Jason Wada

Walk it Out

2009-10-27T14:19:00.000-07:00

CSU Fresno Walk Out 10-21-09 from Jason Wada on Vimeo

Want to See My Wild Things?

2009-10-20T11:13:00.001-07:00

Childhood, how I miss you so, especially after watching this movie. I went to see it Saturday night with Nicole after watching Fresno City's production Eurydice. It's hard to spoil anything about Wild Things since practically everyone has read the book (it weighs in at a heavy ten sentences, not for the literary challenged), so, brave adventurer, read on without fear of spoilage.

From the opening production titles with Max's scribbling all over them to the final closing scene of Max enjoying his dinner (man I'm getting hungry), Where The Wild Things Are is a tribute to something we all have in common: our imaginations. Max's departure to the land of the Wild Things happens a bit differently from the book, but once he gets there, the wild rumpus starts with such energy I wanted to cry out to the screen and let my own wild things loose. Those are emotions, not the wild things I'm innuendo-ing in the title. Maurice Sendak has a deeply touching life philosophy that he put into the story and it comes across much stronger in the film. Whether it's Max leading a charge through the forest or simply walking across a desert with Carol, each image has an associated feeling behind it. Following Max through his triumphs and failures reminded me of how I experienced an impossible world in the dreams of my childhood.

The more I grow, the more I realize how easy it is to forget to imagine. To leave the present troubles and delve into the worlds of our heads is a luxury. I used to turn a cardboard box into anything I wanted it to be. Put it on it's side and it becomes my cave. Standing up proper it was my rocket ship to Jupiter. Upside down, it was my private hiding place where I could escape into the solitude of darkness. As a child, I had the free time to create all kinds of worlds to explore in... but now...

Now there's only this world to live in. The responsibilities and consequences of daily life take up a majority of my time. The rest of it is spent enjoying what I have in front of me, the people around me and the things I can do. Luckily I'll be able to rekindle that imagination lying someplace inside me and use it to support myself and my family. Isn't that what we all wanted to do as children? To tame the wild things inside of us and figure out who we are?

Enough retrospective introspection on childhood, let's move on to life. Eurydice is based on the Greek tale of the same name. Eurydice's lover, Orpheus follows her into the underworld in order to bring her back from the dead. Hades makes him a deal and tells him if he walks home, she will follow him. However, Orpheus must face forward and can't turn around to look at her until he's home. At the last moment, he turns around to see her (in Fresno City's version, Eurydice calls out to him) and she dies a second death. Tragic and depressing, yet it left me with an appreciation for life and love. I try not to get too gushy but I never thought I'd find a love like Nicole's, and my new deepest fear is losing that love.

My friend Magnus was in the play and did an awesome job as the most twisted, crazed version of Hades I'd seen (not that I'd seen many representations of Hades). The lighting was impressive, I'm a big fan of stage lighting and atmosphere. Everything was great about the play and it really sent the message home with me afterwards.

Appreciate life. Love life. You only get one and you'll never have more time to enjoy it than you do right now. Take advantage of it. That's all.

Post Vegas Pew King

2009-10-13T11:24:00.000-07:00

That's me after a long walk around the strip and a half-yard margarita. It snuck it's way through my gastrointestinal tract and infiltrated every cell of my body, causing the eventual breakdown you see there. It was eventually expelled over the course of five or six trips to the restroom hours later. I'm beginning to suspect that my Asian-ness is coming full circle as far as alcohol is concerned, so maybe I'll stay away from the booze for a bit.

And oddly enough, The Office "Niagara: Part 1" just opened up (on Hulu!) with a whole lot of vomiting. Great.

I was super excited to go to Vegas and meet Nicole's friend Jessalyn (look, I can spell her name right! I was spelling it Josselyn for a while... long story). After floating through classes and a practice midterm (more on that later...), I packed my bags, said my good-byes and flew to Vegas on a unicorn with a jet-pack. If you could call an airplane a unicorn with a jet-pack. Once we landed, we jumped on a shuttle and made our way to The Rio to check-in. Another shuttle later to Paris and we filled our bellies with delicious pasta and bruschetta, complete with a post-dinner trip to the top of the "Eiffel Tower" replica. Taking in the lights and sirens of Vegas? Pure romance. The next day was full of shopping around with Nicole, Jessalyn and the half-yard harbinger of doom. Getting sick from it was definitely a downer, I couldn't help but feel like I was royally fucking things up. Who knows?

The next day and return flight was uneventful, save for an idiot pulling the fire alarm in the airport. Sitting through the siren going off at the departure gate had to be the highlight of my day. Rolling eyes as I type this... Sunday evening was some quick homework and dinner with Jenn and Andy at Red Robbins. Fast-forward through Monday and find out I received 11/25 on a midterm. Reviewed the chapter to make up for not reading the chapter at all, and I'm slowly realizing (again) how mundane and boring life seems when you're reflecting and typing it out into a blog.

To be totally honest, there's a small part of me that wanted an engine failure or malfunction of some kind to happen while I was on that plane just so something exciting would happen in my life. Is existence supposed to be this boring by 21? When is life going to start?

Vegas, Are You Ready?

2009-10-08T18:16:00.000-07:00

I'm watching 30 Days of Night on Encore right now. What's with all the gore-based horror? I want a scary movie that's not just disgusting and gory. Show me the suspense and psychological thrills, not just a dude getting his head stepped on. We might as well build our zoos next to stadiums next to the jail. That way we can bring back the good 'ol days of Rome and watch prisoners fight to survive against the lions — for their freedom. Lemme tell yah, no rehabilitation works better for a kid caught with marijuana than a fight-for-life battle against a tiger! Or a giraffe. Whichever is the most entertaining.

Speaking of Rome, drugs, tigers and entertainment, I'm going to Vegas this weekend! My awesome girlfriend invited me along to go with her to meet her friend. Definitely looking forward to having a good time, any suggestions?

My design teacher made an odd statement to me the other day. Not sure if it was supposed to be good or bad, or maybe it was just supposed to get me thinking. We'll see tomorrow I guess.

I caught a fly today with my bare hand. My right hand, actually. Good thing I didn't lose it like the dude in this movie. Did we really have to see that double-tap with the ax in the neck? This is exactly what I'm talking about, this shit isn't scary, it's just violent.

Scary shit is shit we see that makes us scared. No shit, right? Now gore doesn't make us scared, it disgusts us. Like shit. Or severed limbs. Or the greasy netherregions of chicken that are left at the bottom of a fry pan. That shit disgusts us so that we don't eat or go near it. It's a natural process made to keep us away from things.

Fear, on the other hand (the left one, since that's the only hand the guy has left! Hardy har har), is similar to disgust but doesn't serve the same purpose at all. Fear isn't an emotion but an instinct and learned response to something. Example. Lions, tigers, or bears are frightening; they scare us. And for good reason, since all three could easily kill a person. But they're not disgusting. Sure, some scary things are disgusting but that's not an excuse to base two hours around how many different disgusting ways someone could die. I'm not saying a bloody death here and there isn't cool, but throw a little more behind the thrills than just, "OMGZORS you could totally see his Achilles tendon that time!"

Guess it's just me, but I miss Hitchcock and Kubrick.

A Zombieland Weekend

2009-10-04T23:51:00.000-07:00

First off, Zombieland was an awesome movie. Gotta love the opening where they say, "This isn't America anymore. It's Zombieland." Or something like that. But let me tell you, I'm waiting for the zombie apocalypse with fingers crossed. So anyways, going through the week...

Thursday was a workday, spent it writing and played a house show with Bazil. I was expecting a party but it ended up being a small get together for the housemates. Cool, but it would have been nice for them to offer the band a drink or something. Definitely felt like a used Kleenex by the end of the night, but there's cures for that.

Friday was a lameday, really didn't end up doing anything exciting... except for seeing Capitalism: A Love Story with Juan O. It was an awesome break down of the latest financial crisis and economic situation of America in general. Let's just say we've lost our democratic roots to become a plutocracy, a fact admitted by a major bank that starts with Citi and ends with Group. My opinion? Take your money out of the banks people, there's not enough cash to go around and they know it. Their wealth is your money and they won't be able to survive if there's no more money written down in bank's accounting books. After all, the market didn't cause the Great Depression; the people did by taking their money out of the banks. Take back the money you earned.

Afterwards, I ended up at Laura and Manny's. I met Laura's new boyfriend Preston and we all went to the train station to pick up Krista. It's worth mentioning the intense political discussions I had throughout the night, definitely fueled by the earlier screening of Capitalism. Someone thought that President Obama's administration signaled the rise of the evilness known as socialism, and that a government-run healthcare program would be the end of times. Say what you will but in my opinion, socialism isn't too bad of an idea and it's a lot better than the aristocratic crap we put up with today. See above, and look up plutocracy if you don't know what it means. I'll spare you the trouble:

plutocracy |ploōˈtäkrəsē|noun ( pl. -cies)government by the wealthy.

Saturday was a fun day, got to get some homework done and went to my friend Sean's house for a party. Ate some delicious barbecue and went and saw the aforementioned Zombieland with Nicole. Enjoyed it thoroughly.

Then today. Today was spent sitting on the couch doing homework, writing a group paper and finishing up a treatment. Exciting, right? Not exactly.

Yoko Ono

2009-10-01T00:18:00.000-07:00

And in a matter of minutes I was educated about Yoko Ono.

What an interesting woman with an interesting perspective. Also an interesting singing voice but that's another story. I can see why she wasn't well understood in the 70's, yet I find it odd that John Lennon had similar perspectives and was practically worshipped as a Beatle.

I'm listening to "Mind Holes" right now and I swear she's meowing in this track, maybe that's the reason she wasn't as possible. Though she is a pretty badass chick, I can definitely understand why people blamed her for breaking up The Beatles. Paul couldn't stand listening to her freaking meow.

I'm not saying she's not a good singer, I'm just saying she's got an interesting style of music. Her installation art is really cool, I'd let her shoot my ass if she wanted to put it on a television any day.

Keyboard Jason (and Glee!)

2009-09-30T21:20:00.001-07:00

Those piano lessons as a child are paying off. You're reading the blog of Bazil's new keyboard multitasking guitar player! Tonight I jammed with Kyle and Anthony to learn the keyboard parts to our songs so look forward to me doing my best Jesse Johnson impression. Don't expect a keyboard-stand though, I don't want to hurt anyone with the awesomeness.

I missed my design class this morning, we were supposed to continue our first full-color assignment. Monday we had to pick out swatches off the color wheel and get them evaluated by the instructor. Picking out shades of violet, blue-violet and red-violet is one of the most difficult things I've had to do. Violet doesn't even exist, it's literally a figment of your imagination. Physically, light is only visible from red to blue and your brain interprets violet by filling in the gaps of color information. Trippy, right?

Watching Nicole play Final Fantasy X has to be one of the greatest things I've witnessed. Having a girlfriend that shares my love of RPG's (the video games, not the airplane blower-uppers) is one of those things I never thought I'd find. Crazy random happenstance, right?

Television is becoming a new friend of mine. I'm even watching Glee as I type this. Last night I caught my first full episodes of Dexter and Californication, two shows I've always been intrigued by but never had the chance to watch. I saw bits and pieces of Duchovney but never saw a whole episode. Dexter has a great premise and I'm looking forward to the next show. Californication just might be the first series I get on DVD because it's flat out clever.

And Glee? What can I say, the girlfriend loves it and I'm a fan. We both went to high school with Chris Colfer, probably a big reason I watch the show. Second reason? Excellent choices of music (just watched a jazz sequence, might be called Maybe This Time? We'll see). The premise is awesome too, a huge draw since I was in performing arts too. And lemme tell yah, encouraging high school drinking is something every show should have. Oh wow, and shoplifting. It's seriously like watching my high school career on television, helped by the fact a classmate is on the show.

Gonna pay attention now so I'll catch all of yah'll on the Flopside.

The Wada Strikes Back

2009-09-27T00:44:00.000-07:00

Hello Blogosphere! I left your word-heavy ranks for a bit and flew into the higher Twitterverse, but I thought I'd flirt between the two and flex my literary thumbs (I'm posting from my iPhone with BlogPress Blogger edition). Speaking of iPhone apps...

SilentSword will have my attention for a while. You play as a ninja, sneaking through the shadows and swiping gestures across the screen to attack unsuspecting security guards. Attempting to not get caught in the lights is awesome but the tap-and-shake control scheme is a little finnicky at times. Four stars for sure.

Ate at BJ's and shopped in Fashion Fair with the love of my life Nicole. Everytime I enter an overpriced "fashion" boutique I can't believe two things.

A) That people would spend over $100 on a shirt. If I'm spending that kind of money on a shirt it better be stain, dirt, and sweat repellent with built-in anti-perspirant in the pits. Or at least headphones wired into it. Is that asking too much from a freaking $100 shirt?

B) The amount of kitsch there is. In Anthropologie everything is for freaking sale. It's ridiculous that the kitsch shelf is kitsch itshelf. Get it? It's-shelf. Haha. Anyways...

BJ's was great too, Tyson and Abigail are a riot to hang out with and a job opening might be on the horizon. We'll see how I feel about sales, though.

A bit of stream of consciousness (from fifteen minutes ago):

Hearing strange noises outside my window, I'm suspecting a quantum tunnel opened up and I'm hearing voices from the past. Or a neighbor is yelling. Either way, I can't figure out what it is and I wish they'd shut their trap.

Sharing Final Fantasy music with my girlfriend Nicole. Damn do I love her. I sometimes wonder how I settled for anything less.

And now:

I'm tired. Goodnight.

The Invisible Revolution - Chavez

2009-06-10T19:17:00.000-07:00

This is a series of posters I made the other week titled "The Invisible Revolution". Since the invention of the computer, the rate of evolutionary change has accelerated dramatically. The cumulative knowledge of our species has exploded over the past few decades and each discovery sets a milestone for the next. We are reaching a new age of humanity where we all must be responsible citizens of a global civilization.

Invisible Revolution - Chavez by ~GP1183 on deviant ART

The movement towards a brighter tomorrow has been happening throughout all of human history. For the first time ever, the 20th century saw progress being made on a global scale. Our species and civilization must adapt to this new playing field lest we get caught up in a never ending cycle of death and destruction to ourselves and our planet. The future calls for responsibility amongst it's citizens to support each other and our new global community. The revolution has not been angry and violent, nor will it become this. It will continue as it has for centuries with peaceful advancements and dreams of a better tomorrow.

The Invisible Revolution - Lincoln

2009-06-10T19:13:00.000-07:00

This is a series of posters I made the other week titled "The Invisible Revolution". Since the invention of the computer, the rate of evolutionary change has accelerated dramatically. The cumulative knowledge of our species has exploded over the past few decades and each discovery sets a milestone for the next. We are reaching a new age of humanity where we all must be responsible citizens of a global civilization.

Invisible Revolution - Lincoln by ~GP1183 on deviant ART

Only the present exists. To create a new age of harmony and progress we must act in the present moment to make it happen. Change will not happen overnight but comes closer each day. The future is not a destination, it is a collective dream that we the option to pursue. That dream could easily turn into a nightmare through inaction and indifference. Todays problems can be tomorrow's memory if only we address them promptly. Each day is a new opportunity to make it happen.

The Invisible Revolution - Einstein

2009-06-10T19:03:00.000-07:00

This is a series of posters I made the other week titled "The Invisible Revolution". Since the invention of the computer, the rate of evolutionary change has accelerated dramatically. The cumulative knowledge of our species has exploded over the past few decades and each discovery sets a milestone for the next. We are reaching a new age of humanity where we all must be responsible citizens of a global civilization.

Invisible Revolution- Einstein by ~GP1183 on deviant ART

The historical battle between religion and science is obsolete. Modern technology is a material manifestation of the human spirit for innovation and discovery. Religions commonly cite this as our original sin but this is only in the same vein as curiosity killed the cat. Our curiosity will soon allow us to answer the primary questions of our existence: what we are, who we are, and why we are here. New scientific discoveries allow more and more room for religion to coexist within a subjective, empirical ideology. Religion and science can describe the same world without discarding the other as long as both are able to breathe freely.

The Invisible Revolution - Gore

2009-06-10T18:55:00.000-07:00

This is a series of posters I made the other week titled "The Invisible Revolution". Since the invention of the computer, the rate of evolutionary change has accelerated dramatically. The cumulative knowledge of our species has exploded over the past few decades and each discovery sets a milestone for the next. We are reaching a new age of humanity where we all must be responsible citizens of a global civilization.

Invisible Revolution - Gore by ~GP1183 on deviant ART

Earth is the only planet we have. We need to take care of it for us and our future generations by altering our current destructive activities. Restoration of our environment will take just as long, if not longer, as it took to degrade it. The human race is no different than a tree or a rock in that we exist as a variable in the equation of the ecosystem. While progress is undeniable, the advancements of the 20th century were made without realizing how intense the effect human civilization has around the globe. The future must be seized with a slow and responsible pace so that we do not ultimately cause our own destruction.

The Invisible Revolution - Churchill

2009-06-10T18:46:00.000-07:00

This is a series of posters I made the other week titled "The Invisible Revolution". Since the invention of the computer, the rate of evolutionary change has accelerated dramatically. The cumulative knowledge of our species has exploded over the past few decades and each discovery sets a milestone for the next. We are reaching a new age of humanity where we all must be responsible citizens of a global civilization.

Invisible Revolution Churchill by ~GP1183 on deviant ART

While many fear the dangers of socialism, the past failures should not be seen as proof for future doom. Past dictators tarnished the promise of real communal responsibility. Today's society promotes independence and self-reliance with the added vices of greed and corruption. Just as capitalism has it's strengths and weaknesses, so too does socialism. Everyone shares each gain as well as each debt. However, to discount socialist ideals because of this would be the same as discounting capitalism because of the unequal distribution of wealth. Each system would do well to learn from the other.

The Invisible Revolution - Guevara

2009-06-10T18:30:00.001-07:00

This is a series of posters I made the other week titled "The Invisible Revolution". Since the invention of the computer, the rate of evolutionary change has accelerated dramatically. The cumulative knowledge of our species has exploded over the past few decades and each discovery sets a milestone for the next. We are reaching a new age of humanity where we all must be responsible citizens of a global civilization.

Invisible Revolution - Guevara by ~GP1183 on deviant ART

This poster is meant to raise questions about death, consciousness, and beliefs. Too often we guard our beliefs against the unknown. Anything unfamiliar is a threat to our current ideology and change is always feared because of this. The future will always be an unfamiliar unknown, but this is no reason to cling to traditional beliefs and practices unless one is willing to die for them. Accepting the possibility of death is also true for accepting the future.

And yes, I'm aware I spelled Che's last name wrong in the poster.

The Peace Project

2009-05-13T21:41:00.001-07:00

You might be asking yourself what these are for. Here are your instructions. Spread 'em faster than bad news.

Size Matters

2009-05-09T20:14:00.000-07:00

Something is terribly wrong with the internet.

Star Trek 2009

2009-05-08T09:18:00.000-07:00

Last night, I went to the first showing of the new Star Trek movie — on IMAX. Sixty-something feet to wow your eyeballs straight out of their sockets. But what brings me to Star Trek movies aren't the slick visuals (though they were plenty), the fast-paced action (which is predictable but cool), or the techno-babble about warp drives (kept to a minimum). Instead, it's Star Trek's legacy of political overtones weaved into the story.

The original Star Trek was created during the Cold War and had plenty to deal with. Common themes, aside from peace and unity, were socialism versus capitalism, dictators versus republics/democracies, and all other Rocky & Bullwinkle-type messages. After watching the newly-updated prequel/alternate-universe sequel, I walked away wondering what, if anything, they were trying to say.

Watch out for spoilers, because this article is full of rotten tomatoes.

In the alternate universe created by time-travel, Kirk is an angry, intelligent, and rebellious young man without any aspirations of Starfleet fame. His father was killed after the USS Kelvin investigated a "lightening storm" which turned out to be the Romulan Nero, traveling through time in hopes of revenging the destruction of his future planet, Romulus.

Confused yet? If you're still reading and are afraid of spoilers, this is your last chance.

In the future, a supernova threatens the destruction of the galaxy. Luckily, Spock devised a plan to use "red matter" to create a black hole that would suck in the supernova. The mission was a success, but Spock couldn't get there in time to save Romulus; it was destroyed by the exploding star, infuriating Nero, the captain of a mining ship.

Now would be a good time to point out that his ship's main weapon is a huge "drill" that extends from space into the atmosphere of the target planet. When the planet's core is reached, a "red matter" bomb is dropped into the hole, creating a black hole at the core of the planet. Which is bad news for the planet.

So the good guys, while full of angst and quick to swing a fist, are peaceful and humanitarian. The bad guys are pissed off that they lost their home after the good guys promised help but Spock couldn't do it quickly enough. The bad guys get their revenge by first blowing up the planet Vulcan to make Spock feel their pain. Then they target Earth.

Is this starting to sound familiar? We'll go backwards.

The War on Terror was meant to take out terrorist groups in the Middle East. It was a reaction to the Twin Tower bombings of September 11, 2001. The Trade Center was chosen as a target because of it's economic importance; the terrorists wanted to show America what it felt like to lose their family and loved ones, as well as take out a central component to our economy. The group responsible, Al Qaeda, was formed during the Cold War. They wanted the Soviets out of their homeland, Afghanistan, and so did the United States. To fight the perceived threat of communism in Asia, the United States funded Al Qaeda to fight off the Soviet invasion.

Do you see the political overtones of Star Trek yet? Nero and the Romulans represent Al Qaeda, or any foreign entity that was promised something but denied it in the end. In the case of Al Qaeda, they got their revenge on September 11th, killing thousands of innocent civilians. Nero, on the other hand, got his revenge by taking out the planet Vulcan, killing billions of innocent Vulcans. The whole drill-to-the-center-of-the-planet kind of gives it away since a central pillar for the conflict in the Middle East is over oil.

Of course, in the movie, the Romulans begin to drill into Earth and are thwarted. If Earth were to represent the United States, this could be a reflection of the US policy not to use domestic oil reserves.

Until the director's cut of the film comes out, or more interviews are done, it's impossible to tell whether these allegorical references are intentional or not. However, I think the political overtones are the real reason the movie was pushed back to avoid any backlash since it was a sensitive time for the US. Just some food for thought.

The New Counter-Culture

2009-05-07T21:54:00.000-07:00

The new counter-culture is peace.

Give Joy

2009-05-06T22:54:00.000-07:00

Feel free to spread it around.