August 29, 2006
Life
C-Town Summer Cinema is back! - DJ's and ethnic cool films in the heart of Chinatown
C to the Chiiinatown! C-Town Summer Cinema is an outdoor public event showcasing the finest local DJ's and ethnic cool films in the heart of Vancouver’s Chinatown. Launched in 2005 by Schema Magazine, C-Town Summer Cinema contributes to the revitalization of Chinatown through annual events that reflect the sensibility of Vancouver’s diverse youth(ful crowd!).
The 2006 event, featuring award-winning film EVE AND THE FIREHORSE (by Julia Kwan) and short-film SMILE AND NOD (Katie Yu), is co-presented by Moving Pictures and Paladin Show Services, and made possible through the generous support of the City of Vancouver, CBC Television, the SFU Business Administration Student Society and the Vancouver Chapter of the North American Association of Asian Professionals (NAAAP Vancouver)—don’t let the heavy business support fool you, they can be cultured too!
C-Town Summer Cinema!
Sunday, September 3, 2006 | 7:00pm start
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Courtyard (Pender & Carrall) (map).
**Great music with some of Vancouver's finest DJs begins @ 7pm. Followed by an outdoor screening of two cinematic gems by local Chinese Canadian filmmakers @ 9pm. **BONUS: Filmmakers & cast will be on hand to present their films & answer questions
**Fee: Free for Moving Pictures members, seniors & children ($2 Moving Pictures membership for adults)
More:
*Read Schema Magazine's exclusive interview with Julia Kwan @ the.tyee.ca.
*B.C. director celebrates Sundance win on CBC.ca (January 2006)
*Yu Gu's review of EVE & THE FIREHORSE from VIFF 2005 @ schemamag archives.
*Eve & the Fire Horse: Julia Kwan’s unforgettable debut, by Greg Buium (CBC.ca)
*About last year's C-Town Summer Cinema @ schema mag archives.
Life
Get Experienced this long weekend - Experience @ Ginger 62, SUNDAY - SEP. 3
For a bit of break from the norm this long weekend out in the clubs and/or for somewhere to hit after the Schema Mag C-Town Summer Cinema show, check out Rob Rizk's (of Gman & Rizk) Experience night where he brings his unique soul house based sound freshly tasted out on the jazz classic remix, afro-beat, brasilian groove, broken beat, etc. tip (might even catch some tribal arabic breaks with live belly dancer to boot).
EXPERIENCE at GINGER 62
Long weekend Sunday
September 3
1219 Granville (just south of Davie)
Life
Ho-Hai-Yan! – Taiwanese Cultural Festival in September
Not another dragon boat race? Oh yes, my friend, yet another dragon boat race straight on heels of the Taiwanese Cultural Festival (TCF), which returns to celebrate all things Taiwanese from September 2 to 4th.
Taiwanese Cultural Festival
Saturday, September 2, 2006 - Monday, September 4, 2006
2 locations: Plaza of Nations & Roundhouse Community Centre
1 day pass: $9 | 3 Day Pass: $15
Hotline: 604-696-1555
Website: www.taiwanfest.ca/van.
A 5-time CEIA Best Cultural Event winner, TCF will showcase artisan exhibitions, a yummy food fair and fruit market, entertainment galore including pop singer Peggy, the ubiquitous Dragon Boat race, a cooking competition pitting Taiwanese master chefs with Canadian chefs, a brilliant paper lantern maze, Ang Lee film festival, and loads more.
It’s fitting that this year’s TCF theme is “Ho-Hai-Yan”, a common expression used in Taiwanese aboriginal songs to express nature at its best. And where else can nature be at its best than beautiful BC, although Alishan ain’t nothing to sneeze at either.
Get ready for some good eats, and go ahead and rediscover Taiwan from its aboriginal roots to its modern incarnation.
August 26, 2006
Life
DJ Krush @ the Commodore w/ No Luck Club - WED, SEP. 27
"Although the world teems with indigenous versions of hip-hop--varying wildly from Frankfurt to Cape Town and beyond--Japan's DJ Krush is perhaps the only foreigner who's managed to change the way Americans make rap music."
One of the OGs of a new era in hip hop, thee man from Japan, DJ Krush returns to the Commodore Ballroom on Wednesday, September 27 with No Luck Club and Dana D.
Since he dropped "Krush" and "Stricly Turntablized" both back in 94, Krush has pushed the boundaries of hip hop (specifically hip hop instrumentals) with live jazz and traditional japanese instrument collaborations, abstract and atmospheric scapes, slow meditative tempos, from dusty vintage style hip hop beats to futuristic, sci-fi vibed productions. He has released 8 full studios albums alongside numerous remixes and mix sets.
Continue reading "DJ Krush @ the Commodore w/ No Luck Club - WED, SEP. 27"
August 24, 2006
Life
Jaa crazy flying Thai guy
Muay Thai or Thai boxing is known as the Art of 8 Limbs and Panom Yeerum aka Tony Jaaaaaa has added those 4 other limbs less seen in traditional chop sock rock fair we've seen thus far. What Jaa does in his movies is supposedly actually known as Muay Boran, which is a predecessor to Muay Thai.
I have to admit, though I know all about Muay Thai and heard of this guy and movie - it was playing in tons of TV in shops in Bangkok when I went some years back - I was actually entralled and gasping the first time I saw Ong Bak. Those 'bows and knees put such an exclamation mark on the moves, I tell ya.
Well, Tony J is back again with another bow & knee smashing affair with the Protector (aka Tom Yum Goong)and so goes rise of SE Asia's first world action star (or does Michelle Yeoh count for that? Either way, its kinda cool to read names like Panom Yeerum, Prachya Pinkaew, Kongdej Jaturanrasamee, Petchtai Wongkamlao, Bongkoj Khongmalai, etc in credits of a world popular action flick).
The Protector will be out on SEPTEMBER 8.
The Proctector trailer
Ong Bak clip with intro by the RZA!
Tony Jaa, live on Hong Kong show
Tony Jaa's official site
Time Mag interview
Profile and Interview
For a whole other look at Thai culture and Muay Thai boxing, check out Beautiful Boxer
And, ah, while we're on Thai flicks, ever wonder what the Thai version of Amelie might look like? See Citizen Dog!
August 23, 2006
Life
Lomax - the Songhunter - THURS, AUG. 24, 10pm on PBS
"Alan Lomax (1915-2002) earned a singular place for himself in American culture and arts. Building on the pioneering work of his father, John, whom he accompanied on folk-song recording tours of the American South and Southwest in the 1930s and '40s, Alan set out after World War II to do nothing less than draw the folk music map of the world. Sensing that the world's indigenous music was on the point of being swept away by mass commercial culture, Lomax brought considerable energy and urgency to his awesome task. He also brought an infectious love for the varied homespun musical traditions, especially the songs passed mouth to ear for generations..."
Continue reading film synopsis at PBS.org
Lomax: the Songhunter
Thursday, Aug. 24
PBS (ch. 27 on Shaw)
10pm
Life
Mini design - Vinyl Screenprint Sticker Workshop| Saturday, August 29
Ho hum…you’ve already screenprinted your own or borrowed designs onto postcards, tee shirts, panties, tanks, bags, and need another outlet for your arty self. Go mini and try screenprinting on vinyl stickers! Slap ‘em on everything around you, or give ‘em away — everyone loves stickers! Or at least they love free stuff that looks cool.
Blim Studios is holding a Vinyl Screenprint Sticker Workshop on Saturday, August 26—be crafty! You need $40 (includes 8.5"×11" vinyl stickers sheets) and mini screenprint art, graphics, drawings, or text in a 1, 2, or 3" sticker size. Bring images in 1,2, or 3" round black’n’white format on transparency or disc tiled up on letter sized transparency.
Blim’ll provide other materials such as inks, emulsions, and vinyl sticker backings. There will be a snack bar, good music, and fun!
**DETAILS**:
Blim Studios’s Vinyl Screenprint Sticker Workshop
Saturday, August 26 | 3 – 6 PM
Fee: $40.00 (includes 8.5"×11" vinyl stickers sheets)
Where: #197-East 17th (@ Main)
Call: 604.872.8180
Email: info@blim.ca to register.
August 22, 2006
Life
Going waay back into the files of Asian-Am lit – Don Lee’s YELLOW
Let’s go back into the library of Asian-Am lit out there, and take a second peek. Don Lee’s collection of short stories in YELLOW transcends the academic wise-ass prose of political Asian-Am lit and borders as something readable for the average soul, who just needs to pick up something to entertain themselves while taking a bath, taking the subway, or waiting in the emergency ward.
Don’t get me wrong, Don Lee is a true academic. The 3rd-gen Korean-American lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and has been the editor of the literary journal Ploughshares at Emerson College in Boston for 17 years. YELLOW is nothing to sneeze at either; it won the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Members' Choice Award from the Asian American Writers' Workshop.
Take a peek, YELLOW will keep you mellow, touch your nitty-gritty points, and let you breath in that “I know how that feels” way:
“Set in the fictional California town of Rosarita Bay, YELLOW is a fresh, contemporary vision of what it means to be Asian in America, a post-immigrant examination of identity, race, and love. In this provocative collection, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese Americans flirt across and within racial lines, and end up facing not only fears of being ethnically "yellow" but also the universal terrors of failure and abandonment.
These stories are smart and sexy, wry and evocative…and feature such memorable characters as Duncan Roh, a big-wave surfer trying to transcend his reputation as a womanizer; Patrick and Brian, two mixed-blooded boys deserted by their dad; the competitive "Oriental Hair Poets," Marcella Ahn and Caroline Yip, engaged in a battle of wits for the attention of Dean Kaneshiro; and Danny Kim, a teen boxer who ends up in Boston society as a management consultant—poisoned not so much by racism as by his paranoid fear of it.”
More:
*Don Lee's website @ www.don-lee.com.
*Interview with Don Lee @ www.writersmarket.com.
August 21, 2006
Life
Sneak a Peek at the new M.I.A. video
In what has to be one of the most anticipated upcoming music projects in ages, and for the same numerous reasons that made her debut CD, Arular, all the noise, Maya Arulpragasam (aka M.I.A.), has gone back to the south of India (presumably somewhere in Tamil Nadu, where she also shot the Sunflowers video) to shoot her video for the upcoming single, Bird Flu ("BECAUSE THIS BEAT GON KILL EVERYONE!!") according to her myspace blog
She did not reveal who the track will be produced with though she did make some headlines back in May when she was rejected at American customs as she was planning to hit studio with Timbaland.
Interestingly enough, director Deepa Mehta, who, in making a controversial movie about India (Water), had her shoot disrupted by Hindu fundamentalists in India and then waited 4 years to resume shooting in Sri Lanka. Arulpragasam (a Sri Lankan Tamil) who makes very controversial music with all sorts of Tamil Tiger imagery and beyond elected not to shoot her videos in Sri Lanka but in, as mentioned, India.
Anyhow, check the extended entry for the pics and blog...
August 20, 2006
Life
CéU – Brazil’s newest musical groove
Brazil has soccer, thong bikinis, coffee, beaches, and Giselle bursting out of its seams, as well as a bevy of gorgeous, sexy jazzy soulful singers, including the irresistible CéU.
Her real name is Maria do Céu Whitaker Poças, but she goes by CéU—pronounced "SAY-oh"—and her music is filled with the sounds of samba, reggae, dub, electronica, funk, and her warm timbered vocals.
Listen to samples (windows media player) of her songs:
*The reggae-flavored "Malemolência". here.
*The dub-funk grooves of "Roda" here.
*The jazzy samba "Rainha" here.
* The Brasilian sounds of "Samba na Sola" here.
*The amazing cover of Bob Marley's sufferer's anthem "Concrete Jungle" here.
*and the charming "O Ronco de Cuica,” with sounds of cuica, a Brazilian percussion instrument that sounds like a monkey on crack, here.
After hearing her voice, it’s not surprising CéU means "sky" or "heaven”…
More:
*CéU’s MySpace: here.
*CéU’s website @ www.ceumusic.com.
Life
Cho Kawaii! – Very cute totes from Emma Gordon handbags
There are fashionable gals in Hong Kong and London toting Emma Gordon Handbags – adorable and ladylike, Emma Gordon Handbags embody Charlotte (a la Sex and the City). Everyone knows a Charlotte, and your Charlotte will no doubt love to have one of these…
The sweet collection from Emma Gordon Handbags was established in 2003 by designer/maker Emma Gordon, from her handmade outfit in London. Emma doesn’t mass produce, so each creation maintains its unique style.
Can’t you just hear the squeals of “What a CUTE bag!”? No doubt, Emma handbags will leave them jealous…so splurge!
More:
*Emma Gordon Handbag website @ www.emmagordon.co.uk.
*Order from the US @ www.mightyflirt.com
*Emma Gordon’s My Space @ MySpace.
August 18, 2006
Life
Make way for the ES-OH-VEE - Lady Sovereign @ the Commodore, FRI - NOV. 10
The UK MC has come round full circle, from Roota Manuva to the Streets and from Dizzie Rascal to M.I.A. and now the "biggest midget in the game," the diminutive pale face MC from the UK, Lady Sovereign, will be getting Random at the Commodore Ballroom on Friday, November 10.
Lady Sov myspace page
Lady Sov video interview
Lady Sov Pitchfork profile
Tickets $26.50 at Zulu, Beatstreet, Livestock
(F*ck TM!)
August 17, 2006
Life
Blood, Guts & Giggling Schoolgirls – BATTLE ROYALE film-a-thon
There is Ringu (The Ring) with the crazy Sadako via videotape; there is Jumon with the crazy little boy with a grudge; there are all those blood-happy Beat Takeshi films; and then there’s Kinji Fukasaku's legendary cult hit, BATTLE ROYALE, and BATTLE ROYALE II by Fukasaku’s son.
What? You haven’t seen them? The ultimate trip down the Japanese horror-slash-bloody-slash-screwed-up-youth path—BATTLE ROYALE I & II showcase cute uniforms, frenetic violent fight scenes, live action videogame sequences, anime-like plot, and blood, guts, and gore all around!
Catch them both @ Blim Studios this Friday:
BATTLE ROYALE I & II
Friday, August 18 | 8:00-11:00pm
$5.00 - $10.00 sliding
Address: #197-East 17th (@ main)
Tel: 604.872.8180
Email: blimblim@telus.net
So, what’s it about anyways, you ask? Think Lord of the Flies with wide-eyed Japanese students who don’t even say “Banzai!” once! Okay, okay, let me break it down for you: Battle Royale is an annual event in which a school class considered "any teacher's nightmare" is selected by impartial lottery and dumped on a remote Pacific island. On the island, their teachers force them to murder each other. This leads to an ultra-violent slaying spree, where best friends and enemies whip out weapons…resulting in guts flying about like Jet Li in Hero.
Preview: Check out the cool shot of a hand extending beneath the camera lens, gripping a gun that spews bullets into a cute uniformed schoolgirl. Aw, why?! The horror, right? (shake finger back and forth) Don't judge a schoolgirl by her innocent-looking uniform...after all, she was holding a scythe, which she used to hack up others. "Could you kill your best friend?" says BATTLE ROYALE's tagline. Well, if your survival depended on it, according to BATTLE ROYALE you certainly could...and you thought our youth was $%&@# up!
August 16, 2006
Life
Almodovar's back: Viva Pedro film fest and Volver
Is there another film maker quite like Spain's Pedro Almodovar?
Aside from being one of the most exuberant director personalities this side of Tarantino and Benini, the guy's movies are full taboo challenging to ridiculous humour to melodrama to showcasing the resilience of the female spirit to Hitchcockian homoerotic mysteries, vibrant colors to...you name it.
Continue reading "Almodovar's back: Viva Pedro film fest and Volver"
August 14, 2006
Life
The Revolution Will be Cubanized - Hip Hop in Cuba
As the commandante in Cuba is now in the twilight of his near half century rule and his life itself, the rise of hip hop in the land where images of revolution are never far from our heads presents an interesting movement itself with its unique mix of American urban culture and Cuba's own modern generation leftist politics.
Check out Sergio Elmir's article in Exclaim magazine
And read about the newest Caribbean hip hop/dancehall style, reggaeton, HERE
Life
Out of Africa – Keep a child alive campaign
Celebrity endorsements help raise awareness for the various causes out there—the plight of African children included. Angelina’s done it. Heck, Brad’s done it. And then there’s Gwyneth. Hold up! Is that Gwyneth Paltrow with war paint on her face? Yikes.
The misappropriation of culture can be appalling, if not ingenious…after all, Ms. Paltrow is being used to campaign to bring awareness to the needs of African children and we're up and noticing. She's gotten people gossiping about her role as the spokesperson for such as cause — Guess Angelina was too obvious a choice.
The caption “I am African” grabs your attention, alright. Of course, if taken as literal, Gwyneth could pass for Afrikaans…but then why not choose South-African born actress Charlize Theron?
Hopefully, we can get pass the whole Gwyneth thing, and actually look into how we can help African children…so go ahead, don’t judge a cause by its cover—check out www.keepachildalive.org.
More:
An article from the New York Times that talks about celebrity & Africa @ www.nytimes.com.
August 13, 2006
Life
Origami Deluxe – Richard Sweeney’s paper sculptures
Artist Richard Sweeney hails from Huddersfield—some quaint town in England--but his designs are anything but 'quaint'.
After studying at the Batley School of Art & Design, Richard continued his talent in creating 3D paper sculptures through the cutting, scoring and folding of paper. Origami Deluxe, if you will.
Check out more of his designs on his website @ www.richardsweeney.co.uk
More:
Richard Sweeney’s paper sculptures on Flickr @ Flickr.
August 09, 2006
Life
Mizoguchi film festival @ Pacific Cinematheque, AUG 12-23
"The greatest of Japanese filmmakers. Or, quite simply, one of the greatest of filmmakers." - Jean-Luc Godard
Pacific Cinematheque presents 6 films from one of the greatest movie makers of all time, Kenji Mizoguchi.
Ugetsu
Saturday, August 12 – 7:30 pm
Sunday, August 13 – 9:35 pm
Monday, August 14 – 7:30 pm
Sansho the Bailiff
Saturday, August 12 – 9:25 pm
Sunday, August 13 – 7:15 pm
Monday, August 14 – 9:25 pm
The Life of Oharu
Friday, August 18 – 7:00 pm
Saturday, August 19 – 9:15 pm
Street of Shame
Friday, August 18 – 9:30 pm
Saturday, August 19 – 7:30 pm
Sister of Gion
Tuesday, August 22 – 7:30 pm
Wednesday, August 23 – 9:35 pm
The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums
Tuesday, August 22 – 9:00 pm
Wednesday, August 23 – 7:00 pm
Mizoguchi Cinematheque profile, full film fest details and online tickets HERE
Life
Anoushka Shankar @ Chan Centre, Thursday, Aug. 10
Sitar wunderkind, Anoushka Shankar, plays at the Chan Centre on Thursday, August 10 at 8pm as part of Festival Vancouver. As her legendary father, Ravi Shankar, exported the sounds of old school India abroad, the hot youngster is bringing it back to the motherland amidst the circus of modern Bollywood sounds...
Anoushka will be joined by ethno-fusion duo, Dharmakhasa.
The Anoushka Shankar Project:
The Rise Tour
Thursday - AUG. 10, 8pm
The Chan Centre
August 08, 2006
Life
An Evening with Spike Lee - AUG. 12, the Orpheum
Thee face of black American cinema and one of the most controveserial and engaging directors of our time, Spike Lee, will be telling it how it is, according to Spike, at the Orpheum theatre, Saturday, August 12 and will also give a Q&A after the engagement ("moderated by Terry David Mulligan", ha!).
So what's yer fav Spike Joint anyhow? Do the Right Thing? Malcolm X? The 25th Hour? Inside Man? Bamboozled was the shits/worst for me but I got to say that Inside Man (w/ the all-star team of Clive Owen, Jodie Foster and, of course, Denzel) was one of the more entertaining flicks ive seen in a while, probably the best ive seen yet this year maybe. It was also his most profitable movie so far and his first real stab at a genre flick.
An Evening with Spike Lee
"Followed by exclusive Q&A session"
SAT - AUG. 12
Orpheum Theatre
8pm show time
Tickets on sale June 3rd at Ticketmaster
August 02, 2006
Life
Nish Raawks to rok Powell Street Festival '06 (thats 30 years and countin, boyee)
This year marks the 30th Powell Street Festival which means they've been doing this thing aslong as I've been around. Man, i remember taking the bus to this when i was like 8 or 9 and getting off a bit too far, at Pigeon Park...but still made it, no doubts.
Anyhow, got to give props to the organizers who've finally brought out more than the old traditional ditties for the last few festivals. Both Nobukazu Takemura and IQU have been by recently, as was the local hip hop art project, Yugo, who are in it again this year. They also finally got some strait up J-Can hip hop talent in the form of MC Nish Raawks from Toronto, a member of the 10 deep Monolith crew (which includes IRS and Dan-E-O).
Nish Raawks is probably best known his hookups with DJ Serious for both the Enlightening (which got pretty wide rotation on Much Music) and Frostbite.
Check out some of his latest rhymes here
NISH PERFORMS AT THE FEST ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 6 at 3PM.
The 30th annual Powell Street Festival runs from SATURDAY, AUG. 5 to SUNDAY, AUG. 6 at everyone's favourite location, Oppenheimer Park - 400 Powell street
For more festival highlights and other related events, click here.
August 01, 2006
Life
Baile Punk New Wave Booty Mash Up Triple Bill Extravaganza!!!
FRIDAY, AUG. 4 @ CELEBRITIES
Lead by American baile funk ambassador, Diplo, FRIDAY, AUGUST 4th at Celebrities, has the triple threat of Diplo, Bonde do Role and CSS (Cansei der Ser Sexy) mashing the house down like no one's biznass.
DIPLO has been known for many things in the music underground in the last little while including being one half of the mash-up super-duo known as Hollertronix, who threw everything from hip hop, dancehall, rock, electro, miami bass, reggaeton, crunk, 80s, new wave and whatever else you can think of into one mix (not unlike our own Vinyl Ritchie), edited up a little mix-tape called Piracy Funds Terrorism, the ditty that introduced M.I.A. to the world, produced the M.I.A. track Bucky Done Gun, released a series of baile funk compilations called Favela on Blast, which helped introduce the rowdy Brazilian form of Miami Bass to the western world and has been touring the world unleashing his dirty mixes unto clubs heads worldwide (he also found the time to hookup with Ms. Maya Arulpragasam aswell).
Diplo interviews: Pitchfork, Stylus.
Download Piracy Funds Terrorism and Favela on Blast here!! (left hand column)
One of Rolling Stone's 10 Artists to Watch this year, BONDE DO ROLE, who hail from the southern Brazilian town of Curitiba (home of Pride Fighting Championships middle-weight champion, Vanderlei Silva) and has made a bastard out of a bastard. Where baile funk/funk carioca is a ghetto Rio de Janeiro off-shoot of Miami Bass, this threesome have injected some dirty cock rock into the already unruly Brazilian booty style. Check out their Vitiligo video here.
CSS aka Canser dei Ser Sexy which translates to 'Tired of Being Sexy' are 6 rockin chicks plus a drummin dude from Sao Paulo (the town probably with the biggest Japanese diaspora in the world - one of the singers, Lovefoxx, is a halfer!). Where Bonde do Role follow the baile punk mantra of ridiculous Brazilian party raps and hollas over booty beats, CSS are more along the lines of new wave synthy rock but still carry the same all good, dirty down vibe with song titles like "Meeting Paris Hilton," "Art Bitch," "Music is my Hot Hot Sex," and my personal fav "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above" (did I mention that one of their singers is a half-japanese brazilian named Lovefoxx?).
CSS reviews: The Observer, Cokemachine Glow
DIPLO, BONDE DO ROLE, CSS
w/ DJ Betti Forde (Stacked, Stink Mitt)
FRIDAY - AUG 4
Celebrities
$20 advance tix @ Boomtown, Red Cat, Beatstreet, Zulu and online at Clubzone