SFIAAFF 2010 | Opening Night
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).
Posted by Tamiko | March 12, 2010 | Comments (0)
The Final Paul Wong Experience 5.5 Five Elements on March 13th!
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)
PBS Kids Go! Writers Contest
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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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)
International Women's Week: Jessica Yee
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)
Statistics Canada predicts that half of second-generation Canadians would be visibly diverse
(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.
- 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.
Posted by Alden | March 9, 2010 | Comments (0)
Homeless Man as Fashion Icon | Brother Sharp
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.
Posted by Claudia Ho | March 9, 2010 | Comments (1)
Latinocanadà
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)
Shop For Free! At The Frock Swap 4.0
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.
Posted by Linda Chan | March 8, 2010 | Comments (0)
Saul Williams: Video Interview 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)
Queen Yu-Na/Bond Girl: Behind the Scenes
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)
Recent Posts
The Final Paul Wong Experience 5.5 Five Elements on March 13th!
International Women's Week: Jessica Yee
Statistics Canada predicts that half of second-generation Canadians would be visibly diverse
Homeless Man as Fashion Icon | Brother Sharp
Shop For Free! At The Frock Swap 4.0
Saul Williams: Video Interview on Grounded TV
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