Obon Festival and a Special Book by Lucy Ozone Hawkinson

Guess what's coming up this weekend? The West LA Obon Festival!

What is an Obon festival, you ask? The Obon festival is a 500 year old Japanese Buddhist custom that is held to honor one's ancestors. At the Obon festival, the Japanese people welcome their ancestors' spirits with food and dance.  They celebrate with games, food booths, raffles, drums, and the Bon Odori dance. In the United States, Obon festivals are held at Japanese Buddhist Temples all over the country. It is also a fundraiser for the temples. The West Los Angeles Buddhist Temple sponsors our basketball league, so every year, all the West Los Angeles team members volunteer to help out at the Obon festival by staffing the various booths.

When we were kids, my team used to volunteer at the game booths at the Obon but now we have been "promoted" to a food booth. The Obon Festival is super fun, so go check it out this Saturday and Sunday!!!  I'll be serving food on Saturday.

On another note, there's a really cute children's book about the Obon festival called Dance, Dance, Amy-Chan by Lucy Ozone Hawkinson, written in 1964. Lucy Ozone Hawkinson is a Japanese American author who wrote and illustrated dozens of books in the 1960s.  She was born in California in 1924, and attended South Pasadena High School. During the war, her entire family was relocated to the infamous Manzanar.  After the war, the family moved to Chicago where she settled and wrote most of her childrens books.

Dance, Dance, Amy-Chan by Lucy Ozone Hawkinson

Lucy Ozone Hawkinson's books are no longer in print. I know about her through my friend Ruby's mom who is the daughter of Ms. Ozone. What's interesting about Ms. Ozone's children's books is that they show kids of all ethnicities, sizes, and other differences which was pretty unusual for that time period. Dance, Dance, Amy-Chan is an especially charming illustrated book about two Japanese American girls getting ready for their local Obon Festival. Amy Chan almost missed the dance because little sister Susie Chan disappeared in the crowd when she got scared of the drums. The drawings in the book are brush paintings in color and in black and white. The colors are very cheerful and friendly, and even the black and white drawings are cute, with a lot of details on the kimonos, hair, accessories, and toy dolls.

Although this book cannot be found in stores anymore, you will be able to find it in local libraries, or a used one online. 

GO TO THE OBON FESTIVAL!!!! :D

West Los Angeles Buddhist Temple
2003 Corinth Avenue
West Los Angeles, CA 90025 

If you don't live in West LA, many other Buddhist Temples are also holding an Obon festival during the summer.

You can find different Obon festival information here.

Am I a Chloe..or Am I a Chlue?

Near the end of last school year, my school held a Sports Banquet. It was pretty much to celebrate all the kids in 7th and 8th grade who participated in a competitive sport. (People who just did PE were not celebrated). I participated in sports for all three seasons of the school year: I did Cross Country, Basketball, and then Track and Field, so I was invited even though my parents had to pay for it!  :)

Sports Banquet

The school's athletic department provided all the athletes and their families with a pretty good sit down meal. (I checked before accepting the invitation). We had barbecue chicken, or steak, with chili and cookies...and other stuff) While we ate our dinner the athletic department played a slideshow of  the athletes in different sports. They would announce something like, "Fall Sports, Boys and Girls Cross Country!", show the slideshow, and then give out the awards to the outstanding athletes in that sport.

For cross country, they showed a picture of me running, which was not very flattering. Surprisingly, I got a "Most Inspirational" award for Cross Country, which probably means I tried hard, but wasn't very good.

For basketball, I ended up getting an award for Most Outstanding Player. As I walked up there to receive my award my coach whispered "Give it back once you're done taking pictures, because they spelled your name wrong." So I took a picture with the award where my name was spelled wrong. It was spelled Chololoulo, or something like that. (They didn't even spell my last name wrong...which is a surprise). I gave the award back and the Athletic Department apologized.

I swear they cut off the plaque because my name was spelled wrong.

Just before school ended for summer vacation, I went to pick up my corrected award plaque from the Athletic Department. It took the department maybe 10 minutes to find it, but once I got it, I took it home. I looked at my plaque and there it was: MY NAME WAS SPELLED WRONG.  AGAIN! This time it was spelled "Chlue". I don't know why it's so hard to spell Chloe. :) Maybe because I'm Asian, they were expecting a Choe or Chue. Whatever. But I didn't want to trouble them anymore so I just brought the award home and took a picture of it for a sourvenir. It's kind of funny.

I'm the most outstanding Chlue Hsu!

Sadly they took back the first misspelled plaque. Otherwise I would have put up a picture of that one too!

Make Art with Paper from Hiromi Paper

When most most of us need paper, we usually just go to office supplies and stationary stores such as Staples or Office Depot and buy the machine made standard 8 1/2" x 11" letter size papers. However, for doing something special, sometimes you wish you have paper that looks special. Well, Hiromi Paper store, located in the Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, definitely has unique paper. It sells ALL kinds of specialty paper made in different parts of the world.

Paper lanterns at Hiromi Paper

The store is small but very inviting inside. It has colorful paper mache objects around the room as well as tissue paper lanterns strung up across the walls. Hiromi Paper carries the largest selection of Japanese fine-art and conservation papers in the U.S. It also carries paper made from different plant fibers from Brazil, Bhutan, Nepal and the Yucatan. The paper from different parts of the world have their own characteristics. In fact, the paper's origins and designs themselves are so interesting that I believe they probablyshould be considered artwork themselves. There is a paper called seikosen paper made from the Kozo (mulberry) plant made by only one family on an island in Japan. This strong paper is hand made and has limited quantities.

Printed wrapping paper.

What is also eye opening are the paper made of thinly sliced radishes, starfruit, kiwi,and other types of plants. Some of the paper carried by Hiromi Paper are very colorful and some have very intricate designs. Some of them make you question if they're even paper at all!

Paper made of fruits anda vegetables.

At Hiromi Paper, there are also books about paper making, how to make stencils, origami, lanterns, kites, etc. I bought a book about how to make stencils. and also a small stack of different decorative paper. The only problem is that the papers are so pretty that I don't want to use them for paper cutting, or writing, or for anything at all because I don't want to ruin the paper!

Stencils I cut using Hiromi's paper

 Next time I go, I'm going to try buying some of the radish paper and paper made of wood!

Also, if you visit Hiromi Paper, you should also walk around the rest of Bergamot Station and check out the other cool stores and art galleries.

Here is Hiromi Paper's contact information!

Tel: 310.998.0098
Email: washi@hiromipaper.com
Website: www.hiromipaper.com  They have an online store! So you can order online too!
The store is at Bergamot Station unit G9!!! Check it out!!

The Rythm of Linda Oh

I was sitting in the car surfing radio stations when I accidentally stumbled upon KPCC and heard this jazz song in Chinese and English come on. It was so unusual and compelling that I listened to the entire program, came home and looked up the musician, Linda Oh, on the internet. 

Here is an interview with her featured on her website. http://lindaohmusic.com/initial-here-video/

Linda Oh is a jazz bass player and composer who was born in Malaysia to Chinese parents.  She lived in Perth, Australia, and now performs with a jazz band in New York City, and tours all over the world. Her second album, Initial Here, was just released this spring. In this album, she collaborates with musicians Rudy Royston and the Cuban-born New York pianist Fabian Almazan. Also, in this album is the song "Thicker Than Water" where jazz singer Jen Shyu performs with Linda Oh's band singing in Chinese and in English.  

It is unusual to hear Asian women playing bass in a jazz band, and even more unusual to hear jazz sung in  Chinese. Very creative and innovative for sure, and Oh she is good. 

Even though the interview and music I heard today is from Linda Oh's second album, her debut album called Entry, with the Linda Oh Trio, has an awesome cover. Here it is. Apparently it's designed by someone who draws for Marvel Comics!

Here is clip of Linda Oh playing "To Not Be Broken", a tune inspired by Ishmael Beah's A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, a book I've had to read in English class last year!

Check out some of the recent reviews of Linda Oh:

NPR at Connecting Points on a Musical Map

New York Times at New Music

Summer and the Beach

One of the nicest things about living in Southern California is the awesome weather.  Sure, it isn't always warm and sunny over here, but the temperature pretty much stays between 50 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit.  Maybe I'm a wuss and don't know what it's like to experience a snow storm, but I can't stand days under 65 degrees.  Lucky for me, summer in SoCal always means warm and comfortable weather.

Sometimes, we take living close to the beach for granted and don't go there enough.  However, each summer, we do manage to drop the computers, the cell phones, and movie theatres and head for the beach to enjoy some laid back music and camaraderie for at least a few times.

Our favorite standby is always Venice Beach or Santa Monica Beach because they're close. There is the Annenberg Beach House in Santa Monica where it's open to the public, but you have to make a reservation to get in.  It's $24 for a family of four. Once there, you can swim in this pool that once belonged to William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davis of the Hearst Castle fame.

The heated pool has inlaid mosaics, life guards and a lounge area where you can bring your own picnic, or you can eat at the Back On the Beach Cafe next door.

If you want to actually swim in the ocean, you can just head on to the powdery sandy beach and swim there. This is definitely the luxury beach going experience.

Other beaches  may be less luxurious, but great nonetheless. On Venice Beach, you can walk on the crowded  board walk and go look at the shops and beach performers. There are lots of restaurants and souvenir stores, as well as wacky and entertaining street performer.

Venice Board Walk

Another favorite is the El Matador Beach in Malibu, 32215 Pacific Coast Highway where you have to walk down a steep trail to get there. Once there, you will be enchanted by the strange rock formations, powdery sand, and no one else present. There is absolute peace and tranquility, but no amenities whatsoever.

Because I'm older this year, to kick off the summer, my high school classmates and I had a night time beach party. After it was dark, a group of us built a bonfire at Dockweiler Beach in Playa del Rey where there are pits for people to do just that.  We made sure to bring a lot of food, a boom box, and lots of firewood. After the sun went down, we built a bonfire. 

Beach Bonfire

As the fire crackled, we sang songs, toasted marshmallows, and played a few games.  My favorite part?  Burning a worn out copy of the much-abhorred novel, Frankenstein,  by Mary Shelley which we'd been assigned to read for English class this year. Yay, school's over.

CHERRY PICKIN!

So, before I get started....do you guys like the new summer themed background for our blog? Comment below and tell us what you think!

Since it's summer I am slowly becoming a couch potato. I sort of just stay inside the whole day and draw and surf the web.

Yesterday, I finally got off the couch and woke up at 6:00 to go cherry picking with my basketball team. Our former coach, Steph, is like a big kid herself. She always takes us on all these fun trips to build team camaraderie, with her boyfriend Akira providing the food and helping out. Steph and Akira are both professional chefs. Steph is a desserts chef and works at the Scarpetta Restaurant at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills for celebrity chef  Scott Conant, judge on the show "Chopped" on Food Network. Akira works at a high end Japanese restaurant called Takao in Brentwood.

Villa Del Sol Sweet Cherry Farm (at upickcherries.com) is in Palmdale so we had to leave around 7:00. It was about a 1 1/2 hour drive. When we got there we were given instructions and baskets and then we could enter the orchard. They had 4000 trees!!!! and 2 different types of cherries: The Rainier and Bing cherries.

The regular red kind (Bing), and Rainier cherries (yellow)

The Rainier cherries tended to be sweeter, and the bigger and redder they are, the sweeter they are. Rainier cherries are also much more expensive in stores because they are rarer and take longer to grow. The Bing cherries are also sweet, with a hint of tartness. The darker the Bing cherries, the sweeter they are.

At the orchard, we weren't allowed to climb the trees but the guides used long stick like hooks to pull different branches down for us to pick the cherries. The cherries were in bunches all over the trees. I never saw a cherry tree before so it was really cool!  The orchard also sold Cherry blossom honey. They have many bee hives in the area to pollinate the flowers, but the bees are removed during cherry picking season so customers don't get stung. The only thing you have to worry about are snakes! Luckily we didn't run into any.

Picking cherries

We tasted the cherries as we picked them. The cherries are $3.50 for a pound and have no pesticides at all. Plus, you can pick whatever kinds you like best.

We left the orchard by late morning because it got hot in Palmdale. The cherry season will be over in about a week and a half, so hurry up to go pick them. We were surprised to learn that most of the cherries are given to homeless people but the rest are all left there for the birds!!!!

Me and my basketball team with coach Steph in front on the left.

Here is Villa Del Sol Sweet Cherry Farm's website:
http://www.upickcherries.com/

Train Ride, Anyone?

Let's see.  We've traveled to a lot of different cities in the United States: Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, New York, Boston, and Washington D.C. Overseas, we've been to Mexico City, London, Tokyo, Paris, and Rome. One thing in common about these cities is that there is always a rail system where we can hop on a surface rail line, or a subway system and go from place to place without much delay.

In Los Angeles, however, we always seem to be going to places in the car.  It takes forever to get anywhere because the surface streets and freeways are almost always crowded. Any pleasant family outing becomes unpleasant because our dad would get mad and start cursing the traffic and other drivers. During rush hour, you want to avoid driving at all costs because a normally 10 minutes drive can take you one hour or more.  This is especially true in West Los Angeles, where we live. Buses are not much better, because they too get stuck in traffic.

Map of Los Angeles Metro Rail

But wait! Something is happening in Los Angeles.  A couple of days ago, on June 20, 2012, Los Angeles Metro opened up the Exposition Rail Line station in Culver City. We were in the car when we heard on the radio that Metro was giving free rides on the Expo Line all day. Mom got really excited: we parked our car at the Culver City station, hopped on a train and rode all it the way to downtown and back. It was so exciting. I felt as if I was in a foreign country! The Expo train goes from Culver City (which is almost close to our house) all the way to downtown Los Angeles, passing through South Los Angeles, the Natural History Museum, USC, and the Los Angeles Convention Center (where the Anime Expo is taking place end of this month) along the way.

Riding on the Expo Line

In a couple more years, the Expo Line will go all the way to the Santa Monica beach area. Hooray! Having a rail line gives teens like us more freedom to go places. Kids in other cities already have this freedom. We won't need to ask for rides from our parents all the time anymore. We now have a great city with an expanding rail road system that everyone can use.  See you on the train!

Art work at the Farmdale station

Boys Over Flowers

So, recently we started watching Korean Dramas again. The first one we saw that was about 20 episodes (which is very short compared to other dramas) was called A Pasta in Love.( I love these titles). I think I know the formula for Korean dramas. They have such outrageous plots and situations that the audience gets all worked up and start yelling at the TV screen. Yet we want to find out how the characters resolve those stupid situations anyways, so we continue to watch.

A Pasta in Love

Right now, my sister and I are watching a very famous drama called Boys over Flowers based on the Japanese Manga Hana Yori Dango. It's about a high school for very rich kids in Korea, and it has a problem with bullying. The leaders of the whole school is a group called F4. F4 gives certain kids they don't like the Red Card.

The Red Card is placed in the victim's locker, and everyone in the school starts to bully that kid. (Because all of F4 is really rich and  "good looking" so everyone does what they say. Strangely, there are no teachers or adults around at all).  The main character Geum Jan Di, a girl from a very poor family gets accepted into the school on full scholarship for swimming. She hates F4, and even when they give her the Red Card she stands up to them. The leader of F4, Gu Jun Pyo (Lee Min Ho), falls in love with her...and Ji Hoo (Kim Hyun Joong)  falls in love with her......and then the love triangles and problems arise. There are times when you really want to kick the girl though, because you want to root for a spunky girl yet sometimes she just acts dumb and clueless. I probably said that I hated her about 100 times by now (to the TV screen), although the bullying effeminate boys are equally offensive . . .and charming.

Boys Over Flowers

The show has 25 episodes. I recommend it. You can find it on Netflix, or probably anywhere online. Make sure you watch the KOREAN version though. I think that the Japanese, or Taiwanese versions aren't as entertaining. We've seen the actor who plays Jan Di, or Koo Hye Sun, before in a drama called Pure in Heart. In it, she plays a spunky, hard working poor girl as well. We like her a lot. I think she got that role of the spunky and funny doormat down. The drama is really good.

Anyways..... Any other recommendations for dramas we can watch? It's summer vacation, and we're allowed to indulge in some non-academic nonsense.

New Short Film By Trevor Zhou on Flight.

Have you guys ever wished you could fly? I have, and still do—and I’m not alone! Trevor Zhou’s short film, “The Problem of Gravity”, explores the common childhood dream to fly in its story of a young boy and his numerous attempts to defy gravity. The boy, an Asian American kid named Tim, is first inspired to fly when he spots an airplane flying above his yard. From there, his dreams of flying take off (yes, pun intended). In his backyard, he builds cardboard wings and dresses up as Superman to fly, all to no avail. In the end, he gets his wish in a more conventional way.

The Problem of Gravity from Trevor Zhou on Vimeo.

What I love about the film is the way it exemplifies childhood—the curiosity, the perseverance, the naivete, and the excitement—without making it seem too fantastic. As a matter of fact, Mr. Zhou modeled it partially after his own childhood dream of growing up to be Superman. And the film doesn’t just appeal to kids; the story is very down-to-earth and something many of us—kids and adults alike—can really relate to. Isn’t the idea of being able to fly high over the rest of the world a main theme of all Hayao Miyazaki's work as well? It’d be convenient, too; as Mr. Zhou says, “imagine the places you could go and the money you would save on airfare and transportation! No more waiting for trains”!


Trevor Zhou is a Chinese American filmmaker from New York. He is an artist, but also worked in the entertainment industry as an actor, appearing in commercials and TV dramas. He eventually became interested in writing—which his how he came up with and got around to directing and producing“The Problem of Gravity”, a film that has been accepted into the Brooklyn Film Festival and the Korean American Film Festival in New York.

v

Director/Producer Trevor Zhou

(and no, it's not a bad perm. His hair is naturally curly!)

 Some of the films Zhou likes are Survive Style 5+ and the short film “Shift” by Jonathan Yi, and our favorite as well, Justin Lin's Better Luck Tomorrow.

Fan Girls and Fan Boys Unite!

There is a funny and ridiculous ritual that we fan boys and fan girls do when we really really really like a movie, a book, manga, anime, or a cartoon show: We draw pictures of our favorite characters. We come up with scenario's that we would like our favorite characters to be in, and we then draw or write our own stories of those scenarios. People even dress up for cosplays of their favorite characters and attend Anime Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center (June 29-July 2, 2012), or Comicon in San Diego (July 12-14, 2012). I've visited both in the past. Of course, there's the Star Trek Conventions too for the older nostalgic set. The goings on with fans in those places are just crazy fun.

Fans at the Anime Expo dressed up as
Wobbuffet and Jigglypuff from Pokemon

There are websites out there that allow us to indulge in creating those fantasy story lines or situations and then publish them online for other fan boys and girls to see, comment on, and admire. For drawings of my favorite characters, I use Deviant Art.

Korra characters in School uniform.
By freestarisis on Deviantart.

To develop new stories about our favorite characters, some kids use Fanfiction. Some of the stuff out there are so hilarious, nerdy, and outrageous that only other fans can appreciate.

Some Fanfiction titles based on Harry Potter

Sadly, I am one of these people. I don't do crazy stuff like some other fanatics, but I do look up different pictures or draw stuff relating to shows I like. But after a while I have to back away from the computer screen because I just can't deal with too much of that completely alternate universe stuff for too long. But, I still go on Deviantart just to look up Legend of Korra drawings.. . most of which are pretty amazing, and encourage me to draw more. Same with other shows such as Harry Potter, Twilight, The Hunger Games, Adventure Time, Percy Jackson and many many MANY more.

"Wait up, guys. I can't keep up." One of my fan
drawings of CoolAsian Kid in Tintin style.

I guess it's just human nature for someone to want their favorite stories' storyline to go perfectly and exactly how they imagine it to be. If it doesn't happen in the actual shows, fan boys and fan girls make it happen on line. I guess that's just how it works.

Wang Yani and Other Gifted Child Artists

A while ago my dad's friend gave us a book called Yani: The Brush of Innocence.  It features a collection of artwork by this little girl's named Wang Yani. She created really lively Chinese brush paintings. The one thing that makes her stand out though, is that she was really little. I mean two and a half years old, little. Yani painted monkeys, lots and lots of expressive monkeys, fish, chicken, or birds that appeared as if they are in motion. The book showcased brush paintings that she did between four years old and twelve. Her skill was so advanced that normally, people several times her age would not have those skills. Most of the kids my age cannot draw as well as she did.

Here are a few of her drawings:

I never actually read the book of how Yani started to paint until now. I used to just stare at her beautiful brush paintings. Going through the book is really interesting. This one part in the book compares Yani to a girl named Nadia Chomyn and they show a few of her pictures in the book as well. However, unlike Yani, Nadia was diagnosed as a mentally retarded child with autism and "severely delayed language development". She also suffered from "severe emotional disturbances and cognitive deficits". yet she draws with ease, "all within the span of a minute". How do we categorize a kid who is so talented artistically, yet considered to be mentally retarded.

Roosters by Nadia at age  6
 based on memory

A horse and a rider
by Nadia
at age five

I considered myself a good artist, but....I'm going to have to say that some people are just born with artistic skill. I can practice and practice, but by the time I would have been able to draw like Yani or Nadia, I would have been much older and I would definitely not be able to draw it with as much ease and as quickly as Nadia and Yani could. Yani and Nadia a true prodigies.

Now, Yani is not a kid anymore.  I think she has lived in Germany for over ten years now,  she is married and has kids. Her style has changed. She draws abstract drawings, but to me, they are definitely not as moving as those she did as a kid. Somehow, the "brush of innocence" is replaced by something else. I wonder what it says about how child prodigies develop. I wonder what happened to Nadia.

Yani's paintings now

Yani's paintings now

Video of child Yani narrated by Sir Richard Attenborough.

The Solar Eclipse and the Adventures of Tintin

Yesterday, May 20, 2012, we witnessed a solar eclipse. As seen from the Earth, a Solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, and the Moon fully or partially blocks the Sun.  (Def. by Wikipedia.) Even though it is a natural phenomenon, people in olden days regard it as a bad omen.

Solar Eclipse as seen in Los Angeles outside our house

Witnessing this rare event allows us to smoothly (or maybe not so smoothly) segway into a mention of "Prisoners of the Sun" in the Adventures of Tintin, (one of our favorite comic book series). In this comic book, our hero Tintin uses his knowledge of the timing of a solar eclipse to foil some modern day Incas' plan to sacrifice him and his friends. By timing his sacrificial hour to coincide with the solar eclipse, Tintin made the Incas believe that he can command Pachacamac, their Sun God.  The Inca prince implores Tintin to make the Sun show his light again. At Tintin's command, the Sun obeys, and the fearful Incas quickly set their prisoners free.

Prisoners of the Son-Tintin in South America

The Adventures of Tintin is a comic book series by artist Remi Georges (aka Herge) that debuted almost a century ago in 1929.  The stories feature Tintin, a young newspaper reporter who travels the globe and solves nefarious plots and crimes. His adventures take him to Africa, China, Turkey, America, the moon, South America, the Himalayas, under the sea, and many other exotic locales.  The comic books were translated into dozens of different languages. There are 24 of the Tintin comic books and we've read every one of them.

A panel from The Blue Lotus: Tintin in China

Our parents are such fans of Tintin since their childhood that they took us to Belgian to visit Musee Herge when it first opened back in 2009. That museum, designed by Christian de Portzamparc has all the original Tintin artwork and an awesome gift shop well worth visiting.

Outside the Herge Museum (We were a bit small then)

Tintin comics are amazing. We highly recommend it for their thoughtful stories, fantastic art, and endearing characters. It's a comic book series for both adults and kids alike.

Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival

Previously, we compiled a list of Asian-American films suitable for kids that we recommend. Today, we've got some new ones for you guys to check out and support if you have the chance. These movies tend to be for an older crowd, so they may not be suitable fore really young kids.

On Saturday, our parents took us to check out the Visual Communications Asian Pacific Film Festival -- something we've known about for a while but hadn't had the chance to visit until now.  After all, it's a two-week event that only happens once a year.  You guessed it, folks: the Asian Pacific Film Festival features films with Asians in the cast and crew.  Not only is it a pretty rare opportunity to catch Asian-Americans in the film industry, these movies (or the ones we've seen thus far) are good.

We first watched a screening of the new movie, Shanghai Calling, a feature film directed by Daniel Hsia and starring starring half-Korean actor Daniel Henney and Chinese actress/TV hostess Zhu Zhu. Henney plays Sam, a white-washed Chinese-American lawyer who is relocated to Shanghai for his job.  While he's reluctant to assimilate into Chinese culture at first, he warms up to the city...and to his American relocation specialist, Amanda.
 

I'm not going to give away any more, but it's a fun movie that really delves into the whole American-meets-Chinese culture shock, with a twist about who is American, and who is Asian.  Not sure when you'll have the chance to see it, but look for it . It's got great cross cultural appeal.

Later on Saturday, my mom and I (Eileen) went back to the film festival to watch a very different movie called Sunset Stories, directed by Ernesto Foronda and Silas Howard. It's a "dark comedy" that follows a nurse, May, as she travels to Los Angeles to retrieve bone marrow needed for a transplant back at her hospital in Boston -- with a twist, of course.  All is well until May winds up running into the last person she wants to see: her ex-boyfriend, JP whom she left many years ago.  The film documents the wacky ordeals of May and JP as they run around Los Angeles in search of a cooler containing the lost bone marrow.  Sung Kang plays JP!  (He's in Fast & Furious, Fast Five, Better Luck Tomorrow, and other Justin Lin movies). Night time Los Angeles stars itself with its diverse supporting cast of lost souls and hopeless outcasts. The movie does not have a tidy ending, leaving the audience wanting more, which is the best kind of ending, in my opinion.

Monique Curnen and Sung Kang

The tag line on the poster says the movie is about "Losing Baggage". I guess it's about losing the burden you carry with you by facing and confronting your past.  For some reason, this movie speaks to me quite a bit even though I'm only a teenager.  Ladies, if you're looking for a really squeal-worthy and heartwarming movie to watch with your friends, here it is.  It's even got a hopelessly romantic Asian-American main character. Score!

The festival goes on for a few more days with movies from all over the Pacific rim. Because of school, I don't think I get the chance to go back this week. Not all the movies at the festival are kid friendly, but all are personal stories made with a lot purpose. There is an underlying sentiment at the festival that it is difficult to get mainstream support for Asian American indie films, so kudos to all the film makers who actually got their films made.  Check out the festival and support Asian American films.

Art Imperial: Surf Music From Toronto

We know that folks in Los Angeles are enjoying the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival right now. There's been some great movies showcased at the Festival and we got to attend some of them.  (More about that later). However, looking ahead towards summer fun and summer time music, we are going to blog about music today.

Living on the West Side of Southern California means that you must have tried to surf at least once in your life. In elementary school, kids would have birthday parties where we would learn to surf on the beach. During the summer holidays, after running out of good academic enrichment experiences to send us to, my parents would sign us up for surf camp. While terrifying, after a couple of summers, I am at least able to paddle out into the ocean, climb onto the surf board, and surf a short distance back before falling off. 


Beach Boys music are a perennial favorite when you think about surfing.  But when have you heard any good new surf music . . . until now? 

Well, we've got a bit of a treat for you!  We all know how hard it is to find Asian-Americans/Canadian in the media -- be it film, music, or modeling -- so it's always very special to come across a fresh new Asian-American face (or voice). This week, we'd like to introduce Art Imperial, a "one-man band project". 

So far, it's released two albums, Surf Suburban EP (2011) and Cult of Love (2012)   Both albums feature lazy, upbeat, beachy tunes and Art's own voice and self-produced/written/performed tunes.  He wasn't kidding when he said he was a one-man band!


Art is a Filipino-Canadian inspired by the beauty of the ocean and the beach life in writing his music -- even though he's from Toronto and has "never actually surfed before".  We think it's awesome that he's been able to create beautiful music inspired by his own imagination and "fantasizing about the open seas".  Listening to his music, you can picture a lazy beach day under the sun, sipping pina coladas (no alcohol, of course).


Art Imperial released its second album, Cult of Love, here this month, which you can (and should) check out. We really like the song Good Times, but rest of the songs from the album are all great to listen to this summer while you're at the beach, or BBQing in the back yard.

 
A video featuring Hong Kong movie stars Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung dancing was dubbed with Art Imperial's single "Cult of Love" It is really cool.

   Make sure you check out Art Imperial. You can thank us later (; 

The Legend of Korra and Comic Books by Gene Yang

Everyone must have heard of, or watched Avatar: The Last Airbender that aired on Nickelodeon from  2005 to 2008 right? It was an anime inspired cartoon series set in an Asian martial arts influenced mystical world somewhere in the far east. The main characters can manipulate earth, air, water and fire and are known as "benders". There was an epic struggle where good triumphed over evil. It was a really good show and we watched it every week on TV. When it was canceled in 2008, kids like us were sad.  Many people wrote to Nick to complain . . . and apparently, the complaints worked! We almost wrote to Nick ourselves.(Personally I hate all these new stupid teenage live action shows. The best are cartoons.....ESPECIALLY STUFF LIKE THIS. I liked how the creators of Avatar totally mixed up the story completely. BUT IT'S SO AWESOME.) I would be so happy if I lived in a world like this.

Now Nick brought the Avatar back in a new series called Avatar: The Legend of Korra. The series just came out on April 14, 2012, and is set seventy years later. The story is about the new Avatar, Korra, a strong, funny, powerful, and amazing girl, (a little defiant too.. :D) who is still learning to use her bending powers.  She meets her friends, Mako (handsome, and more serious firebender) and his brother Bolin, (funny and cute earthbender).  Together, they face an anti-bender revolution by a group known as the Equalists led by the evil Amon who has the power to take bender's powers away.

The show is on Nick TV every Saturday at 11:00. Each episode is 30 minutes. But each episode really packs a punch. Sadly, this series is going to be much shorter than the last one... that's why there has been SO much drama in only the first 5 episodes. It's amazing. IT. IS. AMAZING. WATCH IT!!!! REALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mr. Gene Yang

To top it off, one of my favorite comic book artists, Gene Luen Yang, (who drew the funniest version of the Monkey King story called "American Born Chinese"), is given the awesome task of writing Avatar: The Promise, a comic book series that bridge the 70 years gap between the original Avatar and the new Legend of Korra.

Eisner Award winner American Born Chinese

 Gene's writing and drawings are great, so you are really in for a treat if you pick up a copy of either Avatar: The Promise, or "American Born Chinese" or both. My copy, (along with copies of Lucky Luke and Asterix comic books) just arrived in the mail through Amazon today.  I will spend my weekend reading it, and watching Legend of Korra. CAN'T WAIT


EDIT: I SAW THE LEGEND OF KORRA EPISODE 5 AND I'M DYING HERE. POOR BOLIN. BUT NO I'M NOT SAYING ANYTHING BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO WATCH IT!