Asian rookie pitcher Fu-Te Ni called up to the plate

Asian pitchers haven't ever really lived up to their hype.

I caught an interesting article that pointed this out to me. Some of the asian pitchers you may recall:

Hideki Irabu

Chan Ho Park

Hideo Nomo

Byung-Hyun Kim

Nothing spectacular. They all start out OK, but then when it came time to be consistent they couldn't handle the pressure. For pitchers like Irabu coming to big markets like the Yankees gave him even more scrutiny when he wasn't living up to expectation. I remember always choosing to be Hideo Nomo when we used to play "baseball" as a kid. Then when he fell off I was player-less. Quite tragic for my eight year old self. But the story essentially is the same for all of these guys. 

Some Asian players do prevail (Ichiro), but we have no Asian "Roger Clemens" thus far.

But maybe in the league we know now time will change and young Fu-Te Ni...could be different?!

There are some other pitchers in the league like Chien-Ming Wang of the Yankees or Matsuzaka of the Red Sox, but they also are struggling after their first couple of seasons. Fu-Te Ni is a rookie for the Detroit Tigers and in his first game he had a  pretty good showing striking out big name players like Jason Giambi and only letting up one run. Nothing spectacular and the Tigers lost, but that wasn't his fault. Maybe, he actually does have the arm to strike out more big name players. Maybe, he was just nervous his first game. But hopefully he will not be all hype, and will show that we Asians can also throw the ball.

Will Fu-Te Ni break the curse? Will he be a solid pitcher throughout his career? Or will he be a dud? 

Time will only tell, but best of luck to him. 

Play Ball! m00g00.

Gamer girl Olivia Munn in Playboy!

T0Tal PwNage! Olivia Munn is every nerd's fantasy with her good looks, razor sharp humor, and the obvious fact that she is a female who plays videogames! 

For a gamer like myself, this is pretty Ko0l news! Sadly, I should make it clear that the spread is apparently a non-nude feature. Regardless, the pics still look great and it's pretty awesome to have an Asian cover girl for such a prestigious (?) magazine. 

Co-Host of the gaming channel G4's quirky show, Attack of the Show, she spends time reviewing tech. products, giving us the latest news in gaming as well as, interviewing game creators and celebrities in the latest points of interest to the gamer crowd. Check her out ripping Josh from "Drake and Josh" a new one in an interview. That's what you get when you try to out-wit the gamer queen!

If you watch the channel or see her in any of her other appearances, Olivia is always one to shout out her Asian-ness (Half Caucasian - Half Chinese) which is nice for her fans to know. Playboy may be a hit or miss as far as degree of accomplishment to some, but I look at as an Asian showing they are comfortable with themselves and can capture a massive audience of fans. That's pretty sweet. She also represents a smaller community, the world of gaming, and breaks the stereotype of it being an exclusively male source of entertainment. 

So to anyone whose not down with all this: 

Y0u= Suxorz! m00g00.

Asuka Kondoh voted off SYTYCD :(

Just wanted  to have a quick shout out to the king of pop and his untimely death. Without his influence, pop culture as it is today, would not be the same. He is the epitome of the fusion of genres and brought all types of people together. Shows like So You Think You Can Dance, our topic of today, may not have been conceived had it not been for some part of his influence.

Well, the show must go on.

In good news- Who's that slammin' girl at the top of the page?! Asuka Kondoh that's who!

In bad news AGAIN- Recently kicked of the Fox hit dance show, So You Think You Can Dance.

Damn. Can't win today.

SYTYCD, for those who don't know, is a show where couples are given pieces of choreography in different styles of dance and have to perform in front of a set of judges. If it's not stellar enough...later gator. 

Kind of sucks if you get a crappy partner. Anyway our poor Asuka got voted off. I actually watched this episode and her routine got a lot of praise. To everyone's surprise, a crowd favorite was voted off.

Asuka Kondoh is a native of California who specializes in latin ballroom dance, as well as teaches classes in the style. You gotta watch this girl.

Kondoh represents a broken stereotype that has been highlighted, in recent, by many of the dance shows out there. Asians are normally seen as shy and introverted. The last thing you would expect them to do is rock the world with dance. Yet, many of the most successful teams and dancers on these shows are Asian or had members on their team who were. 

Asuka can only hope to be avenged by one of her cast-mates, Karla Garcia (another stunning talented  dancer who is Filipino) who still survives to dance another day. Good luck!

I mean there still exists many rhythmically awkward Asians (myself included) out there, but at least we're not instantly exiled to stick to DDR (dance dance revolution) pads anymore! So many thanks to Asuka and all the others for reppin' hard our there. We wish her the best in her future. I'm sure she'll be fine though. A girl who looks that good!? And who can simply...

Just Dance. m00g00 

Up, up, and away we go! Asian in summer movie phenom.

The burning question: Is Russell Asian?

I don't care what anyone thinks. The kid is definitely A-Z-N.

"UP" is the Pixar summer hit about an ambiguously ASIAN boy scout who gets caught up in a wild adventure with a cooky old man, giant rainbow Emu looking bird, and a talking dog. The movie was great, but completely irrelevant to the issue at hand.

It's not like anyone else is rushing to claim him. He's certainly not Black. I wouldn't say Hispanic or Indian either. So, what's the issue here?! And after all the fuss because Miley Cyrus did the slanted eye gesture in a picture, and now you get a slanty-eyed star of a blockbuster film and you can't figure out what he is?! Make up your minds!

If you want to get all court room on us...here is the evidence:

Evidence #1 What he looks like. CHECK!

Evidence #2 Genetics. Was that his mom at the end of the movie and wasn't she Asian? Check! 

failure of a retort: even if it was his babysitter or something... Asians like to hire their own ^_^

Evidence #3 Russell is played by an Asian kid. In some sort of context at least, he IS Asian (hence picture above, our buddy, Jordan Nagai). Checkmate.

Some of the controversy over this debate stems from the fact that Disney is normally very open about racial boundaries being broken in their films. The Princess and the Frog is one example where the lead happens to be a young black heroine. So if he was Asian then why not tell the world?

Yet, our evidence still holds regardless of the marketing decisions of Disney. Ashamed to say he's Asian? Or just not really relevant to the film? This aspect is still in the air.

But some would argue that maybe we shouldn't be complaining about them not  blatantly announcing Russell's Asian-ness because it may be a sign of acceptance and equality. I mean technically it would be the second lead Asian in a Disney film ("Mulan" being the first). Maybe that was our cherry popper and now we're old news. Who knows. 

Regardless, I still think its pretty cool to have an Asian kid be such a hilarious, memorable,  and lovable character.  Mulan was cool and all, but that was an asian film with dragons, fighting, samurais, etc. Disney had to make one of those one day. But this is just a film with an Asian lead in it. Quite different. Quite ground-breaking!

So who or what exactly is the highlight of today? Is it the character of Russell? Is it Jordan our voice actor? Is it Pixar/Disney for releasing the film? NO. It is all the people who care enough to debate, hypothesize, and care to defend that the kid is Asian! The big finale! Some very welcomed pride in our pop culture world. Still not convinced? Check out some of these articles and get at me.

Boom

Boom

Pow!

Scout's Honor.  m00g00.

A Mighty Morphin' Icon

Anyone remember when the Power Rangers used to be colored by ethnicity?! Good times. What a PC show...

I do remember losing interest in the show right about the time when the rangers switched actors. No more black-Black ranger or yellow-Yellow ranger...This time it was going to be a Yellow, black ranger!

Our person of the day happens to be the guy who newly donned our beloved black ranger costume, Johnny Yong Bosch.

Bosch is of German/Irish/Korean descent and became the black ranger in 1994. Now, some of you may wonder why I chose to highlight someone of a somewhat distant past. Well, the point that needs to be made clear is that Bosch's work is only notably recognized by his ranger status, yet not all that he's done is of pop culture history. Bosch has actually had quite a metamorphosis of a career (chuckle), and much of his work today goes unknown.

This may be due to the fact that a lot of what Bosch stars in is voice acting. You never see the guy! Ever watch Bleach? I'm sure you have...or at least have boyfriend who raves about it. Bosch plays the voice of Ichigo Kurosaki, the main character of Bleach, a hollow-battling (hollow- ghost demon thing) teenager from a very popular anime series. He has also worked in the world of gaming playing the voice of Nero from Devil May Cry 4. He has also had many other notable voice roles in numerous anime shows and video games.

Bosch is also a vocalist/guitarist for the rock band Eyeshine. So yeah, our boy Johnny has done quite a bit for himself. You might have played a video game or watched an anime that he's voiced in or maybe your a fan of his music, nonetheless, Bosch has lead a modest and successful career as a sort of "behind-the-scenes" man.

He was able to grow from his days on a cheeky kids show to capture audiences far and wide who may never have bothered to know who he was. Until now. Even the voice actors need some praise. The indie rockers too. But espcially if they're Asian, and a former Power Ranger!

MASTADON! m00g00.

Site Maintenance

I know my posts don't come daily. I apologize. This website stuff takes some getting used to. I hope you guys like the new layout though! Introducing "m00g00" at the top! Our mascot. Email feature, so you can email us any news you hear about Asians moving mountains or just to say "Hi". A Facebook page for all you Facebook hounds on there 24/7 (Myspace is coming). Subscriptions to our blog by email or any of the reader apps via feed and more to come!

So tell your friends!

I have put in a poll on what potential color schemes this page could have in the future. Take it!

Say What UP to pops for me. m00g00.

Wonder Girls opening act for Jonas Brothers...SO HOT HOT HOT!

Tell me.

How sweet is it that the Wonder Girls are coming to the states?!

Opening for the Jonas Brothers on numerous shows in their upcoming tour, the Wonder Girls are a Korean Pop group (a very Korean week) with much popularity for their catchy choruses, Macarena-like dance creations, and um... refer to picture above. The one who raps is my favorite :drool:

Besides making little Asian girls (and boys) squeal with delight at their performances the Wonder Girls have been working hard to spread their name to as far of a reach as they can. Only debuting in early 2007, these girls have already made way into an American tour with one of the biggest musics names of today. I think I've grown out of following Mickey Club bands like the J. bros, but for the Wonder Girls...I might reconsider. 

After three hit singles (memorized lyrics and choreo by many I know), lets hope this tour can help get at least get ONE over here in the states. One hit wonder? Or Wonderful Western career? If there was someone who could...

Nobody but you, Wonder Girls. m00g00.

Let it Rain!

Now clear it out!

This is Rain. He is a Korean Pop Star who is taking the world by storm (get it?!).

Rain, Jeong Ji-hun, has has notable success in both acting and in his illustrious music career. With millions of copies of his albums sold and multiple awards for his achievements in the East, it was only time before he tried to break into the Western market. 

He's well on his way:

Rain has collaborated with the likes of Omarion and JoJo and is rumored to be in the works with P. Diddy.  Rain has also made it to People Magazine's most beautiful list under the "First Time Beauties" section. Finally, us Asian men getting some street cred for being beautiful (though our women are lovely). Rain has also been on the Colbert report where he broke a DDR machine (good riddance).

Most importantly! Megan Fox has been quoted saying she has a thing for Rain. FUCKIN RIDIC! I am not that familiar with your music Rain, but you are officially our saviour (with Megan Fox being the goddess of immeasurable desire).

His potential success stateside could bring us to a new level of respect. An Asian pop star on TRL? An Asian male as a sex symbol? The number one female bachelorette in the arms of an Asian dude? May the Gods be with you my friend...

Pimpin' aint easy. m00g00.

Undefeated UFC fighter using traditional martial arts as a foundation.

"Hadouken!"

Sike. Sorry big Street Fighter fan. This is Lyoto Machida. I originally was not familiar with UFC at all.  One of the first fights I actually watched and paid attention too was a match Machida was in. He won and what I noticed was he was very calm and collected. It's almost like he knew what his opponent was going to do. For every move he had an answer. Many describe Machida in this manner because of his calculated attacks and parry's. Some have even called him boring because of this, but he is undefeated and quite frankly a win is a win. 

Machida is unique because of his strong foundations in karate (a japanese martial art). Karate has over the years been plagued by "McDojo's" bastardizing the real art of the style with lack of legitimate teaching in favor of making profit. Yet, karate even without its recent reputation, in the world of UFC, is seen as an ineffective form of combat for the ring. Most traditional martial arts are seen as too structured or not built for actual brawling. UFC is an art that combines many aspects of fighting from grappling to boxing. Yet, Machida has shown a traditional foundation combined with the other forms can bring about success. 

Sweet deal. We used to be known for martial arts and now we are slowly taking it back! UFC has been dominated by fighters of al ethnicities except Asian for quite some time, and now we have a go to man using one of the original forms we created. 

Finish him Machida! m00g00

"Where no Asian has gone before...Film...I mean...Space!"

John Cho kicked ass in Star Trek. 

Yes, I am Asian and not a "trekkie" (treky? treckee?) so I had to read up online about Cho's role of Sulu.  What made me first gravitate towards making this our first post was actually because I had thought they had just put an Asian guy in a big hollywood film. I was like:

"Sweet! John Cho is probably playing some guy that used to be white in the actual show!"

Little did I know the history behind Sulu is actually a lot more ground breaking.

This is George Takei, original Sulu from Star Trek. One of the first positively portrayed Asians on film (stateside). Apparently, his character kicked ass on the show too. I feel like Sulu was one of the cooler, more memorable characters in the new film so I'm sure he was a crowd favorite in the show as well. 

What's good is Cho is a pretty recognizable face (since Harold and Kumar) and may bring some interest towards such a ground-breaking character. It will hopefully bring him some more depth (or attempt to) as an actor than the shadow cast by his beloved stoner character. All in all, I think a section from the sheknows.com interview with Cho sheds light on our mission here on m00g00 and why it exists:

SheKnows: Something I wanted to ask you about is how George (Takei), was one of the first, if not the first, Asian-American actors on TV…

John Cho: Yeah…(sighs)

SheKnows: What an influence that was on you. In the press conference you said you used to yell at your parents to come quick because you didn’t know when the Asian man would disappear.

John Cho: Yes (laughs)!

Don't disappear Asian on TV! We need you!

Good shit Sulu. m00g00

What is m00g00?

m00g00 is spelled with zeros because someone took all the other domains.

m00g00 is named after Moo Goo Gai Pan, the dish, because I was hungry and the urge to create a blog came along  at right about lunch time. 

I also figure the name is easy to remember. (e.g. Google)

The mission of m00g00 is to inform you why Asians are cool. Simple. Some sites focus on the travesties and racism against us. I just want to provide a pat on the back. Positive Chi only. I want people to know the cool things we do. I want Asians to be proud. Once we are proud then we can get motivated (or angry) about all the other issues. I believe that is the key to true activism, and true change. But a lot of us Asians are so divided...

When something bad is done to us we don't join together to do something about it. What if there was an Asian version of Rodney King? Where's our Reverend Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton? How many Asians do you expect to line up outside of the white house? A small group that could probably get confused for a lost tourist bus. 

The thing is we do have a case like Rodney King--- Ever heard of Vincent Chin? Google it. 

We do have Asian's sticking up for us--- Helen Zia a veteran. AngryAsianMan.com/Disgrasian.com-new age

But it's not enough. Why do we hear static and resonance about fear of the rise of power in China? Because when we Asians put our minds to something- WE GET SHIT DONE.

And thats the point. Once we finally break through our shells we can be stronger. It's already happening, but we need more. Look at hollywood and commercials as just a small glimpse into our movement- more Asians now. I mean we still get minor setbacks (e.g. the gay asian man in "The Hangover"), but we still have our John Cho's and Grace Park's stealing the show(s) along with many others.

My point is we Asians now have more resources, there were no blogs when MLK was around and look how strong their community is. I, like many of you I'm sure, get more of your news from the web than TV or radio anyway. 

So my main point is:

We need some change.

I argue that we need pride first, to make that change happen. When people are proud they put their heart into something. Simple! (And we can't just be Korean proud or Fillipino proud or Indian proud- we ALL gotta be proud!)

m00g00 should help contribute to your knowledge and awareness of pride inducing news and accomplishments.

ergo.

PRIDEFUL ASIANS DO WORK! DO WORK, SON!

In a manner that my man Bruce might express, "The art of being ignorant without ignorance..."

What you say B.Lee?!

We have to be less ignorant of our issues and our people's actions to be able to have pride and let everyone know! Let everyone know we got an Asian Victoria's Secret Model! Go on with your bad-self Jarah! 

I mean you may argue that it's annoying, immature, or unnecessary to be so flamboyant with our accomplishments. No need to brag. Humbleness is the only completely positive sign in the I-Ching, but but but... still! Thats the old Asian way that always holds us back! We need to find a happy medium so that people can start taking us more seriously.

So in conclusion, let's celebrate a little and let's move forward, proud, so that we defend and lift ourselves up to make a noise that can be heard all over the world. From the heart not your ass.

Word. m00g00.