7th Annual Culture Shock Choreographer's Showcase

Alright yall, this past Saturday Oct 21st was the annual Culture Shock Choreographer's Showcase. It's an event where all or most of the Culture Shocks come out and do a performance. DC, Chicago, Atlanta, Oakland, San Diego, LA, and many more others were there to represent as well as other teams such as Jabbawockies and Super Galactic Beat Manipulators. I wish I could tell ya that the event was dope however I did not buy a ticket. HAHA Isn't that funny. You get to perform on stage but if you don't have a ticket to the show, you can't watch. I was very broke at the time so I didn't have a chance to get to see all the acts. I did catch a few performances because the venue was kind enough to set up a TV in the back. Hopefully the DVD will come out soon or youtube videos so that I can peep the many awesome showcases that were there that night.

Oh, so if you don't know already. I am in the Culture Shock LA bboy team. And this past Saturday was my very first on stage performance doing choreo. I, actually, am not very good at choreo, I would be catagorized more as a freestyle dancer slash bboy. But yeah, I worked pretty hard to get the steps kinda right. I know I messed up a few times, but hopefully it wasn't too bad. I really thought it went well. I really enjoyed performing and what not and I am very excited about our next showcase in Las Vegas. Oh and seriously, I was soo nervous. I think I said "OH SHIT" twenty times before hitting the stage. It was a super rush.

Before the showcase started, there was a preshow outside were bboys and bgirls and funkstyle dancers and whomever get to come together and dance. It was a super huge cypher with different styles if you think about it. Culture Shock LA represented hard core. We seriously turned that shit out. Here are some pictures of us.

This is the Culture Shock Breakers. I think we have more bboys but I couldn't find all of them. Seriously we looked sick in the circles. LA represented to the fullest.

Here is a group picture of us and a few randoms in the upper left corner. It's all love though, I know everyone wants to be in a picture with me. HAHA but yeah, Culture Shock LA's street team is what your lookin at. HOLLA!

Last thing, I must say it was a helluva an experience. I really enjoyed the time spent together in San Diego. Just getting to dance, chill, party, and do watever made this trip very memorable. Even though I don't remember a thing that happend saturday night. Pass the alcohol, please!

Bboy Spiderman!

Since it's getting to that time of year, I thought I'd be festive and bust a little footwork with my costume. Enjoy. Oh, and I couldn't see crap.

TOP GUN NES sucks ASS

I saw this post from YODC. I dedicate this to William Wang. He loves the movie. I dedicate this to my brother Rick and my cuz Henry who also have done the exact same thing as what the player in this video has done. We never passed the damn game. I'd die at the fueling. The plane never landed. WEAK. ENjoy!

Rino Nakasone

Sup yall. Damn, I've been soo busy with dancin' and breakin' that I haven't had the time to post any of my past adventures. So a few Sundays ago Culture Shock LA was honored to have Rino Nakasone aka Music from the Harajuku Girls come and teach a class. I must say, she's a nasty dancer. Straight old school flavor. Her routine was dope, but too bad I suck at choreo. I pretty much botched the whole ending up. But it was fun and cool nonetheless.

If you guys don't know who the harajuku girls are then you don't watch enough TV. HAHA They are Gwen Stefani's back up dancers for the album Love Angel Music Baby. When I first saw the video Holler Back Girl, it was pretty sick that they used Japanese back-up dancers.

If you want to read up more on Rino Nakasone you can check her myspace account http://www.myspace.com/rinonakasone. Add her as your buddy :)

Lindy Hop Collective

Sup folks, it’s that day of the week again. Monday. Hurray! Work! Yes! Fun! Yes! Well, not really. More fun for me some times and not for others. Today is one of those fun days. I'm doing jack diddly at work. Well not necessarily jack diddly; I did happen to browse through youtube.com today. I don't even know what I was looking for. I was searching for some Japanese clips, then I tried searching for some bboy clips, and lastly I searched for Culture Shock clips. Too my surprise, the search brought me to this classic clip from a film called Hellzapoppin'. Dude, these guys are fresh. The whole jazz collab plus the dancers are nasty. Pure enjoyment. So much enjoyment that I did more searches and these are the recommended clips that I found. Enjoy them as I did!


This first clip is from Hellzapoppin' featuring The Harlem Congaroos (dancers, AKA Whitey's Lindyhoppers). The scene begins with workers moving props and finding instruments. They begin with a cool jam session which attracts maids and chefs to come out and dance the lindy hop. My favorite clip!


This clip has very little dancing but the music is outstanding. "Oh shit, I'm a poet and didn't even know it" (that's what Andrew Tran said to me in the Bay). Just check it out. Awesome musicians like legendary Lestor Young on tenor sax, Barney Kessel on guitar (I'm a jazz guitar fan), and Jo Jones on the drums. Also, Marie Bryant kills it on the vocals.


This clip is from the movie Don't Knock the Rock. Who said white folks can't dance. These guys are mean on the dance floor. And the track in the film is on fire. My favorite dancers are the first pair to go out in the circle (he's the one wearing the glasses who trips in his routine, pure flavor).


The last clip I checked out, before going back to do some real work, was from a sound short called After Seben. It stars Chick Webb & "Shorty" George Snowden. I guess from the synopsis they say this clip features the early beginnings of lindy hop. This clip is very cool but not as exciting as the others I have featured. However, there is one particular dancer in this clip that I wanted to point out. His name is James Barton. In this clip he plays the emcee performing in blackface. OMG this guy is freakin the nastiest dancer to live. Just check out his moves towards the end of the clip. He's a straight up bboy. I recognize some of his dance moves to be associated with breakin'. And that pogo action is bonkers. Haha it's crazy. Peep it!

Crustaceans with MGM Homies

Last Friday, me, Judy, Chris, and Peter went out to eat at Crustaceans for Peter's bday. It was chill. We had to get kinda dressy just for lunch. But it was all good. Krusty Asians (crustaceans) is a high class vietnamese restaurant. The food is actually more fusion from what I saw. I'm a true Vietnamese so I know. The food was good. We had good times. Check out the food below.

This was a salmon eggroll thing. Was pretty good. But if your not down with fishy, then I'd say NEXXXXTTTT!

Peter got the Shrimp Eggroll. It was pretty bomb. And I liked the sauce.

My main course was Kung Pao Chicken with Rice. Umm when did they start serving Kung Pao at a Vietnamese Restaurant? I don't know.

Peter got some Felit Sole or some crap. It was pretty tasty. And he had a fried rice cake which is pretty much the only thing Vietnamese about this place. HAHA

Coconut Flan with Rasberry Sauce. YUMMM!

So comming back to Crustaceans is my 3rd time. And what I highly recommend getting no matter what, full or not, is the fried bananas a la mode. OMG! CRAZY GOODNESS.

It was a good friday lunch. It was chill. You know how we roll at MGM. Just straight gangsta. Till Next time. Ciao.

Aretha Franklin - One Step Ahead

Alright yall, I just saw this video on youtube. Not sure how long ago it was posted, but I ,sure as hell, am going to post it on my blog. This is Aretha doing what she does best, sings beautifully. I never got a real huge boner listening to "Ms. Fat Booty", however I love the original song they sampled. One Step Ahead is freakin F-F-F-FRESH!

Josee, The Tiger and the Fish aka Josee to Tora to Sakanatachi

It's been a while since I've posted any movie recommendations on here so here goes. Come to think of it, I actually really don't know if I would recommend this film, however it's enjoyable. Here is a quick run through of the film, seeing that I don't have much free time at work. The movie is about this guy Tsueno. A college student who does what any normal college student would do. Bones chicks. Okay that was a bit crude, I apologize. But this film isn't about sex or anything related to college life. It's about a boy who falls in love with a girl who has cerebral palsy (paralyzed from the waist down, I think). Now you might think it’s going to be a sad movie, right? Wrong! Yes it is a love story, but this is where the coolness comes in. It's a straight up regular relationship. They have sex; they get into fights, nothing sappy here. Just the REALNESS! It's about two young lovers stuck in the real world. It can be sad at times, it can be funny at times. I wish I could quote the movie, but I don't remember, however the best line in the film is when Josee tells Tsueno, if we stay here you can do the nastiest things to me. WOW!!! Talk about disturbing. Enjoy!