Spring is in the air!

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month - as opposed to April being Asian American Awareness Month. To some, it may depend on when the college or university is celebrating and recognizing the efforts of Asian Americans. Personally - 2 months of representing is better than 1 month! So try and check out as many events as you can!!

UP TO SPEED:

Last month's events were overwhelming and full of artistic interpretation. The highlights include:



India Night: -the Skokie Performing Arts Center was packed with South Asian American students cheering for their friends on stage. The last dance routine was astonishing and so fast paced that it was unreal to realize that all those steps could be learned. Bhangra dance was amazing to watch and the use of sticks and eccentric colored costumes made me wish we could establish an aerial shot. The use of small sketches to introduce the acts was a good way to keep the show flowing, rather then just having someone come out and introduce people. (This sometimes causes breaks in a show.) UIC's Indian Student Association even made their own 10 minute Bollywood film. Hillarious stuff and it literally was a 10 minute Bollywood film. Kudos on the editing! The night in general went well and "That Asian Thing" would like to give them a CONGRATS! and THANKS! - especially to Ravi Talati and Shital Patel for their help.

UNTRANSLATABLE!: YAWP - you may recognize this from a Walt Whitman poem (or quoted in the movie, Dead Poets Society). "I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable, I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world." This Y.A.W.P. (Young Asians With Power) event was great and very powerful in terms of the spoken word performances. A couple of the YAWPers were very vivid with their imagery and painted this picture of being put down because of their race. Some performances were of identity issues that were faced and of family problems that were learned. These moments sometimes take a lot of courage for writers and I commend them on their ways.

"That Asian Thing" was lucky to see Tatsu Aoki perform there. The jazz vibe made the whole room stand still - listening to great music. Also other talents, which include Xyzr_kx (pronounced "Scissor Kicks") and the atomic shogun herself, Anida Esguerra. "That Asian Thing" was very happy to be a part of this event and grab such great performance footage. We'd like to thank everyone for their cooperation, especially Jed and Anida.

ON THE CUSP:

-"That Asian Thing" is working on multiple projects to obtain on film. Right now, we're working with I.B.U. manager, Glenn Bermejo to try and set up a 3 group performance. On a previous "That Asian Thing" post - we had interviewed Jesch Reyes, member of former group S.O.T.O. (Sons Of The Orient). Hopefully a reunion can be established and a perfomance in Chicago can be obtained. Keep your fingers crossed!

-ASIAN PACIFIC HERITAGE CELEBRATION at Northwestern University:





http://www.northwestern.edu/asian-american/Heritage_Celebration_2006_Poster.jpg

Please support the Asian American organizations and celebrate!!



-Here are a list of websites "That Asian Thing" looks unto for research. Read up on some of the sites and learn of Asian American influences. Also, hopefully it'll help many of you attend some Asian American events that will happen across the nation or Chicago. Enjoy:



http://angryasianman.com/

http://www.angrylittlegirls.com/

http://www.desiclub.com/

http://www.indianparty.com

http://panasia.uchicago.edu/index.shtml