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I got the nickname "Poagao" from a Taoist
priest in Taichung a long time ago. I was working as a cameraman
and we had just finished interviewing the priest for some show
or another, and as we sat in his makeshift tent temple in the
middle of a deserted backlot out aways from the city, he read
our fortunes. When he came to me, he blurted out "Poagao" (pronounced
pua-gow) , which means literally "Naughty Monkey" and
denotes what the bad guys called Sun Wukong, the legendary monkey
king from Journey to the West. Perhaps it was because I was
born in the year of the monkey, though the priest did not know
this at the time. In any case, it wasn't exactly polite, as
"Poagao" is what parents and other authority figures
call troublemakers in general. My coworkers found this extremely
amusing and proceeded to call me Poagao, which is the Fukienese
pronounciation. It is pronounced "Po-hou" in Mandarin. Most
of my friends call me TC, though.
I was born on Christmas Day, 1968, in a small town in southern
North America. My ancestry runs the gamut from Choctaw to Russian-
okay, well, it doesn't actually run the gamut; it takes a
cab, the lazy bastard. |
I was raised in the United States, but later immigrated to Taiwan.
I have been a citizen of the Republic of China since the early
90's, but I have lived in Hong Kong and mainland China as well.
I have been a shoe inspector in Qingdao, a soldier in the ROC
army, a cameraman for TVBS, a production
assistant and bit-part actor on a couple of feature-length
movies, a reporter/photographer/editor/translator for a
newspaper, an editor at an advertising company in Taipei, and,
most recently, a consultant/editor/translator/secret agent at
a non-descript government agency here in Taipei. I've also played
the part of Cardinal Wolsey in a stage production of A Man for all Seasons, by Robert Bolt.
I attended Tunghai
University in Taichung, Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia
and the New York
Film Academy in New York City. I play the trumpet, euphonium,
the washtub bass and a little piano. I like to compose music
now and then. I studied Shotokan Karate in High school, Shaolin-style
Kungfu in college as well as after I graduated and most recently,
Taichi Sword
here in Taipei. I have been taking pictures since I was 16 and
got my first camera, a Pentax
K1000.
My father was an aerospace engineer before he retired,
and my mother spent several years as an interior designer. My
brother Kevin, shown here in the middle between
me and our father when I was about 6, is an architect and plays
the flute, while my sister Leslie is the
website manager for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, where she works
in data analysis. I was the only one in my family not born in
Oklahoma, actually. My grandfather on dad's side built houses, while my
grandfather on my mother's side worked in the oil fields after
he returned from WWII. My Great-Aunt Eva, who in her 90's still
lives by herself in the rough part of Hollywood, was an actress
and had a small role in Citizen Kane.
Her husband, Bus
Bassey, was a saxophonist in Benny Goodman's
band, among other groups. I only met my great-aunt once,
but I think she is one of the most interesting relatives I have.
Due to my father's profession, while I still lived in the states,
we would move all over the place. I have lived in Texas, Colorado,
Florida and Virginia. I have to admit I can't say much in favor of
Texas, so I will just not say anything at all. I had a much higher
opinion of Florida, where I could enjoy the beach. I have never
actually lived in Oklahoma, even though that is where my family is
from.
Today I live in an apartment I bought in
the Taipei suburb of Xindian, just across the footbridge. I
ride my 1988 Yamaha RZR racing bike occasionally up into the
moutains on my days off when the weather is nice. Look carefully
at the satellite photos for a definite trail of 2-stroke smoke
heading for the coast. That would be me.
Being an ROC citizen, I was drafted into the military here
in the mid 90's, when I spent two years as a conscript soldier
in the ROC army (infantry), which included lots of guard duty,
pig-sticking and other interesting things. I wrote a book about
my experiences, entitled Counting Mantou,
which came out in
Chinese in April of 2003. I also write occasionally for
newspapers. In 2003 I filmed a short yet action-packed film
for the Lady X series,
and now I'm working with some friends on another, even more
involved project. I'm also a member of a local jug band called
the Muddy Basin Ramblers. |
I started this site in April of 2001, and have been adding to it
ever since. I now have 4 or 5 blogs, most of which are public,
thousands of photos on Flickr, and a movie production site at
poagao.com.
Among my prized possessions are the silver-plated Bach Stradivarius
trumpet I saved up for and bought in 8th grade, my Canon
20D, my sword and
of course my Panasonic
AG-DVX100 camera.
So that's about it. For even more stalking material before
we're all tracked and psychoanalyzed by the Google/Government/Amazon
complex of the future, read the "100 ThingsYou Might Not
Know About Poagao".
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