DISQUS

BASES = Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students. I believe the "E" in BASES used to stand for "Engineering."

I never knew Motwani, but he sounded like a great guy.

@yoshi - I think most Americans (I can't say about the Japanese), as well as China and parts of Asia that were invaded or occupied by Japan (Korea, Taiwan, etc..) might associate the rising sun flag to imperialistic Japan of World War II.

@Cyberpunk - there have been some complaints on some sites regarding the KFC commercials and African Americans - but like I said, in this specific commercial, the white and black actors and actresses are all being portrayed as "everyday" people.

Why are the Asian actors depicted as cooks or martial artist type dudes? It makes no sense to me. And they are the only ones who have accents. And the accents are counter-productive since I did (as well as Joz) have problems understanding what the Asian actors were saying at the very end of the commercial. You would think as the commercial producer / director, you would want everyone to be able to clearly understand what is being said in a commercial...

@Joz - I think they are both saying, "No we can have both." - i.e. both Fried & Grilled chicken. That is what I also forgot to comment - that you can barely understand what the two guys are saying at the end of the commercial.... I agree with your comments in regards to CC.

I just saw the movie - it was fantastic. Jordan does a great job doing the voice of Russell.

Yeah, I saw the first video yesterday, of all place on Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC.

@jozjozjoz - well, I guess using chopsticks "enhances" the woman's "asian-ness," but the guy is making fun of her slanted eyes. If there is a good size percentage of Asian Americans who bring their lunch to work and use chopsticks to eat their lunch, which I would not be surprised.

As for at work - when you are in a kitchen and there are only a few people, it's probably easier to make fun of someone, as opposed to an open cubicle space or if everyone has an office - that would be much more difficult.

My idea was that someone post about 'Jon & Kate Plus 8' since the new season premiere was coming up and Jon & Kate were in the tabloids, and I had originally thought that Jeff had blogged about the show (I swear I read a posting on 8Asians about the show). I don't know if Jon is an "Asian male behaving badly" - are we supposed to trust the tabloids?

It looks like the woman is eating a bowl of rice with some vegetables to me. I don't see any lettuce to make that bowl look like a salad. If it is a salad, then I agree that eating a salad with chopsticks is a bit unnatural.

'Jon & Kate Plus 8' season 5 premiere shatters TLC records
May 26, 2009, 02:45 PM | by Lynette Rice
The heavily promoted fifth-season premiere of Jon & Kate Plus 8 posted record ratings for TLC on Memorial Day. The hour-long episode -- in which tabloid cover queen Kate Gosselin admitted, "I have a lot of anger...this is not what I envisioned for us" -- attracted a whopping 9.8 million viewers, which more than doubled the audience that tuned into the show's season 4 finale in March (4.6 million). The premiere, which also lured unprecedented numbers of women aged 18-34 and women 18-49, was TLC's (and Jon & Kate's) most-watched episode ever.
http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2009/05/jon-kate...

Hmm.... I thought the posting was going to be more focused on the paparazzi on Jon and Kate plus 8.

I saw the Season 5 premiere last night. I'm sure when Jon & Kate first signed up for the TV show on TLC, they were not expecting it to be a huge hit. Now they have to live with the unfortunate unintended consequences of their "success."

Most reality TV shows or series usually highlight new contestants every season (Survivor, Amazing Race, The Real World, etc...). Maybe the best thing for Jon and Kate are to quit the show or take a break... but they are probably making too much money off of TLC right now... and vice versa...

I would have to say that if other Intel commercials are highlighting other Intel employees (of all ethnic backgrounds) and are employing better looking actors, then there is no controversy here. I'm sure it is easier for the person shooting the commercial to direct an actor than a non-actor, and a hassle for Ajay Bhatt's to fly down to LA for a day and spend it shooting a commercial. Or maybe Ajay Bhatt is just camera shy?

I do think that the Indian actor kind of does reinforce the look of an Indian American engineer. I think it would have been funnier if "Ajay Bhatt" would have been a hot Indian Bollywood actor type. But I think engineers of all ethnic backgrounds, including white, are stereotyped as geeky (i.e. anybody watch CBS's The Big Bang Theory?)

FYI - more info on Intel's ad campaign in a recent article:
A Tech Company’s Campaign to Burnish Its Brand
The New York Times. May 5th, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/06/business/medi...

Russell looks more half-Asian, half-white to me.

Two Chus among candidates for San Gabriel Valley seat
The Los Angeles Times. May 21, 2009

What's in a name? Just about everything, it turns out, in the 32nd Congressional District.

Democrat Judy Chu and Republican Betty Chu, along with Libertarian Christopher M. Agrella, rose out of a field of 12 in Tuesday's election to advance to a July runoff. Judy Chu's campaign consultant, Parke Skelton, calls it "the Chu-Chu runoff."

Judy, who outpolled Democratic state Sen. Gil Cedillo and six other party members, is considered the heavy favorite, given the district's strong Democratic tilt.

The two women share a last name, a Chinese American heritage, extensive professional accomplishment and even a family connection. Betty is married to Judy's first cousin. But from there, all political and personal paths diverge.

The race, peppered with harsh fliers and accusations that one Chu (Betty) was trying to confuse voters into thinking she was the better-known Chu (Judy), featured a frostiness that makes the upcoming runoff seem like a surreal family feud.

"They're not friendly," said Skelton. "Even less so now."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-congres...

opponent's campaign against judy chu gets dirty
5/18/09
http://www.angryasianman.com/2009/05/opponents-...

Dan Choi Is Gay
The Daily Show. May 14, 2009. (03:50)
John Oliver acknowledges that Dan Choi may be a valuable Arabic translator, but he's gay.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?v...

More American Workers Outsourcing Own Jobs Overseas
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/more_amer...

My Outsourced Life
http://www.esquire.com/ESQ0905OUTSOURCING_214

I really enjoyed your post.

I had blogged recently about a recent trend in China:

Why Americans Are Adopting Fewer Kids from China
http://www.8asians.com/2009/04/29/why-americans...

and made a comment on "I mean, if you are an ethnically Chinese woman raised in a white family from when you were a baby, I imagine that the likelihood she would be more likely to date and marry a white man compared to a Chinese American girl raised in a Chinese American family." - which I got some flack for. Just wondering your thoughts on my "theory."

TV Guide Magazine: Tammy & Victor, Amazing Race CUBICLE CONFESSIONS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C-vR-oGAxc

See Tammy & Victor on CBS's The Early Show this morning being interviewed and receiving their $1 million check:

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500...

@Matt - I was wondering if that was Roger Fan in that Verizon commercial!

As for the Jawbone commercial, I have seen it online, but not on TV... (I think it is strictly a viral web ad because of the length and all the swearing) and plus, I don't think a lot of people have heard of Jawbone...

I think Asian men also may feel to have a family obligation to date & marry an Asian woman. I know that was my father's desire and preference.

Additionally, in terms of inferiority complex, I thought maybe you were trying to say that maybe Asian men might feel as though they are inferior due to the stereotypes around Asian men in American society rather than like what Jason just commented on, having an equal partner.

In this context, Asian men's reluctance to ask or date white women would be due to the fact that they don't believe they can. And this is only reinforced by the imbalance of WMAF vs. AMWF that an Asian man sees.

The most prominent AMWF couple I've seen recently is Secretary of Energy Steven Chu with his white wife. I think what would be more surprising than a black president (half black, half white) and black first lady would be to have an Asian president with a white first lady!

Thanks for posting. May 20th is my brother's birthday, but I am definitely interested in attending this event.

When I was in college, during the start of the Gulf War in 1991, I remember a CNN reporter based in Germany quoting a news source, Bild, that Saddam Hussein possibly had nerve gas (or something like that). A German exchange student was laughing, and basically explained that Bild was "worse than the National Inquirer." I've always been a little suspicious and cautious about what I've read and watch since that incident. That's the worse thing about the Internet and the 24 hours news cycle - a lot of misinformation can occur or events can be taken out of context very easily and also quickly...