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Here are some videos we’re watching this week at KoreAm.
Janet Liang’s Plea for a Match
Janet Liang, a recent graduate of UCLA, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a rapidly progressing form of leukemia. In this video, the 23-year-old desperately pleas to viewers to be tested to see if they could be a possible bone marrow match. Liang has only until April to find her match and the description box of the video gives more information.
Painting with a Basketball
Throughout time, artists have used a number of mediums and surfaces to paint and create timeless works of art. Hong Yi, who goes by the name Red, paints a portrait of basketball player Yao Ming with an actual basketball.
Put a Smile on Your Parents Face
Chinese New Year is a time to start fresh and share blessings with your family. In this video, older parents relay their only desire is to spend time with their loved ones in a busy time.
Sh-t Koreans Say
On the heels of the Sh-t Korean Girls Say video comes the general Sh-t Koreans Says video, a video by J.Reyes. He and [girl's name] act out common Korean phrases throughout the video.
North Korean Woman Smiles
China Central Television was able to get inside North Korean’s official TV station: Korea Central Television. There, they met Ri Chun Hui, who makes intense deliveries of the most important government statements. In this video, Hui smiles and seems charming.
K-pop strives for Global Fame
Drew Ambrose reports about South Korean pop stars with special look at the girl group R-Ania. K-pop, a $3 billion business, also has some of the toughest contracts and most severe restrictions on the personal lives of artists.
Spelling Bee Troll
During a spelling bee, a student becomes the ultimate troll by constantly asking for the word “heron” to be repeated over and over again. The young man keeps saying random words with a straight face and what seemed to be genuine confusion, until the very end when he suddenly knows the word’s meaning and spelling.
Asian Dad goes Crazy for the Patriots
Dressed in white pajamas, an Asian man jumps and shouts in front of the television for the New England Patriots. He claps his hands together while screaming, “Go Patriots!” before he breaks off into another language, hilariously caught up in the game.
If you have more videos you’d like us to see, email linda@iamkoream.com.
by Emily Kim
Glee’s Harry Shum, Jr. made an appearance at the McDonald’s Chicken McBites launch party held at Siren Studios in Hollywood on Thursday.
Dressed in a red plaid button-up shirt, Shum entertained the crowd on the red carpet with his unsuccessful attempts at catching some McBites in his mouth.
Hip hop duo Salt-n-Pepa performed at the event where many other young Hollywood celebs came to show their love for McD’s newest product, including singer/actress Christina Milian, 90210’s Shenae Grimes, and Pretty Little Liars’ Lucy Hale.
After being bombarded with camera flashes, Harry stopped to answer a few questions with KoreAm.
KoreAm Journal: What’s your favorite thing to eat at McDonald’s?
Harry Shum, Jr.: I love their breakfast. My favorite memory is with my dad. Every Sunday we’d go to McDonald’s. He’d have his coffee and Egg McMuffin and hash browns. And I’d have a Sausage McMuffin, with hash browns and orange juice. And it was like a bonding moment with my dad.
KJ: Obviously, you’re a great, great dancer. What’s your favorite dance move?
HSJ: I don’t really particularly have a dance move. Maybe stuff that’s in my catalog, but I think it’s more of … I don’t know, it varies. That’s a hard question for me. I know a lot of people are able to answer that, but I do like a lot of wavy stuff [demonstrates] and sometimes I like to just hit pops. So it varies. It depends on the song.
At the event, endless samples of the new Chicken McBites were available, along with a wide variety of dipping sauces. There was also an open bar and an entire room set up for attendees to conduct their very own photoshoots.
Check out some photos and a video from the red carpet after the jump. (more…)
Opening act Dia Frampton shines after ‘The Voice’
The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (Ohio)
“I’m learning a little bit more about my performance style,” said Frampton, who balances the gig with stops on her own tour.
During her time on “The Voice,” viewers commonly described Frampton as an indie artist. She made waves with performances like a slowed-down version of Kanye West’s “Heartless,” a tune she performed at a piano.
North Korea Warns South but Accepts Food Aid
New York Times
North Korea warned on Friday that a South Korean military drill around front-line islands could lead to a “full-scale war” as South Korean trucks crossed the border carrying private food aid for North Korean children.
The 180 tons of flour from the Korea Peace Foundation, based here in Seoul, was the first such aid shipment since the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, died on Dec. 17, leaving his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as leader.
INTO THE NEXT STAGE: A New Korean American Super Hero—The Ray
Rafu Shimpo
Asian Americans had to wait a long time before one of their own became a superhero and got his own comic book in 1994 when “Xombi” hit the stands. It was published by DC (home of Superman and Batman) and was the alter ego of scientist David Kim, who used nanotechnology to keep himself alive by constantly regenerating his body when he was injured.
His book lasted 22 issues (including an issue #0) and was revived last year as a six-issue mini-series.
Jury indicts man in 1980 murder of store clerk
Fox 12 Oregon
On Jan. 18, 1980, 29-year-old Myong Su Cho was working behind the counter at the Plaid Pantry near Portland State University when an armed robber barged in and demanded money, police say.
Cho ran after the suspect, but was shot and killed a few blocks away, according to authorities.
Strategy with Kristy: John Kim Part One
Poker News
John Kim has played poker for a living for 14 years. He’s supported his wife and daughter through live and online cash-game winnings and has also accumulated more than $300,000 in tournament cashes. For this edition of the Strategy with Kristy podcast, brought to you by South Point, Kim talks about what it takes to be a professional poker player.
Off Camera, NK’s Star Anchorwoman Smiles
Wall Street Journal
While North Korea has been boring this week, simply churning out its normal churlish statements, China Central Television got a scoop by getting its cameras inside North Korea’s official TV station, Korea Central Television.
And more importantly, they met the network’s biggest star: Ri Chun Hui, the anchorwoman known for her intense delivery of the most important statements by the authoritarian government.
And she seemed charming. She smiled and spoke normally, without the fierce breathlessness she uses to deliver the news.
Sundance 2012: ‘For Ellen’ puts focus on the father
Los Angeles Times
Have breakfast with writer-director So Yong Kim, tell her how remarkable her new film is, and you’ll see her put her menu in front of her face in embarrassment. But hearing compliments on the quietly exquisite “For Ellen” is something the filmmaker is going to have to get used to. It’s that good.
The film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this week, stars an excellent Paul Dano as the hard-edged and distraught Joby, a twenty-something hipster rock performer who’s lived only for his music and, on the verge of an unavoidable divorce, has to decide if he can live for something else as well, his young daughter, Ellen.
Having Thrived in America, Hyundai Takes On Europe
Business Week
Big car companies spend millions of dollars on ads to burnish their brands. But Hyundai Motor received one of its biggest boosts from an unlikely source: competitor Volkswagen (VOW:GR). In a video shot during the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, VW Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn is seen praising the adjustable steering column on a Hyundai i30 compact, effectively anointing Hyundai as a top rival. “Nothing rattles,” Winterkorn said to his entourage in the amateur video posted on YouTube (GOOG). “Why can they do it? BMW can’t. We can’t.” The video has been viewed more than 1.6 million times.
Korea’s 2002 World Cup hero Ahn Jung-Hwan to retire
AFP via Google News
South Korean footballer Ahn Jung-Hwan, famous for his dramatic goal in the 2002 World Cup, will retire next week, his agency said Friday.
In a press release quoted by Yonhap news agency, Moro Sports Korea said Ahn would hold a press conference Tuesday to announce his decision.
“Ahn returned from Dalian Shide in the Chinese Super League this year, and he was torn between continuing his career and retirement,” the agency said.
“He has finally decided it would be best for him to finish his career at this point.”
Aziatix announces their 2012 US Tour
allkpop
A bicoastal sold-out U.S. tour last year was simply not enough for AZIATIX and their fans. To kick off 2012, the three members have announced a 13-city tour starting in February, including a show at SXSW on March 16th.
The World According to Dave: The Babysitter
by David Yoo
By the time our son Griffin turned 18 months old, we still had never used a babysitter, and I had serious cabin fever. Despite feeling it, too, my wife was leery about leaving our son in the hands of anyone not related to us by blood. She reasoned that her parents visited us all the time, but I argued that their visits didn’t qualify technically as “babysitting,” given that my wife refused to ask them to just sit in our house so we could venture out at night. To her that would feel like we were exploiting them, even though that’s the whole point of having grandparents in the first place—to exploit them! Alas, before I knew it, a year-and-a-half had passed, and we were chomping at the bit to leave the house past sundown for once.
My wife’s trepidation to let a stranger watch Griffin was topped by my desperation to get out of the house, just the two of us, and I finally convinced her to let me find a babysitter. The next afternoon I took Griffin for a stroll around the neighborhood and introduced myself to a really tall teenage girl sitting on her front stoop, reading a book. It turned out the girl, Rachel, was an experienced babysitter and seemed perfect—an old soul who loved math and science and was even in the Girl Scouts! (more…)
Celebrity Interview: Tim Kang (The Mentalist)
popstar.com
Tim Kang has appeared in everything from The Office to AT&T commercials before landing a spot as the stoic king of dead-pan snark , Agent Kimball Cho on The Mentalist.
[Popstar] caught up with Tim to talk about his character this season and to see if anything’s new in the world of “Cho-business.”
How and why my pop-up was born
San Francisco Chronicle
Korean American adoptee Eric Ehler gives a first-person account of how his popular pop-up restaurant started. Ehler took his first trip to South Korea and his first experience with Korean food became his fuel.
Senate panel balks at dictating to textbook editors, buries bill prescribing use of ‘East Sea’
AP via Washington Post
A Senate committee has drawn the line on dictating geographic terms to editors of public school textbooks by narrowly rejecting a bill that would have mandated publishers to also refer to the Sea of Japan as the East Sea.
Sen. Dave Marsden introduced the legislation to address concerns of Virginians of Korean-American descent and other Asian origins.
Jane Kim Spends Night In Tenderloin Homeless Shelter
sfist.com
District 6 Supervisor Jane Kim spent last Wednesday night in a homeless shelter, on an evening when she was technically serving as Acting Mayor while Ed Lee was out of state. Kim has been interested in improving the shelter system since beginning her term last year, and Wednesday found her experiencing it first hand, lining up for a shelter-bed reservation, getting assigned one, and checking in 7 p.m. for a 12-hour stay at the Next Door Shelter at Polk and Geary.
Autumn Ahn: Meet One Of Boston’s Fearlessly Fierce Artists
Style Caster
Her work has appeared in many forms, from shows at galleries to commissioned installations, including one for Diesel at New York Fashion Week in 2010. And when it comes to a preferred presentation, Ahn asks only that her work be displayed “anywhere a person can be physically engaged with it.”
“I have really enjoyed working within different social environments,” she said. “The challenges of negotiation and new language inform any installation.”
Group Forms to Aid S. Korean Indicted for Espionage
New America Media
Stephen Kim, a senior adviser to the U.S. State Department on arms control compliance, was indicted in August 2010 on charges of disclosing secret U.S. government information to the media.
The U.S. government claims that he “leaked classified national defense information” by telling a Fox News reporter that North Korea would likely attempt additional nuclear tests if the UN passes a resolution on sanctioning the North.
Kim’s attorneys claim that charging him with criminal action for providing the media with information that is publicly accessible violates the First Amendment.
FOR ONLY $28!
Featured Event
It’s the new year, and Yim Jae Beum is coming to town! After a sold-out show in Los Angeles last October, he is coming back to hold two U.S. concerts for the 2012 Lunar New Year. Everyone already knows this man can sing! He’s got an impressive resume, debuting as a rock singer back in 1986, releasing Korean classics, such as “For You,” and most recently, joining and winning first place twice on the MBC show, “I am a Singer.”
Seattle and New Jersey, get ready! We are happy to announce that we will be giving away TWO (2) pairs of tickets! read more
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