We’re looking forward to virtually welcoming Victoria Chang to Pittsburgh in celebration of her most recent book: Dear Memory: Letters on Writing, Silence, and Grief. She’ll be joined in conversation by Kao Kalia Yang, who’s the author of The Late Homecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir.
We’re looking forward to virtually welcoming Victoria Chang to Pittsburgh in celebration of her most recent book: Dear Memory: Letters on Writing, Silence, and Grief. She’ll be joined in conversation by Kao Kalia Yang, who’s the author of The Late Homecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir.Both books are available for purchase via White Whale. The talk begins at 7:00 pm and registration is required.
In addition to our physical wellness, it is important that during this time we remain committed to our communal well-being. Pitt aims to be an inclusive community in which everyone feels like they belong and are valued. Disappointedly, some members of our community have used the coronavirus as a vehicle to spew hateful rhetoric targeted at some of our international, Asian American students, and people who are perceived to have been in contact with COVID-19. This type of treatment is wrong, insensitive, harmful, and contrary to the University’s values. Although this outbreak started in China, having Chinese ancestry – or any other ancestry – does not place a person at higher risk for this illness.
As you discuss the coronavirus, please keep a few considerations in mind:
- Memes and jokes often stem from offensive stereotypes
- Jokes about Asian connections to the coronavirus normalize racist and discriminatory behavior
- Fact-check information before sharing on social media. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) are credible resources
- Empathize with those who have contracted COVID-19 or whose friends or family may be at risk, rather than blaming them
- Read the WHO A Guide to Preventing and Addressing Social Stigma
Together, we can make our campus feel inclusive for everyone by treating each other with dignity and respect and sharing accurate information with our fellow community members.
In early September, Norraset (Nor) and Rujira Nareedokmai closed their beloved Thai restaurant, Bangkok Balcony, after a 15-year run. But fans of the Squirrel Hill restaurant can rest easy: The Nareedokmais aren't going anywhere, just shifting their focus a little to the northeast. KIIN Lao & Thai Eatery is now open in Bangcok Balcony's former spot with a mix of Thao and Laotian cuisines.Pittsburgh Magazine and NextPittsburgh also reviewed the new restaurant last fall.
Because the more than thousand-mile border shared between Laos and Thailand is so blurred — the regions have passed flavors for centuries — I expected the menu to be a jumble of dishes from both countries. But instead, it’s divided neatly in half, the Lao side full of noodle soups and sticky rice; Thai delivering curries and stir-fry noodles. The separation allows diners to see where the two cuisines diverge as well as where they connect. And for the devoted fans of Bangkok Balcony, the split makes it easy to find favorites that were carried over to KIIN.
I wanted to update you on the progress we are making on bringing a new and improved Asian Film Festival to Pittsburgh.Fundraising closes at 11:59 pm on December 3.
I'm not sure how much you have heard about this, but Pitt will now host the festival each September (now called Screenshot: Asia), which means that the event will have much more student and faculty participation in addition to strong support from the Pittsburgh community. Screenshot Asia will be the umbrella organization for our own Japan Documentary Film Award, and they will support year-round Asian film programming (including showing silent samurai films with live musical performances like the benshi I brought last year).
We have been raising money for the Film Festival in order to prove to Pitt that we have broad community interest. Would you consider making a donation to support us?
A few reasons to support us:
- Pitt has the strongest film studies program in the city (actually a strong nation-wide reputation), and we are well positioned to make this an amazing event for the university, for Asian communities living in Pittsburgh, and for anyone who loves Asian cinema.
- Contributions start at five dollars. Any level of support would be appreciated!
- One of our students is featured in our promotional film (but you'll have to watch the video to find out who!)
We have just one more day until the campaign ends. We are making excellent progress at nearly 80% of our goal. Please take a look and consider supporting us. Many thanks!
You can click here to go directly to the EngagePitt campaign (or copy and paste the address here: https://engage.pitt.edu/project/16914).
I stopped by for lunch this week and, if the Nareedokmais follow through with their vision, I think that Pittsburgh is in for a real treat, one that has the potential to offer diners a culinary experience heretofore not available in the city.
“We don’t want to hold anything back. If you eat here, it should taste as it does in Laos. That is my challenge,” says Nareedokmai.
🗓️ Mark your calendars... We are officially opening our doors to the public this FRIDAY! Stop in & join the #LaoFoodMovement by experiencing Lao & Thai cuisine for the FIRST time in the 'Burgh!
Special thanks to Chef Seng for helping us create this unique, authentic, & DELICIOUS new menu! Lao Food Movement
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Sunday - Thursday: 11am-10pm
Friday & Saturday: 11am-11pm
The Akha people of Laos believe that giving birth to twins is bad luck. The main character’s twin is stillborn and it is believed that he will bring bad luck to everyone around him. Ten years later, the family gets word that their village will soon be under water due to a Dam project. After calamity-filled adventures, he tries to prove that he’s not bad luck by building a giant rocket to enter into an exciting and dangerous competition, the Rocket Festival. This film has won 25 awards and has been nominated for 20 others.The movie starts at 1:30 pm, and is in Lao with English subtitles. Northland Public Library is located in McCandless Township in the North Hills (map).
In "The Rocket," a boy believed to bring bad luck leads his family and a couple of ragged misfits through Laos to find a new home. After a calamity-filled journey through a land scarred by war, he tries to prove he's not cursed by building a giant rocket and entering the most lucrative and dangerous competition of the year, the Rocket Festival.The Harris Theater is located downtown in the Cultural District (map).
In Lao with English subtitles, "The Rocket" is Australia's submission for consideration in the foreign language film category for the 86th Academy Awards.
In "The Rocket," a boy believed to bring bad luck leads his family and a couple of ragged misfits through Laos to find a new home. After a calamity-filled journey through a land scarred by war, he tries to prove he's not cursed by building a giant rocket and entering the most lucrative and dangerous competition of the year, the Rocket Festival.The Rocket will play at Waterworks Cinemas (map) at 7:15 pm. A complete list of films will be announced on October 21.
In Lao with English subtitles, "The Rocket" is Australia's submission for consideration in the foreign language film category for the 86th Academy Awards.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday became the first high-ranking U.S. official to visit Laos since the Vietnam War era, when the United States dropped some 260 million cluster bombs across the countryside in a nine-year campaign to crush North Vietnamese supply lines and bases.As I wrote in November 2011, Americans are generally ignorant of the scale of destruction of the Vietnam War, have tended to manipulate its narrative to make the United States appear the greatest victim rather than the aggressor, and have calculated the war's devastation only in terms of its own losses. There are private groups doing more, though, and attempting to atone for our violence, such as Room to Read and Pittsburgh's Friends of Danang.
Ms. Clinton met with Laotian Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong and other officials for talks that centered mostly on addressing that war's lingering effects -- including a sense of mutual estrangement -- and then toured a small museum devoted to its human toll.
Ms. Clinton walked through an exhibit of dangling cluster bombs and crude wooden artificial legs, made by villagers whose limbs had been blown off by unexploded ordnance -- the legacy of a war that Ms. Clinton herself had protested as a college student in the 1960s.
Then she met Phongsavath Souliyat, who had been blinded by and lost both hands to a cluster bomb. He told her he hoped that governments would ban the weapon.
"We have to do more," Ms. Clinton responded. "That's one of the reasons I wanted to come here today, so that we can tell more people about the work that we should be doing together."
In late 2011, local writer Robert Isenberg traveled to Laos to research a book on the Secret War, a nine-year bombing campaign that devastated this tropical nation. In April 2012, Isenberg presented his solo performance, One Million Elephants, at Grey Box Theatre, produced by theatrical mavens No Name Players.
Now the company joins forces with Global Solutions Pittsburgh to present a one-night event that includes readings from Isenberg’s book manuscript, a panel discussion about unexploded cluster munitions (UXO), and a gallery of photographs taken in Laos.
This presentation will take place on Monday, August 6th, 2012, in the Studio Theatre, in the basement of the Cathedral of Learning. The show begins 8 PM, tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door.
Ticket proceeds benefit No Name Players and Global Solutions Pittsburgh. Book and art sales benefit Legacies of War, an organization that helps educate Americans about Laos.
