happy father's day

don't mean to get all sentimental on ya, but today's a day to celebrate my dad, who i am most proud of. everybody has a story to tell about their father, but mine was born and raised in korea with his brothers, immigrated to the US without knowing a lick of english, and made something of himself and his family in the good ol' bay area. and since education was first and foremost in my parents' eyes, they busted their tail to send my sister and i to the best schools (stuart hall for boys - a private, catholic grammar school in the pacific heights, st. ignatius college prep - a private, catholic high school in the sunset) money could buy despite our middle class upbringing. and though he was extremely strict (couldn't watch tv, forced me to ration food at a young age, coughed up half my paycheck at my job, and he always had the belt or stick at the ready), i fell in line and adopted the same strong morals that he so vigorously instilled. he taught me to never blame anybody else or to use excuses for one's own shortcomings, all things i have ingrained as part of my makeup today. for that, i am most grateful and appreciative of my dad. happy father's day indeed.

concert: lykke li - hollywood forever cemetery

recently i had the chance to attend the concert of swedish indie rock artist lykke li at the hollywood forever cemetery. this was simply an opportunity i could not pass up (thanks becky!), as lykke is a talented up and comer and it's not everyday one goes to a concert at a cemetery.

show time was 8pm, so we arrived shortly after at the masonic lodge, a two story building near the main entrance of the cemetery. it was still daylight so nothing too spooky was going on, but the venue was quite the showpiece. fog machines were in the heezy and three ginormous gothic chairs sat front and center on stage. we were able to snag a seat on the benches off to the side - preferable, as they are elevated - and anxiously awaited her entrance.

let me tell you, lykke does not disappoint. though relatively small in stature, she owns the mic and has quite the stage presence despite an adorable-sounding voice. she tore thru most of the songs on her debut album YOUTH NOVELS and had the whole place dancing in the aisles. having heard only a few of her songs prior to, i picked up the entire album as soon as i got home.

BAPK massive west coast jam

on may 23, bay area parkour (BAPK) hosted its first ever massive west coast jam, bringing in traceurs from southern cali, washington, oregon, british columbia and the yay area for a full day session. us cats from PK cali turned in a contingent of about 15, so it was neat to see familiar faces and meet a lot of new peeps.



we converged at battery godfrey at 11am in the presidio, where local guides took us to WWII bunkers, wooded trail runs, park playgrounds and school campuses. a few park rangers tried to detail our day at the outset (what in the heck are these 80+ people doing?), but luckily we were able to disperse and avoid any conflict. oh, and who knew that these bunkers existed right next to the golden gate bridge? i've spent half my life here and am ashamed i had never known or been. my bad.



our day was capped off with a big BBQ at golden gate park, complete with kong bench, capoeira rodas, soccer and frisbees. twas a glorious day and i was straight up exhausted by the end, but i appreciated having a group really push you to the limits. sadly, i dove into a raw burger and suffered from food poisoning the morning after...