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For those of you in the Bay Area — I have a book talk (more like a short reading plus introduction and Q&A) at SF State this coming Thursday. ———- The Asian American Studies Department Presents: “Pinoy Capital: The Filipino Nation in Daly City” By Dr. Benito M. Vergara Jr. Date:  Thursday, March 12, 2009 Start Time: 5:00pm Location: Thornton Hall 327 San...
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So this has been one of those great weeks for me: the book finally in my hands, four sweet long days with my little daughter Izzy in Austin, Inauguration Day, and tonight, in an hour or so, the premiere of the fifth season of Lost. Lost (and also The Wire) has been one of the...
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From “The Michael Chabon Interview: Special Sarah Palin Edition”, on TheAtlantic.com: Jeffrey Goldberg: Isn’t it great that Michael Palin’s sister is running for vice president? Michael Chabon: Jeffrey, I fear it might actually be kind of sad that I had exactly the same thought when I first heard her name. At least we can safely assume,...
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I’m in a crabby mood, so be forewarned: a new American Pop entry on the rather dreadful Esther Ku, some petty infighting, and what happens when satire runs off the rails, called “Unfunny“.
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Yes, that’s my ugly mug staring at you from my brand-new “American Pop” column for AsianWeek.com. There are a few entries posted already, waiting to be read: - Introduction - What Asians Listen To - Grand Theft Auto IV and the American Dream (the first part) - Grand Theft Auto IV and the American Dream (the second part) Please drop...
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I really just wanted to use this picture again. I mean, it’s a photo of summer, and it’s in Southeast Asia. Despite my previous melodrama about never teaching again, et cetera, et cetera, I’ll be teaching what promises to be an exciting class at UC Berkeley this summer. Lots of moving parts, and I’m not...
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1. My comment boxes have died — I suspect people (or spammers) have been posting something, but I can’t read them somehow, and even some old comments aren’t showing up anymore. So I’ve turned them off, unfortunately. Anyone wanting to leave me a message or a comment can send them to me via the Meebo...
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They are excellent mimics: as often as we coughed or yawned, or made any odd motion, they immediately imitated us…. They could repeat with perfect correctness each word in any sentence we addressed them, and they remembered such words for some time. Yet we Europeans all know how difficult it is to distinguish apart...
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I’m rather embarrassed to admit that I somehow missed reading this book in my previous life as a Southeast Asianist scholar, but there you go. Look — just do yourself a favor and buy this book, okay?    A story of the Moluccas Suprapto had to hear the professor tell.    A young prince from Tuban on Java...
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I was in the middle of writing some entry on Juno and whiteness when I thought I’d Google a couple of phrases. I have to say there’s something rather confounding about these results, unless I should use “woman” or “man” instead: “quirky Asian guy” (9 results) “quirky Asian girl” (76) “quirky black guy” (40) “quirky black girl” (76) “quirky...
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