It’s all in our head

Crashed at my friends place the other night and woke up to that image above…well kind of. I had to find half of the glasses on the otherside of the room.  Wearing my contacts now, which isn’t a super fun thing to have in my eyeballs for a long period of time.

I guess this gives me an excuse to purchase new glasses. Anyone have any suggestions on what kind of glasses I should get? My something that looks like this….

Was up in LA this weekend to finally complete the last needed shot for the DREAMERS music video with none other then his royal highness, Mr. Ryan Higa.  We met up in downtown LA for a quick shoot for the final cameo. it involved…lots of yogurt. That’s all I can really give away.  Mr. Daniel Seo from DREAM LAPSE Project met up with me to finish up the scene. Now that it’s done- all that’s left is post production to make sure that all this time spent will be well worth the wait. In case anyone has been counting…here are the cameos we were able to knock out for the video: David Choi, Aj Rafael, Wong Fu Productions, Ryan Higa, Jennifer Chung, Dawen, Paul Dateh, Arika Sato, Kevin Lien, Instant Noodles Crew, Joseph Vincent, Toestah, Jason Chen, Cathy Nguyen, Scott Yoshimoto, Daniel Seo, and of course…myself DANakaDAN. Although i’m not really a cameo…. It’s going to be a hell of a video. Getting myself excited just thinking about it…

Check out the latest Behind the Scenes Video with Joseph Vincent + Toestah

Ok..So here’s behind the scenes footage from the second shoot from the DREAMERS project with Aj Rafael! Huzzah!

So the video is coming for the DREAMERS project that afterschoolspecial, myself, Scott Yoshimoto, Daniel Seo, and the Dream Lapse Project are working on. It’s definitely been a while in the making but the team is kicking ass and putting in a lot of hardwork to ensure it’s going to live up to the…..hype that I think may be there?  Scott and Daniel have even gone a step further to make the project come to life even more by showing a TON of behind the scenes footage from it.  So..thought it’d be nice to share these videos (and…because i’m running out of things to write about). He’s been doing a video for each cameo he’s been shooting. We’ll start this one off with the first cameo he shot- Mr. David Choi. More on the video..and more cameos soon

TO Check out their channel, CLICK HERE

Thought i’d share. So very cool of this person to do- someone named Michelle made me a fan page on Tumblr!  It really means alot that they’d care that much to create one. Wanted to share. Not sure how tumblr works though- i think only she can update it?  either way- check it out and be sure to tweet @MiniMichellee and tell her how awesome she is for doing that.

Check it out by clicking here

First off a big congrats to the winner of Kollaboration 11- Noel Kunz for putting on a hell of a unique and incredible performance with his take on Yo-yo. You’d think to yourself sometimes what exactly makes Yo Yo that unique or incredible? You got to see it live to believe it. He’s the nicest guy too, and although we were definitely gunning to win, he’s deserving of the championship this year.  I think that actually sums up quite a bit of the Kollaboration experience- some of the nicest and most talented people i’ve gotten to know over the last few years coming together during a hell of a night of performance. People that i’ve known for several years, Dawen, and those that i’ve known only a few days, Inch Chua, all put on their best act for quite the crowd of celebrities, industry professionals, friends, and family.  I’ve personally, as mentioned in the previous blog, been connected and touched by the show for the last 5 years or so, and to have finally had the opportunity to perform on it’s stage is definitely a long time coming.   And although afterschoolspecial didn’t win, we still had a lot of fun and made some excellent connections.  Hopefully it won’t be the last time i’m involved with the show either….

The after party was fun too. Lots of soju….lots and lots of soju actually. Above is a photo that I took with afterschoolspecial and Inch Chua. I’ve mentioned Inch twice so far in this blog- definitely need to check her out by clicking here. Really dopppppee folk/pop singer.  Partied quite a bit that night, somehow ended up eating pho with some of the youtube community at 2am..and then ended the night with some johnny walker blue with some of the kollab staff partying at a near by hotel. Good times in deed.

Sunday was the perfect way to end the weekend because we had another show in SD. I love that feeling…after one performance, knowing that you’ve got another one the next day. Definitely tired from the night before though.  Got to perform with the very hyped about group- Aziatix at the LOFT at UCSD. SOLD OUT SHOW. got there and saw the sign and even some folks that had been waiting in line since 1pm. that’s so wild.  It was a really great show too- lots of support and the crowd was really live. Some folks even drove all the way from Arizona to see Aziatix. Again..that’s crazy to me! very dedicated fans.  That’s the last show for a little while – probably til 2012.  A great way to say good bye to the 2011 tour season which was probably the best year of my life.  Will do a recap on that soon.

BUY TICKETS HERE: http://kollaboration2011-afterschoolspecial.eventbrite.com

This Saturday myself and afterschoolspecial will be competing in the grand daddy of all shows, KOLLABORATION.  This show is incredibly meaningful for myself, as it’s the first thing we ever tried out for as a group 4 years ago (we didn’t make it alas), and was the first Asian American entertainment event that i’d ever attended and got involved in. It was a really powerful thing for me to experience…and it’s strange because it really wasn’t that long ago, maybe 5 years ago ,when I was 21. Man how things have changed.  It was at Kollaboration that I first was exposed to this pool of talent that I now am lucky enough to call friends and peers.  I met PK, who was a great mentor for myself and really gave me the push I needed to follow my musical passions.  KOLLABORATION is an incredibly meaningful platform and I can now officially consider myself an actual member of their performance family.   Since then, things have definitely changed quite a bit in the Asian American entertainment realm.  There’s way more outlets for exposure. People are hungry for it. Opportunities are richer and a bit more plentiful. It’s a great time to be an Asian American entertainer.  Which is why, it’s important to salute the show that really set the ground for many of the “kingpins” of the scene now.

Hopefully we’ll see you there! Come out and support and say hello. ALSO! help us win the audience award- be sure to vote! If you can’t make it and still want to help push some votes in our direction, please e-mail me at info@afterschoolspecialmusic.com  and i’ll send you info.

Here’s the latest update video that i did where i talk about the show…

It’s been pretty crazy go nuts this past few days during this year’s 12th San Diego Asian Film Festival…not alot of time to do an update- but thought i’d post a few photos of the Festival Experience thus far.  Lots of the community has been down here and it’s be really incredible catching up with everyone.   Anyways..here’s a few photos

Opening Night Film Cast and Crew Red Carpet including KELLY HU and EDISON CHEN

Friday Night Party- BLOWFISH starring Mike Relm

Red Carpet at the Industry Awards Gala with Justin Rimon and Moon from I.Am.Me Crew (ABDC’s Champions from 2011)

Here it is! Thanks to ROMMEL of ROMIX productions for doing such an incredible and quick turn around on getting the video out to me.

So I also work for the SD Asian Film Festival and as expected as soon as ISA season ended I jumped right back into SD Asian Film Festival season.   It hasn’t been too difficult to transition- but it’s definitely gotten cluttered as per the photo above. My desk is a mess…and you’d think, DAN, how come you can’t clean up your desk. Why is it so messy. I took that…about a week ago- still looks the same. Honestly- couldn’t say.  If I REALLY wanted to make time, I definitely could.   Either a cluttered desk isn’t necessarily a cluttered mind- i’ve got a pretty open mind and have it focused on the Festival.  I work as the SD Asian Film Festival Marketing and PR director..so to throw some marketing on yaaaa. Come on out. It’ll be grand- 9 days of 160 films, parties, panels, and more. Lots of good folks will be there including

* Panel at the colleges with JKFILMS, Joseph Vincent, New Heights, and Music Video Directors

* Dance Panel with America’s Best Dance Crew champions- I.Am.Me Crew, Instant Noodles Crew, and Shelby Rabara (LXD)

* Friday Night Party with Video Mash Up Dj, MIKE RELM

* Appearances by Harry Shum Jr, Joy Osmanski, Lynn Chen, Judith Hill, and so many more

Come on out and say hi! I’ll be there each day….give me a high five.

More info CLICK HERE