My sentimental favorite baseball player, Chan Ho Park, had a great game last time out, striking out seven in six shut-out innings against the cross-town rival Los Angeles Angels.

As for me, I’m working hard on the 9500 Liberty feature length documentary, and still coming to terms with the fact that Barack Obama really is the nominee. I was advocating for him back in March of 2007. And from then until early March of 2008, I thought it was somewhere between impossible and unlikely that he would indeed be the nominee. Friday’s joint appearance with Hillary Clinton almost convinced my subconscious mind to believe it’s true. I’d been so accustomed to hoping for a maybe, it’s hard to see the likelihood we now face. We’ve all heard about national polls showing Obama up by double digits. But in an electoral college system, these polls, also favorable to Obama, are the ones that matter most. It’s going to be a historic race, and as with most contests, the winners will be those who want it most. I hope you’ll join me in giving something back to our country when she needs us most. Click here to get involved.

In Arlington, Virginia on Sunday they are showing Tre and hosting a DVD signing. I’m looking forward to having some of my DC and Virginia friends see what I do in my other life.

“TRE” screening and DVD signing
Sunday June 29th, 2008 4 PM
Busboys and Poets Books
4251 S. Campbell Ave
Arlington, VA 22206

This is part of the DVD bonus features:

The Fox “News” channel is being mocked across the blogosphere for trying to tie Barack Obama to terrorism because of a hand shake with his wife. How stupid does the Fox “News” channel think the American public is? Click here to see a photo of two more terrorsts, George W. Bush and The Pope!!!!

This video explains the cultural context of the fist pound from an African American perspective.

Thanks for letting me know that the links I posted last month for buying Tre DVD’s on line keep going out of stock, so here is a place where it will never be out of stock, because this is the distributor itself.

Cinema Libre Studio DVD Store

Also, the current issue of Hyphen magazine has an article about me and the film, and mixed-race identity. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but the author Elaine Low and I had a great conversation. Oh, and when I did the photo shoot I was sick as a dog and the lights were blinding me so don’t make fun.

This video captures a meaningful moment for Annabel and for me… witnessing the candidate we’d volunteered for in 2006 introduce the candidate we’ve volunteered for (in five states) in 2008. This video chronicles the moments leading up to Barack Obama’s first speech as the Democratic nominee for President of the United States at the Nissan Pavilion in Manassas, VA.

The spirit of inclusion, fairness, opportunity, and respect that inspired Real Virginians For Webb nearly two years ago is even more crucial in Virginia, and in America, today. We will soon unfurl the Real Virginians banner once again, this time, perhaps we will call ourselves Real Virginians for Obama. And perhaps in a few months time, the proper name will be Real Virginians for Obama/Webb, as Jim Webb is often mentioned as a possible Vice Presidential nominee.

For those who don’t know the story, the name “Real Virginians For Webb” was coined by Annabel Park during the 2006 Senate campaign, after the incumbent Sentator George Allen (R) had pointed to an Asian American man during a stump speech and said, “Let’s have a round of applause to welcome macaca to America… Welcome to America and the Real World of Virginia.” As Annabel explains in this video, our aim was to remind Senator Allen that Real Virginians are not defined by what you look like, we are defined by values that we share.

I had high hopes for Obama even as far back as 2006 when I returned to Virginia to volunteer for Jim Webb. In this video featuring Daniel Dae Kim of TV’s “Lost,” I cross fade to a famous photo of Jim Webb, his wife Hong-Le Webb, and Barack Obama taken during Webb’s Senate campaign.

This conversation from my AliveNotDead profile illuminates the Real Virginians For Webb story a bit more:

rottendoubt
what’s macaca?

Eric Byler
Macaca is like the N-word. It means “monkey.” They say this in Tunisia instead of the N-word. George Allen, the man who said it, used to hang a noose over his office to commemorate the lynching of African Americans during the Jim Crow era, and he used to wear a Confederate pin (not that uncommon around here). Most damning is that, although he claims he made up the word macaca and had no idea what it meant, Allen’s mother is FROM Tunisia where macaca is used instead of the N-word.

Even if he HAD made up something, though, the point is that macaca was not the guy’s name. Most Asian Americans can tell you from experience that when someone calls you something that is not your name to single you out as different and deserving of ridicule, he isn’t doing you a favor. Doesn’t matter if he made it up. Ching-chong-ping-pong is made up too, but it doesn’t sound very nice.

rottendoubt
oh man, that’s crazy….. how is it possible for someone like him to ever be elected? scary…

Eric Byler
Well, he was UN-elected on Nov. 7, 2006 thanks in great part to Asian Americans voting for Jim Webb by a 3-1 margin (=

Many political insiders, including Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean have said that Asian Americans decided the 2006 Virginia Senate race. This was the crown jewel in the Democratic party’s remarkable running of the table, sweeping all six of the close races they needed to win to take over control of the U.S. Senate.

So we can thank Asian Americans in Virginia for the progress we have made in spite of President Bush, and for the oversight we see happening during the past two years (oversight is the Constitutional duty of the U.S. Congress abdicated shamelessly by the Repulbican-controlled Congress that enabled the Bush administration from 2001 to 2007).

The Attorney General scandal is just one of the Bush scandals that have come to light because we have a Democratic Senate. The cheaters of our democracy that are still in the White House would have gotten away with a lot more if Asian Americans hadn’t stepped up in 2006.

Annabel and I are honored to be able to attend at Barack Obama’s historic speech today in Manassas, Virginia — his first of the General Election campaign.

(Sorry we have not been posting lately. The immigration insanity in Prince William County has reached a point where we had to lie low for a while. Even giving our opinion could upset a delicate balance right now. We will be able to explain why this is in coming weeks. Stay tuned!)

Of course we are thrilled that the Democratic Primary is finally over and Barack Obama is the nominee. Annabel is on her way here from Maryland. She is picking up two friends at the Vienna Metro station and we are going to see Obama speak right here in Prince William County, Virginia!!!!
I’ll be seeing him speak for the 4th time — 3rd time for Annabel.

Annabel and Kelly Hu were lucky enough to get a VIP seat on the stage in Las Vegas in January. We got tremendous footage in Maryland in February. And, although we have not posted it yet (lazy me) we got stupendous footage with Andres Useche (Si Se Puede Cambiar video) in Houston, TX in March.

Annabel and I have both been invited to to sit on stage during Obama’s speech. I’ve decided I don’t want to look through the lens of a camera like I usually do. So our new 9500 Liberty recruit Luke Hillman will be shooting from the press risers. If we get some good footage, I’ll post it to the United For Obama channel.

There are great fears about the traffic situation tonight. We’ll keep you posted on how that goes. We plan to get there early and film some interviews while we wait.

The finest film of my career, by the way, now has more than 320,000 hits on our channel alone:

This Saturday Annabel and I are driving up to Philadelphia (2 hour drive from D.C.) for the Actvist Training and Mid-Atlantic Summit hosted by Asian Pacific Americans for Progress (APAP) and the Democratic National Committee (DNC). We are bringing with us some friends from our multi-ethnic (but largely Asian American) outreach team from the 2006 Virginia Senate Race. This is the most important year in our lifetimes for Asian American empowerment and, more importantly, for the restoration of the Ameircan democracy. At this event, you will gain the skills, learn the tools, and form the friendships that will make it all the more enjoyable, effective and rewarding to make a difference in the Presidential election. There are only 125 slots and they are filling up fast. If you would like to attend, please pre-register to ensure that you get a spot. If you live in the DC area and would like to carpool, contact me at Facebook or MySpace.

I’ll be saying a few words and showing some clips from 9500 Liberty, but the headliner for the event (which costs $35 by the way) is http://www.democrats.org/page/dashboard/public/CJ4K, Director of Training at the Democratic National Committee. I’ve known Parag for a few years and let me tell you — put a microphone in this man’s hand and he becomes a compelling and inspiring orator and stand up commedian rolled up into one. Parag and I did a similar event in Chicago last year and I videotaped his presentation hand-held. He had me laughing so hard and so often that it messed up the footage, so I’m bringing a tri-pod this time and Annabel and I will take turns videotaping so I can share the magic that is Parag Mehta with those readers who do NOT live near Philadelphia.

For those of you who DO live near Philadelphia, I’ll see you Saturday.

Also on the program is Andy Toy, a promising community leader in Philadelphia for whom I created a YouTube video last year during his Cinderella story campaign to become the City of Brotherly Love’s first ever Asian American City Council member. He came up just short, but his impressively strong showing paved the way for a breakthrough in coming years.

Saturday, May 31, 2008
UPenn Law School
Gittis Hall Lecture Room One
3400 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA, 19104

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM - Networking and Registration
12:00 PM - 6:00 PM - Training
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM - Reception/Social with special guests and elected officials

Julie Carey broke the story last night: today at 2 PM, Chairman Corey Stewart will resurrect the Immigration Wars in Prince William County. 2 PM today at the government center will be round 20 of this never ending fight. Click here to see for yourself.

I have no official confirmation of this, but what happened today has got to be a Major League Baseball first. The Los Angeles Dodgers sent three pitchers to the mound today in a 6-3 victory over the Angels of Anaheim. All three were Asian-born.

The game, played in 98 degree heat, began with my favorite player Chan Ho Park starting his first game after several outstanding appearances out of the bull pen. Park pitched three scoreless innings while the Dodgers built a 4-0 lead. But two errant throws in the fourth inning forced him to pitch with runners on base for nearly a half an hour. He escaped the inning with only two runs scored, but was removed prior to the 5th inning because he’d reached his pitch limit (imposed by the coaching staff to ensure he isn’t injured pitching longer than his body is accustomed to of late).

Park, who was born in Korea, was replaced by Taiwanese born southpaw Hong-Chih Quo. Quo earned the victory with four shut-out innings, and he earned it too, turning back the Angels just when it seemed they’d grabbed the momentum.

The final inning was pitched by Japanese-born closer Takashi Saito. Saito did not earn a save because he came in with a lead of greater than four runs, but he has established himself as one of the premiere closers in baseball over the past two-plus seasons.

I listened to the game on the web (paid 18 dollars for it, too!) and I did not hear the announcers say this was some kind of Major League record, but it has got to be. I can’t think of any teams that have had three Asian-born pitchers on their roster at one time, let alone pitched all three in one game.

UPDATE: today was another game entirely pitched by Asian-born players, and the Dodgers won again!

Chan Ho Park (1-0, 2.16 ERA) has been effective out of the bullpen thus far this season, so much so that he is getting his first start of the year today in Anaheim against the Los Angeles Angels. The games starts at 12:55 PST. I’ll be watching from DC.

Scouting Report:
Dodgers: Chan Ho Park gets the nod in his continuing comeback over Hong-Chih Kuo. Park has been exclusively a long reliever this year and on four occasions has pitched three innings. Once a power pitcher, he now possesses a varied repertoire. This will be his first start for the Dodgers since 2001 and his first Major League start since April 30, 2007.

Read more by clicking here.

A journalist named Ben Hamamoto is writing a piece about my latest film “Tre” being a first with its hapa romantic leads (Kim and Daniel), and hapa writers/director (Kim and me). This clip from the DVD bonus features is the best I have ever done explaining how mixed-race identity folds into the layers of meaning in this film and in others like “Charlotte Sometimes” and “Americanese” that deal with sex, race, and relationships. It was actually said in response to a post-screening question about the “raw” sex scenes in “Tre.” I talked about “hybrid identity” and then worked my way back to answering the question.

This is one of seven chapters in the Director Q&A bonus feature on the recently released DVD, available here.

Other bonus features include a behind-the-scenes documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Reuben Aaronson, and my student film, “Kenji’s Faith.”

Also this is another clip from the Director Q&A feature on the DVD:

And here is the theatrical trailer.

TRE
directed by Eric Byler
written by Kimberly-Rose Wolter & Eric Byler
Daniel Cariaga, Kimberly-Rose Wolter, Erik McDowel, and Alix Koromzay.
with Teddy Chen Culver, Eric Hackett, and Jackie O’Brien
Cinematography by Rob Humphreys
Music by Michael Brook
www.TreTheMovie.com