Another Week... Fly By Faster!! (SPOILERS!!)

I called it, didn't I?? Team Captain America I called it and... oooooooooh!! Even without watching it, I was right!! That's right, Chris Evans, I'm on your team! HAHAHA!!

Another episode of the CoTangent is up!! Please check it out if you have the time!!



So... I'm going to put something out there that you might not care much about and you might not want to read about, but I'm still going to put it out there! Ok... deep breath!!

I am a K-Pop fan and I've always been a fan of BigBang, 2PM, 2ne1, Girl's Day, BTS, BAP, and Block B and so on. Recently, of course, iKon! Yes!! But, as much as I like these bands... their fans are quite horrible. And for me, I think of fans to be a reflection of the bands... and yet, it's BigBang fans that are the meanest people out there. I'm not sure why.

So, to share my love of kPop, I gathered some of my non-kPop fan friends to do reaction videos with me. And the first few were alright, and they started to like them. But we started doing requests and since then, everything has changed. I can't control their reactions so, when they react naturally, the RainBridge Youtube channel got a HUGE backlash. And, well, it has just kept getting worse.

So, I've spoke with various people about how to get less of the negative responses, and maybe toning down some of our natural reactions, but no one is willing to tone their reactions down. I know that the RainBridge family is busy right now, so it's okay if we don't do Reaction vids, but I wanted to do them because I wanted to share something I loved with people I loved. ... In the end, my friends are just too ignorant of the Korean culture (... it's not like they have a chance to learn about it here, anyway) and the Korean people that give us negative comments are just too ignorant of the American culture (... not sure if they have a way of learning about it more over there...). So, in the end, it's a lose/lose situation for me.

I recently sat down to chat with the head producers of the channel and they said it was fine just letting go of the project altogether for a while. I mean, it never made money... it was just to gather up, eat together, and then shoot some videos together because we all had time.

Oh, and another thing, I got SERIOUS backlash because I commented about the "Loser" by BigBang video being too plain. ... I mean... COME ON... Given the high production value of their past videos, I felt this one fell short by a long shot of the extravagance and brilliance of BigBang music videos. Where was the symbolism?! Where was that in-depth meanings and metaphors?! Anyhoo, that's not where I take issue. I'm calling BigBang out for their portrayal of what makes a loser. Okay, shooting LA... I'll ignore that implication, but to shoot TaeYang in a RV... that's implying [FOR THOSE OF US WHO DON'T UNDERSTAND KOREAN] that anyone that lives in a RV is a loser... and I'm not down with that. Also, having "American kids" beat up Daesung in a parking lot... WTF? Shoot that crap in Korea, where your fans won't make the connection of LA being such a terrible place. Not to mention... what's with all the White girls breaking their hearts?! ... I feel like Korean boybands have a serious White Girl fantasy fetish that always ends in heartbreak. Snd since they project that, their fans take it in and are affected by it. BLEH!!

Also... When was the last time BigBang did charity work? ... Know what I mean by the cause and effect now?? For example... BEYONCE. Check out the stats on the Queen Bey HERE!! She's at the top of the world because she's an amazing performer and she does SO MUCH charity work!! And MOST of her fans are very nice people who don't bark worse than their bite. I mean, given what she promotes and how she is a good example to young people everywhere, through her music, actions, and decisions in life... SHE is a good example of a GOOD artist to be a fan of. ... Maybe it's a lack of communication or information available in English... but what good things has BigBang done??

So... I'm slowly becoming NOT a fan of BigBang... It's tough and painful because they were such a big part of my life growing up in kPop music... and I helped a friend write some parts of a fanfiction called "It Was All A Dream"... Even though I went to both their LA + OC concerts (Staples Center & Honda Center)... And I bought those little crown wands... I think... I want to be a fan of someone I can look up to and not feel ashamed of due to their discrepancies and the behavior of their fans...

Know what I mean?

***

Dear BigBang... 

Your fans are getting scarier... so are your misbehaviors and style... I hope you guys grow up soon. Until then... take care and I hope you guys learn to do something good for the world!! I've been a fan for over a decade and... I guess, I'm ready to move on. 

Sincerely ~ Tea Chai

Back To Reality (04.02.16)

A DAZZLING Reality

Why DAZZLING is so important to me:

It’s never easy for females to jump to the top of their industry. Now, to add the Asian oppressive culture on top of that, not to mention their age, school work, and physical limitations, I have come to respect those who fight to support those they love even though they may never be recognized by their idols. Personally, I’m in the same boat, thus I have more sympathy for like minds. Which is why, I think, DAZZLING is unique, special, and I’m a fan of theirs.

If you claim that you’ve never been a fan of a fan, you’re lying. Our idols today are fans of others. DAZZLING came together because they were fans of Shinee and then stayed together because they found friendship and comfort in like minded companions. Their story may be common but it is one often untold and should be. So, in a year, I’m hoping to shoot a film of their story and struggles, because I find them inspiring and, of course, because I am their fan.

***

On my recent trip to Taiwan, on the last day, I had the opportunity to meet and hang out with DAZZLING from Taiwan!! They're a group of dancers, predominantly girls, who do cover dances of popular K-pop songs they like. They got more famous because of their enthusiastic and energetically manly styled dances despite being women. As of right now, the are all female, but they do have one male member who recently moved to the LA area because of reasons. He's the one I met first and I grew the connection to their team leader. After miscommunicating a lot because her English and my Chinese was not up to par, we finally managed to meet and talk and come to a conclusion!!

Here are the DAZZLING ladies minus Rita!

It is my honor to let anyone who reads my blog know that I am going to shoot my debut feature film in Taiwan... and DAZZLING will be my actors and subject. This film explores the reality of the dance community (or the lack there of) in Taiwan. It will bring to light how different it is compared to what we, here, in America, know and understand. It will explore the  mindset and issues these young people face. And, of course, though the film will be a story, there will be a behind the scenes documentary that goes into the truth of what is going on and how things work in Taiwan. There will be interviews, footages, and the like! So, I'm very excited and starting to figure things out is all the more exciting... YAY!!

The biggest issue I have right now is getting the music licensing rights for "Danger" by BTS. So, if you have any suggestions or advice, please leave it in the comments section!! For those of you who don't know who BTS or Bangtan Boys or care about k-pop... here's their MV of the song I want to use!! And HERE it is DAZZLING dancing to it. ... Not so bad, eh??

Funzors And Sunzors!! From a PineNut !!

Here's the core gang reacting again and laughing again, ringing in the new year with new funs, new videos, and... I gotta say that I love the Rain Bridge family. They're just... THAT much fun! These people, my team of friends, it's an honor to have my two best friends in this video with me and 2 more close friends with more still to join us!!

As of now, I wanted to also share this video because... Well, everyone, this is my celebrity crush. He is the reason I went to Tacos Delta in Silverlake/Los Feliz and we tried it! It was good but not amazing. But, as it goes, celebrity crushes are just that... a crush on a celebrity that will crush you one day. Oh well. Enjoy!!

Funny Story:  FIRST MEAL I hate coming back from 2 weeks in China, after all the food I ate and people I saw, experiences I've had, and etc., and my friend and I went for Mexica Food! El Torito in Burbank, to be precise. You know what I mean? It's just... there's NO WHERE that has the flavor of Mexican food!! And there is NO WAY to eat that in China. ... As many spices, plants, fruits, vegetables, roots, and creatures Chinese people cook up and eat,... they don't have what it takes to make Mexican food. ... So sad.

The Good Dino Vs. The Good Human (12.21.15) [SPOILERS!!]

What an interesting story. Of all the movies about dinosaurs and humans... Ok, to be honest, I've wanted to write earlier, I did. I tried and I sat down, brewed my tea and warmed my feet in cute fuzzy socks, and yet, the words never came to me. So I put something up first and waited for my words to return. A week passed and still, my comments about the 'Good Dino' seemed... very dry.

Obviously, it's a film truly about human nature and mother nature, but what else was there? And then I watched 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens,' and now, I feel a renewed desire to write. This... yes, THIS was my element... More so than the dinosaurs, but it will all wrap together, I promise you!

First of all, Google gives you the choice of the Light side or the Dark side. And because of who I am and what I do... Nope, I chose the dark side because the character development on that side was just so much better. Hahaha! Anyhoo, so I'm on that side now... And though I didn't much like Kylo Ren's weakness nor the lack of action from Captain Phasma, I still remain on the dark side because I feel I can improve them. :D

Heh, well, the 'Good Dinosaur' was just that to me. A good dinosaur doing good and dinosaur-ing in the world. It was cute, classy, and a bit on the boring side for a Pixar film. The short just before it held more action and content, but was very well done and I was sad it was over when it was. The story is centered around Arlo and his family before he gets lost and goes on an adventure getting home. I've heard it compared to 'The Lion King' and 'Wicked', but I think it's just a big mixture of Pixar's uncreativeness and it shows that the company is a bit more lost than we had originally though they were. Especially after reading about the history, about how they held it back from the original release date so that they could go over it again... COME ONNNNN!!! You can do better than that, Pixar!! Where is the amazing creativity that goes into bringing to life countless stories the way you did before?! What happened to making us dream and soar within the confines of walls, and cry within the confines of minutes?! ... You could do better than this half-assed piece of a film. I don't like cussing, but this time, it was necessary. Please pardon my language. I had to rate it a C. That's how sad it makes me. 

And now, as for 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens,' ... how could they?!?!?! Oh, well, first, as a fan, I enjoyed it immensely. To be brought back into the world of the warring stars and the light and dark force, it was a CG feast for my eyes, ears, and heart. The aching was real, there were no tears nor were there surprises. And in the end, I couldn't wait to see the next one! Yay!

Now... onto the review the filmmaker side of me had. OOOOOOOOH MAAAAAAAAN!!! JJ Abrams was supposed to unleash his awesomeness on the franchise to open the world back up to the wonders of what 'Star Wars' was, originally, meant to be. And somehow... the film had so many holes, the characters were so under-developed, the CG was a bit over the top, and the dialogue and cheesiness oozed from every minute that passed!! WHAT HAPPENED?!?! I get that bringing back the old characters helps anchor emotional value and connections to the new characters, but that is NOT the best way to go about doing so!! Why would you waste Han Solo and let him die so weakly and predictably?! Leia is stronger but also does nothing, AGAIN. And finding Luke at the end, well, as great as that is, he's in no state to train anyone! 

My favorite character was BB-8. I mean, the little guy can travel anywhere, suspend itself in mid-air, and had an attitude like a puppy or a Black-person, as @moonlitewolf and my friend Chris, also Black, pointed out. Hahaha. Well, I see it, too, but I liked him a lot and I wish I had a friend like him to travel everywhere I went with! I rate the whole thing an overall B for solid effort and creative concept. I have SO MUCH MORE to say about this but will refrain!! 

As for those who have yet to see the film... (why are you reading this?!) here is my recommendation. For watching Star Wars, if you want to appreciate the film aesthetics and see how filmmakers have ruined it throughout time by being too liberal with the applying of CG and the over use of green screens, you would have to watch numbers four through six and then one through three before watching seven. However, if you just want to appreciate the story of the entire series then go ahead and watch one through six and then watch seven.

And first, as Tea, I'm a bit surprised by the sudden outburst of hate Rain Bridge received due to our reaction video to 'Daddy' by PSY. RIGHT?! According to Moon, RB had to stop defending us because there was too much to respond to, so I jumped in and then had to stop, too!! What a crazy world we live in!! Geez, opinions and reactions are simply just that... OPINIONS. 

And as for a recap on the rest of the world... 'Quantico' whaaaaaat?! 'Once Upon A Time' is where?!?! And... SHELDON AND AMY HAD SEX?!?! But, oh, wait, there is a new trailer out for 'Star Trek'!! If only Chris Pine could navigate his ship to me! I'd hop aboard quite happily!!


HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Eat a lot and get ready for the consequences!!

Want to meet new people online from around the world and maybe in your city or area? Check out the WireClub! I did and I've made new friends already! Stay away from the creepers, be nice, and always kind! It's up to you how it goes, so I hope it goes well. 

Tuesday Two's-Day! (12.15.15)

Notice the two "15" in the date today? Yeeah, you feel it too, right?

Okay, maybe not! Haha!! Well, here's episode #40 of the CoTangent! We talk weller together!

And the last video reaction we put up! Yay!!



And here's our CoTangent Episode #41! We made it!! Look for a new original video soon! I think that's the plan, right? Or was that #50?! Big decisions for the group coming ahead. But please show us lots of love as we figure things out, cut our losses, and move on with our lives as we should!!



P.S. HERE'S THE NEW INFORMATION AND TRAILER FOR STAR TREK BEYOND!!!

A Female Reminder... And Some.

I've learned so much about my cervix without knowing anything about my cervix! This girl, wow, brilliant and smart and, SO INFORMATIVE!! She's so young and yet... I've been schooled on my own body!!

I have to admit to not watching this episode of "Quantico" only because it has become too predictable! I guess I'm more willing to catch up next week, or once the season is over. A lot of the momentum has been lost in the "wait, what?!" and "OMG! Really?" of the show. So I'm skipping this week's and going to wait to see if next week's will bring me back in!

And then there was "Once Upon A Time"!! I mean, why is Emma doing what she's doing, and ALL THOSE DREAMCATCHERS!! So beautiful. Makes me want to shift my Bicycle card collection into dream catcher collections. With this strange twist with Arthur and Merlin, I'm still hooked and I want to know what brought them back, where is Merlin, and what's going on in StoryBrook! How exciting, what an interesting story twist that Emma is actually taking on the role of the Dark One... And I wonder how Hook fill find his way back to her.

For hurting Henry and some added heartache, I give it (8 of 10 Stars) for this week's episode!!

Okay! On to some more personal stuff, I guess. I'm paying for eHarmo which has gotten me nowhere. I'm on OkC and have turned 3 strangers into 3 friends, although I think the last one is about to bail because I won't give him more than friendship. I've just started paying for Match.com for 3 months but nothing is happening yet. Sigh. And it's the time of the year when people catch colds and I've caught a massive one!!

However, this hasn't kept me from organizing another Kpop music video reaction video shooting for this weekend! That's right, on Halloween, Ed, Sno, Moon, and I will gather in my living room and we will watch and react to some requested music videos, if not all! It's been quite fun lately, and I really feel like we're getting more comfortable being on camera... which is building us up for other stuff!

And here is CoTangent Episode #34!! Yay!!

TV and Dating and Love and Advice and... Reactions!

Sorry for not pressing "Publish" on this last post until today! What's wrong with me?! Haha, well, please enjoy!! 

“Quantico” was painful this week. Have they hit their peak already and are declining in story, power, and drama? I wanted to think of something better to write about but, alas, I am at a loss for words. Alex is… getting predictable, Booth and Natalie in a relationship?! Asher and Booth’s loyalties are questionable, and are we going to slowly figure out who before seeing how they were eliminated? If so, this is a TERRIBLE way to go about it!! I thought it was just a coincidence, and maybe they would change it up and keep us on our toes… and yet… I’m getting bored and I don’t want to get bored!!

S01 E03 scored a low (3 of 10 Stars) with me. Come on… bring it back up!!

“Once Upon A Time” was also somewhat of a drag. Sure, Snow and David are at it again, putting Emma first, while Henry has a date?! Whaaat?! Regina and Robin hang for most of the episode and while Hook and Emma are supposed to be all romantic, there were so many holes in the usual nice way life is wrapped up for everyone!! I feel like the answer is SO OBVIOUS and yet, life is made difficult by oblivious people. Where are the clever twists and turns that UOAT was known for?! Mr. Gold alive and awake, woohoo, but his conversations with Emma are just so awkward! I wondered how he would be and, this weird version of him is a bit unsettling. Also… boring.

S05 E04 scored just (5 of 10 Stars) with me. So sad… but still quite addicting…

"Brooklyn Nine-Nine" was AWESOME!! Peralta brings back Holt, Amy and Diaz are an awesome team. The Vulture is OUT!! And Boyle is adorable, as usual. Gina is funny... Terry is hilarious, and the other two are... somewhere there. OMG! After a boring week of TV, I LOVED this episode quite a lot! I just wish there was more story with Amy and Jake!

S03 E04 scored a whomping (8 of 10 Stars) with me! Keep going!!

***

Well, with all the deals and fun times of the Summer leaving us, the holidays and American activities are coming up. October rings in Comikaze at the Staple Center in LA. November hollers a Design event in Pasadena, not to mention the grandest slaughter of Turkeys! A time of thanks, indeed. And December hails the most traveling, where many cities in SoCal are emptied out as people travel home or to meet with other loved ones. Truly, a time to love and gather. January seeds the New Year events, along with the Lunar New Year! Lots to eat and many old faces will, surely grace your lives… Good luck with that!

I’ve always encountered a question as to whether or not one should move on with a new love or return to an old love that… wasn’t so good to them. This video says it all for me, I think.

Personally, I believe moving on helps you move on with life, grows your experience, and matures your perspectives as a person. But so many of my female friends return to their ex-boyfriends, swearing things will be different this time around. Somehow, that their ex changed so it’s fine, now. And I just wonder if these women realize that they are being manipulated? Can I say something about it or just stay silent? What is  the “good friend” thing to do?

Oh... and I'm trying this whole online dating thing and it's POOPING frustrating!! I'm currently on eHarmony, Match.com, OkCupid, and Christian Mingle. I got rid of Coffee Meets Bagel, How About We, and Chemistry.com because they were... not getting me anywhere. However, these sites are also not getting me anywhere. I wonder if I'm destined to being a spinster? ... Chris Pine!! Come save me!! (~.O)

And as a reward, Ed, Me, and Moon did another reaction video for fun... Comment please!! Thank you and much love!! Until next time!!

BigBang: Made World Tour (2015) LA & Anaheim (FAN) Review

*Disclaimer:  I AM A FAN OF BIG BANG!! I’ve been following the success that is Big Bang and all of their members since their debut in 2005, when news of K-Pop groups were even HARDER to find in America. But, having been into H.O.T. waaaaay back in the day, the moment I heard Big Bang’s sound, I knew I’d love their stuff, and I have, for the past decade! So, seeing them in concert for the first time EVER was simply amazing!! And then, seeing them BOTH NIGHTS, in LA (10.03.15 -- Staples Center: #BigBangMadeInLA) and Anaheim (10.04.15 -- Honda Center: #BigBangMadeInAnaheim), was even MORESO MINDBLOWING!!! But, as most older fans are, I was turned off by their exteme style after their ‘Alive’ album. ‘Made’ was just strange.

My Seat @ Staples Center

My Seat @ Honda Center

Although the Anaheim concert started later due to ‘traffic’ and had more encores, the boys of Big Bang had more energy for the larger audience at the LA concert. It’s tough to judge on which concert was better, but if I had to really pull in all the factors, I’d say that the Anaheim concert was just a bit better because they performed “Lies” as an encore song, which brought me back to my collegiate days… which also brought tears to my eyes. Proving once again, the power of music.

To make this as painless as possible, I wanted to do reviews on each member instead of on a song-to-song basis. Mainly because their music set for each night was different. So bear with me and I’ll do my best to bare my thoughts about them in an equally unbiased tone… if possible.

The leader of the pack, G-Dragon looked tired. From the beginning of the LA concert, he seemed quieter than the rest and that was a bit disappointing. But understandable because he did his best not to out-shine the other members of the band. And it did help give DaeSung and SeungRi more of a voice, but I’ll get to them later. And, unfortunately, the superstar looked even more under the weather during the Anaheim concert. And though the others seemed to try to pick up the slack, I guess it takes one to know one… Howeover, rumor has it, his father was in the audience? Not the only parent to be there, might I add. Still, a great performance, as usual, from G-Dragon; the ultimate love-sick boybander ever.

The 2^nd most screamed for of the night, T.O.P. set a different precident for me. Having always viewed him as the cold, quiet, and mysterious character of the bunch, he was open, visibly happy, and quite enjoyable to watch. Although it was obvious he was uncomfortable dancing with the other guys, being so much stiffer and still, his solo performance with his singing and rapping blew me away. The man doesn’t need to dance. His rap-ability is that which is coveted by most of the new boybanders today. The king of Rap and bad-buttedness, for shizzle.

The English connoisseur of them all, TaeYang was brilliant with his fluid dance moves and English speak-ability. I didn’t agree with his choice of solo performance song, having so many great hits in his pocket, he chose the one that has been overplayed on countless occasions. I guess it’s easier for them to perform their biggest hits, but… that’s not always the one the audience wants to hear. I feel he could have performed something more ‘Usher’-like and the response could have been phenomenal, as opposed to the “WOW” it was. Still, that’s his decision and I guess, that’s just his love song to the fans who love him! He’s, for rillz, the smoothest of them all… and the sweatiest I think…

NOTHING beats the cuteness and fun-lovingness of DaeSung bringing and pointing out his mother at the Anaheim concert! NOT ONLY THAT!! While I stood in with with some others, someone who looked a lot like DaeSung ran from the Honda Center and hurried into the parking lot. The kids behind me screamed after he passed and it wasn’t until later that I realized that the familiar face beloned to DaeSung!! How wonderful it was to see him in person and not recognize him until hours later!! I wish I did notice the moment he appeared, but he was in such a rush, he was gone in seconds! But his performance was sweetened all the more knowing that his Mom was there in the crowds, cheering him on. He’s, defintely, the most loveable of all the members!!

And then, there’s SeungRi, the youngest and the one with the WEIRDEST English of them all. I tried to be supportive and tolerant but when someone works so hard to butcher your mother language, you can only take so much before you stop thinking it’s by accident. And what made me hack him in last in my review was the fact that at the LA show, either his mic went out or he didn’t sing mostof his ‘Storng Baby’ song, which I found to be just poor performance ettiquette. I’m sorry if it’s his mic that went out, but it was fine during the parts when he actually did sing. But since he, also, looked tired, I guess I shouldn’t blame him for their tour not scheduling in time to help them handle the time difference. (mild sarcasm) Just gotta take it as it comes, eh? But, here’s hoping he improves his English so he doesn’t sound like he’s mocking the lingo. He’s, in my opinion, the most awkward of the guys. Haha!

It's their Official Sign!!

Overall, the most emotional song I heard on the night of the LA concert for the first time was “If You”. It brought tears to my eyes, and not because of the lighting, but the raw emotion on the stage moved me without understanding the words. The feelings and connection that suddenly hit me was enough to render me speechless. The most touching moment came from

The MVP of the night, hands down, based on how out-shined he is in music videos, variety shows, and etc., is T.O.P. He came out of his shell the most, showed his showmanship and impressed the poop out of me. I’ve seen several performers, concerts, bands, groups, and so on… but believe me when I say it… T.O.P. really stole the show.

Personally, I didn’t enjoy the videos shown, meant as ‘creative’ storytelling and buffering for the next acts. But, if it’s for the purpose of ‘humanizing’ the members of the boyband, then they went off the mark by quite a bit. I wondered why they couldn’t go with something a bit more normal instead of everything leading to some way/shape/form or suicide. There’s nothing more disturbing than having a group of handsome and talented, well-liked and well-rounded young men share their darkest parts of themsleves with an audience that comes hoping to see them in hopes of brightening their own lives. But I get where they’re coming from, which made me also look within myself because of such videos.

Also, unfortunately, I like reading subtexts and taking a deeper look into things, overthinking is the term most often used, and the way I see it, I don’t think Big Bang really put in much thought about the overseas fans. Let me explain. Anyone can go on Youtube and search for their performances in the Asian countries like South Korea, China, Japan, and Taiwan, and immediately, these boys are infinitely more spirited. And then you can search for videos in the states and they look tired, sad, and pooped out. They fly over and perform right away, disregarding the jetlag and forget that they are also hacking away at the quality of their performance. But maybe it’ll get better in three years, when they have another concert here? After some of the guys have gone to the army and come back with a new sense of reality and humanity.

Your guess is as good as mine when it comes to what they’re doing today. Whether it be Disneyland or Universal Studios, Six Flags or Knott’s… I hope they have fun with their dancers and band! OMG!! It’s not my first time seeing their band, but seeing their band live was truly amazing. Every great artist can only go as far as their band can take them and, it’s NO WONDER Big Bang has made it so far!! Madd PROPS to their band, for REALZ.

The price for attending 2 concerts consecutively is that, your ears will be ringing a bit more than usual… You lose a lot of sleep and the hours spent getting to the event and returning home add up to stolen time you’ll never get back for other things in your life, so be prepared to sacrifice! Oh, and if you’re older than 25, you will FEEL your age by the end of the night because you won’t be screaming your head off, dancing like a weirdo, and won’t be so star stuck, you can barely walk straight without dissolving into a gigling mass. I did enjoy the parking, though. For sure, because their fans are quite young, many can’t drive and are dropped off by their parents. Score one for the oldies!

Anyhoo, OVERALL, combining the score of their concerts [LA= 8 :: Ana=8.5] divided by 2 and you get my total score of 8.25 out of a total possible 10. So generous… [I’ve never rated so generously to a group I didn’t completely enjoy before. Haha. And, for those of you who need refereneces, I’ve scored a 10 for Deliriou5, and a 9 for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Alicia Keys. That’s my scale. So… my score is darn GENEROUS!!]

Mooooooving on… Check back with me for my response to Season 5 Episode 2 of Once Upon A Time and Season 1 Episode 2 of Quantico! And I’ll post our next podcast for CoTangent by Thursday, I think?

A Walk Of Mind ... Time Out In The Woods... ?!

I am an animated and enthusiastic person and I pride myself in that ability. I can talk to ANY stranger and make friends easily, even if we don't speak the same language, which would be rare because I am fluent in English and Mandarin, and quite competent in Spanish, ASL, Japanese and Korean. I just don't admit to it because I like to eavesdrop and observe as I see fit. ... You know how it is...

So, a friend of mine asked why I don't go for advertising and acting and stuff... Why I stay behind the camera is because I like it there, but here's another reason why I am NOT in front of the camera!

Haha! So, yes... I'm trying to overcome it but... Baby steps, eh? Also, I'm conscious about my left eye being bigger than my right eye. It's uncomfortable knowing one of my greatest flaws is on my face... Ya know?

Anyways, I managed to watch 2 movies today! At the DGA, not to mention!! What a wonderful easy-going day it was!! First, to brunch over a bowl of Jja Jjiang Myun at the Pho Shop in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, but I have to wait for my palette to return to normal before I could fully enjoy and appreciate it.

First on my docket, "A Walk In The Woods" (2015) featuring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte. I LIKED THIS MOVIE. It's a cross between "Into The Wild" (2007) meets every buddy film ever made featuring old friend who lose touch and come back together for a great adventure. I recommend watching it with people who enjoy nature films and curious minds. There is a lot to be learned about rocks and trees and the nature of humans. I hope I've not given away too many spoilers, only what can be seen from the trailers! I rate it a satisfying 2 of 4 stars!!

Secondly, I must apologize to Richard Gere, but I did NOT enjoy "Time Out Of Mind" (2015). Save your money, save your time, and save your respect for the Gere-maestro himself because, after watching this film, one must wonder 'what in the world was he thinking', taking part in such a poorly developed, written, and shot film?! I heard someone say it was in an effort to relaunch his career but the dude took a wrong turn when he agreed to this dull and noisy film. I actually admitted to feeling bad for disliking it and those around me agreed that they did NOT like it as well, and these are seasoned members of the DGA! So, my rating would be 1 of 4 stars ~ mainly because I didn't HATE it enough to rob it of stars completely.

I am STOKED about the upcoming BIGBANG concert!!! The first one is Oct. 2nd and the second one is Oct. 3rd!! I'm attending the one in LA with a dear friend and also BigBang lover!! The one in the O.C. is with my older sister, who is lovely and awesome, and also loves BigBang!! If only it were iKon on the second night or something!! Waaaah!!

Oh, and here it is! The other contestants and me in JiNan, ShanDong, China!!

(L->R) Ethan, Sean, Me, Mr. Jin

My China-Vid editing is coming along. It's hard because... I'm not an editor. It's scary, trying to edit something into something EVERYONE or SOMEONE would like to watch or me inspired/motivated by. I do wonder if I can do it, but I also wonder how others would react to the finished product.

Personally, this trip was very revealing to me. It showed me that I could NOT be a permanent residence of China, regardless of where I would occupy. It's not only a physical difference but also an emotional and cultural difference that would destroy who I am. Culturally, I'm an American born Chinese, but I was raised in America, thus the American-ness of me. Emotionally, I'm strong-willed, ambitious, and very NOT docile, despite my facade. I like the weaker and gentler side of me that others feel like they can overpower, but that's just one side of me, eh?

Although the heat and humidity would manage to help me shed my extra weight, I would be estranged and treated differently the moment I opened my mouth. I learned that, not only do I have an American accent to my Mandarin, but also a Taiwan accent. I'm quite tall in China, and therefore stick out, but I like my height and wouldn't regret it. My main concern was my diet. OMG!! Being allergic to shellfish complicated my mission, but fearing the water and odors of the squatties kept me in check. Also, walking EVERYWHERE was a definite experience. It made my appreciate Toby (my car) all the more! Not to mention, I would miss my friends and family in LA.

So, I guess I'm staying over here, but... China remains ever the temptress... whispering and calling out to me... When will my next adventure be?