‘The Walking Dead’: The cast and new showrunner react to Frank Darabont’s ouster
Entertainment Weekly
“The Walking Dead” will air its season 2 debut in October sans series creator Frank Darabont. The cast, which includes KA Steven Yeun, talks to EW about Darabont’s firing and new showrunner Glen Mazzara, former executive producer of “Crash.”
“It is a sad situation,” says Steven Yeun, who plays former pizza delivery guy Glenn. “We all absolutely love Frank. And at the end of the day, this show still has Frank written all over it. Frank created it on television, and I think what it did do was make all of us as a cast come together and realize we got to carry on this vision, and we’re going to do it to the best of our abilities. We are dying for this show. People are working out in the 100 degree weather everyday, three days in a row, screaming, crying, bleeding. That is all we can do, and that’s what we’re aiming to do.”
Choi slams GOP crowd for booing gay soldier
Salon.com
Here’s a quick update on the case of Stephen Hill, the gay soldier who received a distinctly chilly reception from the GOP presidential field — and was booed by a handful of members of the audience — at the debate last night.
Former Army Lt. Dan Choi, who was discharged because he is gay and became a leading opponent of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” tells Salon he was appalled by the response of both the audience and the candidates to Hill’s question about whether they would try to reverse the repeal of DADT.
“Any soldier who courageously stands for truth and not comfort should be applauded, supported and respected. Stephen Hill serves our country,” Choi said in an email. “Those who boo our honorable soldiers do not support our troops.”
From Seoul to NU starter: Seung Hoon Choi’s amazing move
Lincoln Journal Star
The Nebraska offensive lineman continues to garner media attention following his start last week against the Washington Huskies. This profile is similar to the one written by the AP earlier this week but also reveals that Choi faced racial taunts from opposing players in high school as well.
But Choi was a quick learner. He was also a weight room junkie. “A strength freak,” Farup said.
By his senior year, Choi could bench press upward of 400 pounds. He stood 6-feet-2 and weighed 320. The guard next to him on Lincoln Christian’s line weighed about 140.
Choi started to figure out the language and the game. His aggression on the field began to pick up.
When Farup heard the story about some Washington players calling Choi “a fat Asian” this past weekend, it hardly surprised him that Choi responded by pushing back even harder.
“Our senior year, there was a game where one of the of opponents got after him racially,” Farup said. “Man, that poor kid. (Choi) just drove him all night long. He did everything legal, everything above board. But man, he got upset and he let that kid have it.”
Three enduring acts coming to the [Philadelphia] region
phillyBurbs.com
Chances are you don’t know Priscilla Ahn. But you have heard her music on the TV shows “Psych,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “So You Think You Can Dance” and “Brothers and Sisters.”
You also heard her songs in the films “Bride Wars” and “Disturbia,” as well as in a national Jeep Wrangler commercial. Now, it’s time to put that music to a face (and a couple of albums).
Ahn, who uses her Korean mother’s maiden name, was born in the United States and lived locally in Berks County, Pennsylvania, before moving to Los Angeles to make it as a pop singer.
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China Questions 5 South Koreans Detained Near Its Border With the North
New York Times
Five South Koreans, including three journalists affiliated with the mass-circulation daily JoongAng Ilbo, have been detained and questioned by the Chinese authorities along China’s border with North Korea, the South Korean government and the newspaper said on Friday.
Chung Yong-soo, a senior journalist specializing in North Korea, a photographer and a video journalist were near the Tumen River, which forms the northeastern border between China and North Korea, when they were stopped by the Chinese police on Sept. 20, said Chung Chul-gun, a JoongAng spokesman.
South Korean Bank Chief Apparently Kills Himself, Police Say
New York Times
The head of a South Korean savings bank appeared to have jumped to his death on Friday, police officials said, as prosecutors expanded their investigation into an alleged corruption scandal by raiding his and six other banks and seeking to arrest a former senior aide to President Lee Myung-bak.
Jeong Gu-Haeng, president of Jeil 2 Savings Bank, was found dead after apparently jumping from his office on the sixth floor of the bank’s headquarters in downtown Seoul, a police spokesman said, insisting on anonymity until his agency made an official announcement. People who were entering the bank witnessed Mr. Jeong falling, the spokesman said.
MIT Names Korean Scientist as Top Innovator
Chosun Ilbo
MIT has named Korea’s Kim Dae-hyeong as one of the world’s most promising scientists for his pioneering work in developing electronic skin, which allows for the measuring of heart beats and brain waves when it is attached to any part of a person’s body. The journal Science introduced the technology last August.
Sue-Jean Choi earns Scura’s Chance for Success scholarship
NorthJersey.com
For many years, Realtor Jackie Scura of Re/Max First Choice in Parsippany has awarded her Jackie Scura’s Chance for Success scholarship to a local high school senior. This choice is about much more than academic achievement. Each year Scura looks for the candidate who she feels exemplifies the sort of work ethic which has brought her success in her own life and career. This year’s recipient is Sue-Jean Choi.
A recent graduate of Parsippany High School, Choi has shown an exceptional ability to balance education, volunteering and work during her high school career. She has volunteered extensively: as president of Operation Smile, as vice president of the Arcola Korean Youth Group, as a computer teacher at the Southwest Senior Center and by performing more than 50 hours of service in the Key Club.
Soju’s Sojourn: Will Korea’s National Spirit Find Staying Power in the US?
Booze Muse
Korean nationals certainly take pride in soju, their widely consumed national spirit that is ubiquitous in Korean-American communities throughout the country and is enjoyed in a variety of ways—chilled or mixed with a number of beverages, including bek-seju (a strong ginger-spiced wine), yogurt or even beer.
Soju is the second most consumed spirit in the world (according to a recent report by Forbes magazine), but when you bring it up around westerners not hip to Asian drinks, few have even heard of it. This is bound to change, since large producers like Jinro and Charm have been hard at work introducing the spirit to American audiences. “Recently we launched the ‘Kimchi Chronicles’ project with PBS,” explains David Kim of Jinro America via email. “Other than our various ads and sponsorships through local events, we are focusing on selling Jinro to the local mainstream market, such as Albertsons, Restaurant Depot, etc.”
One Roof, Three Generations – Portrait of a Chinese-American Family
New York Times
SEVEN o’clock on a Thursday morning: time for bao, Chinese breakfast buns. Dressed for school in striped leggings and a pink shirt, Mebrat Yong, 9, waited for the baby sitter to arrive at her family’s building in Chinatown with a red shopping bag filled with the steaming treats from her uncle’s bakery a few blocks away. Mebrat was dividing up this day’s buns.
She slipped a plain bun into her Hello Kitty backpack, then set aside another for Gung Gung, as she and her siblings call their 86-year-old grandfather, who speaks only Cantonese and occupies the first floor. She took a half-dozen — one coconut, two plain, one roast pork, one bacon and scallion, one cookie — up to the third floor for her aunt and three cousins, who washed them down with fruit shakes.
