Friday, July 31, 2009

Big waves, big crowds



You likely heard of the massive swells at Newport Beach last week. The 20-foot waves brought crowds to The Wedge, in Newport Beach, where a bodysurfer was thrown against the rocks in the surf and died on July 24. On a brighter note, Nathan Fletcher was photographed surfing off the Orange County coast on July 25.

Photo by Chip Morton

Domo-kun iPod cases sell out

Felt Domo-kun iPod cases sold out after only two days on Etsy in July! Made by SydneyAngel, the cases hold iPod Touch, iPhones and clunky iPod classics. This shows how people love all things Domo.


More handmade Domo-kun products on Etsy here.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

The Bad Plus at California Plaza

The Bad Plus played a great outdoor show at California Plaza last Friday. Fans brought their own food and wine (Ajumma ate a Crunky) and enjoyed the music as the sun set over Los Angeles. The Flea Market wrote up a blurb about free show and threw in some nice photos.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Did someone blink?

We bought a Nikon Coolpix camera to take on vacation, last week. Whenever I appeared in a photo the camera would ask, "Did someone blink?" It became a running joke among my friends. My husband would laugh and tell others, "I can see that her eyes are open, but it says she blinked!" Apparently I am not the only one with a Nikon who is having this issue.

Girlfriend, U iz too skinny

When you make skinny jeans look baggy, you are TOO THIN. Everyone thinks that Asian girls are naturally built like matchsticks, but the truth is they're skinny because they don't eat.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Rainbow dango

Delectable dango from Fugetsu-Do sweet shop in Los Angeles. See more colorful images of Fugetsu's rice cakes here.

Vacation time: Let's read!

I confess that the eye-popping cover is what drew me to 1001 Cranes by Naomi Hirahara. Standing in a Little Tokyo bookstore, I halted for a quick second when I realized 1001 Cranes is teen fiction. I generally dislike teen fiction. Even as a teenager, I felt like authors talked down to readers with flat stories and overly simplistic characters. But as I skimmed 1001 Cranes, I saw that Angie, the story's protagonist, isn't always nice, her parents aren't perfect, and her boyfriend-to-be is a cigarette-smoking skateboarder.

I duck by head towards his arm. His skin is nice and tan, like a perfectly roasted marshmallow. I gingerly take the bottom of his sleeve and lightly brush the tip of my nose with it. His sleeve smells like burnt leaves and sweat. I like the scent.

"Thanks," I say, and I mean it. Not just anyone would let a perfect stranger wipe her nose on his clothes. "Now what am I going to do?"

He gets up and offers his hand to me. He helps me stand and says, "I'm Tony, by the way."

Ajumma (who hates Bella, Edward and everything about Twilight) hopes Hirahara pens a sequal to 1001 Cranes.

Iris Chang, author of The Rape of Nanking, was a brilliant journalist who ended her own life in 2004. Chang's friend and fellow writer, Paula Kamen, examines the Chinese American author's personality and ambitions while delving into the question of why Chang (who previously did not suffer from severe depression) killed herself.

Mad love for Korean food

'Surely these people are not lined up for Korean food served from a truck.' That is what hubs and I thought after watching people sit outside the Japanese American National Museum for an hour, behind a sign for the Kogi truck. Our friends informed us that the Kogi truck sells a hybrid of Korean and Mexican food (like Korean tacos), notifies people of their upcoming locations via Twitter, and encounters throngs of fans wherever it goes. Awesome.

Bitchin' about the Kitchen (and cupcakes)

You'll find a gourmet cupcake bakery at any upscale shopping locale in Southern California these days. We happened across Yummy Cupcakes on the Santa Monica Third Street Promenade. Yummy Cupcakes earns a hearty thumbs up for lovely presentation. Their cupcakes are more festive than Dots for sure. I enjoyed Yummy's moist Red Velvet cupcake, though it was more brown than red. Had it not been for the name, I would have guessed I was eating a chocolate cupcake. Props to their Shirley Temple frosting, which actually tasted like a Shirley Temple drink! The fun came to a screeching halt, however, when trying a vanilla cupcake with sprinkles. Bizzare flour taste. Heavy consistancy. Big turnoff.

Had lunch at Mao's Kitchen on Melrose, which boasts natural, Chinese homemade cooking. I liked the sparse interiors with colorful Communist Revolution posters adorning the walls. My Hong Kong-style ramen was scorched on the bottom, which is a no-no, but all in all it tasted good. My husband liked his black bean and veggies entree. I will say that Mao's Kitchen stir fries fish with the best of them.

Korean actor, Lee Byoung-Hun, is in poster form all over L.A. as Storm Shadow in the upcoming G.I. Joe movie. He was peering at us on the wall outside of Mao's Kitchen.

Made me look twice!

I got a chuckle out of "Go Girl" energy drinks and "Y Water" at Marukai market in Little Tokyo. "Go Girl" is amusing because of its name, and "Y Water" (water with nutrients for ones brain, muscles, etc.) for it's innovative packaging and amusing sayings on the tags.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Off to L.A. for heavy emo eating

Ajumma and hubs are headed to Los Angeles for a few days for major emo eating. If we were going one week later we'd line up outside of Johnny Cupcakes on Melrose for the t-shirt store's 1 year anniversary party. According to Johnny Cupcakes' blog, they're serving free cupcakes and other desserts to mark the occasion.

Originally I was excited to try the Red Velet cupcake at Crumbs Bake Shop in Beverly Hills. I figured I'd pick up some regular vanilla sprinkle cupcakes, too. After reading Crumbs' online reviews from cupcake fans, the words "dry" and "oily frosting" keep popping up. After being disappointed by Dots Cupcakes in Pasadena, last year, Ajumma's decided to skip Crumbs altogether.

Coco Cake Cupcakes out of Vancouver, BC is definitely worth checking out. As I scrolled through the FAB-O cupcake blog, I had the odd sensation there just had to be an Asian person somewhere. Low and behold, the Coco Cake proprietor is indeed Asian, and her name is Lyndsay Sung. She currently makes cupcakes to order.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Kana interviews Ron


I can't remember a time I've laughed so hard at something online. Here's the darling (and very awkward) Matsuda Kana interviewing members of the Harry Potter cast. I give the girl props for working herself onto Ron Weasley's back.

For more crazy Kana interviews, visit DListed.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Play that funky banjo, squidboy

Ever notice how the banjo music in ads for Cartoon Network's Squidbillies (about a redneck squid family in Georgia) is the same as in ads for TLC's 18 Kids and Counting? Squidbillies has been on TV 3 years longer than 18 Kids so it's not like Cartoon Network pulled a fast one.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Casting the Jon & Kate Plus 8 movie

Film.com tackles the important question of who ought to play Kate and John Gosselin in the big screen version of Jon & Kate Plus 8. For a dramatic take on the Gosselins, writer Amanda Meyncke suggests actors Katherine Heigl and Sung Kang. I envision the Jon & Kate movie starring an uptight Reese Witherspoon (in a short reverse mullet) and a slightly defeated John Cho. Tim Kang from the TV show, The Mentalist, could probaby do a spot-on Jon Gosselin, as well.

I'm pretty sure this isn't your bag

Ajumma spent 12 hours at the airport, yesterday. During that time I saw many children in Crocs, paid $1.26 for a candy bar, and came across some creative luggage tags.

I witnessed a cranky, white woman with a cane scream at an Asian airline employee. He was pointing out the cart waiting to take her to her connection. She screeched, "Which gate?! At which gate?" I wondered if she would have screamed at him if he were white. Probably, but she reminded me of a bourgeois, Imperialist French woman.


Thursday, July 9, 2009

Sassy girl premieres Blood in Asia

Jun Ji-Hyun, makes the rounds at Blood: the Last Vampire premieres in Hong Kong, Japan, and mainland China.  The movie, a live-action version of anime about a vampire hunter, opens in the U.S. in limited release on July 10.

Japanese co-star, Koyuki, plays Ji-Hyun's arch nemesis in Blood.

When the Japanese pressed asked which actor she'd like to work with, Ji-Hyun answered Japanese pop star and actor, Kimura Takuya.  

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Corey Feldman is the man in the mirror

Folks are going bonkers over Corey Feldman's Michael Jackson-inspired outfit at MJ's funeral, yesterday. Did I miss something? Did the pallbearers not all wear sequinned gloves? Sheesh. If anything was strange, it was John Mayer even being there. At least Corey and Michael were friends. John Mayer must have won one of the 8,750 tickets to the event.

Lavese Las Manos premiere

Nathan Fletcher's latest surf film, Lavese Las Manos premieres tonight in Newport Beach. Tickets are free and available at the door, so make your way to the Lido Theatre. Show starts at 8:00 PM.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Tanning with Cristiano

It's all sexy, and then you see the boot.

Don't forget the Jesus bling!

Gas up the station wagon


National Lampoon's Vacation (1983). Screenplay by John Hughes. Directed by Harold Ramis.

Friday, July 3, 2009

The Lost Gossip Vampire

How can one person resemble both '80s star Corey Feldman and Twilight vampire Robert Pattinson? I don't know, but somehow TV actor Ed Westwick does it.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Happy World UFO Day

July 2 is World UFO Day! This holiday commemorates the incident in which a UFO supposedly crashed onto a military base in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. The US government denies the incident ever occurred. UFO fans will descend upon the city of Roswell for the annual UFO Festival, which starts today and lasts through Monday, July 6 (or whenever the folks in the alien costumes go home).

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Sweet stuff that makes my day

1. Sean Malto photographed by Aaron Smith
2. Footage of young Sean when he was on flow with DC Shoes
3. Daewon Song skateboarding in his socks