Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Operation Babylift, at the end of the Vietnam war, was looked at as a humanitarian mission, but it was problematic. There was a plane crash that killed 138 children and adults, there were thousands of families split apart, and at the time there was very little for the children who were relocated to prepare them for their new lives in foreign lands and cultures. Not so different from the complications of international adoptions today. In the years following the relocation of thousands of Vietnamese children, ranging in ages from newborn to teen, lots was written and documented about the children who were taken from their home/land and expected to fare better in the hands of foreign agencies and adoptive families. There are volumes written by the children of the airlift and academics looking at the fallout, and the success stories, of such an extreme transition. The latest story comes from Al Jazeera correspondent, Cath Turner who was relocated to a white Australian family. For an episode of Al Jazeera Correspondent, she told her story in “So Close, So Far Away“. It’s compelling story of discovery, identity, and family. Highly recommended. The Operation Babylift diaspora has a lot of stories that are worth knowing. There are some happy endings out there, but not without struggle. They are stories which should never be forgotten as the world gets smaller, and small people are taken across borders everyday with no idea what lies on the other side.
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I don’t get why graduate students are so high strung. I mean, you get to do what you want, write/research stuff you care about, and go to/throw dinner parties with wine and conversation with smart people like you. Right? Totally chill. Not so much at the chemistry lab at the University of New South Wales. This week two Chinese chemistry students at the university got into a fight in the lab and things got nasty. Things escalated and one guy got sulfuric acid thrown in his face AND took a hammer to his head. He’s in critical condition now, in a medically induced coma, while police are trying to figure out what the deal is with his attacker. The media is reporting the aggressor is likely to be “mentally ill”. The story sadly reminds me of the true tale of Gang Lu, another Chinese graduate student who lost it and lashed out. They made an award winning movie about his rise and fall in Iowa, Dark Matter. Now that I think of it, those Chinese graduate students didn’t have too many dinner parties – more like hot pot on a hot plate. Sad news in New South Wales though. Hoping that the student who was attacked recovers, and that the student who did the attacking gets sorted out.
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Can anything be better than a rad display of photography from the early ’80s L.A. punk scene accompanied by full sets from legendary bands? For free? That would be last weekend’s closing party from the We Got Power magazine crew’s We Survived The Pit installation of photos (live, candid, behind the scenes) and artifacts (zines, skateboards) featuring live music by Meat Puppets, The Middle Class, and Phranc. Well, catching even more music earlier in the day isn’t a bad thing.
Years ago, Mondo Kim’s was the premier alternative video store. New, old, rare, and even zines (they carried Giant Robot for years), they were the epicenter of NYC and possibly the entire nation. They were one of the best. They have since closed down like many video stores and their collection is now sort of a mystery. Giant Robot NY was just around the corner and up a couple of blocks. In the Village Voice, is an awesome and long article about Mondo Kim’s video collection. Imagine Yongman Kim’s 55,000 piece of video in all form that needed to find a home. In 2009, the NY Times reported that the collection was going to Italy. The collection is now shrouded in mystery. It’s important, yet also either not utilized much or just non-existant. Why is it there where there seems to be no audience? This article sort of chronicles the collection in it’s present form in true crime style. (Villagevoice – Mondo Kim’s) Thanks to DDK for the link.
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Saw this one on Reddit. iPhone 5 at an “Apple Store” – because you have more money than sense. The comments state that it’s probably in Hong Kong or Taiwan.
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