My name is Stacey,but, everyone calls me Raven because it my native name and the one that prefer except a pet name that my husband calls me. Which means I am not telling what that is.
I am studying to be a historian of World War II with an emphasis on the Holocaust and the recovery of stolen artworks of that period. My life revolves around some of the darkest periods in the 20th century and tends to be rather depressing with the exception of the resistance. I am hoping to attend grad school next year in England so I can be closer to home and my mouldering books in the library.
I have varied interests that include music, the study of murder and serial killers, books, Dr. Who,Star Trek,movies and gaming both virtual and board. I sing too.
I speak Dutch poorly,however, I understand and read it fairly well.
In the off-season I live in fabulous Antwerp,Belgium hence the reason for speaking Dutch. At the moment trying to keep up with the Dutch so don’t forget and sound like an idiot when I go home.
As far as to why I am in this class…seemed like the thing to do since I know next to nothing about a population of folks that I grew up around here in the Pacific-Northwest plus it looked interesting.
Bruce Lee’s Weight Lifting Program
As a fan of martial arts movie, Bruce Lee is one of my favorite actors to watch. Therefore when I started this blog on health, fitness, and bodybuilding and its link to Asian American Pop Culture I thought of Bruce Lee immediately. In all of his films Bruce Lees physique is muscular and chiseled and the shear athleticism he demonstrates through his martial arts in his films always impressed me. Therefore I decided to do a little research on him to see if I could find some details of his workout routine, nutrition, and his overall philosophy towards fitness.
Due to the fact that I found a plethora of information on the Lee’s health and fitness practices I decided to do several posts on the research I have uncovered and will continue to uncover. For this first post I have decided to inform all you on the lifting routine in which this martial arts superstar followed to ensure his body was strong enough to endure the bumps and bruises he had to endure due to his training and practice in martial arts.
Lee would perform the following lifts on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays.
- Clean and Press. He would perform two sets of 8 repetitions. This movement is great because it utilizes multiple muscles in order to complete the movement which in lifting terms is referred to as a “compound” movement.
- Squats. 2 sets of 12 reps. This is yet another great compound movement that is essential for building a strong lower body (legs).
- Barbell Pullovers. 2 sets of 8 reps. This exercise has shown to help expand the ribcage.
- Bench Presses. 2 sets of 6 reps. This exercise focuses mainly on the pectoral muscles (chest), and triceps (back portion of the arm).
- Good Mornings. 2 sets of 8 reps. Good mornings are good for building the hamstrings and gluteus Maximus muscle (butt). Also provides a great stretch.
- Barbell Curls. 2 Sets of 8 reps. Curls are a lift that isolates the bicep muscle in the arm.
Here are some links to videos on how to perform the clean and press, Barbell Pullovers, and Good Mornings.
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8miqQQJEsO0
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPc-6YPeZ94
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iycq-kJann0
Scavenger Hunt **Asian/American Pop Culture Connetion
Professor Chico thought it would be fun to assign our Asian/American Pop Culture Crosscurrents class to a Scavenger Hunt! You know what?? CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!!
First on the list…
1986 Challenger-I found out that Ellison Onizuka born June 24th, 1946, was a Japanese/American Astronaut who, unfortunately passed away, Jan. 28th, 1986, while on mission on board of the spaceship Challenger. The spaceship had disintegrated 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members.
“Make your life count – and the world will be a better place because you tried.”-Ellison Onizuka
Second on the list…
Paull [sic] Shin was the first EVER Korean/American elected into Washington States legislature as a representing Senator. He was born Sept. 27th, 1935; and had to resign due to his Alzheimers.
Third on the list…
First of all…who and what are the WWII Stragglers? World War II did not neatly end with Japan’s surrender on September 2, 1945. At its height the Japanese Empire was more than 20 million square miles of land and sea. Soldiers in isolated regions fought on for years after the surrender some unaware the war had ended, other refusing to believe. Some hide in the jungles alone, others fought in groups and continued to make attacks and conduct guerilla warfare. These men were called Japanese Holdouts, or Stragglers and their stories are some of the most fascinating human interest stories of the 20th Century. Secondly, why am I giving you this background knowledge?
Well, Hiroo Onoda born March 19, 1922 , was an Imperial Japanese Army Intelligence officer who fought in World War 2 and did not surrender in 1945. In 1974, his former commander traveled from Japan to personally issue orders relieving him from duty. Onoda had spent almost 30 years holding out in the Philippines. He held the rank of Second Lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army. Hiroo Onoda passed away January 16, 2014. He was the last of the WW2 stragglers to pass away.
Lastly, on the scavenger hunt list…
HIMYM?? That long cryptic abreviation stands for “How I Met Your Mother“…Whats the Asian/American Connection you ask? Earlier this week, CBS’s long-running sitcom How I Met Your Mother—which resumed its ninth season on January 13—ran an episode titled “Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra,” which told the story of how Marshall (Jason Segel) came to learn the art of slapping from three Kung Fu masters, in order to give Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) the most epic slap of his life. What was already a silly episode turned especially sour by the portrayal of these Kung Fu masters, played by show regulars in yellowface (Josh Radnor, Alyson Hannigan and Cobie Smulders).
The creators of How I Met Your Mother apologized for an episode that depicted Asian characters as stereotypes. But one apology doesn’t solve the bigger issue of Asian portrayals on television.
Whats trending right now? #howimetyourracism
http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/15/showbiz/how-i-met-your-mother-controversy/
Zombie Obsession Post 2: Zombie Loan episode 1
“A bald eagle sleeps within a swaying tree, its bright eyes shed tears because it longs for its beloved. We’re not truly howling at the moon, but our helpless feelings make it seem that way. Why does the wolf’s cry sound so sorrowful?” is the shows opening song.
A teenage girl named Michiru trips on her way to lunch and meets Boy A (Tachibana Shito) and Boy B (Akatsuki Chika). Her friends tell her the two boys mysteriously survived a car accident 6 months ago. 20 other people were killed. Because the boys were under aged their names were never released. Michiru sees gray rings on both the boys necks, which means they are going to die soon. She peeks over a gravestone and sees the two taking off their hands. To make sure she doesn’t talk about what she saw they decide to kill her. But they can’t because a zombie dog attacks them. She then tells them about seeing their rings and runs away. The next day at school another student goes missing. Boy A and B tell Michiru that if she doesn’t come with them she’ll die. They ask her to help them find people with rings around their necks. Inviting her up to Z loan they then talk to Ferryman. She learns the rings become pitch black over time and are marks for the Grim Reaper to cut with his scythe. Since the boys kill bad zombies for a living to stay alive (even though their really dead), and cannot see the rings for themselves, they ask Michiru to help them find people with the black rings. Unlike the boys, the bad zombies have no reason or will to live. At the end of the episode Michiru becomes marked with a gray ring.
My thoughts on the episode: This was the first time I’ve ever watched a Japanese zombie TV show. It was very different than the American zombie shows. The character development was better and the storyline was original. I loved that the storyline had to do with the grim reaper and that there were different types of zombies. I also appreciated the explanation of how the zombies exist.
Washington State Senator Paull Shin
Washington state Senator Paull Shin’s story is one that I feel would inspire anyone to continue to reach for their goals no matter the cards they were dealt. Shin who was born in Korea, was orphaned at a young age, and came to America after being adopted by a U.S. soldier during the Korean War. Shin would go on to earn a PhD from the University of Washington even though he wasn’t able to read until he was in his teenage years. In 1992 he was elected to the Washington state House of Representatives becoming the first Korean American to be elected to the Washington State Legislature. His presence as an immigrant who had made it to a position in the political arena inspired many other immigrants to follow their dreams whether it involved earning a seat in political office or just improving their lives in their adopted country. Unfortanatly Shin had to resign his post, now in the Washington State Senate, on January 7th due to being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. However state Senator Shin without a doubt has made an impact on many lives through his work in office, and through his inspiring story of triumph even when the odds were stacked against him.
feeling super, super, super!
How I Met Your Mother,
the 1986 Challenger explosion,
& WWII Stragglers.
HIMYM
I was genuinely surprised while watching this episode of How I Met Your Mother, a television series that my little sister is quite fond of watching. I’ve only seen a few episodes prior to this, mostly while also on my laptop, but it seemed an appealing enough show from what I could tell. Jokes were rarely done in poor taste, and if they were characters would occasionally say that it was inappropriate, and the characters were rather realistic. That’s part of why it was so bizarre when I watched the episode and saw just how poorly handled it all was.
The episode starts to get bad after just three minutes. When Marshall is denied teaching but a teacher, a young boy some out and offers him information on how to find a master to teach him the slap of a thousand suns, and he offers “much gold” in return. This could be overlooked if they hadn’t kept up the charade for the rest of the episode. The “much gold” issue continues to pop up over the course of the episode, and not only did they have several of the main characters dress up in yellow face, but they did poor accent imitations. It also perpetuated the stereotype of Asian women looking young.
The only real upside to the episode was Barney Stinson’s complete and utter disbelief of the whole thing.
The Challenger
In 1986, the space shuttle Challenger launched. It remained in the air for about 73 seconds before a huge fireball erupted in the sky. Every member of the crew died. The entire thing was tragic, but perhaps one of the most tragic aspects was the loss of Ellison Onizuka. At the age of 39 when the Challenger took off, Ellison became the first Asian American to enter space. Instantly he became a role model for all Asian Americans, and anyone else, really. People might be bigoted and cruel, but it doesn’t mean you are any less capable for being who you are. Unfortunately, the very same mission also ended up taking his life.
Click here to view the embedded video.
I took the liberty of locating a video of the Challenger’s launch. It’s not terribly graphic, but I wouldn’t recommend watching it if you have issues with explosions.WWII Stragglers
During class last quarter, I recall a story of a mother who was in denial about WWII being over. She insisted for years to come that the war had not ended yet, and she still resented the people who were responsible for the concentration camps. I do not feel that a reaction such as that was unwarranted, especially in light of the travesties that were committed against Asian Americans at the time. It seems to me that the Stragglers had a very similar issue. Despite the war having ended in 1945, some soldiers continued to fight into the 70s.
WWII Stagglers/ Hiroo Onoda
The story of World War II stragglers may not be widespread or well known. Following the end of the war in the Pacific in August of 1945, many Japanese soldiers refused to believe the defeat of their Emporer and Japan to the Allie forces, or were unaware of the wars end due to loss of communications with their commanders. What is so fascinating about these Japanese soldiers who are not willing or are unaware of Japan’s defeat is the extreme dedication they show in fighting for what they believe in. Even decades after the war was over Japanese World War II stragglers still remained, with the last confirmed stragglers laying down their arms in 1974.
One of the holdouts who finally accepted defeat was a Japanese Intelligence officer named 2nd lieutenant Hiroo Onoda. For 29 years Onoda remained at his post on a Phillipine Island. His faith in believing the Japanese Emperor was a diety and refusal to believe Japan had lost the war kept Onoda at his post, even after finding leaflets that were dropped by plane informing them the war had ended. Onoda and his the three men who served under him took the leaflets as enemy propaganda. In 1974 when a student by the name of Norio Suzuki found him and begged Onoda to return with him to Japan and told him the war was really over Onoda, now alone, still stayed steadfast in believing the war could not be over. Later that year Suzuki returned with Onoda’s brother and his former Commanding officer Major Yoshimi Taniguchi whose final orders to Onoda during the war was to stay and fight until he was relieved, came to relieve Onoda of his duty. Only then did Onoda accept the war was truly over. The most moving point of Onoda’s surrender was when he did finally lay down his weapon, he saluted Major Yoshimi Taniguchi and wept.
Onoda sadly past away on January 16th of this year. However his story of honor, duty, and fighting for what he believed in his heart to be true is undoubtabley moving and has touched many who has had the chance to hear it.
Connections: Challenger/Shin/WWII Stragglers/HIMYM
Find the Asian/American connection between :
VAFB reconfigured for shuttle missions
The space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after takeoff on 28 Jan 1986. One of the seven casualties was US Air Force Mission Specialist Ellison Onizuka who was born 24 Jun 1946 in Kealakekua, Hawaii. Onizuka entered the US Air Force in Jan 1970, and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and was promoted to Colonel posthumously. As a result of the disaster, the Air Force decided to cancel its plans to use the Shuttle for military satellite launches from Vandenberg AFB, CA… a base I would be stationed at the following year (I know, I’m supposed to be looking for Asian/American connections, but I can’t help noticing connections with my life as I read these– and considering this is my blog…) Even though Vandenberg AFB was completely reconfigured to support shuttle missions it never launched one. (Wiki)
Osan AFB Korea
Paull Shin; 7 Jan 2014 resigned from the senate after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Born 27 Sept 1935 was the first Korean American elected to the Washington State Legislature. As an orphan he lived on the streets of Seoul until the Korean War in 1950 when he became a house boy for a group of US Army officers. He is adopted by one of them, brought to the States where he later earns his BA from Brigham Young, MPIA from the University of Pittsburg , and his MA & PhD from the University of Washington. So far both Onizuka and Shin are Strangers From A Different Shore, and have US military connections. Personal connection with this one…? Also military, I was stationed in South Korea and visited Soul many, many times… (Wiki)
Last WWII soldier to surrender
WWII Stragglers: 17 Jan ’14 the last Japanese soldier to surrender dies at age 91.The best report on this I could find is from ABC news which I’m briefly summarizing here. Intelligence officer Hiroo Onoda, 29 years after the war ended was last of the imperial soldiers to surrender. He was hiding in the Philippines jungle gathering intel until he met a young man named Norio Suzuki in 1974 who was searching for Onoda. Suzuki returned to Japan and reported Onoda’s whereabouts. Onoda’s superior, Major Yoshimi Taniguchi personally gave the order to surrender. Connections? The military obviously. He was born in Japan living (in hiding) in the Philippines so he can still be considered a Stranger From A Different Shore… Personal connections? Only the fact we were both military and both went to war. I never made it to the Philippines. ABC News
Finally, How I Met Your Mother. There was a lot of controversy over last weeks Kun Fu episode. Reported on 17 Jan ’14 on USA Today the headline is “‘How I Met Your Mother’ goes into the sunset with a Twitter-fueled controversy.” The show is closing out its last season and an episode spoofing Kung Fu movies upset a lot of
How I Met Your Mother
folks over its immature use of Stereo types. I’ve never watched the show, or the episode in question but from what I’ve read Twitter is all-a-buzz. The Connections here are of a more pop-culture bent; first HIMYM with the genre of martial arts films, retold on a TV sitcom, that generates a lot of activity on a pop-culture activity–Twitter. WWII has provided much pop-culture references since the beginning of the war, much of which has been transmitted through TV. Connecting with the space shuttle & Paull Shin maybe less so. The shuttle and the Discovery disaster are both iconic images. USA Today
Of course another connection that binds each of these events together, is time– each occurred in the month of January– moments in the space/time continuum, which coldly afflicts both Asians and Americans equally.
in the rubble are all the things you’ve been dreaming of
The meaning of obsession.
For the majority of my life, I was never passionate about any one thing. I was never obsessed, nor did I feel there was anything in particular that I should carer about more than any one other thing. Even now, I couldn’t tell you with certainty that there’s anything I feel very strongly about. I very rarely find myself bored, because I always make sure there are plenty of things for me to do. I find this comes in especially handy if I go back to Pennsylvania during a break to see my family. The first thing I go to is my laptop. Laptop dies? Move onto a book. Eyes get too strained? Play a handheld video game, usually an RPG. Much like I never found myself bored for long, I also never had any dreams.
However, when I returned to my family’s home for winter break this year, I found myself without a computer for the majority of the nearly three-week-long break, and that’s when I really began to get into reading again for my own personal enjoyment. It’s when I started the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan, and I sped through the first five books, and onto the sixth, the beginning of the sequel, Heroes of Olympus. Likewise, it’s when I realized how much I missed having photoshop. My skills only extend to coloring within the lines, but being able to do so is quite cathartic, especially when you factor in the Undo button, which allows you to try again without making a mistake the second time.
I suppose, given my enjoyment of cartoons and anime, scifi and horror, rpgs and manga, you could say that my obsession is fiction.
edit: Yikes, I didn’t realize how badly the site would pixelate that image. Next time I’ll upload with a url.
WWll straggler
Omg. What did I just see? Just see Hiroo Onoda, one of the imperial soldiers and just came out of hiding after 29 years after World War ll. He was hiding in the Philippines in a jungle and that fact that he thought the war was still going on is amazing that he made it so far and also still wearing the 30-year old army uniform and I’m thinking to myself ok. That’s incredible. My question would be why now? Why wait so long if you didn’t hear any explosions later after the war ended. I would want to see what his response to what happened after the war and what he thinks about it and what should have been done.