Damien Rice at Radio City Music Hall

One of the benefits of doing work for a non-profit is getting to go to great events and meeting people on completely different terms. (They assume you are a nice/good person because of your pro-social affiliations) This past Monday, I immediately jumped on the chance to man a table at the Damien Rice concert. Granted that manning a table is by no means a glamorous job, getting into a Damien Rice concert is always a good thing (glamour or not)

New York to LA

Yup…its official. I am defecting. Leaving NY to hang in LA. For a year or two…we’ll see how things turn out. I’ll be back and forth until July when most of my days will be in LA and my lease in Greenpoint is over. So I am sitting here in Oakwood Apartments on my laptop wondering weather now would be a good time to visit the pool. (hmmmm)

Spent the last two days visiting car dealers and sitting in the passenger seat while my husband test drove some driving machines. Frankly I don’t give a rat’s ass about what car we get so long as its not too $$. Well I guess I will care more once I get my license…

In the meanwhile, my friend sent me this video http://www.thedailyreel.com/spotlight/bodega. Makes me wonder if the corner bodega will be a thing of the past for me.

Poop Culture

Tuesday was the release party of the book “Poop Culture: How America is Shaped By Its Grossest National Product” by Dave Praeger at the Galapagos Art Space in Williamsburg. The night was filled with all things poop including a poop inspired installation by Joe Fattorini who has always amazed me with the sheer amounts and wierdness of the ’stuff’ he collects(scavenges) in his various homes and work spaces. I am glad that his unbridled creativity finally found an appreciative outlet and audience that is a perfect match.

One thing I have to say about a night of poop stories. When the comedians are funny, you can’t stop laughing….and when they are not, you just keep wishing it would end and the night seems indeed extremely long (no matter the amount of beers you have in you)

The Namesake – Finding balance between two worlds

The other day my friend and I went to see Mira Nair’s The Namesake. We both grew up in Thailand, made our way here and for better or worse are here to stay. She is however a double first generation immigrant. Her parents immigrated from Taiwan to Thailand where her family now lives. And so we find ourselves going to movies like “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and “The Namesake” subconsciously trying to find our stories in others and perhaps on an even deeper level trying to find answers to the questions that plague us as first generation immigrants.

Things are not quite the same as the movie. I think that we probably have more in common with the sons and daughters of the first generation immigrants. I grew up in different countries…in fact I have spent the majority of my life outside of Thailand. I never thought of myself as being particularly Thai until I am far away from it and I grapple with my self identity here. I hold on to my ‘good’ name refusing to change my last name in marriage. I patiently spell out all 20 letters that make up my entire name to confused telephone operators. Changing my name would make things so much simpler…but I am afraid that people would think I am white. That in time I would lose all my connection with my roots.

Idol Gives Back – US citizen 2.0

As of April 26 ‘Idol Gives Back’ has raised over 60 million and counting for Charity Projects Entertainment Fund. (CPEF) In the United States, CPEF has selected Save the Children, America’s Second Harvest – The Nation’s Food Bank Network, Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Children’s Health Fund. In Africa, funds will be dedicated to The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, Malaria No More, Nothing But Nets, Save the Children and The U.S. Fund for UNICEF. Not bad at all, considering that in 1985 the GLOBAL total for Live Aid was 30 million pounds. In 2006 the Global Fund received US$ 500 million over five years from the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation (With 40 million dollars more, IDOL and the American public can achieve Gates super – philanthropist status)

I was one of those people inwardly cringing every time an excerpt of miserable Africa kids and families came on the screen. The image of Ryan Seacrest giving bananas to an (starving) African woman (or was it a child) is seared into my retinas.