We've been busy over at Hyphen, but, definitely not too busy to overlook the World Premier of India Jazz Progressions, featuring Pandit Chitresh Das and Jason Samuels Smith.
Indian classical + jazz? You really don't want to miss this.
Any discounts for the Hyphen lovers? Surprised that you had to ask.
To receive a 10% discount on tickets for India Jazz Progressions, please call the box office at 415-345-7575 and mention us - Hyphen magazine - because we are a proud Community Partner of this event!
Continue reading "Try Something New"
Posted by lisalee at 11:52 AM | Comments (1)
Pacific Time, the nationally distributed public radio program about Asian and Asian American affairs, is being taken off the air by San Francisco PBS station KQED.
Continue reading "KQED cancels Pacific Time"
Posted by harry at 11:39 AM | Comments (4)
So it's been, like, months since I've blogged here. Mostly because since the arrival of my little one, I've have limited time. But also, this is the Hyphen blog, and I'm thinking, my life has been revolving around this little fellow who eats/pee/poos/sleeps and hardly leaves time for me to do the same, and why would anyone here want to read about that?
Posted by momo at 10:38 AM | Comments (2)
Remember our many desirable men from Mr. Hyphen? Here's a chance to get some more out of them. Well, one of them to be exact.
Our Mr. Hyphen 2007 Anthem Salgado contestant is presenting BROWN AND BLACK AND BLUE at the Zeum Theatre. Spoken word theater exploring themes of survival? Yes please! Tell me how to survive!
Continue reading "Mr. Hyphen 2007 Contestant Anthem Salgado, Doing His Thang"
Posted by lisalee at 10:08 AM | Comments (1)
Sometimes, when I dislike a thing without basis — say, a film that I haven't watched but feel compelled to dis freely — I'll come to my senses and realize that in order to dis something constructively, I have to have experienced it. So I'll sit down and watch movies that I think are going to be a total waste of time, just so that I can dis it better.
Continue reading "Chinita Nibs"
Posted by rebecca at 3:30 PM | Comments (2)
Last night I was home eating dinner when I turned the TV on. It was the first time in a long time I had even touched the TV (I swear), and I was immediately assaulted by the booming voice of Dr. Phil in all his Texan swagger. The theme of this particular episode was Change My Face, Change My Race, so I decided to watch.
Well, it was Asian Time on Dr. Phil as 2 of the 3 segments featured Asian Americans. I’m sorry to report that most of them did not represent well.
Continue reading "Asian Time on Dr. Phil"
Posted by melissa at 12:05 PM | Comments (10)
Clearly hacktastic: The Guitar Zeros; hapa lead singer Ryan Yount
The Guitar Zeros have figured out a way to turn straw into gold, water into Jager. They've turned that sweet tool of the Playstation 2 game Guitar Hero, the plastic mini-Gibson controller, into a mighty sword of sonic destruction. There are no actual guitars in the band, hence guitar zeros. It's the ultimate in real-becomes-fake-becomes-real again kind of thinking. (See their Zero Guide, which includes their Fretbuzz freeware and instructions on turning the controller into an instrument.)
When: Thursday, Sept. 20 (tonight!), 8pm
Where: 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco
Cost: $2. Enter the Guitar Hero competition on a projector over the bar for $5. Early open bar.
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Being an Asian American that grew up in Latin America, I have a soft spot for any Asians with Latin American connections. It's a different form of patria, I guess. I've been seeing more lately on Asian Latinos, from documentary Motherland Korea Cuba USA to a short film on the murders of Chinese restaurant delivery men, D 4 Delivery, where the protagonist is Venezuelan Chinese.
I wish I could make it to War and Prejudice: US Internment of Japanese Latin Americans During WWII and Its Relevance Today. They will screen Hidden Internment: The Art Shibayama Story, followed by a community dialogue and reception with former Japanese Peruvian internee Art Shibayama, Grace Shimizu from Campaign for Justice: Redress Now for Japanese Latin Americans! and Robin Toma from the LA County Commission on Human Relations.
When: Saturday, Sept. 22, 1 - 3pm
Where: Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles
Cost: Free. Peruvian refreshments served, too.
Posted by rebecca at 2:11 PM | Comments (0)
Photo by Junzo Chino
I always thought we should have a column in Hyphen about the ways in which Asian culture gets misappropriated. In the cheesy tradition of Asian American student conferences, we could even use "asian" in the name of the column, as in "MisappropriAsian."
However, we already have a column called InterrogAsian. (See the home page for an example.) And upon further reflection, it seems a column on such a topic might just get too repetitive. No matter how many times you say "Yo, stop misappropriating my shit," Gwen Stefani probably isn't going to hear you.
Still, it could be amusing. Especially as a collection of photos. So here's one to start out with. If readers like it, we can make it a recurring blog item.
By the way, my friend who found this said that when he opened the package, a gong sounded.
Posted by melissa at 4:05 PM | Comments (5)
When I’m not sitting on the newly-elected Hyphen Board (woo-hoo!), I also sit on the Circle of Directors of Purple Moon Dance Project – a non-profit arts organization whose goal is “to increase the visibility of lesbians and women of color and to encourage social change, peace and healing in our society through the medium of dance.”
Continue reading "Come Heal Yourself and Nominate Fierce Women Artists and Community Builders"
Posted by neela at 8:17 PM | Comments (1)
So, months after the dust from the AsianWeek “Why I Hate Blacks” debacle has settled, the organization seems to be trying to make amends in the community. Along with a newly designed website, they are holding focus groups to find out what the community wants in an Asian American newspaper.
Continue reading "Tell AsianWeek What They Are Doing Wrong and Get Fed"
Posted by neela at 3:42 PM | Comments (0)
If you've never been to the dynamic APAture: A Window on the Art of Asian Pacific Americans festival hosted by the historic Kearny Street Workshop -- this is your chance.
Continue reading "APAture 2007 Opens Tonight"
Posted by neela at 10:11 AM | Comments (0)
Overheard on the Today show this morning during Joan Rivers' critique of male fashion she liked from Emmy's:
Joan: What's his name, the Chinese guy?Several Today hosts chime in: Masi Oka
She can't tell Asians apart but she remembered his suit.
Posted by harry at 10:13 AM | Comments (3)
As the nation woke up to live broadcasts of 9/11 memorial services this Tuesday, I was shaken by an angry Indian mother telling me to shave my beard, just like she’s done every year since the tragic event filled Americans with disdain for all persons brown and bearded. She said people might, yikes, mistake me for a Muslim.
I’m brown, proud and too damn lazy to shave. And this seems to only bother other Indians. I just got back from an overseas vacation and to my family and friends’ surprise, I wasn’t hassled, cavity searched or anal probed by security. As much as I’d like to write off my mom’s paranoia as ignorance, it’s been a warranted precautionary measure for all South Asians and Middle Easterners ever since the hate crimes that followed and continue six years later.
We live in fear. We know our country’s history of persecuting its minority citizens. And we know that over-patriotic and under-educated Americans have a hard on for hatred toward us. Just check Craigslist’s Rants and Raves section, where morons engage in dumbass discussions and hurl racist remarks like it was a Klan rally in the 40s.
Here are a few gems from the Bay Area Craigslist:
“I use to be a non-racist person. That is until you ragheaded Islamic freaks had to come to this country and fuck it all up! You fucking Islamic ragheads are the one's responsable for 9/11. All you MotherFuckers are pieces of shit! You fucking stink and you are fucking rude.” – click-clack if you want to read more.
“Fuck Islam. I'm against Bush. Against the war in Iraq, but if you think for a second that I will convert to your Godless ‘religion’ then prepare for me to fight you to the death and take as many of you motherfuckers with me.”
“rememberr 9/11 kill a turban day”
I wonder what's being said in other communities and forums across the nation? And maybe I'll trim my beard just a little, for mom's sake.
Posted by claire at 4:46 PM | Comments (5)
Yellow alert from presidential candidate Fred Thompson, who says Hillary Clinton's association to illegal fundraising by Asian Americans in 1996 should have made her cautious about accepting $850,000 from fugitive Norman Hsu.
Continue reading "Thompson: Be wary of Asian American political donors"
Posted by harry at 8:21 AM | Comments (13)
This guy could change the gender balance of the Indian American community? Yikes!
An interesting story about ads for The Fertility Clinic, a Los Angeles-based center that claims they have the "world's largest and most successful PGD sex selection program," running in Indian American media.
Continue reading "Sex Selection Ads Cause Controversy"
Posted by neela at 1:01 PM | Comments (6)
There seems to be nothing hotter than Asian American graphic novelists and comic book artists. (Be sure to check out Issue 12 of Hyphen for a great story on South Asian-centric Shakti Comics at Virgin and what desi comic artists have to say about it.) Now, add to the list an exciting new project from our friend Jeff Yang and his buddies in the comic industry: Secret Identities: The Asian American Superman Anthology.
Continue reading "Let Your Inner Asian American Superhero Out with "Secret Identities""
Posted by neela at 12:49 PM | Comments (2)
When I arrived in San Francisco as a country-bumpkin from the Midwest, I often found myself standing by the hole in the ground at the corner of Jackson and Kearny in Chinatown. I had seen the amazing documentary The Fall of the I-Hotel back in college and I was amazed that the space was still being protected. It was the last year of the dotcom boom and all the history of displacement seemed incredibly relevant.
Continue reading "Remembering Filipino American Activist: Bill Sorro"
Posted by neela at 11:56 AM | Comments (3)
Miyoshi Umeki, one of the stars of the all-Asian American cast of Flower Drum Song and Oscar winner for Sayonara, died last week. She was 78.
She was the first Asian to win an Oscar, and she did it back in 1957! What are the chances of an Asian or Asian American winning an acting Oscar today? Umeki really was a pioneer.
The only movie of hers I've seen is Flower Drum Song, and I only saw it this year, so my appreciation for her is new.
Rest in peace
Posted by harry at 7:20 PM | Comments (0)
New The View host Whoopi Goldberg took the plunge into ethnic stereotyping by comparing football star Michael Vick's cultural upbringing with dog fighting to the Chinese and eating cats.
Continue reading "Whoopi Compares Vick Case to Chinese Eating Cats"
Posted by harry at 10:51 AM | Comments (19)
I recently drove from L.A. to San Francisco in a poorly air conditioned car and the only thing that kept me going was listening to M.I.A.'s Arular over and over. "I got the bombs to make you blow/ I got the beats to make you bang!"
Continue reading "M.I.A. Rawks!!"
Posted by neela at 11:54 PM | Comments (1)
2/3 of 2007 accounted for...how are you doing on your 2007 New Year's Resolutions? I'll spare you the details of my list, but so far I'm doing alright. The whole working out at a gym thing isn't working out too well. But when does it ever?
One resolution I had hoped to act upon and shamefully have not is to give back to the community. For this post, I wanted to get a sense of what kind of organizations and projects were out there for potential volunteers. For all the civic-minded folks out there, consider this your electronic soapbox, a chance to brag a little bit about what you do, why you do it, and how others can get involved. Be sure to post some links and contact information. These opportunities don't have to be APA-specific. I look forward to hearing your responses.
Posted by Kevin Lee at 10:02 PM | Comments (2)
So, a couple of weeks ago, I went into the partly-Asian American owned eyewear store in San Francisco, HyperOptics Optometry. Now that I have insurance, it seems like a good idea to plunk some change on eyeglasses. I've been wearing contacts for the last several years, mostly because I love the idea of actually having peripheral vision, but also because my glasses are crooked. I had hit a zombie square on the head in a haunted house soon after I got them, and lo and behold, it was a real person who smacked me back. HARD. (Sorry zombie, but your head was covered in newspaper.) They flew off and were henceforth irretrievable from the land of crookedness.
I had thought that since the store was partly-Asian American owned (or wholly? I'm not sure), they would have frames that would fit my face. My wide, round, bridgeless face. I'm tired of glasses that fall off when I tilt my head down to read a book. I'm tired of them sailing into the distance when I do quick turns in a dance class. I want the lenses to be in front of my eyeballs, not the top of the frame.
Apparently, the store will install nose pads onto frames that don't have them, but they might look weird with plastic frames, which already have a nose landing area. I was really digging on some clear plastic ones, which have that retro-future appeal. Not to mention the quasi-invisibility, comparable to clear orthodontic braces. I started looking around on the web, but realized that I could take advantage of your expertise. So if you have any advice, please share. Also, if you're in any sort of position to start a frame company catering to Asian Americans, you might make a mint.
Posted by rebecca at 9:14 PM | Comments (7)
The BF is at Burning Man this weekend. What do you do while the cat's away? You, er... go to a leadership conference.
I was going to stay at home, catch up on Hyphen stuff and do Hip Hop Abs a few times. (As silly as it is, a co-worker is really into it, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. Now that I'm 30 I can't seem to rely on my metabolism like I used to.) Instead, I got roped into going to APA 5's Inspire '07. Or rather, I felt obligated to go. The last thing I wanted to do on Labor Day weekend was even more work. But it's turning out to be one of the best things I've done all year. No, really.
Continue reading "So Far, Inspire '07 Lives Up to Its Name"
Posted by rebecca at 11:26 PM | Comments (0)
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