Senin, 26 September 2011

Word & Image: Russell C. Leong. (Amerasia Journal, Vol. 37, no. 1)

  • special issue of Amerasia journal dedicated to the work of Russell C. Leong.
Service Economies presents an alternative narrative of South Korean modernity by examining how working-class labor occupies a central space in linking the United States and Asia to South Korea's changing global position from a U.S. neocolony to a subempire.

Making surprising and revelatory connections, Jin-kyung Lee analyzes South Korean military labor in the Vietnam War, domestic female sex workers, South Korean prostitution for U.S. troops, and immigrant/migrant labor from Asia in contemporary South Korea. Foregrounding gender, sexuality, and race, Lee reimagines the South Korean economic "miracle" as a global and regional articulation of industrial, military, and sexual proletarianization.

Lee not only addresses these under-studied labors individually but also integrates a! nd unites them to reveal an alternative narrative of a changing South Korean working class whose heterogeneity is manifested in its objectification. Delving into literary and popular cultural sources as well as sociological work, Lee locates South Korean development in its military and economic interactions with the United States and other Asian nation-states, offering a unique perspective on how these practices have shaped and impacted U.S.-South Korea relations.
In the 1980s, America witnessed an explosion in the production, popularity, and influence of literary works by people of color and a decadelong economic downturn that severely affected America's inner cities and the already disadvantaged communities of color that lived there. Marked by soaring levels of unemployment, homelessness, violence, drug abuse, and despair, this urban crisis gave the lie to the American dream, particularly when contrasted with the success enjoyed by the era's iconic stockbrokers and o! ther privileged groups, whose fortunes increased dramatically ! under Re aganomics.

In Urban Triage, James Kyung-Jin Lee explores how these parallel trends of literary celebration and social misery manifested themselves in fictional narratives of racial anxiety by focusing on four key works: Alejandro Morales's The Brick People, John Edgar Wideman's Philadelphia Fire, Hisaye Yamamoto's "A Fire in Fontana," and Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire of the Vanities. Each of these fictions, he finds, addresses the decade's racial, ethnic, and economic inequities from differing perspectives: Morales's revisions of Chicano identity, Yamamoto's troubled invocation of the affinities between African Americans and Asian Americans, the problematic connections between black intellectuals and the black community aired by Wideman, and Wolfe's satirization of white privilege. Drawing on the fields of literary criticism, public policy, sociology, and journalism, Lee deftly assesses the success with which these multicultural fictions engaged in the debates over these i! ssues and the extent to which they may actually have alienated the very communities that their creators purported to represent.

Challenging both the uncritical celebration of abstract multiculturalism and its simpleminded vilification, Lee roots Urban Triage in specific instances of multiracial contact and deeply informed readings of works that have been canonized within ethnic studies and of those that either remain misunderstood or were misguided from the start.224 p., 23 cm.

I Am...Sasha Fierce

  • Beyoncé - I Am...sasha Fierce (deluxe Version On 1 Disc

Genre: Drama
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 4-AUG-2009
Media Type: DVDObsessed is one of those movies best described as “a stylish thriller”: the characters are mostly young and gorgeous, with their white-collar gigs, designer duds, and fancy cars, and if there’s not much of substance to be found beneath those sleek, polished surfaces, well, who says a story must have a message to be entertaining? The comparisons to Fatal Attraction (with its jilted would-be lover going all psycho on the object of her, uh, affections) and Disclosure (with its reverse sexual harassment) are apt enough, but Obsessed is a little different. For starters, unlike the character played by Michael Douglas in Attraction, this film’s Derek Charles (Idris Elba) does little t! o encourage Lisa Sheridan (Ali Larter), the temp worker at his asset-management firm who gloms onto him like a lamprey sucking on its unwilling host; for another, Derek’s wife, Sharon (Beyonce Knowles), is no wallflower who stands idly and ignorantly by while her life is shredded by her hubby’s evasions and the increasingly crazed tactics of the woman who’s stalking him (it’s to the credit of director Steve Shill and screenwriter David Loughery that nothing whatsoever is made of the fact that Derek is black and Lisa is white). Still, the holes in the plot are big enough to drive several Mercedes sedans through. For one thing, Lisa’s fixation on Derek seems to come out of nowhere (if she has a past, we’re not told about it); what's more, even if Derek has broken his deal with Sharon not to have any female assistants (she was once one herself), it seems mighty extreme for her to kick him out of the house for three months simply for not coming completely c! lean about his mostly-innocent dealings with Lisa. Still, the ! film man ages to make the viewer feel Derek’s helpless desperation at being targeted by this manipulative nut job, and when Sharon finally confronts her family’s tormentor at the end (“You think you’re crazy? I’ll show you crazy!”), the result is silly but somehow satisfying. --Sam Graham I AM...SASHA FIERCE DELUXE - Includes five #1 hits "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)," "If I Were A Boy," "Halo," "Ego," and "Sweet Dreams." Also includes bonus tracks "Video Phone" featuring Lady GaGa and "Poison."(Amazon.co.uk Review) The latest outing from former Destiny's Child starlet Beyoncé is an intentionally schizophrenic affair. Splitting herself into two separate characters--herself and alter ego Sasha Fierce--is the artist's way of presenting what she obviously sees as an artistic duality. The first set, I Am..., is intended give a glimpse beneath the surface of her usual R&B-pop persona. Featuring recent single “If I Was a Boy", the soaring “Halo", a! nd ballads like “Disappear", and “Ave Maria", it seems her “real" self is way more saccharine than the lady that brought us sassy pop moments like “Crazy in Love" and “Baby Boy". That side of her personality comes rushing back out on Sasha Fierce, a more rousing collection that kicks off with the infectious handclaps of “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", ventures into Euro-dance territory with “Radio", and gets surprisingly risque with the voyeuristic “Video Phone". Which part of the album you enjoy most will depend on your musical proclivities, but the new, bifurcated Beyoncé ensures there's enough diversity to satisfy the most demanding pop aficionado. --Danny McKenna

Halle By Halle Berry Eau-de-Parfume Spray, 1.7-Ounce

  • Halle by Halle Berry for Women - 1.7 oz EDP Spray
  • 1.7 oz EDP Spray
  • This item is not a Tester
  • This item is not for sale in Catalina Island
Oprah Winfrey Presents THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD, the story of a remarkable and resilient woman's quest for love and fulfillment based on the best-selling book by Zora Neale Hurston. Academy Award(R) winner Halle Berry (Best Actress 2003, MONSTERS BALL) stars as the beautiful Janie Crawford, who embarks on an emotional and dramatic journey of self-discovery. Refusing to compromise in spite of society's expectations, Janie endures two stifling marriages until finally finding love in a passionate romance with a much younger man. In one of the greatest, most lyrical love stories ever written, Janie experiences all that life has to offer, from unbelievable triumph to unspeakable heartbreak. Be inspired again and again by this timeless! story of passion, romance, and the spirit of true love. ~Produced by Oprah Winfrey, this lush, yet earthy telefilm was adapted from the 1937 novel by Zora Neale Hurston. Set in rural Florida, the story begins several years after emancipation. Janie (a soulful Halle Berry) is a dreamy-eyed teenager, who never knew her parents. She was raised by the bitter Nanny (Ruby Dee), an ex-slave, who marries her off to an older man the minute she gets the chance. Mr. Killicks works Janie like a dog, but leaves her alone otherwise (he's abusive in the book). Then Janie meets the courtly Joe (Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Lackawanna Blues), who whisks her away from the muck to the black township of Eatonville. The two proceed to transform the town from a patch of dirt into a real community. Along the way, Joe becomes mayor and Janie a mere helpmate. Except for her friend Phoeby (Nicki Micheaux), the townspeople confuse her sadness for conceit and she ends up lonelier than ever. Twenty y! ears later, Joe dies and Janie takes up with the younger Tea C! ake (Mic hael Ealy, Barbershop). Much like the other literary adaptations with which she's been associated (The Color Purple, Beloved, etc.), this Oprah production boasts an impressive line-up of African-American talent, including Terrence Howard (Crash) as the covetous Amos. A mostly successful mix between suds and substance, Their Eyes Were Watching God, which premiered on ABC, was directed by Darnell Martin, co-written by Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan Lori-Parks, and graced with a classy score by frequent Spike Lee collaborator Terence Blanchard. --Kathleen C. FennessyA modern and sensuous woody oriental with a heart of luminous mimosa and top notes of pear blossom, bergamot, and fig leaf.

The Butcher Poster Movie Italian 11x17 Alba Parietti Miki Manojlovic Giulio Base Alessandra Costanzo