If this doesn't get you guys angry, I don't know what will

That racist jackasshole Elkhay actually celebrated the launching of Chinese Laundry by bringing in a real, live, and nude Asian American model.

http://www.bostonherald.com/track/inside_track/view.bg?articleid=1079100&srvc=rss

And to make matters worse, the oxygen thieves over at the Herald have to be racist towards Jenn too.

New Asian eatery’s wanton ad leaves bad taste for some

By Inside Track
Monday, March 10, 2008

Chinese Laundry, a new fusion eatery in Providence has drawn the ire of a blogger called “Angry Asian American Woman” who is steamed about provocative print ads placed by the restaurant to promote tomorrow night’s opening.

The glossy ads, which have run in Providence Monthly, show a nearly naked woman with Oriental symbols tattooed on her torso with copy that reads “Good things come to those who wait” and “The wait is over.”

The ad, according to Jenn, the Angry one, “relies on Orientalist fetishization to sell the store: The message of the ad is that the Asian food of the restaurant - like Asian women - are exotic and different, and will represent a new experience.

“Diners are urged by the ad, then, to come and consume the Eastern food much as they would hope to consume and conquer the Asian woman,” she writes on her blog at www.reappropriate.com.

Whoa. What if you only want a bowl of chow foon?

Jenn’s noodle would have been really fried if she caught the scene on Friday night, when Chinese Laundry threw an opening-night party attended by New England Patriots [team stats] Dan Koppen, Matt Light [stats] and Sam Neal.

Apparently, the star of the night was a live Asian model draped in red silk sheets and sushi - and not much else - posing atop a long table that could be viewed from the glass floor in the main dining room.

John Elkay, the restaurant’s owner, posted on the blog over the weekend that “The only thing I was trying to conquer was a guest’s appetite.

“In today’s overstimulated world is it possible we were just trying to get the attention of the reader and not trying to conquer the east and their woman?” he asked.

Despite the response by the owner, fired-up bloggers are still calling for a boycott and a campaign backed by a national civil rights organization. And one over-zealous poster suggested torching the North Main Street eatery! But the Angry Asian American woman threw cold water on that one.

And speaking of Koppen, we hear the almost-bachelor-no-mo’ offensive line biggie was roasted and toasted by his buds Tedy Bruschi [stats], Light and many more at Abe & Louie’s steakhouse in the Back Bay the other night.

Koppen and fiancee Amber van Eeghen, an ex-New England Patriots [team stats] cheerleader, are tying the knot veddy soon. Rib-eyes all around.

Asian Tattoo Art: a source of Empowerment or a source of Embarrassment?

For the last six months, I have considered getting a tattoo. Ever since I was young kid, I’ve enjoyed buying temporary tattoos from vending machines and covering my body with images of scorpions, cobras, and barbwire. Tattoos symbolize a lot of different things for me: rebelliousness, self-expression, permanence, empowerment, legitimacy, and beauty. During my numerous visits to tattoo parlors and hours on the web searching for that perfect design, I have often thought of getting a tattoo that represents my Japanese heritage, like a Kanji symbol for my middle name. Yet, whenever I thought of following through with it, I couldn’t help but compare myself to the numerous Asian symbols I have seen over the years on non-Asians. Would my friends see the symbol on my back and put me in the same group as the hipsters and gangsters alike who get an Asian symbol for “good luck” or “power?”

I have a friend from high school who prides himself on his “multicultural collection” of tattoos. He has an American Indian symbol of an eagle, a Celtic knot, and a Chinese symbol for “strength.” Whenever I see his tattoos, they scream imperialism, racism, extotification, and exploitation, yet could the same symbol for me be a source of empowerment and legitimacy? With the majority of people getting Asian tattoos being white and black, the popularity of Asian tattoo art could also easily be viewed as a success of integrating Asian culture into the mainstream. Is it less offensive for a non-Asian to get a Kanji character if he venerates the symbol by knowing its meaning and history? Another interesting phenomenon which has taken place is the mistranslation (both intentional and accidental) of Asian characters: “gas” instead of “spirit” or “blood and intestines” instead of “blood and guts.” Poorly drawn and even upside down characters are another regular occurrence. For all of its complexities, Asian tattoo art serves as a good lens for examining production and abuse of Asian American popular culture.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,194732,00.html

http://www.imdiversity.com/Villages/Asian/arts_culture_media/pc_asian_tattoos_0604.asp

Introducing...The Asian American Webcomic

(Via http://www.comics.com/sam)

As traditional newspaper readers continue to enjoy Sunday comics, many savvy Internet users are discovering a vast archive of online comics, commonly labeled “webcomics”. The majority of webcomics are published solely online, but a large number have been syndicated in various newspapers. The popularity of webcomics is generally due to the relative openness of the environment, creative freedom and lack of stringent censorship on the Internet.

Within this niche environment, Asian American webcomic artists are touching upon critical issues facing Asian Americans through the comic strip medium in an effort to communicate their frustrations and those of the larger AAPI community to a mass audience. However, most Asian American webcomics mainly try to address a diverse array of topics in order to increase or retain an extensive fan base. Asian American webcomic artist Jorge Cham of “Piled Higher and Deeper” (PhD) provides a humorous insight into the everyday lives of graduate students. Newspaper syndicated Tak Toyoshima centers “Secret Asian Man” on struggling artist Osamu “SAM” Takahashi, an Asian American who is married to a Caucasian woman and raising a Hapa son. Despite the broad scope of content within each webcomic, Asian American artists strive to add commentary that is tied to their personal lives, particularly in terms of identity, racism, and a host of other issues discussed in Asian American circles.

Each webcomic with an Asian American creator has a different focus and serves distinct audiences. Nevertheless, Asian American webcomic artists collectively provide a new medium of social expression and represent a new segment of the Asian American community in the Web 2.0 era.

Here are some webcomic links – click and enjoy!
Secret Asian Man
Sinfest
PhD Comics

Links to a variety of Asian American webcomics here.

The Import Scene

The Import scene, or the import racing scene involves import drag car racing, which became popularized in the U.S. after "hot rod" racing was introduced in the 1950s and 1960s. Import drag racing first started in the mid-1960s in Southern California with Volkswagen Beetles, and continued to gain popularity through the 80s and 90s with Japanese import brand cars, such as the Honda. In particular, young Asian American street racers in the California area had a great influence on its early development. With its rising popularity, street racing with modified Japanese vehicles became a great attraction to many Asian Americans, following the trend in Japan.

Import Models
Import models, or promotional models started to become hired in order to drive the consumer demand for drag racing products as well as the popularity of import drag racing shows. As was the racing scene, import modeling became popular amongst young Asian American females. Such models are extremely objectified and sexualized to represent a feminine contrast to a "macho" racing scene, yet fall in line with the attempts to portray the import scene as "sexy" for all involved. Tila Tequila and Natasha Yi are among the many import models that are idolized in the import scene.

Cultural Relevance
The import car scene started off as a uniquely Asian American phenomenon, derived from both American influences of "hot rod" racing and Japanese street racing. Together, these aspects of different cultures have created a new culture, involving "souped up" "rice rockets" and "exotic" models that can only be found in Asian America. This import scene culture has leaked into a more mainstream media, with Tila Tequila's reality show, "A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila" and the "Fast and the Furious" movie trilogy. Several magazines cover the import scene, and one can find that the pages are dominated primarily by Asian American faces.
Import Tuner magazine
Super Street magazine