October 2010

My cute niece



Grandfather's Memorial - the family picture


My family at the Memorial

Meet Ava

Six weeks ago L and MA had their baby daughter Ava, which turned me into an uncle for the first time. You've probably seen many pictures already if you're on their facebook, but I wanted to post a couple for my blog.


I love the pic with Ava looking up at MA while she has Will Clark's eyes on her shirt.


The dog is Boujie and he's irritating, but my sister loves him... so I thought to include him for once.

The World Felt Right This Past Friday

First of all, happy birthday to the soon papa-to-be Will Tong, whose wife used to claim they would name their sons Sal and Ed... (salad tongs, get it!?!)

Ok, whatever....

So June 27 began with my first summer movie of the year... that's right... I have yet to see Iron Man, Indy, and a host of many others that I need to get to soon. But I've always loved being there to see midnight showing when a film first debuts. I would do it all the time in the 90s but then teaching and whatever Friday night activity (dance, football game, performing arts show, birthday parties, Giants games) kept me away... and that's why I love the Thursday night/Friday morning midnight madness premiere. So S. and N. got me a ticket and asked me to join them watch WALL-E. Now I'm not the biggest Disney fan, but I am a huge Pixar fan. You always know you're in for a treat when you get that opening cartoon that serves as a warm-up for the feature. It was about a magician and it reminded me of the old school
Warner Brothers cartoons with the Carl Stalling scores. Pixar shorts are great and that's why I bought that DVD. Now the main feature, WALL-E. I was curious how I would feel about a mostly dialogue-less film, but the story held strong for the most part for me. The parts that felt the most cartoonish happened aboard the Axiom, whereas the Earth scenes captured a beautiful stillness but depressing image of what humans are doing to the planet. Being a person who loves and hates solitude, I related to WALL-E in the sense of collecting things that have a hidden personal value that maybe no one else can share. WALL-E beheld a beauty in the simplicity of certain objects, though we might consider them to be consumable. These moments remind me of the lessons I have on Emerson's "Poet" and Whitman's "Preface" to Leaves of Grass. The main point of which is to ask the students to think about how particular words came to be and how every name/word was once a poem until it became everyday/cliche. One of WALL-E's treasured items is a VHS tape of a particular musical and it lends a humanity to WALL-E that seems to be waning from the souls of each successive generation (and the film comments on that concept as well). I particularly appreciated the lone survivor archetype (most recently seen in I Am Legend) and the homage to Kubrick's 2001: the music, the steps, the jogging track reference, and the autopilot/HAL character (my favorite Otto/autopilot is still from Airplane! though). I've read a couple of reviews from EW and the Chronicle and I agree with both to a degree. I did feel the movie possessed a soul and was educational without being in your face about it. While WALL-E may not produce the most merchandise ever (I don't know how many parents will buy toys of stuffed fat people in their hover chairs), I expect the film to resonate in viewers and hopefully our next generation will be like the one in the film and learn to value life a little differently.

And that was just the first two hours of my Friday...

The latter part of the evening ended with another set of great friends. For the first time in a long time, my softball team held a batting practice. Usually these sessions go for an hour or so and about 5 people show up. Last night we practiced from 5:00 to 8:30 pm, just long enough for all of us to start freezing our asses off. More impressive, 12 people showed up (nothing like losing your first two games to get people wanting to hit). But the practice felt like old times with a bunch of us cracking jokes ripping on each other (echoing Shaq's chorus to Kobe). Transitionally, we went out to eat at Fung Wong near the Gellert/Hickey 7-11. Often these meals are fun but not always so unified because too many of us are there to sit at one table. Well eight of us went to dinner and it was the best night of bonding and bitching... reminiscing... hopes... family... although not everyone came to practice... and not everyone who practiced went to dinner... the meal felt like a good family dinner... which i think is the most important thing for our team's psyche....

so thanks to all of you for helping have a wonderful summer night

The More Famous Relative and It's Not My Brother

First, Happy Birthday to my most creative buddy Eric!!!!!!!!!!!

Rest in Peace George Carlin... a truly innovative comedian who also made you think.

A recent article in Asian Week recognizes my cousin Christine for all her efforts in the Asian American community.

Asian Pacific American Women Coalition Honors Five Young Leaders

By: Miriam Ling, Jun 08, 2008
Tags: Bay Area |

SAN FRANCISCO — The Pacific Asian American Women Bay Area Coalition honored young Asian Pacific Islander women leaders at the Monarch Leadership Awards at the Hotel Kabuki in Japantown on June 1.

Broadcast journalist Jan Yanehiro was the mistress of ceremonies, and Hawai‘i Congresswoman Mazie Hirono was the special guest speaker. Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown also made an appearance.

Hirono, the first immigrant woman of Asian descent to be elected to a statewide office, and more recently the first woman of Asian ancestry to serve in Congress, spoke of her humble beginnings: She was born in a small village in Fukushima, Japan, and then immigrated to Hawai‘i with her mother and sisters.

“It was the promise of America that brought my mother,” she said, “the promise of fulfilling our dreams.”

She applauded the women being honored because they were enabling others to fulfill their dreams.

“You are extraordinary,” she told them. “It gives me hope for the future. Women, you are doing life-changing work.”

However, she added that there was a “long way to go before we help Asian Americans. … Keep doing what you’re doing. There’s more work to be done!”

Over the past 25 years, PAAWBAC has recognized 101 “Women Warriors” for their distinguished contributions in work and community. In 2006, the group established the Monarch Awards to recognize emerging API women leaders who inspire those around them and who are making outstanding contributions at a young age.

This year PAAWBAC honored five new awardees: Angela Chan, staff attorney at the Asian Law Caucus; Yuri Futamura, administrator of the New Field Foundation; Buu Thai, public affairs director of Planned Parenthood Santa Clara/San Benito and Coastal Region; Christine Padilla; and Amy Sujishi.

PAAWBAC Awardee
Amy Sujishi
Sujishi, a fourth-generation Japanese American and San Francisco native, is currently the executive assistant to senior VP, marketing and PlayStation network of Sony Computer Entertainment America. In her spare time over the past four years, Amy has acted as board chair of the Japanese Community Youth Council, serving Bay Area children, youth and their families. Her involvement with the group began when she was 11 years old.

Other volunteer work includes acting as 2006 and 2007 co-chair of “Sansei Live!,” organized by Kimochi Inc., a Japantown-based agency that provides senior citizens and their families with 24-hour care and other services. She will be co-chairing “Sansei Live!” again in October.

Sujishi is involved in the Nihonmachi Street Fair and also volunteers for the Cherry Blossom Festival’s Queen Program, which partners with the three remaining Japantowns in the United States and provides an opportunity for young women to become an ambassador for the Japanese American community.

PAAWBAC Awardee Christine Padilla
For the past three years, Padilla, a Bay Area native, acted as the field representative/special assistant to the late Congressman Tom Lantos. She advised him on Asian American Pacific Islander and Latino issues, as well as supported his human rights agenda by collaborating with local, national and international human rights advocates.

For four years, Padilla has been program director for the Asian Heritage Street Celebration, an event that she helped found. She is also currently involved in the San Francisco-Manila Sister City Committee and traveled with Mayor Gavin Newsom to the Philippines as a delegate. She serves on the Filipino Mental Health Initiative Oversight Committee, as well as the Overcoming Relationship Abuse Kumares/Kumpares. She is on the national summit steering committee of the Filipina Women’s Network, and also works for the Pistahan Parade and Festival steering committee and the Bay Area Asian Pacific American Legislative Staffers. She was formerly executive director of the Contemporary Asian Theater Scene in San Jose.

Here is a family pic with (from left to right): Lance, Christine, Me, Rochelle

two brothers and two sisters...

and in the article picture... Christine is the second one in from the right...

Drumline Battle #9 - I cross the line/Tombstone

This entry will upset my brother because it should be his entry in the battle. Tombstone is one of his favorite movies of all time and I found a compilation montage of Doc Holliday scenes. This is probably one of my favorite quotable films.





Enjoy Lance!

Giants Baseball meets Drumline Battle #8 - Jet Li

Before we get to the next Drumline Battle... my family celebrated Dwight's Birthday and we got to meet his family. Woo Hoo!

I took so much abuse this week about the Giants record and season, particularly at the beginning of the week. Then, the Giants won three games in a row, even the KNBR hosts were wondering if that would even be possible. Well, it happened much sooner than many expected. Yet, many of the people around me said that the Giants were just playing over their heads. It will only last so long. Unfortunately, more of the games will be like Saturday's in which the Giants lose in break your heart fashion. The good thing about that is that there is always a chance they will win the game and not just get blown out like many naysayers suggest.

So I decided with this entry in the Drumline Battle, I would share a clip that shows truly what it means to battle over heads. The scene comes from the first Jet Li I ever saw. Thankfully, my buddy Eric use to take me to the UC Theater in Berkeley on Thursdays, when the theme of the night was Asian films (usually action/martial arts films). Eric helped me to discover Jet Li, John Woo, and Chow Yun Fat long before they made their first American films. In many ways, Eric is responsible for helping me to develop any film sensibility/aesthetic (while an ex-girlfriend also taught me more than I ever expected since she was a broadcast media major), which all has led me to being able to teach film lit. Enough of the Digression....

This scene from The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk introduced me to Jet Li and just how much fun and how different foreign films can be than the usual Hollywood fare.




In much the same way, Jet Li fights for pride (and a possible bride) because he is young and talented, yet he discovers he has much to learn and ultimately loses the battle. The Giants may not be choosing to lose, but they will be learning from their mistakes. As long as the games are close as they have been, they will be entertaining. Hopefully, more fans will show up to the park rather than just us true fans. The attendance this week was the lowest in ballpark history.


138 Aside:
I can't believe that during Friday night's game there were some people mad at me for not moving out of my seat for their friends because they assumed I was in their seats. They looked at me dumbfounded that I would deny their request. I stared back and said NO! I am a season ticket holder and my butt has been on this seat since 2000. I'm sorry you assumed your friends had my seats but you're wrong. They all eventually moved a few rows in front of me.

Second horrible thing to happen in 138 Friday night was some fans several feet away from me tried to start the wave. About a dozen people kept getting up trying to begin their wave. However, my section finally shaped up to true Friday night form and booed them down. My 138 family around me made them sit down as we yelled at them that the wave is not San Francisco, but an East Bay or Southern California mentality so go back to from whence you came.

Later we began a Let's Go Giants chant, and those fans who booed sarcastically said "ewww... we don't do that here! we don't cheer for our team!" Those fans are lucky that none of the stupid drunk fans that tend to show up were there and make the situation a bit unruly. It disgusts me when fans who show up to 1 or 2 games a year come to the ballpark and disregard ballpark etiquette and proceed to try to dictate how the regular hard-core fans should act. How can they yell at me and say I'm not a real fan? I haven't seen their faces there before, and I have been to a few hundred games in the last decade.