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Blog: Friday, Jan 9
Friday, Jan 9, 2009 6:56PM / Standard Entry
Sorry for the delay, but we finally got this together. On 8/1/08, I hosted a charity show in Minnesota for an Asian-American Charity called, "Project Inspired/Model Me Mary" for my dear friend, Mary Ly & the National Bone Marrow Program. Mary is a cancer survivor, and is one of the strongest women that I know today. She has endured so much at a young age, but her optimistic spirit and her faith in God pulled her through some of the most traumatic times of her life. I met Mary in LA when she was in my music video for "Unmei No Ai" (Japanese MV). Little did I know that the "cute Hmong girl" that ran up to me on the set saying "Oh Gina, you are such an inspiration & a role model to me.....I look up to you so much!" was the girl who's story would touch my heart so deeply.
I have a strong affinity to this, because this past year, we lost our 9 year old relative (2nd cousin) to Leukemia. Dale Inouye was diagnosed at birth, and fought his entire life, even at one point finding a donor/match through his own brother, Derek. Unfortunately it failed and came back again, but this time he couldn't find another match in time. I know it was hard on Dale, suffering so much. I only wished I was a match......without hesitation I would've been a donor for Dale - but the chances are one in a million, I think. His mom, Juliann worked so hard at his blog, and I would always check it to hope for good news, but on 3/16/08, our family got the devastating news. Please support: (http://inouyeboynumba3.blogspot.com/)
**Interesting note: if you go in my Photo Gallery and click under FAMILY, I was a flower girl for his parents, Juliann & Wade's wedding. I was a little 9 year old at the time, the same age Dale was when he passed**
Anyway, the event itself was fun and it was amazing to see the support of the Asian community as well. When Mary & her mother told me that there were hundreds of kids/teens that couldn't wait to see me & that I should be prepared to sign tons of autographs, I didn't think too much of it......well, was I wrong! There was a huge line, and I even ran out of pics and DVD's to sign, so we had to take down their names and addresses to send them one later in the mail.
Enjoy the video~
she's so sweet! Mary & her mom came to pick me up at the airport w/flowers...
outside the hotel
the view from the room
love it when there's dependable wi-fi:
my old myspace page. After this event, I realized I needed to change it, since moms and kids thanked me for being a good role model for them - and that they check my myspace page frequently! whoa....uh oh. I know, I know....this isn't even a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but I knew it was safer to stay on a clean image, hence the change in layout.
hawaiians in MN? what??
get away!
necessaries
cake
never had this kind of request before...
whatever floats your boat :)
i stole this pic for my default.....
waiting for the ink to dry......all the pics I had to sign/send back since I ran out at the event....my mom came over did all the packaging-mailing back labor for me.
thanks mom! ありがとうママ！
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UPDATES VERY SOON
Thursday, Sep 11, 2008 6:56PM / Standard Entry
Hey everyone - sorry to be out of touch....I have been incredibly busy planning for this upcoming season full of amazing projects, developments on my singing career both for U.S. and Japan, and a lot of appearance requests pouring in. Because of my overseas schedule, I may not be able to accommodate everyone, but we are working hard to plan it all out. Sometime during my travels last month, I lost my USB cable to upload photos to my laptop so I couldn't post pictures for awhile. Oddly enough, all the Sony Style stores were out of stock on the USB cable for my camera model. I told them I'm willing to pay double the price if they can locate one for me, because I didn't have the time or the energy of getting one through the manufacturer - why should it be this hard?
Anyway, they found one for me at South Coast Plaza in Orange County - I went there willing to pay $80 for this stupid USB cable, just to find out they were willing to give it to me for FREE (because of the inconvenience). So I tipped him $40 because I was so happy - just to realize that I ended up "buying" the USB cable in a way, because it retailed at $40 originally. Okay, that was seriously pointless. Whatever - I got my USB cable.
I will be posting all the photos, videos and everything from the month of August SOON -
which consists of the Asian charity show I hosted in Minnesota, singing in beautiful St. Thomas, stopping into Washington DC and Atlanta for business meetings, back in LA with my sister winning the 2008 Nisei Week Queen (and also me performing), and a few gigs in Las Vegas. To squeeze that all into one month can be pretty exhausting. When I got back home, all I wanted to do was sleep! So, sorry to my friends if I have been non-responsive with phone calls, emails, etc. I've honestly just been exhausted, and couldn't even get myself to unpack my suitcases for about a week - it just sat there in the hallway.
But now I'm back into the swing of things, and met with the Japan record execs, who were in town. Funny because I will soon see them in Tokyo shortly. My music video is ready to go - and since I am given total control of the release outlets, I think we will release it online via youtube. Afterall, since I've stuck it out this long without signing anything - and waiting for the best overall deal, I figured the youtube exposure couldn't hurt for the meantime. I've learned from industry veterans that it's not always wise to jump at the first offer - you should always choose from a range of options. There's a small bidding war we've started to generate, so I'm excited to see what happens. Yay :)
Had my first session at the chiropractor's today - I've been experiencing neck pains the size of Mt Fuji and I realized I should get this fixed before going to Japan. I thought I was going to faint when I heard the first crack of my neck, just to have it repeat 4 more times!! But, my chiro says this type of pain is pretty typical for someone that travels a lot. Sleeping on airplanes and especially when you fall asleep sitting can be very harmful to your neck. I have to go back again in the morning. I should go to sleep right now, but I had Starbucks later in the evening tonight and I'm wide awake.
Speaking of tonight, me, my sister Jill and Kimi went out for dinner/sushi. Seems like the only time I meet up with Kimi is in Hawaii, so it was a great opportunity to catch up. She hasn't seen my sister since her Nisei Week crowning, (& since Kimi was also a former Nisei queen) it was nice for her to give Jill pointers about what to expect for the upcoming year during her reign. It is always so much fun having girl-talks about life, love, guys, etc. The next time we hang will probably be half way around the world in Tokyo or Hawaii....it always works out that way :)
why do I look so short in this pic? I'm usually taller than you guys....lol
What was even more funny!
This picture has been up on my parents' house refrigerator forever:
(a photo of when Kimi was queen, and Jill was a little ondo dancer, 9 years old)
and now they are all grown up, and Jill is the current queen:
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National Anthem for MuayThai fight @ Pechanga
Monday, Jul 21, 2008 6:57PM / Standard Entry
This weekend, I was booked to sing the National Anthem for the MuayThai fight at Pechanga. I was really looking forward to this, because I've never seen a real live fight and this was the first time I would be singing "in a ring." The organizers, Dennis Warner and Victor Asai are such kind people - they're always going out of their way to promote me & making me the princess of their shows. We love those two :)
Since they comp'd me a suite at the Pechanga that night, I invited my crew.....my videographer/asst John, along with my best friend Mattaniah. Originally, I was going to get fully ready at home before we drove out, but at the last minute.....my back gave out!! I could not believe it.....it was the worst timing in the world - right before a performance. I'm kicking myself because I knew it was a result of surfing earlier in the week. I was literally in tears because it got to the point where I couldn't even lay on my back, nor sit back on a seat. Both hurt equally bad! But this is when I said to myself...."ok, Gina get it together, you're a professional, you just gotta deal with it!" and so I did.
I didn't realize how far Temecula was.....but after we finally got there, I got ready in the hotel room and met up my mom and her friends, who drove out seperately. They're so cute....they always have their "girls night out" outings, and they decided to make this night out of coming to the fight, watch me perform, dinner, gamble, etc. They always have a fun time.
I was surprised at the amount of people & the fact that martial arts fans are louder than ones at Laker Games. People just go nuts! When the fighters are bleeding and all, I can't stand to watch it - this sympathetic thing comes over me and I feel sad for them.
I performed after the 5th round, and I thought I did "OKAY", considering my aching back situation.Besides, I had no choice but to come correct & hold my posture since my dress was one of those "curvy numbers" - if you will. Victor (the organizer) is such a father figure.....he does not mess around!! As soon as he saw the intensity of the guys swarming, acting all stupid in front of me, he assigned security on me at all times....LOL! I kinda didn't feel it was necessary, because most of the time, (at least I KNOW) all these guys want to do is talk to you, take a picture with you, etc. For most of these teenage boys, it's almost like an infatuation thing......which I think is innocent & sweet :)
We had a great dinner afterwards, but unfortunately didn't have enough energy for gambling. We were sooooo tired. I would've gotten to sleep earlier and faster, if John & Mattaniah would've quit trying to tell ghost stories to eachother, staying up until 5am!!
Well anyways, thanks for reading and I will post the video as soon as I get it. Have a fantastic week everyone!
xoxo,
gina
my videographer John, me, and my best friend Mattaniah
the crowd on one side
sexy ring girls
my mom (very right) and her friends
handling my business
closer up
right before this guy's face got bleedy
doing autographs.
