Yo La Bright Eyes

Last night I saw perhaps the most unassuming band ever on one of the biggest stages in the world. But Yo La Tengo pulled it off. The way the trio switches vocals, instruments, and even genres can be disarming, but everything came together in the final song, which seemed to last like 20 minutes. No, they didn't play the oldies like their NPR albums, but they did that Jesus and Mary Chain song.


The headliner was Bright Eyes. The dude/group from Omaha filled the stage with friends from the L.A. Philharmonic. It was pretty impressive. The Phil had specific music written for the occasion, jumping in to add texture, depth, and new dimensions to songs instead of just playing along. We were pretty far away, but it seemed like the band was energized by the situation. It's one thing to turn up the amps in a rock club; it's totally something else to have a living, breathing organism like an orchestra at your back.

-----

It was nice to break out of the office to be under the stars for one night. During certain songs, I even forgot out the deadline. Now we're back in the office on the home stretch. Anyone want to come by and help copy-edit one more time? Anyone want have cookies they want to get rid of?

Old is new

During crunchtime, we've had friends come in to help. Kevin just moved to L.A. and came to the office for the first time, but has been on the GR Lounge forever. Check out his Bill Bear badge from way back.


I haven't seen Erica since Wendy and I got married last summer. She's a long-time reader, and was glad to help during downtiime on a business trip. She's an even longer-time friend of Wendy's. They've known each other since high school.


Last year's intern Mimi is back from her summer abroad in China. She brought blind-box Gundams for us from Hong Kong, and got her back in the rotation.

Lots of combinations of old and new. Speaking of which, what's up with all these new bands that sound like old bands?

Sea Wolf = The Church
Shout Out Louds = The Cure
Silversun Pickups = Smashing Pumpkins
VHS or Beta = Big Country

There are more, but that's another post.

Lust Caution

Last night I attended a screening of the new Ang Lee film, Lust Caution, and everything you've heard about it is true.

Yes, Tony Leung plays an older, villainous character in Japan-occupied China. At first the role is not central, but it grows as as Tang Wei's character (who endears herself to him with the goal of assassination) gets closer to him. I've seen dozens of movies starring Leung, and he's been on a roll for the last few years. It's shocking how the actor can come off as totally different in each of his films, not relying on props, makeup, or other gimmicks but expressions, attitude, and timing. Newcomer Tang proves to be a worthy counterpart to Leung in her acting debut as well.

Yes, the movie is NC-17. Tang Wei and Tony Leung really go at it. I read that the Chinese version will have 7 minutes of sex cut out of it--perhaps some bloody knife-stabbing action as well--but not so in the U.S. Directer Ang Lee is a badass who can do what he wants. It's unheard of to release a movie that's more than 2 1/2 hours and NC-17, but Lee can do it because he's a respected artist who has proven that he can get audiences to watch movies that they wouldn't see otherwise.

Yes, the movie is excellent. Lust Caution has epic production value, a compelling script, a memorable cast, and perfect execution. It's not the balls-out nudity that will be remembered, but the intense storytelling, gorgeous cinematography, and complicated themes regarding men and women, politics and friendship, and reality and acting--or perhaps truth and fiction.

Go see this film. It opens in limited release tomorrow.

Light at the end of the tunnel

I haven't been posting much because we're on deadline for GR50. We don't pound our chests or pat our asses as much as you might think we might in it, but the mag is going to be special. Can't wait for you to see it.

When the mag finally does go to press, I have this to look forward to. Damon & Naomi are going on tour with Boris. And Kurihara is playing guitar in both sets. There may never be a traveling GR-palooza, but this is pretty close since all three points of the triangle have been featured in the mag.

Curiouser and curiouser

After having Indian food for dinner tonight, I needed something sweet. All the Beard Papa was gone, so I dug into our stash of Altoids to see if there was a flavor that might do. Holy moly! What do you know about Altoids Dark Chocolate Dipped Mints?

I always think of having one or two mints after a meal, but these ones beg to be eaten like M&Ms. It's like mint-chocolate-chip ice cream in a tin. Technology is amazing. What's next?

One love

Not long ago, I posted this picture of Cherine Anderson with dub legends Sly and Robbie at the Hollywood Bowl. The show was great (Thanks again, Julia) and so was the singer. I had never seen the dancehall singer perform, was blown away, and gushed about her on the blog entry.

Check out what I got in the mail today!

Change My Face, Change My Race

I'm going to appear briefly on tomorrow's Dr. Phil show. Here's what the site has to say about the episode:

Thursday - September 20, 2007

Change My Face, Change My Race

Most everyone has thought about removing imperfections -- a nip here, a tuck there. But some people want plastic surgery to erase their ethnic identity! First up is James. He says he doesn’t want to change anything about himself because Asians are intellectually superior, and women should obey men. His wife, Roseanna, says he’s a controlling racist who demeans women, and she says she needs help before he corrupts their 11-year-old son. James says he’s ready to serve Roseanna her walking papers if she doesn’t become more obedient. Is James a controlling bigot or simply misunderstood? Then, Dr. Phil explores the pros and cons of eyelid surgery -- one of the most common cosmetic procedures for Asian women … and one of the most controversial! He talks to a woman who had a fold added to her upper eyelid, a plastic surgeon who performs these procedures and two guests who believe the surgery erases Asian heritage. Plus, Brad says he hates his nose, and he wants plastic surgery to look less Italian. His mother, Debbie, says she loves the way he looks -- big schnoz and all! Brad’s surgery is only a month away. Can Debbie convince him he's perfect just the way he is before he goes under the knife?

One rides for free

No cash, grass, or ass--I got a free ride on the bus this morning because the coin counter was busted. For the rest of you cheapskates out there, that was MTA line 704.

Speaking of free service, GR50 is coming together. If any of you want to come in and help us copyedit, proofread, fact check, etc., this is the time. No, we don't pay but there may be some snacks in it for you. Right now there are two Beard Papa cream puffs in the fridge. I'm not kidding.

For the scoop, send email to martin[at]giantrobot.com.

On Sawtelle

Whenever the GR softball team has won a trophy, I always let the players know that they can take it out for a day. Kind of like the Stanley Cup. Today, Chi was the first to come by the GR office and check it out. Will he strap it into the passenger's seat at the test track or go to the shooting range with it? It's up to him, but I hope it doesn't wind up at a knife show. It's not really metal and it won't put up a fight against any blades.

Chi was driving around some out-of-towner from New Jersey who were in town for my brother-in-law's wedding. We showed them Sawtelle, where I bought them some Beard Papa cream puffs and then bought myself this piece of art.


I'm on a tight budget but I couldn't help it. I think the pieces will go online tomorrow, and you can buy the remainder of the pieces. Any Macauley Culkin fans out there? Make sure you've got broadband at noon.

Now I'm back at the office. When we were walking around, Chi said, "I feel like I'm on vacation." Me, too, except I'm at work! Pretty cool.

Back to GR50...

Captured!

I went to yesterday afternoon's Dodgers game and saw the Blue Crew put up a half-ass effort against the first-place Diamondbacks. Why Grady would sit all-star catcher Russell Martin in a crucial game with an off day coming up is beyond me. The most excitement came when a guy in a straight-jacket hopped the fence and made the security guards give chase before getting tackled. Sad, stupid highlight.


On Friday I attended the opening of Barry McGee's art opening at REDCAT. Eric already posted a load of art pics, but here are some shots of friends I caught:


Eric and Andrew Jeffrey Wright swapping bodily fluids.


Filmmaker Jessica Sanders looking good.


GR contributors Manuel Ocampo and Dan Wu in town from Asia.


Barry informed me that show curator Eungie Joo likes to see pictures of herself on the blog.


REDCAT director Mark Murphy says the show will be up through Thanksgiving. Lots of time for you to check out the expansive, comprehensive, and kick-ass art show...

I also attended a wedding this weekend, where more people were caught:


Saoirse and Lucia, cousins for life.


Eric and Cathy, bride and groom. Congratulations and aloha!

Recognize

Mysterious humanoids with identical faces were spotted at GR2 today. What the heck was going on?




It turns out Amy and Diana were hanging art for tomorrow night's artists from GEISAI show at GR2. It's going to be amazing. You already saw the hyper realistic portraits by Hisashi Kondo which hang on screens like ghosts. There are also the knit pieces that Miki Taira fashions into vaguely biped shapes which are mounted next to the floating, spherical pop-culture landscapes by Masakatsu Sashie. I'm not even going to show you the Macaulay Culkin-inspired pieces because I don't want to freak you out.


Moments before, some HK movie fans driving by recognized Dan after a bunch of us finished lunch at gr/eats. Busted! They pulled over their Porsche SUV for a fan shot.


And just in case you didn't identify it, Dan's rental car is not only a Shelby model 'Stang, but it's also a Hertz.


Going rental doesn't mean you have to slum. Bling, baby, Detroit style.

All-Star Weekend begins

Today's Friday, but yesterday was the beginning of a three-day run of special events, friends coming from all over the place, and family, too.

It began with the Imprint conference. Eric actually attended it on Wednesday (and he's been toiling on it long before that) but the main event occurred yesterday. I'm not going to talk about how awesome the keynote talk by John Jay (the brains behind may of w+k's groundbreaking Nike campaigns), the panel on the power of blogs (Brian Lam from Gizmodo, jeffstaple, Danny Choo, and Rob Heppler from WeeklyDrop moderated by Josh Spear) or the panel on streetwear (Jennifer Yu from New Era, Bobby Hundreds, jeffstaple, and Alyasha Owerka-Moore moderated by Eric) were, since Eric will probably do that. David has already fended for himself and you don't need me to tell you how cool it was to hear jeffstaple and John Jay talk shop. So here's some scoop on the panels that I had the honor and privilege of moderating.


The first panel that I handled was titled "Star Power," and it featured Dan the Automator, Dan Wu, MMA fighter Andy Wang, and justin.tv. The topic was Asians going far in non-mainstream, non-Hollywood ways. It was a little tough because none of the guys are really fame whores and they don't even really want to be famous. So I tried to steer it towards what was it was like to have that sort of attention even though they never really strive for it. Later on, I overheard Rob tell Dan Wu, "What was up with that guy talking about that celebrity shit?" I got his attention and kidded him about it, but now I wonder if everyone thinks I'm an asshole for staying on topic. In the end, I think the panel went well. The gist of the conversation was that true cultural change doesn't come from flag waving but excellent work. (Actually, I brought up the example of X-Clan, but was received with silence. Dan the Automator said, "Too obscure.")


The two Dans are very used to public speaking and interviews. They were very succinct and smart. justin.tv didn't have too much to say about the topic, since he doesn't really see his experience in a cultural context at all--just business. Andy was the underdog coming in, and he gained a lot of fans just for being genuinely stoked to be there and obviously caring about promoting Asians as not being lame. He's from Torrance, so if you ever see him at Gardena Bowl or The Loft, don't be afraid to say hi. He can pound you into submission, but he won't. He's cool.


Yes, there were ladies there, too. Amy and Wendy with Julia's likeness.

My next assignment was a one-on-one talk with Dan Wu. This should have been a breeze since we are good friends and I follow his career very closely. What we didn't realize was that there would be a mob of Chinese reporters hoping to pounce on him! When we walked into the interview area, cameras, lights, and reporters were everywhere. That kind of ruined it for the attendees since they made a lot of noise, chattered, shined lights in everyone's eyes, and blocked the screen that clips were shown on. To prevent a wack HK-style press conference, Dan and I hogged up the entire hour and didn't do Q&As. That was fine, since the talk went well and I had an excuse to ask questions that don't come up in casual conversation.


When the talk we over we jammed to the green room, where Eric informed me that the reporters who couldn't talk to Dan wanted to talk to me! I went for it, and the lame thing was that they just asked questions that we answered in the session. They didn't want juicy gossip, just information that was already clearly stated! They could have just listened more carefully. In the end, they were more hack than evil, and it was actually kind of endearing when I pulled out my camera to shoot a photo of them and they all smiled.


One of the best things about this is that we got to invite guests. Here are super intern Janet and proofreader/softball prospect Brian. In the background, you can see Bobby Hundreds with Alyasha. We've known Aly for a long time, and it was great to touch base with him again. Also, in the first photo you can see Ben's camera. I didn't get pics of other GR friends and contributors (Cate, Michael, Anne, Mitch, Ken, Jack, you know who you are...) and I was really happy so many of us could be there to share the moment.


Afterwards, there was a mellow but triumphant reception at JANM. Here are the two forces that made it possible: Julia and Eric. They were tired but stoked. (What is Jon talking about in the background?)

When the VIPs went off to enjoy a carnivorous meal, Wendy and I stuck around J-Town to dinner with Brian and two hardcore GR readers that made the trip from the SGV. Here are Oscar and Louis eating at a ramen joint. Afterwards, we shared some gourmet cookies that Dan brought back from Toronto.

Before leaving downtown, I sent a text message to our friend Eungie to see if she needed any help or cookies at REDCAT, where the Barry McGee show was being installed. She sent a text message back: "HELP"


Wendy and I helped Clara staple zines. Later one, Andrew Jeffrey Wright came over to help. He has spent a few days screening the cover non-stop. Barry pointed out these weird forearm muscles that AJW had developed. (In the background, note the tagging mannequins.)


Eungie and Barry eating cookies. Look at that huge pimple on the right!


The brand spaking-new edition of Larceny (cover folded by Wendy, stapled by Clara, AJW, or me) and a steaming hot AJW zine.

And so the evening finally ended. But tonight is Barry's opening (see you there) and GEISAI comes up tomorrow night. (See you there, too, but I'll be late.) Did I mention that my brother-in-law Eric (NOT GR Eric) is getting married tomorrow, too?

TV Party

So... What are you doing on Tuesday? I just received the following email:

Hello,

You are receiving this e-mail because you participated in the Dr. Phil taping of "Change My Face, Change My Race," which is scheduled to air on Tuesday, September 18, 2007.

Copies and transcripts will become available for purchase via the Dr. Phil website (www.drphil.com) after the show’s scheduled air date.

Thank you taking part in the Dr. Phil show!

Tina Vaughan

Researcher/Production Assistant

Twister coming

I don't usually post press releases straight up, but you won't want to miss this...

BARRY MCGEE: ADVANCED MATURE WORK
Gallery at REDCAT
Opening reception: Friday, September 14, 7-10 pm
Exhibition dates: September 15-November 25, 2007

Barry McGee has long sought to maintain a destabilized art practice rooted in the spontaneity and immediacy of graffiti culture and all informal forms of expressivity. For McGee, graffiti is a vital communicative record of society, an extension of the desire for freedom and the intellectual core of his practice. It is pure expression in line with the values of American society. As he has explained: “The American Dream has nothing to do with criminality, but with a desire for independence and adventure, so escaping from any kind of control or definition also signifies not being identified, acting illegally, standing outside of every category of art and intervention on the streets.”

Amid a profound history of sanctioned and unsanctioned public art, McGee and his cohorts including Bill Daniels, Chris Johanson, Margaret Kilgallen, Alicia McCarthy, and Rigo 23 came to exact a significant impact on art practice in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1990s working on the streets and at the Luggage Store Gallery, Adobe Books, Clarion Alley and other formal and informal venues.

An avid looker, McGee is uniquely aware of the color, smell, and speed of his surroundings. Exposed to radical practices of activism, art, and performance in the Bay Area in the 1980s, McGee is part of a unique anti-establishment aesthetic that values social responsibility and nature. In his current practice, McGee continues to test the limits of an uncontained practice, incorporating overturned vehicles, motorized objects, destroyed surfaces, flash movies, and hundreds of “tape” paintings.

McGee’s site-specific installation at REDCAT will include a selection of existing works as well as a new sculptural/environmental construction. The exhibition is McGee’s first solo exhibition in Los Angeles since his Hammer Project in 2000. It is the second exhibition McGee has worked on with former REDCAT gallery director and curator Eungie Joo. The first was the 1998 exhibition, Regards, Barry McGee at Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

Born 1966 in San Francisco, McGee received his BFA in painting and printmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1991. He has exhibited internationally including at the Watarium, Tokyo; Liverpool Biennial; Museum Het Domein, Sittard; Prada Foundation, Milan; Deste Foundation, Athens; 2001 Venice Biennale; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. McGee lives and works in San Francisco.

Barry McGee: Advanced Mature Work is made possible by the generous support of Jeffrey Deitch, Everloving and Feal Mor, RVCA and Giant Robot.

Gallery hours: noon to 6pm or curtain, closed Mondays
Admission to the gallery is always free
Click here or call +1.213.237.2800 for more information

REDCAT
631 West 2nd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012 USA

Four guys walk into a room...

...they include a HK movie star, a sought-after hip-hop producer, MMA fighter from Taiwan, and a v-blogger. This is not a joke, but one of panels I'm moderating at tomorrow's Imprint event. I'm working on questions now, but what if just have each of them take turns doing crazy stunts, beat boxing, grappling, and watching?

Play Pinback

To celebrate the release of a killer new album (and free EP that comes with it), Pinback is playing free shows at Amoeba in Hollywood (Wednesday, September 12) and San Francisco (Thursday, September 13). Not only that, but you can play a Pinback videogame here.

If you go S.F., be sure to drop by GRSF right around the corner on Shrader! (High on Fire plays there on September 18!)

Reviews

Finally getting around reviewing stuff for GR50 (not shown here)... We're listing fewer CDs than ever in the mag, yet it's difficult to come up with enough music we like to fill the usual space. What's with all the crap?

In the meantime, here's some summer listening that's been in my car shuffler but is too old to review:

Shellac - Excellent Italian Greyhound. The legendary Chicago trio cements its reputation as the best first-song-on-an-album writers ever. The precision, intensity, and bone-dry humor is best experienced live, but there's no letting down here.


The Jam - All Mod Cons (Deluxe Edition). The classic album sounds better than ever, and this version is remastered with 14 bonus tracks and a nice documentary by Don Letts featuring interviews with Paul, Rick, and Bruce. Import only, from Canada or the UK.


Tim Armstrong - A Poet's Life. How can you go wrong with the Strummer-esque voice from Rancid and the heavy and sweet rocksteady instruments of The Aggrolites? This is the perfect summer album, and there's also a bonus DVD with lo-fi, two-tone videos of every song.

Kumquat on TV

Every now and then I like to blog about Kumquat, my sister Angelyn's baby clothing business. Tonight, it'll get some TV time when Anna Nicole Smith's one-year-old daughter Danielynn appears on The Insider. In the world of celebrity infants, that's a big deal! Here's another view of the outfit...

Draw-off

When my brother and I were little kids, we used to spend the bulk of our days drawing pictures. Our dad would bring home reams of computer paper which we use as large canvasses, working together to make hyper detailed murals.

Last night, we attended a wedding reception where guests had Polaroids taken and were asked to fasten them to a scrapbook and express their best wishes to the newlyweds, Jenn and Wayne. This is what our facing pages looked like.


My sister-in-law Kelly said that she had always dreamed about us getting together to do something like that, since Greg collaborates on drawings with their daughter Saoirse all the time and our mom often recalls how he and I used to do that, too. I can't remember the last time we broke out the crayons--Sharpies in this case--and it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the magic ended when we went to our seats. We were placed at different tables.


But the folks were nice and so was the meal, with excellent food (the main course was framed by two appetizers and two desserts) and DJs playing cool and obscure '60s rock and soul. The only thing missing was a view of chimps playing in the trees. Did I mention that we were at the San Diego Zoo?

On the way back to the car, I took some pictures with our long-lost Ricoh GR-D. I love the Lumix FX100 (the recent 16:9 shots I've been posting) but nothing handles night shots like the GR-D.




The flamingos and topiary elephants looked good, and so did Jenn and Wayne. Congrats!

The Exiled

Last season, GR softball won its division for the first time in team history. We received a trophy and some ugly T-shirts to commemorate the accomplishment. We also got bumped up from the lowest level of Parks & Rec play to the middle level. Last night was our first game on a new diamond against new competition.

There were a lot of question marks, including two lost players and two new ones. How would we fare against the higher level of competition? In the beginning it looked rough. Right away, the other squad looked a lot more athletic than us. How do I say this? They were mostly a bunch of totally cut white dudes who towered over us. Our cast of characters resembles an Asian version of the Fat Albert gang. Our opponents jumped out to an 11-1 lead after three innings.

After some mixing and matching of our outfield, tightening up of defense, heating up of the bats, and very aggressive base-running, we held them back, inched our way back, and finally grabbed the lead. Then we stretched the bottom of the sixth inning and piled on to earn a 21-13 win. No time for a seventh inning. Those guys might have hit further, but I think we hit smarter.

It was great start to the season. A bunch of us went to Carrow's afterward. Fittingly, it was all players from the original squad. We discussed specific plays, and also talked about how we're new to this particular league but not rookies in any way. Our team has been through a lot, and it was nice to see use that experience to gut out a dramatic, satisfying, and--most importantly--fun start to the season.

---


On an unrelated note, The Exiled is opening in L.A. today. We're huge fans of director Johnnie To, and have interviewed him as well as star Anthony Wong in past issues of GR. Recently, we introduced the movie at the L.A. Film Festival and the issue that's on the stands now has an interview with another star, our friend Josie Ho. In other words, we stand behind this stylish crime flick 100 percent, and think you'll dig it--especially on the big screen. Like 3:10 to Yuma, it is at heart a re-imagined Western, but the reworking is probably more imaginative and artful than anything else out there.

Advanced Mature Work

What are you doing next Friday night (September 14)? If you're in L.A., we strongly recommend you visit the gallery at REDCAT. I don't think Ray Fong's alter ego ever had a show this big in L.A., and you won't want to miss it.

Cheh's life

I finished reading Chang Cheh's memoir last night. I bought the book ages ago, but finally got around to reading it because our pal Dan is in a new version of one of Chang's classic flicks, The Blood Brothers. The director is also responsible for well-known movies like The Golden Swallow, The Heroic Ones, The Assassin, Crippled Avengers, and The Five Venoms. Late in his career, he filmed Just Heroes, which was produced by directors that he had given a boost to, such as Wu Ma and John Woo.


The Five Venoms (1978)

Cheh's book isn't loaded with gossip or theory. It's more like a resume written in first person. He's very humble, and you get the feeling that his days behind the camera were a lot of more exciting than he makes them seen.

The director is pretty frank about movies he made by the numbers but addresses topics like violence (against it), homosexuality (his male characters were just bonding), and politics between Shaw and Golden Harvest as well as Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China (he's apolitical in either case) with perhaps a little too much diplomacy. I guess that's what happens when a book is written by a guy in his waning years through interviews, notes, and whatnot.

Not that there aren't some revelations. Cheh takes credit for helping to turn the tide of cinema by bringing the spotlight back on guys (the screen had been ruled by woman martial artists) and bringing a new, hand-held style of cinema (in parts of One-Armed Swordsman). But he takes pains to clarify that he wasn't aiming to shake up the industry; he was just doing his thing.


One-Armed Swordsman (1967)

In the end, this 2003 book published by Hong Kong's Film Archive and Leisure and Cultural Services Department isn't a real page turner. But it's got a classy, understated look that matches the director's demeanor, and if you are a scholar as well as a fan of martial-arts films from the '60s and '70s you'll dig the interesting tidbits about guys like Jimmy Wang Yu, Ti Lung, and Danny Lee (more like asides than anecdotes) as well as the thick-ass filmography.

Ant + Elaine

Yesterday, my cousin Anthony married his longtime girlfriend Elaine at an historic house in Pasadena. They met at Cal 13 years ago, raised many pets together, and have moved back and forth between the Bay Area and L.A. numerous times.


There wasn't any garter throwing, bouquet tossing, cake cutting, or even flower girls, but my nieces made an impression with their matching Kumquat gear.


It was really hot and humid. Somehow, Angelyn and Wendy stayed cool looking while we dudes were sweaty and ragged. Wearing suits on a day like that is tough, but you have to look good at your cousin's wedding.


By the time this pic was taken, my tie was off for good. Here I am with two of Ant's best friends, George and Chi-hui. The former is on the staff of Alternative Tentacles. Crazy. The latter runs the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, and has contributed to GR mag! They were also in a band with Anthony called Chync, an all-Chinese-American Lync cover band that opened for J Church and Seam at GR's old HQ.


Here are Ant's brothers, Carey and Scott with Jamie and Angie. They sat at the front table of honor, and eventually hijacked the mic to give a hard time to Elaine for always beating up on Carey and Ant for always telling them how he paved the way for them as far as being the oldest kid and dealing with the first-time parenting. I should have piled on with some softball stories...


What's missing? A pic of the couple. I was holding the cam-corder for most of the photo ops, but I finally snapped a shot of them at a post-wedding get-together at their pad in Alta Dena. They weren't wearing rings, but they are still each other's ball-and-chain.


Congrats to an awesome cousin, ex-GR shop worker, GR softball team alum, great guy, and good friend. Good catch, Elaine!