THE APPA Newsletter

THE APPA Newsletter

May 25, 2004

See This Weekend

Asian Pacific Heritage Month:

http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/feature/asia/

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/asianhistory1.html

Memorial Day:

http://www.usmemorialday.org/

http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/memorial/memorial.html

http://www.pbs.org/memorialdayconcert/

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MISSION STATEMENT:

Promote full utilization of the capabilities of the Enterprise's employees and champion the betterment of the company and community. Promote interest in Asian Pacific issues and culture and act as a bridge to all groups within our community.

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ed. by Douglas Ikemi

(dkikemi@pacbell.net)

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The internet site is at:

www.apa-pro.org

Our own domain name, apa-pro.org, stands for Asian Pacific American Professionals. www.apa-pro.org/ gives you a menu of AP organization websites.

Back issues of the newsletter for all of 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 are available on the website if you want to look up some past event.

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APPA Board Meeting Schedule for 2004:

Evening meetings open to the public will be at the Hilton Garden Inn, 2100 Mariposa Ave.(corner of Nash)‎‎ 310/726-0100.

(coming soon)

Detailed, updated calendar is available on the internet at www.apa-pro.org in Acrobat and Excel formats [I’ll update it someday when I have some more time] . Please send in information on cultural events and news items. Thanks to those who have.

Long range calendar items:

Chinatown Farmers Market Every Thursday, 3:00pm to 7:00pm Chinatown Business Improvement District http://www.ChinatownLA.com/ For Information (213)‎ 680-0243

March 5-June 20 The Arts of Japanese Sake at the Pacific Asia Museum.

June 4th, Sake Talk and Tasting 7pm In conjunction with Kampai! The Arts of Japanese Sake, Pacific Asia Museum will hold its second sake tasting. The event will include an exhibition tour and introduction to sake by museum curator Meher McArthur followed by a tasting of ten types of sake presented by Pacific International Liquor. Pacific Asia Museum members, Japan America Society and Asia Society members are $25; non-members are $30. Reservations are required, please call ext. 19. The Pacific Asia Museum (46 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena, 91101, 626-449-2742 http://www.pacificasiamuseum.org/calendar/events.htm

June 5 Asia America Symphony Orchestra at The George & Sakaye Aratani Japan America Theatre, David Benoit, Conductor, performing Gabriel Faure’s Pavanne Opus 50 and Mendelssohn’s Symphony #4 in A Mino\Opus 90 Italian Symphony. HIROSHIMA, guest artists. This is truly a once in a lifetime event a rare opportunity to hear HIROSHIMA one of the greatest Asian American bands of all time, jamming with David Benoit and the Orchestra. Season Finale, with reception to follow Tickets: $35 Premier Orchestra seating, $25 orchestra, balcony. More info: call the Box Office at 213.680.3700

June 6 Genkai Ryuji, top actor of Japan’s Popular Theater Circle, will perform at 1PM at the Aratani/Japan America Theatre in Little Tokyo as a guest star of the 3^rd Oedo-Ichiza Charity Show. $30. Call Matsubara Senryu at 909-628-5854.

June 6 Recital by soprano Hei-Kyung Hong at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 1PM, losangelesopera.com, 213-365-3500

Photo Exhibit: Through My Father's Eyes: The June 6 Filipino American Photographs of Ricardo Ocreto Alvarado"Opening Day lectures "A Daughter's Perspective" by Janet Alvarado, daughter of the artist; and "Cultural History of 1940s-50s Filipino American Life" by Gina Inocencio, Smithsonian Institution. "Through My Father's Eyes: The Filipino American Photographs of Ricardo Ocreto Alvarado" On exhibit at the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History from June 6 to August 1, 2004. Noon-5 p.m., Sunday, June 6 (Opening Day), 2 p.m. The photographer's daughter, Janet Alvarado, will provide background for the images in the exhibition, while Gina Inocencio, program specialist, Smithsonian Institution Asian Pacific American Program, will offer a cultural history of 1940s-50s Filipino American life. Free, no reservations required.

Filipino Americans are one of this nation's largest and fastest-growing Asian American ethnic groups, yet their history in this country is not well known. "Through My Father's Eyes: The Filipino American Photographs of Ricardo Ocreto Alvarado" - on view at the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History from June 6 through Aug. 1 - is a rare collection of 51 black-and-white photographs taken by Ricardo Alvarado (1914-1976) in Northern California during the 1940s and 50s. Selected from more than 3,000 negatives, these affectionate images of ordinary people at work and at play provide an intimate view of Filipino life and history in the United States.

Alvarado immigrated to San Francisco in 1928 from the Philippines. He was part of the wave of Filipino immigrants known as the Manong ("older brother") generation, who came to the United States between 1901 and 1935, after the Spanish American War of 1898 made the islands a U.S. Territory. At first, Alvarado made a living working as a janitor and houseboy. During World War II, he served as a medical technician in the Army's highly decorated First Filipino Infantry Regiment. When he returned from the Pacific, he supported himself as a cook.

Alvarado satisfied his passion for photography by capturing on film special events and daily life of the Filipino American community in San Francisco after the war. He canvassed the Bay Area's city streets and rural back roads for subjects. His camera gave him entree into large social functions - weddings, funerals, baptisms, parties and dances - as well as intimate family gatherings. He recorded street scenes, beauty pageants, cockfights, agricultural workers tending crops and entrepreneurs on the job. When he died in 1976, he left behind a rich trove of historically significant and visually arresting images, yet they remained hidden until his daughter, Janet Alvarado, found his vast collection and recognized their importance. She formed the Alvarado Project to ensure that her father's unique record of Filipino American life would be preserved and seen.

This exhibition is curated by Janet Alvarado and Franklin Odo, director of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific Program. Created by the Alvarado Project, it was developed by the Smithsonian Institution Asian Pacific American Project in collaboration with the National Museum of American History, Behring Center, and circulated by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. Additional support has been provided by FedEx and a circle of friends. The Los Angeles showing is co-presented by the UCLA Fowler Museum, the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, and the Filipino American Library, Los Angeles. Local support is provided by the Wells Fargo Foundation and the Filipino American National Historical Society, Los Angeles.

"Through My Father's Eyes" will be on view in the Fowler Museum's Goldenberg Galleria. The Fowler is open Wednesdays through Sundays, noon to 5 p.m.; and on Thursdays, noon until 8 p.m. The museum is closed Mondays and Tuesdays. The Fowler Museum, part of UCLA's School of the Arts and Architecture, is located in the north part of the UCLA campus. Admission is free. Parking is available for $7 in Lot 4. For more info, the public may call (310) 825-4361. For more info view http://www.fowler.ucla.edu.

For a community review of the exhbit visit http://www.asiansinamerica.org/museum/0403_museum.html

2:00 PM - 4:00 PM, Fowler Museum, UCLA Campus, Los Angeles, CA 90095. Free and open to the public. Parking at UCLA costs $7.

June 4 - Wednesday, June 9 Thai Film Festival - "Bangkok: Cinema City" - BEAUTIFUL BOXER & NANG NAK. Exciting Films from Thailand with English subtitles 7:30pm

Los Angeles Premiere BEAUTIFUL BOXER (2003) Directed by Ekachai Uekrongtham. Based on an amazing true story, this absorbing and heartfelt film follows a young kickboxer who rises to the top of his sport in order to pay for a sex-change operation—his own. BEAUTIFUL BOXER inventively brings together the conventions of the sports movie and the coming-out story as exciting kickboxing sequences alternate with vignettes from the athlete’s life. Thai tolerance towards transsexuality has led to a string of films with transgendered protagonists, with IRON LADIES (also a sports film based on a true story) the best-known example in this country. Unlike many of these films, the hero here is not a comic figure but an inspiring individual. Producer: Ekachai U. Screenwriters: Ekachai U., Desmond Sim Kim Jin. Cinematographer: Choochart Nantitanyatada. Editor: Dusanee Puinongpho. With: Asanee Suwan, Sorapong Chatree, Orn-Anong Panyawong, Kyoko Inoue. 35mm, in Thai with English subtitles, 116 min.

NANG NAK (1999) Directed by Nonzee Nimibutr A TITANIC-sized hit in Thailand and a critical success abroad, NANG NAK breathes new life into a haunting Thai folktale about undying love. After recovering from the brink of death, Mak returns home from war to be greeted by his wife Nak and their newborn son—only something isn’t right. Evoking the ethereal beauty of rural Thailand, director Nonzee builds a mounting sense of unease and danger as Mak comes to realize what the audience already knows: his wife and child died months before. An epic romance by way of a chilling ghost story, NANG NAK was hailed by Tony Rayns as “a landmark of Southeast Asian cinema.” The same production team went on to make the delirious homage to the Spaghetti Western, TEARS OF THE BLACK TIGER (2001). Cinematographer: Nattawut Kitikun. Editor: Sunji Asavinikul. With: Intira Jaroenpura, Winai Kraibutr, Pramote Suksatit, Pracha Thawongfia. 35mm, in Thai with English subtitles, 100 min.

All films screen at the James Bridges Theater in Melnitz Hall, located on the northeast corner of the UCLA campus, near the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Hilgard Avenue. Tickets are available at the theater one hour before showtime. Admission is $7 general, $5 students, seniors and UCLA Alumni Association members with ID. Kids’ Flicks general admission is $5. Advance tickets for all programs are available for $8 at www.cinema.ucla.edu. Parking is available adjacent to the James Bridges Theater in Lot 3 for $7; there is free parking on Loring Ave. after 6:00 p.m. daily. 310.206.FILM.

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June 13 Okinawa Style Koto Association Koyokai 40^th Anniversary, 11:30 luncheon at the Torrance Marriott Hotel, 3635 Fashion Way, 90503. 40 performers of koto, shanshin and dance from Okinawa and local performers. $30, call Itsumi Jacomo at 714-963-4171, Jane Kuniyoshi at 310-530-0208, or Helene Shimane at 310-323-7965.

June 19, Painting Demo, Gongbi Demonstration 1pm-2pm Zhou Ping-guang, featured artist in A Modern Pursuit of Ancient Feelings (on display at Pacific Museum from May 7 through July 4, 2004) will demonstrate his skill in the "gongbi" technique of painting exquisite images of birds and flowers. A professor at the Sichuan Art Institute, Zhou Ping-guang is a Senior-Level Artistic Scholar of China, and immigrated to the United States in 1998 as an "Outstanding Artist with Extraordinary Achievements." His work possesses elements of traditional Chinese paintings while incorporating modern sensibilities. The program is free with museum admission. Please call ext. 31 for reservations and information. The Pacific Asia Museum (46 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena, 91101, 626-449-2742

July 24 Ho'ike 2004 Halau Hula a Kawka Laua 'o Leinani and the Kalika Band 8th Annual Fundraiser Concert at the George & Sakaye Aratani/Japan America Theatre. Dances of the South Pacific to be performed by the students of Halau Hula a Kawika laua 'o Leinani. Over 100 dancers, children and adults, will be on stage along with the Hawaiian band Kalika. A great 2 hours on Entertainment!! Bring the Ohana for this colorful and lively performance. Tickets: $15 per person, general seating. To charge by phone contact the box office or call (909) 396-4775. More info: call the Box Office at 213.680.3700

July 24-25 Tofu Festival http://www.tofufest.org/

Aug 7-15 Nisei Week http://www.niseiweek.org/

This Weekend (and earlier)

May 27 The Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles (KCCLA) presents as part of its Korean Film Series a screening of "Spring in my Hometown" (1998). Sung Min and Chang Hee, two young boys, are best friends in a remote village in Korea during the Korean War. They both live in a village deeply dependent on the U.S. Army for its livelihood and spend their free time after school spying on an abandoned mill where US soldiers have regular sexual encounters with local prostitutes. Sung Min's family is relatively well off: his father finds work at the US base, his sister Young Sook is dating an American officer and the rest of the family open a dye business for GI uniforms. Chang Hee's family is less fortunate. With his father being dragged off by North Korean soldiers they fall into poverty and are forced to live off Sung Min's family.7:00 PM - 9:00 PM, Korean Education Center, 680 S. Wilshire Place #400, Los Angeles, CA 90005. Free, Admittance: 15 yrs. and over. Tel: (213) 386-3112

Website: www.kccla.org/html/cinema_detail.asp?CinemaID=4

May 30 Geino Bu of the Okinawa Association of America, Inc. presents its 12^th annual Utayabira Wuduyabira (Letºs Sing, Letºs Dance) at the Armstrong Theater, 330 Civic Center Dr., Torrance, 2PM , $15. Info & tickets at 310-532-1929.

May 29-31 Welcome to Pacific Media Expo, a new generation of convention for a new generation of fans! Pacific Media Expo seeks to create an entertainment community for artists, industry and their fans. Pacific Media Expo exists to bring the cutting edge of Asian entertainment to America. Whether the trend is the hottest anime from Japan, the coolest DJ's from Asia, or the most creative combination of sports and martial arts in Hong Kong history, Pacific Media Expo will endeavor to bring it to you! Pacific Media Expo is hosted by Pacific Media Association, Inc. http://www.pacificmediaexpo.com/pmx/main.html

Last Weekend(s)

I went to:

The Van Nuys Japanese Garden

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LA Times: (The Times are requiring registration again, but you might as well sign up for the free on-line access to their articles. This week they may even be accessible without registration. Calendar articles are usually only accessible with a paid subscription.)

May 26 THE STATE

Arrest May Close Chapter in Slaying of Berkeley Officer

By Lee Romney and Kate Coleman, Special to The Times

http://www.latimes.com/la-me-tsukamoto26may26,1,6876531.story

May 26 COLUMN ONE

Chairs Sit Well With Laborers

Teenage daughters help Oakland garment workers spark an ergonomics revolution. Now L.A. County is studying the changes.

By Lee Romney, Times Staff Writer

http://www.latimes.com/la-me-chairs26may26,1,3639766.story

May 25 CALIFORNIA CLASSROOM

The picture of enlightenment

http://www.latimes.com/features/kids/readingroom/la-et-kidcal25may25,1,994840.story