February 2007 Archives
« January 2007 | Main | March 2007 »
Afro-Asian | Blasian : hapa collaboration
Often referenced by activists and intellectuals including W.E.B DuBois, Malcolm X, Yuri Kochiyama and Vijay Prashad, the 1955 Asian-African Conference in Bandung, Indonesia brought together 29 African and Asian nations.
Bandung still survives in everyday lives...collaborations, political activism, and the hapa generation, specifically the self-proclaimed Afro-Asians or Blasians of mixed Black and Asian ancestry. Some familiar Afro-Asians / Blasians include: Charles Mingus (African American/Chinese/European | jazz legend), Kimora Lee Simmons (Japanese/African American | Baby Phat CEO and model), Amerie (African American/Korean | R&B chanteuse), Chris Won Wong (Chinese/African-Trinidadian | 2 Live Crew member), Foxy Brown (African American/Filipina | music artist), Cassie (Filipina/African American/West Indian/Mexican | R&B singer), Ashanti (Chinese/African American | R&B singer), Tyson Beckford (Jamaican/Chinese | model/actor), Hines Ward (African American/Korean NFL football player), and Tiger Woods (African American/Native American/Thai | golf player).
Posted by Tamiko | February 28, 2007 | Comments (5)Tags: Black History Month, People
The story of Chocolate...."Food of the Gods"
Even if it's just for the free chocolate samples, this luscious exhibit is worth checking out. In celebration of the 100th anniversary of Purdy's Chocolates, Science World British Columbia is showing you the culture of Chocolate through the lenses of science, history, and popular culture. Begin the tour in the rainforest with the cultivation of the cacao seeds and learn how chocolate was able to transform from a highly-prized drink (for 90% of history, chocolate was actually consumed in "liquid" form) to a symbol of wealth and sinful luxury today.
Considering that Americans consume about $13 billion worth of chocolates each year, prepare to be enlightened and feel less guilty the next time you devour that 1lb box of chocolates...learn about the health benefits of the cacao seed, the truth behind the libido stimulating myth, and the cultural differences of chocolate around the world.
Posted by ethnic cool | February 26, 2007 | Comments (0)Tags:
Narco Corridos (Narco Music) -Mexico's forbidden songs
"Can a musical genre be considered so dangerous as to be banned from the radio? Yes, according to the authorities in some parts of Mexico who have forced radio stations to take action in an attempt to stamp out the culture of "narco corridos", which they accuse of glamorising drug trafficking and gangsterism." (BBC).
Sound familiar? Narco-music (narcomusica or narco corridos) is often compared to gangsta rap. Yup, that's "narco" as in "narcotics," and narco-music is indeed associated with the subculture of Mexico's drug traffickers or narcocultura (narco culture). It's nothing like salsa, which the mainsteam media thinks the boom in Latin music is driven by. With roots in Mexican ranchera (country) music of accordion- and brass-based nortena ballads, narco-music may lament or describe the world of the drug trade. Now global audiences (even the Grammy's has recognized narco-music) are getting hip to what the young Spanish-speaking audiences have danced to all along. Narco music has even made its way into mainstream media in Episode 512 of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation...
And like the debate about gangster rap, although young listeners find a sense of empowerment through narco music, opponents of Mexican heritage worry that narco-music merely spreads the stereotype of the Mexican as criminal. It's said that "the first thing a drug runner would do after a successful run was to hire someone to write a corrido about it"...
(Read "Los Gallos Valientes: Examining Violence in Mexican Popular Music" by Helena Simonett @ www.sibetrans.com).
Posted by Tamiko | February 25, 2007 | Comments (5)Tags: Commentary
China Dolls the novel - The Joy Luck Club meets Sex and the City
Don't run in the other direction because of the unfortunate title China Dolls. Yes, a bit cringe-worthy but it must not deter you from checking out the debut novel by Michelle Yu and Blossom Kan which officially launched on February 8th. Described as "The Joy Luck Club meets Sex and the City" (oh yes, chicklit), China Dolls focuses on "three young women who are Chinese but who also consider themselves thoroughly modern and American--until they're reminded of their culture (and the effect of that culture on them) at critical moments in their lives."
China Dolls introduces M.J, a sportswriter battling the male dominated world of sports; Alex, a confident attorney fighting the submissive Asian woman stereotype; and Lin, the risk-taking stockbroker trying not to relive her mom's mistakes. While the characters of M.J., Alex, and Lin won't ever forget their Asian roots, they also don't hide behind them as an excuse for their failures. If anything, they draw strength from their heritage while at the same time, embracing their "American" identity.
The authors were inspired to explore characters that negate stereotypes of the Asian woman as "this docile, submissive person", while dealing with the expectations of their own culture to be "the perfect wife, mother and supporting cast for their future husbands". Now...let's just change the title...unless it's seen as tongue'n'cheek...
Posted by Tamiko | February 24, 2007 | Comments (0)Tags:
West Coast Fusion Fashion : SHI STUDIO
Georgia Straight's Style Watch draws attention to unique blending of styles and material in East Asian-influenced accessories:
"It's the kind of cultural fusion that could have emerged only from the West Coast. Shi Studio, named for the Cantonese word for "poem", blends the richness of the dynastic brocades of southern China with the antique skill of stained glass and a hip contemporary style. The design duo behind Shi sets the brightly hued silk under clear glass with a sterling frame. The result spans shimmery pendants embroidered with dragons slithering across brilliant fuchsia or scarlet backgrounds and a leather belt decorated with an oval buckle of pink cherry blossoms against lime green."
Read the complete article East meets west in Shi Studio's brocade jewellery by Janice Smith. (www.straight.com)
Posted by Alden | February 22, 2007 | Comments (0)Tags:
Remembering Hogan Alley and the Black Urban Landscape
On Saturday February 24th, 2007, special guest speakers David Hilliard and Dr. Afua Cooper will be at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre where they will be discussing the topic of black urban sites in different North American contexts and will illustrate the commonalities of the experiences of Black Canadians with the cultural legacy of the Black Panther Party and their agenda for empowering Black communities in the US.
"Hogan's Alley" was the local, unofficial name for Park Lane, an alley that ran through the southwestern corner of Strathcona during the first six decades of the twentieth century. While Hogan's Alley and the surrounding area were an ethnically diverse neighbourhood during this era, a number of Black families, Black businesses and the city's only Black church -- the African Methodist Episcopal Fountain Chapel -- were located there.
Posted by ethnic cool | February 20, 2007 | Comments (0)Tags: Black History Month
BANANA BOYS the play: February 23-March 17, 2007 (West Coast Premiere)
The thing about bananas is they so easily squish. You can't put them in your backpack without having a pulpy mess after they get pushed and prodded. When you try to eat it, the once stoic banana has become, well, mooshed and rather unappealing. Oh wait, we're talking about definition no.2 of "banana" (although one can argue....): Banana: n. 1. tropical fruit; yellow on the outside, white on the inside 2. Canadian-born Chinese (CBC); yellow on the outside, white on the inside.
Which brings us to BANANA BOYS, a play by Leon Aureus that's based on the acclaimed first novel by Terry Woo. Catch it at the Firehall Arts Centre in Vancouver from February 23-March 17, 2007. The cast of Banana Boys includes: Simon Hayama, Victor Mariano, Parnelli Parnes, Rick Tae and Vincent Tong.
What's it about again? The Banana Boys are five Canadian buddies trying to get through university, find love, and establish themselves. But they're also figuring out what it means to be a "yellow guy" in the Great White North. Trapped by parental obligations and societal expectations, these CBCs are neither fully Chinese nor Canadian. The Toronto Star called the play "...(a) smart and wickedly funny play" which balances the joys of beer and video games with the frustrations of being caught between cultures, being stereotyped in mainstream media and passed over by Asian-Canadian women.
Under the cut: Dates, Tickets, pics, and more...
Posted by Tamiko | February 20, 2007 | Comments (1)Tags: Theatre
The Race & Race
"Race is sensitive subtext in campaign"
As Barack Obama is now officially into his quest for the presidency of the US & A, the way he and the rest of the country handles the issue of his ethnicity will be very.........interesting. Its such a delicate thing. Much like when Ujal Dosanjh became BC's first Indo-Canadian premier, its a trailblazing feat but it sucks that the ethnicity can overtake the individual's actual merit and qualification. The issue of merit and ethnic attention is a bit different I guess for a politician who will lead a province or the most powerful country in the world and a musical act but, in Dosanjh's case especially, i cant help but to think of the notion that Jackie Wong hit on dead-on for me in his review of No Luck Club's new disc.
Posted by Boon Kondo | February 17, 2007 | Comments (0)Tags: Current Events
Enter the Lions Den
Food fusion, the Japaribbean way
The Lion's Den Cafe
651 East 15th Ave (off Kingsway & Fraser)
Vancouver BC Canada
(604) 873-4555
Live Jazz on Fridays
Tags:
Lunar New Year ... Not a Chinese-Only Eat-Fest
Vancouver's Georgia Straight reminds us that this weekend's Lunar New Year is not just celebrated by Chinese families around the world: "With so much focus on Chinese New Year, it's easy to forget that other Asian communities in Vancouver also follow the lunar calendar. Each marks the new year in its own way. And as with any celebration, food plays a big role."
READ the whole article by Carolyn Ali ...
That said, not all of geographic Asia celebrates the Lunar New Year. Japan's New Year (shogatsu or oshogatsu) - the most important holiday in Japan, is celebrated between January 1 - 3.
Havana Chinatown Spring Party CUBA | Bangkok Chinatown | Cultural events in Seoul | Tet Celebrations in Ho Chi Minh City | Celebrations from Sydney, Australia | Pics from Binondo - Manila, Philippines
> To celebrate Chinese New Year, CBC.ca is profiling eight notable Chinese restaurants across the country.
Posted by Alden | February 17, 2007
| Comments (0)
Tags:
"Musical Remembrances of a Rearing in Southern Africa"
From Stylus mag:
" The first album I knew all the words to was Paul Simon's Graceland. The "Graceland" concert came to Harare in 1987, just as my family moved to Zimbabwe; the audience and performers were an almost unprecedented mix of races. Earlier that year, Simon had decided to visit South Africa and, with a dream team of South African musicians, record an album without a single lyric resembling a protest song...Twenty years later, the lyrical innocence of Graceland seems an act of startling and bewildering artistic omission. But... Simon staged the concert in Zimbabwe because Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba, who both played in the show, were barred by the South African government from returning to their homeland...'
Posted by Boon Kondo | February 17, 2007 | Comments (0)Tags:
Are you a "PIG"?
If you're 12, 24, 36, 48, 60 (continue in multiples of 12) years of age this year, then YES, you are a PIG and on February 18th, 2007, it is time for you to eat more. According to the ancient Chinese lunar calendar, Chinese New Year is this weekend (dates change every year) and many families around the world have already begun preparing for the festivities which is traditionally a 15-day celebration. Not only is there an emphasis on family, gatherings, Buddhist traditions, red envelopes (filled with money; usually for the children or youngest generation of the family), etc. but most importantly, there has to be great food AND the correct types of food in order to have good fortune in the coming year ahead.
So, with all the choices out there of food and "Nian Huo", or New Year's products, which ones are deemed "mandatory" and which ones are mere delicacies that you can go without and still ensure a wishful, prosperous new year? Well here's
"Chinese New Year's food deciphered!"
Tags:
Kept: A Comedy of Sex and Manners - Y. Euny Hong's debut novel
KEPT: A COMEDY OF SEX AND MANNERS was conjured up by Y. Euny Hong in 2003 when she found herself "broke, unemployed, and alone in Berlin, unfairly blaming my problems on my family, for raising me to think of myself as a Korean aristocrat in a world where things ceased to matter." Compared to William Makepeace Thackeray's "Vanity Fair," KEPT explores sex, race and class in Manhattan, where impoverished aristocratic women (like the main character Jude Lee) become courtesans (fancy word for "escort") to pay off their debts...in the 21st century.
Before your nose tingles from the woeful hint of Asian women exoticism, KEPT is meant to be a satirical, biting tale that exposes sexuality, class and family ties by showing the absurdity of it all.
Jude Lee, the Yale-educated daughter of Korean royalty ("I can trace my Korean ancestry back 28 generations on my father's side and 26 on my mother's side, both lines having commenced with Chinese royalty who chose to marry and settle in Korea.") is vain, indulged and full of herself (hmm, smells of the bright young things out there today), yet out of money, cut off by her parents, and forced to turn herself over to an upscale madam, who agrees to pay off Jude’'s debts if she works as a courtesan in New York for 2 years. Yet Jude finds her limited moral fiber tested when she falls for an impoverished grad student, and uncovers catastrophic secrets in the family archives....
Posted by Tamiko | February 15, 2007
| Comments (0)
Tags:
lonely Valentines yet again?..here's a chance to "DATE" for a cause!
Definition of "Valentines Day" for the single souls: "over-rated", "boring", "depressing", "dingy affair", "bitter", "expensive", "BLAH"...
Hmm, well even if Cupid with his adorable little wings and magical bow and arrow can't change your mind about the amorous and romantic sentiments of Valentine's Day, then perhaps doing some "charity" work will justify even a slight bit of enthusiasm from your otherwise cynical position on the occasion.
The 4th annual C.A.C (Canadianized Asian Club) Dating Auction is once again being held at Simon Fraser University by the Canadianized Asian Club on Wednesday, February 14th, 2007 at Convocation Mall. What started as an event idea from a group of 1st year Executives, has turned into one of CAC's pillar and most prominent event that raised close to $2000 for charity last year.
Posted by ethnic cool | February 12, 2007 | Comments (1)Tags:
Jin tha MC is "ABC (American Born Chinese)"
Jin Au-Yeung is better known as Jin, Jin tha MC, and The Emcee. Miami-raised Jin's big break came after he moved to New York and won battles on BET's freestyle program "106 & Park" which eventually led him to Ruff Ryders label and his debut single "Learn Chinese". In 2004, out came his first album "The Rest is History"...he disappeared awhiles but came back in 2006 with a limited release only through MySpace called "I Promise". His first Cantonese-album is expected to drop in 2007, and its first single "ABC (American Born Chinese)" has already launched.
The video debuted on MTV Chi, a music and entertainment network created to give positive images of Asian people on TV and popular culture. Fitting since Jin is known for his creative rhymes peppered with social and political commentary. After Hot 97 NYC aired the offensive song "USA for Indonesia," Jin fired back with a diss song "F%$k The Tsunami Song".. Recently after Rosie O'Donnell's "ching chong" comment, Jin responded with "You're Fired!" (featuring Donald Trump) which he recorded "basically for the same reason she decided to do her little 'ching chong' bit: that's just how I am."
More on Jin and "ABC" (including video) under the cut...
Posted by Tamiko | February 12, 2007 | Comments (1)Tags:
High Society @ Ginger 62 - Global Beats, Bollywood Tunes, Bhangra Hits
HIGH SOCIETY is a series of events targeted at the young urban professional over 21, interested in an eclectic atmosphere with global fair. HIGH SOCIETY features Global Beats * Bollywood Tunes * Bhangra Hits this Thursday, February 22 at Ginger 62 in Vancouver.
HIGH SOCIETY | Global Beats * Bollywood Tunes * Bhangra Hits
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Ginger 62, 1219 Granville Street
Starring: DJ Reminisce
Strictly 23+
$10 Guestlist - $15 Door
Email: guestlist@atownpresents.com
More info: www.atownpresents.com
* Larger view of flyer under the cut...
Posted by Tamiko | February 12, 2007 | Comments (0)Tags:
MISSISSIPPI COLD CASE - CDN Documentary delivers justice
World Premiere (34-minute version) on CBC News: Sunday, February 11, 2007 at 10 pm on CBC-TV and 9 pm ET/PT on CBC Newsworld | Repeating Sunday February 18 at 8 pm ET on CBC Newsworld
It is a 43-year-old murder case that had never been solved. In May of 1964, Charles Eddie Moore and Henry Hezekiah Dee were brutally tortured and murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi. When CBC documentary filmmaker David Ridgen joined forces with Thomas James Moore to help him investigate his brother's murder, it helped crack a cold case that had largely been forgotten.
More:
Read the complete story, browse photos on CBC.ca
Canadian filmmaker helps crack cold case from civil rights era (Canadian Press) | Post your comment here
Posted by Alden | February 11, 2007
| Comments (0)
Read the complete story, browse photos on CBC.ca
Canadian filmmaker helps crack cold case from civil rights era (Canadian Press) | Post your comment here
Tags: Black History Month, Flashback, TV
Rio Carnival & Brazilian Music | February 17-20, 2007
February may be a short month but it's blessed with a flurry of events: Black History Month, Valentine's, Chinese New Year / Lunar New Year, and CARNIVAL (aka Mardi Gras in French or Carnaval in Portuguese ). Although Carnival is celebrated throughout Brazil and other Catholic countries, Rio de Janeiro is hands-down the capital of Carnival. The 4-day event starts on Saturday and ends on Fat Tuesday (or in French "Mardi Gras") leading up to Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Euphoria reigns as people party, sing, and dance...meaning Carnival is nothing without music, and Brazil is definitely all about the music.
In celebration of Carnival, energize yourself with some Brazilian music: from the samba to bossa nova, choro, carioca funk, tropicalia, axe, samba-reggae, Brazilian hip hop and electronica. Brazilian music blends a cocktail of African, Euro, and indigenous melodies, rhythms, melodies and styles...creating some of the most memorable music out there. Who cares if you don't understand Portuguese? Just dance to the beats, with or without the colourful feathered costumes...you decide.
Look under the cut for some prolific Brazilian artists and their genres...it's not just "Girl of Ipanema" stuff anymore...
Posted by Tamiko | February 11, 2007 | Comments (0)Tags:
Who Wants to be an Amerikan?
"Created by Vancouver Film School graduate Aaron Beckum through the VFS Film Production program."
Tags:
Original Gangsta, 1895
Ice-T may have referred to himself as hip hop's O.G. but Cecil Brown's "I, Stagolee" may best tell the story of the history of the African American gangster, pimp, and political playa figure. This followed "Stagolee Shot Billy," a non-fictional account of the story which has been one of the most told in blues, jazz and which was even covered or retold by Bob Dylan, the Stones & the Clash. It has been noted as a predecessor to the Blaxploitation films of the 70s on top of its' place in hip hop.
Book Description (from Amazon): "It's the birth year of Ragtime music, 1895, and Lee "Stagolee" Shelton, a St. Louis pimp, murders Billy Lyons, a political gang member. Afterwards, Stagolee makes a deal with Judge Murphy to bring order to the underworld. As a member of a group of pimps called the "Stags," Stagolee makes alliances with the Democratic Party and votes for a Democratic Mayor. Later, the Stag Party, along with the Democratic Party, elects St. Louis's first black policeman. It is this policeman who is sent to arrest Stagolee for the murder of Billy Lyons. Now, nearly 50 years after singer Lloyd Price introduced mainstream audiences to the "Stagger Lee" story, Cecil Brown portrays the events that gave rise to this mainstay of African-American popular culture. This follows the successful Stagolee Shot Billy, Brown's nonfiction account of the same story."
Stagolee excerpt | Stagolee Shot Billy | Rap Music and the Stagolee Mythoform | Stagolee Wiki article | Order "I, Stagolee" | "Order "Stagolee Shot Billy" | American Pimp | Iceberg Slim
Tags: Black History Month
The Review and the Yellow Card
"As Vancouver turntablists of Asian heritage, the group (Van-City's own NO LUCK CLUB) has seen heavy coverage in 'ethnic' media that sometimes seems to outweigh their appearance in other press....The concept of multicultural media is no crime in itself. At the same time, I can't shake the feeling that in 2007, it often results in the rather unpalatable effect of deepening the chase between the 'multi' ('diverse ethnicities') and the 'cultural' ('white culture' audience) that it attempts to unite....The craftsmanship of their latest album, Prosperity, has seen national critical attention... There, the ethnicity of the group members takes a backseat to their skills as artists, and I think that this is the point where the chief aims of multiculturalism succeed...."
READ ON...
Tags:
The Geico Caveman: Racist!?
Tthe caveman are "a minority you can attack with impunity. We've seen with Borat what happens when you go after a real country like Kazakhstan...but cavemen? No one lobbies for Neanderthals."
"It's the human condition - differences provoke an uneasiness that is not funny but can be exploited with humor"
"the GEICO ads as another link in the chain of American humor, from minstrel shows that lampooned blacks to borscht-belt comedy that more recently made Jewish Americans a genial laughingstock."
But "the ads could be perceived as offensive because they're making fun of people who are sensitive about stereotypes."
Caveman Tube clips in extended entry
Posted by Boon Kondo | February 8, 2007 | Comments (0)Tags:
One of a kind "LIDS"...Vancouver artist keepin' it "TYTE"
Amidst the sea of fashion look-alikes, "TNA" copycats, and mundane senses of styles out there, a glimmer of hope shines through..and it lands right on top of your head.
TYTE LIDS has been the artistic canvas for creator Brian Liu (who has been trained both in the arts of the "brush" and the "spray can") since the Spring of 2005; the idea first began when Brian, like many of the self-professed "unique" individuals out there, wanted items that they could wear and that noone else would have. Who wants to walk down Robson Street and see 3 or 4 other people struttin' the same hoodie or the same boring "leg warmers" look (which really only looks good on Japs*) anyways. And so..with the motivation to paint individual and unique hats for himself and his friends, TYTE LIDS was born.
Posted by ethnic cool | February 8, 2007 | Comments (1)Tags:
Mouse-communication
Chinese American equal rights groups in New York staged a protest in front of television station CW11 (WPIX-TV Channel 11), because the station had run a story about a woman who found a piece of chicken shaped like a mouse in her Chinese take-out from the "New Food King" restaurant in Brooklyn.
The station supposedly approached a biologist who tested the chicken and confirmed it to be a rodent, however NYC Councilman John Liu and 400 other Asian Americans protested that the station did not properly verify the biologist's report and that the allegation is based on false stereotypes which deserves an apology from the station.
CW11 responded not with a "sorry" but by sending out the same reporter that covered the rodent story to cover the same protest against his story (how clever, best defense is a strong offense?). The owner of the restaurant said that business has been affected drastically with many customers approaching them with demands for an explanation; the restaurant is planning to sue the television station.
Posted by ethnic cool | February 7, 2007 | Comments (3)Tags: News
Flu season in effect
As first blogged back in August last year, M.I.A.'s Birdflu track has finally been revealed on her myspace page and the video is circulating the Tube already. Her website has also been revamped (with a better quality, quicktime version of the vid up on there too). More pics of the shoot have also been put on her site. And dont call it no bhangra beat, aiight?
Posted by Boon Kondo | February 5, 2007 | Comments (0)Tags:
The Uighurs: Muslims in China "On a Tightrope"
CBC: The Passionate Eye documentary - On a Tightrope
Monday - February 5 - 10pm ET/PT on CBC Newsworld
Now that our boy, Borat has shed some light on the world's possibly least known region to the west, Central Asia (which also happens to be one of the world's oldest civilizations as well), check out the CBC Passionate Eye documentary on the Uighurs, a muslim minority in western China who, like the Tibetans, are living under a persecuted life of the Chinese government. Ethnic Uighurs mostly live in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and also in the neighboring countries of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Turkey, Russia, and...yes, Kazakhstan.
Posted by Boon Kondo | February 5, 2007 | Comments (0)Tags: TV
Port Moody Canadian Film Festival
From February 12th to February 18th, the Port Moody Film Society will be holding its 7th annual Canadian Film Festival.The festival aims to showcase Canadian and student film makers while supporting local events and the community. This year's films include popular titles such as "Eve and the Firehorse" (which just received multiple nominations at the 2007 Genie Awards), "3 Needles" (which tells of the character's battles with HIV set in 3 different countries and featuring Lucy Liu as well as "Grey's Anatomy" star Sandra Oh), and "C.R.A.Z.Y" (a marvelous film about a father-son relationship which won the award for Best Picture at the Genie's last year).
The festival takes place at the Inlet Theatre in Port Moody (100 Newport Drive) and tickets are $5 a screening, with a one-time $5 membership fee. For more information about the movies and the society, check out www.pmfilm.ca
Posted by ethnic cool | February 5, 2007 | Comments (0)Tags:
Good ol' "DIM SUM" humour
Steambasket is an online comic strip featuring well-known Dim Sum dishes. Yummy and delectable characters such as "har gow" (shrimp dumpling), "pei dan" ("1,000-year-old" or fermented egg), "siu mai" (pork dumpling), and "chun guen" (spring roll), etc., are turned into personalities that represent the awareness of a still, racially sensitive America (the Dimsum characters also poke fun at themselves).
Creator Kevin Kao was born and raised in Hong Kong and is currently a university student in L.A; his cartoons tend to hint and address racial issues facing Asian-Americans and ethnic minorities today.
Posted by ethnic cool | February 4, 2007 | Comments (2)Tags:
Let RAIN pour -Korean popstar heading for the US market
You can find RAIN everywhere...that is the Korean R&B singer, dancer, and actor named RAIN (real name: Jeong Ji Hoon) who's also known as Bi in Korea; Pi in Japan; and Yu in China. Extremely popular across Asia, RAIN has been riding the Korean culture craze known as Hallyu, and has even begun to infiltrate the coveted US-market with two sold-out concerts in NYC and Las Vegas in 2006, and a nod as Time Magazine's 2nd most influential artist in 2006. More intriguingly it's through new media outlets targeting "hyphenated Americans/Canadians" that RAIN has garnered attention as they tap into their ethnic roots through popular culture.
The US market is the holy grail and RAIN has moved an inch by being the first Asian performer ever to be invited to the US MTV Video Music Awards (2005). Quite an accomplishment since RAIN encountered rejection time and again for being "too ugly" and was told, "Your dancing is great, but...you don't have double eyelids". Fast forward to 2006 when RAIN peeked the interest of P.Diddy, and made plans to become the first male Asian popstar to succeed in the US: "I would really like to see an Asian make it there. I would like that Asian to be me." RAIN might just make it...he intends to avoid being "another Asian dude trying to do black music" by "embracing his inner delicacy and emphasize his Asian-ness" (whaa the?).
Posted by Tamiko | February 4, 2007 | Comments (2)Tags:
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
Starbucks Entertainment (which works with William Morris Agency in LA to distribute music, film, and book projects) announced last month that it will be selling the much anticipated book, a true story entitled "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah (published by Douglas & McIntyre in Canada) in all 6,000 of its locations across the U.S. The book, which will be out in mid-February, is a riveting story of civial war and survival written by Beah who was a former child soldier in Sierra Leone.
After the tremendous success of Mitch Albom's "For One More Day", which sold over 100,000 copies at Starbucks locations across the U.S, Beah's first book is expected to be an international best seller with a scheduled appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show after the book's release.
Posted by ethnic cool | February 3, 2007 | Comments (1)Tags:
Ethnosonic Black History Month lineup
Catch vids from all the legends who made the music happen.
Ethnosonic on City TV - SAT & SUN @ NOON
James Brown f/Afrika Bambaataa - Unity
Solomon Burke - None of Us Are Free
George Clinton - Atomic Dog
Pocket Dwellers - Trust Us
K-Os - Sunday Morning
Third Eye Tribe f/Ndidi Cascade - Real Mathematics
Nina Simone remixed by Felix Da Housecat - Sinnerman
Bebe & Cece Winan f/Mavis Staples - I'll Take You There
NWA - Express Yourself
Al Green - I Can't Stop (USA)
Bran Van 3000 f/Curtis Mayfield - Astounded
Tags: TV
Bubble Tea Mania: Road to Addiction
This popular drink has generated a huge following of devoters and addicts throughout North America, especially in the West and East coast of the continent. In Vancouver, the drink has produced a 'Bubble Tea Culture'.
Tags:
Puma launches Mongolian Shoe BBQ online - customized sneakers and stereotypes
Sigh. Everything "Asian" is cool these days...the market is capturing, repackaging, and spitting out whatever they think is Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc, even Mongolia hasn't been spared. German-based Puma sneakers has launched MONGOLIAN SHOE BBQ, a project that let's you custom-make your kicks. This gets your creative juices flowing by allowing you to select the parts, colours, materials that you want, wait 3 weeks, and receive your assembled sneakers for $130 US (you can now do it online).
Why Mongolian Shoe BBQ? Yup, it's a take on the whole Mongolian food preparation where you choose your veggies, meats and sauces, and have it grilled up the way you like (btw, Mongolians don't actually eat this way). Watch your flaring nostrils when you check out the Mongolian Shoe BBQ website...you'll find stereotypical Chinese symbols and background music (hey, that's not Mongolian!), complete with an Asian waitress to help "serve you" ...
Posted by Tamiko | February 3, 2007 | Comments (0)Tags:
FOB-ulous! - Learn Mandarin through Chinese pop music
Mandarin is the most popular 1st language on the planet, beating English by 500 million speakers. It's also the 2nd most common language on the Internet. Mandarin shouldn't just conjure up images of oranges and collars anymore...it's also known as Putonghua ("common speech") in China; Guoyu ("national language") in Taiwan; and Huayu ("cultural language") in Malaysia and Singapore. If you already know Mandarin, you should consider your ass lucky...if you're learning, why not have a little fun? Check out the website "LEARN CHINESE THROUGH CHINESE POP MUSIC" where you can master Mandarin by imagining popular pop artists like Jay Chou, Jolin Tsai, Wang Lee Hom and others as your "personal Mandarin tutor".
The site helps you navigate the music lyrics in Pinyin (alphabet letters) above the Chinese characters, along with the English meaning of the lyrics. Sometimes there'll be an explanation of a song's meaning, and Youtube music videos often accompany the lyrics. PS: After a peeksy, I'd recommend Jay Chou's Dong Feng Po (The Song of the East Wind). You don't have to know any Mandarin just yet...just listen and get inspired!
Posted by Tamiko | February 2, 2007 | Comments (3)Tags:
BLACK HISTORY MONTH - Malcolm X and Yuri Kochiyama
Before feminism, multiculturalism and the Asian American movement ever influenced our current experience as cultural navigators, there was the resistance, courage and voice of Black Americans and Canadians - in their fight against racism and pursuit for equality and social justice. How they have shaped our history in both the U.S. and Canada will likely never be adequately measured. What most people have forgotten is how interconnected Asian American history is with Black American history. To commemorate Black History Month, we dug through our archived copies of A.Magazine and found a golden reminder in the 1999 February/March issue A.Magazine.
Tags: Black History Month, Flashback
The rise of the Asian comics: manga, manhua, and manhwa
Surely, you've heard of manga (Japanese comics) but you may be new to its cousins: manhua (Chinese comics) and manhwa (Korean comics) [we shouldn't disregard the truyen tranh (Vietnamese comics) and komiks (Filipino comics)]. All three share common characteristics, but diverge in their themes and visual and narrative approach to showcase their own cultural and historical contexts.
In terms of manhua, a majority of them come out of Hong Kong, including ones made into films such as Fung Wan (Wind & Cloud) which became the cult film The Storm Riders; Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon; Hero; The Ravages of Time of the Three Kingdom period; and the Young & Dangerous series. Taiwan's most popular contribution is The One, a girly comic about the fashion industry.
Posted by Tamiko | February 1, 2007 | Comments (1)Tags:
Subscribe to our Feed
Tags
(24)
(1)
(10)
(6)
(9)
(3)
(1)
(1)
(2)
(6)
(2)
(69)
(43)
(27)
(24)
(1)
(15)
(2)
(1)
(6)
(5)
(3)
(16)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(12)
(1)
(1)
(5)
(9)
(4)
(1)
(5)
(10)
(1)
(14)
(5)
(1)
(1)
(65)
(2)
(29)
(1)
(98)
(3)
(27)
(7)
(4)
(2)
(1)
(27)
(8)
(53)
(4)
(2)
(34)
(3)
(4)
(7)
(1)
(12)
(27)
(1)
(5)
(7)
(35)
(79)
(70)
(1)
(5)
(1)
(9)
(1)
(137)
(14)
(8)
(1)
(1)
(53)
(1)
(5)
(10)
(35)
(6)
(4)
(3)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(2)
(3)
(1)
(21)
(7)
(1)
(1)
(27)
(2)
(1)
(32)
(2)
(4)
(1)
(1)
(9)
(1)
(10)
(35)
(1)
(1)
(11)
(1)
(2)
(5)
(49)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(4)
(1)
(76)
(4)
(7)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(22)
(1)
(1)
(36)
(9)
(1)
(1)
(3)
(1)
(9)
(1)
(10)
(3)
(3)
(1)
(1)
(3)
(23)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(2)
(22)
(1)
(2)
(1)
(2)
(1)
(1)
(9)
(34)
(3)
(28)
(6)
(1)
(1)
(30)
(2)
(12)
(1)
(12)
(1)
(44)
(1)
(4)
(1)
(45)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(2)
(1)
Recent Posts
Advertisement
Archives
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
Advertisement