Supervisor Ed Jew gets into trouble; our Ben Fong-Torres gets into People magazine.
One of the biggest political stories in San Francisco is also one of the saddest especially for Asian Americans.
The subject is Ed Jew , who was elected late last year to the city's Board of Supervisors and is its lone Asian American member. He beat out two strong fellow Asian Americans in the district election, and represents the Sunset District, which includes, among other mini-communities, the so-called Second Chinatown, centered on Clement Street.
The problem is, Jew, who is also one of the Board's most conservative members, is required to live in the district he represents, and, it appears, he does not. And if he doesn't, then he's not qualified to have run for his office, or to occupy it. Investigations by the City Attorney and the District Attorney have resulted in reports that Jew has failed to provide proof that he lives in a house, owned by his father, in the district. Jew's wife and children live out of town, in the suburb of Burlingame, and Jew operates a flower shop in Chinatown. Investigators, checking utility bills and talking with neighbors and mail carriers, believe that he has been living in Burlingame since 2003. (However, they say, Jew used that address for voting in recent years, and stated that he lived there when he filed his candidacy papers last year. That would be a violation of election laws.) Jew has claimed that he splits his time among all three locations. And...
Manhattan: Chow, Ciao and TV Land.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK:
Another year, another trip to the Big Apple.
This time, Dianne and I hit Manhattan in June, when the city was weathering days in the high 80's, with occasional thunderstorms.
For us spoiled Californians, thats pretty darned hot but manageable, especially with AC in our apartment in the West Village, and in most shops. When its really hot, you spend a lot of time loitering in bank lobbies.
As always, we spent a lot of time in great restaurants. This year, they included Porter House New York, where Michael Lomonaco has rebounded. He was the chef at Windows on the World, atop one of the World Trade Center towers. Now, hes overseeing a steakhouse at the Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle. And, in a town thats pretty exacting about steaks, Lomonaco has a winner. Perfect steaks and an amazing array of starters and side dishes. The service is well-done, too. Plus, Michael plays rock guitar. What more could you want from a chef?
Because we have a friend high up in the Danny Meyer collection of restaurants, we can get tablesand didat such stellar spots as 11 Madison Parkone of New Yorks very best restaurants, according to the New York Timesand the bar caf at the Museum of Modern Art. One was fashionable; the other, fast (we were going from the Modern to see "Frost/Nixon"); both were superb. So was Craftbar, owned by top chef--and one of the stars of TV's Top Chef, Tom Collichio . Its a casual jewel of a spot. And, just...
A punky rock song about our own Ben Fong-Torres? It's true! Read it and sing!
As many people who write books and make records are wont to do, I was Googling myself the other night. Actually, it was a variation. I was Amazoning myself, if there's such a thing. A friend had told me about finding old copies of his own books there for a penny a copy. So I went online in search of cheaper versions of myself or my books, anyway.
And that's how I happened onto a song called "Ben Fong-Torres." Not a song by me. Not a song from Almost Famous, which includes me as a character. But a tune, apparently, about me.
I couldn't believe it, but there it was. Amazon offers mp.3 downloads of some albums, so this song, from a CD called Where I Am, by Christopher Van Epps, was available for 89 cents.
I was further shocked by the original release date listed: October, 2002. This thing had been out five years and I just now stumbled across it? Maybe it was an attack on me, and nobody least of all the composer wanted me to know about it. I clicked on the "listen" button for a 30-second sample.
I heard a chorus of voices shouting my name over a combination of a polka and punk-rock beat. The words were a blur, but I made out "it's not an accident is he from south of border or from the Orient." And a robust shout of "Ben Fong-Torres is a helluva guy!"
So, despite the clumsy reference to "the Orient," it sounded like nothing to call my attorney, "Mad Dog," about.
I downloaded the song and then, why...
Ben blogs about blurbing a beauty of a book.
Happy New Year, for the second, if not the third time (Oshogatsu, anyone?). It's the Year of the Rat, supplanting the Boar and setting off a debate, in lunar calendar circles, about whether it's 4705 or 4706. Not exactly a Blu-Ray vs. HD DVD war, but a debate, nonetheless. Do let me know how it turns out, as I want to get the year right on my checks.
My Chinese New Year rituals including cleaning my house (that is, making sure our house cleaner is OK on Comet and Windex), paying our bills (that is, sending in some minimum payments), visiting family (which goes OK, until we get into that fierce argument about Blu-Ray or HD), and, of course, co-anchoring the New Year Parade on KTVU ("Fox 2" in the S.F. Bay Area).
It's my twelfth time, and, I think, the eight consecutive year with Julie Haener (and with Robert Handa on the streets below, interviewing dignitaries). Eight, of course, is an auspicious number, so it should be a good one, even with all those rats running around the parade route, from lower Market Street through Union Square (where we will be) and into Chinatown.
Speaking of Chinatown: I just got an advance look at Fae Myenne Ng's new novel, Steer Toward Rock. I got it because the publisher was hoping for a blurb. What's a "blurb?" Good question. In fact, I wrote a blog about it for this new Web site for authors and people who like books and writing. It's called RedRoom.com. Amy Tan 's on there with her first (and quite...
Our Ben Fong-Torres is knocked out by Arthur Dong's latest film, Hollywood Chinese . ACTION!
It's Asian American Heritage Month, and I can't think of anything better to recommend than this: Go out and see Hollywood Chinese . If it's not showing at a theater near you (more info about that, below), then keep the title in your mental bookmarks, or watch for it on Netflix.
At first glance, it's a movie made of clips; a Chinese version of That's Entertainment. By that, I mean a wide-spanning overview of film history. But, given cinema's ability to reflect society, it's also a chronicle of the Chinese, from the days of the Chinese Exclusion Act to decades of misunderstanding and degradation, to ultimate triumph.
The triumph, here, is the work of Arthur Dong . I've been an admirer of his for his social documentaries, from Sewing Woman to Forbidden City, USA to several that address gay issues and history. Now, with Hollywood Chinese , he has woven a kaleidoscopic tapestry of another slice of American life--that slice that deals with Asian Americans in movies.
This feature-length film is beautifully choreographed and edited by Dong and his team. He begins with elegant paeans to the majesty and power of the movies, from viewers who got to work in the industry. Nancy Kwan (who opens the film in glorious style, in a clip from The Flower Drum Song ), Joan Chen, Wayne Wang, B.D. Wong, Amy Tan , and Justin Lin are among the luminaries who, by testifying to the force of films, are...