Saturday, August 29, 2009

DC Comics: The Great Ten

DC Comics Blog recently announced that a ten issue mini series featuring a group called the Great Ten would be published in November of this year. Why is this significant? It is significant because The Great Ten is a group of Chinese superheroes based out of the People's Republic of China. The group first made an appearance in DC's weekly series 52. They reappeared in last year's Final Crisis as well.

See the announcement here:
http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/2009/08/11/some-tuesday-news-the-great-ten

For more information on the Great Ten, click here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Ten

While Japanese manga has become a big part of mainstream American culture, there have not been many Asian characters that had their own comic book series in the American comic industry. One of the few (in recent memory) was a character by the name of Ryan Choi who assumed the identity of an existing hero, The Atom. Unfortunately, the series was canceled after 25 issues.

With China being a growing economic power and wielding influence in an increasingly global culture, it makes sense that a group like the Great Ten would be developed. However, to many Americans of Asian descent, this has been a long time in coming. Asian-Americans are always fighting for fair representation in media. While the Great Ten will be considered a foreign group because they are based in China, just having any type of representation in the comic industry is a big plus.

As for me personally, I like this group because they will (hopefully) be different than other comics I've read growing up. The fact that they are Asian is a bonus. Ultimately, if the mini series had a good story and good characters, that's all I care about. I'm all for diversity in the media but the product has to be good as well.

Speaking of Asian Americans in comics, I should promote an anthology of comics featuring Asian-American heroes called Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology. The anthology is available at online retailers like Amazon and bookstores like Borders.

For more information, go to the website here: http://www.secretidentities.org

Friday, August 28, 2009

Nintendo Wii as an exercise alternative

Around the early part of June, I was surprised AND fortunate to win a Nintendo Wii in a raffle run by a basketball league I play in. I'm sure I disappointed the many kids who also play in our league who wanted the grand prize of the raffle.

While I like video games, I wasn't overly excited about winning the Wii. After all, I'd had a Playstation 2 for years but hadn't played any games on it in a long time. I was actually playing more online games (poker, Mafia Wars, etc) and eighties video games (Pac-Man, Galaga, etc) than more recent games.

However, after thinking about it, winning the Wii was a blessing in disguise:

Reason #1
My mom used to play video games on our old Atari 5200. As she's gotten older and video games have gotten more complicated, she stopped playing. However, from playing Wii Sports with my friends, I knew the games were something she could learn to play. An added benefit was the games could get her a little exercise since the Wii Sports games require the player to move around a little bit. For multiple reasons, the doctor has told my mom to get more exercise so I always encourage my mom to walk more. Unfortunately, she doesn't walk as much as she should. However, I think the Wii can serve as an alternative on days my mom doesn't walk. I don't think the Wii can replace any exercise program completely. However, my opinion is that any exercise is better than nothing.

Reason #2
This reason probably applies to me and my mom. As we all know, weather affects people's moods and thus their motivation to exercise. Generally, San Francisco had mild weather but the temperatures have been in the 90's most of today. Because of the hot weather, I've decided to stay at home today (a benefit of being unemployed). I may go out to the East Bay to play basketball later tonight. However, with the warm weather, it could be a challenge to play.

For those days where the weather (hot or cold) is keeping you from getting exercise, the Wii can fill in. I've already played about 30 minutes worth of Wii Sports today. For someone who's in reasonably good shape, I know I'm not going to work up a huge sweat, build big muscles or get in aerobic shape just by playing the Wii. However, I think just getting up and burning a few calories is always beneficial.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

People ripping their clothes off....for JACK IN THE BOX?

I wasn't planning to blog today, but I can't help myself. I was just watching Ghost Hunters on the SyFy channel and the show went to a commercial break. On come this commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzHXOkY8N8I

I don't know if I would be more embarrassed for Jack in the Box or the actors in the commercial who were ripping their clothes off? While I can understand the purpose of the commercial and certainly don't mind seeing some skin, I'm not sure this was the best way to promote something. I'll have to see if this commercial plays during the daytime. I can't imagine this commercial would play well when the younger people are still up.

Perhaps Jack in the Box was responding to the Carl's Jr commercial (from several months back) featuring the lovely Padma Lakshmi (host of Top Chef) gets up close and personal to a burger:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8nJKa13sBo

Monday, August 24, 2009

District 9 = Blair Witch redux?

A couple of weeks ago, we were celebrating some friend's birthdays at a Japanese restaurant. We were discussing what we wanted to do afterward. After some discussion, it was decided we would go see the movie District 9.

Despite being a science fiction fan, I had no idea what District 9 was about. I had not read or watched any previews of the movie. In retrospect, that is the best way to judge how good a movie was.

I won't rehash the plot of the movie as you can get that from many other sites. I will say that the movie was certainly different than any other film that I've seen before. Whether that made the movie better or worst is certainly up for debate.

The first thought that came to mind after watching the movie was that it was partially styled like the 1999 horror film The Blair Witch Project. For those who don't recall the movie, The Blair Witch Project involved three student filmmakers that were filming a documentary about a local legend called the Blair Witch. The movie was recorded in a first person / documentary style and viewed through the eyes of the students as event occurred.

District 9 doesn't copy Blair Witch's style exactly though. The film is presented in a documentary style initially as people are interviewed about the aliens and the events revolving around the lead character Wikus. The movie then transitions to a news reporting style as it follows Wikus while he tries to evict the aliens (or Prawns as they call them in the film) from District 9. After all of this, the movie transitions into your typical summer flick as Wikus comes to terms with his situation (he's been infected and turning in an alien) and what he is going to do about it. The movie reverts back to being a documentary at the end as people are interviewed about the final fate of Wikus. In a sense, District 9 was a documentary, dramatization, news and action film all in one.

From a personal perspective, while the film was interesting, it wasn't a huge favorite of mine. I thought the initial documentary pieces dragged on for far too long and the section following Wikus trying to evict the aliens was a little boring. For someone who had no idea what the film was about, the foreshadowing of Wikus getting infected was given away (in my opinion) way too easily. However, I did guess wrong about Wikus involvement with the aliens. I thought Wikus would somehow side with the aliens in their evil or sinister plans. Alas, if you watched the film, Wikus himself was subjected to experiments and exploitation by various groups of people.

That brought up some other issues with the movie. There was very little discussion about the aliens and their background. The movie played for almost two hours but there was nothing about why the aliens came to earth and why they allowed themselves to be herded into District 9 (and later District 10). The aliens are presented in a menacing fashion initially, but Wikus befriends an alien (named Christopher Johnson) who promises to help Wikus become human again. So obviously, the aliens aren't completely evil.

The other unexplained plot point (it was somewhat convenient in my perspective) is what infected Wikus. It was explained by Christopher that the liquid Wikus discovered prior to being infected was gasoline to get the alien ship moving so they could go home. However, it is unknown if the liquid that sprayed Wikus was just a defense mechanism or the gasoline itself.

All in all, District 9 was a nice change of pace from your typical summer blockbuster as there was a little bit of everything in the film. I think this was the reason why the film generally received positive ratings from various reviews I read.

However, I think District 9 wasn't as good as many of the reviews stated. There were things that I thought were missing or unexplained which detracted from the film. All in all, District 9 was an ok film in my book. It wasn't horrible but wasn't the greatest thing since sliced bread. Check it out for yourself and see it you like it!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

America's Best Dance Crew - Martial Arts Challenge

I just finished watching this week's episode of the 4th season America's Best Dance Crew (ABDC) on MTV. This week was the Martial Arts Challenge week. The dance crews had to incorporate moves from various martial arts styles (Kung Fu, Karate, among others) into their dance choreography.

Alas, it appeared the challenge made things difficult for the dance crews. The first several dance crews struggled to incorporate the martial arts moves into their dances and were called out for it by the judges. Ironically, it was the final two crews that performed did the best in incorporating martial arts in their dances. Unfortunately, these last two crews were also up for elimination!

While the challenge may have hurt the dance crews competing tonight, I think it was a good idea. The show had Steve from Quest Crew (winner of the 3rd season of ABDC) present the various martial arts styles to the dance groups. Judging from the reactions of some members of the dance crews, it was clear they had no idea of what some of these martial arts style were.

It was great that MTV had Steve explain the various martial arts styles that exist. Most people are aware of martial arts in a general sense. They may have seen a Jackie Chan, Jet Li or Bruce Lee movie or watched a mixed martial arts fight. However, most people don't know the difference between Kung Fu, Karate or Muay Thai (three of the styles presented today, among others). Martial Arts is an important part of Asian culture and it was great to see this presented on TV to a large audience.

It may have been a conscience choice by MTV because the past three seasons of ABDC have been won by Asian-American dance crews. They may have been playing to the large Asian audience that may be tuning in. Alas, the irony is that the only all Asian/Asian-American dance crew part of this season's ABDC was eliminated during the first week. However, there are some Asian-American members that are part of the other crews.

While I don't claim to be a big hip-hop dance fan, I have tuned into the show because it was great to see Asian-Americans represented in something they are not known for. Asian-Americans don't get a lot of exposure in prime-time TV but ABDC is one of those exceptions.

Lastly, I think ABDC is the best reality show out there due to it's diversity. It shows people of all cultures doing what they love (dance) but also interacting and working together. I think ABDC has proven that people do not care who is performing as long as they are entertained. I hope that network TV and movie executives pay attention to this in the future. We have a big melting pot in the United States but it sometimes is not accurately represented in the mass media.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard - Controversy

The Angry Asian Man blog posted this today:
http://www.angryasianman.com/2009/08/paramount-doing-damage-control.html

According to the blog posting, Paramount Pictures has requested media outlets remove all trailers for the movie The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard which depict lead actor Jeremy Piven spouting some Pearl Harbor and Anti-Japanese rhetoric to motivate his sales force and then actor Ken Jeong gets beat up. This may be in response to protests which were held at Paramount Studios on Friday by various Asian-American groups.

Here's another Angry Asian Man blog posting on the trailer in question:
http://www.angryasianman.com/2009/08/hate-crimes-for-fun-and-laughs-in-goods.html

While I have seen the various advertisements for the movie, I wasn't really interested in the movie and never watched the trailer. Because of the controversy, I decided to watch the trailer that included the scenes described.

If you want to watch, the trailer is still on Youtube here but no guarantees it will remain there:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeZMNxB0BOQ

My take on the scene? While I am not personally offended like many people are, I think the scene itself was unnecessary. The anti-Japanese rhetoric brings up bad memories for many people. One group of people would include the many Japanese Americans who were subject to internment during World War II. The other people who may be upset would be the folks who lived through the 1980's. Many American auto workers (non-Asian I have to add) did not like the "Japanese taking their jobs away" because Japanese cars grew in popularity at that time.

This brings up the biggest problem with the scene. Actor Ken Jeong (the only Asian in the scene among the many people) gets beat up after Piven spouts his rhetoric. Many older Asian-Americans remember the case of Vincent Chin. Chin was beat up and later died when a couple of American auto workers mistook him for a Japanese person.

Wiki will do a better job of explaining the Vincent Chin case than I can: Vincent Chin Case

I think many people (Asian and non-Asian) may also think the scene is non-offensive, they say so without knowing the history of Vincent Chin and the memories that is brought up by this scene. Plus, there is a question to be asked:

What if anti African-American rhetoric (the "N" word) was said and a African-American salesman was beat up?

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Hunting Mostly Haunted Ghost Adventures

When I was a young, I had a fascination with ghosts and the paranormal. When I was in elementary school, the teachers would always give us these forms where you could order various books. I remembering asking my parents to order a lot of books. Among them were various books on talking about real ghosts and other paranormal activities. As I grew up, this fascination faded.

However, in recent years, I have discovered various reality TV shows involving ghosts and the paranormal. The general theme of the shows is a group of people go into a supposedly haunted location at night and investigate the activity over the evening using various pieces of equipment. Here's my take on the shows that I have watched.

MOST HAUNTED (Travel Channel)
This was the original show I discovered while watching the Travel Channel one day. The show is actually a British production but was picked up for play on the Travel Channel. As the first show I watched, I was fascinated by what the people were doing. The Most Haunted team brought minimal equipment (video cameras) but brought people who were supposedly "spirit mediums" that could sense or possibly talk to the spirits in the various locations. If you read the various information available on Most Haunted, you will see there is some notion that the show is fake. Obviously, I can't prove or disprove this notion.

However, as I have now watched other shows and compare them back to Most Haunted, I feel like Most Haunted is a little boring. The show has pretty much stuck to it's formula over the years. The show doesn't do a lot of scientific investigation. It feels like the team just wanders around aimlessly trying to contact spirits. All in all, while the show is one of first, it may have been surpassed by other shows.

GHOST ADVENTURES (Travel Channel)
If watching Most Haunted wasn't enough, Ghost Adventures debuted on the Travel Channel in 2008. The two shows usually play back to back on Friday nights so you get a double douse of paranormal reality TV.

When I first watched, the most fascinating part of Ghost Adventures was they used a lot of equipment. They used digital audio recorders and a lot of cameras to try to record any activity that might occur.

The interesting part of this show is the approach the team takes in communicating with spirits. The team takes a very confrontational approach which they feel is best. In the show, this approach has sometime not worked in the team's favor as some spirits have scratched team members or done other things.

While the Ghost Adventures team does bring in a lot of equipment, I feel like they overplay the drama a little too much. Of course, the drama is a part of the charm of the show. If what they present on the show is real, you're always curious what will happen to the crew when the continually use their confrontational approach.

GHOST HUNTERS / GHOST HUNTERS INTERNATIONAL (Syfy)
Ghost Hunters originally appeared on Syfy in 2004 with the spinoff Ghost Hunters International premiering on Syfy in 2008. Both shows take the premise of Most Haunted and Ghost Adventures to it's logical conclusion.

Whereas Most Haunted and Ghost Adventures focus an entire hour on one location, the Ghost Hunters team usually does two locations (occasionally three) in one hour. The reason for this is the Ghost Hunters shows minimize the drama and focus on the facts. If there is activity that is recorded, the team tries to find ways to prove or disprove what they have seen. Unlike the other shows, the team is shown analyzing evidence and the viewers get to see the most compelling pieces. With this approach, that is why the Ghost Hunters show usually do two locations in an hour. Sometimes though, you wish that they would have spent more time on a particular location.

All in all, while all the shows have their pluses and minuses, I enjoyed all of them. Is what we see on TV real? That is something you'll have to decide for yourself.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Introduction and Welcome

I am certainly busy! A good friend of mine had looked at my other blog Behind The Whistle and suggested I create a more general blog. After all, Behind The Whistle is a focused on basketball (and occasionally other sports) officiating and only certain people would have an appreciation for what I was writing.

My friend suggested I write a more general blog on my interests in pop culture and technology. After all, I do have other interests besides sports, basketball and officiating. After much thought, I finally came with with a title for the blog: THROUGH ABC EYES.

What should you expect from this blog? I'd expect my thoughts on the latest movie or TV shows I've seen, music I've listened to or gadgets I have played with. This will be fun as I have written reviews of various items on Amazon in the past and this will be no different. As always, please post comments on anything you're interested in or you want me to take a look at!