For my obsession project I have decided to compare and contrast Japanese zombie TV show/movie with American zombie TV show/movie. To elaborate, once a week I will watch both a Japanese zombie TV show/movie and also an American zombie TV show/movie. The goal of this project will be to answer the overarching question,”What do these shows say about their native societies?” by the end of week 9 (its week 3 right now). To do this, I will answer in my weekly blogging’s a set of my own questions over the course of the next seven weeks.

1. what is the meaning and message of the two shows in comparison?

2. How are the dialogues/relationships different or similar between the two shows?

3.  Does the idea of stereotypes ever come into play and affect the show? For instance, on “The Walking Dead,” many people think the Asian American character Glenn is stereotyped.

4.  What are the characters goals in the two shows? How are they different or similar?

5. Are there any similarities or differences between the plots or characters?

6.  what is the mood and setting for the storyline?

7. How are the zombies viewed/treated in show? Are they pitied upon, or seen as evil?

8. What is the overall mood of the show? What is it’s intent? Is it supposed to be gory, scary, emotional, romantic, funny, or what?

9.  Are gender roles present in the show? Or any forms of discrimination?

10. Are the zombie’s characteristics/storyline similar or different? And if so how?

11.What are the zombies exact role in the show/story?

12. Are the zombies central to the characters storyline?  Just how important are they to the show? And if they are important than how? For example, in “Zombie Loan,” the characters are zombies themselves but are good zombies out to kill bad zombies. This causes internal conflict and deep emotions for the characters.

“Food” is one of my obsessions, and I’m really interested in American food culture. This is because without going to anywhere, we can have different kinds of foods here. Asian, South American, European… These foods make us the feeling like we travel around the world. However, as you know, all of them are not authentic foods, everything become Americanized. It is understandable, because people have their own tastes. I think it is okay to change their tastes, if their food cultures are still there. I’d like to talk about sushi as the example how different it is.

Japanese sushi can be roughly classified into three kinds; “Nigiri,” “Gunkan,” and “Norimaki.” Nigiri which today we often see spread in Edo period (1603-.) At that time, Nigiri also called “Hayazushi” which meant “quick sushi” because people could have them right, easily, and fresh fish. So, they became famous soon. “Nigiri” make by small rice balls with fish, shellfish, etc. on top. Some of the most common ones are tuna, shrimp, eel, squid, octopus and fried egg.

“Gunkan” is small cups made of sushi rice and dried seaweed filled with seafood, etc. Some of the most common ones are sea urchin and various kinds of fish eggs.

“Norimaki” Sushi rice and seafood, etc.They are rolled in seaweed sheets.

Typical sushi restaurants have counter and tables. In front of the counter, there is showcase, and we can check what fish is fresh today.

Today, conveyer belt sushi bars are increasing in Japan. Most of the sushi bars sell only about one dollar per plate. We also have delivery services.

I found the video which you can know more about sushi. So, if you are interested more, please check it.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In this post, I only researched about Japanese sushi, and I found I need to know about American sushi culture more. This is because I don’t know it as well as Japanese sushi culture. I just know there is California roll in America, but now I found there are more what I can find different. So, I want to post about American sushi culture after I researched more.

Online gaming, particularly competitive online games have a massive fan-base and continues to grow each year. The new up and coming “King of eSports” currently is League of Legends which had over 32 million viewers of the Season 3 grand finals. What drove all these people to watch some one play video games instead of watching physical sports? First lets delve into professional sports as a whole. You have paid athletes who perform their craft at the highest possible level and dedicate all of their time and resources honing their skills at their sport.

People watch these people for a variety of reasons ranging from learning better techniques/form/etc, appreciating players skill, and particularly belonging to a form of family. There are plenty of other reasons but those core ideas fuel our psych. The largest group is most likely the sense of belonging category. When one becomes a fan for a favorite team it gives their brain a new motivation and drive to being involved as much as possible when in reality virtually all fandom has zero impact on the performance on athletic performance (12th man is real).

Now in regards to cyber athletes it isn’t a surprise that it has a huge following. One big reason being it is extremely easy to copy and implement a pro’s new strategy almost instantly. In addition, there is a greater interest in the sport when one is more knowledgeable about what they’re watching. In video games this is especially easy due to the freedom of playing the pro game at an amateur level. If one fan is watching a tournament and learns of a new technique or style and plays in his own league he has a much greater chance of winning. Which fuels the fluid goal setting and achieving model of most games. “If I do what this professional does before everyone else I’ll win more!”

To make this relevant to the class I’ll make it apparent the biggest eSports events started in Korea with Starcraft tournaments being broadcast on live TV on more than one channel. In addition Korea is typically at the height of video game skill, a few examples being  that the current winners of the Season 3 world championships for League of Legends are one of Korea’s many teams, SK Telecom T1. Another example being the Korean domination of the Starcraft 2 scene where in the Global Starcraft League virtually all the top players belong to Korea.

That’s all for now I’m just rambling at this point. This is a general overview of a new online movement occurring, in which I have some interest in the progression.

So i couldn’t think of something that was an Obsession of mine. I don’t have time in my life outside of work and school to be obsessed with anything at all. But something I do enjoy doing when I have free-time is crafts! I work at Michaels, so I am around crafty stuff and crafty people every day.

But how can I relate this back to Asian American culture?!

Each week I decided I am going to do a different craft based on a different Asian country. I want to find different projects that have meaning to the culture of the countries, or some kind of history with them.

A few ideas I have thought of so far, which are only thoughts at the moment are:

JAPAN- Origami

KOREA- Hanji

CHINA- Jade (Maybe a Jade bracelet?)

INDONESIA- Wayang (puppets) or pottery

INDIA- beaded head jewlery ( I dont know what this is called. Someone help?)

Does anyone have any ideas for me ? They would be much appreciated

This might sound jingoistic, but I think that my obsession for the quarter is going to be America. Love it or leave it.

A British-American commentator once wrote that “… the most vital of arguments goes on… Are races be equal?” Why? “Americans believe that these debates can never become tired, and that their resolution still matters, because what happens in America still matters in the broader world.” And it does still matter, because we have not only made a promise to the world that “All are created equal,” but by and large we still believe that today.

This is not to gloss over that we’ve been perfect in that aspiration. We have a lot of original sin in our founding myths. It is important to acknowledge and examine the bad parts of our history, to inform the debate of today. And a lot of what I want to examine is going to keep referencing this.

But I refuse to stop at that. To conclude that we’re a hypocritical, racist country is to take the easy way out. It does a disservice to those who’ve risen through the ranks. And it closes off the conversation about where we go from here.

So these are the questions I want to examine through the pop culture lens. Do we still believe in the melting pot? Is the Pan-Asian idea more of an American phenomenon, or can it be applied to Asia as well? And are these things uniquely American?

Let’s talk.

I wish I would’ve written down what I listed as my obsessions from that first day of class. I think I said John Green, Tumblr and bad reality TV? I don’t know how any of those really relate to Asian/Americans. I was watching The Mindy Project the other day and I absolutely love that show and her. I find Mindy Kaling ridiculously hilarious and often, painfully easy to relate to. So then I was like, ‘yeah! I’ll have my obession be on her!’ but that seemed too easy considering she’s Asian/Indian/American and the link is RIGHT THERE. Like a literal line from point A to B. So then I was like, “what about Pharrell Williams?” Because he’s probably my biggest obsession to be honest. I kind of love him. And then that got me on the topic of music and I started thinking about Blue Scholars and other not-so-known artist in the area. And I also started thinking fashion and Asian influence there. And I started thinking about doing some kind of project on Asian influence and black culture? I mean, I wouldn’t exactly call being black an obsession. I’m kind of stuck with it, but it interest me. I like drawing the connections I guess. But when it comes right down to it, I have but a vague idea of what my project will be on.

I could go on for a long time if I had to be specific, so I’ll be general about it until I have to narrow it down. Anime, manga, doujinshi, video games (including PC), figures, and random junk found wherever and whenever that appeal me. It’s thanks to all these, and plenty of other important stuff I did not mention because they’re not obsessions or they’re necessities, that has culminated me into the random person typing this post. The only trouble now is I don’t know which one to delve  into for this class. I’m sure the last one can’t be used for this class since that can be almost anything, but the formers are difficult to decide on. Maybe it’s too vague right now, so I’ll ponder it before the end of Week 3.

Still pondering on specific topic…