My First Dad Role

Last weekend, I did a short film called The Laziest Susan written and directed by Andrea Suwito (above with script).

I had a blast acting in a story about a Chinese American family having dinner where one daughter is favored over another.

It was quite monumental for me as I did my very first "Dad" role. I guess it was meant to be that a man of a certain age would be playing fathers. I had the chance to act with these fine young actors Ella Chen (left) and Jocelyn Liu (center).  Such fun.

Asian Americans for Prop 30

I went to a press conference urging Asian Americans to vote YES on Prop 30, which would stop $6 Billion in cuts to our schools this year and prevent tuition hikes.  California's wealthiest (those who make $250,000 or couples who make over $500,000 a year) will have their taxes temporarily raised for seven years. 

Civil Rights Activist and Zen Nun Angela Oh, Senator Carol Liu and me

I was there to present a world where $6 Billion cuts would affect our schools:  less English lessons, which would be deadly for Asians with a large limited English population; less history, which may mean leaving out stories of people of color in our curriculums; or less health education, which means putting our youth at risk for sexually transmitted diseases like HIV.

Assemblymembers Warren Furutani, Mike Eng, State Senators Ted Lieu and Carol Liu, Mayors Ed Lee, Jean Quan, Evan Low are among those those who favor Prop. 30.

The LA Times, Sacramento Bee, San Francisco Chronicle also favor Prop 30.

More on Prop 30 here.

Oh, Buddha! More from the LA Art Show

Like last year, China was well represented at the LA Art Show. Read 2011 blog post here. The China Pavillion was truly charming, particularly the presentation of Buddhas. Spirituality was absent at last year's show. 2011 exhibited more of China's nationalism. This time we're asked to look deeper into the Chinese soul.



These paintings of monks made me pause.


Some revered Tibetan Buddhist leaders were among the Buddha Show.



There were some naysayers who felt all this joyful Tibetan stuff was propaganda by the Chinese. Tibetan life under China is not as tranquil as these paintings portray. Point well taken. I noticed that His Holiness the Dalai Lama was not painted among the portraits. HHDL is, of course, considered an enemy of the state.

Regardless, the artist's skill of these paintings can not be denied. You can't tell from this post, but the next picture was HUGE. Maybe 20 feet by 40 feet. It's basically a mural--and this was worth the price of admission.