DB: Grace Park, a lady Boomer?! Yes please!

When Ian raved about the “new” Battlestar Galactica, I scoffed at him. I thought,”There’s no frakking way it’s going to be any good. No studio wants to put money in to make stuff look good.” Hello, internets. I stand corrected! BSG has been some of the best tv I’ve ever seen. And I watch A LOT of tv. [Feck, I'll even watch a Lifetime movie! Yes, I did watch "Flirting with Forty." *hangs head*]

I Netflix’d the movie and was hooked. (I told you already, I don’t have a DVR. Step off.) Anyway… one of the first things I noticed was the colorful cast. COLORFUL! Full of people of color! Oh Hallelujah!! If I could cry tears, I would have. Starbuck was a GIRL!!!! Wheee!!!! (I love you, Katee Sackhoff. You have been robbed off awards nominations!)

Then I saw Grace Park! [cue music and holy light] Asian! Woman! One of the main characters! Old Boomer from the old show was an African-American male. Oh and when they kill her, there’s another one! And another one! And another one! Squee! Then later in the series, she gets a conscience or something and is re-born Athena. [cue music and holy light again]

Yay to the producers and creators of the show for casting more people of color on BSG. It’s still exciting for me to see Athena/Boomer beat the shit out of people on the screen. I lurrve it. In the real world, it seems Park has a great sense of humor. You get a brownie point for that, lady.

Best Week Ever: Grace Park (Battlestar Galactica) Vs. Paul Scheer (Clipblocker)

Photo: http://www.thescifiworld.net/img/interviews/grace_park_02.jpg

DB: Sandra Tsing Loh

I was vegging all weekend and forgot to post for Sunday. Oh well. It happens.

Today’s DB is Sandra Tsing Loh. Why? Because her “Loh Down on Science” was on this morning, on my way to work. Loh is a writer/performer who is a regular contributor to KPCC/npr. I first ‘discovered’ Loh about 6 years ago on KPCC and KCRW where she had her own segments. A few years ago, after she said “Fuck” on the radio, KCRW canceled her show. No matter, I don’t like KCRW anyway. (Sorry, Karen!) Morning Becomes Eclectic? Pretentious noise to me. [waiting for the insulting comments from KCRW listeners. *chirp chirp*] KPCC kept her on and she continues to do “The Loh Down on Science” and “The Loh Down.”

Loh is also a playwright. I borrowed her “Aliens in America” on audiobook – hilarious! In one of her essays, she talks about her father and her relationship with him. Her family is relatable, her growing up is relatable. And most importantly, she’s funny. I also like that she’s talks about Van Nuys. Eugene does this too, and I so appreciate it. It’s not just a city of gangs and prostitutes, kids. It’s a livable place.

Currently she’s got a new book out called Mother On Fire. Can’t wait to listen to it, if she’s recording an audiobook. In the meantime, I’ll continue to catch her on KPCC.

Photo: http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cms/story/detail/fiery_and_funny/6280/

DB: Lisa Ling, or the anti-Hasselbeck

Been a long few week. I went to bed at 3:30 this morning after sending my nerdy Year In Review a la Comic Life to friends and family. Hope you liked it, f & f. Next time, I’ll actually add some witty remarks.

Today’s DB is Lisa Ling. I had the opportunity to hear her speak last year when she visited Scripps College on her tour. She showed clips of her National Geographic segments, and boy were they powerful! Ling talked about her upbringing – homegrown in CA!; her days on The View; National Geographic; and her experiences reporting some of the most dangerous and important issues. I caught several of her shows over the years – Chinese girls being adopted; maximum security prison in Central America; and human trafficking in India. All powerful, all very emotional.

BTW, yes, interwebs, I do remember Channel One! I’m glad she left The View. (How did she stand those other co-hosts squawking?! I’m looking at you Starr, Meredith, Joy, and Bawba.) Remember when she was dating Fast and the Furious 2 actor Rick Yune? [eh.] Then they broke up, and she met a doctor and married him. Haha! Oh, Chinese mothers all over the world must have been so joyous over that fact.

Nowadays, Ling’s moved on to:

• National Geographic
• Oprah
• Nightline
• CNN

I have to admit, some of her work is hard to watch. I get too emotionally involved – either anger or sadness or relief. Nevertheless, it’s important to have someone who continues to report on news that Americans should know about and learn from. So, thanks, Lisa Ling, for being one of those journalists. I appreciate you!

Photo: http://www.ncwomensconference.com/images/Ling-Lisa-notuse.JPG

DB: Margaret Cho, an American Girl

Tonight’s DB is Margaret Cho. I feel like I need to sing her name the same way the puppets in Team America do… “Margaret Cho… fuck yeah!“

As a fat kid growing up in the 80’s and 90’s, I couldn’t believe a chubby Asian American young woman was starring in a tv show. On a ‘major’ network! Christ, it was like Chinese New Year, my birthday, and school being let out all rolled into one.

While the show didn’t have the best writing, THERE WAS AN ASIAN AMERICAN FAMILY ON TV!!!!!! Yellow people! Huzzah! And for that, even for a season, I thank Cho for that. Her family was a mash-up of my extended family. I could see parts of me in her and I could see parts of my parents, grandparents, uncles, and aunts in her tv family. Frickin’ psycho, I tell ya. (Some of them, anyway.) One of my relatives had the gall to ask if I “would ever date outside my race.” WTF, fool?!!! Alas, one ep has Quentin Tarantino in it as Margaret’s date. I think there might have been a Chris Isaak appearance too, but I don’t remember all the eps.

Later after the show ended, she put on a number of comedy DVDs, which yours truly owns. “Margaret Cho… fuck yeah!” And as you may recall, she had a show on VH-1 in 2008, “The Cho Show.” I was happy to see Cho (and her family) on tv again.

I’m sure there are other talented Asian American comedians, but Cho was the first one that was visible to me. She didn’t look like anyone else on tv at the time. I think ER had Gedde Watanabe as a supporting cast member, but to SEE a main character who was Asian? Priceless.

In addition to Cho’s comedy, she’s been sportin’ a body full of ink! Whee! Her tats are beautiful and it’s just lovely to see an Asian American woman celebrity (how many more freaking adjectives can I add?) in public, sporting lots of strong and beautiful tats. [Fine, fine, superficial reason to be a DB, but she gets bonus points for it, IMO.]

Cho is also an activist for human rights. She’s been a supporter for equality for a very long time. I can’t help but give her a gold star for sticking to her values (my values) and fighting for them (and sometimes on behalf of those who can’t fight).

Photo: http://www.kenphillipsgroup.com/Phillips/cho.htm

DB: Oprah, or who I like to call my god

Easy there, cowboy. This is MY blog; get your own.

Look, Oprah might be an easy target for my first post, but whatever. I’m on a time crunch. We’re heading to a baby’s first birthday lunch soon, and I’ve got to type something out before I leave. (Self-imposed deadlines and all.)

Oprah. What can’t she do? Well, outside of smacking Tyler Perry upside the head, anyway. (That deserves its own post.) Seriously she is the one of my heroes. Not for her tv show, which I can only watch when it’s not about death or child rape or kidnapping or cancer or health or more rape. It’s her ability to reach such a wide audience. If you remember the olden days, she used to have the same format as Donahue, with guests that were over the top. These years, she’s less Ricki Lake and more responsible for the stuff she puts on her show.

She even got people to read! (Hello, Oprah’s Book Club.) I picked up Wally Lamb’s I Know This Much Is True because of her. Ha!! I read James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces because of the controversy. BTW, Frey’s book – fantastic! I enjoyed it thoroughly regardless of whether it was a fake memoir. Who cares!? It got you reading, right?

Now with Oprah’s Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa… dammmmmmn. Give it up for Oprah! We should be so lucky to have more people like her who are willing and wanting to pony up their own money to better the lives of so many.

So there you have it. Not much snark in this one. I promise to add the snark soon. Cheers!

Photo: http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/10_04/OprahWinfreyEPA_468×622.jpg