Rocketfuel’s Weblog

3 hours before the big show I filmed Sam Kang, Million Dollar Babies, Quest, and Tier2 practicing on my crappy digital camera. The real performances videos will be all over Youtube soon.

Sooooo…..the show was a complete success. PK worked the crowd into a laughing frenzy and the acts and guest comedians wowed them as well. During the audience participation segments, we had black and white people coming up to perform for prizes. We even had this one black lady pretend that she could sing just so she could come on stage and tell how wonderful the show was. I could clearly see patches of other non-Asian ethnic groups in the audience.

However, I am disappointed in the judges and who they picked as the winners. There were so many talented song writers and musicians, like Sam Kang and Connie Lim, who could have benefited more from winning than a group of dancers.

While I know the show isn’t like Randy Jackson’s America’s Best Dance Crew, where mistakes hurt the overall point count…the two dance groups that won 1st and tied 2nd, were sloppy. I do admit that they did some exciting dance moves, but overall, they weren’t that great or original as the musicians. Quest, who who tied for 2nd, took a chair flare right out of Project Korea at UK BBoy Championship. It wouldn’t have been so bad if they didn’t try to do too much with it and mess up at the end by bumping into each other.

I saw a bunch of mistakes up close because I was on the back stage watching the show from the side…which kind of sucked because I couldn’t watch how the audience would react to what was on stage. I wasn’t allowed to stand in the back with the rest of the audience. The only reaction I did get a good idea on was when Sam Kang went out to perform.

As Sam came out to meet the audience, all the other performers were commenting that “this guy is really good. ” Then when he started singing the chorus for his song Dreams, all the girls in the audience starting melting loudly. I still think Sam Kang should of won. More so than a group of swing dancers…..swinging to first place.

So many orbs floating around my camera shots…I wonder if they were ghosts.

I know Ben Chung from JabbaWockeeZ performed at Kollaboration, not sure with whom though. I’m guessing this could be it…since the masks seems to fit. I should ask someone who knows….

While he and Upload won’t be performing TOOOO-NIGHT!.…these guys will.

But hopefully they’ll be better than that performance….

I think I get to be a microphone holder on the red carpet.(woo hoo!)

TOOOO-NIGHT!…should be a blast.

First time I heard this guy was during a snowboarding trip with a group of hippie lettuce burning environmental designers. I couldn’t believe how much these guys smoked….and I can’t believe we made it to the mountains since they drove up it higher than the peeks.

Before heading up the mountain to Mammoth Ski Resort, we stopped at a friend’s house in Sacramento and these guys started toking up again. I was surprised I didn’t get high just for being in close proximity to these guys. It was quite comical…

Anyways, that’s when I discovered Jack Johnson, because they were watching this same video on their huge ass TV screen. Then I forgot his name for 2 years but rediscovered him last week. I actually referred to him as John Mayer a few times…and I’m quite ashamed of that. I just love the Hawaiian chill factor in the music he makes and the hints of reggae in his vocals.

Say it isn’t soooo….not as Jubei!

Live Action “Ninja Scroll” In The Works?

Ah, the heady days of the mid-90s, when anime was just coming into it’s own in the States and MTV’s Liquid Television ran bumpers cut from a then-obscure anime titled “Ninja Scroll.” The clips MTV used to lead in and out of their animation show were ridiculously popular, leading first to bootlegged copies of the Scroll hitting cons nationwide, then to an official release which sold amazingly well, I believe setting records as it broke the anime dam wide and titles began to really flood the US market.

(Note: this is all how I remember things happening. Actual facts may vary, but I don’t care. I like my story.)

Well, rumor has it that the Wachowski siblings are working on a live action version of the classic anime, and this casting list that’s popped up is supposedly for the flick. They’re referring to the movie as “Ninja Assassins,” but it’s pretty typical for codenames to be used at this point in a movie’s production. Korean pop-star Rain is already signed to star (and is making an appearance in the Speed Racer movie) and James McTiegue will be directing.

I’m slapping the full list below the fold here, just in case the page gets yanked. (source)

Well, if it’s true….Rain just might have a chance in the US with an edgy Anime that has sex and ultra-violence. Looking at the casting call, it seems like there will be a lot of Asians in it…as well as it should.

This could be Rain’s niche in Hollywood….”Anime Action Star, RAIN!”  He just better hope the American audience doesn’t see him in that white fanny pack he wore in Full House….because that’s just embarrassing.

So I manage to watch the whole show on TV…for once! Taeko (aka Koi Fish) from Fish and Chicks is pretty hot. She always ends her performances with a little extra nuance of sass.

KABA

I actually enjoyed this performance more than the past few ones. If I had to guess, it was probably Mike who came up with the “hey” choreography in the beginning. It seems to be the pattern that the one responsible for the choreography is usually front and center….plus, the head moving side to side on a pendulum swing seems to be his thing.

At first, I thought the added “challenge” was just stupid. They should just let the dance crews do their thing. Eh, I still think it was dumb. Fish and Chicks probably had the hardest one…doing their choreography in rewind motion.

Even though Kaba’s lack of difficulty in “lifting” was true…it didn’t really matter because everything else was very entertaining, especially the facial expressions. Plus, when you probably have a whole University voting for you…it doesn’t matter what the judges say anyways. I still think one of Kaba’s strength is their transitions from dance style to dance style…it just shows off their range.

Note: They should of done the lift in this Video at (oo:1

JABBA

JC is pretty articulate as a judge but I don’t think he should try so hard in looking for flaws just because it’s week 4…especially when the “walking” is part of the slow-mo choreography.

Kaba vs. Jabba this week…I’d have to go with Kaba for personal enjoyment.

Breaksk8.

I know a lot of people have been impressed with their “dancing” on skates but when you have a show titled the “Best Dance Crew,” the main focus should be on the dancing itself. Their supporters seem to be distracted by their skates, thinking it gives them an edge because of it’s level of difficulty. While it is probably hard to do what they do on skates…it doesn’t really mean anything. If they were to take off their wheels and just do their routines using Nikes, they’d have a much easier time.

So basically, the whole roller skates is a gimmick because they are giving themselves a handicap by putting those wheels on their own feet. It’s not that their moves are hard, it’s that they made easy moves harder. If they had missing limbs and used wheels to make up for what they lack, then it would be a different story.

I wish them the best, off the show.

What a great sappy love song…..about sex. If I ever get married, I’ll be dancing to this song on my wedding night….in Vegas.

9. “slow dance” (gorski/oak)

do you think we could slow dance tonight
by the fire in the warmth and the light
time might stop and i’m ok with that
two left feet, your smile cracks
your grace makes up for my lack
slow turn and we’re back in step again

you lean in close to whisper sweet and sincere
it’s getting late and i’m drunk on you dear

so what am i waiting for
i should kiss you at the door
you’ll invite me up for an empty coffee cup
so baby turn off the phone
every second we spend alone
i’ll do what you want
just tell me how it feels
my lips are sealed

we’ll take a trainride up the coast
borrow your hand and share my coat
storytelling to pass the hours
still learning, i already see
in your heart all i wish to be
so say that you’ll be mine

you lean in close to whisper sweet and sincere
it’s getting late and i’m drunk on you dear

so what am i waiting for
i should kiss you at the door
you’ll invite me up for an empty coffee cup
so baby turn off the phone
every second we spend alone
i’ll do what you want
just tell me how it feels
my lips are sealed

and it might not turn out like we plan
but i’ve got plenty of time on my hands

If the film wasn’t made in Singapore but by Hollywood, I would probably laugh at the fact that even though it’s a dance movie, “they just haddddd to add the kung-fu.” Granted, the screen writer is Australian, but that doesn’t really say anything. And to his credit, the leading actors in this film are all Asian and Asian-American. I probably won’t go see the movie, but I think as a whole…the project is rather cool. You have an international group of people working together on a film for a global audience…and I’m sure they are taking a big risk in not casting a top Hollywood actor that’s not Asian.

It should open up in US theaters on May 15, 2008.

And on a sidebar, I’ve pretty much written off Dragon Ball: the Hollywood movie as being lame. I just don’t care about it anymore because it doesn’t seem like they are going to try and have fun with what’s in that world. However, looking at Dance of the Dragon poster…Jang Hyuk has the Goku thing going on. If he were to grow out that hair even more, add some yellow glow on it…he’d be a perfect Super Saiyjin, minus the muscles. Then with bad ass Jason Scott Lee; his protruding forehead and intense eyes could be used for Vegeta.

is a Thai name. It belongs to the actress in the new martial arts film, Chocolate. I wonder if her nickname is Nich….anyways, she’s just showing off her Tony Jaa action skills on this Thai program.

Jarah-Evelyn Makalapua Mariano, with a name as long as hers….I would have thought she was Thai…but she’s not. She’s Hawaiian with hints of Korean, Chinese, and other Pacific assets in her DNA. When I first saw her, she reminded me of an old classmate from Pasadena Art Center who majored as a transportation design student….and what’s not hot about a good looking girl who is brainy and creative enough to design sleek cars? While they are not the same person……these recent Sports Illustrated Swimsuit images of Jarah are “for the win.”

Asian Fetish according to Gen the Angry Asian Girl

So the other day, I went out on a date with a man. A White Man. THE MAN for my revolutionary brothers and sisters. So anyway, as I’m out on a date this man, he’s telling me about his ex girlfriend, and he prefaces it with saying “so my ex-girlfriend, she’s Korean.” …and so on and so forth. It starts to hit me, and I’m trapped, and I don’t know what to do short of, throw my salad against the wall to cause a diversion and run for the door.Genevieve, I say to myself, because that’s my name, you’re with a Rice King. Stay Calm and try not to act overtly Asian and inadvertently getting him aroused.

Rice King see Asian Fever, see Yellow Fever, see Asian Fetish, see G.I. Joe.

After he drones on about his car, a new convertible beamer with some type of flecked paint and expensive rims (strike one,) about his job as a radio promo guy for a record label, I’ve got the best job in the world!, (strike two,) about his ex-girlfriend, she’s Korean, if you didn’t already know (strike three) he begins to tell me about his LOVE of Asian culture. YOU’RE OUT!

He then proceeds to tell me that it’s not that he has an Asian Fetish, per se, (Insert image of overly-tanned, beamer-owning, Radio Promo Guy, with Asian Fetish doing the universal sign for quotation marks here.) It’s just that I LOVE Asian culture SO MUCH, I mean, I even bought a 6 hour special on PBS about Chinese History. Do you know the oppression that the Chinese have been through with (so and so) and (so and so) and then (something else) happened. It’s so rich. I just really need to be with someone who understands it. I mean, I probably know more about Asian History than the average Asian American but it’s important to me that Asian history is something the person I’m with wants to learn about.

(Me. Gaping open mouth. Inability to contribute to conversation for the first time in the history of Asian Man.)

Here the clincher. Also I just don’t find your typical American White or European woman attractive. Asian and Latin women are soooo, you guessed it, the E word, Exotic.

Me: Wow, look at the time. It was nice having dinner with you. Lets talk sometime in say, the year of the dog.

Ok I didn’t really say that, but how great would it be?

So then, I go out on a date with a whole other different guy. Yes, white. Who’s really great so I’ll try to not rip on him so much. He’s a divorcee and he was married to a Japanese woman. They met while he was teaching ESL (English as a Second Language.) Six years later they divorce. Why did they divorce? Because she never bothered to learn English. She always spoke a badly broken form of English.

So I’m trying to figure out if I’m attracting Asian Fetishists because I am Asian or is Asian Fetishists are attracted to me because I am Asian. What came first, the chicken or the egg? Or am I a White Boy fetishist? Or maybe I have Asian Fetishists Fetish. And is it only an Asian Fetish because the man is not Asian himself? I don’t know.

What I do know is that I just really hope this whole Asian-thing is a phase. Like Trucker hats and Ugg Boots.

But for you Asian Fetishists out there, here are some guidelines:

1) Don’t blow your entire knowledge of the (Insert appropriate Asian dialect or language here) on us. We are not impressed that you know how to say “Hi, I Love you and you’re beautiful” in Cantonese or Tagalog or Japanese. Those are the phrases you need to know if you’re propositioning a prostitute in their country or origin. Guess what guys, we speak PERFECT English. In fact, we speak Engrish BEDDY GOOD. PLEASE TO TALK TO US IN ENGRISH.

2) Don’t tell me you love (reading of menu from a Chinese restaurant here) but give me the only American-friendly options like: Chow Mein, Fried Rice, Won Ton. We have a lot more than three dishes guys. And no, I won’t cook for your ass. So don’t ask.

3) Don’t give me a history lesson on my culture. I don’t go around telling you about the Revolutionary War and the Declaration of Independence.

4) Please don’t call us EXOTIC. I’ll hurt you. I swear I will.

5) Please don’t get tattoos of our words and phrases on your body. If you want to eternally communicate Strong Bold Persevere or what have you on your body, Old English letters and cursive is so nice. Plus half the time, SURPRISE! You’ve actually just tattooed something stupid on yourself like HARD LARGE or SUSTAIN. ALSO, guess what?

YOU’RE NOT CHINESE!

6) Its not special that you know how to use chop sticks. Over 1 billion people in one country alone know how to use chopsticks and they learned them at about the time you were using a sippy cup.

7) Don’t advertise your Asian Fetish by telling us about your Asian exs. We WANT to date you, but it makes it hard when we can’t help but feel were taking part of your geisha girl fantasies. It’s a free country, you can have your Asian Fetish, and I can have my choking fetish and we can all live together side by side. Just don’t tell me about it. If you do we can’t help but be conflicted. Does he like me cos I’m Asian? Or does he like me because of me? Does he like me because of my slanty eyes? Or does he like me because of ME? Is he trying to figure out if my slit is sideways? Or is it ME? Guess what guys, if I’m out with you, chances are you’re well on your way to laidville. Half the battle is already won. You don’t need to make me feel special by expressing your love of my culture. And you’ll increase your chances of me and you doing the funky monkey dance ten-fold if you keep your Asian Fetish where it belongs. In the closet.

Love,
Gen the Angry Asian Girl.

Someone Emailed me it and I thought it was pretty funny. I don’t know where it’s from….