restlessears

2006-09-25T13:30:00.000-07:00

so i woke up to one of the worst hangovers i've had in ages, only to find this little present from irv on my front step:

thanks alot there, little buddy. that was just what i needed.

amen, brother.

2006-09-07T00:34:00.000-07:00

fuck gas

2006-08-21T12:40:00.000-07:00

fuck $3.30 a gallon. fuck oil. fuck 'regime change'. fuck rush hour. fuck traffic. fuck reckless drivers. fuck slow drivers. fuck people who won't let you over. fuck people who try to cut in. fuck parking meters. fuck parking garages. fuck parking tickets. fuck parking period. fuck moving violations. fuck smog. fuck auto 'insurance'. fuck the dmv. fuck geographic segregation. fuck dead batteries. fuck shitty radio stations. fuck 'wash me'. fuck hot steering wheels. fuck windshield wipers that don't work. fuck one-way streets. fuck no left turn. have a nice day!

Tofu-Fest Schmofu Fest

2006-08-14T12:47:00.000-07:00

The real action was motherfucking BEATLELVIS!!! (and assorted groupies).

inquiring minds want to know

2006-08-01T18:55:00.000-07:00

wow there is like a public outcry over the death of my blog (ok four people have asked). why stop?

a) because i am not a political pundit, a snazzy aspiring writer or a young co-ed with a webcam.
b) because i do not have a life-threatening illness, a pornstar wife or celebrity friends to gossip about.
c) because if i weren't me i would read this crap and go, "what an uninteresting cornball."
d) because i AM me and i still think that.

honestly. go read a book or something. you'll be much better off.

i just realized

2006-08-01T17:09:00.000-07:00

how corny this blog is.

why have i never been informed of this fact?

just look and listen.

that is all you need to know.

i will shut up now.

55 Miles of Hell

2006-07-26T00:56:00.002-07:00

Echo Park -> Marina del Rey -> Rancho Palos Verdes -> Long Beach

1) Ambitious Ben tells me I need to set goals and stick to them.
2) Ambitious Ben bonks out in San Pedro and wants to take the bus back.
3) Studman Harry says no way, we're riding 'til the bitter end.
4) Ambitious Ben and Studman Harry huff and puff their way to Long Beach, wondering how in the hell they're ever going to be able to do 100 miles.

World Cup Fever

2006-06-20T20:39:00.000-07:00

poketo and i watched korea vs. france at a fashion show while handing out t-shirts to skinny fashionistas. when korea scored, we screamed out loud and the hipsters (who wouldn’t know what a soccerball was if it fell on their lopsided haircuts) looked at us like we were bugging out. everyone except for this mexican couple who ran over to our table yelling “viva korea!” this is what i love about world cup, which in my experience seems to unite people from different backgrounds more than it divides them. then again, we were playing france, and everybody hates the french. 'cept maybe people with lopsided haircuts.

hell month is almost over

2006-05-23T23:29:00.000-07:00

our performance ended this weekend and was better than expected, or at least better than I expected. i composed music, ran sound and lights, and designed the flyer, among many, many other things. i still have the day job to deal with, as well as my other night job, but after this friday everything will be over and i am going to sleep for like 3 days straight.

May 1, 2006

2006-05-09T23:03:00.000-07:00

so there i was, marching down wilshire blvd for the rally, thinking how lame it was that i didn't see any other koreans around (even though we were in the middle of fucking k-town). that is, until i saw this little dude:

waving a mexican flag! with two gay dads! he is going to be one progressive motherfucker when he grows up.

Thanks Dad

2006-04-25T22:22:00.000-07:00

Thank you for trying to understand.

Day 15: Last Day

2006-04-17T00:06:00.000-07:00

(the last picture i took in thailand)

went to emporium for brunch, practically the only remaining foodcourt in bangkok that i hadn't tried yet. fried chicken was bomb, as was dessert.

went back home, packed up and hopped in a cab to the airport.

that's it! that was the end of the trip! thanks for listening. all two of you.

Day 14: Bangkok

2006-04-16T11:13:00.000-07:00

memories are shot now. strictly going off pictures at this point. arrived back in bangkok in the early morning and hit up tesco, which is like target meets kmart but even cheaper. they sell breast pumps.

at night, went back to the mistress of the wok. ted was so enthralled he looked like he was in pain.

Day 13: Krabi

2006-04-12T23:26:00.000-07:00

after breakfast ted and i hit a really awesome hiking trail that was so steep you had to use ropes in some spots. my amateur ass was all, "wow, is this like rock-climbing?" and ted's all, "uh no."

either way, it was maybe the most fun i had in thailand. well, except st. patrick's day--although that wasn't so much fun as just drunkenly surreal:

Day 12: Krabi

2006-04-12T23:25:00.000-07:00

i am remembering less and less about this trip. woke up, had a shitty breakfast (never order western style breakfast in thailand--soggy wonder bread toast, a limp fish dog and instant coffee. stick with the noodles).

went out on a five island snorkeling tour, which was nice. saw a weird brown jellyfish--found out later on that it stung some guy in our group on the face.

Day 11: Krabi

2006-04-11T14:51:00.000-07:00

now this is more like it!

arrived at our hotel expecting the worst because ted told us there was no hot water. so i'm thinking 'great, it's going to be like mexico (where we stayed in a straw hut on some dirty beach). but actually our place in was pretty nice, with a view of diamond cave.

as soon as we checked in we headed straight for the beach. if i could turn into a fish and swim out into the ocean and never come back, i would totally do it.

2006-04-09T22:50:00.000-07:00

although my current job is practically a volunteer gig, it does have its perks. every saturday, i lead a group of emerging performance artists on a tour of some of l.a.'s cultural landmarks (yes, l.a. has cultural landmarks). the first week, we took them to east l.a./boyle heights (self-help graphics, casa 0101, plaza de la raza, etc.) last week, we took them to j-town (east west players/visual communications, janm, jaccc, etc.) and this weekend we did leimert park/watts south central (lula washington dance theatre, watts towers, etc.) we stopped by the studio of sculptor john outerbridge, who had this awesome piece which was a hand-built(!) outhouse, covered from top to bottom with ku klux klan pictures. doooope.

Day 10: Bangkok

2006-04-07T15:33:00.000-07:00

funny how after a is vacation over, it can seem like a dream that wasn't even real. just like mexico and england, thailand is starting to become a jumble of fragmented images. like this day:

went back to jj market again. all i remember is it was HOT.

visited a temple to pay our respects to tony. very nonchalant ceremony but i still caught a lump in my throat. poured water on a little tree and said goodbye.

hopped on a bus to krabi. watched a thai-dubbed version of some steven seagal movie. made up fake english dialogue with katherine (what?! you don't like my ponytail?! do you know who i am?!?") fell asleep. woke up in krabi.

Day 9: Bangkok

2006-04-06T19:53:00.000-07:00

hungover. took a mid-morning nap to sleep it off, then made a last-ditch effort to dig for records. sadly concluded that there is no vinyl in all of asia (except maybe japan).

went out to dinner at a seafood resaurant for food orgasm #3 (#1 being that noodle joint and #2 being them bamboo things). spilled crab sauce all over myself.

went to karaoke afterwards but sadly, thai karaoke is just not the same. they had songs by janet jackson even I'VE never heard of. bonnie tyler but no 'total eclipse of the heart'? sad...

Day 8: Bangkok

2006-04-05T11:17:00.000-07:00

headed out in the morning, realized quickly we were headed for another day of mall mazes, broke off from the pack to meet up with marie and michelle and ended up back at a mall. it was st patrick's day so we went to an irish pub. things got a little hazy after this but i have vague memories of:

-a methed-out elephant sticking its head in the door
-yet another cheesy thai cover band
-spicy pickled bamboo shoots that were so good i kept clenching my fists (soop na mai?)
-stumbling around patpong rd afterwards and concentrating more on walking straight than looking at the dancers
-leaving our friend at the bar with the singer of the band, not seeing him til 24 hrs later.

Day 7: Ayuthaya

2006-04-04T19:33:00.000-07:00

kat and i took a train to ayutthaya and despite what i've been saying i think i'd officially od'ed on temples by this point. but it was cool--actually it wasn't cool it was fucking hot. we shared our tuk tuk with this australian who was hell-bent on seeing every last temple and me and katherine were all, "you go ahead, we'll meet you back at the entrance."

on the way back, the australian asked me if i wanted to go watch some table tennis with him and i was all, "now why in the hell would i want to watch table tennis" and then it dawned on me that he was talking about those girls on patpong road who shoot ping pong balls out of their coochies. i took a rain check.

that night we went out for drinks at a bar, where the house band played every annoying song known to humankind (ymca, funkytown, it's raining men, etc. etc.)

Day 6: คน...ผวา(Crash)

2006-04-04T00:15:00.000-07:00

angie and ted were working again so on marie's recommendation we checked out the jim thompson house. thompson was an american who built this compound in the classical thai architetural style and when he died it became a museum. items of interest include an antique mouse house and a porcelain cat that some prince used to pee in. again, neat in a nerdy kind of way.

spent the afternoon watching "CRASH" which, boy what a load of horseshit that was. i cannot believe that pile of crap beat out brokeback for best movie. even from watching the trailers, i was like, "boy, that sure does look like a very white movie about race" and man, was it ever. it's all, "ooh, black people are so multi-faceted!" i bet the screenwriter was really pleased with himself for this revelation. shit, hustle & flow was better than this doo-doo.

Day 5: Bangkok

2006-04-03T17:18:00.000-07:00

another day, another temple. katherine and i went down to wat po to check out the giant reclining buddha. it may not sound like a big deal but when you get there you're all, "whoah... that thing is fucking BIG."

headed back to central bangkok and hit up MBK, yet another mall. i mostly just followed katherine around. to every store. on every floor.

then hopped on the skytrain and went home. oh yeah, bangkok has like the best public transportation in the world sky-train, subway, boat, bus, cab, tuk-tuk, moped--you can get almost anywhere you need to for less than a metro fare or bart ticket. now why the hell can't l.a. have that?

sidenote

2006-04-03T16:06:00.000-07:00

civil unrest seems to be brewingeverywhere lately. in bangkok, we landed smack in the middle of some of the biggest demonstrations the country has seen in decades, then, as soon as i got back home we landed smack in the middle of some of the biggest protests in los angeles history, in response to HR-4437. every morning last week, i awoke to the sounds of thousands of kids marching down sunset avenue at 8 AM. i'd rush out to watch and take pics, and come home to watch thousands of frenchies going buckwild in the streets of paris. makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Day 4: Bangkok

2006-03-31T17:32:00.000-08:00

this was a busy day. started out with a boat ride down Chao Phraya to visit the Grand Palace with jeff, this guy who was staying at the same house as us. personally i thought it was amazing but jeff seemed underwhelmed. made me realize that i am mildly geeky for ancient artisanry.

took a tuk-tuk to thanon khao san, which is homebase for every dreadlocked european in asia. jeff loved the pad thai which personally i thought was the worst i've ever had. he asked me as we were getting ice cream, "is this authentic?" and in my head i'm all, "dude, look around what do you think?" but it was cool. can't beat 4 beers for $3.

later on we went and saw some traditional thai puppetry. it was cool and all, but actually no... it was pretty boring.

then we went to this noodle joint that ted's cousin said was "the best in bangkok, and therefore the best in thailand, and therefore the best in the world." right on the money. blew my mind. can't remember the name or the street but apparantly the cook is known as, "mistress of the wok." believe it.

Day 3: Bangkok

2006-03-30T13:30:00.000-08:00

took an early morning flight to bangkok, settled in at ted's uncle's house, then went straight to jatujak market for... YAY, more shopping!

"JJ" is one giant teeming mass of sweaty humanity. it's like ashby flea market times 10,000, and you can get everything from silk ties to newborn puppies. i'm not sure how people manage to shop here all day without passing out from claustrophobia, but ted and angie seemed to manage. i mostly sat on the curb, taking candids and sucking on 1 cent popsicles.

Day 2: Hong Kong

2006-03-29T17:18:00.000-08:00

by day 2 i was already over hong kong--the place is like one big shopping mall. ted took us to lamma island which had a more quaint, albeit euro-hippy vibe, but it was a welcome pause from the chaos of the main island. while we were walking around we saw this one horndog butterfly trying to get at at another, chasing it all over the place in what i assume was some type of courting ritual. the whole thing lasted all of about 20 seconds and was the coolest thing i saw the whole time i was in HK.

addendum: apparantly some folks (i.e. 1 person) think my blog is too whiny so i will say that we ended our HK excursion with a great seafood meal at one of the outdoor stalls at temple street market. so good that someone had a seizure right across the way from us.

Day 1: Hong Kong

2006-03-28T13:15:00.000-08:00

this was barely three weeks ago and already it seems like an lifetime away. all i remember is we walked for what seemed like an eternity with all our bags and crap trying to find our hotel.

spent the rest of the day wandering around kowloon street markets, trying to find record stores that didn't exist (apparently some due named 'paul' has all the dope unscooped vinyl but fuck, if he exists, i sure as hell couldn't find him) and looking at handprints of hk movie stars.

2006-03-04T19:33:00.000-08:00

lately i have been hanging out mostly with cats, babies and grandmas. not intentionally, but that's how it's been working out. it's okay because they're cooler than everybody else.

suenos de aguadilla

2006-02-20T18:55:00.000-08:00

that's supposed to be me lying in that hammock.

i was supposed to fly to puerto rico this past weekend for alejandro's wedding. but my flight out of burbank got delayed, and made me miss my connection to aguadilla. because this was a busy weekend (valentine's day, president's day) and because many people had to rearrange their flights from the record-setting snowstorm that previous week, all flights were booked solid through tuesday. no flights = no puerto rico for harry. i was literally all packed and waiting for ben to come take me to the airport.

cracked open a bottle of jack daniels and made this apology song. i picture myself like a bird, flying through the air as this song plays, landing on the beach right next to jandro and joanna as they exchange vows. whatever. sucks to be me.

bird stealing bread

2006-02-02T22:46:00.000-08:00

i was pissed when i heard iron & wine's version of "such great heights" because it sounds exactly like MY version. so for revenge, i made this "cover" of postal service doing iron & wine. (just kidding about the revenge part. i love iron & wine).

2006-01-15T20:10:00.000-08:00

take a second and think a nice thought about angie's grandma, even if you don't know her.

midnight ridaz...

2006-01-14T13:12:00.001-08:00

...ride on!

new year, new blog

2006-01-11T22:48:00.001-08:00

alright, i give in--i submit to the fad that is blogging. i spent the better part of this winter teaching myself dreamweaver, photoshop and final cut so that i could build my own website and next thing i know, everyone's blogging! oh well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.