Samina Faheem Sundas is doing the damn thing.
Along with winning a prestigious Jefferson Award -- a national award, administered by the American Institute of Public Service, given to those making a difference in his or her community -- she founded American Muslim Voice, serves on the steering committee for Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice in Palo Alto, is co-founder of Fear to Friendship, a group dedicated to promoting cross-cultural friendship and education in the wake of 9/11, founded Global Peace Partnership, a partnership of American Muslim Voice, Global Peace Partners and Peace Alliance and serves as a human-relations commissioner for Santa Clara County.
You can read more about here amazing feats here.
I'd be really interested to see what the actual measures of success are for these interfaith groups. It would be awesome to see a comprehensive poll on American views of Muslim Americans.
Sundas seems like an amazing communicator and organizer though ... How great would it to see a strong Pakistani woman in California's legislature?
Posted by neela at 11:25 PM | Comments (0)
Samina Faheem Sundas is doing the damn thing.
Along with winning a prestigious Jefferson Award -- a national award, administered by the American Institute of Public Service, given to those making a difference in his or her community -- she founded American Muslim Voice, serves on the steering committee for Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice in Palo Alto, is co-founder of Fear to Friendship, a group dedicated to promoting cross-cultural friendship and education in the wake of 9/11, founded Global Peace Partnership, a partnership of American Muslim Voice, Global Peace Partners and Peace Alliance and serves as a human-relations commissioner for Santa Clara County.
You can read more about here amazing feats here.
I'd be really interested to see what the actual measures of success are for these interfaith groups. It would be awesome to see a comprehensive poll on American views of Muslim Americans.
Sundas seems like an amazing communicator and organizer though ... How great would it to see a strong Pakistani woman in California's legislature?
Posted by neela at 11:25 PM | Comments (0)
Samina Faheem Sundas is doing the damn thing.
Along with winning a prestigious Jefferson Award -- a national award, administered by the American Institute of Public Service, given to those making a difference in his or her community -- she founded American Muslim Voice, serves on the steering committee for Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice in Palo Alto, is co-founder of Fear to Friendship, a group dedicated to promoting cross-cultural friendship and education in the wake of 9/11, founded Global Peace Partnership, a partnership of American Muslim Voice, Global Peace Partners and Peace Alliance and serves as a human-relations commissioner for Santa Clara County.
You can read more about here amazing feats here.
I'd be really interested to see what the actual measures of success are for these interfaith groups. It would be awesome to see a comprehensive poll on American views of Muslim Americans.
Sundas seems like an amazing communicator and organizer though ... How great would it to see a strong Pakistani woman in California's legislature?
Posted by neela at 11:25 PM | Comments (0)
One the perks of the AAIFF was seeing the work of friends and colleagues on the big screen. Ling Liu, director of Officer Tsukamoto, had her New York premiere last week. Ling and I met as students at Cal's Asian Studies Program (I dropped out; she didn’t.) In 2004, we entered the journalism program, where she produced her debut film.
Officer Tsukamoto takes us back to August 20, 1970, when a 28-year-old Berkeley police officer was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop. Ron Tsukamoto was born in the Tule Lake Japanese American internment camp, and became one of the first Asian American police officers in the country. During the early investigation of his death, police named the Black Panther Party as a group that would have supported the murder. But after a string of dead-end leads, the case closed—only to re-open more than 30 years later. It remains the only unsolved murder of a Berkeley policeman.
Ling flew in for the festival from Hong Kong, where she is a reporter for Time Asia. If she looks familiar, it's because she was an anchor reporter for Stir TV on AZN and the CCTV English Channel in Beijing. Here, she talks to Hyphen about her first documentary short.
Thirty years after Tsukamoto's death, a Berkeley investigator re-opened his case. What's the status?
The Berkeley investigator, Lieutenant Russell Lopes, encouraged the California state attorney general to take on the case. They sat on it for a year, then this past spring, they declined to hold a grand jury hearing. Lopes no longer works for the Berkeley police, so in effect, the case is closed.
Did you contact the Tsukamoto family when you learned that?
I did. They're obviously disappointed. They put a lot of hope into this; for 32 years, they didn’t hear much at all about the case. Then in 2002, Lopes decided to re-open up all cold murder cases. In two years, he made progress with the Tsukamoto case and made arrests. In 2005, he made more arrests. Everyone thought this was the big break, so to have it go nowhere is excruciatingly painful for the family.
What made this murder case so difficult to solve?
It's a tricky case. The people present at the crime scene were Ron Tsukamoto, the shooter and a third witness. The witness died eight years after Ron’s murder, in 1978. Other witnesses saw pieces of the crime, but they’ve all passed away.
How do you learn about the case?
In 2005, the Berkeley police had made a second set of arrests. If it hadn’t been for those arrests, I never would’ve known about the case. I read about it in the San Francisco Chronicle, and I just didn't get it. If the Black Panthers were targeting the police, why did they target one of the first Asian American officers? Was it race-related? And in 1970, how many Asian American officers even existed?
What were the main challenges?
Finding activists who were willing to go on camera. Potential sources shut down when they realized I was producing a film about a police officer that was murdered. To them, that automatically put me on one side of politics, and they assumed I had a certain bias because I chose to produce this film. One told me, "Why do you want to focus on a police murder? There were Black Panthers who were killed during this time—why don't you do a story on that?"
People were worried about how I would portray the Black Panthers. There has been so much incendiary coverage on the Panthers, and they felt the film would just add to that. Also, it was very common at that time, and still even now, to have negative feelings about the police. Because this was a documentary about a police officer that was murdered, very few people wanted to go on camera and admit that they hated cops, and that at rallies, they once yelled "off the pigs!"
The Black Panthers declined to be interviewed for your film. Why?
When Lopes made a connection between the suspects and the Panthers, they saw it as just another way to drag the Panthers' name in the mud—even decades later. That's why it was so important for someone from the Panthers to go on camera and explain what kind of organization they were. Instead, Yuri Kochiyama [who appears in the film] taught me more about what the Panthers were about. She also pointed out that Ron was a rookie with no record of being abusive toward anyone in the community. This was just a guy who was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Posted by Kai at 8:19 PM | Comments (14)
One the perks of the AAIFF was seeing the work of friends and colleagues on the big screen. Ling Liu, director of Officer Tsukamoto, had her New York premiere last week. Ling and I met as students at Cal's Asian Studies Program (I dropped out; she didn’t.) In 2004, we entered the journalism program, where she produced her debut film.
Officer Tsukamoto takes us back to August 20, 1970, when a 28-year-old Berkeley police officer was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop. Ron Tsukamoto was born in the Tule Lake Japanese American internment camp, and became one of the first Asian American police officers in the country. During the early investigation of his death, police named the Black Panther Party as a group that would have supported the murder. But after a string of dead-end leads, the case closed—only to re-open more than 30 years later. It remains the only unsolved murder of a Berkeley policeman.
Ling flew in for the festival from Hong Kong, where she is a reporter for Time Asia. If she looks familiar, it's because she was an anchor reporter for Stir TV on AZN and the CCTV English Channel in Beijing. Here, she talks to Hyphen about her first documentary short.
Thirty years after Tsukamoto's death, a Berkeley investigator re-opened his case. What's the status?
The Berkeley investigator, Lieutenant Russell Lopes, encouraged the California state attorney general to take on the case. They sat on it for a year, then this past spring, they declined to hold a grand jury hearing. Lopes no longer works for the Berkeley police, so in effect, the case is closed.
Did you contact the Tsukamoto family when you learned that?
I did. They're obviously disappointed. They put a lot of hope into this; for 32 years, they didn’t hear much at all about the case. Then in 2002, Lopes decided to re-open up all cold murder cases. In two years, he made progress with the Tsukamoto case and made arrests. In 2005, he made more arrests. Everyone thought this was the big break, so to have it go nowhere is excruciatingly painful for the family.
What made this murder case so difficult to solve?
It's a tricky case. The people present at the crime scene were Ron Tsukamoto, the shooter and a third witness. The witness died eight years after Ron’s murder, in 1978. Other witnesses saw pieces of the crime, but they’ve all passed away.
How do you learn about the case?
In 2005, the Berkeley police had made a second set of arrests. If it hadn’t been for those arrests, I never would’ve known about the case. I read about it in the San Francisco Chronicle, and I just didn't get it. If the Black Panthers were targeting the police, why did they target one of the first Asian American officers? Was it race-related? And in 1970, how many Asian American officers even existed?
What were the main challenges?
Finding activists who were willing to go on camera. Potential sources shut down when they realized I was producing a film about a police officer that was murdered. To them, that automatically put me on one side of politics, and they assumed I had a certain bias because I chose to produce this film. One told me, "Why do you want to focus on a police murder? There were Black Panthers who were killed during this time—why don't you do a story on that?"
People were worried about how I would portray the Black Panthers. There has been so much incendiary coverage on the Panthers, and they felt the film would just add to that. Also, it was very common at that time, and still even now, to have negative feelings about the police. Because this was a documentary about a police officer that was murdered, very few people wanted to go on camera and admit that they hated cops, and that at rallies, they once yelled "off the pigs!"
The Black Panthers declined to be interviewed for your film. Why?
When Lopes made a connection between the suspects and the Panthers, they saw it as just another way to drag the Panthers' name in the mud—even decades later. That's why it was so important for someone from the Panthers to go on camera and explain what kind of organization they were. Instead, Yuri Kochiyama [who appears in the film] taught me more about what the Panthers were about. She also pointed out that Ron was a rookie with no record of being abusive toward anyone in the community. This was just a guy who was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Posted by Kai at 8:19 PM | Comments (14)
One the perks of the AAIFF was seeing the work of friends and colleagues on the big screen. Ling Liu, director of Officer Tsukamoto, had her New York premiere last week. Ling and I met as students at Cal's Asian Studies Program (I dropped out; she didnt.) In 2004, we entered the journalism program, where she produced her debut film.
Officer Tsukamoto takes us back to August 20, 1970, when a 28-year-old Berkeley police officer was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop. Ron Tsukamoto was born in the Tule Lake Japanese American internment camp, and became one of the first Asian American police officers in the country. During the early investigation of his death, police named the Black Panther Party as a group that would have supported the murder. But after a string of dead-end leads, the case closed—only to re-open more than 30 years later. It remains the only unsolved murder of a Berkeley policeman.
Ling flew in for the festival from Hong Kong, where she is a reporter for Time Asia. If she looks familiar, it's because she was an anchor reporter for Stir TV on AZN and the CCTV English Channel in Beijing. Here, she talks to Hyphen about her first documentary short.
Thirty years after Tsukamoto's death, a Berkeley investigator re-opened his case. What's the status?
The Berkeley investigator, Lieutenant Russell Lopes, encouraged the California state attorney general to take on the case. They sat on it for a year, then this past spring, they declined to hold a grand jury hearing. Lopes no longer works for the Berkeley police, so in effect, the case is closed.
Did you contact the Tsukamoto family when you learned that?
I did. They're obviously disappointed. They put a lot of hope into this; for 32 years, they didnt hear much at all about the case. Then in 2002, Lopes decided to re-open up all cold murder cases. In two years, he made progress with the Tsukamoto case and made arrests. In 2005, he made more arrests. Everyone thought this was the big break, so to have it go nowhere is excruciatingly painful for the family.
What made this murder case so difficult to solve?
It's a tricky case. The people present at the crime scene were Ron Tsukamoto, the shooter and a third witness. The witness died eight years after Rons murder, in 1978. Other witnesses saw pieces of the crime, but theyve all passed away.
How do you learn about the case?
In 2005, the Berkeley police had made a second set of arrests. If it hadnt been for those arrests, I never wouldve known about the case. I read about it in the San Francisco Chronicle, and I just didn't get it. If the Black Panthers were targeting the police, why did they target one of the first Asian American officers? Was it race-related? And in 1970, how many Asian American officers even existed?
What were the main challenges?
Finding activists who were willing to go on camera. Potential sources shut down when they realized I was producing a film about a police officer that was murdered. To them, that automatically put me on one side of politics, and they assumed I had a certain bias because I chose to produce this film. One told me, "Why do you want to focus on a police murder? There were Black Panthers who were killed during this time—why don't you do a story on that?"
People were worried about how I would portray the Black Panthers. There has been so much incendiary coverage on the Panthers, and they felt the film would just add to that. Also, it was very common at that time, and still even now, to have negative feelings about the police. Because this was a documentary about a police officer that was murdered, very few people wanted to go on camera and admit that they hated cops, and that at rallies, they once yelled "off the pigs!"
The Black Panthers declined to be interviewed for your film. Why?
When Lopes made a connection between the suspects and the Panthers, they saw it as just another way to drag the Panthers' name in the mud—even decades later. That's why it was so important for someone from the Panthers to go on camera and explain what kind of organization they were. Instead, Yuri Kochiyama [who appears in the film] taught me more about what the Panthers were about. She also pointed out that Ron was a rookie with no record of being abusive toward anyone in the community. This was just a guy who was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Posted by Kai at 8:19 PM | Comments (14)
Years ago, I was sitting in an airplane when I overheard an older gentleman behind me talking about a film. "I just saw a movie that made me jump from my seat in applause!" His exhilaration was palpable—as if his seatbelt was keeping him from jumping up again. "Seabiscuit!" he exclaimed. "Yes, the horse movie."
During the tail end of the Asian American International Film Festival, Lee Jun-ik's King and the Clown seemed to have the same effect. No, I didn’t jump, but I sensed others wanted to. People were laughing so hard that the chairs were rocking, and during moments of hilarious suspense, they were cringing behind their hands.
Of course, a plotline about an all-male troupe that tries to win the laughter of a tyrannical king is bound to be funny. But this story of two jesters—an ass-whupping alpha-male and an effeminate drag queen – blurs the lines of intimacy and desire through a love triangle that results in disaster. Think The Last Emperor (a horribly isolated ruler) meets Farewell, My Concubine (male friendship and pervasive misery), but add the bang-and-clang of traditional Korean drums, comedic brilliance, and a gender-bending male actor with flawless skin.
Before The Host, King and the Clown was the highest grossing domestic film in South Korea, a zeitgeist-changing feat given its raunchy political satire and homoerotic subtext. We’re talking South Korea here—a Confucian-rooted country that produces more heterosexual sap than Martha Stewart Weddings.
As the popularity of the King and the Clown attests, South Korea has come a long way (though the press tended to gloss over gay desire and praised the acting instead.) Not too long ago, actor Hong Suk-chon lost his job when he became the first South Korean celebrity to come out as gay; he’s now made a comeback. And in 2004, the country's Youth Protection Commission dropped homosexuality from its list of "socially unacceptable" acts.
But on my way out, I overheard a woman debating the film with her friends, claiming that the two main characters were "just friends."
"There was nothing physical; it was purely platonic," she emphasized.
Looks like the South Korean media isn't the only thing in denial.
Posted by Kai at 1:49 PM | Comments (0)
Years ago, I was sitting in an airplane when I overheard an older gentleman behind me talking about a film. "I just saw a movie that made me jump from my seat in applause!" His exhilaration was palpable—as if his seatbelt was keeping him from jumping up again. "Seabiscuit!" he exclaimed. "Yes, the horse movie."
During the tail end of the Asian American International Film Festival, Lee Jun-ik's King and the Clown seemed to have the same effect. No, I didn’t jump, but I sensed others wanted to. People were laughing so hard that the chairs were rocking, and during moments of hilarious suspense, they were cringing behind their hands.
Of course, a plotline about an all-male troupe that tries to win the laughter of a tyrannical king is bound to be funny. But this story of two jesters—an ass-whupping alpha-male and an effeminate drag queen – blurs the lines of intimacy and desire through a love triangle that results in disaster. Think The Last Emperor (a horribly isolated ruler) meets Farewell, My Concubine (male friendship and pervasive misery), but add the bang-and-clang of traditional Korean drums, comedic brilliance, and a gender-bending male actor with flawless skin.
Before The Host, King and the Clown was the highest grossing domestic film in South Korea, a zeitgeist-changing feat given its raunchy political satire and homoerotic subtext. We’re talking South Korea here—a Confucian-rooted country that produces more heterosexual sap than Martha Stewart Weddings.
As the popularity of the King and the Clown attests, South Korea has come a long way (though the press tended to gloss over gay desire and praised the acting instead.) Not too long ago, actor Hong Suk-chon lost his job when he became the first South Korean celebrity to come out as gay; he’s now made a comeback. And in 2004, the country's Youth Protection Commission dropped homosexuality from its list of "socially unacceptable" acts.
But on my way out, I overheard a woman debating the film with her friends, claiming that the two main characters were "just friends."
"There was nothing physical; it was purely platonic," she emphasized.
Looks like the South Korean media isn't the only thing in denial.
Posted by Kai at 1:49 PM | Comments (0)
Years ago, I was sitting in an airplane when I overheard an older gentleman behind me talking about a film. "I just saw a movie that made me jump from my seat in applause!" His exhilaration was palpable—as if his seatbelt was keeping him from jumping up again. "Seabiscuit!" he exclaimed. "Yes, the horse movie."
During the tail end of the Asian American International Film Festival, Lee Jun-ik's King and the Clown seemed to have the same effect. No, I didnt jump, but I sensed others wanted to. People were laughing so hard that the chairs were rocking, and during moments of hilarious suspense, they were cringing behind their hands.
Of course, a plotline about an all-male troupe that tries to win the laughter of a tyrannical king is bound to be funny. But this story of two jesters—an ass-whupping alpha-male and an effeminate drag queen blurs the lines of intimacy and desire through a love triangle that results in disaster. Think The Last Emperor (a horribly isolated ruler) meets Farewell, My Concubine (male friendship and pervasive misery), but add the bang-and-clang of traditional Korean drums, comedic brilliance, and a gender-bending male actor with flawless skin.
Before The Host, King and the Clown was the highest grossing domestic film in South Korea, a zeitgeist-changing feat given its raunchy political satire and homoerotic subtext. Were talking South Korea here—a Confucian-rooted country that produces more heterosexual sap than Martha Stewart Weddings.
As the popularity of the King and the Clown attests, South Korea has come a long way (though the press tended to gloss over gay desire and praised the acting instead.) Not too long ago, actor Hong Suk-chon lost his job when he became the first South Korean celebrity to come out as gay; hes now made a comeback. And in 2004, the country's Youth Protection Commission dropped homosexuality from its list of "socially unacceptable" acts.
But on my way out, I overheard a woman debating the film with her friends, claiming that the two main characters were "just friends."
"There was nothing physical; it was purely platonic," she emphasized.
Looks like the South Korean media isn't the only thing in denial.
Posted by Kai at 1:49 PM | Comments (0)
Tie a Yellow Ribbon director Joy Dietrich. Photo by Seng Chen.
Joy Dietrich's film Tie a Yellow Ribbon will screen at AAIFF tonight at 9:15pm, and from what I understand, it's very close to selling out the theater. Also, there will be an afterparty a short walk away from the Asia Society at Stir with Dietrich, the actors, crew and producers.
I had spoken with Dietrich just hours before it's premiere in San Francisco. (My earlier post, with a synopsis, here.)
I asked her about how she arrived at the different motifs present in the film, such as the use of the Andrew Wyeth painting Christina's World.
Said Dietrich:
The film is about a woman searching for home. I think Asian American young women are sort of sometimes lost in the United States. And I want talk about being Asian and being American. And it's such an American iconographic painting. And the same thing with [the song] "Tie a Yellow Ribbon"—it's so American. ... So I think that the central idea ... is a search for home. A sense of belonging. And that is the metaphor for the film.
Which version of "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" were you thinking of?
To tie a yellow ribbon is to remember, to honor. ... Traditionally it's about war. This [film] is about the statistic that Asian American women have one of the highest rates of depression in the country. And I think one of the highest wtihin in one age group, I think it's 15 - 24...
What ideas are you carrying through [your films]?
Well, because I'm a Korean adoptee, I'm really really interested in making connection, the idea of connection. How when you feel so disconnected, do you stay frozen, or do you make that first leap of connecting with other people? I think for adoptees, it's particularly hard to trust people. And the feeling of abandonment is something you will have carry with you for the rest of your life. So I liked exploring the ideas of adoption, connection, disconnection, alienation, and you know, I generally do social issue films. I'm thinking already of my next project, and I'd like to do one more theme on birth and adoption. ... For some reason every Korean adoptee is now doing a film, a documentary—and I'm just not interested in the mother/birth search, or finding your family, I'm more interested in the psychology—what happens to you on the inside, to adults and to children, and to the families.
--
More recently, she mentioned over the phone that her film had done better at the more generalized film festivals than the Asian American ones, to where she was awarded Best Narrative Feature at the Urbanworld Vibe Film Fest and Best Director at CineVegas Film Festival. It's interesting that she felt it was received better at non-Asian American venues, since it is very much an identity film, and one that deals with a very critical topic—depression and Asian American women. What are the implications of this?
Posted by rebecca at 4:30 PM | Comments (0)
Tie a Yellow Ribbon director Joy Dietrich. Photo by Seng Chen.
Joy Dietrich's film Tie a Yellow Ribbon will screen at AAIFF tonight at 9:15pm, and from what I understand, it's very close to selling out the theater. Also, there will be an afterparty a short walk away from the Asia Society at Stir with Dietrich, the actors, crew and producers.
I had spoken with Dietrich just hours before it's premiere in San Francisco. (My earlier post, with a synopsis, here.)
I asked her about how she arrived at the different motifs present in the film, such as the use of the Andrew Wyeth painting Christina's World.
Said Dietrich:
The film is about a woman searching for home. I think Asian American young women are sort of sometimes lost in the United States. And I want talk about being Asian and being American. And it's such an American iconographic painting. And the same thing with [the song] "Tie a Yellow Ribbon"—it's so American. ... So I think that the central idea ... is a search for home. A sense of belonging. And that is the metaphor for the film.
Which version of "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" were you thinking of?
To tie a yellow ribbon is to remember, to honor. ... Traditionally it's about war. This [film] is about the statistic that Asian American women have one of the highest rates of depression in the country. And I think one of the highest wtihin in one age group, I think it's 15 - 24...
What ideas are you carrying through [your films]?
Well, because I'm a Korean adoptee, I'm really really interested in making connection, the idea of connection. How when you feel so disconnected, do you stay frozen, or do you make that first leap of connecting with other people? I think for adoptees, it's particularly hard to trust people. And the feeling of abandonment is something you will have carry with you for the rest of your life. So I liked exploring the ideas of adoption, connection, disconnection, alienation, and you know, I generally do social issue films. I'm thinking already of my next project, and I'd like to do one more theme on birth and adoption. ... For some reason every Korean adoptee is now doing a film, a documentary—and I'm just not interested in the mother/birth search, or finding your family, I'm more interested in the psychology—what happens to you on the inside, to adults and to children, and to the families.
--
More recently, she mentioned over the phone that her film had done better at the more generalized film festivals than the Asian American ones, to where she was awarded Best Narrative Feature at the Urbanworld Vibe Film Fest and Best Director at CineVegas Film Festival. It's interesting that she felt it was received better at non-Asian American venues, since it is very much an identity film, and one that deals with a very critical topic—depression and Asian American women. What are the implications of this?
Posted by rebecca at 4:30 PM | Comments (0)
Tie a Yellow Ribbon director Joy Dietrich. Photo by Seng Chen.
Joy Dietrich's film Tie a Yellow Ribbon will screen at AAIFF tonight at 9:15pm, and from what I understand, it's very close to selling out the theater. Also, there will be an afterparty a short walk away from the Asia Society at Stir with Dietrich, the actors, crew and producers.
I had spoken with Dietrich just hours before it's premiere in San Francisco. (My earlier post, with a synopsis, here.)
I asked her about how she arrived at the different motifs present in the film, such as the use of the Andrew Wyeth painting Christina's World.
Said Dietrich:
The film is about a woman searching for home. I think Asian American young women are sort of sometimes lost in the United States. And I want talk about being Asian and being American. And it's such an American iconographic painting. And the same thing with [the song] "Tie a Yellow Ribbon"—it's so American. ... So I think that the central idea ... is a search for home. A sense of belonging. And that is the metaphor for the film.
Which version of "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" were you thinking of?
To tie a yellow ribbon is to remember, to honor. ... Traditionally it's about war. This [film] is about the statistic that Asian American women have one of the highest rates of depression in the country. And I think one of the highest wtihin in one age group, I think it's 15 - 24...
What ideas are you carrying through [your films]?
Well, because I'm a Korean adoptee, I'm really really interested in making connection, the idea of connection. How when you feel so disconnected, do you stay frozen, or do you make that first leap of connecting with other people? I think for adoptees, it's particularly hard to trust people. And the feeling of abandonment is something you will have carry with you for the rest of your life. So I liked exploring the ideas of adoption, connection, disconnection, alienation, and you know, I generally do social issue films. I'm thinking already of my next project, and I'd like to do one more theme on birth and adoption. ... For some reason every Korean adoptee is now doing a film, a documentary—and I'm just not interested in the mother/birth search, or finding your family, I'm more interested in the psychology—what happens to you on the inside, to adults and to children, and to the families.
--
More recently, she mentioned over the phone that her film had done better at the more generalized film festivals than the Asian American ones, to where she was awarded Best Narrative Feature at the Urbanworld Vibe Film Fest and Best Director at CineVegas Film Festival. It's interesting that she felt it was received better at non-Asian American venues, since it is very much an identity film, and one that deals with a very critical topic—depression and Asian American women. What are the implications of this?
Posted by rebecca at 4:30 PM | Comments (0)
When I was younger, I was a hardcore reader. I read in every place that it was socially acceptable to do so — and even a few where it was not (church) or was technically challenging (the bath). I even had one of those little pocket lights that attached to the tops of books so I could read at night riding in my parents' car on the drive home.
I wanted to read more about Asian American kids like myself, but at that time Asian American young adult fiction basically meant Lawrence Yep , who was a big favorite of mine. Hungry for anything else that might reflect my community, I also read the entirely age-inappropriate Amy Tan, as well as books set in Communist China (Anchee Min) and modern Japan (Banana Yoshimoto - highly recommended!).
But I really wanted to read a Babysitter's Club that was about Asian Americans; a Sweet Valley High about Asian Americans; and a Sleepover Club about Asian Americans. I wanted to read books about teens who happened to be Asian Americans, like me, but where their ethnicity didn't define them or preoccupy them 24/7, like me. In my dream teen book series, they were just normal teens, who sometimes ate Chinese food but sometimes ate meatloaf for dinner. Their parents spoke English and didn't put pressure on them to study hard, get into Harvard, and marry Asian. They had crushes on other Asian Americans, not white classmates. Their friends were all Asian American.
I realize only now how unrealistic this is - or is it?
I ask you, readers: do you know any books today that portray Asian American youth in realistic, nonstereotypical, non-cliche ways?
Has my dream series finally become a reality?
Should I get out my reading light again?
Posted by lisamac at 3:45 PM | Comments (4)
When I was younger, I was a hardcore reader. I read in every place that it was socially acceptable to do so — and even a few where it was not (church) or was technically challenging (the bath). I even had one of those little pocket lights that attached to the tops of books so I could read at night riding in my parents' car on the drive home.
I wanted to read more about Asian American kids like myself, but at that time Asian American young adult fiction basically meant Lawrence Yep , who was a big favorite of mine. Hungry for anything else that might reflect my community, I also read the entirely age-inappropriate Amy Tan, as well as books set in Communist China (Anchee Min) and modern Japan (Banana Yoshimoto - highly recommended!).
But I really wanted to read a Babysitter's Club that was about Asian Americans; a Sweet Valley High about Asian Americans; and a Sleepover Club about Asian Americans. I wanted to read books about teens who happened to be Asian Americans, like me, but where their ethnicity didn't define them or preoccupy them 24/7, like me. In my dream teen book series, they were just normal teens, who sometimes ate Chinese food but sometimes ate meatloaf for dinner. Their parents spoke English and didn't put pressure on them to study hard, get into Harvard, and marry Asian. They had crushes on other Asian Americans, not white classmates. Their friends were all Asian American.
I realize only now how unrealistic this is - or is it?
I ask you, readers: do you know any books today that portray Asian American youth in realistic, nonstereotypical, non-cliche ways?
Has my dream series finally become a reality?
Should I get out my reading light again?
Posted by lisamac at 3:45 PM | Comments (4)
When I was younger, I was a hardcore reader. I read in every place that it was socially acceptable to do so and even a few where it was not (church) or was technically challenging (the bath). I even had one of those little pocket lights that attached to the tops of books so I could read at night riding in my parents' car on the drive home.
I wanted to read more about Asian American kids like myself, but at that time Asian American young adult fiction basically meant Lawrence Yep , who was a big favorite of mine. Hungry for anything else that might reflect my community, I also read the entirely age-inappropriate Amy Tan, as well as books set in Communist China (Anchee Min) and modern Japan (Banana Yoshimoto - highly recommended!).
But I really wanted to read a Babysitter's Club that was about Asian Americans; a Sweet Valley High about Asian Americans; and a Sleepover Club about Asian Americans. I wanted to read books about teens who happened to be Asian Americans, like me, but where their ethnicity didn't define them or preoccupy them 24/7, like me. In my dream teen book series, they were just normal teens, who sometimes ate Chinese food but sometimes ate meatloaf for dinner. Their parents spoke English and didn't put pressure on them to study hard, get into Harvard, and marry Asian. They had crushes on other Asian Americans, not white classmates. Their friends were all Asian American.
I realize only now how unrealistic this is - or is it?
I ask you, readers: do you know any books today that portray Asian American youth in realistic, nonstereotypical, non-cliche ways?
Has my dream series finally become a reality?
Should I get out my reading light again?
Posted by lisamac at 3:45 PM | Comments (4)
I should have known better than to think that I could blog while on vacation in New York City. For one, I enter a time warp (especially when it's hot out, unlike the presently chilly San Francisco). Secondly, becoming the pack mule to my laptop while trekking around Manhattan in search of free wireless led me to realize why there are so many neon signs for businesses that say "Back and Foot Rub for Men and Women." So you can see why I lagged in posting about the good times had at the Asian American International Film Festival.
Justin Lin's mockumentary Finishing the Game was AAIFF's opening film last Thursday (here's what Neela thought of it at SFIAAFF), and the gala reception was held at the top floor of the Asia Society. Keeping in line with Finishing the Game, the party had a 70s theme, with a costume contest and a plane ticket for the winner to Hong Kong.
In spite of the rollergirl and the disco kings and queens, this dude won the contest:
"You even have red wine!" I said.
"I'm glad you noticed," he said.
He was deemed the winner by the film's cast (Sung Kang, Monique Curnen, McCaleb Burnett) and director Justin Lin:
Along with Roger Fan, who was pulling out the nonstop funny:
The guy in the middle is Asian Cinevision Board Member Greg Chew, a co-founder of Dae Advertising and now a Gavin Newsom-appointed SF Film commissioner. Mr. Chew knows how to party.
More on the fest to follow...
Posted by rebecca at 9:57 PM | Comments (1)
I should have known better than to think that I could blog while on vacation in New York City. For one, I enter a time warp (especially when it's hot out, unlike the presently chilly San Francisco). Secondly, becoming the pack mule to my laptop while trekking around Manhattan in search of free wireless led me to realize why there are so many neon signs for businesses that say "Back and Foot Rub for Men and Women." So you can see why I lagged in posting about the good times had at the Asian American International Film Festival.
Justin Lin's mockumentary Finishing the Game was AAIFF's opening film last Thursday (here's what Neela thought of it at SFIAAFF), and the gala reception was held at the top floor of the Asia Society. Keeping in line with Finishing the Game, the party had a 70s theme, with a costume contest and a plane ticket for the winner to Hong Kong.
In spite of the rollergirl and the disco kings and queens, this dude won the contest:
"You even have red wine!" I said.
"I'm glad you noticed," he said.
He was deemed the winner by the film's cast (Sung Kang, Monique Curnen, McCaleb Burnett) and director Justin Lin:
Along with Roger Fan, who was pulling out the nonstop funny:
The guy in the middle is Asian Cinevision Board Member Greg Chew, a co-founder of Dae Advertising and now a Gavin Newsom-appointed SF Film commissioner. Mr. Chew knows how to party.
More on the fest to follow...
Posted by rebecca at 9:57 PM | Comments (1)
I should have known better than to think that I could blog while on vacation in New York City. For one, I enter a time warp (especially when it's hot out, unlike the presently chilly San Francisco). Secondly, becoming the pack mule to my laptop while trekking around Manhattan in search of free wireless led me to realize why there are so many neon signs for businesses that say "Back and Foot Rub for Men and Women." So you can see why I lagged in posting about the good times had at the Asian American International Film Festival.
Justin Lin's mockumentary Finishing the Game was AAIFF's opening film last Thursday (here's what Neela thought of it at SFIAAFF), and the gala reception was held at the top floor of the Asia Society. Keeping in line with Finishing the Game, the party had a 70s theme, with a costume contest and a plane ticket for the winner to Hong Kong.
In spite of the rollergirl and the disco kings and queens, this dude won the contest:
"You even have red wine!" I said.
"I'm glad you noticed," he said.
He was deemed the winner by the film's cast (Sung Kang, Monique Curnen, McCaleb Burnett) and director Justin Lin:
Along with Roger Fan, who was pulling out the nonstop funny:
The guy in the middle is Asian Cinevision Board Member Greg Chew, a co-founder of Dae Advertising and now a Gavin Newsom-appointed SF Film commissioner. Mr. Chew knows how to party.
More on the fest to follow...
Posted by rebecca at 9:57 PM | Comments (1)
As part of its publicity blitz for The Simpsons Movie, several 7-Elevens around the country have been turned into Kwik-E-Marts, just like the ones run by Apu, the Indian American store owner from the animated TV show.
Whether Apu's character, who, among other things, speaks with a heavy accent, is offensive or not has been debated since he first appeared. The 7-Eleven promos for the movie have started some new chatter on the blogsphere, and CNN aired a report on the stores. (See the YouTube video above.)
Here's an analysis of the CNN report at Racialicious.
Manish at Ultrabrown is a longtime critic of Apu and weighs in on the movie promos. He's also quoted in the CNN report.
There's always a fine line between satire that's funny and satire that offends, especially when it deals with race or ethnicity. I've not seen the movie, but Rob Schneider's Asian minister character in I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry may also fall into this category.
Apu and most of the other ethnic humor in movies and TV tend make a particular group the butt of the joke rather than lampooning stereotypes in an enlightening way. Are you laughing with Apu or at him? That's the question.
Posted by harry at 9:15 AM | Comments (4)
As part of its publicity blitz for The Simpsons Movie, several 7-Elevens around the country have been turned into Kwik-E-Marts, just like the ones run by Apu, the Indian American store owner from the animated TV show.
Whether Apu's character, who, among other things, speaks with a heavy accent, is offensive or not has been debated since he first appeared. The 7-Eleven promos for the movie have started some new chatter on the blogsphere, and CNN aired a report on the stores. (See the YouTube video above.)
Here's an analysis of the CNN report at Racialicious.
Manish at Ultrabrown is a longtime critic of Apu and weighs in on the movie promos. He's also quoted in the CNN report.
There's always a fine line between satire that's funny and satire that offends, especially when it deals with race or ethnicity. I've not seen the movie, but Rob Schneider's Asian minister character in I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry may also fall into this category.
Apu and most of the other ethnic humor in movies and TV tend make a particular group the butt of the joke rather than lampooning stereotypes in an enlightening way. Are you laughing with Apu or at him? That's the question.
Posted by harry at 9:15 AM | Comments (4)
As part of its publicity blitz for The Simpsons Movie, several 7-Elevens around the country have been turned into Kwik-E-Marts, just like the ones run by Apu, the Indian American store owner from the animated TV show.
Whether Apu's character, who, among other things, speaks with a heavy accent, is offensive or not has been debated since he first appeared. The 7-Eleven promos for the movie have started some new chatter on the blogsphere, and CNN aired a report on the stores. (See the YouTube video above.)
Here's an analysis of the CNN report at Racialicious.
Manish at Ultrabrown is a longtime critic of Apu and weighs in on the movie promos. He's also quoted in the CNN report.
There's always a fine line between satire that's funny and satire that offends, especially when it deals with race or ethnicity. I've not seen the movie, but Rob Schneider's Asian minister character in I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry may also fall into this category.
Apu and most of the other ethnic humor in movies and TV tend make a particular group the butt of the joke rather than lampooning stereotypes in an enlightening way. Are you laughing with Apu or at him? That's the question.
Posted by harry at 9:15 AM | Comments (4)
That there above is the first published image of the forthcoming Best of Slant DVD. What is Slant you ask? Slant: Bold Asian American Images is a film festival I started 7 years ago in Houston. At the time, there wasn't much going on in terms of contemporary Asian American art in Houston. So I approached this microcinema, Aurora Picture Show about showcasing Asian American film.
Now, the Aurora Picture Show is a pretty innovative arts venue known for showing avant-garde work. They specialize in short films. They've hosted the likes of artists like Miranda July. Me? I have zero film training. But they let me get away with curating a show. Seven years later, I'm still doing it.
This year, Aurora is starting a video label so that people outside of Houston can see the interesting films and videos they screen. The Best of Slant will be one of their first releases and contains eight audience favorites from past years of the festival. I'm throwing a party for the DVD tomorrow night at Kearny Street Workshop. It's a pre-release party because the real DVDs won't be ready and for sale until the fall. (And might I add that they'll be very beautifully packaged.) But the first 30 people who walk in the door tomorrow night get a free preview copy of the DVD. Soon you'll be able to watch films from up-and-coming Asian American directors from the comfort of your own home. Nice, eh?
This Saturday, the films that screened at Slant in Houston are traveling to San Francisco. Two different programs are screening at the 4 Star Theatre, an independent theater owned by Asian Americans. (We profiled them in the last issue of Hyphen.) So come out and support these filmmakers and a cool venue. Some filmmakers will be in attendance and there will be a Q&A after the screenings.
To find out more about the screenings and films, go here.
To buy tickets, go here.
Posted by Melissa at 2:54 PM | Comments (0)
That there above is the first published image of the forthcoming Best of Slant DVD. What is Slant you ask? Slant: Bold Asian American Images is a film festival I started 7 years ago in Houston. At the time, there wasn't much going on in terms of contemporary Asian American art in Houston. So I approached this microcinema, Aurora Picture Show about showcasing Asian American film.
Now, the Aurora Picture Show is a pretty innovative arts venue known for showing avant-garde work. They specialize in short films. They've hosted the likes of artists like Miranda July. Me? I have zero film training. But they let me get away with curating a show. Seven years later, I'm still doing it.
This year, Aurora is starting a video label so that people outside of Houston can see the interesting films and videos they screen. The Best of Slant will be one of their first releases and contains eight audience favorites from past years of the festival. I'm throwing a party for the DVD tomorrow night at Kearny Street Workshop. It's a pre-release party because the real DVDs won't be ready and for sale until the fall. (And might I add that they'll be very beautifully packaged.) But the first 30 people who walk in the door tomorrow night get a free preview copy of the DVD. Soon you'll be able to watch films from up-and-coming Asian American directors from the comfort of your own home. Nice, eh?
This Saturday, the films that screened at Slant in Houston are traveling to San Francisco. Two different programs are screening at the 4 Star Theatre, an independent theater owned by Asian Americans. (We profiled them in the last issue of Hyphen.) So come out and support these filmmakers and a cool venue. Some filmmakers will be in attendance and there will be a Q&A after the screenings.
To find out more about the screenings and films, go here.
To buy tickets, go here.
Posted by Melissa at 2:54 PM | Comments (0)
That there above is the first published image of the forthcoming Best of Slant DVD. What is Slant you ask? Slant: Bold Asian American Images is a film festival I started 7 years ago in Houston. At the time, there wasn't much going on in terms of contemporary Asian American art in Houston. So I approached this microcinema, Aurora Picture Show about showcasing Asian American film.
Now, the Aurora Picture Show is a pretty innovative arts venue known for showing avant-garde work. They specialize in short films. They've hosted the likes of artists like Miranda July. Me? I have zero film training. But they let me get away with curating a show. Seven years later, I'm still doing it.
This year, Aurora is starting a video label so that people outside of Houston can see the interesting films and videos they screen. The Best of Slant will be one of their first releases and contains eight audience favorites from past years of the festival. I'm throwing a party for the DVD tomorrow night at Kearny Street Workshop. It's a pre-release party because the real DVDs won't be ready and for sale until the fall. (And might I add that they'll be very beautifully packaged.) But the first 30 people who walk in the door tomorrow night get a free preview copy of the DVD. Soon you'll be able to watch films from up-and-coming Asian American directors from the comfort of your own home. Nice, eh?
This Saturday, the films that screened at Slant in Houston are traveling to San Francisco. Two different programs are screening at the 4 Star Theatre, an independent theater owned by Asian Americans. (We profiled them in the last issue of Hyphen.) So come out and support these filmmakers and a cool venue. Some filmmakers will be in attendance and there will be a Q&A after the screenings.
To find out more about the screenings and films, go here.
To buy tickets, go here.
Posted by Melissa at 2:54 PM | Comments (0)
Image from Korean Resource Center
In the recent debate over immigration reform there was a lot of talk about the need for humane legislation for immigrant workers and families, but not enough discussion about how immigration reform would benefit undocumented students.
Immigrant students who are undocumented face big time barriers to higher education. The LA Times reported that every year, 50,000-60,000 undocumented students graduate from high school after having lived in this country for at least five years. And that’s just the reported number! Forty percent of those undocumented students live in California.
There are a whole lot of Asian students that are undocumented too, but you wouldn’t know from how the media has focused most of its attention on Latino immigrants. According to the National Korean American Service and Education Consortium Asians make up over 1 million undocumented immigrants. One out of five Korean Americans are undocumented.
It’s not uncommon for some Asian high school students to not even know they’re undocumented for different reasons. Sometimes their parents just don’t tell them they are until they’re ready to apply for a driver’s license, work or go to college. Other times, Asians don’t consider themselves undocumented because they entered the country legally, overstayed their visas once they expired, and never actually crossed a border “illegally.” Fear, shame or lack of knowledge about current immigrant laws are some other reasons why Asian parents might not tell their children they are undocumented or why Asian students might keep their immigration status to themselves.
Most undocumented students were kids when their parents immigrated to this country, and had no control over whether their parents came here legally or illegally. They may have been in this country almost their entire lives, and attended most of their K-12 education here and expect to go to college like their peers.
Yet once these students graduate from high school and attempt to go on to college, the process can be a nightmare. Undocumented students might not even know they can legally apply and attend college and might be discouraged or afraid to apply in the first place. If they do apply and get into college, they find out that they do not qualify for federal financial aid, which makes it close to impossible for an undocumented student to attend a public university with cheaper tuition. They can get private aid at a private college, but tuition at private schools is much more expensive, which is why some undocumented students opt to attend public schools.
Undocumented students who do attend college often have to work long hours to pay for school themselves. They deal with financial aid officers and college administrators who are not accustomed to dealing with undocumented students. They deal with going to school with other students who don’t have the slightest clue that they are undocumented. They try their best to adjust and have as close to a regular student life as possible.
For undocumented students who can’t go to college because their families can’t afford it, all they can really do is wait for the laws to change. One of my friends who is undocumented worked hard to pay for his undergraduate education himself. After college he applied and was admitted to law school. However, without federal financial aid, there’s no way he can afford to pay for law school and he has had to defer his admission, hoping that the laws will change soon so he can go to school. Hopefully the laws change soon since a lot of young people’s livelihoods are at stake.
Although the comprehensive immigration reform bill is unfortunately off the table for now, Congress is currently considering passage of the DREAM Act, which stands for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors. The LA Times reports that the Dream Act would enable qualified undocumented students to access financial aid and take steps towards becoming lawful permanent residents. A similar state version that would create a California DREAM Act and enable students to apply for aid to attend California’s public colleges has been proposed and is being considered by the legislature.
The Korean Resource Center reports that the Dream Act provision could be voted on this week. If you want to help support the ability of undocumented students to attain higher education please contact your Senators and ask them to support the DREAM Act amendment to H.R. 1585, which is the Department of Defense Authorization Bill. You can call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to contact your Senators’ offices.
Posted by carmina at 12:21 PM | Comments (10)
Image from Korean Resource Center
In the recent debate over immigration reform there was a lot of talk about the need for humane legislation for immigrant workers and families, but not enough discussion about how immigration reform would benefit undocumented students.
Immigrant students who are undocumented face big time barriers to higher education. The LA Times reported that every year, 50,000-60,000 undocumented students graduate from high school after having lived in this country for at least five years. And that’s just the reported number! Forty percent of those undocumented students live in California.
There are a whole lot of Asian students that are undocumented too, but you wouldn’t know from how the media has focused most of its attention on Latino immigrants. According to the National Korean American Service and Education Consortium Asians make up over 1 million undocumented immigrants. One out of five Korean Americans are undocumented.
It’s not uncommon for some Asian high school students to not even know they’re undocumented for different reasons. Sometimes their parents just don’t tell them they are until they’re ready to apply for a driver’s license, work or go to college. Other times, Asians don’t consider themselves undocumented because they entered the country legally, overstayed their visas once they expired, and never actually crossed a border “illegally.” Fear, shame or lack of knowledge about current immigrant laws are some other reasons why Asian parents might not tell their children they are undocumented or why Asian students might keep their immigration status to themselves.
Most undocumented students were kids when their parents immigrated to this country, and had no control over whether their parents came here legally or illegally. They may have been in this country almost their entire lives, and attended most of their K-12 education here and expect to go to college like their peers.
Yet once these students graduate from high school and attempt to go on to college, the process can be a nightmare. Undocumented students might not even know they can legally apply and attend college and might be discouraged or afraid to apply in the first place. If they do apply and get into college, they find out that they do not qualify for federal financial aid, which makes it close to impossible for an undocumented student to attend a public university with cheaper tuition. They can get private aid at a private college, but tuition at private schools is much more expensive, which is why some undocumented students opt to attend public schools.
Undocumented students who do attend college often have to work long hours to pay for school themselves. They deal with financial aid officers and college administrators who are not accustomed to dealing with undocumented students. They deal with going to school with other students who don’t have the slightest clue that they are undocumented. They try their best to adjust and have as close to a regular student life as possible.
For undocumented students who can’t go to college because their families can’t afford it, all they can really do is wait for the laws to change. One of my friends who is undocumented worked hard to pay for his undergraduate education himself. After college he applied and was admitted to law school. However, without federal financial aid, there’s no way he can afford to pay for law school and he has had to defer his admission, hoping that the laws will change soon so he can go to school. Hopefully the laws change soon since a lot of young people’s livelihoods are at stake.
Although the comprehensive immigration reform bill is unfortunately off the table for now, Congress is currently considering passage of the DREAM Act, which stands for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors. The LA Times reports that the Dream Act would enable qualified undocumented students to access financial aid and take steps towards becoming lawful permanent residents. A similar state version that would create a California DREAM Act and enable students to apply for aid to attend California’s public colleges has been proposed and is being considered by the legislature.
The Korean Resource Center reports that the Dream Act provision could be voted on this week. If you want to help support the ability of undocumented students to attain higher education please contact your Senators and ask them to support the DREAM Act amendment to H.R. 1585, which is the Department of Defense Authorization Bill. You can call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to contact your Senators’ offices.
Posted by carmina at 12:21 PM | Comments (10)
Image from Korean Resource Center
In the recent debate over immigration reform there was a lot of talk about the need for humane legislation for immigrant workers and families, but not enough discussion about how immigration reform would benefit undocumented students.
Immigrant students who are undocumented face big time barriers to higher education. The LA Times reported that every year, 50,000-60,000 undocumented students graduate from high school after having lived in this country for at least five years. And thats just the reported number! Forty percent of those undocumented students live in California.
There are a whole lot of Asian students that are undocumented too, but you wouldnt know from how the media has focused most of its attention on Latino immigrants. According to the National Korean American Service and Education Consortium Asians make up over 1 million undocumented immigrants. One out of five Korean Americans are undocumented.
Its not uncommon for some Asian high school students to not even know theyre undocumented for different reasons. Sometimes their parents just dont tell them they are until theyre ready to apply for a drivers license, work or go to college. Other times, Asians dont consider themselves undocumented because they entered the country legally, overstayed their visas once they expired, and never actually crossed a border illegally. Fear, shame or lack of knowledge about current immigrant laws are some other reasons why Asian parents might not tell their children they are undocumented or why Asian students might keep their immigration status to themselves.
Most undocumented students were kids when their parents immigrated to this country, and had no control over whether their parents came here legally or illegally. They may have been in this country almost their entire lives, and attended most of their K-12 education here and expect to go to college like their peers.
Yet once these students graduate from high school and attempt to go on to college, the process can be a nightmare. Undocumented students might not even know they can legally apply and attend college and might be discouraged or afraid to apply in the first place. If they do apply and get into college, they find out that they do not qualify for federal financial aid, which makes it close to impossible for an undocumented student to attend a public university with cheaper tuition. They can get private aid at a private college, but tuition at private schools is much more expensive, which is why some undocumented students opt to attend public schools.
Undocumented students who do attend college often have to work long hours to pay for school themselves. They deal with financial aid officers and college administrators who are not accustomed to dealing with undocumented students. They deal with going to school with other students who dont have the slightest clue that they are undocumented. They try their best to adjust and have as close to a regular student life as possible.
For undocumented students who cant go to college because their families cant afford it, all they can really do is wait for the laws to change. One of my friends who is undocumented worked hard to pay for his undergraduate education himself. After college he applied and was admitted to law school. However, without federal financial aid, theres no way he can afford to pay for law school and he has had to defer his admission, hoping that the laws will change soon so he can go to school. Hopefully the laws change soon since a lot of young peoples livelihoods are at stake.
Although the comprehensive immigration reform bill is unfortunately off the table for now, Congress is currently considering passage of the DREAM Act, which stands for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors. The LA Times reports that the Dream Act would enable qualified undocumented students to access financial aid and take steps towards becoming lawful permanent residents. A similar state version that would create a California DREAM Act and enable students to apply for aid to attend Californias public colleges has been proposed and is being considered by the legislature.
The Korean Resource Center reports that the Dream Act provision could be voted on this week. If you want to help support the ability of undocumented students to attain higher education please contact your Senators and ask them to support the DREAM Act amendment to H.R. 1585, which is the Department of Defense Authorization Bill. You can call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to contact your Senators offices.
Posted by carmina at 12:21 PM | Comments (10)
...or 'day-boo' as my pops would say.
What's next - vegan pan de sal?
Posted by lisamac at 5:58 PM | Comments (2)
...or 'day-boo' as my pops would say.
What's next - vegan pan de sal?
Posted by lisamac at 5:58 PM | Comments (2)
...or 'day-boo' as my pops would say.
What's next - vegan pan de sal?
Posted by lisamac at 5:58 PM | Comments (2)
Fine Arts and Literature
• July 6-Sept. 23: Celebrate American artist Hiroshi Sugimoto at the de Young museum with this retrospective collection of more than 100 photographs from 1976 to the present. Sugimoto’s black and white photographs explore the themes of time, memory, dreams, and natural histories.
• July 29: Readings by Tao Lin and Stephanie Young, with music and film by Ri Crawford. Join American novelist, poet, and short story writer Tao Lin in his first west coast reading and Oakland poet Stephanie Young.
Brought to you by Pegasus Downtown and New Yipes! at 21 Grand (416 25th St.. Oakland, CA). The show starts at 7pm, $5 admission. For more information, click here.
Film and Theater
• July 19 & 21: The 7th Annual Slant Film Festival: Bold Asian American Images
4 Star Theater (Clement & 3rd, San Francisco) and Aurora Picture Show proudly present this eclectic mix of Asian American short films.
Celebrate the Best of Slant DVD Release Party on July 19th at Kearny Street Workshop (180 Capp St., SF). Showing at 4 Star Theater on July 21. For more information, click here.
• July 5-22: (Thurs-Sun) Cowboy vs. Samurai, by Michael Golamco
The Asian American Theater Company brings to you this romantic comedy, "Cowboy vs. Samurai," a re-imagination of the "Cyrano de Bergerac" story with an Asian twist. The lives of the only two Asian Americans in the tiny western hamlet of Breakneck, Wyoming are turned upside down when the beautiful Veronica Lee, a Korean American teacher from New York City moves to town. Through irony, humor, and social commentary, "Cowboy vs. Samurai" cleverly exposes the struggle of Asian Americans to find their place in the vast American landscape...and with each other.
Showing at Thick House (1696 18th St., San Francisco). For more information, click here.
• July 19: Kickoff the Asian American International Film Festival, New York with Justin Lin’s screening of Finishing the Game.
The AAIFF ends July 28, so get your tickets now!
Community and Activism
• July 19: “Wait, is that gravy with my katsu?”
Food fanatics, join Third Thursday’s panel discussion on the authenticity of Asian American dining. Find that great Asian restaurant you’ve been craving for! For more information, click here.
• Aug.3: Community Night with the A’s
Watch the Oakland A’s battle the Los Angeles Angels in this benefit game, co-sponsored by Hyphen and the Asian Community Mental Health Services. For more information, click here.
• Aug. 4: APA Activist Training and Midwest Summit
Activists, student leaders, community leaders, and volunteers are welcome to join this progressive Saturday training provided by the DNC’s Parag Mehta, Filmmaker Eric Byler and more. Learn the basic tools of organizing including volunteer recruitment, planning events, targeting, phone banking and other useful campaign skills. For more information, click here.
Posted by choncy at 1:54 PM | Comments (0)
Fine Arts and Literature
• July 6-Sept. 23: Celebrate American artist Hiroshi Sugimoto at the de Young museum with this retrospective collection of more than 100 photographs from 1976 to the present. Sugimoto’s black and white photographs explore the themes of time, memory, dreams, and natural histories.
• July 29: Readings by Tao Lin and Stephanie Young, with music and film by Ri Crawford. Join American novelist, poet, and short story writer Tao Lin in his first west coast reading and Oakland poet Stephanie Young.
Brought to you by Pegasus Downtown and New Yipes! at 21 Grand (416 25th St.. Oakland, CA). The show starts at 7pm, $5 admission. For more information, click here.
Film and Theater
• July 19 & 21: The 7th Annual Slant Film Festival: Bold Asian American Images
4 Star Theater (Clement & 3rd, San Francisco) and Aurora Picture Show proudly present this eclectic mix of Asian American short films.
Celebrate the Best of Slant DVD Release Party on July 19th at Kearny Street Workshop (180 Capp St., SF). Showing at 4 Star Theater on July 21. For more information, click here.
• July 5-22: (Thurs-Sun) Cowboy vs. Samurai, by Michael Golamco
The Asian American Theater Company brings to you this romantic comedy, "Cowboy vs. Samurai," a re-imagination of the "Cyrano de Bergerac" story with an Asian twist. The lives of the only two Asian Americans in the tiny western hamlet of Breakneck, Wyoming are turned upside down when the beautiful Veronica Lee, a Korean American teacher from New York City moves to town. Through irony, humor, and social commentary, "Cowboy vs. Samurai" cleverly exposes the struggle of Asian Americans to find their place in the vast American landscape...and with each other.
Showing at Thick House (1696 18th St., San Francisco). For more information, click here.
• July 19: Kickoff the Asian American International Film Festival, New York with Justin Lin’s screening of Finishing the Game.
The AAIFF ends July 28, so get your tickets now!
Community and Activism
• July 19: “Wait, is that gravy with my katsu?”
Food fanatics, join Third Thursday’s panel discussion on the authenticity of Asian American dining. Find that great Asian restaurant you’ve been craving for! For more information, click here.
• Aug.3: Community Night with the A’s
Watch the Oakland A’s battle the Los Angeles Angels in this benefit game, co-sponsored by Hyphen and the Asian Community Mental Health Services. For more information, click here.
• Aug. 4: APA Activist Training and Midwest Summit
Activists, student leaders, community leaders, and volunteers are welcome to join this progressive Saturday training provided by the DNC’s Parag Mehta, Filmmaker Eric Byler and more. Learn the basic tools of organizing including volunteer recruitment, planning events, targeting, phone banking and other useful campaign skills. For more information, click here.
Posted by choncy at 1:54 PM | Comments (0)
Fine Arts and Literature
July 6-Sept. 23: Celebrate American artist Hiroshi Sugimoto at the de Young museum with this retrospective collection of more than 100 photographs from 1976 to the present. Sugimotos black and white photographs explore the themes of time, memory, dreams, and natural histories.
July 29: Readings by Tao Lin and Stephanie Young, with music and film by Ri Crawford. Join American novelist, poet, and short story writer Tao Lin in his first west coast reading and Oakland poet Stephanie Young.
Brought to you by Pegasus Downtown and New Yipes! at 21 Grand (416 25th St.. Oakland, CA). The show starts at 7pm, $5 admission. For more information, click here.
Film and Theater
July 19 & 21: The 7th Annual Slant Film Festival: Bold Asian American Images
4 Star Theater (Clement & 3rd, San Francisco) and Aurora Picture Show proudly present this eclectic mix of Asian American short films.
Celebrate the Best of Slant DVD Release Party on July 19th at Kearny Street Workshop (180 Capp St., SF). Showing at 4 Star Theater on July 21. For more information, click here.
July 5-22: (Thurs-Sun) Cowboy vs. Samurai, by Michael Golamco
The Asian American Theater Company brings to you this romantic comedy, "Cowboy vs. Samurai," a re-imagination of the "Cyrano de Bergerac" story with an Asian twist. The lives of the only two Asian Americans in the tiny western hamlet of Breakneck, Wyoming are turned upside down when the beautiful Veronica Lee, a Korean American teacher from New York City moves to town. Through irony, humor, and social commentary, "Cowboy vs. Samurai" cleverly exposes the struggle of Asian Americans to find their place in the vast American landscape...and with each other.
Showing at Thick House (1696 18th St., San Francisco). For more information, click here.
July 19: Kickoff the Asian American International Film Festival, New York with Justin Lins screening of Finishing the Game.
The AAIFF ends July 28, so get your tickets now!
Community and Activism
July 19: Wait, is that gravy with my katsu?
Food fanatics, join Third Thursdays panel discussion on the authenticity of Asian American dining. Find that great Asian restaurant youve been craving for! For more information, click here.
Aug.3: Community Night with the As
Watch the Oakland As battle the Los Angeles Angels in this benefit game, co-sponsored by Hyphen and the Asian Community Mental Health Services. For more information, click here.
Aug. 4: APA Activist Training and Midwest Summit
Activists, student leaders, community leaders, and volunteers are welcome to join this progressive Saturday training provided by the DNCs Parag Mehta, Filmmaker Eric Byler and more. Learn the basic tools of organizing including volunteer recruitment, planning events, targeting, phone banking and other useful campaign skills. For more information, click here.
Posted by choncy at 1:54 PM | Comments (0)
Hyphen is giving away TWO tickets to AAIFF's In Focus: Justin Lin
Justin Lin rose from student artist to one of the most established Asian American filmmakers in Hollywood. His extensive resume includes indie hits such as his critically-acclaimed BETTER LUCK TOMORROW to Hollywood blockbusters like THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT. His newest film FINISHING THE GAME, which is making its New York Premiere at AAIFF, is a rollicking comedy about the search for Bruce Lee's replacement. Moderated by Phil Yu, the creator and editor of AngryAsianMan.com, a popular Asian American news/culture/opinion website.
DATE: Friday, July 20, 2007
TIME: 6PM
LOCATION: Kimmel Center, Eisner & Lubin Auditorium, 60 Washington Square South, New York
For more information, click here.
*The THIRD person to email hyphen@hyphenmagazine.com with the correct answer to the following question will win a pair of tickets to the screening:
"What is the name of the documentary that Justin Lin wrote and directed back in 2000?"
hint: It is about the 70-year old phenomenon of the Japanese American Basketball Leagues.
The winner will be announced tomorrow.
Good luck!
Posted by lisalee at 1:33 PM | Comments (0)
Hyphen is giving away TWO tickets to AAIFF's In Focus: Justin Lin
Justin Lin rose from student artist to one of the most established Asian American filmmakers in Hollywood. His extensive resume includes indie hits such as his critically-acclaimed BETTER LUCK TOMORROW to Hollywood blockbusters like THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT. His newest film FINISHING THE GAME, which is making its New York Premiere at AAIFF, is a rollicking comedy about the search for Bruce Lee's replacement. Moderated by Phil Yu, the creator and editor of AngryAsianMan.com, a popular Asian American news/culture/opinion website.
DATE: Friday, July 20, 2007
TIME: 6PM
LOCATION: Kimmel Center, Eisner & Lubin Auditorium, 60 Washington Square South, New York
For more information, click here.
*The THIRD person to email hyphen@hyphenmagazine.com with the correct answer to the following question will win a pair of tickets to the screening:
"What is the name of the documentary that Justin Lin wrote and directed back in 2000?"
hint: It is about the 70-year old phenomenon of the Japanese American Basketball Leagues.
The winner will be announced tomorrow.
Good luck!
Posted by lisalee at 1:33 PM | Comments (0)
Hyphen is giving away TWO tickets to AAIFF's In Focus: Justin Lin
Justin Lin rose from student artist to one of the most established Asian American filmmakers in Hollywood. His extensive resume includes indie hits such as his critically-acclaimed BETTER LUCK TOMORROW to Hollywood blockbusters like THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT. His newest film FINISHING THE GAME, which is making its New York Premiere at AAIFF, is a rollicking comedy about the search for Bruce Lee's replacement. Moderated by Phil Yu, the creator and editor of AngryAsianMan.com, a popular Asian American news/culture/opinion website.
DATE: Friday, July 20, 2007
TIME: 6PM
LOCATION: Kimmel Center, Eisner & Lubin Auditorium, 60 Washington Square South, New York
For more information, click here.
*The THIRD person to email hyphen@hyphenmagazine.com with the correct answer to the following question will win a pair of tickets to the screening:
"What is the name of the documentary that Justin Lin wrote and directed back in 2000?"
hint: It is about the 70-year old phenomenon of the Japanese American Basketball Leagues.
The winner will be announced tomorrow.
Good luck!
Posted by lisalee at 1:33 PM | Comments (0)
Al, Tipper and the happy couple.
Al Gore's daughter, Sarah, married businessman Bill Lee over the weekend in Los Angeles. She's the former VP's kid, and by celebrity news standards, this event was pretty unremarkable. But, the new hubby is, at least from the pictures, Asian American.
But why does that matter? It really doesn't, unless you're really into Gore family trivia. Some reactions:
I think Angry Asian Man's elation may be due to the perception, real or imagined, that Asian American women hookup with other races, particularly white men, more often than Asian men. Driving this perception may be people with the mindset of someone who would use words such as those that rhyme with ink, and the perceptions -- real or imagined -- about Asian men and women.
Whatever the reasons, in an ideal world, none of this would matter and this post would not exist. I debated whether to do this post, and in the back of my mind I feel a little like Angry Asian Man. Then I saw the Craig's List message, and I realized it matters to other people for very different reasons. I guess that's why I went ahead with the post.
Posted by harry at 11:02 AM | Comments (38)
Al, Tipper and the happy couple.
Al Gore's daughter, Sarah, married businessman Bill Lee over the weekend in Los Angeles. She's the former VP's kid, and by celebrity news standards, this event was pretty unremarkable. But, the new hubby is, at least from the pictures, Asian American.
But why does that matter? It really doesn't, unless you're really into Gore family trivia. Some reactions:
I think Angry Asian Man's elation may be due to the perception, real or imagined, that Asian American women hookup with other races, particularly white men, more often than Asian men. Driving this perception may be people with the mindset of someone who would use words such as those that rhyme with ink, and the perceptions -- real or imagined -- about Asian men and women.
Whatever the reasons, in an ideal world, none of this would matter and this post would not exist. I debated whether to do this post, and in the back of my mind I feel a little like Angry Asian Man. Then I saw the Craig's List message, and I realized it matters to other people for very different reasons. I guess that's why I went ahead with the post.
Posted by harry at 11:02 AM | Comments (38)
Al, Tipper and the happy couple.
Al Gore's daughter, Sarah, married businessman Bill Lee over the weekend in Los Angeles. She's the former VP's kid, and by celebrity news standards, this event was pretty unremarkable. But, the new hubby is, at least from the pictures, Asian American.
But why does that matter? It really doesn't, unless you're really into Gore family trivia. Some reactions:
I think Angry Asian Man's elation may be due to the perception, real or imagined, that Asian American women hookup with other races, particularly white men, more often than Asian men. Driving this perception may be people with the mindset of someone who would use words such as those that rhyme with ink, and the perceptions -- real or imagined -- about Asian men and women.
Whatever the reasons, in an ideal world, none of this would matter and this post would not exist. I debated whether to do this post, and in the back of my mind I feel a little like Angry Asian Man. Then I saw the Craig's List message, and I realized it matters to other people for very different reasons. I guess that's why I went ahead with the post.
Posted by harry at 11:02 AM | Comments (37)
I am a bit embarrassed to say I spent the entire weekend shopping. I didn't mean to. But I just moved, and there’s always stuff you need to buy when you move. Also, I am the daughter of one-time Hong Kongers. Also, I am from Houston, Texas. So basically, I’m programmed to shop. I can’t help it.
Saturday I took a friend out for birthday dim sum. Then we hit Daiso. Daiso is a magical place. It's a Japanese dollar store where most items (but not everything) is $1.50. It's huge: stationery, beauty products, home decor, gardening supplies, pet supplies, kitchen ware. They have shelving. And they have hooks to hang from that shelving. They have curtain rods, seat cushions, throw pillows, slippers galore and dishes. They even have spiky things to keep birds away and pumpkin-shaped dog beds. I regret I did not have my camera on me to bring you photos of the wonder that is Daiso.
At Daiso, they have a whole room called "Household Plastics" filled with cleaning supplies and containers for everything you could ever want to contain. Boxes for your food! Boxes for CDs! Tiny boxes for nigiri! Big boxes with an easy access flip top for your rice. Boxes with itty bitty compartments for whatever itty bitty things you own. Do you know how much this fills my anal-retentive, highly organized heart with joy?
I did have a list for things I really did need. Like some plastic boxes of an odd size to fit on the shelves of my new cheap bath cabinet from Target, and some trays to help organize some kitchen things.
But Daiso more than met my expectations. How, for example, did they know that I had damaged my exceedingly cheap bath cabinet while putting it together? I did not know there was even a solution to the unsightly hole I had created on the side of the cabinet when a wooden dowel busted through the particle board until I saw the repairing tape, which was basically a sheet of strong, round white stickers. A sheet of strong white stickers! Genius! Not only can I cover up the hole, but I can also cover up the screws on some of my other super cheap furniture. Now when people look at the side of my white particle board shoe rack, they won’t see screws, they’ll see white stickers. Yes! I put the repairing tape in my shopping cart. Since everything is $1.50, you think, oh why the hell not. And then somehow you've oh-why-the-hell-notted your way into $30 worth of junk.
They also have things that I think only an Asian person would use. Such as a fold-up, reflective piece of cardboard that goes around the sides and back of your stovetop, apparently to keep splatters contained to your stove. It's kind of like the equivalent of putting a hard plastic covering over your chair seat cushions or over your couch. Or leaving the stickers and protective film on things that you buy even though you’ve used them for years. Why-oh-why do Asians do this?
Is it because we’re obsessed with cleanliness? Maybe. But I’m inclined to think it has something more to do with being cheap. Perhaps we are trying to preserve the object in case you need to sell it later. Or maybe you’re just trying to get the most mileage out of it. Does anyone know what I’m talking about? Any theories? I think this is a question to ask Interrogasian, our resident columnist here at Hyphen on Asian behavior. If you have any similarly burning questions, you can ask him too. Just email him at interrogasian (at) (our url). He just might have the answer for you in the next issue.
Posted by Melissa at 12:01 PM | Comments (4)
I am a bit embarrassed to say I spent the entire weekend shopping. I didn't mean to. But I just moved, and there’s always stuff you need to buy when you move. Also, I am the daughter of one-time Hong Kongers. Also, I am from Houston, Texas. So basically, I’m programmed to shop. I can’t help it.
Saturday I took a friend out for birthday dim sum. Then we hit Daiso. Daiso is a magical place. It's a Japanese dollar store where most items (but not everything) is $1.50. It's huge: stationery, beauty products, home decor, gardening supplies, pet supplies, kitchen ware. They have shelving. And they have hooks to hang from that shelving. They have curtain rods, seat cushions, throw pillows, slippers galore and dishes. They even have spiky things to keep birds away and pumpkin-shaped dog beds. I regret I did not have my camera on me to bring you photos of the wonder that is Daiso.
At Daiso, they have a whole room called "Household Plastics" filled with cleaning supplies and containers for everything you could ever want to contain. Boxes for your food! Boxes for CDs! Tiny boxes for nigiri! Big boxes with an easy access flip top for your rice. Boxes with itty bitty compartments for whatever itty bitty things you own. Do you know how much this fills my anal-retentive, highly organized heart with joy?
I did have a list for things I really did need. Like some plastic boxes of an odd size to fit on the shelves of my new cheap bath cabinet from Target, and some trays to help organize some kitchen things.
But Daiso more than met my expectations. How, for example, did they know that I had damaged my exceedingly cheap bath cabinet while putting it together? I did not know there was even a solution to the unsightly hole I had created on the side of the cabinet when a wooden dowel busted through the particle board until I saw the repairing tape, which was basically a sheet of strong, round white stickers. A sheet of strong white stickers! Genius! Not only can I cover up the hole, but I can also cover up the screws on some of my other super cheap furniture. Now when people look at the side of my white particle board shoe rack, they won’t see screws, they’ll see white stickers. Yes! I put the repairing tape in my shopping cart. Since everything is $1.50, you think, oh why the hell not. And then somehow you've oh-why-the-hell-notted your way into $30 worth of junk.
They also have things that I think only an Asian person would use. Such as a fold-up, reflective piece of cardboard that goes around the sides and back of your stovetop, apparently to keep splatters contained to your stove. It's kind of like the equivalent of putting a hard plastic covering over your chair seat cushions or over your couch. Or leaving the stickers and protective film on things that you buy even though you’ve used them for years. Why-oh-why do Asians do this?
Is it because we’re obsessed with cleanliness? Maybe. But I’m inclined to think it has something more to do with being cheap. Perhaps we are trying to preserve the object in case you need to sell it later. Or maybe you’re just trying to get the most mileage out of it. Does anyone know what I’m talking about? Any theories? I think this is a question to ask Interrogasian, our resident columnist here at Hyphen on Asian behavior. If you have any similarly burning questions, you can ask him too. Just email him at interrogasian (at) (our url). He just might have the answer for you in the next issue.
Posted by Melissa at 12:01 PM | Comments (4)
I am a bit embarrassed to say I spent the entire weekend shopping. I didn't mean to. But I just moved, and theres always stuff you need to buy when you move. Also, I am the daughter of one-time Hong Kongers. Also, I am from Houston, Texas. So basically, Im programmed to shop. I cant help it.
Saturday I took a friend out for birthday dim sum. Then we hit Daiso. Daiso is a magical place. It's a Japanese dollar store where most items (but not everything) is $1.50. It's huge: stationery, beauty products, home decor, gardening supplies, pet supplies, kitchen ware. They have shelving. And they have hooks to hang from that shelving. They have curtain rods, seat cushions, throw pillows, slippers galore and dishes. They even have spiky things to keep birds away and pumpkin-shaped dog beds. I regret I did not have my camera on me to bring you photos of the wonder that is Daiso.
At Daiso, they have a whole room called "Household Plastics" filled with cleaning supplies and containers for everything you could ever want to contain. Boxes for your food! Boxes for CDs! Tiny boxes for nigiri! Big boxes with an easy access flip top for your rice. Boxes with itty bitty compartments for whatever itty bitty things you own. Do you know how much this fills my anal-retentive, highly organized heart with joy?
I did have a list for things I really did need. Like some plastic boxes of an odd size to fit on the shelves of my new cheap bath cabinet from Target, and some trays to help organize some kitchen things.
But Daiso more than met my expectations. How, for example, did they know that I had damaged my exceedingly cheap bath cabinet while putting it together? I did not know there was even a solution to the unsightly hole I had created on the side of the cabinet when a wooden dowel busted through the particle board until I saw the repairing tape, which was basically a sheet of strong, round white stickers. A sheet of strong white stickers! Genius! Not only can I cover up the hole, but I can also cover up the screws on some of my other super cheap furniture. Now when people look at the side of my white particle board shoe rack, they wont see screws, theyll see white stickers. Yes! I put the repairing tape in my shopping cart. Since everything is $1.50, you think, oh why the hell not. And then somehow you've oh-why-the-hell-notted your way into $30 worth of junk.
They also have things that I think only an Asian person would use. Such as a fold-up, reflective piece of cardboard that goes around the sides and back of your stovetop, apparently to keep splatters contained to your stove. It's kind of like the equivalent of putting a hard plastic covering over your chair seat cushions or over your couch. Or leaving the stickers and protective film on things that you buy even though youve used them for years. Why-oh-why do Asians do this?
Is it because were obsessed with cleanliness? Maybe. But Im inclined to think it has something more to do with being cheap. Perhaps we are trying to preserve the object in case you need to sell it later. Or maybe youre just trying to get the most mileage out of it. Does anyone know what Im talking about? Any theories? I think this is a question to ask Interrogasian, our resident columnist here at Hyphen on Asian behavior. If you have any similarly burning questions, you can ask him too. Just email him at interrogasian (at) (our url). He just might have the answer for you in the next issue.
Posted by Melissa at 12:01 PM | Comments (4)
Our friend in the Big Apple is celebrating an awesome birthday.
America’s first and longest-running film festival showcasing the works of Asian and Asian American artists is turning 30! Celebrations abound with over 100 films and videos screenings, art exhibitions, special guest appearances, panels, workshops, parties, and much, much more!
DATE: July 19–28, 2007
LOCATION: Asia Society, 725 Park Ave., New York NY
For more information, click on AAIFF's Festival homepage here.
The Asia Society store will be carrying copies of Hyphen magazine throughout the duration of the Festival. Pick up your copy there! Look out for our City Reps as well!
In addition, the Festival’s own M.A.T.H. Club will be hosting a screening of Chris Chan Lee’s stylish drama UNDOING on Saturday, July 21 at 8:30P. Join the gang for the screening and head down to the after-party at White Rabbit, 145 E Houston St.
Enjoy other M.A.T.H. Club picks throughout the Festival including AAIFF honoree Patrick Tam’s beautiful portrayal of Hong Kong’s carefree youth in NOMAD starring a young Leslie Cheung, and the homage to the punk rock tradition of Asian American film in the shorts program SEX, DRUGS & ROCK AND ROLL II. Check back online at AAIFF.org for updates on parties, gossip, and fun stuff!
The M.A.T.H. Club is the young Friends of ACV, comprised of a collective of writers, artists, and cultural enthusiasts. The M.A.T.H. Club will be hosting parties and events throughout the Festival, highlighting some of the best programs for you.
Posted by lisalee at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)
Our friend in the Big Apple is celebrating an awesome birthday.
America’s first and longest-running film festival showcasing the works of Asian and Asian American artists is turning 30! Celebrations abound with over 100 films and videos screenings, art exhibitions, special guest appearances, panels, workshops, parties, and much, much more!
DATE: July 19–28, 2007
LOCATION: Asia Society, 725 Park Ave., New York NY
For more information, click on AAIFF's Festival homepage here.
The Asia Society store will be carrying copies of Hyphen magazine throughout the duration of the Festival. Pick up your copy there! Look out for our City Reps as well!
In addition, the Festival’s own M.A.T.H. Club will be hosting a screening of Chris Chan Lee’s stylish drama UNDOING on Saturday, July 21 at 8:30P. Join the gang for the screening and head down to the after-party at White Rabbit, 145 E Houston St.
Enjoy other M.A.T.H. Club picks throughout the Festival including AAIFF honoree Patrick Tam’s beautiful portrayal of Hong Kong’s carefree youth in NOMAD starring a young Leslie Cheung, and the homage to the punk rock tradition of Asian American film in the shorts program SEX, DRUGS & ROCK AND ROLL II. Check back online at AAIFF.org for updates on parties, gossip, and fun stuff!
The M.A.T.H. Club is the young Friends of ACV, comprised of a collective of writers, artists, and cultural enthusiasts. The M.A.T.H. Club will be hosting parties and events throughout the Festival, highlighting some of the best programs for you.
Posted by lisalee at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)
Our friend in the Big Apple is celebrating an awesome birthday.
Americas first and longest-running film festival showcasing the works of Asian and Asian American artists is turning 30! Celebrations abound with over 100 films and videos screenings, art exhibitions, special guest appearances, panels, workshops, parties, and much, much more!
DATE: July 1928, 2007
LOCATION: Asia Society, 725 Park Ave., New York NY
For more information, click on AAIFF's Festival homepage here.
The Asia Society store will be carrying copies of Hyphen magazine throughout the duration of the Festival. Pick up your copy there! Look out for our City Reps as well!
In addition, the Festivals own M.A.T.H. Club will be hosting a screening of Chris Chan Lees stylish drama UNDOING on Saturday, July 21 at 8:30P. Join the gang for the screening and head down to the after-party at White Rabbit, 145 E Houston St.
Enjoy other M.A.T.H. Club picks throughout the Festival including AAIFF honoree Patrick Tams beautiful portrayal of Hong Kongs carefree youth in NOMAD starring a young Leslie Cheung, and the homage to the punk rock tradition of Asian American film in the shorts program SEX, DRUGS & ROCK AND ROLL II. Check back online at AAIFF.org for updates on parties, gossip, and fun stuff!
The M.A.T.H. Club is the young Friends of ACV, comprised of a collective of writers, artists, and cultural enthusiasts. The M.A.T.H. Club will be hosting parties and events throughout the Festival, highlighting some of the best programs for you.
Posted by lisalee at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)
Researchers at the American Cancer Society find five distinct strains of cancer common among five separate Asian-decent ethnic groups. The study, published in the Cancer Journal for Clinicians, focused on Asian Americans of Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese decent.
The full report highlights that "Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are the only major US racial/ethnic group for which the annual number of deaths from cancer exceeds that for heart disease" and that, though Asian Americans are at lower risk for cancers of the lung, colon and rectum, breast, and prostate, they have higher rates of cancers related to infectious conditions."
More here: "Among the more striking findings are that Vietnamese men have incidence and death rates from liver cancer that are seven times the rate in non-Hispanic white men, and Korean men and women are five to seven times as likely as whites to develop stomach cancer. Other Asians are also prone to these cancers, but their rates are generally not as high."
The Oversees China Weblog points-to some of the major conclusions of the study:
* “Chinese Americans had among the lowest incidence and death rate from all cancer combined; however, Chinese women had the highest lung cancer death rate (among Asian Americans).”
* '"Chinese Americans in California have high rates for colorectal, liver, and lung cancer compared with other Asian ethnic groups."
* "The high rate of colorectal cancer among Chinese in California contrasts sharply with the low risks in China, and the increase in risk with time since migration implicates behaviors associated with the Western lifestyle."
* “The incidence and mortality rates … for liver cancer among Chinese men in California … are more than twice as high as in Japanese men ….” In Asia, Hepatitis B virus infection is the main cause of liver cancer, while in America, Hepatitis C, alcoholic cirrhosis, and obesity are more common causes of liver cancer."
Posted by melanie at 9:28 PM | Comments (0)
Researchers at the American Cancer Society find five distinct strains of cancer common among five separate Asian-decent ethnic groups. The study, published in the Cancer Journal for Clinicians, focused on Asian Americans of Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese decent.
The full report highlights that "Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are the only major US racial/ethnic group for which the annual number of deaths from cancer exceeds that for heart disease" and that, though Asian Americans are at lower risk for cancers of the lung, colon and rectum, breast, and prostate, they have higher rates of cancers related to infectious conditions."
More here: "Among the more striking findings are that Vietnamese men have incidence and death rates from liver cancer that are seven times the rate in non-Hispanic white men, and Korean men and women are five to seven times as likely as whites to develop stomach cancer. Other Asians are also prone to these cancers, but their rates are generally not as high."
The Oversees China Weblog points-to some of the major conclusions of the study:
* “Chinese Americans had among the lowest incidence and death rate from all cancer combined; however, Chinese women had the highest lung cancer death rate (among Asian Americans).”
* '"Chinese Americans in California have high rates for colorectal, liver, and lung cancer compared with other Asian ethnic groups."
* "The high rate of colorectal cancer among Chinese in California contrasts sharply with the low risks in China, and the increase in risk with time since migration implicates behaviors associated with the Western lifestyle."
* “The incidence and mortality rates … for liver cancer among Chinese men in California … are more than twice as high as in Japanese men ….” In Asia, Hepatitis B virus infection is the main cause of liver cancer, while in America, Hepatitis C, alcoholic cirrhosis, and obesity are more common causes of liver cancer."
Posted by melanie at 9:28 PM | Comments (0)
Researchers at the American Cancer Society find five distinct strains of cancer common among five separate Asian-decent ethnic groups. The study, published in the Cancer Journal for Clinicians, focused on Asian Americans of Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese decent.
The full report highlights that "Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are the only major US racial/ethnic group for which the annual number of deaths from cancer exceeds that for heart disease" and that, though Asian Americans are at lower risk for cancers of the lung, colon and rectum, breast, and prostate, they have higher rates of cancers related to infectious conditions."
More here: "Among the more striking findings are that Vietnamese men have incidence and death rates from liver cancer that are seven times the rate in non-Hispanic white men, and Korean men and women are five to seven times as likely as whites to develop stomach cancer. Other Asians are also prone to these cancers, but their rates are generally not as high."
The Oversees China Weblog points-to some of the major conclusions of the study:
* Chinese Americans had among the lowest incidence and death rate from all cancer combined; however, Chinese women had the highest lung cancer death rate (among Asian Americans).
* '"Chinese Americans in California have high rates for colorectal, liver, and lung cancer compared with other Asian ethnic groups."
* "The high rate of colorectal cancer among Chinese in California contrasts sharply with the low risks in China, and the increase in risk with time since migration implicates behaviors associated with the Western lifestyle."
* The incidence and mortality rates for liver cancer among Chinese men in California are more than twice as high as in Japanese men . In Asia, Hepatitis B virus infection is the main cause of liver cancer, while in America, Hepatitis C, alcoholic cirrhosis, and obesity are more common causes of liver cancer."
Posted by melanie at 9:28 PM | Comments (0)
I recently heard about Presidential Scholar Mari Oye. This article in the Boston Globe talks about Oye, who had the chance to meet the president.
The Presidential Scholars award honors the top graduating high school students in the nation, selected from top-scorers of the SAT and ACT and an application process.
While most would've just cheesed it up with the president, this young woman, along with 49 other presidential scholars. decided to use this chance to make a statement. Fifty of the 136 scholars who attended sign this letter, essentially asking the president to stop torturing detainees.
Oye is the one who handed Bush the letter. Here's her take, from the Globe article, on what she did:
' "I really felt l could not just go down and smile for the camera and not say anything," she said in an interview yesterday at her home. "There are some things that are more important than the decorum of protocol." '
I also love ("love") the "official" responses, also printed in the Globe article, which are pretty meaningless and straight up lies:
' Reading silently to himself, the president looked up quizzically at Oye and said, according to her, "We agree. America doesn't torture people." '
'...White House deputy press secretary, also responded later Monday. "The president enjoyed a visit with the students, accepted the letter and upon reading it let the student know that the United States does not torture and that we value human rights," Perino said.'
Oye's grandparents on her father's side are Japanese Americans who were interned during WWII. In this Democracy Now! interview, she makes the connection between the unjust internment of Japanese Americans and today's record of human rights abuse and torture. The Democracy Now! segment is pretty cool and definitely worth watching. Amy Goodman interviews Oye and Leah Anthony Libresco, another fellow presidential scholar co-consipirator.
For some reason the Democracy Now! piece made me all teary-eyed. I guess knowing that the "top" graduating high school kids in our country have a conscience, knowledge about human and civil rights, and a sense of social justice just makes me freakin' proud (I was once a high school teacher, okay?). Also their optimism and energy is infectious. Seriously, the interview touched me. And damn, since when did 18 year-olds talk like that?
The incident has gotten press in local MA media as well as the New York Times and other national media.
It's pretty cool and inspiring to hear about a young person who took an opportunity to make a political statement, and an Asian American person at that. Model minority, what?
Posted by momo at 7:44 PM | Comments (3)
I recently heard about Presidential Scholar Mari Oye. This article in the Boston Globe talks about Oye, who had the chance to meet the president.
The Presidential Scholars award honors the top graduating high school students in the nation, selected from top-scorers of the SAT and ACT and an application process.
While most would've just cheesed it up with the president, this young woman, along with 49 other presidential scholars. decided to use this chance to make a statement. Fifty of the 136 scholars who attended sign this letter, essentially asking the president to stop torturing detainees.
Oye is the one who handed Bush the letter. Here's her take, from the Globe article, on what she did:
' "I really felt l could not just go down and smile for the camera and not say anything," she said in an interview yesterday at her home. "There are some things that are more important than the decorum of protocol." '
I also love ("love") the "official" responses, also printed in the Globe article, which are pretty meaningless and straight up lies:
' Reading silently to himself, the president looked up quizzically at Oye and said, according to her, "We agree. America doesn't torture people." '
'...White House deputy press secretary, also responded later Monday. "The president enjoyed a visit with the students, accepted the letter and upon reading it let the student know that the United States does not torture and that we value human rights," Perino said.'
Oye's grandparents on her father's side are Japanese Americans who were interned during WWII. In this Democracy Now! interview, she makes the connection between the unjust internment of Japanese Americans and today's record of human rights abuse and torture. The Democracy Now! segment is pretty cool and definitely worth watching. Amy Goodman interviews Oye and Leah Anthony Libresco, another fellow presidential scholar co-consipirator.
For some reason the Democracy Now! piece made me all teary-eyed. I guess knowing that the "top" graduating high school kids in our country have a conscience, knowledge about human and civil rights, and a sense of social justice just makes me freakin' proud (I was once a high school teacher, okay?). Also their optimism and energy is infectious. Seriously, the interview touched me. And damn, since when did 18 year-olds talk like that?
The incident has gotten press in local MA media as well as the New York Times and other national media.
It's pretty cool and inspiring to hear about a young person who took an opportunity to make a political statement, and an Asian American person at that. Model minority, what?
Posted by momo at 7:44 PM | Comments (3)
I recently heard about Presidential Scholar Mari Oye. This article in the Boston Globe talks about Oye, who had the chance to meet the president.
The Presidential Scholars award honors the top graduating high school students in the nation, selected from top-scorers of the SAT and ACT and an application process.
While most would've just cheesed it up with the president, this young woman, along with 49 other presidential scholars. decided to use this chance to make a statement. Fifty of the 136 scholars who attended sign this letter, essentially asking the president to stop torturing detainees.
Oye is the one who handed Bush the letter. Here's her take, from the Globe article, on what she did:
' "I really felt l could not just go down and smile for the camera and not say anything," she said in an interview yesterday at her home. "There are some things that are more important than the decorum of protocol." '
I also love ("love") the "official" responses, also printed in the Globe article, which are pretty meaningless and straight up lies:
' Reading silently to himself, the president looked up quizzically at Oye and said, according to her, "We agree. America doesn't torture people." '
'...White House deputy press secretary, also responded later Monday. "The president enjoyed a visit with the students, accepted the letter and upon reading it let the student know that the United States does not torture and that we value human rights," Perino said.'
Oye's grandparents on her father's side are Japanese Americans who were interned during WWII. In this Democracy Now! interview, she makes the connection between the unjust internment of Japanese Americans and today's record of human rights abuse and torture. The Democracy Now! segment is pretty cool and definitely worth watching. Amy Goodman interviews Oye and Leah Anthony Libresco, another fellow presidential scholar co-consipirator.
For some reason the Democracy Now! piece made me all teary-eyed. I guess knowing that the "top" graduating high school kids in our country have a conscience, knowledge about human and civil rights, and a sense of social justice just makes me freakin' proud (I was once a high school teacher, okay?). Also their optimism and energy is infectious. Seriously, the interview touched me. And damn, since when did 18 year-olds talk like that?
The incident has gotten press in local MA media as well as the New York Times and other national media.
It's pretty cool and inspiring to hear about a young person who took an opportunity to make a political statement, and an Asian American person at that. Model minority, what?
Posted by momo at 7:44 PM | Comments (3)
The idea of marriage makes my hands sweat, not in a good way. I’m trying to figure it out though, really I am. Therapy has helped me realize that it’s one part rebellion to the South Asian obsession with weddings, one part my parent’s divorce ... and the rest is still murky. I mean, I’ve always been a bit of a cynic: the whole concept of “forever” that marriage is predicated on just doesn’t compute for me. The idea of celebrating that idea by spending thousands of dollars for a huge party just seems like asking for it … but at the same time, I love champagne.
The inevitable news of Padma Lakshmi and Salman Rushdie’s divorce hit the news this week, with an embarrassing statement from Rushdie’s publicist: “Salman Rushdie has agreed to divorce his wife, Padma Lakshmi, because of her desire to end their marriage.” But it was Rushdie’s fourth time around, so I’m sure he’s learned to take it in stride by now. Besides, it comes on the heels of Rushdie’s knighthood -- I guess you win some and you lose some.
Personally, I’m pretty into Padma Lakshmi – as I’m a big fan of Top Chef, even though she’s a bit of a weirdo. Okay, I just think she's hot. Do you really think I would buy a cookbook called Easy Exotic: Low-Fat Recipes From Around the World? I’ve also heard the rumors that she’s a pothead, which always makes me partial to celebrities.
As ridiculous as Padma and Salman's marriage was, as South Asians who got divorced, they are in the minority. A recent Little India article said:
This Indian universe of matrimonial bliss is increasingly running up against the inescapable American reality, in which almost half of all marriages end in divorce. By contrast, Indian American marriages are far more stable. According to 2000 census data, just over 3 percent of Indians were divorced or separated, against about 12 percent nationwide. Nonetheless, the divorce rate is on the rise both in India and in the South Asian community in North America. Between 10 to 15 percent of all Indian American marriages culminate in divorce or separation.
An article in India Currents discusses the psychological impact that divorce has on Indian Americans, especially children. As a child of divorce, I know first-hand how isolating this issue is in the community.
But the dark side of marriage just doesn't seem to rain on the out-of-control wedding parade. I’ve noticed this explosion of South Asian bridal magazines in the past couple of years, which started with Bibi Magazine in 2000. Or perhaps every South Asian American magazine I see just overdoes it when it comes to the marriage issue. Take Nirali, for instance. An on-line magazine for South Asians, I’ve always been pretty impressed by Nirali’s web-savvy ways and articles. I think their blog is great. But then my best friend emailed me a link to their super-dooper wedding issue, and I was a little shocked at the excess. I mean, I guess it’s a great resource for desi girls who just can’t find the right advice in Modern Bride but when – as a community – are we going to get beyond our obsession with this ritual? Maybe never.
I think what really bugs me is the opulence of it -- all silk and gold. What about those of us on a smaller budget? Those who want our guests to invest in non-profit giving instead of buying us another salad bowl? Those of us who want a Guns&Roses cover band and a keg of PBR at our wedding shindig? What about people who don't want to get married? Or people who are not legally allowed?
Okay, I did really like this story about a documentary-style wedding videographer. What a great idea!
I’m sure you’ve all heard of Rebecca Mead’s book One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding:
According to Mead, the average commercial wedding costs about $28,000, involves 43 professionals, and has 165 guests in attendance. The average bride's dress costs $1,025. Last year American brides and grooms registered for over $9 billion worth of gifts, and 96 percent of engaged couples plan to register.
Anyway, I’ve been to enough Indian weddings to know that 165 guests is on the low, low side. Maybe what needs to happen is an investigation of the South Asian obsession with marriage. Perhaps when I get over my own issues with the concept, I’ll look into that.
Posted by neela at 12:52 AM | Comments (4)
The idea of marriage makes my hands sweat, not in a good way. I’m trying to figure it out though, really I am. Therapy has helped me realize that it’s one part rebellion to the South Asian obsession with weddings, one part my parent’s divorce ... and the rest is still murky. I mean, I’ve always been a bit of a cynic: the whole concept of “forever” that marriage is predicated on just doesn’t compute for me. The idea of celebrating that idea by spending thousands of dollars for a huge party just seems like asking for it … but at the same time, I love champagne.
The inevitable news of Padma Lakshmi and Salman Rushdie’s divorce hit the news this week, with an embarrassing statement from Rushdie’s publicist: “Salman Rushdie has agreed to divorce his wife, Padma Lakshmi, because of her desire to end their marriage.” But it was Rushdie’s fourth time around, so I’m sure he’s learned to take it in stride by now. Besides, it comes on the heels of Rushdie’s knighthood -- I guess you win some and you lose some.
Personally, I’m pretty into Padma Lakshmi – as I’m a big fan of Top Chef, even though she’s a bit of a weirdo. Okay, I just think she's hot. Do you really think I would buy a cookbook called Easy Exotic: Low-Fat Recipes From Around the World? I’ve also heard the rumors that she’s a pothead, which always makes me partial to celebrities.
As ridiculous as Padma and Salman's marriage was, as South Asians who got divorced, they are in the minority. A recent Little India article said:
This Indian universe of matrimonial bliss is increasingly running up against the inescapable American reality, in which almost half of all marriages end in divorce. By contrast, Indian American marriages are far more stable. According to 2000 census data, just over 3 percent of Indians were divorced or separated, against about 12 percent nationwide. Nonetheless, the divorce rate is on the rise both in India and in the South Asian community in North America. Between 10 to 15 percent of all Indian American marriages culminate in divorce or separation.
An article in India Currents discusses the psychological impact that divorce has on Indian Americans, especially children. As a child of divorce, I know first-hand how isolating this issue is in the community.
But the dark side of marriage just doesn't seem to rain on the out-of-control wedding parade. I’ve noticed this explosion of South Asian bridal magazines in the past couple of years, which started with Bibi Magazine in 2000. Or perhaps every South Asian American magazine I see just overdoes it when it comes to the marriage issue. Take Nirali, for instance. An on-line magazine for South Asians, I’ve always been pretty impressed by Nirali’s web-savvy ways and articles. I think their blog is great. But then my best friend emailed me a link to their super-dooper wedding issue, and I was a little shocked at the excess. I mean, I guess it’s a great resource for desi girls who just can’t find the right advice in Modern Bride but when – as a community – are we going to get beyond our obsession with this ritual? Maybe never.
I think what really bugs me is the opulence of it -- all silk and gold. What about those of us on a smaller budget? Those who want our guests to invest in non-profit giving instead of buying us another salad bowl? Those of us who want a Guns&Roses cover band and a keg of PBR at our wedding shindig? What about people who don't want to get married? Or people who are not legally allowed?
Okay, I did really like this story about a documentary-style wedding videographer. What a great idea!
I’m sure you’ve all heard of Rebecca Mead’s book One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding:
According to Mead, the average commercial wedding costs about $28,000, involves 43 professionals, and has 165 guests in attendance. The average bride's dress costs $1,025. Last year American brides and grooms registered for over $9 billion worth of gifts, and 96 percent of engaged couples plan to register.
Anyway, I’ve been to enough Indian weddings to know that 165 guests is on the low, low side. Maybe what needs to happen is an investigation of the South Asian obsession with marriage. Perhaps when I get over my own issues with the concept, I’ll look into that.
Posted by neela at 12:52 AM | Comments (4)
The idea of marriage makes my hands sweat, not in a good way. Im trying to figure it out though, really I am. Therapy has helped me realize that its one part rebellion to the South Asian obsession with weddings, one part my parents divorce ... and the rest is still murky. I mean, Ive always been a bit of a cynic: the whole concept of forever that marriage is predicated on just doesnt compute for me. The idea of celebrating that idea by spending thousands of dollars for a huge party just seems like asking for it but at the same time, I love champagne.
The inevitable news of Padma Lakshmi and Salman Rushdies divorce hit the news this week, with an embarrassing statement from Rushdies publicist: Salman Rushdie has agreed to divorce his wife, Padma Lakshmi, because of her desire to end their marriage. But it was Rushdies fourth time around, so Im sure hes learned to take it in stride by now. Besides, it comes on the heels of Rushdies knighthood -- I guess you win some and you lose some.
Personally, Im pretty into Padma Lakshmi as Im a big fan of Top Chef, even though shes a bit of a weirdo. Okay, I just think she's hot. Do you really think I would buy a cookbook called Easy Exotic: Low-Fat Recipes From Around the World? Ive also heard the rumors that shes a pothead, which always makes me partial to celebrities.
As ridiculous as Padma and Salman's marriage was, as South Asians who got divorced, they are in the minority. A recent Little India article said:
This Indian universe of matrimonial bliss is increasingly running up against the inescapable American reality, in which almost half of all marriages end in divorce. By contrast, Indian American marriages are far more stable. According to 2000 census data, just over 3 percent of Indians were divorced or separated, against about 12 percent nationwide. Nonetheless, the divorce rate is on the rise both in India and in the South Asian community in North America. Between 10 to 15 percent of all Indian American marriages culminate in divorce or separation.
An article in India Currents discusses the psychological impact that divorce has on Indian Americans, especially children. As a child of divorce, I know first-hand how isolating this issue is in the community.
But the dark side of marriage just doesn't seem to rain on the out-of-control wedding parade. Ive noticed this explosion of South Asian bridal magazines in the past couple of years, which started with Bibi Magazine in 2000. Or perhaps every South Asian American magazine I see just overdoes it when it comes to the marriage issue. Take Nirali, for instance. An on-line magazine for South Asians, Ive always been pretty impressed by Niralis web-savvy ways and articles. I think their blog is great. But then my best friend emailed me a link to their super-dooper wedding issue, and I was a little shocked at the excess. I mean, I guess its a great resource for desi girls who just cant find the right advice in Modern Bride but when as a community are we going to get beyond our obsession with this ritual? Maybe never.
I think what really bugs me is the opulence of it -- all silk and gold. What about those of us on a smaller budget? Those who want our guests to invest in non-profit giving instead of buying us another salad bowl? Those of us who want a Guns&Roses cover band and a keg of PBR at our wedding shindig? What about people who don't want to get married? Or people who are not legally allowed?
Okay, I did really like this story about a documentary-style wedding videographer. What a great idea!
Im sure youve all heard of Rebecca Meads book One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding:
According to Mead, the average commercial wedding costs about $28,000, involves 43 professionals, and has 165 guests in attendance. The average bride's dress costs $1,025. Last year American brides and grooms registered for over $9 billion worth of gifts, and 96 percent of engaged couples plan to register.
Anyway, Ive been to enough Indian weddings to know that 165 guests is on the low, low side. Maybe what needs to happen is an investigation of the South Asian obsession with marriage. Perhaps when I get over my own issues with the concept, Ill look into that.
Posted by neela at 12:52 AM | Comments (3)
Jake* is a delivery boy at a mom and pop pizza parlor in west L.A. He gets paid $5.50 an hour under the table and gets to keep his tips. In this part of the country, a wage that low is illegal, but Jake doesn't have a green card, so he'll take any job he can get.
Jake moved to Los Angeles with his family from his native Taiwan when he was only two-years old. He doesn't know much about the island. Ever since he can remember, he has lived with his parents in a run-down motel that they operate in a seedy part of Eagle Rock. "Special skill"-less, his parents came to the U.S. on a B1 visa in order to run the business for silent investors still living in Taiwan. During the last 20+ years, their resident status has remained unchanged, which is a major problem for Jake and his siblings: they are now legal adults no longer under their parents' visa.
For the past six years, Jake has deferred an impending deportation with a student visa. He has no desire to leave home and live in Taiwan, where he will be immediately forced to join the national army. Moreover, he speaks neither Taiwanese nor Mandarin. After graduating with high honors from the best public university in the U.S., he has enrolled at a local junior college in order to maintain his legal status. Recently, his goal has simply been to enter into a nursing program at a local state school. With America's nursing shortage, becoming a resident nurse will put Jake on the fast track towards citizenship. Nurses are in high demand, but there are very few available programs. Subsequently, schools such as Cal State Los Angeles accept students through a lottery system. That means qualified applicants such as Jake, may wait years before even starting school. His dreams of pursuing a PhD in Psychology are on the back-burner; not being forcefully deported from his homeland is number one on the priority list.
(I think he should sign up for match.com and search for a nice U.S. citizen looking to marry a pizza delivery boy. I volunteered my younger sister, but both were lukewarm to the prospect. You're not interested are you? Jake scored 1500+ on his SATs, so your babies would be super smart.) 
For undocumented workers in the U.S., there are two choices: work for a sympathetic employer from ones ethnic community who is willing to break the law, or find a very low-paying, also illegal, menial job. Many undocumented immigrants from Asian nations take the first route by overstaying their visas and relying upon family members and friends to find them jobs within their respective ethnic communities. Because they need only speak Chinese or Korean, they can stay in ethnic enclaves such as Monterey Park or Garden Grove, and work with retailers that cater towards these ethnic communities, even parlaying their skills into decent-paying positions such as travel agents or restaurant managers.
This is not an option for Jake. Legal status aside, he is American through and through. Jake only speaks English, doesn't know where the closest 99 Ranch is to his home, and his chopstick skills are best described as funky. Thus, Jake's only recourse is to save money for his future student fees (student loans are only available to permanent residents) by finding a low-paying job cleaning toilets or delivering pizzas from someone willing to illegally hire him.
I met Jake in the dorms my freshman year at college. He struck me as very intelligent and hardworking, but painfully shy. Six years later, this description still applies. He's not a "go-getter," but he always gets things done. Nevertheless, his strong work ethic and smarts weren't enough to prevent him from ending up in this legal nightmare. Thus, one of the most talented and hardworking people I know is currently delivering pizzas to the couch potatoes of Westwood. It hardly seems fair.
I offered to tag along with Jake because it figured to be an edifying experience. Millions of people across America work menial jobs that most Americans would turn their noses at. This was a unique opportunity for me to see how difficult it is to earn money. My mother would be proud. Besides, I had nothing better to do on a Saturday night.
The pizzeria is small and quaint. The proprietor mans the register while the workers, whom I assume are also undocumented workers, work the ovens. They sell by the slice, and I cough up four bucks for a thin crust. It's decent, no Zachary's or Cheeseboard, but way better than Pizza Hut. The place seems to have a strong local following. Business is good. During slow hours, Jake and the guys play HORSE on the mini-basketball hoop in the back.
Right when we walk in, after the bumper-to-bumper drive through downtown in Jake's sputtering 20-year-old Honda, the owner already has two orders ready for delivery. Jake shuffles in, grabs the boxes and we head out. Apparently, before the invention of MapQuest and Satellite Navigation, there was the Thomas Guide. Jake throws the tome in my lap and tells me to find the address. "How do I input the address without a keyboard?" I ask myself, while flipping through the pages, wondering how people once lived without computers.
We find the first apartment building, and Jake narrowly avoids being run-over by a speeding Mercedes as he scuttles across the street with Italian sandwiches in hand. He returns to the car, minutes later, with a two dollar tip. "Not bad," he says. If everyone is this generous, he could make up to 8 dollars-an-hour tonight.
We make a U-turn, and head to the next address. I'm starting to get the hang of this map thing, and the next delivery goes off without a hitch. I suddenly realize that the hardest part of being a pizza delivery boy might be the constant temptation: the pizza smells so good. With Jake's low wage, I suggest that he wait for a particularly large and tasty smelling order and make a run for it.
We head back to the pizzeria. The deliveries seem to be going well with me as first mate and official navigator. Jake cajoles me with tales of nearly getting fired the other week after getting lost for an hour and begging driving off before meter maids can give him a citation for parking in a red zone. To be honest, Jake is a horrible driver. He finally learned how to drive two years ago, and his sense of direction is piss poor. His brain was meant for Freud and Lacan, not negotiating tight turns and road rage.
During our off moments at the pizzeria, Jake and I devise a system. He writes down the address immediately as it comes in, and Thomas G. and I figure out the fastest route before the pizza leaves the oven. Two heads are better than one, and in the pizza delivery business speed counts. Before the next trip out, we run into our first mishaps of the evening. As I'm looking at the Tommy Gizzle trying to figure exactly which La Salle Ave in Los Angeles county we're headed to, Jake whispers in my ear: "I think I forgot the pizza bag at the last delivery." I quickly muffle a laugh and calculate a detour so we can swing by the previous address and grab it without the owner noticing that it's missing. Upon arriving at the address, Jake rushes out of the car but forgets to put the car into park. He turns around and stares in horror at the car rolling backwards down the hilly street with me in the passenger seat. I quickly shift the car into park and then proceed to laugh my ass off. Jake shrugs in embarrassment and runs back to the house to collect his forgotten pizza bag. As he returns with a sheepish look on his face, I quickly imagine the laughable scene if I hadn't been in the car: Jake, running down a hilly street after a runaway jalopy with recovered pizza bag in hand--pure comedy.
After the latest debacle, things run pretty smoothly. The sun sets as we drive with the windows down, his air conditioning doesn't work, and the salty air reminds us that the ocean is only a few miles away. Jake turns up the radio on his favorite easy-listening station. A crooner sings, "It's too late to turn back now...," right as Jake makes a seven-point U-turn. The irony is killing me.
As we turn down a street, I tell Jake that the address is on the left hand side. Jake then tells me, "You're gonna have to point. 'Left' and 'right' mean nothing to me." In between laughs, I open my laptop to type up his latest comical antics. "You're not gonna write that down are you?" he says, as it slowly dawns on him that I am documenting every silly remark and bad driving maneuver.
"I've hit cars too," he says. I decide that it's best not to ask him for details. We don't need Jim Gilchrist and the LAPD after Jake.
At 14270 La Salle, a starving customer stands outside his house, hanging out with his cat while rubbing his stomach. As we pull into the driveway, he falls down on his knees wildly gesticulating in the air with cash in his hand, begging us to hurry with his pizza. I decide that he's my favorite customer ever, of all time, and begin applauding his performance.
While arguing with Jake about the difference between a "speed hump" and a "speed bump", I discover a strange button in his car that does nothing! When I press the button, a clicking sound, similar to the scary sound the engine makes when climbing a hill, emanates from somewhere but nothing happens. Intrigued, I continue pressing the button that does nothing until Jake screams: "Stop it! You're gonna break my car!" To further annoy him, I click the button whenever he isn't looking. If it's already broken, can it be really become more broken?
What turns out to be the funniest, and potentially most tragic, gaffe of the night is perpetrated by yours truly. As we're exiting the car, I place a soda can on top of the car roof as I'm exiting. Unbeknownst to me, the sun roof is open and the can falls straight on to my head and then spills on the Holy Thomas. We stare in disbelief as brown lakes and rivers begin forming amongst the streets of Culver City and Santa Monica. In emergency mode, we run into the pizzeria and grab a handful of napkins. I let the liquid on my laptop sit as I frenetically and deliberately blot the pages hoping to save Jake's livelihood. I begin to blow on the page hoping to dry it out before it becomes permanently see through, while the owner laughs at me. After a few minutes, the crisis is averted and the map is a little worse for wear but still legible. Luckily, I haven't ruined Jake's cash cow. Unfortunately, it seems that the other delivery boy isn't nearly so lucky. He's got the hood of his even older car propped up and looks mighty pissed.
After we experience few more near crashes, the sun sets and our evening begins winding down. It's 9:30, and I figure out the directions to what will probably be our last delivery while Jake wipes down the tables and mops up. When night falls, street signs and address numbers become significantly harder to spot, making one of America's most dangerous jobs, even more difficult. I'm already tired of it. For me this is a one time comedic adventure, but for Jake, it's an occupation. Surely, the job isn't always so entertaining, constant threats of vehicular homicide aside. Undoubtedly, after getting his third one-dollar-tip for the night, Jake must wonder why he's delivering pizzas instead of a dissertation. But just like the surly looking Chinese cooks at the takeout place next door, Jake continues working this dead end job. People don't like doing this work; they just don't have options.
In all likelihood, this little journalistic jaunt is the closest I'll ever come to doing service sector work in my adult life. I am quite lucky. The amount of money I make is not dependent upon the capricious whims of the evening's tippers. Couples on dates come into the pizzeria, discussing their after-dinner plans. Only two weeks ago, I was also in a restaurant with my date trying to figure out which L.A. hotspot we would hit next. I never paused to think that this was a luxury that Jake, and millions like him, cannot afford. They prepared my food while I busily tried to impress a girl with my cursory knowledge of the local nightlife.
Oddly, the only thing that really separates Jake and me is our legal status. He is in every way my equal, and in some ways my superior, but I was lucky enough to be born on U.S. soil instead of my parents' homeland. Is this not the very definition of caprice? Instead of finding a job equal to his level of erudition and expertise, Jake has been relegated to work often reserved for the unskilled, uneducated and underachieving, only because he lacks a little green card. It seems cosmically unfair.
Undoubtedly, Jake will make it in America. Soon enough he will be accepted into a nursing program. Or, some lucky American girl will take his hand in marriage. Nonetheless, for now he must waste away the weekend nights of his youth. It's too bad. But he is luckier than most of America's underground workers. Most are without hope of improvement, can barely speak English, and dream only of their next reunion with their families. That being said, I'm sure we could all afford to tip a little better.
*name changed for obvious reasons
Posted by jason at 11:38 AM | Comments (2)
Jake* is a delivery boy at a mom and pop pizza parlor in west L.A. He gets paid $5.50 an hour under the table and gets to keep his tips. In this part of the country, a wage that low is illegal, but Jake doesn't have a green card, so he'll take any job he can get.
Jake moved to Los Angeles with his family from his native Taiwan when he was only two-years old. He doesn't know much about the island. Ever since he can remember, he has lived with his parents in a run-down motel that they operate in a seedy part of Eagle Rock. "Special skill"-less, his parents came to the U.S. on a B1 visa in order to run the business for silent investors still living in Taiwan. During the last 20+ years, their resident status has remained unchanged, which is a major problem for Jake and his siblings: they are now legal adults no longer under their parents' visa.
For the past six years, Jake has deferred an impending deportation with a student visa. He has no desire to leave home and live in Taiwan, where he will be immediately forced to join the national army. Moreover, he speaks neither Taiwanese nor Mandarin. After graduating with high honors from the best public university in the U.S., he has enrolled at a local junior college in order to maintain his legal status. Recently, his goal has simply been to enter into a nursing program at a local state school. With America's nursing shortage, becoming a resident nurse will put Jake on the fast track towards citizenship. Nurses are in high demand, but there are very few available programs. Subsequently, schools such as Cal State Los Angeles accept students through a lottery system. That means qualified applicants such as Jake, may wait years before even starting school. His dreams of pursuing a PhD in Psychology are on the back-burner; not being forcefully deported from his homeland is number one on the priority list.
(I think he should sign up for match.com and search for a nice U.S. citizen looking to marry a pizza delivery boy. I volunteered my younger sister, but both were lukewarm to the prospect. You're not interested are you? Jake scored 1500+ on his SATs, so your babies would be super smart.)
For undocumented workers in the U.S., there are two choices: work for a sympathetic employer from ones ethnic community who is willing to break the law, or find a very low-paying, also illegal, menial job. Many undocumented immigrants from Asian nations take the first route by overstaying their visas and relying upon family members and friends to find them jobs within their respective ethnic communities. Because they need only speak Chinese or Korean, they can stay in ethnic enclaves such as Monterey Park or Garden Grove, and work with retailers that cater towards these ethnic communities, even parlaying their skills into decent-paying positions such as travel agents or restaurant managers.
This is not an option for Jake. Legal status aside, he is American through and through. Jake only speaks English, doesn't know where the closest 99 Ranch is to his home, and his chopstick skills are best described as funky. Thus, Jake's only recourse is to save money for his future student fees (student loans are only available to permanent residents) by finding a low-paying job cleaning toilets or delivering pizzas from someone willing to illegally hire him.
I met Jake in the dorms my freshman year at college. He struck me as very intelligent and hardworking, but painfully shy. Six years later, this description still applies. He's not a "go-getter," but he always gets things done. Nevertheless, his strong work ethic and smarts weren't enough to prevent him from ending up in this legal nightmare. Thus, one of the most talented and hardworking people I know is currently delivering pizzas to the couch potatoes of Westwood. It hardly seems fair.
I offered to tag along with Jake because it figured to be an edifying experience. Millions of people across America work menial jobs that most Americans would turn their noses at. This was a unique opportunity for me to see how difficult it is to earn money. My mother would be proud. Besides, I had nothing better to do on a Saturday night.
The pizzeria is small and quaint. The proprietor mans the register while the workers, whom I assume are also undocumented workers, work the ovens. They sell by the slice, and I cough up four bucks for a thin crust. It's decent, no Zachary's or Cheeseboard, but way better than Pizza Hut. The place seems to have a strong local following. Business is good. During slow hours, Jake and the guys play HORSE on the mini-basketball hoop in the back.
Right when we walk in, after the bumper-to-bumper drive through downtown in Jake's sputtering 20-year-old Honda, the owner already has two orders ready for delivery. Jake shuffles in, grabs the boxes and we head out. Apparently, before the invention of MapQuest and Satellite Navigation, there was the Thomas Guide. Jake throws the tome in my lap and tells me to find the address. "How do I input the address without a keyboard?" I ask myself, while flipping through the pages, wondering how people once lived without computers.
We find the first apartment building, and Jake narrowly avoids being run-over by a speeding Mercedes as he scuttles across the street with Italian sandwiches in hand. He returns to the car, minutes later, with a two dollar tip. "Not bad," he says. If everyone is this generous, he could make up to 8 dollars-an-hour tonight.
We make a U-turn, and head to the next address. I'm starting to get the hang of this map thing, and the next delivery goes off without a hitch. I suddenly realize that the hardest part of being a pizza delivery boy might be the constant temptation: the pizza smells so good. With Jake's low wage, I suggest that he wait for a particularly large and tasty smelling order and make a run for it.
We head back to the pizzeria. The deliveries seem to be going well with me as first mate and official navigator. Jake cajoles me with tales of nearly getting fired the other week after getting lost for an hour and begging driving off before meter maids can give him a citation for parking in a red zone. To be honest, Jake is a horrible driver. He finally learned how to drive two years ago, and his sense of direction is piss poor. His brain was meant for Freud and Lacan, not negotiating tight turns and road rage.
During our off moments at the pizzeria, Jake and I devise a system. He writes down the address immediately as it comes in, and Thomas G. and I figure out the fastest route before the pizza leaves the oven. Two heads are better than one, and in the pizza delivery business speed counts. Before the next trip out, we run into our first mishaps of the evening. As I'm looking at the Tommy Gizzle trying to figure exactly which La Salle Ave in Los Angeles county we're headed to, Jake whispers in my ear: "I think I forgot the pizza bag at the last delivery." I quickly muffle a laugh and calculate a detour so we can swing by the previous address and grab it without the owner noticing that it's missing. Upon arriving at the address, Jake rushes out of the car but forgets to put the car into park. He turns around and stares in horror at the car rolling backwards down the hilly street with me in the passenger seat. I quickly shift the car into park and then proceed to laugh my ass off. Jake shrugs in embarrassment and runs back to the house to collect his forgotten pizza bag. As he returns with a sheepish look on his face, I quickly imagine the laughable scene if I hadn't been in the car: Jake, running down a hilly street after a runaway jalopy with recovered pizza bag in hand--pure comedy.
After the latest debacle, things run pretty smoothly. The sun sets as we drive with the windows down, his air conditioning doesn't work, and the salty air reminds us that the ocean is only a few miles away. Jake turns up the radio on his favorite easy-listening station. A crooner sings, "It's too late to turn back now...," right as Jake makes a seven-point U-turn. The irony is killing me.
As we turn down a street, I tell Jake that the address is on the left hand side. Jake then tells me, "You're gonna have to point. 'Left' and 'right' mean nothing to me." In between laughs, I open my laptop to type up his latest comical antics. "You're not gonna write that down are you?" he says, as it slowly dawns on him that I am documenting every silly remark and bad driving maneuver.
"I've hit cars too," he says. I decide that it's best not to ask him for details. We don't need Jim Gilchrist and the LAPD after Jake.
At 14270 La Salle, a starving customer stands outside his house, hanging out with his cat while rubbing his stomach. As we pull into the driveway, he falls down on his knees wildly gesticulating in the air with cash in his hand, begging us to hurry with his pizza. I decide that he's my favorite customer ever, of all time, and begin applauding his performance.
While arguing with Jake about the difference between a "speed hump" and a "speed bump", I discover a strange button in his car that does nothing! When I press the button, a clicking sound, similar to the scary sound the engine makes when climbing a hill, emanates from somewhere but nothing happens. Intrigued, I continue pressing the button that does nothing until Jake screams: "Stop it! You're gonna break my car!" To further annoy him, I click the button whenever he isn't looking. If it's already broken, can it be really become more broken?
What turns out to be the funniest, and potentially most tragic, gaffe of the night is perpetrated by yours truly. As we're exiting the car, I place a soda can on top of the car roof as I'm exiting. Unbeknownst to me, the sun roof is open and the can falls straight on to my head and then spills on the Holy Thomas. We stare in disbelief as brown lakes and rivers begin forming amongst the streets of Culver City and Santa Monica. In emergency mode, we run into the pizzeria and grab a handful of napkins. I let the liquid on my laptop sit as I frenetically and deliberately blot the pages hoping to save Jake's livelihood. I begin to blow on the page hoping to dry it out before it becomes permanently see through, while the owner laughs at me. After a few minutes, the crisis is averted and the map is a little worse for wear but still legible. Luckily, I haven't ruined Jake's cash cow. Unfortunately, it seems that the other delivery boy isn't nearly so lucky. He's got the hood of his even older car propped up and looks mighty pissed.
After we experience few more near crashes, the sun sets and our evening begins winding down. It's 9:30, and I figure out the directions to what will probably be our last delivery while Jake wipes down the tables and mops up. When night falls, street signs and address numbers become significantly harder to spot, making one of America's most dangerous jobs, even more difficult. I'm already tired of it. For me this is a one time comedic adventure, but for Jake, it's an occupation. Surely, the job isn't always so entertaining, constant threats of vehicular homicide aside. Undoubtedly, after getting his third one-dollar-tip for the night, Jake must wonder why he's delivering pizzas instead of a dissertation. But just like the surly looking Chinese cooks at the takeout place next door, Jake continues working this dead end job. People don't like doing this work; they just don't have options.
In all likelihood, this little journalistic jaunt is the closest I'll ever come to doing service sector work in my adult life. I am quite lucky. The amount of money I make is not dependent upon the capricious whims of the evening's tippers. Couples on dates come into the pizzeria, discussing their after-dinner plans. Only two weeks ago, I was also in a restaurant with my date trying to figure out which L.A. hotspot we would hit next. I never paused to think that this was a luxury that Jake, and millions like him, cannot afford. They prepared my food while I busily tried to impress a girl with my cursory knowledge of the local nightlife.
Oddly, the only thing that really separates Jake and me is our legal status. He is in every way my equal, and in some ways my superior, but I was lucky enough to be born on U.S. soil instead of my parents' homeland. Is this not the very definition of caprice? Instead of finding a job equal to his level of erudition and expertise, Jake has been relegated to work often reserved for the unskilled, uneducated and underachieving, only because he lacks a little green card. It seems cosmically unfair.
Undoubtedly, Jake will make it in America. Soon enough he will be accepted into a nursing program. Or, some lucky American girl will take his hand in marriage. Nonetheless, for now he must waste away the weekend nights of his youth. It's too bad. But he is luckier than most of America's underground workers. Most are without hope of improvement, can barely speak English, and dream only of their next reunion with their families. That being said, I'm sure we could all afford to tip a little better.
*name changed for obvious reasons
Posted by jason at 11:38 AM | Comments (2)
Jake* is a delivery boy at a mom and pop pizza parlor in west L.A. He gets paid $5.50 an hour under the table and gets to keep his tips. In this part of the country, a wage that low is illegal, but Jake doesn't have a green card, so he'll take any job he can get.
Jake moved to Los Angeles with his family from his native Taiwan when he was only two-years old. He doesn't know much about the island. Ever since he can remember, he has lived with his parents in a run-down motel that they operate in a seedy part of Eagle Rock. "Special skill"-less, his parents came to the U.S. on a B1 visa in order to run the business for silent investors still living in Taiwan. During the last 20+ years, their resident status has remained unchanged, which is a major problem for Jake and his siblings: they are now legal adults no longer under their parents' visa.
For the past six years, Jake has deferred an impending deportation with a student visa. He has no desire to leave home and live in Taiwan, where he will be immediately forced to join the national army. Moreover, he speaks neither Taiwanese nor Mandarin. After graduating with high honors from the best public university in the U.S., he has enrolled at a local junior college in order to maintain his legal status. Recently, his goal has simply been to enter into a nursing program at a local state school. With America's nursing shortage, becoming a resident nurse will put Jake on the fast track towards citizenship. Nurses are in high demand, but there are very few available programs. Subsequently, schools such as Cal State Los Angeles accept students through a lottery system. That means qualified applicants such as Jake, may wait years before even starting school. His dreams of pursuing a PhD in Psychology are on the back-burner; not being forcefully deported from his homeland is number one on the priority list.
(I think he should sign up for match.com and search for a nice U.S. citizen looking to marry a pizza delivery boy. I volunteered my younger sister, but both were lukewarm to the prospect. You're not interested are you? Jake scored 1500+ on his SATs, so your babies would be super smart.)
For undocumented workers in the U.S., there are two choices: work for a sympathetic employer from ones ethnic community who is willing to break the law, or find a very low-paying, also illegal, menial job. Many undocumented immigrants from Asian nations take the first route by overstaying their visas and relying upon family members and friends to find them jobs within their respective ethnic communities. Because they need only speak Chinese or Korean, they can stay in ethnic enclaves such as Monterey Park or Garden Grove, and work with retailers that cater towards these ethnic communities, even parlaying their skills into decent-paying positions such as travel agents or restaurant managers.
This is not an option for Jake. Legal status aside, he is American through and through. Jake only speaks English, doesn't know where the closest 99 Ranch is to his home, and his chopstick skills are best described as funky. Thus, Jake's only recourse is to save money for his future student fees (student loans are only available to permanent residents) by finding a low-paying job cleaning toilets or delivering pizzas from someone willing to illegally hire him.
I met Jake in the dorms my freshman year at college. He struck me as very intelligent and hardworking, but painfully shy. Six years later, this description still applies. He's not a "go-getter," but he always gets things done. Nevertheless, his strong work ethic and smarts weren't enough to prevent him from ending up in this legal nightmare. Thus, one of the most talented and hardworking people I know is currently delivering pizzas to the couch potatoes of Westwood. It hardly seems fair.
I offered to tag along with Jake because it figured to be an edifying experience. Millions of people across America work menial jobs that most Americans would turn their noses at. This was a unique opportunity for me to see how difficult it is to earn money. My mother would be proud. Besides, I had nothing better to do on a Saturday night.
The pizzeria is small and quaint. The proprietor mans the register while the workers, whom I assume are also undocumented workers, work the ovens. They sell by the slice, and I cough up four bucks for a thin crust. It's decent, no Zachary's or Cheeseboard, but way better than Pizza Hut. The place seems to have a strong local following. Business is good. During slow hours, Jake and the guys play HORSE on the mini-basketball hoop in the back.
Right when we walk in, after the bumper-to-bumper drive through downtown in Jake's sputtering 20-year-old Honda, the owner already has two orders ready for delivery. Jake shuffles in, grabs the boxes and we head out. Apparently, before the invention of MapQuest and Satellite Navigation, there was the Thomas Guide. Jake throws the tome in my lap and tells me to find the address. "How do I input the address without a keyboard?" I ask myself, while flipping through the pages, wondering how people once lived without computers.
We find the first apartment building, and Jake narrowly avoids being run-over by a speeding Mercedes as he scuttles across the street with Italian sandwiches in hand. He returns to the car, minutes later, with a two dollar tip. "Not bad," he says. If everyone is this generous, he could make up to 8 dollars-an-hour tonight.
We make a U-turn, and head to the next address. I'm starting to get the hang of this map thing, and the next delivery goes off without a hitch. I suddenly realize that the hardest part of being a pizza delivery boy might be the constant temptation: the pizza smells so good. With Jake's low wage, I suggest that he wait for a particularly large and tasty smelling order and make a run for it.
We head back to the pizzeria. The deliveries seem to be going well with me as first mate and official navigator. Jake cajoles me with tales of nearly getting fired the other week after getting lost for an hour and begging driving off before meter maids can give him a citation for parking in a red zone. To be honest, Jake is a horrible driver. He finally learned how to drive two years ago, and his sense of direction is piss poor. His brain was meant for Freud and Lacan, not negotiating tight turns and road rage.
During our off moments at the pizzeria, Jake and I devise a system. He writes down the address immediately as it comes in, and Thomas G. and I figure out the fastest route before the pizza leaves the oven. Two heads are better than one, and in the pizza delivery business speed counts. Before the next trip out, we run into our first mishaps of the evening. As I'm looking at the Tommy Gizzle trying to figure exactly which La Salle Ave in Los Angeles county we're headed to, Jake whispers in my ear: "I think I forgot the pizza bag at the last delivery." I quickly muffle a laugh and calculate a detour so we can swing by the previous address and grab it without the owner noticing that it's missing. Upon arriving at the address, Jake rushes out of the car but forgets to put the car into park. He turns around and stares in horror at the car rolling backwards down the hilly street with me in the passenger seat. I quickly shift the car into park and then proceed to laugh my ass off. Jake shrugs in embarrassment and runs back to the house to collect his forgotten pizza bag. As he returns with a sheepish look on his face, I quickly imagine the laughable scene if I hadn't been in the car: Jake, running down a hilly street after a runaway jalopy with recovered pizza bag in hand--pure comedy.
After the latest debacle, things run pretty smoothly. The sun sets as we drive with the windows down, his air conditioning doesn't work, and the salty air reminds us that the ocean is only a few miles away. Jake turns up the radio on his favorite easy-listening station. A crooner sings, "It's too late to turn back now...," right as Jake makes a seven-point U-turn. The irony is killing me.
As we turn down a street, I tell Jake that the address is on the left hand side. Jake then tells me, "You're gonna have to point. 'Left' and 'right' mean nothing to me." In between laughs, I open my laptop to type up his latest comical antics. "You're not gonna write that down are you?" he says, as it slowly dawns on him that I am documenting every silly remark and bad driving maneuver.
"I've hit cars too," he says. I decide that it's best not to ask him for details. We don't need Jim Gilchrist and the LAPD after Jake.
At 14270 La Salle, a starving customer stands outside his house, hanging out with his cat while rubbing his stomach. As we pull into the driveway, he falls down on his knees wildly gesticulating in the air with cash in his hand, begging us to hurry with his pizza. I decide that he's my favorite customer ever, of all time, and begin applauding his performance.
While arguing with Jake about the difference between a "speed hump" and a "speed bump", I discover a strange button in his car that does nothing! When I press the button, a clicking sound, similar to the scary sound the engine makes when climbing a hill, emanates from somewhere but nothing happens. Intrigued, I continue pressing the button that does nothing until Jake screams: "Stop it! You're gonna break my car!" To further annoy him, I click the button whenever he isn't looking. If it's already broken, can it be really become more broken?
What turns out to be the funniest, and potentially most tragic, gaffe of the night is perpetrated by yours truly. As we're exiting the car, I place a soda can on top of the car roof as I'm exiting. Unbeknownst to me, the sun roof is open and the can falls straight on to my head and then spills on the Holy Thomas. We stare in disbelief as brown lakes and rivers begin forming amongst the streets of Culver City and Santa Monica. In emergency mode, we run into the pizzeria and grab a handful of napkins. I let the liquid on my laptop sit as I frenetically and deliberately blot the pages hoping to save Jake's livelihood. I begin to blow on the page hoping to dry it out before it becomes permanently see through, while the owner laughs at me. After a few minutes, the crisis is averted and the map is a little worse for wear but still legible. Luckily, I haven't ruined Jake's cash cow. Unfortunately, it seems that the other delivery boy isn't nearly so lucky. He's got the hood of his even older car propped up and looks mighty pissed.
After we experience few more near crashes, the sun sets and our evening begins winding down. It's 9:30, and I figure out the directions to what will probably be our last delivery while Jake wipes down the tables and mops up. When night falls, street signs and address numbers become significantly harder to spot, making one of America's most dangerous jobs, even more difficult. I'm already tired of it. For me this is a one time comedic adventure, but for Jake, it's an occupation. Surely, the job isn't always so entertaining, constant threats of vehicular homicide aside. Undoubtedly, after getting his third one-dollar-tip for the night, Jake must wonder why he's delivering pizzas instead of a dissertation. But just like the surly looking Chinese cooks at the takeout place next door, Jake continues working this dead end job. People don't like doing this work; they just don't have options.
In all likelihood, this little journalistic jaunt is the closest I'll ever come to doing service sector work in my adult life. I am quite lucky. The amount of money I make is not dependent upon the capricious whims of the evening's tippers. Couples on dates come into the pizzeria, discussing their after-dinner plans. Only two weeks ago, I was also in a restaurant with my date trying to figure out which L.A. hotspot we would hit next. I never paused to think that this was a luxury that Jake, and millions like him, cannot afford. They prepared my food while I busily tried to impress a girl with my cursory knowledge of the local nightlife.
Oddly, the only thing that really separates Jake and me is our legal status. He is in every way my equal, and in some ways my superior, but I was lucky enough to be born on U.S. soil instead of my parents' homeland. Is this not the very definition of caprice? Instead of finding a job equal to his level of erudition and expertise, Jake has been relegated to work often reserved for the unskilled, uneducated and underachieving, only because he lacks a little green card. It seems cosmically unfair.
Undoubtedly, Jake will make it in America. Soon enough he will be accepted into a nursing program. Or, some lucky American girl will take his hand in marriage. Nonetheless, for now he must waste away the weekend nights of his youth. It's too bad. But he is luckier than most of America's underground workers. Most are without hope of improvement, can barely speak English, and dream only of their next reunion with their families. That being said, I'm sure we could all afford to tip a little better.
*name changed for obvious reasons
Posted by jason at 11:38 AM | Comments (2)
A press conference in New York City last month addressed an issue that often goes ignored but is already affecting many Asian Americans in the 21st century – Chronic Hepatitis B.
A study released by pharmaceutical giants Idenix and Novartis revealed some alarming figures. A survey of 301 CHB patients (55% of whom were Asian American) indicated that not enough CHB patients or the general population are properly informed about CHB and its causes, although the similarities to the HIV epidemic are obvious.
In the U.S. and estimated 1.25 million people are critically infected with HBV 2 -- Asian Americans make up more than half of this number.
* One in 10 Asian-Americans has CHB, compared with one in 1,000 for the general U.S. population:
* 1 in 10 Chinese Americans
* 1 in 12 Korean Americans
* 1 in 8 Vietnamese Americans
“The transmission of Hepatitis B usually is silent, that’s why we call it a ticking time bomb. Patients don’t usually have any symptoms when they’re very infected until a very late stage when the symptoms surface and the disease appears – in fact they (patients) may have normal results in a laboratory test,” said Dr. Calvin Pan, Director of Clinical Research / Hepatology for Amherst Hospital and Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine for Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York.
Along with Dr. Albert Min, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine and Director of Hepatitis Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the two medical professionals shared some vital information on Hepatitis B with a group of mostly Asian media in New York and outlined its impact on the community. Here's just a thought on how it was widely covered on TV across the globe, but I didn't see anything about it in the good old American press. After all this is Hyphen and we're one of a kind.
Like HIV, Hepatitis B can be transmitted in several ways. First is vertical transmission; the passage of a disease-causing agent vertically from mother directly to baby during the perinatal period (the period immediately before and after birth). The perinatal period starts between the 20th to 28th week of pregnancy and ends 1 to 4 weeks after birth.
The second is horizontal transmission, which would come through contact with contaminated blood through unprotected sex or re-use/ sharing of needles
For vertical transmission, Pan recommended that all children from an infected mother should be screened for Hep B because 90% of the babies infected with Hepatitis B in the newborn or infant stage will become chronic. Pan stated that only about 50% of children infected between ages 1 and 5 will become chronic, so the disease should be caught in newborns.
Pan then identified a major at-risk group in the Asian community: Southeast Asians. He recommended that all immigrants from Southeast Asia should be screened for Hepatitis B because they averaged a15-20% rate of Hep B infection.
“We need to encourage those immigrants or anyone from Southeast Asia to go for screening,” Pan said.
Asked to outline the common environmental factors that contribute to the Hepatitis B epidemic across regions of Asia, Dr. Pan said:
“One of the major factors in Southeast Asia causing a lot of cultures of Hepatitis B is the social setting. Many years ago in Southeast Asia a lot of countries were not using disposable needles or medical equipment in the hospital or they were in a remote area that was not well disinfected. The other cultural factor was the unconventional medical methods of treating disease / holistic medicine. Some disease can be transmitted by traditional ways to treat people. For example clubbing (the body) can cause some continuous bleeding, brutish as it being, and that’s been proposed as a mode to transmit disease. Many of you are aware of the acupuncture part, and in Southeast Asia many countries are still practicing that. If you don’t have very clean, disinfected needle that can lead to transmitting Hep B.”
Pan also pointed to environmental factors such as proper pre-natal and post-natal care as variables that can play a role. “The vaccination for the newborn baby and the infected mother is important and precautions may not be taken in those countries,” Pan said.
“They just came out with guidelines recommending vaccination of children under age 18 from high-risk groups that Dr. Pan pointed out," added Min, recalling new guidelines from the Center for Disease Control and Authorized Committee on Immunization Practice, "In terms of transmitting a virus to newborn children, if they all get vaccinated and the mother has chronic Hepatitis B, they also get opportunities of passage through prophylactics. New cases in newborn and young children would be 90-95% preventable.”
But why is Hep B more prevalent in some parts of Asia and not others?
“Theoretically, you have to look at the geographic distribution of Hep B, because we know that close contact is a mode of transmission," Pan explained, " You have to be aware of where those patients are coming from, whether they’re immigrants or you find any higher prevalence area. In general, Southeast Asia. Then China, especially, [is] the major country, out of Korea, China and Japan. And Taiwan. People from Taiwan have a high chance of contracting of Hep B. It’s not so much of an ethnic factor – I don’t believe that the data shows that Chinese are more easily infected with Hep B than Japanese or Koreans. It’s about the geographic distribution of the disease."
In the U.S., social issues are the leading factors contributing to the transmission of Hepatitis B among members of the Asian community. “More likely we have to focus on behavioral modifications such as sexual contact, unprotected sex, needle use, men having sex with men, or any factors associated with HIV should be associated with Hepatitis B,” elaborated Pan.
Are those with Hep B aware of how it is transmitted?
The survey data shows that the majority of respondents correctly identify blood transfusion (78%) and sexual contact (68%) as the main sources of transmitting the virus. But, 36% of respondents believed that sharing utensils with an infected person would spread Hep B. And 23% said that living in the same household as an infected person could spread Hep B. Meanwhile, 9% believed that social contact such as a handshake could also lead to transmitting the virus. The parallels to misconceptions about HIV were obvious, and added to that Dr. Pan mentioned some of the same behavioral risks.
Singling-out lifestyles more at risk for contracting Hep B, Pan said, “I think certain communities, a) the Gay and Lesbian community--- probably they should screen everybody, b) those people known to use IV drugs should be screened, c) those people having unprotected sex with multiple partners they should be screened,” he said.
Then, Pan talked about something of a fad in our generation: tattooing. This hit home, for me, because I have several tats myself, though my artist used new needles. “A lot of people with different backgrounds, even in Southeast Asia like to get tattoos. In the United States some tattoo services might have a clean facility, but others are still practicing without disinfecting tattooing equipment. Sharing sharp objects is another factor. For example ladies who share earrings might have some risk for passing disease and infections,” Pan said.
With so little knowledge about Hep B, the message needs to be spread and precautions need to be taken. While the real reason Idenix and Novartis called this press conference was to promote their new drug, the recently FDA-approved TYZEKA (tebivudine 600mg), and compare its effect over two others: lamivudine and adefovir. The Asian American community should be able to find out more about this rarely mentioned affliction.
To learn more you can check out the Hepatitis B Foundation’s website at www.hepb.org/ and also see immunize.org.
Posted by at 11:35 AM | Comments (0)
A press conference in New York City last month addressed an issue that often goes ignored but is already affecting many Asian Americans in the 21st century – Chronic Hepatitis B.
A study released by pharmaceutical giants Idenix and Novartis revealed some alarming figures. A survey of 301 CHB patients (55% of whom were Asian American) indicated that not enough CHB patients or the general population are properly informed about CHB and its causes, although the similarities to the HIV epidemic are obvious.
In the U.S. and estimated 1.25 million people are critically infected with HBV 2 -- Asian Americans make up more than half of this number.
* One in 10 Asian-Americans has CHB, compared with one in 1,000 for the general U.S. population:
* 1 in 10 Chinese Americans
* 1 in 12 Korean Americans
* 1 in 8 Vietnamese Americans
“The transmission of Hepatitis B usually is silent, that’s why we call it a ticking time bomb. Patients don’t usually have any symptoms when they’re very infected until a very late stage when the symptoms surface and the disease appears – in fact they (patients) may have normal results in a laboratory test,” said Dr. Calvin Pan, Director of Clinical Research / Hepatology for Amherst Hospital and Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine for Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York.
Along with Dr. Albert Min, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine and Director of Hepatitis Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the two medical professionals shared some vital information on Hepatitis B with a group of mostly Asian media in New York and outlined its impact on the community. Here's just a thought on how it was widely covered on TV across the globe, but I didn't see anything about it in the good old American press. After all this is Hyphen and we're one of a kind.
Like HIV, Hepatitis B can be transmitted in several ways. First is vertical transmission; the passage of a disease-causing agent vertically from mother directly to baby during the perinatal period (the period immediately before and after birth). The perinatal period starts between the 20th to 28th week of pregnancy and ends 1 to 4 weeks after birth.
The second is horizontal transmission, which would come through contact with contaminated blood through unprotected sex or re-use/ sharing of needles
For vertical transmission, Pan recommended that all children from an infected mother should be screened for Hep B because 90% of the babies infected with Hepatitis B in the newborn or infant stage will become chronic. Pan stated that only about 50% of children infected between ages 1 and 5 will become chronic, so the disease should be caught in newborns.
Pan then identified a major at-risk group in the Asian community: Southeast Asians. He recommended that all immigrants from Southeast Asia should be screened for Hepatitis B because they averaged a15-20% rate of Hep B infection.
“We need to encourage those immigrants or anyone from Southeast Asia to go for screening,” Pan said.
Asked to outline the common environmental factors that contribute to the Hepatitis B epidemic across regions of Asia, Dr. Pan said:
“One of the major factors in Southeast Asia causing a lot of cultures of Hepatitis B is the social setting. Many years ago in Southeast Asia a lot of countries were not using disposable needles or medical equipment in the hospital or they were in a remote area that was not well disinfected. The other cultural factor was the unconventional medical methods of treating disease / holistic medicine. Some disease can be transmitted by traditional ways to treat people. For example clubbing (the body) can cause some continuous bleeding, brutish as it being, and that’s been proposed as a mode to transmit disease. Many of you are aware of the acupuncture part, and in Southeast Asia many countries are still practicing that. If you don’t have very clean, disinfected needle that can lead to transmitting Hep B.”
Pan also pointed to environmental factors such as proper pre-natal and post-natal care as variables that can play a role. “The vaccination for the newborn baby and the infected mother is important and precautions may not be taken in those countries,” Pan said.
“They just came out with guidelines recommending vaccination of children under age 18 from high-risk groups that Dr. Pan pointed out," added Min, recalling new guidelines from the Center for Disease Control and Authorized Committee on Immunization Practice, "In terms of transmitting a virus to newborn children, if they all get vaccinated and the mother has chronic Hepatitis B, they also get opportunities of passage through prophylactics. New cases in newborn and young children would be 90-95% preventable.”
But why is Hep B more prevalent in some parts of Asia and not others?
“Theoretically, you have to look at the geographic distribution of Hep B, because we know that close contact is a mode of transmission," Pan explained, " You have to be aware of where those patients are coming from, whether they’re immigrants or you find any higher prevalence area. In general, Southeast Asia. Then China, especially, [is] the major country, out of Korea, China and Japan. And Taiwan. People from Taiwan have a high chance of contracting of Hep B. It’s not so much of an ethnic factor – I don’t believe that the data shows that Chinese are more easily infected with Hep B than Japanese or Koreans. It’s about the geographic distribution of the disease."
In the U.S., social issues are the leading factors contributing to the transmission of Hepatitis B among members of the Asian community. “More likely we have to focus on behavioral modifications such as sexual contact, unprotected sex, needle use, men having sex with men, or any factors associated with HIV should be associated with Hepatitis B,” elaborated Pan.
Are those with Hep B aware of how it is transmitted?
The survey data shows that the majority of respondents correctly identify blood transfusion (78%) and sexual contact (68%) as the main sources of transmitting the virus. But, 36% of respondents believed that sharing utensils with an infected person would spread Hep B. And 23% said that living in the same household as an infected person could spread Hep B. Meanwhile, 9% believed that social contact such as a handshake could also lead to transmitting the virus. The parallels to misconceptions about HIV were obvious, and added to that Dr. Pan mentioned some of the same behavioral risks.
Singling-out lifestyles more at risk for contracting Hep B, Pan said, “I think certain communities, a) the Gay and Lesbian community--- probably they should screen everybody, b) those people known to use IV drugs should be screened, c) those people having unprotected sex with multiple partners they should be screened,” he said.
Then, Pan talked about something of a fad in our generation: tattooing. This hit home, for me, because I have several tats myself, though my artist used new needles. “A lot of people with different backgrounds, even in Southeast Asia like to get tattoos. In the United States some tattoo services might have a clean facility, but others are still practicing without disinfecting tattooing equipment. Sharing sharp objects is another factor. For example ladies who share earrings might have some risk for passing disease and infections,” Pan said.
With so little knowledge about Hep B, the message needs to be spread and precautions need to be taken. While the real reason Idenix and Novartis called this press conference was to promote their new drug, the recently FDA-approved TYZEKA (tebivudine 600mg), and compare its effect over two others: lamivudine and adefovir. The Asian American community should be able to find out more about this rarely mentioned affliction.
To learn more you can check out the Hepatitis B Foundation’s website at www.hepb.org/ and also see immunize.org.
Posted by at 11:35 AM | Comments (0)
A press conference in New York City last month addressed an issue that often goes ignored but is already affecting many Asian Americans in the 21st century Chronic Hepatitis B.
A study released by pharmaceutical giants Idenix and Novartis revealed some alarming figures. A survey of 301 CHB patients (55% of whom were Asian American) indicated that not enough CHB patients or the general population are properly informed about CHB and its causes, although the similarities to the HIV epidemic are obvious.
In the U.S. and estimated 1.25 million people are critically infected with HBV 2 -- Asian Americans make up more than half of this number.
* One in 10 Asian-Americans has CHB, compared with one in 1,000 for the general U.S. population:
* 1 in 10 Chinese Americans
* 1 in 12 Korean Americans
* 1 in 8 Vietnamese Americans
The transmission of Hepatitis B usually is silent, thats why we call it a ticking time bomb. Patients dont usually have any symptoms when theyre very infected until a very late stage when the symptoms surface and the disease appears in fact they (patients) may have normal results in a laboratory test, said Dr. Calvin Pan, Director of Clinical Research / Hepatology for Amherst Hospital and Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine for Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York.
Along with Dr. Albert Min, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine and Director of Hepatitis Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the two medical professionals shared some vital information on Hepatitis B with a group of mostly Asian media in New York and outlined its impact on the community. Here's just a thought on how it was widely covered on TV across the globe, but I didn't see anything about it in the good old American press. After all this is Hyphen and we're one of a kind.
Like HIV, Hepatitis B can be transmitted in several ways. First is vertical transmission; the passage of a disease-causing agent vertically from mother directly to baby during the perinatal period (the period immediately before and after birth). The perinatal period starts between the 20th to 28th week of pregnancy and ends 1 to 4 weeks after birth.
The second is horizontal transmission, which would come through contact with contaminated blood through unprotected sex or re-use/ sharing of needles
For vertical transmission, Pan recommended that all children from an infected mother should be screened for Hep B because 90% of the babies infected with Hepatitis B in the newborn or infant stage will become chronic. Pan stated that only about 50% of children infected between ages 1 and 5 will become chronic, so the disease should be caught in newborns.
Pan then identified a major at-risk group in the Asian community: Southeast Asians. He recommended that all immigrants from Southeast Asia should be screened for Hepatitis B because they averaged a15-20% rate of Hep B infection.
We need to encourage those immigrants or anyone from Southeast Asia to go for screening, Pan said.
Asked to outline the common environmental factors that contribute to the Hepatitis B epidemic across regions of Asia, Dr. Pan said:
One of the major factors in Southeast Asia causing a lot of cultures of Hepatitis B is the social setting. Many years ago in Southeast Asia a lot of countries were not using disposable needles or medical equipment in the hospital or they were in a remote area that was not well disinfected. The other cultural factor was the unconventional medical methods of treating disease / holistic medicine. Some disease can be transmitted by traditional ways to treat people. For example clubbing (the body) can cause some continuous bleeding, brutish as it being, and thats been proposed as a mode to transmit disease. Many of you are aware of the acupuncture part, and in Southeast Asia many countries are still practicing that. If you dont have very clean, disinfected needle that can lead to transmitting Hep B.
Pan also pointed to environmental factors such as proper pre-natal and post-natal care as variables that can play a role. The vaccination for the newborn baby and the infected mother is important and precautions may not be taken in those countries, Pan said.
They just came out with guidelines recommending vaccination of children under age 18 from high-risk groups that Dr. Pan pointed out," added Min, recalling new guidelines from the Center for Disease Control and Authorized Committee on Immunization Practice, "In terms of transmitting a virus to newborn children, if they all get vaccinated and the mother has chronic Hepatitis B, they also get opportunities of passage through prophylactics. New cases in newborn and young children would be 90-95% preventable.
But why is Hep B more prevalent in some parts of Asia and not others?
Theoretically, you have to look at the geographic distribution of Hep B, because we know that close contact is a mode of transmission," Pan explained, " You have to be aware of where those patients are coming from, whether theyre immigrants or you find any higher prevalence area. In general, Southeast Asia. Then China, especially, [is] the major country, out of Korea, China and Japan. And Taiwan. People from Taiwan have a high chance of contracting of Hep B. Its not so much of an ethnic factor I dont believe that the data shows that Chinese are more easily infected with Hep B than Japanese or Koreans. Its about the geographic distribution of the disease."
In the U.S., social issues are the leading factors contributing to the transmission of Hepatitis B among members of the Asian community. More likely we have to focus on behavioral modifications such as sexual contact, unprotected sex, needle use, men having sex with men, or any factors associated with HIV should be associated with Hepatitis B, elaborated Pan.
Are those with Hep B aware of how it is transmitted?
The survey data shows that the majority of respondents correctly identify blood transfusion (78%) and sexual contact (68%) as the main sources of transmitting the virus. But, 36% of respondents believed that sharing utensils with an infected person would spread Hep B. And 23% said that living in the same household as an infected person could spread Hep B. Meanwhile, 9% believed that social contact such as a handshake could also lead to transmitting the virus. The parallels to misconceptions about HIV were obvious, and added to that Dr. Pan mentioned some of the same behavioral risks.
Singling-out lifestyles more at risk for contracting Hep B, Pan said, I think certain communities, a) the Gay and Lesbian community--- probably they should screen everybody, b) those people known to use IV drugs should be screened, c) those people having unprotected sex with multiple partners they should be screened, he said.
Then, Pan talked about something of a fad in our generation: tattooing. This hit home, for me, because I have several tats myself, though my artist used new needles. A lot of people with different backgrounds, even in Southeast Asia like to get tattoos. In the United States some tattoo services might have a clean facility, but others are still practicing without disinfecting tattooing equipment. Sharing sharp objects is another factor. For example ladies who share earrings might have some risk for passing disease and infections, Pan said.
With so little knowledge about Hep B, the message needs to be spread and precautions need to be taken. While the real reason Idenix and Novartis called this press conference was to promote their new drug, the recently FDA-approved TYZEKA (tebivudine 600mg), and compare its effect over two others: lamivudine and adefovir. The Asian American community should be able to find out more about this rarely mentioned affliction.
To learn more you can check out the Hepatitis B Foundations website at www.hepb.org/ and also see immunize.org.
Posted by RIKK6 at 11:35 AM | Comments (0)
Have you heard of MATCHA Thursdays? If you haven't, today will the day to find out! Our buddies over at the Asian Art Museum are hosting a Live Action Remix.
What does that mean? Good question. Think Astroy Boy, Manga, and DJ Nako!
The Live Action Cartoonists perform highlights from SCIENCE (FICTION), a multimedia project inspired by Tezuka Osamu’s Astro Boy. Tour Yoshitoshi’s Strange Tales and Tezuka: The Marvel of Manga; make your own print, attend a Manga 101 workshop, chill to new wave and indie music by DJ Nako, or mingle over cocktails.
DAY & DATE: Thursday, July 5
TIME: 5PM – 9PM
LOCATION: Asian Art Museum
COST: FREE with museum admission ($5 after 5pm)
For more information, click here.
Also, don’t miss the museum’s BLAST OFF! event on July 7 – a manga, anime, and pop culture extravaganza for aficionados and amateurs alike.
The Hyphen crew will be there, enjoying the awesome atmosphere. Stop by and introduce yourselves, because Hyphen loves to meet new people!
Posted by lisalee at 1:50 PM | Comments (0)
Have you heard of MATCHA Thursdays? If you haven't, today will the day to find out! Our buddies over at the Asian Art Museum are hosting a Live Action Remix.
What does that mean? Good question. Think Astroy Boy, Manga, and DJ Nako!
The Live Action Cartoonists perform highlights from SCIENCE (FICTION), a multimedia project inspired by Tezuka Osamu’s Astro Boy. Tour Yoshitoshi’s Strange Tales and Tezuka: The Marvel of Manga; make your own print, attend a Manga 101 workshop, chill to new wave and indie music by DJ Nako, or mingle over cocktails.
DAY & DATE: Thursday, July 5
TIME: 5PM – 9PM
LOCATION: Asian Art Museum
COST: FREE with museum admission ($5 after 5pm)
For more information, click here.
Also, don’t miss the museum’s BLAST OFF! event on July 7 – a manga, anime, and pop culture extravaganza for aficionados and amateurs alike.
The Hyphen crew will be there, enjoying the awesome atmosphere. Stop by and introduce yourselves, because Hyphen loves to meet new people!
Posted by lisalee at 1:50 PM | Comments (0)
Have you heard of MATCHA Thursdays? If you haven't, today will the day to find out! Our buddies over at the Asian Art Museum are hosting a Live Action Remix.
What does that mean? Good question. Think Astroy Boy, Manga, and DJ Nako!
The Live Action Cartoonists perform highlights from SCIENCE (FICTION), a multimedia project inspired by Tezuka Osamus Astro Boy. Tour Yoshitoshis Strange Tales and Tezuka: The Marvel of Manga; make your own print, attend a Manga 101 workshop, chill to new wave and indie music by DJ Nako, or mingle over cocktails.
DAY & DATE: Thursday, July 5
TIME: 5PM 9PM
LOCATION: Asian Art Museum
COST: FREE with museum admission ($5 after 5pm)
For more information, click here.
Also, dont miss the museums BLAST OFF! event on July 7 a manga, anime, and pop culture extravaganza for aficionados and amateurs alike.
The Hyphen crew will be there, enjoying the awesome atmosphere. Stop by and introduce yourselves, because Hyphen loves to meet new people!
Posted by lisalee at 1:50 PM | Comments (0)
Oh no! Another indie magazine bites the dust. The indie press community has been abuzz for the past few weeks about the closing of Punk Planet. After 13 years, they’ve printed their last issue.
Punk Planet wasn’t just a music mag. It encompassed all corners of the punk lifestyle, defining what punk was broadly. From an industry standpoint, Punk Planet seemed to have a business model other magazines were jealous of. They had all sorts of advertisers from indie record labels. And they weren’t dependent on any one advertiser. If someone pulled out, they could go on because they had so many little ads from so many people.
But in the end, there weren’t enough. In his goodbye letter, founder Dan Sinker cites dwindling advertising and subscribers, as well as a bad distribution deal, as reasons for folding. The distributor they used, Big Top, went under, leaving many mags in financial crisis. Punk Planet is just the latest victim.
My thoughts about this haven’t changed much from my last post about the dying indie press and the closing of other magazines, including Clamor and Kitchen Sink.
Are independent print magazines able to survive in this internet age? The cost of printing and distribution are so high. And people seem to expect free content, which they can find online. Personally, I really like having a magazine in my hands. I like reading them on trains and buses. I like the way they look and feel. At Hyphen, we put a lot of emphasis on the art that goes with our stories. We run big photographs and illustrations, spacious layouts -- things we can’t replicate as well online. But I’m probably in the minority. Even if you have the most beautiful magazine in the world, are people willing to shell out money for it?
The traditional magazine business model doesn’t seem to work anymore. Subscriptions and advertising just aren’t covering costs. It seems that magazines that are hanging on, like Giant Robot and ReadyMade are doing so with the help of non-magazine revenue. Giant Robot has its stores (and a restaurant even). ReadyMade publishes books.
Well, goodbye Punk Planet. I understand why you need to go. It’s a harsh climate for us indie magazines. Wish you didn’t have to.
Posted by Melissa at 1:15 PM | Comments (0)
Oh no! Another indie magazine bites the dust. The indie press community has been abuzz for the past few weeks about the closing of Punk Planet. After 13 years, they’ve printed their last issue.
Punk Planet wasn’t just a music mag. It encompassed all corners of the punk lifestyle, defining what punk was broadly. From an industry standpoint, Punk Planet seemed to have a business model other magazines were jealous of. They had all sorts of advertisers from indie record labels. And they weren’t dependent on any one advertiser. If someone pulled out, they could go on because they had so many little ads from so many people.
But in the end, there weren’t enough. In his goodbye letter, founder Dan Sinker cites dwindling advertising and subscribers, as well as a bad distribution deal, as reasons for folding. The distributor they used, Big Top, went under, leaving many mags in financial crisis. Punk Planet is just the latest victim.
My thoughts about this haven’t changed much from my last post about the dying indie press and the closing of other magazines, including Clamor and Kitchen Sink.
Are independent print magazines able to survive in this internet age? The cost of printing and distribution are so high. And people seem to expect free content, which they can find online. Personally, I really like having a magazine in my hands. I like reading them on trains and buses. I like the way they look and feel. At Hyphen, we put a lot of emphasis on the art that goes with our stories. We run big photographs and illustrations, spacious layouts -- things we can’t replicate as well online. But I’m probably in the minority. Even if you have the most beautiful magazine in the world, are people willing to shell out money for it?
The traditional magazine business model doesn’t seem to work anymore. Subscriptions and advertising just aren’t covering costs. It seems that magazines that are hanging on, like Giant Robot and ReadyMade are doing so with the help of non-magazine revenue. Giant Robot has its stores (and a restaurant even). ReadyMade publishes books.
Well, goodbye Punk Planet. I understand why you need to go. It’s a harsh climate for us indie magazines. Wish you didn’t have to.
Posted by Melissa at 1:15 PM | Comments (0)
Oh no! Another indie magazine bites the dust. The indie press community has been abuzz for the past few weeks about the closing of Punk Planet. After 13 years, theyve printed their last issue.
Punk Planet wasnt just a music mag. It encompassed all corners of the punk lifestyle, defining what punk was broadly. From an industry standpoint, Punk Planet seemed to have a business model other magazines were jealous of. They had all sorts of advertisers from indie record labels. And they werent dependent on any one advertiser. If someone pulled out, they could go on because they had so many little ads from so many people.
But in the end, there werent enough. In his goodbye letter, founder Dan Sinker cites dwindling advertising and subscribers, as well as a bad distribution deal, as reasons for folding. The distributor they used, Big Top, went under, leaving many mags in financial crisis. Punk Planet is just the latest victim.
My thoughts about this havent changed much from my last post about the dying indie press and the closing of other magazines, including Clamor and Kitchen Sink.
Are independent print magazines able to survive in this internet age? The cost of printing and distribution are so high. And people seem to expect free content, which they can find online. Personally, I really like having a magazine in my hands. I like reading them on trains and buses. I like the way they look and feel. At Hyphen, we put a lot of emphasis on the art that goes with our stories. We run big photographs and illustrations, spacious layouts -- things we cant replicate as well online. But Im probably in the minority. Even if you have the most beautiful magazine in the world, are people willing to shell out money for it?
The traditional magazine business model doesnt seem to work anymore. Subscriptions and advertising just arent covering costs. It seems that magazines that are hanging on, like Giant Robot and ReadyMade are doing so with the help of non-magazine revenue. Giant Robot has its stores (and a restaurant even). ReadyMade publishes books.
Well, goodbye Punk Planet. I understand why you need to go. Its a harsh climate for us indie magazines. Wish you didnt have to.
Posted by Melissa at 1:15 PM | Comments (0)
In Stockton, California, a community group is fighting to restore and preserve Little Manila, one of the oldest Filipino immigrant communities in the US.
The Little Manila Foundation aims to raise $2 million to purchase several buildings that constitute historic Little Manila. The first on their list is the Mariposa Hotel, a former "residence hotel that also served as a headquarters to labor unions and other organizations when Stockton was home to the largest population of Filipinos outside of the Philippines," describes the Recordnet. They hope to convert Mariposa into a community space and museum, then preserve the only two other remaining buildings of historic Little Manila-- the Rizal Social Club and the Emerald restaurant.
Stockton was a destination for Filipino Americans laboring in the Central Valley in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Little Manila, recently recovering from a redevelopment plan to demolish the area, was once "full of pool halls, hotels, churches, grocery stores, barbershops" which residents build "after being banned from other parts of the city," according to Recordnet. In 2003, the National Trust for Historic Preservation placed Little Manila on the list of the 11 Most Endangered Places.
According to the National Trust for Historic Preservation website, in April the Manila Foundation was in risk of foreclosure, as it was "still struggling to obtain financial backing to rehabilitate and adaptively reuse the Little Manila buildings," although the Recordnet article makes it sound like they are still active. I've contacted the Foundation and will post an update, when I hear back from them.
Posted by melanie at 12:42 PM | Comments (0)
In Stockton, California, a community group is fighting to restore and preserve Little Manila, one of the oldest Filipino immigrant communities in the US.
The Little Manila Foundation aims to raise $2 million to purchase several buildings that constitute historic Little Manila. The first on their list is the Mariposa Hotel, a former "residence hotel that also served as a headquarters to labor unions and other organizations when Stockton was home to the largest population of Filipinos outside of the Philippines," describes the Recordnet. They hope to convert Mariposa into a community space and museum, then preserve the only two other remaining buildings of historic Little Manila-- the Rizal Social Club and the Emerald restaurant.
Stockton was a destination for Filipino Americans laboring in the Central Valley in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Little Manila, recently recovering from a redevelopment plan to demolish the area, was once "full of pool halls, hotels, churches, grocery stores, barbershops" which residents build "after being banned from other parts of the city," according to Recordnet. In 2003, the National Trust for Historic Preservation placed Little Manila on the list of the 11 Most Endangered Places.
According to the National Trust for Historic Preservation website, in April the Manila Foundation was in risk of foreclosure, as it was "still struggling to obtain financial backing to rehabilitate and adaptively reuse the Little Manila buildings," although the Recordnet article makes it sound like they are still active. I've contacted the Foundation and will post an update, when I hear back from them.
Posted by melanie at 12:42 PM | Comments (0)
In Stockton, California, a community group is fighting to restore and preserve Little Manila, one of the oldest Filipino immigrant communities in the US.
The Little Manila Foundation aims to raise $2 million to purchase several buildings that constitute historic Little Manila. The first on their list is the Mariposa Hotel, a former "residence hotel that also served as a headquarters to labor unions and other organizations when Stockton was home to the largest population of Filipinos outside of the Philippines," describes the Recordnet. They hope to convert Mariposa into a community space and museum, then preserve the only two other remaining buildings of historic Little Manila-- the Rizal Social Club and the Emerald restaurant.
Stockton was a destination for Filipino Americans laboring in the Central Valley in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Little Manila, recently recovering from a redevelopment plan to demolish the area, was once "full of pool halls, hotels, churches, grocery stores, barbershops" which residents build "after being banned from other parts of the city," according to Recordnet. In 2003, the National Trust for Historic Preservation placed Little Manila on the list of the 11 Most Endangered Places.
According to the National Trust for Historic Preservation website, in April the Manila Foundation was in risk of foreclosure, as it was "still struggling to obtain financial backing to rehabilitate and adaptively reuse the Little Manila buildings," although the Recordnet article makes it sound like they are still active. I've contacted the Foundation and will post an update, when I hear back from them.
Posted by melanie at 12:42 PM | Comments (0)
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