Category Archives: Knowledge

Things we know and believe

My YouTube New Year

Last night, I was in the mood for the Carpenters’ song “I Won’t Last A Day Without You.” So I went on YouTube, and the autocomplete suggested the video above. Sarah Geronimo is from the Philippines, and I like her version and thought I’d share it with you. Evidently, it’s also a movie (the dude is an Asian American hapa, so let’s not get started so early this year!):

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Cheap Bites with Eddie Huang

My aunt is a friend of Eddie Huang and asked me to spread the word. Sunday, January 1st, at 8 pm is the world premiere of Eddie’s show Cheap Bites on The Cooking Channel, in which he goes around and samples cheap but good food. My home doesn’t have The Cooking Channel, but if you have it, check it out. It’s awesome that an Asian American is getting his own show. We’ve only got the Food Network at our house, and outside of Iron Chef Chairman Mark Dacascos and Judy Joo from the Next Iron Chef (whom I mentioned in passing on the Clara Shih post), we’ve got no one. Diversity!

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Philipp Rosler, Vice-Chancellor of Germany

Philipp Rossler

Thanks to Ben Efsaneyim, who wrote this story: One of Europe’s Most Powerful Men is Vietnamese. Philipp Rösler, according to Ben’s article and Wikipedia, is the Vice-Chancellor of Germany, and is originally from Vietnam. The Wikipedia entry says that he was adopted by German parents at nine months, joined the German army as a medic, and completed a medical degree. He’s every Asian parent’s dream! And now he’s in politics, where he’s moved up and up. Vice-Chancellor of Germany, the most economically powerful country in all of Europe. Wow. And not only is he a doctor, but he married a doctor too:

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Christmas 2011

The traffic here drops faster than the Pacific Northwest temperatures during Christmas, but if you’re here, Merry Christmas. Oh, music is by Jayesslee. They are twin sisters from Australia, where it’s not so cold.

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The Purpose of Asian American Studies

In another internet group, someone posted the following article: Has Asian American Studies Failed? Take a look at it. It’s an article by a professor of Asian American Studies who argues that maybe Asian American studies has failed, since Asian Americans don’t seem to be shaping the public dialogue. This was the very first topic I ever blogged about. Back to my roots, baby.

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The Shanghai Hotel (Review of Trailer)

I love the beginning of this trailer. They start talking about human trafficking and how bad it is, like they’re performing some kind of public service or something. Then all of a sudden, they cut to some half-nekkid Asian women and good ol’ Asian thugs! They’ve got an oily White dude getting all horny with handcuffs in front of Eugenia Yuan, and some mean and violent yakuza (oh wait…is that Japanese?). They’ve also got some Black guys in it, although I’m not sure how they’re related to the rest of the movie. (You can guess this movie is written and produced by a Black guy (Jerry Allen Davis) because most White Orientalist writers seem to forget Black people exist when it comes to half-dressed Asian prostitutes and violent Asian thugs.)

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“It Didn’t Happen On My Watch” by George E. Murphy (Review)

I grew up hearing George Murphy’s speeches during family events in New York, where Mr. Murphy often gave speeches and toasts. I knew that he was a friend of my grandfather and that they worked together at U.S. Lines. I knew that both he and my grandfather were engineers who worked on ships, but beyond that, I had no idea what they did. I remember once saying something to my grandfather about “working for the captain,” and my grandfather said, “I didn’t work for the captain. We have the same number of stripes.” (George Murphy might even correct me further–they’re not “captains;” they’re called “masters.”) It was through this book that I got a glimpse of what my grandfather did when he was working.

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The Flowers of War is the Most Expensive Chinese Film Ever

"Looking sexy, Mr. White Man."

The Flowers of War is the most expensive Chinese film ever. The NY Times reports:

“Made at a cost of more than $90 million, part of which came from Chinese government sources, “The Flowers of War” is the most expensive Chinese film ever made.”

After experiencing the nationalistic ridiculousness that is Ip Man, and now seeing this ridiculous history-justified-by-the-presence-of-a-White-man film, I think I can safely say that Beijing needs to get out of the movie-approval and movie-promotion business. Sorry, Chinese propaganda doesn’t have the same appeal here that it might over there. It’s not the Chinese government’s forte.

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Clara Shih Joins Starbucks Board of Directors

I had never heard of Clara Shih before today (thanks, S), but Clara Shih is the most recent addition to the Starbucks Board of Directors. She is only 29 years old, is the CEO and cofounder of a company called Hearsay Social, and has written a book about Facebook called The Facebook Era, which is used as a textbook in business schools. She has an incredible resume. Learn more about her here.

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If I were a poor black kid

Forbes writer Gene Marks wrote an article entitled, “If I Were a Poor Black Kid.” In the article, he identifies himself as a middle aged white man and admits that life is easier because of that, but he says that if he were a poor black kid from the inner city, he’d be taking advantage of the amenities that are now available. Check some of it here:

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