Hollywood – Thang Nguyen 555

A chance at nuances

Those of us who went to school which required students to wear uniforms can relate to this: we learned to fit in. By the time we entered corporate world, the dress code and work-place behavior come as second nature. Yet without differentiation, our products and personal brand get lost in the shuffle.

So we try to take a photo for Twitter (thumbnail) so we can look like Guy Kawasaki (except for the smile).

BTW, since when do we need someone to snap the shot for us. It’s a DIY (Do It Yourself) culture. Equal playing field for women in corporate America, and soon the world.

I am struck by the milestones we have traversed since shoulder-patch and elbow-patch days. The yuppies are now at the peak of their career, and yet no station-wagon in sight.

Now arrives the frontier of automation, precision and efficiency.

Leave nothing to chances. A producer friend mentioned that during (film) production, everyone knew exactly what they were doing “just like engineering”. In other words, gone are the days of going over budget, of getting drunk on the set (Apocalypse Now) or Director’s Cut (Woodstock).

In fact, movies about machine, made by machine, seem to make money predictably.

Where is art in all of this? One more take (for my mother) in the days of film stock?

One more chance, another dance! George Clooney and company are pushing those gem-like material.

The possibility of miracles, of surprises and of the unexpected?

(Jackie Chan’s out-takes actually made the theater audience stay in their seats while end credits roll).

Or the exercise of free will, of stumbling across the universe “Mr Watson, come here”.

We have let the machine mentality creep in and dominate our lives like the camel’s nose sticking under the tent, pretty soon, it ends up inside the tent, with us sleeping outside.

I can’t see someone crazy enough to pen “War and Peace”, or “Les Miserables” in our age of short tweets. 140 characters vs monumental masterpiece.

Preserve our humanity! Put up some resistance. Fight in the shade. Fight in the dark.

Don’t give up on us baby.

Lord knows we’ve come this far.

We still worth one more try.

A whiter shade of grey. It doesn’t have to be black and white, just because of the damn one and zero. A chance at nuances.

P.S. To make my point, the spell check “red-flag” Les Miserables. It suggests “miserable”. Yeah! right! You, miserable! Not me. I cry, I laugh, I love and I live. You do not.

Stars and stunts

They stretched the truth to “show” it in better lights (as in Argo).

They twisted some arms, pushed the envelopes and burned both ends of the candle (one end is dream, the other memories).

They stepped into characters, sang the chorus and spoke the lines.

Light, sound, camera and …”action”.

Moving pictures. Marketing of dreams and merchandising of goods.

Set the theme and set the stage for next year and years to come.

This year is of no exception.

Except for newer versions and interpretation of old materials (Karenina, Lincoln and Hugo). Streisand finally sang Memories the way it meant to be from this vantage point when the composer himself had passed on. The last time it etched in our memory was that of Robert Redford and herself in Black and White (Redford’s hair looked even blonde in Black and White).

Editors could afford growing hair. And soundtrack for foreign movies montage was still from Cinema Paradiso (our early moving-going experiences).

The Oscars. Hollywood annual Pilgrimage, with one billion followers, and millions of tickets and tapes sold. Stuff of dreams yet turned into hard cash.

Stars and stunts sell, even and especially in time of Sequester.

the Bi-Lingual Mind

Those of us who move back and forth in between two worlds can relate to this.

Every time we pick a language to speak or write (E or V in my case), we subscribe to a whole new context e.g. away from tutoyer to address someone as big bro, younger sis as practiced in the Vietnamese culture. Edward Hall distinguishes between E2 and E3 (E2 for crossing between two similar cultures e.g. French and English). East and West crossing would be an E3. Recent Post article by Richard Cohen addressed the informality in our language ( I love you man). Early in the 19th century, people hardly traveled outside their continent. WWII unintended consequences were the closing of that distance.

Graham Greene and Murukami are on the opposite end of the East-West spectrum.

They brought us keen observation because they were looking at it from the outside.

Hemingway wrote well when in Paris during the 50’s.

A bunch of Hollywood actors also flocked to Paris.

The bi-lingual mind never feels bored. It has access to two strands of thoughts, two treasure chests to draw from.

More choices and challenges.

All the richer.

One cannot approach bilingualism from a pure political stand point.

Instead, it should be recognized and rewarded (some Multi-National Corporations churn out bonuses for multi-lingual staff for riding both horses at the same time).

America has been blessed with global citizenry. They came, conquered and created a country.

They invent Brand America, as they reinvent themselves. Endless possibilities, boundless opportunities.

Bi-lingual talent is a terrible thing to waste .

They are our national assets. Twice the contribution, twice the richer. Europe has enjoyed the gifts of multi-lingualism for years. It’s America’s turn to embrace it.

Brand America

American Apparel ‘s tag line is “sweatshop free”. Nike‘s Just Do It (i.e. Just Buy It).

Apple‘s – Think Different.

Meanwhile, Haier and Huawei are trying to copy Hundai and Kia who tried to copy Honda and Toyota who had tried to copy VW and Mercedes. Brand building in and outside of America.

What would John Kerry ‘s “elevator speech” be?

That America is exceptional?

America has always reinvented itself?

Or it has lucked out, despite its short history (compared to other nations). Ironically, its short memory has been its strength – less dogma and insistence on a set way, more adapting and opened to adopting best practices (sort of leap-frogging its political history).

We have heard so much about brain drain (to America, it’s brain-gain).

Perhaps Brand America pays well, encourages mistakes and risk-taking.

Brand America is quite tolerant even forgiving (entrepreneur’s oxygen).

Brand America has always been youthful (Rock and Roll) and sporty (Super Bowl).

Brand America might have its British roots, but then Britain had to invade it again (the British Invasion e.g. the Beatles).

Brand America exports Hollywood and imports not Bollywood.

Brand America exports clean toilets (American Standard) and fast food.

Brand America leverages low-interest rates and cheap labor.

People line up to get in, many stay on, but some have left because of the recession.

Brand America advocates racial and gender equality, champions environmental and civil rights.

Brand America is indeed exceptional in the way it treats its weakest link – from pets to children – from the handicapped to the retired.

When values are at odd, it’s where Brand America shines albeit with vigorous debates and violent disagreement.

Brand America has enduring values that need constant refresh.

It is continuously transformed and transfigured: two World Wars , two Recessions and two Towers. Brand America’s strength lies in its people.

Free thinking and swift action. Some residue from Frontier’s Days won’t hurt. Shoot from the hip. You add to this train of thought. Because you are as much a part of the brand as I. Brand America’s tag line: reinventing you (from Eisenhower to Einstein), sweatshop free, but not free of sweat.

Learning as motivator

From papyrus to paper, from microfiche to microphone, we use technology for knowledge transfer.

Learning is a great motivator. Once started it never stops (in my death-bed, I probably still ask the attending nurse what all those charts mean, and why not this and that).

Don’t believe in learning curve (as if once you got over it, you own it. There will always be pace learning i.e. know, forget, know again as if for the first time).

Politicians on their first term barely learn how to get back from the underground of the Capitol or stay out of SE part of town (I heard it is now quite gentrified).

Coursera has been a great success. It harnesses technology to extend learning to the mass. Technology as slaves, not masters.

Lift them up, not put them down. I enjoy reading about the Indian IT and call center folks enjoy their night out at a disco, Chinese tourists flocking the streets of Paris or Vietnamese students coming to CAL State. Let them come. With traveling comes learning. With learning people are more open-minded.

Here in Vietnam, cable TV shows Hollywood car chase, guns blazing etc… With exposure comes the exercise of choices.

Tolstoy doesn’t believe in true freedom of choice (free will vs predestination).

Still, the urge to learn, to discover, to connect and to advance one’s self is innate

The only difference between acquiring information online vs at Ivy League institutions is the socialization of knowledge. Upper-class kids would meet and marry (imperial alliance model) one another, hence perpetuating the ruling class.

But in those far-away lands (Timbuktu), with internet, who can stop a genius from acquiring information about protons, neutrons and electrons. Physics is physics. International grad students might stick out like a sore thumb given their speech and dress code (formal).

I saw kids in the Mekong Delta riding bikes, then crossing a river on ferry to get to school. And that’s on a sunny day. When it rains, I don’t see how they can get to school in dry uniforms (one heart-broken story last year. A boat full of students sunk and students never made it to school).

Learning as motivator.

Then, shoes and broadband. Thomas Friedman, author of the World is Flat, had similar ideas in the NYT today.

Learning as motivator.

The things they carry. Turn those swords into plowshares.

Angel of Death into Angel of Learning, Agent Orange into Agent of Change.

Broadband for rural, broadband against ruin.

Nobody can stop a man from learning. Not even in the confine of a prison.

Senator McCain was detained for a while in Hanoi Hilton. He now sits on Senate committees. Tell me he did not learn a thing or two while being detained.

Learning takes many forms and takes place when least expected (even from the bottom).

To learn one must first be humble and teachable. One must be motivated even on a ferry-boat or one’s death-bed.

Slippery Saigon

I went out for my morning jog in slippery Saigon. I was hoping for cooler weather. Now that my wish was granted, I begin to have second thought: if it’s cool here, it means somewhere up North, people are freezing, or boats and houses destroyed.

We live in a connected world and leave behind carbon footprints.

A cigarette tossed into the wild could ignite a forest fire. A harsh word, ill-thought-out and unsolicited comment could damage a child’s self-esteem.

Should they be protected, insulated and shielded from the pain-filled world out there?

How much “reality” should a show depict to open a child’s eyes?

When 9/11 happened, my then 10-year old could not comprehend its magnitude.

Now, my second kid and I are “following” each other on Twitter. Cool!

Back in my time, my parents hardly ever sat down with me, much less “follow”. I am a product of multiple generations, where an uncle, a cousin, an aunt and now nephew, all chipped in with unsolicitated advices. It’s our version of social compact.

But when this social compact broke down, it’s quite ugly e.g. to pay down gambling debt, a father/mother would offer their daughter(s) as payment (to be an unpaid maid or concubine – a phenomenon not unheard of in the bordering towns near China and Cambodia).

WE HAVE A BIG 21st CENTURY PROBLEM: TECHNOLOGY IS MOVING FASTER THAN OUR CAPACITY TO ABSORB IT, WHILE OUR CULTURAL MORES STAY IN THE BACK WOODS OF EMERGING COUNTRIES. People are still auctioned off, raped, murdered and mutilated over a fake I-phone, for instance. In India, gangs raped bus passenger or Swiss couple who camped out.

Our Western liberal mind screams out when hearing about these incidents.

Then we shrugged it off when the Mafia in Chicago make their extortion route.

Hollywood even made money on these film-noir genre. Hypocrisy? Absolutely.

Who am I to judge? Who am I to carry the chip on my shoulders (Hey Jude).

In What the Dog Saw, Malcom Gladwell pointed out that although imaging and images have better resolution, our capacity to read them (intelligence) will have to increase ten fold to make it effective.

So we need to keep up with our own invention. The tool has become the teacher. This begs a related topic: our capacity to reflect. To think about our mistakes (committed or omitted), to change course. This integrative skill differentiates us from mere technologists (repetitive) order takers (reactive). Back when the 3 networks (TV) ruled, the anchor who could ad-lip was highly sought after. He/she had the skill to see and describe reality in context and in step with what were happening real-time. Peter Jennings did that during 9/11. After having a smoke, he died of lung cancer. He crossed that journalistic line, from being an observer to being a participant of that same drastic event.

It’s still slippery outside. I promise myself not to slid and slide in the rain. Now is the time to reflect on slippery Saigon. On our capacity to keep up with modern technology. Just have to stay away from the clans who somehow manage to crawl on Facebook, trying to “friend” you with unsolicited postings. Something isn’t going to change, or avoidable. Just like the wet weather here today.

The undercurrent

Got jolted last night. 4.1 shock. And this morning, some more aftershocks.

It reminds me we share a vulnerable surface: ozone layer all around and a sea of lava underneath.

While we receive pictures of Mars surface, we are reminded of Earth surface as well.

It takes some getting used to, living in California.

But it’s here where talents come, from Silicon Valley to San Fernando Valley, from Redwood to Hollywood.

This is as “West” as you could go. Even waiting tables out here is like “acting”, or pre-acting (waiting to be casted).

Everyone wears shades. Expensive-looking ones. You got games. Got to have that “player” look.

Billboards on Sunset are huge, in-your-face.

and you are forever in need of a better T-shirt.

If you happen to put on Tennis shoes, make sure you don’t look like that little-old-lady.

Gotta have that Air Jordan feel, whether you play basketball or not.

Girls wear pajama pants. But it’s a statement, not garment.

It says “I don’t give a damn”.

I don’t need to put on a suit, to look like a male to get by.

In fact, nobody, at least in the summer, puts on a suit in Southern California.

Let’s not forget about Summer Concerts in the park. Wonder where those bands were coming from.

But they are here, getting paid to play.

Music is in the air. The Earth gets shaken every now and then. And people continue to move out West.

Running away from God knows what. A wet winter? A bad relationship? A need to reinvent oneself?

Even waiting tables out here is not just a job. It’s a part, a role. You are on-stage, waiting for the next “gig”.

Got your head-shot? Underneath it all, you can take off the facade that is required back East, but then, you will have to put on another, just to play the part (an extra). It comes with the territory: nice weather mix in with earthquakes.

Point A To B

We make that trip all our lives. To and Fro. Back and Forth. Arriving and Leaving.

The Goodbye Girl. The Run-Away Bride.

The Mid-night Cowboy. All feels restless Gotta be somebody, going places. This time, point B happens to be Mars itself.

Young people can muster up the courage to go to far-away wars, but dare not venture to South Side.

When B is too close to home (the last few inches are the toughest distance to cross), it’s psychological, not geographical distance e.g.when B is your estranged relatives, your difficult siblings or your X’s.

Somehow, it’s a long trip home if we are not in good terms.

It just is.

Many of us just stay put at point A whose Point B is the general store, or the post office. For some shut-ins, B and A are the same.

Creative folks refuse to accept that the straight line between A and B is the shortest. They want style, twist and shout, over and back, or spiral in coils before landing (thus milking the trip out).

We thank them for thinking out of the box. This country needs creative folks: architects, designers and coders.

They don’t sleep much at night. In fact, that’s when they are hard at work.

Bringing us better looking buildings and greener use of space. In-style clothes, shoes, glasses and hats.

Slicker version of WordPress, more integrated communication and command of thoughts and ideas.

The world is a better place thanks to them.

The ROW (rest of world) envies them, imitates them and copies them.

You know you hit the spot when the Chinese start churning out look-alikes.

Let them.

Go on to the next spark, follow the next urge.

Turn things inside out (Madona and Jane Fonda during the 80’s wore underwear outside).

Spell GaGa backward.

AgAg!

(she is going to kill me).

From A to B, a straight line is not necessary the shortest. Who is to say.

Meanwhile, right after reading this, you will go from point A to point B again. Take the scenic route. Enjoy the city on the Hill. The long view. Take a leisurely Sunday Drive. Order a chili dog. Indulge. Pampering. Eat, drink and be merry. We need it. It’s been too much of point A to point B. Rest up. Until you feel restless again, Papillon.

Let them visit

In “Imagined in America“, Friedman reminded us that 30 years ago, Hong Kong used to be a manufacturing colony. Today its economy consists of 97-percent service, with a booming tourism industry (mostly visited by Mainland Chinese).

The second point was, America too can become a tourist Mecca that lures 300 million cash-hording middle-class Chinese. Already we saw the influx of Chinese students at America’s top Universities, such as Cornell and Columbia.

Why not allowing their parents to visit Casinos after visiting the Campuses (instead of having Wynn move his headquarter to Macau).

I can see an America in the year of 2020: Chinese tourists arriving ten times as many as their Japanese counterparts back in the 80’s, renting Winnebago by the thousands for their long treks across this land. America, their showroom.

They will look and try on garment that were made in their homeland, and nap in IKEA showrooms (rest areas will have lazy-susan tables and vending machines will serve tea).

They will gamble and eat Chinese Food on nation’s highways.

They will be interpreted by their Ivy-League graduated sons and daughters who can’t wait to inter-marry “white” folks.

The “spy next door”, who is now spokesperson for V-8 juice, will soon move in.

Atlantic City will see another revival as hasn’t seen in decades.

Florida will prosper, not because of its retirees base, but because of its casinos of the seas.

These tourists from China will visit the Oakland bridge, touting among themselves that it was one of the first US construction sites China has bid on and delivered (along with MLK memorial site) on time. Propaganda can then spin that the transcontinental railroad couldn’t have happened had it not for the ingenuity and involuntary contribution of their ancestors.

I wouldn’t be surprised that we find not one, but two national chains for Chinese food (Watch out Panda Express).

And by 2050, when I am long gone, America will have its first Chinese American presidential hopeful. If we can now have not one, but two Mormons on the same debate, both trying to take down the God Father’s Pizza CEO, my prediction should not be that far-fetched (999, is that the price of a pizza? uttered former US Ambassador to China).

Instead of following the money trail to the East, let them come West.

The grass is greener over here anyway (developers have imported New Port Beach homes in China).

However, the only disappointment will be their final stop in Hollywood, America’s dream factory. There, they will only find illegals selling maps to the Stars’ Homes, and the Hollywood Boulevard Sidewalk with Tom Cruise’s palm imprints in front of the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.

One of the actor’s famous line was “show me the money”. After a stop in Vegas, and with Hollywood as their last stop before boarding the flight home, our tourists could only laugh at their American experience: homeless people, Made-in-China T-shirts and Taco Bell.

What used to be a dream, hardly turns out as thought. Welcome to California, now go home. Do not “occupy” more space. From the vantage point of those leaving on Pacific-bound flights, Lady Liberty seems to turn her back without saying “come and see us again”. I heard their fellow countrymen didn’t get better treatment in Cafe Paris anyway. Waiters Francais need some getting used to, as does the Japanese economy, world’s number 2 for a while until now.

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