ONLINE SHOPPING MALL
As we are fast approaching the holiday season, a personal invitation
is extended to visit our online shopping mall to review our
gift options and choices that features artists of Asian descent
- among other options. Click on the above-listed "Gift Links" listed above.
PREJUDICES
DURING CHANDLER'S DYNASTY AT LA TIMES
"I don't want to read, and none of my friends wants to read,"
she scolded her son (Otis), as he recalled the conversation
years later, "about black foster parents and Spanish women who
run clinics, or the sad story of some woman who has 10 children
and has never been married and is on Aid to Families With Dependent
Children."
He (Otis) once paraphrased the
angry letters he received from readers, and relatives, who
missed the old Times: "Your grandfather would have turned
over in his grave if he could see what you are doing to The
Times today. It used to be a good Republican newspaper, and
now we don't know what it is. And it's even endorsing Democrats,
and it even has black faces in the paper, and it even has
news about labor unions and labor leaders!"
For more info, click HERE
APA & MEDIA NEWS
MICHAEL FUNG - WAL-MART'S CHIEF AUDIT EXECUTIVE
Wal-Mart has appointed an APA within upper management. Senior
Vice President Michael Fung is the company's chief audit executive.
He has a seat on the board of the Asian and Pacific Islander
American Scholarship Fund (APIASF), a group that Wal-Mart and
other corporations helped to create.
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
JANE HYUN'S "BREAKING THE BAMBOO CEILING"
Jane Hyun noticed some familiar traits in Asian Pacific American
interviewees that she saw in herself when she graduated from
Cornell University and first entered the workforce — a manifest
conflict between her built-in Asian values and adopted Western
corporate values.
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
ASIAN AMERICANS - AN INVISIBLE MARKET
InterTrend's Julia Huang believes that Asian Americans are an
"invisible" market to U.S. packaged goods companies. As proof
of her assertion, she recalled the researcher who once showed
her videotape from a San Jose, Calif., supermarket in which
two Chinese shoppers were seen opening packages of detergent,
soap and salad dressing, touching and smelling the items before
placing them back on shelves.
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
GISH JEN'S DEFINITION OF "IDENTITY
For author Gish Jen, Chinese Americans have gone from misfits
to regular suburban teenagers to fully assimilated locals who
don't speak Mandarin and who marry whites, and in the process,
redefined the meaning of identity. A major theme in Jen's work
is that identity is fluid and that traditional definitions of
identity based on skin color and geographical origin no longer
apply in today's America.
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
"SURVIVOR" SPONSORS DECISIONS
GM and some other big advertisers have dumped their longtime
sponsorship of "Survivor," but they insisted last week that
the decision had nothing to do with the CBS show's new "ethnic"
format, where teams will initially be divided along racial lines.
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH
But to have "Do you speak English?" and its corollaries ("Where
are you really from?") thrown at you everywhere from a street
corner in New Haven, Conn., to a restaurant in Silver Lake is
to realize that you will always be labeled as "the other" merely
because of the way you look.
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
"THE ROCK" IN A MOVIE OF "HARD KNOCKS"
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is talking about the injuries that
have torn up his athlete-turned-movie-star body over the years.
A complete shoulder reconstruction. Four knee surgeries. One
by one, he ticks off his old football wounds. One, two, three
ruptured disks, all during his senior year in college.
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
FUGITIVE JIN CHENG FOUND
Wanted by federal and state authorities in New York City, Jin
Cheng Chen decided to hide in small-town Mid-America. The alleged
organized-crime honcho stayed incognito for months in tiny Carthage.
But the FBI finally tracked him down, and the big-city fugitive
was corralled by little-town cops.
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
L.A. DODGERS' HONG-CHI KUO
The L.A. Dodgers feared that their pitcher's (Taiwan's Hong-Chih
Kuo) left elbow twice reconstructed by Tommy John surgery couldn't
withstand the demands of being a starting pitcher, so they had
the 25-year-old relieve all year. Pitching exclusively from
the stretch in his first career start, he threw six scoreless
innings in a 5-0 shutout win that kept the Dodgers in first
place in the National League West and will keep Kuo in the rotation
for at least another start.
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
YUNJIN KIM INTERVIEW
When Yunjin
Kim originally auditioned for Lost, she was looking to play
Kate, the troubled fugitive stuck in a love triangle between
hero Jack and roguish anti-hero Sawyer. The producers didn't
feel like she was right for the part, but they liked her nonetheless,
and decided to write a role especially for her: Sun, the optimistic
but put-upon wife of Korean businessman Jin (Daniel Dae Kim).
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
TAMILYN TOMITA INTERVIEW
So is it any surprise that the woman
who has it all holds absolutely nothing back when she's
onstage, no more than a few feet from the closest audience member,
giddy with the idea that by the end of her performance, she
has left you bleary-eyed and slack-jawed?
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
RUSSELL WONG/SUNG KANG INTERVIEW
The stars of Chris Chan Lee's Undoing, Russell
Wong and Sung Kang are the contemporary representations
of Asian American masculinity in Hollywood, be it by devouring
watermelons salaciously or getting phone numbers the hard way.
They tell why bringing sexy back is harder than it looks and
how it takes some educated manuevering to navigate through Hollywood.
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
GLORIA KIM HELPING THE HOMELESS
For 20 years, Kim has been feeding the homeless of Los Angeles,
rising each day at 2 a.m. to cook vegetable soup and bundle
bunches of bananas, grapes and bagels into plastic bags. She
distributes the food to people living under bridges, in parking
lots and on street corners. The homeless greet her with hugs
and call her "Mama." They pray together and sing "Amazing Grace."
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
SCOTT FUJITA
The name on the football jersey reads "Fujita," but by his own
admission, he does not have one drop of Japanese blood. Instead
New Orleans Saints linebacker number 55 has what he calls dual
heritage — a chiseled jaw line and green Irish eyes that belie
his other identity. Yes. Scott Fujita is Japanese American.
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
FELICIA HOSHINO'S INTERNMENT CAMP ILLUSTRATIONS
The topic of Japanese-American internment was rarely discussed
in Felicia Hoshino's home. "Growing up, I was told how painful
an experience camp was for my grandparents and that they did
not feel comfortable talking about it," she said. That is one
of the main reasons Hoshino chose to illustrate Amy Lee-Tai's
book, "A Place Where Sunflowers Grow."
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
JOHN WOO'S RED CLIFF'S CAST
John Woo has cast Chow Yun-Fat, Ken Watanabe, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai
and Taiwanese supermodel Lin Chi-Ling in his Chinese costumer,
The Battle of Red Cliff, a co-production with the China Film
Group. Based on the classic Chinese novel "Romance of the Three
Kingdoms," the film is set in the final days of the Han Dynasty
in the year 208 and covers the war that established the Three
Kingdoms period, when China had three rulers. Canadian Entertainment
site Canada.com is reporting on the upcoming John
Woo helmed epic Battle of Red Cliff and how the film could
be used as a marketing device for the upcoming
Beijing 2008 Olympics.
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
HA JIN'S JOURNEY
Every summer Lin Kong returned to Goose Village to divorce his
wife, Shuyu. For seven years now, this line from the bestseller
Waiting has defined the writing career of Ha Jin, a stocky and
shy creative- writing professor at Boston University who left
his wife and baby behind in China in 1985 to come to the United
States and get his PhD, intending to return home and work as
a teacher. But he decided to stay.
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
TONY JAA'S "THE PROTECTOR" Jaa
explained how his style had changed for his second movie. "The
action was a little easier because we had a bigger budget, and
we were able to hire martial arts specialist from all around
the world, specializing in wrestling and Capoeria. There's an
emphasis on a heavier, more action-packed Muay Thai with more
(simulating of) breaking of bones and then there was also the
traditional Muay Thai fighting with elephants."
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
ROBERT MINKOFF DIRECTING J&J PROJECT
Robert Minkoff (The Lion King, Stuart Little and Stuart Little
2) is slated to direct The J&J Project - the long anticipated
movie that would team two of China's biggest stars, Jackie Chan
and Jet Li. Apparently, it's going to be Jet Li's first movie
for kids (and hopefully, it will be Jackie Chan's last.)
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
20/20 PROGRAM ON RACISM Daniel
Dae Kim told 20/20 he'd played at least fifty roles on television
and had never gotten to kiss a woman on-screen until "Lost."
Kim says Hollywood stereotypes Asian American actors, relegating
them to certain roles. "We've been portrayed as inscrutable
villains and asexualized kind of eunuchs," Kim says. "Even Jackie
Chan in his movies rarely gets to kiss his female lead."
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
PETER LEUNG - 1ST APA NAACP REPRESENTATIVE
Peter Leung - the first Asian-American ever to serve as president
of an NAACP chapter - is equal parts enthusiastic entrepreneur,
angry activist and resolute role model. An agitator from his
days as a youth living in Hong Kong, he is determined to be
a positive example to Asian-Americans and other minority groups.
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
JOHN WOO/CHOU YUN-FAT DEVELOPING VIDEO GAMES
I went to E3 several years ago and saw my action style imitated
in a lot of other games, and they were not even well done. I
thought I should protect my trademark and produce my own videogames.
I can bring stronger characters and better storytelling to the
games. I want the gameplayer to feel like they are watching
a movie, except that they are in the director's seat.
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
CHOU YUN-FAT IN "CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER"
Production on Zhang Yimou's "Curse of the Golden Flower", as
the film now seems to be known in the West (which is apparently
a more direct translation of the Chinese title) rumbles forward,
with the director now shooting a crucial scene filled with chrysanthemum
flowers and involving Chow Yun Fat as the emperor and Jay Chou
as a rebellious prince.
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
DIVERSITY AND "SURVIVOR
CBS argues that getting to know these contestants will help
dispel stereotypes. It also will allow us to see which stereotypes
are true and discuss which differences make us uncomfortable.
Maybe if we admit that race is a factor — just like gender and
age — we'll be a little more honest with each other. And maybe
we'll also realize that, if we're going to survive, we really
need to band together against the yellow people.
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
JET LI'S LAST MARTIAL ARTS FILM
After making martial arts movies for 26 years, the 43-year-old
actor is ringing down the curtain on that part of his career
with "Jet Li's Fearless." "In this movie and in my past three
movies, I continue to say that violence is not any solution,"
the energetic actor said in a recent phone interview from New
York. His next movie is "Rogue," a thriller involving the FBI
and the Mafia.
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
STEWART KWOH, L.A. TIMES & TRIBUNE
20 Los Angeles civic leaders (including APALC's Stewart Kwoh)
sent a letter to Tribune Co., owners of the Los Angeles Times.
The letter, signed by former U.S. Secretary of State Warren
Christopher and other prominent citizens, warned that continued
cuts and staff reductions were threatening to erode the quality
of journalism at The Times. The letter called on the company
and its stockholders "to resist economic pressures to make additional
cuts."
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
OPENING OF SAN GABRIEL'S WAL-MART
After more than three years of controversy, Wal-Mart celebrated
the grand opening of its Supercenter in Rosemead. But the political
fallout from the battle will culminate today when voters in
the predominantly Latino and Asian suburb of 55,000 in the San
Gabriel Valley decide whether to recall two council members
who back the retail giant.
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
"MOZART OF MATH" - TERENCE TAO
A UCLA mathematician sometimes called the "Mozart of Math,"
a Stanford University aviation engineer using abstract mathematical
principles to help prevent airborne collisions, a San Francisco
entrepreneur developing affordable drugs for neglected diseases
in Third World countries and a Palo Alto engineer helping the
blind read are among the 25 winners of this year's MacArthur
Foundation "genius" grants. Read his interview by clilcking
HERE.
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
SURVIVOR: EVERYBODY HAS STEREOTYPES
Survivor Host Jeff Probst commented that "When you start talking
to a person from Asia, you realize, 'Wow, they have all different
backgrounds!' Show comments from the Asian team included "We
fly under the radar. Nobody suspects these little people with
slanted eyes to see anything or to be strong enough to do anything."
That's the thing about stereotypes — they're persistent, plenty,
and everybody's got them.
Click Here to Read More>>>>>
IMAGINE THE POWER OF 1M ADDITIONAL AA VOTERS
It is important to recognize that Asian Americans are California's
3rd largest vote bloc, and every Asian American running at the
base of the ticket will generate votes for the top of the ticket.
In California, 1 million registered Asian American Californians
voted, but 1.5 million Asian Americans who were eligible to
vote, did not. In
