Category — Asian American

Chris Wild‘s blog How to be a Retronaut features fantastic store fronts in New York taken from a project by James and Karla Murray. A third of the stores have sadly closed since the 8 year duration of the project, but for some reason, I can imagine these East Asian façades being around a bit longer.

The Disappearing Face of New York

Technorati Tags: New York Asian Film Festival, retro shops, store fronts

Akufuncture, a Chinese inspired American clothing brand, sent us details of their new Fall/Winter 2010 season which looks to bring a new light to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a period in China that has been the source of inspiration and identity for many Chinese and Chinese Americans.

During this era, China was divided into many factions and with time, ended with three major powers struggling for the control of China. While there were many prominent figures during the era, Akufuncture focused on the two most famous (and perhaps infamous) generals: Guan Yu and Lu Bu.

For more, visit www.akufuncture.com

Technorati Tags: Chinese inspired American clothing brand, Akufuncture, Asian American, clothes, fashion, Guan Yu, Lu Bu, Three Kingdoms

Our friends at DramaFever.com have just started streaming 18 of the best short films from the Asian American International Film Festival (located in NYC). The films are a diverse mix of narratives, documentaries and animation from Taiwan, Korea and the USA from filmmakers of Asian descent.

Check out the films out for free at www.dramafever.com/acv/
Note: unfortunately, these films can only be steamed to computers in the US or Canada.

Technorati Tags: Asian American, film, Asian American International Film Festival

David Fung from MakeItintheMotherland.com posts about the top ten Asian comedians of all time. Being from the UK, I’m afraid we’ve seen very little of the people featured on David’s list, but have at least heard of his no.1 – Margaret Cho!

Find out about the others : The Top Ten Asian Comedians of All Time

Technorati Tags: Asian American, comedians, Comedians, comedy, Margaret Cho

We first posted about Akufuncture when they launched back in January 2009. Well, they’re now way into their third season and continue their quality brand of threads with their new Spring / Summer 2010 Collection.

The collection ventures into a more mature terrain with strong cultural elements dominating this season, with some familiar looks in tow as well.

Some Akufuncture fans may be happy to see the reappearance of their favorite characters – the Monkey King and Nezha. This season, we see them playing the parts of respective Eastern and Western cultural icons Bruce Lee and Michael Jackson.

Such a juxtaposition is also seen in the Monkey King “X-ray x Acupuncture” shirt, which makes a comparison between Chinese and Western medicine.

Influential leaders Chiag Kai-Shek and Mao Zedong are also featured in a “Face/Off” shirt. Other tees pay homage to the Cultural Revolution and the Chinese opera – a revered art form in Chinese history.

Season 3 also marks the long-awaited arrival of several New Era caps to the Akufuncture line. A special collaboration t-shirt with artist Martin Hsu is also featured. Hsu is a well-known Los Angeles area artist whose work is known to frequently feature elements of Chinese mythology.

Akufuncture’s Spring/Summer 2010 collection is available through their website at www.akufuncture.com. Merchandise is also currently being sold at Authentix – located at 143 Harvard Ave. #A Claremont, CA.

Akufuncture was founded in December 2008 by Samuel Wang in an effort to create a streetwear line that combines a cool urban style and the essence of Chinese culture.

www.akufuncture.com

Technorati Tags: Bruce Lee, Chiag Kai-Shek, Chinese opera, Cultural Revolution, culture, Mao Zedong, Martin Hsu, Michael Jackson, Monkey King, Nezha

David Fung contacted us about an article he wrote titled “The Top 10 Greatest Asian-American Rappers of All Time“. Without much written on the subject elsewhere, David’s piece is an informative read and if you have an interest in the area, worth clicking on over to. MC Jin unsurprisingly heads the list, but the others are much less well-known.

Top 10 Greatest Asian Rappers of All Time

Technorati Tags: Asian American, hip hop, music, rappers, Top 10 Greatest Asian-American Rappers of All Time

Being based out of the US, we can hopefully be forgiven for having never heard of the Forever 21 fashion brand, but an article in the Los Angeles Times online brought it to our attention. It focuses on the daughters of the Korean American founders and how they can take it forward. Stories like this are always inspirational to us.

Meet Forever 21′s stylish sisters

Visit the Forever 21 website

Technorati Tags: Asian American, fashion, fashion brand, Forever 21

Giant Robot Magazine has been a OneInchPunch favourite for years and in fact helped to inspire this site. It’s a magazine that brings Asian pop culture to its readers and has also diversified into bricks and mortar shops, gallery exhibitions and a restaurant. However, they’ve now run into trouble and need your help! Check the video below.

For more than 15 years, Giant Robot has been documenting, promoting, and growing Asian and Asian American popular culture. Although a lot has changed since 1994, and there’s more immediate access to interesting stuff from around the world than ever, most of it is still crap and Giant Robot is as relevant as ever. Not only do we share what we think is the most interesting, compelling, or just plain cool aspects of Asian pop culture, but we also shape it and affect how readers in America and other countries perceive Asian, Asian American, independent, and underdog culture. Our distinctive editorial voice and clear sense of purpose has earned a loyal readership that includes academics and punks; old-school Asian activists and new-school bloggers; art fans, moviegoers, music listeners, comic readers, and food fiends; and Asians and non-Asians alike.

If you’re able, please visit their link below and see what you can do…

Giant Robot Magazine Needs You

Technorati Tags: Asian American, Giant Robot

The San Diego Zoo recently unveiled their five-month-old panda cub Yun Zi who is the newest addition to the panda family there.

See more photos on The Huffington Post

Or even try spotting Yun Zi on the San Diego Zoo Pandacam

Technorati Tags: giant pandas, panda, panda cub, San Diego Zoo, Yun Zi

This very funny parody of Estelle‘s American Boy takes the Cantonese Boy angle, and is by Only Won and Larissa Lam, two Chinese American Artists in LA!

Love the Cantonese/English lyrics and the references to Causeway Bay, Tsim Sha Tsui, nerdy glasses, Tai Chi, gaming, Honda‘s and more!

Via 88 Bar

Technorati Tags: American Boy, Asian American, Cantonese Boy, Chinese American Artists, Estelle, Larissa Lam, music, music video, Only Won, parody