Don’t Forget To Say Thank You

Last night we took our two managers out for a nice dinner to thank them for helping us have a good 2011, and to toast what we hope will be an even better 2012.

I co-own two Oakland bars, The Ruby Room and Radio, with two other guys, and I often have to remind myself not to be stingy with praise.  It’s just in my nature and how I was raised: when good things happen, I savor it for a millisecond, then put my nose back to the grindstone and plow forward.

Sure, that last thing you accomplished was good, but what next?  How are you going to top it?  Read more...

YOMYOMF at Sundance: Snow Day, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Foodie Heaven

  • January 27, 2012
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Yesterday was a fun-filled day here at Sundance. The big event was our friend/colleague Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Hit Record at the Movies. I attended with my fellow Offenders Justin, Anderson, Elaine and indie film guru John Sloss. Anderson already posted the live video stream of the event (click here). Justin took part when Joseph invited him to help shoot a scene from Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer featuring Joseph and “indie queen” Parker Posey (who still is hot, BTW) live on stage for an upcoming short video. Will be curious to see how that comes together and, of course, we’ll post the finished video on YOMYOMF when it’s done.

That's Justin with his back to us.

Joseph really made sure there was plenty of audience interaction by doing everything from bringing up people who wanted to sing for a future project and answering interesting tweets (Best line of the night from Joseph during one of the conversations with an audience tweeter: “A hipster is someone who dresses up like an artist, but who doesn’t make shit.”).  Read more...

YOMYOMF at Sundance: hitRECord

YOMYOMF attended Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s multimedia live event hitRECord tonight at the Sundance Film Festival. Offender Justin was also part of the event, which was hosted by Gordon-Levitt and some help from the “queen of indies,” Parker Posey. Not knowing what hitRECORD was, I was introduced to a very cool project — an open collaborative production company, where people can submit video, writings, songs, drawings, and have them culled together into short films.

Tonight’s hitRECord event at Sundance was held at the Eccles Theatre, and there were literally 1,200 screaming fans. It was full of energy and Levitt was an affable host that would at times, make girls swoon. There was lots of audience participation as well, and using social media and recording was encouraged.  Read more...

YOMYOMF at Sundance: Top 10 White People Problems

Ordering a “quadruple stacker” at Burger King and washing it down with screwdrivers at 1 in the morning will make you do silly things. As we congregate around the kitchen, eating unhealthy food and getting drunk after an exhausting day of film viewing at Sundance, we realize that there is a unifying theme with said films… These plots deal with problems and situations that only seem to happen to white people. Therefore, here’s our Top 10:

1. Dealing with awkwardness of your husband’s pants tent because of your hot houseguest.

2. Worrying if your dad is going to keep his high-paying job or retire.  Read more...

FLOUNDERING FILM FLUNKEE and the killer instinct.

  • January 26, 2012
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Over the years, I’ve had many heart-to-hearts with a variety of different people when it comes to my career, about the direction I’m taking or how hard (or not) I might be working. Whether it’s over the phone, by e-mail, through BBM or – heaven forbid – in person, the gravity of those talks remains the same.

For the sake of saving some material (and dignity) for later blogs, there’s one in particular that I’ve got to hone in on and that’s the matter of instinct.

It’s a recurring theme in these talks. “When opportunity stands before you, do you seize it?”

Whenever I least expect it, whenever it seems like the subject has finally been laid to rest, it pops back up out of its grave with a renewed relevance the weaker side of me resists to admit.

The fact of the matter is that instinct is something I’ve always had – but there’s also an overbearing amount of introspection in there that’s part and parcel of who I am as a person.  Read more...

YOMYOMF at Sundance: The First Time

  • January 24, 2012
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In a few hours, I’ll be boarding a very early flight to Salt Lake City to join some of my fellow Offenders including Justin, Elaine and Anderson for the second half of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Unlike the others, this is my first time at the fest. I try to avoid anything that reeks of Hollywood glitziness (which is why I also wasn’t there for the first half of the fest when most of the Paris Hilton types are in attendance), but with a YOMYOMF cabin this year and Anderson’s promise of coke and whores, I couldn’t resist.

And yes, everyone looks exactly the same 10 years later. Vampires or Asians?

And speaking of Sundance and first times, I should point out that Justin’s Better Luck Tomorrow premiered at Sundance exactly ten years ago this year. That was also the first trip to the fest for most of the Offenders—like Sung and Roger–who worked on the film (though not the last, many of the same crew would be back for Finishing the Game).  Read more...

The Flowers of War

When I was visiting my family for Chinese New Year in Vancouver, I got to watch The Flowers of War by Zhang Yimou on a (most likely) pirated DVD that my father had. The screener I saw was incredibly dark and high contrast. It also was two seconds out-of-sync during the last hour of the movie. On top of that, the cover said the movie was 97 minutes but it turned out two be 2 and a half hours. I was actually dreading to watch the movie as I have heard mixed things about it. My friend at the Golden Globes said it was essentially a Chinese propaganda film. A Chinese friend laughed at how ridiculous one of the plot points was (I will eventually have to talk about it so SPOILER ALERT ahead).

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What To Do When You Forget Somebody’s Name, But They Remember Yours

This happens at least once a week.  I walk into the bar I co-own and get about 30 feet in when I hear a voice…

“Hey, Fredo!”

“Ohmigod, hey man, how are you doing?”

“Awesome.  Chillin’.  Haven’t been out too much, though.”

“Me neither….wow, it’s great to see you.”

“You too.”

A moment passes as we figure out what to say next and, more importantly, I desperately rack my brain for the guy’s name.   He’s in that band, right, or, wait, no, maybe he’s the tattoo artist.  Shit.

“So,” I ask tentatively, “you still making music?”

“Yeah, we’ve got a gig at the Uptown next Wednesday.  You should come.   Hoi Polloi’s playing, and they’ve got the bassist from Rocket from the Crypt.”  Read more...

Romantic or Creepy? Thai Man Marries His Dead Girlfriend

  • January 23, 2012
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Saw this news report earlier today and was curious as to what our readers thought:

A Thai man named Chadil Deffy (apparently also known as Deff Yingyuen) lost his girlfriend of 10 years in a car accident on January 3. The couple had plans to get married at the time of the woman’s death.

On January 4, Deffy sent a message out on his Facebook that he would be holding a joint funeral/wedding for his beloved deceased girlfriend at a local temple in the Surin Province. No word yet on whether the wedding/funeral has taken place yet.  Read more...

Finally – a video game with Pokémon and Oda Nobunaga!!

  • January 23, 2012
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In hindsight, I suppose this isn’t the most jarring of fits. After all, Pokémon is as much a part of Japanese history as “the initiator of the unification of Japan under the shogunate in the late 16th century” (thank you for being back up again, Wikipedia!).

And though this game could probably be seen as another vindication of the belief that originality is now impossible, I’m more focused on the fact that Pokémon Plus Nobunaga’s Ambition is the latest of the country’s efforts to hide their secret past from the world, a secret past full of tamed majestic creatures.

Certainly now, you must think of me as the token raving lunatic amongst the Offenders and yet I beg you to take another moment to reconsider.

My assertion about the game, I mean, not my being a lunatic because – let’s face facts – I’m a little off.  Read more...

YOMYOMF at Sundance: We’re too old for this shit

That’s our pal Parvesh Cheena at the Youtube Party last night, representing YOMYOMF. As for me, Elaine and Justin, we had late screenings, there was a major snowstorm, and our collective creaky bones couldn’t muster the strength to go all out partying. As for me, I needed to head back to the massive house that Justin rented for the family and get my sore and cold feet on some heated, hardwood floors. So, after a quick Burger King run, we made it home and just talked shop for hours.  Read more...

How to Survive Lunar New Year if You’re an Asian American Criminal

  • January 22, 2012
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Dear Asian American Criminal:

Let me start off by saying that I don’t condone your criminal lifestyle—the murdering, the thieving, the embezzling, the assaulting and all the other illegal, awful things you do. But I know you are loyal readers of this blog because…well, just look at the shit we write about. And as loyal readers, I feel an obligation to return that loyalty to you and I can’t think of a better occasion to do that than on this Lunar New Year holiday. So let me just give you this one piece of valuable advice if you plan on committing your heinous crimes on this day of all days:

Don’t do it in Chinatown!

It doesn’t matter if you commit your crimes in Chinatown on the other 364 days of the year, this is the one day you must avoid it because I guarantee that you will get caught. Why? Because if Hollywood movies and TV shows have taught us anything, it’s that white cops are always busting Asian criminals in Chinatown while the new year’s celebrations are taking place.  Read more...

Add Your Own Caption: Breast in Show Edition

If you’re not already following us on Facebook, Twitter and our new Tumblr, you’re missing out on a lot of extras you won’t find here on our blog including updates on various Offender-related projects (like the most recent updates about our upcoming YOMYOMF Network on YouTube) and silly, fun things like “Add Your Own Caption.” This is where we post an image we find online or that our readers forward to us and ask you to write an appropriate caption to accompany that image. And we’ll feature some of the captions here.

And the featured caption for this week comes from reader Kim Martin Nye:

definitely implants.

So check out our Facebook page for future editions of “Add Your Own Caption”, write your own caption and/or “like” the ones you think are worthy and we may share them here.  Read more...

YOMYOMF at Sundance Film Festival

YOMYOMF is representing at the Sundance Film Festival throughout the week. Justin Lin, our fearless leader, is on the Narrative Jury, so he’s shackled with festival jury duty until the very end. Offender Elaine and I, on the other hand, are partaking in as many screenings as we can. Elaine is a crazy cinephile, and a screening machine, so she is out in about watching films and booking lots of meetings with industry players. As for me, I arrived a day late, and actually road tripped from LA to Park City, which is always a fun drive (with a quick stop in Las Vegas for breakfast buffet and a couple of hands at the blackjack table). I have to play catch up to Justin and Elaine, who have seen a number of films already.  Read more...

The Levitating Magical Bear of Sexual Purity

  • January 20, 2012
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For most of us, February 14 is Valentine’s Day. But for a growing number of teens, February 14 has come to be known as the Day of Purity. It’s day when teens make a commitment to God and to not have sex until they get married.

OK, I think it’s important to instill good habits in our youth so I suppose this is one way to do that although I remain skeptical at the feasibility of horny kids maintaining such a vow. That is…until I saw the following student-made video, which is all kinds of awesome.

If a levitating magical bear isn’t enough to keep you chaste until marriage, well, then damnit, I don’t know what is! Check it out after the jump and prepare to give up pre-marital sex:  Read more...

Pro Athletes Have The Best Names

Forget about Apple, Banjo, Blue Angel, Camera, Jazz Domino, Diva Muffin, Puma, Tabooger, Ocean, Zowie Bowie, or Pilot Inspektor (well, maybe not Pilot Inspektor – what were Jason Lee and Beth Riesgraf thinking?), because musicians and actors have got nothing on pro athletes.

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ding, ding, ding! Yes, it's Jacquizz Rodgers!

We live in the Bay Area – the Oakland side – and since we won’t be able to root for the Raiders this playoff season, my fifteen year old son Rafael and I have decided to jump on the 49ers bandwagon.  But it’s hard to muster much umph for a QB named Alex Smith.  Read more...

FLOUNDERING FILM FLUNKEE and the naked truth.

  • January 20, 2012
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I never thought I had a problem with being blunt and being truthful. As far as I was concerned, I was an open book, but it seems as though the best defense mechanisms are often invisible to those using them.

During dinner with some of the Offenders, I was asked about the direction I was taking with this feature.

The thing I heard most frequently was my tendency to go into non-sequiturs. Deep down inside, an immature part of me felt a knee with a strong urge to jerk – but I reigned him in, put him in the corner. Told him to get his knee checked.

Then I thought about what I had been writing about with this column.  Read more...

I’m an Alien, and That’s OK (Adventures in Korea)

KURLYKOLLY

A native New Yorker, Colleen, aka Kurlykolly is a loyal reader of YOMYOMF. She is also a fan of future Oscar winner, Sung Kang. Last year, she attended the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival with YOMYOMF, which was the highlight of her entire life (Colleen was one of the winners of our twitter contest). She currently resides in South Korea teaching English to little kiddies. When she is not working for “the Man”, she spends most of her time obsessing about all things Korean. Oh yeah, she is not Yellow, she is Black.

I am writing this guest blog while drinking a bottle of soju in Daegu, Korea. (I’ve just discovered it tastes great with mango juice.) A few years ago, I became obsessed with all things Korean. I’m in love with Korean food, dramas, and music. I cannot speak Korean well so I decided that I would immerse myself in the language completely and move to the “motherland.” This way I can understand So Ji Sub clearly when he confesses his love for me. One week of vacation in Seoul just wouldn’t do, so last January, I made a New Year’s resolution: move to South Korea.

After months of interviews and rejection letters (see the letter below), I left for South Korea in October to become an ESL teacher. Naturally my family was supportive. My father: “Which part of Korea? I can’t bail you out of jail in North Korea.” My mother: “You’re going to end up in a prison camp!” My sister: “God, you really want an Asian man that bad?” Yes.  Read more...

So Sorry–Sung Kang’s ‘Car Talk’ Apology

  • January 19, 2012
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Got a letter from the attorney of NPR’s show Car Talk saying that we have to take down “Car Talk Car Discussion with Sung Kang aka Han from Fast & Furious Tokyo Drift” because of legal blah blah blah. So we made this video to apologize (along with the censored edited new version of episode 1). As my mother would say, ME SO SORREEE!

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Music of the Heart

I got inspired by my fellow Offender Jerome’s “Around the Horn” and decided to write about the music of the heart. Once upon a time, I fell in love with a bisexual guy in college who was also an advocate of non-monogamous relationships. He was always dating a guy or a girl when we were dating in college. He was my first boyfriend. Between my junior and senior year in college, I listened to New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle” like a broken record. I was surprised that cassette tape survived my rewind and play for two years. I was obsessed… or in love the very first time!?

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