Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Paris isn't perfect. If it were, the night we arrived my brother Greg, cousin Anthony, and I would have been able to walk right into the No Age/Abe Vigoda show, blow past the 20 or 30 people I envisioned being at the club, and enjoy the gig. Instead, it was sold out and we were stuck outside talking to Juan Vigoda who said if he had any pull he'd get us in. Well, I'm happy for the bands (who I can see in L.A. all the time) and can't complain because Wendy and I pretty much went straight from the airport to the hotel to a chocolate tasting that my Anthony's brother Carey and his fiancee Jamie had coordinated. Pretty damn cool, and it was nice to meet up with other members of my family who made the journey, too. And then, the very next day, we went to the Versailles to see the Takashi Murakami exhibit. Mom and Dad in the Hall of Mirrors with Matango. The installation was actually quite controversial for many of the more conservative people in France. Understandably, Versailles is a symbol of French tradition and culture, so it was shocking to them that a contemporary guy from Japan would get to take over a bunch of salons. I thought the work was a great fit, though. More pics and thoughts to come in Giant Robot 68, which is at the printer now. That evening, we went to an ex-bordello-turned-art-gallery where Carey and Jamie (above) had their rehearsal dinner. Here's the bride-to-be teaching us how to make our own placeholders without us even knowing it. There was a ton of contemporary art on display, blending Marvel Comics, Murakami, and glamor photography… There were some nice Polaroids and I spotted some original pieces by Moebius, too. More on that guy later… Before the next evening's wedding, Wendy and I went to the world's most famous museum to see the world's most famous painting. I know, I know. You're supposed to spend the whole day at the Louvre, but we only had time for the greatest hits. For me, that had to include the cover of The Pogues' Rum, Sodomy, and The Lash. I had no idea that Gericault's piece was so gigantic. (Seeing Hammurabi's Code was pretty rad, too.) I was shocked that photography was allowed at the museum. We saw a ton of Chinese tourists crossing the red velvet rope, posing with statues, and even fondling them. Man, I was so embarrassed of my people. Luckily, my family was more restrained at the wedding, which took place at the Rodin Museum. Supposedly, it's the compound where the sculptor actually created his art. I guess you need big doors to get slabs of marble and other materials in and out of there… Maybe a reflecting pool, too? Incredible venue, amazing ceremony, and so much gushy, personal stuff that I won't get into. You had to be there.
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This Friday, one of my favorite bands will be providing a live score to the 1925 dinosaur movie, The Lost World, at UCLA's Royce Hall. I asked my friend and guitarist/singer Zac Holtzman how Dengue Fever got involved in this project. GR: How did your scoring of the silent movie come to be? Why do you think Dengue Fever was chosen to to score The Lost World? ZH: Sean Uyehara first asked us to score The Lost World and perform it live at the Castro Theatre for the San Francisco Film Festival. It was right around when the film Up was coming out, and that film was heavily inspired by the Lost World. There's a number of references to it within Up, and it felt like the entire Pixar staff was at the screening. GR: Were you familiar with the movie? What was the songwriting process like? ZH: I had never seen it before, but the same crew that worked on The Lost World did the original King Kong, which was the first movie I ever saw. I was 3. As far as scoring the film, I would sit down with a guitar in my hand, and watch the film. I took notes of what I was playing, and what was going on in the film. We got it down to around 20 different themes or songs that felt good with the film, and then focused on smoothing out the transitions. GR: When you play at UCLA are you going to face the screen or the audience? ZH: If we face the audience, we will need monitors. The film has become the seventh member in our band: a very important, demanding member that requires all of our attention. GR: Is Dengue Fever the next Danny Elfman? ZH: I love writing original music for film. It feels like someone hands you a half-painted picture and asks you to do your thing. Writing all the rest of our music (that is not film inspired) is like getting handed a blank canvas. The Lost World screens at 8 p.m. on November 12l. For tickets or more information, call (310) 825-2101 or visit www.uclalive.org/
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As a tourist, Milan was prossibly the least interesting stop on our journey. As part of our trip, it was key because Wendy's old roommate Nicola lives there. So we stayed at his flat, did some catching up, and wandered around for a few days. Like Rome, Florence, and Venice, Milan's center is its duomo. It had a more gothic look than the ones in the other cities, but was simlarly packed with people and pigeons. The streets actually radiate from the plaza which was always full of pedestrians and shoppers, luxury boutiques and financial centers. I was often thinking about the layers of community and commerce that were built up around the churches in Italy. At this point in our travels, fatigue and cold were setting in. Maybe we were getting jaded by the architecture and energy, as well. So we actually stopped, sat down, and paid the extra Euro or two to sip our coffees at caf
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It's perhaps unfair to compare two books, yet you can't help but think of the differences between the Laura Ling / Lisa Ling book, Somewhere Inside and the Euna Kim book, The World is Bigger Now. In case you're oblivious to their names, both, Laura and Euna were captured by North Korea and imprisoned for five months, mostly apart.
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Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Asian Fest 2010. The kids are alright. That's what I have to say. You might not think about Waco, Texas for any reasons except for negative news in terms of mass destruction, or perhaps the greatness that's Britney Griner, the 6'8″ basketball player, but where there's students who have a positive attitude and who make the best of where they're at, then it all works out great. I'll admit I had a little apprehension in going to Waco. Where is it? What's there? Aside from personal disasters before hand which made me late for everything – and this rarely happens, I also missed the connecting flight in Dallas, Texas. This was out of my control. My talk was at 7:30, I was supposed to be picked up at my hotel at 6:30 and I was supposed to be there much earlier, but here I was in Dallas being driven to Waco at 5pm. It's about a 2 hour flat land ride which means, I get there right before my talk. 7pm, I'm at the hotel trying to get situated. My brain was still twisting from the last 12 hours of mayhem.
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