Tofu Watch on "Yellow Terror"

A great Seattle-based blog called Tofu Watch spotlights artist Roger Shimomura this week. Shimomura's show, "Yellow Terror" opens today at The Wing Luke Asian Museum.

Brad Wong, the blog author, said that "Shimomura uses bold colors, cartoon images and icons from the past to explain issues of race, culture and discrimination."

"His collection of comic books, movie posters and other items captures how inaccurate perceptions and fear can distort what becomes accepted as popular culture," Wong wrote.

The blog and the museum Web site are definitely worth checking out.

Bright ideas

Language lessons abroad via (beep, beep, beep) your cell phone, featured in the Pittusburgh Tribune-Review: "Matthew Kam, 32, a Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist, has developed computer games with audio and visual components that resonate with students learning English in rural India, China and Kenya."

Hip-hop in Mongolia

NPR's Louisa Lim on Mongolian hip-hop: A New Beat Gives Young Mongolia A Voice, Identity. "Hip-hop has taken off in a country where nearly 60 percent of the population is younger than 30."

Under where?

"Under the Glass Bell, A Dream" is a photo show by New York artist Grace Kim. It opens tonight at Brooklyn's Melanie Flood Projects. The title is plucked from Anaïs Nin’s short story, “Under a Glass Bell.” The black and white series depicts just-emptied beds and rooms at love hotels in Seoul, South Korea.

"Lovers are known to use the hotels for secret affairs," Kim explains on her Web site. "I photograph the beds just after they have departed. My photographs are personal reflections on the passage of time and the ephemeral nature of love."

Big money, biiig money

Just about every artist out there seems to have a Web site. But how about turning those hits into dollar signs? Raymund Flandez of The Wall Street Journal delves into the art of selling, um, your art online.

Depth of Field

Jared Soares is a photographer based in Roanoke, Va. who documents daily life through his job at The Roanoke Times newspaper.

Born in Santa Cruz, Calif., Soares says his mother first piqued his interest in photography when he was a kid. "My mom always had cameras around the house, taking pictures of me on birthdays, family trips and first days of school," he said. "She also had a subscription to National Geographic, so I was always sort of exposed to photography, but I wasn't aware you could make a career out of it until I got college. Before that I was just taking photos of things around my neighborhood and my friends skateboarding."

As a working professional, Soares says he tries to "keep it simple" by working off one camera body and one lens -- the Canon 5D and a 35 mm f/l.4. "This set up allows me to be more in tune with the people I'm photographing and that's something I find hard to do when hauling around a backpack full of equipment," he said.

Newspaper colleagues provide inspiration, as does Christopher Anderson's gorgeous book on Caracas, Venezuela, called "Capitolio," and Aaron Huey's work from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

Then there's books: "I'm currently re-reading Norman Maclean's 'A River Runs Through It' -- one of my favorite books of all time," he said.

Soares' first solo exhibition, a series on hip hop culture, will open next month at the O. Winston Link Museum.