Category Archives: Multicultural events

Photo session for Globe & Mail of Toddish McWong

Snow and Kilts and Accordion and Toddish McWong at the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Chinese Classical Garden

photo by Deb Martin

The Globe and Mail is doing an interview profile on me for Tuesday January 17th, by journalist Sarah Hampson, and asked photographer Raphael to take pictures of me for the article.  Hampson asked me lots of questions about the hows and whys of Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner.  She wanted to get the behind the scenes story of my personal motivations, and my community work.  Here is a link to the Hampson article Haggis wontons Robbie Burns night meets Chinese New Year  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/relationships/news-and-views/sarah-hampson/haggis-wontons-robbie-burns-night-meets-chinese-new-year/article2304305/

The Globe & Mail editor had suggested having the pictures taken in Vancouver Chinatown.  I suggested to the photographer that we meet at the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Chinese Classical Gardens – currently nominated as one of the Great Spaces in Canada.  You can vote here for the Gardens

photo Deb Martin

Deb took some pictures of Raphael taking pictures of me.  The top and bottom pictures were posed exclusively for Deb, after Raphael had left, as we took advantage of the wonderful setting.

photo Deb Martin

This is me reading Robbie Burns' poetry to the pet dragon on my right shoulder.  Somehow, I thought this would make me more scholarly if we took the picture inside the Scholar's Study.

The Dr. Sun Yat Sen Gardens looked incredible with the freshly fallen snow, and the red lanterns set up for the Chinese Lunar New Year season.  On January 29th, I will be returning to the gardens to play accordion with my fellow musicians in the Black Bear Rebels Celtic Ceilidh ensemble for the Chinese New Year celebrations.  We play 2 sets at 2:30 and 3:30pm.  The parade starts at 12 noon and goes to 2pm, so be sure to visit us!

More photos on my Flickr account here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53803790@N00/sets/72157628876393873/show/

What to expect at the 2012 Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner


What to expect at the Gung Haggis Fat Choy 2012 Dinner…


DSC_3644_103213 - view from middle of the hall by FlungingPictures. picture by Patrick Tam from the 2009 Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dinner

Special for 2012
Every year, we invite new people to perform and co-host. For 2012, there is Chinese New Year theme emerging… because midnight will be the start of Chinese New Year's Day, Year of the Dragon!!!

Tetsuro Shigematsu
– Co-hosting duties are the responsibility of the inscrutable and irreverent samurai expert from the tv show “Deadliest Warrior” – better known as a comedian, writer and film maker.
  Tetsuro
himself is very intercultural, very Gung Haggis.  While he is technically of
Japanese ancestry, he was born in London England, and raised in Quebec. 
I first got to know Tetsuro back in
the early 2000's when he was a member of the sketch comedy group, The
Hot Sauce Posse.  Soon after he was the new radio host for CBC Radio's
“The Round Up” replacing Bill Richardson.

Fred Wah is the just announced Parliamentary Poet Laureate.  He is winner of both the Governor's General Prize for Poetry (Diamond Grill) and BC Book Prize (Is A Door). Fred is a true Gung Haggis-Canadian with both Scottish and Chinese ancestry, all dominated by his Swedish mother.

Dr. Jan Walls is beloved in both Chinese and Academic and other circles.  He is a scholar of Chinese language, as well as a former cultural attache for the Canadian Embassy in Beijing.  We love him because he performs the ancient tradition of Chinese clapper tales.  We are daring Dr. Walls to set the poetry of Robert Burns to the rapping beat of Chinese bamboo clappers.

Other
performers include Gung Haggis Pipes & Drums, and the Black Bear Rebels celtic ceilidh ensemble… 
More on them in later posts…

The Arrival

What are you wearing?  Kilts and tartans, as well as Chinese jackets and cheong-sam dresses are preferred. But our guests are dressed both formal and casual – be comfortable, be outrageous, be yourself.  If you want to wear a Chinese jacket or top, paired with a kilt or mini-kilt… that is great! 

We might have a kilt fashion show for 2012… we might have a Chinese cheong-sam fashion show… we will see what happens.  One year, one guest dressed up like a Chinese mandarin scholar.  Another year, two guests dressed up as cowboys.

Arrive Early: 

The doors will open at 5:00 pm, All tables are reserved, and all seating is placed in the
order that they were ordered.

If
you bought your tickets through Firehall Arts Centre, come to the
reception marked Will Call under the corresponding alphabet letters. 
We
have placed you at tables in order of your purchase.  Somebody who
bought their ticket in December will be at a table closer to the stage
then somebody who bought it in mid January, or on the day before the event.  We think this
is fair.  If you want to sit close for next year – please buy your ticket
early.

If
you are at a table with one of the sponsoring organizations: Historic
Joy Kogawa House, ACWW/Ricepaper Magazine, Gung Haggis dragon boat team –
then somebody will meet you at the reception area and guide you to your
table.

The Bar is open at 5:00 and Dinner Start time is 6:00

We
expect a rush before the posted 6:00pm
dinner
time. We have asked that the 1st appetizer platter be placed on the
table soon after 6pm.  Once this is done, we will start the Piping in of
our performers and head table.  We sing “O Canada” from the stage, and
give welcome to our guests. “Calling of the Clans” is done for sponors, and reserved table clans – if you would like to have your clan or group announced, please reserve a table of 10.

Buy Your Raffle Tickets:



Please
buy
raffle tickets… this is how we generate our fundraising to support
this organizations dedicated to multiculturalism and cultural harmony. 
Food prices have been rising, but we have
purposely keep our admission costs low so that they are
affordable and the dinner can be attended by more
people.  Children's tickets are subsidized so that we can include
them in the audience and be an inclusive family for the evening.
We have some great door
and raffle prizes lined up.  Lots of books (being the writers we
are), gift certificates and theatre tickets + other surprises.

FREE Subscription for Ricepaper Magazine:

Everybody is eligible for a subscription to RicePaper Magazine,
(except children). This is our thank you gift to you for attending our
dinner. And to add value ($20) to your ticket. Pretty good deal, eh?
Ricepaper Magazine
is Canada's best journal about Asian Canadian arts and
culture, published by
Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop,

This dinner is the primary fundraising event for:

The Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dragon Boat team
continues to promote multiculturalism through
dragon boat paddling events. Some paddlers wear kilts, and we have been
filmed for German, French, and Canadian television documentaries + other

Since 2001, Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop,
has been a partner in this remarkable dinner event. ACWW works actively
to give a voice to ermerging writers.  ACWW is the publisher of Ricepaper Magazine.

Historic Joy Kogawa House committee joined our family of recipients in 2006, during the campaign to save Joy Kogawa's childhood home from demolition.  The Land
Conservancy of BC
stepped in to fundraise in 2005 and purchase Kogawa House
in 2006 and turn it into a National literary landmark and treasure for all
Canadians. In 2009, we celebrated our inaugural Writer-in-Residence program.


The FOOD

This year haggis dim sum appetizers will
again
be served. Haggis is mixed into the Pork Su-mei dumplings which we introduced a few years. This year we are adding vegetarian pan-fried turnip cake to represent “Neeps and Tatties.”  Our signature dish is our deep-fried haggis won-tons served with a special sauce.

Soon
after 6:00 pm the dinner formalities begin. People
are seated, and the Piping in of the musicians and
hosts begins.  We will lead a singalong of Scotland the Brave and give
a good welcome to our guests, and have the calling of the clans – all
the reserved tables and large parties of 10.  This is a tradition at
many Scottish ceilidhs (kay-lees), or gatherings.

From then on… a new dish will appear somewhere around 15 minutes –
quickly followed by one of our co-hosts introducing a poet or musical
performer.  Serving 40 tables within 5 minutes, might not work
completely, so please be patient.  We will encourage our guests
and especially the waiters to be quiet while the performers are on stage.
Then for the 5 minute intermissions, everybody can talk and make noise
before they have to be quiet for the performers again.

Check this video from past year's Dinner


07:59 – 

The Performances

Expect the unexpected:  This year's dinner event is full of surprises. Even I don't know what is going to happen.  The idea is to recreate the spontaneity of the very
first dinner for 16 people back in 1998 – but with 400+ guests.  For
that very first dinner, each guest was asked to bring a song or a poem to share.  I
don't want to give anything away right now as I
prefer the evening to unfold with a sense of surprise and
wonderment.  But let it be known that we have an incredible
array of talent for the evening. 


Poetry
by Robbie Burns and Chinese Canadian poets.  What will it be?  We often
like to read “Recipe for Tea” – a poem by Jim Wong-Chu, about the
trading of tea from Southern China to Scotland

Our non-traditional reading of the “Address to the
Haggis” is always a crowd pleaser.  But
this year, audience members might also be reading a different Burns poem to
tie their tongues around the gaelic tinged words.  Will it be “A
Man's A Man for All That,” “To a Mouse,”
My Luv is Like a Red Red Rose,” or maybe even “Tam O-Shanter?”

The evening will wrap up somewhere
between 9:00 and
9:30 pm, with the singing of Auld Lang Syne – we start with a verse in Mandarin
Chinese, then sing in English or Scottish. Then we will socialize further until 10pm.  People will
leave with smiles on their faces and say to
each other, “Very Canadian,”  “Only in Vancouver could something
like this happen,” or “I'm telling my friends.”

Tickets now on sale
through Firehall Arts Centre

https://tickets.firehallartscentre.ca/TheatreManager/1/tmEvent/tmEvent526.html

Tetsuro Shigematsu returns as co-host to Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dinner

Tetsuro Shigematsu (actor/writer/comedian/former CBC radio host) will
be returning to co-host the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner.

photo


Tetsuro Shigematsu (centre) tells wild and crazy stories about co-hosts Toddish McWong (left) and Jenna Chow (right), as Todd and Jenna prepare to read the poem “Recipe for Tea” composed by Jim Wong-Chu, one of our traditional Gung Haggis Fat Choy poems – photo Lydia Nagai

We love
Tetsuro, and he always brings lots of great energy and enthusiasm to the
stage.  He is a very talented entertainer with a gift for the gab.  He is comfortable with a large audience.  And outrageous when he is old friends with his co-host and fellow stage performers.

Tetsuro himself is very intercultural, very Gung Haggis.  While he is of Japanese ancestry, he was born in London England, and raised in Quebec.  His wife is Persian… He speaks Persian as well as English, French and Japanese…  And his beautiful spirited children are Japanese-Persian-Canadians.

I first got to know Tetsuro back in the early 2000's when he was a member of the sketch comedy group, The Hot Sauce Posse.  Soon after he was the new radio host for CBC Radio's “The Round Up” replacing Bill Richardson.

In February, Tetsuro was a speaker for TedX – the topic sounds soooo Gung Haggis.  Chinese in Kilts?  A walking Oxymoron?

TEDxTerrytalks 2010 – Tetsuro Shigematsu – The Awesomeness of Your Contradiction

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHlSuPe0imA22 Feb 201117 minUploaded by TEDxTalks
Stick out your thumb. That's the thickness of my press package. If you flip through it, fanning past you would

This past summer Tetsuro has been very busy.  He hosted the Asian Comedy Night by Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre in June.

But in August, I saw Tetsuro in the play Salmon Row, about the history of the Steveston community in Richmond.  It was a brilliant play that told the history of BC and the salmon and cannery industry which also focused on the interactions of the non-White communities.  The audience witnessed the effects of the provincial legislation against Chinese workers such as the head tax and Exclusion Act, against the First Nations workers such as the Potlatch Law and Residential Schools, and against the Japanese fisherman such as reduction of fishing licenses, and the internment during WW2.  Tetsuro did an incredible job, playing multiple roles and

For 2012, we hope to get this UK born example of “Sexy Asian
Man” (as featured in Ricepaper Magazine) to wear a kilt and show us his
legs!!!

Enjoy this clips from Tetsuros's video website www.shiggy.com

Racism?


History of the World Part 1


China VS Japan – Who is Smarter


Thumbnail

UBC's Way Too Asian, Macleans

This is the video that went viral – a response to the Maclean's article “Too Asian?” – As
seen in the National Post, Global Television, Vancouver Sun, Geist
Magazine, Epoch Times, Vancouver Observer, etc. 

Tickets now on sale
through Firehall Arts Centre

https://tickets.firehallartscentre.ca/TheatreManager/1/tmEvent/tmEvent526.html

WINTER SOLSTICE CEILIDH in Chinatown

Kilts & Ceilidh Music will take over
the Dr. Su
n Yat Sen Chinese Gardens

for the Winter Solstice Lantern Festival\

image

Oh look – a teapot ad cup lantern set… There will be incredible lanterns everywhere…  speaking of which… I wonder if I can get a “kilt lantern”.  The18th Annual Winter Solstice Lantern Festival, in partnership with Secret Lantern Society.

I am very excited to be part of the 18th Annual Winter Solstice Lantern Festival this year. 
The Black Bear Rebels Ceilidh Music group will be playing traditional Celtic
& Scottish songs.  I have been playing my accordion with them for 2
years now, and they haven't stopped inviting me back, we have lots of fun, so I
must be doing something right. 

So we thought it would be great to bring this fun, and songs to share with the
Winter Solstice Lantern Festival.  And the chance to wear kilts in the
Chinese Classical Gardens just seemed like a very Gung Haggis type of thing to
do.

Organized & produced by the Secret Later Society, their artistic director
and founder is Naomi Singer – whom I first met when we were both awarded the BC
Community Achievement Award
.  Since then, we thought it would be great
to participate in each other's events.  Naomi has helped out with last
year's Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dinner (secretly of course)… and while I have
attended past Winter Solstice Lantern Festival Events at The Roundhouse
Community Cetre, Granville Island ad Chinatown – this is the first time I will
be a performer!

We will be performing 2 sets in the Hall of 100 Rivers:

6:30-7:30pm
8:00 to 9:00pm


Please wear kilts if you have them – we will do a photo op for 6:15 or 7:45

Here is the full schedule

6:00 pm Procession
 
Procession from Strathcona Community Centre to Dr.
Sun Yat-Sen Garden
Russell
Shumsky & Friends (drummers); Procession leader: Terry Hunter
 
 
Zodiac Courtyard
 
6:30 – 7:00pm             Russell
Shumsky & Friends (drummers)
 
 
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese
Garden
 
Hall of 100 Rivers
6:30 – 7:30pm             The
Black Bear Rebels                        
           
7:30 – 8:00pm             The
Real Treble Makers Choir                      
8:00 – 9:00pm             The
Black Bear Rebels                                              
9:00 – 9:30pm             The
Real Treble Makers Choir                      
 
Southern courtyard
7:30 – 8:15pm            Drum
Syndicate                                          
8:45 – 9:30pm            Drum
Syndicate                                          
 
Scholars Study
6:00 – 10:00pm            Replay
Your Tea With Me                                             
 
China Maple Hall
6:00 – 10:00pm            Community
Lantern with the Community Arts Council                                     
 
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Park
 
6:30 – 7:30pm             Saul
Berson & Paul Blaney – jazz duo
7:30 – 8:00pm 
           
Break
8:00 – 9:00pm             Saul
Berson & Paul Blaney – jazz duo
 

Shirley Bear is coming to Kogawa House

Shirley Bear is coming to Kogawa House

Sunday December 4th 2pm
Historic Joy Kogawa House
1450 West 64th Ave.

Shirley
Bear (L) shakes hands with Governor General David Johnston after being
awarded the rank of Member in the Order of Canada at Rideau Hall in
Ottawa November 4, 2011. Photo credit: REUTERS/Chris Wattie


Join
writer-in-residence Susan Crean for her conversation with Shirley Bear,
activist, visual artist, and elder of the Maliseet First Nation.
Shirley Bear’s writing includes an essay in the third volume of the
anthology of writing from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission edited
by Ashok Mathur. Two additional pieces are considered essential
statements on her art and spiritual philosophy. The first is the opening
piece in her book Virgin Bones (2006). The second is her curatorial
statement accompanying the exhibition Changers: A Spiritual Renaissance
(1989). In November 2011, Shirley Bear was inducted as a Member of the
Order of Canada. She lives on the Tobique Reserve (Negootkook) in New
Brunswick.

“Artists are the movers and changers of the world.
They have always been revolutionaries, creating change in thought and style
within their societies.”
—Shirley Bear, Changers: A Spiritual
Renaissance, Curatorial Statement

Historic Joy Kogawa House,
1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver

Sunday, December 4, 2 to 4pm

Admission by donation, with all proceeds to our
writer-in-residence program.

Please join us!See
more

www.kogawahouse.com

Fauzia Rafiq comes to Historic Joy Kogawa House Nov 13

Fauzia Rafiq comes to Historic Joy Kogawa House Nov 13


Historic Joy Kogawa House

1450 West 64th Ave.

Vancouver BC



Fauzia
Rafiq
    Writing for Social Change

Sunday,
November
13th


Fuazia Rafi’s
long-awaited novel, Skeena, was published in Punjabi in
Pakistan in 2007, and in Canada
last Spring. It is the story of a Muslim Canadian woman, written in
Skeena’s
own voice, which follows her journey from village, to Lahore, to Toronto
and,
finally, Surrey.  Novelist Tariq Malik, a
member of the Kogawa House Board , will host the event with me.




 


Joy
Kogawa –
Book Launch

Sunday,
November
20th


Sheena Wilson
launches her collection of essays on the
life and work of Joy Kogawa, Joy Kogawa,
Essays on Her Works
(Guernica). Wilson has contributed three
articles and
an extensive Kogawa bibliography to the book. Several of the writers
will be
present, as will Joy Kogawa.

Strombo wades in on the plagiarism issue of Ling Zhang’s “Gold Mountain Blues”

Plagiarism
and the Arts
George Stromboulopoulos comments on the current lawsuit
by authors Wayson Choy, Sky Lee and Paul Yee against Chinese born author Ling Zhang – and points out some infamous examples of plagiarism including George Harrison’s song My Sweet Lord vs He’s So Fine by The Chiffons. 

  

Here are some of the highlight’s from the article

Cold Play’s “Viva la Vida” VS Joe Satriani’s “If I Could Fly”

Strombo points out that unintentional plagiarism still gets you in trouble.  There are videos comparisons of Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” and “He’s So Fine”, as well as Cold Play’s “Viva la Vida” vs Joe Striani’s “If I Could Fly” which was was settled out of court in September, 2009.  Strombo also points out the successful lawsuit by the Isley Brothers against Michael Bolton, who had both released songs titled ‘Love is a Wonderful Thing’, only Bolton did it 25 years later.

More interesting are the literary references:

Teenager Kaavya Viswanthan, wrote a hit debut novel, ‘How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life’ which was found to contain different portions of two young adult novels by Megan McCafferty.

Stephen Ambrose’s book ‘The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany 1944-45’ was found to have copied full passages from six different books that had not been listed as sources.

The Terminator Movie VS Outer Limits segments

If story “ideas” are proprietary, then Ling Zhang may be in big trouble.  Strombo points out that James Cameron had admitted that the idea of the Terminator movie was based on ideas from “a couple of Outer Limits segments”.  Author of the segments was author Harlan Ellison who settled out of court and had his name added to the end credits of the film.

Disappearing Moon Cafe

Can it also be a coincidence that Paul Yee’s Saltwater City, Sky Lee’s Disappearing Moon Cafe, Denise Chong’s The Concubine’s Children, and Wayson Choy’s Jade Peony, were the 1989, 1990, 1994 and 1996 winners for the City of Vancouver Book Awards
The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy

Check out the listed examples of plot and character similarities that have been printed in news stories, from the Federal Court Statement of Claim

Sky Lee’s Disappearing Moon Cafe (1990), pg. 3

In grave danger, a young Chinese man is rescued and then cared for by a
beautiful girl, Kelora, of rare Chinese/ Native heritage.

Zhang Ling’s Gold Mountain Blues(2011), pp. 256-285

In grave danger, a young Chinese man is rescued and then cared for by a
beautiful girl, Sundance, of rare Chinese/Native heritage.

Sky Lee’s Disappearing Moon Cafe (1990), pg. 237

The Chinese man is old now. Full of regret for his long lost love, Kelora, he dies after a visit from her.

Zhang Ling’s Gold Mountain Blues (2011), pp. 511-513

The Chinese man is old now. Full of regret for his long lost love, Sundance, he dies after a visit from her.

Wayson Choy’s The Jade Peony (1995), pp. 52-56

Wong Suk is disfigured after working on the railway. He rescues a white
foreman who becomes gratefully indebted as well as a good friend. When
the foreman dies, his son passes along a precious piece of gold.

Zhang Ling’s Gold Mountain Blues (2011), pp. 70-72, 145-147, 377

Ah Fat is disfigured in a fight while working on the railway. He saves the
life of his white foreman. They become good friends over the years.
When the foreman’s wife dies, her will leaves money to Ah Fat’s son.

Paul Yee’s The Bone Collector’s Son (2003), pp. 62, 72-73, 79-80, 140-141

Fourteen-year-old Bing works as a houseboy for a white couple in Vancouver. He becomes a
target of white bullies, but his employer Mrs. Bentley rescues him.

Zhang Ling’s Gold Mountain Blues (2011), pp. 309-326

Fifteen-year-old Kam Ho works as a houseboy for a white couple in Vancouver. He becomes a target of white bullies, but his employer Mrs. Henderson rescues him.

Paul Yee’s Dead Man’s Gold and Other Stories (2002), pp. 73-78

Hard-working Shek buys a farm while younger brother Ping hates farm work and goes to the city to gamble. Shek pays everyone but Ping. Ping is unhappy. Ping kills Shek.

Zhang Ling’s Gold Mountain Blues (2011), pp. 235-236, 241, 243, 246, 247, 249, 328

Hard-working Ah Fat buys a farm while his son Kam Shan hates farm work and goes to
the city to gamble. Ah Fat pays others but not Kam Shan. Kam Shan is
unhappy. He disappears.

Allan Cho goes VAFF on Day 3 & 4

VAFF 2011 – Day 3 & 4 of the Vancouver Asian Film Festival

Allan Cho, guest blogger, checks out the films and Closing Night's after party at Wild Rice restaurant

Had a wonderful time at #VAFF2011.    Saw Anna
May Wong: In Her Own Words
.  
Screened at a number of festivals, Anna May Wong, documents the first
Chinese American female actress in Hollywood. 

The after party at Wild Rice
was unbelievable
.  Great food,
excellent drinks, and fantastic atmosphere.  
The chatter was pleasant.  Met
many wonderful people.  The night ended
on a strong note – Surrogate Valentine
– was a huge hit.  Audience members
enjoyed the jokes, laughing often at the witty dialogue and clever script.  

PROGRAM 7
– CHICKS ON FLICKS – WOMEN IN HOLLYWOOD: THEN AND NOW

SLAYING THE DRAGON RELOADED: ASIAN WOMEN IN HOLLYWOOD AND
BEYOND

Canadian Premiere
Director In Attendance
TRAILER

DIRECTOR / WRITER: Elaine H.
Kim

PRODUCERS: Elaine H. Kim, Asian Women United of California
Documentary | Digibeta | Colour | 2010 | 30 min | USA | English

Previous Screenings/Awards: San Francisco Int’l Asian American Film Festival 2011; Int’l
Women’s Film Festival in Seoul 2011

Slaying the Dragon Reloaded: Asian Women in
Hollywood and Beyond explores representations of Asian and Asian American in
American media to explore what has changed, what has been recycled and what we
can hope for in the future. Designed primarily but not exclusively for college
classroom use, the first half of the documentary examines Hollywood images of
Asian women from 1984 to the present to examine how commercial visual media in
the U.S. reflect or ignore the dramatic social and demographic changes of the
past quarter of a century. The second half showcases the exciting ways Asian
American cinema and new media such as YouTube seek to broaden, diversify and
challenge common notions of Asian women.

ANNA MAY WONG:
IN HER OWN WORDS

Canadian Premiere

DIRECTOR: Yunah Hong
PRODUCER: William Smock
Documentary | Digibeta | Colour/B&W | 2010 | 58 min | USA/South Korea
| English

Previous Screenings/Awards: San Francisco Int’l Asian American Film Festival 2011

Anna May Wong was the first Chinese American
movie star. She started out in silent films when she was 17, and went on to
make dozens of films in Hollywood, London and Berlin, co-starring with Marlene
Dietrich, Anthony Quinn and Douglas Fairbanks. She was glamorous, talented and
cosmopolitan. Yet she spent most of her career typecast either as a painted
doll or a scheming dragon lady. Filmmaker Yunah Hong paints a vivid portrait of
a Hollywood original, narrated in Wong’s own words by actress Doan Ly. Generous
excerpts from Wong’s films, archival photographs and interviews enhance this
richly detailed picture of a woman and her times.

 

Heart of the City Festival features concert & dinner at Ukranian Hall

Lots of cultural mix at Ukranian Hall
for concert & dinner event

Nov 6th, 3pm concert 6pm dinner
Ukranian Hall, 805 East Pender St.
Heart of the City Festival


First Nations, Chinese, Hawaiian, Ukranian, and British ethnicities and cultures mix together at Heart of the City Festival.  David Nahanee's First Nations family gave the opening welcome and drumming to open the festival.  Savannah Walling and Terry Hunter (back row) are the festival's founders and artistic directors.  Todd Wong (right) was guest accordionist.

William Nahanee explained to me that his family name is of Hawaiian origin, as Hawaiians had come to BC with traders, and settled into the Squamish Nation.  It is now a common name, he explained to me when I told him I had a friend named Nahanee in grade 8. 

I played solo accordion in the second half of the program.  I started out with the Chinese folk song Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower), then a version of Scotland the Brave.  Terry Hunter had give me an introduction to the audience mentioning how I am the creator of the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner, so I explained that I wanted to acknowledge that Chinese and Scottish pioneers were the founding pioneer cultures of British Columbia – not English and French as in Eastern Canada.  I explained that my great great grandfather had come to Canada and ministered at the Chinese United Church, just up Pender St. It has been a pleasure to participate in the Heart of the City Festival, and I wanted to acknowledge the immigrant groups that have settled in Strathcona and the Downtown Eastside.  The next songs I played were J.S. Bach's Toccata in D Minor and the St. Louis Blues, to acknowledge German and American pioneers to Vancouver, and especially Jelly Roll Morton who had lived at the Patricia Hotel over on Hastings St.


The Ukranian Folk Orchestra played a number of songs for the concert.  Conducted by David Ho, who is Chinese, most of the members are of Ukranian ancestry, and all share an appreciation for Ukranian folk music.  Instruments included flute, violin, lute, mandolin, guitar, drum & percussion.  Sadly, they no longer have an accordion player, which prompted one of the band members asked me to join them.

2011_Ukranian 003

Bortsch soup, made from beets – a Ukranian staple, that I first had many many years ago made by a high school friend.

2011_Ukranian 007

Cabbage rolls!

2011_Ukranian 010

No Ukranian dinner would be complete without perogies.  One of my favorite foods I like to keep stored in the freezer, and smother them with cream cheese.

2011_Ukranian 012

Here is the completed dinner with salad, meat balls, beets, cucumbers, cabbage rolls and perogies!

Allan Cho checks out VAFF

Vancouver Asian Film Festival is “Almost Perfect” with guest actor Edison Chen

Written by guest blogger, Allan Cho

I checked out opening day’s VAFF
program.  What a great festival – seems
like this year is the biggest one yet.  
VAFF is celebrating its FIFTEENTH anniversary (
Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society and Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop, and Ricepaper incidentally also celebrate their FIFTEENTH
anniversaries).   Great chance for me to
catch up with our old friends from at VAFF – its dedicated executives:
Grace Chin, Callan Tay, Kathy Leung, and
Clement Woo, and board director Iven Tse
.   
VAFF founder and president Barbara Lee was also there, and we exchanged
a few good laughs.   ACWW friend, filmmaker
and director of One Big
Hapa Family’s Jeff
Chiba Stearns
was also on hand.

The first film I saw was “Almost Perfect,”
starring
Kelly Hu, Edison Chen, and Tina Chen.  A remarkable film, about the complexities of
families and the wrenching realities of modern relationships and marriage, the
film won the hearts of the audience, as they gave a roaring applause at the
film’s end.  On hand was also Asian mega
star,
Edison Chen, who was greeted by curious observers and fans
alike.  I had a chance to exchange
greetings with Edison, and even had a chance to ask about his most
recent controversy
in Asia
, but he declined
comment.  Along with renowned actress
Tina Chen on a panel discussion after the film, Vancouver-born and
raised-Edison revealed that he is currently working on three music albums and
another film project.  What a hard
worker!

Check out the VAFF Website at www.vaff.ca