The Khan Academy

  • July 8, 2011 3:18 pm

YouTube Preview ImageI’ve got a big crush on Salman Khan. Holding multiple degrees from MIT and Harvard, Khan was making videos of math lessons for his young cousins. He uploaded them on Youtube and made more. People began to notice and it grew from there. Realizing that he was on to something, he left his soul sucking job as an analyst at a hedge fund and started the Khan Academy, providing video lessons (2,400 so far) ranging from astronomy, economics, chemistry, physics, math, etc.  It’s amazing how much this guy knows. And better yet, it’s all free!!

Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, this is philanthropy that works. Check out this other video about the Academy: YouTube Preview Image I, myself, am going through some lessons just to get quick reminders, especially in algebra lessons.  Read more...

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Chinese Male Cheerleader Brings It On!!

  • June 30, 2011 2:57 am

YouTube Preview Image I don’t know what to make of this, but I can say that I can’t take my eyes off this video, even after the 10th time I’ve viewed it. Here’s a video of an unidentified male cheerleader performing a dance routine at China’s Shandong University. Sure, there are female cheerleaders too, but who’s watching them??? All I know is, this has to be investigated more and I have to find out who this dude is, because he should be on the competition cheerleading circuit!

(Via Gawker)

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You can do it!!!

  • June 9, 2011 5:37 pm

YouTube Preview Image Check out this kid’s inspirational speech after riding his bike for the very first time. When he grows up, he’s either going to be a motivational speaker or rule us all! But in the meantime, let this little tyke have his moment in the sun!

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Books of Art

  • June 2, 2011 3:19 pm

My last blog post was about my love of Steidl books, especially his art and photography books. Well, here’s another interesting use of books done by artist Bronia Sawyer, who really supports the use of books for alternative art. Check them out:

Beautiful! Makes me want to grab the old phone books that are propping up my computer monitor to my eye level, and start making something.

(Via Buzzfeed)

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The Drug of Ink Smell and Paper

  • May 27, 2011 7:37 pm

I am a big fan of Gerhard Steidl. An international publisher of many of the most significant photo and art books, his contribution to publishing, and the art and design world is beyond great. He is a visionary craftsman, who personally oversees the production of each book, from conception to final product. He has expanded to non-fiction and literature, but his dabbling into more populist fare allows him to fund some of his more personal projects. Bottom-line, he is a true artist, who fights the good fight when it comes to the importance of books; the need for tactile connections with a tome, as well as the smell of ink and the feel of paper, which are qualities that vary for each book, providing a unique DNA for every tome or edition he publishes. In a world of Kindles and iPads, this is very refreshing.  Read more...

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Choi’s Bois

  • May 20, 2011 12:52 am

It’s not everyday you see 6 white guys wear matching t-shirts and cheering on an Asian athlete. But that’s just the case for golf pro K.J. Choi and his “Choi Bois.” Since 2005 Brad Page (age 27), Bo Page (30), Bobby Page (53), David Clayton (30), Alex Kirkland (30) and Curtis Gribble (27) fly from Nashville, TN, to Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, just to watch Choi play at The Players Championship.

And how do a bunch of Southern boys become die-hard fans and root for a South Korean golfer, you might ask?

“We came out here in ’05 and watched,” said Clayton. “Of all the guys, we found K.J. Choi the most fan-friendly and we liked the way he played.”  Read more...

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Memoirs of a Gaga

  • May 12, 2011 3:21 pm

I’m not a big fan of Lady Gaga, and not because she’s way overexposed (well, maybe a little). I find that the first ever “Asian Issue” for V Magazine, has her on the cover (with the Asiatique headline “Memoirs of a Gaga” no less) and not an actual Asian person representing. Sure, the issue has some cool profiles on the latest tastemakers from the region, ranging from Japanese soccer superstar Hidetoshi Nakata, Asian American pioneer actress Nancy Kwan, and Chinese renegade artist Ai Wei Wei, but it always seems that Asians get the short shrift in stuff like this. Why not have Gong Li (another person profiled) on the front cover? What does Lady Gaga have to do with anything, anyway?  Read more...

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Exclusive Interview w/ Fast Five’s 5-year-old Screenwriter

  • April 27, 2011 5:14 pm

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to trek out to L.A. for all the opening night fun tomorrow at the L.A. Asian Pacific Film Festival. But I’m sure everyone will have a great time watching Offender Justin’s Fast Five (which opens stateside on April 29 for anyone living in Unabomber-style isolation). Check out this interview with the film’s screenwriter Chris Morgan from our friends at the Onion. It’s definitely one of the most informative interviews I’ve seen about the film:


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Yoshi Sodeoka’s ’70s Mixed Media Magic Carpet Ride

  • March 24, 2011 2:03 am

Yoshi Sodeoka is a mixed media artist and musician based in New York City, who’s no stranger to the psychedelic. His work  over the last 10 years has captured the trippy and acid-soaked imagery of the Summer of Love and updated it for the 21st Century. His work that is inspired by LP album artwork, in particular, is pretty amazing.

For his latest project, Sodeoka is making a series of short videos inspired by ’70s prog-rock concept albums, in collaboration with the composer Daron Murphy. According to the artist, “Each piece will be autonomous, but when viewed together will create a larger whole.” He will release each new video piece online, like this piece called “Sibyl,” which just popped online. Again with the acid trip visuals and experimental noise, it almost makes me want to put flowers in my hair, live in a yurt and take some LSD.  Read more...

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Charlie Sheen vs. Carlos Estevez

  • March 6, 2011 10:41 pm

I am a huge fan of Egotrip. I’ve worked with them years ago, and they still are the standard when it comes to critical thinking, race, humor and hip hop. I’m so glad they are back!

Here’s their take of the Sliding Doors variety: What if Charlie Sheen had started his career with his given name, Carlos Estevez? In true Philip K. Dick fashion, they explore the divergent Charlie/Carlos and speculate how one life can change from a slight course change in the cosmos. So, yeah, kind of like that Gwyneth Paltrow movie, when she was in her faux British phase.

Anyway, here’s some choice predictions in the bifurcation of Mr. Sheen/Estevez in two concurrent alternate timelines:  Read more...

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Japanese kids go apeshit in McDonalds ad

  • January 31, 2011 8:24 am

I don’t know if this is necessarily effective advertising, but these kids enthusiasm for cheap Spongebob Squarepants Happy Meal toys is truly infectious. There’s one particular boy in this commercial who is so excited, it looks like he’s having a seizure. Check it out for yourself. YouTube Preview Image International McDonalds adverts have a colorful history, ranging from the Gaijin minstrel to McWeddings to a subtle ad about gay youth. Sure beats the boring “I’m Lovin’ It” campaign we have here in the States.

(Via JendotLu)

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MTV Japan does their own version of THE HILLS

  • January 7, 2011 4:38 pm

 It’s about time! The network that started the “reality show” genre with such time wasters like The Real World, Laguna Beach, and The Hills, is going global. Shibuhara Girls will be the first ever reality show made in Japan by MTV. The show will be debuting on MTV Japan on January 8th and on MTV S.E.A. February 5th. Considering MTV practically invented the reality show genre, it’s about time Japan got one, too.

Set in the fashion and entertainment meccas of the Shibuya and Harajuku districts in Tokyo, the reality program follows four young women as they attempt to achieve stardom in music or modeling, and chronicles the ups and downs of their journey. Unlike the cast in The Hills, however, these women aren’t unknowns, but actually already have a fair amount of fame. Here’s the roster of ingenues:  Read more...

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