Mr. August

By Patricia Lamkin

When I was growing up in Silver Spring Maryland there was a man two doors down who was forever grumbling about us kids messing up his precious grass, or sledding in his side yard and tearing up the ground.  

"Why can't you kids stay off of my lawn?" he'd shout.

"Joy Luck Club" Stirs Holiday Memories

by Patricia Lamkin
Special to Asia

Mothers &daughters: Emily Kuroda, Jennifer Chang, Deborah Png, Katherine Lee, Karen Huie, Celeste Den, Elaine Kao, and Cici Lau.

East West Players could not have better timed their moving production of THE JOY LUCK CLUB, adapted by Susan Kim from the best selling 1989 novel by Amy Tan.

American Filmmaker Takes on J-Horror

By Patricia Lamkin
Special to Asia

Jason Cuadrado loves horror film of the Asian persuasion, especially the genre known as “J-Horror” (Japanese horror). So he decided to write his own J-Horror script, and as the ultimate homage, shoot the entire film in Japanese. The fact that he isn’t Japanese, or can’t speak a word of the language didn’t stop him.

Tales From the Dead: You Just Crossed Into the J-Zone

by Patricia Lamkin
Special to Asia

Jason Cuadrado may call his first film, Tales From the Dead, a J-Horror homage, but it gives a big nod to his other fascination, The Twilight Zone. “It was so great!” Cuadrado said. “Bad things happen to bad people and good things happen to good people. J-Horror works with the same themes, so they seem like a natural match.”

Jennifer 8 Lee Goes “On the Road”

by Patricia Lamkin
Special to Asia
Photo courtesy of Jennifer 8 Lee

“There are actually more Chinese restaurants in this country, than McDonalds, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Wendy’s combined,” said Jennifer 8 Lee at a recent presentation in Pasadena.

Dengue Fever Shares Musical Journey

by Patricia Lamkin
Special to Asia
Photo courtesy Tracy Blackburn.


Dengue Fever’s Cambodian rock is looming large these days. This rising alternative L.A. band has been touring, getting on film soundtracks and was recently featured on NPR. But the real fascination is their multi-faceted music, and its biggest influence: the sounds of 60's Cambodian pop singers Ros Sereysothea and Sinn Sisamouth, and their Khmer spins on Western rock favorites.

Handicapped Actor Follows His Dream

by Patricia Lamkin
Special to Asia
Photos by Michael Lamont.

East West Players (EWP) has announced the World Premiere production of “Voices From Okinawa,” starring Joseph Kim, an accomplished actor who also happens to be hard of hearing. This will mark Kim’s first major role on stage.

Kama (Joseph Kim) and Keiko (Sachiko Hayashi) comfort Namiye (Mari Ueda) in East West Players premiere of "Voices from Okinawa," by Jon Shirota.