Comments on: Terratec Komplexer has landed! / Some traditions must die

by: Rob

Fri, 14 Apr 2006 12:35:13 +0000

Thanks for the offer–I’ll take you up on it if I ever end up in that area. I drove through Texas once–I stopped at a Hooters for lunch (You can find photos I took in the old Olympus C3030z Gallery in the photography section). Did you know that a lot of Hooters waitresses are aspiring models but can’t afford professional photographers to do shoots for them? Guess where I’ll go the next time I need models for a shoot?

Elena and I are scared to death of very hot weather. If it wasn’t for the weather, we’d seriously consider Austin as a place to live. Austin is considered one of the hot spots for video game companies, so aside from California and New York, Austin is probably the third best location in terms of CG jobs.

by: Jim Ou

Thu, 13 Apr 2006 15:00:05 +0000

Cool, but if you should stop by Houston area I’d be happy to show you around town.

by: Rob

Thu, 13 Apr 2006 02:47:05 +0000

Jim - Depends on where my next job will be. Most likely somewhere in California. I grew up in the Bay Area and my family/friends are mostly there. I might have to move to LA though since it’s become the new hotspot for CG-related jobs.

by: Jim Ou

Wed, 12 Apr 2006 18:43:44 +0000

lol, ; I know what you mean, I got my own Empress of China in my house too. Any idea where you gonna stay in the state.

by: Rob

Wed, 12 Apr 2006 16:35:55 +0000

Jim - Hahaha, I don’t know if anyone needs to be educated to understand anything I do–it’s not like I’m creating highly intellectual and profound works. Well, maybe my novels require a bit more emotional intelligence than the average Joe off the street, but probably not by much.

I’m not from China, so I didn’t really move “back” to China–I’m originally from Taiwan. In 2001 I visited my mom in China while on a vacation, and I never intended to stay. I didn’t have a good impression of China then (I watched the Tiananmen Square Massacre reported live on TV with tears in my eyes as a teenager), and I have an even worse impression of it now after having lived here for four and a half years.

The ONLY reason I stayed is becausse I met my wife here. I met her right around the time my vacation was up and I was about to return to the States. Since you’re a regular at my site, you probably already know that the Kitty Cat is quite a catch–how could I leave? Anyway, I stayed while we waited for her immigration visa to come through (long distance relationship was out of the question for both of us–that’s just not how life should be for a couple). We were lucky that Elena is a fairly successful entrepreneur here in China, so she makes more than enough money for us to live very comfortably here. Being able to stay at home everyday to work on my personal works became the second greatest thing about being here (the first is of course, being with Elena). My world for the last four and half years has been just Elena and my creative works. I barely ever go out the front door of our house (the photos I took of China were actually taken by remote controlled robots ). Thank God for broadband internet! (We did live in Malaysia for a bit in 2003~2004 though–I was working for Steven Stahlberg’s company as a creator/writer/director/art director.)

We’ll be moving back to the States next month. (And I’m probably never coming back to China–unless I have to.)