While it appears that acting opportunities are improving for Asian Pacific Americans in Hollywood, it is still a rare sighting to find a handsome, sexy Asian American male in a non-stereotypical role in mainstream television and movies. Unless you are one of the lucky ones cast in the TV series Hawaii Five-0, Asian American male actors are more often cast in roles as thugs, geeks, martial arts experts, or as tourists or characters with a funny foreign accent.

Nareth Chuon and Jason Peers, two young professionals in Los Angeles are on a mission to make a difference.

First, they spent their weekends and nights after their day jobs producing a health and fitness style calendar called the 2010 Asian Pacific Male (APM) Calendar featuring handsome and sexy Asian American men to raise funds for charity, with renowned photographer Jeff Sheng, one of the three original creators with Chuon and Peers. The calendar and the charity fundraising was a hit. 

Now, Chuon and Peers want to take their calendar and charity fundraising concept to television. They have just completed filming a reality TV pilot based on their experiences co-producing the calendar project, with hope that the episodes will begin production in Spring, 2012. 

Peers said the original project was a success because "people had never seen anything like this before." Before the

Time Magazine has named David Henry Hwang’s sexy and hilarious new play Chinglish the number three show out of the Top 10 Broadway shows of the year. Chinglish will feature special audience post-show talkbacks with the cast and creative team members at the Longacre Theatre in New York.

Beginning Wednesday, December 14th after the evening show, the cast will come out to answer audience questions. The mostly bi-lingual and multi-cultural cast will also be answering questions in Mandarin and maybe give a lesson or two. In addition to the 14th, talkbacks will be held after the show on December 20th, 21st, 22nd, 27th, 28th, 29th.

After the post-show talkbacks, head to the front of the orchestra and you’ll have the opportunity to meet the cast members.

Chinglish is a new comedy about the misadventures of miscommunication. It is the story of an American businessman desperate to launch a new enterprise in China. There are only three things standing in his way: He can’t speak the language. He can’t learn the customs. And he’s falling in love with the one woman he absolutely can’t have.

The Chinglish cast features Jennifer Lim, Gary Wilmes, Angela Lin, Christine Lin, Stephen Pucci, Johnny Wu and Larry Lei Zhang.

December 28, 2011

This one is all about Asian connections.

It began at Bellaken Garden, a skilled nursing care facility in East Oakland, where my mother, Connie, has been staying since August. I’ve been visiting there twice a week, crossing the Bay Bridge from San Francisco and popping in with potstickers from a nearby takeout restaurant.

For months, I’d seen this thin, white-haired woman seated in the lobby area, across from one of the dining rooms. After a while, we’d exchange smiles and hellos. I’d noticed her mainly because she always had a transistor radio with her. Being a radio columnist and occasional DJ, I asked what she was listening to. “Baseball,” she said. She was an avid San Francisco Giants fan, kept notes on their games, and kept their radio schedule close to her, all on a shelf of her walker. Her son, Jonathan, I would learn, works as a concessions cashier for both the Giants and the 49ers, so she was a football fan, too. We could talk.

I decided to do a little shout-out to her in my Radio Waves column in the San Francisco Chronicle, learned her name – June Kwei – and told her to watch for the mention. She appeared delighted, although I never properly introduced myself. Bad manners. (In Cantonese, “bad” is pronounced “kwei.”) Anyway, on December 11, the item ran, ending with “Holiday cheers to June Kwei.”

An exclusive interview with Jefferson Starship creator Paul Kantner will be posted soon - stay tuned! - AC Team

Jefferson Starship is set to perform its 2,000th concert!

Hear the music artists who helped defined a generation foused on civil rights, environmental awareness and anti-war activism.

Don't miss this rare, once-in-a-lifetime event at the Rrazz Room, San Francisco's Premier nightcub January 25-29, 2012. 

Paul Kantner, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and Jefferson Airplane creator will perform with David Freiberg, a former Jefferson Airplane member and co-founder of Quicksilver Messenger Service. The original band members will be joined by Grammy nominated lead vocalist Cathy Richardson who starred on Broadway in "Love, Janis," and keyboardist/bassist Chris Smith who joined the band in 1998 after years with The Supremes.

Kantner and Freiberg, descended from Jefferson Airplane, performed at Monterey, Woodstock, and Altamont with the Rolling Stones, sharing the bill with the Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin.

Kantner says that surprise artists will be added to the concerts to celebrate this historic occasion.