Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Written by GR long lost friend, Kaori Shoji who lives in Tokyo, this piece is moving. It’s not just another experience from hell story. Instead this letter from a 74 year old about living in a shelter is written from the perspective of being thankful, but more so of a person who might be looked as older, still has something to give. “Some of us may need care, but many kōreisha have a huge reserve of knowledge and experience to draw on, namely those awful years during World War II. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: sensochū no kotowo omoeba nandemonai(戦争中のことを思えば何でもない when I think of what it was like during the war, this is nothing.)” “The nationwide slogan now calls for all Japanese to be as one (ひとつになろう、日本 hitotsuni narō, Nippon) but it feels like we oldies are being left out. I speak for many when I say, we want in! Chikarani naritai (力になりたい I want to help) is not just the battle cry of the young.” Good job Kaori on an interesting piece that gives a perspective that I haven’t heard yet. That’s hard to do with the bombardment of news about the disaster in Japan. Link
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Realms Ako Castuera, Elsa Mora, and Yellena James. That’s Ako and her father pictured above. He’s got style. The exhibition went without a hitch. The work looks great and the combination of the three couldn’t have been any better. The surprise of the bunch is GR newcomer Elsa Mora who’s works amazed. They’re paper cuts, but as you can see below, some pieces are folded, and turned into a figurative version of objects. The cuts themselves are delicate and precious and anyone who takes the time to look will have their imaginations piqued. The pieces stun everyone. Here’s alink to all of the work.
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That’s Elsa and her daughter. Kind of a touching photo as Elsa takes a look at Ako’s works.
APAUCLA Student Career Networking Conference(SCNC). What’s this? I swear I’ve never been a great alumni. When I think of alumni connections, I usually think of Harvard or USC. But UCLA? It usually doesn’t enter the picture. Maybe I’m a bad Bruin. A year ago, I was asked to do a similar panel and I didn’t make it. This year, I made it a point as a make up. Tritia Toyota, the legendary newscaster turned professor at UCLA suggested me. I didn’t ever meet her, but I’ve seen her on TV for years. Where there was a Connie Chung who was world famous, TT was more of a regional celebrity in one of the biggest markets in the US. She also has a song about her via the Dickies. I wonder if she likes that song. Thanks to her, I was back on campus. I wrote about her a bit in 2008. The event began with Ted Chen, a newscaster in SoCal. He came in and freestyled a talk that was all over the place. From his experiences getting into the business to the current state of broadcasting which is getting tough thanks to the net. My panel seemed geared a bit more to careers, so I’m not quite sure if entrepreneur is the right word for it, but it was actually fun talking to the students who look genuinely worried about graduating during a tumultuous economic time. I wouldn’t want to be them. Some will go straight into a corporation, and some won’t. I gave some pieces of advice. a) The idea of Networking sounds hideous to me. What’s it mean? Knowing that there’s someone talking to you to try and gain something usually is bothersome. I detest the idea. I pushed the idea that the best way to “network” is be a fair and good person. Looking for some kind of advantage by meeting a person is a “no no”. Anyone can sniff desperation a mile away. Don’t do that. Imagine the prettiest girl or hot guy gets hit up every other minute by desperate dudes or females. Who does she pick? It’s not the desperate who usually falls off and becomes the butt of bad jokes. You won’t be getting any. b) Help others. I think Networking for me is about helping others. Maybe it comes back in great ways, but maybe not at all. I can’t see it as a karma thing, it’s not like that. GR, not just me, has helped tons of artists, designers, and people to get inspiration. We might have pushed them more directly, and we do things with some of them, and others just run to the hills – the Beverly Hills kind. c) Adapt. Changing times mean adapting, or being flexible to adapt. That’s what we’re doing now. It’s exciting actually and challenging. d) Work for free. I told people that working for free isn’t a bad thing at all. Get used to it, and just do it. Don’t be desperate...
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Report on Chinese who served in the Civil War military. Some became corporals, and some even fought for the Confederates. It’s interesting. I thought I heard about Filipinos who did the same, but they’re not in this report. It’s also funny that historian Ruthanne Lum McCunn includes the Bunker Twins the conjoined duo who were part of the circus and probably the richest Asians in America at the time. It’s a great day when you have an excuse to use a Bunker Twins photo. Voice of America reports Listen to it here. Here’s the article link.
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A Chinese Ghost Story Redone! This might be one of the first to really bring the level of Hong Kong films to the commoners across the shores. The fan boys dreams were realized. Ghosts, good looking guys, good looking girls, and action like none other. Joey Wong became a starlet, Leslie Cheung – awesome as usual. So now in 2011, it’s redone for a new generation of kids mostly in Asia, but we’ll see if this one can translate. Remake in the US starring non Asians? Scary. It’s going to be another. Hey Leo, Hi Sally, let’s goth! Here’s an article about this feat of a film. I do hope it’s great.
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