little. yellow. different. A weblog by Ernie Hsiung

Posted
20 January 2005 @ 2am

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Things I have been coerced into watching or buying, solely because I am Asian-American, Part 2

Stir TV, “A fast-paced, half-hour, magazine-style TV show … on the latest trends in their culture; fashion, music, sports, gaming - anything and everything affecting Asian Americans.”

*sigh* Of course it is.

My friend told me to TiVo an episode after gushing over how hot one of the hosts is. “Dude, Sabrina Shimada is fucking HOT, man!” Not that it gives me any incentive to record a television show, of course, but hey, a show about Asian Americans on the International Channel? I haven’t seen an Asian American on syndicated cable since they put an Asian guy on The Real World!

Oh wait, they haven’t yet. My bad.

Female Asian American Host: Hi, I’m your adorable female host!
Male Asian American Host, with gelled bleach-tipped fauxhawk: Yo, our show today is jam packed with entertainment. It’s off the heezy fo’ sheezy! That means, “off the hook for sure.”

(Editors note: It should be said that I typed what the male host said almost verbatim. Crazy hair and clothes aside, he looks like he should be a Chemical Engineering student at UC Riverside, and I visualize the producers coaxing him the correct way of saying “heezy fo’ sheezy” before taping starts. Somewhere in my head, my brain cells are attempting to commit mass suicide.)

Female Host: First off on Stir, we have a Chinese American foreign exchange student who became a pop sensation in the Peoples Republic of China! But first, here’s an exclusive interview with a girl who came to America to learn English and became one of the hottest import models around!
Ernie: (attempts to suffocate himself in pillow)

Asian Import model: …Basically, I sit in the booth and represent the cars. In Japan, I was never model material because I was too short. For those who want to become models, I say to them…

(Ernie pauses the TiVo)
Ernie: “be true to yourself.”
(Ernie unpauses the TiVo)

Import model: “be true to yourself, and never give up on your dreams.”

Nice. And again, the overactive imagination kicks in… now.

(The scene: a Japanese classroom full of eight year olds. As with all of Ernie’s imaginary sequences involving Japanese classrooms, the kids are speaking in Japanese with English subtitles underneath.)

Teacher: We will now go from student to student and have them answer the following question: What would you like to be when you grow up. Daisuke?
Daisuke: I would like to be a salaryman. To pass out on a crowded subway car and to pass out from alcohol with my co-workers in the middle of the night, I would like that very much.
Teacher: And you, Eri?
Eri: I would like to seductively pose over lowered Honda Civics.
Everyone: WHAAAA?!

(Insert flashing Japanese word for “WHAAA?!” here)

Teacher: Eri, you are too short to be a mod-
Eri: THAT IS NOT TRUE! JUST YOU SEE! I WILL MOVE TO AMERICA, AND I WILL BE TRUE TO MYSELF AND NEVER GIVE UP ON MY DREAMS!

(Cut to classroom being blown up by Voltron)

Nope. No brain cells left. None at all.


21 Comments

Posted by
Jess
20 January 2005 @ 4am

Someone needs a good night’s sleep, I think. :)


Posted by
citygirrrl
20 January 2005 @ 4am

* can’t * breathe * for * laughing *

i’m SO gutted that they don’t have this show available here in the UK, where British-Oriental media representation still revolves largely around adverts for Amoy.

i’ve always rather fancied myself as being the BBC’s first British-Oriental science correspondent, i’ll get there as long as i stay true to myself….


Posted by
Nala
20 January 2005 @ 5am

Voltron???

I thought Japanese classrooms were always under threat from Godzilla collateral damage.


Posted by
Laura Moncur
20 January 2005 @ 7am

Man, I’ve missed you. It has been over two weeks! Worth the wait, though.


Posted by
Jessica
20 January 2005 @ 8am

Judging from my four months living in Tokyo, I think schools getting destroyed by old-school Gundams are more common. I’m just sayin’.


Posted by
Ken
20 January 2005 @ 9am

Lion Voltron, or the shitty Voltron with all the little cars?


Posted by
Kungfukitten
20 January 2005 @ 1pm

Ha ha ha! This is why I shop here. ~Voltron and Gamara fight to the death in the background~


Posted by
gil
20 January 2005 @ 4pm

nice comment about the Asian man on ‘the Real World’… as for Stir– well, Asian America has to take baby steps before we start sprinting right?


Posted by
chad
20 January 2005 @ 4pm

you just made me pee. all over my feet. in front of my computer. damn you, ernie. damn you.


Posted by
fred
20 January 2005 @ 6pm

I don’t recall asian GUYS on teh real world.. but what about Janet from RW7-Seattle?
http://www.eonline.com/Features/Features/Realworld10/Real/Popup/seattle.image.html


Posted by
6
20 January 2005 @ 6pm

does this mean you won’t be watching pacific fusion hosted by former miss universe brook lee on sunday afternoons at 12:30pm on channel 4 now? and i can’t believe you don’t have a lil rice crush on http://briantong.com and his lil fauxhawk.


Posted by
Ricardo non-Montalban
20 January 2005 @ 8pm

Fuckin’ a, man.


Posted by
sylvie
21 January 2005 @ 4pm

and UCR gets a mention in ernie’s blog….

which will probably be the only mention of riverside… ever.

but I love your site- write often.


Posted by
Ben
21 January 2005 @ 4pm

I think Brian Tong is cute… but probably only because I have never seen him say heezy fo’ sheezy on tv.


Posted by
Alena
23 January 2005 @ 11am

Okay.. is the show really called ‘Stir’? Cause if it is, let me share with you how my brain works.

Stir.. huh.. Asian Channel.. huh.. OH! Like stir fry?

Is that intentional, you think, or am I just weird for noticing?


Posted by
stupidfresh
25 January 2005 @ 2pm

one of the guys on road rules was half-thai. i think his name was “yes”.


Posted by
kim
25 January 2005 @ 4pm

Hahahah oh shit. I think i almost peed my pants. I have to go watch this damn show now because of you.

*wishes she had tivo*

BE TRUE TO YOURSELF!


Posted by
thephoenixnyc
26 January 2005 @ 9am

Great post, great blog. Very funny stuff. I’ll be visiting again.


Posted by
Jason Mulgrew
27 January 2005 @ 7pm

intense!

love,
jason mulgrew
internet quasi-celebrity


Posted by
Nancy
29 January 2005 @ 11am

Great post. Now you have to go after Iron Chef America. Or just Iron Chef in general. :)


Posted by
Jesse knows!
29 January 2005 @ 4pm

I met that fauxhawk dude at the Britannia Arms in Cupertino on Thanksgiving day… seriously…

The International Channel is trying to have more English language programming, so they put Stir on and some other crazy AA shows on a whole schedule called “Asian Street.” All the shows are pretty bad, but hey it’s a start… Stir is also on KTSF channel 8

Speaking of import models, there was one show on Asian Street that had that chick Kaila Yu doing kind of an elimidate thing with these dudes (you got to win a date with her rapping, dancing and other silly things)… oh and I also remember/know “Kaila” coming down to UCSD to do drugs with her Azn friends in my friend’s dorm… ahh good times… ok that’s all..