If you're in the Bay Area, be sure to go see the Asian American Theater Company's production of "Under the Rainbow" by Philip Kan Gotanda.
"Under the Rainbow" takes on sex, race, relationships and Hollywood – my favorite subjects and topics Gotanda touches on in many of his plays. I saw the play last night and was not disappointed.
The production is two one-act plays. Part one is titled, "Natalie Wood Is Dead" and features a mother and daughter duo of struggling actors trying to make it in Hollywood. There's some raw emotion as the pair confront each other over the struggles and sacrifices they each make as an actor, parent and child. Diane Emiko Takei (Gotanda's wife) plays Yoko, the mother. Pearl Wong of the 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors plays the daughter, Natalie Hayashi.
More interesting was part two, "White Manifesto." It's a 50-minute monologue by a WMWA, white male with attitude, who says everything that many of us think, but most of us don't talk about when it comes to the taboo subject of white men dating Asian women.
Danny Wolohan gives a great performance as Richard Saugus, who explains to us why Asian girls are easy for an average white guy like him. The dialogue skewers and expounds on almost every stereotype, excuse, explanation and complaint you can think of when pondering the white male/Asian female phenomenon.
Saugus gives us a "chartered member's" insight into getting Asian girls that he's gleaned from "pillow talk." He also provides a rundown of the sexual differences between women of various Asian ethnic groups. It's all done to wonderful dramatic and comedic effect.
These are old and tired issues that Gotanda raises, but they don't go away if we just stop talking about them. I'm glad there are artists like Gotanda out there still.
Posted by harry at 8:15 AM | Comments (61) | TrackBack (0)
Last weekend I bailed on blog duties to hang out in Reno with some buddies. Not a lot Asians there and I had a couple of eye-opening incidents.
1) In a ski lift line, a white guy 15 feet away nods at me and asks, “Are you Keanu Reeves?” I was flabbergasted. Who? “Keanu Reeves, from the Matrix.” I go, “Totally, dude.” Woah!
Continue reading "Asians in Reno"
Posted by claire at 2:52 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
Sorry to bust in like this but this action is going down today! Please read on about how you can help stop Bush from cutting funding to HUD programs. (this is from an email a friend sent me)
Continue reading "Stop Bush From Cutting Low Income Housing Funding!"
Posted by claire at 2:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Back from Philly!
I actually wasn't very happy with the trip to Philly (in regards to ECAASU). If I wasn't getting reimbursed for my travel expenses, I'd be blowing up the spot and making a stink, but... At least I can express my disappointment. (Due to bad organizing, only two people showed up to the panel that Chris and I spoke on. And there was no traffic for any of the exhibitors during the tabling session.)
But at least my whole three-day weekend wasn't a complete bust. I got some networking done and saw the city. Met folks from Boston, Sacramento, DC, Los Angeles, Minneapolis... I got to drive through the boonies of Pennsylvania, see the Real World Philly house, and play pool with my new Mongolian friend (think big Asian guy with a heavy Russian accent). Oh, and best of all, I had a cheesesteak at Pat's in the South Philly. Lining up to order my food was like a Seinfeld "Soup Nazi" experience. I was so scared of ordering wrong and being told to go to the end of the line to try it again.
Anyhow.
Posted by Audrey at 9:48 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)
Basketball star Yao Ming is lending his name and 7-foot-6 stature to a new restaurant in Houston, where he plays for the NBA's Rockets. His parents will own and run Yao's Restaurant and Bar.
Posted by harry at 3:05 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
So if you haven't heard, the congress approved and GWBush signed off on the "tort reform" law that will make it very difficult to pursue large class action lawsuits. It all happened in a matter of days. (See what Greg Palast has to say about it.) Again, I mourn, as I mourned the election and the war and the torture...
The relentless waves of injustice that keep battering down us people who sympathize with the poor and the nonwhite and the noncorporate are starting to feel like a war to me. A war on my lesbian coworker, who I carpool with every week. A war on my sister, trying to educate her kids. A war on the air I breathe.
It's time to fight back.
Continue reading "The Squeaky Wheel"
Posted by jennifer at 2:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
I'm feeling lazy tonight. I saw "Constantine" last night--fun, but forgettable. Is it just me, or does Keanu get Chinesier as he gets older?
Then today I got to write 2000 words on how the hero of my novel visits a bordello on Mars. So I'm feeling like I've earned laziness. That's enough for one weekend.
Here's a little news:
Continue reading "Lazy Nite Newsy News"
Posted by claire at 2:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Hey! Sorry I've been MIA from the blog these last couple weeks. Busy busy busy. I'm on my lunch break right now, scarfing down some pasta. We had a meeting at my work yesterday with a catered lunch. I saved the leftovers for today's lunch. Yes, I'm a frugal Asian. I'll go anywhere for free food. Or, that could also be the journalist in me. Wanna have a successful press conference? Promise lots of free food.
Posted by melissa at 12:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
My roommate (Melissa, Hyphen's editor in chief) and I used to steal wi-fi from the guys who live upstairs from us. I mean, if people don't password-protect their connections, then why not? But for the past week neither of us has been able to connect to the Internet, and I don't exactly sit in the computer labs at school just to blog, so I apologize for missing my blog days.
So much going on in Hyphen Land (personal drama, scrambling to meet deadlines, events passed and coming up, etc.) Last Thursday I went to the launch party for the 2005 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, and a volunteer (who I recognize as a returner, year after year) chatted me up, saying that he reads the Hyphen blog. He said he liked reading my blogs and I had to admit that I was amazed that people even read the Hyphen blog, much less my entries. (So thanks, Steve!)
Posted by Audrey at 5:39 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
The Bush administration frequently does things that make me so mad I can't see straight. The war, the environment, treatment of prisoners, the budget, for starters.
But there's something new that has me spitting nails. I don't know why it stands out to me from all of the other egregious behavior of the current admin. Maybe because it's such a visible example of taking power away from us common folk, we of 5-figure salaries, to whom pesky things like mortgages and insurance premiums and overtime make a big difference.
I'm talking about the current push to eliminate the class-action lawsuit.
Continue reading "Lawsuits Are Your Friend, Sometimes"
Posted by jennifer at 10:34 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Okay, I know you guys are sick of hearing about the speed dating on the blog so I won't blog about it. (It went very well, thank you. Shout out to the Hyphen staff for working like clocks.) So tomorrow is Valentine's Day and the whole world has hooking up on the brain. I woke up this morning, slightly hung over (organizing has a hangover as well as drinking -- last night I did both) and opened my Sunday NYTimes to find this article on the cover. Arranged marriages the wealthy New Yorker way! Orange you glad you have Hyphen speed dating?
Continue reading "Vote for Your Favorite Asian American Love"
Posted by claire at 10:09 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Some of the most prolific romancing ever was completed via tape deck. Real Romeos woo extensively by mixtape. The social history—recently saluted in the Broadway play Avenue Q—has evolved as CD burners replace the cumbersome cassette deck, reducing the time-consuming recording task to a fraction depending on hard drive and download speed. The psychology behind choosing the right songs, however, hasn’t changed. It’s only gotten harder as online stores slice record digging into quickly downloadable and digestible ribbons.
For Valentine’s Day, here are some tips for creating the illest mixtape/CD for the lover in your life.
Continue reading "Mixtape Seduction 101"
Posted by claire at 10:24 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
He thought she was cute and open to trying new things. She thought he seemed shy, but like a decent fellow. They both picked seven people they'd like to meet again. Of those seven, only one turned into a date.
But one was all it took.
Continue reading "Matchmaker, Matchmaker"
Posted by jennifer at 10:05 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Funny how much time academics and other types of thinkers spend trying to codify the ways that cultural ways and means immigrate. But often, it comes down to individuality, be it individual people, families, neighborhoods or cities. Often, it's just an accident of personality.
Continue reading "You Still Have Two Days to Get Married!"
Posted by claire at 10:39 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
What's up Hyphen Blog aficionados? I am back with a vengeance, after spending many weeks marinating in the over-stimulating/over-stimulated nation of India. While I was far away from the destruction of the tsunami, I did feel India move (slightly) under my feet and watched as the waters in the ponds and rivers rose up in some kind of angry agreement with the ocean. I’m still trying to process the energetic vibrations of the earth’s shifting and the departure of so many thousands of souls.
Continue reading "Go Jin, Tell It Like it Is"
Posted by neela at 4:29 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
I spoke with the awesome British/Sri Lankan emcee M.I.A. today. She was in good spirits though a little disoriented by the amount of attention being placed on her. The rapper had a sold out show last night in L.A. that had all kinds of press and label peoples out.
I asked if she had anything to say to Asian America, she said:
“I just want to say I’m really impressed by the turnout at the gig yesterday. There were loads of Asian Americans there. I haven’t met the community and it opened the world up for me today. I really want to access it. I want to get in touch.”
Her album drops on Feb. 22 on XL Recordings. "Galang" and "Fire Fire" are available on iTunes.
Posted by claire at 1:52 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)
Asians are about to be all over your TV screen!
Read this article penned by Jeff Yang.
Posted by Audrey at 9:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Thursday already. Man.
Later this evening I will be in San Jose, speaking on a panel (I think it's hilarious the panel is being called "Man Jose") about dating issues and the Asian American community in the Bay Area/Silicon Valley. Go here for details. As I said before, I don't know how much of a dating or relationship "expert" I am to impart any sort of knowledge upon anyone who's paying for this event... But I'll at least try to make people laugh. I already know that some of my friends will be in attendance to put me on the spot, so I'm prepared.
Continue reading "See You in Man Jose"
Posted by Audrey at 12:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Looks like the pressure (or the pullout of advertising dollars) has worked. The company that owns Hot 97-FM has fired two members of the morning show crew. And they are making a donation to the tsunami relief efforts. Here's the press release from Emmis Communications and Hot 97.
Continue reading "Two Fired from Hot 97"
Posted by melissa at 9:57 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Sorry whoever's day it is to blog. But this is some important stuff!
After reading a review on Jeff Chang's book in my beloved Entertainment Weekly (they gave him an A-), I emailed him and told him, Hyphen loves the Asian American Male Pop Music Critics (or AAMPMCs: a term coined by Oliver Wang).
Yo, Jeff's book, Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-hop Generation is officially on sale today! Better go get your copy.
Continue reading "Jeff Chang Is Superior"
Posted by Audrey at 9:37 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
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