Victory: The Power of One // 01.05.08 Update

January 5, 2009 | Filed Under A Day in the Life, Favourite Songs, Music Discussion | Leave a Comment 

last night as i finished work at Republik, i decided i needed a few moments of solitude.. i turned my cell phone off, and i decided to go for a walk (at 3am and in -20 weather lol). from time to time, i like walking back to my condo to remind myself of my place in this world, and last night was jus one of those times.. aside from the brutish cold, it was actually a beautiful night for a walk. the air was crisp, and it wasn’t too windy - City Hall & Toronto’s business district beamed in the clear black sky.

i forced myself to think about the bigger picture instead of being caught up with the pettiness that often deludes our logical minds; in my daily life, i meet and have the opportunity to get to know dozens of new individuals every week, and i witness firsthand how sh*tty our generation treats on another. people cheat, people lie, and people generally abuse the trust and attention others give them - all without really thinking about the consequences of their actions. (i’m not saying i’m not at fault for any of the above, mind you.)

call me a throwback if you will, but the world is already such an enormous and unforgiving place as it is - do we really need to treat those we do meet as strangers & enemies? i’ve been told enough times in my life that i’m “successful” and the first thing i’ll ever say (besides thank you) is: “i’ve been extremely fortunate, and i’m only the sum of the experiences and inspiration that i’ve been blessed with.” i truly believe in the “each one, teach one” philosophy, and i always think that if i’ve put a smile on one person’s face, or if i’ve made one person believe in something, i’ve done a tiny part in accomplishing my life goal..

that being said, i often lose sight (temporarily) of my goals when silly distractions come up. i’ve long accepted that its human nature to fear what we don’t know/understand, and to judge firsthand rather than get to know most of the people we meet. what i struggle with is being ok with being misunderstood. i’ve gotten a lot better at brushing these kinds of things off my shoulder over the years (because i’ve been a pretty polarizing figure since my high school days), but at times i still get frustrated when stupidity takes place - it makes me wish everyone was raised with more respect for others, and as an extension, ourselves as human beings.

so, i walked through downtown Toronto to remind myself that no matter how good my intentions are, i still can’t control a lot of things in this world. yet (haha). i accepted that i, kevin chung, am merely one insignificant person out of millions in just my city, and no matter how big my dreams are, i’ve still got a long ways to go. by ANY account. so, its jus back to the grind and business as usual for me - and i’ll do it all with a (crooked) smile on my face

..if only summer could come quicker.

Bouncing Back: I Surprise Myself Sometimes

i woke up this morning at 8am, slightly annoyed that my stupid body only wanted to sleep for 4 hours, but more annoyed that i made myself unhappy for a few hours last night after having been pretty content with life lately.. so i got right up, planned out my day and got straight to it.. did some work on the computer, ate, stretched and headed down to the gym to shoot a bit of hoops to relax..

knowing myself, i figured i’d play really well since i was re-focused.. but boy, i had no idea. i made 92 out of the 100 free throws i always warm up with, which i’m 99.99% sure is by far the best i’ve EVER shot. fully pumped, i ended up doing shooting drill after shooting drill, working myself into a sweat all by my lonesome in the gym.. this lasted about two hours. then a couple of buddies who also live in my building happened to drop by the gym, and i thought: “f*ck it, i might as well play some competitive ball.”

what came after was unreal: i played like a man possessed; on top of my usual 3s (i shoot threes in my sleep, no surprise there lol), i hit midrange turnarounds (yea, i usually have 0 midrange game), finished all my Steve Nash-wannabe off-balance layups (yea, if i could do that consistently, i’d have a sick game) and i even hit two hook shots posting up against a 6′3″ guy (yeaaaaa.. i thought i was Mark Jackson circa-1994).. we kept rotating the teams, but my teams won every game - and before today, i honestly thought 2 of the other guys i played against today were wayyyy better than i was. one of the guys beat me 11-3 and 11-8 in consecutive one-on-one games a few weeks ago.. so, all in all, i’d have to say - i’ve never played this well, EVER.

needless to say, i was exhausted after all that basketball.. so i decided to reward myself by working out as well.. i did complete sets of exercises for my chest, biceps and abs, and now i’m not really going to be able to move for the next 72 hours. right now i jus hope today wasn’t a fluke, and that if i continue to keep pushing myself harder, good things will continue happening - to quote a maxim Bryce Courtenay’s classic novel “The Power of One” - “First with the head, then with the heart.” =)

today’s been a terrific day, and i hope its a sign of what’s to come.

12:15am, a day in the life..

______________________________________

“Like missing your last shot, and falling to your knees
As the crowd screams, for the other team
I practiced so hard for this moment victory don’t leave
I know what this means, I’m stuck in this routine
Whole new different day, the same old thing
All I got is dreams, nobody else can see
Nobody else believes, nobody else but me
Where are you victory, I need you desperately
Not just for the moment, to make history“

- Jay-Z, “History“

considering the historic significance & the hoopla and surrounding the latest US presidential election, it made sense that a plethora of rap artists would jump at the opportunity to put forth their offerings and speak on the matter through songs specially written for the occasion.. not surprisingly, Brooklyn’s (and hiphop’s, for that matter) finest stepped to the plate and delivered the most complete and fitting musical commemoration (sorry Nas, you’re still my favourite, but your nemesis got you here).. overtop a smooth, mellow orchestral beat Jay-Z eloquently speaks on the relationship between victory & history, and in his typical manner, relates the political situation in the US to his own career & accomplishments.. it probably isn’t what most of us are used to with Jay, but keep in mind that he’s steadily been getting his grown man on for the past decade, and you’ll come to appreciate this offering the way that i do. i don’t usually speak on politics, but at least now the people have hope - something that Jay-Z has tried to instill in his listeners over the years. pretty fitting, just like everything else for the G.O.A.T. (yea i said it.)

 

The butterfly is beautiful, but soon will die // 12.28.08 Update

December 28, 2008 | Filed Under A Day in the Life, Favourite Songs, Music Discussion | Leave a Comment 

i realized something this holiday season: family is the most sacred and important thing in the whole wide world.. this isn’t something that’s only come to me recently, but as i’ve gotten older, its def starting to mean more and more to me.. i wasn’t always the best kid (understatement of the century) and God knows that there aren’t too many people more stubborn than i am, so i probably made things a lot more difficult than they had to be growing up.. add to the equation the fact that i always had to do everything i wanted to, and that i’ve chosen some pretty unusual vocations in my time, and you can pretty much figure out how explosive the entire dynamic was and still is..

my relationship with my parents has generally gotten a lot better since i moved out though, and in these past four years i’ve grown to appreciate the sacrifices made by my parents a whole lot more.. while i didn’t celebrate xmas with anyone this year (i stayed in TO because i’ve already flown back to Van 4 times this year), i called my mom on Christmas eve, and we ended up having an hour-long conversation about a lot of serious topics.. and for once, we didn’t end up screaming at each other at any point (rare).. i guess we both realized that life is too short to let stupid distractions and unnecessary complications get in the way of building on our once-broken relationship. i always say that i’m into photography because i appreciate the beauty often lost in the monotony and chaos of our modern, concrete lives, but now it seems i should learn to take more time to appreciate the various relationships in my life in moment instead of simply charging forward towards immortality as i always do..

and i definitely never thought i’d ever say this out loud even, much less write this on a site, but that conversation was the highlight of my holiday season. tonight, i’m having a late Xmas dinner, and then its off to the races again - shoots & interviews galore until the end of January.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

2:41pm, a day in the life..

______________________________________

“The butterfly, the butterfly is beautiful but soon will die
Will spread its wings in the eternal sky
Eternal light with everything that’s on its mind“

- The Last Goodnight, “Imcomplete“

Last week i mentioned that i had a new ‘favourite band’ - so here it finally is. According to trusty Wikipedia The Last Goodnight is an American group that released their first album in 2007.. I’ve been playing all their tracks on repeat since i came across their radio single about a month ago, and frankly i’m loving just about everything so you’ll def see other tracks of theirs posted in the future..

 

Jus leave me, jus leave me be // 07.19.08 Update - Part I

July 19, 2008 | Filed Under Favourite Songs | Leave a Comment 

poof, i was talkin to someone the other day who thought her summer had been passing incredibly slow, despite her full-time job.. which seemed odd to me, coz my summer feels like it’s flown by even though i’ve tried to sit back and soak everything in these past few weeks.. well, i’ll elaborate more on everything later when i write the full update after i finish preparing these presentations, but i thought it’d be a good idea to jot down some of the things i want to go over with everyone, as a lot has taken place in the past little while i’ve been “away” - again, more on that later..

on the shortlist of topics i’ll address are: a summary of my reflections from the past two weeks as i’ve been on my “vacation” break, changes we’re about to make with Kayce Models, my upcoming Vancouver trip (yes, i’m going to Vancouver again), how my music/upcoming releases have come so far and an update regarding my offer to tour in Japan this winter, my thoughts on the upcoming NBA season and a few possibilities i’ve thought about in terms of getting involved with my 2nd love, basketball, and last but not least, the new Usher album that i am loving..

i haven’t really decided if i want to address everything all at once, but in any event, i want to finish up on the sales kits i’ll need for early next week before i sit down to think about everything else, so i’ll leave everyone with the music video to one of my favourite songs off of Usher’s album, “Here I Stand..”

5:33pm, a day in the life..

Usher’s Moving Mountains Music Video on Youtube

 

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