"The U.S. Pivot to Asia: Why ASEAN Matters", July 24.

The World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh will present "The U.S. Pivot to Asia: Why ASEAN Matters", a Breakfast Briefing on July 24 with Ambassador (Ret.) David Carden.

First look at Chick'n Bubbly chicken.

First look at Chick'n Bubbly chicken, via its Facebook page:



Chick'n Bubbly is the Korean-style fried chicken place in Oakland, set to open later this summer.

Performances of Takasago, Hagoromo by Noh Training Project in Bloomsburg, August 1 and 2.

The Noh Training Project at the Bloomsburg Theater Ensemble will perform two Noh plays, Takasago (高砂) and Hagoromo (羽衣), on August 1 and 2. The Noh Training Project runs from July 13 through August 3 in Bloomsburg, PA, and is

a summer three-week intensive, performance-based training in the dance, chant, music and performance history of Japanese classical noh drama. The Noh Training Project offers the most intensive and extensive noh training available in the United States.

As the poster above says, the evening's performances begin at 7:00 pm at the Bloomsburg Town Park Band Shell (map) and will include two plays, Takasago and Hagoromo.



On Saturday the 2nd is a lecture "Stop-Motion Noh: Kawamoto and the Puppet Screen" by Dr. Linda C. Erlich of Case Western University. The talk will take place at the Alvina Krause Theater (map), roughly one mile from the park.

All events are free and open to the public.

Jen-Lei Liao is a large man.

Here is 20-year-old Pirates pitching prospect Jen-Lei Liao (廖任磊) at a New Years Party at Kainan University in Taiwan back in February. Liao currently pitches for Pittsburgh's Gulf Coast League affiliate, and has a 3.12 ERA in six appearances. He's listed at 6'6" 255 lbs. (198 cm, 116 kg).

AppalAsia live at Marty's Market, July 18.

A performance of "Wild Horse" in 2012, uploaded by erhu player Mimi Jong.

AppalAsia will be performing on Friday, July 18, as part of the monthly "Music @ Marty's" series at Marty's Market in the Strip District. AppalAsia is a Pittsburgh trio featuring an erhu, dulcimer, and banjo that "combines the influences of Appalachian and Asian music traditions with original composition and inspired improvisation to create their unique musical voice". Music @ Marty's events feature music "paired with amazing cuisine influenced by the artist", and Friday's performance will include an "Asian inspired menu".

The event runs from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. Tickets are $25 and are available online. Marty's Market is located at 2301 Smallman St. in the Strip District (map).

Back in 2008, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review profiled Bubble Pi, the first---and now third---Asian bakery on Murray Ave. in Squirrel Hill (map). The Pittsburgh City-Paper followed a year later. From the latter:

Bubble π has been on Murray Avenue for two years now; before that, Lin operated Asia Tea House, in Schenley Plaza. "I was selling my bubble tea. That was my specialty at the time," she says. Though the tea sold briskly in the warm months, "when it cooled down, nobody bought it. Now I'm more focused on my pastries and designed cakes."

Open seven days a week, Bubble π also offers its namesake beverage -- the fruit- or tea-based drink with tapioca pearls -- as well as coffees, shaved ice and a few simple lunch items.

K Missing Kings at Hollywood Theater in Dormont, July 19 and 20.

Last month, the Hollywood Theater in Dormont announced on its Facebook page it would be participating in the United States premier of the Japanese animated film K Missing Kings on July 19 and 20. The distributor Eleven Arts provides a brief summary:

Based on the hit anime K, K MISSING KINGS picks up where the series left off. Featuring the same director and scriptwriter as the series, this movie brings the characters that you've grown to love in the same spirit of action, honor, and loyalty. K MISSING KINGS also sees the return of popular voice actors such as Daisuke Namikawa, Daisuke Ono, and Tomokazu Sugita, reprising their roles for the first time on the big screen.

The story starts some time after the Island Academy Incident, in which four of the seven great Kings crossed paths. Since this time, silver clansmen Kuroh Yatogami and Neko have been searching for their master, Yashiro Isana, the Silver King. Their search having turned up fruitless, the two begin to give up hope, until they encounter Anna Kushina and Rikio Kamamoto, two members of the red clan HOMRA being chased by someone.

According to Anime News Network, the movie will have a limited US release from July 18. There are three shows scheduled on the 19th and 20th: Saturday at 7:00 pm, Sunday at 4:00 pm, and Sunday at 7:00 pm. The movie is in Japanese with English subtitles, and the theater will include movie-related giveaways while supplies last.

The theater is located at 1449 Potomac Ave. in Dormont, and is accessible by Pittsburgh's subway/LRT at a block south of Potomac Station. It 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.

Are you a native Japanese speakers also active on mTurk? A Pitt grad student is doing a study on language processing, and has an hour-long HIT that pays $5.00.

Road to Ninja coming to Hollywood Theater in August.

The Hollywood Theater in Dormont announced today that it will show Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie on August 29 and 31. Tickets are $12 and are available online for the Friday evening and Sunday afternoon shows. The movie will be dubbed in English.

Gwangju students back in Pittsburgh for language immersion, cultural exchange.

Heading on one former student's travel report.

Students from Gwangju National University of Education (광주교육대학교) in South Korea are back in Pittsburgh for a language immersion and cultural exchange. From June 25 through July 24, 18 education students will attend classes and tour the city under the guidance of the Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council. Other cohorts are visiting California, New Zealand, Vietnam, Thailand, and Japan.

The GPLC hosts these students twice a year, and posts updates on its Facebook page. Readers of Korean can learn more about the trip and the students' experiences by reading the trip reports prepared by the students each term, hosted on the GNUE website. The school magazine also publishes interviews with returning students from time to time, though its website is currently broken.

These training and immersion programs have been going on between GNUE and Pittsburgh since 2009, shortly after Park Nam-gi was named school president. Park earned his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1993, and worked two stints as a visiting professor at Pitt in 1999 and 2000-2001. In 2013 he received a University Medallion Award, given to distinguished alumni around the world to mark the 225th anniversary of the University of Pittsburgh's founding.


Via the GPLC GNUE Facebook page.