2014 Silk Screen Asian-American Film Festival schedule posted.

The 2014 Silk Screen Asian-American Film Festival schedule was posted today, with times and locations on the Silk Screen website. The annual festival runs from April 26 through May 4, with screenings at four local theaters. Here's a quick look at the movies and short films of relevance to this blog:






A Time in Quchi (暑假作业), Taiwan; Bunta, China; Cheong, South Korea; Confession of Murder (내가 살인범이다), South Korea; The Garden of Words (言の葉の庭), Japan; Hide and Seek (숨바꼭질), South Korea; Mourning Recipe (四十九日のレシピ), Japan; Norte, End of History (Norte, hangganan ng kasaysayan); Philippines; Touch of the Light (逆光飛翔), Taiwan; Trap Street, China; Unforgiven (許されざる者), Japan; Why Don't You Play in Hell? (地獄でなぜ悪い), Japan.

Short Peace (ショート・ピース) coming in May.

Short Peace (ショート・ピース), a four-part anime anthology by four directors, is coming to Dormont's Hollywood Theater the first weekend of May, writes its Facebook page. The 2013 film will be released nationwide from April 18, according to the distributor's website.

The Hollywood Theater frequently shows newish Japanese animated films on or near their US release date, including in recent memory: the Madoka Magica series, Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, and Tiger & Bunny: The Rising.

Night Market at Pitt, March 28.

The Night Market presented by the Chinese American Students Association is back at the University of Pittsburgh this Friday, March 28, at 10:00 pm in room 548 of the William Pitt Union (map). From the event's Facebook page:

Join us for an awesome night filled with fun games, activities/crafts, prizes, and FREE food! Get to room 548 of the William Pitt Union as quickly as you can - you especially do not want to miss out on FREE CHINESE FOOD and BUBBLE TEA from Rose Tea Cafe!!!

Also, come out this Friday night to pie the current president Timothy Lee or current Public Relations Chair Jacky Chen! It will be $1 to pie either of them and the money will go towards fundraising for the ASA & Global Ties Formal!!

Miracle in Cell No. 7 (7번방의 선물) at Pitt, March 26.

The comedic drama Miracle in Cell No. 7 (7번방의 선물) is the final of two films in 2014's Korean Film Festival held at the University of Pittsburgh, now in its 11th year. Wikipedia provides a brief synopsis:

Lee Yong-gu is a mentally challenged man with the intelligence of a 6-year-old, which is actually the age of his own daughter Ye-sung who is much smarter than her peers. The two of them lead a happy life while Yong-gu makes a living by working as a parking attendant at a local supermarket. But one day, when the police commissioner's young daughter dies in a strange accident, Yong-gu is the one who happens to find her. He is falsely accused and sentenced to death for abduction, sexual assault, and murder of a minor. Ye-sung is sent to a childcare institution and Yong-gu gets imprisoned and assigned to Cell No. 7, the harshest cell in a maximum security prison.

Also according to Wikipedia, Miracle in Cell No. 7 is the third-highest grossing film in Korean history, one spot ahead of Masquerade.

It will be shown at 4:00 pm in 4430 Posvar Hall (map), and is free and open to the public. The festival has been presented by the Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures, the Asian Studies Center, and the East Asian Library.

"What Abenomics Means for the United States" lecture, March 27.

Seats are still available for a free lecture on March 27 downtown, "What Abenomics Means for the United States".

After a generation of stagnation, the Nikkei has rebounded, the yen has plummeted, and Japan's pernicious deflation seems to be ending. Is Asia's second largest economy finally addressing long-ignored problems? Or is this just competitive devaluation by a different name? Bill Adams gives his assessment of Japan's latest reform plans and their implications for American businesses and investors.

The lecture is by Bill Adams of The PNC Financial Services Group, and is part of the ongoing MEPPI Japan Lecture Series, presented by Mitsubishi Electric Power Products Inc. and the Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania. It's from 5:30 to 7:00 pm at the Allegheny HYP Club (map), and includes light refreshments. Registration is required and can be completed on the JASP website.

Night Market at CMU, March 29.

Keelung Night Market, Taiwan by Shenghun Lin (Creative Commons).

Two Carnegie Mellon University student organizations, Awareness of Roots in Chinese Culture (ARCC) and Taiwanese Students Association (TSA), will present their annual Night Market on March 29. Says the event's Facebook page:

It will be a night full of awesome food and games (including karaoke!). Every year many of CMU's multicultural organizations come together in this celebration of food, snacks, and games from all over the world. The event is an homage to street "night markets" that are popular in Asia.

It starts at 10:00 pm and is held in Kirr Commons in the University Student Center (number 30 on the campus map).

At the Japanese Garden in Shadyside.

A few photos in the Japanese Healing Garden at Shadyside Hospital earlier this month. Reads a plaque at the entrance:

This garden is a gift from Dr. Kazuo Kodera in honor of nurses. It is a place for health care providers to think about our friends around the world and to reflect on the meaning of our work, which i to care for one another. It is a place to find new friendships, to find new hope, and to find peace.

We hope you enjoy your time here.

September 2005

Pittsburgh Taiko Spring Concert, March 23.

Pittsburgh Taiko will hold its Spring Concert on March 23 at 2:00 pm at the University of Pittsburgh's Bellefield Hall (map).

Pittsburgh Taiko performs wadaiko, a form of Japanese group drumming. We use Japanese drums and play regional arrangements from both Japan and the US, as well as original compositions!

Admission is once again free for university (Pitt, CMU, etc.) students! Bring all your friends! Invite all your friends! Tell everyone you know! Tell strangers!

For non-students there is a recommended donation of $5. This money goes to support us for future concerts, as well as for lectures and workshops to teach people about wadaiko.

"The Myth of Homogeneity: Immigration and Ethnicity in Twentieth-Century Japan" lecture, March 18.

The second installment of the "Japan in the Broader Context of Asia" lecture series is "The Myth of Homogeneity: Immigration and Ethnicity in Twentieth-Century Japan”, by David Kenley of Elizabethtown College. The presentation begins at 6:00 pm in room 4217 Posvar Hall (map), and is followed by light refreshments and a networking reception.

Masquerade (광해: 왕이 된 남자), Miracle in Cell No. 7 (7번방의 선물) at Pitt's 2014 Korean Film Festival, starting March 19.

The historical drama Masquerade (광해: 왕이 된 남자) and the comedic drama Miracle in Cell No. 7 (7번방의 선물) comprise this year's Korean Film Festival held at the University of Pittsburgh, now in its 11th year. Masquerade will play on March 19, and Miracle in Cell No. 7 on March 26.

Matsuri at Carnegie Mellon University, March 28.

Matsuri, the annual spring festival hosted by Carnegie Mellon University's Japanese Student Association and Japan@CMU Alliance, will be held this year on Friday, March 28. An overview from the event's Facebook page:

Japanese Student Association is proud to announce its biggest event of the year: Matsuri. Join us in celebrating aspects of Japanese food, culture and society. We will be hosting the event at Merson Courtyard outside of the University Center on Friday March 28th, from 4:30 to 8:30 PM. While you enjoy these acts, traditional Japanese decorations and festival games, feel free to eat a variety of foods from our Food Booths such as Yakisoba, Okonomiyaki, Karaage and a variety of other Japanese foods! Small carnival games will be available, and J@CMU's origami and cooking groups will also be in attendance to further promote Japanese culture at CMU.

All profits go to recovery efforts for the Minato Middle School in Japan which is still suffering from the earthquake and tsunami two years ago. You contribution is valuable and we hope to send a sizable amount of supplies this year, as we did last year. For more information regarding donations please go to this site: http://matsuri.cmu-jsa.com/cause.html

Thank you for your time and we hope to see you there!

Last year the event raised $3,027 for the school completely destroyed in 2011.

As the logo above shows, it runs from 4:30 pm to 8:30 pm and is held at the CMU University Center and Merson Courtyard (campus map). Food and games require tickets, which can be purchased in advance online or in Merson Courtyard. Additional information is available on the festival's website.

Akira Kurosawa film Ran (乱) at Maridon Museum, March 20.

The Maridon Museum will show the 1985 Akira Kurosawa film Ran (乱) on March 20 as part of its 2014 Spring Film Series.

"Bilingual Education in Indonesia's International Schools" lecture at Pitt, March 20.

The Asian Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh will host Anis Sundusiyah of the School of Education and her lecture "Bilingual Education in Indonesia's International Schools" on March 20 as part of the Asia Over Lunch lecture series. It takes place at 12:00 pm in room 4130 Posvar Hall (campus map) and is free. Information about past and upcoming lectures in the series this term are printed on the flyer above.

Vietnamese film The Scent of Green Papaya at Pitt, March 18.

The University of Pittsburgh's Global Ties will show the 1993 Vietnamese-language movie The Scent of Green Papaya (Mùi đu đủ xanh) on March 18 as part of its "Global Spotlight: Vietnam" series of activities in March. From a 1994 Roger Ebert review:

Here is a film so placid and filled with sweetness that watching it is like listening to soothing music. "The Scent of Green Papaya" takes place in Vietnam between the late 1940s and early 1960s, and is seen through the eyes of a poor young woman who is taken as a servant into the household of a merchant family. She observes everything around her in minute detail, and gradually, as she flowers into a beautiful woman, her simple goodness impresses her more hurried and cynical employers. The woman, named Mui, is an orphan - a child, when she first comes to work for the family. She learns her tasks quickly and well, and performs them so unobtrusively that sometimes she seems almost like a spirit. But she is a very real person, uncomplaining, all-seeing, and the film watches her world through her eyes. For her, there is beauty in the smallest details: A drop of water trembling on a leaf, a line of busy ants, a self-important frog in a puddle left by the rain, the sunlight through the green leaves outside the window, the scent of green papaya.

The film will be shown on the 6th floor of the William Pitt Union from 7 to 9 pm, and is free for those with a valid Pitt student ID card.

"'Bound Together' Book Club: The Things They Carried" at Carnegie Museum of Art, March 13.

Coming to the Carnegie Museum of Art, March 13:

Join us for a discussion of Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried as we take a closer look at Vietnamese artist Dinh Q. Le’s installation Light and Belief: Sketches of the Life from the Vietnam War. Call Lucy Stewart at 412.622.3222 to receive a complimentary copy of the book.

The Things They Carried is the Community College of Allegheny County's selection for the 2014 Big Read campaign, and events pertaining to it were and are scheduled throughout the month of March (.pdf file).

"Katsuhiro Otomo's Manga & Animation" at CMU, March 20.

The Carnegie Mellon School of Art shares this upcoming talk on the works of Katsuhiro Otomo by Kei Suyama of Tokyo Polytechnic University on March 20. The College of Fine Arts building is labelled number 5 on this campus map (.pdf).

Multicultural Night at O'Hara Elementary School, March 20.

If there are children in your family they might enjoy visiting O'Hara Elementary School (map) in the Fox Chapel Area School District for its Multicultural Night on March 20. There will 20 culture booths including Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam, Japan, and China; a bunch of local performers; and vendors with Korean, Turkish, and Argentinian food. It will run from 5:30 to 8:00 pm at the School Commons Area.

In Schenley Park.

Pittsburgh almost built an "Asia on the Allegheny".

From a February 20, 1989 Pittsburgh Press article.

Looking online for something else brought us to articles in local papers about a late-1980s plan to build an "Asian Trade Center" on the North Shore, part of a redevelopment effort that would soon bring the Andy Warhol Museum and the Carnegie Science Center to the area. In 1988 and 1989, the plan was to construct apartments, hotels, and Asian retail in the blocks between on what is now the site of the Morgan at North Shore Apartments.

Live Your Dream: The Taylor Anderson Story at Melwood Screening Room, March 13.

The Japan-American Society of Pennsylvania will present the film Live Your Dream: The Taylor Anderson Story at the Melwood Screening Room in Oakland (map) on March 13. Taylor Anderson taught English in Japan for three years and died in the March 11, 2011 tsunami at age 24. A brief summary of the film from JQ Magazine:

[Filmmaker Reggie] Life opens the window for the viewer to glimpse the life of Taylor Anderson (Miyagi-ken, 2008-11) through personal accounts from her loved ones. Laced with emotional reflections, vivid photos and jovial home movies, the film walks the viewer through Taylor’s 24 years on earth and untimely end caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011. In light of the tragedy, the film sends a message of hope, optimism and encouragement for all to follow their hearts.

The movie starts at 7:30, and tickets are $2.

Photography exhibition "My Odd Journey" at Imagebox Productions, March 7 through 31.

A photography exhibition by Shanning Wan titled "My Odd Journey" will open today at Imagebox Productions in Garfield (map).

Shanning Wan’s travel photography throughout China and the US which touches upon topics such as Muslims in China, women, architecture, found objects, and more.

The opening reception runs from 6 pm to 9 pm and is part of Unblurred: First Fridays on Penn. The exhibit runs through March. Wan was last on this blog last summer with her Northwest Chinese Pop-Up Restaurant.

New Pirates pitcher complains to press about life in Korea.

Coverage by OhMyNews. "Korean life was terrible" . . . Returning foreign player's "criticisms".

This off-season the Pittsburgh Pirates signed Adam Wilk, a pitcher formerly in the Detroit Tigers organization and who pitched the 2013 in the Korean Baseball Organization. Some Korean news outlets have noticed the comments Wilk made about his time in Changwon to the USA Today and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Cathedral of Learning on cover of 미국 대학의 힘.

Pitt's Cathedral of Learning and Stephen Foster Memorial are on the cover of a Korean book published last year by Sanzini Books, 미국 대학의 힘, which translates to The Strengths of American Colleges. The book was released on December 16, 2013, was written by Hak-soo Mok of Pusan National University, and looks at services available to students, professors, and applicants.

The Wind Rises (風立ちぬ) now at Southside Works.

The latest Hayao Miyazaki film The Wind Rises (風立ちぬ) is currently playing at Pittsburgh's SouthSide Works Cinema (map). From a TIME magazine review last month:

The Wind Rises — its title taken from a line in Paul Valéry’s poem “The Graveyard by the Sea” (“The wind is rising! We must try to live!”) — weaves a tender, doomed love story into two volcanic decades of Japan’s history, from 1918 to the end of the ’30s. Here are indelible images of the 1923 Kanto earthquake and the firestorms that devoured whole cities and killed 140,000 people. Here is the Depression that crippled Japan while its government poured more money into its military.

The movie is really a double biopic: of Horikoshi, whose life it follows from his youth to his work at Mitsubishi, with a brief postwar coda; and of the author Tatsuo Hori, whose 1937 novel The Wind Has Risen tells the story of a tubercular girl at a sanatorium. The life and works of Hori, who died of TB in 1953 at age 48, inform the character of Naoko Satomi, the young woman who becomes Jiro’s wife.

The version currently playing in Pittsburgh, and the one released nationwide on February 28, is dubbed in English. Showtimes for March 4, 5, and 6 are 1:40 pm, 4:30 pm, 7:20 pm, and 10:10 pm.

Again with the memes, at Tân Lạc Viên Vietnamese Bistro on Murray Ave.

Ran (乱), Castaway on the Moon (김씨 표류기), Yi Yi (一一) comprise Maridon Museum's Spring Film Series.

Butler's Maridon Museum announced its 2014 Spring Film Series today, which will be comprised of the Japanese film Ran on March 20, the South Korean film Castaway on the Moon on April 24, and the Taiwanese film Yi Yi on May 15. More-detailed posts on each will follow closer to the dates.

The Maridon Museum of Asian Art is located at 322 N. McKean St. in downtown Butler, some 40 miles north of Pittsburgh (map). It holds film series throughout the year, with recent themes of relevance to this blog being Vietnamese and Taiwanese films.

Wong Kar Wai's The Grandmaster (一代宗師) at Erie Art Museum, March 5.

Wong Kar Wai's latest film The Grandmaster (一代宗師), which opened throughout the US in August 2013, will play at the Erie Art Museum (map) on March 5. Starring Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi, the New York Times wrote last year it's

a hypnotically beautiful dream from the Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai, opens with curls of smoke, eddies of water and men soaring and flying across the frame as effortlessly as silk ribbons. The men are warriors, street fighters with furious fists and winged feet, who have massed together on a dark, rainy night to take on Ip Man (Tony Leung), a still figure in a long coat and an elegant white hat. Even amid the violent whirlpools of rain and bodies, that hat never leaves his head. It’s as unyielding as its owner.

The movie starts at 7:00. Tickets are $5 at the door, or $6.17 online.

Oakland's Sushi Boat cited, temporarily closd by Allegheny County Health Department.

The Pitt News wrote on Wednesday that Sushi Boat Asian Food on Oakland Ave. was cited by the Allegheny County Health Department on February 18 "for numerous critical violations of the county’s Food Safety Rules and Regulations."

"Still Watching a Movie?: Korean National Cinema in the Post-Film Era" lecture at Pitt, March 3.

Korean Popular Culture Reader, 2014.

The University of Pittsburgh's Film Studies program will host Dr. Kyung Hyun Kim and his lecture "Still Watching a Movie?: Korean National Cinema in the Post-Film Era" on Monday, March 3, in room 501 of the Cathedral of Learning (map). Dr. Kim is a professor at the University of California Irvine, author on numerous articles and books on Korean film and pop culture, and editor of the forthcoming The Korean Popular Culture Reader. The talk runs from 1 to 3 pm and is free.

On a related topic at Pitt on the same day, Ph.D. candidate Seung-hwan Shin in the Department of English will defend his dissertation "New Korean Cinema: Mourning to Regeneration" at 9:30 am in the same room, 501 Cathedral of Learning.

Pitt alumnus named chancellor of Baekseok Culture University.

Young Shik Kim (김영식) was named the 7th chancellor of Baekseok Culture University (백석문화대학교) on February 19. Kim, 63, earned a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in 2000 in Administrative and Policy Studies / Higher Education Management. His dissertation is titled The Higher Educational Policy-Making Process in Korea: A Case Study for the National Policy of University Autonomy (1986-1990).


From the 2001 University of Pittsburgh commencement program, via Documenting Pitt.

Dinh Q. Lê lecture at CMU School of Art on March 4, discussion at Carnegie Museum of Art on March 5.

Dinh Q. Lê, from the "Vietnam to Hollywood" series, via Blendspace.

The Carnegie Mellon University School of Art will host Dinh Q. Lê on March 4 as part of its Spring 2014 Lecture Series. From the Lecture Series homepage:

Born in Vietnam during wartime in 1968, artist DINH Q LE moved to the US at 10 years old and was brought up amid Western depictions of his homeland. In his artistic practice, Lê developed an innovative multidisciplinary technique that combined traditional Vietnamese craft with images and fragments of history and modern truths. His work continued after he returned to Vietnam in his 20s, where he examined complex and contradictory topics such as the continuing legacy of the war and the marketing of Vietnam as a tourist's paradise. Lê is the co-founder of the Vietnam Foundation for the Arts, which initiates artistic exchanges between Vietnam and the West, and Sán Art, the first independent not-for-profit art space in Ho Chi Minh City. In 2010, Lê was the recipient of the Prince Claus Award. He will discuss past projects and his work for the 2013 Carnegie International.

Lê is one of several Asian artists with works on display at the 2013 Carnegie International, which runs through March 16 at the Carnegie Museum of Art (map). The day after the CMU lecture, March 5, Lê will participate in a discussion at the Carnegie Museum of Art Theater. From the museum's website:

Explore Dinh Q. Lê’s work in the 2013 Carnegie International in greater depth. Life and Belief: Sketches of Life from the Vietnam War, an installation of 100 drawings and paintings made by Vietnamese artist-soldiers on the front lines of the Vietnam War accompanied by a documentary film, will be the starting point of a discussion focused on art, war, and image. Lê, who will speak to the artists’ inside interpretation of the war, will converse with Dr. Daniel Lieberfeld, associate professor at Duquesne University, and Dr. Philip Nash, Vietnam historian and associate professor of history at Penn State Shenango, about the power of images during and after the conflict. Lê will also discuss his follow-up companion project to this piece—a look at the non-communist artists and their lasting legacy. Exhibition co-curator Dan Byers will moderate the discussion. Cosponsored by Carnegie Mellon University School of Art and Jeff Pan.

The discussion runs from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. and is free with admission to the museum.

“Spiritual Health vs. Mental Health: The Uses of Japanese Naikan Meditation” lecture at Pitt, February 27.

The Asian Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh will host Associate Professor of Religious Studies Dr. Clark Chilson and his lecture "Spiritual Health vs. Mental Health: The Uses of Japanese Naikan Meditation" on February 27 as part of the Asia Over Lunch lecture series. It takes place at 12:00 pm in room 4130 Posvar Hall (campus map) and is free. Upcoming lectures in the series this term are printed on the flyer above.

"Japan and Its Asian Neighbors: History, Islands and National Identity” video-conference lecture at Pitt, February 25.

The second installment of the "Japan in the Broader Context of Asia" lecture series is "Japan and Its Asian Neighbors: History, Islands and National Identity”, by Dr. Constantine Vaporis, a professor in the University of Maryland Baltimore County's History department. The presentation begins at 6:00 pm, and is followed by light refreshments and a networking reception. An overview of the series from the University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center newsletter:

The next lecture of the NCTA video-conference lecture series is “Japan and Its Asian Neighbors: History, Islands and National Identity,” featuring Constantine N. Vaporis, Professor of History and Director of the Asian Studies Program, University of Maryland. A light dinner will be served for all participants starting at 5:30

This lecture is part of a series of an NCTA video-conference lectures “Japan in the Broader Context of Asia,” which will feature a variety of talks by professors from Pitt, Elizabethtown College, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

These lectures are free, but space is limited and registration is required by emailing Patrick Hughes at hughespw@pitt.edu (please let him know which lectures you wish to attend). You may register for as many of the sessions as you like.

Like Father, Like Son (そして父になる) from tomorrow night through March 6 at Harris Theater.

The 2013 Japanese film Like Father, Like Son (そして父になる) will be in Pittsburgh from February 21 through March 6 at the Harris Theater downtown.

Japanese film Key of Life (鍵泥棒のメソッド) at Carnegie Library Oakland, March 2.

As part of its International Cinema series, the Oakland branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (map) will show the 2012 Japanese film Key of Life (鍵泥棒のメソッド). The library website borrows a plot summary from IMDB:

Sakurai is a failed actor who switches identities with a stranger at a bath house, only to find out that he is suddenly filling the shoes of an elite assassin.

Key of Life was part of the 2013 Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival in Pittsburgh last April. The movie will play on the 2nd from 2:30 to 4:30.

Lecture "'Catfish' Catastrophe in Japan", February 26 at IUP.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania's Department of Asian Studies will host "'Catfish' Catastrophe in Japan" by Dr. Gregory Smits of Penn State.

Gregory Smits will present an illustrated lecture discussing representations of the Ansei Edo earthquake in popular prints. The talk will be in the Susquehanna Room of the HUB on February 26 at 7:00 p.m. All are welcome.

At about 10:00 p.m. on November 11, [1855], a strong earthquake shook Edo (modern Tokyo), Japan’s de facto capital. The earthquake killed roughly 8,000 and did extensive damage to certain areas of the city. Along with death and destruction, the earthquake created opportunities for windfall profits for many of the city’s ordinary residents. One product of this earthquake was hundreds of varieties of broadside prints. These prints came to be called “catfish prints” (namazue) because many of them featured catfish, which symbolized the power of earthquakes.

An article by Dr. Smits on the topic published in the Journal of Social History , "Shaking up Japan: Edo Society and the 1855 Catfish Prints," is available online.

The Raid 2: Berandal at Hollywood Theater, March 19.

The Hollywood Theater in Dormont announced its March schedule on Facebook today, which provides some advance notice for the 2014 Indonesian martial arts movie The Raid 2: Berandal playing on March 19. A January Variety review summarizes:

With its blissfully crude setup and ferociously inventive fight sequences, Gareth Evans’ “The Raid: Redemption” (2011) was an exhilarating, exhausting treat for those who like to take their genre poison straight. If “The Raid 2: Berandal” disappoints somewhat by comparison, it’s not for lack of ambition: At nearly two-and-a-half hours, this sensationally violent and strikingly well-made sequel has been conceived as a slow-burn gangster epic, stranding the viewer in a maze-like underworld that doesn’t really get the adrenaline pumping until the film’s second half. Once the carnage kicks in, Evans’ action chops prove as robust and hyperkinetic as ever, delivering deep, bone-crunching pleasure for hardcore action buffs. Still, given its diminished novelty and hefty running time, the Sony Classics item . . . may have trouble wooing as many viewers theatrically as it will in homevid play.

The movie starts at 7:30 pm on the 19th, and will be released nationwide across Indonesia and the United States on March 28. The Hollywood Theater (map) is located at 1449 Potomac Ave. in Dormont and a block south of Potomac Station.

[edited 26-Jan-2015 to remove poster image]

"It’s Greek to me! A Fascination with the Idea of Greece in the making of modern Japan" at Pitt, February 21.

Dr. Hiroshi Nara of the Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures at the University of Pittsburgh will present "It’s Greek to me! A Fascination with the Idea of Greece in the making of modern Japan" on February 21. It will be held in room 4130 Posvar Hall (map) from 12:00 pm, and is free and open to the public.

Chinese Video Art & Documentary (1985-2005), from Gao Minglu’s Archive at Pitt, through March 21.

This evening there was an opening reception for an exhibition by Gao Minglu, currently a faculty member in the University of Pittsburgh's History of Art & Architecture department, which will run through March 21 in the Frick Fine Arts building (map). From the department's website:

The exhibition is curated by Gao Minglu, assisted by Madeline Eschenburg and other student interns of the gallery. Visitors will have the opportunity to experience Chinese artworks that have not been shown in the U.S. before, or have not previously been available in this part of the world.

This exhibition will feature video work from Chinese artists produced at the turn of the 21st century. Through these artworks, the curator intends to show how Chinese artists and intellectuals responded to the rapid political and economic changes in China in the late 20th century, and how artists used their eyes and even their own bodies to address certain social concerns. The videos can be categorized as documentation which features avant-garde activities such as performance and exhibitions, or video art with certain particular themes such as urbanization.

The University Art Gallery is located in the Frick Fine Arts building at the University of Pittsburgh. Public hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. or by appointment. The exhibition is open through Mar. 21st, but will be closed for spring break Mar. 10-14th. For more information, contact uag@pitt.edu or call 412-648-2423.

Panel discussion "Vietnam: New Lessons from an Old War, a Half-Century On" at Pitt, March 4.

The University of Pittsburgh Honors College will host a panel discussion on March 4, "Vietnam: New Lessons from an Old War, a Half-Century On".

Unlike other American wars, the Vietnam War never really ended. It is being re-fought in scholarly works, at college reunions, in family living rooms, and among veterans. Aside from the Civil War, Vietnam was America's most divisive military conflict, and the University of Pittsburgh's Honors College program features some of the war's most outspoken scholars, participants and journalists.

The panel consists of former Nebraska Senator and governor Bob Kerrey, journalist Peter Arnett, writers Edward G. Miller and Laura Palmer, and former director of the Harvard Kennedy School's Vietnam Program Thomas J. Vallely. It begins at 7:30 pm in the University Club's Second Floor Ballroom (map). Registration is required and can be completed online.

Yanlai Dance Academy's "Chinese Nutcracker", March 1.

Yanlai Dance Academy will present its annual performance on March 1 at the August Wilson Center downtown (map). This year's production is "Chinese Nutcracker":

The production borrows elements from the classic ballet, but infuses it with Chinese culture, costumes, traditions & dance. It is a family-friendly production which not only celebrates the cultural diversity of the Pittsburgh region, but also introduces Pittsburgh audiences to the beauty of Chinese dance.

There are two times, 4:30 and 7:30 pm, and tickets range from $15 to $50.

1929 film Piccadilly at Hollywood Theater, February 23.

The 1929 silent movie Piccadilly will play at The Hollywood Theater in Dormont on Sunday, February 23.

Starring cinema's first Chinese-American movie star and fashion icon, Anna May Wong, Piccadilly tells the story of a young Chinese woman, working in the kitchen at a London dance club, who is given the chance to become the club's main act - which soon leads to a plot of betrayal, forbidden love and murder.

It starts at 7:00 pm and tickets are $7 for seniors and students, and $10 for everyone else. The evening will also feature live music from Appalasia, a local group which

combines the influences of Appalachian and Asian music traditions with original composition and inspired improvisation to create their unique musical voice.

The theater is located at 1449 Potomac Ave. (map) in Dormont and a block south of Potomac Station.

Pirates sign Taiwanese pitcher Yang to minor-league contract.

The Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday signed Taiwanese pitcher Yao-Hsun Yang (陽耀勳) to a minor-league contract. The 31-year-old Yang has pitched for Chinese Taipei in two World Baseball Classic series and spent the last several years with Fukuoka in Nippon Professional Baseball.

He is one of two Taiwanese players in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, along with catcher Jin-de Jhang (張進德).

*Including 1 Japanese

The Pittsburgh City Council proclamations this year and last that honor the local Organization of Chinese Americans branch contains the line

WHEREAS, since the 1800s, the local Chinese community has been an asset to the City of Pittsburgh and its social, cultural, and economic development[.]

I"ve written before about Pittsburgh's former Chinatown, but wanted to look a little closer at historical Chinese populations in and around the city. According to the 1900 Census of the United States (pages 637, 638, and 569), there were 154 Chinese in Pittsburgh that year, 28 in Allegheny city, and a total of 270 in Allegheny county. The Chinese population of the county was 126 in 1890, and 25 ten years before that. The earliest date for which there are data is 1870 (page 59); 14 Chinese people lived in the entire state, but a footnote points out that the number includes 1 Japanese.

"MEPPI Japan Lecture Series – Japanese Architects at Play", February 27.

Tezuka Architects Presented by Raymund Ryan from Carnegie Museum of Art on Vimeo.

"Japanese Architects at Play" is the next installment of the MEPPI Japan Lecture Series, and will be held at the Carnegie Museum of Art on February 27. The event looks at two Japanese artists with works on display in the 2013 Carnegie International art exhibition running through March 16; from the Japan-American Society of Pennsylvania:

Come out to play with the Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania at the 2013 Carnegie International at the Carnegie Museum of Art! The Carnegie International is the preeminent exhibition of new international art in the United States. The 2013 Carnegie International presents new voices rooted in history, a sense of place, and play.

Curator of Architecture Raymund Ryan will guide guests around ‘The Playground Project,’ an exploration of the way we approach childhood, risk, public space, and education. Included are a new installation by Tezuka Architects, a road movie by Ei Arakawa and Henning Bohl, and mid-century designs by renowned Japanese American artist Isamu Noguchi.

Registration is required, and can be done online via the JASP website before February 20.

2014 Kennywood Asian Day, May 12.

Kennywood Pagoda, copyright Kurt Miller.

Advance notice for the 2014 Asian Day, which kicks off Kennywood's community days on May 12. Kennywood's Asian Day and the Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival comprise Pittsburgh's two big events annual for Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month in May.

"Buddhism for the Unenlightened" lecture at Pitt, February 18.

The Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania and the University of Pittsburgh Asian Studies Center will present the lecture "Buddhism for the Unenlightened" on February 18, the first of four lectures in the "Japan in the Broader Context of Asia" series. Dr. Clark Chilson, an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Pitt, will speak on the 18th.

Join the JASP for “Japan in the Broader Context of Asia” lecture series at the University of Pittsburgh. This free program is presented courtesy of the National Consortium for Teaching About Asia at Pitt and the Toshiba International Foundation (TIFO). All presentations will be in 4217 WW Posvar Hall, University of Pittsburgh. Parking tags for free parking will be provided for Soldiers & Sailors Underground parking.

It runs from 6:00 to 7:00 pm, followed by a question-and-answer session and a reception until 8:00 pm.

Lecture "What Influences Income in the Fisheries of South Korea?" at Pitt, February 13.

The Asian Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh will host PhD candidate student Seyeon Hwang and her lecture "What Influences Income in the Fisheries of South Korea?" on February 13 as part of the Asia Over Lunch lecture series. It takes place at 12:00 pm in room 4130 Posvar Hall (campus map) and is free. Upcoming lectures in the series this term are printed on the flyer above.

Pittsburgh City Council proclaims February 8 “Year of the Horse OCA New Year's Celebration 4712 Day”.

On January 21, Pittsburgh City Council proclaimed February 8 "Year of the Horse OCA New Year's Celebration 4712 Day”, coinciding with the local Organization of Chinese Americans' annual Lunar New Year's festival.

Japanese, Taiwanese movies at Hollywood Theater's Grrrindhahs 2, February 15 and 16.

The Hollywood Theater in Dormont's "Grrrindhahs 2: Pittsburgh's Exploitation Celebration" will feature three Asian movies next weekend: Taiwan's Master of the Flying Guillotine (獨臂拳王大破血滴子) and Japan's Lady Snowblood (修羅雪姫) and Doberman Cop (ドーベルマン刑事). Films shown at grindhouse theaters, says Wikipedia, "characteristically contain large amounts of sex, violence or bizarre subject matter" and the nine films on the 15th and 16th are classic examples. From the event's Facebook page:

From the folks who brought you 13 Hours of Horror and 13 Hours of Sci-Fi, comes a day-long program of drive-in, grindhouse, and exploitation films from the 60s and 70s! So why didn't we call this 13 Hours of Grindhouse? Because it's OVER 14 HOURS!!! Why GRRRINDHAHS? Because that's how rabid movie fans say "grindhouse" in Pittsburgh! Join us on Saturday, February 15, 2014 as we show you, once again, where Tarantino steals all his best ideas!

The movies begin on the 15th at 10:30 am and conclude the next day at 1:30 am. Tickets for individual films are $5, and an all-day pass for all nine is $15. The theater is located at 1449 Potomac Ave. (map) in Dormont and a block south of Potomac Station.