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Bobby Jindal? Gary Locke? Hyphen lays down the odds on the Asian American politicians with a viable chance of snagging a presidential nomination. Check it out in a preview from The Spaces Issue.

Posted by harry at 11:01 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Hollywood Chinese, by award-winning documentary filmmaker Arthur Dong, opens in the Los Angeles area and New York City theaters today. Go check it out. We posted about it when it opened in the San Francisco Bay Area. I also interviewed Arthur Dong for the local paper, the Oakland Tribune.

It's great to see documentaries take over the big screen. I read in a recent edition of the Films Arts magazine that documentaries have gained more mainstream appeal since films like "Fahrenheit 9/11," "Supersize Me" and "An Inconvenient Truth" came out.

Still, they are a labor of love -- most documentary filmmakers are not out to make big Hollywood bucks. So please let's continue this trend of supporting documentaries on the big screen. An Asian American one, at that! I think you'll enjoy the film.

The film plays at the following theaters:

Continue reading ""Hollywood Chinese" in LA and NYC"

Posted by momo at 5:14 PM | TrackBack (0)

From Hollywood Reporter, the Starz network has cast five members in its upcoming "Crash" series, based on the 2004 Oscar-winning film by Paul Haggis. Cast members include Caucasian actor Ross McCall as a police officer, African American actor Jocko Sims as a driver for a music producer, Cuban American actress Arlene Tur as an actress-turned-cop, Latino American actor Luis Chavez as a "poor immigrant who embarks on a brutal journey to America," and Korean/Japanese American actor Brian Tee as a Korean American immigrant who works as an EMT. Tee's credits include Justin Lin's "Finishing the Game" and "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift."

Continue reading "Brian Tee Cast in "Crash" Series"

Posted by sylvie at 1:44 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

We're into Hyphen's fifth year of publication and, Spaces, one of our best issues, is on the streets and in bookstores now. Some of the highlights from Spaces:

Continue reading "John Cho, Eric Byler Featured in Spaces Issue of Hyphen"

Posted by harry at 7:57 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

I've got my boarding pass printed out. I'm about to go back to my apartment and pack. Yes, it's time.

Once a year I go to Houston for the Slant Film Festival, hosted by the Aurora Picture Show. The festival starts on Friday night with a program of narrative and experimental short films. Saturday evening there's a special performance by Toronto-based filmmaker and TV personality Nobu Adilman. I can't tell you what he's going to do exactly (it's a surprise), but as he's one of the hosts of the Food Network's Food Jammers, you can bet it's going to be fun and yummy. And Sunday afternoon, we close with a program of documentaries.

Continue reading "Slant Film Festival Starts Friday"

Posted by melissa at 11:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Summer blockbuster movie season has already begun, which means another big budget Will Smith movie is headed our way. His new superhero-with-issues action film "Hancock" opens July 4th weekend and is expected to make upwards of a zillion dollars.

The film was written by Vietnamese American writer Vy Vincent Ngo, who according to a New York Times article earlier this month, had began shopping around the screenplay (originally entitled "Tonight, He Comes") nearly a decade ago. The script was praised for its brilliance by studios but was considered impossible to make, presumably for its dark, sexual, and complex look at an imperfect hero.

Continue reading "Writer Vincent Ngo Behind Will Smith's "Hancock""

Posted by sylvie at 10:56 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Stephen Spielberg's "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" had a profound effect on my life, as it did for any South Asian kid who grew up in the 1980s. I was both entranced and dismayed by the Hollywood blockbuster that actually showed Indian people on screen in major roles, but then turned us into eyeball soup-eating, heart-extracting zombie thugee cult members. And in the end it was the British who helped save Dr. Jones from the savage natives. But I didn't really think about the post-colonial aspects until years later; it was the persistence of the eyeball soup and monkey brains that haunted my childhood. Yet, my brother and I watched the movie over and over and I can recite most of the lines. And whatever happened to Short Round?

Continue reading "New Indiana Jones Harmless, But Bad"

Posted by neela at 11:55 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)

Here is a recent clip of Esther Ku's act. Basically she's a walking disaster, just like that confused girl Gina Choe on "America's Top Model." What kind of insecure person makes a career basically being self-racist or self-deprecating and saying how much you hate yourself, who you are, and your family? Have you ever heard a black comedian base his/her career on how they hate being Black, how they love watermelon/chicken, and the only good thing about being black is it helps them get into the NFL?

Continue reading "Self-Hating Esther Ku on 'Last Comic Standing'"

Posted by Alvin at 8:05 AM | Comments (31) | TrackBack (0)

Continue reading "More Asian Americans get voted off the island"

Posted by Slanty at 2:41 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

Dear Dale,

I just wanted to give you a quick shout out and say that while I wish I could have seen you slice and dice your way to Top Chef excellence, in the end I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

Continue reading "A letter to Top Chef's Dale Talde"

Posted by Slanty at 12:15 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

No commentary necessary, it speaks for itself. I find his rationale and defense insane.

Arizona Sen. John McCain refused to apologize yesterday for his use of a racial slur to condemn the North Vietnamese prison guards who tortured and held him captive during the war.

"I hate the gooks," McCain said yesterday in response to a question from reporters aboard his campaign bus. "I will hate them as long as I live."

McCain, a former Navy pilot who spent five years in a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp, was questioned about the language because of a story last month in the Nation magazine reporting his continued use of the slur.

Since then, reports of McCain's language have been circulating on Internet chat sites and e-mails among Asian Americans, many of whom find the the term offensive and inappropriate for an elected official.

Continue reading "John McCain: "I Hate The Gooks""

Posted by Alvin at 1:55 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (1)

Playbill announced yesterday that the musical "Bruce Lee: A Journey to the West" will be coming to Broadway in the 2010-2011 season. The musical will be written by Tony award-winner David Henry Hwang (of M. Butterfly fame) and directed by Bartlett Sher whose revival of South Pacific was recently nominated for 11 Tony awards. The production will chronicle Lee's life and career path and will infuse elements of Chinese mythology, opera, dance, martial arts, and pop music.

Continue reading "Bruce Lee on Broadway"

Posted by sylvie at 10:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Yuri speaking at anti-war demonstration and rally in Central Park (circa 1968). Photo courtesy of the Kochiyama Family and "Passing It On," by Yuri Kochiyama (Los Angeles: UCLA Asian American Studies Center Press, 2004).

I know Harry already posted a birthday wish to Yuri, but I wanted to talk about what it was like interviewing Yuri Kochiyama, the social justice activist who knew Malcolm X and was there when he died. Interviewing Yuri was one of the highlights of my year so far.

I've known about Yuri Kochiyama -- her name is always thrown around in Asian American/progressive circles, usually in a "we look up to Yuri" sort of way -- but learned a lot of new things during my research and interview.

The more I learn about her, the more I am amazed at her life and realize just what makes her so unique.

Continue reading "Interviewing Yuri"

Posted by momo at 9:34 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

Activist Yuri Kochiyama is 87 today. Read a nice profile of her in the Oakland Tribune from Hyphen's own Momo Chang.

Posted by harry at 4:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

The Tule Lake Pilgrimage 2008 is now taking applications, due May 31. This year, the pilgrimage takes place July 3-6.

Tule Lake was one of 10 internment camps during WWII that held a total of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans, the majority of whom were United States citizens (the first generation, Issei, were not allowed to become citizens at the time).

Tule Lake is in far Northern California near Oregon and held many of the "no, no" boys -- those who answered "no" to two confusing questions and then deemed potential enemies of the U.S.

The theme this year is to learn more about the largely unknown Segregation Center at Tule Lake, which held 12,000 of those deemed disloyal by the U.S. government. During the war, Japanese Americans were also asked to renounce their U.S. citizenship; the vast majority of those who did were incarcerated at Tule Lake.

I am always amazed when I meet people who say they had never heard of Japanese American internment during WWII until recently. Many of these folks are either white and/or grew up outside of California. And even if we think we've read/learned a lot about the topic, there're still more untold stories that need to be heard. 

Continue reading "Tule Lake Pilgrimage"

Posted by momo at 10:38 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

California's overturning of the same-sex marriage ban last week has prompted many gay and lesbian couples to start on wedding plans, including actor George Takei. Takei's role as Sulu in the "Star Trek" series has been an influence on generations of Asian American actors, and with Prop 22 now dissolved the veteran actor plans to wed Brad Altman, his partner of 21 years.

Read George's words on the parallels between racism he has faced as a Japanese American and the legal discrimination he has faced due to his sexual orientation here.

I have the utmost respect for George as he is an activist in both the Asian American and gay communities. Best wishes to him and Brad.

Posted by sylvie at 9:59 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

If you have nothing better to do (like yours truly), you might as well check out one of the latest ibeatYou contests happening called The Stare, which was originally started by Baron Davis who called out kevjumba, who then called out Jessica Alba.

Continue reading "Jessica Alba, kevjumba, Baron Davis, The Stare, and the New and Improved Wing Luke Asian Museum"

Posted by Slanty at 3:14 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Vendors outside Wrigley Field and on eBay are still selling shirts that have "Horry Kow" on the front and Japanese ball player Kosuke Fukudome's name and number on the back. The shirts poke fun at Japanese accents using the familiar "holy cow" that the late Cubs broadcaster Harry Caray used to always use.

Continue reading "Holy cow, offensive Fukudome shirts still for sale"

Posted by harry at 2:53 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

There's going to be SO MUCH going on tomorrow, that if you don't come to this celebration, you'll seriously miss out. I'm hearing things about J-cars, kickboxing, karaoke contest, apl.de.ap from The Black Eyed Peas and an after party at Suede Nightclub. I know it'll be steaming tomorrow, but be a good sport, and celebrate with us.

Continue reading "Asian Heritage Street Celebration Tomorrow in Japantown, SF"

Posted by lisalee at 4:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

I remember seeing Mountain Brothers' "Galaxies" video on Yo! MTV Raps (not the OG version, but the short-lived revival) back in '98 or '99. Three Chinese dudes from Philly walking through a grocery store and playing mahjong while flipping buttery rhymes ("My mass is critical, raps Invisibl like Skratch Piklz and X-Men/ Gettin fem's confessin'/ Expressin’ predilection for sex and affection when I finesse them") over a laid-back, jazzy groove that has yet to cease making my head nod. It was one of my first times hearing Asian Americans rap, and doing it well at that.

Continue reading "Asian American Hip-Hop for Dummies"

Posted by Zoneil at 12:52 AM | Comments (11) | TrackBack (0)

Continue reading "Diana Nguyen, Declare Yourself, and Getting Out The Vote"

Posted by Slanty at 12:21 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

I came across this on Facebook the other day (yes yes, I have a Facebook account and so does Hyphen) and am I just crazy? Is this old and I just didn't notice it before?

Posted by lisalee at 11:15 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

Continue reading "Blogging from Slantyville"

Posted by Slanty at 2:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Entertainment Weekly's website recently highlighted upcoming male singer-songwriters in a profile entitled, Guys on the Rise: 8 Emerging Singer-Songwriters. Clocking in at number 3 is Japanese/American Justin Nozuka who was born in New York but raised in Toronto, and is interestingly enough, nephew of American actress Kyra Sedgwick who's married to Kevin Bacon. Wow, six degrees of Kevin Bacon really does work.

Continue reading "Singers Justin and George Nozuka On the Rise"

Posted by sylvie at 9:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Continue reading "Once and Future Radicals: Richard Aoki"

Posted by neela at 9:59 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)

That's a pic of my baby doing the Asian squat, which he learned pretty much as soon as he gained neck control. And check it out, he can cook stir-fry in a wok too!

In all seriousness, I promised to myself that I would take the time to write something on Mother's Day.

It is funny to say now that I am officially a receiver of the greeting "Happy Mother's Day." Being a mama is a very new part of my identity. I don't remember what I did last year on Mother's Day, but I'm pretty sure I was still adjusting to taking care of a newborn (Baby T was about 2 months then). Plus, those early early days are a blur now.

Continue reading "Happy Mother's Day (For Peace)"

Posted by momo at 8:35 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

It's so cool to see a subtle increase in stories about Asian Americans this month. This NY Times video on Minnesota Hmong American poet/rapper Tou Saiko Lee is pretty dope. I was especially interested in the end when he talks about performing with his grandmother: She busts a flow in ancient Hmong poetry and then he starts rapping with her. Have people seen any other subtle Asian Pacific American Heritage Month coverage that they're into?

Posted by neela at 2:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

That's the tagline for "The Cooking Show con Karimi y Castro," starring Robert Karimi and John Castro.

They're in the Bay Area performing until May 18. I wanted to check out the show tonight, which sounds fascinating, fun and funny, but alas am home sick tonight.

If the name Robert Karimi sounds familiar, that's because we featured him in our latest issue -- he's the intense-looking guy donning a chef's hat and wielding a wooden spoon in one of the rotating photos on our homepage.

Continue reading "The Revolution Starts in the Kitchen"

Posted by momo at 8:49 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

If you can't tell already, Hyphen loooves Asian American films. What that means for you, is free tickets!

Get a quick Silk Screen tutorial with the Comcast Newsmakers Interview with Festival Director, Harish Saluja.

Continue reading "3 Pairs of Tickets for Silk Screen, Pittsburgh"

Posted by lisalee at 3:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

NPR's Second Stage music section profiles American ex-pat Lizzie Moore who lives in Japan and performs Asian-inflected indie/electro music under the name Eri Chan. Her debut album - entitled Fire Fox - has a lead track "KitsuneBi" ("fire fox" in Japanese) and much of the album explores, in the artist's words, "the thoughts of a girl living in Japan, fascinated by folklore and possessed by a fox."

Continue reading "Is Eri Chan Appropriating an Asian Culture?"

Posted by sylvie at 10:59 PM | Comments (19) | TrackBack (0)

Anyway, I'm still amazed at the fact that people just can't seem to get enough of the JabbaWockeeZ group. Last week, I attended the East West Players (EWP) 42nd Anniversary Visionary Awards dinner held at the Universal Hilton Hotel. The EWP awarded the dance crew the Breakout Performance Award. Last year, Masi Oka of "Heroes" received the award.

Continue reading "Everybody Loves the JabbaWockeeZ"

Posted by Joseph at 3:25 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

In a May 4^th article, Erin Chan Ding from the Detroit Free Press discusses second-generation Asian American life in Detroit, a city historically known for its boom in community activism and cultural identity after the 1982 racially-motivated murder of Chinese American Vincent Chin.

Continue reading "Flourishing Asian American Consciousness in Detroit"

Posted by sylvie at 11:42 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

There was a really great article comparing the same-sex marriage struggle to the fight against anti-miscegenation laws in the Pacific Citizen.

Continue reading "The Right to Get Married"

Posted by neela at 11:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Where are all my winners at?

Posted by lisalee at 11:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

As Harry mentioned last week, Turner Classic Movies will be airing a month-long retrospective, "Race and Hollywood: Asian Images in Film," this June. I spoke about Asian/American images with the festival's co-host Peter X. Feng who is Associate Professor of film, ethnic, and cultural studies at the University of Delaware and author of the book Screening Asian Americans.

Continue reading "Interview with TCM Asian Images in Film's Peter X. Feng"

Posted by sylvie at 1:55 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (1)

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Who Will Be the First Asian American Presidential Candidate?

"Hollywood Chinese" in LA and NYC

Brian Tee Cast in "Crash" Series

John Cho, Eric Byler Featured in Spaces Issue of Hyphen

Slant Film Festival Starts Friday

Writer Vincent Ngo Behind Will Smith's "Hancock"

New Indiana Jones Harmless, But Bad

Self-Hating Esther Ku on 'Last Comic Standing'

More Asian Americans get voted off the island

A letter to Top Chef's Dale Talde

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