Chu’seok

Chu’seok is a major harvest festival and a three-day holiday in Korea celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. As a celebration of the good harvest, Koreans visit their ancestral hometowns and share a feast of traditional Korean food.

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“Slumdog Millionaire” opens with our hero, Jamal (Dev Patel), getting smoke blown into his face by a police interrogator. Then he gets his head slammed into a bucket of water, and electrical shock is applied to his feet. English director Danny Boyle always makes Jamal’s fast grin, quick mind and mischievous pranks fun to follow. However, he never reconciles this fun with the film’s often-devastating spin throughout India.

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I’ve never been to Chop Suey before. When I walked in the door last Saturday night, I liked the place right off the bat because of its size. Smaller venues are nice because you get to be right up close to the artist. You can see hands playing the guitar. You can hear all the little imperfections — things you can’t hear in a bigger venue. The intimacy made some of the performers of the Hotel Café Tour look impressive. For others? Not so much.

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In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we’re running an atypical editorial this week.

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I would like to thank Ryan Pangilinan for his excellent article, “Hong helps Chinatown…” (in the Nov. 6-14 issue). It is the only piece that fully describes Mr. Hong’s contribution — both in money and work — to his community, a tribute to how an immigrant gives back to his community.

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TOKYO (AP) — Across the globe, people in city squares and living rooms, ballrooms and villages cheered the election of Barack Obama as U.S. president, raising hopes that America’s first Black commander in chief would herald a less confrontational America.

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The problem with rumors is that sometimes it gets too big and takes on a life of its own. The Northwest Asian Weekly first learned of former Gov. Gary Locke’s so-called ‘talks’ with President-elect Obama from a Chinese news agency that called to talk to the NWAW’s publisher, Assunta Ng.

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What was it that kept myself and other Obama supporters looking for just one more votes as we knocked on doors in the hot Iowa summer? What propelled us to ignore our frozen feet as we hunted for votes in the bitter New Hampshire winter? Why did we ignore our homework and yard work and other mundane tasks so that we could make countless calls from a crowded back room in a Virginia campaign office?

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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Mellissa Fung says captors kept her blindfolded for four weeks in an underground cave so low the Asian Canadian journalist could barely stand. Chains bound her hands and feet during her last week as a prisoner.

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The 14th annual MAP Bridging the Gap Breakfast was held Saturday, Oct. 18 at the HUB Ballroom on the UW campus. More than $70,000 was raised for the Multicultural Alumni Partnership (MAP) Endowed Scholarship Fund, which helps economically disadvantaged UW students from diverse backgrounds continue their education.

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ARAMARK employee volunteers refurbished the Rainier Beach Family Center on Oct. 16, a program of Atlantic Street Center, one of Seattle’s premier nonprofit organizations. The center’s much-needed programs and services support more than 3,000 multiethnic, low-income families in the central and southeast neighborhoods per year.

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The Wing Luke Asian Museum welcomes Ethelyn Abellanosa, new deputy director for operations. This is a new position created as part of the museum’s leadership transition. Abellanosa was the associate director for administration and human resources at the Henry Art Gallery, working there for the past 10 years during the Henry’s post-expansion phase.

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Naomi Ishisaka is the new communications director for OneAmerica (formerly Hate Free Zone), a leading immigrant advocacy organization in the region. Formerly the editor of ColorsNW Magazine for eight years, Ishisaka will continue her commitment to cover issues of race, diversity and multiculturalism through writing projects as well as speaking to and consulting with organizations interested in diversity, media and social justice issues.

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The 2nd annual Racial Justice Campaign Candidate Fundraiser held on Oct. 15th highlighted candidates Vickie Ybarra and Roslynne Reed.

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U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs and an honorary chairman of the Japanese American Veterans Association (JAVA), outlined his four-point legislative program designed to ensure veterans get the care and benefits they deserve. Akaka made his remarks at the JAVA quarterly luncheon at the Harvest Moon Restaurant in Falls Church, Va., on Oct. 18.

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In a move some consider an indication of what the public will come to expect of the Obama administration, President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden have named three Asian Americans to the Obama-Biden Transition Team — Chris Lu, Sonal Shah and Pete Rouse.

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