"After 10 weeks, we’re all tired here, so let’s cut to the chase: Kristi Yamaguchi and her partner Mark Ballas, the highest scorers in the history of the show (or at least the U.S. version) took home the trophy. Jason Taylor and Edyta were the runners-up"
Well, seems that becoming one of the premiere figures and most widely recognized, early ambassadors for her sport might have ranked somewhere on the chart of 'fulfilling her destiny,' but there's no doubt that Yamaguchi's gracefulness translates easily off the ice. She's a great athlete and, we know, also a terrific dancer.
Here's a quick reminder that for those who can't attend today's First APIA National Presidential Townhall at UC Irvine or one of the many local simulcast parties today, IMDiversity.com Asian American Village and Punjabi Community Hour Inc. are scheduled to stream the main event at 4 PM Pacific Time.
The Asian American Village stream is at http://imdiversity.com/townhall.asp, and is Windows Media format. It should be viewable in most browsers that have the plug-in for Windows Media Player 9, but there is an additional link to play it on a local-machine Media Player as well.
We also need to make a correction: In our previous post of the email release for the event, there was an error in the link coding for Punjabi Community Hour Inc., whose streaming video site is: http://passionfortruthtv.com/ and NOT passionfortruth.com.
APIAVote Presidential Town Hall to be Simulcast Live on the Web
Historic Event to Stream from 15 Locations and on the Internet on May 17th
IRVINE , CA -APIAVote proudly announces that the Presidential Town Hall on May 17th will be streamed live on the Internet to 15 locations around the country, and will also be made available for viewing through media partners IMDiversity.com and Punjabi Community Hour Inc. and Passion For Truth.
We encourage everyone to attend one of these local sites for viewing. The cities that will host viewings are listed below, for information specific locations, click here.
The Presidential Town Hall, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time), will be shown at local venues live in the following cities.
Berkeley, CA Boston, MA Chicago, IL Columbus, OH Denver, CO Detroit, MI Houston, TX Miami, FL Minneapolis, MN Philadelphia, PA Portland, OR Reno, NV Santa Barbara, CA Seattle, WA Washington, DC
It will also be made available for live-streaming for individual viewing on the following websites:
"All politics is local and this historic Presidential Town Hall for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community has been able to take advantage of the internet and technology to really exemplify this in a groundbreaking way," said Vida Benavides, APIAVote Interim Executive Director. "While the center of the action will be in Southern California, we are working with a variety of local partners around the country to make this as widely accessible as possible. For individuals unable to make it to the actual event or any of the cities, we are glad to be able to make this available for individual live viewing thanks to our media partners."
The Presidential Town Hall will be held on May 17th, 2008, at the UC Irvine Bren Events Center. For more information on the event or how to access it via the Internet, please visit http://www.apiavote.org/.
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APIAVote is a national nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that encourages and promotes civic participation of Asian Pacific Islander Americans in the electoral and public policy processes at the national, state and local levels.
IMDiversity is dedicated to providing career and self-development information to all minorities, specifically African Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Latino/Hispanic Americans, Native Americans and women. IMDiversity.com aims to provide you with access to the largest database of equal opportunity employers committed to workplace diversity.
Punjabi Community Hour Inc. and Passion for Truth produces two television channels with programming regarding Sikh issues.
Trapezoid tells the story of a lovestruck Korean American poet hired to put the "art" in a robot's artificial intelligence. When the technological creation falls in love with its human creator, it's man-made versus mankind with comic and tragic results.
Trapezoid runs from April 19th - May 25th (Friday, Saturday - 8pm / Sunday - 2pm) **Low price $8.00 previews on April 17-18 at 8pm General Admission: $16.00 / Students & Seniors: $14.00 / Groups of 10+: $12.00 **April 19th - $25/Opening Night Gala **All Sunday shows (except May 25) are pay-what-you can ($1.00 min)
LOS ANGELES, CA Lodestone Theatre Ensemble presents the world premiere of Trapezoid, running April 19 - May 25, 2008 at the GTC Burbank (1111-B West Olive Ave., Burbank, CA 91506) located inside George Izay Park. Following on the heels of one of its most critically-acclaimed and commercially successful seasons, the award-winning theatre company kicks off its ninth season with a new play by Lodestone Resident Producer Nic Cha Kim and directed by Scott Horstein.
Lodestone's first presentation of a play in the science-fiction genre, Trapezoid tells the story of a Korean American poet in love hired by a technology think tank to put the "art" in artificial intelligence. When the robot creation falls in love with the human creator, it's man-made versus mankind with sometimes comic and sometimes tragic results.
The cast includes Julia Cho, Antonia Grace Glenn, Alberto Isaac, Lanny Joon, Elaine Kao, Charles Kim, Ryan Mercado , Leonard Wu, Elpidio Ebuen, John Fukuda, Grace Kim, Stephanie Lincoln, Brian P. Nichols and Enoch Wu.
"Trapezoid is a loose adaptation of Pygmalion and Galatea but instead of sculpture, we use poetry," explains playwright Nic Cha Kim. "From Collodi's Pinocchio, Shelley's Frankenstein and Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, artificial intelligence has been a fixture of science-fiction for centuries despite only being a science for the last 65 years. Trapezoid is my homage to scientists and science fiction writers alike."
Trapezoid playwright Nic Cha Kim is a Korean American writer, video artist and community activist. The recipient of numerous distinctions from the City of Los Angeles, Kim is best known for founding Gallery Row and leading the effort to create a gallery district in Downtown Los Angeles. As owner of Niche Video Art, his work curating cutting-edge digital and video art has been recognized in Art Forum, LA Times and the Downtown News. Kim was voted top 10 most influential Angeleno by LA Alternative Press and profiled on LA18 in the segment Our Role Models. This is Kim's first mainstage production at Lodestone.
Scott Horstein has directed workshops, readings and/or served as dramaturg at the Black Dahlia Theater, East West Players, the West Coast Ensemble, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Berkeley Rep, San Diego Rep and the Old Globe, where he dramaturged for Arthur Miller on his penultimate play Resurrection Blues.
Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, Sundays at 2 pm., April 19 May 25, with low-priced previews on April 17 and 18. Tickets are $16 for general admission, $14 for students/seniors. Group rates of $12 each are available for reservations of ten or more. Tickets for the April 19th Opening Night Gala with a post-show reception are $25. All Sunday matinees (except May 25) will be pay-what-you-can admission with a $1 minimum.
Founded in 1999 by Philip W. Chung, Alexandra Chun, Chil Kong and Tim Lounibos, Lodestone is committed to providing a forum for Asian Pacific American artists in all aspects of the theatre arts. Lodestone seeks to challenge limited perceptions of Asian Pacific Americans through the creation of original theatrical productions as well as a fresh retelling of established works. Lodestone Theatre Ensemble is a Company-in-Residence at GTC Burbank.
APIAVote's national Presidential Town Hall is coming up! Mark May 17th in your calendars and plan on coming out to Irvine to join in the activity!
APIAVote is a national nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that encourages and promotes civic participation of Asian Pacific Islander Americans in the electoral and public policy processes at the national, state and local levels. APIAVote envisions a society in which all Asian Pacific Islander Americans fully participate in and have access to the democratic process.
With the support of various national Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) organizations, we will be expecting 2000 community leaders, elected officials, voters, and students representing this diverse community from across the country to participate at the first National Presidential Town Hall hosted by our Asian American and Pacific Islander community.
The National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Development's (NCAPACD) Annual Convention is being held in conjunction with the Town Hall. Its Saturday activities will take place in the Bren Center, the APIA Vote Town Hall venue, as well. Among the activities on tap will be a "Voicing Our Votes" Forum and a discussion by the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, the leading coalition of national Asian Pacific American organizations.
Join us for this historic event and learn about the candidates before voting in the general election in November, 2008.
Also note: For those interested in getting involved with this nonpartisan community effort, APIAVote is currently accepting applications for executive and internship positions, posted as featured jobs during the month of May at the Asian American Village Jobs for US Center
You are invited to help the National Park Service conduct archeological investigations and stabilization at historic Merritt Park. Built by Japanese Americans while they were interned at Manzanar, Merritt Park is the largest single landscape feature at the Historic Site, and the largest remaining at any of the relocation centers. Numerous historic photographs reflect Merritt Park’s importance to the internees.
Now, Merritt Park is buried by sediments and overgrown with vegetation. Uncovering and restoring the park will help increase visitor understanding of the internee experience.
National Park Service Archeologist Jeff Burton is recruiting volunteers to assist with this project. Work will be from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily, May 19 to May 31, July 21 to August 1, and August 30 to September 2, 2008. You may volunteer any number of days, and any number of hours, but a full day (and multiple days) is preferred. The work will be conducted outdoors, regardless of weather. Please be prepared.
If you are interested in participating and for local lodging options, please contact Manzanar Volunteer Program Manager, Carrie Andresen at 760-878-2194 x2714 or Carrie_Andresen@nps.gov.
[Image here by the National Park Service shows Earth Systems Science, Incorporated, a volunteer youth group that participated in past years' volunteer events at Manzanar.]
It comes with their annually updated population projections, which this year carried the following highlights:
The Asian population rose by 2.9 percent, or 434,000, between 2006 and 2007.
California (5 million) had the largest Asian population on July 1, 2007, as well as the largest numerical increase during the 2006 to 2007 period (106,000). New York (1.4 million) and Texas (915,000) followed in population. Texas (44,000) and New York (33,000) followed in numerical increase.
In Hawaii, Asians made up the highest proportion of the total population (55 percent), with California (14 percent), and New Jersey and Washington (8 percent each) next.
The single-race Asian population in 2007 had a median age of 35.4, compared with the population as a whole at 36.6.
This pretty reflects trends that have been reoprted in recent years past, only augmented. But this year, the Bureau slipped a really surprising one by us, burying the revelation in an entirely different release. We even thought it was a typo, but we followed through digging a little deeper into Census.gov and it seems legit. So before we report it, we thought we'd put it out there to those APIA Studies folks and demographers who think they really know their stuff.
QUESTION: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Asians are the largest minority group in which U.S. state(s)?
This year, more than ever, the editors have opted to emphasize history over heritage per se. As we've written in years past, at IMDiversity Asian-American Village, EVERY month is "Asian American Heritage Month". We are all for celebrating / recalling / enacting traditional aspects stemming from our roots in Asia. We enjoy obon and lion dances and martial arts and mehendi etc., etc. as much as the next person. And we recognize that for many people -- especially those living in regions who do not have access to a large or vibrant AA/PI community -- taking a time out once a year to indulge, commemorate, celebrate and share those aspects of our heritage that we hold most dear is not only gratifying and important, but perhaps a rare luxury.
But at the same time, we at the Village have made an effort regard May as a chance to explore/recapture our pasts as people of Asian descent here, in America -- ala Black History Month or Women's History Month. Because we have the luxury of being fully expressive of our iterests as Asian Americans year-round, our editors have long felt that redirecting the month's emphasis onto history has led to a more meaningful, substantive commemoration of the contributions of APAs here, in this country, yesterday and today.
This year, our top features to kick off may include "Vincent Who?" by Roland Hwang, President, American Citizens for Justice, recalling the historic importance of the Vincent Chin murder case of 26 years ago and the founding of ACJ.
We also spotlight and feature a clip from Passing Poston: An American Story. Filmmaker Joe Fox discusses the inspiration behind new film about Poston internment camp on an AZ reservation in WWII. The film nudges the usual internment story a little further, placing a fresh emphasis on the exploration of the internment's impact on both Japanese Americans and Native Americans.
History of Asians in the San Gabriel Valley, a new research essay by historian Susie Ling, Associate Professor of Asian American Studies at Pasadena City College, provides a historical overview of one of America's "most Asian" regions.
As always, we'll continue to post new items on themes of history and heritage throughout the month both on the section and here on the blog. We'll also be launching a prominent section of featured employment opportunities we've packaged just for the Asian American Village Jobs for Us Career Center, reloading our recently redesigned Secret Asian Man section with new comic strip series, and more.
File this in the things to do in May when you're Asian category...Boiled down from releases sent in to the Village --
2008 Asian Excellence Awards on E! Entertainment Thursday, May 1 @ 6 pm EST/PST Hosted by Bobby Lee (MADtv) and Carrie Ann Inaba (Dancing with the Stars) Performances by JabbaWockeeZ, KABA Modern and Tia Carrere
Honorees, Winners and Presenters include:
Kristi Yamaguchi, Sonja Sohn, Rob Schneider, Steven Seagal, Quentin Tarantino, Kelly Hu, Lindsay Price, Steve Chen (co-founder of YOUtube), Verne Troyer, B.D. Wong, Andre Royo, Ian Ziering, Carrie Ann Inaba, Bobby Lee, Jack Yang, Daisy Fuentes, Roger Fan, Russell Peters, Devon Aoki, Sharon Leal, Tamlyn Tomita, Bai Ling, Cheryl Burke, Cristián de la Fuente, Se7en, Daisy Fuentes, Will Yun Lee, Michelle Krusiec, Michael Yo, Brenda Song, Rex Lee, Navi Rawat, Jack Yang, Michaela Conlin, James Saito, and Teresa Cheung. Visit http://www.axawards.com/ for more info. Red carpet and additional extras will be available on Comcast on Demand starting May 7.
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KCET Los Angeles and Union Bank of California Present "Local Heroes of the Year" at Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month Celebration on Thursday, May 8, at KCET
Event Honors Southern Californians in Arts, Business, Community Activism, Education and Social Services; KCET Airs Honoree Video Profiles in May
Recognizing May as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, KCET and Union Bank of California have teamed to present the 5th Annual "Local Hero of the Year" Awards at a special event for honorees and their guests on Thursday, May 8 at KCET. The awards are presented to individuals of Asian/Pacific heritage who have inspired others and enriched their communities, improving the quality of life for all. The festivities will also include a featured performance by Grammy® Award-winning artist Daniel Ho. This year's honorees are:
Community Activism, Curtis Chin, Writer/Producer and Volunteer for Asian Pacific Americans for Progress; Social Services, Hemlata Momaya, Executive Director of Bal Jagat Children's World, Inc.; Education: Bill H. Seki, Chairman of the Board of Directors for Go For Broke National Education Center; Arts: Beau Sia, Poet; and Business: Tony Yip, President of J.T. Bonn, Inc.
As part of KCET's Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month celebration, KCET will broadcast specials and programs that honor the cultural and historical heritage of Asian/ Pacific Americans. For in-depth episode descriptions of all Asian/Pacific Heritage Month programs, please visit http://www.kcet.org/.
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Asia Society "Callout Initiative" on YouTube “What does being Asian American mean to you?”
Happy Asian Pacific American Heritage Month! To celebrate, Asia Society has joined with YouTube in a callout initiative asking people everywhere: “What does being Asian American mean to you?” For today’s launch, we are the spotlight headlining YouTube’s News homepage à
To see our call-out video featuring Sandra Oh, Senator Daniel Inouye, Kal Penn, George Takei, and others, simply click on Sandra above. And help spread the word! Please encourage all Asian Americans to post their own response videos throughout the month at http://www.youtube.com/video_response_upload?v=hWey0hhi3Dw. This May, help Asian Americans come together!
