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LATEST NEWS FOR OCTOBER 2002

Our invitation is extended to discover various Asian American leaders listed below, information on our past victories and the many great things that are presently happening in our communities.

For additional and specific information on the subjects listed here, please “CLICK” on the many links found within each article. They will continue your journey to exploring “in-depth” the various topics being highlighted in this section.

Discover the latest events in the following categories

NATIONAL NEWS

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MUSIC EVENTS

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THEATER EVENTS

INTERVIEWS AND REVIEWS

FEATURED ARTISTS

YOUR MUSICAL INPUT IS NEEDED as we seek identify the best songs from our music artists.

Click HERE to have your opinion heard on the following music groups:

  • Bad Candie (folk rock)
  • Francis Kim (folk rock)
  • Second Wind (r&b)
  • Gorillaz (hip-hop)
  • String Cheese Incident (jam band)
  • Junoon (rock)
  • Regine Velasquez (pop)
  • Rachael Lampa (Christian pop)

Click HERE on your views if people would come to a Hollywood night club showcasing prominent Asian Pacific American music artists.


FEATURED ARTISTS & LEADERS

Ellen Poon

ELLEN POON

She is the CEO and founder of DFreedomZone Inc. based in San Francisco specializing in providing real-time 3D visualization software and interesting 3D content for the World Wide Web.

Ellen Poon obtained her undergraduate degree in Computer Science from the University of Essex in England. She continued her Ph.D. studies at University of London and subsequently published two books on her reserach in Theoretical Computer Science.

Ellen was the head of the 3D Department at Rushes Post Production in London - a subsidiary of Virgin Enterprises. She also spent four years as Senior Computer Animator and Software Designer at Carlton Communications' Moving Picture Company in London. Rushes and the MPC are two of the best-known and most prolific commercial and television post-production companies in Europe.

Starting in 1990, as a top visual effects supervisor with the illustrious George Lucas’ ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) Visual Effects team, she has worked with the highly acclaimed Chinese director Zhang Yimou and ground-breaking films (i.e. Jurassic Park, The Mask, Disclosure, Jumanji, and Perrier's Toy Soldier spot.)

Ms. Poon brings to her projects a unique combination of inspiration, meticulous technical expertise and fiscal acumen enhanced by a refined creative aesthetic. She has a reputation of working closely with directors in helping them bring their ideas to life.

Her forte is creature animation or character animation films.

Ms. Poon has served as a visiting lecturer at various prestigious universities throughout the world such as Royal College of Art, Middlesex University and Westminster University. She has co-authored "Programming with Standard ML" and "Programming with Miranda."

As a co-founder of DFreedomZone, she states that her San Francisco-based company produces engaging 3D animation for the entertainment and advertising industries. DFZ's unique 3D graphics rendering technology creates dynamic online and multimedia experiences designed to reach and influence teen and college-aged consumers. By combining the company's real-time 3D visualization software with its production experience, DFZ offers a unique combination of inspiration, meticulous technical expertise and fiscal acumen enhanced by a refined creative aesthetic.

DOUG CHIANG

Doug grew up in a rural city in Taiwan. When his parents moved to Michigan in the United States, he had difficulty assimilating into the new culture and found drawing to be a safe haven and outlet to express himself without talking. As a result, he found that he had a gift of drawing.

Doug Chiang

Doug Chiang studied film at the University of California, at Los Angeles, and industrial design at the Center of Creative Studies, College of Art and Design.

His first professional experience was working for a company called Digital Productions where he was hired to design and direct computer generated TV commercials and flying logos. His first assignment was designing the opening title logo for the premiere of The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Chiang then worked as a Stop Motion key animator on the Pee Wee's Playhouse television series. He soon rose to become a Clio Award winning commercial director and designer for Rhythm and Hues, Digital Productions, and Robert Abel and Associates. He won a Clio Award for his work on a Malaysian Airlines ad in 1994.

In 1989, Chiang joined Industrial, Light, and Magic as a Visual Effects Art Director and became the Creative Director in 1993. During this time, he worked as Visual Effects Art Director for films including Ghost, Back to the Future II, The Doors, Terminator 2, Death Becomes Her (won an Academy Award), Forrest Gump, Jumanji, and The Mask. He has earned both an Academy Award and a British Academy Award for Death Becomes Her and another British Academy Award for Forrest Gump.

As an independent film director, Chiang has received numerous awards, including First Place in the FOCUS Awards for his film Mental Block. Chiang's personal paintings have appeared nationwide in various publications as well as limited edition prints and posters.

In 1995 Chiang left ILM to head up the Art Department as Design Director (Director of Concept Design) for Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, Episode II, Matrix 3 and his personal film / book project Robota that he started in 1993.

Robota initially started as a project to teach myself painting and design. During free weekends and nights, Doug would work on combining his two interests in art - nature and technology - in order to push his skills.

Doug loved to explore the interrelationship between nature and technology, especially since he perceives this as complimentary elements. While exploring this relationship with art, the Robota story began to unfold.

Doug describes the above-mentioned "film book" as simply an art book story told in a film-like manner. This allows him to utilize the ability of the quality of “books” that allows the viewer to delve into the thoughts and motives of the main characters in ways film can’t. While incorporating the strengths of “films” to present drama in a linear time specific format that allows for a very controlled storytelling. The other added element is the Internet medium to produce something different.

In 2001, he joined the Earth and Beyond™ Online team as a consultant and will be providing concept art for all of the player space ships in the game. Earth and Beyond Online is Westwood’s first massively-multiplayer online role-playing game set in a persistent galaxy. The game is set in the future, when star travel is in its earliest stages, and humans are just starting to breach the boundaries of the solar system.

Artists and designers such as Robert Bateman, Syd Mead, Ron Cobbs, Ralph McQuarrie, Howard Terpning, Hugh Ferris among other people’s works have influenced him.

Chronology

  • Feb 16 - born in Taipei,Taiwan, the 2nd of 3 children.
  • Immigrated to the U.S. & lived in Dearborn, Michigan.
  • Moved to Westland, Michigan - a suburb of Detroit.
  • Made first film in Junior High School using pixelation - animating people.
  • Made 12+ three minute animated shorts between 1975-77.
  • Won Grand Prize in the Michigan Student Film Festival Produced w/”Gladiator”
  • Met John Prusak who became his film mentor.
  • Inspired to be a stop motion animator after seeing Saw Star Wars & The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
  • Won 1st Place in Michigan Student film Festival with his 10 minute sci-fi fiction film modeled after Star Wars
  • Hospitalized for complications after a routine abdominal surgery. Spent the next six months in intensive care and over the next year underwent a total of eight more abdominal surgeries.
  • Graduated from John Glenn High School with honors.
  • Studied Industrial Design at Center for Creative Studies, College of Art and Design in Detroit.
  • Worked as a T.A. for a film production class at Michigan’s Ford Vocational/Technical Center
  • Moved to California and attended UCLA. Majored in Film Production.
  • Worked for the UCLA Daily Bruin newspaper as an illustrator.
  • Became Art Director for the UCLA Daily Bruin.
  • Produced Mental Block, a five minute animated film. The film was awarded First Prize in the FOCUS film competition and won a Nissan Sentra automobile.
  • Took first professional freelance job doing storyboard work for industrial films.
  • Was hired as Director / Designer for Digital Productions, a Los Angeles based computer graphics company.
  • Directed and designed the opening logo for the premiere of the Oprah Winfrey Show.
  • After digital Productions closed down, he freelanced and worked as the stop motion animator for the second season of Pee Wee's Playhouse.
  • Joined Rhythm and Hues as Director/Designer. Directed several computer graphic commercials.
  • Left Rhythm and Hues to work as a concept designer for Universal Pictures on Back to the Future 2.
  • Accepted a position as Visual Effects Art Director at Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) and moved to Northern California.
  • Won an Academy Award and a British Academy Award for Death Becomes Her.
  • Started conceptualizing Robota: Reign of Machines.
  • Became Creative Director for ILM.
  • Commissioned by Oceanic, a scuba equipment manufacturer, to paint his first Limited Edition Print.
  • Won a Clio Award for Best Set Design for a Malaysian Airlines commercial.
  • Got married.
  • Joined Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace as Design Director.
  • Won another British Academy Award for Forrest Gump.
  • Birth of first son, Jake.
  • Star Wars Episode 1 is released.
  • Birth of second son, Ryan.
  • Started work on Star Wars Episode II.
  • Named "100 of the Most Influential Asian Americans of the Decade" by A.Magazine: Inside Asian America
  • Visual Keynote Speaker for the Games Developers Conference.
  • Doug Chiang Studio is formed.
  • Sold book rights for Robota: Reign of Machines to Callaway Editions.
  • www.dchiang.com website is launched.

Tak Fujimoto

TAK FUJIMOTO

"Tak is a master of the proper use of blending in-camera and visual effects techniques," states Steve Rundell of D-Rex - who has worked with him on many projects.

Tak Fujimoto is an award-winning Japanese-American director of photography who is considered one of the most talented camera operators in Hollywood and a fan of the "less-is-more" school of filmmaking. Tak is perhaps best known for his work with filmmaker Jonathan Demme through films such as Philadelphia, Silence of the Lambs, Married to the Mob, Something Wild, Swing Shift, Last Embrace and Caged Heat.

His rise to the top was a long one. A graduate of the prestigious London Film School, Fujimoto first worked as an assistant to Haskell Wexler on television projects and then with Jonathan Demme on several B-pictures.

He made his debut as full cinematographer on Badlands (1973). His other credits include The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Philadelphia (1993), and The Sixth Sense (1999), for which he won the American Society of Cinematographers award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases.

He has also worked with such well-known directors as Terrence Malick, Jonathan Kaplan, John Hughes and George Armitage, with credits including Night and the City, Gladiator, Miami Blues, Sweet Hearts Dance, Cocoon: The Return, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Heart Like a Wheel, Death Race 2000 and Badlands.

LIST OF TAK FUJIMOTO CREDITS

  • A Thousand Acres (1997)
  • Badlands (1973)
  • Beloved (1998)
  • Borderline (1980)
  • Caged Heat (1974)
  • Cannonball (1976)
  • Cocoon: the Return (1988)
  • Crooked Hearts (1991)
  • Death Race 2000 (1975)
  • Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)
  • Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
  • Grumpier Old Men (1995)
  • Heart Like a Wheel (1983)
  • Last Embrace (1979)
  • Married to the Mob (1988)
  • Melvin and Howard (1980)
  • Miami Blues (1990)
  • Neil Young & Crazy Horse - The Complex Sessions (1995)
  • Night and the City (1992)
  • Philadelphia (1993)
  • Pretty in Pink (1986)
  • Remember My Name (1978)
  • Signs (2002)
  • Silence of the Lambs
  • Singles (1992)
  • Something Wild (1986)
  • Sweethearts Dance (1988)
  • Swing Shift (1984)
  • That Thing You Do! (1996)
  • The Replacements (2000)
  • The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
  • The Sixth Sense (1999)
  • Where the Buffalo Roam (1980)

Judy Mitoma

JUDY MITOMA Judy Mitoma is the Director of World Festival of Sacred Arts, Director of the UCLA Center for Intercultural Performance and a Professor of Dance at UCLA in the Department of World Arts & Cultures.

A Dance Ethnologist and dancer by training, her areas of specialization are Java and Bali in Indonesia, and Japan. She served as Chair of World Arts & Cultures from 1982-1997, establishing full departmental status for the program in 1995.

She worked on the 1984 Olympic Arts Festival and served as a co-curator of the 1990 Los Angeles festival with Peter Sellars.

Independently directing several Asian Performing Arts Summer Institutes (APASI) in 1977, 1979, 1981, 1984 and 1988she has brought many artists from Asia to the UCLA campus. In 1991, Judy was a Warren Weaver Fellow at the Rockefeller Foundation, conducting research in the arts of West Africa.

In 1995, she established the Center for Intercultural Performance (CIP) to support research, creative experimentation, documentation, and public outreach for the UCLA campus.

Under her leadership - UCLA/CIP has launched three major initiatives: The Asia Pacific Performing Arts Exchange Program (APPEX) funded by The Ford Foundation, The UCLA National Dance/Media Project funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, and a Humanities Residency Fellowship program with the Rockefeller Foundation. Mitoma is a consultant to the New England Foundation for the Arts, Asia Society, and is actively involved in the Los Angeles arts community.

In the fall of 1999, she successfully implemented the World Festival of Sacred Music - the Americas, 85 events throughout the city of Los Angeles as a gesture for peace and universal responsibility for the next millennium. Currently, Mitoma is compiling a Festival CD and DVD and serves as the editor-in-chief for a publication/DVD entitled "Envisioning Dance on Film and Video."

She is Editor in Chief of a publication/DVD "Envisioning Dance on Film and Video," which will be published in fall 2002 by Routledge. M.A. and B.A., University of California, Los Angeles.

Mitoma is known as a person who walks softly and carries a big grant. The soft part describes her philosophy of human interconnectedness and her ability to articulate it in melodious and dedicated tones. The grant part is simple, she explains. "It's hard work, just very hard work--there's no smoke and mirrors."


      OUR GOALS

The purpose of this section is the following:
OPPORTUNITY
to discover more about our dreams
UNDERSTANDING
our fears and our hopes and
UNCOVERING
invaluable and missing information


APA & MEDIA NEWS

PASSING OF PATSY MINK
On Saturday: September 28, 2002 - Hawaii Rep. Patsy Takemoto Mink died at the age of 74 at Straub Clinic and Hospital.

She was the first Asian-American woman (and of color) elected to the U.S. Congress (House of Representatives). This Democrat accomplished this as a member of the House for 24 years over two different stretches.

PASSING OF YUJI ICHIOKA
Professor Yuji Ichioka, 66, passed on September 1, 2002 in Los Angeles alongside his wife, Emma Gee.

He was an internationally renowned historian and Asian American Studies pioneer was born on June 23, 1936 in San Francisco. As the result of suffering through the infamous Internment camps, he dedicated his life to social justice.

He created the term “Asian American” in the late 1960’s and was a key founder of UCLA’s Asian American Studies Center. He was a writer of various books and winner of various awards

WILLIAM H. (MO) MARUMOTO APPOINTMENT
William H. (Mo) Marumoto, an Asian Pacific American trailblazer for four decades, was named by President George W. BUSH to the President's Advisory Committee on the Arts of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.

Marumoto, originally from Orange County, California, is founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of The Interface Group, Ltd., a boutique executive search firm headquartered in Washington, DC.

Previously, he served for three years as Special Assistant to President Richard M. Nixon from 1970 to 1973. He was the first Asian Pacific American to serve on the executive level of the White House.

ASIAN AMERICAN INCOME GROWTH FIGURES
During the past decade, Massachusetts' Asian-American community experienced tremendous growth (14%) in both population and income, according to new statistics from The Boston Globe and the State University of New York at Albany's Lewis Mumford Center.

The increased income brings Asian Americans nearly to the same earning level of whites. Asian Americans earned 97 cents on the dollar compared with whites, according to the study. The median household incomes in 1999 were $53,051 for whites and $51,273 for Asian Americans.

STORIES OF HMONG TEENAGER SUICIDES
Unfortunate reasons on why Hmong teenagers are committing suicide are listed below:

APA 1ST WEEKEND CLUB NEWS

  • The Debut - with nearly $1.7 million in box office gross, it now hits New York.
  • Lan Yu (from Stanley Kwan) - playing at selected cities.
  • Happy Times (from Zhang Yimou) - playing at selected cities.
  • Bend It Like Beckham (Gurinder Chadha) - played at Toronto Film Festival
  • Long Life, Happiness & Prosperity (Mina Shum) - played at Toronto Film Festival
  • Take Care of My Cat (Jeong Jae Bun) - played at Toronto Film Festival
  • Small Voices (Mga Munting Tinig) - played at Toronto Film Festival
  • Quitting (Zhang Yang) - selected theaters
  • Wasabi (Gérard Krawczyck) - selected theaters
  • Big Shot’s Funeral (Feng Xiaogang) - selected theaters
  • Happiness of the Katakuris (Takashi Miike)
  • Hush! (Hashiguchi Ryosuke)
  • Truth About Charlie (Jonathan Demme)
  • The Isle (Kim Ki-Duk)

APA’S ON TV IN SEPTEMBER

  • September 2 - 8, 2002 Listings
  • September 9 - 15, 2002 Listings
  • September 16 - 22, 2002 Listings
  • September 23 - 29, 2002 Listings

    CANADIAN APA’S NOT SEEN
    Silent on the Set, a study released today by the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University, reveals that race and cultural diversity receive only lip service in English Canadian prime time television drama.

    Report notes that just 12 percent of the 1200 characters featured in the sample were visible minorities, an incidence roughly comparable to their incidence in the general population, according to Statistics Canada figures (13.6%).

    Aboriginal characters were almost totally absent. Visible minority speaking parts averaged just three or four minutes per dramatic hour with nine out of 10 such characters speaking English without an accent.

    Racial diversity is presented almost exclusively as an urban phenomenon.

    LODESTONE’S “FREAK STORM”
    Kipp Shitani is directing Matt Pelfrey’s “FrEAk StORM” (a tale of responsibility and friendship) for six weeks, beginning October 12th, 2002 as a Lodestone Theater co-production with the Victory Theatre in Burbank, California.

    Cast includes Ray Ordona, Esperanza, Ray Chang and others.

    BOLLYWOOD’S “THE FIRE & THE RAIN”
    Arjun Sajnani's "The Fire and the Rain" ("Agnivarsha") is an epic of power, love, lust and sacrifice adapted from a play by Girish Karnad and derived from "The Myth of Yavakri," which is part of the ancient "Mahabharata" cycle. It's as if a DeMille spectacle has been staged from a present-day perspective.

    Sajnani proves to be a born screen storyteller in his ambitious and directorial debut. He makes dramatic use of the majestic ruins of Hampi, the capital city of the 13th century Vijaynagar Empire, and deftly but sparingly integrates music and dance sequences into the plot.

    RICK YUNE & LISA LING’S ASIAN MUSIC TOUR
    Actor Rick Yune, with his girlfriend Lisa Ling, has put together a concert tour featuring artists such as god, Park Jin Young, Park Ji Yoon, Rain, & Coco Lee. He hopes to "demonstrate the diversity, size and strength of Asian American consumers and, at the same time, bring the community together for a day of celebration." The first concert will take place at the Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre in Irvine, California on Oct. 26, and will move on to Washington D.C, New York, San Francisco, Houston, and Vancouver.

    ASIAN MASSIVE TOUR
    The Asian Massive tour toured across the United States in support of the new compilation CD, Asian Massive: A Six Degrees Collection.

    The Asian Massive represents the meeting place where modern urban culture weaves seamlessly with ancient south Asian traditions.

    The event featured the following artists:

    BOND’S NEW C.D. “SHINE”
    BOND - this popular International group, often called Europe’s version of “The Spice Girls,” has released their 2nd album called “Shine.”

    ASIAN INVASION AT THE LAUGH FACTORY
    Amy Anderson (http://us_asians.tripod.com/event-02sept.html#amy-anderson) has been hosting the “Asian Invasion at The Laugh Factory” (8001 Sunset Blvd.) every Saturday at midnight.

    This is one of the few major comedy club that has provided an outlet for APA comics to be viewed by the general public and a show designed to meet the needs of APA audiences.

    MARGARET CHO INTERVIEW
    Read Margaret’s views on her family, life, jokes on her mother, her films, about being “politically correct,” discrimination and Asian parents’ parental approval.

    MEG LEE CHIN MUSIC REVIEW
    The Taiwan-born London resident Chin's high-energy headlining turn was a surprisingly funky affair, with political and social overtones in such numbers as "Nutopia," her Pigface-era reinvention of Allen Ginsberg's classic poem "Howl."

    Far from the industrial music stereotype of being relentlessly atonal or monochromatic, her sound incorporated hip-hop rhythms, crunchy dub reggae, herky-jerky soul, thrashy R&B and hypnotic blues.

    ASIAN AMERICAN JAZZ FESTIVAL
    Asian American Jazz 2002, oldest jazz festival in San Francisco, celebrates “the Spirit of Improvisation” between September 20 to October 6, 2002.

    Featured artists include Malachi Favors Maghostut, Cornetist Bobby Bradford, William Roper, Robbie Kwock, Melecio Magdaluyo, Francis Wong, Miya Masaoka, Jimmy Biala & Search Five, Al Robles, Rudy Tenio, Tatsu Aoki, Jeff Chan, Jon Jang, Avotcja Jiltonilro, Destiny Muhammad, Tarika Lewis,

    JOHN CLEESE IS LUCY LIU’S FATHER?
    John Cleese will be featured as Lucy Liu’s father in Charlie's Angels 2: Halo (scheduled to be released on July 20, 2003), the sequel to the very successful 2000 film starring Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu. The original made over $125 million in the United States.

    John Cleese’s scenes were originally written for a woman who would play her mother. Lucy is a big fan of John and personally asked for him.

    Cast also includes John Forsythe, Luke Wilson, Matt Le Blanc, Demi Moore, Robert Patrick, Bernie Mac, and Crispin Glover.

    QUENTIN PAYS HOMAGE
    Quentin Turantino’s latest project (due in Fall of 2003), Kill Bill, a revenge tale whose body count is belied by its simple title, is the 39-year-old American filmmaker's homage to the fight flicks that sparked his lifelong obsession with Asian cinema.

    As a result, he’s gone to great lengths to achieve his goal in every element (i.e. fight scenes, locations, film techniques, directing “The Chinese Way,” Yuen Wo-ping as the fight choreographer, Sonny Chiba as combat coach, etc.) of this film.

    Cast includes Daryl Hannah, Lucy Liu, Vivica Fox, Sonny Chiba, Uma Thurman, Hu Xiaokui, etc.

    1ST APA ON “SURVIVOR”
    Shii Ann Huang, former 28 years old ASUC Senator, is the first Asian American contestant to compete in the “Survivor” Series.

    Shii Ann Huang was an English major who graduated with honors in 1996 who presently works as an executive recruiter for a technology company in Manhattan. She has a master's degree in interactive media from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

    DISNEY DOES MARTIAL ARTS
    Disney is negotiating with Yuen Wo Ping - Chinese choreographer of groundbreaking action films "The Matrix" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," to direct his first English language in this live-action take on "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" after finishing Quentin Tarantino’s on "Kill Bill."

    Yuen is already having helmed some 27 pictures there including recent Dimension import chopsocky "Iron Monkey" (originally released in 1993). He is credited for discovering Michelle Yeoh, Jet Li and Jackie Chan.

    HAWAII MAKE PRIMETIME WAVES
    Imagine Television and 20th Century Fox TV announced the signing of writer-director John Stockwell (Blue Crush) to create and oversee The Break for Fox TV in Hawaii.

    Paramount Network TV said that it plans a new Hawaii-set series called 808 (the area code for the state) from writer-director Simon West (Con Air, Tomb Raider).

    DAVID HENRY HWANG’S “FDS”
    Hwang’s “fresh and radical version” of "Flower Drum Song" (created in 1996), was recreated in his own mold to deal with the stereotypes surrounding Chinese Americans today.

    '''Flower Drum Song' (which opened on September 23, 2002) was the first and only Broadway musical about Asian Americans, starring Asian Americans. Hwang's other musicals include "M. Butterfly", a deconstruction of Giacomo Puccini's opera "Madame Butterfly", and "Golden Child", an account of his own family history.

    Hwang doesn't feel obliged to portray Asians in a positive light. "When my parents came to this country in the 1950's, the images of Asians were of a poor and uneducated people; Chinese then might have thought their problems would be solved if only people would instead think of us as wealthy and educated. Obviously, the latter image has now taken precedence, but only evolved into yet another stereotype."

    "Flower Drum Song" will be the first Broadway musical with an all-Asian cast since Stephen Sondheim's "Pacific Overtures" in 1976 and first Broadway musical with Asian lead characters since "Miss Saigon" in 1991.

    CHINESE FASHION DOLL
    Yue Sai Kan is the creator of a line of dolls called Yue Sai Wa Wa (wa wa means both "doll" and "little girl" in Chinese) that celebrates Asian beauty. It achieved on the QVC home shopping network, a seismic $350,000 worth of dolls were sold in the first hour.

    OCA AND LEAP’S 9/11 MEMORIAL STATEMENTS
    Read about OCA (Organization of Chinese Americans) and LEAP’s “Statement on September 11th Anniversary.

    HAYAO MIYAZAKI’S “SPIRITED AWAY”
    Disney’s Spirited Away” Japanese director, Hayao Miyazaki, is a hero to American animators on a par with Walt Disney, Chuck Jones and Tex Avery.

    Miyazaki reasserts the power of drawn animation to create fantasies, offering an alternate reality that is refreshingly free of overarticulated details of 3D computer graphics.

    Since 1985, he’s (along with Isao Takahata) has created a string of critical and box office successes in Japan: "Castle in the Sky" (1986), "My Neighbor Totoro" (1988), "Kiki's Delivery Service" (1989), "Porco Rosso: The Crimson Pig" (1992), "Princess Mononoke" (1997) and "Spirited Away" (2001).

    “Spirited Away” was a blockbuster in Japan, earning more than $234 million in a country with less than half the population and a fraction of the screens of the U.S. and dethroning "Titanic" as the highest-grossing film in Japanese box office history.

    ERIC SIMONSON AND PHILIP KAN GOTANDA
    Acclaimed director Eric Simonson will helm San Jose Repertory Theatre's World Premiere production of Philip Kan Gotanda's The Wind Cries Mary.

    Equally at home on both stage and screen, the multitalented Simonson received a Tony Award nomination for his direction of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company production of The Song of Jacob Zulu, and Academy Award and Emmy Award nominations for the HBO film, On Tiptoe.

    The Wind Cries Mary begins performances on October 19 and continues through November 17.

    Over his career, Gotanda has created one of the largest and most varied bodies of Asian American- themed work with such plays as Fish Head Soup, Yankee Dawg You Die, The Wash, floating weeds and Yohen.

    FILMS OF TAKESHI KITANO
    Takeshi Kitano’s latest film Dolls (along with his previous films), with their jaded gangsters and bang-em-up showdowns, have a faithful following in the West.

    This 55-year-old former stand-up comedian’s Dolls tells three intertwined stories about love and fate involving a young couple bound by a thick red cord, an aging yakuza boss and the girl he left behind, and a disfigured pop star and her devoted fan.

    The stone-faced actor got his start as a comedian known as "Beat" Takeshi who eventually shifted toward more serious roles and directing. A horrendous moped accident in 1994 partially paralyzed Kitano's face and seemed to inspire him to make even more introspective and serious movies.

    2G’s CONCERT OF EXCELLENCE
    Second Generation’s Annual Concert of Excellence on Thursday: October 24, 2002 at Carnegie Hall will be hosted by by Lisa Ling (host of ABC's The View) & Rick Yune (star of the new James Bond film)

    This year's Rémy X.O Excellence honors Academy Award nominated director Zhang Yi Mou (Raise the Red Lantern, the new film Hero starring Jet Li), Hollywood leading man Jason Scott Lee (Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, The Jungle Book) and Tony-award winning playwright David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly, Flower Drum Song)

    “RAISING OUR VOICES”
    Orange County Community Action Network (OCCAN) presented "Raising Our Voices," a film that addresses the issues of hate crimes and racism as a result of the September 11th Attacks with a forum on tolerance.

    DR. BIN HAN & YIN QINGQIANG
    "Not Guilty" was the verdict handed down by the jury on Monday, August 19, 2002 for Dr. Bin Han.

    Dr. Bin Han was arrested at his home on May 18, 2002, after being fired by the University of California at Davis on May 13th. Dr. Han, a postgraduate researcher, began working for U.C. Davis in 1989 and was a member of University Professional and Technical Employees.

    He was initially charged with 3 felony counts: (1) theft of trade secrets, (2) possession of stolen property, and (3) embezzlement. Dr. Han pleaded not guilty to all three charges. Jury trial began on August 13th and the jury acquitted him on August 19th.

    Authorities allege that Yin, 38, a former postdoctoral research associate at Cornell, stole bacteria and yeast cultures for making an enzyme known as phytase, a livestock feed supplement that scientists think will improve livestock nutrition and reduce phosphorous excretion in animal waste.

    Yin Qingqiang is charged with conspiring to transport stolen property in foreign commerce and conspiring to bring biological substances onto a commercial airline. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each charge.

    PATRIOT ACT THREATENS APA’S
    Early in 2001 in a meeting with civil rights leaders, Sen. Dianne Feinstein singled out the Asian American community as the one that would face the greatest threat to civil liberties in the foreseeable future. Because of the rise of China as a global threat, Feinstein explained, Chinese Americans and Asian Americans would be the target of increasing hate violence and government targeting similar to that experienced by Los Alamos scientist Dr. Wen Ho Lee.

    API Legal Outreach attorneys (Victor Hwang and Ivy Lee) states that “As a community that has been historically branded as perpetual and unassimilable foreigners, we Asian Americans need to critically question the motivation, necessity and reach of hastily passed legislation designed to target those suspected of "domesticterrorism." http://groups.yahoo.com/group/asianamericanartistry/message/724

    JACKIE CHAN INTERVIEW
    Topics include the first time having his stunts augmented with special effects (The Tuxedo) in his 100+ films, not doing any dramatic role in what he calls a “crying movie,” making sure his American films have “good chemistry” with his co-stars, not playing villains (turning down a role in Black Rain), how his “American-style” (more dialogue, more drama, a little bit of fighting) and his Jackie Chan Adventures cartoon series.

    ELAINE CHAO INCREASE APA’S IN GOVT.
    The U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao and Director Kay Coles James of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management partnership will work to overcome two of the challenges faced by the federal workforce: a major human capital shortage as the baby boomer generation retires over the next five years; and an insufficient number of APA’s in the workforce - currently, only 2.1 percent of APA?s serve in the senior executive levels.

    ASIAN WORKERS FLEX THEIR UNION MUSCLES
    When the Chinese Daily News (largest Chinese language newspaper in L.A.) threatened pay cuts in what it called salary reconstruction, employees' frustration erupted into the unexpected: the formation of a union that reflects the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance’s continuing efforts.

    About 12% of Asian American workers belong to unions nationwide, a figure that has remained fairly steady in the last decade. Overall, 13.5% of American workers belong to unions, down from about 20% in the early 1980s, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor.

    KOREAN LANGUAGE MANDATED IN VOTING INFO
    Based on Census 2000 figures, the U.S. Justice Department announced in July 2002 that Korean-language voting assistance was now mandated (for the first time) in Queens County under the Language Assistance Provisions of the Voting Rights Act.

    New York remains the only state on the East Coast to require language assistance in any Asian language.

    CALIFORNIA’S ETHNIC MEDIA’S EFFECTIVENESS
    California's ethnic media reach nearly 90% of the state's Latino, African American and Asian American consumers, according to a Bendixen & Associates (a Florida-based research firm partially funded by the the James Irvine Foundation and the American Assn. of Advertising Agencies.

    The study also showed that about 40% of ethnic consumers polled said they generally pay more attention to advertisements in the ethnic media than in the general market media.

    GREEN BERETS HELP MONTAGNARDS
    Former Green Berets helped Vietnam’s minority hill tribes, Montagnards, settle in the US as a repayment for their help in staying alive during the Vietnam War. The Montagnards are widely remembered for having fought for the Americans and against communism during the Vietnam war.

    TOBACCO CO.’S MARKETING TO APA’S
    'Tobacco Control', published by the British Medical Journal, reveals that the tobacco industry actively courts Asian American, African-American and gay and lesbian communities.

    The core features of tobacco company strategies included emphasis on ''Asian-owned stores, direct marketing of specific cigarette brands through community cultural events, youth orientated promotions, and corporate sponsorship'' drivin by the rapid growth of Asian and Pacific Islander populations.

    RJ Reynolds has sponsored events by the National Association of Asian American Journalists and the Organization of Chinese Americans. Phillip Morris, the world's biggest tobacco company, sponsored events such as the Nisei Week Japanese Festival in Los Angeles.

    NEW CLICK2ASIA FINDS YOU A DATE
    Their latest message states “On Oct. 1st, 2002, Click2Asia will be completely transformed into a new and exciting ASIAN ONLINE DATING website!

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