In its 18th year running, Anime Expo shows no signs of losing interest. More than 40,000 anime enthusiasts are expected to attend between July 2 and July 5 in Los Angeles for the largest anime, manga and games convention.
"Anime covers the full breadth and depth of human emotion, but it is also fearless in the topics that it is willing to tackle such as nuclear fallout, biowarfare or S&M. Our attendee demographic ranges from 15 to over 50. It is split 45/55 between women and men. The Expo also does its best to cover all aspects of Japanese anime. While the top titles in the U.S. are familiar names like 'Naruto,' 'Dragon Ball,' 'Final Fantasy' and 'Pokemon,' Liang says that interest in other areas is strong. 'Shojo (aimed at girls aged 10-18) and Seined (for men aged 18-30) reign supreme; it's what drives the sales for major publishers and bookstores in the U.S., but the Yaoi manga (homoerotic male-relationship stories aimed at girls) panel has been one of the most avidly attended panels at our convention." Link, Link
Huy Fong Sriracha sauce, the Thai-inspired hot-pepper sauce famous for its dominant white rooster against the backdrop of the bright red sauce bottle. Quite possibly, the Sriracha sauce tastes great on everything has taken the following in recent years, even to the extent of having devoted fans.
Despite its popularity, the origins are not very well known. David Tran, after seeking an Asian inspired alternative to Heinz ketchup, created of the sauce in Los Angeles in the early 1980s. The name of his company, Huy Fong was the name of the freighter he took while escaping post-war Vietnam.
"The lure of Asian authenticity is part of the appeal. Some American consumers believe Sriracha to be a Thai sauce. Others think it is Vietnamese. The truth is that Sriracha, as manufactured by Huy Fong Foods, may be best understood as an American sauce, a polyglot puree with roots in different places and peoples." Link
San Francisco's Asian Art Museum is now exhibiting more than 160 objects - weaponry, costumes, paintings, ceramics and more. This exhibit which runs through September 20, 2009 explores the principles that governed the culture of the samurai lords.
"Lords of the Samurai takes an intimate look at the daimyo, or provincial lords of the warrior class in feudal Japan, approximately from the 1300s to 1860. Though trained to be fierce fighters, they also strove to master artistic, cultural, and spiritual pursuits." Link, Link
"Chinese or Japanese?" An exerpt from the TV show King of the Hill brings up a good example of what it means to be Asian American and the understanding of how race and ethnicity can affect us either individually or our perceptions of Asians in the United States.
"Up," produced by Pixar Animation Studios and Disney is the latest computer animated motion picture. Released on May 29, 2009, the film stars a cranky old man and an overeager wilderness explorer who fly to South America in a floating house suspended in balloons. The part of Russell, the Asian American young scout is read by Jordan Nagai, a seven-year-old Japanese American. Jordan Nagai interview for up: Link
The character of Russell was modeled on an Asian American animator at Pixar, Peter Sohn. Below is an excerpt taken from an interview of the film's director. Pete Docter, talking about the character Russell. Link
"Pete Sohn is such an entertaining character that we thought, let’s just try to grab him and figure out what he was like as a kid, so that’s kind of where that came from and just trying to be specific and different than things we’d done in the past. We talked early on about making some story point about that but I think by not dealing with it it’s more color blind or accepting or whatever, you just cast that character and move forward.”
Interesting demographics of United States racial breakdown of professional sports organization based upon the illustration found on Good Magazine. The diagram includes Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, National Football League and Major League soccer.
Contrary to any summer movie lineup filled with action packed blockbusters, 2009 is a little different. Unlike summer's in the past, this year possibly features the most Asian American actors and characters. Like typical American cinematography, there is a lack of Asian-American actors. However, this summer's lineup Asian American actors play "normal" roles as opposed to the typical kung fu master or Asian high school student.
Disney Pixar's UP - Perhaps the largest Asian American role for this summer came from the character, Russel from the movie UP. Russel is voiced by a 9-year old Japanese-American actor named Jordan Nagai.
Star Trek - Korean-American actor, John Cho who portrays Hikaru Sulu in Star Trek.
Terminator Salvation - Dutch/Irish and South Korean, Korinna Moon Bloodgood plays the love interest for the newest hybrid Terminator.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Korean star, Daniel Henney plays the villain Agent Zero.
Second annual Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival will be held on June 12th and 13th, 2009 at the Japanese American National Museum in downtown Los Angeles, CA. The Festival is an annual free public event celebrating stories of the Mixed racial and cultural experience through the use of films, readings, workshops and live performances. Link, Link
In continuion to Pepsi White post, this summer's limited release product by Pepsi will be Pepsi Shiso. Released to convenience stores on June 23rd, it has got to be one of the most interesting and curious drink flavors to be in the market.
Shiso is a minty herb popular in asian cuisine, especially Japanese. Often eaten with sashimi or for salads, spaghetti, or even pizza. Link
In its 18th year running, Anime Expo shows no signs of losing interest. More than 40,000 anime enthusiasts are expected to attend between July 2 and July 5 in Los Angeles for the largest anime, manga and games convention. 
