Keeping up with the times...

In these hard times, New Jersey is not one to be left behind. Crime is up, and crime of the bizarre is also coming to surface. Here's a story I found out about an intense police stand-off that involved a cardboard cut-out.

And for the holidays, have you ever wondered what to get that aging parent that has it all? Well, how about 'grandpa gun'?

So... what'd ya do over the weekend?

I almost never have a sufficient answer for this one, but for some reason this weekend has proven to be different.

1. East Austin Studio Tours

A long-time Austin artisan who I met through a drawing class invited me to show some of my drawings at the annual Austin art festival. While no one bought this charcoal of a naked woman (whoo hoo - this is why I can't get anywhere in life), for the first time I got to be the stuffed shirt on the other side of the booth trying to explain a piece that the patron couldn't possibly care about. I look forward to reprising this role for next year's tours.

2. First Facebook Rejection

Ever since I took the plunge and put up my own page, it's been like one long class reunion. Family, friends, old classmates from way way way back when. In some cases I've even been 'friended' by their spouses. Me become friends with the wife of my former kindergarten buddy? Sure why not? I'm just collecting friends anyway.

Well, it was all fun and harmless until a friend of a friend tried to 'friend' me. This person, who we will call Mavid Missile, is... well, for lack of a better word... a real a## %$le. There I said it.

If you were never a part of the select few who dictated the social order in high school, then you might have an idea of who this person is. He was the one of the head chimps that often 'showed' (as they say on the National Geographic Channel) his dominance over the weaker, nerdier chimps. Not a kind hair on his furry, dirty little body.

Despite all of this background knowledge, I left his friend invite up for a few days and debated. Either I AM a real loser to let this bother me to this day, or perhaps he still is a an a%$ #$le.

Thanks to facebook every stupid little comment on a photo or a wall gets saved (just like this stupid little blog). It seems people never really change. He's still an a## $#le and I'm still a loser. Rejection.

3. Death of the Guy who sat behind me in Woodshop



This isn't something that I did, but it was something that I was made aware of. So, it counts as an activity.

As a former loser in high school, I came across other losers, but I couldn't be friends with all of them. It's impossible for a loser to have more than three friends at any one time.

This particular 'loser' (John Jay Sokol) I met in shop class, exchanged a few jokes, and then moved on. We might have said, 'hello' to each other in the hall, but after graduation he more or less disappeared from my life. Except My friend and I later borrowed his name for comic book character dubbed John Soul Cool. The comic later failed and nothing became of Mr. Soul Cool. What do you expect? We were all losers.

This weekend I found out that John died of liver failure from excessive alcohol consumption. I tried to look his name up on facebook and found three 'John Sokols'. There was no way of telling if any of them were him because neither of them had pictures or friends.

Episode 15 is up!

It's tough trying to keep up with writing, sketching, and class work. Am I forgetting something? Oh yes, work. But it seems that I uploaded Episode 15 a week ago and totally forgot about it. It was labor of love. This continues the 'Stuck in Japan' series with exploring the life of a long term ex-pat.

The First Ten Days

Did I also forget to comment on the elections? I really don't NEED to chime in with everyone else, but with the power of the Internet I CAN and WILL.

After passively witnessing a watershed moment in U.S. presidential politics from the comfort of my PJs in my own living room, I naively believed that I could coast out the Bush Administration on an ignorant wave of bliss.

'not so' said the 'bigot'.

NPR repeated the words of a certain Italian Prime Minister who described President-elect Obama as, "young, handsome and even suntanned." A member of Germany's extreme-right National Democratic Party, released a statement regarding Obama's election titled "Africa conquers the White House." (Ahhh Germany what would we do without you?) And the comments are coming in close from home. A Mexican professional that I know tried to share a joke email with me that Obama's first major decision as President will be to paint the White House black.

I guess the asian would find that funny if he didn't live through the ignorant remarks made at his expense in the 80s and the dogmatic P.C. movment that re-orientated us to tiptoing around the issue entirely. In fact, race has been with us from pretty much the beginning.

My father used to tell stories about getting into fights with some of the kids in his Brooklyn neighborhood over words like, 'chink' and 'slanty'. He said that all he needed to do was beat the crap of a kid, and that would solve it.

According to Julian Bond, chairman of the NAACP, this is all relatively new to most of the World, and it will have to be brought up speed. I'm not too sure I can handle an other P.C. movement, nor can we attempt an other global ass whooping.

Surviving 24-Hour Comic Day

168 hours since I started penciling out a not-so-well thought out project for 24-Hour Comic Day. Surrounded by a lot of young enthusiast with fancy pens, t-squares and 'BIG' ideas, once again feelings of being inadequate began to creep into the process. But when you set out to do a half-ass job from the beginning, there's not much that can stop you from 'finishing'.

Here's a little background information.

Rule #1 - 24-hours to write, pencil, ink, and shade (optional) 24 pages.

Reality - Loaded up on pizza, coffee, and red bull (otherwise known as 'the sauce') you can do anything... until your heart gives out.

Rule #2 - You can sketch out some ideas before the event begins (October 18th @ noon), but you can't go as far as writing out a whole script and penciling the thumbnails.

Reality - This rule seemed to have been interpreted very liberally. Like a poorly proctored test, I saw dudes pull out piles of thumbnails. One guy even decided to do a 'remake' of an other person's work already in print. To be fair there were some who stuck completely to this rule and worked well into the night painstakingly writing out every detail.

Rule #3 - You don't have to gather together in one spot on this day to do the challenge.

Reality - I don't know who would go about doing this by themselves. Plus, with the prospect of free pizza and caffeine, I couldn't pass that up.


Rule #4 - If you finish within the time limit good for you. If you don't, then you can finish at your own leisure. You work would then be labeled a 'spectacular failure'.

Reality - I discovered that if you eliminate certain elements widely believed to be staples in a comic (i.e. backgrounds, shading, and a story), then you can easily finish w/in the 24-hour time limit. I actually finished with eight hours to spare. History will probably go ahead and label mine a 'mediocre success'.

I haven't gotten around to scanning in the comic, but when I do I'll post it on ayellowworld.com.
Until then you can find other submissions at 24-Hour Comic Day Blog.

Anti-Hero - Meeting Art Spiegelman

Last week Art Spiegelman came to Austin's Book People to give a talk on his new book Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %$##. He filled in the blanks as the talk progressed. I, like most who were eager to get the chance to talk to author/artists, got the book and settled down for an hour long talk about a "memoir of a memoirist."

He was everything I imagined. Funny, witty, short, and balding. He wore his signature vest and somehow smuggled in a pack of Camels Unfiltered. It was a successful group date with my "man crush", a term a friend from grad school used to describe my non-existent relationship with Art. I had all of his books, heard all of his interviews on NPR, and collected a few of illustrations that graced the covers of the New Yorker.

A few years back I had the chance to lead an overseas exchange group to Japan that include Art's then teenage son. When I heard this, I almost threw-up. That feeling quickly passed, and what followed was an amusing anecdote. I'm not too sure of the ethics of publicly exposing this story, but I figure they're both adults (now). Plus, it's not that damning.

A common belief is that meeting your heroes often leads to feelings of disappointment. My brother-in-law once spotted William Shatner in the Albuquerque Airport, and Shatner told him to F### off when asked for an autograph. Talk about disappointment. Well, what about meeting your hero's goofy teenage son? What feelings am I supposed to have?

The summer in Japan came and went. For all intents and purposes Art's son was a wonderful addition to the group. There's just one story that stands out, and I used it to introduce myself when it came time to sign his book.

"Hello Mr. Spiegelman. My name is Matt. I was the leader on the trip to Japan with your son, and I watched him loose his passport and the copy of his passport within a period of 48 hours."

His reaction was at first bewilderment and then laughter. I'm just thankful he didn't tell me to go F### off like Shatner.

The Pigs of New Jersey

Rural parts of New Jersey are having trouble with wild hogs. The feral pigs root up lawns and golf courses.

Biologists are trying to trap the feral pigs so they won't spread disease to livestock and want to contain the wild hogs' population. (Listen to the full story on NPR's All things Considered).

The Shirt off of HIS Back - Notes on Being Cheap...

Part-time ESL Educmacator - Part-time student. No money. No time.

In an economy that just swallowed up AIG and WAMU in less than 10 days, it's not an uncommon story. While, I can't say that I eat the best foods or live in the swankiest pads, I somehow keep myself clothed with fashion that is still semi-current.

As the youngest child, I was the recipient of numerous hand-me-downs from my older siblings and cousins. My parents, who were the King and Queen of Cheap (I mean that in the most respectful way), would take anything from anyone regardless of gender, size, or damage. Yes, I wore girl clothes from the seventies. Don't worry. Society's 'cool' police, the playground bullies, made quick work of me.

Although towards the end of high school ushered in a new era of part-time jobs and financial independence, I quickly learned that all of this didn't necessarily translate into buying the most flattering clothes. Why did I latch on to this formula for so long? 2*(baggy jeans)+more boxer exposure/.5=more chicks.

In college, my friend Adam took pity on me in the way that the crazy old lady on the corner takes pity on the stray cats in the neighborhood by dishing out food scraps. His scraps were in the form of old t-shirts and shorts. He even convinced his mom to sew me a few pairs of boxers. Being the child of immigrant parents who were slow to catch on with this trend, I was elated.

The best part was that our disportoinate bodies complimented each other. Me - short torso and long legs. Him - extra long torso and stubby legs.

This week reba and i traveled up to Seattle to see him get married to his long time fiance. After the exchange of the prerequisite wedding gift, I got a fresh bag of hand-me-downs. The tradition continues.

Self-Indulgent Post #2 - The Good Earth

I grew up speaking English, I've never been to mainland China (only Taiwan - the 'rogue' state), and I can't read the take-out menu at the Spicy Golden Dragon to save my life. A lot of this came from growing up in an immigrant family that focused mainly assimilation and success in name of the American Dream.

From time to time, we would take a breather from afternoon soap operas or mac and cheese nights and indulge ourselves in the culture of the Motherland. This often took the form of food and movies.

Food = Spicy Golden Dragon Take-out. My mom and the owners had made a pact where we would only order from them for the rest of our lives.

Movies = I can name three: Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon (Great Family Fun), The Great Wall (Boooooooring), and The Good Earth.

There was a scene when the drought stricken family was forced to kill their prized ox to avoid starving to death. Wang Lung's wife, a freed slave with almost primal survival instincts, crept into the barn where the ox was kept, hands shaking with a rusted kitchen knife. Both of their sunken eyes met. Then she lunged for the beast.

Mom's response: Oh yeah, I would have killed that stupid thing long before.

She was telling the truth. To a witness of a revolution, you can never easily ask clarifying questions. Even up until now, I've only actively engaged in a handful of exploratory conversations. Nonetheless, this movie and her real-time commentary helped spawn my lifelong 'fear' of China. Don't ask, and maybe she won't tell.

This week instead of avoiding the big red subject, I waltzed over to the library to borrow 'The Good Earth'. Although recently the author, Perl S. Buck, has been met with some controversy with her depiction of rural life in China during the turn of the century (first they loved it for being one of the first books written on the subject and then they panned it as being only a white missionary woman's view --- the world is so fickle), the book helped to put some of my mother's brief anecdotes into perspective. What is foot binding? Slaves? You had slaves? Grandpa took a second wife? Grandma WAS that second wife?

Killer Karaoke

Keeeping up with the Chronicles of Jersey, I found this story on NPR about the Karaoke King of Jersey and his new book about murder and singing your favorite hits off key. Read about him in the Philadelphia Inquirer, or hear a story about his new book on Weekend Edition.

The Fall - New Schedules, New Lives, and a New Episode

Is it the Fall yet? Technically no, but your school doesn't seem to care. Just as you're starting to get used to the idea that life only consists of getting up at noon, eating a cookie for breakfast, and heading straight for the pool, those evil doers entrenched in the field of education say nay to your fun. It's time to cram that spongy brain of yours with info (whether it's useless or not - I won't cover that argument).

As for this yellowkid, I'll continue teaching, but I also have a new hat. Design Student. This week I attempted to mix in with fresh-eyed 18-year-olds and the occasional 30-50 something trying their hands at a much desired career change.

In Japan, I could only imagine myself as an English teacher. Drawing, comics, web,... all of that was lumped under the heading, 'hobbies' that I enjoyed in my own time and away from the general public. When I stepped out of my house, evey one who knew me referred to me as 先生 (sensei). I don't even think they knew my name.

Coming back to the States opened up what a certain Disney Aladdin said to be a, 'whole new world' (everyone... wait for the chorus... now sing it!).

Speaking of Japan, EPISODE 14 is up. In this comic, we explore some of these issues of wanting something new and exciting, but feeling... STUCK.

The Writer's League Brings The Justice League

in a rare event the writer's league of texas (no, i'm not a member.... yet) invited Paul Benjamin (Pantheon High), Scott Kolins The Flash, The Avengers, Green Lantern, Superman-Batman, Wonder Woman, Marvel Team-Up, Thor, and Omega Flight), Alan Porter (God Shop), Tony Salvaggio (Psy-Comm), and Matt Sturges (Jack of Fables)to give an insider's look into the world of sequential art and publishing. what a great chance it was to hobnob with established talent as well as local artist and writers. not to mention these guys were full of advice.

1. getting an idea published could take years.

2. writers - please be kind to your artists and write appropriately for the medium. you guys who know who you are thinking the artist can interpret all of that mishmash nonsense.

(read more)

Bringing Bollywood to Jersey

Continuing with the Chronicles of Jersey, NPR had a brief report on the push of an Indian firm to acquire over 200 theaters in the States (including a large number in the Indian American community of Central Jersey).

ONE UPism

with all this talk of the olympics, phelps, the juggaknot chinese team, and medal counts, thoughts of competition has crept into my daily conversations. (note: the recent discussion among my fellow teachers about competitive monopoly and ultra laser tag.) most of these things i've never felt the need to join in on, nor have i had the burning desire to beat my advisaries into the ground buying up hotels and utility works. nevertheless, i do believe that most people try to find something to be good at... nay... BETTER at. for me it was speaking japanese and traveling.

early on a friend from grad school, who we'll call SLIM, easily squashed my hopes of becoming the local japanese champion. at best compared to him, i could only be a mediocre speaker with a slight pronunciation problem. SLIM, by the way, was a 3 time jepardy champion. i can barely pass the multiple choice written driving test at the DMV.

up until recently, i had the world of airplanes, backpacking, and hosteling under my belt. 30 countries (my wife thinks it's 20). nearly all the continents except for that big, white melty one down south. this topic comes up at family gatherings or casual conversations among our colleagues, contemporaries and constituents, and people are wowed. then 10 minutes pass, someone brings out pictures of their new baby or SUV and the topic changes. no love lost there.

this week i was one upped majorly.

Olympics - conversation with mrs. fung

Day and Time: Friday Evening
Setting: Our hero has just finished din din and is beginning to clean up. He has the whole evening ahead of him to sit in front of the computer (a.k.a. dork out).

The phone rings.

MOM: Matthew. This is mom.

ME: Yeah.

MOM: What are you doing?

ME: Nothing really.

MOM: Turn on the TV and watch the opening ceremony.

ME: Well, I was going to after I clean up the dishes. I was thinking of 'casually' tuning in and out. There's also a big pile of DVDs (pirated) that I wanted to get through.

MOM: No, turn it on now.

and truly it was a moment that i was glad to catch on TV. much like the first Olympics i witnessed on TV (the 1984 LA Olympics - this might unnecessarily date me), mom plopped my brother, sister, and me down in front of an aging RCA. there we were awestruck at the sight of 88 (why 88?) Baby Grand Pianos hammering out George Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue'.

TV COMMENTATOR: Would you just look at that sight... EIGHTY EIGHTY Baby Grand Pianos...

Last week, Team China took that cherished childhood memory and plowed it over... dammed it up... outsourced it with a cornucopia of lavish images. Believe the hype. China's coming and they're taking and not asking anymore.

***A little side note: Don't try downloading that video or checking it out on Youtube b/c NBC ain't having it.

EPISODE 13 - so you wanna teach in japan...

This time around our hero explores the urge to pick-up, leave it all behind, and explore the big MONSTER ISLAND of the east. My wife and I both had those urges, and that little chapter lasted nearly a decade.

For those red-blooded Americans that are still in the closet about being Japan-curious... this comic is for you.

Comic Con 2008: Coming Back and Missing Out

this week reba and i have been fighting jet lag and drifting in and out of consciousness. just yesterday i was awake long enough to realize that missed out on Comic Con 2008. like the annual austin ice cream festival and stewart's root beer restaurants, the comic cons were one of my secret nerdy reasons for wanting to move back to the states.

++good thing i sobered up long enough to realize that

1. the ice cream festival is next week

2. i have absolutely no money to blow at any convention

++reviews of comic con

1. NPR's coverage

2. Giant Robot's blog

++things that i barely remember happening this week

1. where i dropped my keys

2. a phone conversation w/ my sister

SISTER: Are you busy with something else right now?

ME: Nothing really... why?

SISTER: b/c you don't really sound... engaged.

ME: Ummm. Well, I'm having trouble staying awake. And 'Friends' is on.

japan pics 2

stolen intrax moments

photos from japan 1

Tokyo - last days

Making the kids do japanese double-dutch. japanese double-dutch?

Photo updates - Meiji Shrine - Tokyo last days

Just a photo i snagged from one of my student's facebook. FB's great for snooping. Plus, since i stopped taking photos, pointing at ancient temples, and doing all sorts of other touristy stuff i can mooch a shot here and there. This is Meiji Shrine, a massive shrine in the middle of Tokyo's urban sprawl. It was dedicated to the Emperor of the Meiji period who pushed forward all of the efforts to modernize Japan, eliminate all of the samurai and shogun, and spawn horrible movies like 'The Last Samurai'. The kids are writing their wishes on wooden blocks to be burned during New Years.

the half way mark AND literature review

somewhere in between landing in tokyo, rushing 45 kids in and out of the tokyo metro, doing on the spot language interpreting, and getting less than 5 hours of sleep a night, i managed to finish one mediocre novel and get 3/4 of the way through an other.

my friend sue (an other program coordinator/manager) and i did a 'crap' book exchange. the work ('what happened to henry' by sharon pywell) that i read and gave to sue was from a co-worker/friend in austin. she confessed, 'now, i only got this for a dollar. so, don't expect much, but there is something that i don't get about the story and need to talk about.' we will talk more about this when i get back, but for now some initial thoughts.

this is often the blessing/curse of traveling. the goal is stretch your personal boundaries. eat food that you wouldn't normal seek out, meet people you wouldn't normal cross paths with, and be open to ideas and beliefs that up until now you have been shutting out.

the good part - you get to come home w/ magical stories that often your friends and family are too busy to care about.

the bad part - you spend your time in some dump hanging out w/ a blabber mouth, know nothing know-it-all.

or you read 'what happened to henry' and 'the memory keeper's daughter' back to back. like the blabber mouth know-it-all, 'what happened to henry' keeps hammering the same story over my head again and again. the story chronicles year after year for over 20 YEARS how henry's either a A-1 whacko (and his little sister is not that far behind), or he's channeling a japanese survivor of the hiroshima bombing. there's no controversy with his sister. she's out there. and worst of all, by the end of the book i stopped caring.

if i was in the comfort of my own home i would be surrounded by friends and books that i liked. there would be no room for a drunk to corner me in a bar and go on and on about how the sudden break up of his marriage was the catalyst for his voyage to east asia. likewise, i wouldn't have been trapped in a business hotel with the writings of sharon pywell. but i was and i soaked up the whole story.

as for 'the memory keeper's daughter', i have more i can say on that, but for now this know-it-all drunk will let you go.

Ghibli - masterpiece or palace of fluff?

Studio Ghibli Museum - Miyazaki - 'Spirited Away, Princess Monoke, Howl's Moving Castle', and many more... as a casual fan of Miyazaki mixed in with a larger group of hardcore fans, i have to admit that i was a bit excited to finally get to visit the Studio Ghibili Museum. A funky building that draws millions of fans annually boasts of having amazing exhibits from past and upcoming film projects. While there were some displays that showed the 'magic' of animation, studio ghibli which is known for its secrecy kept most of its sought after art work locked away. so, after 5 minutes i found myself in one of the 3 gift shops. then within 10 minutes i was torn between entering a line for overpriced ice cream or a taking a nap on a bench.

popular....

enter the japanese high school.

i am only repeating what most of my kids admitted to me. 'matt, i've never been so popular. i've gotten so many numbers. can i stay here?'

anime, manga, japanese language study... none of these w/ in the context of football, muscle car-SUVs, BBQ, and the war on terror can be interpreted as 'cool'. in japan, it all becomes neutral, and if you're a happy, semi-outgoing (white) american teenage, you're automatically a superstars. and this high school in tokyo welcomed us.

書道 back in my own mind - still waking up @ 3am hungry

jet lag is slowly lifting and the fog that has clouded me into blissful thinking is clearing to the horror of a month of non-stop 24/7 work. the first couple of days of feeling, 'yeah! i'm back in japan! i love it. it loves me,' has dissolved into, 'oh god, i have to keep all of these kids safe and HAPPY.

yesterday, i, with the help of 2 other japanese teachers, carefully helped 25 kids navigate through the tokyo train system. today my group practiced calligraphy within the safety of the of the center. ahhhh. it was so nice not to be on the train.

久しぶり日本。。。japan...it's been so long... sort of...

reba and i just barely survived our first of many 14 hour days. towards the last hour with the worst symptoms of jet lag kicking, i had the hardest time keeping my info straight for the kids on the tour.

reba crashed soon after dinner and i stayed up until 11 to make sure the kids kept quiet, sober, and away from other naughty elements available in tokyo. i THINK i was successful.

this morning we whisked them to their first day of japanese classes.

up dates in austin - veggie dog eating contest

here's a post that i almost completely forgot about. last weekend reba and i were in a rare mood. we we're feeling young... successful... urban... and professional. we needed to go out and finally enjoy our fair city. what did we find? the veggie dog eating contest. $5 brought us free samples of dairy free, locally made and owned ice cream and all the cardboard tasting veggie dogs you could eat. pictured: the contest winner with a whopping 21 veggie dogs in his tummy.

ittekimasu - another year another 45 kids...

1. wake up @ 530

2. drive reba to the airport

3. get lost on the way back

4. drop over packed luggage at work

5. drive home to leave car in front of house (to give the illusion that we are waiting at home, baseball bats in hand, prepared to defend our meager belongings)

6. tell asian roommate boys to lock doors, turn on the alarm, and not set house on fire

7. walk to work

8. drown myself in coffee

9. beg boss to take me to a friend's house w/ luggage

10. beg friend to give me a ride to airport @ 530

here we are again... full circle. it was almost a year ago when i started this blog. fresh from leading 45 HS kids in tokyo and kyoto for a month. although rewarding, i felt like a year of my life was sucked out of me. i needed this past year to regain my mental capacities only to dive right back into the fire. this time around i dragged reba in with me.

i remember the enthusiasm of wanting to lead groups to japan to introduce the language and culture that so enriched my life. ' living in japan and learning the language did so much to open my eyes to the world,' i used to repeat at rare family get-togethers, 'and i want to pass on that experience!' what happened to that naive little grad student ignorant to his growing debt and fragile psyche?

comic updates

another several months and another comic. when i first started posting comics on the internet, i was under the impression that i would be able to get new episodes up regularly every month, have hordes of adoring fans, and money to be creative in anyway i please. then the weight of the world broke me, and here i am.

this month i finally get the chance to introduce mr. ambiguous, a character that i've kicked around in other comic ideas as well as yellowpages, sketchbooks, and doodles on important office memos. now, mr. ambiguous gets to kick back.

New Jersey and... North Korea...?

After probing for 'relevant' stories about New Jersey, I rediscovered this story about a Jersey BBQ restaurant owner that has somehow become a key liaison between two lingering cold war adversaries. key word: relevant...

ayellowworld | gallery updates

this past week i had the chance to update the gallery section on http://www.ayellowworld.com/sketchbook.html. my personal favorite was a small collection of art that i found in the trash at work. among the many hats i TRY to wear, my mornings are spent teaching ESL near UT in austin. the school puts me in contact with a lot of "characters." one was this italian travel agent, who never felt the need to come to class, but when she did, she spent most of the class periods doodling. at the end of the semester, she showed up 50 minutes late for the last class only to empty her notebook of sketches into the garbage can.

Let's go to the movies

coming back from life in japan often feels like being rescued from an uninhabited island cut off from all things fun (but trivial): east coast thin crust pizza, seats that are made for people taller than 5' 2", and MOVIES. after reba and i moved to japan, the 2000 yen or $20 movie ticket and the lack of non-tom cruise films more or less squashed our desire to casually spend a few hours with the local hoodlums at the cinema.

AND to answer your question... no, there is not a treasure trove of oscar worthy japanese films and animation waiting to be discovered. we've also wasted a good part of our lives there watching a lot of crap that mostly just leaves you shaking your head.

then before we knew it the question, 'do you wanna check out that non-tom cruise movie?' disappeared from our conversations. we turned in earlier and earlier, and now we're that bitter, old couple that occasionally shows up at annual family gatherings.

this weekend for one reason or another i had an evening free and the urge to watch...something...ANYTHING.

LIST OF MOVIES NEW TO THIS OLD MAN
1. the simpsons movie - met expectations and will be watched again ad nauseum.
2. diner - this had been on my 'to see' list for a long time, but came back to attention after a friend from home (who we'll call - Arty Parse) mentioned that one of his favorite movies was the Kevin Bacon vehicle 'Quicksilver'. My immediate response was, 'Kevin Bacon - No one's favorite movie star? Has he done anything that I liked.' The answer... 'Diner'.

break'n the law

this superhappy yellowkids's reasons for calling 9-11

1. while teaching ESL part time in the evening, a homeless transient found his way into a fellow teacher's night class next door and refused to leave. we called 9-11 and eventually baited him out of the room with a half-eaten bag of salt water taffy. he then camped himself outside, shoveled in taffy and called me a korean nazi. the police never showed-up.

2. i was taking a leisurely walk in our over-priced, trendy austin neighborhood, and i came across a turkey running around and screaming it's head off in the parking lot of a neglected computer repair shop. an other neighbor was trying to keep the turkey from running into traffic and causing an accident. we called 9-11. no cops. no dice.

3. reba and i were leaving a mexican restaurant in houston with her cousins. we said our 'good-byes' and were about to leave when a silver pick-up smashed through two parked cars in reverse. a woman then yelled, 'get the license plate number! GET THE LICENSE PLATE NUMBER!' as the car in question skidded itself just inches from our own car, i leaned over, squinted, and shouted out the 6-digit texas plate. for the first time i felt useful in an emergency. usually i end-up running around in circles.

continuing with this trend, i pulled out my newly minted cell phone and dialed 9-11. just then the 'perp' (as they say on 'law and order' TV land) came burning back into the park lot and stopped AGAIN inches from our hero. this time he sat there staring reba and me down. in the background i can faintly hear people screaming, 'GET IN THE CAR!'

yet i continued to dial and wait for the operator. i had the urge to say, 'hi' or 'what's up?' once i connected to 9-11, he sped away a second time. i spent a few minutes trying to describe the scene when the call was dropped. i'm again placed in the category as useless.

White Wedding...

here are some of the images from the wedding in oakland that brought us out to the bay area. one of the requirements was the dress code to come in 'all white'. once we got to the ceremony i realized why it was so important to conform to this request, why i should have tried harder to find white slacks even if it meant buying those over-sized and overpriced white wranglers, and why anyone who failed to do so would be branded as an unfashionable idiot (note: our hero pictured behind the bride in the "more gray than needed" pants). i can't do anything right.

San Fran... after all these years

i think the last time i was here i crashed out on my sister couch inhaling cat and dog hair (i'm deadly allergic to it all by the way) and i was wandering the streets of the bay area with less than $20 in my bank account. it was before the world knew of our current President and became dependent and imprisoned by Homeland Security.
in today's topsy-turby world, my sister moved to Long Island (Islip is often referred to as the the san francisco of the east), i discovered that i am allergic to much more than pet hair, and the amount of currency blanketing my wallet continues to decrease (contrary to the american dream).
more pictures, comments and updates on our trip to follow.

Moving on...

I'm sitting in an unfamiliar patted chair. Maggie, my certified stylist, said that she's going to switch to the buzzer. 'I think this is going to be easier to cut through these things,' she claims. The everyday chit chat between customers and their designated stylists ceases, and their eyes are on this soon to be short-haired, yellowkid.

'Did you loose a bet?' the guy sitting next to me asks.

The line where one wall-sized mirror meets an other cuts through his face. He's like a living Salvador Dali painting.

'I just need to move on...'

This was my prepared public statement. Picture (BEFORE: me with long hair. AFTER: me with Net, our homestay guest who refuses to cut his own hair).

Up and AT them - my web portfolio is up

yet an other web site in my name is up and clogging the Internet.

fixie bikes, fame and fortune

now, i am famous and important in my OWN head. after getting hooked on this one page (fixed gear gallery) and getting inspired to build my own 'urban assault vehicle', i mustered up the courage to post that project.

revisiting LONG duk DONG

after killing some time on the internet searching out nonsense like cookie recipes and 80's movies, i came across a character i haven't thought about in years... 16 candles' LONG DUK DONG. a character 'we can both laugh and cringe' at as quoted from NPR's Alison MacAdam.

as an adult, I LOVED this character. I even did drunken impressions of him for my white sympathetic friends. why not? it's a way of diffusing the racial tension by poking fun at it. ...poking fun at myself. ...poking fun at the slender, dorky, non-sexy asian male stereotype as portraide (sp according to google) by hollywood. and that's all ok, right?

listen to some other asian americans' opinions on NPR.

read adrian tomine's personal history of him and the 'donger'

follow geddy watanabe's (the 'donger') career on IMDB.com

bikes bikes bikes and MORE bikes

after a month of greasing up my fingers, ripping off my nails on spokes and rusty chains, getting scolded by the rep from various local bike shops about how dangerous my bike was, shelling out for an over inflated fix-er-upper project, my fixie project is finally 'road-worthy' (pictured next to a neighborhood rebuild project).

background story - found next to a heap of trash in our neighborhood. i assumed that it was meant for the landfill as well.

motive - i had the bright idea to build my own fixie after some friends from san fran built one for me.

lesson learned - i had no idea what i was doing, but some how the pieces found there way on the frame.

Olympics, the Torch, Tibet, and my Chinese Roomie

a one-sided conversation about the civil unrest in tibet, the protest surrounding the upcoming olympics, and china's ever growing PR nightmare.

Roomie: I don't know why they (Tibetans) want to separate from China. They are so poor. They got nothing. It's stupid.

Me: Ok...

what are you supposed to say to a 20-year old male who was raised in a 'not so communist anymore' but 'still desperately trying to cling on to media censorship with the help of google' regime?

Me: Ok... uh... Hey, 'Friends' is on. Let's shut up and watch TV.

(chinese roommate pictured with japanese roommate during a pan-asian cook-a-thon. at least they're getting a long.)

for some more background information on this topic. here are some links to -

NPR's coverage of the controversy surrounding the Olympics and China

BBC's coverage of GOOGLE's unholy exploits in CHINA

some guy catching his chinese roommate rocking out ON TAPE

two chinese boys lip syncing to backstreet boys

by now you can tell that these links do very little in helping you understand the 'bigger' picture.

DIRections and indecisions...

1. updated the web page for our BUDding homestay biz
2. applied to jobs in San FRAn
3. looked at oVER priced AUStin housing
4. SERIOUSLY considering applying for a TESOL teacher trainer in KOREA (of all places)

the past few weeks have thrown our lives a number of ups and downs (and a few lefts and rights). question: if you spent the past year on the same roller coaster, wouldn't you eventually get used to the every present feeling of nauseousness? i think we're just waiting to throw up and get it over with. (photo of distraught asian male recycled from previous blog post from previous emotional roller coaster ride.)

bikes bikes bikes 2

it seems as if i am now hooked with my new found hobby digging out old ten speeds, tearing them apart, and 'attempting' to put them back together as fixies. i've already read tons and tons of literature on the web, learned of the dos and don'ts, and purchased tools and parts that i have no idea what to do with. here's a pic of my new project, an old fuji that i rescued from one of my neighbor's trash heap. i already have it in a million pieces on the living room floor.

SXSW Japan PUNK

reba and spent the past few days recovering from concert hopping last week. i felt like we were treated to a free buffet. initially, i was delighted with the prospect of all that music and free give-aways. then the anxiety from feeling all that pressure to fit a ton of stuff/nonsense/crap/ and surprisingly the rare talented unknown in a very limited amount of time.

one of the things we managed to get out of bed for was the japan bash. a lot of fun and whackiness as usual. here's a picture of a punk/rock band called the emeralds showing off their leather pants collection.

SXSW check in

wristbandless and/or badgeless? reba has been helping navigate our way through the FREE version of SXSW. i didn't think it was possible, or at least what i DID think was that anything FREE was just plain crap. there's a little truth to that, but we found ourselves waltzing to the following shows w/o even cracking our change purses (yes, i carry a change purse).

1. spoon
2. del the funky homosapien
3. petty booka
4. the muslims
5. motohead (i wanted to check out, but reba quietly used her executive veto)

a week of SXSW

for years while we were in japan, reba told me about this magical circus called South by Southwest Music Festival. 'imagine a whole world of music' dropping itself on the little city of austin for a week,'... she would use statements like this to challenge my limited imagination. 'AND!!! there's tons of free stuff!'

that was it. i was sold.

nearly a decade on the other side of the world left us hungry for a different kind of stimulation. the author julie cameron writes in one of her creative inspirational coaching books (borrowed from a friend and still for some reason has not made its way back to the original owner) that WE (the artistic observers of life) need to 'refill our creative wells.'

here's our chance and there's no looking back. our day jobs let out for spring break. so, we have exactly 168 hours to soak up what is NOW no longer just a music festival.

need a taste? here are some free downloads of bands performing here.

peace boat pics...

with a few spare moments i went through a few 1000 photos from the peace boat and put them up on our photoblog superhappy. we still have about a MILLION more. as you can imagine, a once in a lifetime trip around the world often translates into non-stop clicking of the shutter.

yellowpages - EPIsode ELEven

half-truths from a half-written memoir of a yellowkid growing up in ethnically challenged central jersey. a while back i was playing around with ideas with my youth. it seems to be a common exercise for wanna-be writers. get a glimpse of how it was growing up for one of the few... one of the not-so-proud asians in suburbia.

geraldo rivera says something relevant

NPR interviewed geraldo rivera on this new book 'hispanic'. in that interview, he quotes his dad on the importance of being bilingual, 'if you have two languages, you have two souls.' rivera didn't grow up speaking spanish. he only started learning when he was sent back to live with his grandparents in Puerto Rico at age 15.

questions for thought.

1. can a 32 year-old man-child learn chinese NOW?

2. my wife and i have lived for nearly a decade in japan, and we're functional in the language (the language of my grandparents' historical 'enemy'). isn't that good enough? right now my grandparents are thinking of ways of digging themselves out of their graves to kick me in the butt.

bikes bikes bikes

i've been meaning to post the finished product of my fixie. much luv goes to chris and sam of san fran who came to austin to hang out, watch me fall asleep in a bar, and apparently show me how to put one of these bad boys together.

self indulgent post #1

(pictured: photo of some far away family in a galaxy far far away and the artist's rendition of the happy couple that started it all.)
the process of writing for 'yellowpages' has eventually brought me to the topic of family heritage. this word came up in my ESL class (this superhappy yellow kid's day job), and i was asked to explain in a clear, concise way. 'impossible,' i responded, 'look it up in your dictionary!'

questions for thought...

1. is it your family? - so, if you were born into a long line of chicken farmers, are you destined to be chasing poultry?
2. is it the culture of a (now) not-so-far off nation and highly influential trading partner? - what if you don't really speak chinese? how can i connect to my heritage if i only know that Kungpo Palace's ribs are more flavorful and CHEAPER than Chairman Mao's BBQ's?