SOUNDS OF THE NEW HOPE TONIGHT!

the L.A. sneak preview is tonight at the Bayan USA 3rd Congress Cultural Solidarity Night from 6:30-10:30pm. show starts exactly at 6:30. don't be late!! come and meet kasamas from all around the country!! Performances by: Kiwi Geologic of Blue Scholars T-Know of The CounterParts Power Struggle FiRE Kultural Kollective Babae Pinay Choir El Dia of 1st Quarter Storm and more.. Where: UCLA Downtown Labor Center 675 S. Park View Street Los Angeles, CA 90057 Cover: $10, but nobody turned away for lack of funds (proceeds go to fund human rights campaigns for the Philippines) see you there!! -ET

FUNK FUZZ This Thursday in LB!!

Come thru and get down to the MASS MOVEMENT sound..
spinning boogie funk hip-hop reggae soul and electro all night

Live performance by T-KNOW of The CounterParts!!

Live video projection of artwork by Mark Canto and Loralei Bingamon

http://massmovementsound.tumblr.com

Bay Area Premiere of Song at SFIAAFF

last week song had its yay area premiere at the san francisco international asian american film festival. i went up for the fest and had one of the best festival experiences ever! i made it up to the city just in time to hit the opening night "gala" where ellen from caam somehow talked me into doing a short interview. sarah started off the interview by doing the robot while holding the biggest gotdamn microphone in all of sf: "production manager" roger, at least that's what his badge said, enjoyed the wine and cheese: the best part of caam's festival is that people from all over the country come out for it. i got a chance to build with folks like corrine (ny), heather (tee dot), and kevin (hawai'i) all in one bar: corrine (front left) screened her documentary short excuse my gangsta ways. watch the trailer and interview with corrine here.

my good friend aram (in the blue jays hat) came from toronto to screen his latest film the others, which was one of the best shorts i saw at the festival. after the screening we went to an after-prom like hotel party where musician goh nakamura (far right) and friends performed.

why am i always stuck with the filipinos? reppin' the better half of the state; aj (xylophone films), patricio (kid heroes), abe (vc film fest) and julius:

aj, pat and julius screened their music video for "crooks and rooks" by bambu.

many of chris iijima's friends threw a very nice reception for the film the night before the screening. the renown film scholar and my old professor b.ruby rich:

the infamous spencer nakasako, award-winning filmmaker, teacher and my mentor. be on the lookout for an official shit-talking session with me and spence at the upcoming la asian pacific film fest, no seriously. -tadillac

The next step in the evolution of turntablism

Wish you had a way of scratch-a-latachin and changing the notes of a record (without messing with the pitch control) at the same time?! Yeah right, huh? Imagine having guitar frets infused with your fader. Well you don't have to imagine anymore cause hurr it is! He calls it the Fretless Fader. This dude just took scratching to a whole nother level. Done with Finals! Off to New Orleans to build houses and make a movie with my new DVX-100. Praise scholarships! See yall in a week. -Chris G. BTW, props to Tad and DJ Phatrick for putting out the "A Song For Ourselves" mixtape. It's been the ONLY thing playing on my Sansa, bootleg Ipod since it came out.

Student Fights Idiotic English Language Exam

Props to Luisa over at Certified Fresh (check out their blog, they got some real dope content) who passed this along from Angry Asian Man (the godfather of AsianAm Blogs). Keep fighting Lori! You gotta whole movement backing you up! -Chris G. ----------

This is an outrageous story out of Iowa... Lori Phanachone is a Laotian American high school senior at Storm Lake High School. She's a member of the National Honor Society, has a 3.9 grade point average, ranks seventh in the her class of 119 and has been offered a number of college scholarships. But to school officials, she is considered illiterate and has been serving three days of in-school suspension. Why? Lori refuses to take the complete the English Language Development Assessment, a test she says is demeaning and racist: Student rejects 'demeaning' test, is suspended. According to administrators, taking the test is mandatory because Lori indicated on her school registration that English was not the first language spoken in her home. Her parents are Laotian and still speak little English. These adminstrators obviously don't know a damn thing about growing up Asian in America. So speaking Lao at home automatically puts Lori's English proficiency in question? If that's the policy, it's flawed to the core. Does the school district not realize that it's entirely possible that Lori somehow earned that 3.9 GPA while also being completely fluent in something other than English? No doubt, she could rock that exam, but that's not the point. Lori was born in California and lived in New York before moving to Iowa with her family. She has apparently never been enrolled in any English Language Learning or ESL program. But she refuses to deny her family, culture and identity, and that's why she's taking a stand. She shouldn't have to take this damn test. Now, she faces another three days of suspension for continuing her refusal to take the exam. She could be suspended again and then expelled for a fourth refusal. According to school administrators, her college scholarships -- $86,000 at Buena Vista University and more at Iowa State University -- could also be at risk. This is utter bullshit. Ridiculous, racist, and an absolute insult to someone who is obviously bright, accomplished, and completely proficient in English. I give mad props to Lori Phanachone for standing up for what she believes in. I wish I had her kind of conviction when I was in high school. Fight this, girl. By the way, the assistant principal, Beau Ruleaux, actually told Lori to give up her refusal to take the exam because she's "no Rosa Parks" and wouldn't succeed in her protest. The guy sounds like an ass. How about he takes the English Language Development Assessment and we see how well he does? There's more on this issue here: Protest of language test gets student suspended. And here: Storm Lake, IA student refuses to take 'demeaning' test. I understand that there are a lot of forces working against her, and a lot at stake that could affect her future. I hope she hangs in there. If you'd like to support Lori Phanachone's fight and speak out against this ridiculous, useless English exam, here's some contact information for administrators at Storm Lake. Let them know that you stand by Lori, and this is indeed an issue worth protesting: Paul Tedesco - Storm Lake School District Superintendent ptedesco@slcsd.org Mike Hanna - Principal mhanna@storm-lake.k12.ia.us Beau Ruleaux - Assistant Principal bruleaux@slcsd.org The phone number over at Storm Lake High School is: (712) 732-8065. http://www.angryasianman.com/2009/03/student-fights-idiotic-english-language.html

The name on my insurance says 'your fuckin' fault!'

YES! 1 more final to go and I'm off to 'Nawlins! Laker/Warrior game tonight... should I watch it and just study til 3am or should I be a good student and study at the library then go to sleep early? -Chris G.

Bambu feature on Vimby

yup that's right, another video of bambu topless has taken the internet by storm! big ups to my dude!

VIMBY - Bambu

-tadillac

SOUNDS OF THE NEW HOPE - L.A. SNEAK PREVIEW!!!

what up everybody! we're going to hold a special sneak preview of scenes from my new film Sounds of the New Hope in L.A. on Saturday, March 28th.. with live performances by Kiwi and progressive Filipino artists from all over the country! check the Sounds of the New Hope blog for more details, updates, and exclusive downloads! -ET (photo courtesy of Jay Davis)