Live from UB documentary on Mongolian rock music, July 12 and 18 in Oakland.

Live from UB, a documentary on Mongolian rock music by Pittsburgh transplant Lauren Knapp, will play at the Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival on July 12 and 18. The film's synopsis:

LIVE FROM UB explores the small but vibrant rock scene in Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar (also called ‘UB’) by blending the story of one band creating original Mongolian rock with interviews from experts and Mongolian rock legends. Rock was a catalyst in the democratic revolution of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Now, more than twenty years later, the first generation to grow up in this new society is making its own music. Unlike the generation before them, the new music makers grew up watching MTV and can access music from anywhere in the world in an instant. But these young Mongolians are defying the forces of globalization and using modern music to both explore and assert their own unique heritage. Like Mongolia at large, they are eager to be recognized beyond their borders, but without sacrificing their identity

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Both screenings will be held at the Melwood Screening Room in Oakland (map). The screening on the 18th will be followed by a Q & A with Knapp. Ticket information is available on the film festival's website.

홈런볼 대박!

Pittsburgh Pirates rookie Jung-ho Kang (강정호) got a care package from Korea recently, says Root sports, including the chocolate-filled snack "Home Run Ball" (홈런볼) pictured above.

Post-Gazette on "The Asian Influence" on local dining.

Melissa McCart at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes on "The Asian Influence" in the local restaurant scene for Thursday's paper:

The influx of Asian students to Pittsburgh universities is one of the most important factors shaping Pittsburgh's restaurant community. Not only is it bringing to the city more Chinese, Korean, Indian and Asian-fusion eateries, it is also prompting some restaurant owners to shape menus according to students' cravings.

. . .

Beyond providing low-cost items for students on a budget, many restaurants are offering authentic regional cuisine as a separate menu or a subset of an expansive menu of Asian dishes. And as many restaurants cater to millennials and an even younger set, restaurants are diversifying menus so students can have it their way.

The article also includes a brief update on plans for Ramen Bar and Pink Box in Oakland. I was asked a few questions for the article but missed the deadline, but noted in my responses that it I don't think it's the local Asian student communities shaping the neighborhood, it's Asian and Asian-American entrepreneurs who have found menus that appeal to a wide variety of people. While a few restaurants are known for more specialized, authentic dishes, usually you'll find long menus at each place that stretch across a range of cuisines and invariably include things like sushi, fried rice, pad thai, and bubble tea.

Chinese movies Dearest (親愛的), Red Amnesia (闯入者), The History of Love, and The Nightingale (夜莺) at Silk Screen Film Festival July 11

Four Chinese movies will play on July 11, the second day of the 2015 Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival: Dearest (親愛的), Red Amnesia (闯入者), The History of Love, and The Nightingale (夜莺).



This year's festival runs from July 10 through 18. Each movie will have an additional showing; the full schedule is available online.

"Storytime: Chinese and English" at Carnegie Library in Squirrel Hill, July 13.

The Squirrel Hill branch of the Carnegie Library will host "Storytime: Chinese and English" on Monday, July 13.

Celebrate the city's diverse culture as we explore new words through songs, action rhymes and stories in both English and Chinese. For children birth - 5 years and their parents and caregivers.

The event runs from 1:30 to 2:00 pm. The library is located at 5801 Forbes Ave. (map), accessible by city buses 61A, 61B, 61C, 61D, 64, and 74.

Kung Fu Killer (一個人的武林) at Parkway Theater, July 21.

July's installment of "Asian Movie Madness" at the Parkway Theater in McKees Rocks is Kung Fu Killer (一個人的武林). Wikipedia provides a summary of the 2015 movie, which is now commonly known as Kung Fu Jungle in English:

Hahou Mo, a martial arts expert and police self-defense instructor (Donnie Yen) is incarcerated for involuntary manslaughter during a fight with an opponent. Three years later, a vicious killer (Wang Baoqiang) emerges and starts killing retired martial arts masters that Hahou knows. With his own personal agenda, Hahou reveals he knows the killer's next intended victims and offers to aid Inspector Luk Yuen-Sum (Charlie Young) in capturing the killer with his martial arts skills and knowledge in exchange for his freedom.

The movie starts at 7:00 pm and is free, as are all Asian Movie Madness films, which are held on the third Thursday of the month. The theater is located at 644 Broadway Ave. in McKees Rocks (map), a few miles west of the North Side.

Documentary The Look of Silence coming to Pittsburgh in August.

The Parkway Theater in McKees Rocks announced on the 29th that the 2014 documentary The Look of Silence, on the Indonesian killings of 1965 and 1966, will play there and in Regent Square on August 28. A synopsis, from the film's website:

Through [director Joshua] Oppenheimer's footage of the perpetrators of the 1965 Indonesian genocide, a family of survivors discovers how their son was murdered, as well as the identities of the killers. The documentary focuses on the youngest son, an optometrist named Adi, who decides to break the suffocating spell of submission and terror by doing something unimaginable in a society where the murderers remain in power: he confronts the men who killed his brother and, while testing their eyesight, asks them to accept responsibility for their actions. This unprecedented film initiates and bears witness to the collapse of fifty years of silence.

Ticket information has not yet been released.

Japanese movie Jellyfish Eyes (めめめのくらげ) at Hollywood Theater, July 15

The Hollywood Theater in Dormont announced today that it will show the 2013 Japanese movie Jellyfish Eyes (めめめのくらげ) on July 15 at 7:30 pm. A summary, from Chicago Reader:

It takes place in a small town where all the kids have fantastic-looking pets that they command with electronic devices, unaware that the pets have been created by a sinister organization as part of a mind-control plot. The creatures—which range from a human-sized frog to a sprite with a big metal box for a head—provide a worthy showcase for Murakami's prodigious visual imagination; not coincidentally, the principal theme is how imagination can play a constructive role in child development, as the kids learn to stop pitting the creatures against each other and use them collaboratively.

Additional background on the artist and the movie is available in a 2013 Wall Street Journal interview. Tickets range from $5 to $8 and are available online. 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.

"Rebel Flags in Korea: Confederate Banners Fly Anywhere!!!"

African-American publications in the 1950s noted the prominence of confederate flags flown by American soldiers in South Korea during the Korean War. The Pittsburgh Courier, on September 29, 1951, wrote on the phenomenon in an article "Rebel Flags in Korea: Confederate Banners Fly Anywhere!!!". An excerpt:

The Confederate flag which is receiving widespread use in this country is also used in Korea, it was learned this week.

A platoon of the United States First Calvary Division, consisting of a large number of Southerners, flew the Stars and Bars in Korea.

By a special act of Congress, the Fifth Maryland Regiment flies the Confederate flag with the Stars and Stripes. It is also the official insignia of the "Dixie" Division of the National Guard which draws its personnel from the North and South.

Moving closer to Bruster's ice cream in South Korea.

In May 2013 we read about Bruster's plans to further expand overseas to markets like South Korea and Saudi Arabia. A Monday press release offers more details about the plans to open locations in Seoul and Busan:

A 10-unit development agreement for its first Asian shops has been signed with Lee & Brusters, Inc.

Site selection for two locations is underway in Seoul and Busan. The first Bruster’s will open in late 2015 or early 2016.

“I became familiar with Bruster’s amazing ice cream when I was living in Atlanta,” said Hye Young Lee, CEO of Lee & Brusters, Inc., which was created to develop Bruster’s in South Korea. “Bruster’s premium, freshly made ice cream will be a huge success, as it is far superior to the factory produced, deep frozen product sold by other chains.”

To quote from the May 2013 post, with updated figures:

If Bruster's does open in Korea, its ice cream will complete most fiercely with Baskin Robbins (1,148 locations) and Cold Stone Creamery (27 locations), two popular western chains there. Red Mango (47 locations) and Smoothie King (162 locations) are two others covering similar territory. Surprisingly, self-serve yogurt places like Razzy Fresh or Sweet Berry---where customers choose their own flavors of soft-serve and add their own toppings---haven't taken off.

It's interesting to note, though, how things have changed in the last two years: Cold Stone and Red Mango locations have decreased by nearly half, while Baskin Robbins has added another 103 stores since May 2013.