November 27 – Happy Birthday, Bruce Lee!

Posted on November 27, 2017

Is Bruce Lee one of the most influential martial artists who ever lived, or is he one of the most influential Asian American actors who ever lived?

Yes!



It's not an either-or; Bruce Lee was both. He gets credit as an actor, director, martial artist, martial arts teacher, and founder of a particular martial art (Lee Hoi-chuen). Not only did his martial arts movies spark interest in Chinese martial arts in the West, but also Lee helped to change the way Asian actors were presented in American movies!

Bruce Lee is considered an icon - and both during his life and after he died, he was considered a source of pride for Chinese people everywhere.

Did you know...?

  • Bruce Lee was born in the U.S. (in San Francisco's Chinatown) but raised in Hong Kong.
  • Lee came back to the U.S. in order to escape possible trouble with Chinese gangs and to attend college.
  • Lee's first roles in martial arts movies were in Hong Kong cinema, when he was just a teen.
  • Lee is best known for his five feature-length films - three from Hong Kong film companies, and two created by a collaboration between Golden Harvest, a Hong Kong company, and Warner Brothers, a Hollywood film company.
Lee got married and had
two kids during his short
life.
  • Tragically, Lee died when he was just 32 years old. He had a cerebral edema, but his death is categorized as "death by misadventure" because he had a reaction to a medicine he took for a headache.







Take a look at some of these pearls of wisdom from Bruce Lee:







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November 26 - Remembering Gyo Fujikawa

Posted on November 26, 2017


The beloved illustrator and children's author Gyo Fujikawa was an American. She was born in California on November 3, 1908, and she died in New York City on this date in1998.

Still, her family was uprooted from their home and sent to an internment camp in Arkansas during World War II!

Gyo Fujikawa didn't have to live in an internment camp, because she was living in New York at the time. Most of the 110 to 120 thousand Japanese Americans who were forced into internment camps lived near the Pacific coast.


Fujikawa went to art school in Los Angeles, spent a year in Japan (before WWII), and taught art school. She worked for Disney, creating promotional art, and she illustrated children's magazines and books. 

Fujikawa's 1963 book Babies was one of the earliest children's book to feature characters of different races. She illustrated multi-racial children consistently through her career - and now that's a common thing for most illustrators.

So, she was a trend-setter, in the best possible way!

Aside from all the ads and programs and magazine covers and everything else Fujikawa drew in her long career, she created more than 50 books for kids. Millions and millions of her books have sold in the U.S. alone - plus they have been published in 21 other countries and 17 languages. Her books are regularly reprinted. 

Fujikawa has even designed U.S. postage stamps! Six of them! 


She's one of my favorites!


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November 25 – Anniversary of Moquegua in Peru

Posted on November 25, 2017

It's very cool that Peruvians celebrate so many places on the anniversary of their founding! Today, it's Moquegua's turn:

We're talking food festivals, dance contests, mountain bike races, hang gliding contests, tours, music performances, and a Friendship Parade with floats and marchers!

Moquegua is the sourhern part of Peru.


 
Here's some info about Moquegua:

It's on the coast - but it's really dry. The result is desert coastline.






 
The nearby river is used to irrigate (provide water for) crops such as avocados, apricots, and olives.



The fountain in Moqueguya's main square was designed by the world-famous architect Gustave Eiffel, who also built a certain world-famous tower...








The nearby volcano, called Ubinas, is...um...shall we say still active?

This 2015 volcanic splutter scattered ashes for miles / kilometers!



So...from the coast to the highlands, Moquegua is really pretty:






 
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