JONIZZLE

Later today (a bit before 10am) I will arrive in Hollywood, CA and start my first stint with a film production company. It's not that big of a job, I'm only an intern, but it is also only till next Wednesday. My boss on this project says after this, I can get paid, which in all reality is quite quick. I don't think it is often that recent college grads with no experience in film come out to LA, hang out for a week, intern for four days, and then get paid to do it pretty soon after that. I'm pretty damn lucky either way. But anyways, today perhaps will be my first day where I begin a career in the film/film production world for perhaps...the rest of my life. That's very weird to think about, but so it goes.

And so it begins.

Let's see. Today I:

- Woke up to the neighboors dogs barking (which they always always do).
- Drove to a neighborhood up the hill called Vantage Point on a street called Vantage Point Lane. I had a hunch that it had a good view of the valley. I was right, and then I took some photos.
- Played Konstantine on the piano and FIFA on the playstation.
- Drafted an all-white fantasy NBA team. Haha this was funny.
- Started reading Life of Pi.
- Ate a good dinner.
- Watched Heroes on NBC. Perhaps this shall be a good show.
- Went back to Vantage Point to take pictures at night. See above.

So that's a good day all in all. I'd just like to do more. Here's to hoping for work!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15004160/page/2/

Click on the video link. In my Media Studies curriculum, we are always warned about Fox News for their non-journalistic practices and having a clear slant and agenda. Here, as many say, is FOX trying to sandbag Clinton about it being his fault for Bin Laden and the 9/11 attacks. Apparently that is what the Bush Administration is trying to do (revert blame to Clinton's Administration).

I was only an uninformed teenager during Clinton's time, yet I easily remember the name Bin Laden and the bombings that Clinton permitted onto Bin Laden's bases, ie: Clinton actually realized the threat Bin Laden was and tried to do something about it. So for FOX or Bush or people in the conservative core to revert blame onto Clinton, well that's just silly. Most likely, the blame is shared across multiple presidential administrations of the US. But like Clinton said, he's being attacked heavily when it seems he tried the hardest.

Ok this wasnt supposed to be a rant. Just watch the video to see a smug FOX reporter get owned by a former President of the United States. It's just funny in that context.

Anyways. Did you hear about the FOX Faith movie studio? Geared to make Christian films in the wake of the financial success of Passion of the Christ. I think it would be cooler if a) it wasnt FOX trying to make money and b) if FOX wasnt also the same company that makes shows like Nip/Tuck. Not that I dislike Nip/Tuck, it's actually quite good. But I hope you know what I mean.

Blah.

I went to church with Grace today. The event was funny to me, because the church was in Costa Mesa, which borders Newport, aka the home of Ryan and Seth and Karen/Summer etc on The OC.

I secretly hoped I would see the characters there, but, you know, that makes absolutley no sense at all (mainly because the characters aren't real people). But regardless, the church was very good. I usually lose focus during messages, but not this one. And seeing all these rich and good looking people of the real OC is funny in itself. The church is also predominantly white, much like my home church/youth group in Springfield. So this is what I know (while it's totally different for Grace). This has been my only white interaction so far in California as well. That makes me chuckle.

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A TAF reunion at Portillo's a few weeks ago.

Us Taiwanese folk. We're good-lookin' kids.

- Little Miss Sunshine...totally a great movie.
- I'm going to a church near Newport Beach tomorrow. It's like I'm in The OC! Except I guess it would The OC with something like Seventh Heaven. Ok that was pointless.
- People on imdb.com messageboards are idiots. Because the love to pick fights with each other on very irrelevant things. Oy.
- Little Miss Sunshine...yup, still can't get over it. Fantastic.
- I almost put up an away message tonight that said, "Howa must be happy now." because MSU was killing Notre Dame. And then I turned off the game near the start of the 4th quarter because I thought it was over. Let this be a lesson or reminder to all of you out there (especially many girls I know, and Brian too) to never say a game is over until the clock says 0:00 or the last out is made.
- I thought about Justin today. I was also peeing at the time.
- If you want to laugh and smile, go see Little Miss Sunshine.

And that is all.

I really enjoy reading Bill Simmon's articles on Page 2 at espn.com. He makes great commentary on the sports world, where I oftentimes find myself lauging out loud. You should read his rants about Art Shell and the Raiders in not one, but two, recent entries.

But I like this article not because of the humor, but because of his own reflection on society, with the hint of a hopeful vision to change the future for the better.

I want to watch The Wire now. And perhaps Bill Simmons is a personal hero too.

thendxcrd: did you watch it tonight
LittleBonnieFuFu: yea
LittleBonnieFuFu: of course
thendxcrd: hehe
thendxcrd: yea
thendxcrd: you and every other girl on my buddy list
LittleBonnieFuFu: haha

That Grey's Anatomy. You crazy. Including the fact that you also make every girl on my buddy list love love love Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol. Not that it's a bad song. In fact its the first song I liked on their album. I guess this is just the legacy of people not wanting their music to be consumed by the popular mass because they dont really know. Or something. Shrug. Why I be so snobby, yo.

Anyways, as I was watching non-ESPN television for the first time in a LONG while, I noticed three commercials in a row.

1. Ad for some make-up so that women can have smoother skin and the appearance they always wanted.
2. Ad for soup that has only 100 calories, with a variety of women talking about how easy it is to diet now because of said soup.
3. Ad for a new tv show, with the preview having dialogue of one character talking to Calista Flockhart and saying, "You're fat".

Right. Three commercials in a row that reenforce a standard for women, right? You gotta have good skin. You gotta diet all the time. And if you end up the size of Calista Flockhart, guys will still call you fat (even if it's a joke, which it probably was in the show, but not evident in the context of the preview).

That's just great.

This however, is my favorite commercial right now:




It almost makes me want to shed a tear. And its multicultural too!

So advertisements. Funny enough, this is what filmmaker Karen Lin (who is a blessing) mentioned I could get involved with out here in LA. And I do remember having dreams of wanting to make them when I was younger. And I wrote to McDonalds once with a commercial idea...but they never got back to me :(. And perhaps more importantly, my final paper in college that helped me graduate was titled Asian Americans in Advertising and I studied the effects of Asian Americans in television commercials. So, I feel that commercials can be important as reflections on society and have an impact, which is what I want to do overall in life...kinda like that commercial.

Elements of full circle and coincidence. But according to V for Vendetta, there is no coincidence. Only God. Interesting indeed.

Other than that, California is great. The Aunt and Uncle feed me (too) well. The weather is almost too nice. Andrew's little sister Lo Mei Mei is too cute. I'll post a picture of her up later. She's small with white hair and likes chasing squirrels in the backyard. And she can't keep up with me when I go running.

The time difference however, is weird to get used to. Coming back from dinner with the sun still bright out and turning on ESPN to see the night game at Fenway already over is different. So far away from the East Coast. Cell phone minutes don't start till 11pm Central time too!

I was going to take a picture of my luggage, but the camera cords are packed up so I wouldn't be able to show you anyways. So since this cannot be a "pictures say a thousand words" moment, I'll just tell you the bags are packed.

But am I ready to go? Good question. People keep asking me if I am excited or nervous, and I don't have an answer for them. I haven't thought about this enough to have an answer.

Perhaps it is because whenever I think about these next few months in LA, if things go "well", as in find work that I enjoy, then most likely, this would be my very last night calling Springfield and the Midwest "home". That could be an overwhelming thought, but to prevent that from happening, I stop thinking about it. And therefore I do not have an answer to the excited/nervous question.

So I could stop thinking about it now, and then not have anymore to say until later. Or I can think, and you'll have more to read. My answer will be stated by whatever follows this paragraph.

I just got off the phone with another United ticketing agent to confirm my tickets. She asked me if I was going into the radio broadcasting business, because "with a voice like yours, you should."

This isn't the first time I have been told this either actually. So maybe I shall consider doing it, or doing voiceovers. Coincidently, www.jonlee.com is owned by a guy who does the commercial voiceovers for a wide array of products. Funny.

Off to the casino soon.
Northwestern helping Andrew move in Monday.
Wrigley for a Cubs-Dodgers game Tuesday.
Hopefully I can fit in a meal with the Eddie and the April and the others?

I'm going to the casino tomorrow for the first time!

...with my Mom.

1. ^Springfield, Illinois! The capital of fun!


2. I was booking my plane tickets to LA tonight. I had the sales agent forward my itinerary to my email address.

"Yea, it's j-o-n-i-z-z-l-e at gmail dot com"
"Oh okay so its..."
"Yea...it's pronounced...'jonizzle'..."

She couldn't stop laughing the rest of the time I was on the phone.


3. Courtesy of Errrn:

"Facing the future, we treasure the past,
for without history,
we have no roots.
And without roots,
we have no future. "

-Cheng-Hua TSANG



WORD.

I woke up after falling asleep for about an hour and a half. Annoying. But I woke up to see that Facebook has gotten even crazier and more stalker-friendly, and finding more ways for us users to spend time on it, as if 90% of college students didn't already spend enough time on it.

I want to rant a lot more on it, but I feel like I would be giving it more attention than it deserves. I googled "social anthropology and facebook" hoping to find some academic articles on the phenomenon of facebook and its social effects, pros and cons, etc. But no luck.

Anyways. I have not booked my LA ticket yet, but I shall soon. The more I think, the more I ponder, the more I feel the need to get out and get away. It's a little sad to resign yourself to that.

On a brighter note, I have hopes for this winter trip:
1. LA to Taiwan
2. Taiwan to Korea, visit Jamie and Marg
3. Korea to Shanghai, visit Justin and Erin.
4. Shanghai back to Korea (you can't fly from Taiwan directly to the Mainland anyways).
5. Korea to Taiwan, with the Jamie and the Marg in tow.

That would make me happy.

I remember seeing some quote somewhere sometime recently that I wish I would have written down. Maybe one of you knows it, and it goes something like,

"Our history is rooted in the past, and with out roots, we can't grow for the future."

Ok, it is defintly NOT that because that does not sound eloquent at all. But, that is the meaning I took from it.

In relation, I'm looking at my sister's TAF '91 yearbook. It's fun seeing all these people loving TAF a full fifteen years ago, even if I don't know many people unless they're in the Juniors or JH program or are older staff now like the Hoch, Bob, Dan, Jason, and Dave Chiou. I like getting a taste of the activities they did, the friendships they made, the different places they came from...I guess this is what a yearbook is for, right? A summation of the week's experiences as best we can in a collection of photographs and words on paper.

Thoughts:
- Roger. Hahahahahha. Those glasses are awesome.
- Juliana (who must be the youngest camper there) already looks like trouble.
- Patty Shay looks so unhappy in her group photo. Maybe that's why she didnt come back to TAF :(
- I like how this generation of TAF had earlier version of our current people. Looking through the name listings I see a Tiffany Sun, an Andrew Kuo, a Calvin Chen (from UIUC also), a "Brian Leu," and a Margaret Chen.
- They had a TAF Video in 1991. Thats a long time ago people. Probably before everyone had VCR's, just VC players. Which begs the question, if they could have a TAF video in 1991, why can't we have one in 2005 or 2006. Which brings me to a point Christine Shay brought up. JUST THROW SOME VIDEO FOOTAGE TOGETHER ON SOME DVDS! IT DOESNT HAVE TO BE FANCY SHMANCY! I JUST WANT TO SEE FOOTAGE AND HAVE A RECORD OF WHAT WE DID.
- "Friends at TAF are like allergies. They may go away for awhile, but you know they'll be with you for life." aaaawwww....
- Youth had 17 small groups. SEVENTEEN. Thats a lot of freaking small groups. And a lot of freaking staff.
- The yearbook had a special section for college addresses. Twenty-two had addresses listed in Urbana-Champaign. TWENTY-TWO. Thats a whole freaking lot of tafCrush alumni yo. All these 1991 TAFers living in Allen Hall and Babcock and Townsend and on Green St. and Chalmers, it's crazy. Why don't we have that now...

...Which brings up other thoughts. About our future. It's bright, yes. But could it be brighter...? I wonder...how can we all strengthen the Taiwanese-American community?
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- I saw a commercial today for Cheez-Its. I left five minutes later to Meijer just to get them.
- I also have a lot of hair on top of my head and on my face. Like Karen, it's out of control.
- Erin and Justin should be arriving in Shanghai soon. It's not like they were close anyways, and even if they were in the U.S. I would be moving farther away from them by going to LA, but regardless, I am sad that an ocean seperates us now.

thendxcrd: youre not bringing your green taiwan shirt right
jayelchew: hahahhh
jayelchew: no way
jayelchew: im not brinign any of my taiwan shirts
jayelchew: hahah on my resume -- it used to list taf
jayelchew: now it just says
jayelchew: summer conference
jayelchew: hahaha

Oh yes yes, about LA.

So I'm going to be heading out to LA in about 3 weeks, and I will be living with me aunt and uncle (Andrew's parents), and hopefully, I will be interning/PA-ing for Karen Lin (GO TAF!) on any projects she has, or for any other people that she knows "in the business." I guess I will be there indefinitly, and basically I am just going to get some experience and see if I like the world of film production.

While out there, I could dabble in writing my screenplay (I always say this and I hope I do) and at the least I will be a productive member of society, which you know, helps my self-confidence. Being a bum in Champaign or Springfield...not so good.

So yes! I get Andrew's stuff now that he will be at Northwestern (suckaaa!!!), including his room, his drums and guitars, and his car (muahahah!). Ok not really. But sort of really.

So yea! If you ever travel out to LA in the next few months, hopefully I will be there, and be working, but be able to see you, even though it takes two hours to drive 20 miles because of traffic (which I hate).

This will be the first time I'll not call "home" somewhere in the Midwest. It'll be weird, but getting away (Ari Hest - Aberdeen) is something I've wanted to try. Not that I don't love my people here. Just you know, new places new experiences all that. For those of you who pray, pray that I'll be productive and happy out in LA working for film peoples, and yea, all y'all come visit when it's cold here in Illinois. Puaha!

And if im not busy with work, Asia in the winter? WHOS GONNA BE IN TAIWANNNNN. Or visit Dave in Japan? Or Justin and Erin in Shanghai? AND JAMIE AND MARG IN KOREA!!!

I went to the mall today and got hit on by a group of trashy 15 year old girls.

I was looking into Hallmark to see if Adrienne was working, and I overheard, "Ooh look at him, I think hes Chinese or Mexican." I turned around to walk back because Adrienne was not working, and then I looked up and saw five faces smiling at me and whispers of, "oh say something to him!" I smiled and walked past quickly as our names were exchanged. ::insert awkward turtle here::

Mexican? What?

Ah White Oaks Mall in Springfield. How wonderful you are.

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My mom is funny. She told me a story about a South Asian mother and daughter who came to our ice cream shop. As my mom says, the daughter first complained about the size of the cup, and after my mom changed it, the daughter again complained again about the cup. And then the daughter complained about the spoon being too flimsy, and it turned into her asking for new ice cream.

So my mom takes the ice cream, and uses said flimsy spoon, and just stands there and starts eating the ice cream in front of the customer and doesn't pay attention to them. The mother and daughter customers get angry and say something about how rude my mom is. Mom's friend, another Taiwanese lady with a stand close by comes by, and they start speaking. The South Asian daughter then complains about my mom and her friend talking "in Chinese" as she says. But then my mom turns and stares and says in that cold motherly stare, "excuse me, it's Taiwanese."

At this point, the customers storm off next door to the Cookie Factory. My mom however, can still here them complaining. So she yells from behind the ice cream counter at them. And then the daughter maybe says something back. And so, my mom goes into the Cookie Factory and basically, challenges her to some sort of evil glare contest. I guess that scared the daughter, so in defeat she says, "Go back to your own country," which well, is kind of messed up since she herself is the daughter of immigrant parents most likely being South Asian and all. But whatever. The point is that my mom is an intimidating badass. It's great fun being her son.

In a seperate story, whenever kids get ice cream but don't end up having enough money, my mom says, "Ok, I'll give you this ice cream if you say 'Taiwan is number 1!'."

Yup.