UCLA starting point guard Darren Collison sprained his ankle in practice yesterday.

Let's hope that I won't be screaming in frustration tomorrow at the radio/television. It's already bad enough that I have a cold.

Some of you may know my dream of one day playing drums in a jazz ensemble. I want to emulate these guys...

...except that I won't throw my drum in frustration. Notice that Animal plays a left-handed set, just like me!

By the way, for you non-jazz folk out there. That human virtuoso is none other than Buddy Rich.

1. There is no actual image here.
2. It is President's Day Monday, and I am currently not asleep (duh) ...
3. ...because I am at work in Torrance.
4. And I am drinking a "Chinese" Coca-Cola to stay awake. I believe the kanji used to brand this Coke loosely translates to "happiness in the mouth"?

Enough blogging. I have a job to do.

Synchronicity II

My second improv show on Grammy Sunday wasn't as bad as I felt that day. I was pretty exhausted from working late the previous four days.

I had e-mailed my improv teacher the night before, suggesting that since fans attending our show would miss the Grammy telecast, that we play more "music-themed" improv games (i.e Grammy + ComedySportz = GramedySportz!) . To my surprise, she and our team captains were OK with it! Not surprisingly, during our show, someone had to use the suggested line, "I'm bringin' sexy back!" 

One highlight during the show came up when our team had to a sing  a "Grammy Winning Moment" from an improvised film. The title of the song? "I Can Make Pillows Better Than You: BAM!". My teammates, Seth, Alison and I had a fun time interchanging verses; and of course, we peppered the song with Emeril's catchphrase (rimshot and groan). Learning from my last show, I kept my focus on them so that 1) we wouldn't cut each other off and 2) we could sing N*SYNC (more groans).

While I wasn't at my best, I must say that my castmates made sure we all looked good, and had a good time.

Spirits in a Material World

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are The Police and we're back!" - Sting: 2/11 Staples Center

I may have missed the Grammy ceremony, but there is always YouTube! Here they are opening the show with their first hit single, "Roxanne"!

Even better news was broadcast Monday morning, as the reunited trio announced their upcoming worldwide tour. No scheduled dates are set yet for Los Angeles, but they plan on coming back here to perform in concert. Now those tickets are definitely going to cost me more than a pretty penny!

Ghost in the Machine

Back to Sunday night after GramedySportz. I took a short drive from our theater to Club London to see my friend Tim (aka Phantom West) and his supporting band perform for his album release party. I had already listened to an advance copy, and was very curious how his complex electronic arrangements would translate live. Plus, it was his first show and I wanted to support him. It was a mini-reunion as well, since I met up with some old pals -  drummer Jojo (who along with Tim and I, played together for theikedas wedding) and fellow thespian Ed, both old church friends of Tim.

Given the difficulty of performing his set live with an AWOL bass player and very limited rehearsal time, I must say the band did a great job. Tim transitioned well between playing both rhythm and the bass axe throughout his set; not an easy thing to do while singing! And it was really good to hear Jojo pounding on the skins again. He hasn't lost a beat.

If you were not able to attend, or are curious about Tim's music, his record label head, German, told me after the show that there should be a YouTube video up of it soon. In the meantime, you can check out their Channel page for some snippets of Tim's rehearsals and his debut music video for, "The Rain Expedition".

I got word from Stan, that he is heading to the hospital right now...

Looks like we will be adding another person to the picture soon.

EDIT (Friday, Feb. 9 10:00 am-ish): Got word that little guy Holden was born around 12:30 am via C-section. He and the family are resting and recovering.

Bossa Nova Birthday and Belting One Out...

Usually, my sister and I celebrate Mom's birthday back home in Diamond Bar. This time around, they visited my area for a nice Brazilian dinner (at Mom's request), and some after-dinner entertainment from yours truly at Comedysportz.

While I didn't each much, probably due to nerves, the grilled salmon I had at the Bossa Nova in West Hollywood was great, and reasonably priced ($11.99). The Brazilian tastes in the fish, beans and rice, and fried plantains brought back fond memories from last year's trip. And I got to enjoy my favorite nonalcoholic Brazilian drink, Guarana Antarctica. If it wasn't before a show performance, I would have sampled their caipirinha.

The most memorable moment I took from my debut show: singing on the spot about "moving". Our team had to perform a "moving" scene in the suggested style of a "musical". In my limited time of improv training, I never received instruction on how to perform improv songs effectively, and of course, I had to initiate the scene.

So, what did I do? What else? It's improv! I thought back to my "American Idol" roots, and just let it fly. It was a humbling but fun experience, as I tried to sing with conviction and incorporating previous scenework elements. By the way, there's a reason why I play drums for our church worship team!

To my surprise, I received complements from not only some Comedysportz veterans and my teacher, but from audience members, which included the artistic director of our theatre! That meant a lot. Of course, I still have a long way to go to become a great improviser. But, it's good to know that I have such supportive people here. And special thanks go out to all those who came by to see me perform!

The following (commentary) takes place between 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm.

After watching last week's and Monday's episode concerning Graem, I have the feeling that 24 has jumped the shark.

Happy New Year (+ two weeks)! You Southern California residents staying warm?

"Funny" now comes at a price.

It looks like my "professional" ComedySportz debut will be on Sunday, January 28. 8pm show. Tickets are $9 in advance, and $11 at the door. It's a double treat for me, since our family is also celebrating Mom's birthday that weekend. If you can make it, please stop by for some good laughs from my wacky castmates! And yeah, you can support me too if you want. 

Part of our Sunday team participated in the first show of the year yesterday. And unfortunately, that meant that I missed the Day 6 premiere of 24, which I became an avid fan of last season. So, the only way I got my fix was watching my fellow improvisers recreate it through a "television genre" suggestion from the audience. Apparently, I wasn't the only team member who liked 24, as the group threw in all the standard show references as well as some annoyances (Ever notice how Jack avoids the usual LA traffic jams?) Also, thanks to some deft Wikipedia editors (warning: spoilers), I am all caught up, and can't wait for the future hours of Agent Bauer's dia loca.

My workplace has "gone Hollywood" too.

It certainly doesn't have the buzz of the iPhone™ (the Apple product or the Cisco lawsuit), but my company's products will be making its second appearance on this Sunday's episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (8pm on ABC). The furnishings were used to refurbish a community center in Raleigh, NC.

If you are curious about our debut appearance, you can find our educational furniture products here, from this season's two hour premiere. Our donations (the chairs and cantilever desks) were featured in host Ty Pennington's "Secret Room", which was a home classroom environment. 

Hey readers. Hope you all had a great Christmas!

This year, our family chose Dreamgirls as our traditional Christmas movie viewing. I didn't have much expectations going into the theatre, as I was nominally interested in it. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the flick. American Idol finalist Jennifer Hudson absolutely made the film, and stole the show from a considerable cast. I would not be shocked if she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

I guess I'm officially funny (looking)

I received an e-mail from my Comedysportz teacher, Lauren, the morning after Christmas. After my recent graduation performance, two classmates and I have been invited to join the company as "Sunday team" players! Next year, we are tentatively scheduled to perform every Sunday from 8-9:30 pm. More info to come later. I am definitely looking forward to my first "official" show and wearing the Comedysportz uniform!

Sorry loyal readers. I haven't been very good at updating what's been going on lately. Part of it is because I have been doing some heavy overtime at work lately. I still haven't posted about my visit up to the Bay Area in September (with pictures)! Maybe I'll cover that and this weekend's Vegas trip in a future entry.

So, let's do a rewind of the recent highlights in the life of Kid Akio, shall we?

The Streak is OVER!

Of course, this past Saturday was especially meaningful to the Bruin faithful, as the UCLA football team defeated the highly favored U$C Trojans (13-9) for the first time since 1998!  I made my traditional, yearly wager with fellow church drummer tuxedosamdawg (straight up, no point spread) And thanks to Dewayne Walker's stingy defensive schemes, the '$C alumnus not only owes me dinner (at the best Vietnamese place in Southern California), but he has to run a 5K race around his beloved campus! I had originally thought of having him run with a UCLA football jersey on as he passes by frat and sorority row along the course, but I don't want him to get booed or pelted with foreign objects! He already went through a lot of ribbing at last Sunday's service!

Once an elder, always an elder...

And speaking of last Sunday, our church (with the redesigned website) also celebrated the ordination of two new elders (Stan and Ted), and the reinstallation of tphong, to replace the outgoing Elissa and yours truly. I find it an interesting observation that our group of elders is now a "married dudes' club"! Kidding aside, I know these guys will do their best to govern the church properly.

Thanksgiving Leftovers

Usually, Thanksgiving weekend at home is relatively quiet. Our traditional bird of consumption is not turkey but chicken, since there is only the three of us. It's also one of the few meals where my carbohydrate consumption is considerable, like when I was training for the full marathon!

A family holiday gathering also means a trip to the movies. Call it an unusual tradition. The movie of choice was Casino Royale, as my Mom and I are 007 fans (with Sean Connery being our favorite Bond). I thought it was a good reboot of the Bond series, but Mom felt she can no longer watch a Bond flick due to the increasingly gritty violence.

Over the holiday weekend I also had to do some serious reflection over evaluating my priorities. In various discussions with my sister, I realized how important it is to be more available to the family. One of the benefits of taking time off from church duties is to hopefully spend more time back home in Diamond Bar.

Pomp and Circumstance

Part of my sabbatical has already been spent returning to improv classes at Comedysportz after a year and a half absence. I couldn't be more glad to be back, since I missed being outrageously silly. And with all the hours I have been pulling recently at work, it is a welcome stress relief.

Well, for those of you who expressed interest in seeing me (and my talented classmates) on stage, my "graduation" show is coming up on Sunday evening, December 17. Time is still TBD, but it is most likely 6:30 pm. Admission is free! So, if you are in the area, and I haven't seen you in a while, please contact me first and then stop on by the theatre! I'll do my best to make your evening worthwhile!
 

Pardon the Sanrio interruption, back to the stories! And yes, Mr. Speed Racer. U2 x U2 is awesome.

September 27 was officially my last cell group meeting as a leader.
The gang took me out to an all-you-can-eat BBQ joint in Koreatown
called Mu Dung San.
(Gus, I'm doing my part in promoting the site, but it needs more
content!). While the dinner was
excellent, the best part of the get-together was the company. Several
old members who "moved on" to the married couples group came by, as
well as the majority of our regular attendees. With everyone's busy
schedules and it being a work night, I appreciated everyone making time
to attend. Or maybe people just really wanted to have a good
dinner! (cue Homer's voice) "Mmm..galbi!"

I didn't expect to receive a gift along with the meal, but
to my surprise, Christine presented me with a new knife set (see below)
after everyone was finished eating. She reasoned (correctly) through our
cell group's semi-regular activity of "Good Eats"
viewing, that I
wanted to spend more time cooking during my sabbatical. Nothing like a
good set of tools to
motivate you! I recalled someone saying "sushi" when I thought about
inviting people over for future dinners. Maybe, but remember, I'm
focusing on making great ramen!

By the way, the knives were put to good use immediately for next
day's dinner prep. I can (accidentally) attest to the sharpness of the
chef knife as I grazed my middle knuckle while chopping vegetables. My knife skills need much improvement.