About 20 Halloweens ago, I dressed up as Michael Jackson, complete with white glove and jerry curl wig. I must've practiced those Thriller moves a million times, prepping for my Halloween debut. But the one move I never seemed to master was the most famous of MJ's moves, the Moonwalk. Ah, if only.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
My New Hero
My new hero, Roger Fan, airs his complaints about the Hollywood Establishment (HE) in a blog he and some colleagues have been maintaining. It's a must-read for any Asian looking to start a career in Hollywood as an actor. If you're already here, you already know this stuff, but it's enjoyable nevertheless. Of course, most of you actors will continue to take what little scraps are fed you anyway, but at least we can join along in the tirade. In fact, many of the comments are by other Asian actors.
Roger, by the way, was the one who helped me find my way in this business originally. He told me how to take a headshot, how to locate agents to send my headshot, and what to generally expect in this business. I totally respect Roger's path in this business, as he has done whatever it takes to achieve his level of success.
It does ring familiar, however. Back about a decade ago, an old friend, Steve Park, wrote a mission statement to the HE after a rather insensitive (and subtly racist) comment by an assistant director on the set of Friends.
Steve's statement was subsequently reprinted and rementioned about a million times until Mr. Park was forced to walk his talk by quitting the whole Hollywood thing and moving to New York. I miss Steve and his friendship, and I also miss his acting. He once asked me to write an editorial about his role in the movie Fargo, and I quickly obliged.
I just hope that Roger will retain some anonymity through his blog, as I doubt he intended for this commentary to reach as far as Mr. Park's did. Then again, maybe he had finally reached his limit.
Roger, by the way, was the one who helped me find my way in this business originally. He told me how to take a headshot, how to locate agents to send my headshot, and what to generally expect in this business. I totally respect Roger's path in this business, as he has done whatever it takes to achieve his level of success.
It does ring familiar, however. Back about a decade ago, an old friend, Steve Park, wrote a mission statement to the HE after a rather insensitive (and subtly racist) comment by an assistant director on the set of Friends.
Steve's statement was subsequently reprinted and rementioned about a million times until Mr. Park was forced to walk his talk by quitting the whole Hollywood thing and moving to New York. I miss Steve and his friendship, and I also miss his acting. He once asked me to write an editorial about his role in the movie Fargo, and I quickly obliged.
I just hope that Roger will retain some anonymity through his blog, as I doubt he intended for this commentary to reach as far as Mr. Park's did. Then again, maybe he had finally reached his limit.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Nasal Wash Addiction
This is less gross than you might think. Then again, maybe it's because my old roommate used to wash his nasal passages with a neti pot every day in the kitchen sink. Now that's gross.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Oddly Mesmerizing
I don't know the entire story on this, but some Japanese guy attaches electrodes to his face and syncs it with electronic music, at least that's what he decided to do with four of his friends. See their reaction at the end.
I can see this sort of thing catching on at a club, for some reason. Maybe it already has. I haven't been to a club in ages.
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Not So Stupid Today
What's amazing about today's Amazing Race is that all the white people are the dumb ones, both intellectually and skillfully. I mean, who doesn't know who Chekhov is? Two attempts at spelling it, tops, and you're done. Do I feel sorry for the deaf kid and his mother? No, because they're not at a disadvantage here. In fact, reading should be his strength. And after he and his mom put a U-Turn on that dating couple? I gotta say they get no sympathy points.
By the way, did you see the Chevy Traverse commercial that aired during the show? The one where the little girl points her finger, just to the left of Howie Long's crotch, and says, "That's a big girl car!" Ah, heck, I'll post it.
Was the intent here to be viral? I gotta wonder. Otherwise, it's just sick, and I guess that makes me sick for catching it.
Back to Amazing Race. This one, the Asians were on their best behavior, and they finished well above last place. Education, that great equalizer, put them back in the race, and good behavior kept them from falling out of it.
So, yeah, my people made me proud. Today, at least. ;)
By the way, did you see the Chevy Traverse commercial that aired during the show? The one where the little girl points her finger, just to the left of Howie Long's crotch, and says, "That's a big girl car!" Ah, heck, I'll post it.
Was the intent here to be viral? I gotta wonder. Otherwise, it's just sick, and I guess that makes me sick for catching it.
Back to Amazing Race. This one, the Asians were on their best behavior, and they finished well above last place. Education, that great equalizer, put them back in the race, and good behavior kept them from falling out of it.
So, yeah, my people made me proud. Today, at least. ;)
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Stupid Asian People
Watching The Amazing Race in utter amazement. I love this show, by the way. They pick some interesting participants. Last season featured a mother and her son, two annoying frat brothers, two blonde bimbos, and an older husband and wife who were separated. The mother and son were great in how supportive and patient they were to each other, while the frat boys got more irritating each show, culminating with the most ridiculous military training attempt in history.
This season features an Asian brother and sister who are also lawyers. Clearly Americanized, they appear either Vietnamese or Chinese. As I watch, the Asian guy, Victor, is insisting on continuing to go up the wrong path and follow the wrong signs. "I think we would be making a serious mistake if we don't continue on this path," he says. Meanwhile, his sister, Tammy, is being as patient and mature as she can, and finally just relents, "Okay, Victor, let's keep doing it your way."
Unfortunately, we get to see this team another week as they finished second to last place.
In other news, I went to my writing class, "Movies & Memoir," on Saturday and went through some short 6-minute writing exercises. Afterward, we all read our work and get some comments by the teacher and, later, by the other class attendees.
I had some resistance to going to this class, but only because I've had some bad experiences in the past with going to writing classes. I realize now it's probably because those classes were taught by Asians. I know that's a big statement, but I'm standing behind it.
First of all, if you take a class and see an Asian female playwright named Judy Soohoo, get the hell out of the class. I suspected she had "borrowed" from my work, but when I later interviewed her for a news article on a play she was debuting for a new theatre company, she admitted to borrowing heavily from more famous playwrights, both living and dead. Apparently, she is in the habit of doing this, and it doesn't matter if you've published your work or not. There's just too much of this kind of "borrowing" going around in the publishing world to walk into a class and just give it away to someone who admits to using others for inspiration.
The class I went to on Saturday was filled with white folks, including both instructors in the program. They find terms such as katas and samurai to be exotic, which makes me smile. They are also very good when it comes to analyzing the work.
In regards to my earlier statement on Asian instructors, I also don't recommend going to a class where the instructor says that you "flush" out your work and its characters. You don't flush those things out unless you got shit for brains or are writing about shit.
One last note before I head down to the gym. I got a reuse/holding fee for the commercial I did back in October of 1997. In fact, I'll be getting another in a week or so as it seems the previous reuse/holding check got lost in the mail. I called my old agency and they confirmed there was an outstanding check mailed to me.
So, anyway, at least I'm still in the game. Hardly, but I'll take what I can get. Cheers!
This season features an Asian brother and sister who are also lawyers. Clearly Americanized, they appear either Vietnamese or Chinese. As I watch, the Asian guy, Victor, is insisting on continuing to go up the wrong path and follow the wrong signs. "I think we would be making a serious mistake if we don't continue on this path," he says. Meanwhile, his sister, Tammy, is being as patient and mature as she can, and finally just relents, "Okay, Victor, let's keep doing it your way."
Unfortunately, we get to see this team another week as they finished second to last place.
In other news, I went to my writing class, "Movies & Memoir," on Saturday and went through some short 6-minute writing exercises. Afterward, we all read our work and get some comments by the teacher and, later, by the other class attendees.
I had some resistance to going to this class, but only because I've had some bad experiences in the past with going to writing classes. I realize now it's probably because those classes were taught by Asians. I know that's a big statement, but I'm standing behind it.
First of all, if you take a class and see an Asian female playwright named Judy Soohoo, get the hell out of the class. I suspected she had "borrowed" from my work, but when I later interviewed her for a news article on a play she was debuting for a new theatre company, she admitted to borrowing heavily from more famous playwrights, both living and dead. Apparently, she is in the habit of doing this, and it doesn't matter if you've published your work or not. There's just too much of this kind of "borrowing" going around in the publishing world to walk into a class and just give it away to someone who admits to using others for inspiration.
The class I went to on Saturday was filled with white folks, including both instructors in the program. They find terms such as katas and samurai to be exotic, which makes me smile. They are also very good when it comes to analyzing the work.
In regards to my earlier statement on Asian instructors, I also don't recommend going to a class where the instructor says that you "flush" out your work and its characters. You don't flush those things out unless you got shit for brains or are writing about shit.
One last note before I head down to the gym. I got a reuse/holding fee for the commercial I did back in October of 1997. In fact, I'll be getting another in a week or so as it seems the previous reuse/holding check got lost in the mail. I called my old agency and they confirmed there was an outstanding check mailed to me.
So, anyway, at least I'm still in the game. Hardly, but I'll take what I can get. Cheers!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Clearing the Dust
It's been a while since I've posted here. Call it laziness and ennui (with the site and the topic, hence my life). It's been so long since I've auditioned for anything that I think it's useless to keep writing about it.
But then there's this... I've decided to explore fiction writing again. In fact, I signed up for my first writing class since, like, forever!
I don't know what inspiration is left in the well, to be frank. But perhaps I'll blog about what it means for me to be a struggling Asian writer in Hollywood. (Boy, sounds fun already!)
I suppose I'll mention the many bottles of wine I've been uncorking for ideas. Just hope the genies will be gentle at first. I've got a lot of rust to shake off.
In regards to the wine, I'll recommend one of my latest inspirations. Montepulciano. It's a deeply purple red wine with very few tannins that goes great with burgers and such. You can try one at Blue Dahlia for about $7 a glass. They serve what I think is a 2007 Farnese. But for a real treat, go out to your nearest wine store and locate a bottle of 2005 Kurni.
OK, happy 2009 everyone, and happy year of the ox to everyone else. ;)
But then there's this... I've decided to explore fiction writing again. In fact, I signed up for my first writing class since, like, forever!
I don't know what inspiration is left in the well, to be frank. But perhaps I'll blog about what it means for me to be a struggling Asian writer in Hollywood. (Boy, sounds fun already!)
I suppose I'll mention the many bottles of wine I've been uncorking for ideas. Just hope the genies will be gentle at first. I've got a lot of rust to shake off.
In regards to the wine, I'll recommend one of my latest inspirations. Montepulciano. It's a deeply purple red wine with very few tannins that goes great with burgers and such. You can try one at Blue Dahlia for about $7 a glass. They serve what I think is a 2007 Farnese. But for a real treat, go out to your nearest wine store and locate a bottle of 2005 Kurni.
OK, happy 2009 everyone, and happy year of the ox to everyone else. ;)
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Alec Baldwin Says 'Ai-ya'
Alec Baldwin is a pretty fun guy, actually. But the reason I'm posting this is he says "ai-ya" towards the end of this. The significance? Well, Asians tend to say it a lot, so I found it amusing to hear.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Bad Hangover
This, of course, begs the question, "Would you really want to play the woman?" But in Hollywood, apparently so.
Friday, September 26, 2008
This Takes Skill
Impressive improv, or at least it looks like he's improvising. (Saw this, by the way, in a comparison to the recent Sarah Palin interview with Katie Couric.)
Friday, August 08, 2008
Cow Tipping
It was a slow day at work so got to talking, somehow, about cow tipping and whether it was a myth or not. My school, Washington State University, is known for being a party school as well as a cow-tipper's paradise.
But have you ever seen video of a cow tipping? This will now put that question to rest.
But have you ever seen video of a cow tipping? This will now put that question to rest.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Helms on Colbert
This item comes from GQ's comedy issue featuring Seth, uh, what's his name? The Jewish guy with the 'fro in that movie Pineapple Express. Is it Rogen? Anyway, he's on the cover. Inside was this short interview with Ed Helms about his start on "The Daily Show" and his experience with fellow correspondent Stephen Colbert:
"When I started on 'The Daily Show,' I was so nervous that I asked him if he had any pointers. He said, 'You’re gonna be great. Oh, and don’t forget to hang your soul up in the closet and come back for it later.'
"Whenever we were backstage before a taping, Steve would do this pantomime. He would pretend he was the trumpet player in the band, getting ready for his part in 'The Daily Show' theme song. He’s miming that he’s warming up his trumpet, blowing in the spit valve, getting ready to go. And then he raises it to his mouth right when the guitar part kicks in. He would take down his fake trumpet and act surprised, like, 'What the fuck? Where’s the trumpet part?' I must’ve seen him do that 300 times, and it always made me laugh."
"When I started on 'The Daily Show,' I was so nervous that I asked him if he had any pointers. He said, 'You’re gonna be great. Oh, and don’t forget to hang your soul up in the closet and come back for it later.'
"Whenever we were backstage before a taping, Steve would do this pantomime. He would pretend he was the trumpet player in the band, getting ready for his part in 'The Daily Show' theme song. He’s miming that he’s warming up his trumpet, blowing in the spit valve, getting ready to go. And then he raises it to his mouth right when the guitar part kicks in. He would take down his fake trumpet and act surprised, like, 'What the fuck? Where’s the trumpet part?' I must’ve seen him do that 300 times, and it always made me laugh."
Blockbuster by Mail
A few years ago, while working for Lions Gate Entertainment, I came across a little-known company called Netflix. It seemed like a great little start-up, and so I asked my cousin's stockbroker husband if it was a good investment.
He never got back to me, and I sort of wrote the investment off as a silly idea. Then a year later, the stock doubled or tripled. By that time, I saw my cousin's husband who thanked me for the stock tip. Turns out, he invested a few thousand into Netflix and came away a winner.
Am I bitter? More like sour and rotting, to be more precise. That little lesson turned out to be the last time I asked for or gave any stock advice from anyone.
But now I'm thinking of asking the guy about Blockbuster, since while it looks way undervalued, with a price-to-book ratio under 1, I really don't know if they can survive in this evolving industry.
Regardless, I signed up for a trial of Blockbuster's home delivery service. About a year ago, I became rather frustrated by Netflix's lack of predictability. Plus, it was possible the mailman was watching my movies, because I often missed deliveries. Netflix was pretty good about apologizing and providing replacements, but when I asked them if their online delivery would soon work for Mac users, they just told me, "Sorry, probably won't happen." That was the proverbial straw.
So here I am, trying out the new service and... so far, so good. The first discs arrived in one day. I dropped off one of them at the Blockbuster store down the street from the office yesterday, and I might stop in today for an in-store exchange. Call it the dumbed-down version of Netflix, but I kinda like it.
Currently, at the office, I'm working on the old Batman collection for Blu-ray. This includes Batman, Batman Returns, Batman & Robin and Batman Forever. And, boy, do these films look dated. Sure, Batman with Nicholson and Keaton and Basinger came out in 1989, but this was surely a different pre-9/11, pre-Lady Di, pre-Heath time and place.
For those who haven't read about Jack getting upset for not being included in the story-forming process of Dark Knight, click here. But just looking at his picture on the back of the disc packaging, I have to say that even then, he was just too old and too out of shape for the part.
Still, I did love watching him then. I just have no interest in watching him now. As for Val Kilmer and George Clooney in their turns as the Caped One, well, I missed it the first time, so maybe now I'll take a look. Heck, how much worse can it get after watching Spider-man 3?
He never got back to me, and I sort of wrote the investment off as a silly idea. Then a year later, the stock doubled or tripled. By that time, I saw my cousin's husband who thanked me for the stock tip. Turns out, he invested a few thousand into Netflix and came away a winner.
Am I bitter? More like sour and rotting, to be more precise. That little lesson turned out to be the last time I asked for or gave any stock advice from anyone.
But now I'm thinking of asking the guy about Blockbuster, since while it looks way undervalued, with a price-to-book ratio under 1, I really don't know if they can survive in this evolving industry.
Regardless, I signed up for a trial of Blockbuster's home delivery service. About a year ago, I became rather frustrated by Netflix's lack of predictability. Plus, it was possible the mailman was watching my movies, because I often missed deliveries. Netflix was pretty good about apologizing and providing replacements, but when I asked them if their online delivery would soon work for Mac users, they just told me, "Sorry, probably won't happen." That was the proverbial straw.
So here I am, trying out the new service and... so far, so good. The first discs arrived in one day. I dropped off one of them at the Blockbuster store down the street from the office yesterday, and I might stop in today for an in-store exchange. Call it the dumbed-down version of Netflix, but I kinda like it.
Currently, at the office, I'm working on the old Batman collection for Blu-ray. This includes Batman, Batman Returns, Batman & Robin and Batman Forever. And, boy, do these films look dated. Sure, Batman with Nicholson and Keaton and Basinger came out in 1989, but this was surely a different pre-9/11, pre-Lady Di, pre-Heath time and place.
For those who haven't read about Jack getting upset for not being included in the story-forming process of Dark Knight, click here. But just looking at his picture on the back of the disc packaging, I have to say that even then, he was just too old and too out of shape for the part.
Still, I did love watching him then. I just have no interest in watching him now. As for Val Kilmer and George Clooney in their turns as the Caped One, well, I missed it the first time, so maybe now I'll take a look. Heck, how much worse can it get after watching Spider-man 3?
Monday, August 04, 2008
Weekend Entertainment
I grew up a big fan of the TV series, "Monty Python's Flying Circus," which aired many decades ago on public TV here in the States. Consequently, after hearing a segment on NPR about Eric Idle's "Not the Messiah (He's a very naughty boy)," performing live last weekend at the Hollywood Bowl, I just had to place a bid on eBay for a pair of tix.
It was a fun show, with reminiscences of Life of Brian and, I think, Meaning of Life as well. The reason I'm confused about the latter is that Eric Idle came out for a planned encore and sang what I think is the closing song for Meaning of Life, with lyrics about earth and the planets in the universe.
Monty Python has so infected my life that I even watched the TV series "Fawlty Towers" starring John Cleese for a while, and completely loved Michael Palin's travel series, particularly his "Hemingway Adventures" where he visited all of the author's famous haunts in Europe and Cuba. In one episode, he sat in Hemingway's chair at the bar and got completely inebriated on double Margaritas, then wobbled down the street, cameras rolling, to another bar where he consumed double Mojitos until he blacked out. The very next morning, Palin continued the documentary while hung over and nauseated. It was hilarious!
Two summers ago, after dating my wife-to-be for 3 weeks, we went on a quick jaunt to New York to catch "Spamalot" at the Shubert Theatre where, to my delight, I found out that my wife was a big fan of the movie Monty Python & The Holy Grail.
It's my wife's birthday this week, and the Hollywood Bowl was sort of an early surprise celebration. We picked up sandwiches from Blue Dahlia and brought a chilled bottle of La Crema Pinot Noir for a makeshift picnic dinner.
On Sunday night, we went to Shane Sato's photography studio for a sushi party where I got to indulge my fantasy of being a sushi chef. Shane goes fishing for all sorts of good stuff during the summer, so my fantasy often gets extended and occasionally abused to the point where I feel like I'm working instead of indulging. But, ah, that's another story.
Now, it would've been a fantastic weekend if it weren't for the fact that I had rented Spider-man 3, which is probably the worst superhero movie I have ever seen. What possessed me and the wife to watch the bloopers reel in the Special Features, I have no idea. But man, that was like adding turpentine to an already throbbing and pus-ing wound.
It was a fun show, with reminiscences of Life of Brian and, I think, Meaning of Life as well. The reason I'm confused about the latter is that Eric Idle came out for a planned encore and sang what I think is the closing song for Meaning of Life, with lyrics about earth and the planets in the universe.
Monty Python has so infected my life that I even watched the TV series "Fawlty Towers" starring John Cleese for a while, and completely loved Michael Palin's travel series, particularly his "Hemingway Adventures" where he visited all of the author's famous haunts in Europe and Cuba. In one episode, he sat in Hemingway's chair at the bar and got completely inebriated on double Margaritas, then wobbled down the street, cameras rolling, to another bar where he consumed double Mojitos until he blacked out. The very next morning, Palin continued the documentary while hung over and nauseated. It was hilarious!
Two summers ago, after dating my wife-to-be for 3 weeks, we went on a quick jaunt to New York to catch "Spamalot" at the Shubert Theatre where, to my delight, I found out that my wife was a big fan of the movie Monty Python & The Holy Grail.
It's my wife's birthday this week, and the Hollywood Bowl was sort of an early surprise celebration. We picked up sandwiches from Blue Dahlia and brought a chilled bottle of La Crema Pinot Noir for a makeshift picnic dinner.
On Sunday night, we went to Shane Sato's photography studio for a sushi party where I got to indulge my fantasy of being a sushi chef. Shane goes fishing for all sorts of good stuff during the summer, so my fantasy often gets extended and occasionally abused to the point where I feel like I'm working instead of indulging. But, ah, that's another story.
Now, it would've been a fantastic weekend if it weren't for the fact that I had rented Spider-man 3, which is probably the worst superhero movie I have ever seen. What possessed me and the wife to watch the bloopers reel in the Special Features, I have no idea. But man, that was like adding turpentine to an already throbbing and pus-ing wound.
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