Essentials/Blog

For Things You Shouldn’t Have to Live Without

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Entries from March 2009

Struck by The Housekeeper and the Professor

March 5th, 2009 · No Comments

I just finished this book, The Housekeeper and the Professor by, Yoko Ogawa. I won’t try and pretend to write a critique or review of the book. I will say that when I picked it up I thought it was going to be a dramatically depressing story - one that had the potential to keep [...]

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Tags: Culture

More White-Washing News

March 5th, 2009 · No Comments

Thanks to HacaTV for this article on the ongoing mess known as Yellow-face and White-washing. I have shortened it for this blog. HacaTV speaks primarily to the issue that Hollywood should be making more animated films and fewer adaptations. I personally don’t mind the idea of the adaptation. What I care about is the fact [...]

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Tags: Avatar · White-Wash

Essentials Supports Marriage Equality

March 4th, 2009 · No Comments

While the November election gave us all the hope of great change, we were appalled at the passage of Measure 8 in California. In Massachusetts, we are proud to honor the right of all couples to marry, raise families, and create loving homes. We feel lucky to be the first state in the country to recognize [...]

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Tags: Events · News

Oh.My.Goodness.

March 4th, 2009 · No Comments

Thanks to 8asians for this photo. I ditto JOZJOZJOZ’s “WTF”!!

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Tags: Culture · random

Washington Post Chimes in on Avatar Debacle

March 3rd, 2009 · 2 Comments

Check out this Washington Post article on the growing racism of the Avatar casting. If you haven’t been following the controversy, you should look to the right and click on the several links under the title: “The Avatar Ain’t White”.
It just keeps getting worse and worse.

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Tags: Avatar

TOKYO: Three Films One City

March 2nd, 2009 · No Comments

 
Just learned of the upcoming film - Tokyo. It looks really interesting on a number of levels. First, because it has three short stories directed by fantastic artists (see below); second, because the entire question it raises “whether we shape cities, or if cities shape us” is the same question first raised by the 1980’s [...]

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Tags: Film + Music

Tadashi Nakamura completes his documentary trilogy about Asian Americans

March 1st, 2009 · No Comments

From the Los Angeles Times 

‘A Song for Ourselves,’ about Chris Iijima, will screen in Little Tokyo.
By Robert Ito
February 28, 2009
Documentary filmmaker Tadashi Nakamura first heard about Chris Iijima while listening to his parents talk about “the movement.” That movement was something that had happened eons ago, in the 1970s, a time when young Asian Americans [...]

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Tags: Film + Music

Protest Avatar: The Last Airbender Movie

March 1st, 2009 · No Comments

This is really last-minute, but a group is protesting the racist production of Avatar in Flushing Queens today from 11:00-4:00 pm. Read more about the event by following this link. Here is a summary…
We are too far away but are with them in spirit.

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Tags: Avatar · News

Essentials Diversifies into Distribution

March 1st, 2009 · No Comments

We are THRILLED to announce our newest venture - Essentials.Distribution!
We have, for a long time now, been interested in breaking into the world of Distribution and Wholesale. With all the online fulfillment we already do it is a natural fit.
It also helps diversify our business in this rather wacky economic times.
The first two companies we [...]

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Tags: Distribution