Howard Who?

Ever heard the phrase “The medium is the message”?

That’s absolutely true with blogs. Comments always tend to have a combative air, most of the time because it seems that’s what bloggers respond to. I’ve had people do that to me, where I had to defend myself against an anonymous browbeating. And yes, I find myself doing it on other people’s blogs, albeit trying to avoid the ad hominem insults that are so easy and childish. But the truth is that once you get started down this path, it starts to become all or nothing.

Playwright and blogger Prince Gomolvilas is one such “opponent” who I could spend endless hours debating on his blog (like his choice for top ten films of 2007), but by some miracle, we still remain likeable to each other. It’s truly a testament to the good nature of humanity…that, and also attrition. Maybe it’s just that we recognize the medium and decide to not blame the messenger.

How does it feel to own a piece of original art? Pretty good.

The above is a painting I co-purchased for a cool sum. It was created on the spot at a Los Angeles event known as Tuesday Night Cafe, where many diverse artists congregate to share a free night of music, dance, spoken word, comedy, and more.

As I entered the venue (the patio area of the Union Center for the Arts in front of East West Players), I noticed a woman painting some undefined shapes. I had no idea what it was to become. Later, she would tell me that while she usually sketches out her works, she didn’t have the benefit of a pencil so she just did it off the top of her head. The trees and leaves are apparently characters in her other works, but the way they came together was different.

Her name is Alfie, which you can see signed at the bottom right. This is now hung next to my bed and above my desk, where it will inspire me. Each Tuesday Night Cafe has a different theme, and the one that generated this painting was marriage. So naturally it features two trees bonded at the trunk. And ironically, as co-owner of the painting, I must share this painting with someone else. I get it for 6 months, and she gets it for the other 6. It’s almost as though we have joint custody of our “baby.” And like a real baby, I am responsible for it.

Alfie’s painting actually displaces the previous painting that hung there. Well, it’s a Picasso print that I’ve had for years and years.

I enjoyed this image, but there was always a desire to have some original art, something “real”. So yes, it feels great to have an original art work all to myself (and my co-owner).

Bees Bein’ Strugglin’ - The Octopus Project

USA Men’s Gymnastics took the bronze despite not having the Hamm brothers. And it came down to the second-generation players on the pommelhorse. Raj Bhavsar, an Indian American, Kevin Tan (above), a Chinese American as well as co-captain of the team, and Alexander Artemev, who’s parents came from the former Soviet Union.

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In other news, the LA Weekly gives positive notices to two Asian-American productions currently in Los Angeles, both achieving a “GO!” rating. The 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors‘ “Just Like White People” is described as “incisive and hilarious.” Lodestone Theater’s production of the Tennesse Williams play “Suddenly Last Summer” is called “at times brilliant.” (full disclosure: I work with 18mmw) The Lodestone production is one of the last ever since it will be shutting down after the 2008-2009 season. And Suddenly is a great way to do it…the play is a wonderful exploration of language and one that rarely gets put on, let alone with an almost all Asian American cast. The two female leads carry this one-act to its emotional ending.

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What do graphic designers do in their spare time? If you said make catchy pop music, you’d be correct. Well, at least it’s true for these guys from San Francisco.

Teleprompt - My First Earthquake

How obsessed with the number 8 are Chinese people?

When I worked at a Hong Kong company, all the phone numbers had lots of 8s in them.

When I worked at a Hong Kong company, their American law firm that works with lots of Hong Kong companies had lots of 8s in its phone number too, perhaps hoping that that would entice Chinese clients.

Or how about the fact that the Chinese are starting the Olympics on 8/8/08 at 8:08 pm?

The number 8 has long had mystical qualities. There are 88 keys on a piano. There are 8 hours in a workday. We are said to need 8 hours of sleep. The number 8 when turned on its side looks like infinity. Track 8 of Radiohead’s Kid A is Idiotheque…great song.

Where does this mystique come from? Well, have you ever heard the expression, Gung Hay Fat Choy. The “fat” means something like bling and it sounds remarkably similar to a certain number. It’s as if 9 could be a lucky number because it rhymes with goldmine.

By the way, the above picture is of my speedometer. Yes, I actually stopped to take a picture of this once in a lifetime phenomenon of a reading of 188,888, the second highest number of 8s possibly achievable and the most achievable if you take into account the probable life of the vehicle. Note also the 8 on the small speedometer…icing on the cake.

And let’s celebrate this great 8 date with an mp3. As far as I know, Soliloquy is Frank Sinatra’s only 8 minute song…there are longer ones of course, but this is the only one that’s 8. It’s from the musical Carousel.

Soliloquy - Frank Sinatra

Back in the days when I first started caring about box office numbers, there was one franchise that really stood out: Batman. The first three Batman movies each broke the coveted opening weekend number, setting new precedents for how big movies could be at the box office.

However, signs of fatigue showed. The overall grosses dipped and by the time we got to Batman and Robin, it seemed that the gold mine had been raided.

Now, I know box office numbers ultimately don’t mean much. Movie studios generally don’t make a profit off of those numbers. It’s true. After splitting the numbers with the theaters, marketings costs, above the line people, and other investors, studios are left with a paltry sum at best. But of course, they wouldn’t make films just to break even so that’s where DVDs, rentals, broadcast, cable, etc. push them comfortably over the top…not to mention a growing international market for movies that do well.

But there is one box office number that defies all this. 600 million dollars. It is a majestic number achieved only once by a film most prognosticators had decided would end a couple careers, including that of its risk-taking director James Cameron. Of course, Titanic proved everyone wrong. And rightly so…it was and remains an eminently watchable movie (whether it deserved Best Picture is a separate issue). And it did all of this without breaking any weekend box office records.

In the intervening years between Titanic and today, movies are released quite differently and more reflect the Batman mode of big opening weekends rather than Titanic’s steady consistency. And the Shreks and Spidermans and Pirates of the world all atest to a new brand of movie mania…one that lasts for about a month at best and fades away into whatever’s next.

Whatever next meant: Iron Man…a solidly entertaining and fresh take on the superhero genre that made Robert Downey Jr. into one. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull…an unnecessary retread of the aging franchise that had its moments. WALL-E…another good Pixar movie. Hancock…another good Will Smith vehicle. None over $400 million although Iron Man and Indy 4 hit a very very respectable $300 mil.

I looked at this landscape and resigned myself to a lackluster summer. These were pretty good, but I was done hoping for something that would come close to Titanic in terms of record-breaking…or even something akin to last year’s big THREEs…Shrek the Third, Pirates 3, and Spiderman 3…each hitting $400 million.

The Dark Knight has proved me wrong. I thought this movie would be successful, but based on the last film, Batman Begins, box office was only so-so. Again, the well seemed to run drier than it once had. Well, after a renewal of the franchise bringing in a genuinely great director, Christopher Nolan, and a new modern realism to the Batman character, we find Batman to be not only breaking opening weekend records, but all other records in its path. It took Shrek 2 43 days to hit a $400 million gross, which was the record for the fastest grossing $400 mil. The Dark Knight will do that much in less than half the number of days (UPDATED: 18 days to be exact).

And so it is with anticipation that The Dark Knight is no longer simply another Batman movie, another superhero movie, another summer blockbuster. No, it now gets to be a contender for the greatest grossing movie of all time. Box Office Mojo has the chart for you to follow along if you feel so inclined.

Never mind that The Dark Knight also broke the record for being the widest release in the history of wide releases. It just didn’t feel that way. No, there was something very organic, almost stealthy about the way Warner Bros. dropped this monster into our lap. Historically, WB has been hard up trying to break the $400 million mark. In fact, of its biggest grossing movies, only ONE Harry Potter movie broke $300 million! Simply pathetic by modern movie studio standards. And that’s the logic behind thinking that The Dark Knight would perform well, even better than the previous Batman movie, but not break records.

Then Heath Ledger suddenly and sadly committed suicide. I was shocked at the demise of someone who I hoped would grow with my generation as an artist. It is a reality that remains difficult to face. And in some ways, I think many people have chosen to cope by watching his Joker. It’s an amazing performance mostly, because of the implied terror in the way he carries himself. I’ve never been terrified so much by so little. Ledger’s performance is accompanied by a similarly terrifyingly simple electric string drone that sounds like Glenn Branca’s symphonies, a brilliant use of the maxim less is more.

And then there’s the oddly satisfying idea of a Batman movie that isn’t really about Batman. See, The Dark Knight is much more about Harvey Dent. And at least one person I know walked away feeling like it wasn’t a successful Batman movie. But of course, it was in some ways better, because in a world of self-involved action hero characters, a movie that dares point out the necessary heroism of a District Attorney feels itself heroic.