d_art's Xanga

Monday, June 23, 2008

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:46:50 GMT

Xanga Manga!

Due to some complaints from generally females and due to hot weather, I did, yes, get a haircut.... I had actually hoped to possibly grow it out like an Injun, but... nope... instead, I'm the one who got scalped. I did however get close to looking like Cowboy Bebop...

=

Yeah, Mon! When in Jamaica, brew like the Jamaicans do....

A friend of mine who recently quit from Diedrich's company got me a hookup. Generally, she was able to get any coffee for 50% off. Well, it just happened that she had access to the so-called greatest and most expensive coffee of all, Jamaican Blue Mountain. Now, a one pound bag of these normally go for $50, but I was finally able to get my hands on one for $25. I've heard tons of stories about it, some of them legends... Dom Perignon of coffee.

Of course, if I was more business-saavy, I'd take it out to the streets and sell it by the gram.

This is the pure stuff, my brotha. Straight from Jamaica, mon. None of that Colombian stuff, esse.

Well, I finally got to open it on Sunday and shared with some of my friends...

I was able to hang out with my old small group again as we celebrated our friend Soo's birthday on Sunday at Macaroni Grill in Irvine. I'm unsure exactly how old she is, as age tends to stop once people hit 30. Or, 21, depending on how you look at it. Well, I brought a bottle of Muscat Canelli and a box of Jamaican Blue Mountain to share with everyone. We talked about life and movies and oddities of the animal kingdom. Our topics, as usual, are quite interesting.

How did I like the coffee? What I noticed first was how amazingly smooth it was. Very silky. Almost oil-like. The taste itself is nothing too unusual, but the aroma is nice, and the texture is the big selling point. When I came back to work on Monday and drank regular coffee, it was almost hard to go back.. I'll be sharing this with my parental units this weekend.

Hanging out at Mac Grill	My Eggplant Parmesan
And, many more!	Cheers!

On other news, I'll be moving to my new apartment (actually a condo that's rented) this coming mid-July. I'll be moving to Tustin with my brother. It just happens to be right next to where I run with the running group on Mondays and Wednesdays. Pretty sweet! Only downside is that it is farther from work. Now, about 25 minutes as opposed to 6 minutes away. No lunch at home anymore, I guess. Well, on the good side, there is more space available and Peter's Canyon is nearby, good for hiking or jogging....or even just sitting down and sketching.

Now, one of my readers asked me to post more of my home-cooked pictures, so... voila! :D

My usual lunch consist of rice, soup, sidedishes

I had to finish up some chicken so, I broiled it!

This was more of an experiment. I used soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper, red pepper, salt, then added
lots of garlic, onions, and potatoes. Nice job! *pats my own shoulder*

Even Rocky had one.....

So, I was making a 3-D model of a dragon, just so I can try my hand at using a program called Zbrush, which is supposed to make eveything look cooler. It's a bit of a slow progress, but when progress is slow, one must find purpose within that slowness... it's sort of like baking a cake. Timing makes everything better...

I often find lately that I'm lacking patience. I want certain processes to speed up and expect myself to improve quickly without effort. But, it is perhaps within all the trials and the slow-downs that we are faced with the extents and strength of our character. A particular goal is not the main issue. In fact, one may never reach a particular goal. Efficiency is not the goal, either. I suppose in a sense, life is never really all about efficiency. In the extreme cases, efficiency can result in that idea that the "ends justify the means," meaning a shortcut (despite whether it might be an immoral choice) is preferred over the how it is done.

Although, there are times when I wish I can speed up the progress and go into.....

A Montage.

"Montage" Lyrics by: Trey Parker

The hours approaching, to give it your best
You've got to reach your prime.
That’s when you need to put yourself to the test
And show us a passage of time
Were going to need a montage (montage)
Ooh it takes a montage (montage)

Sure a lot of things happening at once,
Remind everyone what’s going on (what’s going on)
And when every shot you show a little improvement
Just show it all or it will take too long
That’s called a montage (montage)
Ooh we want montage (montage)

And anything that we want to know
From just a beginner to a pro,
You want a montage (montage)
Even rocky had a montage (montage)

(Montage...montage)

Anything that we want to know
From just a beginner to a pro,
You need a montage (montage)
Ooh it takes a montage (montage)

Always fade out in a montage,
If you fade out
It seem like more time has passed in a montage
Montage

So I was gettin' down with the annual festivities....

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:48:17 GMT

24th Annual Tustin Street Fair and Chili Cookoff

Couple Sundays ago, I checked out the Tustin Street Fair and Chili Cookoff, which is supposed to the biggest chili cookoff in the U.S. Although some friends were supposed to meet me there, one of them got lost and another one was waiting for another friend who was late. Nevertheless, it was a nice time of chili-eatin' for lunch, but I was pretty much knocked out after my seventh cup of chili (of various different varieties). Each booth had their own specialty chili, whether from specific restaurants they represented or the organization they represented. One iffy thing, however, is how would one know what kind of ingredients are contained within those clumps of red lava? They were all pretty good, however, and if you're a chili fan, you might like it. For $1 you can buy one ticket (or more) and you can get one small cup of chili when you take that ticket to a booth. Afterwards, I did get to join up with my friends for a Fullerton's dollar-per-bag book sale.

Mexican chili...gotta be good.	Just like mom used to make...
You can never go wrong with meat.	This is the general size of the samples...
It's all about presentation... nastiness.	Bathroom time!

Temecula Valley 25th Annual Balloon and Wine Festival

Last Saturday, Dan, Audrey, Mark, and I took off around 5am from Fullerton and drove to Temecula for the Annual Balloon and Wine Festival to watch a plethora of hot ait balloons get launched at 6am, and taste some wine and get freebies and prizes at booths while at it. We met up with some of our other friends, John, Doris, Jeanie, Julie, and Teresa. At one of the booths, I won a Pechanga buffet for two, so four of us drove there for lunch and split it. We took a little break, some playing BJ and some playing slots. I lost about $5. Okay, I lost $2 from slots and I spent $3 on a latte, which I enjoyed while mostly reading a magazine at the lounge. Afterwatds, we went back to the festival to watch the Kenny Loggins (who sang "Footloose" and "Danger Zone" of Top Gun) concert. It seems this year had the biggest attendance so far. By the end of the day, we had spent 15 hours of waking hours... to sound redundant, we felt pretty spent afterwards. Not a bad time spent.

Wilson Creek probably had the most unusual, yet creative hot air balloon.

Ready..set.. launch!	Butterflies in the sky~ I can go twice as high~
It's quite high up there...	They called this "The Panda-monium"
Pretty good weather today...	Don't drink and ride, now..
Must be that new alcohol-run engine from Brazil..	That ain't the water fountain, Aud..
Some tasters get a red carpet treatment...	Obama's here to bless the wine (ok, it's not him)
Wine makes surroundings look beautiful...	Polly want a wine-cracker?
Well, I ain't tastin' THAT wine.	Gettin' ready to kick off the Saturday shoes...
Group shot!	Hiiiighway...toooo...the....danger zone~
So.... niiiiice....	These balloons light up synchronized to music..

Kenny Loggins singing Danger Zone at the Balloon and Wine festival

Finding adventure....

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 02:59:05 GMT

Well, I was able to send my first issue of the inked comic (based on their script) for this one company. As mentioned, I'm doing this more as a side thing to get me to practice drawing (payment only from percentage of profit if it does go out). The company seemed to have liked what I had sent and they're apparently getting me a free pass to San Diego Comic Con this year. Not bad. My real day job is doing 2-D / 3-D graphics for a landscape architecture company, which involves coloring plans and 3-D renders for presentation. My recent stuff was a 3-D render of Echelon's (where Stardust was) pool area in Las Vegas... I suppose it may be cool to see the real thing once it gets built (maybe in couple years). But, what I really like is just the simple fact that I work 4 minutes away from my apartment. With the gas prices these days, I can't complain too much.

In the weekends, I often go to my parents' house. Recently I was flipping through some of my old books I used to read when I was a kid. I saw a set of old Dragonlance books I used to read. Books of Kenders, dragons, magic, warriors, and adventures. And, novels I never finished. Little dreams and hopes I had when I was a kid. While I suppose it's natural to see our dreams change as we grow older, I bet all of us had dreams that were once impossible as a kid that are completely possible for us now. It's just that we had forgotten about them. Or, given up. I think it's so great to review some of the old lists of what we wanted to accomplish. Adventures we wanted to partake in. We find those dreams aren't so impossible after all. Perhaps it's me, but it helps one to appreciate having had those dreams. With that, I'm reminded of a C.S. Lewis quote...

Critics who treat "adult" as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adults themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence.... When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.

This past month, I had watched couple movies, one of which was Into the Wild, which I rented at a Redbox machine at Albertsons. Excellent movie about "adventuring" if you will. A college graduate decides to get rid of all his money to run off from his family to live in the wild. The main character, as he struggles through the wild, goes through, similarly, a wilderness of his own inner journey. I found many things to relate to the character, and while I wouldn't go and do the crazy stuff he did, I loved how the movie brought light to important aspects of life and community. It actually inspired me to go to the hike that was coming up in the Memorial Day weekend (which I wasn't sure if I was going to go).

In the theater, I saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. A rather lazily-made movie, I have to say. One of the best aspects of Indy films were that the movies always took places in exotic locations, not the sound stage. A sense of "being there" was a bit lost, I felt, covered up by a lot of CG. But,the real problem of the film was just simple plausibility issues. Three words. Fridge, Monkey, Ants. I'd also add the CG groundhog, but that part actually could've been funny, that is, had I been watching the chipmunk from Enchanted. But, hey, there's a certain charm in throwing caution and expectations to the wind from the getgo, that is, if the dialogue was interesting. It was...well, serviceable, but rather generic. It is interesting that I came across a vintage comic book of an Indiana Jones serial recently, as that was well-written and clever and actually "felt" like an Indy story. More on that later.

Redbox is something I've been getting more into lately. For those who haven't heard about it, it's a vending machine they have at markets where you can rent DVDs for $1 for one day. It's charged on your credit card, and if you are late for 25 days, you literally can keep it, with $25 charged to your credit card. As of late, my friend Audrey has been feeding me coupon codes where I've rented about 3 movies for free so far.

Some recennt movies I rented were American Gangster, Renaissance, Cloverfield, TMNT, and Into the Wild. American Gangster had good acting, TMNT had a lame story but good lighting and pretty good animation, Renaissance was artistically beautiful, and Cloverfield was a taut thriller, if a bit gimmicky.

Memorial Weekend and then some....

Memorial Weekend was pretty memorable... and this past weekend was quite good as well. For last couple Saturday mornings or so, I've been eating dim sum with my friend Kayyona and other friends, as she is about to go back to Singapore since her studies at Talbot recently concluded. I've also been buying some DVDs from Hong Kong for exorbitantly cheap prices (and some with cheap quality as well) at Roland Heights' Hong Kong plaza. There was also a birthday I attended of a friend of mine, Jane, who is about to get married, and tried sweet potato tea for the first time. On Mondays or Wednesdays (or both), I've also started running with the Pacers, of the running ministry.

Eating at home isn't too bad..

Nor eating out...

Dim sum... yum~

Don't bother me...I'm eating.

On Friday of Memorial Day Weekend was Kayyona's graduation and dinner. She had been in my old small group for a long time and quite good at asking the tough, thought-provoking questions, which made our small group all that much more dynamic. Sadly (yet not too sad), she is going back to Singapore to make use of her training. I got to catch up with some old friends at dinner, which was a treat. I had missed some of them...

Kayyona's graduated finally...

A heartfelt speech...

Crab cam! That is, if it was possible to attach a camera to a crab.

On the Saturday morning, I went to hike with the Newsong hikers for Crystal Cove. Unfortunately, due to the rain recently, the trails were closed. Instead, we hiked Laguna Beach and ate at Beach Combers restaurant. There were plenty of beautiful sites at the beach, including a really cool looking sea life, as well as a grand view of the whole beach. We were done by the afternoon, so I took a brief nap at my pad until evening came.

Alas, Crystal Cove trail was closed...	Off to the beach we go...
We'll have lunch here afterwards...	Blue, serene, quiet....
Searching for marine life...	Bright colors often mean poisonous..and beautiful
A room with...quite a view.	Good eats! With veggie-grilled fries..

Laguna Beach....

In the evening of the same day, with my roomie, I went to Kayyona's hot pot party (sort of a going away party) at Audrey's house, where we watched martial arts flicks and ate hot pot. I haven't had that in a while. It's good to have some Chinese-speaking friends to take you to dim sum, hot pot, and seafood.

Ingredients...check. Pot...check.

That's actually Growing Pains on TV..

On Sunday, I had lunch with my roommate and his Sarang Church friends at Thai BBQ, went to Kayyona's and helped her move, then hung out later in the evening with Mark and friends for Ghost Recon on the Xbox.

On Monday morning, it was Memorial Day (and a day off for me), and my roommate called me up to see if I wanted to hang out with him and his small group friends for some biking at Venice Beach. Well, I had planned to see Iron Man with buddies, but since they decided to see Indy (which I had seen) instead, I thought it'd be good to get some peddling action. Oh, how I had missed biking! $7 per hour was a pretty decent price.

Biking...a wonderful pasttime.	Eating...another wonderful pasttime.
Smelly cat, oh, smeh-lly cat~	Eatin' K-style at Manna

Definitely gotta do this more often...

This past Saturday morning, I went to the Fullerton Library with my mom as there was a used book sale (usually 50 cents each) and bought bunch of books. Something I used to do when I was a kid, and it brought back some memories. Over there I came across some vintage comic books. Here are some that I got. This was back when comics were 25 cents each. These have such a nice "pulpy" charm.

Conan comic, Steel #1, Tales of Evil (anthology), Indiana Jones.. from 70's and 80's

Good ol' fashioned Indy action...

Afterwards, my mom and I stopped by Greenhouse Cafe on Euclid (this one Korean coffee place), which wasn't as decorative as let's say Windbell on Los Coyotes or Veronese on Commonwealth, but the price wasn't as high. While I don't mind the $6 coffees if I'm in a date or a meeting, this could be a nice casual place for coffee conversations.

Zoom, zoom, zoom.... and a thought afterwards.

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:01:35 GMT

A goal is a dream with a deadline.

-- from a fortune cookie I got this past Saturday

Watching the cars go by at the 2008 Long Beach Toyota Grand Prix!

After early service, couple of my friends and I went to watch the car races at 2008 Long Beach Toyota Grand Prix (one of my friends, Audrey, had free tickets). Supposedly, it was to be the last of this kind in Long Beach. The event is to be called something else next year due to some merger. Nevertheless, it was my first car racing event. I must say, it's not as easy to spot who is on first when sitting from the bleachers and watching the cars zoom by. The plasma screen helped a little, except that it was a bit off to the side and back and too many people were standing in front of it. Doh! Not that it would've helped very much. I always wondered why they never do it simpler like the PS2 style of showing the entire track with dots to represent their position. Nevertheless, I had much more fun watching the Drifting Competition. The more "showy" stuff. I was able to capture some videos on my camera.

One can smell the newly burnt rubber on hot asphalt...

Only cool cars are allowed to park on this lot.	"Ma' other car is ma' trailer home."
A feeble attempt to hitch a ride on that thing...	These guys are supa-fast!
Drifting competition was my favorite.	I didn't finish watching the 2nd race.
Food and booths and supplies.	"Dare you to drive this to the Burger King drive-thru..."

And, now... the videos I took from the Drifting Competition!

Short clip -- Zoom! Zoom! Zoom!

Longer clip -- Three cars do a doughnut. Very cool!

Meeting ol' friends....and a thought.

Few weeks ago, a high school friend, Dave, from East Coast came to town with his wife and kid. Me and couple of other friends (also from the same high school) went up to LA, and over some urban-style Korean food, we had a nice ol' time of catching up, talking about old times and life. Dave, being a lawyer (and a Harvard grad at that), and having met many people of all kinds of prominance and affluence, gave an interesting observation. He said he knows somebody who makes $50 million a year and another person who makes $50,000 a year. The observation he made was that, despite the discrepancy of their wealth, they generally lived the same kind of lifestyle. They both drove a car, went to work, wore a tie, and played golf (I'm paraphrasing). The only real difference was that one guy's car was much more expensive, the tie was a much more expensive tie, and the course he played at was a much more expensive course. But, other than that, they were pretty much the same. This idea sort of got me thinking. We often say to ourselves that "if we have more money, we will do more" (for ourselves, charity, or whatnot). Yet, when we look at ourselves and people who make less than us, are we really living differently? Are we making the most of the "wealth" we do have already? Or, are we merely buying more expensive cars, expensive clothes, and expensive hobbies? Do our actions actually contribute to something significant? It is true that people who aren't really doing things now won't really do anything later even if situations do change. The lesson? If you need to make changes, do it now... don't say you "will" do it. Start taking small steps... it will eventually lead to bigger things...

L.A..... it's almost like a Michael Mann film with this kind of lighting... minus the lack of blues.

Ah, wherever we are, K-town food is the bomb!

LA has quite a bit of color...

Are you more like a Pinot or Cabernet?

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 02:21:02 GMT

Um, it's a hard grape to grow, as you know. Right? It's uh, it's thin-skinned, temperamental, ripens early. It's, you know, it's not a survivor like Cabernet, which can just grow anywhere and uh, thrive even when it's neglected. No, Pinot needs constant care and attention. You know? And in fact it can only grow in these really specific, little, tucked away corners of the world. And, and only the most patient and nurturing of growers can do it, really. Only somebody who really takes the time to understand Pinot's potential can then coax it into its fullest expression. Then, I mean, oh its flavors, they're just the most haunting and brilliant and thrilling and subtle and... ancient on the planet. -- Miles Raymond, describing why he likes Pinot, Sideways (2004)

Over the Easter weekend, I used my vacation time and with a few friends, we drove over to Buellton and Solvang for some Sideways-inspired wine tasting tour. My friend, Dan, being a HUGE fan of the indie-flick Sideways, wanted to follow the movie and hit all the locations that were in the movie. We even stayed in the same inn that the characters stayed in. We rented a couple rooms and Dan was my roomie. Luckily, neither of us was like Jack (from the movie), so one didn't wind up playing golf while the other got all the hot chicks. Not that we didn't bump into some hot chicks in one of the wineries (scantily-clad, rowdy college girls from UCSB). I tend to go for the more dependable, less rowdy, Asian girls, however. We hit about half of the wineries from the movie and even got to meet the guy who served wine in the movie (sans the cowboy hat)! Another treat was we saw the exact same car Miles' (from the the movie) drove parked at the inn that we stayed in. For lunch, we ate at Solvang Restaurant (where Jack, in the movie, declared his one goal for the week). We also had one of the best ribs in town at AJ Spurs, where Miles and Jack had dinner and Jack started hitting on the waitress. Of course, a dinner course would not be complete without some red wine to pair up with. BBQ beef and pork ribs were paired up with a bottle of Cabernet Noir. Awesome! Haven't had such great BBQ all year.

My flying hand!	Hey, that's Miles' car!
Passing by the Ostrich farm... just like the movie.	Solvang Restaurant is where Miles and Jack go first..
A decision is made!	Nojoqui Falls in Solvang
Some great, rolling hills in Solvang..	A nice little hike to the waterfall..

Ah, such beauty...... watch out for them pesky hobbits!

Let me show you how this is done. First thing, hold the glass up and examine the wine against the light. You're looking for color and clarity. Just, get a sense of it. OK? Uhh, thick? Thin? Watery? Syrupy? OK? Alright. Now, tip it. What you're doing here is checking for color density as it thins out towards the rim. Uhh, that's gonna tell you how old it is, among other things. It's usually more important with reds. OK? Now, stick your nose in it. Don't be shy, really get your nose in there. Mmm... a little citrus... maybe some strawberry... -- Miles Raymond, Sideways (2004)

Ah! a celebrity from....	Yes, it's the guy in the hat!
I didn't meet Sandra Oh here..but, OH well!	And, now a toast!
Welcome to AJ Spurs... excellent BBQ	...where Miles and Jack ate last.
The Hitching Post.. where Maya works.	A baby miniature horse!
Must...resist...temptation..	Awesome Danish breakfast!

Posing with creator of Little Mermaid, Hans Christian Anderson...

We came back on Sunday night, but I still had Monday off, so I hung out some more. Actually, I had some tickets to a taping of Mad TV, so me and my friends hung out in LA area... We hung out at the Brea Tar Pits and LACMA. It's interesting I never really noticed how cool the architecture was. Pretty neat stuff there....

These elephants actually move...slightly.	Fossilized candy... great eats!
LACMA does have good architecture.	A very big toy fire truck...

Art, Hiking, and Ratatouille

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 03:24:08 GMT

So, on the first Thursday of the month, bunch of my friends from small group went to Laguna Beach Art Walk and looked at some art pieces while drinking free wine. I had a nice ol' time, as we took our time really soaking in the artwork. It is always fun when you're not trying to see everything or rush anything. Trying to "see" everything, as opposed to "experiencing" is generally a common touristy attitude. I was reading this book (which I had gotten a while ago for $2 at Borders) called The Best American Travel Writing 2001." It generally said that we often go to another place (let's say, another country) purely as a consumer. We don't go there to learn or to "live" how people live. We often bring our junk with us and look at everything with our own set of "glasses," if you will. We go there to be entertained, not to discover. Downside of that is that you will usually come back tired and not very well rested. In fact, it probably was stressful. And, since you spent money on the trip, you feel a need to get everything out of the trip, which is understandable. I guess this would mean that the first thing you need to do is to not spend too much money on traveling. It could also mean not spending on expensive hotels or only hanging out in touristy places. Anyways, the book was saying that it's often about changing of one's perspective. It's also said one will notice how much similar people really are. Although that idea particularly wasn't overly applicable since I didn't particularly go to any place far, just hanging out with friends and soaking in the atmosphere was rewarding just from the social aspect of just hanging out within a different context (wherever that may be). As for the artwalk, it was good. I also did other things throughtout the month, such as a preview hike at Palomar Mountains, close to San Diego. Soaking in nature is also quite good.

Laguna Beach Art Walk

What made this art walk more pleasant than the previous ones were probably the fact that we took our time and knew we could be happy just seeing few things, but enjoying it.

This is a two-floored nifty little museum..	Good breakfast places around here...
Feeling the waves....	Hmmm... she looks available...

Palomar Mountains....

This was a preview hike for the actual hike that's coming up on the fourth week of Saturday. I went with Dan and Dave to take a look at the trails first. It's a common thing we do for the hiking group so we know what to expect. Earlier this year was that big fire in this area, but it has grown back quite well so it's been looking good. It's noteable that the script for the comic I was given takes place in the forests, so this was a good way for me to take reference photos. As for my comic-on-the-side thing, it's purely based on percentage of profit, so I'm drawing it more for fun and experience than payment (for now).

This cedar is supposed to be 100 years old or so..

Plenty parking over here...	When I see stormdrains, I think of Stephen King's "It"
The lake is extremely serene...	There used to be a big fire early this year...
Always go with people in the woods...	Eating at Pat & Oscars in Temecula

Making the French Peasant Dish

There was a housewarming party (Sharon and her hubby) to attend to, so I felt a need to make something a bit more unusual. As it turned out, I wanted to make something French again, and so, I decided to go for something of a recently popular French peasant dish.. Yes, it's none other than Ratatouille. One has to note that the Ratatouille that was shown in the Disney animation is actually a variation of the actual dish, which is normally not eaten by itself, but it's often used as part of a sauce or stew. Nevertheless, I had to try making it if only for the educational purpose to know how it tasted in real life. As it turned out, I noticed the real flavor is in the ingredients used. It tasted almost like a pasta sauce, but fresher and complicated. Quite interesting. I made sure all the vegetation (it's a vegetarian dish) were of good quality and they were bought from Whole Foods.

Ingredients I used...	Egglant grilled with garlic, then zuccini overlayed..
Then multiple layers of tomato, peppers, and cheese	Cooked in the oven for 45 minutes or so...
And, thar she is....	And, happy b-day to the birthday gals...

With the leftover ingredients, I used it for next day...

... for my Curry!!!

I always go home for lunch between office hours...

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 03:22:20 GMT

Due to my infrequent updates, I should probably call my photo sets, "Monthly Photos" instead of "Weekly." February was pretty cool...despite being busy, which is much better than "not." Last weekend I got to attend Kollaboration (Asian American talent show) once again, this time in downtown LA. My "connections" friend Helen got some of us discounts to the show, which was really neat. Great dance and vocal talents throughout, and the big winner was this one swing dancing group. Jamie Foxx made a video appearance praising Kollaboration, which was nice. Lots of good performances this year. A good number of actors and celebrities attended this year, which was pretty neat.

On the same week, my friend Joe called me up while I was having some yogurt with friends in Yogurtland... he had free aisle box seat tickets (including reserved parking) to the Ducks vs. Chicago hockey game. I've never had so much leg room in a stadium in my life. The food price at the aisle tended to be much higher than other seats, though. No need for wine. This was my second live hockey event I've attended (my previous one was a very cramped LA Kings' game at Staples Center). Despite the fact that the Ducks had an overwelming advantage, skill-wise, it was still fun.. particularly when gloves came off. It happened about twice, mostly in the later half of the game.

I finally saw Rambo (latest) this past week! Excellent guy flick. It brings some awareness of atrocities and genocide going around in other parts of the world. Very gory, though, and one can really appreciate the amount of destruction a .50 caliber mounted machine gun can do to a human. It was interesting how it raises some issues about human rights violations and what role one plays if one has the potential to stop it whether it's their own country or not.

This is Marvin in the elevator....

Marvin hangin' with the bros... What joo lookin at?

LA, downtown, with some moisture...

My very 2nd Kollaboration event! The foyer looks pretty classy...
It's the vereran actor James Hong!
also known as...Lo Pan
from "Big Trouble in Little China!"
Asians showing off musical talent... A shoutout from Jamie Foxx
Gerry Bednob Roscoe Umali
Celebrate! It was a bit late, so I was tired..

Red... metallic embroidery... or... a table in closeup by Yogurtland

Go Ducks! They're the black guys.. Go ice girls! Or, I call them "abs girls." Rarrrrrr
Next, on Jerry Springer... Bam! Boom!
Round two! Fighting with the goalie! Referees aren't very good bodyguards....
This amateur is from UCI... Go Anteaters! Thus, Ducks 6, Chicago 3..

As mentioned, trying to get this comic-on-the-side thing going... We'll see where it goes..

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 19:13:57 GMT

Food and Art and...

Lots of rain as of late, so I made one of my specials, Dak Gom Tong. Not too hard to make, but time-consuming (about 2 hours to make, great with lots of garlic). Seems like my roommate liked it.

As of the last few weeks, I've had the pleasure of attending multiple birthday parties. Most of them, mine. Thanks guys!

On the third Friday of the month, my old small group took me to Havana Madness (or a name I always seem to forget) to celebrate me and Lulu's (also from my old small group) b-day. Cuban food is always good, I say. On Sunday, I got to hang out with dragonjck, southmonkey, kyosuke75, and other friends at Yard House, for the sake of, hanging out. On the following Saturday, I attended Nick and Elly's baby shower. It just happened that a friend of mine had sent me that morning an amusing email about babies, which I wound up sharing with the group. Plenty of food (Indonesian) and laughter ensued. As I was shopping for diapers, I now know what those big numbers mean on the package (a good tidbit to know for the future). Also, I learned a baby goes through 10 diapers a day. Later in the evening, my current small group took me to celebate my birthday (my fourth celebration, if I include my dinner with my parents) and Priscilla's (also from my current small group) b-day at the Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney. It rained that day, of which I personally thought was kinda neat to walk around with an umbrella, but I'm weird that way, I guess.

Cuban food! But no cigar.	Group shot!
Good eatin' at Yard House	Precursor for more things to come..
Nick and Elly's Baby Shower	Rainy Streets of Downtown Disney
Mucho eatin' at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen	Soup for breakfast, lunch, and dinner

In other news, I may possibly be drawing some comics freelance soon.. something fun to do on the side--we'll see how that goes. At my regular work, my boss has been complimenting my 3-D work and how it can be used for the future of the company. Pretty neat since my mom's been praying for me regarding my work. I was recently at a business mixer and people have been complimenting on my minicards I've been using as my business cards. Various other projects might be popping up, but like most things, they are "potentials," which don't mean much until pen actually hits paper.

I was reading my journal I wrote from last year and I'm sometimes surprised that I wrote them. Perhaps I'll share some of that in the later blogs. :D Meanwhile, happy February!

My digital art....

Recently been honing my digital art.. Here's a recent piece. This one is called "The Jester's Throne Room."

So, I finally found that mystery song from My Sassy Girl....

For a while, people have kept asking me about this song. I would every so often hear it at a cafe somewhere. Finally, I found it! Interesting fact is that Kim Jo Han (and the rest of the Solid group) used to go to the same church I used to go to.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 04:55:22 GMT

Welcome, 2008!!

The year of the Rat. This year feels very optimistic. Lots of interesting developments and improvements, I think. I've also made a new years resolution which isn't all about me for a change, which is great. My resolution is to try to be more giving. Did the holidays feel like it went in a zooom? Just started work again. For much of Christmas, I spent with my family. I got my mom an MP3 player, which I think she really liked. For New Years Eve, I had about 5 options, but went for something a little more intimate and pleasant with ol' friends in LA, and quite interestingly, no alcohol, but pizza at Mr. Pizza (Hip Korean Pizza place in K-town), then went for lots and lots of old-school Korean tea. Interesting discussions went from deals on wedding rings, housing, and potential ventures. It's interesting how I've been receiving more information about marriage and things of that nature. For New Years Day, I had a big ol' dinner with people from Irvine small group and karaoke-ing.

Hanging at Mr. Pizza....	Tis time for tea...
Drinking tea with the spoon...	I love this trick on the Canon

Mo' Weekly Pics!

The past Saturday was very good and busy in a good sense. The hiking group that I am part of decided to meet up for some dim sum for breakfast at 9 am to celebrate the new year. To make dim sum more official, we went to Chinatown. Now, I've passed by Chinatown, but never really explored it until this weekend. After brunch, we hung around and shopped around Chinatown, and I was mostly soaking in the atmosphere. I had some custard and coffee (as was recommended) there as well--supposedly, the best ones are in San Francisco. At one point, we stopped by this one antique store and we had this interesting conversation with this old lady about her life and her world travels and so forth. It's interesting how many people really want to be "known" and love to just have conversations with you. I, myself, am not a natural conversationist when it comes to strangers, especially if they are way too friendly. I think it's that pressure to be entertaining. Afterwards, there were a few of us left, so we hung out at the Grove for dinner at Farmer's Market for some ol' school Cajun food. Excellent!

Chowin' up with the hikers.	Dim sum in the morning...ah, so nice..
This way to Chinatown...	Chow Yun Fat leaves his mark without the guns...
Red is symbol for good luck...	They filmed Rush Hour at that restaurant
Yes, people asked me to take this pic, if you get the humor.	Some good deals...if you need it.
The Grove... pretty as always...	Farmer's Market... old school in a good way.

Sunday, I hung out with some ol' small group friends. We decided to have breakfast before service, and we ate at Rooster Cafe in Costa Mesa, which we felt was somewhat overrated. Then, suddenly, they surprised me with an early birthday present! They all pitched in and got me a guitar for Guitar Heroes! (which I'd been meaning to get) Thanks guys! Y'all are the bestest! Audrey, Dan, and Mark, you guys rock. Now, with this guitar, I too shall rock. Haha...

Breakfast at Rooster Cafe....

You guys rock... Now, I too can rock!

Movie Talk: Enchanted

So, I finally saw Enchanted on New Years Eve. I sort of "had to" see it given that I had a free ticket for Enchanted that was to expire on Dec. 31 (I got it with my DVD copy of Ratatouille), so I had to use it or it'd go to waste. Now, despite the extremely positive reviews, even before I saw it, it's was still a hard sell for me the concept of an animated princess becoming an actual human in New York and still be any good--it's a type of overused throwaway plot that already limits any kind of potential a movie could have. Movies like Last Action Hero or Cool World come to mind... Characters that are meant to be two-dimensional (only exception being Who Framed Roger Rabbit because the "rules" oh how cartoons and people interacted were already established in the beginning) just can't go beyond, chracterization-wise, their paper-cutout counterparts, because they have to keep consistency of characterization with their previous selves (so the audience don't feel cheated), but at the same time, you can't expect a 2-D character given a 3-D body to not actually go through some sort of character change, or it'd be boring. However, despite these obstacles, Enchanted truly shines due to great inventiveness, acting, and great music by Alan Menkin (of Little Mermaid) and strong direction from Kevin Lima (Tarzan). The real star, however, is Amy Adams who plays, with great animated gusto, the heroine Gizelle, not to mention an amazing voice. James Marsden (aka. Cyclops) hilariously hams it up as the prince as well. The script is also quite smart, understands the silliness of the situation, and just runs with it. There are some deeper themes at work here as well, written by Bill Kelly (who wrote Blast from the Past, which similarly, had themes about 50's traditions vs. modern society), such as benefits and pitfalls of naive optimism juxtaposed with knowledgeable cynicism, providing a bit of insight about today's cynical and "modern" society. Although the movie satirizes the Disney fantasy characters and stories, it also points out the power of such optimism in a pessimistic society. Also, I should mention a near-Oscar-worthy performance from a sidekick CG chipmunk character named Pip (given that I normally loathe the cutesy sidekick characters that the Disney machine often re-clones over and over)--it's done with great detail and sophistication. Alan Menkin's score is also grand and operatic (particularly the darker moments). I would be quite surprised if "That's How You Know," one of the big songs in the movie, doesn't get nominated this year. High quality acting, music, and execution. (*** 1/2 out of ****)

Movie Clip: "That's How You Know" from Disney's Enchanted

Strange things happen once Giselle starts singing... (Amy Adams has an amazing voice. Music by Alan Menkin)

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 03:41:14 GMT

M e r r y
C h r i s t m a s
and
a Happy New Year ! ! ! !

It's nice to have a whole week off of work!! I hope everyone has an excellent holiday and wish you guys the best of new years! One of the great movies I notice every year on NBC is It's a Wonderful Life. What a wonderful movie. It's amazing how some of the best scenes are the quiet moments, where characters react in their solitude. Frank Capra's direction is quite amazing. James Stewart and Donna Reed have amazing chemistry and reminds me how wonderful life can be. I love how the story is about just run-of-the mill things. Nothing extravagant. Yet, at the same time, an opposite take on A Christmas Carol, whereas George Bailey (the main character), of course, is like the opposite of Ebenezer Scrooge. It's also a very dark movie, which I often forget, which brings a lot of weight to compensate for the more light-hearted moments. It's also a good reminder for me to be more giving.

It's been a while since I've updated, and lots of interesting stories and ideas, but I decided I like to take it easy and relax as I can. Not to be too hurried to update my blog, I mean...except maybe moments of inspiration. I recently finished playing Metal Gear 3 on PS2, which was collecting dust for a while. Great story, and great gameplay. By today's standards, the graphics are somewhat dated, but hey. One of the best parts of the game was going against a boss who was a sniper (who was hidden most of the time). Took him out eventually. Overall, lots of fun. The sequel should come out on PS3 next year (most likely I won't get, unless it's somehow job-related).

To test out the capabilities of my new desktop computer (which I got late this year), I downloaded a demo version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Amazing graphics... and lots of polygons. No problems with CPU or RAM, so I guess it's pretty stable. I know my computer is supposed to be of pretty good speed (so I can do graphics on it), but hadn't really gotten around to fully test it.

These days I occasionally read books I normally don't read. I recently started reading this one book called The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need by Andrew Tobias. I usually don't read financial-related books, but I thought this was a pretty entertaining read. One of the suggestions were to always throw 20% of each of your paycheck in your savings, not only to earn money, but partly to keep yourself from spending more than you need to. Good idea.

Last couple of dinner parties that I've been, I'm noticing that a lot of these big-wig types in Irvine are usually pretty down to earth. Perhaps it's more in the urban areas where I see more cocky rich folks (Hollywood-ish types) who always seem like they are in competition with somebody. Or, maybe it's a feeling I get. I was at this one dinner in Irvine area, and I recall the big topic of the conversation was about big screen TVs and the Wii. All this time, I was thinking to seem like I was "sophisticated" by talking about best wine choices and such. They love the boxing game on the Wii. I think it's pretty amazing how Wii brings people from different classes and genders together. I remember reading this one article about Wii being popular in retirement homes. Grampa and moms are becoming gamers. Virtually unheard of about a year ago.

Sounds like the new Indiana Jones movie is coming out next year. Harrison Ford is getting up there in age. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, as it's called. Well, I hope the story's good. I take it Shia LaBeouf is supposed to play his son.. I wonder if Indy loses his eye in this one. Grandpa Indy wore an eyepatch according to Indiana Jones Chronicles.

Everybody have a safe and enjoyable holiday!

Making Chicken Cordon Bleu...

About a week ago, I had my old small group reunion party with a white elephant gift exchange. It was a potluck, so I decided to make Chicken Cordon Bleu, something I've been meaning to make ever since I had made Chicken with White Wine Sauce. The recipe I used is here at allrecipes.com. For the wine sauce, I used 2005 Pinot Grigio. When cooking with butter, I found out you can cut down on butter and use some olive oil instead as butter tends to burn.

Some of the ingredients used...	Swiss cheese and ham rolled under the chicken
Chicken cooked in white wine sauce...then removed	Finally add adjusted sauce over the chicken

Thus, right after I cooked it, I took it over to the potluck at Julie's apartment, where we had our party. Nice to see some old faces again.

The Potluck Table	My food critics give their approval!
Remembering December Birthdays!	White Elephant time!

Random Video: Happyslip Jingle

One of the few YouTubers I actually watch are Happyslip episodes. Here's a nice little jingle!

My very 2nd Kollaboration event!	The foyer looks pretty classy...
It's the vereran actor James Hong!	also known as...Lo Pan from "Big Trouble in Little China!"
Asians showing off musical talent...	A shoutout from Jamie Foxx
Gerry Bednob	Roscoe Umali
Celebrate!	It was a bit late, so I was tired..

Go Ducks! They're the black guys..	Go ice girls! Or, I call them "abs girls." Rarrrrrr
Next, on Jerry Springer...	Bam! Boom!
Round two! Fighting with the goalie!	Referees aren't very good bodyguards....
This amateur is from UCI... Go Anteaters!	Thus, Ducks 6, Chicago 3..