Los Angeles, pt. 2


We made a trip to Amoeba Music, a big damn CD and record shop. They had obscure experimental albums by Sachiko M, but amazingly they did not have the new Phiiliip record. I left with a used copy of Rain Dogs by Tom Waits.


We got all nostalgic talking about all the G.I. Joe movies we used to make, so we decided to make a new one. It was filmed on location in such exotic LA locales as Compton, El Segundo, Long Beach, and the Miracle Mile (awww yeeah! Shit, dog!!). The film is currently in post-production in Hollywood.



The final scene of the movie was filmed on the roof of our cousins' place, where there is an incredible view of the whole area (can you find the Hollywood sign?). I should point out that their roommate Phil is not in costume for the movie- he just always dresses like a lounging cowboy.



While browsing they boys' extensive record collection, I discovered that, apparently, I was a member of Kraftwerk. I did some research and found some more evidence:

There I am, and...

...there I am again, in lipstick. How about that? Another lost detail of my past, now unearthed.

to be concluded...
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Los Angeles, pt. 1



This is part 1 of a 3, or 4, or 2-part photo series documenting last week's trip to the city of Los Angeles. We went down to chill with our cousins who live in the Hollywood area. What did we do there? Why, made movies, recorded music, and rubbed elboes with moderately famous actors, of course!



Base of operations, near the Miracle Mile. Real nice crib.



Don't you wish you had a movie theater in your living room? Not only is it cool for movies, but playing Spider Man 2 for Xbox rocks your face off.


Recording a hit single. Wes laid down the progression on his keyboards, Chad played guitar, and I played the beats on a midi keyboard.



Wes, Chad and I at a keen German bar called the Red Lion Tavern. Dan told us that if we were to go there in the afternoon, sit at a specific table, and drink some beer, it would be one of the best experiences of our lives. So we did. And it was.
to be continued...
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put it on your wall.

What? You didn't see poster I made for The Taste's last show? Well look here.
























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the dogs!!

...And now, back by demand, here it is again:
that crazy David Hasselhoff video.

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Escape from America.

Since graduating from college, it has become quite clear that this country doesn't need me. I've applied for and inquired about jobs, but I guess I'm just not an employable person, allegedly due to my lack of work experience. Come to think of it, I really don't know what I was doing during all those years in college. Apparently that whole experience and the work I did does not count as work experience. And maybe I'm just a brain-dead, blindingly ignorant retard monkey child, but isn't the whole point of college to prepare people for the goddamn working world???

But no matter. America has become lame anyway. So I have been applying for an English-teaching position over in Japan land, where the food is good, the cars are small, and the religion is friendly. There are two roads to English teaching that one can take; the private language school road, or the JET road. It breaks down like this - there are a bunch of private schools in Japan, with branches all over the country, where people can go and lay down a pretty penny for advancing their knowledge of English. Youngsters are taught the basics of the language in Japanese public schools, but just the basics. Nobody comes out of high school fluent in English. So many people will go to these private schools if they plan on travelling or working in English-speaking countries, or if they just want to understand American movies. These schools employ people from the US, Canada, Britain and Australia to go over and be teachers. You don't need to know Japanese; you just need to have a college degree and not be a psychopath. Go to a school's website, complete an online application, go in for an interview, and there ya go. They'll train you in the art of saying "I took a bath. I am taking a bath. Now you try."

The other road is through the JET program. JET stands for Justification of Existential Tomfoolery. ...Actually, no it doesn't. But the deal with this program is that it's a government-run institution, sending young college graduates over to teach English in elementary and high school. Remember how I said that the young people get basic English lessons in public schools? That's where these JET teachers come in. They act as assistant English instructors in classrooms. Now, you don't need to know Japanese to work with JET, but you must study the language prior to and during your time in Japan. Oh, and another thing, JET has a 15-page online application that is only up for 2 and a half months out of the year. This window of opportunity won't open again until next September.

So I applied to NOVA, the biggest and the baddest of the private schools. They emailed me and I went up to Portland for an interview. I got all fancified in a suit and tie, and in the "poker room" at the Embassy Suites Hotel a nice woman explained the whole program to me and a few other applicants. Then we broke for lunch, and a while later I came back in for an individual interview, during which the woman and I went through a surreal practice teaching lesson: I ask this woman if she understands a certain word, and in her best fake-broken-English she says "Aah, yes, I sink so." Because, you see, that is exactly what a real Japanese student would say. And the whole lesson went like that. If there were an academy award for Best Middle-Aged Woman in a Role as a Struggling Japanese Student Learning English, it would be all hers.

The NOVA people haven't called me back, but I'm trying to set up an interview with AEON, another private school which is currently employing my friend Sebastian (who recently advised me to stay away from NOVA). Perhaps I can meet with them when I am down in LA next week. But anyway, such is my quest to leave the country. I'll let you all know how it progresses. In the meantime, here is a link to some goofy Japanese commercials for AEON starring Obi-Won Kenobi himself, Ewan McGregor. "Oh my God!"
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the boyhood disease.

Do Teachers Dislike Boys?

I just read this article and thought I would link to it because, shucks folks, I'm fascinated by gender studies and the psychological differneces between males and females. The subject is one of those, like music and art, that I frequently ponder. At times people have called me sexist, but that is not necessarily the case; do I dislike women or do I envy them? And is it possible for a man to be sexist against men for a change? Discuss.

As for the article above, in my personal experience I never felt that I was disliked by my teachers. In fact, I recall most of my elementary school teachers praising me for being so quiet and obedient. But the article does bring up some good points: seeing as how the position of elementary school teacher is a stereotypically feminine career, what can be said of the learning environment created in a women-dominated institution? Not to say that it would be an inherently bad environment, but consider the fact that girls are more likely to conform and follow authority than boys are. Perhaps my teachers were only proud of me because I was behaving more like the girl students (how dare they!!) than the boys. Those boys, with their jovial manner and boisterous tendencies! Such troublemakers, they are! Then again, further down the road it is the extroverts and the socialites that get ahead in the working world. The quiet, thoughtful man is not the man who gets the job.

Anyway, your homework is to read the article and come back next time ready to share your thoughts and impressions.
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a new crummy year.

Here's to 2006!
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