Oh, My God! (of Carnage)

When you're not able to create your own art all the time, the best thing to do is to immerse yourself in other people's art.  As an actor, I like to take in a good theater production from time to time, and study professional actors in their purest and rawest form.  

Finding quality theater in Los Angeles can be tricky.  To guarantee a high quality and professional show, you'll need to go to one of the better known theaters like the Pantages, the Ahmanson or the Mark Taper Forum.  I've always enjoyed a great show at those venues, but have had less luck at the "local" neighborhood theaters.

This time around, I went to see "God of Carnage" at the Ahmanson Theater, starring Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini and Marcia Gay Harden.  It was an uninterrupted 90 minutes of comedy, mayhem and inspired acting that only professionals of this caliber could deliver.  I brought binoculars so that I could study their faces and their movements on stage, but found myself being drawn into the crazy, dysfunctional story that was unfolding in front of me.  The show closed this past Sunday, but it might be playing in neighboring cities.  Someone also told me that there may be a movie in the works.  If that's the case, definitely add this to your "saved" list on Netflix.

I can hear the voices now: "...But tickets to the Ahmanson Theater are really expensive and I can't afford to go all the time!"  Yes, regular price tickets are expensive ($150 for orchestra seating) but if you've been following this blog, you'll know that I rarely pay full price for entertainment items.  There are websites like Goldstar.com and Stubdog.com that offer deep discounts on special event tickets, ranging from theater to baseball games to motorsports races.  The Ahmanson theater and Mark Taper Forum also offer $20 hot tix, which are available in person at the box office on the day of the show.  I went during lunch time to pick up my hot tix, but most of the time, you can just show up an hour or so before show time and buy the hot tix as long as they're not sold out.  You can find more information about hot tix at centertheatregroup.org.  Follow this guide to avoid paying $15 for parking when you go to these theaters.

Always immerse yourself in that which you love.  It doesn't have to be something fancy; even a trip to the Santa Monica Promenade can be inspiring, as you walk past the various artists performing on the street.

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Meah, What's Up, Doc?

Meet Storm:

I met Storm and about thirty (yes, thirty) other bunnies while going for a run in my neighborhood.  I never knew this, but an organization called TooManyBunnies.com operates just a few blocks away from me!  TooManyBunnies.com is a "no kill" organization, run completely by volunteers, that is dedicated to finding homes for domesticated rabbits that have been abused, abandoned or neglected.  This organization is headed by a lady named Linda, who is quite possibly the sweetest and kindest lady in the world!

My girlfriend and I were going for our regular (ok, occasional...) run through the neighborhood when we noticed a bunch of bunnies hopping around on the other side of the street.  We jogged over to meet these fluffy balls of joy and were led down the rabbit hole into a bunny sanctuary!  Linda had transformed an open yard into a safe haven for bunnies that were probably purchased from a pet store right before Easter and then abandoned a week later.

The bunny city was a living piece of art.  There were hutches high and low; some connected with pipes so the bunnies could visit each other.  You would never know that 30 bunnies lived there because they don't make any noise.

It felt like we were in the country as a few bunnies hopped around our feet and the aroma of hay filled the air.  Hay is used to line the hutches and also consists of about 80% of a rabbit's diet.

These bunnies were all rather low maintenance as they were litter trained and are self-cleaning, much like cats.  Their poo looks like little marbles, are odorless, dry to the touch and taste like jelly beans.  Just kidding on the last part.

Bunnies make the perfect pet for people on the go as they do not require much attention.  As long as they have food, water and a small area to hop around in, they are happy.  Having a rabbit as a pet can be rewarding and therapeutic for people who are tired of the L.A. hustle and bustle.  Rabbits have a calm demeanor and are happy to listen to your problems as you pet them.

Photo courtesy Mark Okamoto,
used with permission from Mia's mother

Meet Mia.  She is three years old and was diagnosed with a condition called amblyopia, otherwise known as "lazy eye".  One of the treatments for amblyopia is to wear an eye patch anywhere from two to eight hours a day so that the weaker eye can develop better vision.  This treatment has drawbacks because when the good eye is patched, the child cannot see clearly and becomes frustrated and uncooperative.  Often times, it is difficult to keep the eye patch on a child for extended periods of time.

E.B., the black and white bunny pictured above, was introduced to Mia to help her with her treatment.  E.B. only has one eye, as the other one fell victim to a dog attack some time ago.  When Mia is around E.B., she wears her eye patch so that E.B. doesn't feel bad for having only one eye.  I could tell that E.B. really cared about Mia as he let her carry him around like a stuffed animal.  I've never seen another creature so calm when being improperly carried by a three year old child.  We eventually showed Mia how to properly support E.B. so he wouldn't be at risk of being accidentally dropped.

Linda from TooManyBunnies.com would love nothing more than to match you with the perfect bunny for your family.  The bunnies are all fixed and litter trained, and adoption is always free.  She'll teach you everything you need to know about carrying and communicating with your bunny (yes, bunnies have their own language) and will even bunny-sit if you need to go out of town.  If for whatever reason you decide that you're not able care for your bunny anymore, Linda will be happy to take the bunny back so that it can be placed with another family.  There's no reason for the bunny to be abandoned twice.

Now what would I be if I told you to adopt a bunny and didn't adopt one myself?  (Hint: rhymes with hypocrite)  Meet MAC!  She's the latest addition to the L.A. Graffiti family!  We named her MAC after the cosmetics company because of her dramatic, smokey eye shadow.

If you would like to adopt a bunny, please leave a comment below and I will put you in touch with the awesome people from TooManyBunnies.com

I leave you with the mind-blowing cuteness of MAC eating a chunk of pineapple.

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A New King Is Crowned

Move over Pink's, there's a new king of hot dogs in Los Angeles and his name is Papaya King!  I was in Hollywood on Monday night and heard that a New York legend was opening a store in Hollywood.  I really didn't know much about the history of the original Papaya King.  I just read that they served fresh tropical juices and hot dogs.  Papaya juice and a chili cheese hot dog?  Makes sense to me.  I had to try one.

My friends and I drove from Redondo Beach to Hollywood in just under 30 minutes and found an empty/free parking meter just one block from our tropical, meaty destination.  Gosh, I love weekdays.  We walked into the New York-esque joint that had no tables or chairs, and just enough space for a line to form behind the register.  The line was about ten people deep and the hot dogs were flying out as fast as the cashiers could take the orders.

An obese man an his wife walked in behind us and was immediately impatient/upset with the line.  He complained incessantly about the NY style setup of the restaurant before the door even shut behind him.

"Are you in line?!" asked the obese man.

"Yes." I replied.

30 seconds elapse.

"Are you in line?!" asked the obese man.

"Yes, we are." I replied.  And just to prove to him we were in line, I asked the ladies a few people in front of us if they were in line.  They replied with a look that said, "duh..." and a bunch of people turned around to look at me as if I had broken the cardinal "no talking to strangers in a crowded place" rule in their anti-social world.

30 seconds elapse.

"Are you in line?!" asked the obese man, for the third time!

"Yes, we are," I replied, "but it doesn't look like it because those ladies holding straws decided to stand away from the counter so it looks like we're all not in line."

"Where is the line?!" asked the obese man, this time addressing a timid new employee behind the counter.

"You're in the line, sir." said the employee.

The obese man finally stopped asking questions, having found a credible answer from the employee (my answers and verifications were apparently useless) and resumed his heavy breathing and salivating.  I was trapped.  I was standing in front of an impatient, obese man and his food.  That's never a good place to be.  I feel bad for the person that gets stuck in front of this obese man in the 45 minute line at Pink's Hot Dogs.  It seems that patience is no longer a virtue and has been replaced with aggravated entitlement.  

As the line moved forward, I noticed these square pouches being flipped on the grill.  The grill master informed us that they were Knishes (basically fried potato pancakes) and tasted great with cheese on top.  Papaya juice, hot dogs AND Yiddish snacks all in one place?  My mind just exploded.

Between the three of us, we ordered papaya juice, a chili cheese hot dog with curly fries on top, a regular chili cheese hot dog, a NY musher (mushroom and grilled onions) and a knish with cheese.  We took our food to the Hollywood & Highland center to enjoy on the patio before our movie started.

"So, Papaya King after the movie?" asked my friend after only a few bites of his NY musher.

"Yes," I replied. "Let us pray that this movie is short."

The moral of this story?  I'm not convincing when I tell people that I'm in line, and Papaya King is amazing.  Oh, did I mention that they're open until 3:00 AM every day?

*Update: My friend Mark reminded me that if you check in at Papaya King on Facebook 5 times, you get a coupon!  No additional app needed.  The coupon is built into Facebook!

You better get going before Papaya King's line starts to rival Pink's line.  Their grand opening was yesterday, and trust me, word is going to spread fast about the new king of hot dogs!

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*Update #2: If you say "I pledge allegiance to the King" at the register, you get free curly fries!  Offer good through June 30, 2011 with a $5 minimum purchase.

Your Weekend Guide 5/20/11

Image courtesy Red Bull

It's Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday...  Everybody's looking forward to the weekend, weekend...

Now that the world's most horrendous song is stuck in your head, here are some fun (and always free) events for the weekend!





Skate and Surfboard Auction for the Venice Art Walk
Friday, May 20, 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Track 16 at Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave Bldg C-1
Santa Monica, CA
One of a kind skate and surfboard auction.  Skate decks featuring art by 70+ artists including Dogtown and Z-Boys.  Also, custom-shaped surfboards with graphics by local tattoo legends.

Opening Reception for Royal/T and LA Brakeless Pop-Up Store
Friday, May 20, 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Royal/T, 8910 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA
Join the party as Royal/T and LA Brakeless celebrate the opening of their pop-up store.  The goods include a wide selection of high quality, hard-to-find bicycle gear, apparel and colorful accessories.  The party will feature live music by DJ No Electro and drink deals including 2 for $5 Pabst Blue Ribbon.

LACMA Jazz Nights
Friday, May 20, 6:00 pm - 11:00 pm
LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA
Weekly jazz night featuring various artists.

Red Bull Soap Box Race
Saturday, May 21, 12:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Pershing Square, 5332 S. Olive St.
Los Angeles, CA
The title says it all.  Consider taking the metro as parking will be very difficult.

Art Exhibit: Beauty Culture
Saturday, May 21, 11:00 am - 6:00 pm
Annenberg Space for Photography, 2000 Avenue of the Stars
Century City, CA
Featuring hundreds of images from top photographers in fashion, beauty and pop culture.

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Free Movies!

People always seem to think that in order to have a good time, you have to spend money.  The more money you spend, the more fun you will have.  I think exactly the opposite.  I get a kick out of spending next to nothing for my fun.  If you think about it, it makes everything, even the less fun stuff, more fun because it didn't cost you anything!

Take movies for example.  Would you have fun if you spent $12 ($25 if you got popcorn and sodas) for a mediocre movie?  No.  You'd be upset that you spent so much and didn't get an adequate FROI (Fun Return On Investment).  Now if you went to see that same mediocre movie for free, would you be upset?  Of course not!  Because you had a fun, free evening with your friends and now you have a laughably bad movie to make fun of!  See how not spending money automatically makes everything more fun?

Did you know that you can get free tickets to many upcoming movies?

I stumbled upon a website called GOFOBO.com not too long ago.  Their sole purpose is to give out free tickets to advance screenings of movies that are about to be released.  Their services are nationwide, so punch in your zip code and see if there are any free screenings near you!

Here's my first experience with GOFOBO:

I picked up a pair of free tickets for a movie called "The Losers" via GOFOBO after googling the phrase "free movies" (yes, I blatantly search for freebies).  I left earlier than I normally would for a movie to fight my way from the South Bay to Mann's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.  As we got closer to Hollywood Blvd, traffic started getting really bad.  "Why is there so much traffic on a Tuesday evening?!  I bet there's a stupid movie premiere that's blocking the road!" I exclaimed to my girlfriend, upset that we might miss the movie after having driven all this way.

We eventually made it into the Hollywood & Highland parking structure and started Olympic speed-walking to the movie theater.  As we came up to the theater box office, another barrier (literally) was placed in front of me as the entire sidewalk was closed for a movie premiere!  I found a security person and politely informed him that I was trying to attend a screening for "The Losers".  He looked at my ticket and told me to line up on the other side of Hollywood Blvd.  "That's weird," I thought to myself, "Why go through all the trouble to make the line on the other side of the street for a simple movie?"

As my girlfriend and I navigated through the sea of celebrity gawkers, I sneaked peaks between people's heads to see which movie was having a premiere on the same night that I was trying to enjoy a free movie. (Ugh! How rude!)  I managed to catch a glimpse of some posters for "The Losers" on the red carpet.  "How cool," I said to my girlfriend, "we're watching the movie on the same night as the premiere, in the same building."  (Feel free to sigh, shake your head and/or laugh here)

We finally made it to the opposite corner of the street, traded in our printed paper tickets for some postcard sized tickets, and were quickly ushered back across the street, right past the red carpet.  Of course I took the opportunity to snap a quick picture with my cell phone of Zoe Saldana, whose star was still hot having just come off of "Avatar".  We continued to be herded into the main lobby of the theater.  We were then told to grab a large bag of popcorn, a soda of our choice and find our seats quickly.  "Wait a minute, free snacks?  What's happening here?" I asked my girlfriend, "Are we attending the actual premiere of 'The Losers'?"  "Looks like it," she replied, as we both looked at our ultra casual clothes against a backdrop of suits and evening dresses.

We found our seats in the main theater and started to watch the celebrities and studio execs pour into the theater.  The movie started right away without any trailers and it hit me:  I'd just attended my first Hollywood movie premiere!

I always thought that the movie premieres were only for celebrities and movie studio people.  It turns out that 50% of the people at ALL movie premieres are just seat fillers, having gotten free tickets from a place like GOFOBO.com.

While GOFOBO is a great resource, there is a slight catch:  you're not the only one that knows about the website.  The free tickets that are offered are usually snatched up within the hour, if not sooner, depending on how popular the movie is.  If you're lucky enough to get a ticket, it's still a first come, first served scenario.  The ticket recommends showing up 30 minutes before the show time, but I've found that in order to guarantee you'll get into the screening, you need to show up 1.5 to 2 hours ahead of time.  Yes, there are some hardcore movie goers that will show up 4 hours ahead of time, but I've found that 1.5 hours is about the maximum time that most people are willing to wait for a free movie.  Just make sure you show up before the masses.

So there you go!  Go out and enjoy some free movies!  Free makes everything more fun!  Now if I could only figure out how to not pay rent...

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I'm a Dad!

Image courtesy of FOX

No, I didn't have a baby nor do I have one on the way, but I do have a baby-sized victory that I'd like to share with you.  All of my commercial auditions so far have consisted of a role with the modifier "Asian" in front.  Asian businessman, Asian scientist, Asian man, etc.  But the most recent audition I went on was for the role of "Dad".  Not Asian dad or ethnic dad, just dad.  I consider this a victory for many reasons, but mainly because we are all just PEOPLE and someone in Hollywood is beginning to realize that.

My getting called in to audition for the role of plain ol' dad may have happened for a couple of reasons:

1. My agent is awesome and submits me for projects as long as I fit the description.  She once sent me to a Goodyear tire audition that turned out to be a NASCAR commercial.  It was rather hilarious as the casting people didn't know what to do with me and ended up sending me home.  "There's no Asian people in this spec," said the casting assistant, "but from one Asian actor to another, I think there should be."  The audition called for a tall, athletic man with a great personality and a great smile.  That's it.  I can't fault her for sending me.  =)

2. The casting director that brought me in for the "dad" audition is one that I have been building a relationship with for the past 2 years.  I'm building a relationship with his staff as well and I'm always professional and at my best.  I don't know for certain if any of the above actually helps, but it definitely doesn't hurt.

When I arrived at the casting office, I was the only ethnic person in the room.  We were being paired up into families; a husband, wife and one or two kids.  The casting assistant paired me up with a nice lady and an adorable little girl, but offered to pair me up with a more ethnic family because she thought it would "help" me.  Help me?  Was it so unbelievable that an Asian man and a Caucasian woman would be married?  Yes, the little girl was Caucasian too, but she could have been from a previous marriage.  Is that too far fetched?  Am I over thinking this?

I think being paired into an "ethnic" family would actually hurt me because the unprinted fine print reads: "Limit one (1) Asian person per movie, scene or TV show, unless it's the 'Chinatown' episode, then the use of many stereotypical immigrant Asian people is permitted."

Once the nice lady and adorable little girl were told that I would make their family complete, the lady leaned over to the little girl and said, "It's ok, we adopted him." to which I quickly and confidently replied, "No, I think you meant to say that you married me."  I wasn't going to let her pervert this innocent, impressionable little girl who probably doesn't really notice or care about the differences in people and who definitely did not have the word "racism" in her vocabulary.  Not on my watch, lady.  She had no response for me and just laughed nonchalantly.

I ended up auditioning with the same lady and little girl as the casting assistant who was conducting the auditions actually preferred the combination.  The audition itself went off without a hitch.  We were pretending to make an announcement at a press conference as a family.  We had a podium and a microphone that was way too tall for the little girl.  When it was her turn to speak, instead of lowering the mic to her level, I lifted her up to the mic and held here there while she delivered her line.  I thought it was a cute touch, if I do say so myself.  It also got me more camera time.  Zing!

There were quite a few mini-victories that day, and I'm going to chalk them all up as progress in reaching my goal of being seen as a leading man.  I can't wait for the day that I get called in to an audition for the role of "Man".

One day at a time, one person at a time.  Keep fighting the good fight, my friends!

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Electro-Rock Out with OTENKI!

Photo courtesy Billboard.com 

Hailing from my hometown of Houston, TX is an up and coming electro-rock band called OTENKI!  My girlfriend met one of the band members on a recent visit to Houston and we've all since become fast friends!  They are currently fighting their way to the top of Billboard's Battle of the Bands, where the winner is given the opportunity of a lifetime to perform at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards!  They won the Southwest region battle and took a road trip to Las Vegas for the final showdown, which takes place May 18th.

Their journey to Las Vegas is documented via video blogs and posted on Billboard's website.  Your views and visits to their page will help them win the battle!  Follow this link and learn more about the band: OTENKI

It's great to see a group of talented and driven individuals find success in a town that doesn't really have the infrastructure or support groups to foster young and developing talent.  Let OTENKI be an example that you can make art anywhere!  With online tools like Youtube and Facebook, you don't need to live in an entertainment mecca like Los Angeles to find success.  Just create your art, put it out into the world and your fans will come to you.

Keep on keepin' on!  Good luck to OTENKI at the Billboard Battle of the Bands finals!

Watch their music video:

Get to know the band and their origins:

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