This is quickly becoming a mirror site for Neatorama, but hey, the coverage of interesting stories from Asia is always fun.

There’s got to be more to this hip-hop thing if it’s appealing to older people on the mainland, right? <shrug> I have no idea if my parents would dig this, but maybe I’ll get them some G-Unit for Christmas.

I’m so angry right now.

A clip of this new documentary, Adopted, was in the last Asian American Survey on YouTube, but I didn’t pay that much attention to the fact that the stereotypes directed towards adopted Asian kids are what many of us who weren’t adopted also face. I suppose in some sense we can all relate very closely to them. Check out the trailer and click on the link above for resources and information on the documentary.

I have a few friends who were adopted, but we’ve never spoken deeply about the experience. I know that they identify heavily with Asians and are attracted to it, much as I am. And much like myself, it is an intentional and uphill battle. My cultural identity seems to work on some sort of Sisyphean gradient, and I suppose I need to wrestle now with how I pass this on with my mixed marriage and soon-to-be mixed child.

In my experience, there was a point in my adolescence when the thought occurred to me that my whole family didn’t belong here. That even though we called this place home, it didn’t feel like it enough. And it dawned on me that my parents were just as lonely and as displaced as I was.

I understand now that I am trying to do a balancing act of reaching back and looking forward at the same time, trying to recover as much of my identity as possible so that I can move forward with some confidence–a theology inspired by Jason Bourne, if you will. We can walk this road together, we are siblings…adopted or not.

It’s that time again, to dip into the vaults of YouTube and see what is out there in terms of Asian Americana…

First up is a new vlogger, Ken Tenaka, an adopted Japanese looking for his parents in California. I’m not sure if it’s a true story, but this lesson in Japanese seems to be a valuable lesson!

How To Speak Fluent Japanese Without Saying A Word – Ken Tenaka

Asian Stereotypes, as described by Dr. Richard Lee – all the more authoritative since he’s a doctor!

And for the more graphically inclined, Asian American Stereotypes

Future Rock Stars of America (Asian American documentary) – this is an awesome clip of Asian American musicians out there. I haven’t heard of them before, but I’ll be checking them out more and looking to support more Asian American artists in my area. Warning: language

Margaret Cho – Asian American. Whether you like her or not, there is no denying her talent and ability to speak and express herself.

Let me share this video I found on Neatorama (yes, I love this site) by first saying that I think it’s particularly profound in this season of Advent. I know there is a lot more political commentary going on than my brain can handle, but it’s sharp. Without further ado, I present Al Franken’s Supply-side Jesus…

Check out this commentary from a couple of years ago about this cartoon:

One of the great sources of liberal confusion is the cognitive dissonance of deeply religious Christians prioritizing discrimination against gays, and to a lesser extent abortion, over peace and poverty reduction; or as I like to put it, “why does Jesus Christ believe in trickle down economics”?[Warning: huge oversimplifications to follow]

Supply-side Jesus, as Al Franken calls him, is best seen in different responses to the poll question “Do you think that poor people can get ahead in this world through hard work and responsibility?” low- and and middle-income Republicans will say “yes”, while low-, middle-, and upper-income Democrats will say “no”. In the conservative world view, those who are wealthy in this world are entitled to their good fortune because they have earned it, while poverty is almost a sign of moral failing. This lack of emphasis on social welfare spending among conservatives stems from the Calvinist (and later Baptist) tradition that success in this world is a sign of grace. Also, unlike the Catholic and mainline protestant tradition, faith need not be accompanied by good works to achieve salvation. So there is no need to look out for your fellow man or woman who isn’t getting by; after all, as long as you believe in Jesus Christ,you’ll be saved, so why not just concentrate on converting their souls to God rather than giving them access to health care?….

I still think of Virginia Tech fairly regularly. My soon-to-be written paper on incongruent cultural identity formation resulting in violence is because of Seung-Hui Cho.

I recently heard that the prophet Jeremiah often re-told the horrific scenes of the destruction of Israel to the scattered people in order to re-live the trauma as a way to bring about healing. To talk about it and to re-visit it in order that we might move on.

It seems in the digital, Xbox 360 world,  we truly can re-visit that disaster that was in very strange ways. h/t to Hawty McBloggy for this post. and the following video: (and yes, feel free not to watch it as it adds a surreality to what happened that day).

I don’t know what to think. I watched the video a little stunned…it seemed a little comical and yet painfully magnetic. It’s strange to see a video game re-enact a real-life massacre. I’m not offended, but I…I don’t know what I feel. I am reminded of how truth is in so many ways, so much more powerful, visceral, tragic and meaningful than any fiction. And I still…grieve in my small ways.

Can someone help me find the address of the Cho family?

I like reading poetry in Korean. Even if it was originally penned in English, as this poem was. According to a collection of poems I recently picked up at a local Korean bookstore, this was originally found on a Catholic web site, but no URL is listed. Although Wired covered it some years ago. If you didn’t recognize the title of the blog post, it reads, “Did Jesus Use The Internet?” Click here for the original poem. But I’m going to update the English from the following Korean version…

Here’s how it reads in Korean:

예수가 인터넷을 사용했는가

산상수훈을 설파하기위해
예수가 인터넷을 사용했는가.
자신의 복음을 널리 전파하기위해
예수가 스팸메일을 사용했는가.

사도 바울은 성능 좋은 메모리와 업 버전을 사용했는가.
그의 편지들은 바울@로마.컴이라는 이메일 명으로
성경 게시판에 올려졌는가.
마케도니아에서 떠날 때 그는 문자 메시지로
‘가도 되는가’ 를 묻고 출발했는가.

모세는 바다를 가르기위해
전자 게임기의 조종간을 작동했는가.
그리고 어디로 가야 할지를 알기위해
위성 추적 장치의 도움을 받았는가.
그는 십계명을 손으로 썻는가.
아니면 영구히 보관되도록 CD에 기록했는가.

예수는 어느 날 나무 위해서
정말로 우리를 위해 죽었는가.
아니면 그것은 단지 흘로그램인가.
또는 컴퓨터 합성인가.
그것은 무선 인터냇을 통해
동영상으로 다운로드 받을 수 있는가.

만일 당신의 삶에서 신의 목소리를 듣기 어렵다면,
다른 목소리들이너무 많이들려
신의 목소리가 당신 귀에 가닿지 않는다면,
그렇다면 당신의 노트북 컴퓨터와 인터넷과
다른 모든멋진 도구들을 내려놓으라.
그리고 순수함으로 돌아가라.
그려면 신이 당신 곁에 있으리라.

Now, for those of you who don’t/can’t/ don’t want to read Korean, I’ll try to edit the poem and express what changes have been made in the language and notate what was omitted to an increasingly secular Korea. Again, if you want to see the original poem, refer to the link above. My changes and notes are in blue.

Did Jesus use the Internet at the Sermon on the Mount?
Did He ever try spam e-mail to send His message out?

Did the apostle Paul use powerful memory and the latest version?
Were his letters posted on a bulletin board with his email, Paul@rome.com?
When he left Macedonia send a text message asking “Is it OK to go?”

Did Moses use a game controller to part the Sea?
Or use a Satellite Guidance Tracking System to show him where to go?
Did he write the Ten Commandments by hand,
or were they archived on CD?

Did Jesus really die for us one day upon a tree?
Or was it just a hologram,
or computer trickery (the Korean word implies combination or duplicity)?
Can you download the video?

If in your life, the voice of God is sometimes hard to hear…
with other voices calling, if His doesn’t touch your ear…
Then put down your laptop, Internet, -and all your fancy gear-
And return to simplicity
-and then God will draw near.

***[The 5th stanza is missing altogether in the Korean version. Check out the original version to see why.]

It’s a nice poem…and now comparing it to what was left out brings up a few more issues for me, but because I first found the poem in Korean, it felt different to me than reading it now and seeing omissions for use in secular space. I don’t know when the original was written, but seeing how it refers to “modem”, I’m guessing it’s pretty old. The Korean version takes liberties to “upgrade” the vocabulary even in translation.

But even with non-Korean poetry recaptured in Korean, something about my mother tongue sings to me. For the transmission of the same ideas, it infuses a simple poem with different colors and meanings. Often, when it comes to that language, it speaks to my heart, even when I cannot find the words to respond. May I have the ears to hear.