if you look closely, you can see bruce's ghost slowly being resurrected. he's coming back for you. that means you no longer need me as your surrogate blogger.



my time here is up. i am no longer needed. i hope you've enjoyed reading as much as i've enjoyed posting. i fare you well. i leave you with this song.


Strung Out on OK Computer - Exit Music (for a film)
from Strung Out on OK Computer (Vitamin, 2001)

the original of this song is by some band called radiohead and is based on the suicides of romeo and juliet. thom yorke wrote the song for baz luhrmann's film adaption of the play and it can be heard when the credits roll out at the end of the film. the string version of this song plays like a soundtrack for the last scene of the shakespeare tragedy. the song always conjures visualizations of the star crossed lovers dying on stage near the end of the song.

my departure is not nearly as tragic because in a week, i will continue blogging and posting songs at my original location: post post script. i will come back with a lots of stories and pictures to share.

end scene.

ryan by chris landreth (2004)

hey now, you can check out last night's oscar winner for an animated short over here. it's a tribute to canadian animator/artist ryan larkin. gorgeous, me thinks, it looks like the crumbles and mumbles of a broken heart.

Portishead - Glory Box [live]
from Roseland NYC Live

i usually dont like live albums because songs that are recorded live dont turn out as tight or cohesive as the studio version. this track is a rare instance that the live version turned out better than the one recorded and mixed in studio. there is more detail with some sounds in this track that is somehow lost in the studio. maybe it was the chemistry and musicianship of performing live, but there are subtle differences in the two tracks that make this one just a little better. plus, how often is a band backed by a full orchestra? one of the more noticable differences is the fuller slowly descending synth-bass line during the chorus.

i was under the impression that portishead had broken up. but supposedly they're back at it this year and are slated to perform in europe for tsunami relief charities. and also look out for a possible new album (?) cross your fingers.

i have a crush on you, new york.

Just once before I die
I want to climb up on a
tenement sky
to dream my lungs out till
I cry
then scatter my ashes thru
the Lower East Side.
- miguel pinero

i have a secret, san francisco, a secret, a secret, a terrible little secret. i've found someplace else. someplace that feels like this. the wrinkled plaster, the sticky asphalt, the steel ribs, i love the A train, and the 6 train, and the 4 train... fingerprints on your window, keep the sky going, don't stop for anything.

(hurry up, no time for pictures, we gotta keep moving...)

tired of posting songs. so here's another foto from bruce's batch.


porcelain graveyard.

Exiled Once Again: A Symposium on the Deportation of Southeast Asian Refugees

hey folks, come out and learn more about what's going on....

Exiled Once Again: A Symposium on the Deportation of Southeast Asian Refugees
Saturday, February 26th
Time: 10am-4pm
Booth Auditorium, Boalt Hall School of Law, UC Berkeley
FREE! and free lunch!



The Asian Law Journal at Boalt Hall cordially invites you to its Annual Symposium examining US Immigration Law, its impact on the Southeast Asian community, and the pending deportations of more than 1,500 Southeast Asian refugees.
The event will consist of two panels. The first will discuss the political and historical contexts of deportation policy in the U.S., while the second panel will address issues of community activism and education.
Not only will the event include great discussion, but a free lunch and a post-event reception will be provided for those in attendance as well.

Speakers include:
Keo Chea, Community Activist; Bill Hing, Professor of Asian American Studies and Law, UC Davis
Victor Hwang, Managing Attorney, Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach
Ivy Lee, Staff Attorney, Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach
Khatharya Um, Professor of Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley
Joren Lyons, Staff Attorney, Asian Law Caucus
Leti Volpp, Professor of Law, American University
Robert Pauw, Partner, Gibbs Houston Pauw
J. Traci Hong, Director of Policy, National Asian
Pacific American Legal Consortium
Ra Pok, Southeast Asian Deportation Campaign Director, Khmer Girls in Action
Gianna Tran, Executive Director, East Bay Asian Youth Center
Loan Dao, PhD Candidate in Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley

In addition to the speakers, there will be a short clip of the film "Sentenced Home", which follows Cambodian-Americans as they are deported back to Cambodia, including a discussion with one of the producers/directors, Nicole Newnham.
[from: bayarealove♥]

Dntel - (This is) The Dream of Evan and Chan
from Life is Full of Possibilities (Efa, 2001)

jimmy tamborello, who's better known as Dntel, asks ben gibbard of death cab for cutie to do vocals for a track. the first time they meet is when gibbard comes into studio to lay down the vocals. a small collaboration for the track "(this is) the dream of evan and chan" becomes a bigger project called the postal service. tamborello and gibbard corresponded through usps, mailing each other cd's with edits of each other's instrumentals and vocals for their first album, Give Up. gibbard later calls jenny lewis of rilo kiley, also without having met her, to do backup vocals on the album. evan and chan started it all, but i still dont know the story behind the title of the track. anyone else know?

look out for Dntel's new album Dumb Luck this autumn with cameos by jenny lewis, conor oberst of bright eyes, mia doi todd, lali puna’s valerie trebeljahr, and fog’s andrew broder.

Mirah - Nobody Has to Stay
from C'mon Miracle (K, 2004)

a couple weeks ago, bruce climbs into de's car and hands me a cd. i threw it on the dashboard and forgot about it for a couple days. when me n de finally got a chance to put it in the disc changer, this song creeps out of the speakers. nobody has to stay is a slow, simple track with only the plucking of an unidentifiable stringed intsrument, the low swaying moan of a cello, and mirah's fragile vocals. i interpreted the song to be about a ghost of a girl who sings to her family while they are visiting her grave. it is painful for the family to remember her, but she tries to comfort them and expresses that she is grateful that they have yet to forget her and still come to visit.

The Cinematic Orchestra - Evolution (Porto Edit)
from Man With the Movie Camera (Ninjatune, 2003)

ok so i've never done this before. hopefully all goes well.

so what do you get when a dj/jazz bass player, with an apetite for film scores and rhythm sections, gathers all his closest jazz musician friends and starts a band? The Cinematic Orchestra (TCO) is a collective of jazz players and a dj from London headed by J. Swinscoe. Evolution (Porto Edit) is one of the better tracks off their 2003 release Man With a Movie Camera. give me a heads up if you have trouble dLing the track. enjoy.

my little brother,thai, and i are trying to start a band. he plays keyboard. we like to dress alike. we've enlisted the help of chen, sara, and de. here are some screenshots of our taped rehearsal over the weekend.

for one reason or another, bruce doesn't like post too many of his own photographs on this blog. i think he might be a little shy. fortunately, i've managed to get a hold of some of his photos and will sporadically post them. this is one of my favorites.

good morning students. i am your substitute blogger. but you can call me mr. ha. actucally dont call me that.

that last post [below] will be the last you will ever hear from bruce. bid him farewell. he has taken a leave of absence, on a quest to recapture the last sunsets of his extended childhood before they burn out. he is it chasing down a snowy mountain top, searching for it the underground concrete tunnels of manhattan. he has left you. all that remains is his silhouette.


worry not. the vacated compartment inside your heart that you've designated for bruce shall not remain hollow. i am here to sublet.

i want you to be baobab boy b



why the fuck did i agree to guest blog?

i'm off to climb a mountain, folks, so i asked andinh to guest blog for me. post post script is the local reading requirement this part of town. wit and photos, with a tease of film. he says what i try to say, sees what i need to see. my cousin and internet boyfriend, i'll let him introduce himself after he's all moved in.

thanks, andinh, take care of my cat.

take off your cool



she says she likes cesar evadoria. me too. she leans her head in, and i move my shoulder for a better fit, i lean my ear close, maybe i can hear her skin sing. music is too much like clothing, i think...

only two albums for this trip (snowboard + ny) - architecture in helsinki and lyrics born. one to keep me in the moving, the other to remind me where i'm from (bay area, whaaat.)

interlude

mike: this is the best picture i've ever seen.
bruce: are you on facebook?
mike: as of today.
bruce: it's way too social, stresses me out.
mike: but of the online communities, myspace is the porno channel, friendster is cnn, and i guess facebook is the mtv.
bruce: doesn't it seem like people only blog now for penis/pussy? blogs are the new personal ads... without the stigma of personal ads.
mike: i think girls should only be allowed to blog only if they have a digi cam to post pics, guys can cut it with just witty banter... but girls? come on, we all dont care much for words.
bruce: this conversation is going on my blog.

academic decapithalon

junichi warns of the sharpening of an academic guilottine in two recent blog entries, are college professors the new janet jackson's breast and in defense of ward churchill, both are serious must reads.

what's with the witch hunt? all this news is scary, like the second coming of joseph mccarthy scary. how did our society become so reactionary, so unable to take opinions and commentaries from the political left?

(don't shut up, please, don't stop the magic.

i'm talking to you, you who first said "hegemony" to me, said, "ooh boy, it's a mindfuck" after i asked you what it meant, you who brought that boombox and dead prez to discussion, made an academic curriculum outta the matrix, showed me sankofa, burned me that I Was Born With 2 Tongues cd, you who tried to freestyle with me, taught me how to code, made me believe in June Jordan, forced me to read Baudrillard, you who had coffee with me, talked graffiti and architecture with me, you who made an open mic outta every corner of berkeley, bellowed gregorian chants in lectures, yeah you, with the video camera, with the chapbook, with the johnny depp from pirates of the caribbean haircut, you who ursuped our metaphors, told me that you would only give me an A if i could make you cry, showed me a flying buttress, encouraged me to read that poem, you who quoted Walter Benjamin and the Cure...

please, don't fucking shut up.)

we're built outta bone marrow




photos from michael wolf's architecture of density exhibit (now in SF!)


a medley of neon. i think: skyscraper is a dated word, we're too spoiled and too used to standing on the 175th floor, counting the quarter-inches between this balcony and that cloud. below, a fullgrown city, wait, no, not fullgrown, more like mid-puberty. full-grown sprawls in every imaginable direction (2nd, 3rd, 4th dimension, you name it.) density, you get used to it, and play connect-the-dots with the flickers of lights out of the windows all around you, the way the tiniest hairs on your back jiggle when traffic rushes by... a city where you don't stop moving, can't, no one ever tells you to stop, no one ever tells you to sit stilll, you move because your muscles ache to, like it's the only thirst you got.

nostalgia about hong kong. truth is, i don't know it anymore. all i remember is a humidity, a touch that clings to your flesh, sticky, each step feeling like you're walking the inner body of a kiss.

days of being wild, i'll see you soon.

but first: new york city... this weekend!

happy valentine's day



"rope's itchy, you should have gotten nylon."

"nylon makes me feel weird... it's TOO smooth."

he's got nerves that never say never


jose and jimmy, dec 2004

remember this guy, one day you'll be telling your kids at the dinner table that you were friends with him. run for your life, mos def, someone's taking over your piece of town.

right now at this very moment i am missing this in oakland... ahhh slap me with a salmon, won't ya...

Corazon del Pueblo presenta...

MOTIVO

a collection of artwork by Xicana/o students and alumni of UC Berkeley

february 4th - march 4th

curated by celia herrera rodriguez

participating artists:
annabel alvarez melanie cervantes luz chavez
maria esther fernandez moises garcia
israel haros luisa leija julian martinez
karina oliva henry posada cristina tacata

***ARTIST RECEPTION: SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12th, 1 p.m.***

Corazon del Pueblo
4814 international blvd
oakland, califas 94601
510.532.6733
(by the fruitvale BART station)
gallery hours: 7 days, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

welcome to the jungle, we love fun and games



the barnstormers are a wild bunch of new york/tokyo based kids who get cursiv and messy. they do motion paintings damn neatly, flipping a wall into a time-space canvas of saliva and paintdrops. you know, like cartoons.

or, just see for yourself.

"dad, want to go see a movie with me? ... 'bad education.' ... i think it's about a boy who grows up to be a tranvestite ... dad? dad?"

"mom, want to go see a movie with me? ... 'bad education.' ... i think it's about a priest who grows up to be a pedophile ... mom? mom?"

but my brother was down, and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

dear _______

hey, wanna see Latyrx, Gift of Gab, Lyrics Born and the rest of Quannum's special guests at the dna lounge on the 24th?

also: we should hang out, people i don't hang out with enough. let's go get 59 cent boba milk tea sometime, eh?

(oh... and cat power at cafe du nord on the 17th...)

purdy photos = purdy architecture


Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain (from its official website)


Robert Polidori's portrait of Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain (from design observer - check it for a beautiful review of the photographer...)

from a rollercoaster of titanium clouds to a trainwreck band-aid over a rusted neighborhood.

(some post-grad angst musings)

as an arch student, i find it strange that i know architecture mostly through photos, films, and magazines, not through the actual physical exploration or excavation of buildings. i've seen frank gehry buildings in newspapers, lectures, and movies but only got the chance to sneak and duck through one a few weeks ago (the disney concert hall in downtown LA... a strange adventure, for a fairly berzerk exterior, i thought it was way rigid and dark on the inside. )

architecture sometimes seems like it od'd on redbull and honey-combs, hyperactive breakdancing structures, especially when put next to issues of housing, poverty, poor transportation, and urban decay. once upon a time i wanted to go work for a starchitect like morphosis, herzog and demeuron, coop himmelblau, rem koolhaas, or the other fancifully named folks... but now it all seems too cultish and masturbatory.

i don't think i'd like a career in architecture, but it seems like a shame if i don't try out at least one firm for a bit. gigs in architecture i still might dig: the recycling of unused structures (like the tate modern in the uk), or exploring potentials in affordable housing/recycled materials (while throwing house parties and shooting music videos, like those torolab kids.)

drive-thru

black tire marks, a VW bug on fire, and a headless patch of fur on the side of the road... the highway has strange fashion sense, it sports scars like jewelry on its skin. old wrecks like a golden ring, traffic jams like a diamond necklace. i don’t like driving, but sometimes you need to move, with windows rolled down, a stack of cds in the passenger seat, and measure the distance from the things you miss in miles. i’d like to buy postcards of exit ramps (no need for monuments, palm trees, or beautiful models), simply a “thinking about you” printed somewhere, destinations unknown, no one knows where this goes, but we gotta find out.

these long rides, it's like my heart is on 4-wheel drive.