There are dinner jackets and there are dinner jackets

August 25, 2008
Los Angeles, CA

Last night we watched the new casino royal and when James bond and the love interest are getting ready for the big poker game, he comes into the bathroom and asks about the dinner jacket that is laid out for him with an indigent line about how he already has a dinner jacket. She replies, there are dinner jackets and there are dinner jackets, and this is the. Latter.

That is how I feel about this performave in which I am currently sitting through at the Hermosa beach playhouse. Our dearest brother is performing here tonight which is why we have stopped the unpacking fenzy, showered and appeared. Little did I know, that this evening, which is supposed to be a showcase of choreagrophy work is more akin to a display of why these people should have gone to art school. If they had, they would have enough sense to not display their talents on stage in a formal setting. They would understand the difference between dinner jackets.

The audience here is nearly all friends and family of the performers. The performance ranages from the strange, as in what the F* such as a guy doing kunfu in slow motion, 3 bad stand up comics, a hip hop group, belly dancers, american idol reject in a dress that is too short singing and teenage girls doing ballet that would make you cry tears of blood. There are street performers who are better than what I am watching on stage here.

Now, if this event was not billed as a showcase of choreagrophy works, but more as a showcase of community arts and artists, then I think it would have been fine. Why pretend that you are of the latter kind of dinner jacket when you are clearly a blue tuxedo jacket circa 1974 bought from goodwill?

As I write this, I wonder if I should be kinder and appreciate the event for the effort the performers have put into it. After all, they might now know the difference? But as precious time slips away, I think that yes, its nice that they are trying, but perhaps they should not wait until the day when they understand the difference as to what is fit for public comsumption before they subject others to it.

As my high school English teacher once told me, you got to have standards with out it, there is no taste.

By the way, Don's brother Tony was great! There are use of geometrics in the piece that was interesting and unique. In him, I see the promise of a great dancer, only with more training and time.
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The Nesting Instinct

August 18, 2008
Los Angeles, CA

We made a pilgrimage to IKEA yesterday to pick up a few new furniture pieces for the new house as moving day will be upon us soon. Don can't help be give me a hard time about giving away my IKEA furniture pieces that I had bought 12 years ago to charity (because its wobbly) and buying newer ones.

IKEA at any day of the week is always a bit of a clauster-f* but especailly on the weekends. After we had paid for most of our stuff and I was waiting past the check out as Don needed to go back and get the right size rug for his office. I couldn't help but wonder about all of these people who are at IKEA today, shopping for that bit of something that will make their lives that much more perfect, complete, a notch closer to the stylized life that we are supposed to live according to catalogs and magazines. I certainly am not above the criticism, after all, I am shopping at IKEA for our new home. But aside from the effort towards - whatever - there is a nesting instinct that is deeply rooted in us, the desire to make our home more secure, more comfortable, more HOME.

As we paid for these less than expensive furniture pieces, I couldn't help but want for these new tables and desks to last forever. I wondered how we have traded quality for something that is disposable and literally stamped out of a factory. Maybe its the same reason why we eat at McDonalds - its easier and the cheaper price fills that nesting instinct instantly, instead of having to wait until you have the money for that one superior hand crafted table.

By the time I made it to the loading dock where you can load your new home onto the back to your car - I was put off by all the people jostling for position and have no regards for one another. I recalled that scene from "Fight Club" where Ed Norton's character talks about he items in his apartment and how he kinda thought that he had it all. At that moment, I kinda wished all of it would go up in one giant flame of explosion (much like the scene that follows in "Fight Club"), the entire IKEA store and all the other stores around Burbank, selling you things that will come to own you one day instead.

Is there a way to fulfill our nesting instincts and not be trapped in the nest that we made, not be owned by it?

A Life of Passion or Bourgeois Stability

August 17, 2008
Los Angeles, CA

We saw Woody Allen's lates film, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" last night. I think its one of my favorite of late. In the review for the film The New Yoker critic David Denby has this one line "the American women yearn for something more than bourgeois stability yet Allen means for us to understand that a life of passion alone can lead to craziness" I felt like that was an apt summary of the movie in many way.

I couldn't help but wonder if that is the secret path in which we all strive for. First we kill ourselves in the rat race to reach that state of "bourgeois stability" then we look for something more, whether be it passion, creative outlet, or actually doing mankind a service. We could never simply be satisfied with mere security and are always wanting more. Or maybe I am speaking of my own desires. I have yet to find that level of stability and I already know that I want more. Think craziness would even be preferable if the outcome is of some substantial art that can move the soul.

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Kevin Roderick mentioned this blog and my upcoming exhibit on LAOberved yesterday. Thanks for the attention Mr Roderick. Much appreciate it.

Angry Youth, the New Generation's Neocon Nationalists

August 2, 2008
Los Angeles, CA

In a recent issue of The New Yorker (July 28) there is an article about the Chinese students who rejects the West. The article starts with a discussion of this 6 minute anti-Western video posted on a Chinese website. The reporter, Evan Osnos then goes on to talk at length with the Chinese student who is the creator of this video clip. The student, Tang Jie describes how him and his friends get around the government blockage of certain western media websites in order to get a sense of the news being reported by the Western Media, he says "because we are in such a system [of media censorship], we are always asking ourselves whether we are brainwashed."

Wow! I wish American public are as this self-aware of the lies and the biased coverage that we are being fed by the media.

Then Tang Jie added, "but when you are in a so-called free system you never think about whether you are brainwashed." My thoughts exactly! He is right on the money and I am impressed with such acute level of awareness of the Media's function as a propaganda machine.

Tang Jie goes on to talk about the recent Tibet violence and how he was disappointed in the coverage by Western Media and how he felt it was inaccurate. "Tang couldn't' figure out why foreigners were so agitated about Tibet - an impoverished backwater, as he saw it, that China had tried for decades to civilized."

Wait, impoverished back water that another has tried to civilize. Is that not the standard justification for any and all acts of unjust war, occupation and conquests? We were just recently in Tibet and I am not sure that the Tibetans are feeling the benefits of China's effort of "civilization" - who is drink the cool-aid now?

The article progressed onto Tiananmen Square and its 20th Anniversary next year. "The students in 1989 were rebelling against corruption and abuses of power. Now a days, these issues haven't disappeared but have worsened...however, the current young generation turns a blind eye to it. I've never seen them respond to those major domestic issues. Rather, they take a utilitarian, opportunistic approach."

Wait - is he describing Americans? I guess Communist or Capitalist, we all suffer from apathy.

"The problem is that we didn't know what a good government would be. So we let the Chinese Communist Party stay in place. The other problem is we didn't have the power to get them out. They have the Army!"

Do we all simply suffer from the inability to dream of Utopia? Of perfection? We do not know what would be better than George W so that he has stayed. We cannot imagine exactly how to build a better society so we have done nothing as long as gas is cheap and distractions are plenty. But wait, you are afraid of the Army? I have seen the Chinese Arm and Police and I cannot say they strike fear into the heart of men. Yet again I can't say that I am afraid of Chief Wigum either, yet American military is still feared around the globe.

The article ends with Tang and Evan Osnos waiting along the Olympic torch route, "the crowd's enthusiasm seemed to brighten Tang's view of things, reminding him that China's future belongs to him and to those around him. When I stand here, I can feel deeply, the common emotion of Chinese youth, we are self-confident."

Are we self-confident? Do we feel like the future belongs to us? Or are we simply too cynical and opportunistic to rally any kind of nationalism and care enough to act on behalf of our future? Communist or Capitalists, the problems of our future seems strikingly similar.

Fat, a misunderstood ingredient.

August 1, 2008
Los Angeles, Ca

A package came in the mail for me today - I thought it was one of the many books I had recently ordered from Amazon and I was delighted to find that it was an advanced copy of Jennifer McLagan's new book, "Fat, an appreciation of a misunderstood ingredient."

I am so excited about this book that I wanted to write about it as soon as I can. Although I have not had a chance to try out any of the recipes in her new book, everything I made from her previous book, "Bones," was pure delight!

Her opening introduction is as fellows: " I love fat, whether it's s slice of foie gras terrine, its layer of yellow fat melting at the edges, rich, soft marrow scooped hot from the bone; French butter from Normandy, redolent of herbs, flowers, and cream; hot bacon fat spiked with vinegar, wilting a plate of pungent greens into submission; a slice or two of fine ham eaten just as its fat begins to turn translucent from the warmth of the room, sweet, nutty , and salty all at once; or a piece of crunchy pork crackling, delicious either hot or cold. I love fat: I love the way it feels in my mouth, and I love its many tastes. " Now how could you not get excited about that? How could you not want to go out to the nearest Mexican market and rip open a bag of fried pork skin or drive down the cheese store to find the best French butter for your Sat morning toast?

I am sold! I need no more convincing to the virtue of fat. But then again, I was raised in a culture where so many of my delicious childhood memories were filled with fat in every form. There was this noodle dish that my grandma used to make, cooked noodles served dry mixed with lard, fresh green onions, slices of cucumber and fried shallot pieces. We were told that it was not very nutritious and considered to be food for the "poor" - but our enjoyment of it did not diminish regardless whether this is a dish meant for a King or the begger outside the palace. My grandma used to make home make red bean paste that is the filling for much of Chinese based deserts and holiday foods. Her red bean fillings are so good that ladies in the neighborhood would buy them from her instead of making their own. Other than the red beans, the second ingredient and maybe the most important is lard.

Brown Butter Ice Cream, Burnt Butter Biscuits, Salted Butter Tart, Miso and Orange Roasted Pork Belly, Duck Fat Biscuits with Cracklings... these are just some of the many recipes that made my mouth water as I flipped through McLagan's new book - I am so excited by the pleasure that I am certain that I will find in these recipes that I wish I had a reason to cook for 10 tomorrow just to share this guaranteed pleasure.

Never is there such a simple and universal ingredient that can make the moment of first bit a celebrated memory. I still remember the delight of that buttered toast from Boulette's Larder that I had back in Feb or the first taste of potatoes fried in duck fat I made for Christmas 4 years ago.

I LOVE FAT! You must try it for yourself!