Reunited and it feels so okay

So the big weekend came and left, and not much seems to have changed. I think I mentioned that I had two 20-year high-school reunion engagements: the "anti-reunion" at someone's house and the $83 one at a hotel.

The former took place in a friend's backyard which overlooked Yorba Linda. Massive barbecue. There were probably 10 classmates, most of whom had a spouse and kids present. No huge surprises, except that everyone is still nice and a couple of them live nearby. I should see them more often than every 10 or 20 years.

The latter was way less personal but perhaps more dishworthy because it was so much more competitive. Well, people did try to bring decent dishes to the potluck, but that's not the same as lacquering on the hairspray, squeezing into a cocktail dresses, or putting on that suit that's a little too small. We got there an hour late, just when the salad was served. There was an emcee who directed the crowd through things like "who has been married the longest" and "who has the most kids" but we didn't really listen.

Because we were among the very last arrivals, Greg and Kelly and Wendy and I sat on either side of another couple. The classmate was someone that we didn't know well but wound up being an interesting dude. Makes videogames for LucasFilm, owns three Shiba Inu, and goes to Comic-Con. Also super goth and just married to another goth. I couldn't tell you who had longer hair, blacker hair, whiter skin, or more piercings. I love goth couples, and they were so friendly and cool, too.

It was funny that on my other side of Wendy and me were three middle-of-the-road women who live in South Orange County beach towns. One of them was doing the home-schooling thing. Totally opposite lifestyle. Wendy said it was good we sat where we did because they probably wouldn't have made much conversation with the couple in black.

Afterwards, we attempted to mingle and maybe six or seven people remembered us and said hi. Everyone seemed very successful and very tanned. Kelly suggested that Greg and I switch badges. We did, and no one noticed the difference.

Yes, we caught up with a few people here and there, but the best part came when Greg and I were catching up with a punk rock dude who had a locker near us. Wendy and Kelly were sitting ducks, on their own with hand-written nametags, when two guys instigated a conversation like this:

"Wendy and Kelly, remember us?"

"No, we didn't go to Canyon."

"Oh, you must be a different Wendy and Kelly than the ones we went to school with. But you should come up to our room for a party. We're in 1012."

Or something like that. The dudes were older, gross looking, and super sleazy, and I don't think they were students. But you have to admire their guts. I wonder if they got any that night? Maybe from the Santa Ana class of 66, which was having a Hawaii-themed reunion?

Another interesting part of the night was getting a reunion zine where people submitted their life stories since Canyon. Most were straight, saccharine, and whatever. A few were actually cool. And then there was a tragic one or two. During dinner, Greg and Kelly were flipping through it and laughing their heads off until Wendy and I reminded them that the contributor could be standing right behind them! I feel bad for being so amused by the book but not contributing to it. The actual specimen is as low-tech and uncool as you can get, yet totally gripping.

In the end, I'm glad we went to both events: two very different sides of the same school.


Irvine Marriott, July 29, 2006

Pointe Blank

I don't have my iPod with me, but the high-school reunion playlist I've come up with is looking something like this:

X - Nausea (live in San Diego, 1982)
Iggy Pop - Repo Man Theme (with the Blondie band on backups)
The Weirdos - Life of Crime
Ramones - I Remember You (funny, huh?)
Generation X - Gimme the Truth (John Lennon cover, I think)
The Clash - Gates of the West
Billy Bragg - A New England
The Church - The Unguarded Moment
The Lambrettas - Da-a-ance
The Three O'Clock - Sorry (Easybeats cover)
The Jam - Absolute Beginners (live at the BBC)
Buzzcocks - ESP
David Bowie - Starman (live at the BBC)
Johnny Thunders - You Can't Wrap Your Arms Around a Memory (live in Tokyo, also funny, I think)
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Suspect Device (SLF cover)
Snuff - Do Nothing (Specials cover)
Jawbreaker - With or Without U2 (U2/Misfits/Vapors cover)

You probably notice a couple shifts. It goes from dirtier, punker stuff to a cleaner, mod sound before getting back into punk and then proto-punks Bowie and Thunders. Then there are later bands covering songs from my high school era. Well, Ted Leo is current. Snuff and Jawbreaker are from the '90s and are ancient history.

I'm not sure about the transition from Billy Bragg to Lambrettas. Also, Lambrettas and the Three O'Clock back-to-back might be too much.

Of the tracks before Ted Leo, only one song was recorded after I graduated. Yeah, I cheated. Do you know which one was recorded after 1986?

No room for doom/gloom, newro, or second-wave ska. Someone else will have Joy Division, Siouxise, Bauhaus, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, the Specials, Madness, etc.

Man, I'm totally aging myself with this posts. But at least I'm in good company, judging from this movie here:


That soundtrack pretty matches up with my high school experience... Hope I don't see Benny "The Jet" tomorrow...

I am the DJ

Did I mention that there is an "anti-reunion" going on the same day as the official high school reunion? A bunch of classmates are doing their own thing because they figure the official one will be lame. Maybe, but I'm curious about the "regular" people. If anything, there will be more chance for weird shit and disasters to happen with the ones I don't really know. Drunkenness, stupidity, or whatever is less likely to happen in the house of someone with just a handful of friends.



So Greg and I are doing both. For the smaller one, I was asked to bring a mix CD or something of '80s music. Hm...

There are two approaches:

1. Pick the stuff I actually saw and listened to back then, not just the stuff that stands up to the test of time like Clash, Jam, Bowie, and Mary Chain, but also Specimen, Toy Dolls, and Flesh for Lulu.

2. Have selective memory and cut out the crud, which is probably the more entertaining stuff. OMD's "Locomotion"? Stephen Duffy's "Kiss Me"?

In the end, I'll be limited to what I have on CD that I can put on iTunes. I don't have the time or budget to seek out and pay for embarrassing old songs. I'll try to post a list later. Any suggestions?

Gametime

Tonight the GR softball team plays its final game of the season. You'd think I'd be used to playing these things by now, but I still get stressed out. Seriously, I worry all day about fucking up and letting the team down.

This time more than ever, for a couple reasons:

1. The last two games I played, we got beat badly. When I was away in San Diego last week, we crushed the competition. Mercy-ruled them, even.

2. We're playing against a pitcher that no one likes--including his own team. He's kind of a dick, and is uncool to his own teammates as well as the opposition. He accused me of cheating when we played them the first round! Like I would doctor a ball in slow-pitch softball!

Anyway, I'm drinking an ice coffee and about to move onto a bowl of cereal to power me through the night. (Last game was during mag deadlines, and I was totally tired, hungry, dehydrated, and didn't have water--was totally out of jizz.)

If we win, we'll end the season with an exclamation point, grab second place with authority, and look forward to the summer tournament. We might even eat at somewhere like Roscoe's. If we lose, everyone will be bummed and I'll go home and do laundry.

Such are the stakes of the lowest level of parks & recs sports.

Class reunion

Last time I went to a class reunion, my brother Greg and I had no interest in going. I dragged him along anyway, and it kind of sucked. We pretty much kept to ourselves. Once in a while someone would say, "It's the Wong brothers!" When someone would ask what we were up to, we bullshitted, like, "Oh, I'm an oil-rig firefighter" or "I have a couple kids in a trailer or Ojai." It was a lot like we were students again... We split early, and went to a Peechees show at Jabberjaw. The show was great. We must have seen 20-25 friends there, including the band, which rocked like hell. At the end of the night, we were glad we went to the reunion because it made us realize that our lives definitely did not peak out in high school, and that life was indeed better than ever.

This weekend, I convinced Greg to go with me again. This time, we're bringing spouses. Has anything else changed? More importantly, what does one wear to such a thing?

Monsterism and more

Things are looking good for GR43... It's not gonna hit the stands for a couple weeks, so I'll put off posting the cover for a bit. Don't want everyone bragging like Dolemite when it finally comes out.


"I was through with it before you knew what to do with it."


When I dropped off the cover proofs at the GR store, I also delivered Martin Cendreda's contribution to this weekend's Tree Show II at GRSF. It's a great piece, and it was nice to talk to him for a bit since I didn't see him at all during Comic-Con. It was just too crazy.

Pete Fowler is going to be at GR2 later today. I'm a big fan of his Monsterism work, and I'm even wearing a SFA shirt with his art on it. If I have him sign some SFA DVDs, is that too much geeking out?

Holy crud, I have a high school reunion this weekend. Oddly, I'm curious enough about the whole thing that I RSVPed. I'm not really close to anyone from back then except my brother, and he is not remotely interested. I don't want to go without him, but I don't want to be a dick and force him to go, either. Gotta figure this out.

GR43

We saw proofs of the magazine today. Considering the hectic week of production, there weren't many errors. One misspelling of someone's name, a missed byline, and a photo that was greyscale instead of CMYK. There were some super minor things that we let go. Maybe you'll notice, but most people won't.

Want a sneak preview? Here's a drawing by Manila artist Louie Cordero... Manuel Ocampo interviewed him for this issue, continuing our three-issue run of articles about new art in the Philippines.



Tomorrow we get cover proofs. Perhaps I'll post that after we check it out. Don't want to jinx anything, you know.

One more SDCC post

The other day I was helping someone at the table and some goth-looking kids got his autograph and took his picture. Didn't recognize him, but he seemed like a nice guy. He said his name is Gerard. Just looked him up and it seems that he sings for My Chemical Romance. Are they good?

No other star sightings, but there were some Con regulars like Flaming Carrot creator Bob Burdon. Super decent guy. Somehow, he remembers us every year! Another person we always see is underground comix guy Dennis Worden. I'll get around to reading their respective Gumby and Stickboy publications eventually.

Crap!

I took Beverly this morning because I left for the GR office early and didn't want to deal with the freeway... Then I rear-ended someone who decided to make a left! No left turn lane.

At least the guy was in this massive Honda Pilot so he wasn't hurt. Well, good for him. Also, his vehicle is barely scratched, while the front of my car looks like crap. I'm depressed.

I wore braces as a kid to get rid of my overbite and got contacts so I don't walk around with thick glasses. Man, I don't want to be a bad Asian driver after all that.

On the brighter side, I'm looking at proofs of the new mag and the last page of content just arrived.

Saturday at Comic-Con

Man, my feet are tired. I was at the booth from 8:00 to 7:30 tonight, and didn't sit on a chair or pee the entire duration. Kind of tough, but really fun. Especially with Greg and Eric all day, and Wendy showing up later on. (Yeah, I guess the girls were cool to work with too...)

No shopping, no panels, or anything but lots of appearances by faces from the past. Friends I used to work with, someone I went to high school with... Crazy. It was pretty busy all day.

Costumes were interesting. Lot of furverts and Stormtroopers. Anime fans. Goths and metal dudes/chicks. No more Star Wars uniforms. What's up with that? I guess it's a sign of the times.

Right now Michell, Diana, Rosanna, and Eric are partying at the beach. I had Sipz vegetarian Chinese food and ice cream with a bunch of friends at Greg, Kelly, and Saoirse's backyard. It's super nice out under the stars. That's where I am right now.

Tomorrow should be more mellow. Less costumes. More locals, as visitors head home. Maybe I'll even check out some tables: Drawn & Quarterly, Fantagraphics, Last Gasp, Buenaventura, Sparkplug, Lost Dog...

Then it's time to pack up. That's another post.

Friday

Another day at Comic-Con. Lots of stuff going on, but the biggest event was probably the Snakes on a Plane event with Samuel L. Jackson in attendance. I heard it was great, and that there was also giant python there.

I missed it and everything else because I was at the GR table. The nice thing is that people come to the GR table... Saw tons of friends including Aaron and Ann from NYC (not a couple, just from the same city), GR boards Cesar, high school friend Dave, the son of my old carpool friend, and tons of Con regulars!

I left the table once to pee and made the mistake of going to one of the restrooms in the lobby. It was super humid and sour, probably due to the costumes and fan wardrobe of jeans and black T-shirt even on a 100-degree day. My hot tip is to go to the restrooms in back.

Resting up tonight to get up early and go surfing before the show. See you on the north side of the Scipps Pier tomorrow morning (6:00-ish) or at the Con. It'll be cool because Wendy will be there and so will Eric, my brother Greg, and his wife Kelly!

Preview night

Ribet, ribet
I can’t hold it
Last toilet I had, I already sold it.
In the rain or in the snow
I’ve got the funky flow
But, now I really gotta go.
The toilet over there
Will bring you luck
So give, I’ve got no time to spare.

I thought I was going to die on the way to the Con tonight. Not crazy drivers in Stormtrooper masks or cars made up to resemble Transformers, but a tummy full of Vietnamese coffee after three hours on the road. I had to pee so bad I could taste it. I felt like Parappa the Rapper.

By the time I got a mile from the SD Convention Center, it was stop and go. Forget that. The wind was giving me chills and I didn't know if I could get out without making a mess. I was seriously considering peeing in a cup.

So I pulled off Front St., went down Market to Seventh and parked in one of those big ole lots. Ran into a tacqueria and made a stream for like four minutes...

Ahhhh...

Rolling down Fifth St. with a skateboard loaded with boxes was easy after that. I didn't make it the Con until 6:30. The booth was formed but not done. We go in tomorrow to organize it and make it pretty.

Saw lots of comics friends already: James Kolchalka, Jeffrey Brown, David and Sun-Min, Ron Lim and his bro.... And my Comic-Con buddies Mike and Jeff! If you come by on Saturday or Sunday, you might meet my brother Greg, too!

I gotta believe... Comic-Con is going to be awesome.

Burning, man

Just finished writing GR43's launch and going over things one more time–cover text, page numbers in the TOC, headlines, etc. This issue was really hairy with the late-coming ads (a good thing), some writers who came through at the last second (or not), and Comic-Con going on at the same time.

Last night was harsh. Wendy and Pryor worked past 3:00 a.m. and Eric and I were here until after 4:00. But I think this issue is worth it. I always do.

Now I'm burning a CD of hi-res PDFs to send to our printer in Manitoba.

Meanwhile, I'm listening to Jonesy's Jukebox. He's going nuts with the echo box and sci-fi song themes. He already played "Space Oddity." Wonder if he knows "Space Christmas" by Shonen Knife or "Chewbacca" by Supernova?

Speaking of the Costa Mesa sci-fi rockers, what's up with the TV show ripping of their name? They can't get away with that, can they?

Okay, the disc is ready. Time to pack up the car, take the CD to FedEx, pick up GR gear for SD, and hit the road. I don't have an iPod connecter to my car, by my shuffler has the following in each slot:

1 - Fugazi Live Series (I think Switzerland, 1999)1
2 - Fugazi Live Series (I think Switzerland, 1999)2
3 - Sonic Youth, Rather Ripped
4 - The 'Tone
5 - J Church
6 - maybe Led Zeppelin. I haven't decided yet.

Looking forward to getting sandwiches at Cali. See you at the Con!

Crunchtime

Uh oh. GR43 is still in the works and the San Diego Comic-Con is coming up on Wednesday. It's all gonna be great, but it is crunchtime to say the least.

Have to admit, it's a little stressful. Must... think... of... something... soothing.



Ah, that's better. Now back to work.

Brazil

At home I have no food and no Internet. So here I am at the local coffee place, sitting at a little table along with other people, all on our own, typing away. It's a lot like that Terry Gilliam movie.

It's funny because you'd think that all us people getting out of our houses, we'd be talking about train bombings or commiserating about the Dodgers' collapse last night or whatever. Instead, we're all in our own worlds.

The coffee and bagel were okay for 3 bucks, I guess. I think the help is kind of rude and slow, though. Look forward to leaving hipsterville when rush hour ends and getting to the GR office.

Waiting room

Sorry for the lag in posting. We've been working hard on GR43. The idea was for the mag to go to press early this week, but that didn't happen. The pieces are finally coming together, though, and I can't wait to see it on the newsstands.

In the meantime, this has also been kicking my ass. I got the second volume somewhat recently, and it's shockingly great. How could I have let those guys out of my rotation for so long?

Slow jamming with Whysall Lane

What's the best makeout music? Spandau Ballet? Sade? Isaac Hayes? Nope, it's Whysall Lane. (Evidence photos taken at the Echo in Silver Lake on June 12, 2006.)

Milky

This is how it goes: I find this awesome book--about something I'm really into with amazing design that's super hard to find. I show it to Eric. I might even buy a copy for him. Then before you know it, he's got the GR store carrying it and selling it for less money than what I paid.

Milkway Image, Beyond Imagination is my latest book. It celebrates 10 years of filmmaking by Wai Ka-fai and Johnnie To, two Hong Kong's best. At the moment, I think they make the best gangster films in the world. Election 2 just came out, and I'm waiting for my imported DVD to show up in the mail.

But back to the book, it's got essays, synopses, and photos galore, This is no fan book. It's got lengthy, smart interviews with the directors, critics, and actors including Simon Yam, Andy Lau, and Lau Ching-Wan, among others. No Tony Leung? Oh well.

Here's the cover:

Sooyoung Park

My friend Sooyoung Park has been in Los Angeles for the last few days. No reason. Just because it's a long weekend and he felt like getting away from S.F.

When I first met Sooyoung, it was before Giant Robot. His band was supporting the Fluid and the Poster Children at club called Bogart's in Long Beach. It was the first time I saw Seam, and they blew me away. During the show, Sooyoung mentioned that the group needed a place to crash, prefably somewhere with a swimming pool. I didn't have a pool, but I lived alone and had a floor they could sleep on. A friendship was born.

Seam got bigger and even better, but the band kept staying at my place whenever they made it out from Chicago. Meanwhile, I started doing GR with Eric. Interestingly, Seam became THE Asian-American group. Seam even put together a tour with Asian-American bands, including J Church, Versus, Skanking Pickle, and a bunch of Chicago groups! Sooyoung helped form an Asian-Am film festival in Chicago, but eventually stopped doing that as well as the band.

The next few times I saw Sooyoung, there was no Seam. It was just hanging out. Once stayed at my place for a week or so during a stopovers to and from Korea. I can't remember. Then when my brother got married, I took him to Chicago in lieu of giving him a bachelor party. We stayed with Sooyoung. The last time I saw Sooyoung was a couple years ago when I crashed his wedding reception in Chinatown.

This time was like that. We didn't meet at rock clubs or film festival circumstances. Just had lunch at some of my favorite restaurants: gr/eats and Happy Family. That's how it goes when dudes get older...


(Sooyoung still plays in a band, but it's called ee. Look for the band's new release this fall...)

At the movies

We at GR love film festivals, and every now and then we get to introduce a program. This afternoon I was there for a screening of Voice at the Regent in Westwood. Usually I say how GR is magazine that covers all aspects of Asian and Asian-Am culture, including film. Then I thank them for supporting indie, imported, or just plain cool cinema. That's pretty much how it went at the L.A. Film Festival today.

I was planning on giving the intro and then ducking out to work on the mag deadline, but the smell of popcorn was too much for me. I had a small bag, some Cherry Coke, and Korean horror for lunch.


The movie? It was pretty good. Vengeful ghosts, lesbian schoolgirls, conversations with the dead, and possession. But as is often the case in Asian horror, it's done in a tasteful, matter-of-fact way--not titillating or exploitative all. Sure, the ending is confusing as hell, but that's nothing that a Hollywood remake can't redo. That would also take care of the titillation and exploitation issues as well.

Happy Fourth!