BOSTON CHINATOWN BLOG

Search This Blog

Also next to Ginza

Posted by Adam Cheung on July 22, 2017

Get link
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Google+
Email

Get link
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Google+
Email

Uncle Frank's Tai Chi Tips

When I was doing Crime watch somehow one of the older American guys who would later learn from me was talking about whether Uncle Frank did Martial Arts. Now this is actually more than just American Stereotyping. Some Asians may groan and say, "Just because a person is Asian and is old doesn't mean they know Kung Fu."

But look, if you were to make a movie about the Drama in Chinatown, and it was made in Hong Kong.. frankly all the powers that be would have superhuman Kung Fu as well as their mental strategies and political pull. This is because, Jin Yong wrote a lot of novels where the people in these political positions had secret and powerful Kung Fu. Part of it is just for entertainment.

Plus, Chinese people like to explain greatness through practice. Training done after birth. Whereas Americans like to explain it through Divine right or genes. I.e. you are great because it is something you are born with and this power cannot be taught.

So the explanation for Uncle Fr…

Paying homage to Sun Sun

I went to go to Sun Sun and buy something from the store one last time. To be honest, although my mother took me in there all the time as a child, I haven't really been in there as an adult. I always go to the market that is just closest. And my wife usually goes to a bigger market with a parking lot and not always a Chinese one. Usually it's Cosco or Roche Brothers or some farmers market up by Billerica. And to tell the truth, that's what the traditional Mom and Pop Chinese grocery stores are competing with.

But what I'm noticing is a grocery store, is more than just a store, it is almost like a home or a club or like an ancestral house. I mean I was not the only one who had the idea to come pay homage.

And apparently Max Esposito of Sweetrickey has been working on a documentary which relates to the store through the family who owns it for four years.

This story is even more important than I realized.

"A-Woke" Asian Mannequin Challenge Goes Viral: An Interview with Co-Producer Michael Tow

I had the great pleasure today of getting to know Michael Tow more, after having seen his stage performance a few weeks ago. You may know him from his role in Warrior Class, that just debuted at Lyric Stage Company in Boston. Or maybe you've seen him in his film East of Hollywood. His acting style and accolades as an Asian in the media and theater are aspects to aspire to, certainly. However, I would like to call to attention his latest accomplishment, and a most powerful one at that.

Tow educated me on a bit of background. Having grown up in Brookline in a mostly white community at the time, he gave me some insight to some of his experiences dealing with identity and racial issues. We unpacked in detail some of the depths of this in his own Mannequin Challenge video to the Asian community, which he co-produced with Teja Arboleda:

Tow expresses and reacts with great purpose to some of the recent incidents the media has aimed at us as Asians, armed with hate and carele…

Powered by Blogger