Coffina's Haunted Side Show at the Laugh Factory

Caught our pals, stand-up comics, Janet Rosen and Gilda Konrad, moonlighting in Coffina's Haunted Side Show at the Laugh Factory in Times Square, NYC. It was great. I laughed and laughed... Good, scary fun!

Big thanks to Patrick who came to my assistance at the front when I arrived sans receipt because my printer was/is down...

Boy, if I ever win the lottery, I have a lot of shopping to do...

Murder at P.S. 122

I was lucky enough to catch Personal Space Theatrics' production of Israeli playwright, Hanoch Levin's Murder at P.S. 122 in the East Village, NY. Well done. Bombastic in the best sense of the word -- I wouldn't be surprised if this young theater company ends up on Broadway...
www.personalspacetheatrics.com

Butterfly Report and Happy Great Pumpkin Day!

This is a photo of Eddy Martinez and me from the 10.27.05 Unveiling the Butterfly Benefit for the indie film, Tie a Yellow Ribbon by Joy Dietrich. (Thanks so very much to the nice audience member who shot this for me!) The event was held in Soho, NY. By chance, my best friend, Carol shocked me this past August with a very generous and kind, surprise birthday gift ~ the Daisy Rock butterfly guitar pictured. Ever since she gave me this guitar, I have been having butterfly coincidences... The hat I am wearing was given to me by famous hat maker, Liza Yu Chen.

Please visit her awesome website: www.mysticbutterfly.com

When I was in Arizona, I had a monarch butterfly flit by me on two separate occasions -- seemingly welcoming me to Julia Cho and Ed Chung's Wedding!

It was a beautiful night. Jimmy the sound dude had a great recycled hat on. It was knit, and it had what I think were the sides of aluminum cans stiched in.

Yellow Rage www.yellowrage.com started the night off with their words of wisdom, and well, rage... They were hella fierce!

Performance of words by master poet www.yellowgurl.com Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai inspired and quieted the masses...

Wendy Ip www.wendyip.com
kindly let us all use her super long red patch cord. Thanks, Wendy! But I think I personally want to thank Wendy for all the hilarious wisecracking throughout the night the most! Somehow we got onto the subject of gay men hitting on Asian women. Wendy posited that maybe this was because if you are a gay man who is into Asian men, (hairless, etc.) then perhaps an Asian woman is pretty close... Wendy's set rocked. Great voice, songs and musicianship -- but what the heck do I know?

Annie Lin www.annielin.com sounded terrific. I loved it that when Craig Baldwin came into the green room and apologized for interrupting us and Annie said we were just fraternizing. A bunch of folks were commenting to me during Annie's set that she sounded amazing. (It's true.)

Chicagoan, Jenny Choi www.jennychoi.com -- her excellent, rawkin' set made me think of Led Zeppelin... She was just tearing up the keys, (who knew that was even possible?) and her drummer, former Evanstonian, Philip's drum rolls were positively machine gun-like... I did wonder what the family who lived below the space must have been thinking...

DJ Shu was spinning a very fun mix. Unexpected old school and the new... Can she just come by my house and spin as I get ready for my work day? How fun would that be?

The trailer for the film, www.yellowribbonmovie.com was superb. If the movie is half as good, it will be worth the price of admission. One of the nice MTV people told me that they liked the trailer, too. (I happened to be standing right next to them.)

Masia One www.masiaone.com Okay, so talk about skillz and she can blow. Translation for those I spoke with who looked at me with a blank look and said "Huh?" ~ Masia One is one helluva rapper and she sings really well, too. They played her videos on the projection screen as she sang, and they were hot. I really dug the one with the acrobats. Supercool, yo.

Vijai Nathan www.vijaicomedy.com brought the laughs, as per usual! Catch her full length show if you can! It's poignant and very funny!

Gargantuan thanks to Eddy Martinez for his expert lead guitar work, Craig Baldwin, Joy Dietrich, Diana Lee, Thomas Yong and all who were in the house! What a spectacular bill! How I snuck in, I'll never know...

Lone Vein Rules!

I am running late. I wrote that I would give the full report on the Unveiling the Butterfly Benefit show from last Thursday over the weekend, but it's looking like I lied... Mea culpa!

Please check back here for that in the next day or so!

I didn't realize that starting a blog meant that I was giving myself homework...

For now, I think all I can do is review last night's Lone Vein show at the Sidewalk Cafe in the East Village, NY.

I met up with Vong Pak and his crew and Autumn Burgess to catch Lone Vein's Halloween Party.

The set they played rocked incredibly hard! Plain Jane (Angela) on lead vocals did a stellar job of helming the show. Eddy Jo Martinez' virtuosic, melodic and artful lead guitar playing complemented Plain Jane's outstanding singing. Bass Dr. Mary and drummer, Johnnie Spina made up the excellent rhythm section.

It was one of the best sets I've seen in NYC. No joke.

After the show, I told Angela that they needed to play bigger venues so I could dance. (I love to dance!) She said, "Yeah, 'cause if you tried to dance at the Sidewalk it would have to just be at your table." I replied, "Yeah, and then that would be an entirely different kind of show altogether..."

Can I say we LOVE Vong Pak? His ebullient response to the band, and his effusiveness in telling them how much he liked the show, made me smile... What a sweet and genuine guy. He noted that his dear wife, Chris would have loved the band because she loves rock and roll!

(She couldn't make it, but maybe next time!)

It was good to see Autumn, as always. What a great time of year, and person!

For more info on Lone Vein, please visit...

www.cdbaby.com/lonevein

Stuart Shea

i am at a loss as to how to add links on this here web page. if anyone has any suggestions, i would be most grateful! i suspect the problem is that the template i am using is not set up for a links section.

for now, please check out our talented musician/writer extraordinaire pal, STU SHEA...
www.stuartshea.blogspot.com

You Might Be a Redneck...

if I walk by you on the street, and you are a chick with a fake beard and moustache and a trucker hat and you scream, "Show me your tits!" at me.

So of course, (I lied) and screamed back, "There ain't nothing going on here (I gestured at my chest) that you'd wanna see. I'm Asian!"

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Lunching Poetic

I woke up so exhausted, after I showered, I sprayed myself in the face with my perfume, like a bad attempt at comedy in an indie movie. I then proceeded to grab my chapstick, which is the exact same size as my concealer, and slathered it on my lips. Now, I am so tired, I don't know if Sue Jean Kim made this remark, or Susan Nelmida, but anyway, one of them said, "Oh, it actually looks mod -- like you're intentionally wearing a light shade of lipstick." It turned out that I had used my concealer instead of the chapstick on my lips. Great, just great.

I had lunch with the poetic word purveyors today: Richard Loranger and Regie Cabico. I thought a couple of things -- make sure to bring my portable dictionary/thesaurus next time, and for some reason, especially when Regie showed up, the conversation was thoroughly rated X. Highly entertaining and delightful, but I'm not sure what I can write about it here...

Busted

I have this fantasy in my head that I send out words here on the blog and in my newsletter and that maybe no one but me reads them. Apparently, I am mistaken.

I wrote about gifted and hilarious -- I mean, we are talking, I fall out of my chair laughing whenever I run into Aurorae Khoo, (playwright/screenwriter) in my last newsletter. I was shocked that she wrote me a very nice e-mail message back the next day!

I hadn't exactly meant what I wrote to get back to her, but there are a lot of playwrights on my e-mailing list, and I reckon, being the diligent writers that they are, they were in front of their dusty screens, typing away, and one of 'em saw fit to forward what I wrote onto Aurorae...

It's a good thing I would never hurt a flea, that my intentions are to never, ever harm
anyone or anything because I never, ever get away with anything, ever...

Later, I was thinking about how Aurorae had told me that she doesn't do sitcoms. But I know that she worked on Walker Texas Ranger. Doesn't that count?

Thanks!

Monumental thanks to all who came by the smokin' hot show tonight! Sweet Jesus! Oh, what a night! Huge thanks to Craig Baldwin, Joy Dietrich, Diana Lee for the invitation! MONDO thanks to Eddy Martinez of Lone Vein for his fine lead guitar playing! Please come by his show this Sunday, Oct. 30th @ 8 PM at the Sidewalk Cafe, Ave. A/6th St. in the East Village in Manhattan! Admission is freeeee! Super sized thanks to Richie Baxt of Richie's Guitar Shop, East Village, NY for his invaluable assistance and kindness!

Too, too much happened at the show to write about at this late hour. Will have to make the full report this weekend...

But for now, I do have a comment. (Of course.)

Why do I love the fact that Wendy Ip www.wendyip.com
made fun of my CD/MP3 player? What is wrong with me? Oh, yeah, right, my mom and my dad... Anyway, she said it was huge, that people haven't carried around anything that big in 5 years. I told her I was monetarily challenged.

It reminds me of the time when Esther Chae made fun of my hand phone. She said she had the same cell phone 10 years ago. (We heart Esther Chae.) www.estherchae.com Well, according to Wendy, now I'm only 5 years behind...

I love the White Castle.

I was in line, waiting to order. The picture of the honey chipotle chicken sandwich looked yummy.
I asked the two women in front of me if they had tried that sandwich.
The first woman said, "Yes, but I didn't like it. The barbeque sauce was too sweet."
The second woman said, "Oh, I liked it. It was really good!" Now, how was this supposed to help me?

I saw a story on the news about a company called Life Gems. They take 8 ounces of the cremated remains of a loved one or beloved pet and turn it into a "diamond" in 6 months that they turn into jewelry you can then wear. Talk about not letting go...

Unveiling the Butterfly Benefit Tonight!

Business first, pleasure later...

Please come on by the show tonight!

Thursday, October 27th at 8pm*

*Eddy Martinez and I will hit the stage at 10:30 PM

@ The Loft at 383 West Broadway, 6th Floor, between Spring and Broome
New York, NY 10013

Unveiling the Butterfly
- A Celebration of Asian American Women!

-a benefit for the feature-length film Tie a Yellow Ribbon
Admission: $15 in advance, $20 at the door; VIP tickets, $50
visit the website to buy your ticket www.yellowribbonparty.com

I walked by that lead singer guy from Jamiroquai. I was wearing my LOVE baseball cap.
I saw him eyeing it. All I could think was, "Back off, Hat Boy. This one's mine."

Back in the day, around Berkeley, the homeless people used to call me "Love" because that baseball cap was glued to my head all the time. I still like to wear hats now, but the reason I wore them all the time before was because I only weighed 110 pounds and I used to get so cold. I guess the upside of being pudgy is that I don't get as cold anymore.

The LOVE baseball cap was made by Freddie Bain. The new wild hats were given to me by my first "corporate" sponsor here in NY,
Liza Yu Chen.

www.mysticbutterfly.com
Thank you so much, Liza! I also wear hats by dear friend, Lily Hotchkiss, CA.

Speaking of old friends... Extraordinary painter, Suzanne Onodera is in town from Cali!
www.sonodera.com
Check her paintings out...

AAF 2005 NYC
Represented by Dolby Chadwick Gallery

San Francisco, CA

Booth 221
Chelsea Pier
Pier 92, 52nd Street & 12th Avenue, New York City
October 27 – 30, 2005
www.aafnyc.com

Chicks with Guitars

Monolithic thanks to Jeanette Palmer for including me (the song, I Love NY,) on her latest Chicks With Guitars compilation CD! Check out her great sites!
http://www.chickswithguitars.com
http://www.jeanettepalmer.com

I ran into Johanna at Kundalini Yoga. She went to get a drink of water right before the class started. While Johanna was out of the room, the instructor told us that the Kundalini teacher couldn't make it, and she would be teaching some other form of yoga instead. Right after the class, Johanna gave me a sideways glance and said, "That wasn't Kundalini." You really can't put anything over a New Yorker, can ya?

I saw wunderkind, pretty, pro golfer, Michelle Wie on tv. Now, is it just me, or does she not look like a tall, Asian alien from another planet?

MTV - CHI?

So I think "MTV - CHI" means MTV - China? Just got word that MTV CHI, whoever they are, will be in da hey-ouse on Thurs., Oct. 27th at the Unveiling the Butterfly show! Please come on by! I guess this means that we might be on MTV in China? Gigantic thanks to Craig Baldwin, Joy Dietrich and Diana Lee for the invitation to be a part of this night! Gargantuan thanks to Eddy Martinez and Vong Pak for sitting in with me! Details on the show below!

I feel like a fatted calf. Julia and Ed managed to do the impossible. They fed me so well that I woke up this morning thinking, "I am tired of food." I have never thunk that thought before. I was so full of the richest, most delectable food that all I could choke down was V8 juice and water. I didn't even have dinner tonight! Am I going to be led to slaughter? Why do I think such things?

I was driving around Arizona with actress/model/writer, (and my best friend) Carol Little, filmmaker/writer, Johanna Lee and plastic surgeon, Dr. Albert Woo. Johanna noted that Boston had the worst drivers. Her theory was that the Bostonians were particularly bad because the driving was just plain stupid; whereas in NYC and Los Angeles, the drivers are cunning. Dr. Albert said that he read a study about a national re-testing of licensed drivers -- and Rhode Island and Massachusetts drivers scored the worst.

Congratulations Julia and Ed!

I am speechelss. Now that's something for a motor mouth like me. I just went to Julia and Ed's wedding. Beyond beautiful ~ the phrase, a blessed union comes to mind. Julia and Ed, may your love blossom and grow forever!

Arizona is Beautiful

Can you say mountains, cactus, sunny days and sunsets ? Still exhausted out of my mind, but whatever. Ran into an acquaintance, Christine. She introduced me to her little girl, Milan. I said, "My name is Florence. We're both cities in Italy." She shot back, "What?" Note to self: cardinal rule of comedy ~ know your audience... Perhaps if Milan had been an urban kid, she might have said, "What? What?"

The sun has made me think, what if I looked on the bright side of things? Like, so what if I have OCD. At least there is a real explantation for why I am so hypermonogamous. When I like someone or even any thing, I just focus on that one thing. I can't help it... For better or worse... Heaven help me, no really God, I'm begging here...

Uber Nerd and Please come by next week and see us play!

Tonight I worked with the Burgesses ~ Deborah, whom I used to work with at Sullivan and Cromwell; and her daughters, Alexis and Autumn. I was very tired and declared that whenever I work with them, it's like Burgess cubed. And so it is again, my inner nerd was showing...

Next week -- please come to this great benefit! This film is about a subject that is very near and dear to my heart...


Thursday, October 27th at 8pm
@ The Loft at 383 West Broadway, 6th Floor (between Spring and Broome)
New York, NY 10013

Unveiling the Butterfly - A Celebration of Asian American Women!

-a benefit for the feature-length film Tie a Yellow Ribbon
Admission: $15 in advance, $20 at the door; VIP tickets, $50
visit the website to buy your ticket www.yellowribbonparty.com

Tie a Yellow Ribbon follows three Asian American women struggling to find their identity within America's predominantly white towns and suburbs. Made by Korean adoptee American filmmaker, Joy Dietrich, the film seeks to raise awareness of a critical yet often ignored social condition-that Asian American girls have the highest rates of depression of all racial/ethnic and gender groups in the U.S. Among women aged 15-24, they have the highest suicide mortality rates across all racial groups. Tie a Yellow Ribbon hopes to offer this under-served community of Asian American girls a voice and ultimately ease their sense of isolation. 411 on TIE A YELLOW RIBBON, and to view production stills and a teaser visit our website at www.yellowribbonmovie.com

~ performances by ~

hilarious comedian ~ Vijai Nathan www.vijaicomedy.com

and singer-songwriters ~

Florence Yoo www.cdbaby.com/florenceyoo03 with very special guest musician, Eddy Martinez of Lone Vein www.cdbaby.com/lonevein and maybe Mr. Vong Pak, if his work schedule allows.
Thanks so very much, Eddy! Vong!
Jenny Choi www.jennychoi.com
Wendy Ip www.wendyip.com
Annie Lin www.annielin.com

as well as Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam poets, Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai and "Yellow Rage". Other special guests include MTV's SuChin Pak, actress Christine Toy Johnson and AZN Television's director of development, Kimberly Wang.

~ heartfelt thanks to craig baldwin, joy dietrich and diana lee for the kind invitation!

My Mom is Slipping

I talked to my mom today. She started telling me about her theory of raising children. "They are really not a problem, as long as you get them young. You just train them, like a dog."
I said, "You do realize that you're speaking with me, your daughter, right?"
She quickly said, "I think I hear Daddy calling me. Gotta go! Bye."

Last night my kind boss, Marc came in and asked if anyone wanted dessert. I said, "I do!"
I was the only person who responded. There was an odd moment of silence. I finally commented, "I guess this is why I'm chubby." How could everyone not want apple pie and homemade whipped cream? I didn't understand. Then again, everyone at work last night was pretty skinny, so it all does make sense.

I was a fat child, and then I lost the weight, but in recent years it's like the prodigal weight returned. How did that story end in the bible anyway? I knew I shoulda kept going to bible camp...

I'm a Loser, Baby...

I never did make it to Los Angeles this weekend. Wooly mammoth thanks to all who had suggestions on cheap tickets to LA! Alas, I did not have enough pennies saved to make it to Julia's bridal shower. Mea culpa, Julia, Ed! Gigantor thanks to playwright, Susan Johnston for the heads up on the surprise shower! Wish I could have made it...

I sent Julia a wooden rolling pin, so she could keep Ed in line with it. You know, like in the cartoons.

Saw old pal, Leah Foulke in Please Stop Talking by Sam Forman at the Cherry Lane Theater last night. Enjoyed it a lot. I think Leah has a new name, Leah Lawrence. Check her out at ~
http://www.leahlawrence.com She and the cast sang a song near the end. Loved the unison singing and the close harmonies. I'm not sure I understand Leah's name change -- maybe it's a Prince kinda thing and there's a story. I should really ask Leah next time I see her. I thought there were some terrific moments in the show - strong writing and original ideas. I especially liked the mulit-media opening. Leah rocked and the whole cast was great.

Commercials on Broadway and The Answers to Life

Saw In My Life, the musical on Broadway. I enjoyed it --- better than Brooklyn the musical and Good Vibrations the musical -- not as much as Cabaret... But as my friend, Arlene commented, I do seem to like bleak... A curious thing about this show -- Diet Coke was prominently placed and drunk throughout -- and there was an entire number sung by God about Dr. Pepper. Now, I love me a Dr. Pepper now and again. As a matter of fact, I have some in my fridge right now, but I'm not sure that I really believe that God drinks the slightly bittersweet, fizzy beverage... How 'bout you?

My friend, Julia's fiance, Ed observed that my answer for everything was a cheeseburger. I asked, "How so?" He replied, "When Carol was feeling a bit peaked, you told her to have a cheeseburger. When you have to work a long shift, you make sure you eat a cheeseburger. You're always telling people to eat them." This is indeed true -- I guess I do think the problems in my life can be solved with a simple, delicious cheeseburger.

My best friend, Carol's answer to everything is the gym. When I told her how physically destroyed I felt from my job, she advised me to go to the gym more to get strong and feel better. When I had a cold, she told me to go to the gym to get over the cold because whether I went or not, I would eventually get better, so I should just go to the gym.

My answer to life is the cheeseburger, Carol's answer is the gym. I think this explains the discrepency in our weight...

Maybe having a blog is not a good thing for someone with OCD...

Telemarketers call me all the time, asking me if I want to get a subscription to a local NY paper. I used to say that I was moving but why should I lie? I told the last guy who called that my therapist has forbidden me from receiving the newspaper because if one comes in the house, I cannot throw it away unless I have read it cover to cover.
The guy said, "Oh, me, too! Do they have you on any meds?"
I answered, "No, I tried doing EMDR talk therapy, but it actually made things worse!"
"You should get on the meds, they really help."
"Hey, thanks!"
Who said New Yorkers aren't nice?

I like to read the dictionary. I am nerdy, hear me type. I wonder why "Wednesday" is spelled the way it is. Who decided that this was the way ya oughta spell this day? A dyslexic lexicographer?

A long time ago, I tried to set my friend, Amy Moon up with another friend of mine. I told her that he met, married and had a baby with his new wife within one year.
She said, "That's okay, he was too nice."
"Too nice? I thought you wanted a nice guy."
"Yeah, but I need sweet and obnoxious."
I inquired, "Sweet and obnoxious? What is that?"
She replied, "Oh, you know, like you."
Thanks, Ames, thanks a lot.

Hello Cyberworld!

A couple of years ago, a nice woman from Texas (I think) wrote to me that she thought that I should have a blog because of how long my newsletters were. I've decided to play a game of virtual hide and seek. I am here, but who on earth will find me? I wonder...

Another reason for me to have this here blog is because I am currently between management and I can't seem to keep up with the self-promotion... Here's the latest from kind Peter Kuo...

Greetings,

My name is Peter Kuo, a part of the A&R staff here at ImaginAsian TV. I just wanted to inform you that the latest issue of iaLink, including where you are mentioned, is now available at ~

http://www.ialink.tv

We’re very pleased that you were able to be a part of our e-zine, and we hope to work together again in the future. Please don’t forget to subscribe to our email list if you haven’t already done so.

My computer doesn't seem to be able to navigate their nifty site, so I have no clue what this is about, but I am grateful! Thanks, Peter!

A guy once wrote to me from "Licking, MO" saying that he wanted to subscribe to my newsletter. I ignored the message because I thought he was one of the stalkerazzi... Er, uhm, it turns out that there really is a town called, "Licking..." and I'm a jerk.

My sincere condolences and prayers to all affected by the earthquake in Pakistan...

Sometimes I don't understand what God is up to...