UC Tuition Raised 36%
November 29, 2009
NSFW: Alleged Tila Tequila Sex Video
November 24, 2009
SoMaLiAn PiRaTe MeDia
A pr0n Web site has posted a 10-second snippet which they say shows Asian America’s reality TV darling Tila “Tequila” Nguyen about to do something to a guy (surprised?) that’s illegal in 17 states and the Dist. of Columbia. Gaawd, wait’ll the girls from Disgrasian get a load of this.
For those who need more than 10 seconds:
- Tila Tequila Sex Tape Leaked, 4Tube.com
- Tila Tequila: Before the Scapel, Posterous
- ‘Tis a Pity She’s a Web 2.0 Whore, Epicanthus
AdAge: “More Asians in TV Spots. It’s About Time”
November 24, 2009
Have you noticed that there are more Asians in television ads these days than just a few short years ago? Bill Imada, CEO of the PR/advertising firm, IW Group, comments on the phenomenon in the ad industry bible Advertsing Age.
“The American public really doesn’t need to see more advertisements with Asians and Asian Americans engaged in karate fights, portrayed as laundrymen or kung fu masters, typecast as Chinese restaurant owners, or computer eggheads,” writes Imada.
Read Imada’s AdAge commentary here.
- Who’s the Sarcastic Asian Dude in All Those TV Commercials, Epicanthus
The Plum Song
November 23, 2009
Experimental Japanese electropop group Omodaka uses the enka stylings of Akiko Kanazawa as it re-imagines Tokyo’s Yoshiwara red light district from the Edo period (1603-1868) via boingboing/Lisa Katayama
- Yoshiwara: The Glittering World of the Japanese Courtesan, by Cecilia Segawa Seigle, Univ. of Hawaii Press, 1993.
Aw, Depression Era Panda, You Make Us So Sad
November 23, 2009
H/T Gothamist
An Early Thanksgiving
November 20, 2009
Although there have been reports of book deals and glimpses of them at a couple awards banquets, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, the two Asian American journalists held for nearly five months in North Korea earlier this year, have hardly spoken a word about their captivity or how they have been doing since their return to the U.S. in early August. Many questions remain unanswered.
Last June, as the pair were about to go on trial in the North Korean capital, Lisa Ling, a veteran TV correspondent and big sister to Laura, led the families of the two reporters on a whirlwind nationwide media blitz to draw attention to their plight which eventually set the stage for their negotiated release.
It’s Lisa Ling in the big sister role again, venturing out first in the form of a personal note of thanksgiving for USA Today’s online edition
“As I write this, I am sitting with my computer on my lap and my legs under a blanket. Laura is sitting on the opposite side of the couch with her legs under the same blanket. Every so often I have to yell at her to get her cold feet off of me.”
The elder Ling sister reveals that she and Laura had faced uncertainty in their lives before as young children, seven and four, being raised in a broken home by a father of modest means in the small Northern California town of Carmichael.
“For most of our younger years, I felt like it was just Laura and me,” writes Lisa. “We had to grow up pretty quickly.”
This special sisterly bond led them to move from San Francisco and Chicago to L.A. two years ago to be together, and it was also this bond that exacerbated the pain of their separation. There is a hint that some separation anxiety remains and that the living room of Laura’s Studio City home now serves as a telecommuting site for both.
“This year, Thanksgiving will be at Laura and Iain’s house, because none of us wants to be anywhere but home,” adds a grateful Lisa.
Read Lisa Ling’s Thanksgiving message, which will appear in USAWeekend.com’s Nov. 22 edition, in its entirety here.
Mixed Race Girl Sparks Ugly Race Debate in China
November 16, 2009
This summer, a 20-year old Shanghai woman sparked a discussion about race across China.
Lou Jing is like any other Chinese girl, but when the aspiring TV journalist entered
Let’s Go, Oriental Angels, an American Idol-like contest, and rapped on stage, she attracted both admiration and racist hate. President Obama’s arrival in China on Sunday was eagerly awaited by many people, especially Lou Jing, born of a Chinese mother and an African-American father.
Hear NPR All Things Considered correspondent Luisa Lim’s 04:33 story on Lou Jing and what it mean to China HERE.
Via Lisa Katayama, boingboing
- Mixed-Race Chinese Girl Abused by Racist Netizens, Asian Offbeat
‘How to Draw Asian Women’
November 13, 2009
- Bill Connolly Fails Epically, Loyal K*N*G
Random House Inks Six-figure Book Deal With Euna Lee
November 12, 2009
Current TV correspondent Euna Lee, who with her colleague Laura Ling was captured by North Korea and sentenced to 12 years hard labor before being freed, is writing her memoir of the experience for the Broadway Books imprint of Random House, the New York Post and The New York Times reported today
She received a six figure advance for the book, tentatively titled, “The World is Bigger Now: A Memoir of Faith, Family and Freedom.”
Ms. Lee, a producer for Current TV, was arrested with a colleague, Laura Ling, by North Korean soldiers on March 17 while they were filming at the border between China and North Korea. According to The Times, Lee’s book will detail “her 140 days of imprisonment, her ongoing interrogation and her efforts to protect her sources and the subjects of her reporting,” as well as the importance of her religious faith during this time.
Ling is presently pitching her own book with her sister, the journalist Lisa Ling. A literary agent for the Lings did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
- Freed Journalist to Write Memoir About Her Captivity, The New York Times
- Six-figure Book Deal for Journalist Captured by North Korea, NY Post
- Glamour Names Euna Lee, Laura Ling 2009 Women of the Year, Epicanthus
- Human Rights Activists Say Current TV Reporters Jeopardized Efforts to Help NKorean Refugees, Epicanthus
- Unedited Video of Euna Lee, Laura Ling Homecoming, Epicanthus
Current TV Staff Hit by ‘Bloodbath’ of Layoffs
November 11, 2009
Word has it that the L.A. staff of Al Gore’s Current TV was hit today by “a bloodbath” that saw 80 employees laid off across all departments, as management implemented “a shift in programming strategy.”
It hasn’t been a good year for the Al Gore-founded Current TV cable venture.
First, back in March two reporters from its elite Vanguard Journalism team Euna Lee and Laura Ling wandered into North Korea and were captured by border guards. They were tried, convicted and sentenced to 12 years at hard labor for their well-meant but reckless adventure. While they were in custody in Pyongyang, Gore and his partner Joel Hyatt pulled the plug on Current’s $100 million IPO. Lee and Ling were eventually freed by North Korea on Aug. 4 in exchange for a photo opportunity with former President Bill Clinton.
Mass layoffs are nothing new at Current. A year ago to the day—Nov. 11, 2008—60 Current staffers got the axe. KNBC-TV in Los Angeles, quoting sources familiar with Current’s plans, reported that a new round of layoffs was in the offing back on Oct. 12.
Reportedly, Current will be consolidating television production and programming development under one roof in Los Angeles with new facilities at LA Center Studios.
It’s not yet known if producer Lee; Ling, vice-president of the Vanguard unit or Mitchell Koss, the executive producer-cameraman who accompanied Lee and Ling on their ill-fated assignment but eluded capture by the North Koreans, survived today’s cuts. [Update: David Neuman, Current head of programming who signed off on Lee and Ling's North Korea project, was fired: La Figa.]
- Current TV Suffer ‘Bloodbath’ As 80 Lose Jobs, Leena Rao, TechCrunch
- Glamour Names Euna Lee, Laura Ling 2009 Women of the Year, Epicanthus
- Gore’s Current TV Cuts 80 Workers, Shifts Programming, SFGate
- 2008 Layoffs at Current TV Recalled, CNET
Big Bird at 40
November 9, 2009
The Morning After: Cao Targeted by GOP Lunatic Fringe After Voting for Health Care Bill
November 9, 2009
WASHINGTON—Congress’ first Vietnamese American member Rep. Ahn “Joseph” Cao was interviewed on CNN Sunday morning, just hours after casting the lone Republican vote in favor of H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act.
“I felt last night’s decision was the proper decision for my district even though it was not the popular decision for my party,” Cao, a first-term representative from Louisiana’s traditionally Democratic 2nd District, told CNN.
“A lot of my constituents are uninsured, a lot of them are poor,” Cao said. “It was the right decision for the people of my district.”
Watch Rep. Cao field questions from CNN weekend anchor Betty Nguyen, also Vietnamese American, who tries to pin the congressman down with a list of GOP talking points. Cao hangs tough. Perhaps this was Ms. Nguyen’s audition tape for Fox News.
Initial reports had Cao, 42, who won his seat in December, under severe pressure from his Republican colleagues Saturday after he made it know that he intended to support the Democratic plan once abortion funding was removed from the measure. An article filed by a reporter for the Alaska Dispatch shortly after Saturday’s vote told of Minority Whip Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Virginia) and Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) both figuratively and physically “leaning” on the Asian American freshman congressman as he waited to cast his vote. However, Dispatch reporter Amanda Coyne later revised her story saying that Rep. Young had actually been protecting Cao from party leaders.
According to the Dispatch account: Cao didn’t want to be the deciding vote, but once it was sure to pass, with Young on one side, and another protectorate Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), on the other, Cao was free to be the lone Republican to vote ‘aye.’ As soon as he did, Reps. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) and Mike Honda (D-Calif.) waded into the Republican side of the aisle to get to Cao, rub his shoulders and slap him on the back.
- Louisiana’s Rep. Joseph Cao Lone Republican to Support Health Care Plan, Epicanthus
- The Scene in the House When It Happened, Huffington Post
- Right-wing Unleashes Racism on Rep. Cao, Think Progress
- Bio: CNN Weekend Anchor Betty Nguyen
House Passes Healthcare Bill, Louisiana’s Joseph Cao Lone Republican to Support Sweeping Reform Plan
November 8, 2009
WASHINGTON—The House passed a sweeping reform of health care practices 220-215, a vote that followed party lines except for Louisiana Rep. Ahn Joseph Cao (R-Louisiana) who voted with the Democrats. Cao, a 42-year-old first-term congressman from New Orleans won his 2nd District seat by upsetting Democratic incumbent William Jefferson last December.
Born in Vietnam, Cao attended high school and college in Texas. A graduate of Fordham University, he taught at a parochial school in Virginia before attending law school at Loyola Univ. in New Orleans. He worked as an immigration attorney before entering politics.
Rep. Cao is married to pharmacist Hieu Kate Hong. They have two daughters, Sophia and Betsy.
Cao is the first Vietnamese-American elected to Congress. Politico.com declared Cao’s victory one of America’s “Top 10 Political Upsets” of 2008.
- House Passes Sweeping Healthcare Reform, Reuters
- Rep. Ahn Joseph Cao Wikipedia profile
- Congressman Ahn Joseph Cao’s Official Web Site
Only the Best
November 6, 2009
via: TheRealMalingering.com
Glamour Names Euna Lee, Laura Ling 2009 ‘Women of the Year’
November 3, 2009
Euna Lee and Laura Ling, two American journalists jailed in North Korea for 140 days earlier this year, have been named 2009 Women of the Year by Glamour magazine. Lee, 37, and Ling, 32, were on assignment for Current TV’s Vanguard Journalism unit based in Hollywood when they were captured by guards along the border of China and North Korea on March 17.
In June, they were sentenced to 12 years hard labor by a North Korean court after a closed trial in Pyongyang.
The Current reporters were freed Aug. 4 after former President Bill Clinton brokered their release and flew to the North Korean capital to fetch the pair in a private jet. Lee and Ling have made few comments on their capture and imprisonment since returning home three months ago.
“They are extraordinary women who were brave and resourceful, reporting a story that no one else was. They showed remarkable courage and initiative during their ordeal,” said former vice president and Current TV chairman Al Gore in reaction to the Glamour selection today.
Also named among the magazine’s 2009 Women of the Year were pop singer Rhianna; fashion designer Stella McCartney; California First Lady Maria Shriver; comedienne Amy Poehler; Google executive Marissa Mayer; athlete Serena Williams; pediatrician June Aronson; U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice; The Women of Iran’s One Million Signatures Campaign; and poet Maya Angelou.
Read the Glamour’s entire Lee-Ling tribute here.
‘My dog ate my laptop’
November 3, 2009
boingboing’s Lisa Katayama is always a wonderful fount of mind blowing shit. Recently, she posted on designer Park Je Sung’s concept cardboard laptop. Throwaway computing may be just around the corner. LK also turned me on to Yanko Design, an Asian American-staffed Web site that ranks 52 out of the 75,000,000+ blogs currently floating around on the Internet.
Pimpin’ Phuket: We <3 Thailand!
November 2, 2009
Jackson Choy and Lori Fujikawa met and fell in love while attending Cal State Long Beach. Later they traveled to Thailand and fell in love all over again… with the country and its culture. Find out what they’re doing to promote Thai tourism by clicking this link to Gil Asakawa’s Nikkei View. One thing is clear: Jackson and Lisa are both persistent and talented Internet marketers who really know how to mount a ‘Net based promotion campaign.
- U.S. State Dept. Travel Safety and Security Advisory: Thailand
