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R.I.P. Bobby Khamvongsa

  • May 23, 2012 12:02 am

Last night, all over my Facebook, I started hearing about the murder of Bobby Khamvongsa, a 27-year-old Asian man who was stabbed to death on the streets of West Hollywood last weekend. It turned out that Bobby and I had 14 mutual friends on Facebook and he had moved to Los Angeles from Hawaii to pursue a career in make-up. As I was going through the blogs, I saw that LA Weekly wrote that “the victim was dressed in women’s clothes.” The reporting was certainly titillating. The immediate question came into my mind was—had he been gay bashed?

I was surprised that the most popular Asian American blogs have not picked up on this story considering some would report on the most random Asian American drowning in the ocean. Perhaps they didn’t know how to deal with an Asian American man who died in drag. I do feel there’s homophobia in the Asian American community which isn’t quite sure how to or doesn’t want to deal with sexuality within their own community while desperately trying to uphold being “normal” in America.

The story got even more intriguing as the murder suspect, Richard Herrera, 29, went to the same high school, Kaimuki High in Hawaii, as Bobby. It was reported that the police believed that Bobby was involved in a dispute with Richard, but their relationship was still left for our speculation.  Read more...

US Map As Marked By Movies

  • May 3, 2012 10:11 am

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This is pretty cool! Only issue is that it represents only the contiquous US. Where’s the Alaska and Hawaii love?

What seminal film would you choose for the 49th and 50th states? For AK, maybe Insomnia or Mystery, Alaska? I don’t know why I’m drawing a blank on this one.

Since I’m from HI, there’s a plethora of choices by I would nominate The Descendents, Blue Hawaii,, or even 51st Dates.

What would you guys choose? Leave in the comments below.

Remembering ‘Karate Kid 2’ and the Dangers of Acrylic Nails

  • June 20, 2011 12:05 am

TAMLYN

Tamlyn Tomita is a gal who’s totally from the Valley. The older folks might know her from “Karate Kid 2″; the grrls might know her as the b*tch from “The Joy Luck Club”; the sci-fi fans might know her from “Eureka”; the indie fans might know her from “Robot Stories” or “Picture Bride”. She was really proud these last few months in being able to say that she was an Asian parent’s dream: she was both a doctor and a lawyer. Until the shows “Law and Order: Los Angeles” and “The Chicago Code” got cancelled. She’s always peering around to see what’s around the corner and likes being surprised, like how she is now considered okay/cool enough to be asked to write for yomyomf. On the 25th anniversary of the release of “Karate Kid 2” (which hit theaters on June 20, 1986), she looks back on her experience working on what was her first film.

In August 1984, I ran for Nisei Week Queen, a pageant for the Nisei Week Japanese Festival, the largest and oldest Japanese festival in the nation and was awarded the crown. I was attending UCLA (go Bruins!) and majoring in history in the hopes of becoming a teacher. In the late spring of 1985, I was approached by Helen Funai, a former Nisei Week Queen and actress, who asked if I was interested in auditioning for “The Karate Kid 2″. I said, “Sure, why not? Might be fun, it would certainly be interesting and it’s summer so I’m free!” Helen was asked by Caro Jones, the casting director for “KK2″ to bring in girls who might be good to see for the role of ‘Kumiko’ and since Helen was known by the Japanese American community and because of her connection not only to Nisei Week, but also to the Miss Sansei Pageant, she sought out a number of girls who showed interest.

I went in to audition for the director, John Avildsen, at the Beverly Hills Hotel, dressed in a yukata (a lightweight, cotton, summer kimono). I spoke in a way that mimicked my mother’s accent and tried to act all feminine, graceful and demure. I went in for 5-6 more rounds of auditions for various people, flew to New York to meet with Ralph Macchio (Daniel) for the first time (!!), worked with John and was told to show more ‘moxie’. I didn’t know what that meant, but I had to guess it was to show more spunk and fire and, somehow, I managed to show them some facsimile of it. I had no interest in pursuing a career in acting or the arts and had absolutely no idea what acting was all about.  Read more...

WHAT I LEARNED ON YOMYOMF THIS WEEK – JUNE 11 – 17, 2011

  • June 18, 2011 12:00 am

What I Learned on YOMYOMF This Week is a capsule of the week’s blogs with sarcastic commentary from Yours Truly (that’s me!).  If you’ve been busy and missed out on a couple of our daily gems, this is a perfect way to catch up.

But seriously – what was more important than reading YOMYOMF?

This week, the tackled topics are F.O.B. speak; advertising strip clubs; and poon procurement with the aid of Marvel superhero costumes.

Ah, “poon procurement.”  I must say: that is one bit of alliteration I’m quite proud of.

SAF SEEKING… MOM AND DAD WOULD BE SO HAPPY!:

“So to hear that accent over the phone, my stomach tightened. I could just imagine my dad coming through the speaker, “Oh, you know, I like to travel, long walks on the beach and.. (dad voice) OFF THE LIGHTS! CLEAN YOUR ROOM! BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER! ARE YOU GOING GALLIVANTING WITH YOUR FRIENDS AGAIN?”

What is it about old-school Filipinos and the word “gallivanting”?  I swear: as far as I’m concerned, they have a monopoly on that word.  I’ve never heard anyone else use it.

TRACY MORGAN & WHY ‘SORRY’ IS THE EASIEST WORD:

“I’m sure you’ve all heard by now how during a June 3 stand-up performance in Nashville, 30 Rockstar Tracy Morgan made some jokes that smacked of homophobia including one about how he’d use a knife to “stab” his son if he found out he was gay. After a massive outcry,Morgan apologized on Friday saying that he “clearly went too far.””

No, clearly he would’ve gone too far if he had made a pun-based joke about setting his hypothetically gay son on fire.

Let’s thank our lucky stars he held back on that.  Read more...

Hawaiian Food Odyssey (or How I gained 3 Pounds in 1 Week)

  • June 15, 2011 1:07 pm

I flew over to Oahu last week to teach a weekend workshop at the University of Hawaii, Manoa.  I took some extra time over there to turn the trip into a vacation and to visit my cousin on the Big Island.  Somehow, the trip ended up as an eating orgy and with myself packing in an extra 3 pounds on the way back.

First stop, of course, was Leonard’s Bakery for malasadas—the big, fluffy Portuguese holeless doughnuts are a must on every visit to Oahu.  As usual, the line was out the door here, but definitely worth the wait.

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Hawaiian High School Cliques

  • March 25, 2011 3:28 pm

This is a list of cliques from the school newspaper at Waiakea High School on the Big Island of Hawaii. It’s an interesting 21st Century, Island style take on “a brain, a beauty, a jock, a rebel and a recluse.”

#5, #8, and #9 , I wonder what these cliques are all about!!

(Via Chris Lee)

The Happiest Person in America

  • March 6, 2011 4:38 pm

Alvin Wong (with wife Trudy Schandler-Wong) is the Happiest Person in America?

An interesting article in today’s NYT reports on the happiest person in America. For the past 3 years, Gallup has conducted a survey called the The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index®. the first-ever daily assessment of U.S. residents’ health and well-being. Here’s the official write-up on said index:

By interviewing at least 1,000 U.S. adults every day, the Well-Being Index provides real-time measurement and insights needed to improve health, increase productivity, and lower healthcare costs. Public and private sector leaders use data on life evaluation, physical health, emotional health, healthy behavior, work environment, and basic access to develop and prioritize strategies to help their communities thrive and grow. Journalists, academics, and medical experts benefit from this unprecedented resource of health statistics and behavioral economic data to inform their research and reporting.  Read more...

Hawaii 5-0 Shit!

  • November 8, 2010 4:00 am

Forget North Korea or Afghanistan, the new axis of evil is Hawaii.  That’s right, our 50th State may just be the most dangerous place on Earth.  It’s a place where the world’s terrorists come to do their hardest core sinning, whether it be drug running, human trafficking, arms dealing, and/or any other variety of activities that may lead to the end of days.  Don’t let the swaying palm trees, white sand beaches, and hot men and women in thong bikinis fool you, Hawaii is where the shit really goes down.  Well, at least that’s what it seems like every Monday night on CBS.

But before I proceed further, let me just confess that I really love the new Hawaii 5-0 reboot.  It’s the TV show that I look forward to the most every week.  Why?  Well, beyond the fact that Daniel Dae Kim is rather dreamy and has some of the coolest hair in television history, the show just has such a unique look in such a unique local with such a unique cast of characters.  I also love Hawaii as a vacation destination.  In fact, it’s my favorite place to go to decompress, collect my thoughts, and further perfect my skills as a fire knife dancer.  But whatever the reason, I just really enjoy the show.  So much so that I always watch it live.  I don’t DVR it…ever.  Respect.

to serve and protect (by being ripped)  Read more...

The Little League World Series Condones “Killing The Yellow Man?”

  • September 3, 2010 12:44 am

Fans of the Little League World Series know that this year Japan beat Hawaii to end the U.S.’ five-year winning streak. But any way you look at it, with the teams from Japan and Hawaii (and Taiwan who played Japan before the Hawaii game) in contention, that’s a lot of Asian faces. So maybe it was inevitable that a mini-controversy would erupt when Bruce Springsteen’s “Born In The U.S.A.” prominently blared from the speakers between innings during the championship game.

So why is this such a big deal? Well, if you actually listen carefully to the Boss’ lyrics, this is what you’ll hear:

Born down in a dead man’s town,
the first kick I took was when I hit the ground,
you end up like a dog that’s been beat too much,
till you spend half your life just covering up.
I got in a little hometown jam,
so they put a rifle in my hands,
sent me off to a foreign land,
to go and kill the yellow man.  Read more...

Angry Korean Lady

  • August 3, 2010 8:07 pm

I know this title is synonymous with other stereotypes like Filipino who can sing and dance.  But, this is actually the name of a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Honolulu. And guess what? It’s run by a Korean lady, and yes, she’s angry. Like Soup Nazi angry. Apparently, she’s the only one running the joint. Here’s a snapshot of the menu:

Whenever you’re in town, check it out.  I wonder what “Most people can handle a 3 or 4?” Is it dishes or parties of 4 are the maximum that she can handle?

Perks

  • May 19, 2010 7:16 pm

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SPAM – the misunderstood meat

  • March 31, 2010 12:26 am

I feel for Spam. 

This under appreciated meat has had such a bad rap.  People have come up with backronyms like “Something Posing As Meat” and “Spare Parts Animal Meat,” when really it stands for…uh…what exactly does it stand for?  According to Wikipedia, it stands for “Shoulder of Pork and Ham”. 

True, Spam is not a white meat and maybe it’s not exactly a red meat. I’m not sure if it’s meat at all actually.  I do notice, however, when I open up a can of Spam, it smells strikingly similar to the Tender Liver and Chicken Feast cat food I feed my cats.

 Read more...