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More than half of Asians like to associate with mostly the same Asian ethnicity as themselves
More acculturated and less in-language dependent, Asian Indian and Filipinos tend to have more diverse social networks than Chinese, Vietnamese, and Koreans
Source: 2007 Asian Pacific Islander American Consumer Study, interTrend Communications, Inc.
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Dallas Offers Two Visions for Future
The city of Dallas has decided to capitalize on the fact that Asian Americans travel much more than any other group, by developing a campaign to attract them as tourists to the area. The Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau has updated their website to advertise the city’s Asian businesses and Asian community activities. Other cities, such as Oklahoma City, are starting to take notice of their efforts. Read
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A Downtown Showcase for the Asian Film Scene
The New York-based media company, ImaginAsian, has restored an old Japanese-language movie house in Downtown Los Angeles, which had closed in the early 80’s. Called the ImaginAsian Center, this independent movie theater will showcase a variety of Asian cinema. In addition, the center will hold live performances in hopes that it will be viewed as not only a movie theater, but as a place for the Asian American community to gather. Read
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A Downtown Showcase for the Asian Film Scene
By MIndy Farabee @latimes.com
Los Angeles Times
December 27, 2007
WHEN the Linda Lea, a legendary Japanese-language movie house, closed in the early '80s, it was because much of downtown L.A. had died too. This month, a New York-based media company dusted off the site with the debut of the ImaginAsian Center, showcasing fare from Bollywood to Mongolia.
It's the first independent movie theater to arrive in the city's center in more than two decades, and its animating idea is to make a home for the wide variety of moviemaking that represents Asia's maturing scene, says David Chu, ImaginAsian's senior vice president for programming and producing.
"All Asian countries have their luminaries, but what you're seeing in the last 10 years is really the next generation who grew up on Hollywood and foreign films and went to the best film schools," Chu says. "Asian cinema now is very cutting-edge and less formulaic [than Hollywood]. . . . They're making these great films, and the chains won't play them. A lot of mainstream blockbusters cross the water and get lumped into the art house."
Since opening with the Japanese thriller "Midnight Eagle," the center has shown "Khadak," about Mongolian nomads, and "Taare Zameen Par," which is about a dyslexic child and opened in India the same time it did at the ImaginAsian. Coming films include the Kurdish musician's tale "Half Moon" (Friday) and "A Bloody Aria" (Jan. 18), described by some as a Korean-style "Deliverance."
The center also plans to highlight the contributions of Asian Americans, who often get treated like strangers in Hollywood, Chu says. As a result, he's seen Asian studios reaching out to fund Asian American fare; ImaginAsian wants to provide a platform for getting it seen back home.
That platform is now fully loaded in L.A. with state-of-the-art technology, though it's located at a site whose cinema heyday dates back to the 1920s, when it began passing through incarnations serving Latino, Filipino and Asian communities in turn.
Since the early days of Jackie Chan, however, the former marquee player had been wasting away as a glorified storage unit. Developers say that fate rendered it virtually impossible to restore in a historically sensitive manner. Completely renovated by Hodgetts + Fung (the team behind the Egyptian Theatre's overhaul and Hollywood Bowl's makeover), it's become all sleek curves and snow-white minimalism.
It also includes a stage for live performances, because the center hopes to go beyond just showing movies. "We didn't even call it a 'theater,' " Chu says, "because we really see it as a gathering place for the community."
IMAGINASIAN CENTER
WHERE: 251 S. Main St., L.A.
PRICE: $10
INFO: (213) 617-1033 WEBSITE
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Asian-American Youth Trend Democratic
One recent trend among Asian-American youth is in their changing of political parties from Republican to either Democratic or independent. According to a survey conducted by the Institute of Politics at Harvard University, 47 percent of Asian-American youth are Democratic, 15 percent Republican, and 39 percent independent. There are several possible reasons for the shift, but simply put, many Asian-American youth view the Democratic party as more beneficial to minority communities. Read
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Asian Americans Form Chamber of Commerce
In order to increase their political and economic strength, representatives from Southern California’s Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Thai chambers of commerce met on Tuesday, January 8th, to form the Asian American Chamber Association. The group plans to be the voice for Asian American business owners in local politics, so that the Asian communities are fairly considered for economic opportunities, such as with public development dollars. They also hope to start sponsoring joint trade and business seminars, cultural events, and field trips, among other activities. Read
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Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. formerly at Nobu
Omakase Menu - $120/person
Interior Design: Tadao Ando, Architect
The old adage "you can't please all the people all the time" rings true here, perhaps more than at other places simply because of their difficulty in maintaining consistently high quality service and food. With this in mind, one can approach a visit to Morimoto with a bit of forgivingness if the service is a bit slow or a bit rushed, or the Iron Chef Chicken Noodle Soup is a bit too salty. Give them a second chance and your experience may improve, or not.
With a little bit of luck, the clear broth of the chicken noodle soup will be sublime in depth of flavor, the toro tartare a fun, do-it-yourself culinary experience. And while the Chef's choice - "Omakase" menu is actually a good deal for the number of courses included for $120 per person, the dishes vary in creativity and originality. The lobster dish seemed brutal and clumsy, and the sushi was unremarkable.
One thing that doesn't vary is the decor of Morimoto. Designed by renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando, it does exude an ambience of a high class night club. Attention to detail is apparent from the bar and lounge downstairs to the wall of sculptural water bottles. It all comes together quite well when sipping a White Lily cocktail at the translucent bar.
A for effort, B for consistency.
-John Lin-
Morimoto
88 Tenth Ave.,
New York, NY 10011
Phone: 212-989-8883
Website
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