B-Boy Villn, international man of infamy is at it again. This past weekend, our main man Villn, aka Longkue "Steven" Lor has out and about, his latest known whereabouts being "Paris, France". Good luck and safe travels, he is due to be back on Monday, Nov 26.
A UGF Day @ Clawz Out
In more news, Villn's Twin brother Mpact aka Longka "Michael" Lor tells me at a recent competition it was a "UGF Day". Please do check out this Youtube clip of Underground Flow: Villn, Mpact and Philthy wreckin it at Clawz Out held at UCLA recently.
Flew down to check out the West Coast premiere of the film "Inside the Circle", directed by Marcy Garriott, at the San Diego Film Festival on 9/27 and 9/28 (the screening we went to), where it won the audience award The film features lots of really dope B-Boys, featuring Omar, Milky, Romeo and B-Boy City! It was a great opportunity too because I brought Mpact and his roommate/crew member P-Rock. Mpact got a chance to see what the film festival experience would be like, complete with Q & A. Other noted attendees were Cros-1 of Freestyle Session/Armory Survival Gear fame, and RockSteady Crew's DJ Charlie Rock.
This meeting was especially special because Marcy Garriott is a filmmaker whom I have been corresponding with and receiving extra support and wisdom from, on top of that from our CAAM mentorship program's Vivian Kleiman. She has been not only supportive of my film and efforts, but also of the B-Boy/B-Girl scene overall. It was great to finally see her film, and I definitely wasn't disappointed. Not only was I there to see and enjoy another great Hip Hop/Breaking Documentary, but I was there to learn and see how Marcy put her story together. There's definitely some differences in how here story is put together narratively and how she approaches her character development with Omar (Jive Turkeys/Zulu Kingz), Josh (Milky, Masters of Mayhem/Mind 180) and Romeo (B-Boy City), but there are some great similarities in the multiple storylines (three, to be exact) and she does a great job of getting at the heart of their motivations for B-Boying.
A lot to think about with how mine is going to be, but thank goodness I've set a lot of the groundwork to make the process of editing I've been going through, more manageable. Which brings me to where the film's at now. It's been tough getting through all the material, making tough decisions on what to keep, what must go... how to portray certain segments, how to pace it... trying not to get too distract from the task at hand, fidgeting on the little stuff such as how the music/audio will be mixed down, sound design, etc... those can be taken care of later.
So that's it for now... I'm back dedicated to getting this first rough cut into a digestible form... I had a nice nearly week long excursion to clear my head before continuing, but I'm back refreshed, and this phase is nearly there! I'll get back to ya'll later.
At the Hollywood Film Festival:
INSIDE THE CIRCLE United States (PROGRAM TITLE = INSIDE THE CIRCLE) 5:00 p.m. Oct. 19, Friday. 102 min. ArcLight Cinemas 6360 W. Sunset Blvd Hollywood, CA 90028
Capturing the raw power and defiant creativity of a homegrown hip-hop movement, Inside the Circle charts the journey of talented b-boys Josh and Omar, best friends turned rivals, as they struggle to keep dance at the center of their lives.
The B-Boy event that we'd all been waiting for. I would say THE PREMIER Team B-Boy event in the U.S., no showcase competition, ALL day cyphers, crews from not only around the country but around the world, France, Germany, Switzerland, Japan and Korea were some I remembered. Definitely one of the most hyped B-Boy events of late (ever?) and I thought it lived up to the expectations at the very least. A late posting on some highlights of Freestyle Session - 10th Anniversary...
Some of my highlights for the weekend included, but were not limited to:
1.) All them Korean B-Boys. Everybody jocks them, everyone wants to call them out, because they do some amazing shit. Not just those amazing power moves, but how they do those moves on beat! And how lots of them can really dance too.
2.) All the B-Boys in one building gettin down, getting to see some of my favorite B-Boys and crews battle. I wish the competition could've allowed more deserving crews to get shots at getting a place in the top 16, but at least everyone got a chance to compete.
3.) Getting to see and shoot UNDERGROUND FLOW and SOUL CONTROL/CLIMAX in their respective battles. Even though neither crew advanced to the top 16, I could feel the excitement and energy from two crews in different places: one group getting their feet wet, trying to get themselves out there and establish themselves with their peers (UGF), and another group the accomplished veterans, trying to remind people that Soul Control's still representin' in the 10th anniversary! It sucked though, cause Soul Control style originator Kujo missed the battle, because he was eating and didn't hear the announcement. It would've been great to see him battle with the guys. I thought maybe he'd left early or something and wasn't battling, but he came out afterwards, and was like, wtf?
4.) The Cyphers! There were too many to keep track of. And i think i missed out on a few battles and call outs to keep track of... although I'm glad I didn't trade the main competition for cypher battles. There's a lot of talked about happenings at the Freestyle Session message board . Just watch out for the expected post event bickering shit talking.
5.) Zulu Kings (USA/Worldwide) vs Gamblerz (Korea) in the finals. One for the ages. Although I left early thinking that Gamblerz took the competition just to hear that Zulu Kings took it, but I can see how Zulu Kings could've taken it too from their perspective. It would be cool if the judges could post criteria, results, judging cards or something to help give people insight into how these events are judged and how they make their decisions. Especially considering how much money is at stake at a jam like this.
6.) The production value of the filming! Professional equipmenet and crew, no more rinky dink shit. Light kits, Quality cameras, I can't wait for the DVD to come out.
7.) Everything was not only on time, but the battles were moved along quickly, the there was good visability to the stages, spotlights for the cyphers (which kinda messed up my filming sometimes, when the B-Boys moved in and out of the spotlight, I had to keep changing the exposure.
So I got some great footage, had a great time, got to see some world class Breakin'! And the rest of my mission was accomplished as I picked up a whole mess of archival footage from Mpact and Villn's personal stocks. Really excited to see how it all works with the material we already have. That's all I got for now (it's not as fresh on my mind over a week later...) Hopefully we won't have to wait another 3 years for the next Freestyle Session.
Carne Asada Fries (KAR-ney A-SA-DA Fryes) – Origin unknown, first served in the late 1990s. A native dish in San Diego, the base is Shoestring French Fries, stacked with Guacamole, Carne Asada, topped with Cheese. Variations of this dish include refried beans, Pico De Gallo, Sour Cream. Carne Asada Fries are Popular with high school youth, and 20-somethings coming from a night of fun.
Carne Asada Fries. Along with my family, it’s the only thing I truly miss about San Diego. Ever since I’ve moved up to the bay, I’ve been disappointed with the Mexican food. My fiance and myself would seek out places around the bay for this dish, and were hopeful with Milpitas, but were disappointed as they used the thicker French Fries.
But we're in Oklahoma.
So... we're driving yesterday to a restaurant and my eyes land on a taco shop. Usual standard facade: bright colors, boasting authentic Mexican cuisine BUT painted on the window was CARNE ASADA FRYES $4.50. $4.50! Back in the day it was that low, actually $4.00. I was obviously shocked and made it a point to Chris that this was to be our destination for lunch. So. It's about 2 o'clock in the afternoon and we make it to Rioberto's, and Rioberto is a mustached, sombrero rocking amigo offering a taco -- we head in, and this heavy white dude is sitting with his pot-belly staring at Chris and myself. Anxieties aside, I make my way to the counter and ask, "What's in your Carne Asada Fries?"
I asked just to make sure there ain't no beans in it -- and she says in her fresh Mexican accent, "Dere's fryes, Guacamole, Sour Cream, Cheese, Carne Asada..."
Perfect.
I wait for Chris and he asks if that's all I'm having - damn skippie it's all I'm having -- so he asks politely if he could try some, I say yes and he proceeds to place his order -- two lame chicken tacos. He orders a Sangria Soda, I get a small Horchata and we sit and await our order. We set up the camera obviously to record such a momentous event, when she says, "It's ready."
I hop to it, obtain the small half carton of a styrofoam treasure box - half, not the full that we're all familiar with - so that's one point off, but go figure right it was only $4.50...
I do a little strut on the way back to the table where Chris is recording and I give a little background to the mystere of Carne Asada Fries and I claim my expertise on it... I open it up and to my minor dismay they've used the big fries, not the small skinny ones - but it's got everything else!
The meat... on point. So I have some, and Chris has some -- and I eat and eat and eat.... and it's gone. All gone -- it was a lukewarm success, but that's another life experience I can add to eating Balut in the Philippines and streetside tacos outside of Ensenada - Carne Asada Fries in Tulsa, Oklahoma --- Go Globalism!
The first day of a big shoot is always a big one, and in anticipation of our shoot, there was nothing much we could do but wait. That's the thing with big shoots, even if you've traveled a long way or are staying for a nice period of time, there's still a lot of waiting around. Since Sukie doesn't get off work until 2:00 pm everyday, R.J. and I found ourselves killing time. In addition to enjoying the complementary breakfast (served daily 7-9 am) and gym access (across the street), we did other work (brought from home), blogged, read, and browsed the internet (via the hotel's free wireless).
Once we began the shoot, with Sukie/Shoua and his Soul Rivals crew, we found it was well worth the wait. We had a good time recording the cypher (for those that don't know, a cypher is a circle where you display your skills one after another, whether it's B-Boying or rapping or whatever) they had during practice. Well ya know, I had a good time watching and even jumped in a few times, and R.J. being the super camera stud he is endured that heat and humidity to record it all. In between cyphers we had an interview session with the guys, touching on topics ranging from what the Oklahoma and Midwest scene is like, how they all got in touch with each other, and stuff like that. Following the practicing, we went to grub at one of the few Asian places, a Hmong owned Vietnamese restaurant a few blocks away. Enough writing, here's the pictures:
And when we say Yeeow! Ayipioeeay! We're only sayin' You're doin' fine, Oklahoma! Oklahoma O.K -some Oklahoma song...
We just flew into Tulsa, Oklahoma, cameras blazin' from San Francisco, via 2.5 hour stopover in in Denver. Having flown in late, arriving at the airport, at around 7:15pm, after getting the rental car and checking into the hotel, we didn't end up eating until around 10pm, central time. We met up with Shoua, our main interview and reason for coming out here at Denny's and also met his friend Bobby, with whom we had some good conversation about living in Tulsa. Reflecting back as we rolled back to the hotel, we discussed the feel of one difference so far, between here and California so far. The feel of the subtle uneasy glares we got from some of the people we'd come across.
