Teddy Zee on Hollywood

Posted on September 3, 2010 by jaehwan

I copped this from Alpha Asian and thought some of you might find it interesting.  Teddy Zee has a long list of achievements in Hollywood.  Check out the video above where he shares advice on how to “make it.”  He talks about the mindset/goals a person needs to have when beginning a career in Hollywood, how to think about race, and how to deal with family disapproval, etc.

I’ve spent too many years with my nose in books, but I think his advice seems sound.  Lucky for writers, they never have to party.  Or maybe they do.  But that’s only after they become successful.

Posted in Asian American, media | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Asian Racism and the “Asian of Reason”

Posted on September 1, 2010 by jaehwan

One of our readers posted a link to the “Asian of Reason” a few days ago.  I’m always interested in Asian American opinions, and I was excited about the existence of a new Asian American blog.  However, upon a quick reading of the material, much of the material and rhetoric disturbed me.  It seemed like the point of the blog was to make the statement that there is a racial hierarchy and that people are the sum of their genes–which comes from race.  Some of the views are outright appalling to me. According to the blog, blacks tend to be loud and unruly, Asian men are somehow less “alpha” than white men, and White people…well, I guess White men sit at the top of the hierarchy since the blogger lists “Steve Sailer” in his blogroll.  Woo hoo for White Power.

This blog is upsetting to me for a number of reasons.  First, there is the racism (and I think that’s a fair word to use according to the dictionary definition.).  ”Asian of Reason” goes to a hotel where there is a party, and he automatically jumps to stereotypical thinking upon seeing black people.  He fails to see the people’s individuality:

Then my senses sharpen and I discover that there is a “function” going on in the lobby/hotel bar.  And by function, I mean black party.  My first glimpse of Baltimore was that of intoxicated blacks dancing around the hotel lobby (they sure do dance good).

Why does he blame the party-goers rather than the hotel management?

There’s racial determinism against Asian people too, conveniently justified by some unspoken law of nature:

I believe Asian females gravitate towards white males because of a combination of genetics and the natural laws of attraction. In a multicultural society, these two groups of individuals will come together, far more often than an Asian male with a white female. This is part of HBD [human biodiversity]. I accept it. Even with copious amounts of game, there is not much a 5-7 beta Asian can do when pitted in a fight for an Asian female with an Alpha Aryan. Hell, there’s not much he can do against a beta Jew (BTW,this is not me, I’m 6-1 and athletic). Additionally, Asian female visual-spatial IQ=white male visual-spatial IQ, another reason why the two groups are so compatible.

Hahaha!  Alpha Aryan baby!!!

My second problem is the lack of reasoning on the blogger’s part. Even though he calls himself “The Asian of Reason,” the blogger seems to accept propositions without debate.  It’s like a White man says the sky is green and the blogger accepts it without question–it don’t matter if the sky itself opened its mouth and spoke!  Check out the paragraph above.  “I accept it.“  He accepts that White men are somehow better; he accepts his inferiority.  It seems like such a weak position to take for a person who puts time into blogging.  To me, if life is worth living, it’s worth understanding and debating.  Despite his admiration for the White man, the blogger doesn’t seem to follow the philosophy of the most famous White male philosopher who said that “the unexamined life is not worth living.”

Check out this story:

I believe the key to true friendships and race relations in general, is understanding limitations A few years ago, I tutored a fat black girl in economics and English.  At first, I expected a lot out of her.  I thought, with enough effort, she could do anything.  I was disheartened when I read her papers.  She could barely write one coherent paragraph.  The pain on her face as I coached her through an essay was unbearable for me.  After a few weeks, I realized this wasn’t my fault, she was just in possession of a low-IQ.She knew it, I knew it, we just hadn’t acknowledged it.  Once the truth came out, we became good friends.  Though our IQs were probably separated by three standard deviations or more, it didn’t stop us from laughing and smiling, chatting about our dreams.  Everyone, smart or poor, has dreams, no matter how disparate they may seem, the essence in our aspirations is the same.

Um…could it be that you just need work on your tutoring skills?  If you’re basing your views of this poor girl based on her race, you know she comes from the race that produced people who can write, people like Alex Haley, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Zora Neale Hurston, James Wright, Martin Luther King, Claude/Shelby Steele, and Malcolm Gladwell.  Not that race should have anything to do with it…but where’s the logic?  He later goes on to say that he and the girl became good friends once he realized she had a low IQ, but dude, you’re supposed to be her tutor, not her friend.

Third–and this is a big one for me–is the talent issue.  As you all know, I’ve posted on Talent many times.  It annoys me to no end when someone in a free country acts like a Stepin Fetchit (and no offense to “Asian of Reason,” but that’s what I’m seeing).  Obviously this kind of racist rhetoric benefits White racist types who want to maintain the current hierarchy, so why is an Asian guy doing the White racist’s work?  Pardon my crassness, but it’s like Hitler gets a free handjob from Hop-Sing.  The “Reasoner” knows how to write, and I would think he wouldn’t have made it into Johns Hopkins if he were a total stooge.  So why is he doing the White racist’s dirty work?  It’s a misuse of talent. He should be tearing up the world with bigger ideas.

I’ll close with a personal story.  Years after I learned how to read, I found a copy of a 1971 issue of Mad Magazine.  It was a great magazine–they parodied “A Clockwork Orange” which was the latest Stanley Kubrick movie at the time.  Anyway, there was a feature called, “You can never win with a racist.”  The magazine made fun of how racists justify their racism after the fact.  I don’t remember most of the jokes, but there was one piece that showed that back then there was a stereotype that black athletes would choke when the pressure got tough.  White men were seen as being better able to work well under pressure, even though black men were thought to be generally more athletic.

These days that stereotype would seem laughable given the amazing performances of multiple black athletes like Michael Jordan, Barry Bonds, Tiger Woods (pre-car crash), and Anderson Silva.  It was a stereotype until it was no longer a stereotype.  The stereotype had no basis in fact, only in commonly held prejudices by the masses.

This is why it’s imperative that we use logic when trying to understand each other and to create progress.  Simply accepting racism is not reasonable or logical.  It’s not intellectually defensible.

PS:

1. Props to MN for her awesome reply to the “Asian of Reason.” I fell out of my chair laughing when I saw her post!  Reposted in part for y’all:

And we certainly don’t change shit by strutting around with vacuum for a head and spouting prehistorical mumbo jumbo about how AMs need to accept that the Alpha Aryans are genetically reenforced with ability to take any AFs they want. (oh, but not him, since, he’s 6′ 1″.)

Puhleeze. Granted, people of lower IQ do flock together and I have to gather that the girls he knows are equally low IQ, therefore easily swayed by the TOWERING presence of Alpha Aryans and… that guy… but, really? “Ooh, I’m putting down all these other guys who are 5′ 7″ because I’m 6′ 1″. Ooh, look at me.”

2.  Asian of Reason, you have hereby been served (and I will send an e-mail to make sure you get this.). Maybe I find your ideas repulsive, or maybe I don’t understand your ideas, but we hereby challenge you to a debate on the next bigWOWO podcast. As you said, “the key to true friendships and race relations in general is understanding limitations,” so let’s get them limitations out in the open.  Alpha Aryan baby!!!  As usual with those with whom we disagree or have disagreed, we will divide the podcast evenly so that both sides get the same amount of time to make their points.  We’ll have a neutral host.  Joining you from other side will either be me (a 5’8 beta Asian) or King (a 6 foot plus black guy who made the jpeg for this post).  It’s your choice who you want to debate.  You can bring a White friend to debate both of us if you want; hell, bring Steve Sailor if you have to.  HBD says that statistically you and your White friend should have an advantage over either of us–me, a non-athletic beta shorty with weak, dispassionate Asian genes, or King, a black guy who may or may not know how to dance.  The advantage is clearly yours.  Reasonable ideas ought to be able to stand up to debate.

Hey, maybe we’re all wrong and you’re right.  Being a guy who studies at Johns Hopkins, maybe you know something we don’t.  In any case, you publicize your ideas on your blog, and I think they’re dangerous if they remain unchallenged.   You treat it as scientific fact when it isn’t.  You need to stand behind your ideas.  Please don’t hide behind the internet.  Alpha men who stand 6’1 shouldn’t hide.  Let’s get these ideas out in the open and see how they stand.

Asian of Reason, we’re looking forward to meeting you!  Don’t be ducking us!

Posted in Asian American, Features, Knowledge, Politics | Tagged , , , , | 19 Comments

“This is a Bust” by Ed Lin (Review)

Posted on August 31, 2010 by jaehwan

bigWOWO Rating: Asian American Gold

We often talk about the publishing industry on this site: how mainstream publishers kill good stories, whitewash the literary scene, and edge out the edgier stories created by newer literary talent.  It’s very true–notice that whenever interviewers ask writers who they admire, it’s always the same old crowd–Alice Munro, James Joyce, F. Scott Fitzgerald, etc.  Not that these authors aren’t good–they are–but there seems to be a gravitation towards sameness and conformity and emulation of the same people.  It’s a strange trend for an industry that relies on people who are supposedly good at creative writing.

But hope should not be lost.  If you’re tired of sameness, you have to check out This is a Bust by Ed Lin.

First, the book itself feels subversive.  It’s softcover, and the front cover is an old sepia tone of Chinatown, while the back cover has a picture of a Chinese mural.  There are cartoon drawings of communists throughout the book, and the font looks like Arial–a font you would expect to see in an underground tract from back in the pre-internet days when revolutionaries typed up political treatises on 8×11 paper, fastened them with a staple, and called it a book.  I bought my copy at Powells, where the saleslady directed me to the back corner to a section called “Small Press.”  I felt so subversive while buying it that I almost stole it (joke yo!).

Beyond the physical product was content that was as subversive as anything I’ve seen in modern Asian American literature.  The story is about a cop named Robert Chow, a 25 year old Vietnam Vet, whose career is sidetracked by a police department that prefers that their one Chinese American cop act as a community spokesperson rather than a law enforcement official.  Chow struggles to be taken seriously, as he sees and yearns to fight real crime in the NYC Chinatown neighborhood where he lives.  While trying to improve his career path, Chow also struggles with PTSD, alcoholism, cultural issues, and finding love.

What I liked best about this novel was the colorful picture of Chinatown with all the great characters and storylines.  1976 was a tumultuous time in world politics with the growing power of China and the end of the Vietnam War, and it was exciting for people of Chinese/Asian descent who were about to see a new world order.  I absolutely loved Ed Lin’s portrayal of the diversity within those few blocks of NYC Chinatown.  His characters rise above and make their voices heard.  I loved the complexity of the people–no one was a stereotype.  And yes, there was an AF/AM coupling, a coupling that felt real and seemed to be more than just window dressing.  The characters knew each other, and we knew them.

If you’re looking for a book that will stretch your imagination and make a break from the mainstream, check out This is a Bust.  It’s an exciting mystery/detective story told by a talented new author, and any Asian American reader looking for a story that breaks the mold will enjoy the diverse new characters and storylines that Ed Lin creates.

Posted in Asian American, Reviews, books | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Frank Chin debates Yunte Huang on the topic of Charlie Chan

Posted on August 30, 2010 by jaehwan


Thanks, N and C for sending this: Sleuthing Out Charlie Chan. Click on “Listen To This Show” on the top of the page (or click here), and you’ll be able to hear Frank Chin debate Yunte Huang about Huang’s new book on Charlie Chan.  The show is part of NPR.

This interview took place just last Friday.  I first learned about Huang’s new book from a NY Times article which also mentioned Frank Chin.  I don’t have much of an opinion on Charlie Chan the character since I’ve never seen the show, but I agree that it’s an important part of history and a provocative subject of debate, and for that reason, it’s good that Huang wrote this book.

Fans of Frank Chin will appreciate the man’s brashness and fierceness that continues to this day.  Even when Huang seemed to try to pull a Sun Tzu style attack and butter him up with compliments, Chin kept moving forward and stuck to the issues.  I checked out some of the comments on the show’s page, and like the Italian American caller from the radio show who was kind enough to enlighten the colored folks of America by comparing the racism he endured in his White American experience with what we face in our Asian American experiences, there are lots of people in the comment section telling Frank Chin to “lighten up.”  There are also commenters accusing Frank of “hijacking” the show.  I think the comments illustrate how much further we have to go before people really open their minds to allow themselves to understand the Asian American experience.

(I also have to admit that there are also funny comments.  The funniest was the one which said: “holy crap is frank going to hurt somebody?”)

I didn’t understand why Huang thinks we need an “antidote” to Bruce Lee.  The word “antidote” implies that there is a disease, and that that disease is Bruce Lee, and that Charlie Chan somehow cures that disease.  That makes no sense to me, as I’m a HUGE Bruce Lee fan.  I think most people like Bruce.  Nor did I understand how Huang applies Monkey King thinking to Charlie Chan.  I don’t think most Chinese families encourage their kids to be like the Monkey King, who is a fascinating character but who happens to be very childish.  As Frank Chin notes in the interview, the Monkey King is not a man.

Otherwise, the interview brings out many interesting points about the books we read, the heroes we have, and the lives we live.  I thought the moderator Tom Ashbrook did a fantastic job of allowing both men to hit the important issues.  And even though those angry people are writing/calling in to tell Frank Chin to be quiet, they’re better people for having heard about the discomfort that most of us Asian people have with racial stereotypes.  They got to hear a great man speak from the heart.

Posted in Asian American, media | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

B.J. Penn disappoints

Posted on August 29, 2010 by jaehwan

I didn’t call this fight, and I’m glad I didn’t.  Not because I would’ve gotten the results wrong–I probably would have–but because Penn brought nothing new to the fight and lost again because of his lack of newness.  Penn vs. Edgar II was basically the exact same fight as Penn vs. Edgar I.  Edgar threw weak blows that did nothing to hurt Penn but racked up points on the judge’s scorecards.  He took Penn down a few times and was unable to hold him down but again used his takedowns to rack up points.

Meanwhile, Penn just took it.  Did he use his championship level jujitsu?  No, he tried to play the exact same boxing game as last time.  He took Edgar down in Round 4, but by that time, they were all sweaty and tired, and Penn wasn’t able to pull off anything.  He was seriously gassed out by Round 5.

When he finally lost the decision, Penn wasn’t gracious in defeat.  He said something like, “Well, he got a decision the first time, and he got the decision today.”  The emphasis was on the fact that it was a decision, not a decisive finish.

Which makes Penn’s performance all the more baffling–Penn, like everyone else on the planet who watches MMA, knew that Edgar was going for a decision.  It wasn’t a Chael Sonnen lay-and-pray decision either, where an opponent might suffer by allowing a takedown.  Edgar couldn’t knock out or submit Penn if he wanted to, and he couldn’t do the lay and pray.  Why didn’t Penn bring anything new to this fight?  It wasn’t like he was going to pay for trying something new.

If you look at my Machida/Rua thread, you’ll notice that I wasn’t the least bit angry at Lyoto for losing.  I thought Rua got under him psychologically, and I think Rua mentally broke down Machida.  Machida, as a result, didn’t show up for the fight.  He took a beating the first time, and he got beaten badly the second time with a quick knockout.  But I’m not angry at him for that.  Rua is a dangerous fighter.  If you miss a beat, he’ll either knock you out or slap on a submission.  Rua is a finisher who puts fear in his opponents.

Edgar, on the other hand, is no Rua.  Anyone fighting Edgar should take great risks because Edgar is unable to finish his opponents.  He has very little power in his punches, and he doesn’t know submissions.  He proved this against Penn in the first fight, and he’s proven it against much lesser fighters.  Penn could’ve rushed him with a flying, backspinning ninja kick, or a somersault, aerial flying palm strike, and Edgar wouldn’t have been able to punish him for it.  It’s not like fighting Demian Maia who can submit you if he gets your back, or Rampage Jackson who could knock you with a hard punch, or Matt Hughes or Shogun Rua who could do one or the other.  It’s not even like Chael Sonnen who can take a man down and hold him there for five boring minutes.  Edgar never finishes his opponents, and he doesn’t do the lay-and-pray.  There’s no risk in taking risks.

So the paying audience once again was treated to Edgar’s boring bobbing and weaving, while Penn just stood there and took it.  Penn even bloodied Edgar’s nose, while Edgar threw big shots that didn’t seem to hurt at all.  B.J., I want my money back.  Next time, please fight.

Edit: Oh, and B.J. needs to fire his corner coach.  The guy kept telling B.J. how “great” he was doing.  He definitely wasn’t watching the same fight.

Posted in MMA | Tagged , | 5 Comments

The Happy Post

Posted on August 25, 2010 by jaehwan

(Corny but happy and cute video above.)

Thanks everyone, for your contributions to the Building Subcultures and Accepting Emotions thread.  Please keep on adding…the conversation is great, and I’m reading every comment, even if I’m not participating as much as I’d like to.  We’re coming upon our two year anniversary, and bigWOWO has just moved to Peachyhost, a company run by my friend Zach and his friend Keith.  I just paid my big ol’ hosting bill for the next two years.  Some bloggers kvetch about paying bills and stuff–I’m no different, I complain till the cows come home…but as long as some of you are benefiting, it’s totally worth the cost.  I can’t promise that this blog is totally recession proof or boredom proof, but it looks like we’ve got at least two more years of time paid upfront.

I’ve got more to say about activists who have seemingly contradictory personal and political lives, but I’ll save that for another post.  Instead, I wanted to piggyback off of some statements that Kobukson and King were saying in the conversation, namely their advice not to get too hung up on the negative.

Do we have any CommunityChannel fans here?  She’s by far my favorite vlogger (partly because I don’t get anyone else’s jokes!).  Check out the video below at around 9:30, where she talks about how people tell her that it’s easy for her to become popular since she’s an Asian woman. Natalie points out that it’s not true, that most of the top YouTubers are men, and that there are only “three girls” at the top.

The point is that the grass always looks greener on the other side, and people can learn to be happy with what they have. This doesn’t mean that people need to be complacent. It just means that it’s empowering to cherish what you have and maybe share it with others. Sure, AMs suffer from the disparity, but there are many other things to be happy about, and happiness is not a zero sum game anyway. The more you have to give, the richer you are, the happier you can be.  So know what you have, and then give freely and be happy!

The point is that every single person on this planet has something that you don’t have, and you have at least one thing that no other person has.   There is always something to envy about someone else, but the envy doesn’t always bring an accurate picture of what life would be like on the other side of the fence.  I could envy the young people for the free time they have, I could envy the old people for the money they’ve accumulated, I could envy the Man for his privilege. But if I’m always looking with longing at what other people have, and I’m not looking at the good things I have, then I’ll never be happy.

So my message with this post is to keep fighting the good fight, but also keep your eye on what you’ve got, what you’ve accomplished, and what fortune has brought your way.  Do that before even thinking about taking the next step to the next level.  The best activists have wealth to share, and people often already have wealth without even realizing it.

Posted in Asian American, Random thoughts, Strategy | Tagged , , | 21 Comments

Ngo Bao Chau, First Vietnamese Fields Medal Winner

Posted on August 24, 2010 by jaehwan

Vietnamese-born mathematician Ngo Bao Chau became the first Vietnamese person ever to win the Fields Medal.  The Fields Medal is considered the Nobel Prize in mathematics since the Nobel doesn’t have a mathematics category–if there were ever a prize for pure logical muscle, I think this is it. You’ve gotta be really smart to win it. :)

Ngo, who was born in Hanoi in 1972 in the waning years of the Vietnam war, was cited for his “brilliant proof” of a 30-year-old mathematical conundrum known as the Fundamental Lemma.

The proof offered a key stepping stone to establishing and exploring a revolutionary theory put forward in 1979 by Canadian-American mathematician Robert Langlands that connected two branches of mathematics called number theory and group theory.

It’s funny because whenever I hear of successful Vietnamese people, I automatically think of refugees and people who immigrated under the misfortune of war and loss.  It looks like Ngo actually was raised in Vietnam.

Posted in News | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Western Schools in South Korea

Posted on August 23, 2010 by jaehwan

Saw this article in the Times today.  In South Korea, the government is financing a 940 acre city on Jeju Island where everyone–doctors, administrators, students, store clerks–will speak English.  The purpose is education; 12 Western schools have plans to open within the city, and the hope is that Korean kids can go to school and speak perfect English when done.  It’s better than sending kids abroad because it’s cheaper, it enables families to stay closer together, and kids will be more likely to retain their Korean and ability to work within a Korean system.  You can see the website for Jeju itself here. 

I used to feel weird when Asian countries promoted English, but I’m coming to see the reasoning behind it.  English most likely will remain the lingua franca in international business.  Even though China will surpass the U.S. economically, Chinese is just too hard for non-Chinese to learn (not so much because of the speaking, but because of the writing and reading).  I used to worry about English threatening native cultures, but I think that too is unlikely–only the rich will be able to afford these schools anyway.  Having a government sponsored city like Jeju Global Education City is probably a good way for South Korea to expand its ability to sell its products overseas.

Posted in News | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

How to Spend Money

Posted on August 18, 2010 by jaehwan

I’ve been meaning to post this for quite some time.  The NY Times had an excellent article a while back about how to maximize happiness when spending money.  Since I’ve had quite a few discussions on happiness, and since we’re always talking about money and how it affects lives, I thought it was relevant.

Here’s the kicker:

On the bright side, the practices that consumers have adopted in response to the economic crisis ultimately could — as a raft of new research suggests — make them happier. New studies of consumption and happiness show, for instance, that people are happier when they spend money on experiences instead of material objects, when they relish what they plan to buy long before they buy it, and when they stop trying to outdo the Joneses.

If you’ve got extra money, spend it on experiences.  Give it to charity and watch while they smile, or take a vacation.  Think hard about something before buying it.  And don’t try to keep up with your neighbor.

Posted in Knowledge, Strategy | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick (Review)

Posted on August 17, 2010 by jaehwan

I just finished reading Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick, an oral history about six North Korean refugees that was published in December of last year.

What an amazing book.  It’s a similar story to the one that that Laura Ling and Euna Lee were striving to capture when they went into North Korea.  In this case, Demick got her story from refugees who escaped North Korea.  I’ve seen some video footage, and there is no reason not to believe what the book portrays–Kim Il-Sung created a theocracy in which he is the deity and head of state, and his son Kim Jong-Il presides over the last true communist country in the world.  Their government keeps people under control through state controlled media and purges, and their population is cut off from communication with the rest of the world.  People starved and died during the famine of the 1990′s, while people today are constantly hungry and undernourished.  The infrastructure is shot, and nothing works.  And yet many in North Korea still believe the North Korean government’s rhetoric that they have “nothing to envy.”

Some of the stories are touching–the young teenagers who fall in love but cannot consummate their love because of their place in the caste system, the son whose father chastises him for stealing and then dies of starvation, the older woman who works as a merchant on the black market to feed her family after her husband dies.  The book was beautiful because of the focus on humanity.  Too often the media distills news into faceless politics; it was nice to read a book focused on people and how they cope with a corrupt regime.

Someone once said that North Korea is like the annoying cousin that no one likes but people have to deal with.  Their government is incompetent at just about everything except brainwashing a starving population.  China isn’t a fan because the North Koreans are an embarrassment to communism with their complete lack of self-sufficiency.  China, the U.S., and South Korea all get annoyed because all three countries end up feeding the North Korean population through humanitarian aid and don’t even receive polite thank-yous.  Whenever the food runs out, Kim threatens to deploy nukes, and in come the pledges and donations.  (In a funny scene from the book, one of the interviewees sees donated rice bags with an American flag on it and then hears a rumor that the rice was captured from a truck operated by American “warmongers.”)

In any case, if you’re interested in North Korea, Korea, or the Korean people, you’ll want to read this book.  You’ll find yourself cheering for the players as they go about their lives and strive to succeed against the odds.  As North Korea is often in the news these days, I found this book helpful in understanding the gravity of the situation in their country.

Posted in Reviews, books | Tagged , , | 10 Comments