Tikbalangs, Brucesploitation, and Yacht Rock

The feeling of waiting desperately for something to drop–a song, a book, a film–never gets old, even in my old age, and I can’t wait to get my grubby paws on these. I feel like I live squarely in the overlap of the Venn diagram of this trifecta:

Poster for the 2026 short film BREEDER, directed by Sapphire Sandalo

BREEDER (2026). This is a short film directed by Sapphire Sandalo about a woman being hunted in her home by a Tikbalang. Look, isn’t that all you really need to know?? It’s out in the indie circuit and in the town I live in, I’m sure I’ll come across it sooner or later.

ENTER THE CLONES OF BRUCE (2023) is a documentary about the subgenre of kung-fu movies featuring anyone who could be repackaged as the next Bruce Lee after his untimely death in 1973–Bruce Le, Bruce Lo, Bruce Rhee, Dragon Lee among others, including my personal favorite, Bruce Li. Everything stopped for me when a Bruce Li film showed up on Cleveland’s UHF airwaves on a Saturday afternoon in the 1980s. At least this one is on streaming.

KITE ON A STRING: THE BOBBY KIMBALL STORY is still in production, I believe. It’s a documentary on singer Bobby Kimball, the first lead singer of the band Toto, his decades-long career and his current battle with frontotemporal dementia. You’ve definitely heard his voice, even if you don’t know his name. And the same could be said about the veritable who’s who of Yacht Rock and West Coast AOR musicians they lined up to talk about him!

From the little I’ve read about the timeline of the progression of his condition, Kimball still managed to fit in shout vocals for a song on Chicago’s 2022 album BORN FOR THIS MOMENT. Which I personally found hilarious, the fact that Chicago brought in a longtime friend and collaborator of Bill Champlin (who’s also in the film) who they kicked out of the band for (among other reasons) singing more or less the same way.

Norah Jones, VISIONS (2024)

I’ve rectified a decades-long mistake by actually buying and listening through a Norah Jones album. This is a reflection of my own personal character, not her music which I’ve always enjoyed casually. She popped back up on my radar via the latest El Michels Affair album, 24 HR SPORTS.

I feel comfortable saying that if you like that track, then you’re going to love VISIONS, produced by El Michels (aka Leon Michels) himself. Obviously, I love the tracks with my guys Dave Guy and Homer Steinweiss, but Jones’ voice combined with the whole 21st century cinematic soul vibe is something else!

I can definitely see why it won a Grammy! Pick it up from Blue Note Records.

First Gen Problems

Sign for the Ukranian Village neighborhood in Cleveland, OH
Photo credit: Belt Magazine

When I think of all the first- and second-generation (mostly first) eastern European kids I grew up with, this makes me sick.

I put up with as much crap as any other first gen Asian-American kid growing up in the ’80s, just a few years after the Vietnam War, as American car companies were losing ground to Japan. My family and I were “not like the others” in our suburb of Cleveland.

But one way we kinda were like a lot of our neighbors was a sense of solidarity among the families of various immigrants. And to be honest, I don’t know to what extent that does or doesn’t exist in the 216 in this day and age. But if this is any indication, I doubt it…

Tamila Vashchuk and her husband, Mykola, are minor celebrities in this corner of Ohio.

The Ukrainian couple have appeared on the cover of local magazines and been invited onto morning television shows. En route to building a successful pierogi food business, they’ve met with the governor. A recent law graduate from Cleveland State University, Mykola is hoping to do his bar exams someday. Most Sundays, they volunteer at the local church.

But now, the family faces an immigration court hearing they believe could see them deported back to Ukraine, where they would struggle to treat their son’s illness and where Russia’s ferocious assault has increased in recent weeks.

Historically, Cleveland has been home to one of the largest Ukrainian communities in the country, which began to grow in the early 1900s as people left poverty and famine to seek work in factories. Today, the city’s suburbs are dotted with large eastern orthodox churches and, since Russia’s invasion, the community has grown by several thousand people, fueling a host of local cultural festivals.

What’s Another Notebook…?

A handmade leather traveler's notebook with the classic "Ithaca Is GORGES" logo etched on it.

A couple of weeks ago, I was minding my own business, browsing a local bookstore with my writing EDC in tow (various notebooks and pieces of portable tech), and just happened to pass by this. It was the only one there, so I grabbed it like the golden ticket was inside. Hell, this was the golden ticket!

Did I mention I already had notebooks in my bag? Plural. Surely I didn’t need a handmade traveler’s notebook, embossed with a classic logo? Basically, in the time it took me to mentally begin to process that question, I’d already taken it to the register.

Because it’s one of those “cool notebooks,” it took me a few days to figure out what I wanted to put in it. The way it ended up shaking out…

  • Notebook 1 is where I put random bits of writing from my main notebook that I’d mark for me to come back to later, which I almost never do. These are things that tug at something, things I might be able to develop one way or another, and now they’re all in one place… at least until I fill it. Eh, I’ll burn that bridge when I get to it.
  • Notebook 2 is a project notebook where I’m putting a bunch of stuff that I know is… something. There are lists, themes, some blocks of writing that could be part of a short story, an essay, or a collection of one or the other — I don’t know and I’m not going to worry about it for now.
  • Notebook 3 is a bullet journal for all the short projects I’ve been neglecting.

I want to plug the maker, but I get the impression this person doesn’t want to quite put themselves out there quite yet. When they do, though, I’m gonna be a total shill!

I Am the OG Nixonmaxxer!

cropped picture of a 6-year old Filipino boy doing the Nixon "double peace" gesture (even though you only see the right arm).
It’s being called Nixonmaxxing, and it involves a series of slickly edited social media videos that cut archival Nixon footage to rap tracks and turn the 37th president into the sort of stone-cold, sigma male-style antihero that Gen Z bros can’t get enough of these days.

Who wants to bet on how soon we get to Marcosmaxxing or Allendemaxxing? Or on whether we’ll just end up straight at Hitlermaxxing?

Coming Soon: Mammoth Meat Sandwiches…

Yeast has been growing in the guts of a frozen mummy called Oetzi the Iceman for thousands of years, scientists have discovered, telling AFP they used it to make a sourdough bread.

When asked if the scientists were considering using the yeast to brew beer, he responded: “It’s on the list.”

While you’re at it, why don’t you go ahead and say Candyman’s name 3 times in front of a mirror, standing in a pentagram drawn on a crossroads in Appalachia at 3:00 am while whistling?

“So it has to be Good Friday…”

Call it ex-Catholic guilt for feeling about that I totally spaced on Good Friday last year when my boy Rubin has been at it for 37 years straight.

In years past, it’s become the time of year where I reflect on that part of my life, on the role my culture and background have played into my life while listening to the song “Good Friday” by the Black Crowes.

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – Hundreds of devotees trooped to this city to witness Maleldo or the reenactment of the crucifixion of Jesus on Good Friday.
Ruben Enaje, 65, was nailed to the cross on his 37th year portraying Christ in Barangay San Pedro Cutud. Two other penitents were also nailed to the cross alongside Enaje.

Huney Knuckles feat. Skylar Tang

black and white photo of records for sale at Cleveland's Records Rendezvous in 1951

The last time I bought music after 5 minutes of listening to a band I’d never heard of up until that point was Miss Velvet and the Blue Wolf back in 2021.

But you know how I get when a new-to-me trumpet player catches my ears. After seeing this video of saxophonist Joshua Redman and trumpeter Skylar Tang, I did some fast searching on Bandcamp and found Tang along with the band Huney Knuckles. Two songs in, I was downloading this album, and their first one Huney Knuckle Scuffle.

I haven’t had a chance to do a deep dive on these cats yet, but if I understand correctly Huney Knuckles, at least, is Oakland-based(?). It sounds like it tracks to me!