Here’s a 10 minute short film about San Francisco’s Chinatown. This piece captures the the essence of the area from the 1840’s to the present. Lots of great historical photos and footage throughout the years from the Gold Rush Days to the 1906 Earthquake to WWII and more. Lots of changes from the days of the Chinese Exclusion Act.
Chinatown Rising
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By Vanessa Mancao
Video by Jason Lee
Part of Turtlistmedia.com‘s Summer Sessions project, Michelle Martinez performs an acoustic cover of Shontelle’s “Impossible”, accompanied by Summer Breeze on guitar and made possible by the support of TaiwaneseAmerican.org.
Hailing from the Bay Area, Michelle Martinez is a passionate and contemporary vocalist who likes to let her fun and sassy personality translate in her songs. She has been singing since she was 2-years-old and hasn’t stopped making a name for herself. Her funky, feel-good vibe has attracted good attention and has help thrust her career into the mainstream. She opened for Colby O’Donis and Donnie of MTV’s “Making of the Band.” Michelle is continuing to pursue her dream and doing what she loves: singing.
Also watch You & I by Michelle Martinez x summerbreeze
Impossible by Michelle Martinez x Summerbreeze
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If you’re in the SF Bay Area, check out GO! OHANA this week. GO! OHANA is RAMA’s monthly APA music and art show. Emceed by Ryan Takemiya, the event showcases independent Pan Asian art on a one-of-a-kind stage at La Pena Cultural Center. Here’s this month’s line up:
The Magic of Chin-Chin
Growing up in the Bay Area, his fellow magicians dubbed him “Master Prodigy” for his great aptitude in the art of magic at a very early age. Soon the master prodigy became a master. Three times awarded “Stage Magician of the Year” in San Francisco, Chin-Chin has become the most awarded magician in the Bay Area. He combines the art of illusion with a hilarious and dynamic personality and intertwines a message of love and respect to present a show all audiences can enjoy.
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You’ve seen his music videos for Nothing On Me and Summer Day in the Bay. Now see him perform live.
Infinity Funk Project
The Infinity Funk Project, based out of San Francisco, Ca stand by the phrase “four funky emcees collaborating as one.” Mikey Manifest, Viberoc, Sol Solution, and Mild Mannerd J assembled in August of 2007. Coming together to touch people and make a heart beat in their city, the bay area and worldwide. Bringing their own individual styles through hip hop, feel good music, and a taste of funk back into the modern everyday culture.
ALICE TONG
Alice Tong, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, is currently touring the country to promote her 2nd Album “Please Be Brave Before the Lions They Come”, and will be joining us in Berkeley as she returns home to the Bay Area. Alice’s music has been described as “Absolutely soulful…her voice and music a long time coming for Asian Americans — something we have never heard before.”- Karen Lin, video producer
GO!OHANA
Thursday, June 24th
7:30pm
La Pena Cultural Center
3105 Shattuck Ave
Berkeley, CA
Admission $8, cash only
Doors open at 7:00pm
Food and Drink!
Free Raffle!
Bringing you the finest and most innovative independent Pan Asian artistic talent at exciting concerts and events. Here’s some performances for the last Go! Ohana.
GO!OHANA April 2010: Jack Tung – Life at Sadowa
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GO!OHANA April 2010: The Like Me’s – Sva Rom Monkiss
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For readers in the San Francisco area on Memorial Day Weekend, drop by the 2010 Asian Rock Fest. Founded in New York City in 2004, the annual Asian Rock Fest brings together established Asian American artists from all over the US, to celebrate the annual Asian Heritage Month of May in an in-your-face, louder-than-your-parents’-soft-jazz kinda fashion. So throw down your medical school paper and your scientific calculator for one night and scream f#@k the stereotypes. THIS is how Asians rock!
The 2010 Asian Rock Fest lineup:
Johnny Hi-Fi – 11:30pm
Lion Riding Horses – 10:45pm
United High – 10:00pm
Jack Tung – 9:15pm
**This show is 21+. Please bring your ID to the show.
Saturday, May 29 from 9:00 pm to 12:00 am
Tickets $8 at the door.
DOORS OPEN at 8pm.
Get more info here.
Johnny Hi-Fi at 2009 Asian Rock Fest
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If you’re in the San Francisco area this weekend, go over to the Alice Tong Album Release Party. As a social worker, Alice Tong has provided therapy to survivors of domestic violence, rape, shootings, and stabbings. This intense direct service work has informed her development as a musician, and can be heard both in the depth of her lyrics and the sincerity of her performances. Receiving her Masters in Social Work from Columbia University, and her Bachelors of Arts in Ethnomusicology (World Music) from UCLA, Alice has used her strengths in both disciplines to co-produce an all-original indie folk rock album with Los Angeles producer/engineer Glenn Suravech. Mr. Suravech has worked with artists such as Ben Harper, Bob Dylan, and Brett Dennen. On this new album, Alice performs as a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist on each song, and is backed by a host of extremely talented LA and Bay Area musicians. “Please Be Brave Before the Lions They Come,” is set to be released Sat. May 29, 2010 at 9pm at San Francisco’s premiere singer-songwriter venue, Hotel Utah. Pre-sale tickets available for $10 here
Alice will be accompanied by her amazing LA band, including:
-Miles Senzaki on drums/percussion
-Patrick Taylor on bass
-Nate Lapointe on pedal steel, mandolin, and guitar
-Claire Courchene on cello and trombone
-Albert Chiang on vocals and guitar
-Mei-Ling Murray on vocals
She’ll also be touring with her band. Help fund the Alice Tong West Coast Tour.
Opening acts will include local talent Gyasi Ross, who combines hip-hop, folk, and jazz; along with L.A. favorites Andrew Figueroa Chiang and the Blazing Rays of the Sun, whose set includes soul-driven R&B and folk sounds; as well as DJ: +he Op+imist+ spinning on the decks.
Alice Tong Interview with channelAPA.com
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What if China invaded the USA in the future? The trailer for Beijing, California from Asian American Theater Company offers a compelling look at this scenario. Here’s more about the play:
Beijing, California is an unflinching study of one nation’s invasion by another–but this time, the victim is not Iraq or Afghanistan; rather, it is America, and the invader is China. As playwright Paul Heller noted in his January 29, 2009 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle’s 96 Hours, “I hope the audience members will look at their own values and their perceptions of other countries–and how those might change if we were the ones being invaded. What I think we’ll see is that Americans would act like everybody else in the world if they became citizens of a Third World country.”
The play’s futurist scenario takes place in 2050, when Katrina-like disasters and a series of financial meltdowns lead to America’s collapse. The audience follows a series of characters and stories in the Bay Area over a span of 50 years, and discovers what happens to American values in the aftermath of foreign occupation.
Beijing, California contains three interwoven plots, each exploring a different aspect of the Chinese invasion. In one storyline, we follow the presidents of the U.S. and China as their deep, long-term friendship is shattered by China’s ascendance and America’s deterioration. In another storyline, we examine a family amidst America’s economic wreckage. Living on a Third World income, they are forced into a shocking business decision. The final storyline focuses on a Chinese American translator who must navigate a San Francisco segregated into Baghdad-like militarized zones, as she attempts to expose a terrible crime.
Beijing, California opens July 1, 2010, and runs for three weeks, through July 17, 2010, at the Thick House, 1695 18th Street, San Francisco. This will be the world premiere of this play. Get tickets here. Last year, this group did Fayette Nam
Beijing, California trailer
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