foundasian.org

Donnie Yen (“Hero,” “Kill Zone”), Collin Chou (“The Matrix” trilogy, “The Enforcers”) and Louis Koo (“Robin-B-Hood,” “Zu Warriors”) star in FLASH POINT (www.flashpointthemovie.com), a thriller opening March 14 in San Francisco, LA and NYC.  Directed by Wilson Yip (“Kill Zone”) the movie features intense performances by seasoned martial arts experts and some of Asian action’s brightest stars is a visually stimulating cavalcade of destruction and mayhem that highlights pulse-pounding combat with a new dynamic mixed martial arts action style.

Like the flashy sports car he controls, Detective Sargent Jun Ma (Donnie Yen) of the Serious Crimes Unit is precise and brutal.  Determined to destroy his criminal nemeses Archer, Tiger and Tony (Collin Chou), a gang of three powerful brothers, Jun Ma infiltrates their corrupt organization with the planting of a mole, Wilson (Louis Koo).  When Wilson’s dual role is exposed, he becomes the last living witness to testify against Archer and now Jun Ma must battle to protect his partner from the murderous thugs to ensure they are put out of business permanently.

Join us as hapihour.org supports South Bay First Thursdays at Koji Sake Lounge on 48 S. First Street in downtown San Jose from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. $10 donation requested at the door. Happy hour specials include: 1/2-off appetizers, $5 cocktails, and $3 beers available from 6pm to 9pm.

First Thursdays is the South Bay spin-off of the successful Third Thursdays organization started in November 2003, with the first event in January 2004. Like Third Thursdays, First Thursdays (FT) is focused on serving young Asian and Pacific Islanders (API) interested in supporting community activities and organizations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Consisting of early-to-mid career professionals from the nonprofit, corporate, and government sectors. FT provides a forum for networking, shared learning among peers, and community service opportunities.

RSVP on Evite

The Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area will hold its 31st Annual Celebration and Installation Dinner on March 7, 2008, from 6 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency, 5 Embarcadero Center, San Francisco. Yul Kwon will be the event emcee and host, and Dennis J. Herrera, City Attorney of San Francisco, will deliver the keynote.

The 2008-2009 AABA board and officers will be installed at the banquet, and the AABA Law Foundation scholarship winners will also be announced.  This year’s board consists of officers Celia Lee (President), Garner Weng (Vice President/President Elect), Billy Chan (Treasurer), Malcolm Yeung (Secretary) and board members:  S. Isabel Choi, Emi Gusukuma, Juna Kim, Reichi Lee, Eugene Pak, David Sohn, Ted Ting, Marissa M. Tirona and Yu-Yee Wu.

For more information about the event, visit the AABA website or contact Lisa Herico at lherico@gmail.com or (415) 956-2828.

The Filipino Veterans Equity Bill is at risk in Congress, leaving Filipino veterans of WWII stripped of their U.S. veteran status, even though they fought for our country. This injustice has gone on for more than 60 years and many of these veterans may pass away before seeing their sacrifices recognized.

Filipinos for Affirmative Action asks you for your urgent support in calling Members of Congress and urging them to support this bill.

The leadership of the Senate and the House need to know that they must pass the current bill, S. 1315 in the Senate, and HR 760 in the House, and opposed amendments that would water down the legislation. Our veterans deserve nothing less.

Send a letter of support now.

PHOTO: Regino Barreda, center, a Filipino World War II veteran living in Virginia Beach, arrives in Washington on Wednesday for a hearing with the Senate’s Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. (John H. Sheally II/The Virginian-Pilot)

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From my buddy, the talented Glenn Fajardo … Six local bands. Six local filmmakers. Locus Arts has teamed them up at random to produce six no-budget videos — and the teams worked frantically to beat the deadline and make it to the first Do It Yourself Music Video Premier Night on Friday, February 15, 2008. They’ll not only premiere the six music videos, but also have performances from the bands and commentary from the video directors. Event takes place at Root Division, 3175 17th St. at South Van Ness. Doors open at 7pm and show starts at 8pm. Admissionis $10-$15 sliding scale.

Co-presented by the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, the new videos will co-premiere at www.asianamericanmedia.org , and through February 29 the videos will be participating in an exciting online contest. Visitors to the site will be able to vote on their favorite Asian American music video. The public’s favorite video will win a spot in Music Video Asia and will be shown the evening of March 19, during the 26th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, taking place March 13-23.

Please help support your local Asian American artists do it themselves.

Brought to you by the filmmakers: Bernard Badion, Yasmine Gomez, Wilson Wong, Matt Abaya, Jasper Pugao, Jason Nou. Featuring the music of The Gold Medalists, Lumaya, Power Struggle, Say Bok Gwai, Kiwi and The Autonomous Region.

For more info visit www.locusarts.org, www.asianamericanmedia.org, www.hyphenmagazine.com or www.manilatown.org.

The Asian Law Caucus today announced the appointment of Mina Titi Liu as its new executive director.

“Mina Titi Liu not only brings experience, but a vision that will help take the ALC’s long and impressive history of protecting civil rights into the future,” said Monty Agarwal, chair of the board of directors. “She will be a creative, dynamic and thoughtful addition to the Caucus community.”

“We were looking for a leader that has a deep commitment to serving the community and a passion for justice,” said Caucus board member Karen Korematsu-Haigh, “Titi exemplifies those core values of the Asian Law Caucus.”

“Titi’s leadership and human rights experience is exactly what the organization needs,” said Phil Ting, San Francisco Assessor-Recorder and former executive director of the Asian Law Caucus.

Titi will start at the Caucus on June 1. She is currently the Garvey Schubert Barer Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she has studied the role of public interest litigation in social movements in China and the Asian region.

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Aspiring law students are invited to attend the Asian American Bar Association’s first annual “Legally Asian!” event — dedicated to sharing advice with recent graduates, college students and high school students about the legal profession, such as:

* What Real Lawyers Do vs. What You See on TV
* Why You Should Be a Lawyer
* How to Apply to Law School

Speakers include prominent Asian American attorneys, such as Yul Kwon, Winner of Survivor Cook Islands, San Francisco School Board Member and Boalt Student Jane Kim, Judge Erica Yew and Judge Edward Chen.

LEGALLY ASIAN!
Friday, Feb 22
8 am – 1 pm
US District Court – Ceremonial Courtroom (19th Floor)
450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco

Registration and Mentorship Lunch is FREE for all students who RSVP to ruy@apilegaloutreach.org by Friday, Feb. 15. More info at http://aababay.googlepages.com and www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=8064411542.

Critically-acclaimed Japanese artist Katsushige Nakahashi investigates history, war and memory with the construction of a life-size Kaiten submarine in the gallery of SF Camerawork, a nonprofit that nurtures artists, mentors youth and helps make San Francisco a destination for the exploration of photography as an artist’s medium.

Vivian Chan turned me on to SF Camerawork over drinks with Shanghai Sherry at a SOMA bar last night.

Katsushige Nakahashi arrived in San Francisco in December to build a life-sized simulacrum of a World War II era Japanese suicide submarine known as the Kaiten. The massive three-dimensional piece is made from 20,000 photographs of a miniature toy model constructed for this project and painstakingly photographed with a macro lens.

For Nakahashi, this enormous effort, undertaken with hundreds of local volunteer veterans, Japanese-Americans, youth and members of the public, is a cathartic and participatory act of storytelling in which the layers of historical narrative weave together with personal memories as the emotionally charged object takes shape.

The resulting Kaiten and an accompanying installation of Nakahashi’s On the Day Project, 7th of December, 2006 / Battleship Missouri, Pearl Harbor is on view at SF Camerawork through March 22, 2008.

SF Camerawork is the only U.S. venue for the Zero Project Kaiten. “This is quite an undertaking and significant leap forward for Camerawork to stage a major one-person solo exhibition on this scale,” says Camerawork Deputy Director and exhibition co-curator Chuck Mobley. “We’re quite proud to introduce Bay Area audiences to Nakahashi’s work.”

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