Giant Robot Tongue and Groove Tour Stop

Thank you for coming through. When the idea of a “reading” was happening, I was picturing Ed Lin reading out of his book, or perhaps notes or anecdotes, but it turned into something else. A reading event with poets. At first it was a strange thought. In reality, it’s merely art form. You only have to listen and try and absorb the sounds, the words, and the tones of what’s being said. There’s a dynamic range of the many styles and this night showed it all. It started with Franny Choi (below), who’s a slam poet. She’s a competitor and brings an animated and strong performance to her words. She’ll grab everyone’s attention every second.

Chiwan Choi’s work is touching, subtle compared to Franny Choi (no relation), and his works are introspective yet mainting a hard hitting quietness, like a silent assassin.

Ed Lin. He writes novels and he read an excerpt from One Red Bastard, his latest. He also performs and actually double times as an actor in short projects. He voices each character so you get a mental picture of who they are. I wonder if these voices change over time.

Traci Akemi Kato Kiriyama ended the evening and read her smooth brand of words and ended it with one about Los Angeles and it’s virtues that overcome the typical complaints. Why does LA work? In words that aren’t quiet hers, it’s the people. Her work is classy and warm.

GR2. Packed with friends, some family, some strangers. It became standing room in the back. You can quite see everyone that came in.

The Team Janet folks signed people up. That’s Phil “Angry Asian Man” Yu with a swab in his mouth. It’s not a bad thing to get it done just in case the old records got lost. 18 Mighty Mountain Warrior Man Greg Watanabe over his right shoulder.

That’s Traci signing and jiving.

That’s Sung Kang absorbing. Haven’t seen Mr Kang in ages.

Ms Melancon. You’ll be seeing a post soon with a podcast that was recorded just this week.

Cindy Cheung will hate me for this pic maybe. Yet, she shouldn’t. Swabbing to get on the Bone Marrow Registry is a proud moment. Ed Lin is her husband as he looks on with glistening or perhaps stalker like eyes. She’s an actress who’s appeared in many productions including a Law and Order CI also starring Malcolm McDowell.

Much thanks to Conrad Romo