Junkie XL, 24th May 09

This is my second time catching Dutch musician Tom Holkenborg AKA Junkie XL. First was at the legendary UMF10.

The work and collaboration that this guy pimps out is just amazing. I particularly like his remixes in the Animatrix OST as well for Ayumi Hamasaki. That was when I first heard of him actually. =)

JXL's Official Media page.

That night I heard that DJ Monk of Rabbit in the Moon was in town spinning and recording for his DVD...but I didn't manage to catch him.. Elusive as ever. Should RITM ever perform near you, be sure to catch their performance.. It is fucking amazing.

Anyway, here's the flickr for the shoot that night.

Fuck More
Very Naughty Funk.


Today
Funky stylist.


Eveline, Jason, Kien, Ethan, Raymond and Kendrick.


Tom Holkenborg AKA JXL


I don't know why, but it is surprisingly hard to get a sharp and frozen action shot that still is able to take in a decent amount of ambient lighting.




The ambient lighting in this rooftop patio is really attractive.






This is one of those times where I wish I had a fisheye =(


Spinning is SERIOUS BUSINESS!


Random pole in the middle of a bar =/

Second Sun @ Buffalo

This would be Second Sun's first performance down here in buffalo. It's about damn time I get to witness some good music being played here. Heh.. First time I saw them was back in the UMF10.. It was awesome!!

Adam White and Antoine Becks make up the duo who are well known for their live performances. First time I heard them was with a collaboration with Paul Van Dyk around 2005. Of course, back then I didn't know about them. It was the song 'Crush' in PVD's album 'Reflections'. When I was in college, I used to spam that song on my MP3 player. hehe..

Second Sun's Myspace Page.

Here's the video of Crush.

Some how I cannot embed the info.. Myeh... oh well..

Here's the link to the Flickr for the whole album.

Here's the link to the Facebook album.

Through the shoot, I had many problems with capturing them from the stage. The bars between the stage and table did not help much. What I wanted was to capture the crowd as well as the 2 guys and it turned out pretty horrible so I dropped them =(

Anyway, here are the best picks of the night. I tried to up the contrast and it worked really well in this case. ^^

I tried my hand at making the contrast stronger and I found that it does make the subjects pop more.

Cory & Stacie


I'm always bad at action shots without my flash, but I'm glad that this turned out decent


Left to right: Adam White & Antoine Becks




I've got free reign and I get to move to any part of the club to shoot. I really enjoyed this freedom to shoot =)




I thought that the lighting and composure of this shot is one of the best in all my shots.
Slowly improving ^^


Jesse holding the fort down in the next room.


Stoutlager & Antoine Becks


Stoutlager & Adam White
Yes yes, I forgot to bring a pen for them to sign my CD.. sigh...

Next gig that I am looking forward to will be Junkie XL.. Huge huge huge..

Stout Out.

Japan Night 09

After being in Buffalo for 3 years, I finally attended my first Japan Night. It was really funny =)

Everyone was really tired and yet there was a lot of energy and smiles to go around. This is what I can say is the JSA community in Buffalo.

For me, it was a long and tiring night.. At the end, I fell asleep in my car at McD at 0530 because I wanted to get some brekkie before crashing. It was really quiet and I felt kind of excited and nervous. At least I did not get a cold.. heh.

So, first off was the show at 1800 followed by the Matsuri and afterparty down at 'Quote'.

Here's the Flickr link for the Japan Night 09

I am currently seeking out all of the videos pertaining to this event. Let me know if I missed any.

Trailer for Japan Night.
'Home is Where the Heart is at'
Yes, THAT is Mari Talai in the opening! ^^


Japan Night Crew


Prologue - Myth of the Raccoon presented by Kyoko Umezaki.


Japanese Joke Clip presented by Ashley Yohn.
Seaweed.....


Smily Joe's Smily Shopping brought to you by Smily Joe and Ebay Jack!
It really does work!


Safety Information for 'Mr. I Want To Have A Good Dream Pillow'.
Brought to you by our safety intructor Maica!
Please bring exact change.


Pokemon Trailer Spinoff.
Featuring Ryosuke Kojima & Kazuhiro Ezaki
Audio has been turned off.
Facebook link here. =)


Sadako's Intermission.
Solo act by Yuki Tanimoto.
I keep thinking...Isn't the floor kind of dirty


Prime Minister Mori's Trailer 1.0
Featuring Takashi Nakamura.
Coming to a cinema near you.


Prime Minister Mori's True Story 2.0
Featuring Takashi Nakamura.
Coming to a cinema near you...This summer.
Do they really eat that black guck on a toast?


Princess Peach Spin Off.
Featuring Layna Stewman & Poor poor Masato Uenishi


Have you found a place where you belong?
Featuring JSA!


Japan Night Shots
The best picks




*Cry face*


Leng Chai! Don't get cheeky with the new classmate!




'I Heart Britney'


Cheeky lil' bugger.


Donut Pikachu.


Gorilla!


Winning performance in the International Fiesta.




New and Improved Pikachu! Vm


Mr. Director.


^____^








It's a guy thing ^^




15 feet ceiling? roflmao


DJ Kid & Wakako


I really like the red glare here... Of course I wouldn't get it if my lense hood hadn't cracked =)




The Doppelganger effect




Ryosuke floating!

Fuiyoh.. That was a really really a lot of work for me... And I got the easy part..

Ciao for now!

TJ Remix: Farewell...for now.

So, only on the day itself do I find out that this will be the "last" party for TJ Remix. It has been a great and pleasurable year. Just like the flame of a candle, it burns as bright and soon is extinguished as its life is short lived. As bittersweet as it may seem, please, do enjoy the best picks of the night. =)

Here's a link to the flickr.

Here's a favourite of mine mixed by Kaskade.
Featuring Nelly Furtado, Why do all good things come to an end.