isa magazine

UCSD alumni Wong Fu Productions recently produced a music video— but not just any music video! This one’s actually for Wang Leehom, who is an (extremely) popular artist from Taiwan. Yeah— kind of a big deal. Super props to Wong Fu for making a great vid— we love the clock frame idea!— and for Wang Leehom, the Asian American who keeps on reppin’ it up.

For Asian-American Stars, Many Web Fans

Our buddy Kane Diep, who’s been in these pages a few times already, has been working on a documentary titled Uploaded: The Asian American Movement along with a few other UCSD students and alumni, and they’ve made it into the New York Times! This is just absolutely amazing, and we can’t wait to support them in our mag. Check it out!

“

The City Attorney’s Office has sued a chef who allegedly tricked recent immigrants into paying up to $4,000 for job training, then had them working catering events without pay on the false promise of future employment.

The lawsuit claims that chef Angelo Mueller used local nonprofits to refer culinary students to his Academie de Cuisine, which he said was a prestigious establishment in Montecito in Southern California. The address he provided actually belonged to a pizza restaurant.

According to the lawsuit, about 50 students paid $2,000 to $4,000 last fall for culinary training that took place in two offices in The City. Classes were allegedly conducted without regard to the English skills of the students, many of whom were Chinese immigrants.

Former instructor Randy Wei said the students were made to sign waivers stating that they would work catering events for free.

When it became clear that they would not be getting their paid “externship,” nine of the students took the matter to Sing Tao Daily, a local Chinese newspaper, in February. The suit said the school then threatened the students with lawsuits if they did not apologize.

— As Angry Asian Man points out, Mueller specifically targeted likely impoverished Chinese immigrants for this free labor. Reprehensible beyond words, to be sure.

Read more here at the San Francisco Examiner.

Kane Diep is back with another music video, this time featuring Taylor Swift’s “Back to December”— though the real feature this time seems to be on Diep and Julie Zhan, whose contemporary-hip-hop hybrid dancing makes T-Swizzle’s music that much more compelling. Almost everything was filmed on UCSD campus, too— perhaps you’ll recognize some locations, but taking it all in as a whole might be a better idea. Definitely worth a watch.

(tl;dr it’s a beautiful dance video)

Kane Diep is a senior at UCSD, and the creator-curator of the Loft’s popular Luminance concert series. Julie Zhan graduated from UCSD and is now pursuing a career in entertainment.

Daniel Cloud Campos has made a name for himself by dancing all over an apartment in <a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzC7MAiN8oA”>”Welcome Home”</a>, and now he’s written, directed and edited another short film— this time, it’s “The Music Box”, a film that melds both music and dance together. Turns out you don’t choose the apartment— the apartment chooses you. Check it out!

North Korean Restauranteur in Northern Virginia

Here’s a great article about a North Korean woman who’s opened a restaurant in Northern Virginia. Also, she was a spy for North Korea at one point. Are we kidding? Nope. And it looks like things are working well on many levels, too:

So far, business has been good. “Everyone is surviving,” Ma says, adding that she has been able to pay her employees on time. Most are North Korean. Besides Ma and her son, all go by fake names, worried of reprisals against family members back home. A 26-year-old waitress going by the name Kang I-Sul crossed the Tumen River three years ago and made it out of China through Mongolia. She and other servers politely answer questions from customers about the political situation, the famine, and other topics of curiosity that attract clientele to the restaurant as much as the food. (There is one non-Korean on staff, Mari Cruz, 26, from Honduras, who works as a kitchen assistant. Having worked in three Korean restaurants before, she says she is comfortable with the work. The only difference is the food. “And they don’t rip me off,” she says.)

The Other Asians

Benny Luo, Melly Lee, Julie Zhan, and Edi Dai should ring a bell to all y’all, and that’s just because— well, they’re awesome. Okay, we’ll still forgive you if you don’t know who they are, but considering their various individual talents, their new site, “The Other Asians”, should be on your radar. It’s got an emphasis on Chinese-Taiwanese artists right now, but Luo says he’s planning on making its range a lot broader in the future. Be wary, because The Other Asians are gonna take over the world.

UCSD senior Kane Diep’s no stranger to film, music, or dance, and last night Diep and singer-songwriter Lindsey C. Yung unveiled their collaboration that integrates everything both Diep and Yung love. It’s an amalgam of great music, talented dancers, and of course, great direction. Check it out!

Kane Diep is a senior at UCSD, and the creator-curator of the Loft’s popular Luminance concert series.

Jean Quan Running for Oakland Mayor

Posted from 8 Asians. To read more of their articles, visit their website!

I previously blogged about Jennifer Pae running for Oakland city council, but what I didn’t realize was that Jean Quan was running for mayor. Just the other night, I received a Facebook invitation for a fundraiser for her. Jean Quan was Oakland’s first Asian American woman city council member.

If Quan wins, she’ll not only be the first Asian American to be Oakland mayor, but the first woman to accomplish that feat as well. Quan has a major opponent in former California State Senate leader Don Perata, who is better funded and I have to believe, more well known.

Quan’s background, and those similar to hers, fascinates me:

“Oakland is my home. My family has been part of this city for over a century, since my great-grandfather, grandfather and his two brothers took the ferry to Oakland after the 1906 earthquake to become a part of the new Chinatown.”

Before moving to California, I had known about the Chinese who immigrated to the United States who helped build the railroads. But I had never actually ever met or known anyone whose families preceded the 1960s with immigration reform until I met Evan Low.

Personally, much like the governorship of California, I am not sure why anybody would want to be the mayor of Oakland. The problems there just seem so intractable. Whoever does eventually win to become mayor, I wish him or her the best of luck!

There might be a time in the near future that both San Francisco and Oakland both have Asian American mayors. Now that would really change the literal face of government in Northern California. Imagine all three major cities – San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose – in the Bay Area had Asian American mayors. Then I’m sure Hollywood would be making Red Dawn III: Invasion from Within.

Issue Two is out! Don’t forget to grab a copy at the Cross, The Loft, or somewhere in PC!