Too Many Guns?

I love action movies. I doubt direct correlations between pop culture violence and real life (Otherwise every 80s kid raised on Stallone/Schwarzenegger flicks would have become Eric Harris or Dylan Klebold). But in light of the gun violence epidemic, maybe some new narratives should be offered through entertainment. Maybe instead of ordinary guys pushed too far and embarking on violent revenge, how about violent guys giving up on revenge and seeking a peaceful, ordinary life?

Hollywood movies set in or about Hawaii.

South Pacific (1958)
Starring Rossano Brazzi, Mitzi Gaynor, John Kerr

Blue Hawaii (1961)
Starring Elvis Presley, Joan Blackman, Angela Lansbury

Hawaii (1966)
Starring Julie Andrews, Max von Sydow, Richard Harris

The Hawaiians (1970)
Starring Charlton Heston, Tina Chen, Geraldine Chaplin

The Descendants (2011)
Starring George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller

Aloha (2015)
Starring Bradley Cooper, Rachel McAdams, Emma Stone

There's a pattern here. Assuming you can create patterns with an overwhelmingly monochromatic palette.

Recent photo of me with my wife, son and cousins from our recent visit to my father's hometown of Eleele on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. My family has been there for four generations. Altogether, we represent a combination of Japanese, Korean, Hawaiian, Filipino and European ancestry.

My Asian parent-style take on Kim Davis: See, many Americans celebrate a woman who doesn't do her job or follow the rules. That's why their children can't get into good colleges.

Unsung Hero of the Holocaust

This month, I get to take part in a retelling of largely unknown piece of history. During World War II, Chiune Sugihara, the Vice-Consul for Japan in Lithuania, helped more than six thousand Jews (mostly refugees from German-occupied Poland as well as Lithuania) leave the country by issuing transit visas so that they could travel to Japan. This brave action put at risk his entire career and the lives of his family members. The so-called "Japanese Schindler" was later named Righteous Among the Nations by Israel in 1985, the only Japanese national to be so honored. 

Despite all the ideal trappings for a Hollywood movie, Sugihara's story is not very well-known. It was the subject of the 1997 short film Visas and Virtue, which won the 1998 Academy Award for Best Short Film, Live Action, and a handful of TV specials and documentaries, but mention his name to most people and you will get a blank response.

Trailer for Visas and Virtue (1997)

On Thursday, August 27, I will be playing Sugihara in a staged reading of Chiune Sugihara: Unsung Hero of the Holocaust a play by Philip Pinkus. The reading is produced by Genesis Theatricals and is directed by Elayne LeTraunik. The Japanese American Service Committee (JASC) has very kindly offered to provide space for the event. 

I'm definitely looking forward to this. Besides the inherent heroism and the opportunity to shed light on a forgotten historical episode, I believe it is important to show that not all stories involving Japanese persons during WWII were ones in which they were the aggressors (in the case of the Pacific War) or victims (the Japanese American internment). 

Genesis Theatrical Productions presents a Dramatic Staged Reading of

Chiune Sugihara: Unsung Hero of the Holocaust by Philip Pinkus

Presented by Genesis Theatricals

The show features Dwight Sora as Chiune Sugihara.  Directed by Elayne LeTraunik

Thursday, August 27, 2015, 7:30 pm

Japanese American Service Committee

4427 N. Clark, Chicago

The reading is free.  For information or questions, call 773-800-1703

Given the destructive capabilities of a single, normal, human baby, a major hole in the Superman mythos is the Kents would have been dead within a week of bringing home their superpowered Kryptonian foundling.

I think if social media was around in New Testament times, there'd be folks posting, "But the Romans crucified so many Judeans. Why is everyone getting riled up about this one?"

The Budo Bum: Martial Arts Instructors Should Learn To Teach

The Budo Bum: Martial Arts Instructors Should Learn To Teach