Asians in America : Magazine

No Regret Opens In LA and NY JULY 25 And Then Wider After...

Press Release | July 22, 2008

Directed by controversial and openly gay filmmaker Leesong Hee-il, NO REGRET is a classic romance interwoven with the realistic depiction of class conflict and contemporary Korean gay life.

NO REGRET marks the first true gay film from Korea, centers on Sumin (Lee Young-Hoon), a poor 18 year-old orphan who seeks his fortune in the bright lights of Seoul. After losing a series of jobs, he is forced to work as a prostitute in a gay karaoke bar. A wealthy and powerful industrialist, Jaemin, (Lee Han) falls passionately in love with the boy and seduces him. Their relationship soon begins to interfere with Jaemin’s pending nuptials and his promotion to a high-profile job at his father’s company. Vengeful after becoming ignored, Sumin sets off on a destructive course of action that brings the film to a powerful and emotional moment of truth. “No Regret” is as uplifting and bittersweet as it is compelling and surprising.

Ten Years Techno! JapanFiles.com welcomes HIMAWARI

Press Release | July 21, 2008

Ten year techno veterans HIMAWARI debut on JapanFiles.com this week with their two CDs "Mineral" (2001) and "Pomposo" (2005).

Formed in 1998 in New York City (and currently now based in Tokyo), HIMAWARI is Takeshi Ichikawa and Lena. They originally met at a Ryuichi Sakamoto event in the city and quickly realized they shared a similar vision for music making.

While based in NYC, HIMAWARI performed regularly at club events in the metro area, and large-scale loft parties in Brooklyn with as many as 3,000 attendees. HIMA also played such events as the CMJ Music Marathon, and were regulars in the Moby VJ Team MOVEMENT events.

Flipped Switch Premieres

Press Release | July 17, 2008

Malinius has launched its new series FLIPPED SWITCH, an online experience that’s part talk show and part melodramatic sitcom.

It's first episode features the stars of the smash Harold & Kumar movies, John Cho (“Better Luck Tomorrow” and the upcoming "Star Trek”) and Neil Patrick Harris (“How I Met Your Mother” and “Doogie Howser, M.D.”).

Flipped Switch features a group of friends trying to produce a talk show while hoping to avoid backstage drama. Its mix of real interviews and comedy vignettes-- some improvised and others scripted, create a fast-paced format that internet viewers will undoubtedly enjoy.

Flipped Switch is available online at http://www.flippedswitch.com
as well as YouTube, Revver, MySpace, and Facebook. Malinius also plans to make the show available on iTunes.

Culture: Still a Deciding Factor for Dating?

By Rukshana Jalil for AIA | July 17, 2008

With interracial relationships on the rise in the United States, the subject of interracial dating within the Asian or South Asian community is not as taboo as it might have been 10 or 15 years ago.

Here's something outrageous: A Chinese woman dating an Indian man. Or how about a Turkish man dating a Chinese woman? Scandalous, isn't it? If you're not shocked, then you're one of many Americans who are not. New York City, the multicultural capital of the United States is home to such couples. Stroll down any city street and you'll see people from all walks of life paired off. Twenty years ago, a mixed race couple walking hand in hand, would have been met with hostile stares, but by now it has become so common that it is no longer outrageous. More people today want to close the gap between cultures in the United States.

According to Population Reference Bureau (PRB), the percentage of interracial married couples has increased from 2.9 percent in 1990 to 5.4 percent in 2000. In addition, Americans' attitudes towards interracial marriages are slowly improving: The percentage of adults that said they approved of interracial marriages increased from 70 to 83 percent from 1986 to 2003.

Typhoon Frank Disaster Relief Benefit

Press Release | July 15 2008

CORE raises for a benefit for those affected by Typhoon Frank

Collaborative Opportunities for Raising Empowerment Inc. (CORE), in partnership with the Ayala Foundation USA, will host a Disaster Relief Benefit for the victims and families in the Philippines affected by Typhoon Frank. This fundraiser will be held at Le Royale (21 7th Avenue South in New York City) from 2PM to 7PM. This event is a call for a unified Filipino community to take action. “As of July 6, 2008, a total of 4,195,605 people, 838,541 families and 5,788 barangays have been affected by the calamity. The death toll has reached 557 and out of this, only 399 have been identified so far. The total cost of damages has been pegged at a staggering Php 11.583 billion.”

To donate, visit the Ayala Foundation website at: http://www.af-usa.org/ or mail a check, payable to Ayala Foundation USA, and postmarked by July 25, 2008, to:

Ayala Foundation USA
255 Shoreline Drive Suite 428
Redwood City, CA 94065

Please write CORE Typhoon Relief on the memo of your check.

The event will begin with a networking cocktail reception, followed by short presentations about the disaster and live entertainment by Filipino and Asian American performance artists and musicians. Suggested donation is $20 at the door. All proceeds shall benefit the victims of Typhoon Frank. Attire is business casual.

Burning temples and lone samurais and decapitated warriors, oh my!

By Erika Usui for AIA | July 15 2008

Feudal samurai anime film premiers on the East and West Coasts this Friday.

Exploring themes of friendship, trust and the samurai spirit, "Sword of the Stranger" is a good-feel action mystery that showcases first-time director Masahiro Ando's hand at animation.

The film revolves around the journey of young Kotaro and his dog Tobimaru, who are being chased by a mysterious Chinese militia of the Ming Emperor. After having been saved from a dangerous encounter by a nameless lone samurai, the boy and the samurai come to an agreement -- the samurai becomes the boy's bodyguard to protect him from the Chinese, and the boy pays him an inherited gem in return.

Among the Ming militia is blond-haired, blue-eyed Western fighter Rarou, who has vowed not to rest until he finds Kotaro. But the intent of his hunt is not to fulfill the bizarre undertaking of his emperor, but is for his own purpose of fighting a worthy opponent.

Genghis Cohen, Please Meet Don Siegel

By Stephanie Chen for AIA | July 11 2008

Chinese food isn't just on Christmas for this guy; it's cooking up year round in his very own kitchen.

Apparently if you look up Chinese food and Jews on Google, you'll see it has gotten damn near 2.5 million hits. If Google knows it, Jews must know it, and Chinese-American restaurateurs must be banking on it. After all, there's an old joke: "According to the Jewish calendar, the year is 5768. According to the Chinese calendar, the year is 4706. That means for 1,062 years, the Jews went without Chinese food."

"How could the Jews survive for the first thousand years without Chinese food?" asks Don Siegel, an earth science professor at Syracuse University by day, and kosher cook on nights and weekends. This question kicks off his cuisine-conversion cookbook, "From Lokshen to Lo Mein: The Jewish Love Affair with Chinese Food."

Race Encounters of the Third Kind

By Alex Chavez for AIA | July 2008

Somebody's gotta say it: Asians are racists. Now I'm not talking about "Asian Americans." I'm talking about ASIAN Asians, still-living-in-the-mother-country Asians. And the occasional first generation parents who want their sons and daughters to marry "their own kind."

And everyone's heard of cases where this Asian enslaved that Asian for 10 years, took away their passports and made them sleep on the floor and eat dried fish. That hits the news almost yearly. And then there's the less known fact that IN Asia, white people get paid more than native Asian people in the same positions. Wassupwitdat?!!

But last night I discovered something truly mind boggling that goes beyond any of the above examples of self-discrimination. But let me start from the beginning:

HappyFunSmile for a JollyGoodTime

By Erika Usui for AIA | July 8 2008

Japanese marching band to open for New York Obon Fest this Sunday

It's a good time for the whole family -- invite grams and grandpa, your punk-rock cousin and little baby sister.

Sure, HappyFunSmile performs enka and minyou, traditional Japanese music that only old geezers listen to. But here's the catch: bandleader Wynn Yamami's arrangements include a full band, complete with an assortment of random world instruments and an electric-funk feel. Not only that, but the musicians perform in -- get this -- anime gear.

Asian Aussie Kicks Ass

By Ramon Gil for AIA | July 2008

For over a year now, I've been watching Natalie (aka Community Channel) Tran of Sydney, Australia blog on YouTube about life in general incorporating a lot of one-person skits and amusing monologues.

This girl's got charm and talent and I'd always wanted to do a feature on her here on Asians in America but 1) She's not in America and 2) she never responds to my e-mails. Short of stalking her to doing an interview with us, I simply backed off and admired her work from afar.

Then two things happened: 1) She came to America. New York City of all places. True, she went back after only a week, but we'll take it. Then 2) she created the video above. Though her ethnicity is seldom an issue on her blog, this one was a response to some racist's comments. And what a great response it was!

Of course, there was that whole controversy with the purple contacts, but I don't think purple is ethno-centric in either direction, so nevermind.

Anyway, Nat, if you see this, well done. And for those of you who've never seen her before, Enjoy!