This concludes Calvin's Harold & Kumar 2 interview series. Enjoy!

Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg, writers and directors of Harold & Kumar 1 & 2

Multicultural colors include:

• Golden Beige
• Beige
• Tan
• Tawny
• Bronze
• Terra Cotta
• Mahogany
• Sienna

Lesson plan booklet included to provide engaging lesson plans for the classroom and artroom.

We kid you not.

At long last, Calvin's interview with Harold and Kumar 2 actor Kal Penn (... with the help of some other very excited kids)! Read up, this comes to The Blaaag only once in a while. Excuse the looks on Mr. Penn's face, I'm sure he was dying for some of that delicious Fiji water right next to him (in the picture beneath the interview).

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Kal Penn walks in smiling. The table bristles with excitement as the first question is asked.

So how did you feel about doing a sequel to the first Harold & Kumar film?

KP: I was surprised there was even a sequel. The first one didn’t do well in theaters or DVD marketing. However, I believe that the subsequent reaction over time gave New Line Cinemas enough money to do a sequel. Therefore, this sequel is dedicated to the fans who made this happen.

I thought the 200 million dollars was made from the first film?

KP (incredulous): Well if that’s the case, I haven’t seen that money! I wouldn’t be wearing the same clothes I’m wearing now. In fact (laughing), I would have to hire a lawyer because we definitely didn’t have that much money to put into the sequel.

Was the purpose to put the heroes into the minority?

KP: The purpose was to make an All-American buddy movie. It could be labeled as a teen film, a satire, or a stoner comedy. It may be all three or none of those things. That’s why the audience loves it: you see characters in situations you haven’t seen them in before, and it’s not because of their ethnicity, it’s because of the good writing.

Is there a little bit of reality in which the racist imagery in the film is grounded?

KP: Well it’s funny, because in one of the first scenes in the airport where Harold and I are waiting in line, I get pulled out because of I’m a “suspicious man of color.” It goes back to an actual story where the director and writer of Harold & Kumar, John Cho, and myself were waiting in line in Austin, Texas. So they go through, no beep. John [Cho] goes through, no beep. But when I went through without beeping, I of course still got pulled out of the line by TSA officials.

So they search me and pat me down and do all the security checkpoint stuff and let me go. Then one of the writers [for Harold & Kumar] came up to me and was like “I have something to tell you that might piss you off.” And then I was like, “I’m already pissed off. How can it get any worse?”

Well the thing was that prior to meeting us at the airport, he was coming back from a weekend camping trip and had a hunting knife on him that he forgot to take it out of his bag as he was checking into airport security. However, the TSA officials were so focused on me, as that “suspicious man of color,” that they didn’t even pay attention to the hunting knife.

So yeah, all ethnicities have gone through it before. This sequence helped with writing the opening scene, but in a light way that John & Hayden would write it.

Do you feel the burden of it being marketed as an Asian American film?

KP: I don’t think that is the appeal; I think the appeal is to a wider audience. I remember back in the day I wouldn’t see anyone like me except for Indiana Jones & Temple of Doom or Apu [from the Simpsons]. Now I think [Asian Americans] are of course going to get excited about seeing people looking like them. However, the movie is also cool in that it still appeals to all kinds of people who enjoy different appeals. Frat boys enjoy it, Asian Americans enjoy it, etc.

You see, both Harold & Kumar in the film went to Columbia (Calvin cheers, Kal stops to nod in approval), and they’re both smart. Just that one’s a banker, and one’s not sure about medical school. It’s not that one’s smart and one’s dumb or one’s clueless and one’s isn’t. Both are bright, it’s just different personalities. However, it’s weird that people call me Kumar in real life.

So you have two careers now?

KP: Yes. One’s serious and one’s comedic.

Does being Kumar prevent you getting parts like in The Namesake?

KP: Actually it helped because Mira Nair’s son is a big fan of Harold & Kumar. When I heard the casting call for “The Namesake” I begged the casting department for the role but I never got a reply back. Apparently Mira already had a short list of actos she wanted for the part of Golgol and I definitely wasn’t on it. However, thanks to my involvement in Harold & Kumar, every night and every morning Mira would hear to no end from her son who begged her constantly to “get Kumar in The Namesake.” So eventually she relented and I got the chance to audition and eventually work with a very smart writer & director.

What are you doing now?

KP: I’m working on a TV show called House. I play a regular called Lawrence Kutner who likes the unorthodox way of doing medical stuff.

Anyone you want to work with?

KP: Natalie Portman, Mira Nair, Spike Lee, Larry Clark.

Do you have to be more selective now as an actor?

KP: That’s the goal of the actor: To build up your resume to get the foot in the door. You think we’re doing well after Harold & Kumar, but on the inside it’s actually much tougher. For example, I’m getting older so I can’t do Harold & Kumar 14.

How old are you now? Can you still feel you can do more roles like Harold & Kumar?

KP I’m 30. I still act like I’m 11 though.

Do you feel a responsibility now to break stereotypes as a South Asian American actor?

KP: I don’t feel any responsibility to break stereotypes. I think there’s an acknowledgement you can do certain things in that capacity. But folks don’t realize that this really relies on the writers instead of the actors, which are jobs that the Asian American community doesn’t encourage their people to go into. It’s really good writing that creates those stereotype breaking roles, not good actors.

For sure though, playing fields are definitely getting more diverse nowadays, and Harold & Kumar contributes to that. I can certainly relate to the sense of empowerment.

Does this movie encourage drug use?

KP: No. I think anytime they do use drugs, they screw up, you know? If anything, what’s important about this film is that in any other country we’d get short or imprisoned for making fun of our prime minister, president, king, whoever. Here in this film we make fun of President George W. Bush in such a ridiculous way and that’s okay! And it’s not even an anti-Bush movie or anti-Drug, or an Asian American film. It’s a simple fun film about 2 guys on a journey.

Kal’s agent hounds us for asking too many questions as all of us rush to take pictures with him as he’s wrapping up the last question. To save time, Kal decides to take a group picture and encourages us all to facebook each other for the photo.

Whooo... the below copied from an email again from Jian Zapata.

At approximately, 12:40pm today Senator Richard Burr's amendment to strip FilVets provisions out of S. 1315 was struck down, 56-41.

At approximately, 1:00pm today S. 1315 PASSED its final vote in Senate, 96-1.

THANK YOU to all who contacted their Senators & for all the ongoing support! And above all else, MARAMING SALAMAT to our HEROES, our veteranos.

We are SO close to correcting the injustice for our Filipino veterans. Next steps.. the House!

The walk out demonstration, organized by a group of grad/undergrad students, started at the Sun Dial at noon today. Speakers included professors with expertise on the Middle East, Iraq War veterans (IVAW members), and unreserved students (with reps from Lucha and Columbia Coalition Against the War).

At 2 PM, demonstrators surrounded the Alma Mater on Low Steps (hooded and holding electric wires, a painful reminder of the infamous Abu Ghraib photograph), linked arms, and stood silently for fifteen minutes in a nonviolent protest. Under urgent beckoning, administrators rushed by and watched the scene, ready for any sort of commotion that might arise. Meanwhile, a few organizers remained at the table and read out names of the dead in Iraq.

After the "human chain" broke, the crowd trickled back to the Sun Dial and listened to the name reading. Due to the heat from the burning sun, organizers dutifully passed around cups of water (and divestment petitions).

(Change your Facebook photos!)

In case you didn't already put the pieces together after listening to people read out names of the dead all week, read all about Columbia University's protest against the War in Iraq here, here, and here. PC members will be in attendace (our own Ryan Fukumori designed the flyers), so be on the lookout.

This is part two of the Harold and Kumar Q&A / Interview series, where Neil Patrick Harris answers questions about acting and his role in this movie. We're still not totally sure how it relates to Asian America, but I'm sure this is just the buildup to the Kal Penn part, which Calvin will transcribe in due time.

NPH enters smiling; a reporter shrieks and NPH laughs at her. I make fun of fellow interviewer: ‘She’s actually not here to interview, we found her on the street and paid her to looked excited.”

NPH laughs as he sits down and is asked the first question.

What was your career like before it took off?

NPH: My career was very different back then: I did a lot of Broadway: Cabaret, Proof, Assassins. I wanted to cultivate a skillset without worrying about the fame ramifications of it. Harold & Kumar was nice in that it was a quick glass of notoriety.

John & Hayden (The writers & directors of the Harold & Kumar movies) was fans of me way back, and they thought it was funny to write me in the movie, and so they did. And then I read the script, responding that I loved it.

Are you upset that you got killed off?

NPH: Did you not stay until the end of the credits?

Journalist who had asked that question gets quiet.

NPH: There are 250 people out there who are cursing your name right now. Think about them. What about the gaffers? The grips? Shame on you.

What is your schedule like?

NPH: The TV schedule is more than half the year and is a bigger time commitment for what’s usually owed to Broadway: 6 months. There’s no time to the do the 12-14 month gig.

Has anyone mentioned a Doogie Howser reunion movie?

NPH (laughs): No.

How similar are you in real life to NPH in the movie?

NPH: Almost surprisingly similar...but no, really, it’s everything up until the point I stopped using a fake ID.

Was it your or the writers’ say to make your character very sexual?

NPH: You know, they wrote me that way before they even met me; before they knew me at all. Thats the idea they had of me when they wrote me. Yeah...

NPH then talks about his Whoopi Goldberg stand-in lovechild in the film. If you have no idea what we’re talking about, then go see it...NOW!

So do you prefer to eat at White Castle?

NPH: I’ve only eaten at White Castle late late late at night. I’m not an onion guy, and that’s like the main part of what makes those “sliders” so great, right? So it’s not my thing. I would have to order them sans-onion, but then again what’s the point? I might as well go to McDonalds.

How did you feel about H&K when you were filming it?

NPH: When you’re filming a movie, you have no sense of how it turns out until much much later. It’s very nice to have this role in this chapter of my life because it’s nice to have a demographic like me to have nice things to say.

And what do they say?

NPH: A lot of specific questions of “did that really happen? Did you really ride a unicorn? Did you really snort coke off a stripper’s ass?”

If your body could be made from anything else than skin and bones, what would it be?

NPH: Silly putty.

Like Gumby?

NPH: Like Stretch Armstrong.

What role do you look forward to doing that you haven’t done?

NPH: Someone villainous. I’m always envious of the super-villain in the Batman movies. Those are an actor’s dream job.

So whats the next thing?

NPH: There are a few more episodes of “How I Met your Mother.” Then there’s this project involving a site specific theater thing. It’s like an interactive activity with the audience....you’ll see.

What did you think of the writer’s strike?

NPH: The strike was strange because all of a sudden you find yourself trying to create your own material. I did something with Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer). It’s this Dr. Horribles Sing-Along thing...yeah, I can’t describe it.

Will you direct?

NPH: Oh yes. It’s a big time commitment; with Harold & Kumar I work for 5 days whereas the director works for 18 months. There’s so much more involved behind the camera.

And that’s a wrap! As he takes pictures with the journalists, I ask the final question:

So what would Neil Patrick Harris do?

NPH (laughs): The question is: What wouldn’t NPH do?

Next up: KAL PENN!

Progressive hapa film director Eric Byler has produced another film in his series on 9500 Liberty in Prince William County, VA. Take a look! Below the embed is his own writing.



Our latest 9500 Liberty video is an important piece of the immigration puzzle in Prince William County, VA.

If enough people see this, we may improve the lives of immigrants and other residents of Prince William who are watching county's social fabric fall apart as immigrants flee in droves and the economy and housing markets plummet as a result. The video encourages the Chairman of the Board of Supvervisors to distance himself from a hate group (so classified by the Southern Poverty Law Center). If the Chairman does indeed separate from his former political allies, we may recover from this period of racial tension and division much sooner than I thought
possible.

Also, if you have a cogent voice to lend us, please comment on the video on the new blog www.antiBVBL.net, established by a moderate (and kind-hearted) Republican, as a beacon of hope and reason.

http://www.antibvbl.net/index.php/2008/04/12/does-corey-have-a-greg-problem/#comment-4503

AAA just got this NAASCon update from FilVets activist Jian Zapata. Read it and act!

Earlier today, April 22nd, the cloture vote on S. 1315 (Filipino Veterans) PASSED the Senate 94-0. This means that debate on S. 1315 begins for UP TO 30 HOURS, and amendments can still be brought up to water down or strip out provisions for Filipino veterans.

Please CONTINUE to contact your Senators to:

* Vote in favor of S. 1315
* Oppose efforts to weaken provisions of the bill

Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121
Message-- "I urge you to support our Filipino World War II veterans and to vote in favor of S. 1315 Veterans Benefit Enhancement Act. Yes on S.1315 AS IS - oppose amendments to the bill."

- OR -

Find your Senate folks here..
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Simply copy&paste the following text into the web form..

***

Dear Senator:

I urge you to support our Filipino World War II veterans and to vote in favor of S. 1315 Veterans Benefit Enhancement Act.

We must correct the grave injustice done to Filipino veterans when they were divested of their rightful US veteran status. On July 26, 1941 when the Philippines was a colony of the United States, President Roosevelt issued a military order calling all organized military forces of the government of the Philippines into the service of the Armed Forces of the United States. The Filipino veterans are those individuals who responded to the call of President Roosevelt and served under the U.S Armed Forces during World War II. They fought as American nationals under the American flag and under the direction of the US military leaders.

These veterans have been waiting for far too long. Let us not forget these heroes. VOTE YES ON S. 1315.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME
STREET ADDRESS
CITY, STATE ZIP

This interview with Christopher Meloni marks the beginning of a series of Harold and Kumar 2 interviews which our AAA Chair and guest blogger Calvin Sun also conducted with Kal Penn and Neil Patrick Harris (what would NPH do?). Fans of Law & Order: SVU, Oz, and/or Wet Hot American Summer are free to emit cries of joy.

Sadly, there are no pictures because Chris's agents were especially unfriendly compared to Neil's and Kal's.