Protest of 'The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard'

Posted at 8/21/2009 07:21:00 PM


Following the recent release of 'The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard' movie that opened in theaters last Friday, actor Ken Jeong has embroiled a lot of controversy. In the movie, the car dealership manager makes reference to "Japs" and Pearl Harbor before the actor Ken Jeong is beaten by his co-workers for looking Japanese. In this day and age, it should not be acceptable for public hate crimes, especially in the context of trying to be funny. There could have been various other ways for a comedic effect of 'motivating' the sales members rather than an act of hate crime.

Other recent movies by Ken Jeong such as The Hangover, he embarrassingly portrays an angry Asian crime boss. In the movie, Knocked Up, Ken Jeong plays a short-tempered doctor. "Those who have seen the movie will probably agree that Jeong's character Mr. Chow is quite possibly the most blatantly over-the-top racial stereotype of an Asian man since Mickey Rooney put on 'Yellow Face' makeup to play a 'crazy Jan in the upstairs apartment' for the movie 'Breakfast at Tiffany's.'

What exactly is Hollywood trying to say by making these kind of movies and are moviegoers that pressed for laughs that make it ok for anti-'Political Correctness'?

Today, several Asian American media advocacy groups such as The Japanese American Citizens League, Imada Wong Communications Group and Media Action Network for Asian Americans will be protesting at Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles for the release of The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard. Link, Link

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Asian Television Dramas - DramaFever

Posted at 8/17/2009 10:25:00 PM
Based in New York City, DramaFever is a new community website for the fans of Asian television dramas. "We're huge fans of Asian television dramas, especially from Korea, Japan and China. With engaging story lines and top notch talent, these dramas are incredible entertainment. Unfortunately in the past, it's been difficult for North American viewers to watch their favorite dramas and discover new ones. The best options were websites with pirated content and bootleg DVDs." DramaFever was launched to provide a better way to watch drama television which is 100% free. Link

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Vietnamese Coffee (Cà Phê)

Posted at 8/16/2009 11:48:00 AM

Coffee, first introduced into Vietnam by French Colonists in the late 19th Century, the drink was quickly adopted with regional variations. Due to limitations of availability of fresh milk, the French and Vietnamese used sweetened condensed milk with a dark roast coffee. Vietnamese coffee (Cà Phê) traditionally uses coarsely ground and individually brewed with a small metal drip filter and poured into a cup containing condensed milk and ice. Link

What makes Vietnamese Coffee different from the local Starbucks?
1. Drip Filter
A metal coffee filter using a screw-down mechanism to compress coffee grounds into a dense layer through which hot water is filtered.

2. Rich complex blends coffee beans
Blends of coffee including robusta, arabica, chari and catimor coffee beans.

3. Addition of sweetened condensed milk.
Distinct Southeast Asian influence that transforms coffee into a sweet dessert.

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Ni Hao, Kai-Lan, the Mandarin Dora

Posted at 8/12/2009 09:46:00 AM
Premiered on Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. morning kids shows, Ni Hao, Kai-Lan is Nickelodeon's first animated steries to feature Chinese culture, specifically the Mandarin language. Given the huge success of the bilingual television show, Dora the Explorer, which taught Spanish to preschoolers, Nickelodeon is hoping the same cute Kai-lan Chow and her animal friends will have the same effect on learning Mandarin. The series will likely reach millions of kids across the country but Nickelodeon is hoping the show will be particularly poplular in the California Bay Area.

Ni Hao, Kai-Lan features a pre-school aged Chinese girl named Kai-lan, her animal friends, and her grandfather, ye-ye. The show not only introduces Chinese words to learn, there is also the occasional songs sung in Chinese. Ni Hao, Kai-Lan was created by Karen Chau, a first-generation Chinese American who was working as a graphic designer when she came up with the idea. Link

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One Perfect Bowl of Ramen at a Time

Posted at 8/10/2009 09:49:00 PM

Nicknamed the Ramen-Bot, a Tokyo restaurant has programmed a robot to cook the perfect bowl of ramen noodles. 20 million yen and five years, shop owner Yoshihara Uchida developed a robot to custom make broth by adjusting everything from the level of soy sauce and salt to the richness of the soup. "The custom-made broth is then delivered via conveyor belt to the chef who adds noodles and toppings. The whole process takes two minutes, less time than it would take to boil water for instant noodles." Link


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Miss Asian America Pagent

Posted at 8/07/2009 09:19:00 AM
Beginning in 1985, the Miss Asian America Pageant is the premier event in the Asian American community and is the longest running Asian american pageant in the United States. "The Miss Asian America Pageant displays the rich ethnic diversity of our society and gives us a glimpse into the many different cultures that surrounds us today. This pageant encourages young aspiring Asian American women to reach new heights and to work hard to turn their dreams into reality." Link

Miss Asian America Pageant will be held August 8, 2009 in San Francisco. Learn more


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Miniature Brides - Latest Thing in Wedding Photography

Posted at 8/06/2009 02:24:00 PM

A bizzarre indeed wedding photography trend that is hitting China and Korea hard. This weird trend of taking pictures of couples with the bride shrunk in Photoshop and put in various adorable poses such as miniature bride in the hands of the groom or miniature bride sitting on the shoulders of the groom. Adorable or creepy, what is your take? Link

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Anyone Can Speak Chinese with Chinglish.com

Posted at 8/05/2009 04:05:00 PM
Chinglish.com, a website format to promote linguistic and cultural communication between Chinese and English speaking countries with the creation of an internet community in which Chinese and English can coexist and enrich each other in a single location. 

Email being the primary application on the internet, "Chinglish is the only email system providing a web-based Chinese input method editor (IME). This enables any user outside of China to email in Chinese from computers that cannot switch alphabet to characters for lack of a Chinese IME or operating system."

"The very first email message from China was sent in 1986 but it took another decade for internet to become available to the Chinese public. Internet being a Western invention, email protocol originally was developed for the alphabet. Until today, China's 150 million internet users could not use their own name in their language to email with." Chinglish gives Chinese their identity and language back as well as helps the vast number of foreigners studying Chinese and cross-cultural communication. Link

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Rice Art

Posted at 8/04/2009 05:10:00 PM

Started in a local village of Inakadate, Japan (600 miles north of Tokyo) sixteen years ago, rice art is a yearly project to revitalize the local economy. Farmers sketch out their designs on computers to help determine where each rice needs to be planted. Murals are created by planting purple and yellow-leafed kodaimai rice along with the green-leafed tsugaru roman variety. A different design is shown each year where more than 15,000 visitors travel to see.

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