Ok, I get it - thank you nerds for posting up pics from San Diego Comic-Con's Preview Night on Flickr already but enough of the pics of the Castle Greyskull booth, Clone Wars statues, and the lego Indiana Joneses, ok? Unless there are the male equivalent of booth bunnies cosplaying He-Man or Indy at said booth or the real Ewan McGregor buying a replica lightsaber in the pic, I don't need to see it ten times over. From here out, please only post pics of Daniel Craig if he shows up to sell the new Bond flick or yaoi style pics of non-costumed con-going dudes (or tomboys) that are unconventionally handsome with good hygiene. That and a pic of Doogie Howser and Captain Mal hugging each other all snuggly like.
Just saying...I likes the fishes anyway, being a Pisces and all.
New job has me staying put this week so no nerd prom for me again this year. However, it appears I will have the Imax theater all to myself when I go see The Dark Knight again this coming weekend - anyone having to do with comics in the Bay Area will be in San Diego. Or at least everyone I know is...
By the way, Maaku will be at the Gargamel booth again this year. Everyone going to the con should say hi to him and remind him he needs to buy me pressies cause I am stuck at work. I don't need more stuff but comics are always good to have and maybe a picture with Dr. Horrible and Captain Hammer (Tightpants).
Is it sad that my two favorite movies so far this year were Iron Man and DK?
We have a podcast - it's new and we're new to this nonsense. It's rough around the edges but we're getting there, via trial and error. We actually made it to the second episode and it's up today.
Feel free to request songs or yell at Thien, Scout and the dudes. I do.
This past week, I have been watching a handful of Takara Lady Licca dolls pop up on Yahoo! Japan and all were snagged by one bidder. I'm not stalking the winner or anything but can you imagine what kind of collection they must have if they just snap up 4 of these dolls in one sitting? If my math is correct, by the current conversion rates, this person threw down USD$1103.94 for these dolls! And that's before individual bank fees to transfer payment AND shipping! BALLER, ne??
I know it doesn't compare to a lot of Vintage Kaiju / Monster pieces or hell, even Super Dollfie / BJD prices but a Grand (and a half, practically) in about a week's time still blows my mind...
[12:02]losdelroro: nice [12:02] losdelroro: i wanna be friends with Donatella!
[12:03] pekochan: i imagine her being like an abusive boyfriend [12:03] pekochan: she'll berate you [12:03] pekochan: and then buy you fabulous things [12:03] pekochan: i also imagine she smells like a Wilson's Leather Store
[16:18] oz: btw, if I could find this person and punch the shit out of them, I would: http://www.soundflavor.com/track.php?trackId=1238162 [16:19] pekochan: what the fuck [16:19] pekochan: it sounds like a shitty weakerthans and john mayer hybrid [16:19] pekochan: why do you hate me? [16:19] pekochan: you always send me these terrible links [16:26] oz: Because I heard them and need to show others [16:27] pekochan: you're like the evil spirit in The Ring [16:28] oz: yes. [16:28] oz: exactly like that.
[12:14] maaku: I want that! [12:16] me: what the hell is that??? [12:18] maaku: It's a monster from Ultraman Cosmos. he's so cute. [12:20] maaku: It has a cute face on his belly. [12:21] me: weird [12:22] maaku: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2YrmkDNZKQ [12:22] maaku: So cute! [12:22] maaku: Been trying to find this guy's name forever! [12:23] maaku: The face on his belly looks like a Gary Baseman character! [12:23] me: it looks more like Woodring's art [12:23] me: i was about to say [12:24] maaku: He's like a mole crossed with a tuna with some latin art on his belly. [12:24] maaku: I love it!
Maaku's got called to show up for Jury Duty selection this morning. Not so much a big deal since his workplace actually pays him in full for the days out but we remembered that our friend Danni got called down for Jury Duty once, too. She came to the courthouse, dressed in all her usual Oakland Raiders gear and was told they didn't need her - no questions or anything, just right off the bat! I guess the Judicial system has got a thing against the nation of Silver and Black.
Not that I was trying to get Maaku to be in contempt of court or anything but because of that story, I was trying to get him to wear one of his kooky t-shirts he's so fond of. I was holding out for Le Merde's Hujili's Ghost T-shirt.
It's HOT PINK, y'all! A lot of folks kind of laugh when they see it. I guess cause it's makes them think of Heshers in a way, or maybe that's just me? Mullets always make me laugh. You can actually see Maaku wearing this shirt on La Merde's site. Oddly enough, he's also both in the Grass Hut ad in GIant Robot Magazine #50 and the current print issue of Kaizine, rocking this with the Gargamel crew, too.
Maaku wasn't thinking pink today though, so he went with his Gargamel Zagoran monster shirt and his bright red RFSO (REAL FAN SHIT ONLY) hoodie. Can you say COP OUT? (I kid, I kid cause I love!) OH? And yes, Zagoran is a one eyed monster but NOT THAT KIND OF MONSTER. Get your mind out of the gutter!
UPDATE - 5:27pm - Maaku wasn't chosen for Jury Duty - I WONDER WHY?
A few thoughts before I take off from the office: I spent 15 minutes this morning staring at my alarm clock and then at the pile of clean clothes on the foot of my bed. I kept getting up, sifting through the pile of shirts but then deciding to go through my dresser one more time, JUST IN CASE. It's not like there were that many choices. I just felt paralyzed, though...I ended up choosing this navy blue thing that I wore yesterday. As soon as I grabbed it, it felt like I broke the spell. Yesterday's top was technically "still clean" and no one at work would be any wiser. Maybe I'm the only that keeps track of what everyone wears?
On the bus to work, I found a yucky seat (one of the MUNI seats that face you directly in front of the person across from you), closed my eyes and kept willing myself to, this time, really wake up. Right before I physically got up this morning, I dreamed of my coworker "Canadian Boyfriend." In my dream, he climbed in through my childhood home's bathroom skylight. I looked up at him, shielding my eyes from the morning sun. He was reciting Shakespeare, I think. And then I cried. I realized he was coming back from wooing the neighbor's daughters.
I saw Canadian Boyfriend this morning and told him about the dream, sans the me crying part. He looked like he just woke up too.
I can't be bothered to watch this show (exposure longer than a YouTube clip makes my womb curdle) but this play by play commentary, about the first two episodes of CBS' "Kid Nation", has all my coworkers and I cackling hysterically in our cubicles:
8:10: There are no beds in this city, finally teaching kids what it is like to be in charge? They find a cookbook inside of an old wrought-iron stove and what does the Indian kid suggest they make? Rock candy. I predict scurvy and dysentery within three days. Oregon Trail!
8:16: Jared (11 years old - from Georgia), holds a dead chicken by its feet and says: "We sped up the natural cycle of life and death." Earlier he said something about Shakespeare and last week he quoted Martin Luther King Jr. in reference to breakfast. Jared is quickly becoming one of my favorite kids on the show. He is seriously an alien sent from outer-space who was taught to mimic humans by watching old episodes of Family Matters, and memorizing a copy of Bartlett's Quotations that one of his fellow aliens just kind of made up.
I had heard about this show some months back through Patrick Macias's own blog but forgot to mention it until someone brought up the YouTube clip again - KAWAII JENNY!!
It's a freakish (and somewhat funny) amalgamation of Robot Chicken, Thunderbirds, and sentai shows like Power Rangers. The show's main heroines and villianess are played out by Takara-Tomy's "JENNY" dolls (the actual Japanese market version of Barbie, until Mattel pulled the license in the late 80s).
Oni-mon and his little army are currently part of the "Toy Karma" show, curated by Mark Nagata. If you're so inclined, you can check them out at Rotofugi in Chicago, IL.
I sculpted these guys from phospherent polymer clay, with a little help from Maaku. If the Toy Karma book happens this winter, I might get a small page in it with Oni-mon. ;)
It's almost a tradition now. For Lark's birthday last year, I made her one of her favorite cartoon characters, Cheburashka, out of Sculpey. I presented him on a little chocolate souffle, that matched his own coloring.
Lark's been getting into the anime "Naruto" as well and is quite fond of one of the characters, "the beautiful Green Beast of Konoha," Rock Lee. He is one of the funnier ninjas on the show, in his green jumpsuit and trademark bowl cut. So this year, Mark and I had stayed in on Friday night and made a poseable felt doll of him from scratch. Mark was assigned with pattern making and cutting out the pieces, while I assembled, sewed, and made things like little felt strips for Rock's bandages. We started out pretty late in the evening, around 10pm and only found ourselves halfway finished at 3AM!
To make Rock all flexible, I had to make him a teeny wire skeleton. I didn't have anything lighter on hand, so I ended up using some heavy gauge covered flower wire, a pain in the ass to manipulate into smaller configurations. I also just got a manicure earlier in the day, so I was being a bit too careful with working with my hands. Yes, I am prissy sometimes! Anyhow, I finished the doll on Saturday afternoon, while I was in the office, covering for a co-worker on vacation. Rock's mouth and rosy cheeks are filled in with colored pencil, a technique I read about in a japanese doll mook (magazine/book) about vintage pose dolls.
All in all, I think Rock turned out pretty ok for our first time out making a doll like this - maybe we'll try making Kakashi next but with flexible fingers to form hand seals!
"I want to tell you it'll be better, but that's just me talking."
Security:
Public
Tired but not tired enough to fall asleep. EH. I'm making a list of random things till my vision gets all bleary...
in and around my nightstand:
-Gamachan coin purse from Naoya, younger brother of Kiyoka (Gargamel toys) -rolled up Paul Pope prints from SD Comic Con -rolled up Jay Ryan print, Cicada 17 for Maaku -Licca doll in Momolita -small watercolor by Catia Chen - earrings, glasses, drugs, lotion, pins -Japanese craft books, a copy of The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, The illustrated "Jane Eyre" by Dame Darcy -Ikea, CB2, West Elm catalogs -Artbin, Moleskine sketchbooks -Jeffrey Fulmavari tenugui
- an inconvenient truth (borrowed) - Grandma's Boy (recently purchased, impulse buy from Target checkout line)
-Matsumoto Taiyou's PING PONG, mini figures from Sony's old Time Capsule line -wind-up Parappa the Rapper -glow in the dark mini toys from Gargamel -mini prints from Bwana -Carson Ellis print in frame, needs mat -Charlie Harper print in mat, needs frame -"A Step by Step Book About Dwarf Hamsters" -CDR of images from Comic-Con, Maaku wrestling with the Garg guys, and Tim Biskup's house (?)
Resting on top of the TV: -RealXHead Maneki Neko, red colorway -Little Tykes pink piggy bank AKA Pancho Villa, used only for State and 1976 Drummer Boy Quarters -Fisher Price Bossy Bell pull toy
Walking down 3rd Street, on my way to work, I spot a dude coming out of the Peet's Coffee on the corner of Mission. He's got shades on, so my eyes focus in on his familiar mouth and cheek bones. He's walking towards me with a slow deliberate gait, a skate deck in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.
As we start to pass each other, I nod and decide to greet him. As my mouth begins to form the words, I realize that my voice might be a little too cheery and loud for that hour of the morning. I regret speaking for a second when I realize that he might be hungover in some way but it's too late now.
Have you guys heard about the cat that rides Public Transit?!
"He sat at the front of the bus, waited patiently for the next stop and then got off. It was was quite strange at first but now it just seems normal. I suppose he is the perfect passenger really - he sits quietly, minds his own business and then gets off."
and it really wasn't any different from this pic here:
Of course, only I'm not Simon Pegg on the right and Nick said I was much lovelier than Simon was. ;)
BONUS PICS!
I got my Shaun dvd signed by both Nick and Simon, as well as director Edgar Wright. I asked Edgar when the Scott Pilgrim film adaptation was coming out and he said he was hoping to start on it next year! I told him I'd go with animated feature if I were him...not really. But I hope he does!
According to Nick, he thinks that only 800 copies of this dvd were actually bought in the world. I don't know what he's going on about - this show is hilarious and educational! I know now how to survive in the snowy wilderness and how to tie up an alligator thanks to him!
The hug on file that did not come to pass. :(
The PR folks in charge of the event said no pics with the guys but Nick said "QUICK, They're not looking!" and put his arm around me!
My friend Hank didn't hold my cell phone's camera shutter down long enough and accidently took the pic after we unlocked arms. SIGH.
"...Ditch of iniquity and tears How I abhor this place It's sweet and bitter taste Has left me wretched, retching on all fours Los Angeles, I’m yours."
Southern CA dwellers,
Maaku and I shall be a' visiting in two weeks. We are there for fun (Plinko, yes?) and guilty pleasures (The Paley TV Festival). Just three days and two nights - yes, we will try to fit Scoops, Curry House and other culinary madness in.
Besides the TV stuff, our schedule is pretty open - any art shows of note to check out? Some good used book shopping? Where can Maaku get his RAMEN on?
P.S. We are staying with everyone's friend, Mr. Substitute Life - J.Pham for one night and then to some hotel in West Hollywood that our corporate discount hooked up. Suggestions in and around these places would be appreciated!
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