Here are some of Indie bands for you guys to hear some different/experimental/fresh music! ENJOY!

My little airport

(http://www.mylittleairport.com/)

One of Hong Kong’s best kept secrets, My Little Airport is an electro-noise-pop duet comprised of Nicole (the unassuming and charming vocalist) and P (who plays the guitar, keyboards and writes most songs).

Here are links to some of their songs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTpwETrBqIM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r15_zMxLMG0&feature=related

Lonely China Day

(http://lonelychinaday.com/)

Lonely China Day is a band from Beijing who just finished their debut tour in the U.S., taking them through New York, the Midwest and culminating at the SXSW.

Their music can be described as a kind of glitch-alternative rock. Lonely China Day can be compared to the likes of Radiohead with their driving rock beats and spices of electronic & synth effects.

Here are links to some of their songs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sWZ1ONLip4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTBUFclEyxE

Gemini Trip

(http://www.modernsky.com/records/g011.htm)

Composer and vocalist HuZi and Wang Juan from Shanghai joined forces to form Gemini Trip. Released on Modernsky’s electronic sub-label Guava, they create an original blend of ephemeral electronic music and ballads. Offering an electronic texture compatible with vocals, this down-tempo music is a raw take on the overproduced numbers.
Here are links to some of their songs:

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/TFQzjeUwhvc/

http://beautifullnoise.blogspot.com/2009/03/hu-zi-wang-juan-gemini-trip-2008.html

I hope you guys enjoyed the music and that this opened your eyes and made you realize that the Chinese music scene goes way beyond Jay Chou and Wang Lee Hom (Even though I have to admit that they are awesome nonetheless).

The “egg” in spoon was extremely intense and close, and Brandon and Anni’s family ultimately won, with Ivan and Jackie’s family and Joey and Emily’s families close behind.  The human knot’s winners, Ivan and Jackie’s family won about ten seconds after we started the game—which is crazy, I know, but it happened!  Charades was fun as usual, and e-board tried to make it difficult, but us Cornell students can act anything out, apparently! Brandon and Anni’s family ultimately won charades.  We ended the family competition with a test to the bigs, who had to answer a few questions about their littles.  Brandon and Anni’s family answered the most questions correctly for this game as well…impressive.

Final results for this semester’s family competition:

1^st place Brandon & Anni

2^nd place Ivan & Jackie

3^rd place Lisa & Dan

Mid-semester points for the top 5 families:

The end of first semester is fast approaching!! We will be tallying up the final points for your family at CSA Semi Formal on Dec. 7^th.  Keep sending pictures to lz234@cornell.edu to get points.

So recently, I have started watching a new Taiwanese drama called Autumn’s Concerto (thanks to the recommendation of one of my littles, Samantha ), which I have found to be quite entertaining and moving. Basically, it’s about Ren Guang Xi, a self-absorbed, arrogant law student and talent hockey player who is the sole successor to a large business, but who cannot see any meaning to his life until he meets Liang Mu Chen, a poor bento seller who relies on her determination to live her life and enjoy it, despite the hardships she has experienced and continues to face. See the link to the trailer below for a more complete preview of the drama:

http://www.viikii.net/videos/watch/41244/0/autumn-s-concerto-trailer.html

For those of you who have seen Meteor Garden before or know of F4, the popular boy band from the early 2000s, the main actor Vanness Wu (originally from California) looks a lot better in this drama than he did in Meteor Garden. And for all the guys out there, the main actress (Ady An) is quite pretty:

Anyway, I highly recommend this drama to anyone who has a bit of free time or is looking for something to do during a study break. The story is pretty fast-paced and there’s a super sketchy, creeper uncle who keeps things interesting, haha.

Music Videos

Ding Dang 丁噹- 我愛他 (I Love Him) 下一站, 幸福 OST

(original url: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_7YuSJ3wn8)
This is an MV of a song from the drama and the latest album of Della, a mainland singer with a pretty powerful voice. It’s about a couple and how the girl discovers that the guy is cheating on her. In the beginning, you see an investigator visit her apartment and then you find out that the guy is now dead. The question is: how did he die? Did she murder him, was it a suicide, or something else? Can you guys figure it out?

Evan Yo 蔡旻佑 – 小乖乖 (Litte Cutie)

(original url: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REXRotRDBGU)
As if to confirm how games like Farmville (the application on Facebook) is taking over the world, Farmville makes its first appearance in a music video. This song and MV are pretty cute, as is the actress, Michelle Chen, who went to USC.

I can’t fathom what was going through Evan’s stylist’s head when he/she picked out the clothes for this MV and let him get that mushroom-looking haircut >.<

Crowd Lu 盧廣仲 – OH YEAH!

(original url: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfrvRG9AnII)
Speaking of weird styles and mushroom haircuts, Crowd Lu, who is known for his odd sense of style- the hair, long socks, awkward large framed glasses, T-shirt, and gym shorts (see below)- has come out with a new album.

You might wonder how a guy who looks like this could become famous, in such a short time, if at all, (I’m not BSing here- he’s actually become quite well-known in Asia and has won his fair share of music awards) but I guess his style does set him apart from the competition. His new song is pretty catchy and reflects his indie/soft rock/R&B musical style.

**Bonus MV: Tank -會長大的幸福 Happiness That Grows

(original url: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMrKJkPlmhk)
So in case you’re not yet completely sick of watching Chinese MVs yet, I think you should watch this one by my favorite artist/singer/composer, Tank. Not only is this song good, there’s a guest appearance by yours truly Think you can spot me?

Question: What do you like most about China?

Let’s start with me. The thing I like the most? Easy: FOOD!

Here are some responses that I got from Chinese students:
-You can barter for things there
-The fact that China has people who hold the potential to get with white people and produce beautiful half-Asian offspring (yes, the interviewee was half-Asian)

Non-Chinese subjects had a few different answers:

-I really like studying Chinese history
- I like the way that they can eat just about anything, but all of their food is really healthy
-They make everything there

I then asked the same people the exact opposite: What do you not like about China?

Me: I don’t like the fact that China censors the media. I went back to Shanghai this past summer, and toward the end of my trip, a riot broke out in Urumqi, a city in northwest China. The government immediately censored many international communication networks, such as facebook, youtube, and twitter. Thankfully I left a few days later. Let’s face it: life without facebook sucks.

A couple of other students similarly responded “I don’t like the fact that China is communist.”

Some other responses include:

-The culture is can be very xenophobic. I’m not a fan of that
-I think the Great Wall is too long
-Their cultural inability to form a line (when waiting to do something like buy movie tickets)

Check out what Team 1 did this year!

Our assignment was to clean the areas around Cascadilla Gorge, which extends all the way up to behind the football stadium.  We started there, walking around what seemed to be very clean sidewalks and paths — we even made a game out of who would find the first piece of trash. (Kaitlin Chou ‘13 won that game with a cigarette butt.)  We all had a lot of fun getting to know each other, and goofed off a lot as we made our way around the gorge and back down towards Collegetown.  Even though the gorge is currently closed off to pedestrians, we were cleaning the areas above the gorge because a lot of trash makes its way down into the water, and we could definitely see litter beyond the fences that we weren’t able to clean up!  But we did our best with the sidewalks above, and I think our team helped improve our natural surroundings!

Team 2’s experience was really cool as well!

We were assigned to clean Stewart Park and pick up trash in the park’s central areas and the along Cayuga Lake Shore. It was very interesting to see the trash people left behind. We made a game out of what would be the most outrageous things our members could find. The winners were Christina Chan ‘10 with a sandal, Jennifer Wang ‘12 with a bear balloon, and a sock from Michael Pang ‘11 and a gray t – shirt from Ling Shen ‘13 and Philip Wu ‘12! It was a great time getting to know each other and having fun despite the rain and windy weather. After cleaning up the park, we realized how we should never litter and how often people do litter mindlessly and randomly considering the stuff we found! It’s a great feeling realizing that we can help the community even by doing small things such as picking up trash!

Finally a big thanks for those who participated this year! It was great to get to know everyone who participated!

Smashed cucumbers 拍黃瓜 [pai1 huang 2 gua1]
- 1 seedless (or English) cucumber
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tsp. sesame oil
- 2 tsp. soy sauce
- 1 tsp. dumpling vinegar

1) Cut the cucumber lengthwise into about 2 inch chunks, and quarter
each piece so that you have wedges.
2) Using the surface of a large knife (ie: butcher knife), smash the
cucumber wedges. One smack each should do the trick.
3) Mince the cloves of garlic.
4) Mix the oil, soy sauce, vinegar, and garlic together to create the sauce.
5) Toss the cucumber in the sauce.
6) Enjoy this crunchy and refreshing side dish!

I always thought it was fun to help my mom smash the cucumbers. I like smashing things.

4-ingredient stir-fry 炒四絲 [chao3 si4 si1]
(serves 6)
- 4 oz. slivered chicken
- 6 oz. bean sprouts
- 1 bell pepper, sliced
- 2 oz. slivered ham
- 1 tbsp. cornmeal
- 3 stalks of scallions, sliced
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. sesame oil
- 3 tbsp. oil

1) Coat the chicken in the cornmeal.
2) Start frying the scallions in a pan with oil. Add the chicken soon after.
3) When the chicken is almost cooked, add the pepper, sprouts, salt,
and sesame oil.
4) Stir everything together and leave it in the pan until everything is cooked.
5) Take out and serve with the ham on top.

This tasty stir-fry has a lot of flavor and texture. The measurements can be easily adjusted according to personal preference. Yum yum.

Water Egg 水蛋 [shui3 dan4]
- 1 or 2 eggs, depending on desired thickness
- 1 scallion
- about of cup of cold drinking water

1) Beat eggs together with a dash of salt and a few drops of oil.
2) Prepare a steaming pot.
3) Mix the cup of water with the egg mixture. Pour it into a dish and
steam for about 10 minutes.
4) When it solidifies, lower the heat and sprinkle the dish with scallions.
5) VERY IMPORTANT: Prop the cover of the pot up with two chopsticks so
that some of the steam escapes. [This prevents the surface of the egg
from collapsing or cracking.
6) Take the dish out after five more minutes.

If you want the water egg to be sweet instead of salty, replace the salt and oil with sugar and milk. Water egg is very adaptable as well. I used to like it with dried scallops, or dried shrimp mixed in. It can be topped with nearly anything, and goes really well with rice. I’ve always loved this dish, ever since I could eat it as a toothless
little kid. =)

I hope you try out these recipes, and enjoy some good ol’ home-made Chinese food!

Food

Hope everyone enjoyed the food served! CSSA served generous amounts of rice and main entrée dishes for each serving. The four different dinner choices were: Yu Xiang Rou Si (Fish-flavored pork in English?), Szechuan beef, potatoes and pork, and mushrooms.

Of course, what would Moon Festival be without the mooncakes! This year everyone who paid for a ticket received a whole lotus seed double yolk mooncake (my favorite!!).

For everyone who couldn’t make it this year, definitely try to come to next year’s Moon Festival! We are trying to plan a large scale Mid-Autumn/Harvest/Moon Festival Event next year with other organizations on campus such as KSA, KASA, CVA, and CSSA. There will be even more food so look forward to that!

Performances

Here are some pictures of the performances from Moon Festival. Our publicity chair Elaine was an emcee for the show

And now on a completely separate note… it’s Asian pear season! My family has Asian pear trees lining the side of my house so they sent me a box. Unfortunately the UPS delivery guys weren’t very gentle and a lot of the pears got bruised =(

Hope everyone has a great fall break!

I am personally a dedicated (and excited) voter—I believe that I truly am able to make a difference in an election and have applied for absentee ballots so I could play a part in Flushing’s politics.  I am proud that so many of the community’s Asian leaders have stood up in the past few years to play a larger part in politics—Grace Meng, Ellen Young, Peter Koo, Yen S. Chou, etc.  This year, quite a few Asian-Americans are vying for Liu’s seat in City Council: Democrats John Choe, Yen S. Chou, and James Wu, and Republican Peter Koo.

When Liu was became the first Asian member of the City Council, the Asian community was thrilled.  However, as his tenure continued, I have personally found his actions in Flushing limited.  This is not to say he has not done any good for the community, and certainly not to spite those who have worked for Liu in his Youth Action Team.  Liu definitely has the charms of a politician, and is a very good public speaker.  He participates in a weekly segment on the Chinese American Voice radio station, discussing issues within the community and answering questions from the public.  While this is a great way for Liu to reach out to the community, I definitely found it upsetting that he is unable to communicate to his constituency in fluent Chinese.  This deeply hinders his ability to create a personal connection with the many citizens of Flushing who do not speak English.  He also has had very good ideas about improving the business district of Flushing, particularly in the clean-up of 40^th Road (which, for those who are familiar with Flushing knows is a complete dump).  It has been eight years since Liu has been elected, and I still feel the restaurants unsanitary because of the liquid garbage flowing down the sides of the street, no matter what good reviews the restaurants get. Liu has also built a four-story K-2 school next to my apartment building.  This is an important addition to the district, because spots for kindergarten students are limited in the area.  But I must point out that the school took an extremely long time to construct (and was documented by my father’s weekly paintings of the construction area outside of his window), and that the children’s play yard is about the size of a full size basketball court.  The space would have been a great place for a community garden.  And the school is from kindergarten to second grade.  Where are the students going to go for third to sixth?????

John Liu has a lot of good ideas for Flushing, and probably for the city as a whole, but has had some hiccups with the implementation of those ideas.  I hope that if he wins, he will do some more good in representing the Asian community!  But I am not lying when I say that I am glad that my dad is not going to work for him (the New York City Comptroller’s office) if he does win. Just saying.

Michelle Rhee is a prominent example of an Asian-American woman who defies the stereotype of being passive, submissive, and quiet.  She is outspoken, determined, and has blazed a trail of change in her work both as chancellor and as the founder of The New Teacher Project, a non-profit organization that recruits and trains teachers.

Both the problems with and solutions for the Washington, D.C. public school system were summed up in two key issues by Rhee.  The problems had to do with a lack of accountability and politics-driven decision-making.  Rhee’s solutions pinpointed strong leadership, as she praised current mayor Adrian Fenty, and high-quality teachers.

The most inspiring part of Rhee’s speech was her passion for and dedication to education.  While she handles the day-to-day business of looking at finances, students’ demands, teacher qualifications and personnel overview, she is also deeply committed to public education, the “great equalizer” of the U.S.

The point on which I most agreed with Ms. Rhee was the continual and constant need to affirm the idea of “the American Dream.”  Even though we have a Bill of Rights written into our Constitution, the American Dream isn’t something we can just take for granted as inherent in our country.  The ability of any given person to “make it” in the U.S. must be something we actively ensure.  Michelle Rhee works tirelessly to make sure that public education in our nation’s capital affords each child, regardless of race or origin, an opportunity to achieve.  It’s important to join her in her effort to make sure that every American citizen has the same options.  Otherwise, “the American Dream” will become a cultural myth, rather than a reality of this great country.