Why is it the most important thing for some people is that the candidate has the same religion as you, or talks the same way, or has the same skin color?  Would most of America be happy with a moron they identified with and felt was most similar to them, even if it meant the country was being run into the ground? Do their similarities trump anything, even performance and ability?  And in today’s world where so many people are influenced by mass media and group-think, doesn’t the lack of independent thought result in the breakdown of true democracy? You can’t have real democracy if among the public too many people are bigots, xenophobes, or idiots; at some point the system breaks down that way.  Check out the article below about the problems his campaign is facing in talking to voters who simply can’t bring themselves to vote for a non-White Christian male.  Also, check out this article about The Bradley Effect.
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Tags: election, mccain, obama, racism

With Tokyo Game Show 2008 ending, it brought a couple of things that made me go absolutely “SQUEE” about some of the upcoming DS games.

I admit that I’m a nerd. I admit that I’m a gamer. It’s seen as a “bizarre” concept amongst my fellow Koreans, especially the older generations who sees this more for children who do poorly in schools, but do I care? No! Considering my decent GPA in high school and college, I deserve some fun! I like my games! I like my toys. Only problem is that gaming is one expensive hobby that hurts my wallet and bank account the most! Regardless of that, I am eagerly awaiting on a few games that are to come out for the DS — well couple that have yet to have a release date for the English speaking realm, but a girl can dream, right?

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Tags: chrono trigger ds, dick gumshoe, ds-lite, gyakuten kenji, itonokogiri keisuke, korea, miles edgeworth, mitsurugi reiji, my japanese coach, playstation one, school, suikoden, suikoden tierkreis, tokyo game show 2008, video game

Heroes is supposedly one of the best shows out there (or at least according to TV.com) but it’s taken a beating lately as ratings hit an all time low. While season two didn’t do so hot either, you would think the slump would end this season (kind of like how the Yankees) but so far it’s a lost cause and there are now talks of cancellation. Oh noes!

All of this is quite shocking as the teaser this season was bad ass but apparently that’s all the action we’re going to get for now until the writers step it up. Honestly I think they’re still pissed off from the Writer’s Strike.

The pattern for Heroes the past two seasons is that it starts slow and ends awesome which may be the case but if ratings continue to fall, NBC might not let them see the end of the season. It just started too!

While my heart shatters for the shows continuing failure, I can’t stand to watch crappy shows.
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Tags: action, canceled, heroes, masi oka, nbc, tv series

Anna May Wong was the most famous Asian American actress of the 1930s. She was born in Los Angeles as a third generation American with her Chinese name, Wong Liu Tsong, meaning “frosted yellow willows.”

An Early Passion
Anna was infatuated with the movies early on and would skip school and use her lunch money to go to movie theaters. Anna, at the age of 9, despite her parent’s opposition, would beg filmmakers for parts, earning herself the nickname “C.C.C.” or “Curious Chinese Child”.

By the age of 11, Anna May had come up with her stage name, Anna May Wong, paying tribute to both her English and family names.
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Tags: " Cultural Warrior, "Curious Chinese Child, Anna May Wong, asian hero, fashion icon, First international Asian American movie star

Brian Tee who has starred in the movie Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift, is going to be a regular cast member in the series “Crash” on the television station Starz. “He plays EMT Eddie Choi, who is caught between the Korean gang world he left behind and the mainstream medical world where he wants to fit into in, “Crash.” http://www.starz.com/originals/CRASH/cast/EddieChoi/BrianTee/Pages/BrianTee.aspx

Crash is a series that is based on the movie Crash that came out in the year 2004 that followed the lives of everyday people in the city of Los Angeles that eventually intertwined together.

The first show airs on Starz October 17, this Friday Eastern Standard Time. I watched the first two episodes earlier tonight here: http://www.starz.com/originals/crash/screeningroom

The first few minutes of the show is sure to grab your attention. The characters have a lot of flavor and they also were able to make you place yourself in their shoes, feeling their pain. They also made me yell a few times at the screen at them either in fear or anger.
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Tags: Brian Tee, cops, Crash, gangs, Korea Town, police, Starz, tv

The New York - Tokyo Film Grand Prix (NYTFGP) 2008, New York-Tokyo’s annual film festival, is now underway with one more week of audience favorited Japanese films left. The NYTFGP2008 Festival represents the wide diversity of Japan’s creativity in film. The festival lineup of ten films is determined by audience votes and the New York-Tokyo staff.

Screening Schedule:
* Monday, 10/13, 7pm, 77BOADRUM, Anthology Archives, 32 Second Street, New York City
* Monday, 10/13, 9:15pm, 77BOADRUM (Appearance by Director Kawaguchi), Anthology Archives, 32 Second Street, New York City
* Tuesday, 10/14, 7pm, BLOODY SNAKE UNDER THE SUN (Appearance by Actor Shogen), Anthology Archives, 32 Second Street, New York City
* Thursday, 10/16, 7pm, KAMACHOP (Appearance by Director Matsumoto), Tribeca Cinemas, 54 Varick Street, New York City

For more details and to buy tickets, visit newyork-tokyo.com

“BLOODY SNAKE UNDER THE SUN” still image courtesy of Three Arrows Entertainment.

Tags: 77Boadrum, Bloody Snake Under the Sun, cinema, film, Kamachop, Kawaguchi, Matsumoto, movie, new york, NYTFGP, Shogen, Three Arrows, tokyo, Tribeca

MBC’s “We Got Married” is the result of putting a couple celebrities together to play pretend marriage. So far the show has been really successful and quite funny. Note that they are changing the name to “Sunday Marriage Show”.

In the most recent episode, they introduced some new couples Hwanhee/Hwa Yo Bi and Marco/Son Dam Bi. Instead of just hanging out with each other, they go on an “Ant Tour” trip led by Crown J with his mate Seo In Young and SolBi/Andy. They stop by the beach and hang out with each other at the sauna/hotel, all of which is really cute. There’s some dancing and random spanking but you have to watch to understand.

Well while they do that, the Alshin couple (Alex/Shinae) play parents with 4 babies! Ah! As soon as the original parents leave, two of the babies start crying and Alshin look miserable already. However they manage to get all the babies to fall asleep. Good parents right?

You can watch the entire episode on Youtube, unfortunately without subtitles, by CJWTown.
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Tags: alex, alshin, andy, Comedy, crown j, cute, hwa yo bi, hwanhee, marco, marriage, mbc, seo in young, shinae, show, solbi, son dambi, we got married

Mention Seo Taiji’s name to any one in Korea, and you will receive recognition for this guy. Even my father, a caucasian male over 60, who doesn’t listen to Korean music, knows of him. That’s how much influence this guy has on the Korean media, culture, and of course music. He was probably the one who really revolutionise the Korean music industry. Back then the ahjumma style music dominated the industry, but along came Seo Taiji, who brought with him rapping, the KPop dance style, and a new style of music to be included into the mainstream realm.

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Tags: ahjumma, korea, kpop, lee ju-no, music, seo taiji, seo taiji wa aideul, yang hyeon-seok

Just like many teenage girls, I like to put posters of some of my idols on my wall. My dresser in particular has a few pictures of Gackt in some SMEXy poses. However, I constantly get asked the question “Jess, why do you have pictures of this girl by your mirror?” by any one who visits my room. Whether they know my love for Asian Media or not, I calmly correct them and say ” No… that’s a man” and a bit of my dignity dies inside. Most of my family and friends will argue that Gackt is indeed a women or just really gay, others just give me a funny look. This routine is nothing new to me now but, before when I first started to show an interest in music artist and drama stars besides the ones directly related to anime, it was indeed a bit confusing for me as well.
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Tags: Gackt, KAT-TUN, Kim HeeChul, Pretty Men, Questionable

Diablo is one of the best MMOs I’ve ever played; however, it was unfortunate when Diablo II lost it’s novelty after I played it more than I would like to admit. So when Diablo III was announced, you can only imagine how psyched I was especially after hearing about one of the new classes.

One of the new classes is an Asian, female wizard. Not only does she have a better looking body than any gravure idol but her powers vary from disintegration, electrocution, teleportation, magic missiles and slowing time – most of which the original magic user (sorcerer) could do. But that’s probably just a sample of what she can do. The character page goes into more detail about her background but all I needed to know was that she’s bad ass.

Out of all the new addition in the game, I’m really looking forward to playing her especially since she’s a magic based character, sexy and Asian. Honestly, what more could you ask for? If she was real, I would probably marry her. But anyways next time I go to a convention, I plan to cosplay as her but don’t expect me to shoot lightening out of my hands (although I really wish I could).

The date of release is still unknown unfortunately but BlizzCon is going on right now so hopefully they’ll surprise us.
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Tags: asian, blizzard, blizzcon, diablo iii, female, game, hot, magic, sexy, wizard