Studs Terkel, 1912-2008
October 31, 2008
The author-radio host-actor-activist and Chicago symbol has died. “My epitaph? My epitaph will be ‘Curiosity did not kill this cat,’” he once said.
Louis “Studs” Terkel died Friday afternoon in his home on the North Side. He was 96 years old. He was a special figure to Japanese Americans as the chronicler of their World War II internment through oral histories at a time when it was not yet in vogue to discuss their unjust wartime treatment at the hands of the U.S. government. He set the standard for responsible advocacy journalism.
Cute or Controversial: Mail-Order Bride Halloween Costumes
October 31, 2008
Aileen and Diem chose “Mail Order Brides” as the theme for their photo entry in American Apparel’s Halloween Costume Contest, but their concept has raised a few eyebrows (Read the comments). The Asian American duo writes: “We are wearing AA tanks to match the FedEx colors (highlighter boy beater tank in fluorescent orange and the boy beater tank in purple). We also wore AA hot shorts underneath. The rest of our costumes were donated (unknowingly) by our work’s mail room. 
Vote for us!”
The Glendale Experiment
October 27, 2008
GLENDALE — About 25 teachers attended a seminar on Korean culture Wednesday afternoon that participants said would help them interact with students of all immigrant backgrounds.
The seminar, co-sponsored by the Glendale Unified School District and the Korea Academy for Educators, was held at the district’s Professional Development Center and gave a three-hour historical and cultural snapshot about Koreans to teachers, organizers said.
The hope, Korea Academy President Mary Connor said, was that the session would be a starting point for exploring the similarities between students of different backgrounds and specifically initiating education about Koreans, a group that makes up about 15% of the district’s population, school board member Nayiri Nahabedian said.
Wassup 2008
October 24, 2008
Some dear old friends called with a very timely message. H/T Xeni “Hussein” Jardin
Phiten Aqua-Titanium: The New Bling for Major Leaguers
October 24, 2008
As a lifelong fan, I’m enjoying Major League Baseball’s post-season and World Series play. Philly and Tampa may not be big market franchises, but the level of play has been high. Both teams make up for their lack of known superstars with power, speed and pitching.
As an Asian American, I can also root for the Phillies’ Pilipino American outfielder Shane Victorino and the Rays’ gritty second baseman Akinori Iwamura. Aside from the clutch-hitting Iwamura, there’s another Japanese import on the field. Are you noticing all the multicolored, braided neck wear on big leaguers the last few years? Used to be gold and platinum were de rigueur for the proper pivot man, but seems like “therapeutic” PhitenUSA aqua-titanium necklaces have replaced bling as the king of the diamond. I mean, they’re everywhere.
Torrance, Calif.-based PhitenUSA claims that their titanium-infused necklaces, wristbands and tape all stimulate the body’s ETS (Energy Transport System). According to PhitenUSA’s website, their products “may help to alleviate discomfort, enhance circulation, promote relaxation, stimulate energy flow, reduce stress, sooth tension.”
Tampa’s Iwamura and fireballer Matt Garza wear them; I’ve seen them on Boston pitchers Daisuke Matsuzaka, Josh Beckett and Hideki Okajima and reports say 6-10 hurler Randy “The Big Unit” Johnson of the D-Backs started wearing the Phiten necklaces back in 2005.
I’ve done a little research. Phiten’s stuff isn’t really that expensive, and MLB trainers say at least 200 big leaguers are wearing the titanium chokers, with many endorsing their wondrous powers.
Well, I guess they’re better than steroids, and perhaps more of these ballers should finish college with special emphasis on Snake Oil 101.
- “Is Your Bat Speed Off? Try a Titanium Necklace,” by Lee Jenkins, NY Times, 06.22.05
- “Product Has Red Sox Collared,” by Rob Bradford, Boston Herald, 06.20.08
- “So What’s With All These Necklaces in Baseball These Days?” by Chris Chase, Yahoo! Sports, 10.13.08
- PhitenUSA Website
Wall Street Roller-Coaster Ride
October 24, 2008
Pathologist Says Miura Was Killed
October 19, 2008
The lawyer for a Japanese businessman, whose Parker Center jail cell death was declared suicide, says a pathologist has concluded that Kazuyoshi Miura was killed, The Associated Press is reporting.
Mark Geragos, Miura’s lawyer, said Sunday the pathologist found deep tissue injuries on Miura’s back that indicated a beating. He said Miura’s larynx also had a hematoma that could have come from a forced choking.
The pathologist, hired by Geragos, concluded the injury could not have been caused by a self-inflicted hanging.
Miura, 61, was found dead Oct. 10 in his jail cell. Police said he hanged himself with a piece of his shirt less than 24 hours after he was returned to the United States to stand trial for the murder of his wife 27 years ago.
- “Peace Pot Microdot”/epicanthus.net, 10.11.08
- Death by Cowardice/jasongrayblogspot.com, 10.11.08
- Japanese Businessman Accused of Murder Kills Self/LA Times, 10.11.08
- Japanese Media Swamps Courthouse for Miura Hearing/Daily Breeze, 06.16.08
- Ruling Delayed on Miura Arrest Warrant/Rafu Shimpo, 04.26.08
- Retired Cop Certain Miura Will Be Convicted/LAT, 03.01.08
- L.A. Giwaku: Two-Bit Celebrity Kazuyoshi Miura & The Homicide Case That Was Never Properly Laid to Rest/jasongray.blogspot.com, 02.25.08
- Remembering Ron Settles/Wikipedia
Hear LAPD Chief William J. Bratton get a good laugh in reaction to my question about the jail cell death of Kazuyoshi Miura on Patt Morrison’s “Ask the Chief” segment over KPCC-FM Wednesday, Oct. 15
“Peace Pot Microdot”
October 10, 2008
UPDATE: Murder Suspect Miura Bids World Cryptic Farewell, Hangs Self in Jail Cell
Japanese businessman Kazuyoshi Miura, 61, accused of conspiring to have his wife murdered 27 years ago in Los Angeles, hanged himself in his jail cell Oct. 10 (Jailers said they found his body at about 9:40 p.m. PST), a few hours after he arrived in the United States to face charges.
Miura, also suspected of killing a second Japanese woman in L.A., was taken from a Continental Airlines flight from Saipan wearing a blazer, jeans, knit shirt and a black baseball cap bearing the words “Peace Pot Micrdot” in two-inch white lettering. According to urbandictionary.com, “Peace Pot Microdot (PPMD)” is “a time-honored farewell, wishing other stoners and hippies a happy and high good-bye.”
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Tight $pirals
October 9, 2008
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UNFORTUNATE TIMING—Citibank equities trader John Chiang, 28, made the cover of the September issue of Trader Monthly as one of the top 30 Wall St. traders under 30. Read why he’ll keep his cool as the economy tanks. RUMOR has it that KoreAm, the fine Korean American monthly is in financial trouble. It’s tough out there for all print journalists. The October issue features brainy Northwestern University Wildcat QB C.J. Bachér, whose favorite meal is his Korean American mom’s galbi. It’s at the newsstands now. Buy it or subscribe. We won’t be “scan-stealing” from KoreAm for now. LASTLY, happy birthday John!
Money
There’s a video floating around cyberspace that shows Japanese middle school girls in tears at a live classroom performance of Tegami—Haikei Jugo no Kimi e (Letter: Dear 15-Year-Old You) by composer-singer Angela Aki. Shot by an NHK camera crew, it’s reportedly unstaged and rather moving.
Born in Itano, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan 29 years ago, Aki moved to Honolulu, ironically, at the age of 15 where she attended the Iolani School and later graduated from George Washington Univ. in Washington, D.C., with degrees in political science and music.
Angela, born Kiyomi Aki to a Japanese language school exec and an American mother, has enjoyed international notoriety (and geeky sex symbol status) since 2005 when the bespectacled Tiny Fey lookalike composed and performed the theme song (Kiss Me Good-bye) to the Sony Playstation hit role-playing game Final Fantasy XII
Upon Tegami’s release in mid-September, Japan’s hopelessly wired schoolgirls spread the song’s promo video (PV) and lyrics via text messages and streaming media from Hokkaido to Okinawa and the song shot into Japan’s top five in the blink of an eye energized by an emotional connect only a young girl can parse.
The setup: It’s 2008 and Asia is beset with terrorism, pollution, economic malaise, natural disasters, melamine and an alarming rate of teen suicides. The composer sends a letter of hope from the future to her 15-year-old self, saying that more or less everything’s gonna be chill. Here’s an English translation:
Factory Girls: ‘To Die Poor Is A Sin’
October 7, 2008
“Leslie T. Chang’s Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China is a fascinating ethnography of the young women who labor in the factories of Guangdong, China’s richest province, a land of boomtowns where wealth and scams and exploitation and warmth and courage all abound,” writes boingboing’s Cory Doctorow. Read his entire piece here.
Chang, the Harvard-educated former Beijing correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, spent three years following the successes, hardships and heartbreaks of two teenage girls, Min and Chunming, migrants working the assembly lines in Dongguan. The author’s incorporation of their diaries, e-mails and text messages into the narrative allows the girls-with their incredible ambition and youth-to emerge powerfully upon the page.
This summer, Chang wrote about her creative process at The China Beat.
Here’s some Barnes&Noble flackistry: “A first generation Chinese-American, Chang uses details of her own family’s immigration to provide a vivid personal framework for her contemporary observations. A gifted storyteller, Chang plumbs these private narratives to craft a work of universal relevance.”
