Martin Wong

Sticky, sour, fresh

noreply@blogger.com (gr) — Fri, 16 May 2008 01:06:00 +0000

There's fresh lemonade at gr/eats. No joke, I picked a bag full fruit off the tree this morning and delivered it to the official Giant Robot restaurant this afternoon.

Get it while it's cold.

ALF Sereno

noreply@blogger.com (gr) — Wed, 14 May 2008 21:03:00 +0000

Back in college, my roommate Brad had blondish-brown hair that flipped over on top and a good-sized nose. His sister teased him that he looked like ALF, and gave him a huge inflatable version that sat in our apartment. Somehow, friends of mine got the idea that I was a big fan of the sitcom, and started giving me ALF stuff that they'd find at thrift shops, garage sales, or dumpsters. A collection was born.

This morning I boxed up most of my ALF stuff and gave it away. When writing the press release for this weekend's Killing Time show at GR2, I found out that one of the artists, Matt Furie, is a fan of the puppet alien. He is now the owner of stuffed animals, hand puppets, lunch boxes, mugs, a board game, Halloween costume, trading card sets, and other stuff. I'm happy they have a new home.

My other reason to visit Matt--who is staying with Killing Time's other contributing artist, Albert Reyes in El Sereno--was to deliver postcards for the show. Appropriately, the artwork on the card has one of Matt's ALF-like creature on the left and a self-portrait by Albert on the right. We re-created the scene in Albert's studio-storage room.

For the art show, Matt and Albert are showing individual works, but they are also doing a number of collaborations. On the left is one of Albert's pieta-style illustrations; on the right is Matt's version.

See the unfinished piece in the background that Matt is holding? By the time art goes on the walls on Friday, it will be filled with people. Albert says the piece is influenced by Norman Rockwell, but Matt will deny it.

A closeup of a collab between the Bay Area and Socal artist friends.

Above, some of Albert's new solo stuff. I was too slow to shoot Matt's connecting piece, but it will blow you away when it's on the wall. I hope someone buys all of them so they don't get broken up.

Want a kitten? The Reyes household has a bunch. If you have a home, let Albert know at the art show opening on Saturday.

Matt painted on Albert's infamous backyard wall. Can you guess which one is his?

The garage houses pieces that are too big for Albert's room. The wall of TVs reminds me of The Man Who Fell to Earth or Destroying America.

Halloween is still five months away, but Albert has already begun construction of his backyard maze. Even in broad daylight, it was kind of scary.

Lunch at Shaker's in South Pasadena. We made the average age of the customers dip quite a bit. Matt's girlfriend Aiyana met a gal pal who whisked her away to do fun things while the dudes and Monique ran show-related errands like go to a T-shirt printing shop and Kinko's.

Albert was a hustling machine, not only inviting numerous senior citizens to Saturday's art show, but also inviting the highway patrol.

We parted ways at the Shaker's parking lot. I was glad I didn't have to follow Albert's car any more because he drives like a maniac.

Start of the century

noreply@blogger.com (gr) — Tue, 13 May 2008 20:25:00 +0000

Studies show that one of the best things you can do for your baby is sing to him or her. The rhymes, repetition, patterns, and vocabulary are good for the developing brain. I don't know any nursery rhymes, so I sing whatever I know that seems appropraite. It doesn't matter that I'm in key or remember all the lyrics; just trying makes a difference. At the moment, this is in high rotation... I swear Eloise digs it. When it's time for bed, she gets a different song.

Free premiere screening and reception!

noreply@blogger.com (gr) — Mon, 12 May 2008 23:05:00 +0000

Giant Robot is pleased to offer tickets to the U.S. premiere of The Children of Huang Shi. This is how the press kit describes the plot: "Based on real events, The Children of Huang Shi is a sweeping but intimate story set against war-torn China in the 1930’s. The film centers on a young English journalist (Jonathan Rhys Myers), an American nurse (Radha Mitchell) and the leader of a Chinese partisan group (Chow Yun-Fat) who meet in desperate and unexpected circumstances. Together they rescue 60-orphaned, children leading them on an extraordinary journey, across hundreds of miles of treacherous terrain, through snow-covered mountains and an unforgiving desert. Along the way they discover the true meaning of love, responsibility, and courage."

Hm. Sounds kind of like Hard Boiled to me! The special screening of this historical epic--which features not only Chow Yun-Fat but also Michelle Yeoh--takes place on Thursday, May 15 at 7:30 at the Landmark Theatres at the Westside Pavilion in West L.A. and will be followed by a post-screening reception. Talk about a cool, cheap date!

Here's the deal:
1. Send an RSVP to rsvp@bk-pr.com.
2. Indicate if you will be brining a guest.
3. You will receive an email confirming your RSVP.
4. Seating is not guaranteed and will be first come, first serve.

Thanks to Judy and all of our friends at Block-Korenbrot for hooking us up! (If you can't make this screening, check out the movie at a theater near you starting on June 23.)

The troop

noreply@blogger.com (gr) — Sun, 11 May 2008 05:17:00 +0000

This is how cool my family is. After my sister Angelyn and her husband Carlos drove up to my parents' house in Orange County, my niece tumbled out the car pushing a stroller with her two "babies." It seems she recently found two of my brother-in-law's Planet of the Apes action figures and started carrying them around. She puts them over her shoulder and burps them like infants. Ang strokes Zaius's mullet and beard and says, "Nice hair!"

Today was a dual celebration. Yesterday was my dad's birthday, so we had cake! We often get Cuban (Porto's), Hawaiian (King's), or Filipino (Goldilocks) dessert, but it's nice to have basic Chinese style once in a while. Not too sweet and totally light. My older niece Saoirse helped out with the candles. That's her dad/my twin brother with Ang and Lucia on the right.

And tomorrow is Mother's Day. So the moms went out to lunch in the afternoon while we dads stayed home with the girls. The funny thing is that while our spouses were away, each of us was so focused on the needs our respective daughters that we didn't really get to catch up or talk to each other that much. (Dad and my uncle, Tom, took off to pick up burritos from Chipotle)

Before we went our separate ways, we took some pictures of the moms and daughters. Happy Mother's Day, Wendy! I know the new gig is mentally taxing, physically draining, and all-around stressful, but I think you're doing an awesome job.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

noreply@blogger.com (gr) — Sat, 10 May 2008 00:01:00 +0000

My dad is the most easygoing, cool, and rocking guys I know. He snowboards in the gnarliest of conditions, reads GR from cover to cover, and attends concerts with me. Oh yeah, he's also as understanding, supportive, and caring as a parent can be.

Dad, if you're reading this, get the Especial at Don José tonight and I'll see you for lunch tomorrow!

Rescue 50, 51, and 52

noreply@blogger.com (gr) — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:49:00 +0000

Ever wonder what happens to magazines that aren't sold on the newsstands? They get returned to the distributer, shredded, and turned into bales for recycling. All the time, work, and money that is put into each issue vanish like a fart in the wind.

Luckily, our local distributor allows us go to pick up returns. Whew! Our magazine has a freakishly high sell-through rate, but the leftovers are precious to us nonetheless.

Crazy little thing called astrophysics

noreply@blogger.com (gr) — Thu, 08 May 2008 19:34:00 +0000

I almost had a sheer heart attack when I was listening to NPR this morning. Queen member Brian May was at the Griffith Park Observatory this week for the dedication of a seat in his honor. It turns out the glam guitar god is an astrophysicist who just wrote a book, Bang! The Complete History of the Universe. He is the champion!

Wharf speed

noreply@blogger.com (gr) — Thu, 08 May 2008 01:55:00 +0000

One of the best things about having feet somewhere between size 8.5 and 9 is that I can wear sample shoes. Sometimes, I get hooked up by friends in the business, like I did with these Fall 2008 Wharf shoes from IPATH. The company emphasizes sustainable materials, and I even have a couple pairs made of hemp.

Not this one, though. As in previous editions of the model, there are a ton of nice features like exposed stitching, inside-out seams, and tabs. But instead of looking tech, I think the look is classic. The snaps in the back remind me of old, nice luggage that you might find at an estate sale.

Of course, all that stuff means nothing if you can't skate in it. The soles are vulcanized. There isn't a ton of cushion and padding, but this probably isn't the shoe for gnar-gnar sessioning. It's more like the shoe that will allow you to skate to an event or allow you to mix some riding into a schedule where you want to dress up a little.

The image below is not my tribute to Georgia O'Keeffe but a close-up of the little stash pockets hidden under the tongue. All IPATH shoes and pants have this feature, which might be useful for those who partake in irie-promoting, concert-enhancing, hunger inducers.

Me? I've got the straight edge, but I definitely appreciate reggae. I matched the shoes with a T-shirt from Pressure Sounds--my favorite source of rare roots, rocksteady, and dub.

Fans might also check out this book from Roger Steffens, an old friend of GR and curator of the Bob Marley Museum. He's signing the book with co-author Peter Simons at Babylon Falling in S.F. on Sunday, May 10. Check out some amazing pics here.

Street seen

noreply@blogger.com (gr) — Thu, 08 May 2008 00:56:00 +0000

Some weird stuff I saw on the road today... A truck that couldn't make it under a bridge. This was in Century City, going west on Olympic. If I were the driver, I'd watch movies at the nearby theaters and surf the web at the Apple Store until traffic dies around 10:00 p.m. and then back up onto Avenue of the Stars.

On Wilshire in Beverly Hills. Not only are utility boxes off limits to sticker taggers and wheat pasters in this part of L.A., they're are also vacuumed! This is a two-person job; the guy probably has a feather duster or can of Pledge.

Came, Sawtelle, Conquered

noreply@blogger.com (gr) — Wed, 07 May 2008 00:01:00 +0000

I try to keep my trips to Sawtelle brief because I always end up folding T-shirts or buying things at the GR shops. But today I hung out for a while because Terence Yin was in town and wanted to check out the scene. He acts, sings, emcees, models, and does other stuff in Hong Kong, but these days he's concentrating on the Alivenotdead site. We talked about that, hung out, and also had lunch at gr/eats.

After lunch, I had to rush over to GR2 to be interviewed by the Reelz Channel website. With the Speed Racer flick coming out this weekend as well as star-filled Hollywood adaptations of Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Robotech, and Dragonball in the works, they wanted to put together a segment on manga and anime in the movies. I probably talked for 5 or 10 minutes and they started packing up. Fast! The crew gave me a thumbs-up, but you can be the judge. I'll put up a link when it goes live.

Afterwards I met up with Terence again. He's known for being a bad guy in the movies, but he's actually a softie who's into indie comics. He bought a bunch of stuff I recommended, including books by Gilbert Hernandez, Adrian Tomine, and Jeffrey Brown, as well as some T-shirts. Along the way, he might have picked up some digits, too. Effortless. The guy can't help it.

With my dad's birthday and Mother's Day coming up, I did some shopping, too. Need ideas for the latter? How about this or this? (I also bought some genmai cha from Safe & Save to go with the latter.)

Super food

noreply@blogger.com (gr) — Mon, 05 May 2008 04:50:00 +0000

I know how to make a decent dish or two, but I have to admit that often I'll just make a smoothie when I need a bite. It works for breakfast, after a run, or even dessert, and it's fairly healthy. It's also really easy to prepare.

I usually start off with frozen fruit. Trader Joe's is a great source, and Ralph's usually has a bunch on sale, too. Avoid the "mixed fruit" varieties because it usually costs more.

Sometime, I'll throw in some fresh fruit. I've been into oranges lately, but bananas work pretty well, too. Vanilla yogurt or soy milk works as well. If you want to be like Rocky, I guess you can put an egg in there. (Or was it Heaven Can Wait?)

Next, the juice. Usually, I have orange juice, but there were a bunch of other juices on sale last time I went to the market. I always make sure it's 100 percent juice, and not some phony fruit punch thing. This one is white grape-raspberry.

And this is where today's batch got interesting. Eloise didn't finish her bottle of mother's milk that I fed her this morning. I know how much effort Wendy puts into pumping it, and felt bad about dumping the remainder. So I poured it into the smoothie!

This is what it looked like before blending. (Thanks for the Magic Bullet, Dad!) You already saw what it looked like after. That was the first image, and you couldn't even tell there was a secret ingredient, could you? The taste? For such a small amount, it was really powerful--actually overpowering all that fruit. I can't even describe the flavor, but I could feel it waft through my nose after each sip. It's kind of flowery and kind of pungent, and not for everyone.

I doubt I'll put mother's milk in a smoothie again. Dan said that a friend of his used it as creamer in coffee, but I think it might be better suited for mixing into an omelet. Mabye brownies?

I wanna rock

noreply@blogger.com (gr) — Fri, 02 May 2008 18:58:00 +0000

Eric posted the Asia Society's "Why Asians rock" link the other day. It's funny because everyone else (from Sandra Oh to Steve Aoki to the dude from Survivor to Kumar) talks about politics, potential, and heritage, and I say something about being cheap. Oh well. Not sure how much I helped the cause--or GR, perhaps--but I was being honest.

After the montage, there are clips putting the spotlight on individuals, and people are encouraged to send their own videos. Here's what Eric said... Check him out wearing a suit in front of the American flag! Powerful stuff. He's standing in front of the famous wall of suitcases at JANM after a meeting.

5 for the price of 3

noreply@blogger.com (gr) — Fri, 02 May 2008 00:09:00 +0000

Stopped by Amoeba Music on Sunset this morning to use up some credit... Walked away with three new CDs... First of all, the domestic version of the new Boris album, Smile. I already bought the Japanese one, but this one has a different song order and completely different mixes. This self-produced version feels heavier and less pretty, but I'm only a couple tracks in. In the booklet, you'll find art by the band's biggest (but smallest) fan, Nene. I got one of the limited-edition of 3,000 that came with a bonus DVD featuring "three visually stunning Boris videos." This is only available from the Southern Lord label or Amoeba. If you buy it from Amoeba in Berkeley, you can get a wristband that will get you into a free after-hours show!

I finally get to hear The Night Marchers. I only need to say one word to sum it up: Speedo. Okay, maybe two more: John Reis. If you liked Drive Like Jehu, Rocket From The Crypt, and Hot Snakes, you're already buying the songs on iTunes. (Honestly, the packaging on the band's debut is rather minimal.)

Finally, there's the latest collection of Greatest Hits from Morrissey. I probably wouldn't have bought this if it weren't the deluxe version with a bonus disc including solo (non-Smiths) songs from last summer's performance at the Hollywood Bowl. I was there, and it was great! If you are a vinyl purist or hardcore fan with money to burn, there's also a double vinyl version out there somewhere.

Despite the fact that the Dodgers played a morning game and the Lakers don't play until Sunday, my listening is now set for tonight's drive home. Bring on the traffic.

GR talk at UCLA

noreply@blogger.com (gr) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:39:00 +0000

Eric and I given a lot of talks at a lot of campuses. Harvard GSD, Michigan State, Davidson, Bates, UIC, and even USC--the list goes on. But for some reason, we've taken part in panels or done classroom talks at our alma mater, but never had a speaking event. That changes tomorrow, April 30, at 3:00. Come see us at UCLA's Faculty Center. We always have a lot to say and never bore audiences with charts, figures, or narcissistic BS.

Well, perhaps you should be the judge regarding the latter...

Head and toes

noreply@blogger.com (gr) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 23:00:00 +0000

We finally received our main shipment of GR53 this afternoon. It took forever. You'd think a shipper named Yellow would look out for a publication about Asian and Asian-American popular culture. Nope. This is the second time the company has let our magazines sit in a warehouse and collect dust when they should have been surfacing on the shelves of our shops and shipping from our online store.

I've really been anticipating the mag's arrival. When we received advance copies a few weeks ago, I was driving to Mammoth and all the issues seemed to have vanished when I got back home. So I haven't really had a chance to look it over yet.

One of the boxes had this scribble on it. Is it a doodling? a map? It reminds me of a Pinback tour EP cover or the landing strips of the gods. When we shared the cover at our presentation at UIC, someone asked what the artwork was all about. The simple answer is that it's a character by James Jarvis, an artist from the UK who has played a pioneering role in the fields of streetwear and designer toys. But there are some other interpretations. Doesn't the face resemble the Japanese army flag (sometimes confused with the Navy flag flown by kamikaze pilots, interviewed in this issue)? Reluctant Hong Kong Noodle Company mogul Merlin Lowe (also interviewed in GR53)? A drunk Asian (perhaps you)? Read it however you want.

But before I crack open and revisit the issue, I've got to move all the boxes into our shed. Looks like I chose the wrong day to wear floppies.

Vulture vs. Labs

noreply@blogger.com (gr) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 21:20:00 +0000

The other week I got a package from Cardiff, UK with the new issue of Culture Vulture. Issues of this zine ran back-to-back articles with Eric and me not too long ago, so you know Nick, Samantha, and company have good taste. Interviews include cover artist James Ulmer, GR homie Adrian Tomine, and a spotlight on yarn crafters in Cardiff. Reviews of Eagle vs. Shark and Wes Anderson and a "Paris A to Z" (Eric did one, too!) confirm that we are brothers from different mothers.

My favorite article was the run-down on chips--those things you get with fish. Interestingly, many of the spots (including the top one) were Chinese food joints. There seems to be a lot of Chinese food/fish & chips places, perhaps a distant relative of the Chinese food/donuts shops that we wrote about a few issues ago. Interesting...

Here's something else I've been carrying around. Andrew Jeffrey Wright's "Labs with Abs" calendar arrived a few months into 2008, but luckily the one I was using sucked! I can't handle those week-to-week dealios, and need something that (1) shows a full month on a spread and (2) has enough space to write on.

Here's a sample spread. AJW's art is simple yet effective, pleasing yet disturbing. The art makes you feel a little dirty, but the artist himself is a really nice, humble guy that is easy to hang out with. Totally talented and unpretentious. If you cross-reference the scribblings on this page with my blog entries, you can confirm if do indeed pretty much share everything on my blog, and don't hold out on anything juicy.

Random trip pics

noreply@blogger.com (gr) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:25:00 +0000

I didn't have time to go to Waiola's for shave ice, Longs for crack seed, Liliha Bakery for Cocoa Puffs, or a souvenir stand for a "Obama Ohana" T-shirt, but I did snap some pics to share.

When I got off the plane from Chicago, I was greeted by my mom, dad, and brother who were about to fly to Hawaii for the funeral as well. Because my flight to Hawaii was on United, I only had time for a quick hug and trading of reading material at the American terminal. If we had known that both of our flights would be delayed for 2+ hours, we could have had dinner together at Wolfgang Puck's or Chili's Too.

I gave my iPod a break and listened to the piped Led Zeppelin channel. It sounded like crap, but was a nice change. I watched a lot of TV shows, too, which I never make time to do at home. It turns out Ugly Betty and 30 Rock are pretty good shows.

When I got to Honolulu, my family picked me up in a rental Dodge Avenger and we ate at this 24-hour coffee shop near Waikiki. If you didn't want the Chinese omelet, you could get one with nippy cheese!

Leonard's, Waiola, Shimazu, and Liliha are must-stops on any trip to Oahu. (Well, maybe not Liliha). I got the malasadas from the first place on the list. Upon discussing this list, a cousin suggested I check out a slushy shake at Rainbow Drive-In one of these days...

This flier was found among my uncle's documents and paperwork. It describes an item that one of his colleagues invented and got a bunch of co-workers to invest in. It's a like an ergonomic police baton/tonfa, but with a hook that you can use to grab people with/break limbs. Unfortunately, it never take off, but the propaganda was quite compelling--if not unlike something from Reno 911.

Happy Sad

noreply@blogger.com (gr) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 05:42:00 +0000

Yesterday, I attended my Uncle Art's funeral in Honolulu. The bulk of the ceremony was comprised of stories from his three sons. You can see them in the photo above: Carey, Anthony, and Scott. My mom also shared her thoughts and memories. Everyone did a perfect job of conveying his unique and giving personality. My uncle's death is one of the most shocking and saddening experiences in memory, but the day was enlightening, inspiring, and hopefully a bit healing.

Afterwards, we went to the vegetarian side of Legends for an informal banquet. This is where Uncle Art and Auntie Lucille would take me and my friends during our last few visits, and it felt fitting to be there. My mom brought some old pictures of her brothers Art and Yen, and shared stories that I had never heard before.

After lunch, we took the Pali Highway to the cemetery. That side of the island is often rainy, and yesterday was no exception. It was very dramatic, and actually kind of fitting.

The day ended at Uncle Art and Auntie Lucille's house, where we tried to make a dent into the former's stash of ice cream (8 quarts?), had Gina's take-out and Leonard's malasadas for dinner, and then played a game on his Scrabble board. Uncle Art kicked my ass with those tiles many times, and it would have been poetic for his oldest son Anthony to beat me, but I wound up winning when I ended the game.

I flew back to L.A. at 7:00 a.m. this morning but it felt like yesterday lasted forever, not unlike the impression left by Uncle Art on his sons and family. In lieu of flowers, donations were taken for defibrillators to give to youth soccer teams--a perfectly practical yet softie move that perfectly matches his personality.

One day in Chicago

noreply@blogger.com (gr) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 05:15:00 +0000

On Wednesday morning, I caught a 6:00 a.m. flight to Chicago for the 4:00 p.m. GR talk at UIC. I can sleep anywhere, but I think I got my best sleep ever on this flight. Having a baby at home will do that to you.

At the UIC campus, we saw friends. In the left is Wendy's old college friend Erika, who happened to be in town from NYC and just happened to see flyers for the talk. On the right is my sister's college roommate, Jane, who teaches in the Windy City. Eric is shooting the shit with Tim in the background.

The talk was a good one. Here's Eric talking to half of the room. I took the other side. No, just kidding. It wasn't divide and conquer or tag teaming the room--just a a lot of semi-organized talking with a responsive crowd. No pics of Sharpies or after-talk eating since Eric posted all that. Corinne and company did a great job setting up the program, and I hope we are invited back.

Here's another view of Tim, who's got to be one of the best hosts ever. Not only doe she put us up, but he makes time to take us around, too. I wish Tim could be cloned and placed in every city that I ever visit.

Here's Eric checking email at Tim, Sue Anne, and Chewie's place. (Unfortunately, the cat's name escapes me.) Andersonville isn't one of the trendier parts of town, but it's one of my favorite spots because of the hospitality.

Planes, no trains, automobiles

noreply@blogger.com (gr) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:43:00 +0000

Yesterday's talk at UIC was solid. We saw a ton of familiar faces and made a load of new friends. (The presentation was strong, too.) Chicago's a great city and a good GR town, and I wish I could spend more time here. I'll post pics and give details when I have a stronger connection.

Eric is about to catch a lift to the set of ConversAsians, a local TV talk show and GR's Chicago correspondent/FAAIM's main man Tim H. is about to give me a ride to the airport. Pushing up the return flight to LAX on my $200 R/T ticket cost me $300. American Airlines is wack. It seems like every time I fly on that airlines, something wrong happens and I hear similar stories all the time. How do they stay in business when all those other companies are dropping like flies?

I land at LAX at 2:45, and then have to run to the United terminal for a 4:55 flight to Honolulu. I'm cashing in more than 10 years of miles to attend my uncle's funeral tomorrow morning, and it's a bargain.

You better look alive...

noreply@blogger.com (gr) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 04:49:00 +0000

...he's busy revving up the powerful Mach 5! Or is he? Someone was clearly out of the loop when painting this mural promoting the upcoming Speed Racer movie. This is just a block south of Amoeba, so it's pretty high visibility.

It could be worse than a Mach 6. The Wachowski brothers could have cast the Racer family as all white people. D'oh!

If you're in the neighborhood, check out the Indian Film Festival at the Arclight. My picks are Frozen and Amal, two bummers of movies that are nothing like the Bollywood spectacles that Apu watches on The Simpsons.

A little about me, a little about PRE

noreply@blogger.com (gr) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 06:08:00 +0000

When I was a student at UCLA, I saw a ton of great shows on campus. Public Enemy, Rollins Band, Jane's Addiction, Bikini Kill, Chumbawamba, Snuff, Jawbreaker, Phleg Camp, ALL, Chemical People, Redd Kross, St. Vitus, fIREHOSE... Actually, a lot of them took place after I graduated and kept me coming back--thanks to booking by Craig, Lynn, and other friends in Campus Events. Eric was the photographer!

This is where we bands used to play: the corner of the Cooperage pizza parlor. Now the stage is leveled and the carpet is stripped. I was bummed about this for a second--this is where I told Q Tip how much I enjoyed the afternoon Jungle Brothers show when A Tribe Called Quest played later that night--but it turns out that the new concert space at Kerkhoff is actually a much better venue. With the vaulted ceiling, stained glass, and rust chandeliers, it's more like the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland than Shakey's. Too bad non-students can't just walk in anymore.

This is the sort of audience that bands used to have to play in front of. People studying, eating, flirting, or whatever. In the Treehouse area, I saw a group of tables where students hang out and play poker with chips and everything. It was right in front of Panda Express! I can't remember if it was Peter Case or John Doe who worked the numbers of pizza customers into a folky acoustic song at the Cooperage.

But back to the rock. Tonight I returned to campus to see PRE. They are on the noise label Skin Graft Records, and play a choppy, arty style of hardcore that you don't usually associate with England. It's super heavy but really fun at the same time. More like Lightning Bolt than The Locust.

The double bass action was cool to hear live, and Akiko is nonstop energy onstage. (Offstage, too.) PRE puts on an action-packed show with plenty of dates left on the tour. They're cruising up and down the west coast before returning to their hometown of London, so check them out if you get a chance.

Afterwards, PRE's buddies Health played. I swear there's some taiko influence in their pretty but noisy style. More on this L.A.-based band in the future...

And more on PRE in GR54. Akiko gave some honest, awesome answers about shitty food in London, touring being her detox, and dealing with Yellow Fever. Also, Ben shot some great live shots that put my hack snapshots to shame.

Clash of the titans

noreply@blogger.com (gr) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 20:26:00 +0000

Last night the Deharavath show opened at GR2. This was a dream lineup, not just because the contributed art was right up my alley ("zombie children" sculptures and indie plushes) or the artists have had cover stories in GR (Dehara in GR34, David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim in GR42), but because they're awesome folks and personal friends.

Yukinori Dehara, shown here in front of zombie children and his wife Yoko, made custom figures of Wendy and me for our wedding cake. It's one of my prized possessions, but it's probably cheaper and easeir for you to skip the ceremony and banquet and just buy a piece of your own!

David is practically part of the GR family, and here he is with Wendy and our zombie child (making her first appearance on Sawtelle). The GR shop sold the first UglyDolls, hand sewn by Sun-Min based on David's drawings, and now he returns the favor by giving us first looks and exclusives.

Look for pics of the opening and close-ups of the pieces to go up on the GR2 site soon...

Uncle Art

noreply@blogger.com (gr) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 02:59:00 +0000

This morning my cousin Anthony called with bad news. His dad, my Uncle Art, passed away last night. This was a total shock to everyone, since he was in totally good shape, playing soccer a couple times a week. He collapsed on the field.

You might remember my uncle from my Hawaii blogs. He's the one who took us to Wailoa for shave ice, Liliha Bakery for cocoa puffs, and the Aloha Bowl swap meet for crack seed and fresh fruit with li-hing sauce. He has also rescued Wendy and me numerous times in Honolulu with rides from the airport and a place to crash.

So you could gather that he was a nice guy, but I don't think I ever indicated what an interesting person he was. On one hand, he was totally straight. After taking him to a screening of Dan's movie The Banquet at HIFF, he said something like, "I don't know why anyone would want to see a movie like that, where there's not one happy moment." (His wife, our Auntie Lucille, countered, "It was gorgeous and beautiful!") This kind of "zero or one" comment sort of made sense since he was a hardcore computer guy who put together PCs back in the day and was a computer science professor at UH--an excellent, mathematical, and ruthless Scrabble player, as well.

But he was a softie, too. When my brother and I were young, he'd wait for my cousins to go to bed. Then he'd break out some Lappert's ice cream hidden in the back of the freezer for us--his secret stash that his kids weren't allowed to eat! Also, while he loved his alma mater, the USC Trojans, he really loved living in Hawaii. He was always up for sharing its best parts. When we were kids, he took my brother and me to Jelly's to buy comics and records, Arnie Coward's Torture Museum, and an trashy theater to see Megadeth. More recently, he'd find hikes that were suitable for Wendy and me and make sure he took her to the best shrimp truck, and not some poseur business. (And we are both UCLA grads!) After this year's Christmas holiday reception hosted by newlyweds Ant and Elaine, Uncle Art dragged the party to Waoila--where I wanted to go because I was working on the shave ice article for GR52.

I think my uncle had an ideal life, balancing a sweet position in academia and swinging sabbaticals to places like England (where he bought my brother and me 2000 A.D. comics that we asked for) and China (so Ant got to spend the bulk of a summer with us!). He not only played soccer in several pick-up and league nights, but he traveled the world to play with other senior league players. Most recently, Budapest.

I could go on an on about Uncle Art--not even getting into how cool my auntie is and how great their kids are--but mostly I've been thinking about is how fortunate I've been to see him so much over last few years. Starting with Wendy and me getting married, there were the last two Hawaii International Film Festivals and my cousin's wedding events in L.A. and Honololu--all allowing me to see him more often than usual. In times like this, people often wonder things like "Why didn't I visit more?" or "How did we lose touch?" but I have the opposite situation. Sometimes you don't know what you have until it's gone; I've actually been appreciating him more than ever.

His dry wit and gruff comments yet tender presence will be missed by everyone who knew him.