The Family Videos (Round 2)
Last summer I blogged about how I had barely scratched the surface in the epic project of digitizing my family home videos. For me last summer, it didn’t work out. Now, thankfully, my brother has taken over the helm and he is taking care of the massive endeavor to move all of our analog tapes to a digital format. He has been giving our family updates regarding his progress, and it is simply incredible how much work there is for him to do.
As he digitizes them he’s finding little clips to upload on Youtube to showcase particularly funny, important or peculiar moments from the collection. He’s been sending these to the family for the past few weeks now and as he is working chronologically I’ve been receiving videos starting from the mid 80s to the late 90s, roughly from when I was six years old right on up to around eighteen.
Watching the videos has made me look at my family and myself a bit differently the past few weeks. The videos aren’t just sentimental walks down memory lane, but intense experiences fraught with waves of emotion, from embarassment, surprise, longing to even shame at times. Here are few observations and thoughts I’ve had as I’ve watched these videos:
– I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my father. That he committed to making so many videos through important and dear moments shows how thoughtful and prescient he was, seeing as how much of a treasure it is to have these memories available to us now.
– My family was such a healthy, happy bunch, or at least it looks that way on film. I’m talking in particular during the halcyon New Jersey days when all four of the Shiozawa kids were at home, before anyone went off to college. I’ve seen enough footage of us playing together, doing yard work together, chatting and joking around with one another to realize that my parents really provided for their children in the best way possible, to enable us to be kids and enjoy ourselves.
– My mom is truly the rock of the family. She’s often a presence in the videos as the one arranging and organizing the event that my father is recording — for example, birthdays, meals, getting us through the airport. The videos that I love best of her are the ones that show the moments when she’s just doing her own thing oblivious to the camera like when she’s playing with my cat Dusky when he was a kitten or when she sweetly opens the door wider for Belle, my other cat, even though the door is already wide enough open for her to get through.
– My brother already looks grown up to me in these videos, even though they start when he’s fifteen — he’s tall, he’s built, he’s mature and his voice is absolutely the same as it is now. It’s too bad there isn’t the opportunity to see him in an earlier phase, as truly just a kid. I am the most fortunate in the family in this regard as I’m the youngest in the family and my dad started recording while I was pretty young.
– My oldest sister is such a confident and self-assured individual now, and as we can see in these vids, she was even then. In many clips often she is front and center telling a story, explaining something or just clowning around while the rest of the people in the clip are simply watching her. This is still the case today, I guess I always assumed that it was something that came over time and not something that was innate in her personality.
– My other older sister comes off as very sweet in these videos. She’s always acknowledging my father as he films (which the rest of us don’t do very often) and she is frequently shown helping out my mother and father in some way. She’s much more talkative and outgoing than what I remember as well. I always thought she was shy as a kid, but from what I can tell she doesn’t seem shy at all, she just doesn’t demand to be the center of attention, unlike some people, specifically myself.
– As for me, I can say that I had a very happy, comfortable life growing up. Of course I’ve always known that but it’s something to watch it all now — how lucky and fortunate I was. Watching myself as I get older, in to high school is also much harder to bear than the earlier videos when I’m just an active, excited kid. I can see in the later clips how I become a typical insecure, self-centered teenager filled with big aspirations and perhaps some inflated self-delusions. It’s strange — at the same time it’s heartening and disappointing in a way, to see how much of an average teenager I was.
My brother is putting all of these videos on a huge hard drive and I think ultimately it will become the most important physical object our family posesses. It’s essentially the full record of my family, my wonderful family.
Development of a Painting: Herakles and the Nemean Lion
Detail of Herakles and the Nemean Lion
I am currently working on a series of paintings based on Greek myths that have been a lot of fun to work on. The myths are exciting and dramatic and they lend well to personal interpretation. It’s no surprise that artists through out the ages have been inspired to recreate the myths in their own eyes — Titian, Velazquez, Caravaggio, and Botticelli just to name a few.
Among the paintings I am working on are the twelve labors of Herakles. The twelve labors interest me because of the wonderful array of challenges that Herakles faces. Each adversary is so colorful, often times more interesting than Herakles himself. It also fascinates me how Herakles, the greatest of heroes in Greek mythology, takes on so many different roles throughout the twelve labors. Whether he is a hulking brute, a cunning strategician, a sly charmer, an overwhelmed underdog, or a menacing predator Herakles always comes out in the end as the heroic champion.
Herakles first labor is to hunt and kill the Nemean Lion. Of course, Herakles is successful in his mission, and from then on wears the lion’s own impenetrable pelt (which he skinned by using the lion’s own claws) for his subsequent adventures.
For this painting I had the idea of the two figures of Herakles and the lion interlocked in some type of circular formation that would somehow fit nicely in the rectangular compostion of the frame. I first started off with a few thumbnail sketches:
First thumbnail sketch
Second thumbnail sketch
Third thumbnail sketch
Sketches of big cats
Prepatory Sketch: ink wash on paper
Judo sketch 1
Judo sketch 2
Judo sketch 3
I continued this and tried to substitute one of the figures with a lion to see how that would look:
Judo sketch 4 with lion
Judo sketch 5 with lion
I liked the very first judo sketch so I tried to place it in a composition with some aspects of a surrounding environment around the two figures:
Judo sketch 1 with surrounding environment
Kolimbrithes, Paros
Judo sketch 1 with lion and more detailed background
I didn’t take any pictures as I was actually making the painting, mostly because I worked too fast. Since I was painting pretty loose with a lot of paint thinner, I had to work fast because although it was an oil painting it actually was drying quickly. I ended up doing the painting in one shot over the course of a day. My objective was to move and push the paint around in a way where it didn’t seem too controlled and it retained the energy of a sketch, while having the resolution and impact of a finished painting.
Herakles and the Nemean Lion, oil on canvas, 2009
2008: Year in Review
Dec. 31 2008 and it's my birthday. Look out '09. (pic by trikno)
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Yup. We are already well in to 2009 and that’s fantastic. But I figure now is as good a time as any to look back on my year 2008 for what it was, what it wasn’t and everything in between.
JANUARY
I said my goodbyes to my peoples throughout Tokyo. In some cases it was sweet and nice (goodbye Chie, my super cool roommate, as the snow gently falls on top of your umbrella as you wave goodbye from Mejiro train station) in others awkward and forced ( well, we’re not that close but yeah, we’ll keep in touch right? awesome. Email me! ), at times downright painful (lovely French family with their three darling children whom I tutored in English with their confused tears, ‘why are you going Mr. Jun-Pierre?’) and in many other times drunken and inebriated. So it goes. For the most part it was a sad farewell. I knew I would miss Tokyo and the times I had there and I was right.
FEBRUARY
I arrived in Paros. I saw my old profs John Pack, Jane Pack, Jeff Carson and Liz Carson. I was to be working among them as their colleague at the Aegean Center for Fine Arts. It was thrilling and I was nervous as hell. Bewildered too. How was this even happening? I spent much of February with my mind blown.
MARCH
And March too.
APRIL
I’m starting to get the hang of being a teacher, though I still see myself as an imposter amidst my old profs trying to pass as a teacher. The students are very cool however which helps. For the most part they recognize that I’m trying to make do and they give me a pass. For this I am touched and surprised, I feel like I’m pulling a fast one on them or something. As it happens I realize that being a teacher at the school just means to be who I am, not to try too hard for anything else and above all, work hard. And so it goes. It’s the best job I’ve ever had.
MAY
My computer is defunct. No more computer. No hard drive either. Don’t really know how this happened. Never happened with my beloved trusty Ibook. In fact this computer was only a year old. So, the hard drive was lost. As was plenty of work that I had done on it, including photos, art, etc. Why?
1. I poorly backed up to a portable hard drive–all the files inside were empty
2. I also backed everything up to the aforementioned Ibook which was shipped from Tokyo to my Dad’s in the States in a box with other valuables. For some mysterious, tragic reason, the box never arrived.
I received my computer again after three weeks of repair and it was a blank, clean slate. I felt betrayed, abused. We lost a little something there, my computer and me.
On the flip side: I revamped the Aegean Center website and set up its blog. Let the good times roll!
JUNE
The student exhibition. A big success and I’m saying goodbye to the first group of students I had ever taught at the Aegean Center. They had become much more than that over the course of the three months and tears were shed. It was an amazing semester.
Also, another slap of brilliant news across the face–John and Jane asked me to return for the next semester.
JULY
Departed Paros to head off to Paris and then the States. Paris was beautiful and long lunches were eaten on the Pont des Arts. My mother celebrates her birthday at a lovely resto in the 6th arrondisement and afterwords a lot of gelatto is consumed. I’m excited to head back to the States and ambitious to get a lot of work done. As it’s summer and my time off, it’s my only real time to do lots of painting. I’m psyched.
AUGUST
I don’t paint. I watch the Wire. All five seasons. It becomes my favorite tv series of all time (in the drama genre that is. For comedy, see The Office BBC). Season 4 is the best. But I recommend watching Seasons 1, 3 and 4 if you want to get in to it for real. President Obama digs it too. Some of the stuff that happens in the show deals with approaching deep set problems and issues in our society from different angles, out of the box thinking (for example, setting up drug free zone called “Hamsterdam” as an approach to stave off crime in inner-city Baltimore). It’s the type of show that policy makers ought to see and the fact that Obama considers it his favorite happens to be one of many reasons I personally have so much hope in the man.
SEPTEMBER
School starts again and now we’re in Italy. Italy is so beautiful, far more beautiful than I could remember. I sprint acoss Firenze, Venizia, Roma, Lucca, Pisa, Siena and Pistoia moving from cathedral to cathdral, park to square, museum to palazzo looking at the greatest art in the world.
Gozzoli’s frescoes at the Palazzo Medici
Duomo di Siena and it’s inlaid marble floor designs
Gallerie dell’Accademia with too many amazing paintings
Cathedral of San Zaccaria and Bellini’s altarpiece
Basilica of San Giovanni e Paolo and the square outside
Caravaggios in Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome
To name a few. It was a fantastic trip — so fantastic I’m almost oblivious to the economic turmoil that’s going on outside my dreamy day to day. Almost.
OCTOBER
My folks come to visit for a week in Paros. I showed them around the school and the island, the weather was good, the restaurants were still open, my dad gave a great presentation on his work as a perfumer, they sit in on some classes, we went on a boat trip to Anti-Paros — it was a total blast. Also it was nice for me that they could have a glimpse at what I’m doing finally.
NOVEMBER
Classes are well underway and the students are great like the previous semester. A bit different with the number of students enrolled (around 20) and there is a varying level of experience but I see that they are another awesome group of people and along with teaching them, I enjoy the regular weekly events they strictly follow including:
Thursday night: going out to a restaurant
Friday night: student potluck, grill out
Sunday night: movie night
Every once in a while there’s a game night which tends to be intense and heated, there are fisticuffs.
Thanksgiving was also a great time with two Turkeys, a lot of delicious sides and a game of trivia. I found out I’m returning the next semester….
Obama has become our president and I’m on cloud 9.
DECEMBER
Another wonderful semester drew to a close with a highly successful exhibition, reading and concerts (I joined vocal ensemble and became of one of the two male voices in a group of fourteen. I had a good time and learned so much although I now need to get white trousers and shoes for the spring concert, harder said than done). It’s time to say goodbye again, sad as it is but I’m comforted in knowing that many of the students will be returning again in the spring. I set off for Paris knowing I will return to Paros shortly in January to get some paintings done. Before that, I will also go to Minnesota and see my whole family. Although I get a vicious cough and sore throat, the holidays are really good with friends and fam. On Christmas I eat goose for the first time — it’s delicious.
On December 31, I turn 28 among loved ones and friends dancing and singing to the New Year.
2008 — unforgettable year.
My Brother Cleans Up Nice
April 27th, 2006
Ken had his birthday last week. For a birthday present he got some new threads. A pink shirt was forced on him and he had no choice but to accept it. It looks pretty good.
The man rarely buys clothes for himself and his closet has it’s fill of apparel bought in the 1980s. Part of it is Ken doesn’t like to shop, and another part of it is the constant upkeep that goes into being a good dresser. It takes time, money and work, and in Ken’s eyes it’s shallow to spend all that on clothes. I understand his point of view, but a limit has to be drawn somewhere, and for me that limit was my brother’s windbreaker rag of a spring jacket. It apparently keeps the rain away, but it looks like it’s been used to soak up dirty water in Ken’s gutters for the past year. So the “2006 Ken’s Birthday Fresh Wardrobe Fund” was created amongst my family. With cash and an annoyingly insistent brother forced upon him, there was no more excuses for Ken and his circa 1995 cordoruoy pants–we were going shopping.
We ran around Tokyo hitting Ebisu, Harajuku, Omotesando, Shibuya, and Roppongi. We were jogging from designer boutiques to big and tall stores, from thrift shops to department stores. Cash flying left and right, the staff at Hugo Boss couldn’t keep up with us. More frustrating however, was that the sizes in these stores couldn’t keep up with Ken’s build. Tokyo isn’t the best place for tall men to shop. Ken claims he’s 6′2″, but he’s a tall 6′2″. I always reckoned he was 6′4″. Yet nothing would stop us. All over Tokyo, Ken tried on shirt after shirt, pants after pants, jacket after jacket. He’d step out of the fitting room–’no way,’ I’d shake my head–then he’d go back in and try out another jacket. “What about this one?” Nodding, I’d give the thumbs up. All we needed was some deep house music to accompany us throughout the adventure. It was pretty much the scene from every tv show where the nerdy girl gets a makeover.
So Ken’s got a new wardrobe. He looked really sharp at his birthday party. I realize of course that this will be the last clothes he buys until 2013.