Sunday, December 31, 2006

'06

Benefit #172 to having a blog: that you're able to refer back to your previous posts when writing about the current year in review. Many of those entries were pretty meaningless, even plain stupid, but I'm sure thankful that I've immortalized them through this blog regardless.

Extracting my wisdom teeth. Kobe's 81. My very inconsistently-updated song-of-the-weeks. Taking a chance. Revisiting berk. Finally getting my diplomas. Uncovering so much talent in indie music. Promethean sunsets. Celebrating with those who got married (angie & jude, cindy & paul, annette & abe) and those who've promised to (paul & tammy, gene & esther, linda & jomo, haejin & kevin). Aegon. Job promotion. Hanging out with my new fish. Shows & concerts. Places that I could cross of the list (denver, philly, jersey, new york, d.c., florida, north carolina, virginia). Griffiths. A full year without dad.

Once upon a time, I took the ushering in of the new year very seriously. I would will myself to stay up until the clock hit midnight, watch all the festivities on tv and even record them onto VHS so that I could look back on them one day as an old man. I would crawl back into bed when I couldn't stay awake any longer, but continue to have my own quiet celebrations as I eagerly dreamed of all the good that the new year has to offer. Then life reared its ugly head at many of us, spawning yet another new generation of eternal pessimists.

On the surface, many of these seemingly trivial events from this past year may give reason to believe that my year just came and left through the back door unnoticed. Instead, 2006 was a very trying year, as I'm sure it was for many.

By the same token, these events really doesn't do myself any justice in announcing the type of person I am today. Despite the laundry list of things that's happened, it's the unmentionables that's shaped me most. My family whom I love. My friends who couldn't be any more available and supportive. And God, with whom I've painfully wrestled for months, yet He continued to provide in spite of all my questions. Maybe all the answers haven't been dispensed yet, but He's given me a sufficient amount of peace to cope with that.

Have I grown more mature this year? Incrementally, I'm sure, but an improvement nonetheless. Has my outlook on life changed? Definitely better as I fall back to the basic truths. It doesn't matter if I'm the biggest screw-up or one who's always stayed within the lines. His grace redeems you way beyond what you're really worth.

I'm not a big fan of posting bible verses, but this one stood out in particular during Sung's message today (from Mark chap. 9):
"...but if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.
"'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes."

What awaits for me in the new year? One thing's for certain: no more if's, woulda's, coulda's, and shoulda's. The lessons I've learned in '06 are coming with me.

Here's to a hopeful '07.

Monday, December 25, 2006

merry christmas

A little sarah for your christmas.

Sarah McLachlan - Wintersong

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

go bears!

(courtesy of larry hwu)

N.C.A.A. Psyop

Published: December 10, 2006

In March, the University of California at Berkeley men’s basketball team played its final home game against the University of Southern California, whose team was led by its star guard, Gabe Pruitt. Pruitt was in the midst of a terrific year for U.S.C., averaging about 17 points a game, and for Cal, as the U.C. Berkeley team is known, the game was a must-win if it was to get a bid to the N.C.A.A. tournament. Cal needed to figure out a way to keep Pruitt from having another monster outing.

The solution to how to neutralize Pruitt came not from a game plan of X’s and O’s but from military-style psychological operations. In the week leading up to the game, members of Cal’s Rally Committee, who earlier obtained Pruitt’s Instant Messenger screen name, created an I.M. account for a fictional U.C.L.A. coed named Victoria. “Victoria” began flirting with Pruitt, sending him photos of herself (pictures of a very attractive woman that the Cal students had taken off the Internet) and telling him that she and her friends wanted to party with him and his teammates back in L.A. after the game against Cal. Pruitt responded in kind, writing, “You look like you have a very fit body” and “Now I want to c u so bad,” and eventually giving her his phone number and agreeing to get together when he returned from the game.

On game day, when Pruitt went to the foul line for the first time, Cal students began chanting: “Victoria! Victoria!” and reciting Pruitt’s phone number. Pruitt, a 79 percent free-throw shooter on the season, missed both shots and had one of his worst games of the year, shooting 3 for 13 from the field. Cal won the game by 11 points and went on to the N.C.A.A. tournament.

After the loss, Pruitt said of the Psyop tactic: “I’ve never seen anything like that, that big. It’s up there.” He then added, “My dad got a kick out of it, but he kind of told me to be careful.”

Thursday, December 07, 2006

hahahahhah. sigh.

As an addendum to my previous post, this one sums it up pretty well.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

simple pleasures


Captivated by the lighted trees all over downtown disney. Soaking in the tunes of a jazz trio as I loaf around outside on a lazy Saturday afternoon. Gleefully playing mario kart DS against other enthusiasts, hoping that you cross the finish line without getting slammed by a red shell, or even worse, the blue shell.

These are quiet reminders of all that is good and meaningful in the world.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

hope



He never lets go. He just won't.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

shaq who?

I absolutely LOVE the way how Andrew Bynum hustles on the floor. He's quick, has good hands, makes his free throws, and brings energy to the entire team. When (yes, when) we make playoffs this season, look to him to be one of the main reasons why.

And I couldn't ask for a better introduction to LA Kings hockey than watching a game in which they tied the Minnesota Wild late in the third period, sending it to sudden-death overtime, but they just couldn't get it done in the sudden-death shootout. I just couldn't help but think that they could have won had they used the Flying V or the knucklepuck. I know, wrong team. Hockey at Staples Center was surprisingly fun nonetheless.. thanks butch!

Monday, October 30, 2006

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

indescribable

I will see you face-to-face one day.


Time lapse movie of an aurora display over British Columbia, Canada.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

new york

Had a fun weekend in ny before I headed down to nj for business. Thanks mr. ku for housing me and for sacrificing yourself to sleep upon on a makeshift bubble-wrap mattress for two straight nights. Here's some moments.



One of the courses at the Otto. I can now proudly say that I've tried and tasted oyster and anchovy pizza, although I simply couldn't finish it. The TMNT would be sorely disappointed.



Washington Park. We waited for over a half an hour watching these street performers go through their song-and-dance just to see their final act, but it's hard to say if it was worth the wait. The guy in the red shirt on the far right actually jumps over the five people who are lined up in the middle.



What me and giancarlo had at Pamba's steakhouse that night. Sadly, this turned out to be one steak that kicked my ass. A huge red apple encased in a glass box hangs outside the 24/7 Apple store. Gorgeous.



Me, billy, andy at a diner. It's friggin 7am. We would proceed to wake up at 3pm the following day.



Me and andy slept on the air mattress while billy, being the rugged beast that he is, slept upon strips of bubble wrap.



Ground Zero.



Somewhere in the financial district.



Katz's Deli. Omg. This place is incredible for their pastrami sandwiches.



Outside of Katz's. And.. we definitely got our quarter's worth out of that horse. Yes, the bar was crowded at the time.


You're a good town new york. However, you ruined my sleeping schedule for the next two weeks.

Sunday, October 08, 2006

dc

Flew to VA this past weekend for work. Tabbed it as a future vacation hotspot, check. One plane with maintenance problems later, I found myself stranded at washington dulles at midnight waiting for the 6am flight to LAX. It didn't take long to make the decision to either ride it out at the airport or go on a spontaneous date with an arabian cab driver around the city.

The White House was, disappointingly, a lot smaller than the White House I had ingrained in my head.


The backside of the Lincoln Memorial. Due to construction roadblocks, it was impossible to go around the front to see lincoln resting in his chair. Sigh.

Incredible. Mark foley once worked here. Turn around and see this in the distance:


It's not on fire. It kinda reminds me of the famous green beacon from The Great Gatsby.


Up close. The Campanile can't even compare.


Tired security guard takes picture of bemused asian boy at three in the morning.


Well, the night was too short. I have to definitely come back... future vacation hotspot #2, check.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

johnny b. good

Take a wild guess who we came to see. Although I must say that I have a new-found appreciation for sheryl's rock-and-roll voice after hearing it in a non-"soak up the sun" context. It's a shame that such a pretty voice was wasted on a horrible song.

The view from our seats. Or should I say, from our patch of grass. Sorry guys, the VIP room failed to follow through. Shut up paul.

I'm pretty sure he was playing Why Georgia here. I could be wrong though. Here's the set list.

I know for a fact that john was playing Gravity here.. which is easily one of the best songs he's ever written. Since the outro line goes, "keep me where the light is," they added a nice touch by showering beams of white light onto the audience whenever that part was sung.

andy & ester + butch & roy = double date. Or one regular date plus two lonely but unashamed men.

Lastly, please remember to love people of all shades and colors. The End.

Saturday, September 23, 2006

oddity

In a sequence of odd dreams I had last night, peyton manning threw for 741 yards in a single game but didn't get any touchdowns. Dreams rarely make any sense.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

erik mongrain

A beautiful tune using the "lap-tapping" technique.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

covered in rain

Why does the silence seem so incredibly loud sometimes? I feel that it has something important to say.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

song of the week #11

Hello. Continuum's out. And it humbly proves to us that john can reinvent himself over and over again.

"You know, time is moving forward all the time and we know that. But it's kinda like running out of a continually burning hallway, and you can't go back and get your stuff and all I want to do is yell, 'I wanna go get my stuff!' People going, 'You can't, keep running!' This fireball's comin up behind you. Not exactly as Indiana Jones' as that, but it feels like that sometimes.

This is a song begging to go back." -JM

Stop this train
I want to get off
And go home again
I can't take the speed it's moving in
I know I can't
But honestly, won't someone stop this train


Sunday, September 10, 2006

impersonations II

Wow, the previous guy is seriously weaksauce compared to frank caliendo. Andy fortunately got tickets to a sold-out show at the irvine improv and we were just blown away. I hope he makes it really big so I can tell people that I actually shook his hand.

He has a grip of stuff on youtube.. or check some out on andy's blog.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

got ten minutes?

Incredible!



Impersonations (in order): Stan, Kyle, Cartman, Barney, Homer, Lovejoy, Mr. Burns, Smithers, George W. Bush, Jiminy Glick, Ed Grimley, Butt-head, Beavis, Hank Hill, Jerry Seinfeld, Jack Nicholson, Adam Sandler, Eddie Murphy, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sean Connery, Agent Smith, Keanu Reeves, Chewbacca, R2-D2, Yoda, C-3PO, Jar-Jar Binks, Boss Nass, Pee-Wee Herman, Woody Woodpecker, King Arthur (Monty Python), Knight Who Says Ni (Monty Python), Mario, Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Bobby, Robin Williams (Southern Guy, School Girl), Casey Kasem, Steve Irwin, Louis Armstrong, Uncle Rico, Kip, Napolean Dynamite, Pedro, Stevie Wonder, Jay Leno, Kermit the Frog, and Curly

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

song of the week #10

As a follow-up to andy's recent entry, john is back with some new stuff.

I'm friggin looking forward to his latest album titled "Continuum" which will be released 9/12. He recently hosted a program on Star 98.7 during which he plays his cd in its entirety, while also offering a brief commentary before the beginning of each song. I already downloaded the entire show, but because of legitimate pirating concerns, they audibly stamped each song midway through with a female voice that chimes, "You are now listening to John Mayer's Continuum on Star 98.7, in stores September 12th." It gets kinda annoying after a while (but let me know if you want it anyways).

He displays a lot of maturity in his songwriting as he takes on some very difficult topics, and his vocal skills jumped up a couple levels too. He records a soul tune which was interesting to hear. The guitar definitely took a backseat to the lyrics and vocals, an observation that can be attributed to his maturing as a singer-songwriter. I think he's making the statement that quality, intelligent songs can be created without needing his guitar to speak too much.

But seriously, it's good. I think it's his best album yet in terms of quality. I don't know how far up the charts it'll go, but it's a dense, dense piece of work that has a delicate mix of uptempo tunes, hints of pop, somber/pensive stories, and an honorable Hendrix cover.

Here's Waiting on the World to Change.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

mile-high city

Away on business again. First stop, denver. I was surprised to find the weather scorchingly hot even here, but I guess no region is exempt from experiencing the weather anomalies this year. I would love to come back here during basketball season, flaunt my lakers jersey and soak in all the anti-LA sentiment (kobe was innocent), but I already stood out like a sore thumb because this city completely lacks ethnic diversity. I swear, I saw only two other asians while I was here.

Training was bearable, mountains looked gorgeous, food was excellent, and I haven't seen any snakes on a plane yet.

St. louis next, then back to good ol' pacific standard time.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

new toy

So, I've been playing around with my new Bushnell telescope since I got it a couple weeks ago. Granted, it's pretty rudimentary compared to most, but a telescope was something that I've been wanting for a long time.

It sure beats squinting at the moon while trying to find the Sea of Tranquility. And if you haven't seen it yet, the moon magnified is reason enough to take your breath away.

But besides the Bears, the Summer Triangle and a couple other hard-to-miss celestial objects/constellations, the retarded light pollution (& can't forget the air pollution) blanks out most of the sky. Sometimes, I wish I just lived in the countryside. But still have high-speed internet access, of course.

This should serve me well for the time being until my desire for this can no longer be contained. Only $200k. One day!

Thursday, August 03, 2006

rock's on the finger

Enough about weddings -- let's hear it for engagements. Congrats paul and tammy! You crazy lucky bastards.

Sunday, July 23, 2006

angie & jude's wedding

Despite the lack of air conditioning in 110+ degree weather, these two couldn't have been any happier. How'd it happen? Boy likes girl for a couple years, skips the dating, pops the question. Crazy.



Cunningham guys more aged than last time.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

dreary duty

It's time that I could no longer postpone my public service to this great country, which is why I'm currently at the courthouse serving jury duty. The compton courthouse. Out of all places, why the compton courthouse? Yes, justice must be served, even here.

I'm definitely one of the youngest people here, if not the youngest. I hope my youth is reason enough not to be picked to serve on a jury. Wearing a big fat tie-dye shirt could have helped too.

There are multi-colored signs posted all over the walls that says "We <3 our jurors." I hand it to them for trying to make this process as painless as possible, but these signs just aren't cutting it for me. Surprisingly, there's computer terminals with internet access, thank God. I've opted to pay the $12 all-day pass because it's a small price to pay to keep my insanity.

Thank you blogs, xangas, wikipedia, bensbargains, gmail, and google chat, for helping me through this day.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
edit:
I almost officially became juror #11, but I dodged the bullet! Thank you God!!

Monday, July 17, 2006

ursa major

A close brush with death this past weekend was a stark reminder of my own fragile humanity. Other than that, the escape to big bear couldn't have come at a better time. I never knew how homemade spicy tuna rolls can be so dang delicious. Thanks for the weekend comrades!

On a serious note, I now made it my life-long mission to find a suitable girl for the man who saved my life - joe song.

What do you say irene?

Friday, July 07, 2006

guitar talk

Man, I wish I could have conversations like these.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Thursday, June 29, 2006

floridurrr

Dang, d.wade is a hero here. Unfortunately, so is shaq. Still, all this just strengthens my pride and loyalty to my LOS ANGELES LAKERS.

I <3 LA!!

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

westside love

An awe-inspiring parade of thunderous rain one minute, followed by an 80% "i-can-breathe-water-through-my-nose" wave of humidity the next. Such is the capricious nature of summer weather in Raleigh, North Carolina. Which reminds me. I once had a mountain bike in college named Raleigh (that's its model name, and we were on a first-name basis). When I could no longer withstand my time apart from KFC, Raleigh and I took the #51 bus which went down Telegraph to the nearest KFC. In my haste, I jumped off and bought my treasure... at which point I came to realize that I had left him behind. 'Twas a very sad day as I patiently waited for the same bus to come back on its return route, and when it finally did, displayed no trace of him. Damn.

Bikes to airplanes. Business trips used to be a shiny and novel thing. Huh? Free trip and an expense account? Count me in baby. Now, I can't stand being away from California for too long. Delayed flights, crumpled clothes, frantically searching for your luggage as they’re carried out by the conveyor belts, receipts strewn everywhere.. these things slowly tax you away. Evaluating all of my cali-external trips as a conglomerate whole, it makes me realize how good I have it on the westside. Sure, we might have the most congested highways in the world, but that’s all the more reason to take the scenic byways. And just by the beaches alone, California kicks your ass.

Raleigh has some great-tasting shrimp though. Fresh evergreen trees everywhere. People say y’all a lot. And I saw rain in the middle of summer… what more can I say.

Monday, June 26, 2006

cherry bomb

Whole Foods offers the most delicious cherries I've ever tasted in my life. Tastes even sweeter outdoors while watching Sergio Mendes, John Legend and Indie.Arie get their rock on.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

summer days

Yesterday, the sun reached the northernmost point in the sky. This marked the first day of the summer by the arrival of the summer solstice, which is the only day out of the year with the longest daylight period.

In tribute to the new season, I have equipped myself by having an unprecedented five pairs of cargo shorts in my possession. Summer, here I come!

Monday, June 19, 2006

i hate the mouse

I'm constantly in front of a computer at work, so it's absolutely essential that I depend on keyboard shortcuts to make my work processes much more efficient.. and to keep myself sane. Beyond the well-known Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V commands, I hope you find something useful in this list that you can start using right off the bat. Don't be selfish and contribute to the list! Shortcuts of other well-known applications are welcome.


Windows
F5: refreshes the current window
F2: renames selected object
Alt+Enter: opens the properties of the selected object
Alt+F4: closes the current window/application
Alt+Tab: cycles to another program from left to right
Alt+Tab+Shift: cycles to another program from right to left
Windows button+R: opens the Run dialog box
Windows button+D: minimizes everything and shows desktop
Windows button+E: opens Windows explorer
Windows button+C: opens Control Panel
Windows button+L: logs off Windows
Ctrl+A: selects all items in current window
Ctrl+Z: undoes previous command

Firefox
Pushing mouse scroll wheel: opens link in new tab
Ctrl+Tab: cycles tabs from left to right
Ctrl+Tab+Shift: cycles tabs from right to left
Ctrl+[1-9]: selects tab based upon position
Ctrl+T: opens up new blank tab
Ctrl+W*: closes selected tab
Ctrl+R*: refreshes page
Alt+D*: jumps to address bar
Alt+left arrow*: back
Alt+right arrow*: forward
*applicable to IE

Outlook
Ctrl+N: opens new mail message
Alt+S: sends email
Alt+R: replies to current email
Alt+W: forwards current email

Ctrl+Alt+Del^2: dollar bills start spewing from your cd/dvd drive.

Friday, June 09, 2006

one day, I will

go to Vienna, where it all began.

Friday, June 02, 2006

song of the week #9

edit: Starfield concert was great. Didn't expect body worship performances by the youth group and the multiple alter calls, but all in all, 'twas a memorable night filled with energetic music. Those Delirious covers were certainly a pleasant surprise! Thanks roach, for getting us cheap tickets.

Here's a song from their latest album. This is slowly becoming my new favorite... solely based on one line only.

Starfield - Unashamed

Here I am at your feet.. in my brokenness complete.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

In lieu of this friday's starfield concert, here's one of my favorite starfield songs. Man, what masters of the delay and effects pedals.

Starfield - Love Break Me

Love, break me now, strip me down
May Your beauty deep inside of me resound.


Tuesday, May 30, 2006

scrapping for glory

So we all know that Downey is home to the oldest existing McDonald's located on Florence and Lakewood. If you didn't, now you do.

What I just found out today: according to Wikipedia, Downey is also home to the very first Taco Bell too.

What a star-studded town!!

...

Who am I kidding, this is pathetic.

Friday, May 26, 2006

hard to grasp

the Promethean sunset.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

song of the week #8

Gavin DeGraw - Meaning

I gotta admit, it took some time to really appreciate this guy's music.. a late bloomer for me. But this guy is good. Hear some of his other songs, such as "More Than Anyone" and "Chariot," and you could definitely hear him belt it out.

"Meaning" is one of those anthemic songs you like to sing along to on the way home with the windows rolled down. Unless, of course, you're stuck in traffic.

Sometimes our only way is jumpin'\ I hope you're not afraid of heights

Monday, May 22, 2006

back to school

Traffic school, that is. =/

Figured I pushed off attending traffic school as long as possible, with my traffic school completion date coming up next week. This was for a ridiculous speeding ticket I received last December for going 80 mph. So I'm attending the illustrious Pizza-4-U Comedy Traffic School, having just survived four hours of class today and four more tomorrow. It's really interesting how so many of these traffic schools have "pizza" and "comedy" in the title, obviously in hopes that it will make traffic school appear to be less painful and mind-numbing than it truly is.

Anyways, the instructor is this really quirky guy who has a knack at reciting traffic law ordinances by heart. Do you know what vehicle code two-two-three-four-nine represents? It's blah blah blah... Truth is, he shouldn't even be teaching traffic school, because he has twenty-four tickets under his belt. He would shake his head in disbelief, slap his knee, then tell us another story with another traffic law ordinance squeezed into it.

Well, I took some notes because it was the only way I could stay awake:
  • it's really NOT illegal to change lanes in the middle of an intersection
  • the horn must be audible up to 200 ft.
  • motorcycles should always have their headlights on during the day
  • the 605 freeway issues 17,000 tickets a year
  • "Don't hit pedestrians. They're squishy."
  • "Do not use flares if there's a gas leak. It's kinda self-explanatory."
  • "Traffic school is organized torture, you do realize that, do you?!"
Sigh, I do. ARGH!

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

berkeley, i missed you

An overdue recap of an overdue trip:

  • The drive up with roach. We stopped for food and the night was unusually humid. We went to a Jack-in-the-Box that was SO swarmed with flying insects that we resorted to the drive-thru (and also because of the fact that the line inside was ridiculously long). Seeing some of these bugs up close as they were crawling over the windshield was friggin gross. Roach improved the situation by keeping his windows down and letting these hellish creatures inside.. roach and bugs.. should have known..
  • Arriving in berkeley right before Top Dog closed. Took one bite of my bratwurst and threw it away. When the heck did they start using sesame-seed buns?!
  • La burrita restoring my confidence five minutes later
  • Randomly going to the library and running into ivy, danny park, david lim. Broke my heart to see everyone studying.
  • Staying over at brian hwang's and richard huh's joint. Thanks for boarding us guys! But you sheks better stop it with the shek-like behavior.
  • Seeing my small group boys: danny park, jacob, david kim. How big you guys have grown.
  • Waltzing to the Bearcade where I find an out-of-place gelato shop in its stead. Where did all the arcade games go?!? They no longer exist.
  • Taking an unnecessary psych 160 final with roach. Being the first one to finish a final was something I've always wanted to do (it was actually on my things-to-do-before-I-leave-college list from two years ago) because I wanted to stimulate fear in everyone else. As I finished the test twenty minutes later, I realized that I didnt want three hundred pairs of eyes staring at me as I walked up to turn in my test. So as a GSI walked up the nearest aisle, I seized the opportunity by thrusting my test to her and leaving roach behind.
  • Walking around the b-e-a-u-tiful campus.
  • Meeting up with andy, rob, kwan and frank for some amazing dinner at a texas steakhouse. We had the best waitress ever. Great food, great conversation, great laughs.
  • Bowling at Albany Bowl with the same group plus dennis. Dennis bowling the best game of his life. Socal (me, andy, dennis) vs. norcal (rob, kwan, frank). Norcal loses. Licks bowling balls for punishment. You can get hepatitis by doing things like that.
  • Seeing some of brian's shekki videos. Brian, the shekki things you did. Take those off YouTube.
  • Dropping by 2390 Parker St. Too many memories.



Thursday, May 11, 2006

song of the week #7

How can I go seven weeks without paying tribute to one of my musical heroes?

This week's song is Gravity by John Mayer, a singer-songwriter virtuoso whose song-writing skills, god-like guitar playing and soulful vocal chords I tremendously admire.

Some people only know him to be the guy who made a ridiculous move by mixing the electric guitar and pop together (i.e. Bigger Than My Body, Your Body is a Wonderland). Or the guy who makes weird facial expressions when he sings. Well, both are somewhat true. I'm not a fan of all of his pop-ish sounding songs, but you have to respect the ingenius elements that permeate throughout his music. Besides the mind-blowing electric guitar solos and riffs (which he's more known for), there are the less-noticeable elements that are still equally or even more important: his lyrics of substance, clever instrumental and lyrical arrangements, his underestimated vocal control, his passion. Yes, passion is the reason why he looks like he does when he sings. It's because he's in the zone. When you're in the zone, the crowd disappears, you forget about the guys behind you, and you just get lost in the music. His mind's on cruise control, his fingers and heart take over, and voila, he's in the zone. Everything just becomes so much sweeter.

Gravity is a bittersweet number from his latest album, Try!. It is definitely an album that's more true to his musical roots... raw blues and rock. Yet, so much of John's unique style is fused in that this type of blues/rock becomes his own. The John Mayer Trio is comprised of two other world-class musicians as well: Pino Palladino (bass) and Steve Jordan (drums). A while ago, I read an interview in which he admitted that if playing blues is something he could do for the rest of his life, he wouldn't even think twice about it. Even though this album isn't doing nearly as well as Room for Squares or Heavier Things, I think he's most proud of this one.

I'm not ready to say that he'll be next Stevie Ray Vaughan, but his guitar IQ is definitely one of the highest that the music world has ever seen. However, I was quite disappointed that Fender jumped the gun by issuing out a John Mayer signature Stratocaster, because those signature guitars should really be reserved for accomplished legends. John's not quite there yet, though he does have all the makings to be one. He also has all the unique distinguishers that already set him apart as a great artist than an ordinary one. Be assured, he will continue to grow in musical prominence in years to come.

I hope he gives you the chills.


Monday, May 08, 2006

photo outburst

Jinny Kim (in the shadows) & Koo Chung. Clippers playoff game vs. Nuggets, Game 1. Bku's 24th bday @ Speedzone.