What Did I Miss?: November 2022

Published Works

Review of Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me by Ralph Macchio – For Goodreads, I briefly give my take on this memoir about the “kid” who played “the Karate Kid.”

NOC Review: When Grogu Met the Soot Sprites – For The Nerds of Color, I do a little write-up on a collaboration between two studios many have been wanting to see together.

Tig Fong on Navigating the World of Stunts and Directing – For Mixed Asian Media, I speak to this “What We Do In the Shadows” director about how they got into directing, as well as navigating the stunt world as a queer, mixed Asian person.

Highlights from the 42nd Hawai’i International Film Festival’s Virtual Program – For The Nerds of Color, by the power I had in whatever I was able to access from the mainland, I give quick glimpse at standout, feature-length films from this film festival’s virtual programming.

Mentions

This Filipino American Life Episode 179 – TFAL Gives Thanks – One of the co-hosts reads aloud an email I had sent, in response to the previous episode of the podcast. It can be heard near the beginning of the episode.

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6 Years of “An Absolute Mind” and the Future of that Universe

Ideally, I would have liked to have written about this earlier in the month. However, due to occurrences that I’ve made known by now, it just didn’t feel right. But I didn’t want the month of November to come and go without acknowledging it at all either, as there is more to be said about it than a year ago.

Finding Solace and Validity in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”

Yes, it’s been a hot minute (a year, actually) since I’ve done one of these. The last time I did an analysis on a film to this extent was “tick, tick… BOOM!” This time around, I’m delving into the highly anticipated “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” but with a slight twist, as I’ll be relaying how much this story resonated me with what I’ve been going through as of late.

WARNING: The following contains light spoilers from the film.

A Firm Stance in Loving Memory

There is a lot going on in the world and in my personal life currently. The past 24 hours have been some of the hardest I’ve had to ever deal with. While this blog is, for the most part, about writing and storytelling, you should know by now that I’m not shy about taking a stance against the numerous levels of wrong that continue to poison this world — and in this case, my stances on what I’m about to touch on have been amplified by what I’ve been through recently.

What Did I Miss?: October 2022

Published Works

Review of Blackmail and Bibingka by Mia P. Manansala – For Goodreads, I dive into my impressions on the latest installment from Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery series.

New Documentary ‘Rising Against Asian Hate’ Captures An Unprecedented Moment – For the Center for Asian American Media, I spoke with the filmmakers of this very important, upcoming documentary.

Background and Filler Stories Unfold in ‘Tales of the Jedi’ – For The Nerds of Color, I discuss my thoughts about this new anthology series set within the “Star Wars” universe.

Appearances

ShoPowSho 104: ‘Dasig’ Creators Kristian Kabuay and Lauren Lola! – My collaborator and I chat with host Patrick Michael Strange a.k.a. Kuya P on the making of our graphic novel-in-progress.

Talking Transcendence By Way of Playing with Fire: Recommended Listening

Okay, I was planning to write about something completely separate, but due to time restraints on my end, I’m instead going to provide this latest round of Recommended Analyzing (and the first one since the beginning of the year):

Exploring Authentic Stories at the Filipino American International Book Festival

For reasons predictable by now, it’s been a hot minute since I last was at a book festival; whether as an attendee or as a participant. To have seen book conventions like BookExpo shut down in recent years, as well as a recent surge in book banning in different parts of the country, books feel particularly precious now more than ever — especially those authored by historically underrepresented communities.

A Few Degrees of Separation: On Scandals and Scapegoating

(Okay, I was looking to write this last week, but given everything that has been happening, I wanted to wait until I could properly, mentally process it all.)

What Did I Miss?: September 2022

Published Works

Review of Holiday Heroine by Sarah Kuhn – For Goodreads, I give a brief take on the final installment of this Asian American superheroine series.

Review of The Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie Ford – For Goodreads, I provide a short glimpse at my thoughts on the latest novel from this New York Times Bestselling author.

Twenty Years After “Whale Rider,” There’s Still Much to Love – In a cross post for JoySauce and Mixed Asian Media, I acknowledge the 20th anniversary of this highly celebrated New Zealand film and dive into why it means so much to me. (The version on Mixed Asian Media, titled “Finding Representation and Meaning in Whale Rider,” can be read here.)

The Quality of Asian Representation in ‘Cobra Kai’ Season 5 – For The Nerds of Color, I analyze in depth how well the Asian characters were written in the latest season of the Netflix series.

Thoughts About Where I Am As a Creative

Ten years ago this month, I wrote, what would eventually become, the tenth chapter of A Moment’s Worth. While I didn’t make the conscious decision to write a book until a few months later, to me, I see it as the starting point of everything that has come since then for me, creatively.