festival-ing

i survived my first film festival as a programmer. actually i more than survived, i OWNED it, baby.

i made sure to chat often with visiting filmmakers, talking to them about filmmaking and especially where to get the best ramen in the city (it's motomachi on denman, btw).

i really enjoyed moderating the documentary panel and two Q&A sessions except for the fact that the microphone died for all three speaking opportunities. maybe it's a sign that i should be speaking louder. yeah, that's it.

there were really only 2 stressful moments:
- we didn't have the proper audio cable for a particular format and had to pull up the mackie mixer that was powering the microphones as an intermediary device.
- the hdcam deck inexplicably didn't want to turn back on. luckily we discovered this 5 hours before the deck would actually need to be in use. we brought in a new power cable and then as we were standing around, it suddenly turned back on.

but i'd have to say the most rewarding part was being in a position to sincerely thank the filmmakers for their work and to encourage them to make more films knowing how discouraging it can be most of the time.


...........
in other news:
- the condo still hasn't sold
- i need to do some serious video editing in the next little while
- B and i are going to portland the weekend of Nov 21
- the craigslist couch i bought only a month ago is being turfed. the legs just aren't supportive enough and only one of us can sit on it at any given time.
- today we bought the retro couch from nood
- my dad is in taiwan visiting my mom for 2 weeks
- i've started 2 new knitting projects
- my new favourite drink is the whiskey sour
- we tried this new chinese wonton noodle place on broadway near cambie and it was OK.

abode hunting

to keep a track of which places we really like or might be memorable, we've come up with nick names.

guess what our nick name is for this loft?




other names we've come up with are:
- dream design
- pink pole (they had a pink pole in the middle of the bedroom)
- cigar collection
- psychiatrists office (sometimes we called this place cast iron collection)

wtf

seriously, they couldn't take 5 seconds and REMOVE THE SAFEWAY BAG before taking the picture?

a picture that is supposed to delight and entice potential buyers to pick up this cute little house for around $600k?

sigh.

dude, stuff is happening

like:

- did a pickup shoot for ELTEE at J's apartment last week.
- getting my condo ready for sale = painting, chalking, cleaning up the patio, putting up prints, and generally feeling that there's not enough time to do everything before the open house this weekend.
- festival programming stuff for VAFF
- last week i started a weekly tues night project mgmt exam prep course that goes until dec 2. here's the interesting acronym i get to add after my name if i pass the exam: PMP. before you all get too excited, it stands for: Project Management Professional
- VIFF starts this week and i haven't even purchased my tickets yet
- i just agreed to edit together a trailer for a short film
- also i'm coming down with something and feel like crap

that is all.

oh, and B moved in.




J waiting for Rob to prep the GH1



Rob and his precious GH1

real estate listings are funny

so, there's already a website devoted to perplexing real estate listing pictures called lovelylisting.com

but B and i have noticed our share of lovely listings ourselves and i think i found one worthy of sharing with my friends and family.



this is for a listing in east vancouver. i don't even understand the purpose of this picture except, perhaps, to show that the house comes fully equipped with its own door opener.

En Vogue @ the PNE

the en vogue show at the PNE on Aug 25.2009 (oops i have the wrong date on the video) was a small reprieve from the MASSIVE WEEK 'O STRESS.

@selmaz and i thoroughly enjoyed en vogue's show, however, i'm pretty sure our male companions were not quite as excited as we were.

anyways, this might be the shortest montage i've ever created at just over 1 minute. my favourite part is the last scene.

another MAMM, another montage!

you know how much i love putting together a montage.

here's the montage i put together and screened at the MAMM Gala Screening this past Saturday.

MAMM 2009 Montage from chinalily on Vimeo.

an august update

wow, my first august post and it's almost over.

things are (and have been) afoot:
- my mom's in town
- the Mighty Asian Movie Making Contest (MAMM) is underway and I've been filming, editing and rendering my heart out. my stress will resolve after the Gala Screening on Aug 29 as I'm also the projectionist.
- purchasing furniture from craigslist: a 6ft vintage couch and two (heavy as hell) black metal map cabinets
- looking for replacement handles for my kitchen cabinets: you would think this is easy but the cheap-ass people who developed my building must have chosen my handles from the remains bin because it's an irregular size. i've already spent money on 2 testers; one was too large and the other too small. ARG!
- working hard at a job i love and with people i really like working with

and even though i really and honestly don't have spare time this week since i'm getting ready for the MAMM Gala, i'm gonna screw myself up by spending tuesday evening at the PNE enjoying the En Vogue show while stuffing my face with 'those little donuts,' bbq chicken, foot long hotdog, and more.

who's up for some of that?

patio gardening

i've been pretty happy with this year's patio gardening effort.

this is why: THINGS ARE GROWING

which, compared to last year's "summer of neglect," makes this year an utter success.

however, i think i picked up the wrong type of strawberry. the one i have is called an alpine strawberry. is alpine fancy speak for miniature?

also, watering twice a day is mandatory during these days of untold hotness and today i'm even planning on watering three times. you know, just in case.


cherry tomatoes are getting there



basil



itsy bitsy strawberries

New York City vacation footage

first the recriminations:
- sorry for the shakey images. the hd flip mino is great cuz it's small and lightweight. and small and lightweight encourage shakiness.
- sorry for not colour correcting this.

there's a lot (and I'm not kidding) of footage of the subway trains in this. i think i was too busy being in the moment to remember to capture the moment on HD. funny that.

my extensive itinerary was supplied in a previous post here

music is "Shot In The Head" by Moby

some breathing space

i'm coming out of an intense few weeks:
- daily trips to richmond to check in on my dad post-surgery
- preparing for a party on canada day
- watching about 40 films for the film festival
- my mom arriving for an 8 week visit


1.
and now that i'm on the other side of that (well, except for my mom's visit), i can safely declare that i've gained about 20 pounds and desperately need to increase my physical activity.

i've been researching yoga studios and will be purchasing a week's worth of passes at bikram's yoga on commercial drive then deciding if i like that or the more sedate hatha yoga.

coincidentally, i came across an interview on National Geographic Adventure with the researcher who is looking at those communities with people who tend to live long lives.

the article is very interesting and encouraged me even more to return to yoga.


2.
ELTEE is currently being edited by the very capable KT. can't wait to see his first cut.


3.
this has been a bonanza summer for plant growth on my patio. i'm pretty excited to taste my first tomato and zucchini. however, due to the greying of the skies yesterday and today, i wasn't able to take a picture of said LUSH GROWTH.

My San Fran trip

last week i had dragged all the video files from my san fran trip into the TRASH BIN and was about to empty it when i thought i should take one last look at the footage.

after looking at it again, i was suddenly inspired to pull together a quick montage. i love a montage! who doesn't?

some details:
- footage recorded onto B's HD flip mino @720p 30fps
- i got lazy and didn't apply the steady-cam filter nor did i colour correct this montage
- my favourite part, if you couldn't guess, is the MOMA piece. the middle cylindrical part is one big reflective piece (a mirror) and the large disc surrounding it had the visuals projected onto it from a projector hanging from the ceiling.
- music: Souvlaki Space Station by Slowdive

summer weekend report

1. nibbles with friends
- M and C came over after work this past Friday to catch up on our lives, drink Joie rose and nibble on goodies.


- M holding a glass of the rose


- we were all setup on the patio but then had to move everything indoors because the lawn mowing generated lots of dust and pollen.



2. chef for the day
- a call at 8:15am saturday to ask if B and I would be available to take over 2 spots for the Chef for a Day put on by Edible BC meant a quick get ready to be at granville island by 9:30am. not that it was really a hardship as we were soon to realize.
- we shopped for ingredients, prepared the food at the Miele showroom in yaletown and then sat down to enjoy the meals
- the expensive henckels knives and cookware were so lovely to work with i'm convinced i need to invest in some nice knives.


- chef cari infront of city seafood to pickup 3 lbs of spot prawns


- the 8 of us split into 3 groups. B and I were part of the spot prawn group cuz it's a favourite of mine. here B is snipping off the longer tendrils and legs of the prawn while it was still alive.


- one of my tasks was to poach the prawns in clarified butter for a minute then line them up on a roasting pan. notice how i meticulously alternated the alignment of the prawns. i was pretty proud of myself.


- we finally sit down to the meals we prepared. everyone was rather exhausted from 5 hours of shopping and cooking and was happy to just be sitting.


- the rhubarb crumble dessert was rather fabulous. i asked for a second scoop of ice cream.



3. main street car-free event
- spent an hour taking pictures of Brian's food table at the Blim
- i might have also bought a dress at eugene choo and some yarn


- yummy rustic italian breads and pies which all sold out by 2:30pm


- herb twists for only $1!!!


- i couldn't resist taking this photo for J who has claimed that "feather headbands are the devil's playground"

the past week

family bbq_______
had a bbq at my brother's last week. my dad and nephew were checking out B's mino flip.



my dad checking out the mino and expressing slight amusement



my nephew holding onto the hockey stick and the mino unwilling to choose one toy to play with. those are my sister-in-law's hands about to wipe away his bloody snot. um, yuck.


here's a short video of what the mino captured that afternoon bbq.

family bbq - june 3.2009 from chinalily on Vimeo.

thrift store finds_______
i scored some major finds at the value village on edmonds/kingsway as well as the burnby hospital thrift store. on that same day i also got an unbelievable deal on a pair of club monaco houndstooth pattern pants and silky black top - both for $29 each.


sierra patten from ironstone - i picked up 8 plates and 5 bowls. now the search for more pieces begins. in the meantime, i'll be moving out other plates.



the most awesomest desk lamp EVER! it's got the sleekest profile ever. not a single percentage of body fat on this one. i love this thing.

New York trip: a summary

instead of providing a eye-numbing list of all the places we went to and delicious things we ate, i'm going to offer some interesting moments that i remember.

moment #1
- being at the airport 3 hours before a flight to the US and hearing B agree to letting me dictate airport arrival times next time

moment #2
- after taking the red eye to new york and being lucky enough that the hotel had a room for us at 8:30am, then falling into our king size bed and waking up 3 hours later to find we both fell asleep fully clothed and hadn't even unpacked.

moment #3
- the hipster server at the expensive hipster asian restaurant was skinny, wore super tight WHITE acid wash jeans AND had 7 pens in her right side back jean pocket; seven pens all lined up in a row.

moment #4
- the bow-tied server at the max brenner chocolate emporium remarked to B and I as he gave us our bill: "you're my most mellowest table today."

moment #5
- overheard at a fancy italian restaurant by a blond-hair, blue-eyed, born into wealth woman in her late 60s to her artist friend: "it's a masters of sustainability or sustainability economics, whatever, it's at Columbia which is an ivy school."

moment #6
- sitting in a tea house partly owned by moby (yes, that moby) and not hearing a single moby song being played. instead i hear a lot of wilco and a pair of hipster boys talk about ben affleck non-stop for 20 full minutes.

moment #7
- while watching the play "desire under the elms" from the second last row in the theatre, i can barely make out the expressions on the actors but i am almost blinded by brian dennehy's overly whitened luminescent teeth.


..........
ok, ok here's where and what we did

day 1 - sunday
- arrive in new york at 6am and go to the hotel and nap for 3 hours
- have late lunch at momofuku noodle bar: eat the best ramen i've ever had. the house sake was smooth and complimentary. the steamed pork buns are not to be missed.
- giggle like teenagers at standup show, Sleepwalk With Me, by Mike Birbiglia.
- nap
- have late late dinner at momofuku ssam: have amazing raw seared fatty beef with ponsu-marinated cucumber
- long walk back to hotel

day 2 - monday
- muji: clothing/housewares/stationary chain from japan. i buy 2 dresses, a top and a raincoat.
- go to Queens for the MOMA off-shoot, PS1 art gallery and see lots of video art from the 1970s plus a great pool installation
- uniqlo: a clothing chain from japan with lots of cool graphic tees
- strand books: a huge bookstore that stock new and used books together. i pickup 2 books on knitting
- max brenner chocolate restaurant: i order a humburger and a cheesecake. yummy. i enjoy some of B's shake and hot chocolate
- muji: another quick visit

day 3 - tuesday
- Guggenheim: great exhibit on frank lloyd wright. they have a disappointing museum shop.
- i have a bit of a meltdown
- muji a third time
- dinner at fancy italian restaurant, convivio. the best pasta.
- go to the cake shop (an indie live venue) to catch Nick Krgovich perform. we also catch someone who does a 80s electropop cover of a kris kristopherson song.

day 4 - wednesday
- lunch in a korean restaurant that also services vietnamese and chinese food. i'm all confused.
- go to the photography art museum and see lots of beautiful fashion pictures from the 1920s to 1940s.
- line up for an hour to get rush tickets to a play
- line up at post office to send a card to work and a card to my nephew
- line up for 30 mins to order a burger and shakes from a place called the Shake Shack. i'm slightly underwhelmed.
- wander around B&H, the venerable electronics good deal place. i look at field recorders. B looks at cameras.
- meet up with B's friend and have drinks then have late night perogies which are pretty great.

day 5 - thursday
- MOMA for 3.5 hours: i really like a rousseau painting and also an exhibition on leon ferrari
- have some chicken on rice from a street vendor.
- rest up at hotel before the big epic dinner
- dinner at the prestigous Per Se. even the pepper is heavenly. the server asks us: "are you foodies?" as we're obviously not wealthy.


day 6 - friday
- The Metropolitan Museum: it's amazing and i'm dazzled and also art-ed out. there are 2 rooms of picassos and a whole room of rembrandts and van gohs and... i'm enjoying original (and large) pieces of robert longo
- i spend almost 30 minutes in a yarn store
- the most amazing edamame hummous was had at the tea store/restaurant, teany
- flight home

it's all about the patio garden

new york was so 2 weeks ago! i've already been at work a full week and had 2 weekends where i compulsively spend all available time in my patio garden.

see the promise of growth!



- i hope to have an actual zucchini grow this year. see my ghetto cloche which is a old 4 litre pop bottle with it's bottom cut out.



- chives come back year after year. they managed to survive my neglect last summer then the subsequent harsh winter.



- from L to R: purple pole beans, cherry tomato, lavender, and lettuce with larger tomato and peppermint behind the lavender.



ps - i'll post a summary of new york very soon

deacon's corner

deacon's corner at 101 main street
- biscuits, i'm talking BISCUITS WITH SAUSAGE GRAVY!
- thin potato slices seasoned with cumin
- large portions

i think the pictures (mostly) speak for themselves.



my meal, rob's meal



rob BEFORE attacking the meal



rob DEFEATED by the meal

hipsters these days

spotted at a certain new trendy breakfast establishment near skidrow, this iphone-talking, headband-wearing hipster was able to stun myself, rob and J into complete awe with the sunglasses hanging off the headband behind the ear move.

we thanked all that is good and right in this world for letting us witness what is clearly groundbreaking hipster behaviour.

glitter bus

taking the bus home during sunset a few months ago i noticed something.

i was in zone out mode on the bus when i thought i saw out of the corners of my eyes the distinct flashes from a disco ball.

but it was actually the sun shining on the sparkly nature of the anti-slip material underfoot causing the refracted disco ball effect against the interior of the bus.

yet it was more awesome than that.

don't imagine this as a snapshot/still. instead, see this in motion:
- window-framed shafts of light are continuously panning away from you (like a searchlight)
-- the rays bounce against the glittery floor and project onto the walls
--- everything is movement and sparkle

i don't have the piglet flu

as soon as i stepped across the sun run finish line, my throat felt scratchy.

every day since then i've been deteriorating into flu country. however, i didn't let that little thing stop me from attending to my responsibilities that had me out EVERY SINGLE NIGHT last week including a 7:30am start for ELTEE filming sunday morning.

the result of this was a complete and utter meltdown last night (sunday) infront of B. his consoling skills were exemplary; i suspect growing up with 2 older sisters helped.

and i'm expecting this week (and the next 2 weeks) to be very busy at work as our new PM is going on vacation and i'll be covering for him.

anyways, i'm telling myself it'll all be worth it for our exciting trip to new york in 3 weeks. plus, my bday is coming up in 2 weeks so i'm sure that'll be better than blowing my nose 30 times a day.



dan, joanna and steve - our 3 main characters on ELTEE

running today

so i was in the sun run today and i was quite worried because i haven't trained at all for it.

but i thought the crowds and an energetic playlist would help me through it. and here's where that thinking is flawed:

- everyone was running past me and this (surprisingly) didn't motivate me. instead, i became depressed because i knew i would never EVER catch up to any of these people. in fact, half way thru the run, i found someone as my pace person and he was at least seventy years old. this was not a good sign, i know.

the only thing that felt close to motivational was when ladies on a balcony offered a beer to anyone. this was their pitch: come up for just ONE beer, just ONE.

- the playlist strategy was a exercise in futility because i ended up listening to the new moby song on repeat for half the run because i love it that much. and by the half way mark, it didn't matter what song was playing because everything hurt: my hips, my knees, my feet, my lungs.

i ended up doing a lot of walk-run-walk-walk-walk-run-walk-walk-walk-run type stuff but i think i did better than last year which is something i guess.

currently my legs/thighs are super duper sore and i'm anxiously waiting for them to hurt TEN TIMES MORE tomorrow!

other found things

found infront of MEC's head office in east van...





found at the corner of Prince Albert and 61st avenue...



a closeup...

found: story about a baby's hat

after making a sorry attempt at the treadmill in preparation for the sun run, i came across this sweet little baby's hat in the parkade stairwell at city square.



ok, listen, i'm not a writer but i feel compelled to come up with a story about how this hat came to be when i saw it. ugh, i know i'm going to regret this, oh well here goes.................

35 year old Abigail had an appointment with her dentist at the city square mall. she brings her 5 month old baby girl, Jessica, with her. she walks up the parkade stairwell with Jessica in a baby sling and passes the water main pipe.

Abigail says to the receptionist at the dentist: hi Bonnie, i'm here for my 4 o'clock. Bonnie looks up, smiles at the baby and says: pretty hat. she loves how people respond to sight of her baby with bursts of smiles and this perceptible projection of warmth.

as she waits for her appointment she watches people walking in the mall. she wonders why they aren't at work. then she thinks about the people she used to work with up until 5 months ago. she can visualize exactly what the office would sound like (lots of keyboard clicking), the temperature (too warm), the smells (someone toasting bread), the sight (developers reclined in their chairs listening to music on their headphones) and the background noise of people talking softly on their telephones.

the gurgle of her baby pulls her back to the ambiently-lit dentist office just as Bonnie calls her in.

later, Abigail walks out of dentist office, she's happy to be mobile again. to have been released from the confines of the chair. as she waves goodbye to Bonnie, she imagines that she would feel trapped doing Bonnie's job of making appointments, answering the phone, taking payment, over and over and over again. the same thing every day.

but then, she thinks, isn't she doing the same motions over and over with Jessica? feeding, cleaning, rocking, carrying, again and again?

as she contemplates the absurdity of life and how we're all just repeating patterns, she rounds the stairwell where the water main sits and needs to suddenly scratch her nose which silently pushes her baby's hat to the ground.

Jessica's crying during the process of installing her into the car seat has made Abigail forget about the hat.

5 minutes later, a 25 year old asian male who's just come from pumping iron at the gym in the mall walks down the stairwell, sees the hat and places it carefully on the pipe.

it's already april

recently:
- ELTEE is about to wrap
- saw Japandroids and White Denim at the media club and that was pretty cool
- started (yes, just started) running in prep for the sun run. i'm in so much trouble - the treadmill is no where near simulating what it's going to be like on the day
- the first web project that i PM'd from the very beginning (exactly 1 year ago) is about to go LIVE in about a week. i'm looking forward to that sense of satisfaction that's supposed to be arriving any time now.
- helping a friend set up a blog for his food venture. B helped with photos, too.


things that i'm procrastinating about:
- editing the footage from my san fran trip
- editing the "in the yard, havin' fun" musical
- transferring a macrovision-encrypted VHS tape to dvd. i'm currently stumped and i think i need to purchase some doohickie which is totally stupid because it's freaking VHS
- more ELTEE editing
- ironing clothes
- cleaning up my patio of mostly dead things

SFIAAFF: file under misc (or god she's ranting again)

besides experiencing the lovely sensation of being handed a BAG OF SWAG (see picture with contents displayed thusly) here are some other tidbits from my trip to san francisco:


\\ asian americans
there are lots of 3+ generations of asian americans and they are highly visible. whereas in canada, this group is invisible. this is fascinating to me because the asian americans seemed fully integrated into the SF art scene and, thereby, into the history of the SF art scene.

i'm sure there are asians in canada who have spent many years in the art scene but they are invisible or, at the very least, not representing at the vancouver asian film festival.

it was a shock to me and i felt somewhat envious of all those potential mentors in the asian american community.


\\ architecture
did SF go thru a serious art deco phase? man, there's lots of it. not my favourite style but at least it's a style.

whereas in vancouver, i find the architecture utterly uninspiring (there are exceptions of course) as a result of an attempt to mimic certain styles (especially the colonial and arts & crafts styles) but in a watered down and mutated manner. SO UGLY.


\\ airplane etiquette
when did it become ok for the person in the aisle seat to simply swivel their legs to the aisle as they expect you to shuffle to the window seat? OMFG, this happened on both flights.

and you can't even blame demographics.

the first offender was a caucasian mother in her late 40s and the second idiot was an asian male in his late 20s. this is not cool, people.


\\ we are canadians
here's the count of canadians at SFIAAFF:
- 4 from VAFF
- 1 from Toronto ReelAsian Film Fest
- 1 filmmaker from Vancouver
- 1 filmmaker from Toronto (but she doesn't really count because she was barely in SF and didn't talk to the rest of us)

anyways, the 6 of us hung out quite a lot at the parties and get-togethers.

so one time, when just the 3 of us showed up at a low attended party, we were greeted with "THE CANADIANS ARE HERE!"

fortunately, it was a friendly greeting.

SFIAAFF: in pictures

all shot on my iphone so easy on the judgment ~


cool mural of obama
@ the minna gallery



randall (vancouver filmmaker) and kathy (vaff director of programming)
@ filmmaker's brunch in the tomo hotel's outdoor dome



golden beet carpaccio with roasted paprika coulis and truffle tapenade @ Bushi-Tei



what i left the hotel staff when i checked out
coupons / recycling / goodies



"silver screen" by andy warhol
@ the san francisco museum of modern art



free photoshop workshop
@ the apple store in downtown san francisco



swoop table
@ CB2

haircut

BEFORE






DURING

SFIAAFF: Day 5

1. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
- matisse, pollock, william kentridge
- my creative batteries are recharged

2. visit to CB2 re: desk
- it's really cute in person
- time to set some financial goals to meet before i pick this up

3. misc
- a quick 30mins visit to the haight-ashbury neighbourhood which is kinda like commercial drive
- a stop into the apple store
- some thai noodle soup

4. flight home
- arrived back home at 10pm
- glad to be back


eyes closed at midnight

SFIAAFF: Day 4

1. filmmakers' brunch
- lots of bleary eyed folk standing/swaying around tables of muffins, breads, fruit, and domaldes
- met some filmmakers and gave them my card and told them a bit about vaff
- had to leave early to make it to a film

2. Screening: Patsy Mink
- documentary about the first asian american woman to make it to the senate
- she was denied entry into law schools in the 1950s because she was a woman

3. dinner by myself
- i had the best food experience at bushi-tei (1638 post street, across from the kabuki hotel)
- day boat scallops, golden beet carpaccio with a truffle tapenade, and a smooth delicious pinot gris from france
- food heaven

4. Screening: Ocean of Pearls
- a south asian tale about not compromising your morals and ethics to get ahead

5. Screening: Tales of Departures (8 shorts)
- a really well programmed selection of shorts

6. Party at Li Po bar in chinatown
- this is a super old chinese restaurant that's been converted into a great bar
- more drinking, some dancing in the basement, and some second hand smoking
- i managed to score a ride back to the hotel from the festival director


unconscious at 2am

SFIAAFF: Day 3

1. Panel on multiracial-multimedia
- interesting dialog that would never happen in canada

2. Farmers Market
- while looking for an ATM that I could take money out of, I came across the Fillmore farmers market
- they had the usual vendors plus a naural dried fruit vendor. I picked up some dried grapes and plums
- next to the farmers market a jazz band made up of guys in their late 50s where playing some tight, sway-inducing tunes.
- a woman wearing tiger prints, approx in her 50s, stopped (along with her dog) and she danced without concern.
- While sitting on a bench and taking in the sincerity of this scene, a big steady gust of wind blew thru and I tilted my head back to let the wind clear my thoughts and refresh my mind

3. Nap
- a nap was definitely in the cards for me

4. Sreening: Dirty Hands
- a doc about artist David Choe shot over 8 years
- the scenes where David is creating his art is amazing

5. Party at Poleng Lounge
- drank and danced


head hits pillow at 3am

SFIAAFF: Day 2

1. Meeting with other Asian film festival programmers
- there were 12 other Asian film fests in attendance
- talked about declining budgets, the use of social media and coalition type activities.
- really neat to connect with other festivals

2. Screening of: Tokyo Sonata
- I was absolutely devestated by this film and cried during the ending
- watch it if it comes to town

3. Horrible food experiences
- breakfast at this ex-Denny's diner was just terrible: greasy with a heaping side of bad service.
- late lunch at this ramen house with broth lacking depth.

4. Party at a gallery with djs and live hip hop rapping
- loud
- had a beat and you could dance to it stuff

5. After party in a hotel room
- dude with guitar playing covers and ppl snapping their fingers cause we didn't want the cops called on us
- 20 ppl sitting in a room laughing quietly and humming along to tunes
- dude with iPhone looking up lyrics to sing along to

Finally asleep at 5am

SFIAAFF: Day 1

it's, like, 2am, and i'm not sure i'll be able to keep this up but here we go....

1. opening night film: my dear enemy by Lee Yoon-ki
- this is the same director that made this charming girl
- this charming girl is on my top 10 list of films so i was pretty excited to see his new film.

2. gala reception at the asian american art museum
- cornered director lee and gushed about how this charming girl was amazing then gushed to his producer about how korean cinema is so exciting with such directors as Lee, Kim Ki Duk and Hong Sang So
- drank free booze, ate free cheese and red bean popsicles, and walked through the exhibits

3. after party at a bar called jade
- hung out with other festival programmers and tried to stay awake
- i'm glad the first event isn't until 11am cuz i'll be sleeping in

oh yeah, it's sunny, humid and 10 degrees here. i hear vancouver's getting more snow this weekend. that must suck.

desks are just expensive tables

swoop desk on the left / nelson swag leg desk on the right



as reported here, i have a calm desire for a nelson swag leg desk which retails around $2,000.

then, i found a substitution for consideration: the swoop desk from CB2 at $300, however, the legs on the swoop desk are rather tragic looking. so i dismissed it.

but since the nelson swag leg desk un-impressed me in person, i wonder if the swoop desk might cause me to swoon in person.

and guess what city has a CB2 store? san francisco.
and guess where i'm flying to this thursday? yes, the same!

hey, i'm just looking.

update on freezer project

MINUS
- finished the coffee ice cream last night
- threw out the wontons. B suggested that i reconsider this item.

PLUS
+ with the help of B, we made more dumplings tonight so as to use up leftover dumpling wrappers. the freezer now has 2 more bags of frozen dumplings.

also, 2 litres of anything is feeling like a long commitment so i've happily decided that i'll be purchasing two 500ml containers of ice cream instead.

OPERATION use up stuff in my freezer so i can buy 2L of chocolate ice cream

DILEMMA: no flat surface for the 2L of ice cream i want to purchase and add to my thighs


WHAT'S IN MY DAMN FREEZER?


starting clockwise from the top right:
- homemade dumplings from february's party
- homemade wontons from the summer of 2008
- steak (2007? not sure)
- package of pandan leaf (this is B's item)
- ziploc of leftover red wine
- whole package of edamame
- green onion pancakes
- two butter chicken sausages

not pictured:
- big bag of ice from february's party
- bottle of hendrick's gin (also B's item)
- coffee haagen dazs

in the process of taking all the items out, i finally removed the big bag of ice and threw out the steak. and wow, that made a huge difference already.

THE PLAN
i plan on using up the wontons, dumplings, green onion pancake, and edamame for a cast/crew wrap party for R's comedy feature that we're about to finish shooting.

the rest:
- i see g&t's in my future
- i'll eat the coffee haagen dazs tonight
- B will make some kaya with the pandan. some day.
- i'll pickup some kale and make a kale-sausage stewy dish



BUT I THINK I HAVE A BIGGER PROBLEM with the 6 blocks of cheese in the fridge!