Folks dressed up as Rock Lee

Naruto ninja, Rock Lee

Pics courtesy of Naruto Uzumaki Gallery, Deviant Art, Cosplay, Adorable bbs, Beware of Ninja, Rock Lee pic by Radouane20

Mike Patton turns 44

The last time I saw Mike Patton, he was standing over me, growling into a microphone while wearing a gorilla mask. It was the mid-90s, and my friend had convinced me to see him perform with his side band, Mr. Bungle.  She was in love with him from his Faith No More frontman days. Mike didn't remove the gorilla mask once that night but my friend was still satisfied.

Mike turned 44 yesterday. This man is involved in so many projects and bands, I can't keep them straight. Long story-short, he also speaks Italian, does voiceovers, is friends with Lou Reed, enjoys musical standards, and ladies still love him...at least the ladies on Tumblr.  Photo via The Quietus

Happy Year of the Dragon

Enter the Dragon by Chimpansy

Dragon Dance card by Fushan159

 Dragon dog collar by Daydogdesigns

Things I wish I could tell my 19 year-old self

I will soon turn 36. I'm no old sage,  but as an ajumma I've come to realize a few things in life.  If I could go back in time to chat with my college freshman self, here's the wisdom I'd drop:

Study hard in Math.  Take real math classes.  Get a tutor.  Drink it in until it comes naturally, otherwise you'll be having nightmares about math finals 20 years later and will fear retaking the GRE.

Date A LOT.  Date different guys, not just long-term boyfriends.  Date across the spectrum.  Men are like countries with unique histories, customs, and points of interest.  Get out there and experience the world!

Think about where your food comes from.  The food industry is a thinly veiled world of animal abuse and you're a direct consumer.  Open your eyes.

Work out and be active. You might be skinny now, but you can't eat cake at midnight for ever.  If you get active in college it won't seem like such a chore in your 30s.  Also, stop wearing boy clothes.

Learn to speak Korean. Sure, there's no one you can speak with now, but someday it will come in very handy.  You'll be able to have actual conversations with people in your birth country instead of sounding like a cavewoman.  Japanese is fun and all, but it's not where you came from or where you're going to.

Try snowboarding.  He asked you to and you said no, because it's his thing.  Maybe it's yours, too.  First snowboarding, then surfing.  Then motorcycling. Then the accordion!

Surfer Mag on Nathan Fletcher-Antihero

Joel Patterson at Surfer Mag has written a feature on surfer Nathan Fletcher.  It doesn't say a whole lot of new things, but it's alway nice to see Fletcher get recognition.  One amusing tidbit from the article is that Fletcher and his girlfriend have two dogs named Mr. Buzz and Boopers.  Love that.

Room & Board 2012 catalog

Kudos to those who prepped, designed and photographed the Room and Board 2012 annual collection.  The catalog landed in my mailbox this week and it's a surprisingly refreshing presentation.  Initially I wasn't excited about it because Room and Board's inventory has gotten stale over the past couple of years.  The new catalog is a whopping 380 pages. The photos superbly highlight Room & Board's furnishings with crisp lighting, cool accessories, and clutter-free spaces. (IKEA drives me nuts with all the crap they cram into photos in their catalogs.)

I'm particularly impressed by the variety of plants and flowers, and fun accessories Room and Board's designers located for the shoots.  Many storyboards were undoubtably laid out on what pieces should be shot together so that everything was included, and items not overused.  (I guess if I wanted to get picky I could create a drinking game based on how many times the Gehry, Jackie Kennedy, and Calatrava books appear, but whatever.)  

If you like modern furniture you'll enjoy paging through the new Room and Board catalog.  It's good inspiration for decorating ones own space and will likely bring wayward shoppers like me back to their stores.

Clones 24: Ezra Miller and Daniel Henney

Ezra Miller, the 19 year-old film star of We Need to Talk About Kevin, looks like Daniel Henney.  He's pretty damn lucky in that regard.  According to Miller's chat with Kate Bosworth last year in Interview magazine, the up and comer is the son of a modern dancer, would love to portray writer Edward Allan Poe, and his biggest fear is being invalidated by people in his life.

Daniel Henney (above), age 32, is an actor and model.  The American set Korea on fire with his cheekbones and charm in the 2005 K-drama My Name is Kim Sam Soon.  Since then he's starred in the U.S. drama series Three Rivers and as the assassin Agent Zero in the film Wolverine.  Henney's mom is a Korean adoptee and his dad is white.  Miller, meanwhile, doesn't have Asian lineage.  He describes himself as Jewish.  It's amazing how you can throw a bunch of unrelated genes into the mix and end up with people who resemble one another.

Miller doing Daniel Henney's patented squint-smile, pucker

Fact: Daniel Henney's been cited as a Clone on Ajumma's Pad twice.  See more Clones!

Pics: Hearts4Kpop, StarsBuz, The Hairstyler, The Cinema Source

The Van Halens' Tiger Mom

Do you know that rockers Alex and Eddie Van Halen are part Asian?  I recently learned that 1) the  brothers were born in the Netherlands and 2) their mom is Indonesian.  It seems Eugenia Van Halen had a Tiger Mom edge to her, too.  Eddie recalls, "The whole time I was growing up, my mom used to calling me a 'nothing nut- just like your father.'  When you grow up that way, it's not conducive to self-esteem."  Eddie also notes with music, "My mom was the one pushing us.  You know the father in the movie Shine.  That's what my mom was like." (Dodds, Kevin. Edward Van Halen: A Definitive Biography. iUniverse Publishing. 2011.)

All this time I thought Linkin Park were the first Asian American guys rocking the masses but it turns it was actually Van Halen!  All photos are courtesy of Halen.com.  You can see more cool old photos on their site.

May the gingerbread be with you

I snapped these Star Wars gingerbread creations outside of Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination at the Discovery Center in Santa Ana, California. The Star Wars exhibit is pure awesomeness, but I warn against doing the Millennium Falcon jump to light speed.  Don't pay five extra dollars for that letdown. It is lame with a capital L unless you are three years-old.  I've been more impressed driving into oncoming snow.  

 Imperial AT-AT on the move

 Princess Leia looks pretty and delicious

This one is my favorite because who doesn't imagine the Millennium Falcon when they think of the manger scene?

Korean foot massage: HELL ON EARTH

While seated under a painting of The Last Supper in L.A.'s Koreatown, I spent an hour of hell as an ajosshi relentlessly kneaded my arches and pounded my calves into submission.  My girlfriend, husband (who we talked into getting a massage for the first time), and I wanted to try the popular Chinatown foot massage from Spaahbulous, but they were closed.  Hubs suggested we try someplace in K-town rather than driving to Pasadena to Heart and Sole.  A foot massage shop was having a grand opening upstairs, so we decided on them.  A tanned and scrawny man directed us to three recliners (under The Last Supper) where we soaked our feet.  At this point I was looking for the female masseuses.  Instead two additional men popped out and began vigorously kneading our shoulders.  I got the scrawny ajosshi who had long fingernails and callouses that he'd rub along my calves.  His thinness disguised a disturbing strength which he used on my arches with gusto.  The picture of comic Jason Sudeikis, above, is like me undergoing the foot massage.

When I told him the pressure was too painful he informed, "This is medium," and continued as before. I was tempted to get up and leave, but I didn't want to insult him or embarrass my husband or friend. We were the clueless ones since we hadn't researched Korean foot massages before seating ourselves in those recliners.  Now I see when talking about Korean foot massages online people say PAINFUL, DON'T DO IT, and WANTED TO SCREAM.  Somehow the three of us got through the hour; my husband by seeing the humor in the situation and my friend by pretending to be dead.  As we left, an elderly Korean couple and a middle-aged white lady waited for our chairs.  How could an old lady undergo the same massage without having her foot bones pummeled into powder and her leg veins burst?  My husband reminded me that older Koreans are hard core.  Of course.  Their motto, as supported by my foot massage, is pain equals gain.  Photos NY Magazine and Sandro Castelli