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Monsters of Shamisen expand the musical palette of a traditional Japanese instrument
The Monsters of Shamisen rock, even though they’re playing a traditional Japanese instrument, a three-stringed lute that’s plucked with a plectrum that looks like an windshield scraper. The shamisen usually is heard playing traditional Japanese folksongs, and as accompaniment for kabuki and bunraku theater. It has an instantly-recognizable single-note sound that’s similar in tone to […]
3 years after the “War Against Asians” controversy, I’m the adviser for the CU Independent
Today is the third anniversary of the “War Against Asians” controversy, which was sparked by an ill-advised and poorly executed satire in the Campus Press, the student-run news website of the University of Colorado in Boulder. I remember the date because it ran on Feb. 18 — one day before the annual Japanese American observance […]
Not enough people know about Day of Remembrance
Maria Hinojosa, a very respected journalist for NPR and PBS who’s currently working on a Frontline documentary about the detention camps holding Latin Americans suspected of being illegal immigrants, visited the University of Colorado this week. She gave a speech Tuesday night but that day she had a casual free lunch discussion with students from […]
Groupon sparks ire of Asian Americans (& supporters of Tibet) w/ stupid, insensitive Super Bowl commercial Tibetcommercial
Within minutes of this commercial airing during last night’s Super Bowl game, emails, tweets, updates and blog posts began zipping across the Interwebs decrying the insensititvity of Groupon using the plight of Tibetans, who’ve been suppressed by the Chinese government for decades, with the Dalai Lama ruling in exile. The spot starts out sounding like […]
Denver’s 36th Kohaku Uta Gassen singing contest a showcase for extreme karaoke
It stands to reason that the country that invented karaoke is one that takes karaoke very, very seriously. It takes singing to backing tracks so seriously that in Japan, Kohaku Uta Gassen, the annual singing showdown that airs live on New Year’s Eve, has been like the Super Bowl of the country’s broadcasting industry, drawing […]
