CD in stores!!!!! An actual real store!!!!

Finally!!!!! I got my CD's to be on sale in a local bookstore chain. The bookstore is a Chinese Christian bookstore called 榮主 - Alleluia Bookstore and they have 2 stores in the Los Angeles area.

So now my Rebirth [live] and Ocean of Thoughts CD's are both available on sale in store!!!

Their store locations are:

603 N. New Ave., #A-C
Monterey Park, CA 91755
Tel & Fax (626)571-6769

16405 Colima Road
Hacienda Hts. , CA 91745
Tel: (626)369-3663

So if you want to buy my CD's at a bookstore, you can go there and get them. I'm working on getting a few more local stores to carry my CD's and see what I can get out there!

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Keep the work coming...

This year's been a fun year right from the start. A lot has been happening and it's still happening. Well in the end of April, I'm taking a trip out to Oklahoma to visit my Tim as well as meet some potential people who will set up some concerts for me out there in Oklahoma. Tim's helping me set up some events and network with some people with the power or money to make things happen.

I am really looking forward to this and possibly nailing down an actual summer concert. We are even going to reserve a little bit of time at a piano bar out in Oklahoma so I could play just a little bit maybe to seal the deal.

Every time I think about Oklahoma, I think about my first musical ever way back in High School. I do have a lot of sentimental memories about that as I played Ali Hakim in that production. Now I actually have a real tie over to Oklahoma. Imagine that! Who would've thought. I was even told that there's a radio station out in Oklahoma that plays the Oklahoma song from the musical everyday at 5pm. Now that I have to hear!

All this aside, this year really has been a good year in terms of my work. I am getting a lot of things done and I am booking a bit of good stuff. My music is taking on some traction just as my acting is really growing. I am looking forward to a really prosperous year. I am very excited that my career is really moving up and forward. I can of course use every bit of help I can get for sure. I have also of course my audio engineer Brian who really did a lot of wonderful work on my Ocean of Thoughts album as well as my Blue and Red album. I am definitely excited about that!

I do thank God for really guiding me through and giving me all these amazing opportunities and people! I have to of course give that credit where that credit is due. I don't know what I would do without it!

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Facebook Networking and Promotion...

Tim has been helping me so much in getting more people on my fan page on facebook, love him to pieces. I've moved from 15 fans to 150 fans in a matter of days. He's also been keeping my page up to date just as he has helped me build my music website and other things. What would I do without him?

Anyways though, I do wonder how much would a fan page like that actually do for me? How much does expanding my network of people and fan base would help in my career. But I'm imagining that I'd probably need a few million people on there in order to make a dent somewhere along the way when pitching to producers that I'm the right guy for their next series.

So maybe if I'm big enough here someone would actually take notice and it'll push my career upwards and forwards. Let's see how grassroot marketing efforts is all about!

If you can, add all your friends to my facebook fan page and add yourself to any of my other stuff - like my blog.paulkwo.com or myspace or anywhere else! Let's see how far this baby can go!

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KwoRadio

I have been thinking about starting a KwoRadio stream for all my music. Doing a bit of research here right now as to the best approach. I haven't totally figured out all the logistics, but I have a good idea how to do it. It'll probably run me about $30 a month to keep it running. I will definitely have to see if it's something that's worth it, meaning if enough people even want this stream to begin with. It'll have my music and my concerts and stuff streamed 24/7 throughout. I think it's a great thing to have, but I have to know for sure people really want it, and possibly get some people to support it financially so that I don't have to.

I don't want to be spending money left and right on things that isn't bringing me back some stuff. But I do think this is a good possibility and good potential.

I am also thinking about doing a Live365.com stream there too for my music, which will run me another $10 a month to begin with. I haven't decided if I totally want to, but I think that one is also good as it has a good possibility to make some money back and reach new people.

It does all cost money and I really need to see what's my best option for potential returns in my investment. I feel sometimes I keep spending and spending and I'm not sure how to make it back. I really need a solid marketing effort and team but that isn't in my budget right now.

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Lots of Piano Music....10 hours so far!!!

So the last couple of days I've been working to get my older albums up online at kwomusic.com and inside Second Life. I have been recutting all the tracks and EQing them a little better. I got 8 albums done so far on top of Rebirth and Ocean of Thoughts, the later one being done by my friend Brian. He also finished working on Blue for me and is nearing completing Red for me.

I am very happy about the progress of it all, I just need to get the website in order. But I am very hesitant to roll out the shopping cart at kwomusic.com mainly because I want to make sure it's in working order before I do so. I am not very good with websites so I'm very weary. I am trying to put some finishing touches on it, but I just am not cut out for website work. So I have been very slow at that. I have however gotten the albums up and ready inside Second Life for sale. I'm pretty happy about that.

I still have another 4 more albums to cut up, actually 5, but the fifth one is more of a new one. Then I need to get my piano tuner to come back and tune my piano. I need to get a few more albums done. I have to finish the Chinese album. I need a couple more tracks to complete it. Then I also have to write a few more pieces for the Chinese music concert in June. I should have all that done by the end of this month. I really need to get into a heavy working mode which is what I seem to be in these couple of weeks so it's all good. I just need to actually make more money with all of this stuff. I gotta get my marketing stuff going, but that's also not my forte.

Anyways aside from all that, I am just happy with the progress of everything. I am psyched about how everything is going this year and am looking forward to more this year!!!

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Booked an ADR for a feature film

I am very happy that I got called in by the same people who called me in for Mummy 3 to do another session of ADR for another film. I got work to do tonight for sure, but this is absolutely fantastic.

Best of all, it gives me a perfect excuse to watch 24 tonight since the film is all about terrorists and mercenaries. Woot!!!

I am looking forward to doing that tomorrow!!! I need to get myself into a few more of these ADR places and get more ADR work!

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IBM Shoot

I did my IBM commercial shoot today. It really was a lot of fun. It was my first time working with Joe Pytka, the biggest commercial director on the planet. I was told he directed like all the IBM spots in the last 12 years. That's amazing!

I did my research before hand about him and all the stuff that is online about him. I was definitely a bit intimidated at first. My shot came second to last too at the end of the day. I was really trying to focus very hard on what I was doing. The lines were pretty much fed to me there, though they briefly showed me beforehand what I was doing. It was pretty intense, but amazing.

It really was a great experience and working with Joe Pytka, I learned so much. I was only really working in front of the camera for like 5 minutes and that was it. But he knows exactly what he wants and doesn't waste any time. It was just amazing. I had 1 take at 1 angle, and then pretty much 1 take with 1 adjustment to 1 line at another angle and then I was done. It just went by so fast, but I loved every second of it.

Well I hope I get to work with him again on future commercials. I chatted with some of the other actors and they said he likes to reuse people. I have seen the same people in many of his commercials too so who knows, fingers crossed.

It was also amazing that one of the background actor there today was actually in another shoot I was in two years ago. He was actually a background in the Verizon commercial I did in the Fall of 2007. That was an amazing coincidence.

All in all, I am thrilled and fingers crossed that this will make it to the screens. I had a great day!!!!!

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Another National Booking!

I'm very psyched about booking another National commercial yesterday! This one really came out of nowhere. There was no call backs. There was really no sign of it at all. I went to the audition on Feb. 27 and never heard from it again.

I almost didn't go to this audition because of my "vacation" that weekend. But since I booked the Marshalls' shoot, I had to already cancel the Catalina trip. I was in the area so I could still drive over to the audition for a little bit and still relax the rest of the weekend.

That's the hard part of it all, never knowing when the auditions will be and what I am missing if I left. It keeps happening, but I keep having to actually plan trips before anything happens. But it always works out, it always does for me so it's alright.

This one is really big, and the director is like the biggest commercial director on the planet with over 5000 commercials down. That's really an insane amount of commercials. I am so excited about it and of course a little bit intimidated.

The shoot is tomorrow so it's really moving fast. There's no wardrobe, so I guess they'll have everything there for me. They know my sizes so it's all cool.

I really am so happy that I did book this second national. I really can use that money. It's been so many years and now I finally am pulling in some money. It's worth the wait. Things are really going for me this year so I am very happy about it. It's only March so I still have a good ways to go to book more things. My goal this year is to book something big every month. I have been booking every month so far so I'm going to keep at it.

I am just thrilled about it all and I just can't wait to keep going and keep moving forward.

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Today's Auditions

Today I went to 2 auditions...well yesterday I went to two auditions. One was a callback and the other one was a first call.

They were both actually in the Santa Monica area and were about 2 hours apart. So I went over to my friend George's apartment to talk about the details of the concert and about the percussion stuff. But that's another post.

About the auditions. I went to a first call at 245pm with Martin Casting. They were the ones whom I booked the Marshalls' commercial with. It's always a good thing to be called again to their casting office and doing things. I thought I did reasonably well. It's really just a look. I really didn't have to do much but just be there and hope they want my look. That's the world of Commercial auditions. Do they buy my look. If they do, then it's all good. I thought I looked as close to the part as I possibly could so I thought it was good. There were three other people in the room all playing different parts. The other three had lines. I just interacted quietly with the other three. So it was all cool. See if they will call me in for a callback.

Now as for the callback, it was with Renita Casting. I went to that audition the day my friend Tim left. I wasn't even sure of what I did in that audition. I felt literally I didn't do anything. But I guess I had the look they were looking for and it's great to go to their callback. I did and did the spot pretty much as it was. I thought I had a good chemistry and vib with the other guy. It was pretty fun and I had a fun time. Now it's just a matter of if they want it or not.

I really did enjoy all these auditions. I am really starting to finally getting a much more solid grasp of Commercial auditions. I feel so much more confident about it, even though I also know absolutely none of it is really in my hands. A very bizarre combination, but I'm very much in tune with it now. I am very happy about it.

Tomorrow...well I guess today now, I have yet another commercial audition. I have to wear rags....But I don't really have rags. And I remember my teachers saying you never wear costumes. I think I know exactly what I'm going to wear to this. I have to be able to walk out into the street and still look sane wearing what I am going in the audition with. So this one's going to be challenging. But it really is so much fun. Really what other jobs in the world lets me do this!

I am a lucky guy!

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Blue Album

Ocean of Thoughts is up on CDbaby right now with MP3 versions ready to go. I will also have them directly on sale at my own website kwomusic.com by the end of the week.

Now I also have my next album Blue near ready to be released. It's in its finalizing stage and I should have that up at CDbaby and my site within the week, at least the MP3's. The hardcopies will come by the end of the month.

This album really is very good and very easy to listen to. It should be something that could also be listened to and fall asleep with. It's not a "boring" album, but rather a soothing album that's very meditative in quality. I am growing more and more fond of this album and believes this is something that everyone could really enjoy.

My engineer told me this is my best album so far, and one of the professors at Indiana University told me that it's one of the best album he's heard in recent years. It's up to par with Liz Story type music. Well I'll take any compliment anywhere. Now I have to just work on marketing this album.

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Weekend Getaway

Last weekend I went on a mini-vacation of sort with my friend Tim who came and visited me from out of town. Tim is really my best friend and having him in town is really just fantastic fun.

The weekend was really a bit crazy to begin. He came into town on Thursday and I was supposed to pick him up at the airport. But of course I couldn't because I was at the Marshalls' shoot. So instead he took a cab to where I was shooting and then borrowed my car. I felt a bit bad leaving him to fend for himself that day cause my shoot didn't end until 8pm.

We finally met back up and had dinner at Garden Cafe in Arcadia. I ordered a mixed grill. I thought I deserved something really nice to eat that day after a long shoot.

The next day we had dim sum lunch with my other best friend Christine. I insisted to have Tim try dim sum. I am a big advocate of Chinese (real authentic) cuisine. No Panda King or China Wok for me.

I had an audition that afternoon so we checked in to our hotel at Venice Beach and then went back to Hollywood for my audition. That night we ate at Santa Monica Pier, at the Mexican place at the edge of the pier. But it wasn't really all that good. We had some seafood but they weren't all that fresh. We then walked around 3rd street and ate some dessert there. Just taking it a bit easy.

On Saturday we went to the Regan Library.

I've never been there or any other Presidential Library. It turned out to be surprisingly fun. I actually enjoyed it tremendously. Tim loves going to Presidential Library. That was the one thing he had to go to while in LA. It was neat to be able to see some cool things especially walking through air force one. Yes, the actual Air Force One was there.




This was the one that was made in the 50's and was in commission up till the first Bush term. I was very surprised at how small it was. The ceiling was also very low. I'm near 6'1 and Regan was 6'3 or something like that. I nearly touched the ceiling so Tim was saying Regan had to crouch down all the time. His room was also very small too. The whole plane really was really small in today's standard. Of course the one Clinton, W. Bush and Obama has is much bigger. It even has a bed and shower and a upper deck according to the people there who told us. Technology, we've came a long way.

There was actually the Football there, that's the center computer board that controlled all the nuclear weapons in the US. The President was supposed to have direct control over that and have access to the US's nuclear arsenal at all times. So it is actually true. It was neat to see.

Overall the Regan Library was really neat to experience. I am thinking one day I want to bring my parents there.

That afternoon we were supposed to go to both the Getty Villa and the main Getty Center. But we ended up only going to the Getty center cause we ran a bit late and missed our appointment time to the Villa. Well I guess I will have to do that next time.

Going back to the Getty was cool. It is a great museum and we saw a lot of cool stuff. But I have seen the permanent exhibits there already and the shows they have there atm isn't my cup of tea. Though I did like the dialogue with giants exhibit of photography. I do love trees, but there really weren't that many tree pictures.

That night we had Caribbean food in a place called Cha Cha chicken in Venice. It looked like a hole in the wall during the day and just wasn't all that appealing looking. But Tim wanted to have some Caribbean food so we went anyways. I had a Salmon Nigril and it turned out surprisingly good. I'm definitely going back there some day.

We then drove around a little and I showed him West Hollywood, Westwood and then we had a snack back at 3rd street in Santa Monica. I ended up buying a jacket for my Dad at Zara, one of my favorite clothing stores in the world. I absolutely love that brand. I first bought something from there back in Hong Kong and was so thrilled to know that they have a couple stores here in LA. Their clothes are really high end and very fitting.

Sunday we took it easy and finally had a chance to actually check out the boardwalk on Venice. I actually never walked there before despite having lived in LA for so long. The beach is actually very lovely. I love the little shops with little cool stuff in them.

We ate lunch at Baby Blues, a Memphis BBQ restaurant. I saw this on the Travel Channel and wanted to find it. The hotel staff actually didn't even know about this restaurant and it was just like 8 blocks away from them. It turned out really good, some of the best BBQ I've ever had. We spent the rest of the afternoon just hanging on the beach and relaxing. I miss just sitting on the beach.

For dinner, we went back to the San Gabriel valley to have seafood dinner at one of my favorite Chinese Restaurant. We had Crab, Shrimps and Scallops. I really love Chinese style seafood. I do think it's among the best way to have seafoods.

I then took him to old town Pasadena and walked around a little. I bought a book for pictures of dogs for my friend Christine. One of those bargain books. I then bought another photo book for myself, a bargain one too, of America's National Parks by Philippe Bourseiller. I love photography, really do. I'm overdue for another photo journey.

After Pasadeana, I went to Tea Station and met up with Christine and Michael for a drinks. That's what my friends mean when we say we are going out for drinks.

Finally Monday, we just packed up and had lunch before taking Tim to the airport. I then had an audition in Santa Monica.

That was my weekend getaway, wrapped up with still my acting stuff.

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My Marshalls National Booking

Last Thursday I was at my shoot for Marshalls' National commercial. It was a lot of fun. I won't go too much into the details of it. I will just wait and hope that it airs and then talk about it some more in details.

I did shoot for the whole day on Thursday, 9am to 8pm with a 30 minutes lunch break. It was really a lot of fun and the cast and crew was just a pleasure to work with. The director was fantastic and the spot just looks very pretty and sleek. I am really looking forward to seeing this air. I hope it all goes well from here on. Fingers crossed.

Aside from this, thins are going well. I went to an IBM national audition on Friday and I have an AMICA national audition on Monday. Commercials are finally picking back up for me now. It was a bit slow for a while. I am just happy things are happening.

I hope you are all having a great time and a great year. I'll keep everyone posted as much and as often as I can here.

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