Yes, it’s true. I check Priscilla Ahn’s blog once a week and wish she would write more often or make an RSS feed or something. She blogs in spurts then goes offline, and when she left to tour Europe, I thought for sure I’d get to read more stuff from her. (She should be in Amsterdam right about now.) Especially after she made Episode 1 of her video blog from the UK… But *sigh* nothing in March… She came back a little in April, but just a little! More »

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The MAP THE SOUL Tour has moved to larger venues to meet the demand of ticket sales! San Francisco’s show has moved from Treasure Island to Masonic Auditorium. New York’s show has moved from Hiro Ballroom to Irving Plaza. Both shows are now all ages too. The Seattle and LA shows are nearly sold out! No reported changes yet for the in-store fan greet appearances… Updated tour info below! More »

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The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival kicks off Thursday nite, April 30, with one of Ningin’s film favorites CHILDREN OF INVENTION. Directed by Tze Chu, COI has been garnering praise film festival after film festival. No doubt you can expect it to be showing at a theater near you after it’s incredible festival run. So Yong Kim’s endearing TREELESS MOUNTAIN will be the centerpiece spotlight film, and the Oscar-winning Japanese film DEPARTURES will close the festival. In between those great films will be over 175 other features, shorts and documentaries showcasing the best Asian cinematic talent. More »

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In case you’ve been under a rock the past week, SECRET IDENTITIES - the first-ever graphic novel anthology of Asian American superhero stories - is in bookstores now! To celebrate, we’re going to giveaway a one-of-a-kind copy of SECRET IDENTITIES with original artwork by SI editor Jerry Ma! How do you win? Easy. Answer three little questions (correctly) before 12 noon EST on May 6. More »

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Far East Movement are tracking the MAP THE SOUL Tour’s US leg on their site. Check out the FM-style on the latest MAP THE SOUL Tour poster! FM’s latest album ANIMAL is also now available on V CAST - Verizon’s mobile phone download service. More »

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FINALLY! Joe Inoue (井上ジョー) has released his first full album! Titled “ME! ME! ME!”, according to Joe himself it has “something for everyone”, from “ballads” to “death metal”. (Yes, Joe said it’s got death metal on it — I assume he’s talking about “Rage -Twenty Four-” and “Kuruma”) More »

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YES!!! Two of Ningin’s favorite music groups are hitting the US coast-to-coast for two kick azz weekends in May - EPIK HIGH and FAR EAST MOVEMENT! A long time favorite around here, Epik High’s “1 Minute, 1 Second” made it into Ningin’s Best Songs of 2008 list. Now we’ve got a rare opportunity to see them outside of Korea. This is also a great chance to catch FM live outside of their native California. MYK and Kero One will also join the tour. Tickets are on sale now from CGNLive.com! More »

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Ningin’s Kevin Desmond got to visit Kev Nish and Prohgress at Far East Movement headquarters last week. The FM duo talked about the past, present and near future of FM, producing with Jin the MC and Se7en, the hotness of the “Girls On The Dancefloor” contest, upcoming tour dates with Epik High, and another International Secret Agents show for 2009! With all that info, we split the interview into two parts. As promised, here’s Part 2. More »

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SECRET IDENTITIES: The Asian American Superhero Anthology officially hits bookstores today! The editing team of Jeff Yang, Parry Shen, Keith Chow, and Jerry Ma have pulled together the first anthology of superhero comics reflecting on the Asian American community’s role and place in American culture. More »

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Ningin’s Kevin Desmond stopped by Far East Movement headquarters for a little tour with FM’s Kev Nish. Afterwards, they sat down with Prohgress for some interview time. The two MCs spilled the beans about FM’s origins, working with Jin the MC and Se7en, the popular “Girls On The Dancefloor” contest, their upcoming tour with Epik High, and another International Secret Agents show later this year! Whoa, that’s a lot! So we split the interview into two parts. Enjoy Part 1 today. Part 2 will be up tomorrow. More »

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For all the talk about how Asians are the model minority in this country and how much disposable income we have, there’s not much talk about how 10.2% of Asians in this country live below the poverty line. That number is higher of course in urban areas. More »

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The 2nd Annual Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival (PAAFF) is now accepting submissions for the following festival award categories:

Narrative Fiction (70 mins+) Documentary (35 mins+) Short Film (1-30 mins) More »

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Texas lawmaker says that Asian-Americans should change their Asian names into American names to make polling easier on the government. Also, because the Asian names are too hard to pronounce. These two articles talk about this incident. More »

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The Fourth Annual DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon returns this April 17-19 with three days of films, workshops, parties, panels and special guests. Tze Chun’s acclaimed feature film “Children of Invention” will open this year’s festival. Film director Dave Boyle (of DisOrient 2008’s “Big Dreams, Little Tokyo”) and actor Hiroshi Watanabe (”Letters from Iwo Jima”) will attend with their latest film “White On Rice” for DisOrient’s closing night. More »

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The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco is going to be hit by an Asian American musical storm this Friday — The International Secret Agents Concert! Jin the MC, Far East Movement, Wong Fu Productions, Jessi Malay, Paul Dateh, Passion, a special American’s Best Dance Crew Set (featuring Della and Meme of A.S.I.I.D., Glenda of Fanny Pak, and DJ Virman), and DJ Romeo from San Fran’s Wild 94.9 — like hot damn! How could you not be going if you live in the Bay Area?!

One lucky person is going to get an official International Secret Agents poster, Far East Movement’s new album “Animal”, and a DVD from Wong Fu productions — all autographed — delivered to their doorstep. That Ningin winner is: More »

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Big news for Asian American Jpop singer Yuna Ito this week — her new single “Trust You” was released on March 4 and has charted Top 5 on the Oricon charts in Japan! “Trust You” was picked as the ending theme song for anime Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Second Season. (Yes, Mobile Suit Gundam is still alive and kicking!)

I’ve personally got the second track “Brand New World” on heavy rotation. It’s a fantastic pop energy trance track that works great on the dancefloor or a karoke car ride down the interstate. Check out the preview below! More »

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Moving from Los Angeles to San Francisco this year, The International Secret Agents Concert returns in 2009! This year’s lineup leads with Jin the MC back from Hong Kong, Wong Fu Productions, and the Far East Movement. The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco will host the event on March 20. And check out the poster! It’s super cool and can be yours along with Far East Movement’s new album Animal and a DVD from Wong Fu productions — all autographed, of course! More »

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The 3rd Annual Korean American Film Festival New York, or KAFFNY as we New Yorkers like to say, is this Saturday, February 28! KAFFNY showcases emerging and award-winning Korean and Korean American filmmakers. This year the festival moves to the prestigious TheTimesCenter, located at 41st St (btwn 7th and 8th ave). This year’s festival consists of two shorts programs, both followed by a short Q&A session with filmmakers. More »

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Every Monday, for the remainder of February, will be JYP Tour 2009 day on Ningin. All our blog articles will be something related to JYP, Wonder Girls, or 2PM. We will reveal a new contest on these days, and we will make new stuff available to download. All of this information is neatly organized in our special JYP Tour 2009 coverage area: More »

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To celebrate the inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama, Ningin asked members of the Asian American political community to tell us what this historic event means to each of them. New York City Councilman John Liu returned from the Inauguration Ceremony and was kind enough to talk to Maimounah Masudi and David Hou from Ningin.

Councilman Liu moved to the United States from Taiwan at the age of five. His first name was changed from Chun to John, in honor of John F. Kennedy. In keeping with the Kennedy inspiration, his brothers became Robert and Edward. His father became Joseph. Councilman Liu was elected in 2001. He currently serves on the New York City Council, representing District 20 consisting of northeast Queens (Flushing, Queensboro Hill, Mitchell Linden, Murray Hill, Holly, Kissena Park, Harding Heights, Auburndale, part of Whitestone). Councilman Liu was re-elected in 2003 and in 2005. He is the first and only Asian American to be elected in New York City. (Yes, really! Go John!) More »

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