Rocketfuel’s Weblog

Short documentary about Asian Americans in the entertainment industry with Far East Movement, Nemo, and Ken Oak.

www.peachies.net

Slow Dance 2 at Virginia Tech

The Biggest Problem at Virginia Tech

www.kenoakband.com/

Bobby Choy, aka Big Phony is not a rockstar. He stands at about 5′10″ and sports longish hair, but doesn’t walk around with the strut of an Axl, nor a Rivers Cuomo. Instead Bobby is humble, minds his manners, and is a bit on the shy side. What Big Phony lacks in obnoxious flair, he makes up for with a mighty pen and, surprise! TALENT…(Team FR*A)

haha…his nephew trying to say “dump truck.”

Because it only takes one second for everything to change. One bad revelation or action, and your whole world will look different. Cherish the moments you come home with the lights turned on and kept warm by the people you know. Sooner or later, there will come a time when you roll up to your driveway and the chilled purple night doesn’t end at your front door. Don’t take the daily routines and redundancies in your life for granted…because they are what gives you a sense of normalcy. Those times will go by fast if you don’t pay attention to them, along with the people you care about the most.

but…onto some less depressing stuff, Charice just got signed by Clive Davis.

Charice’s one moment in time: Record deal with Clive Davis

LOS ANGELES — Charice Pempengco, the 15-year-old singing sensation who recently wowed audiences at the Ellen DeGeneres’ TV show, is reportedly in talks with no less than the legendary music producer Clive Davis. Philippine News learned that Pempengco arrived in New York recently and is waxing a recording deal with Davis, the record producer who is behind the careers of Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Jennifer Hudson, Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake just to name a few.

The petite teenager’s unbelievable booming vocals and very professional showmanship impressed the TV host so much that after showing it on her show, she publicly invited Pempengco to come to the U.S. and guest on her show.

Pempengco controlled the stage like a pro, even throwing the mike in mid air like professional juggler, and singing her lungs out just like her favorite singers Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Beyonce and Mariah Carey. Dressed in a black long-sleeved top, black mini skirt with black tights and a G clef silver necklace, Pempengco was a sight to behold. The charming YouTube sensation from Cabuyao, Laguna, who has been joining singing contests since she was 7, arrived in the U.S. for the first time to appear on DeGeneres’ show….

Pempengco, whose full name is Charmaine Clarice Relucio Pempengco, was born on May 10, 1993 in Cabuyao, Laguna. A student of Gulod National High School, Pempengco also names Regine Velasquez, Sarah Geronimo, Martin Nievera and Lani Misalucha as her favorite Filipino singers.During her performance at the Ellen DeGeneres show, she told DeGeneres that she got her vocal talents from her parents who are both good singers, she said. She revealed that she has been singing since she was 4…(source)

Life maybe short but she already has a head start on hers and at such a young age. Let’s just hope she stays as sweet as she seems and still has a childhood someone her age should have…

Ever since the crackdown on prostitution and Korea’s ongoing recession, sex-workers have been going abroad to make a living.

Korean Sex Workers Look for Greener Pastures

Korean sex workers are moving abroad after new anti-prostitution laws made the world’s oldest profession more difficult at home, police say.They are heading for the U.S., Canada and Australia, but some settle for countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan better known for export rather than import of sex workers. In North America, they apparently work in smaller cities and towns as well as big urban centers like Los Angeles, New York, Washington DC and Toronto. Hong Kong and Europe have recently been added to the list of destinations.

“It seems that since the Special Law on Prostitution went into effect, the number of pimps and prostitutes going abroad is skyrocketing,” a police officer said. “But we don’t have the full picture since most leave the country ostensibly for tourism.”

Dedicated web groups are awash with advertisements drawing prostitutes abroad. A typical post on one such site boasting no fewer than 1,430 members - cafe.daum.net/zonesogeso - read, “We know that in Korea these days, unemployment, the recession and the Special Law on Prostitution make it hard to earn even half of what you made before. Try a new start in the U.S. W8-10 million a month in a bar, W18-24 million a month in a massage parlor guaranteed. Advances possible. We take care of visas and bad credit.”

Prostitution is really a honest profession, and I don’t mean by moral standards. You know exactly what you’re going to get because no one is pretending to be interested in someone just to get into their pants. I’m not saying I support it as an alternative to getting an education or working long hours, but I don’t think prostitutes should be made into criminals because of it. It should be regulated and controlled, so those in it are kept clean and those looking for a way out will have resources specifically made for them. Also, those who shouldn’t even be in the profession, will have the security of watch dogs making sure no child or person is forced into it.

If pro-athletes can make an insane amount of money by using their bodies to play a game, then a sex-worker should be allowed to do the same and put food on their tables. Whether or not it will ruin families and break them apart, is another topic since it has more to do about the client’s problems than a sex-worker’s intent. Again, prostitution is honest because you get what you pay for.

U.S. Busts Tell Sorry Tale of Korean Prostitutes Abroad

The number of Korean women looking for work as prostitutes abroad or being trafficked for the purpose is on the increase. Some 50 members of two gangs busted in California on Friday on charges of selling hundreds of Korean women to places of prostitution are just the tip of the iceberg…

In February, it emerged that an organization sold 38 women to brothels in Australia, New Zealand and Canada in conditions of virtual bonded labor. Police say the organization would advance the women millions of won they had to pay back at 60 percent interest and forced them to pay medical expenses for diseases contracted on the job. The women had to sign up to a “code of conduct” that fined them US$300 for arguing with customers and US$50 for showing up a minute late to work….

Meanwhile, federal prosecutors in the U.S. have arrested 27 members of an organization who fixed Korean sex workers up with jobs in San Francisco, and are holding about 100 Korean prostitutes. In Los Angeles, which has a large Korean population, 18 were arrested on charges of smuggling Korean prostitutes into the country and setting them up in safe houses as part of what U.S. prosecutors claim was one of the biggest prostitution busts in history. The nine-month investigation of Korean prostitution rings was codenamed “Operation Gilded Cage.”

U.S. authorities believe the gangs sold the women to places in Los Angeles, Texas, Colorado, Massachusetts, New York and Las Vegas after smuggling them in through Mexico and Canada, where they served local and Korean clients. Most had worked as prostitutes in Korea and went overseas as domestic anti-prostitution laws started to bite. Federal prosecutors said the gangs were abusing the hopes and dreams of immigrants….

Prostitution won’t go away like Porn on the internet, this is why it should be controlled and regulated. As reported, people are being “sold” into situations where they have no easy way out. They can’t go to the cops because they’ll be arrested and Korean society wants nothing to do with them as shown with Winter Raymond, a Misuda panelist. She’s an English teacher who was turned away from medical aid after getting beaten by a rapist because the doctors thought she was a Russian prostitute.

If prostitution is controlled like alcohol, these women or men, won’t be afraid to go to the cops and seek help. Not only will these sex-workers have alternatives, there will be no need for pimps and gangsters looking to control their lives. Those blackmailed or forced into prostitution, like foreigners, will be encouraged to speak out. Koreans themselves, won’t feel the need to go abroad and will stay home due to the security of regulations. Of course, that doesn’t mean everything will be made perfect and that everyone will play by the rules…but controlling prostitution like the Porn industry is a whole lot safer.

I am aware this is very touchy subject, not because of moral beliefs…but because of why these people feel the need to sell their bodies for profit. There could be a lot of reasons starting from someone just loving sex or coming from a broken home full abuse. At least if prostitution is controlled with licenses and background checks, those people who need psychological help can get it.

My only concern is whether or not Korean society has the ability to be that empathetic. I’d like to believe they(we) do….

…is a movie I’d like to see. It could have the look of a Tim Burton film but the pistol opera and ultra violence of a John Woo movie. The setting can be set during the Victorian era and where ever werewolves originated from.

Little Red Riding Hood’s rise to heroism can be similar to Batman, but instead of both of her parents being slain, her grandmother was eaten by a Werewolf. Then after years of training out in the woods, she goes out hunting for them, pretending to be a helpless piece of fresh meat.

She would have the regular Little Red Riding Hood attire she’s known for. She’ll also have a basket full of violent goodies, like hatchets, boomsticks, and bombs.

I guess her life’s mission would be to….kill all the werewolves and to avenge her grandmother’s death? I don’t know….but, someone who makes movies…go out there and make it happen!

About a girl who learns Kung Fu….in Denmark! Reminds me of Michelle Rodriguez’s Girl Fight and that was the film that made me a fan of hers.

Here’s a film that gets me truly excited. Female Danish filmmaker Natasha Arthy (OLD, NEW, BORROWED AND BLUE) has directed her third feature, a modern-day kung fu drama with a Turkish protagonist and veteran Chinese stunt actor Gao Xian. You can’t get much more culturally diverse than that.

FIGHTER stars newcomer Semra Turan as a high school student and passionate kung fu fighter named Aicha. Her Turkish parents expect her to get good grades so she can get into medical school, like her brother Ali. But school doesn’t inspire her. Defying her family, Aicha starts secretly training at a professional, co-ed kung fu club. A boy, Emil, helps Aicha train for the club championship and they fall in love. But the rules of life are not as simple as the rules of kung fu, and Aicha is forced to decide who she is and what she wants…(for more info)

http://www.fighter-filmen.dk/

I love this show even though I’m a skeptic on just about everything they consider to be evidence. Anything they show as proof could be set up, like moving objects and the use of technology. It also seems like these Ghost Hunters on the Sci-Fi channel, tend to freak themselves out. In a way, that’s pretty entertaining because they do work in the dark, are up past their bedtime, and are so determined to see something that they just start acting up.

The only thing I do keep an open mind to are the EVPs they capture. It’s just creepy, like the video up above. It was filmed at a house where the Manson family killed a bunch of people.

EVP 1: “take take take me to the light” or “…take me away”

EVP 2: “why, what did i do to deserve this?”

This is an alarming and disturbing campaign made by AWARE, Association of Women for Action in Research from Singapore to help women understand and consider the impact of domestic violence on children. (source)

Copy: Your mother acts as though nothing happened. She makes dinner and sits at the table, staring into her plate. He stumbles in drunk, stands behind her and says, I’m sorry. Do you forgive me? She sits silent for a long time. You can see the bruise over her eye turning purple. You can feel the sadness filling the room. She sobs without looking up. He forces a kiss on her then smiles at you as if to say everything is fine now. You stare into your plate.

Copy:  You pray he has a good day at work. Or else you will have to hear your mother getting punched again tonight. And you pray she doesn’t talk too long to the neighbors or bring dinner out too cold. Or do anything else to annoy him tonight. Because you really don’t want to hear the screams. They make you wet the bed at night. So you pray. You pray that today, by some miracle, he won’t come back at all.

Copy:  This morning it’s all quiet again. Your mother is nowhere to be seen. But there’s a broken bedside-lamp in the trash. Did he hit her with it? Has she left? Has she left you behind? What will happen to you if she really leaves? You don’t know. You’re only ten. All you know is it’s too quiet now. Quiet is scary. Sometimes it’s scarier than chaos and slamming doors, yelling and pushing and being spat at�

The concept is “abusive fathers” and the idea is “through a child’s eye.” From what I learned about art direction in advertising, “concept” is the point in it’s simplest form of understanding.  The “idea” is how you communicate it.

Even though the topic is a serious matter, I would have loved working on making those monsters come to life.

So a kung fooey powder puff girl I work with showed me this trailer.

Len is a young, autistic girl who has razor sharp fighting skills and lives with her mom. When mom gets cancer the kid picks up her mom’s diary containing a list of people who owe her money and, one by one, she tracks them down and kicks their butts until they cough up the cash so she can pay her mom’s medical bills. But most of the debtors belong to a group known as No. 8 and their membership includes some powerful politicians who decide that this spin-kicking teen has the potential to make them look bad so they decide to kill her.

It’s by the same people who brought us Ong Bak. I can’t say I’m a fan of the Prachya Pinkaew since he’s like a porn director. In his movies, a good story takes a back seat in favor of stunning visuals where separate bodies pump each full of bare knuckled flesh. The trailer does look interesting though, but I sense as much cheese in there as there was in Ong Bak. I’m sure the action will be great….butttttttt…..we shall see.

And isn’t this a jewel…Tony Jaa a few years ago on some Korean show.