Lucinda Michele was going to video herself eating all of these, but she needed both hands to shovel the desserts into her mouth.

Video shot by Lucinda Michele, but uploaded by JozJozJoz.

Joz arrives at Canter’s for her blog-a-thon session. 3 laptops right now!

Technology report:
2 Verizon MiFis
1 laptop from LucindaMichele
1 laptop from Joz
1 netbook from Joz
1 iPhone from LucindaMichele
2 more cell phones from Joz
1 Flip video camera from Lucinda Michele
2 digitals cameras (1 each)
1 AT&T wireless card

1 outlet

Wish us luck!

Canter’s Deli
Fairfax District
Los Angeles, CA

5/22/2010

The city which many believe to be the birthplace of the state’s first drive-through hamburger stand had planned to take a vote yesterday to temporarily ban new drive-through businesses. The ordinance would have placed a moratorium on new drive-throughs in Baldwin Park for 45 days, but would have no effect on existing drive-throughs. The council postpoined the vote but will take up the issue again at the June 2 meeting.

Though Baldwin Park was the home of the first In-N-Out Burger in 1948, which the company claims was the first drive-through hamburger stand in California, city officials said they are now looking in a different direction. The moratorium would allow the city to study the issue prior to updating the zoning code later this year, Baldwin Park Mayor Manuel Lozano said. [full story]

This year’s Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF) has played host to a number of sold-out/standing room only screenings. One of the most highly anticipated premieres was ‘Ktown Cowboys,’ which comes to us via director Daniel DPD Park, writer/funnyman Danny Cho and a team of amazing folks who debuted the first five webisodes of ‘Ktown Cowboys’ to the lucky folks at the screening. The unlucky folks who couldn’t get a ticket in will simply have to catch this online as they release new episodes every couple of weeks or so. (Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube to get notified of new episodes– I already did!)

My buddy Edward describes ‘Ktown Cowboys’ like this: “Imagine ‘The Hangover‘ but tak[ing] place in Koreatown. Hilarity ensues.” The producers of the upcoming (so-called) “Asian American Jersey Shore” might be kicking themselves after they realize they’ve been beaten to the punch for something that shows hot Asian/Korean Americans (boys and girls) drinking, partying, booking, karaoke-ing– and yes– fighting.

I love ‘Ktown Cowboys’ because it’s funny, made by Asian Americans who don’t mind being a little tongue-in-cheek, and it is shot in actual Ktown locations where you might see some of this stuff go down on any given Friday night. I shouldn’t have to tell you this is an exaggerated POV of Ktown, yet somehow, it is eerily accurate at the same time.

When John Kim (Lanny Joon) relocates from the comforts of his picket-fence, WASP neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia to the alluring city of Ktown Los Angeles, the land of sultry women, Booking Clubs, and late night taco trucks, his arrival immediately sparks the most epic night of his life. His cousin, Jason (Shane Yoon) introduces John to his audacious crew (Peter Jae, Danny Cho, Sunn Wee, and Bobby Big Phony Choy) who teach John the basic yet inventive ways on how to survive the perfect Friday night in Ktown. Special appearances by Justin Chon (Twilight) and Bobby Lee (Mad TV).

The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF) continues throughout this week in Downtown Los Angeles.

The legendary Bruce Lee, would have turned 70 years old this year. And while it may or may not be difficult to imagine him as a septuagenarian still beating down bad guys, what can’t be denied is decades after his passing, he remains as influential as ever.

In tribute to and in celebration of the martial arts, action film and cultural icon, the 2010 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (which opened last night at the DGA), in association with his widow, Linda Lee Cadwell and daughter Shannon Lee and their Bruce Lee Enterprises, are organizing a Special Bruce Lee Program at this year’s festival tonight (Friday, April 30) at sundown at the new Madang Center Courtyard in Los Angeles’ Koreatown with a free screening and other events throughout the weekend.

The Bruce Lee celebration kicks off with a free outdoor screening of THE CHINESE CONNECTION and after party tonight and continues the tomorrow at noon with a special screening of ENTER THE DRAGON followed immediately by a panel discussion entitled, “How Bruce Lee Influenced Pop Culture” featuring daughter Shannon Lee, directors Reginald Hudlin (HOUSE PARTY, THE BOONDOCKS) and Brett Ratner (RUSH HOUR, X-MEN 3: THE LAST STAND), ENTER THE DRAGON co-star Bob Wall and musician Joseph Hahn from the rock band LINKIN PARK.

For the celebration’s finale, a special panel discussion entitled, BRUCE LEE: THE FAMILY MAN featuring Linda Cadwell and Shannon Lee and Goddaughter Diana Lee Inosanto takes place 4 p.m. Sunday at The Directors Guild of America. This event is free.

THE BRUCE LEE 70th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION is part of the 2010 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, which also features 170 films from over 20 countries beginning April 29 and ending on May 8, 2010. For more information on the film festival go to: www.vconline.org/festival

Was sitting in my OC office, on a conference call when people stopped discussions to comment on the 5.3 aftershock at 9:44am (was previously reported as a 5.5).

I guess it’s a good time to post another screenshot from the USGS, which depicts the 7.2 quake over the weekend + a bunch of aftershocks since then.

Did you feel it? Fill out the survey!

- Magnitude 5.1 – SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA – 2010 April 04 23:15:20 UTC (1 mile south/southwest of Imperial, Calif)

- Magnitude 4.5 – BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO – 2010 April 04 23:09:49 UTC (32 miles west/southwest of Mexicali)

UPDATE: Revisions below:

-Magnitude 4.8 – BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO – 2010 April 04 23:09:38 UTC

-Magnitude 5.2 – BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO – 2010 April 04 23:15:14 UTC

-Magnitude 5.4 – BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO – 2010 April 04 23:25:09 UTC

-Magnitude 4.7 – BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO – 2010 April 04 23:37:32 UTC

-Magnitude 5.1 – SONORA, MEXICO – 2010 April 05 00:07:11 UTC

L.A. folks, did you feel the 6.9 7.2 quake?

-According to @ABC7: Disneyland security reports that all rides are shut down and some people are trapped in elevators after the quake.. UPDATE: Disneyland rides still shut down but no one stuck in elevators as initially reported http://bit.ly/aa4Nci

-On-air and live streaming coverage on ABC7

Here’s an updated quake map/screenshot as of Sunday, April 4, 2010 at 06:34:26 PM (PDT) – Pacific

Felt it here in L.A. as a slow shaking. (I was busy playing Wii and didn’t realize there was a quake until Yoshi told me twice that the building was shaking. And it wasn’t until I stopped playing and stood up that I realized that we were STILL swaying.)

You?

Screenshot taken from USGS:

UPDATE: USGS Upgraded the quake from 6.9 to 7.2
Here is the preliminary quake info:
Magnitude 6.9 7.2 – BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO

Magnitude 6.9 7.2
Date-Time

* Sunday, April 04, 2010 at 22:40:39 UTC
* Sunday, April 04, 2010 at 03:40:39 PM at epicenter

Location 32.093°N, 115.249°W 32.128°N, 115.303°W
Depth 32.3 km (20.1 miles) 10 km (6.2 miles) (poorly constrained)
Region BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO

Distances
* 26 km (16 miles) SSW (211°) (225°) from Guadalupe Victoria, Baja California, Mexico
* 6160 km (38 miles) SW (227°) (165°) from San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, Mexico
* 6462 (40 38 miles) SW (225°) (233°) from San Luis, AZ
* 173 167 km (108 104 miles) ESE (106°) 105° from Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico

Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 5.8 km (3.6 miles); depth +/- 21.1 km (13.1 miles) horizontal +/- 2.4 km (1.5 miles); depth +/- 31.6 km (19.6 miles)

As always, here’s the shake map and intensity map for this event and don’t forget to fill out the survey if you felt it.

If you’ve been to as many weddings as I have, then you’ve also received your fair share of “Save the Date” notices. Though I’ve seen some really creative ones cross my desk, I’ve never seen a “Save the Date” as EPIC as Jeff & Erin’s!

Jeff Wong & Erin Martin met while they were in college in SoCal in 2000, but their love has landed them down-under– Sydney, Australia. Ten years after they first met, they are tying the knot in the Los Angeles area, and they’ve created a wedding website, a “teaser poster” and a “wedding trailer” to lead up to the wedding date. Since Jeff did some video production in college, they “started with a simple idea that was going to be a weekend project.” But then, in their own words, they “just got a little carried away.”

With all the attention that they are getting on this trailer– they’ve been written up in HuffPo & Boing Boing– I am guessing there are going to be high expectations for their wedding. (No pressure, guys!)

I’m also guessing that they’re going to have to lockdown parts of their website which was originally started just for their friends and family. The site is already being innundated by visits from strangers who are congratulating them — and wanting to know where this wedding is going to be so they can crash it– who is with me on this one!?!? (Kidding!)

Anyway, congrats to Jeff and Erin and best wishes on their big day!

In 1995, one of the most shocking cases of modern day slavery unfolded in Los Angeles’ backyard. 72 garment workers were discovered in an El Monte compound living in captivity and under squalid conditions, producing clothing for such major labels as Anchor Blue, Clio, and B.U.M. A majority of these garment workers were of Thai descent.

Modern day slavery and trafficking fuels an underground economy that goes unnoticed to many. Victims generally labor in the garment, toy manufacturing, agricultural, and sex industries as well as serve in households cleaning homes or providing childcare to the families of their slaveholders. Every year, at least 17,000 people are trafficked in the U.S., with the majority of victims consisting of women and children. Los Angeles serves as one of three main points of entry.

As part of an effort to utilize the arts to raise awareness about this seldom discussed issue in the Asian Pacific Islander American community, East West Players (EWP) and the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST) are presenting a special event this Thursday evening that is free and open to the public:

Excerpts from: THE GIRLS FROM AFAR by Libby Emmons, a staged reading directed by Jeff Liu

Featuring:
Dante Basco (Hook, Take the Lead)
Fran de Leon (Dogeaters at the Kirk Douglas Theatre)
James Kyson Lee (NBC’s Heroes)
Camille Mana (UPN’s One on One)
Tamlyn Tomita (The Karate Kid II, The Joy Luck Club).

Thursday, January 21, 2010
7:30 PM – show
Panel Discussion & Reception to follow
Tateuchi Democracy Forum in the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy
(Across the parking lot at East West Players next to the Japanese American National Museum)
111 N. Central Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012
RSVP to (213) 625-7000 or on Facebook

This is just one of several events for CAST’s monthlong “From Slavery to Freedom” campaign.

If you’ve been on Facebook in the last couple of months, then you might have been inundated with requests to vote in Chase’s Community Giving Facebook Campaign. With financial resources drying up for many organizations, this campaign has been a rare opportunity for non-profit orgs to come by cold, hard cash by simply leveraging their social media muscles. Out of more than a half million eligible organizations, the Top 100 vote getters in Round 1 have moved on to the final round of voting, which is happening now. Top 100 orgs are already the recepients of a $25,000 grant, but the top organization gets $1 million.

Six Los Angeles area organizations are in the running for the $1M: [links go to Facebook pages]

In the spirit of full disclosure, I have been supporting the Center for the Pacific Asian Family (CPAF) in this campaign, since I feel that their “big idea” has the greatest potential for immediate impact on those who are living in Los Angeles, right now. CPAF was founded to help address domestic violence and sexual assault in the Asian and Pacific Islander communities. Up to 60% of Asian and Pacific American women experience domestic or sexual abuse in their lifetime, and are the least likely to report the abuse. Since the economic downturn in 2008, domestic violence has been on the rise. With cutbacks in state funding, non-profits like CPAF are forced to turn away more callers trying to flee a violent home.
Read the rest of this entry →

Alongside the headlines of the horrific devastation of the Haitian earthquake are the headlines about how “digital fundraising” is providing a rapid flow of dollars, showing the importance of technology in providing new avenues for relief efforts.

For anyone who is technologically-minded, and even those who are not, if you want to lend your hand to a good cause, you should check out CrisisCamp Haiti in LA tomorrow at USC. CrisisCamps are hosted in a barcamp style where great minds come together to share their knowledge and expertise for social good.

This Saturday, the USC Annenberg School will be hosting CrisisCampHaiti Los Angeles to bring together volunteers to collaborate on technology projects which aim to assist in Haiti’s relief efforts by providing data, information, maps and technical assistance to NGOs, relief agencies and the public. Chad Catacchio will be leading up a team.

Project Proposals for CrisisCamp Haiti
1. Base layer map for Port Au Prince: This project would create a new collection of imagery and a new base map for NGOs and relief agencies. Post available imagery to share with the public for open source applications.
2. Family locator systems: Uniting efforts of interested technologists, developers and communications experts to provide technical assistance.
3. Tech Volunteer Skill Matrix/Volunteers: Create a role of volunteer as well as
4. Managing News Aggregator: Provide content channel management to coordinate data feeds
5. Defining the Collective: Create what we are and why we are doing this. Coordinate and post historical timeline/archive for the CrisisCamp efforts.

This will also been happening in London, Washington D.C., Denver, and Northern California.

h/t: Browyn on the BarCampLA list

L.A. Conservancy has announced their new season of Last Remaining Seats, their annual series of classic films and live entertainment in historic theatres. Tickets go on sale to Conservancy members on March 31 and the general public on April 14, but you should mark your calendars now with the following films and venues:

This is where you should be on Wednesday nights at 8pm:
May 26: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967) at Los Angeles Theatre
June 2: Strangers on a Train (1951) at Million Dollar Theatre
June 9: American Graffiti (1973) at Orpheum Theatre
June 16: The Graduate (1967) at Los Angeles Theatre
June 23: Flor silvestre (Wild Flower) (1943) — co-presented by the Latin American Cinemateca of Los Angeles at Million Dollar Theatre
June 30: Peter Pan (1924) at Orpheum Theatre

Advance tickets are $16 each for Conservancy members and $20 each for the general public. A limited number of series tickets are available, and discounts are available for groups of ten or more.

After 10 years of being one of LA’s edgiest Asian American theatre groups, the Lodestone Theatre Ensemble is about present its final show, before shutting its doors for good. Don’t worry– this was a conscious decision made years ago by the artistic directors, not a victim of the global recession.

In 1995, following the 1992 Los Angeles riots, veteran actor Soon-Tek Oh created the Society of Heritage Performers (SHP), a Korean American theatre ensemble. SHP evolved into Lodestone Theatre Ensemble in 1999, organized by original founders: actors Alexandra Bokyun Chun, Tim Lounibos and Chil Kong, and writer Philip W. Chung. Their new focus was embracing a broader Asian Pacific American identity. Chung and Kong have remained to the end as co-artistic directors.

You can still catch the final weekend of their final production, Grace Kim & The Spiders from Mars, which is a play that was specifically written as a farewell to Lodestone. Inspired by classic screwball comedies, Grace Kim & The Spiders from Mars tells the story of Grace, a young Korean American woman, who has withdrawn from the world after the death of her mother ten years ago. But Grace’s life is thrown upside down when she meets her sister’s fiancé and falls in love with him. The play will be permanently retired after this run. (Meet Grace Kim in the video below…)

Tickets have been lowered to the same price as the first show in 1999: $12 for general admission and $10 each for reserved groups of 10 or more.

Only four more shows before GRACE KIM and Lodestone are gone forever! Performances are Thursday through Saturday (12/17) at 8 p.m. (2-for-1 Thursday tickets with password “Ziggy Stardust”) and closing on Sunday, 12/20 at 2 p.m. RSVP now: (323) 993-7245

GRACE KIM & THE SPIDERS FROM MARS
GTC BURBANK
1111-B W. Olive St.
Burbank, CA 91506
(inside George Izay Park, just west of S. Victory Blvd.)

FREE PARKING: Park near the jet plane in front of George Izay Park at 1111 W. Olive St. Walk into the park, past Olive Recreation Center. GTC Burbank is behind the Rec. Center, facing the softball fields.

About a month ago, Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park fame opened a exhibit of his artwork called Glorious Excess (Dies) at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo.

This show, a follow up to his highly-successful 2008 show Glorious Excess (Born), allowed Shinoda to return the Museum this summer to unveil his latest collection of paintings and digital works. Larger, broader, and more sensational than before, Glorious Excess (Dies) is the next (and final) chapter in his series exploring society’s obsession with celebrity culture, consumer addiction, and fascination with excess.

His Glorious Excess works follow a skeletal central figure’s rise to fame in the nine works created for (Born), and the character’s fall in the 17 works produced for (Dies). Not to be missed is the coffin installation; made by the same company that made Michael Jackson’s coffin.

There is a ton of stuff happening in Little Tokyo this weekend, including the ID Film Fest, so check it all out before Glorious Excess (Dies) closes on October 4.

On a side note, 8Asians (another site I contribute to) is doing a giveaway of an autographed copy of the limited edition collectible art book that Shinoda produced for Glorious Excess; the forward was written by Shepard Fairey.

Photo taken by me.