Oblivious meets Chris Wang

In 2003 I met a lot of really awesome people at the 2003 APIA Spoken Word Summit held in Chicago.  It was my post college trip with Strawberry Farm Boy Mike. He had gone to the first APIA Spoken Word Summit held two years before in Seattle.  When he brought up the trip I figured why not. It sounded pretty cool.  In my early 20s I wrote poetry or at least attempted to write poetry, so the Summit was up my alley.  

At Summit I met my east coast twin who would become the east coast half of Team GAROSS, Hanalei who was a part of this spoken word collective with the all star of San Jose Dandiggity!   I remember experience Chicago summer for the first time.  Seeing I Was Born With Two Tongues perform for the last time.  Doing a scavenger hunt in Chicago with other Asian American artists.  

I kept in touch with Summit folks through the magic of the internet.  Friendster to Myspace to Facebook, it's been nice to see how we've all grown.  In the early days we talked to each other with aol instant messenger.  Chat rooms conversations with lots of folks was the norm.  We would talk about random things and I formed friendships across the country with these folks.  It wasn't until I got home that I realized one of these folks was Chris Wang aka Peril-L of the Mountain Brothers.  I remember listening to them on various mixtapes in college.  Strawberry Farm Boy Mike even had some of their records in his vinyl collection.  

My east coast twin Hanalei and I have a tendency of teasing Chris Wang under the moniker TEAM GAROSS. I'm not sure how it started. On our facebook history I think it was some kind of comment involving "tipping" and TEAM GAROSS over use of "that's what she said." (But can you REALLY use TWSS too much?!). 

Somehow Chris still talks to us via facebook and was kind enough to do an Oblivious Interview with me.  Thanks CHRIS!   WEST COAST HALF of TEAM GAROSS HEARTS YOU C.WANG! 

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Name(s)
Chris Wang, aka Peril-L, aka teapot d0me 

Affiliations (arts org, fun things you do, etc) :
Scientist, collector of modern furniture and design, retired rapper. 

What's the one word you are guilty of using too much?
Non-committal words like "okay", "maybe", and "I don't know". 

How did you end up doing what you are doing now?
Failed as a rapper. :(  [oblivious edit: insent kawawa face here man.]

Which member of the Wu-Tang Clan best describes your personality?
I'll go with Inspectah Deck because he's my favorite. 

Dogs or Cats, who wins? Why?
Dogs!  Cats are crazy, and I don't think they like me. 

What is the best part of any given day for you?
When it's time to get off work. 

In a zombie apocalypse who would you want on your survival team?
 Bruce Lee, Dennis Rodman, and Mr. Chow.

What is the last thing you searched for on google?
 Pictures of Keith Sweat.

If you could talk to your high school self, what would say?
Okay, that's enough hair spray.

What is the best thing or meal you ever ate?  
First time eating toro at Morimoto.

What is a memorable project that you are working on or have worked on?
CHOPS - Strength In Numbers.  Honored to be a part of this historic project!

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Here's Chops giving the info on the Strength in Numbers Kickstarter that Chris is a part of. 

Here's the Mountain Brothers music video for "Keep On" off of Strength In Numbers by CHOPSmusic:

If you want to be a part of this historic album donate to the CHOPSmusic Strength in Numbers Kickstarter campaign and support good music!