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All about out of context quotes of hilarity that I've recorded over the past years. Definitely good for a laugh!

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Straight Up Regal!

For those who don't know, I bought a car last week: 1993 Buick Regal Gran Sport


That's not my actual car, but essential it's the same.

It's a pretty pimp ride; fully loaded; leather, A/C, sunroof, power everything, keyless entry. P.I.M.P.!

And the best part: less then $800!

I figure I'll use this a stepping stone towards my next car...

Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Pur Sang:








...I wonder if they'll take my Regal in on trade?

'Memoirs of the Blue' Moving Back Out of the Red

As many of you know, the film project that we shot in Antigua last November (Memoirs of the Blue) has since lost some steam for a myriad of reasons, most of which stem from being under prepared for taking on such a monumental task as filming a feature film with a crew of 4-8 in one months time, and from having the four main group members spread across 3 different corners of the globe -- Vancouver, Halifax, Germany.

But the project looks like it will be pulled out of the danger zone now after a meeting with one of our producers/financiers who is understandably unimpressed at the apparent state of limbo the project seems to be in. Thus, we've started to develop and implement a plan of action in order to progress this thing forward in the most timely and efficient way possible.

Things that we need to work around now include a plethora of technical issues in the way on editing, re-shoots and pickup shooting, editing, special effects, sound editing/design/scoring, and some legal issues to name a few.

Good news though is that our one female counterpart, Natalie, has talked with some of the people at the postproduction house that she works for and has been able to get us a deal for sound and some contacts and information in the realm of distribution for the project once it reaches its final stages.

******************************************************

In other news, I've finally started banking some money with the job I'm working at now, putting it almost as much OT as I possibly can in the past month, so of course that means that now I have some money to put towards some other short film projects that I've been been hoping to do in order to get some more experience and to have something more to show for.

As well, my roommate Marc-Anthony and I have being polishing up minor details of our script, showing to a few people in the know, and getting some pretty good responses so far. That is one of the most interesting things we have going right now a think because it's a project that both of us believe really strongly in.

Aside from that, I'm currently looking into getting into doing some behind-the-camera, Production Assistant work, and am going to be meeting up with Lauro some time in this coming week to talk about that sort of thing and maybe iron a few of my own plans out for what I really want to make out of my career, etc.

Anyways, its a road I still seem to be starting on down, only time will tell where it leads or what the speed limit is! ;)

Until next time,
Joki

Losers Never Prosper

Remember that Babelgum online film festival that I submitted my VFS final to?

Well I didn't win... shitty...

That will be all.

Update on Life

It's been a long time, I know, and I feel really bad for leaving all of my avid blog readers hanging for so long, so here is a quick update on what is happening.

I'm getting a raise/"promotion" at my job at the Dueck Downtown car dealership, which means that I'm going to be able to start banking some money and not just scrape by as I have been doing for the past few months now. And on top of my pay raise and more hours, I'm going to be getting monthly bonus incentives, which will be nice, and will help me prepare for India.

"India? What did he just say? What's going on in India!?"
Well it's funny you should ask, because I've been given an opportunity to work on an action film that is set to be filmed in India, working under the 1st Assistant Director, Shawn Griffith. Basically, the project is on hold right now for various reasons, and they are in the midst of script rewrites and hiring a new director, but it sounds like I'm in as soon as things start to come together! And I'm psyched! =D I have to thank Lauro Chartrand, whom I worked with on the Chemical Evil promo that he directed, as he is working on this film, entitled "Hands of the Devil," as a Stunt Coordinator and Co-producer for lining me up with this insanely awesome opportunity though!

In order to get properly prepared for the film in India, I've decided to take some weekend workshops at Vancouver's own Cineworks (a society for local filmmakers). Luckily enough, they've got some courses coming up that are right up my alley! And I'm pretty stoked about that as well!

In other news, I've been writing a couple short films that I hope to get into production for sometime not too far away, and I've been helping my roommate, Marc, edit the script for a feature film high school movie he's been writing. So with that in mind, if the India gig doesn't start up soon than June 8th, there is this Screenwriter's Summit being held that weekend that I would LOVE to attend! This feature that Marc has written honestly has a lot (and I mean LOT) of potential, and we're pretty gung-ho about getting it producer (with me attached as director, hopefully) one way or another!

As for Memoirs of the Blue, we're slowly conquering some technical difficulties and starting to get some rough cuts rolling along, as well as collaborating with some musicians and such for the score, so all-in-all it's a pretty exciting time right now! We've also got a temp website up, and should hopefully be getting a teaser trailer on there some time in the near future, so check it frequently!

I'll try to keep more up-to-date from now on with my blog, and I hope you all the best!
Peace!

Video of Tae Kwon Do Form

I find it next to impossible to find Tae Kwon Do forms (aka. hyungs or tuls) on the internet. Most of them are slow, bouncy and weak, with bad timing and atrocious footwork. When I was at home last, I recorded one form called Hwa-Rang, with my phone when I was at the TKD gym (aka. Dojang or Dojo) working out by myself. This a low-res video, so bare with me.

I hope you enjoy and get to see what I consider to be a proper TKD form.



I've got some belt test footage on my computer that I just dug up recently so hopefully soon I will get some more up here.
I'm also planning film a more cinematic version of my black belt form, Kwang-Gae, and will have that up online as soon as I'm finished shooting and editing it.

Until later,
Joki

Videos of My Shaolin Kung Fu in China

I know it's been like two-and-a-half years now, but I finally got around to posting up some of the Shaolin kung fu forms (AKA "tao lu") on YouTube.

The following are after only 6 weeks of training, so the technique is still a bit rough.
Enjoy.

Xiao Hong Quan ("Little Red Fist")


Lian Huan Quan ("Continuous Linking Fist")


Tong Bei Quan ("Through-the-Back Fist")


Yin Shou Gun ("One-Section Staff")



My training took place at the Shi De Cheng Wushu Center of Song Shan Shaolin Kung Fu, in the city of Dengfeng, Henan province, China, under the tutelage of former Shaolin Temple monk, Shifu (master/teacher) Shi De Cheng. I trained there for a total of 6 weeks before heading back to Thailand to continue my training in Muay Thai. The city of Dengfeng itself is only hours away from the original Shaolin Temple -- Shaolin Si -- positioned at the foot of the Song mountain range ("shan" translating as "mountain" in English).

And that's my quick lesson in Shaolin history for today.
Later!

Glode Trottin'

Remember those pictures from Thailand that I thought that I lost forever!? Well my dear mommy found them on her computer at home! ALL OF THEM!!!! YAAAAAAAYYYY!!!!! ...Just thought that I'd let you know so you guys could stop worrying so much....

Anyways, ugh.... here's a travel map of all the places I've been so far... kinda cool, so I thought I'd post it, just for the sheer hell of it:

1. Venice, Italy


2. Chiang Mai, Thailand


3. Florence, Italy


4. Ko Phi Phi Le, Thailand


5. Lucerne, Switzerland


6. Munich, Germany


7. Rawai, Thailand


8. Innsbruck, Austria


9. Roseau, Dominica


10. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

• Create your own travel map or travel blog


• Visit TripAdvisor.com

Don't Quit the Day Job

Guess who just got a job!
....

Wrong... ME! :D

So now I end my lazy binge of doing absolutely nothing and trying to find work, with a part-time job. Now I know what you're thinking; "Part-time? What a slacker..." Well yeah, there is some validity in that, but at present there is some uncertainty as to a possible job in India working on another feature film. I can't really say much more than that at the time being, but I'll keep you posted as to further developments in that area. And with this position possibly available to me within the next couple of months, I'm looking for something that I can leave if I need too without making too big of waves. (Hopefully the folks at the Dueck Car Dealership don't see this... :\ )

So now I've got a means of making some money to sustain me until hopefully this India thing works out, and if not, there's the possibility of a full-time position opening up within a month. So I'm covered either way.

That's the scoop for today, peace ya' later!

More Mexico Pics

The New Year, A New Gear

Well, happy belated New Years and Holiday wishes to you all! Sorry that I haven't posted lately, I got all caught up in doing pretty much nothing at all! :S

News for the Memoirs of the Blue: the tapes still haven't be able to be captured, so that's a little annoying... :(

News from Life: back in Lloydminster I got to see some friends, go back to training at Tae Kwon Do and help out with a belt testing, had a quaint little xmas with the family, visited the grandma, then boxing day I was off with the family on the way to Saskatoon, visited relatives along the way, visited my great grandma/pa, then flew down to Mexico the next day, where we met up with JaeHee. Some how she managed not to crazy, having to deal with the shenanigans and tomfoolery of my family ( :P ) so that was fortunate.

Now I'm back in Vancouver again. At the moment I'm staying at JaeHee's place, but I'm going to be moving in with Marc-Anthony (actor from our movie) by next week, so that will no doubt be a gong show. :P At the moment, I'm just trying to sort out what I'm doing in life, trying to decide where to go to school, how much school I think that I need, and what I'm going to do for money. I guess I'll keep you all posted on those endeavors and for now, here are some pictures, yaaayy!!!

Mexico:


-My brother, Dylan, burying my cousin, Madison, in the sand


-Me, Madison and JaeHee


-Mid-day siesta with my girl


-Sandcastle

Antigua/Dominica:
(on set and on location for Memoirs of the Blue)


-Shab being a badass


-Down's Syndrome isn't funny


-Marc being a badass


-Marc being super cool, Bert wrestling the camera, Natalie being a princess, Shab also being a princess


-On the way to our location, Titou Gorge

Fighting 5-Year-Olds?

31

Looking for payday loan?

How many could you take?

(PS. I think this rating system is BS, I could take at LEAST 50!)

The Training Begins... Again

Terrific news, everybody!
I finally started my martial arts training again! I signed myself up to boxing gym, just to use their equipment and so forth; get my body back into close the same shape it was before -- stamina/endurance wise -- and get my abilities back up to par before I start taking classes/seeking instruction from anyone. It'd be a backwards step to start learning something new and forget everything that I learned before.

I found a really dope Muay Thai video too, for inspiration. It seems to the the promo for a television series that I'd watch religiously if I had the chance:



On another note, we've decided to all come together and completely rework the movie idea that we were going to be using for our Antigua excursion. I was highly skeptical as to whether we'd actually all be able to settle on a basic premis, but things seem to be moving along quite well. We're pretty close to solidifying a single whole story that we can give to a writer (be that one of the members of our group, or someone else who writes professionally) to fill in all the cracks and flesh everything out, etc.

But that's It for today, Peace!

Fighting Shape

My new year’s resolution: get back into the shape I was in back in Thailand.

Well I started the gym a little over a week ago with some guys from school, and today I got my body composition analyzed at the gym. Surprisingly enough I’m not too far off from where I was in Thailand. I managed to maintain my body fat percentage—biking to school every day seems like it’s paid off—and in just the past week was also able to put on a few of muscle as well, so things are looking good. The only area I really need to improve on now to get back into “fighting shape” is drop my resting heart rate down from 60 bpm to the 40-50 range. Which means my cardio and endurance is gone need a bit of work.

And speaking of “fighting shape” a friend of mine I met in Thailand finally managed to get a protracted qualm he was having with the internet settled, and sent me a few video clips of me and some other students training in Thailand. Here is what I’ve got so far, hopefully he can get some more footage successfully sent to me so that I can post it up on here as well.

One note before you watch, there aren’t any frontal shots of me, so if you can’t figure it out, I’m the long-haired grub in the blue trunks. Enjoy:



And a little video that the same friend who gave me the footage editted and posted up on YouTube. Includes footage of some of the facilities and instructors at the Rawai Muay Thai gym (Phuket) that I trained at before aswell (but not at the same time he was), and other clips of training in Chiang Mai (the ones I'm trying to yank from him). :D

Martial Arts Pics by Request

Here are a couple photos of me in Thailand while I was training Muay Thai. The first is a frame capture from a short video a friend of mine made so it's not of very high quality.
Believe it or not, these are pretty well the only two pictures I have of me doing Muay Thai! I guess when you spend several months, training 5-6 days a week, 6+ hours a day, you start to take it for granted! :D


I have a couple friends that I trained with who I think have more photos, if I can find any of them then I'll post them up as well.

Peace, All.

Pics

Here's a few photos of (primarily) me, just for the hell of it:

An Intro to the Chronicles

Hi, my name’s Mathew Joki, and this is my blog. Some of you may know who I am already, some maybe not. I am currently a student at the Vancouver Film School, a couple weeks into my second term of the Foundation Visual Art and Design course (http://www.vfs.com/fulltime.php?id=1) and am looking at following a career in film. I’m not yet sure what area of film I want to be in yet, but that’s what I’m in the VFS Foundation course for! Ideally I would like to direct/produce/write for film, and I’m more than prepared to climb the latter in order to get there! I’m starting this blog for a few reasons actually:
1) To test my creative, philosophical, and mental limits and get some feedback – be it professional or personal, technical or objective – in the works that I showcase.
2) On the recommendation of one of my Term 1 instructors in the Foundation program, to use blogging as a good form of networking and staying in touch with people.
3) To make my readers – and myself – think a little harder than we may be used to from time to time with some philosophical paradoxes that I’ve either read, or that are just floating around in my head. I’m also going to try to show how they may relate to some film/story concepts I have.
4) To help out prospective Foundation students get an idea of what they’ll be doing in the program.
5) To inspire others working in design and media and to, in turn, hopefully gain some inspiration from them.
6) To let everyone know who I am, what I’m all about and what I’ve been doing in pursuit of reaching my career goals.
7) For the love of writing!



More About Me:

Alright, now that I’ve got that all out of the way I’ll just start with a quick little biography, so that you know where I’m at.

As I said, my name is Mathew Joki. I’m 19 years old, going to VFS and absolutely loving it! I grew up in small-town, Saskatchewan – nothing important really happened there…:P I moved to a slightly larger center on the boarder of Alberta and Saskatchewan (Lloydminster) when I was about 15. I took up Tae Kwon Do there and discovered martial arts as one of my life’s passions. At about the same time I was making some short films with my friends and started teaching myself how to use several different graphics and video editing softwares including: Adobe Premiere, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop, Final Cut Pro and particleIllusions. The same time I experimented with several consumer grade music authoring softwares, and started to make some rather bad music with techno/dance/house influences. When I was 16, I decided that I wanted to travel Asia for a year in order to study martial arts. When I was 17, after just under 3 years of dedicated study of Tae Kwon Do, I got my first degree Black Belt. I was the third person in the 20 years that my instructor has been teaching to get their black belt in less than 3 years. Mainly, the reason for getting my black belt so early (usually it takes 5-7 years) was because I came and practiced by myself 5+ times a week, I was planning on training in Asia for the next year and my instructor wanted to be the one to give me the black belt.

At the beginning of September, 2005 I left to Thailand. I traveled and trained Muay Thai (Thai Kickboxing) all over Thailand for eight months, also spending two months in the middle of my journey in China studying Shaolin Kung Fu. As you can imagine, I’ve got a TON of stories from those adventures, which I’ll probably flash-back to over the course o this blog. In Asia, I kept a sort of email journal and discovered a bit of a passion for blogging. So here as a continuation: of my life in Vancouver; going to film school; the work I’ve done in the entertainment industry; my day-to-day experiences; of my random stories, ideas and imagination.

And there we go, the first entry in my blog. A little bit lengthy, I apologize, but a necessary intro to the chronicles of my life. I hope you enjoy my blog and comment and some of the stuff that I post

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