GO! OHANA – October 2010

GO! OHANA - October 2010

If you’re in the SF Bay Area, check out GO! OHANA this week. Held every month at the historic La Pena Cultural Center in Berkeley, GO! OHANA is RAMA’s monthly APA music and art show celebrating the pan-Asian family. Emceed by Ryan Takemiya, the event spotlights independent artists of every genre and style. It offers artists an intimate space that immerses you in the performances in an inclusive and welcoming community. Here’s this month’s line up:

Lailani Africa and Brandon Nguyen
Lailani Africa and Branden Nguyen hail from Sunnyvale and Cupertino, Ca. This new duo started early summer of this year. Branden, a music major graduate from UC Riverside brought his Jazz guitar flavor to singer/songwriter Lailani. They have been playing different venues from open mics to small shows throughout the bay area. Currently they are composing songs for an album. They aim to infuse spoken word, hip hop, jazz and other styles to their music.

Jenton Lee
From his quirky parodies, to his funky mashups, Jenton’s goal is to have everyone in the audience smiling at least once before leaving the stage. He maintains a strong presence on YouTube with over 3600 subscribers and over 1.3 Million video views. You can find him posting up a new video every week, so be sure to subscribe to his channel at YouTube.JentonLee.com to keep up with his latest videos.

Asian But Not Smart (Won’t Even Start Parody) by Jenton Lee

Yer Yang
Yer Yang is a Hmong womyn who grew up in south Sacramento. She spent her last 5 years living and going to school in Berkeley and has recently moved back to the Sacramento area. Yer first found her passion for music her first year of college when she performed at a small open mic one of her student organizations (the Laotian American Student Representatives) hosted. During her third year of college, she started a small and informal band with one of her friends Phi Nguyen called Phyier [pronounced fire]. This acoustic duo started performing for their student organization SASC (Southeast Asian Student Coalition) and has since performed at several events on campus. Since Phi’s recent departure to the east coast, Yer has been working on a small solo project. She hopes to be able to compose new music that can capture her experiences and emotions, music that her friends, family and supporters can relate to. For Yer, music is a tool to bring people together to just have a good time as well as a way to heal and continue moving forward.

Festizio
San Francisco alt-rock band Festizio combines ambient sounds and driving rhythms in a landscape of intertwined harmonies. Listeners often associate its sound with bands like Radiohead and Muse, though the eclectic variation of genres that Festizio employs clearly distinguishes it as unique. With a diverse musical background, the band also collectively draws from a variety of influences ranging from dance rock to soul. Already garnering positive reviews from industry critics and Bay Area venues, Festizio’s popularity is spreading well beyond its local roots. With the release of its long-awaited self-titled album, Festizio solidifies its reputation by providing a fresh new sound to rock music.

GO!OHANA
Friday, October 22, 2010
7:30pm
La Pena “Cool-tural” Center
3105 Shattuck Ave
Berkeley, CA

Admission $8 (buy tickets)
Doors open at 7:00pm
Food and Drink!
Free Raffle!

Jabbawockeez at Monte Carlo in Vegas

Jabbawockeez at Monte Carlo in Vegas

After a sold out run for the Jabbawockeez at the MGM Grand earlier this year, another Vegas casino has added the world famous dance crew to its lineup. Back by popular demand, the Jabbawockeez continue with their groundbreaking show “MÜS.I.C.” at the Monte Carlo. With performances at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, the critically acclaimed show dazzles audiences with an audio-visual story of inspiration brought to life through the harmonization of sound and movement.

Jabbawockeez at Monte Carlo in Vegas

More about the Jabbawockeez
Jabbawockeez have developed a one-of-a-kind style that has not only provided a new culture to the dance industry, but changed the way people view dance. Dressed in expressionless white masks and white gloves, they guide the audience’s attention away from individual identities and toward a unified group to create a canvas for the audience to visualize the music by painting artistic imagery through their intricate moves. After being crowned the original champions of MTV’s “Randy Jackson Presents America’s Best Dance Crew,” their unmatched talent and captivating style quickly became a fan favorite with their stardom even reaching international fame. Through their coveted title, they have appeared on numerous television shows including “Dancing With The Stars,” “So You Think You Can Dance,” “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” “Regis & Kelly,” “The TODAY Show,” “E! News,” “America’s Next Top Model” and “MTV.

Slim Chin and Derrick Rose

Slim Chin and Derrick Rose

On the homepage of YouTube, Ken Jeong is back as Slim Chin, the mogul and cheetah owner. In the latest adidas video, Slim Chin shows off his crib with a solid gold jet ski, caviar pool, and Eric the butler. He’s even got a lady pyramid. How did he be come so rich? It’s all about the quickishness. Are you fast enough?

Also watch the music video for Fast Don’t Lie. He can really hit those high notes.

Slim Chin shows off his crib

more of Slim Chin’s crib

Snoop Dogg shoutout to Far East Movement

Snoop Dogg shoutout to Far East Movement

If you missed this amidst all the insanity around the “Free Wired” album release, here’s Snoop Dogg giving a shoutout to Far East Movement. Not only did Snoop support FM on video, but he also sent out a twitter stating “Congrats to the young homies @Fareastmovement been bumpn that Free Wired album all dizzay >>.” FM’s Like a G6 has gone platinum and is still on top of the itunes charts and the Billboard charts.

We love the Snoop Dogg holiday spirit. Cop that album for the holidaze on Free or at Amazon.

Snoop Dogg shoutout to Far East Movement (contains profanity)

2010 Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival

2010 Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival

The 2010 Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival (PAAFF) will run from October 21-24, 2010 at the Ibrahim Theater at the International House (3701 Chestnut Street), the Asian Arts Initiative (1219 Vine Street), and the Comcast Center (1701 JFK Blvd). Here’s some of the highlights:

Opening Night Film – Colin Hearts Kay (buy tickets)
Centerpiece Film – Raspberry Magic
Closing Night Film – The People I’ve Slept With (buy tickets)

Other films of note include Wo Ai Ni Mommy (buy tickets) and SF Stories (buy tickets). Check out their website here for FREE screenings and other events. Free special events this year supplement traditional film screenings, including free parties on Opening and Closing Nights. On Thursday, October 21st at International House, prior to the Opening Night Film “Colin Hearts Kay” there is a free special event titled “Perspectives On Asian American Identity”, which includes a screening of the HBO special, “East of Main Street: Asians Aloud” followed by a discussion panel moderated by Nydia Han (6 ABC). At 6:00 pm on Saturday, October 23rd, there will be a free live Q&A titled “A Conversation With Greg Pak”, an award-winning director and Marvel Comics writer, moderated by Loraine Ballard Morrill (Clear Channel Radio Philadelphia) at the International House. Mr. Pak will be receiving the PAAFF ‘10 Emerging Voice Award. Signed door prizes and refreshments will be available.

2010 Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival Trailer

2010 Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival

2010 Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival

The 2010 Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival will celebrate its 14th year as Canada’s longest-running and largest showcase of contemporary cinema by East Asian and Southeast Asian moviemakers from Canada and around the world. From November 9 to 15, 2010, the festival will present more than 50 films and videos from 12 countries, including Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, China, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Canada and the U.S. Reel Asian strives to develop programming that reflects the cultural diversity of Canada and increases public understanding and appreciation of the artistic, social and cultural contributions of those of Asian heritage through film. This year, the festival has been expanded by two days to provide an even larger selection of screenings and events! Highlights include:

GALAS & CENTREPIECE:
· OPENING NIGHT GALA: GALLANTS (directors: Clement Sze-Kit Cheng & Derek Chi-kin Kwok, Hong Kong 2010; Toronto premiere, director in attendance)
· CENTREPIECE PRESENTATION: GOLDEN SLUMBER (director: Nakamura Yoshihiro, Japan 2010; Toronto premiere)
· CLOSING NIGHT GALA: AU REVOIR TAIPEI (director: Arvin Chen, Taiwan/USA 2010; Toronto premiere, director in attendance)

CANADIAN PROGRAMMING:
· HOME — Reel Asian’s Canadian Spotlight on Desiree Lim
· ONE BIG HAPA FAMILY (director: Jeff Chiba Stearns) and MARKER (director: Louise Noguchi)
· REDRESS REMIX (director: Lesley Loksi Chan)
· Best of Canadian Shorts Presentation: ON THE FLIP SIDE
· TOILET (director: Naoko Ogigami, Japan/Canada, 2010) was shot in Toronto and features a all-Canadian cast
· SPECIAL PRESENTATION: SUITE SUITE CHINATOWN — a new commission of works by Chinese Toronto-based directors on the theme of “Chinatown,” with new music and a live performance by the Mary Ward Secondary School Stage Band

REEL ASIAN HEADS TO RICHMOND HILL!
As part of our initiative to reach new audiences beyond the downtown core, Reel Asian includes the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts in its official program and will be presenting Hong Kong blockbuster IP MAN 2 on October 18, and an encore presentation of this year’s closing night film, AU REVOIR TAIPEI, on November 15.

2010 Reel Asian Festival Trailer

2010 Reel Asian Festival Clip Reel