cut scenes from your favorite Korean dramas. Take a look:

Yep. This is happening. Here's the new teaser trailer for The Hangover Part III, and it promises to be "the epic conclusion" to this blockbuster comedy series. And indeed, Ken Jeong is back causing trouble in the role of Mr. Chow, the character that made him famous. You can't tell much about the story from this footage, but I'm pretty sure I caught a glimpse of Mr. Chow smothering a chicken (that's not a euphemism):

Had to share this awesome photo of a reader named Elmer rocking his "Nobody Loves An Angry Asian Man" shirt while running the Chinese New Year 10K in San Francisco last month. Badass. Stay Angry, Elmer. Everybody else, if you like the shirt, you can order yours from Blacklava.

Sikh man targeted in Florida hate crime shooting

In Port Orange, Florida police are looking for the shooter responsible for a hate crime against a Sikh man who was targeted for wearing a turban: Sikh man was followed by attackers before shooting, police say.

According to police, Kanwaljit Singh was heading home from work at his convenience store last month when he was shot at six times while driving over a bridge. He had apparently been followed miles.

Singh was struck by two bullets that pierced his torso and one of his thighs, and spent several weeks in the hospital's intensive care unit. He was released just this week.

Police have released surveillance video of the victim's vehicle being tracked by the suspect vehicle from International Speedway Blvd in Daytona Beach to where the shooting took place:

Oh hell no: The Hangover Part III is coming.

As you can see, Ken Jeong returns to settle the score as Mr. Chow in The Hangover III, in theaters this May. And yes, this poster is a parody of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2.

Yet Another Stupid Racist Video: "Why I'd Hate To Be Asian"

Meet Samuel. He's the latest young person to stupidly post a YouTube video offering his racist opinions about Asians, entitled "Why I'd Hate to Be Asian." I saw it last night, but since then it appears that Samuel has reconsidered his actions and took down his original diatribe. But of course, it's too late -- the video has already been cloned, re-uploaded and gone viral. Pretty much every email, message and tweet I received this morning was about this stupid video. Kid, the internet is forever.

The Shanghai Restoration Project Live in NYC, March 7

New York City! Our good friend Dave Liang of the Shanghai Restoration Project, who blends Chinese culture with hip hop and electronic music, will be performing a free live show this Thursday, March 7 at the World Financial Center Winter Garden. The performance renowned Shanghai singer Zhang Le, as well as Dave's supercool beats. Here are some more details about the show:

Here's a campaign that you should know about... The Asian American Center for Advancing Justice and 18 Million Rising recently launched 18 Million Hearts: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for Immigration Reform, an online campaign to elevate the voices of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the current national discussion on immigration -- a conversation we are too often excluded from.

Nearly two-thirds of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are immigrants, and the AAPI community is the fastest growing racial group in the United States. Our families and loved ones are undeniably affected by the nation's broken immigration system. The 18 Million Hearts campaign urges AAPIs to weigh in with their members of Congress by signing a petition that calls for:

Los Angeles emcee Bambu recently dropped this cool new music video for the song "Lean", off his album ...one rifle per family. Might just seem like a video of dude taking off his clothes and putting them back on, but I'm digging it. It's like a fun art project or something. And it's a cool track. Check it out:

On Monday, the U.S. Senate confirmed Pamela K. Chen to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Her confirmation makes her the first openly gay, Asian American person to preside on a federal bench: Lesbian Judge Pamela Chen Appointed to Federal Bench.

Chen, who was nominated by President Obama in August with a recommendation by Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, was confirmed with little opposition. She also becomes the second Chinese American woman and one of only a few out lesbians to hold one of the country's 900 lifetime federal judgeship appointments.

Sound and Fury Podcast Episode 8: Adam WarRock

It's time for another episode of Sound and Fury: The Angry Asian Podcast! Our latest episode features a fun conversation with Eugene Ahn, aka Adam WarRock, popular nerdcore rapper.

Thanks to everyone who's downloaded and listened to the first seven episodes, available here. To get them all delivered to your device as soon as they're released, be sure to subscribe.

This next episode is for both geeks and non-geeks alike. Check it out:

We get another good glimpse of Ben Kingsley as the mysterious international warlord, The Mandarin (plus lots of explosions and then some more explosions) in this brand new theatrical trailer for Iron Man 3, and he appears to be determined to make Tony Stark's life absolutely miserable. Take a look:

This is pretty brief, but I got a big kick out of this blink-and-you-might-miss-it moment from a recent episode the NBC comedy Go On, in which John Cho's character Steven expresses how he didn't really appreciate the racist Long Duk Dong character from Sixteen Candles:

On February 21, a 24-year-old Japanese student was killed by an NYPD patrol car in Queens as he was crossing the street. Last week, Ryo Oyamada's family traveled from Japan to New York City to identify the body, and they want answers.

Father Of Japanese Student Killed By Cop Car Demands "The Truth."

The police report claims that the patrol car had its emergency lights and sirens activated at the time of impact. But Oyamada's father says that the NYPD has not been forthcoming with satisfactory answers, and at least one witness says he didn't see or hear any flashing lights or sirens that night.

Witness Claims NYPD Car That Killed Japanese Student Did Not Have Lights Or Sirens On.

Galaxy Express U.S. Wild Live Tour 2013

Hey music fans, you want to get in on this. Galaxy Express, one of Korea's top indie acts, is bringing their special brand of face-melting super-psychadelic rock to our shores. They're on tour this month, playing 28 shows across the United States, including stops at SXSW and Arkansas' Valley of the Vapors Music Festival. I've seen these guys play live before, and they are all kinds of awesome. Here are the tour dates:

What's up with the Tacoma Art Museum selling off donated items from its Chinese collection? 35 years ago, the Young family donated their trove of Chinese art to the museum. But most of the collection was recently auctioned off to the highest bidder: Tacoma Art Museum auction of Chinese collection upsets donors.

Not surprisingly, the donors are not cool with this. Al Young, whose parents donated their collection of Qing Dynasty robes and jades to the museum in the 1970s, says the items were a gift to the Northwest community. But now the items being cleared out from the museum, with the remainder of the Young collection to be auctioned off soon.

If you've seen the CBS cop drama Hawaii Five-0, you know that its island setting makes it a easy fit for Asian American actors to regularly get a guest spot -- good guys, bad guys, bit parts, walk-ons, whatever. No one is more aware of this than actors Eugene Cordero and Kulap Vilaysack, who made a video to show off just how naturally suited they are to appear on the show: Hire Eugene & Kulap For Hawaii Five-O!.

Asian behaving badly... funeral insurance scam edition! In San Jose, a businessman was sentenced to three years in prison for scamming dozens of families in the Vietnamese community out of thousands of dollars they thought would go toward funeral expenses: San Jose: Funeral insurance scam in Vietnamese community lands businessman in prison.

53-year-old Davie Ba Ngo, former head of the now-defunct "Concerned Members Committee," pled no contest to felony charges of embezzling more than $200,000 from hundreds of local Vietnamese families who thought they were paying fees to ensure death-related expenses were covered for elder relatives.

Instead, Ngo and his assistant, Stephanie Tuyet Le, pocketed the money:

Been seeing this sweet video making the rounds... Something about these proposal videos always gets to me. Meet the newly engaged Jon Park and Genevieve Wong. Last month, after several years of dating, Jon, a Facebook employee, popped the question to Genevieve, who works at Twitter. Naturally, the big proposal would have to involve social media tools from both companies. This video is the result:

I know, there are plenty of great one-person, multi-track performance YouTube videos out there... but this killer a capella rendition of Stevie Wonder's "I Wish," by a cappella artist Inhyeok Yeo -- who performed all the parts himself -- totally made my day. Watch and enjoy:

For the sake of clarity, you should know that this post pertains to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Rather than write about the anger over yet another racist Twitter account created by some dumbass mocking Asians -- seriously, when is this going to stop? And why do people keep thinking this is a good idea? -- instead, I'll share some photos from this awesome campaign that Asian American students leaders at Miami University of Ohio created in response: The Real @OxfordAsians.

In Virginia, a Korean spa is accused of discrimination after kicking out a gay, transgendered woman from its facilities last year: Centreville spa openly rejects homosexual, transgendered customers.

California resident Riya Suising says she was visiting Virginia on business late last year when she decided to go to Spa World in Centreville. But while relaxing in a communal bath, a manager approached her and asked her to leave the spa:

Read These Blogs

The Angry Korean Lady of Honolulu: a restaurant I plan to patronize while in Hawaii: "I'm already angry. Don't make me more angry." The so-called "Angry Korean Lady," who runs the Ah-Lang Korean Restaurant in Honolulu, is a restaurateur after my own heart. More Angry Korean Lady photos here.

Michelle Malkin Desperately Wants To Be Michelle Obama: Why does Michelle Malkin always pick on Michelle Obama? It’s probably because she wants to be her.

American teacher in Japan under fire for lessons on Japan's history of discrimination: Miki Dezaki, a Japanese American teacher who makes videos about living in Japan, has drawn the wrath of the netouyu, "the informal army of young, hyper-nationalist Japanese Web users who tend to descend on any article - or person - they perceive as critical of Japan."

Why Asian-Americans Have Turned Their Backs on the Republican Party: As recently as the 1990s, the fast-growing group leaned right. Lloyd Green on what changed.

This Week's Angriest Posts

Not necessarily the angriest, just the most viewed.

Man attacks wife with meat cleaver in Chinatown

Who won Top Chef Season 10?

Meet Stan Lee's Chinese superhero The Annihilator

Kentucky super PAC attacks Elaine Chao with racist tweets

Ben Kingsley is just chillin' as The Mandarin in this character poster for Iron Man 3

Ang Lee wins Oscar for Best Director

This is how an Oscar winner celebrates.

Justin Chon has one crazy-ass night in 21 & Over

The Saddest Sex(?) Ad Ever

Kuwaiti Chinese restaurant ad does the slant eye

I'll be speaking with students at Washington University in St. Louis on Sunday afternoon. See you there.

3.01.2013

South Bay First Thursdays presents Immigration Reform: Asian Pacific Islanders Matter Too, March 7

Hey, San Jose, here comes another South Bay First Thursday. Join in next Thursday, March 7 for "Immigration Reform: Asian Pacific Islanders Matter Too," a discussion on the impact of immigration reform. Featured speakers include activists, advocates, and DREAMers. Here's some more info:

Attention, filmmakers! Professional, amateur, and everything in between. Do you want to put your skills and passion to the test? Then register to compete in the Ninth Annual 72 Hour Film Shootout, presented by the Asian American Film Lab. It's going down June 1-3. Filmmaking glory awaits.

The Shootout is a worldwide competition in which filmmaking teams have 72 hours to write, shoot, edit, and complete a five-minute short film based on a prescribed theme. You could win cash, prizes and the chance to have your film screened at the Asian American International Film Festival in New York.

Here the blurb from AAFilmLab:

All right. Let's do this. Allow me to introduce you to 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 Ursula Liang.

21 & Over is complicated. The new comedy starring Justin Chon, set over the course of one crazy, drunken college night, is gross, crass and guaranteed to offend some sensibilities. There were moments I found myself wincing at bro-blatant bro-ness of the bro-humor. But it also wades into some very surprising, interesting territory, and takes its lead into places I've seen few Asian American characters go onscreen.

And we get to see Justin Chon's nekkid ass. A lot of it.

3.14.2013

3.13.2013

3.12.2013

3.11.2013

3.10.2013

3.09.2013

3.08.2013

3.07.2013

3.06.2013

3.05.2013

3.04.2013

3.03.2013

3.02.2013

3.01.2013

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