Remembering the victims of the Navy Yard shooting

By now, you've heard the awful, tragic news of Monday's mass shooting at the Washington Navy Yard, where a gunman killed twelve people before being shot to death by law enforcement officials. There has been a great deal discussed about the shooter and his motives. This post is about the victims.

Rest in peace: Michael Arnold, 59; Martin Bodrog, 54; Arthur Daniels, 51; Sylvia Frasier, 53; Kathleen Gaarde, 62; John Johnson, 73; Mary DeLorenzo Knight, 51; Frank Kohler, 50; Kenneth Proctor, 46; Gerald R. Read, 58; Richard Michael Ridgell, 52; and Vishnu Pandit, 61.

Here's some more information on Mr. Pandit, who was fatally shot in the head:

Philadelphia Art Alliance presents Song Dong & Yin Xiuxhen: The Way of the Chopsticks, September 12 - December 29

September 12 - December 29 at the Philadelphia Art Alliance



Philly! From now until December 29, catch Song Dong and Yin Xiuzhen's The Way of Chopsticks at the Philadelphia Arts Alliance. This contemporary exhibition will transform the Rittenhouse Square mansion into a three-story, multimedia installation that invites viewers to contemplate the similarities and differences between current American and Chinese family life. In addition to the artwork, the PAA will hold a series of artist talks, food tasting, gallery tours, and family workshops. Here's the schedule so far:

Help support Seattle stabbing victim Kristin Ito

Random stabbing leaves a man dead, woman seriously hurt.

Last Friday in Seattle, a college professor was killed in an apparently unprovoked and random stabbing that also severely injured his partner on their way through Pioneer Square after the couple left a Seattle Sounders soccer game: Man killed, woman seriously hurt in random Seattle stabbing.

Troy Wolff, who taught English at Shoreline Community College, died of multiple stab wounds, while 30-year-old Kristin Ito was hospitalized in serious condition.

The alleged attacker, 44-year-old Donnell Jackson, was described as "operating at a diminished mental capacity." The man reportedly confronted them with a small knife and started stabbing Ito repeatedly, then turned on Wolff when he tried to intervene. He was taken into custody and booked for investigation of murder.

New Music: The Cure, the new album from Drunken Tiger

I normally don't post much on Korean music -- nothing against it, but other sites cover popular music from Asia a lot better than I can -- but every now and then something cool breaches my consciousness and I'm inclined to share. A friend passed me The Cure, the new album from Drunken Tiger, and I'm digging it.

I won't pretend to be Korean rap-literate, but long ago, I was advised by folks far more knowledgeable than me that Drunken Tiger is pretty much the foremost force in Korean hip hop. Here, Tiger JK and his wife Yoonmirae -- dubbed Korea's rap royal couple -- come together with MC Bizzy to demonstrate why they've earned that title. The nine-track EP also features guitar contributions from our old friend singer/songwriter David Choi.

Here are some recently released music videos from the album:

Hey you dumb kids, you broke the Friendship Tree

The cherry tree was a gift from the local Japanese American community.

Bummer news out California's central coast... I'd like to offer a big middle finger to the persons who vandalized the cherry tree at Watsonville High School last weekend. If that's you, I've got the birdie raised. At you: Vandalized cherry tree was symbol of friendship in Watsonville's Japanese-American community.

The double blossom cherry tree, a donated gift from the Watsonville-Santa Cruz chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League, was planted on campus in April to replace an 80-year-old cherry three that had died last winter. The flowering tree has a long history as a symbol and gesture of friendship.

But last week, two or three boys yanked it back and forth and snapped the tree's trunk. Hey assholes, you broke the "Friendship Tree" in half.

Don't Buy Miss Saigon: Our Truth Project

A photo and story project to counter the lies of Miss Saigon



We're talking about Miss Saigon. First, if you haven't already, read this dope essay by Bao Phi: War Before Memory: a Vietnamese American protest organizer's history against Miss Saigon.

Now check out this awesome photo/story project, Don't Buy Miss Saigon: Our Truth Project, created by real people with real stories to counter the racist, sexist, colonialist musical's lies.

Here's some more information from Bao about the project:

Kristina Wong talks about Asian fetish guys on Totally Biased

And a very special message for Jeremy Lin.



If you missed Kristina Wong's awesome appearance last night on Totally Biased, here you go.

Within the first two minutes of sitting down (after crazy-hugging host W. Kamau Bell), she just throws it out there: "I have nothing against white people... Some of my best friends are white people... but white people say some really stupid shit." On cable television. This woman is amazing. Check it out:

Miss America's Message to the Haters

Nina Davluri wears the crown. I'm not sure if this is even her real Twitter account (it was started yesterday). But doesn't this first tweet sum everything up quite nicely? 'Nuff said.

Missing: 19-year-old Janet Ji Young Choi

Last seen Saturday morning in Los Angeles

In Los Angeles, authorities and loved ones are asking for the public's help in locating a 19-year-old student who has been missing since Saturday: LAPD seeks public's help in finding woman reported missing.

Janet Ji Young Choi was last seen at her home in Los Angeles on Saturday morning. According to police, she never showed up to her scheduled art class at InArt Studio that afternoon, didn't attend class Monday morning at Fairfax High School, and hasn't been in contact with family or friends.

Kollaboration SF Post-Show Open Mic, September 19

San Francisco! KollaborationSF is holding an open mic event at the Pa'ina Lounge on Thursday, September 19th. It's free for all with the suggestion of a two food or drink minimum. Also, if you're a performer, there's still a chance for you to take the stage that night:

AALDEF seeks Bengali-English interpreter

Just passing along this message from the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund in New York...

AALDEF's Anti-Trafficking Initiative seeks Bangladeshi-English interpreter to assist with phone and in-person communications with a potential client as soon as possible. Please contact Ivy Suriyopas at isuriyopas@aaldef.org or call 212 966-5932 ext. 235.

AALDEF is a national organization that protects and promotes the civil rights of Asian Americans through litigation, advocacy, education, and organizing. For more information about their work, visit AALDEF's website.

Music Video: DFD shows off Seoul street culture in "Clear"

Los Angeles emcee Dumbfoundead just dropped a new music video for "Clear" from his album Old Boy Jon. Shot in South Korea, the video highlights some of the folks holding it down right now in Seoul street culture, from skateboarder Dong-Chul Yang to DJ Plastic Kid of 360 Sounds. Pretty cool stuff. Check it out:

Austin Powers actor charged in prison murder

Joseph Son is accused of killing his cellmate.

Damn. Remember this scumbag? Joseph Son, the former Austin Powers actor-turned-convict, has been charged in connection with the 2011 beating death of his cell mate in Wasco State Prison: Former actor could face death penalty in prison killing.

Son, a former mixed martial arts fighter best known for playing Dr. Evil's henchman "Random Task" in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, was convicted of torture in 2011 after DNA evidence linked him to a 1990 gang rape in Orange County.

About a month into serving his life sentence, Son killed his cell mate. He is now charged with assault by a life prisoner with force causing death. (Basically, murder.) I don't know why it took two years to charge him, though it's not like he was going anywhere. If found guilty, he could face the death penalty:

Bao Phi's lessons from Miss Saigon

In which a poet tells me everything I need to know about the hit musical



Just want to point you to this powerful, thoughtful personal essay by poet/community activist Bao Phi, who speaks about his personal history of protest against the musical Miss Saigon: War Before Memory: a Vietnamese American protest organizer's history against Miss Saigon.

Miss Saigon is scheduled for a one-week engagement in St. Paul's Ordway theater next month, and has already been met with considerable objections from the community because, well, it's a really friggin' racist show. And dude, this ain't the first time: Twin Cities is home to long legacy of protest of 'Miss Saigon'

I'm going to be completely honest: I've never had the opportunity to see Miss Saigon. I heard there's a helicopter on stage. Yay. But I'll take Bao's word for it. I definitely don't need to see this show.

See Kristina Wong tonight on Totally Biased!

W. Kamau Bell welcomes our pal Kristina, tonight on FXX.

Look who's going to be on the TV! If you're like me, and you enjoy the zany, provocative work of writer/cultural commentator/performance artist Kristina Wong, then you must not miss her as a guest tonight on FXX's Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell. Yes, our friend Kristina has made it to the big time of cable television.

First, read this hilarious piece she wrote that went up today. If you're someone who has decried the fact that there is a Black History Month, but no White History Month, then this piece is for you. Kristina hears your pain: 8 Reasons People Of Color MUST Rally For A Long Overdue "White History Month."

Now, set your DVRs or make plans to be in front of the tube at 11:00pm tonight to see our homegirl. If you haven't seen Totally Biased, it's easily one of my favorite shows on TV, regularly offering sharp, funny and much-needed commentary on race and politics for these tumultuous times. Now on five nights a week.

The segment has been taped, and according to her Facebook post, Kristina promises that she "did some shit that might not have been ok with the FCC." Can't wait. For more from Kristina Wong, check out her website.

I will cut someone in this Target for a Phillip Lim handbag.

What happens when Phillip Lim launches his new line at Target? Limsanity.



On Sunday, Target released the much-anticipated 3.1 Phillip Lim collection, offering an appealing line of modestly-priced designer handbags, clothing and other accessories. But if you weren't there when stores opened at 8:00am, chances are, ya got nuthin': At Target, shoppers scramble for 3.1 Phillip Lim bags.

Stores were pretty much ransacked. Phillip Lim racks were reportedly stripped clean just ten minutes after opening. According to the Los Angeles Times, shoppers at the Target store in West Hollywood were relatively civil and polite to one another... until employees rolled out an additional pallet of handbags to re-up.

Then shit got real.

Here's video of what a full-blown handbag swarm looks like:

Indian American woman crowned 2014 Miss America

And racist Twitter users predictably lose their minds.



Normally, you know I wouldn't give two fat craps about a beauty pageant... but yo, did anybody notice that they just gave the Miss America tiara to an Indian American woman? I am not kidding you!

On Sunday night, 24-year-old Nina Davuluri, Miss New York, was crowned Miss America 2014. And yes, she is indeed the first contestant of Indian descent to win the Miss America crown in the nine-decade history of the pageant: Miss New York Crowned Miss America.

Read These Blogs

12 People Who Don't Realize That #MissAmerica Is In Fact... American: Tonight, Miss New York, Nina Davuluri from Fayetteville, NY was crowned Miss America 2014, becoming the very first Indian American winner in the pageant's history. Here are twelve people who don't realize (or don't care) that she is American.

A Human Moment From the Most Isolated Place in the World Jieun Baek took a trip to the DMZ from North Korea's side, and had a clandestine conversation with an officer. A great anecdote.

Feminism and Race: Just Who Counts As A 'Woman Of Color'? NPR's Code Switch is focusing on the tensions and challenges in feminism along issues of race. This time, Filthy Freedom's Lindsey Yoo talks about the #solidarityisforwhitewomen conversation and how Asian American women are often overlooked when talking about issues affecting women of color.

A Queer Aperture: Mia Nakano and the Visibility Project Mia Nakano, the founding photo editor for Hyphen Magazine, is now heading up the The Visibility Project, an effort to "engage an identity that includes race, diasopra, gender, and sexuality." Awesome.

Cultural Stigma Hurts Asian American Teens with Depression In this first installment of a three-part series on Asian Americans and mental health, we learn how cultural stigma can stop teens from getting the help they need to deal with their depression.

This Week's Angriest Posts

Not necessarily the angriest, just the most viewed.

1. Julie Chen admits she got surgery to look "less Asian"

2. They grow up so fast... and you won't even notice

3. The Worst Thing You Can Call A White Person?

4. Hey, People. That's the wrong Asian Google Glass gal.

5. Market receives cash and letter apologizing for robbery

6. Shiping Bao, medical examiner in Zimmerman trial, fired

7. Judge rules Abercrombie & Fitch wrongly fired Muslim employee over hijab

8. Angry Reader of the Week: Kat Chow

9. The Adventures of Sikh Captain America

10. Personal tragedy becomes a filmmaker's inspiration in the fantasy action short The Forge

And a big thank you to NPR's Tell Me More and host Michel Martin for having me on the show this week.

"I Want the Wide American Earth" Digital Comic

An illustrated adaptation of the Smithsonian APA exhibition



This is so cool. The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center has teamed up with SIUniverse Media (the folks behind the Asian American comics anthologies Secret Identities and Shattered) to release a digital comic to celebrate the opening of the exhibition "I Want the Wide American Earth: An Asian Pacific American Story" at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles.

Featuring the work of contributors Jef Castro, Bernard Chang, Chris Danger, Keith Chow, Ming Doyle, Yasmin Liang, Jerry Ma, Krishna Sadasivam, and GB Tran, the comic is an illustrated adaptation of the exhibition, capturing key moments and movements from the Asian Pacific American experience.

Take a look: