The Carl Choi Chronicles

So here is a letter from our friend at LA18… Definitely Recharged the Team! THANKS EMIKO!!!

Dear Carl & Far*east
Movement:

I wanted to personally say "Thank
you" for not only performing at our event, but for also helping out in getting
the point across - that young upcoming professional Asian American artists are
the right type of people to have at our events.  I know that traditional
cultural performance is important too, but at the same time I wonder why we
can’t break away from that tiny box. 

There are about ten of us on the
Event Committee, and it became my responsibility to book and coordinate
talents.  I will be honest with you guys.  There are a couple of those who are
not always agreeable in the decisions that are made. When I book a group that’s
not a traditional/world-music type of act, some of the responses are: "Don’t you
think we should have something more traditional? …something more
Asian."

…………….*sigh* I
honestly felt my blood rush to my head when I heard that comment.  It’s so sad
to know that it’s 2006 and people still stereotype Asians.  I am not going to
book a "William Hung"!! He’s probably very innocent, and good for him that he’s
become famous, but NO!!  I’m not a performer so I don’t know what it’s like to
be the one under the spotlight, but it’s not like us Asians have to always cling
onto traditional type of music, or sing about how immigrant-like we are to sound
“Asian”, and to be heard, right?  So I look for those who are not only talented,
but have a purpose.

I know this sounds weird (haha),
but I’m glad that FM met Carl, and Carl met FM =) You guys are awesome.  I’ve
read impressing bios on FM, and I learned more about Carl on Myspace - and see
that you guys are making/and will continue to make a big impact on the
Asian/Asian Pacific American community.  I respect you guys for what you do, and
if I haven’t already said it enough, it’s really been great getting to know each
of you. 

After the Harvest Moon Festival, a
lot of us talked about how we had a lot of younger audience this time.  We know
that it was because of Far*east Movement.  It’s a free event for the community,
and the older crowd usually waits for the car giveaway so they usually just
watch… and only watch… some of them may have realized that Kung-Fu masters
aren’t the only heroes anymore.  You guys really got the crowd going and even
some of the moms and dads were really enjoying your show.  A lot of the
first-time listeners like the little kids have a new hero to look up to!  A
future FM might debut at an LA18 event one of these days…. hmmm.  =) If
viewers see these kinds of performances on the HMF Special (airs 10/6 at 5pm), I
think they will be motivated to return to our events or to come to the events
for the first time.

Sorry it got KINDA long, but all I
wanted to do was to just let you know how grateful I am to have had the
opportunity to work with you all.  Thank you for making it an even memorable
experience for me.      

-Emiko

We have a lot more pictures of you
guys, taken by new fans at LA18 & photographer* I’ll send those to you
later.

* * * PLEASE FORWARD TO YOUR FRIENDS!!! * * *

LETS REPRESENT FOLKS!!! Please RSVP with me THIS WEEK!!! FIRST COME FIRST SERVE BASIS!!!! Carl.Choi@PlanCGroup.com

So this weekend was the 5th Annual Climax Global company retreat. (PK
Sorry I missed Your Wedding!!! Congrats My Brotha!!!!) Its unbelievable
even as I think about this… that we’ve been a company now for 11
Years!!! Dude, I mean I’m not even that old but I really am starting to
feel like it. The attendance was loosely 100+ people (guests included)
which is majorly bigger than any retreat before this one… honestly,
it really made me proud of our team. Just for the heck of it, I’ll do
some Flashback-Actions about the weekend…

Thursday: 8:55pm, Ben and Giancarlo rolls to my house and calls me
while they’re downstairs, " I’ll be down in 5 minutes!!!" I say…
9:20pm, I turned back to shut down my TV before heading downstairs to
meet them. Rollin in our 06 Suburban that brotha Steve hooked up, we
ventured to pick up Tom in Monterey Park, stopping for gas while Gian
runs across the street for a Gatorade run. (Refreshing!) 9:50pm,
Adventure begins… when we looked at each other and said,"Where are we
staying tonight?"… *blank looks*…then *dead silence*… so picking
up my phone, I proceed to dial brother Duke and once again, Dr. Fu
saves the day! 2:25am, in Vegas, lit a Cigar then passed out.

Friday: 11:43am, speed dial BEN TRAN, "Yo where you guys at? One hour?
Ok Koo we’ll be at Duke’s then." … 12:25pm Tom askes,"Are they coming
soon?" 12:44pm Tom looks up again,"I’m STARVING Carl…" 1:25pm text
message from BEN TRAN: "sorry  running late picking up warren at
airport" - *stomach makes funny noise* - 1:42pm,"Could we go eat now?"
—- then the rest of the afternoon became one big blur as business
stuff took over. =)  — night time came around… Chef Kayson on the
1’s and 2’s… LETS EAT!!!!!

Saturday: Chef Carl in Da Motha Fudging Hizzles Dizzles!!!!! haha now
that I think about it, I dont think I cooked the hamburgers really well
for those who requested "Medium Rare" … this observation came from
seeing some of he burgers left over on the table while cleaning up.
*Quite the Bloody Mess* - Don’t know where it came from but this
retreat in particular, I had A LOT to say. I really even tried to keep
it short but it turned out to be a longer speech than I thought it was
going to be. Hope I didnt miss anyone… haha some of the team members
definitely stood out during the afternoon meetings. My favorite was
Echo’s Dramarama!!! 9:15pm: Janie calls,"Hey One of you guys need to be
over here to oversee the party bus… either You or Ben! I dont care!"
*scared* I said, "BE RIGHT THERE!" - the party bus looked more like a
strip joint on wheels… filled with alcohol and plenty of party
people… OFF TO CHERRY WE GO!!! - Cherry at the Red Rock which is one
of my favorite spots now in Vegas… was one of the best nights ever.
Besides having to wait for Brandon and friends for a hour then having
to recruit four random (pretty dayam hot) girls that they were too
afraid to talk to so we could balance the ratio… It was a Greeeeeeeat
Night! The Afterparty Highlight: TNES Jumping Off Roof, Landing Ass
first into the pool.

Sunday: We Ate, We Crapped, We Drove.

Ready to Get Down to Business.

When you walk into the club on a typical Thursday night at Mood in
Hollywood, you would do one of three things: 1) Turn to your left, hit
the main Bar so Hard that your next realization of conciousness is
waking up to your alarm the next morning 2) Go straight into the club
past the bar on your left, arrive at the rest rooms to freshen up, make
a walk around the club to see if you run into anyone then 2a) You don’t
see anyone you know, end up at the edge of the dancefloor, scan for any
hot (girls or guys), then turn right back to the main bar (go back to
#1) OR 2b) You see someone you know in the smoking area, enter a circle
of conversation on the latest and greatest. Finally, 3) You (or your
friend) had a VIP table and you head straight for their table and start
downing the Free Booze… again, return to #1.

Regardless of
your characteristics as a party go’er… there has always been topics
within our circles that are quite prevalent to our daily lives, rather
its gossip within the community on who’s dating who or who broke up
with who, how many drinks they had at the last event they went to or
just the latest happenings on Myspace! Whatever conversation that pops
up, there are a couple that stands out as a movement that’s been going
on for quite sometime now… Portrayal of Asian Males in the Media.

SOOOOOOOOOO One Topic of discussion that come across conversations over
and over again is that the Media in general just do not portay Asian
males fairly. It must have been really shitty… (excuse my language)
during the days of our ancestors coming to America. The Filipinos
navigated the seas for the Spaniards, The Chinese built the
Railroads… then the Japanese ends up getting thrown into camps! All
these years of struggle and obvious HOLDING IT DOWN for the rest of
America in the backend… and where did it get them? Just bucked tooth
korean speaking chinese karate chopping roles in the media!!!! haha But
hey… Times Have Changed Folks. With the introduction of movies like
Better Luck Tomorrow, Fast n Furious and Harold and Kumar… we’ve
entered into a new era.

Hollywood has been quite the animal
these days when it comes to The Search for the Asian Face… but in
recent days since we began casting for Asian Male roles for Justin
Lin’s new film, I’m starting to think if it was really the Media’s
fault that Asian dudes get no light! (booooooooo) I mean, most of the
time when the topic arises… its almost 98udes that complain about
it… (for obvious reasons) but then I also remember when we were
casting for the Rush Hour series and needed Asian girls… we got more
than we could handle and now, with all the opportunities at hand where
we’re looking for 100 Asian Guys to roll through… we should be able
to get 500 Asian guys to roll through right???!!! (Definitely not the
case) Using this as an example, I think we need to be aware of what we
NEED TO DO to Raise Awareness and Correst Stereotypes for Asian Males
in the Media cause from what I know of Asian Women… they’re in a
Dayam Good Place because they’ve stepped up to the challenge whenever
an Opportunity arised. So Enough Talk… Here I am… Calling Everyone
w/ Chinky Eyes, Black Hair and a Dick Out to REPRESENT. So LETS
REPRESENT!!!!

Now as a Community, thats where I think we need
to be… and I guess at the end of the day what I’m trying to say is…
Asian Guys… STEP UP YO GAME!!!!

AND HEEEEEEEEEEEEERES THE OPPORTUNITY:
We’re at about 30 right now with 2 more days to go… we need to TRIPLE
THIS… Details are below… Hope to see ya’ll there!!!!

CALL TO ACTION…. MEN: EMAIL EXTRACAST@GMAIL.COM and RSVP NOW!!!

Just been out and chatting with a lot of folks lately. Realized that there are still plenty of the world’s population on Friendster and has remained loyal to Friendster after all these years!!! So behold upon my recent visit, I found a message from an old friend who just returned to Cali!

Technology is Great!!!! Social Networking is getting interesting…

GOING TO www.LIVEDIGITAL.com FOLKS!!!

SEE YA THERE!!!!

and browsing Friendster… runs into a quote from a friend’s profile… definitely sets the tune for this year.

A leap of faith…

Sometimes
when you’re most afraid to take a chance that is when it is the BEST
time to just take a leap of faith. Over thinking and weighing your pros
and cons too much disrupts what your heart wants because sometimes it’s
not always about what IS right, but what FEELS right. Take a leap of
faith…and the rest will follow.

Tonight will mark the first day I get to sleep on my Tempur-pedic Mattress!!! Yeeeeeeasssss!!!

The World is quite small man… Met Roscoe, then finds out he got James
on the team then find out James works with Eugene who ran Club Escape
which Wells was a partner at and I’ve known Wells for a long long time.
Another reunion tonight… another chapter. Energy was great, poker was
fun.

Small World. Big Goals.

There is no turning back.

March 8th, 2006. Mark your calendar while you can… because the world is about to become a whole new place. =)

Ever think about how people are only as big as what they see? How do
you ever go beyond what you see when your vision can’t go beyond the
view? Some people are gifted with the ability to see the future… or
is it just an extension of what they see as possibilities? Some people
don’t believe unless they see… or is it just the lack of a big enough
view?

Views are interesting because there are always so many angles. One
view’s front to one can be another’s behind and vice versa. Its natural
for a human being to gain inspiration through what they see… and its
natural for a human being to lose faith in what they can’t see. But
without faith, you could never see beyond the view in front of you so
the inspiration can only go so far.

Not everyone was taught to have faith. Religion teaches faith but
religion was created by man… and man has many different views.
Different views produce different faiths and different faiths create
conflict. God created the world and the people that live in it but only
through faith can we get to know him/her… so what is the right view?

Those who inspire each other share their vision with each other. Those
who have faith in each other will believe in what each other describes
as their view. So many views, so little time on this earth… only
through putting the many many views together can the Big Picture be
seen… through FAITH in a  FRIEND’S Vision, Yours become that much
Bigger… Vice Versa.

Have Faith Friends… Believe in those who Believe in you, Believe in
those who can see and understand how the Big Picture come together.
Together, Faithful Friends create Big Inspirational Views.