Category Archives: pop culture

Happy 10th birthday to Phil Yu’s landmark Angry Asian Man blog!

By | | , , ,
2 Comments

Angry Asian ManErin and I are celebrating the second anniversary of our talk-show visualizAsian, and I’ve been writing my Nikkei View musings since 1998 (check out the Nikkei View archives). But it boggles my mind to think that Phil Yu has been writing his Angry Asian Man blog for 10 years. Why? Because he’s so frickin’ dedicated that he writes multiple times day — every day — week after week, month after month, year after… well, you get the idea.

visualizAsian is once or twice a month. Nikkei View can be several times a week, or sometimes once a month.

But writing sometimes more than 10 post per day? Yowsa. That’s some some serious blogging — blogging on steroids.

Last year, Phil took some time off and asked guest bloggers to fill in, but I know he felt guilty stepping away for a vacation (I’m sure his wife appreciated it, though). Phil is organized — he doesn’t spend his workday posting stuff. He writes at night and sets the posts to launch later. And, these days he gets tons of submissions via email and Facebook to write about, so he’s never lacking material to cover.

Still, it’s truly an amazing feat to keep up this level of productivity for a decade.

Angry Asian Man is the one site I tell everyone that is a must-read daily blog, if they care one whit about Asian America, in politics, pop culture, news or whatever. He calls out racism. He covers hate crimes that mainstream media either overlook as not newsworthy or have forgotten. He gives props to AAPIs doing great things in Hollywood, on the world stage, in pop music. And, he helps the careers of budding young artists who deserve a wider audience.

He gets a ton of traffic and is quoted by the national media when they need an Asian American perspective. He’s inspired a generation of bloggers to follow in his wake. Some Asian Americans, notably Nelson Wong of AA Risings, have been writing longer. And some Asian Americans have gotten their blogs turned into movie deals (yeah, I’m jealous).

But it’s hard to argue that Phil Yu isn’t the most influential Asian American voice out there. He represents us all, and is a national treasure for his efforts.

Thanks, Phil. Keep rocking.

Next visualizAsian show: Meet Albert Kim, writer and co-producer of CW action series “Nikita” starring Maggie Q

By | | ,
Leave a comment

Maggie Q and Albert Kim on the set of "Nikita"Wow, we’re excited to announce our Second Anniversary show in honor of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month: A one-hour conversation with Albert Kim, a writer and co-producer for the hit CW network action series “Nikita” starring Maggie Q!

We’ll be speaking with Albert on TUESDAY, MAY 10 at 7 pm Pacific Time (10 PM ET). Just register with visualizAsian (it’s free) and you’ll get the information to dial in to our conference line, or listen on our live webcast. If you’ve already registered for visualizAsian calls in the past, you’ll automatically receive the dial-in information via email. Remember, you can always submit questions to our visualizAsian guests in advance and during the livecast.

You missed our show with Albert Kim! But for a limited time you can still register to hear the archived replay MP3 of the conversation.

You may not recognize the name, but if you watch “Nikita” or have watched “Leverage” in the past, you’ve seen him in the front credits.

Here’s Albert’s bio:

Albert Kim is a TV writer, producer, and award-winning journalist. Before his stint the staff of “Nikita,” Kim spent three seasons on the hit TNT show “Leverage,” and has also written episodes of FX’s “Dirt.” But his roots aren’t in television scriptwriting.
Continue reading →

“Unite for Japan”: Denver benefit concert featuring Denver Taiko, local rock & hip hop groups

By | | , , ,
Leave a comment

Unite for Japan BenefitIt’s great that so many local benefits in the Denver area are being held event for Japan disaster relief, but I wish some weren’t so ad-hoc and we had more time to promote them.

Here’s one you have a week to plan for, “Unite for Japan” next Friday, April 29 at the Aztlan Theater, 974 Santa Fe Dr. (doors open at 7 pm).

This one features some great local artists including Denver Taiko with their thunderous drumming. Also featured are dub rockers MEGA, rap and rock band ii kanji (Caucasian rapper putting it out in Japanese and English), the multicultural dance crew D2L and popular local Japanese American DJ, Ichiban.

Tickets cost $10, and 100% of all proceeds including from a silent auction to be held during the show will be donated to the Japan Red Cross (to avoid the admin fees of the American Red Cross).

The event also needs donations in advance, such as services, entertainment/sports tickets, Asian items, etc. for the silent auction.

If you can provide a donation or want to volunteer at this event, please Mike Ninomiya at 914-826-4991. “Unite for Japan” is sponsored by the Kaiser Permanente Asian Pacific Staff Association and Enshin Karate, the traditional martial arts dojo that brings literally kick-ass, full-contact Sabaki tournaments to the area.

Curt Yagi’s new album “Close My Eyes” is a treasure of folk, rock, world & pop influences

By | | , ,
3 Comments

Curt Yagi“Live My Life,” the lead track from the new album, “Close My Eyes” by Curt Yagi and The People Standing Behind Me (great band name) grabs me right away.

It reveals Yagi’s wide-ranging musical palette with dabs of color — Yagi’s funky acoustic guitar, then a drum flourish — before he splashes the canvas with bass and very cool horn section riffing, and then Yagi’s vocals and grungy electric guitar add a sonic signature that has me tapping my toes and nodding my head to the catchy melody.

The album (which is officially released on April 12 but is available for advance purchase online) is full of such sweet pop confections that take diverse musical elements and mashes them together into memorable hooks and melodies. “Sweep Me,” the second track starts with a ballad intro but kicks into an acoustic ska arrangement pushed along by that horn section.

Yagi, who’s a Yonsei, or fourth-generation Japanese American born and raised in the Bay Area, credits the reggae and ska influences to his love for the genres when he was in high school. He added alt-rock influences when he was in college. He became a musician relatively late in life — he started writing songs after his father died of a rare disease 10 years ago — and started singing at open mics.

He holds down a day job as executive director of a non-profit, Real Options for City Kids (ROCK) that serves at-risk children with enhanced public school and after-school programs. He started as a volunteer in 1998 and was also a board member before taking on his current role. So he’s an artist who already invests his heart and soul in his day-to-day life and is talented enough to also express it musically.

Yagi’s now 40 (he looks 25) and he and his band were voted “Best of the Bay” by the alt-weekly SF Bay Guardian, and they regularly play Bay Area venues. I wish I could see him live just to experience the intriguing mix of acoustic, electric and horns in person.

It’s tempting to pigeonhole Yagi’s music as steeped in R&B because of the horns, funky rhythms and his often soulful vocals, but after a few listens to the album, I’ve decided he’s a musical omnivore, who likes a lot of different sounds and is able to call on them all as elements to mix in like pigments a painter might use to get just the right shade, the right tone, the right light and shadow.
Continue reading →

Meet ultra-cool actress, foodie and blogger Lynn Chen on the next visualizAsian show

By | | , ,
Leave a comment

Lynn ChenUPDATE:Due to a scheduling conflict, our conversation with Lynn Chen is now scheduled for Monday, April 11 at 7 pm PT.

Lynn Chen is a woman after Erin and my own hearts… and stomachs. She’s a foodie as well as a talented actress and musician, and she writes one blog, “The Actor’s Diet,” about “the life of a Hollywood actress. Meal by meal,” and recently launched another, “Thick Dumpling Skin,” about Asians’ diet and body issues, with Hyphen publisher Lisa Lee.

We’re thrilled to announce that we’ll be speaking with Lynn for our next visualizAsian show on TUESDAY, APRIL 26MONDAY APRIL 11 at 7 pm PT (10 pm for you folks on the east coast). Just register here for the free dial-in and webinar information — if you’ve registered for previous visualizAsian calls, you’ll already receive the info.

Wow, you missed a powerful conversation with Lynn on April 11, but you can still register to hear the archived MP3 of the call for 30 days.

Lynn Chen, whose “excessive beauty makes us want to rip our eyeballs out,” according to the ladies of the Disgrasian blog, was born in Queens, New York in 1976 to a mother who sang at the Metropolitan Opera and a father who is an ethnomusicologist, and she was raised in New Jersey and attended Wesleyan University.

As a child, Lynn sang with the Children’s Choirs at the Metropolitan and NYC Opera Houses, and made her acting debut in the NY State Theatre production of “South Pacific” at Lincoln Center. Television credits include “NCIS: LA,” “Numbers,” guest roles on almost all of the “Law and Order” shows, and recurring roles in “All My Children” and “The Singles Table,” opposite John Cho and Alicia Silverstone.

Of her films, Lynn’s best-known as “Vivian Shing” in Sony Pictures Classic’s feature film “Saving Face,” a role for which she won the “Outstanding Newcomer Award” at the 2006 Asian Excellence Awards. Since then she has appeared in over a dozen films, most recently starring in “White on Rice,” “Why Am I Doing This?.” “The People I’ve Slept With,” and the just-released “Surrogate Valentine,” which is making the rounds of film festivals.

“Surrogate Valentine” was directed by Dave Boyle, the young filmmaker who also wrote and directed “White on Rice,” a terrific indie film, and it’s a fictionalized story of the real-life experiences of singer-songwriter Goh Nakamura. The film was the closing night selection of the San Francisco Asian American Film Festival, and just screened at SXSW Film in Austin.

But Lynn isn’t just limited to acting. In fact, she took some time off from acting to deal with her eating disorders, and started “The Actor’s Diet” in 2009 as a way to write about food and to hold herself accountable for eating healthy (with the burgers and fried thrown in). Here’s how she explains the blog:
Continue reading →