Japan’s Mao Asada also joins Time magazine’s list as a medal contender in ladies figure skating.  Japan is hoping to repeat their surprise Olympic gold medal victory back in 2006 when Shizuka Arakawa beat out such contenders as Sasha Cohen and Irina Slutskaya in ladies singles figure skating.  Mao Asada is there best bet if she can get past Kim Yu-na.

And of course American Apolo Ohno, who is half Caucasian and half Japanese, is on the list and is one more medal away from breaking legendary speed skater Eric Heiden’s record of the most winter Olympic medals won by an American male.  Ohno’s Olympic career is already pretty darn good by itself with a total of five medals, two of which are gold.

Even though she isn’t on the list I’ll throw in American figure skater Mirai Nagasu as a possible dark horse in ladies figure skating.  She made waves with her recent performance at the US Nationals earning a silver medal.  The United States isn’t expected to finish strong in this event, but who knows?  Miracles can happen, epecially at the winter Olympics.

Source: The Chosun Ilbo, Time.com

NPR recently interviewed Jeremy, and ESPN also wrote a piece on him as well, about his immigrant parents from Taiwan, as well as the overt discrimination and racism he has faced as an Asian American basketball star.  Lin seems to take a Jackie Robinson-like stance about it.  I can’t think of any other former California state HS Player of the Year, in any major sport, who wasn’t offered a college Division-I scholarship, which is what happened to Jeremy Lin. Here is a compilation of Jeremy Lin putting up 30 points against NCAA powerhouse UConn recently.  A few days later, Lin scored 25 points in Harvard’s upset win over Boston College. Last year he was the only NCAA player to rank in the top 10 in every conference statistical category. He shoots a ridiculous 61% from inside the 3-point line, and is an unselfish leader taking Harvard to one of its best seasons in history. If his last name were different, I would argue that he would have received a lot more notice out of high school, or more nationally as a legit NBA prospect.

So any news about any Nintendo first party titles will always hit the headlines.  Especially when the news is about the new Legend of Zelda game.  Nintendo producer Eiji Aonuma reportedly hopes to have a playable demo of the game and to have the new Zelda game completed by the end of this year.

Very little is actually known about the new Wii Zelda game outside of one piece of artwork and the confirmation that it will take advantage of the Wii Motion Plus.  Hopefully as E3 gets closer more details about the game will be slowly released.

Head over to Nintendojo for further news about the new Wii Zelda game:

Aonuma Hopeful for Playable Zelda at E3

Source: Nintendojo

What made the live action G.I. JOE film even half way watchable was seeing the bad ass ninja rivalry between Lee Byung Hun’s “Storm Shadow” and Ray Park’s “Snake Eyes” fully realized.  While the kid versions of them made me cringe, the full grown versions battling out on the big screen was the only real reason to watch the film.

So it seems that Paramount is going to devote a larger chunk of the sequel to Storm Shadow which, in turn, means that Lee Byung Hun will get more screen time (and hopefully more lines) in the next film.  No doubt a huge part of this decision is due to Lee Byung Hun’s international appeal, especially in the Asian markets.  But I still think it’s pretty darn awesome and kinda down right unheard of I think.  To actually give an Asian actor MORE screen time in a mainstream blockbuster film instead of being almost entirely cut out (e.g. Kal Penn in SUPERMAN  RETURNS) is good news indeed.

Source: jpopasia

Most people will probably think that some form of photo-editing post production was involved in the making of the animation.  Instead, the animation is very lo-fi in it’s production.  The creator of the piece simply changed camera positions and adjusted the focus, brightness, zoom, exposure and gain to achieve some impressive effects.

Watch the video and prepare to be amazed!

Source: Pink Tentacle

The Chosun Ilbo has an article discussing Yun-jin’s career, her strategy that led to landing her first U.S. role, the influence of the Korean Wave on casting Asian actors in Hollywood films and her future Hollywood goals after ‘Lost’ ends this year.

Read the article here:

How Kim Yun-jin’s Korean Success Helped Her Make It in Hollywood

Source: The Chosun Ilbo

He’s also Asian-American.

Of course I’m extremely proud of Jeremy’s accomplishments so far, but the fact that his skin color almost always overshadows his accomplishments in the mainstream sorta kinda irks me.

They make it almost seem like he is succeeding in basketball despite being an Asian-American.  But I guess there is a hint of truth to that.  Even with Yao Ming’s success in the NBA the perception that basketball and Asians don’t mix is still exists.  Also what’s even more disturbing is the racial slurs that are OPENLY hurled at Jeremy during games.  Jeremy, for his part, doesn’t let all that nonsense get to him on the court.

But enough with the rant.  It’s pretty exciting to see where Jeremy’s career will go from here.  If he chooses to go to the NBA I wonder what teams will be interested in taking him?

Read up on Jeremy Lin’s college hoops career:

TIME: Harvard’s Hoops Star is Asian. Why’s That a Problem?

Sports Illustrated: Havard School of Basketball

But in the world of texting the Koreans reign supreme.  The first ever Mobile World Cup was held in New York and Team Korea proved to have the fastest fingers in the world (of texting).  The U.S. came in second and Argentina placed third.

What’s interesting about the article is the differing perceptions of texting between the older generation and today’s youth.  The older generation prefers talking face to face or hearing a voice when they communicate.  Seems like the younger generation actually prefer texting and they believe it’s a more efficient form of communication.

Read the article here:

Rule of Thumbs: Koreans Reign in Texting World

Source:  NYTimes via twitter.com/soyon