What Happens at a Premier

Last night, I attended the Kung Fu Panda premier for DreamWorks employees. The night started out with the screening of the animation at the Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. You could feel the tight security from the entrance to the inside of the theater where they stood around the entire seating area until the film started. There were complimentary popcorn and drinks, which was great because it was close to my dinner time and I was beginning to get hungry. Before the film, there's usually a little introduction by Jeffrey Katzenberg, but this time he was at the Lakers' game. I did see him later at the entrance of the party though. Some lady actually asked him if he works for the hotel. I think she was trying to get into the party or something. I should have jumped in and said something clever like, "Don't you know who this is? This is Jeffrey Katzenberg. Looks like you won't be partying here after all." Unfortunately, I didn't. I thought that the DreamWorks employees around me would have, but people kinda just smiled and walked away. Now all I can do is wonder what might have happened....a friendly "thank you" from a another famous person.

After the film, everyone walked across the street down to the next block to the party at the Roosevelt Hotel. We were blocking the streets because there were just too many of us to actually fit the sidewalks and the crosswalk. If someone were to yell out something like, "Power to the Peaceful" it could have been an instant peace rally. The party overall was good. There were enough food and drinks to keep everyone entertained. There was a dance floor, but not that many people were dancing. Maybe they just weren't drunk enough, yet. I wonder if the hotel or DreamWorks get some special deal with Voss water because it seems to always be their water choice. I don't know what is all the fuss with this water other than how it's in a glass bottle. One thing that I really like about this party is that they also provide parking tickets and free taxi ride home if you need it.


Mya back in the days @ Tanglewood
She's so cute. She fits perfectly between the distance from the wall to my bed. I have no idea why she loves this spot. Maybe it's the tile and carpet combination.

I Love to Watch Films

Sometimes I can be a big couch potato because I can watch film after film. I especially love horror films and constantly looking for something that will give me some good goosebumps. I have yet to find anything that will give me a good scream. I envy those who are easily frighten. It must be such a thrill to go watch a scary film at a theater and leave the place feeling satisfied.

Last night, I watched two films from the Masters of Horror series: Cigarette Burns and Fair Haired Child. They are both good, but still no goosebumps. You can find your own reviews on them if you're interested.

Today, I'm very happy that Lok treated me to the screening of Up the Yangtze. He has been dying to watch this ever since he heard about it on Democracy Now! The film is about the effect of building the Three Gorges Dam on the people who live there. You should watch it. It'll be good for you, no matter how much you're aware of the issue surrounding the Yangtze River.


Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka Street

Runyon Canyon Park

Yeah, I went on a short (1 hour) hike today, but I took a lot of stops to take pictures and enjoy the view. From the top, you can see the skyline of LA, Hollywood sign and the Griffith observatory. It's great for beginners and experts to walk, run and bike (if you dare to). I must warn you that the entrance from fuller ave. kinda smells like dog shit because it is dogs friendly. Don't worry if you didn't bring your own water because they do offer that and snacks at the entrance through the honor system. Isn't that great? Parking can be hard for some people if you can't parallel park well, so good luck to you if you need it. Some people will let their dogs run loose, so if you're afraid of that, then it's probably not a good place for you.

I'm glad that it didn't rain today. It was such a good day to be outside and enjoy the city. Last week, I was thinking about going to Joshua Tree National Park for the three day weekend. Because of the recent rain forecast, that idea kinda just went down the drain. Booo... I want to take more mini road trips just because it's fun to explore and why not do it while I still can, right?

Sometimes, I miss those college days when I didn't have as much responsibilities as now, so I can just take off somewhere with friends. Those nights or should I say early mornings, driving on the freeway with our windows down and screaming lyric of songs we love. Hanging out in Castro on Halloween night then driving to Berkeley for food and seeing our chefs dressed in nude as their costume. That was freaking awesome.


Runyon Canyon Park, CA (see)

Not in My Backyard!

In college I learned about the Oakland base organization known as the Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN). They gave a presentation at the school's coffee shop, which UCD people would know it as the CoHo. They talked about Environmental Racism, which continues to effect us everyday.

The environment of where you live, work and play affect your health. From the air that you breath from the toxic underneath the floor that you walk on, the water from your sink that you may use to wash your food, body and drink to the dirt where you may use to grow your food or let your children play in. These poisons are not always visible, but it's there and many people of color live in these places. Why?

Do you know what's in your neighborhood or where the nearest polluting facilities like landfills, oil refineries and power plants, are at? Maybe you even live on a Superfund site right now. Don't know what that mean, maybe you should look it up.


Somewhere between CA and NV

The Kooks and the Flies

The Kooks last night at The Wiltern were awesome. They brought along great energy and music. I was up on the balcony and there were times when I thought, "Man, everyone is dancing so hard, we're going to break this place apart." I could actually feel the floor bouncing up and down. It was crazy. The lights were fantastic as well. If I could have a side job, I would love to work backstage. I'm sure that it's a lot of hard work, but I've always wanted to learn how to manage the lights and sounds. The only downer was that they don't sell any food other than hot dogs and drinks, so I was starving. The wait was worth it though because of the tofu house nearby. I just love Korean food.

So at the tofu house, the people sitting next to me were Germans, I think. Anyways, the moment they got a hold of the waitress, they just kept asking what everything on the menu was. It must have been very annoying for her, but it was good to see people trying out new food. I think that you should try everything that you don't like to eat at least twice or three times to be sure that it's not for you. I used to hate the taste of tuna sashimi until I tried it in Japan. That was some awakening.

It looks the kitchen at my work has turned into a fly cemetery when I got there this morning. I just don't know where they come from. It'll be fly-free for months then one day, it would feel like an entire clan just hatched in there. One of my co-worker, who works right next to the kitchen, would get so annoyed by them. He would then go into a fly swattering mode which ends in all these dead flies, laying upside down with their little legs in the air, all over the floor. I should take some pictures actually, but I left my camera at home today, so I'll just leave that to your imagination. I'm not sure if anyone else cleans them up, but I hate dead things underneath my shoes. I don't mind though. I'm doing the easier part.


The Kooks @ The Wiltern, CA (see)

The Saddest Festival Ever!

There were three festivals in the LA area this weekend: Strawberry Festival, Guacamole Festival and the World Fair. Because of the distance and cost, Guacamole Festival was the clear winner.

Guacamole Festival...imagine colorful booths filled with unlimited guacamole for you to try. Some places that were so crowded, you could only taste the smell. Guacamole with mango, apple and chili. In one corner is the guacamole eating contest and in the other the best guacamole contest. Kids running around laughing and singing. Well, this is what I had in mind, but it was no where close to the real thing.

There must have been a maximum of 15 booths there. The closest thing to guacamole was this one booth selling avocado near the entrance. It was just so sad. No wonder hardly anyone was there. The greatest thing there was probably all the carnival rides for kids. Just see for yourself. These pictures basically show you the entire festival. It definitely shows that they need more support and work to make next year's more successful. I just hope that all the booths at least made enough money to pay for the cost to be there. I'm not sure how that works. Maybe they pay a percentage of their profits? I don't know.


Broadway and Griffin

Reading Online Blogs

I visit about 5-10 blogs daily. The content range from world news, design, fashion, music, art to random strangers who just talk about everything. Every once in a while, I'll run into blogs of old friends, or friends' friends, and when the contents are interesting, I'd bookmark them for later visits. The weird part is what do you do when you actually run into them in person? Do you confess that you know them more than they think you know, or do you pretend while trying to separate what you know from the real person vs. the blog? When you really agree with a blogger, do you leave comments and introduce yourself, or do you stay as the secret ghost reader?

I have left a few comments here and there and I wonder what those bloggers think of me. Why do some write back, while others don't. This is just the nature of "Commenting." It's not like an email or something that should requires a formal message back. Many times after commenting, I thought that I shouldn't have said anything. I never want to give them the wrong impression that I want anything more than just to leave a comment or give a friendly, "Hello." Or do you not believe in that? The purpose of your blog would play a big role in how you interact with your reader. This blog for example, is here as a place for me to share with you whatever random thoughts I may have. So I welcome comments because I would hope that something here would influence you to think about something new or remind you of your past experience.

Alright, I almost forgot to say the one thing that I wanted to share when I started this entry. I read certain blogs like they're stories from a book. I'm sure that I'm not the only one who feels this way.



Peruvian Ceviche (see)
Have you tried it? It's yummy if you like raw seafood.

My Mother's Day

This week has been filled with Mother's Day related conversations and advertisements. Just today alone, three different people asked me what I'll be doing for my mother this weekend. I blankly replied, "Oh, nothing" as I realized that it was a conversation stopper. I imagine that they're wondering why and other possible things they might be thinking of such as "Oh, No. Is her mother dead?" "Maybe she's a single parent child?" "She hates her mother? She doesn't seem like the type," etc. Anyways, the real reason is that I'm just not very close to her. I would like to be, but it's complicated. She's at least 8267 miles away right now. We haven't been within 3 ft. of one another for almost three years now. Unless I can count the distant between her voice from my phone to my ear then I guess we would be really close.


Renaissance Pleasure Faire, CA (see)

Hi, this is Frogafish: random thoughts

Is writing your first post harder than your later posts? I thought hard about what would be a good first post. Should it be something significant or just another random thoughts? Should I introduce myself and explain the purpose of why I started this, or should I just let things unravel through each post? What is the perfect beginning or is there such a thing? Why did I even have to think about it? This page in space is just for me anyways.