Author Archives: John

About John

I'm a Taiwanese-American and was born & raised in Western Massachusetts, went to college in upstate New York, worked in Connecticut, went to grad school in North Carolina and then moved out to the Bay Area in 1999 and have been living here ever since - love the weather and almost everything about the area (except the high cost of housing...)

Asian American Commercial Watch: Ronny Chieng & Old Spice’s “The Expert”

Posted on November 6, 2023 by John

This Old Spice commercial has been on YouTube for four months now, but I only recently saw it as an online commercial. I was blown away! It made me wonder if the commercial was airing on TV as well, and … Continue reading →

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Mill Valley Film Festival: ‘Invisible Nation’ [Taiwan] – Intro, Q&A & Review

Posted on October 17, 2023 by John

I’m not sure how I became aware of the independent documentary Invisible Nation, screening at the Mill Valley Film Festival, but I am glad I did. I was able to make the second, Saturday morning screening a few weekends ago … Continue reading →

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8Books Review: The Last Election by Andrew Yang

Posted on September 21, 2023 by John

I met the former presidential candidate and founder/co-chair of the Forward Party back in July at a political event, and one of the first things he did was hand me this book, The Last Election – a political thriller he … Continue reading →

Posted in 8Books, 8Series, Books, Entertainment, Politics | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Love in Taipei: Review, Paramount+ Promo code, and SF Q&A

Posted on August 22, 2023 by John

Earlier this month, Love in Taipei premiered on Paramount+ on August 10th. I’ve been behind on my blogging, but wanted to let everyone know about some things about the movie, including a free promo code to see it, a review, … Continue reading →

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8Asians Exclusive: Interview with Randall Park on His Directorial Debut of ‘Shortcomings’ & Review – Opens August 4th

Posted on July 31, 2023 by John

I had the great honor and pleasure of interviewing Randall Park as he visited San Francisco as part of his directorial debut to promote his upcoming film, Shortcomings, released by Sony Picture Classics and coming to a theater near you on Friday, … Continue reading →

Posted in 8mm Film Review, 8Series, Asian American Commercial Watch, Entertainment, Movies | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Paramount+: Official Trailer: Love in Taipei – Streaming August 10th

Posted on July 27, 2023 by John

https://youtu.be/uBGTJqYuV_w I first met author Abigail Hing Wen at her book launch event of her Young Adult novel “Loveboat, Taipei” in Menlo Park, California. As a producer (one of many), on the documentary “Love Boat: Taiwan,” I had a great … Continue reading →

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American Born Chinese: Jin & Amelia

Posted on June 29, 2023 by John

This blog post contains spoilers.

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Asian American Frozen Foods: MìLà’s “Soup Dumplings” found at Costco

Posted on June 26, 2023 by John

I saw a friend of mine post  this photo on Facebook after she went shopping at the same Costco in Silicon Valley where I shop. I’ve been aware of MìLà‘s (formerly known as Xiao Chi Jie) Xiao Long Bao (“XLB”) … Continue reading →

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Randall Park’s UCLA 2023 Commencement Address

Posted on June 20, 2023 by John

This past week, actor, comedian, writer, director, and UCLA Alumnus Randall Park delivered the keynote speech at all three UCLA 2023 college commencements. In this speech, he walks through his career ups and downs and how they shaped himself to … Continue reading →

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SF DocFest: How to Have an American Baby

Posted on June 9, 2023 by John

I had first heard of ‘birth tourism’ from a former co-worker/friend of mine more than a decade ago. When I heard that Chinese women were coming Southern California to give birth so that their kids could get U.S. citizenship, I … Continue reading →

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CAAMFest 2023: Review – Photographic Justice: The Corky Lee Story

Posted on June 2, 2023 by John

I was supposed to review Photographic Justice: The Corky Lee Story (trailer here) during or around CAAMFest 2023, but I let the screener link expire and the screening during CAAMFest was on Mother’s Day. I finally reached out to the … Continue reading →

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125th Anniversary of Wong Kim Ark Day [3/28/1898] – Celebration & Commemoration

Posted on May 31, 2023 by John

Another blog post I am woefully late on (but did post the video on YouTube shortly afterwards). I had attended the 125th anniversary back on March 25th commemorating and celebrating the landmark Supreme Court decision of U.S. vs. Wong Kim … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events, Discrimination, History, Local, Politics, San Francisco Bay Area | Tagged , | 1 Comment