On September 3rd, 32 year old figure skater Michelle Kwan got engaged to 30 year old Clay Pell, director for strategic planning on the National Security staff at the White House and grandson of the late Senator Claiborne Pell (who established Pell Grants). Pell proposed on Block Island off the coast of Rhode Island with an oval engagement ring, the shape of an ice rink. The championship skater hopes Vera Wang will design her wedding gown. The designer created outfit for Kwan’s competitions for six years. The happy couple first met in April 2011. You can read more about the engagement here.
Singer Anna Su released the music video and track for “Paper Boats (I Can’t Let You Go)”. Through haunting melodies and heartfelt lyrics, mixed with the floor-stomping pulse of her eclectic band, Anna Su’s single brings people together to celebrate the simple joys of music. Listen to her love song and you won’t be able to let go. Grab a flashlight and join the party. You can listen to and download the song below:
channelAPA.com just received the sad news of Janet Liang’s passing. Over the past year, we’ve written about all the support for her as well as bone marrow donation awareness among the Asian American community (Asian Americans Helping Janet Liang and White Frog cast PSA from Janet Liang). We even had a chance to meet her in person at a YTF concert in the San Francisco Bay Area. (At that time, Janet was still high in spirit. She and her friend were definitely hustling to get people to be signed up to the Marrow Donor Registry. You can still help future people in need of bone marrow donation by joining the registry.) But nothing was more emotional than Janet Liang’s personal plea to find the perfect match for a bone marrow donor. The heart-wrenching video went viral helping her and her desire to find a donor. As more people shared the video, it eventually reached Jeremy Lin. During the height of Linsanity, Jeremy Lin even tweeted out this message of support for her on channelAPA.com featuring her personal plea.
In June 2012, she found a match partial bone marrow donor match 9/10. Just last week (September 5), she got her long awaited bone transplant. A week later Janet Liang passed away with her team leaving this message:
To all of Janet’s loving supporters,
It is with a sad and heavy heart that we announce the passing of Janet Liang.
Janet has served as an inspiration to all those who knew her. Her big heart and big smile was something that we all cherished. And although she never fulfilled her dream of being a teacher, she has taught us all one very important lesson: love. Despite battling leukemia for 3 years, she has always found it within her to make her situation more than about herself. Her campaign to raise awareness and advocate for bone marrow donors was for the love of her fellow human. She has certainly taught all of us to love one another, and live each day as if it were our last. After bravely fighting cancer for three years, she has finally found her peace.
We ask that you provide her family with privacy and respect during this difficult time.
Thank you to all of Janet’s supporters. Your outpouring of love and support has always been a constant source of strength for her. Please help to honor her legacy by continuing the fight for leukemia awareness in her memory.
Kollaboration is coming back to Washington DC on September 22, 2012 at George Washington University Lisner Auditorium at 7pm. The 2012 Kollaboration DC will present a lineup of unique and dynamic emerging talents from greater Washington DC’s APA community. Ten talented acts were selected through an intense and competitive round of auditions as finalists for the talent competition portion of 2012 Kollaboration DC. These selected finalists range from experienced up-and-coming artists looking to utilize Kollaboration DC as a springboard to introduce their talents to a brand new audience, to newly-discovered acts who have never performed on a stage before. The competitors will face off on stage in front of the audience and a panel of celebrity judges for the chance to win the grand prize: $1,000 in prize money, an HD camera, and an opportunity to compete in Los Angeles. As a bonus, the winner of 2012 Kollaboration DC will also open for David Choi and Clara Chung at the historic Howard Theatre on November 10, 2012. This year’s competitors are (in no particular order):LacsaJacaKhan (Singer/Guitarist/Rapper), Christopher L. Santa Ana (Singer-Songwriter), Robert Park(Spoken Word Performer), GU Jawani (Dance Group), Robyn Kim (Singer-Songwriter), Jin Shin (SingerSongwriter), Rocka (Singer-Songwriter), George Yamazawa Jr. (Spoken Word Performer), Mighty MorphingBoogie Rangers (Dance Group), and Jonathan C. Chen (Violinist).
The talent showcase will also welcome the following local special guest performers: Atoms Apart (Electronic Duo), SNRG (Hip-Hop Group), Manifest (Rapper/MC) along with Amanda Lee (Singer-Songwriter and Second Place winner of Kollaboration DC 2011), and Lumi Bustamante (Singer-Songwriter and Grand Prize winner of Kollaboration DC 2011). The headline performer of this amazing talent showcase is Tokyo-based Japanese pop icon, Salia. As thestylish, playful, and spirited front lady of the Japanese pop rock group, Unicorn Table, Salia breaks out onher own as a progressive solo artist with a new dynamic bilingual pop sound and bold, edgy look. With herwide range of musical influences and unmatched vocal prowess, Salia delivers her catchy melodies and clever lyrics with a lively energy that is sure to take command of the entire 2012 Kollaboration DC stage.
In K-Town Reality Show Episode 10 “Friends Forever” (the Season 1 finale), we continue amid the fight between Joe and Steve in the VIP room with Scarlet in the middle. Fists start flying with K-Town producers jumping out from behind the camera to try to restrain the two cast male members. (Too much drinking leads to out of control behavior.) With Joe and Steve’s friendship is on the brink of collapse, Scarlet and Jasmine try to get them to settle down and talk it out — but not until both men put aside their pride. Will the two guys be able to resolve their differences?
K-town Reality Show Season 1 closes with what else, but a drinking game. It’s guys vs girls. If girls lose, they take shots. If guys lose, they will get fake eyelashes put on them. See who wins this drinking battle. wink…wink…
Set to David Choi’s song “This Is A Way,” the webseries Always You : Episode 3 continues with Lana and James (played by Ki Hong Lee – Take It Slow and Away We Happened) rekindled romance. They want to be together, but something is always tearing them apart. Lana delays her move as long as she can for James as they try to have a relationship despite time slowly slipping away. Is a long distance relationship is a dealbreaker?
Next week is a song by Kina Grannis. Catch a preview at the end of the video.
