friday dance - time is (l)over

zomg... i can't believe it's almost july... (!!) 2011 is half over... almost... and i'm a little anxious that i don't have much to show for it... :(

i often think of dylan thomas' poem "fern hill". i read it back in elementary school and even, then as a child, the following lines resonated with me:

"Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means,
Time held me green and dying
Though I sang in my chains like the sea"

so many times this week, i've been reminded of events that happened just a year ago, and my perspective of the present is immediately shifted...

*heavysigh* i just really need to kick myself in the pants and get on with it... so much to do & experience - SO LITTLE TIME!!! :)

ennyhoo... speaking of kicking myself... my hip hop classes have been very rewarding... a couple of classes have been dedicated to body isolations... which for some reason i've had an affinity for ever since i was a wee one... clearly, all those days of dragging cardboard around with my "crew" (mind you i was in 3rd grade and literally, the "crew" part of "the crew"...)

i'm absolutely fascinated with tutting and finger tutting (see hok and moon)... neither of which i can do convincingly... :) jang woo hyuk on other hand (pun intended)... he and the animation crew are wonderful to watch: (ffwd to the 3:18 mark if you don't want to sit thru the entire video...)



more animation crew:



and because it makes me smile, genki sudo's world order:



happy friday!!!

friday dance: happy early fathers (ricedaddies) day!

you're thinking that i'm thinking of these ricedaddies. and i am... *warmfuzzies* :)

of course, i'm also thinking of my own ricedaddy and my babyricedaddy... :) lovelovelovelovelove...

but, honestly? *pause*

i'm totally OBSESSED with the recent kdrama, The Greatest Love and its insanely handsome ricedaddy star, Cha Seung Won... *shivers* *batsbedroomeyes* *fansself*

*ahem* ...so i decided to post my list/pics of my fave celebrity ricedaddies... admittedly, this post is really for my lumpia, sushi, satay, dimsum, kimchi mamas - but, whatever... hee hee hee...

happy early ricedaddies day! :) anytime any of these dads want a playdate - my schedule is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY open...



Cha Seung Won - really? do i need to comment?? just gaze. and SAVOR. :) *SQUEE*



John Cho - oh mark chao, even though you broke my heart back in 1998, you're still one o' my faves... :)



Yul Kwon - the only reason i watched Survivor - what year was that anyway??



Russell Wong - ok, i'll admit it - i LOVED the joy luck club - i cried my eyes out for YEARS every time i saw it... so here, you can take my filipina activist card... oh russell, for MONTHS i giggled whenever i saw a watermelon... :)



Ken Watanabe - still amazes me that i saw him in tampopo so long ago and then finally saw him again in the last samurai... what up with that?? where the heck was i and what was i doing?? (btw - his son, Dai Watanabe, is a hottie AND another ricedaddy too!!!)



Koji Yakusho - how do you want those eggs?? (hee hee, i actually loved him more in shall we dance? and saw him most recently in 13 assassins...)




Hines Ward - he dedicated his samba to his kimchi mama!! *swoon*



Alec Mapa - the first time i saw alec was on dharma & greg.... hilarious! and he's still hilarious



Ken Jeong - what's not to love about ken? he's funny, informative and sensitive... meow, seksi!



Jo Koy - JOSEP! I LOVE ORANGE CHICKEN!!!



Tomoya Okazaki - my favorite anime dad from Clannad After Story (he wasn't present/great, but still.... *sniffle* crying again....)




Jin Soo Kwon (Daniel Dae Kim) - my fave tv ricedaddy - TOTALLY COUNTS!!!!

and last but NOT LEAST - my fave father's day video - DAD LIFE



ORNAMENTAL TURTLE! YO! Hope all the Dads (rice & otherwise) have quiet & relaxing Fathers Days!!! :)

friday dance - Happy Birthday Dawn Hampton!!!

years and years and years ago... in the early days (late 90s) of my lindyhop studies... i found myself in new york for work. after design/production meetings (at DKNY) and dinner with my coworkers, i rushed to find any and all swing music venues i could. the first place i ended up was close to my hotel. it was a small dance floor, but there was a great band and jackie mason asked me to dance... seriously! :) but, i was so new, and a little freaked out that i declined his invite - i know, i've regretted it ever since... :)

dancers at that club told me about another venue and a cab ride later, i arrived. i walked in and the first person i saw was dawn hampton. i didn't know she was dawn hampton until years later. but she was unforgettable. she was/is mesmerizing. i honestly don't remember much about the dances i had that night - i mostly remember dawn. first of all, she was grooving by herself amongst all the other dancers. and i mean GROOooOOOOoovin' it.



her solo dance had more musicality and joy in it that most of the dancers out there.... and while many new dancers around her were offbeat entirely or way ahead... she was hanging on the beat, syncopating - just blowing my mind... i knew that i wanted to really learn how to lindyhop. i wanted to throw it down like dawn hampton.... i'm still working on it.... :)

here's one of my FAVORITE clips (of all time) of dawn hampton dancing with one of my favorite teachers/leads/friends - steven mitchell:



and another fave of dawn dancing with the yummy john dokes:



like frankie manning, dawn inspires me to grow more and more youthful everyday... happy happy happy birthday (weekend) dawn hampton!!!!