Last night, CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment) honored Tim Kring (Heroes creator), John Cho, James Hong and Adele Yoshioka for their accomplishments and achievement in helping perpetuate the positive image of Asian Pacific Islanders in the entertainment industry. Below are clips of Tim Kring, James Hong, John Cho, Collin Chou, James Kyson Lee, Leonardo Nam and Karin Anna Cheung. Above picture by Pacific Rim Photo Press of James Hong and CAPE Staff.

New York Magazine has a profile of Liu Wen as one of “The Girls Who Have It”. It takes something to book a Jean Paul Gaultier show on first look, but Liu Wen managed just that. “I had a coup de foudre”—French for “stroke of lightning,” more or less—“for Liu Wen the first time I saw her,” the designer explains. “She came in for casting for my prêt-à-porter show, and I immediately booked her.” Wen, who got her start at a modeling competition in China, caught the international fashion world’s eye when she was styled as Karl Lagerfeld and Viktor and Rolf for Chinese Cosmopolitan. This spring, the Americans noticed; she walked in Ralph Lauren’s show and signed a fragrance deal with CK One. Abroad, she appeared at Balenciaga, Chloé, and Louis Vuitton.

Our favorite LA correspondent Peter from Pacific Rim Photo Press was at Far East Movement’s album launch party on November 25. It was the first ever streamlined LIVE from the net launch party. Watch behind the scenes video and interviews below.

Time Magazine has a great article on Michelle Rhee, Chancellor of Washington DC’s public schools. Rhee grew up in a nice neighborhood in Toledo, Ohio, a middle child, between two brothers. Her parents immigrated from South Korea several years before she was born, so that her father could study medicine at the University of Michigan. Rhee has promised to make Washington the highest-performing urban school district in the nation, a prospect that, if realized, could transform the way schools across the country are run. She is attempting to do this through a relentless focus on finding--and rewarding--strong teachers, purging incompetent ones and weakening the tenure system that keeps bad teachers in the classroom. Rhee graduated from Cornell University in 1992, joined Teach for America and is now causing quite a controversy in her pursuit to rework DC’s public schools. Read the article below or at time.com.

You know once J.Crew starts putting Asian models on their pages, the Asian models will be all the rage. Here is Du Juan in December’s J. Crew catalog. She is well on her way to being the next Naomi Campbell and Gisele Bundchen. Pic from Asian Models Blog

Bruce Lee knows martial arts and ping pong. See the video below of Bruce Lee playing ping pong with nunchuck - allegedly Filmed with the incredible Nokia N96. Thanks Solito!

Despite all the turmoil in the world, we hope you have a great Thanksgiving and remember to be thankful for everything you have, especially for living in the United States, the greatest country in the world. A country which allows us to run this magazine, despite rules and regulations, as a way to express our opinions, belief and ideals without consequence. Happy Thanksgiving!

Hye Park has a huge editorial in Korea Harper Bazaar. While we love the exposure of an Asian model, we’re not too fond of the fur on some of the designs in a few of the photographs...so we won’t mention the designers. Photographed by Song Changrae. source Asian Models Blog

William H. (Mo) Marumoto suddenly passed away on Tuesday, November 25, 2008, of a massive heart attack. He was an icon and a selfless man known to thousands for his big and generous heart. Upon his retirement as Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Interface Group, Ltd., Marumoto accepted the position as President and CEO of the Asian Pacific Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS) in Washington, D.C., in September 2006. Marumoto’s career expanded more than five decades of giving back to his country, his community, and his friends. He joined the White House staff as Special Assistant to the President Richard M. Nixon and served more than three years recruiting individuals for Cabinet and sub-Cabinet positions. Prior to his stint at the White House, he was Assistant to the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, responsible for all senior-level recruiting for the U.S. Office of Education. Mo’s contributions to the Asian American communities across the country span several decades and his compassion to help people find a job, smoke a good cigar and go fishing are but a few of the many kindnesses that came naturally to him. He has enriched the lives of so many people he touched.