The Search for General Tso at Hollywood Theater in Dormont, from January 9.

The Hollywood Theater in Dormont will show the 2014 documentary The Search for General Tso from January 9 through January 12 and on January 14. The Search for General Tso, says the official site,

is a feature-length documentary tracing the origins of Chinese American food through what is arguably America’s most popular takeout meal––General Tso’s Chicken.

Anchoring the film is an upbeat quest, through small towns and big cities across America and beyond, to understand the origins and popularity of Chinese American food and its top-selling dish. Who was General Tso? And why do nearly fifty thousand restaurants serve deep-fried chicken bearing his name?

Using this Americanized dish and its mysterious mastermind as a lens onto a larger story of immigration, adaptation, and innovation, the film follows a lighthearted journey, grounded in cultural and culinary history, through restaurants, Chinatowns, and the American imagination. Visits to present-day Chinese restaurants spark forays into the past, guided by chefs, scholars, and the occasional opinionated customer. The film’s lively soundtrack and shadow-puppet animations contribute both whimsy and momentum, as viewers find they’re on a search to answer a deeper question: how did America’s Chinese food become so… American?

The theater is located at 1449 Potomac Ave. in Dormont (map), and is accessible by Pittsburgh's subway/LRT at a block south of Potomac Station. Showtimes and tickets are available at the theater's website.

Free language courses at Carnegie Library in Oakland resume this week.

As the new year begins, a reminder that the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh has free Korean, Japanese, and Chinese classes at its Oakland branch (map). Depending on the class and the particular volunteer teacher, the sessions range from a period of casual free talking to more rigorous class with workbooks and chalk-and-talk instruction on grammar and usage.

Here's a look at what's coming up, in order of proficiency level:

* Chinese for Beginners (next meeting: January 11). Held the second and fourth Sunday of the month from 3:30 to 4:30 in the Large Print Room.
* Chinese II (next meeting: January 4). Held the first and third Sunday of the month from 3:30 to 4:30 in the Large Print Room.
* Chinese Conversation Club (next meeting: January 8). Held the second and fourth Thursday of each month from 6:00 to 7:00 in the Large Print Room. For intermediate and advanced learners.

* Japanese for Beginners (next meeting: January 12). Second and fourth Monday of the month from 6:30 to 7:30 in Classroom A.
* Japanese II (next meeting: January 13). Second and fourth Tuesday of the month from 6:30 to 7:30 in Classroom A. "Japanese II is geared toward those who already have a basic understanding of Japanese and are interested in increasing proficiency," says the library website. "Ability to read and write hiragana is required to take this class."
* Japanese Conversation Club (next meeting: January 6). Held on the first and third Tuesday of the month from 6:00 to 7:00 in the Large Print Room. For intermediate and advanced learners.

* Korean for Beginners (next meeting: January 3). Every Saturday from 1:00 to 2:30 in the Large Print Room. Focuses on reading Hangeul and producing basic phrases.
* Korean II (next meeting: January 3). Every Saturday from 11:00 to 12:30 in the Large Print Room.

Students may join the class at any time of the year, though registration is now required for many of the classes. This can be done online by clicking on the class and submitting your name and email address. For more information about the courses, and to register for one, visit the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh homepage, click events, and search for Chinese, Japanese, or Korean.

Unsanitary conditions found at New Yung Wah's McKees Rocks warehouse.

An October inspection by the Food and Drug Administration revealed unsanitary conditions at a local warehouse of a distributor for Asian restaurants, writes DailyFinance.

Among the findings in the inspection of the company's McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, warehouse:
* A rodent's nest with multiple rodents in a plastic-lined box in a cooler that had thawing rib meat on top of melons.
* Four dead rodents.
* Birds flying throughout the warehouse.
* A pallet of pineapples in boxes gnawed on by rodents, an apparent nest they made and rodent feces.
* Rodent feces in a cooler.
* A path of rodent feces leading to a hole in a bag of flour.
* Rodent feces, urine and nests in and around bags of monosodium glutamate.
* Workers smoking while handling food being prepared for distribution.

The full warning letter sent to the Brooklyn-based New Yung Wah Trading Company is available on the FDA website.

Japanese Sword Dance performance by Tadashi part of First Night Pittsburgh on New Years' Eve.

From Tadashi's website.

A Japanese Sword Dance will be one of many performances in downtown Pittsburgh on New Years' Eve as part of First Night Pittsburgh. The performer, Tadashi Kato, will present "a sword dance based on the mixture of traditional Japanese martial arts and American modern dance." A fuller profile on Tadashi is available at his website. He most recently performed in Pittsburgh at Kennywood's Asian Day last May.

There are two free performances scheduled at Pittsburgh CAPA School: 6:45 to 7:00 pm, and 9:00 to 9:15 pm. The school is located at 111 9th St. (map) in the Cultural District.

Pitt graduate putting Japanese skills to use for Asahi Shimbun.

In December, the Snapshot newsletter of the University of Pittsburgh's School of Arts & Sciences profiled Joelle Metcalfe, a 2011 Pitt graduate using her Japanese skills to cover the UN for the Asahi Shimbun:

A self-proclaimed "foreign policy junkie," Metcalfe is a staff reporter for the major Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, covering its United Nations beat. This means Metcalfe—who graduated magna cum laude from the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in 2011 with a BA in East Asian Languages and Literatures and a minor in political science—has had to become a generalist proficient in a broad array of international issues. Right now, hot topics include Syria, Palestine, the Central African Republic, the Ebola epidemic, Yemen, South Sudan, Iraq, and Ukraine.

"As someone who had been concentrating solely on northeast Asia for the past couple years, I had to learn fast about the recent events in the Middle East and Africa and get on top of the history behind these issues while the crises were still unfolding," says Metcalfe. "It may sound hectic, but I enjoy keeping fresh on different issues at a rapid pace."

Korean film Oldboy (올드보이) at Row House Cinema from Friday.

Row House Cinema in Lawrenceville will show the 2003 Korean film Oldboy (올드보이) from December 26 through January 1. 올드보이, the 21st-century classic not to be confused with the 2013 Spike Lee remake, is summarized in a 2005 Roger Ebert review:

A man gets violently drunk and is chained to the wall in a police station. His friend comes and bails him out. While the friend is making a telephone call, the man disappears from an empty city street in the middle of the night. The man regains consciousness in what looks like a shabby hotel room. A bed, a desk, a TV, a bathroom cubicle. There is a steel door with a slot near the floor for his food tray. Occasionally a little tune plays, the room fills with gas, and when he regains consciousness the room has been cleaned, his clothes have been changed, and he has received a haircut.

This routine continues for 15 years. He is never told who has imprisoned him, or why. He watches TV until it becomes his world. He fills one journal after another with his writings. He pounds the wall until his fists grow bloody, and then hardened. He screams. He learns from TV that his blood and fingerprints were found at the scene of his wife's murder. That their daughter has been adopted in Sweden. That if he were to escape, he would be a wanted man.

. . .

When he suddenly finds himself freed from his bizarre captivity 15 years later, he is a different person, focused on revenge, ridiculously responsive to kindness. Wandering into a restaurant, he meets a young woman who, he knows from the TV, is Korea's "Chef of the Year." This is Mido. Sensing that he has suffered, feeling an instinctive sympathy, she takes him home with her, hears his story, cares for him, comes to love him. Meanwhile, he sets out on a methodical search to find the secret of his captivity. He was fed pot stickers, day after day, until their taste is burned into his memory, and he travels the city's restaurants until he finds the one that supplied his meals. That is the key to tracking down his captors.

Showtimes are available online. The theater is located at 4115 Butler St. (map).

Pittsburgh Pirates win bidding for Korean shortstop Jung-ho Kang.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have won the bidding for Korean shortstop Jung-ho Kang (강정호). From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Their posting fee was $5,002,015, as reported by his team, the Nexen Heroes of the Korea Baseball Organization, and the Heroes accepted the bid Saturday.

The Pirates have 30 days to negotiate with Kang’s agent, Alan Nero of Octagon. If the two sides reach an agreement, Nexen receives the posting fee. If not, Kang cannot be posted again until next winter.

Kang, 27, hit .356 with a .459 on-base percentage and 40 home runs in 117 games for the Heroes this season, though those impressive offensive numbers came against lower-level competition in the KBO.

Pirates scouts, among those from many other teams, were seen at Korean Baseball Organization games throughout 2014. If Kang signs with the Pirates and makes their roster, he will be the second Korean player in the team's history after pitcher Chan-ho Park, who would set the record for wins by an Asian player in the Major Leagues during his late-2010 stint in Pittsburgh. Relief pitcher Byung-hyun Kim never made it out of spring training in 2008, while several others have played in the Pirates system.

Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter at Hollywood Theater, March 27.

The Hollywood Theater in Dormont announced today it will show the 2014 film Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter on March 27. A summary from the Sundance Festival homepage:

Kumiko lives in a cluttered, cramped apartment in Tokyo with her pet rabbit, Bunzo. She works as an office lady, robotically preparing tea and fetching dry cleaning for her nitpicky boss. But on her own time, she obsessively watches a well-known American film on a weathered VHS tape. Rewinding and fast-forwarding repeatedly, she meticulously maps out where a briefcase of castaway loot is buried within the fictional film. After hours of intense research—convinced that her destiny depends on finding the money—Kumiko heads to the United States and into the harsh Minnesota winter to search for it.

The American film stars several Japanese actors, including Rinko Kikuchi, and will debut in US theaters in March 2015.

"Dress Designs Reflections of Visit to Pitt Nationality Rooms".

Speaking of the Chinese Nationality Room, a Pittsburgh Press article from December 31, 1944 followed dress designer Dorris Varnum [sic] to the Cathedral of Learning to profile "a delightful collection of dresses" inspired by her visit to Pittsburgh. "[T]he dress expressing her notion of the Chinese Memorial classroom" is pictured on the right.

Smooth rayon jersey was the fabric chosen for the print, and black designs are splashed against grounds of pale jade green, lotus blossom and Ming blue.

The black designs could be taken to express one conception of plum blossoms seen on the carved doorframe of the classroom. These blossoms, which grow out of snow and ice, blooming before the winter is past, are Chinese national flowers.

Very appropriately, this bright dress makes its bow during a season of snow and ice.

"Classical Piano in Performance: The Piano Music of Quentin Kim" at CMU, December 16.

Pianist Nathan Carterette will perform the works of Quentin Kim (김정권) on December 16 at CMU's Kresge Theater (map), to mark the release of the former's CD of Kim's music. From Carterette's site:

To announce the release of my CD recorded last year in Busan, Quentin Kim is coming to Pittsburgh to attend a once-only concert featuring his solo piano works.

The event will be at Kresge Theatre in the Fine Arts Building on the campus of Carnegie-Mellon University, Tuesday December 16 at 2 pm. This event is free and a reception follows.

Included will be his great Sonata in g# minor, Lilies: A Ballad-Fantasy, Springtime Glances, Variations on an Ancient Korean Melody, the Prelude and Fugue in c# minor (dedicated to myself), and other short works.

Please note, elsewhere on Carterette's site and on other event listings the start time is 3:00 pm (map).