Re Opening

Studio Wada was closed earlier this year when LAUSD reopened their schools to students.  The curtain was kept as Zoom meetings were still standard procedure for teacher meetings.  If you recall, Studio Wada was created in the early days of the pandemic as the wife taught Kindergarten from our living room, while I was exiled outdoors in the patio under the umbrellas.  I not only built up Studio Wada (upgrade of the internet speed, hard wire instead of wifi to ensure reliability, ceiling curtain rods to hang photo backdrop, external mics and additional lighting).  The only problem was the noise from construction next door.

My office was outdoors to avoid the noise and distraction of Mrs. Wada's room 2 classroom.  Two umbrellas and a shade cloth provided protection and comfort, the picnic bench with stadium seating chair for back support, purchasing a mesh office chair to withstand the outdoors temperature fluctuations, a heavy duty tool cart to house my laptop and external monitor, and yes I did run an ethernet line outdoors.  The issues were the noise from next door that seemed to increase when I had my meetings, dew from the night before and unexpected coastal rain, and the cold mornings and hot afternoons.  Patio heaters, patio lights and moving my coffee station outside helped.  

Bathroom breaks and heating snacks in the microwave were timed to coincide with recess.  Avoiding being seen on Zoom required a trip down the driveway and through the front door just out of sight.  At times, urgency required sneaking behind the curtain and over the couch,  In the afternoon, I sometimes gave up and there were sightings of an old guy in t-shirts and shorts in the background of her faculty meetings.

It is the second week of school and the number of Covid cases increasing.  Today's LA Times reported over 6,500 cases.  The rule of thumb is 3 separate cases of Covid at the school site will close the school down.  So we are preparing to revive Studio Wada and the chaos of Zoom teaching, just in case.

Stay safe.

Texas Notes

There is a housing shortage in the Plano general area.  Apparently a lot of Californians (and other folks) are moving to Dallas.  House prices a shooting upward, and there are waiting lists for new homes. 

Asian food is not in short supply, some restaurants are great, a lot are somewhat altered in taste to adjust. We did have a hard time finding decent spaghetti.

30 minutes is the usual travel time to anywhere.

Gas is about $1.50 cheaper.  that's including tax.

In and Out is still my favorite.  Texas BBQ is OK, but I still prefer Santa Maria style.

Dallas has traffic issues like any large metropolitan areas, rush hour traffic is typical, just throw in large semi trucks that not restricted to the slow lanes and large pick up trucks that weave in and out like BMWs in LA.

Green clippings are put into large brown Costco bags for pick up (unlike our green bins) and recyclables are picked up once every two weeks.  They don't like piling trash as high as you can go, you need to ensure the lid can be closed.  Im assuming the winds and storms have an impact on flying trash.

Brick is the material of choice for exterior buildings.  Wood fences with metal posts are the norm.

Mexican food is not the same as Tex Mex.  

Attached garages are like ovens.  The house may be cool, but the garage is not a suitable refuge.

It is not unusual to sit in your car with the engine and air conditioning running when parked.

Bugs and critters are the norm.  Bunny rabbits seem to be plentiful, the wild kind.  Did I mention the bugs??  

The UT system seems to rival our UC system of universities.

Stories of Plano becoming a mini Torrance in terms of Japanese Culture and stores are overblown.

If anything, there appears to. be a burgeoning Asian American culture being formed.  Not specific to any one culture, with a strong Texan influence

Stories of Texas being a renegade state ore overblown.  They have their reasons and a lot of people are moving there because of it.  There seems to be a method to their madness.

It is still hot in the summer.  

And no, we are not moving there.  

Searching

 I am in the last hours of deciding whether or not to submit a film this year.  It has been difficult following through with interviews due to the Corona virus.  So I sit at night hoping for a late night inspiration.  So im sitting here Sat. morning minutes before my class and Im watching Looney Toons.  And I am trying to figure out how to make a short film in one week using the story telling of cartoons.  Buggs is my hero.

Two weeks later:

But sometimes things fall into place.  I work with a lot of folks of Vietnamese Heritage.  If you take the time to talk to them, almost all have a story of escaping Vietnam.  Stories you hear about, but then actually meet the people who experienced the horrors and desperation to escape, then the tortuous journey of assimilation into a completely foreign culture and language.  

They are similar to the JA in that their present lives, their children are living the American life oblivious to what their parents experienced.  Glimpses occur when dealing with grandparents, family still in Vietnam.  My parents did not talk much about the Incarceration Camps and definitely not about their re assimilation back into American Society.  The similarity ends there.  

As President Biden pulled the American Troops out of Afghanistan, photos appeared in the newspapers that suddenly shocked me into remembrances of the fall of South Vietnam.  The iconic photo of a helicopter on top of a building and lines of people trying to get aboard.  If it jarred my memory, how did it affect those who actually experienced it and seeing it again 45 years later.

I took a chance and called a friend from work remembering the stories he told me years ago of his journey out of Vietnam.  Those images did affect him.  It brought back, not just memories, but a need to express what happened.  He was waking up a night trying to figure out how to deal with this, then I called.

How do you convert 2.5 hrs of interview of heart wrenching stories of near misses, desperation, separation, death, suffering, perseverance into a short 10 minute film.  Im not sure, but we will find out in about three weeks.  I definitely feel I am way over my head.  

Dreams of the Future

 The question that is often asked at my age is what is the one thing you always wanted to do but haven't been able to.  I always thought that was a strange question.  It never hit home.  When I need inspiration in creating my videos, I sit on the computer playing You Tube performances.  I am able to pick songs of my youth, newer cover versions, obscure songs and stuff I never had the time to pursue.  County Road is one of my favorite sites.  Country music somehow always appeals to my soul.  But I tend to replay a series of songs, Fool on the Hlll by Sergio Mendes, So Far Away by Reba, One less Bell to Answer by the 5th Dimension, How Deep is Your Love by The Bee Gees, Im so Lonesome I could Cry by BJ Thomas, and Classical GAS by Mason Williams.

In 1968 a friend of mine and I would climb into his dad's VW and be driven to summer school at Mark Twain Jr. High.  For some reason, the timing was always impeccable.  As we approached the front of the school, the number one song of the week on KHJ Boss Radio would play.  This was the time of Stepponwolf and Born to be Wild, the Doors, etc.  But during a series of consecutive weeks, Mason Williams Classical Gas was on top of the charts.  I loved that version, always waiting for the brass section to come on mid way through.

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour was by far my favorite show.  Most of my peers were into the Monkeys and Laugh In.  Me, it was satire and music.  I was enthralled with the Video that accompanied Classical Gas.  A series of quick cuts of various pictures.  I masterful feat of editing and timing.  It was my dream to create a similar video using that song.  Now that I am in video production, it occurs to me that I may be able to fulfill my dream.  Technology has made the process a lot easier (still a pain staking, difficult task) .  The problem with writing it down is that I can be held to it.  #1 project when I retire.  

Parenthood Is For the Young

 Just got back from Texas to watch the grandkids while the son and wife celebrated their 10th anniversary.

They entrusted us to watch the three kids (ages 8, 6 and 3) for six days.  To say the least, we did not know what to expect.  

We all know, you can have 3 kids and they will all be different, that was the case for our 3 boys, and still holds true for the 3 grand kids.

Don't care what any one says, there is a difference between the genders.  We are not used to girls.The grand daughter was an experience.  As she and I picked out her clothes each morning, (she did actually choose) I was quickly questioned about our choices of combinations by grandma.  They boys choices were never questioned.

Hair.  There is a reason why my boys didn't have long hair until  high school. I don't braid and I don't even understand the basics of a pony tail.  I examine a hair clip and for the life of me still don't understand how they work.  They are somehow seem to be a distant reletive of the paper clip, yet function quite differently.  It took two of us 3o minutes each night to treat, dry and brush her hair.  Tiff came home and did it by herself in five.  One the course of a day, we did leave a trail of hair clips all over the house.  Grandma made us collect them at the end of each night.

I won't even get into potty training (she did great).  Grandpa just waited in the next room until she was done and needed to wash her hands.  

One does not like tomatoes, the other avocados, the youngest will eat almost anything. Surprisingly they had no issues with vegetables or fruit.  Ice Cream is the universal choice for desert.

Note 1:   do not put two boys in the back seat of the van (yes I did that all the time with my boys).  Don't make grandpa pull the car over and make one sit in the middle row.

Note 2:  When denying a request, "mom said no" always seemed  to work.

Note 3: Hone your negotiating skills.  Number 2 is a future lawyer.

Note 4: "Grandpa is tired" does not work, it is usually followed by "Grandpa get up!" and a yank of the arm.

Note 5: Pouting does not work with Grandpa, that is the one area he will not give in to.

It's been two days and we miss them dearly. But not enough to move to Texas.