Husking Bee

I had an epiphany while driving today and listening to this album. It's Husking Bee from Japan and "Anthology" is their greatest hits. Let's start by me telling you I'm a fan of this band, although I think their music videos give them no justice. They broke up in 2005 and the three videos I dropped in are from their three eras. Beginning, middle, and end.

I was thinking about how in work, business, or whatever you want to call what I do, the best person for the job always works out the best. Here's a super-round about way of explaining this.

I popped in this CD which basically is a chronological greatest hits, it starts off with their pop punk songs. Imagine something akin to an older Green Day album (1ooo Hours), it was younger, high energy pop punk. Edging on the skate sound, they had an east bay punk thing going on, but from across the pacific. I remember reading an early album review and it said these guys rocked.



But back to the story, I fast forwarded some of the early mid-90s songs and then got the later 90's songs from Put on Fresh Paint, which got some distribution here, through Doghouse records (ironically, these guys owed us money for years for the advertisement they put in GR for this album!) The songs begin to shape up a little. They go from being youthful punk to being a bit more mature in punk. The songs begin to get organized. They do a key thing that I think changed them for the best, they had Mark Trombino engineer and produce them. To me, it's a turning point that shaped them into a much different band.



Track 16 comes on from a later album, and their sound become crystal clear. They've arrived. It's about the time I got to interview them. It's as if #23 was in his prime. Perhaps they trust Mark Trombino more (who drummed in Drive Like Jehu - one of the greatest bands of all time) and they add a guitar player to become a quartet (like Drive Like Jehu - btw, I took that photo that's used on their myspace page and on many others!). The guitars now sound like brothers (much like Drive Like Jehu's Rick Fork and John Reis), you can hear how they tandem, intro, weave, and harmonize together while they still work into punkish songs. It's as if they grew up and their sound progressed. With as many similarities for just an album with DLJ, I wonder how much influence Mark T had on this band. Was it too much? Did they capture some of the DLJ magic?



Mark T. produced them until their end in 2005, and their last album changed a bit again. Their sound goes a bit away from punk, and they're turned into more of an emo/rock band, and now they're legends. A covers album by Japanese bands is coming out later this month. I wish these dudes were still around playing.

Yaba Daba

This is a story run about YABA in the Nikkan Sun newspaper. I'm in the photo in the left in the middle. But what does it say?

home cooking

This one went into the oven. That's mahi mahi. My friend in Japan was telling me to try using the foil technique. Truthfully the last time I heard anything called "foil technique"
was to make a pipe. I've always like cooking and this one was a fun project. What's in here?
Tomatoes, green beans, edamame, corn, celery, wild rice (but that was cooked already), and mahi mahi piece. I put some olive oil, mirin, salt, pepper, and a bit of soy sauce. I folded it up like a burrito and put it in the oven for a bit longer than 10 minutes at 450. I put the entire thing on a plate, opened it and grabbed a spoon. This was the first time, and I'll do it much better next time.

Pho Hanh Restaurant

Those leaves of basil and bean sprouts...

Plastic menus that are dirty and spiral bound.

Bun with tofu and meat.

Special pho with weird fuzzy meat parts. The broth was pretty good, and with some lime, this medium size bowl of pho was filling and great. I added a couple of jalapenos and it was about $5.50. I killed it. The bigger size is an additional quarter. The fresh lemonade makes a great compliment. Wtf!

at lunch this place fills up with all kinds of people. It's one of those spots that you go in to get a cheap meal. It's a standard and I hear it's less authentic compared to other Vietnamese places, but I saw a lot of Vietnamese folks scarfing away, so it's all good.

Pho Hanh

881 E Anaheim St
Long Beach, CA 90813
(562) 599-5305

Little Tokyo - JANM and Imagawayaki

Little Tokyo - JANM meeting today, we met up to talk about this cool show that's coming up in the early summer that's about Japanese American landscaping, which for me more or less means, an exhibition about the JA gardeners who've changed the way people look at yards in Southern California. What was I doing there? Suggesting things to hopefully make the show better. It was informative and hearing words from a humble "gardener," to landscape professors to curators made this interesting.


Imagawayaki. It's a little disc of red bean. The outside is like a pancake, but a bit tougher, inside is warm red bean. One of the coolest things about Little Tokyo is that they make this in the little walk through area among new and older businesses. It's cool to see a person making it in the window. You walk in one step and get it fresh. Before she passed away, and while she knew she was ill, my grandmother went there. Imagawayaki are sort of heavy and big, and although her appetite wasn't great then, I think she knew it was the last time she'd have one. She finished the entire piece.

I stopped by here to pick up some manju. You can easily pick it up at the local Japanese markets, but there's a great feeling to get it from the company's flagship store.

Margaret Kilgallen's book

In the Sweet Bye and Bye is now in it's second reprinting. We'll be distributing this to stores! It looks great.

Souther Salazar's anti drug commercials

Yes, these are by Souther and they're on TV. There's 5! It's all for abovetheinfluence.com

JABA the Hutt

"Weak minded fool! He's using Jedi Mind Tricks on you!" -JTH

Being asked to be on a panel discussion for the Japan American Business Association with UCLA, along with Tofu records Yaz, dude from Tokyopop (they do kick ass), and Ko who's working in film and does the Chanoma film festival, I didn't know what to expect. Tech difficulties, and running behind schedule, what are you gonna do, but roll with it. The event went on, I explained what I could to some -maybe- skeptical folks who just needed more information and clarification, I think it went decent. But that's just one part. Going downstairs to the reception which I expected cheese and crackers, there was dinner! It was school catered, but not terrible. Rice, salmon, spring rolls, cookies, dessert, drinks, and the big thing was I picked the raffle ticket for the trip to Japan! I had no idea that was going on, and the winner was a member of the UCLA Japanese Anime Club! She gets to go to Japan! She was trembling and has never won a thing in her life. A good deed JABA!

unskateable

The more you walk around and look, the more you notice how society has changed the way they do things to prevent people from skateboarding. A person wearing soft pants (if they're about to go to a strip club), a skirt, or Dolphin shorts, might rip their ass crack if they sat and moved on this public seat. If you look elsewhere, there's bumps or vertical metal bars... I've seen a video of some people making spots skateable, I'd love to see them come here with a gigantic file.

Space Tow truck

Here's a Sculpey Kids project I've been working on. I think the thought of the day was to make towers. So I make a tower out of toothpicks... But it wasn't exciting, and I didn't know what I was doing, so it became a green man towing the apparatus wearing a yellow jumpsuit. I don't feel like it's quite done, but it's close enough.

JABA panel

I'll be on a panel at UCLA tomorrow evening. JABA - Japan America Business Association. The website isn't pretty, but you can download a pdf if you want! Yaz from Tofu records is on the panel! See you there? I dare you.

iL Chianti

24503 Narbonne Ave
Lomita, CA 90717
(310) 325-5000

Japanese Pasta? When you hear that, you’ll first think about ramen, udon, or soba, but I'm actually talking about Italian pasta, just done with a different hand. I'm lacking the true Italian culinary experience, since I've never been there, but I have tried plenty in America, ranging from the cheap to the pricey. Typical Japanese pasta usually lands itself at least in the flavor category, near the top.

What's different about pasta from Japan? Already being a noodle and rice culture, the pasta is usually cooked perfectly, al dente, maybe just for the sake of being able to say those Italian words. The sauces, and "fixings" are usually more delicate and mild than what you may see at pasta haven like Spaghetti Factory, C&O’s, or even the pricey, Campanelli on LaBrea. You might also find, the infamous Japanese pasta dish, containing mentaiko (pollack eggs).

iL Chianti in Lomita, is actually the American leg of a small chain of Italian restaurants in the Tokyo area. It's ambiance and style is a reason to go there alone, and the food rocks too. Walking in, you'll see a big wine aquarium. It's a glass box room filled with bottles. There's a front room, a large classy counter, and separate rooms including an outdoor area with more seating. If you don't have to wait, then you're in luck. It fills up quickly for the non-reservation lunch hours, and I'd suggest making a reservation for dinner.

It's far from being a place for you and your posse, this is more of a "date" place, especially at night. Its ambiance is darker, the style is classy but not dressy, and in a quick glance, you'll see that faces in the seats are Asian. Yet, it's a welcoming environment, although you'll have to ask for a translation of the special menu chalk board. Make the waitresses translate it! It'll be worth it.

On my trip there for lunch, there's a selection on the menu that's basically a taste of everything, a "bento box," that's 10.50. In it was the pasta of the day, which was spicy tomato in what seemed like angel hair. The spice factor was mild, just to taste, and it's a simple pleasure to eat. It's not flashy, saucy, or overpowering - it's just right. The salad dressing was too salty for my taste, but everything else was spot on. Also like Japanese bento boxes, there are small sides, this one had a pasta salad, a seafood and edamame salad, pickled daikon, and a piece of fried fish. But there's more, you also get a soup and small dessert.

Also on the lunch menu is the pasta of the day and the sandwich of the day. Today's sandwich was actually a taco-like baby squid sandwich. The menu isn't too huge, and ordering is easy. In a nearly must do fashion, one of my posse ordered the classic, mentaiko pasta bringing another meaning to "when in Rome".

Check out iL Chianti when you're in Lomita. Remember to park across the street and to make reservations at night.

Deep Sea Frill Shark

Deep Sea Frill Shark surfaces in Japan. I can't believe something like this exists. It actually looks like Alien 4, but nicer. It was sick and died shortly after, which actually makes me sad. Spill some out for this shark.

Albert Reyes Spit Art video

Just cut this video today. It's Albert Reyes doing his spit art on the sidewalk in front of GR2 on saturday night at Phodoborito!

Cut+Paste short doc

Finally uploaded this video I did a bit ago. I raised the res a bit since it's hosted at youtube. A short doc with Jenny from Cut+paste.

Galco's Old World Grocery

Sculpey Kids studios is near Galco's, the crazy soda shop which carries almost every tiny micro brew soda around the world. The shop is old and it's great that he changed the shop around to make things work. The small markets are pretty much going away with Trader Joe's, Ralph's, etc etc...

Check out those doors!

There's aisles of soda, some are in their boxes waiting for you to pick some up. The aisles and linoleum floor are old school.

On the left is Delaware punch, now called Pennsylvania punch. I used to drink Delaware Punch as a kid. It was one of my favorites. Hawaiian punch was too powerful compared. Bubble up is on top, and Quench is on the right.


That's John, he lost 60lbs and he still drinks soda. This man knows everything about soda and is always featured in anything soda. Galco's is one of those places that you have to see if you live in LA.

Crosnes

Crosnes
Crosne, also called Chinese artichoke, Japanese artichoke, knotroot and Chorogi. This is an Asian member of the mint family grown for its unusually shaped edible tubers. The were introduced to Europe in the 1880s (first cultivated in France near Crosne, hence the name) and enjoyed popularity until the 1920s. They have been 'rediscovered' lately and it's popularity has increased here in the U.S. The tubers look a string of misshapen mottled pearls (they are also described as 'petrified worms). They can be eaten raw, in salads, or stir fried, boiled, baked or in soups. - from www.foodreference.com

Saelee bought this from the farmer's market, she swears it's good when cooked in butter. I think anything cooked in butter might taste good, but these raw, are like turnips with no spice. It's just a cold little root that looks like something that's a part of your ear. Anyone know anything about these things?

Sculpey Kids Meet

I wake up and walk into my back yard, what's this I see? The snail jockey.

Then a tree sprouts from my lawn.

The P2D2 at your service.

Aww the family about to rest under Saelee's leaves. A bit premature, this is going to be a monster.

Souther's sitting man ponders the world of Sculpey around him.

Kozyndan came by and hammered out some clay.

There's a page on me?! at Discover Nikkei website. It's associated with the Japanese American National Museum. I had no idea. There, you can see transcripts of an interview and you can even watch video. I still haven't watched the video. (I think I might have put this up before, but it looks different now). Many thanks to the museum.

Ok this post is dumb, but since it's happening again...

Here's who people say I look like. I'll run down each one.

Richard Gere. I had this a few times in the late 80s early 90s. Then I had it more recently. There was a time when people said Richard Gere looked half Japanese, and maybe that's part of it.

Keanu Reeves. I've had this one a few times. Twice in a week once. This was in the later 90s.

David Arquette. I've had this the most, from 2000 and on, since that's when this dude "made it." I hear it's the goofy smile that makes any similarity happen. I've had this maybe 8 times.

Jason Dohring. I don't know anything this guy, but he's in some show I never watch. Veronica Mars. I had this one yesterday.

Johnny Carson. Way back, in elementary school, I was told that I looked like Johnny Carson, so much that for a little while, my nickname was "Carson."

Phodoborito is tonite! An art show by three with roots from the developing countries!

Someone I know thought there was going to be VietFilipexican food going to be served. This will be great.

Rochom P'ngieng
Lost in the jungle or maybe happily doing her thing in the jungle, this is the half animal woman. She's a miracle she survived the many years in a jungle with no family, no nothing. She's been lost for almost 2 decades, speaks no language, and "She's weird. She sleeps during the day and stays up at night." Image and quote taken from Fox News. Story links here.

The weird thing is look at that hand holding the wrist. I see a lot of strain in it. The half animal part might have been thrashing around a lot, but overall, she looks normal. Hope she learns to speak soon, so she can tell her story. Hollywood agents? A future film for you. Reference Rae Dawn Chong in Quest for Fire and Tom Hanks in Castaway. She was found naked, so definitely use Jessica Alba to play the role. The policeman dad will help in the dramatic element, especially with flashbacks. Erik Estrada for sure, but he's gotta slim down. Add a best friend in the jungle, say James Franco. Things are getting Blue Lagoon in this film depiction. Hope they make it, and give Rochom P'ngieng the red carpet treatment and a lot of cash.

Here's something that I wonder.

Mona Lisa's Grave found. Here's the link. (I saw this off of Digg.com by the way.) What bothers me is that why is a grave lost? Even at the end of Gangs of New York, the last scenes show how the graves of Butcher Bill get dilapidated and eventually forgotten. I know it's a morbid thought, but is that what happens to grave sites? When a few generations roll over, and the over-population of the planet catches up and we need more land for buildings, are the grave sites going to become high rises? Sometimes, they're in expensive areas and I can see how they'll need to be "moved" one day... Will that be you? Would you care? My great grandparents are probably buried in Japan, and if you go further back, I'm sure most are lost and forgotten. Is that how it works?

Hello, I am Mimi, the intern. I catch errors and fact check pretty well.

Giant Robot cookies. Actually these are cheap cinnamon cookies from Trader Joe's. We ate a container in a day. GR46 to the print shop tomorrow.

Hail stones - for maybe 20 minutes, we got pelted.

Another one of them Japanese Popular culture is cool article. This one might be better. What's this article about in WWD?

Two different shots, same face.
January 07


August 06

Cobwebs on my car

It sat dormant for a year

It started easy but had no brakes

A tire print was left

This was my car from 1991-yesterday. No first gear, no brakes, and tons of "nickel and dime" problems which in BMW-land means quite an expense. It might blue book for a few thousand dollars if it's in clean condition, but this one has a couple of thousand dollars worth of repair. My mother urged me to get it removed for the last year, I finally did. In the meanwhile, I had come up with excuse after excuse:

1) It was a decoy, so thieves would think I was home 24-7, which I almost am.
2) It was like a storage unit, yes I did store junk in the trunk.
3) Someone I know is going to come and buy it!
4) I'm going to fix it!

Why was it hard to let go? The odometer read 118,000 miles, which isn't too much and the engine's half way decent. The car served me well. But alas, it was too large of a project for me. It hasn't started in well over a year, but with a quick charge, it started up fine. I hope whoever gets it in auction, brings it back to life. I was actually a little sad to see it go out like a neglected aquarium.

So cold here in LA that the vermin are coming in. So to combat them, it's time to bring out the foam. Taggers have been using this lately to make a mess. I've seen it on Sawtelle Blvd. The stuff just turns into a cloud like foam, it's insanely sticky, and if you get some on your hands like me, you're screwed. It's interesting what people will use to tag, and this is something different. What else should people use to tag? Fertilizer? How about using foam, then putting fertilizer on it so it also smells? I'm sure you can do better.

Reading about the Independent Press Association - Indy Press demise. These folks were our distributors as well, and if you're into GR magazine, then here's where the magazine is at. Some of you have asked what effect it's taken on us. Well... read these and get through it. You'll read about what other publishers have been talking about. There's great dialogue going on, and it's heartbreaking at times, and infuriating in others. I'm guilty as the rest of the "robot lounge" and many others. While I laugh at the latest toy from Japan, or youtube video, the magazine distribution looms in hell. GR magazine will always be fine. We'll publish it on newsprint for 1000 people if we have to. We'll make it work, but when things like this happen, it's just bad all around. Here's some places to get acquainted with what's been going on: (I do wish it took root in the GR lounge, but... no way that could happen, it's too serious.) Any comments or questions are greatly appreciated.

Other mag

Punk Planet

Indypendent

mashdownbabylon

Deanne Cheuk has an art show in Tokyo. If you're there, you should go say hi! She's awesome.

Who goes to Famima? On a recent trip to Famima, I walk in and see a shop that looks neat and organized. (I've been before, but this is an update)... Fashion magazines that are boring, you can get them anywhere. Mostly American stuff that's supposed to be a ready to eat section that can't beat most markets, and other goods like drinks, stuff you need for the house like $3 paper towels, and a few Japanese drinks and even stationery. So why am I writing about it? Basically, why go there? What makes this better than 7-11? What are you getting out of the "premium experience?" I'm not sure what's special, except the "buns" or bao. That's really good, but other than that? I highly doubt Famima is working, but if it is, then I'll be shocked. Do any of you go to Famima regularly?

What's wrong or right with this pic? That's the finger of _ _ _ e _ from Intertrend. (name removed by UFOs)

Here's my print for the printed matter show at GRSF. We have them online too here.
Eventually, it'll just be for sale on the site or something... This isn't the clearest shot since i see the glass reflecting on the print, but it's cool. This was in Harajuku - the crazy street that leads to Harajuku station.

Almost forgot about this. I was scratching my head a little on this comment from a little while ago. What's up with this?

Anonymous said...

Racist response
This was how I used to respond to racist anti-asian epithets. Most of these examples I thought up when I was 10 years old. Yes, I was born a master.

If it was Jew I would say: The whole world hates you. They all tried to kill you and they still want you to die. Now I see why.

If it was a Black person I would say: What do you mean this is your country you stupid fucking slave? Here are your choices Go make cheeseburgers at McDonalds or Go hate white people! Damn you are a stupid fucking monkey. They're the ones that fucked you over.

If it was a hispanic person I would say: You are ghetto. You were born in McDonalds and you're gonna die in McDonalds. You're just a stupid nigger that speaks spanish.

If it was a white person: Depends. If I didn't get into a fight or threatened raping their family with a machette war of words etc. etc. I usually would ignore it and look down on them as I took the high road. And besides you can only fight so much. Why? There are too many of them.

Might makes right.

Look at Rosie O'Donnell. It's only now that Asians realize that the American dream is about consolidating power in a political group- a political identity. Look how I said Asian and not Asian American. No one says Jewish American. They say Jew. No one says Black American. They say black person. And so we are simply. Asian.

Here's a joke for you: If asians were powerful enough to cause wars, like Mel Gibson pointed out and have power over the media, than no one would say racist things about Asians but maybe they would think it. Like some people hate jews but you can't say those things in public. And the ones that don't hate jews watch Seinfeld and Shindler's List all that Jewish propaganda. We need to sell our image better like the Jews do. The Asian community needs propaganda and political power too.

We need to wake up and follow the Jewish model minority example or we will end up in camps one day. As far as Blacks are concerned we need to follow Jesse Jackson's example and shake down companies for major cash money bling bling.

I am not a racist. It is a political game. What really annoys me is that people, especially Asians, don't see this simple fact.

What can you do to those you can't reason with? You use unreason.

For relaxing times... Scul..p..e.y...
Argh, still thinking about it! This is what our softball team looked like tonite.

Softball's over. We lost 25-1. The end of a season. It's not always about winning, but sometimes, it's really about how you play the game. Today our team looked like we weren't there. People were out, sick, or whatever. The team looked different, we had a guest player, and people were in new places. We played the greatest team in our league (and to be fair they'd be the best in other leagues too) but it was ugly. Standing in the outfield and watching things go from fair to worse, then to failure is humbling. We could have done better, and we've done better. That said, I can safely say about their pitcher, who's pretty decent. I own you. It's not about personal stats, but I went 4-5 on Ed this season. I actually flew out in my first at bat. The swing was so easy, I put nothing into it thinking it was going to drop, but the ball was hard as a rock, and it flew pretty far into center. The next at bat, another hit. Yes, I own you.

Community Council meeting
I went to this tonite. Interesting times. It's like how you might think it is in a movie. People sitting (not a lot) and a council who does the talking and trying to be official. It's a funny sight. Of course a woman is there interjecting comments a lot. Much of what the public says goes heard, but not acted upon. It's sort of weird. A Trader Joe's is coming to our area, that's big news, and I learned about it there. Traffic is going to get messed up more on Olympic, and where the heck is Tijuana restaurant going to move to? I'm not a fan since they use LARD in everything, but they are quite popular. I'm excited about Trader Joe's, hope it works out for the best. Meanwhile, I'll eventually get into why I was there. But I might go back, it's sort of fun.

Bong Soo Han RIP I knew this man, he truly was a master.

Third post with no pictures. A record. I'm testing your reading. gr/eats makes a tofu burger. I've had it and helped developed it, but honestly I always felt like it wasn't finished. I was going to remove it from the menu. I'm please to say, it's pretty damn good now and I think I'll get it again. It's fun to revisit old items. I haven't had a few of the dishes in a while, I think I'll try them. BUT! I wish I could try them without the kitchen crew knowing it's me who ordered it. Is it the same?!

Today was customer service day. No, not me doing the service, but me getting "serviced." Sounds lurid, but it's not. I called Verizon, because our DSL wasn't working right. Typical problem.

1) I call Verizon Business and go through their phone system. The person says that our phone number doesn't show up on their system. We are a Verizon customer, even though I'm at GR1 and we're a business.
2) I call the Verizon number, and they say that we're not a business customer. I tell them, we are a business, and our conversation goes no where. They have a hard time understanding and repeating our phone number. I'd say, we're at 310 478 1819. Then they'd repeat "310 478 1998?" I'd repeat it, then they say "301 478 1819." I correct them, then the person says, "no, I didn't say that." They transfer me to a tech guy. The tech guy must have been in India. He couldn't figure out how to spell my name. That took 2 tries and he eventually says that he can't help me. Our account is under a different name and the addresses I gave them don't match the account. BS.
3) I call the Verizon number again, this time, I get a smarter guy who says you're definitely business. So he transfers me to a tech guy. This tech guy is a bit smarter and says, our modem is broken, just ask the service people for a new one. That simple? So then I get tranfered and the person says, oh, you're a business customer. I get tranfered, and then they say, oh you're not a business customer. So then I'm back to the regular Verizon, then a smart guy tells me that we're a business customer, but our DSL isn't a business DSL, and he takes care of us. Sort of. Now we don't have service for 5 days while we wait for a new modem, new service, new everything.

There's more steps in between. I looked at my notes and had 5 different phone numbers, and I know I dialed each of the five. Can you believe it?

So now the rant: There's people out there who are customer service people. Don't they know that we (the customer) is the reason why they even have a job? (maybe not, read on). This sounds mean or cruel, but let's add more to it. This is the phone company. I am a customer of the phone company. Each bad service example meant another tranfer to another employee. It took at least 5 maybe 10 to help me. So I'm one customer, and there's 10 people helping me. Something is wrong. What's up with the untalented customer service people? Why can't they help? Before you think I'm a jerk, read on. So, think of it this way, the customer service people all have phone service. So that means they're like me... the "we" in the second sentence. They're basically service people who service themselves. So why won't they help themselves better? If they stopped to think of this, maybe:

1) they'd be out of a job. They suck, so they actually have a job. The more they need to tranfer a customer, the more people it takes to solve a problem.
2) the world would actually be slightly better if the customer service people took care of people like they'd take care of themselves. A basic thing that seldom get done.

Uglycon drawing contest winners. Take a look! It was a great contest. about 50 entries, miles of crayon lines and more. There were some great efforts, and some of the "ugliest" were the best!

Also in today's news, the iPhone. The news is bigger than God. The phone looks great, and I want one. That's all I can add. Haters stay back, it'll be better than your Nokia. It's not the first phone or the last. The same with the iTV. It's not the first TV application, and it's not the last, but of course, I'll take one of each. The real bad thing is that it makes my blackberry look and feel lame... How can that be...

But where's the 12" Mac Book Pro!? I emphasize the Pro! Where is it?

Your Yard From Boom to Bust #5

Buddhist Temple on Corinth and LaGrange. This yard is hall of fame material. Let's start with the tree. It looks like deer antler. The shape is great, the branches look fine, and it's a nice tree. This yard is groomed by the dream team of gardners. At least once a year, this yard is descended upon by at least a dozen Japanese American gardners. You see the trucks line up around the place, it's an amazing sight. Dudes in trees, on their hands and knees, not one leaf is left ugly. I missed it this year.

This tree needs a crutch. Years ago, a woman hopped the curb, and drove into this tree. It's injured. I once talked to one of the gardners who filled me in. He said the tree is dying, and the crutch keeps it up. Eventually, he said it will die from the injury. I'm sure the woman who hit it has no idea, and even if she did find out, she wouldn't care. I'm sure somehow, she thinks she was the victim.

As a kid, I used to throw the rocks in that yard. Imagine little kids (me), standing in there and running around. Can you hear the sound of the small pebbles crunching under your sneakers?

So in the foreground it's amazing, those bushes look like sea anenomes. Want to be the clown fish who wiggles around in it? The curved grass is perfect. See Shinran? See him? This yard is partially for him. The composition of the taller trees are perfect. It's as if the temple is in a forest.

I don't play golf but if I did, I'd T up here.

The Rock.
Close by the temple is this... It's like a bush with a rock pointing out. Is it a symbol of an island? Is it just a corner of a yard? Is it like a lighthouse near a drive way. I like this stone that jets up. The rest of the yard is just ok, but this rock. I give the yard a 6. The rock is a 9.

Trees and rocks.
This house did a great job on the trees and rocks together. It's as if they're bonsai being stunted in growth by rocks... I dunno. There's something about this that's relaxing. The fact that there's Dicondra grass makes this yard special. Someone takes care of this and is proud of it. I'd give this one a 8.5 It's a little messy from the winds we've been having. The grass isn't in it's best shape.

The Sahara.
Time to dig in. That's me on my bike... the shadow. I did this on purpose today. I dunno why. But this yard is either in progress, or they just gave up. It's as if it's abandoned, but it's not. The bushes look brown, the trees are a mess, and nothing is composed right. It's a mess. The dirt lawn is weird. And what are those things in the middle. Rocks? Are those supposed to be like the "Zen" rocks? Not. Also what's with the weird ridge, or "fault" in the dirt? Is that erosion? A 3. Even my yard has grass.

Junior Jungle.
This yard is just a yard. It's neither special or crappy, but it's messy. The tree on the right looks seriously unhappy. What tree's trunk almost goes horizontal? Ride em! There's weird round planters with weeds in them. The brick boundary doesn't do much, and see below.

A tree, straight the heck up, and more messy bushes behind it. I bet the owners couldn't name the plants they have in their yard or even how they got there... Hmm, can I do this with mine? Either way, this house is a 3.

This house is amazing. It's like a mirror image and it's two houses. See anything like this in your area? The one on the right has an american flag, and the one on the left has a chair in the porch. Both have weird green steps, which nearly make the duplex. I like the entry way, the woodwork, and the columns. I feel like the twins from the Simpsons should live here. The bushes and yard is as minimal as can be. I'm digging this. A 7.

I never noticed that there's a second ghost house. This is just a few blocks away. See the car port that's nearly overgrown? Down the car port, there's a small little house there! It's tiny. I guess it's the "garage." The yard here is intense, everything makes a canopy.

This is the front of the house, it faces east. But how did it have such bright lighting? Especially in the afternoon!? Look at that picket fence, the bushes are overgrown, there's no grass, the ground is crappy, and the house looks bad. I think it's boarded up.
See, the sun is behind, yet it's super bright. How's that possible?

Boom! It's like two suns. 1) it helps the yard overgrow itself. 2) it gives the house owner to have a reason to grow the canopy, since it's keeps a lot of the house in the shade. 3) good lighting all the time. 4) Extra heat! I think the same problem happened with the Disney Concert Hall. I wonder if they could get this place to do something to the windows. It's a weird circumstance.

This house has two trees. This one is a mess. What's up with the bark? It's molting or something! If I walked up, I could peel the bark off.

This tree is weird, it's as if there's no bark. It's nude, but it's weird, why the rock at the base?! The old tree and the young tree side by side. A 5.

This sign is awesome. We made it in (the list) and I know people don't read this anyway. Why 24 hours? If I parked there at 2am when everything is closed (they don't chain the driveway) why would they tow me? Also the $38 flat rate? What's that for? The towing is probably well over $150. Maybe $200. It's best to park where you're supposed to park, but this sign is a keeper.

Development. This is across the street from my house. What is that crane doing? It's a regular sized lot. Common people chill on the condo action! There's construction on both sides of my house across and the side. This morning at 7am a huge boom shook my house. It was probably the crane going erect.

The only thing I have to say is, when construction starts at 7am daily for a month and wakes me ass up, I'll bet the folks who move in will be the first to complain if I made noise at 7am or had music on after 10pm. They'll have no idea of the suffering the folks in the neighborhood sustained for them. Also I'll bet these dumbasses construction folks who park lame so only 1 car can fit instead of two will be the first to complain when I start parking bad on purpose.

Those are my shirts. T magazine from Australia is sort of like the Sneaker Freaker for T's. Nicole from downunder came by and took some pics. I took a quick look and I think that's 120 T's and it's not even all of them. Maybe it's half. Maybe.

On one side it's art, on the other side, it's "art". This is at GR2. I've mentioned the Sotel Gang before and they even give props to Stoner Park! Ok, time to paint this over. One person who saw it said, "they're still around?" Evidently yes, they even tagged the tree in front of my house.

Preview: The winners of the Uglycon Draw Babo competition... I'll get the names tomorrow and who won what!

James Kim's father wrote this column in The Washington Post. It's an amazing series of lessons that are heartbreaking, but also makes sense. Read this if you followed the Kim story. It's an end and a beginning.

Sculpey night with no Sculpey pics. Is there? We ate at a thai place. I forgot the name... what was it called? Argh.

A familiar pose. Souther did this once before. He is freaked out on fish. Look at his eyes. Saelee is busy looking posed. Her hair looks totally made up for some reason.

I saw a face in the dessert. I swear it was there. There was a nose and two shiny dots on the left... I darked the spots.. No one saw this but me. I'm astounded. That's black rice and taro and the white is coconut milk.

A keeper, but we left it.

That's Caroline Hwang on ichat. That's me taking a pic of the screen, look at her trying to escape! She came back soon after and fixed her hair.

The billboard says, "a little better" and the construction is hidden from the streets with a huge vinyl wall of grass. I like the sentiment. This is on Olympic and Robertson. Thinking about this. That's what I would say at first, but is it a little better? or actually worse?

Let this one load up, but our talk from the Walker Art Center is now online. It runs as a quicktime, and it's slow, but if you want to see it, there it is. I had no idea they even recorded it! Hope we didn't talk too much sh*t.

I like objects that fall from the sky. This person got a nice looking rock.

Whoa, these are the heads who'd been distributing giant robot for the last while. Luckily, they struck a partnership fairly recently and we're taken care of, but over all this is bad news. I hope I didn't pay for my membership, and if you did, that sucks. Again, it's an example of us working with the nice small people and maybe getting screwed by them. This actually blows.


Dear IPA members,

We are very sorry to report that the Independent Press Association has ceased operations, effective immediately. We have taken this action because we have been unable to raise the funds necessary to continue ongoing operations and to resolve our debt to Indy Press Newsstand Services publishers. Ultimately, we were unable to overcome the toll of the ongoing deficits incurred by the newsstand operation. Because of this, the IPA board voted to shut down operations in order to liquidate the assets of the organization and distribute the resulting funds fairly to all of IPA's creditors.

While very painful, we believe that this step is in the best interests of Indy Press publishers and our other creditors, and therefore is in keeping with the mission of the IPA. Indy Press publishers who are owed money by the IPA should be contacted shortly by the firm to whom the IPA has assigned its assets. If you would like more information about this process, please contact the assignee, Uecker & Associates, at suecker@ueckerassoc.com.

In 2006, we struck a strategic partnership with Disticor Newsstand Services to assume responsibility for distributing Indy Press Newsstand titles. Fortunately, publishers' distribution agreements will survive the shut-down of the IPA, so independent publishers should continue to have a committed partner in Disticor to support their ongoing distribution efforts. Disticor expects to assume responsibility for marketing Indy Press titles, and Disticor customer service representatives should be in touch with Indy Press publishers soon regarding their marketing and distribution plans.

Starting in fall 2006, the IPA began exploring options for three of the organization's charitable programs: The IPA New York Grassroots Media Project; the George Washington Williams Fellowship; and the Campus Journalism Project. IPA NY staff and volunteers are in the process of a transition toward establishing that program as an independent nonprofit organization with the same mission of serving New York City's ethnic and community press. IPA staffers have also been working on relaunching the George Washington Williams Fellowship and Campus Journalism Project under a separate, independent umbrella. We are hopeful that both these efforts will succeed, and encourage you to support them in whatever way you can.

In 2001, IPA entered a very harsh newsstand market and attempted for five years to provide an effective alternative for independent publishers to get the kind of distribution services commonly enjoyed by large, mainstream magazines. Despite our best efforts, we were unable to make it work in such a difficult climate.

The board is extremely sad that the IPA has had to close shop and that the organization can no longer play its important role in the independent press sector. But we have enormous faith in the power of independent ideas and are confident that independent publishers will continue to publish, survive, and even thrive as long as there are citizens who care about freedom of speech and thought.

With very best wishes for the future,

IPA Board of Directors

No Alibi. Uglydoll article in time magazine. I have some quotes in there and it shows their kick-ass-ness. Time magazine!

I've been doing job interviews for a server position at gr/eats, and the weirdest thing about it, is how many no shows there are. We set up an appointment, date and time, and poof, no one shows. No phone call to follow up or anything. I wonder if this is common in food service-land. Are people that flakey? Don't these people need jobs or something? I know there's great people out there too, but having 2 out of 5 flake out seems to be bad odds. I was talking to Don, the fella who owns Satsuma imports, and he goes on about how bad the younger employee/work force is today and how it's getting worse and worse. Is this real?

Last bit on the New Years Day

Things turn into gambling. This is when I make my exit. Card games can go late into the night. Everyone thinks they're Johnny Chan. Sunglasses and visors start coming out. Jolly smiles turn into game faces. Isn't it weird how the poker chips in the foreground look like sushi rolls? I suppose after eating, and watching a bowl game or two, what's left? Scrabble isn't really favored, and Asians dig gambling.

Family, that includes dogs. That's Hanako, our old Shiba in the background right. She's a nice dog, getting up there in age, but is a family pet. Even on holidays, the dogs act like it's just a regular day but get more attention.

Mochi, baked, slightly crispy, yet gooey is the special snack later in the night. You see the regular packs of mochi at some markets but you have no idea what to do with them. Here's something really simple. But it in your oven. High heat for a few minutes. They'll start to bubble and deform, and when they're soft all the way through you know they're ready.

Two tastes, kinako on the top, it's soybean powder and sugar. The bottom is soy sauce and sugar. I prefer the latter along with some seaweed.

Family member dog #2, that's Musashi showing some leaps after he chases a ball over the fence. See the ball in his mouth?

Happy New Year! In a lot of Japanese culture, it's not about Christmas. It's about the New Year. It's January 1st. We're not Christian, so it's a secular day, but New Years is for anyone. A day for family. Ok food time...

Food is a big deal, and this is typical greatness. My mom cooks well, and some of the guests bring their own concoctions. Amazing display, and I can't imagine how this can go on. We're all lazier, busier, and less of us learn or take the time to cook. So with that, the efforts of family get recognition. I'm sure your family has special occasions when they bring out their best. For me, it's New Years Day.

Chicken? Holy smokes, these were great. No ranch dressing needed.

This is lotus root with miso, lightly breaded and fried. Tasty.

Futomaki - the typical, but a standard. It's like white on rice.

Thin layer of beef covering gobo (burdock root) and green beans.

Fish cake, egg, and seaweed. Good with rice and it makes people smile.

Chirashi - a standard.

Veggies and some fishcake also a standard.

sashimi and some vegetables - a must have. The tuna was especially good.

Whoa, mango and sticky rice. How did that get in there? My cousin and his wife owns BaiYook in San Diego. It's a great Thai restaurant in the Hillcrest area. This is a great way to end it all. There were plenty of other dishes, soup with mochi (ozoni), black beans (sweet), tempura, crab cake, sunomono, and honestly so much more that didn't fit on the table.

Aside from the big meal, the day begins and ends with the Buddhist altar. It'll be there tomorrow, it was there yesterday, and it'll be there long after I'm around, and it was there long before I was here. See the pics on the left? The small one right neat the orange is my aunt, the cut off photo above her is my grandfather, there's one cut off on the left and that would be my grandmother. See inside the altar? There's an Almond Joy sitting on a little pedestal. My aunt liked to eat those and that's why it's in there.

Jon's be the culprit who'd put an Almond Joy in there for his mom.

Crotch shot. These are the City of Darkness PJs... From GOD Goods of Desire in Hong Kong, you can wear the long gone building.


I look like this when I sleep

My parent's house to yours. This is just a couple of pictures of osechi. That's what the big New Years meal is called. More food porn later. My mom cooks as good as it can get. Probably like many of yours.

These are eggrolls. I guess finger foods are easy for bigger groups. It's interesting what you can put into an egg roll, it's like leftovers chopped finely. It's weird, but sort of cool. Eggrolls are greatly underrated.

The best day at Safe N Save Market on Sawtelle. Dec 31st. It's the busiest day of the year there, I think, and it's when all the troops are working.

Gregs gets the bags ready, it's a tough task, since those things are heavy. His greaser style hair sans hairnet is in place. The chops are groomed. He's ready for the old ladies who are cooking up a storm.

Two pieces of mochi and the orange head. This is a plastic coated version. Strange how this is something people buy. Inside there's mochi, and you eat that later for good luck. Mochi is important for New Years. Just don't choke on it, people do this annually in Japan. I feel bad for the families who served up the mochi in the soup.


A lot of mochi is gone! Sold to families in the area. I bet each family will have a nice day. Let's hope for that.

So much fish goes out for sashimi, they can't slice it for you. But "hint" get a knife and slice it. It's not that tough. That's how busy it is at the S & S on New Years Eve. I told you in the best day of the year there.