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SFIAAFF 2010 | Day II | Films, films, films

SFIAAFF Day II didn't formerly begin until the first screenings at 3ish, which meant I was able to partake in some San Franciscan pleasures. Oh la. A MUNI bus took me down -- as in "ridiculously steep" -- Sacramento towards Chinatown where I disembarked for a decidedly rainy walk towards one of my favorite spots - Cafe de La Presse for a Parisian brassiere-style brunch.

After a fresh bite of tiger prawns, avocado, pink grapefruit segments, cherry tomatoes covered in, ahem, french dressing (you know, that tangy reddish salad dressing), and a delightful bowl of cafe au lait, we wandered up towards a soggy Chinatown for a heftier lunch with friends at a Vietnamese pho place. Didn't end up with pho; instead swooned over my spicy-sweet-sour shrimp salad that was covered with crispy garlic flakes.

Of course, the rain didn't deter me from lining up outside the Golden Gate Bakery for the best dan tats in the whole entire universe (well, at least my universe, ha!). Light, flaky pastry shell filled with warm silky egg custard. This fortified our next mission for some shopping -- er, window shopping in Union Square.

After a nap, headed down to eat somewhere random (re: not very good) on Fillmore for a screening of Fog (see pic above), a US/Hong Kong joint production by director Kit Hui. She was in attendance, along with the actors of the film, Terence Yin and Eugenia Yuan.

Here's the SFIAAF write-up for Fog...like I've said before, they've done a better job of summing the film up than I would have:

This intimate Hong Kong story follows a young man attempting to move past his amnesia. While he strives to reconcile his past with his future, the city around him busily prepares for the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's reunification with China. Propelled by an engrossing, understated performance from Chinese American heartthrob Terence Yin (TOMB RAIDER II: THE CRADLE OF LIFE; THE HEAVENLY KINGS), this film marks the assured debut of writer-director Kit Hui, who makes good on the promise of her award-winning short MISSING (SFIAAFF '07). Wai (yin) is in a state of confusion. He moves through each day in a trance, numbly stumbling from home to hospital to work and vainly attempting to jog his foggy memory by wandering through his childhood school, by making frequent visits to his friend's bar. Gradually Wai gathers bits of information about his past life and the world around him through conversations, photographs and even trips to the library. He absorbs most of it in a state of numbness, maintaining equilibrium with alcohol and drugs. Some revelations, however, prove too great to ignore. Also starring the lovely Eugenia Yuan (CHARLOTTE SOMETIMES, SFIAAFF '03), FOG is a rich exploration of the search for identity on levels both micro and macro: Wai finds a rare opportunity to overcome a wealth of past wrongs, while Hong Kong sits at a crucial point, looking back on its history, and towards its uncertain future.

Okay, lookit, I go into the film as a regular layman audience member...not a film school student with arty understanding of the mechanics of independent film, you hear me? Translation: I watch films for entertainment value, not so much artistic merit. It's an escape mechanism, a need for a break and a bit of pleasure -- this is why we watch films en masse, no? I preface with this caveat, because....well, my whole row in the theatre squirmed over and over again, and many eventually fell asleep...one even left..due to sheer boredom. It was pure molasses, aka. tortuously slow....with some sweet moments where you'd think, ah, redemption, it's going to pick up, it's going somewhere...and then it doesn't. What a tease. Not a guy, but dare I say it had blue ball moments.

Obviously I'm not going to kiss some asses by saying it was fantastic. I could say it was an artistic, brooding piece of melancholy in the human psyche...just so I can sound arty and intelligent. But for the regular filmgoer, this film was pretty much a tortuous experience for someone who seeks instant gratification in their movie experience. But that's just me...and my row in the theatre. To be fair, the vision of the filmmaker and her producers was probably that this film was an experiment in the noir. The trailer's good, though HERE.

After the screening, headed out to Mighty, a club on Utah Street, for Directions in Sound: NOTES FROM THE ASIAN AMERICAN UNDERGROUND (click on link for list of DJs, including DJ Shortkut - pictured above):

DIRECTIONS IN SOUND is a genre-bending showcase featuring the best future-forward sounds that are blowing up around the globe. This year our lineup features internationally known artists and up-and-comers bubbling below the radar. If you can dig non-stop bangin' beats, electro-clash with a neon sheen, and even hip-hop smashed on video, DIRECTIONS IN SOUND 2010 will satisfy all the senses.

Then back to Hotel Tomo for live sets in Kevin's (Hawaii via Toronto) Room *** from Goh Nakamura (above), Han Wang from the band Invisible Cities, and Dan Lee from the band Scrabbel (listen below to their great song, "Emily, I").

Other films screening on Day II included (all write-ups from SFIAAF website):

Thai film, Agrarian Utopia (trailer):

The magical, sustaining forces of the land collide with the all-pervasive march of globalization in this remarkable, visually stunning film. A scripted work that plays closer to documentary, AGRARIAN UTOPIA describes the conditions befalling traditional agricultural lifestyle in a time of mass farming, government instability and global price setting. The film follows two farmers and their families through the cycle of a rice crop season. Strapped by crippling debts and interest rates, the families share a plot of land; the fertile soil offers them potential riches, but market prices may reduce their crop value to almost nothing. Creative means are keys to survival; some of the film's most exquisite sequences feature the harvesting of snakes, honeycomb, frogs and mushrooms, sustenance the land can provide, but the government cannot. All the while, political turmoil roils distant Bangkok with cries for reform and fairer agricultural policy, while the city itself provides a further temptation to abandon agrarian life entirely. A neighboring farmer offers a potential solution through his holistic, organic approach to farming, but neither of these options can restore a lifestyle that is fast disappearing. The son of farmers, director Uruphong Raksasad offers an intimate vision of the Thai countryside, where what is on display is not just a way of life, but also the force of nature itself. The film's astonishing cinematography and time-lapse images capture the sublimity of electrical storms, morning mist and gathering winds, and present a glimpse of what a utopian agrarian world could truly look like.

Malaysian film, Talentime (trailer):

Amid the heady days of youth, three high school students gear up for a talent competition. While shuttling between home and school, they find their way from love to loss, and back again. Melur is the eldest daughter of a well-to-do English/Malaysian family. She sweetly sings her heart out and recites poignant poems over the breakfast table at home. Mahesh, a handsome and deaf Indian student with a motorbike, is assigned to chauffeur her to rehearsals. Hafiz is a guitar-strumming Malay student who dutifully tends to his dying mother while loving Melur from afar. The upcoming competition unravels the heightened emotions of the students and their families as they navigate heartache, tragedy and the fluctuating tempo of quotidian life. In her final film, the late director Yasmin Ahmad interweaves music and dialogue with humor and grace, as well as a touch of Yasujiro Ozu. The strains of Debussy imbues the empty school halls with longing, while some John Hughes-style montages make a fitting ode to awkward teenage angst. Never one to shy away from sensitive topics, Ahmad tackles the complex social and cultural dynamic of Malaysia through the films' touching multicultural family portraits; her characters, both young and old, flit effortlessly between languages both spoken and unspoken, voicing the soundtrack of the young at heart. "A story full of joy and pain, hope and despair, and a host of beautifully written songs," is how Ahmad described TALENTIME. One of the most acclaimed and original voices in Southeast Asian cinema, she passed away suddenly last July, aged just 51.

Independencia from the Phillippines (trailer):

Still in his mid-twenties, director Raya Martin is already a Cannes Film Festival veteran. Having attended with projects and films in 2005 and 2008, in 2009 he became the first Filipino to have two films at Cannes (a rare feat for a director of any nationality), with MANILA (co-directed with Adolfo Alix Jr.) and INDEPENDENCIA. The second of a planned trilogy on the history of the Philippines (each film's aesthetic will mirror the era), INDEPENDENCIA takes place during the American occupation of the early 20th century, and is shot as a classic Hollywood studio film from the period, with black-and-white deep-focus photography, soft-focus close-ups and elaborately fake sets. The film's plot is stripped to an essential framework (a man, a woman and a child hide from American patrols in the jungle rains), the better to address more weighty, complex ideas on culture, history, colonialism and cinema itself. To recreate the classic Hollywood look, Martin constructed an elaborate "jungle" set indoors, using backdrops intricatedly hand-painted by local artists. The hypnotic result recalls such studio exotica as I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE, RED DUST, and SHANGHAI EXPRESS, with cinematographer Jeanne Lapoirie (who's worked with Pedro Costa and Francois Ozon) casting a dazzling spell of faces, bodies and movement amidst dark shadows and shafts of diffused light. "Nobody makes this kind of film anymore," Martin recalls. "It's more expensive than traveling to a real forest, which we have almost everywhere in the Philippines, and our audiences are used to realism in the movies. What made it easier for everyone was our child-like fascination. We were like kids reconstructing a lost world."

Documentary In The Matter of Cha Jung Hee (trailer):

n 1966, an American couple adopted a Korean "orphan" named Cha Jung Hee, and renamed her Deann Borshay. No one questioned the authenticity of the identity papers from the adoption agency, nor did anyone heed the little girl's pleas that her family was actually still alive. As time went on, Jung Hee/Deann happily integrated into the new family. There was just one important discrepancy-she was never Cha Jung Hee. A moving and complex follow-up to the acclaimed FIRST PERSON PLURAL (SFIAAFF '99), Borshay's IN THE MATTER OF CHA JUNG HEE takes us on a remarkable journey through an individual's "mislabeled" past and a nation's scarred history. When Borshay was first taken to Sun Duck Orphanage, she was given the identity of another girl and told to keep it a secret. Over 50 years later, Borshay returns to Korea to find the real Cha Jung Hee: she visits the orphanage, appears on a television show, and even cold calls a list of some hundred Cha Jung Hees. Throughout, the artifacts of her identity are placed into question even as she strives to piece together a family history she can scarcely corroborate. Partially a personal investigation, IN THE MATTER OF CHA JUNG HEE also traverses the changing face of Korea's cultural landscape, inextricably linking this history with Borshay's compelling narrative.

Narrative Raspberry Magic (trailer):

Eleven-year-old Monica Shah (the wonderfully charming Lily Javaherpour) is a slightly awkward but totally precocious tween who spends all her free time preparing for the regional science fair. Her hypothesis: "Touch therapy can accelerate the growth of rubus idaeus." (In other words, human contact can help raspberry plants grow.) To Monica, raspberries are more than just a desired fruit; they represent "the perfect balance of sweet and sour, the good and the bad," the right combination necessary to savor all the flavors of life itself. When Monica's father loses his job and her mother's cherished cookbook idea loses steam, the fragile bonds keeping them all together begin to wear thin; even her little sister begins to mimic the parents' depression. Through the turmoil, Monica continues with her raspberry experiment; soon it becomes less about winning at the fair, and more about proving the importance of human connection--and getting her parents back together. Things take a turn for the worst when a classmate sabotages her experiment and her father moves out, but Monica might just have a few tricks up her sleeve to work the kind of magic needed to sort it all out... Pendarkar's winning debut feature is a charming coming-of-age tale which explores the delicate nature of human relations and the complex web of emotions that tie us together. Evoking the quirky adolescence of Wes Anderson's RUSHMORE, but taking it in a wholly fresh and heartfelt direction, RASPBERRY MAGIC is an enormously satisfying film about staying in touch.

"new">Scene/Unseen (a collection of short films -- click on the link for the list of short films):

Shorts Programs
Program Running Time is 93 min
From Singapore, Queens, India, Canada, San Francisco, London and China, these stunningly bold films give voice to the quiet struggles, strengths, emotions and thoughts of everyday life.

A collection of short films in Sweet Dreams & Beautiful Nightmares (click on link for a list of the short films):

Shorts Programs
Program Running Time is 87 min
Forget about safety and instead tread the path not taken. Here lies an eclectic collection of shorts, where encountering doppelgangers and stalking your crushes are considered recreational sports.

Posted by Tamiko | March 14, 2010 | Comments (0)

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Hoodie Origami: How do you wear your sweater?

By Angela Jung

Farewell, paper cranes! Hello, hoodie origami! Antonio Scarponi, founder of Conceptual Devices, has taken traditional Japanese origami to the fashion world. Any regular hoodie (and if you're from the West Coast, I know you must have tons) can become a laptop bag, baby carrier, pillow, backpack and strap bag! I kid you not.

Scarponi is actually an architect and has lectured at schools of architecture and design throughout Europe and the U.S. His work has also been showcased at galleries and museums internationally. So you know that your hoodie strap bag is engineered to carry your things and made to last.

It's simple, really! And you are sure to impress your friends by combining practicality with innovation.

Check out his YouTube Channel to learn how you can transform your hoodie. Learn more information from his web site.

Posted by Angela Jung | March 15, 2010 | Comments (2)

Tags: Art, Design, Europe, Fashion

SFIAAFF 2010 | Opening Night

By Tamiko Ogura

Okay, so it's raining like the Pacific Northwest down here in San Francisco...and I'm without my Hunter wellies. Sigh. Sure does remind me of home (that would be Vancouver). But I digres. I am surely feeling right at home here while attending the ever-so fabulous San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF) 2010. It's like I'm transported in time since I found myself here 2 years ago exact, give or take a couple of weeks.

Last night, I attended the Opening Night film (thanks to Leo Wong @ Larsen Associates) Today's Special, with the fantabulous festival contingents from Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival; DC APA film festival; Pittsburgh's Silk Screen Festival; and a couple of creative genius filmmakers (that'll be Gerry Balasta, director/writer of The Mountain Thief; and Soopum Sohn, director/writer of Make Yourself At Home).

CONTINUE READING »

Posted by Tamiko | March 12, 2010 | Comments (0)

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The Final Paul Wong Experience 5.5 Five Elements on March 13th!

By Sara Chang

On Saturday March 13th, 2010, from 5pm to 10pm, the last installment of Paul Wong's 5.5 Five Elements will be taking place at Dr. Sun Yat Sen Gardens, 578 Carrall St!

Come and experience the final event Number 5 of 5, with the 5 elements: earth, air, fire, water and metal, and the 5 senses: sight, sound, taste, touch and smell as inspirations for making use of this spectacular 15th century compound of gardens, courtyards, waterways and architectural features in the heart of Chinatown. The contemporary, classical pictorial and moving images, old and new school, are digitally meshed in this spectacular, multi-media art installation. Come and be touched by the hand.

TICKETS AT THE DOOR are ONLY $10 (cash only).

Beautiful works you can expect to see include Black Flags, Sally, Ginko, Grotto, Windows 97, Snakes On A Pond, Koi, Downtown Eastside, Enter The Dragon 1973-2008, Mah Jong, Miss Chinatown by Paul Wong, Shattered by Karin Lee, Hope by Dana Claxton, Beach by Brian Kent Gotro, and Rex vs. Singh by Richard Fung, John Greyson and Ali Kazimi. The Palm-Reader/Psychic Sahara Exodus in the Hall of 100 Rivers will also be featured.

'5' is commissioned by The City of Vancouver through its Olympic and Paralympic Public Art Program, as part of Mapping and Marking Artist-Initiated Projects for Vancouver 2010.

The Buzz About 5.4 Mountain View Cemetery March 6th

"There was always something compelling to look at. the fourth installation was entertaining, an innovative series of video installations in a non-traditional venue. a burka facing images of Canadian soldiers who had died in Afghanistan. the burka stood in silence as it embodied the faceless and nameless Afghani women who have no voice.Joey Shithead Keithley played a Gibson electric guitar as a homage to Les Paul. It was loud and aggressive - just the opposite of a calm contemplative cemetery." http://communities.canada.com/VANCOUVERSUN/blogs/cultureseen/default.aspx

"Paul has a fascination with death in a way that I can relate to. The setting of the cemetery was really amazing. the best of the projects so far. I'm glad I went and gave it some time." http://marialantin.blogspot.com/search/label/paul wong

A Man Of The Decade

"Wong has been leading a faithful following of viewers, who have taken well to his radical and in-your-face projects...So, what's not to love? A ballsy guy willing to lay it all out on the line - despite critical comments from the peanut gallery - is truly a rare gem." http://thinkcontra.com/magazine/

For a complete list of works, reviews, documentation, high-resolution downloads, and to experience '5' virtually, please visit www.5.paulwongprojects.com

Posted by Sara C. | March 12, 2010 | Comments (0)

Tags: Community, Culture, Diversity, Events, Vancouver

Mar. 13 | C3 Korean Canadian Leadership Conference

By Joy Inae Kim

Saturday, Mar. 13, if you are a Korean-Canadian, drop whatever you are doing and come out to Robson Square & Ayden Gallery. For one day only from 10am to 9pm, CS Society presents CS Korean Canadian Leadership Conference.

This event is calling out the Korean-Canadian community together and to find their place in this increasingly rich and diverse global community. Young professionals can come and discover what opportunities are available in this growing global community. Students can make networks with professionals and potential mentors.

This event will include an industry round table session and a series of workshops on self-identity, social responsibility, and global citizenship. Keynote speakers include: CTV News Anchor Mi-Jung Lee and Canadian Senator Yonah Martin.

Companies, organizations and institutions represented include: CTV, HSBC, BMO Nesbitt Burns, Trip Television, CBC, S.U.C.C.E.S.S., Telus, RCMP, Grant Thorton, Government of British Columbia, SNC-Lavalin, Fasken Martineau, SAP, Pan Pacific Hotel Vancouver, UBC Faculty of Law, First Steps, Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver and more!

Come out and join in this great opportunity!

PRICE:
Conference $40
Wine & Cheese $20
Package $55

TO REGISTER:

1. Register your account and login (http://www.c3society.org)
2. Click on register
3. Choose your speakers and workshops
4. Make payment

Date: Saturday, March 13, 2010
Time: 10:00am - 9:00pm
Location: UBC Robson Square & Ayden Art Gallery

For More Info:
C3 Society
UBC Robson Square
Ayden Gallery

Posted by Joy | March 12, 2010 | Comments (0)

Tags: Culture, Events, Identity, Korea

PBS Kids Go! Writers Contest

By Joy Inae Kim

Are you Creative? A Great Story Teller? Do you like to draw? Are you.... in Kindergarten, first, second, or third Grade? Or do you know someone who is?? PBS is having their annual KIDS GO! Writers Contest. It's open to kids in the USA and British Columbia from K~Gr.3. And there are a lot of great prizes available!

This is what you do:

1. Get Permission
• Fill in the official PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest Entry Form and get a parent/guardian's signature to say that the story and art are really yours, and that it's okay if PBS shares it.
2. Write 1 Story (yes, only one). It must be...
• A story that is fact or fiction. Or prose. Or poetry.
• For Kindergarten and Gr.1 the word count is 50-200 words. For Gr.2- 3 the word count is 100-350 words. (The word count includes "a," "an," and "the." ).
• It must only have one author. Although, if the student cannot write, they can dictate it to someone who will write it down for them.
• It must only have one author. Although, if the student cannot write, they can dictate it to someone who will write it down for them.
• Translated into English if the story is in a different language. The English translation must on the same page and it must be within the word count.
• Creative: invented spelling is allowed.
3. Illustrate the story


• There must be at least 5 original and colorful image: drawings, photographs, collages or 3-D are all accepted.


• Your story can be on the same page as the pictures or separate.


• Only use one side of the paper! Don't forget to number the pages on the back.

Each applicant will get a Certificate of Achievement for their efforts. Local winners will be announced in May and will receive a prize package of books, DVDs, backpack and games. National Winners can win prizes as big as laptops, digital cameras, or MP3 players! Top winners might even get the chance to show their story on air and on line for KCTS 9!

The last day to apply is Friday, March 24, 2010. So we hope to see you there!

For more information:
Contest Information
The Entry form http

Posted by Joy | March 11, 2010 | Comments (0)

Tags: Art, Children, Events, Media

Statistics Canada predicts that half of second-generation Canadians would be visibly diverse

By Alden E. Habacon

(See interactive map above at theglobeandmail.com)

Statistics Canada has just released its Projections of the diversity of the Canadian population, for population grown between 2006 to 2031. That's basically two generations from now. They're just estimations about how visibly and culturally diverse the country will be, but made by the smartest people in the country.

Here's the highlights:

• By 2031, between 25% and 28% of the Canadian population could be "foreign-born". About 55% of this population would be born in Asia (we kind of already knew this).
• The proportion of non-white Canadians will double by 2031 (to between 29% and 32%). Particularly, rapidly among the Canadian-born, many of whom are children and grandchildren of immigrants.
• "By 2031, according to the reference scenario, visible minority groups would comprise 63% of the population of Toronto, 59% in Vancouver and 31% in Montréal." Huh? How can they be the "visible minority groups." OK, brainiacs, you need to update your terminology!
• Over the next 20 years, the number of Canadians who were born outside of Canada (aka "foreign-born population") could increase four times faster than the rest of the population. Wow! You think there's a lot of Chinese restaurants now?
• By 2031, almost one-half (46%) of all Canadians 15 years old and older, would have been born-outside of Canada or would have at least one parent who had immigrated to Canada.

What about those second-gens?

• Almost half (47%) of ALL second-generation Canadians (that's people who were born inside Canada, and at least one parent immigrated to Canada) would be visibly diverse. That's nearly DOUBLE the proportion in 2006.
• Within the visibly diverse third-generation and above (those who are Canadian-born and whose parents and possibly grandparents were Canadian-born), although they are a small proportion of the population, their size would almost triple, from 1% to 3% of the Canadian population.

What does this all mean?

CONTINUE READING »

Posted by Alden | March 9, 2010 | Comments (3)

Tags: Canada, Commentary, Diversity

Homeless Man as Fashion Icon | Brother Sharp

By Claudia

My parents were watching the Chinese news last night and one particular story about a homeless man from China caught my attention. His name is Cheng Guorong, better known as "Brother Sharp," a title dubbed in Tianya, the most popular internet forum in China.

Ever since this photo appeared on the internet, "Brother Sharp" has become an instant celebrity. People were immediately taken aback by his "rugged good looks,"

"That frowning look...Ai yo! My little heart! Really so handsome!"

"China truly has innumerable handsome guys, Brother Sharp, you are truly too handsome."

For more ridiculous comments, check out ChinaSmack

Looks like everyone has disregarded the fact that Mr. Cheng is, in all aspects, a homeless person with a tragic past (his wife and father died in a car accident and he is a single father of two). Instead, people see him as the undiscovered Mr. GQ and have tried to reach out to him and, rather forcibly, have urged him to accept what he fervently refuses.

CONTINUE READING »

Posted by Claudia Ho | March 9, 2010 | Comments (1)

Tags: Fashion

International Women's Week: Jessica Yee

By Michelle da Silva

I first learned about Jessica Yee just over a year ago when I began my "blogsession" with Feministing. Jessica is a regular contributor to that blog, along with Racialicious, rabble, section 15, and Shameless Magazine.

Jessica Yee is a Canadian activist, writer, educator, organizer, and facilitator. She is the founder and director of the Native Youth Sexual Health Network, the writer and director of the Choice Monologues, the youth coordinator for the Highway of Tears Initiative, an equity and diversity presenter for the Law Society of Upper Canada, and the national youth coordinator for the Taking Action Project - Art and Aboriginal Youth Leadership for HIV Prevention. And if all of that isn't amazing enough, Jessica is 23 years old.

Jessica is a multi-racial indigenous woman of Chinese and Mohawk ancestry. She is a self-described "Indigenous hip hop feminist reproductive justice freedom fighter" (how awesome is that?!) She got her first taste of community work at the age of 12 by volunteering at the Homeward Family Shelter, a shelter for women fleeing abuse. At 15, she led a letter-writing campaign in support of a gay student who was banned from bringing his boyfriend to prom, and at 19, Jessica dove head-first into the pro-choice debate, working the front lines in South Dakota to repeal the ban on abortion in the first state to illegalize abortion since Roe vs. Wade.

Today, Jessica is at the forefront of pro-choice, anti-racist work in Canada. Her passion for justice and understanding is clear in her work with the Native Youth Sexual Health Network. The organization aims to address issues on healthy sexuality, youth empowerment, reproductive justice, and cultural competency by and for Indigenous youth. She has also facilitated multiple channels of dialogue for choice across Canada in both First Nations and wider communities, including UN conference forums.

To me, Jessica Yee is inspiring. She is courageous, out-spoken and encourages others to be socially responsible and open minded.

More info:

Jessica Yee was the 2009 YWCA Young Woman of Distinction.

Follow Jessica Yee on Twitter.

Posted by Michelle D. | March 10, 2010 | Comments (0)

Tags: Aboriginal, Activism, Asian Canadian, Community, Feminism

Exclusive Jeneil Williams interview at Pony Ryder

By Jordana Mah

Flipping through the pages of any fashion magazine, one can get the impression that models are like these untouchable pieces of perfection, with perfect skin and hair and perfectly artistic hobbies like sculpture and saving baby penguins. Totally unrelatable beings. It's easy to forget that often the models you see in magazines are just teenage girls, as impressionable and giggly as the girls at the mall. Take for instance, rising new model Jeneil Williams.

CONTINUE READING »

Posted by Jordana Mah | March 5, 2010 | Comments (0)

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Shop For Free! At The Frock Swap 4.0

By Linda Chan

The lovely ladies of oncelovedthreads.com, Danielle Ow and Marjolyn Ustaris, are organizing and hosting The Frock Swap 4.0. Oncelovedthreads.com is a website, that sells reasonable priced once loved but always loved clothing.

The Frock Swap 4.0, a day of free and sustainable shopping. Like the popular saying: one person's trash becomes another's treasure. The swap is just like any other warehouse sale, only that you don't have to pay for anything, and everything will be gently used. The deal is you bring those gently-used pieces of clothing (that sit in the back of your closet always waiting to be worn, but never is) in exchange for new gently-used, but still fashionable clothes.

Register here by April 28th, 2010 to partake in this brilliant shopping experience.

There will first be a clothing drive, where you bring a maximum of fifteen of your used, but still fresh pieces of clothing. Here the clothing will be organized and prepared for the actual Frock Swap the next day.

Check out The Frock Swap 3.0 to see what it is all about.

THE FROCK SWAP 3.0 from marjolyn on Vimeo.

Clothing Drive
Date: May 1st, 2010
Time: 10am-6pm
Location: Box Studios
1622 Franklin Street

The Frock Swap
Date: May 2nd, 2010
Time: 12pm-4pm
Location: Box Studios
1622 Franklin Street

*Remember, you won't be able to shop at the Frock Swap, unless you participate in the clothing drive.*
All unswapped clothing will be donated to a local charity.

View Larger Map

Posted by Linda Chan | March 8, 2010 | Comments (0)

Tags: Community, Events, Fashion

Michael Phelps & Scott Lago Accuse Lainey Lui as Asian Medal-Biter

By Claudia and Christina

Remember the American Bronze medal snowboarder, Scott Lago, who got kicked out of Vancouver before the closing ceremony after some rather scandalous party photos popped up all over the internet? Poor guy, eh?

Yeah, no.

Rather, poor anonymous Asian girl, whose infamy on TMZ (and now, everywhere else on the web) will continue to haunt her forever...Or until another random Asian girl takes her place!

Lainey Lui, is a journalist who runs a gossip site, LaineyGossip.com. During the Olympics she was a regular on the the "gossip and celebrity watch" segment of CTV's Olympic coverage with MTV's Dan and Jessi.

Lainey was sent on a mission to go to an Olympics party, hosted by the one and only Michael Phelps to complete three tasks:

1. Take a picture with Mr.Phelps.
2. Kiss him on the cheek.
3. Get him to send her a text message.

As it turns out, Phelps was actually terrified of Lainey when she went in for the kiss because he was fully convinced that she was the Asian medal-biting rebel who got Scott Lago kicked out of Vancouver. In fact, he was so sure that he made a call to Lago's friend and told him that the "same Asian chick" had tried to make out with him too...ok, what the eff?!

"I am the Asian reporter in question. I am the person now being accused of getting Scotty Lago kicked out of Vancouver. I am the person Michael Phelps believed was trying to set them both up. Because some people don't know about Asians."—Lainey Lui

Now, because of Phelps' misidentification of Asian girls, Lago feels like he has been "set up" and wishes that the IOC was more supportive of him and ignore the fact that he hung the medal around his ding-dong...classy. Meanwhile, Lainey is being accused all over the internet as the girl who kicked Scott Lago out of Vancouver.

"Like hello! Excuse me, Michael Phelps, not all Asians look the same, stop the Racial profiling now!"—Lainey Lui

Ah yes, I can certainly see the resemblance. The black hair and degree of Asian-ness was a dead giveaway. I'll give Mr.Lago the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he doesn't know what Lainey looks like, but for Mr.Phelps, I don't know, if that was a joke, it wasn't a very funny one or maybe he hasn't laid off the pot yet.

In any case, it's yet another mistaken Asian identity story heard one too many times.

Check out Lainey Liu's response on youtube.com.

Read Lainey's response on laineygossip.com

Posted by Claudia Ho | March 3, 2010 | Comments (0)

Tags: Asian, Identity, Race, Sports

Saul Williams: Video Interview on Grounded TV

By Claudia, Originally found on Grounded TV

I discovered Saul Williams back in uni and when I saw his Def Poetry Jam video (see below), I was absolutely blown away. Grounded TV has been working on a three-part video interview of Williams, who is honestly a ridiculously gifted, cool, AMAZING music artist/spoken word poet. It might take a while to get used to "Afropunk," but if you take the time, you'll understand why he is truly a genius. Do me a favour, check it out.

See also Saul Williams on Def Poetry Jam. So powerful.

Take a read of his full bio if you're intrigued.

Original post on Grounded TV.

Posted by Claudia Ho | March 7, 2010 | Comments (0)

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Queen Yu-Na/Bond Girl: Behind the Scenes

By Gayatri Bajpai

I never watched skating much before, but Joannie Rochette's bronze medal performance brought me close to tears and I have to say, though the tragedy surrounding her mother's death was a compelling factor, there's something about skating in itself that makes you emotional. Corny as it sounds, something inside you soars with the skaters as they spin and fly over the ice. Music choice also obviously makes or breaks the choreography and I have to say I'm a big fan of what they did for Kim Yu-Na's performance.

I didn't catch the women's final, unfortunately, but I did find a youtube video of "The Queen," a title that Yu-Na has earned at the tender age of 19. I was struck by how much she does look like a "Bond Girl" with the whole black silhouette thing going on.

I'm amazed at how she's just practicing and for some reason, it's still riveting. I love how she lets it all hang loose, sports her black tights with confidence, does crazy spins at incredible precision and surprises everyone with her smooth transition from "regal princess" to "cool chick with a 'tude." And, of course, the signature smoking-gun move.

Does she like it shaken, not stirred? More like on the rocks. Well, definitely on a big block of ice.

Posted by Gayatri Bajpai | March 3, 2010 | Comments (0)

Tags: Asian, Gayatri Bajpai, International, Sports

The Ommwriter: Taking Paradise to You

By Linda Chan

Ever want to go away to a secluded island, on a tiny island to write facing the ocean, where all you see is the water and the expanding horizon, and pretend you are a romanticized artist? Need to get away from the distractions of life, and the distractions from your computer such as Facebook, Twitter, and Wikipedia to get your essays, reports, and other work done? Well, your problem is solved with the Ommwriter.

Ommwriter is first and foremost a word processor, but it can do so much more. It is an application designed to turn your computer into a private writing oasis. With ambient background music, serene backgrounds, and non-irritating keyboard sounds, like the sound of bubble wrap (it makes everyone happy, as Claudia says on her post about Happy Slip); it creates a staycation like no other.

This program is created by Herriaz Soto&Co, an advertising agency based in Barcelona. They have done some really cool work for the Spanish branch of international companies, such as BMW, Ikea, and Casio to name a few.
As it says on their website:

Ommwriter is a humble attempt to recapture what technology has snatched away from us today: our capacity to concentrate.

It is kind of ironic to use technology to get away from technology, but this application is genius. I am using it right now to write this post, and I feel like I am writing something very profound. Maybe it's the mood music.

It is available to be downloaded for free. Check out the introductory video tutorial found on the Ommwriter website.

Posted by Linda Chan | March 2, 2010 | Comments (0)

Tags: Advertising, Commentary, Design, Technology

Latinocanadà

By Guest Contributor: Stephen Henighan, Originally Published on Geist

Photo: Bryan Partington

Here's an interesting piece of history: Aboriginal Canadians greeted the French explorer Jacques Cartier in Spanish way back in the 1500s! Spanish and Portuguese explorers had beaten Cartier to the land he was to claim for France.

Canada's first Spanish-speakers may have been around centuries ago, but now we associate their language with our neighbours down south or Mexico, Spanish having become of commercial importance post-NAFTA. Writer Stephen Henighan digs deeper for the soul and history of the small but expanding Latino community of Canada.

The least-discussed facet of the economic and cultural transformation that began in Canada with the implementation of NAFTA on January 1, 1994, is the fact that of the 450 million people who inhabit the North American Free Trade Area, roughly one-third—more than 100 million in Mexico and more than 45 million in the United States—speak Spanish.

The Latin American community in Canada does not have a strongly defined public image, even though our contact with the Spanish-speaking world goes back to the country's origins. Some of the first non-indigenous visitors to both our Atlantic and Pacific coasts were of Iberian heritage. Navigators from Spain and Portugal, such as the Corte-Real brothers and João Fernandes, visited Atlantic Canada as early as the summer of 1500. These voyages were the catalyst for increasing numbers of fishermen from the Basque country to spend their summers on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. When Jacques Cartier, heralded by high school history textbooks as the pioneering post-Viking European explorer of eastern Canada, arrived in 1534, Aboriginal Canadians, recognizing Cartier as a European, naturally addressed him in the Basque language of northern Spain.

Men of Hispanic culture were also among the first explorers of Canada's Pacific Coast. In 1774 Juan José Pérez Hernández, a naval officer based in San Blas, Mexico, sailed up the British Columbia coast as far as Haida Gwaii (the Queen Charlotte Islands). In 1775 the Peruvian captain Juan Francisco Bodega y Quadra retraced this route and claimed the coast for Spain. In 1789 the Spaniard Esteban José Martínez constructed the fort in Nootka Sound—Santa Cruz de Nutka, in Spanish—that is often considered to be the first European building on Canada's Pacific Coast. But these early contacts did not result in Spanish colonization, and the Hispanic cultural presence in Canada soon disappeared.

As recently as 1970, it is unlikely that Canada's population counted much more than three thousand people of Latin American origin (and even fewer from Spain). The catalyst for the growth of a Latin American community was the military coups in Chile, Uruguay and Argentina between 1973 and 1976. When the United States refused to accept most refugees from military governments that the U.S. supported, tens of thousands of people were diverted to Canada. Most were middle class and well educated; since many knew more French than English, the first beachheads of a Latino-Canadian culture were established in Montreal and Ottawa. Small travel agencies, empanada shops, newspapers and, because the refugees included many writers and avid readers, Spanish-language literary presses, became the first outposts of this new contribution to our cultural mix. The civil wars in Central America in the 1980s diversified Canada's Hispanic community. Many of the immigrants and refugees from El Salvador and Guatemala came from rural areas and were of indigenous descent; they settled throughout Canada, often in places where unskilled labour was in demand. In the new millennium, Colombia and Venezuela have become major sources of immigration. But it is the passage of NAFTA, which has weakened Mexico's once-powerful middle class, that has contributed to the greatest change in the Latin American community. Since NAFTA provides for free movement of "professionals," middle-class Mexicans whose prospects have dimmed at home can settle here with less difficulty than other Latin Americans. In recent years, Mexicans have overtaken Chileans to become the largest Spanish-speaking group in Canada.

Census figures maintain that the Latin American population of Canada is a little more than 250,000 people. This figure is almost certainly too low, just as the one million claimed by one Hispanic lobby group is too high. The probable figure—around 500,000— amounts to about 1.5 percent of Canada's population, far below the almost 15 percent in the United States, and the more than 30 percent in the entire North American Free Trade Area. This imbalance generates a series of paradoxes in the ways in which Canadians experience Hispanic culture. Products on sale in big box stores bear trilingual labels: Shower door/ porte de douche/ puerta de ducha. Some items that arrive in Canada directly from the United States,­ disdaining official English-French bilingualism, have labels in English and Spanish. For example, when someone spills a soft drink at my local shopping mall, employees set out a yellow pylon with Wet Floor on one side and Piso Mojado on the other; Plancher Mouillé is nowhere to be seen. The Greyhound buses that I ride between Guelph and Toronto often have bilingual English-Spanish signs, but no French.

Yet, outside of Alberta and Quebec, Spanish is sparsely taught in our high schools. As a result, Spanish departments in Canadian universities are bottom-heavy, with hundreds of students taking one or two semesters of introductory language to use on the beach in Cuba or the Dominican Republic. In contrast to French, which is booming, advanced courses in Hispanic literatures and cultures are thinly subscribed; among students who are not of Hispanic ancestry, enrolment in these courses is plummeting. Since the implementation of NAFTA, Carleton University, Simon Fraser University and McMaster University have closed their BAs in Spanish; the BA at Queen's University was recently threatened with closure. This is a startling fate for the second language of the Americas during a period of hemispheric integration. The trend suggests that for most Canadians, Spanish remains an exotic anomaly promoted by corporate priorities, the U.S. entertainment industry and the drive to sustain the continental market. (It is elderly Canadians who have most conspicuously deepened their contact with Latin America, by retiring in ever greater numbers to Costa Rica and Panama.) As more Canadians have begun to learn a few words of Spanish, fewer than in the pre-NAFTA era are pursuing a serious interest in the language, literature or culture of the Hispanic world. Our engagement with our Latin American neighbours remains distant and primarily commercial, our place in the Americas as nebulous as it has always been. Alejandro Saravia, a Bolivian-Canadian writer from Brossard, Quebec, whose impressively fluid trilingual book of poems, Lettres de Nootka, was published in 2008, laments a time when: "along with the indigenous languages/ Spanish was/ the newest, most fragrant bride/ of the North Pacific Coast// yet the maps/ the history books/ barely retain the fragile memory/ of Santa Cruz de Nutka." Our history tells us that our links to the rest of the hemisphere run deeper than commercial treaties.

Find more by the author on Stephen Henighan's website | Visit Geist Magazine

Posted by Gayatri Bajpai | March 8, 2010 | Comments (0)

Tags: Culture, Diversity, Gayatri Bajpai, Identity, International, Literature

How to Be Part of World Expo in Shanghai | Jointhewall.org

By Claudia

I don't know why I don't blog more about these guys, because, for the record, Phil Wang, Ted Fu and Wes Chan of WongFu Productions are THE BOMB. They put out a cool video last week talking about this year's World Expo which will be hosted in Shanghai. WongFu's video (below) covers the monumentus event quite well and mentions how you can become a part of the Expo without having to trek it to China. Check it out.

WongFu Productions Special Vlog:

Take a look at Jointhewall.org for The United Chinese of America site and Wong Fu Productions Facebook Page to be a part of the "Faces of Expo" even if you're not Chinese!

Posted by Claudia Ho | March 2, 2010 | Comments (0)

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This page contains all entries posted to Schema Magazine's Blog, "Daily Dose" in March 2010. They are listed from oldest to newest.

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