SDAFF 2009: Fun Day Sunday

Sunday was a laid back, but full scheduled day. Woke up around 9:30am and was pretty much on the move the whole day. Picked up my cousin and her friend and drove down to the Hazard Center for the YouTube Can Be a Celebrity Panel. Got in line and told my cousin and brother to take a look at the art we have in the hallway. We also had a live artist there, I believe it was Billy Martinez from Neko Press Comics, working on a few pieces. His artwork is really good, and I wanted to talk to him and check out his stuff, but at the same time, I didn’t want to lose my place in line. So I told myself I’d check it out after the panel.

THE PANEL WAS AMAZING! We had Dan Matthews and Phil Yu aka Angry Asian Man moderating, Paul Dateh, Jennifer Chung, Eddie Kim, David Choi, and KevJumba. I was a little sad that Wong Fu Productions didn’t make it out, but it’s ok, the panel was still awesome. Talked about why they started posting on YouTube, when they had their “Whoa, this is way bigger than I thought it’d turn out” moment, how YouTube has allowed them to meet people and travel to different cities and countries, what their audience reaction is in other cities/countries, why Asian Americans are dominating YouTube and new media, how they balance private life and internet/public life, and stalker stories.

Then, courtesy of Projekt NewSpeak, we had an exclusive world premier of a San Diego mash-up. I don’t know when Mr. Eddie Kim will be releasing that on the internet, but be on the look out for it. It’s pretty funny, especially the “name that actress” segment and the naked cowboy at Comic Con.

Afterwards, we had a few questions from the audience. My favorite was “how do you deal with negative comments and all the haters?” because it’s a question that is applicable to anyone. Answer: Even if the whole world loved you, there’s always going to be that one person who hates you; don’t let it get to you; ignore them; laugh because the haters are pretty ignorant; and reenact the worst comments in the most dramatic way so you can laugh about it.

Finally, we had a very special performance of YouTube (A Love Song) by David Choi. Sexiness.

Once the panel was over, we headed over to YogurtLand for the reception/meet and greet. Got a chance to take a picture with Paul FREAKIN’ AMAZING Dateh, and I love this guy! I showed him the picture and he said, “I look so ridiculous!...I love it!” And talked to Eddie Kim for a bit. I forgot to mention in my last blog, that I met him at the after-after party at the Doubletree, and he had introduced himself as Brian. And since I don’t watch YouTube as much as some of my friends, I didn’t know who he was (although he looked familiar and I knew he had been to the festival before), so I really thought his name was Brian. So I asked him, why did you tell me your name was Brian last night? It all comes down to a case of stolen identity. Well sir, you had me fooled. And I wasn’t the only one. Hah.

While the rest of the fans were having a field day with our panelists, we also had Blowfish Unplugged going on. Blowfish Unplugged is a free showcase of Asian American artists open to all ages (since Blowfish is a 21+ event and is $15 if you RSVP to blowfish@sdaff.org or $18 at the door) going on every weekend just outside of YogurtLand. Clara Chung was performing, and she is good. Really good. And cute. Then Dawen was next. He had told me the night before (well, technically, earlier that morning) that he would be performing and I was like, cool. But oh my god. This guy is GOOD. Crazy good. His keyboarding skills brings happiness to me and makes me want to dance. I kinda wish he had CDs to sell so I could buy one and have him sign it. But they’re available online, I think he said at iTunes. Check him out. He’s really nice too.

We ended up staying there longer than we had planned, but that’s what happens when you enter the world of SDAFF. Muahahaha. Lol. Dropped off my brother and my cousin’s friend, then went to the store with my cousin, then dropped her off, went home for dinner, started blogging about the night before, then headed back to the theater with my parents for RED CLIFF.

The theater was PACKED! Sold out screenings make me smile. Throughout the introduction of the movie and recognizing important people attending the screening, I was way too hyper about it. Which essentially means that I was really loud. I’m sorry, I can’t help it that those are my friends up there doing the introductions, and that I’m thankful that we have an amazing board of directors, and appreciative that city officials were in attendance. They rock.

The movie is so epic. The whole time, I’m sitting there like a kid in a candy store because it’s the first movie I’ve seen during the festival and growing up, I watched and heard about the three kingdom stories in Chinese. This particular chapter stands out very vividly in my memory; the way Kongming borrows arrows from Cao Cao, the way the winds change and fire dances across the screen. Great stuff. Can you imagine that that’s how they fought in real life in the past? To coordinate and command all those soldiers and strategize when, where and how to attack next? Epic. Truly epic. But I was a little sad about the horses and that war is so destructive. *Sigh* Such is the way of things.

This morning, I did not want to go to work. I still want to crawl back into bed and sleep so I can recharge for the rest of the week!

Tomorrow, Tuesday October 20:
Free Screening of ORCHESTRA NOVA at 7:15pm
Second screening of WHITE ON RICE at 8:55pm and HELP ME EROS at 9:45pm (I can’t decide what I want to see!)