The Challengers @chethallengers - Tumblr Blog

#12: Asian combover?

Why are all the Asians males doing the "comb over" look now? I'm not saying I don't like it, but I wonder why it hit this demographic. Most of my male friends are starting to get this comb over look. Growing up I always associated the comb over with old white males but I guess the trend is to grow a comb over to look older and more mature.

It's interesting to see the evolution of Asian male haircuts. When I was in elementary school, it started with a bowl cut and bangs. The longer your bangs, the cooler you were. And then in middle school, boys would dye their hair and grow a tail in the back. If they weren't doing that, they would spike their hair. In high school, all the Asian boys started rocking the fauxhawk, cutting their hair into a V shape and gel it up. And now, it's the combover. I wonder what the trend will be like 5 years from now.

TIffany Wei

#11: Typhoon Haiyan

In early November, a strong cyclone hit Southeast Asian countries causing mass destruction. This cyclone was named Typhoon Haiyan. Typhoon Haiyan was named one of the deadliest typhoons of the decade, killing an estimated 6000 people in one country alone. Unexpected natural diasters such as this can really be devasating. People lose their homes and loved ones in a blink of an eye. I could never imagine how I would deal with such a thing.

Why I think this typhoon is special is because the amount of people who wanted to contribute to this disaster. The proceeds for this years POP went to aid for the typhoon. A lot of organizations on campus also helped to collect donations to send to the Philippines. I love seeing everyone come together to support a cause like this. Keep up the good work!

Peace out,

Tiffany Wei

#10: Pop performance

We did an amazing job at Pop! I loved hearing the crowd laugh at our jokes and applause. Everyone really pulled through to make this performance great. During rehearsals I actually had doubts because I thought our script was short and during excusion it was very sloppy but when we did our final rehearsal on stage, I was like wow, we did good!

I think the only flaw in our performance was our lack of preparation for the prom scene. The dancing dragged out for longer than I thought but I loved how everyone went onto the stage and started dancing, even if they weren't originally part of that scene.

Overall, it was very fun final. I really appreciate how hard everyone worked to put this performance together on such short notice. I know our class didnt have a lot of time to prepare because everyone had different schedules. I'm really proud of us!

Love,

Tiffany Wei

#12- The Final Post. P.O.P

Alright. Time to talk about P.O.P [Producing our Power]

This entire thing... I'm pretty sure a majority of us felt the same way in the beginning of this entire thing... We were lost and feeling like this was stupid and unneeded. During class sessions on this we would be so quiet and unsure. It really felt like a hassle.

Then, we started to make progress. Slowly but surely, we were making progress. We finally got an idea out. A parody on Mean Girls. Not everyone was completely in it. I'm pretty sure a majority of us didn't mind that we were doing this because it was a starting point.

Now, that starting point seriously became something. This P.O.P thing, it didn't feel as bad as it originally did. When they asked for actors and such, I decided I'd be the guy to take on the burden of getting another box checked off the list. The more it progressed, the more I got into it. Suddenly, it wasn't a hassle. I was having fun with this.

Being in the Music Crew as well as an Actor was a bit of a stress. I had to memorize lines and then we had to organize what we were going to do for the Music Crew's part to the play. Honestly, we were just as lost in the beginning of getting that arranged as we were when the initial P.O.P preparations began. Yet, just like that beginning to P.O.P preparations, things quickly found its footing and we were practicing what we felt we were comfortable performing as the Music Crew.

Honestly, I felt at home being on stage and performing music. I like the attention, haha.

Anyhow, major props go to:

Kirstie, of course for being able to direct the entire production.

Vinny, for being the head up in the booth.

Irene and the IAs for their guidance.

Script Crew, for giving birth to the play

Prop Crew, for giving the play its aesthetics

Dance Crew, for giving the play its flair

Actors, for giving the play its life.

And, the Music Crew, for giving me a damned good time playing piano up stage with a little band. It was awesome jamming with you guys.

The whole P.O.P really did come together. We really did end up "Producing our Power" and I'm really glad I was able to put my part into it. Kudos to everyone. It was a great semester.

-JCBeats [Jairus Cambe]

Just for AAS.

#11- Midterm [Post-Event]

Here you have one of the performances at SPAM. This particular performance has a friend of mine on the piano, his name is Sebastian! He's Filipino and as you can see from the video provided, he's a great singer. As previously mentioned in one of my posts, Asian Americans in the 'music scene' are becoming more prominent. We are showcasing our talent and we are giving America a taste of our skills.

With events like these, Asian Americans are exposing themselves to the music scene and making a name for themselves. Adapting to the culture through the music and incorporating their own tastes gives it a bit of the feel that Iron Chef did, just, it's the other way around. In Iron Chef, we took an Asian dish and added American 'toppings' to it. Here, you would have American songs with Asian 'styles' added.

The overall event was great. There was a raffle that I participated in... But, I bought the ticket when they already announced the winner... The seller is an asshole for not telling me ahead of time.

-JCBeats [Jairus Cambe]

#11 POP

POP went better than I expected. The days leading up to our performance was quite nerve racking, I thought we were unprepared because we legitly only practiced the days we went to class, which was not a lot. I am proud of our class and I really enjoyed being the class. I felt by the end of our performance I got to know everyone a little bit more or at least interact with others I did not get to in the beginning of the class. We chose to show the audience us as Asian Americans and a few stereotypes here and there through our rendition of Mean Girls. Overall, everything worked out in the end and I think we all did very well in working together and pulling off the show! I am thankful to have taken this course and have learned a lot also making new friendships. -Kristy Ngo

Stereotypes

Everytime I am watching a movie I get so surprised and happy to see a fellow Asian/Asian American. I feel proud that they got the part and we are being more known in the industry. In Avatar The Last Airbender, I was really hoping that the main character would be Asian and he was not at all. I felt the part was supposed to at least be some part Asian. Most parts that we do get end up having a kung fu scene, that is the most popular part to get. If not we are those really smart nerdy prodigy kid or the shy types that don't speak up. Wong Fu has made a video that I thought was pretty hilarious because it was true. -Kristy Ngo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN8E8L5c9WI

Lorde and the boyfriend

Just doing my usual internet browsing and spotted and article talking about Lorde and her new boyfriend the other day. The was much controversy and is still going on because her boyfriend is: Asian. Looking at pictures he has the stereotypical appearance; skinny, long, not too good looking. I think he does have his charms and dresses quite fashionably however. She is a young girl but seems she is quite mature and is confident. The controversial thing I would say more is the he is 26 years old. People these days should not be judging anyone's race nowadays. There needs to be more acceptance of biracial couples because they do happen and it is their own relationship[ which does not include you. I hope that her boyfriend does not feel anything towards the comments about again the stereotypical comments. In these times, we all should be accepting and fair to everyone. -Kristy Ngo

Iron Chef

Our group did food from the Philippines and we chose to make chicken adobo! We had to incorporate some part of the American culture to the Filipino culture. How we did that was by making the adobo sauce and putting it onto fried chicken. Overall, I think that our group did well. We could have done a bit better if there was more time but it was not too bad! Everyone worked together, we made the sauce and helped each other with parts of what to say in our presentation. I enjoyed the Korean group's story and the Japanese group's dish! -Kristy Ngo

Chinese Cinderella

I remember back in high school I picked up this book called "Chinese Cinderella: The Secret Story of an Unwanted Daughter" by Adeline Yen Mah. It was an autobiographical so she wrote about her life growing up in China, her name was Adeline whose mother had died while giving birth to her. Her family said that it was bad luck and did not give her any attention. Adeline's dad got remarried and the woman did not like her at all so she was always abused. The story was such a great read and was very touching, while being in this Asian American Studies class I remembered this book when we talked about Vincent Chin and how he was unfairly treated with his attackers not getting a fair sentence they deserved. -Kristy Ngo

Music Videos

So awhile back there was this music video that came out called Asian Girlz by Day Above Ground. Literally while watching and listening to the lyrics I was thinking uh no way you are making a song about this! I am an Asian girl myself and I totally got offended. I didn't take it too into heart but I just mainly questioned WHY!? Then there is another music video that comes out called .. Chinese Food by Allison Gold. Why so awkward and creepy first of all. Both of these songs has caused a lot of uproar on how it is racist and discriminating to Asians. "Now I am going to go eat Panda Express" Panda Express is not actual Chinese food. If the guy who created the song thought this would beat Friday, I think like Friday better. -Kristy Ngo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWLhrHVySgA

Sriracha

Sriracha, the name many know. A popular hot sauce actually has a successful story to it. The man who created this hot sauce was David Tran, during the war when communists took power in South Vietnam, he fled with his family to the U.S. He settled in Los Angeles but couldn't find a job or a hot sauce he liked. So he created this hot sauce later becoming known as Sriracha.Tran never thought it would get this popular but has made millions. There is actually a documentary out on this famous hot sauce, the link will be down below if anyone is interested or are fans! I hope the the production can continue! My parents immigrated from Vietnam as well and they came to America so they could have a better future as well as their children, which is my sister and I. I find that his success is awesome because like my parents there are many others who are similar, everyone is just trying to succeed. -Kristy Ngo http://vimeo.com/ondemand/sriracha/79918470

Blog #13 Yao Ming Tall - Why aren't you?

Now as i write my last blog, this topic was probably my most favorite one. I always wondered what was the average height of Asian men. Now knowing i have a lot of asian friends, i noticed how most if not all of them are very short. Compare them to my other raced friends, they might be the shortest. Well i considered how Yao Ming was like 7'7 and i know this other Asian basketball player that was 7'8 so i wondered what the average height is. Well this link describes it all, enjoy yalllll. http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/height-chart.shtml

-Alex Last Post Tico

#SWAG

Blog #12 CHINA INVENTED…. GUNPOWDER?!?!?-

I was scrolling down my google feed looking to learn something new about Asian culture. I simple googled chinas inventions. The first link was a wiki page titled," List of China's Inventions". Sure enough i clicked on it and found some interesting things, such as the compass, paper, and other stuff. But what shocked me the most was when i found out that China invented GUNPOWDER. i would have never guessed that. Now, knowing this is wiki, and knowing it could be a complete lie, i turned to google again to find a more reliable source. i googled," China invented gunpowder" and found this source that seemed pretty reliable. I don't know about you guys but it shocked me reading it. Give it a click and reaaaaaad. http://inventors.about.com/od/chineseinventors/a/gunpowder.htm

-Alex Tico

Blog #11 Google Search

Well as I'm laying down here, i sat and thought about how much we actually stereotype Asian Americans. I went to google to maybe look for all the stereotypes we give and find out if they are reasonable or not. Well doing this i started my search with," Asians are…" As you guys probably know, google does a shortcut bar with a whole bunch of relatable searches or predictions of what you wanna search, well as soon as i typed those two words. These came up. No Lie, google it and find out for yourself. the list goes like this.

Asians are bad drivers

Asians are annoying

Asians are white

Asians are good at math

This shocked me because i have done research on these things and proved each one of em wrong. So its crazy how these stereotypes that are even on googles pop up screen are all false and simply an assumption

- Alexander TYCO TICO TEEKO

Did you know...?

That ketchup originated from China!? Yup, thaaaat's right. You could read more about the history of it in the article below. I stumbled upon this before because I was curious of what ketchup actually was made from until they came up with this Heinz recipe. It used fermented fish sauce in the earlier ketchup's, yeah kinda weird but hey! I am Vietnamese and in my household we do use fish sauce for quite a lot of things, wonder what else it could be used for haha. But this relates because we see how different things like food of the Asian culture gets incorporated into the American culture. -Kristy Ngo http://www.history.com/news/hungry-history/ketchup-a-saucy-history

theunitedscholars

Blog #8 Asian is good at math?

This happens almost “Every Time” to people when I told them that I failed my calculus class-“what? But you are Asian!!”The funny thing is that even my boss from my work who also is an Asian said that as well. I was not feeling offended or anything at all but just...

chethallengers

BLOG #10 I FEEEEL YOUUUU

I totally understand where you're coming from. Although I'm not Asian at all, i go through the complete opposite thing you do. Its crazy how people judge without knowing you at all. Just by skin color pretty much. Since i am Latin, people get really shocked when they find out i am good at math. I think you're blog was great because it talked about something that goes on a lot but rarely gets brought up in discussions. I think we should never judge how smart someone is by their race ever.

-ALEX ALEX ALEX TIIIIICOOO *pronounced T KO*

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

The Challengers