Christmas pick-ups

It's been awhile since I've posted in the blog and since I have some down time before I leave for Hawaii, I might as well share some of the presents I got this year.

Merry Christmas!


Clockwise from top left:

Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey (That's what she said)- Nice dessert book I got from my Secret Santa. Now I'll be getting diabetes with these recipes.

Changeling looking hat- I will try and channel Angelina Jolie when I wear this.

Hairspray- Zac Efron (and John Travolta dressed as a woman!).

Becoming Jane- James McAvoy.

Twilight- Jumping on the bandwagon...oh and Robert Pattinson.

Mini Cooper toy- I thought I was getting the real deal, but I got a "mini" version instead.

Camp Rock key chain- Joe Jonas (do you see a pattern here)?

This is Rome book by M. Sasek- Wonderfully illustrated children's book. I hope to collect the entire series one day!

A Very Jason Christmas- My friend did a splendid job of creating a stop motion music video of Wham's "Last Christmas." Check it out here

Ray-ban sunglasses- I make fun of people wearing them all the time..now I get to make fun of myself!

Thinking with type book- Good reference book about using type for anything and everything.

Bag of yarn- My friend decided to do everything DIY this year, but she ran out of time..so now I'll have to crochet and make the gnome myself!

Grub chronicle #3- My parents surprised me and bought one of my paintings. This one is of my adventure in fantasyland holding a churro.

Marc Jacobs Daisy- My favorite new scent! Yum!

and........

Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life (I saved the best for life)- This book weighs a ton, but is full of orgasmic illustrations of animals. Yes, orgasmic.

Weekend in review

Friday:
After work I made the hike from to Sunset Junction in Silver Lake to see Gerard Way (he of My Chemical Romance fame) have a meet/greet/drink at Secret Headquarters. The store had some of his and Gabriel Ba's Umbrella Academy artwork on display. The new issue comes out tomorrow. Don't sleep. I talked to him for a minute and got an autograph.

Since I was on the east-siiide, I decided to hit up the Scoops/Orange 20 combo. O20 was closed but some Mint Oreo consoled me.

Saturday:
CRANK MOB








and cinco de mayo's nachos

Sunday:
Because I got paid on Friday, a good-ol' Amoeba run was in order.
Pickups:
- Girl Talk, Feed the Animals
- Cadence Weapon, Breaking Kayfabe and Afterparty Babies
- The Anniversary, Devil on our side
Since I was on the east-siiide, I decided to hit up the Scoops/Orange 20 combo.

A good weekend was had by all...THE END

Tis the Season!

The holiday season has officially arrived! Whist at various shopping malls over the weekend, I noticed fake Christmas trees erected in center plazas, workers with "visitor" stickers at Target stocking the aisles with unwanted Planters peanuts gift sets and those blue Danish cookie tins (don't get me wrong, I love those cookies- especially the pretzel shaped ones covered with sugar). As I write this masterpiece, I am actually listening to a holiday station I found on itunes, cuz I can't wait for Kost 103.5 to start playing their non-stop holiday jams beginning Thanksgiving afternoon.

Nevermind that Christmas is next month and that silly Californians voted for prop 8, let's talk about art. Specifically, The Itty Bitty Art Show at Monkeyhouse. A couple friends and I submitted some oh so tiny art work which we hope YOU will buy! I would have taken more pics, but I spent most of my time outside cuz it was uber crowded. You can take a gander at the show until november 30th.


I did a set of 4 paintings titled "The Grub Chronicles."


My friend did 9 paintings of awesomely cute robots.


More pics of art done by friends!


Yay for Animals in Masquerade!

My friend and I made itty bitty limited edition buttons that we passed out during the show!



Here are some scary ass pics of the weather right now. This doesn't look like cheery holiday weather!

Overdue C.R.A.N.K. MOB post

Crank mob (aka west side mobile partay) went down last month on the 18th. Here come da pics:

This is Sawtelle/La Grange. The above is Sawtelle/La Grange on Crank Mob. Any questions?

The boys are back in town (sans Chris). This crank mob was eventful for a number of reasons: Oro's birthday, Jerrald's new DIY paint job and rear wheel, and the debut of STORMWOLF (and the lightning bolt crashes)


From the starting point, we headed straight to the heart of Westwood. The damn incline on Westwood blvd. slowed me, and the wolf was lost from the pack. I caught up to them at some park across from the Fox Building.





From there, we ended up at the Ralph's on Sawtelle and National.

Even MJ made an appearance. JAMONAH!

Crank Mob Park in Culver City was the final stop.

The Windsor Bros. The blue one is named Hank McCoy.


No crank mob is complete without a trip to Cinco's

The breakfast of champions

New bike day

Windsor Hour + Yellow Deep V's + MKS Sylvan Pedals + Champs grips + Salsa stem + white risers = Stormwolf
(I wanted the name Wolfsbane but then I realized that was the name of a crappy comic book character from X-Factor. Other potential names included Stormsbringer, Wolfsblood, Lightning Wolf, etc.)



Stormwolf was born on 10/16. However, the official debut of this badboy was last night's crank mob. Pictures and details to follow.

In other news Linux the Gentleman will be up for sale shortly.

Sunday Afternoon Post

Yea, it's about time to play catch-up with my two and a half loyal blog readers and fill you in with exciting stuff that's been happening over the month of October! (Really, nothing too exciting). I meant to blog about my pick ups a while back, but have just been lagging in this weird October heat which just drains my energy from basically doing anything productive (except maybe cursing at the sun and eating ice cream).

I was in F-Town a couple weekends ago and visited my two favorite stores there- Otto and Out of Vogue (which I blogged about in this post). Anyway, from Otto, I picked up a book about Neutra. The pic of him on the back cover is kinda scary, but it's a good read about a lot of the architectural greatness that he created around the Silver Lake area. I also picked up this awesome Tiki Sea World mug.

I thought it was an authentic Fire King mug cuz I looked at the branding underneath and saw an "F." Sweet, says I...but when I got home and did my research it actually turned out to be "Federal" instead of Fire King. Cool mug which will be added to my growing collection of Pyrex bowls. Speaking of Tiki culture, if you're in the Glendizzle area, be sure to check out Forest Lawn's exhibit, "In Search of Tiki," which features tons of Tiki artifacts from the Pacific Islands as well as Tiki artist Shag and a few collections from Marc and Alice Davis (awesome sketches from Adventureland and the Tiki Room).

Mmmk, I just ate left over Thai food and now I'm food coma-ing.

So here's a list of random pick ups for this month (cuz the combination of greasy thai food and the warm sun in my room is making me groggy).

-Posters for the People: The Art of the WPA > awesome hard cover book featuring eye-catching posters
-Krazy Kids vintage food graphics > Nice compilation of food product logos and packaging from the 50s-70s
-Orla Kiely bag (I couldn't resist, it was on sale)
-The Office quote pens from Target's $1 section "The Schrutes produce very thirsty babies"

I don't feel the Whoo hoo!

I don't really pay attention to the news unless it's celeb gossip, random shenanigans in Ohio, or pigs with lipstick, but I was shocked to hear yesterday that my bank, Washington Mutual, went belly up and was bought by one of the nation's strongest banks- JPMorgan Chase. I got a notice from the bank with a headline that read,

"Exciting news for our customers! We're proud to announce that WaMu has become part of one of the nation's strongest banks...blah blah blah...backed by the strength and security of JPMorgan Chase."

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Did I miss something here? Should I be celebrating that my bank was apparently struggling with these mortgage woes and eventually collapsed cuz it couldn't handle the market's instability? Far from being excited, I went to the WaMu site this morning and saw this image sans thought bubble:


This picture basically summarizes what WaMu did to its customers. Gotcha!
*Picture found from The Consumerist

*Update* I just checked the WaMu site, and this is what's up now:



Yes. Blank. Empty. Hopefully my bank account isnt.

TCAG Fall Concert Series part 1: Beck (Hollywood Bowl)

Bust out those cardigans and American Apparel shirts kids 'cuz it'sa concert season and we're starting it off with a bang. Beck played the bowl of bowls along with MGMT and Spoon.



Stunning views aside, the Hollywood Bowl is also known for another fact: BYOB (and F). Along with the usual Porto's pickups (Potato balls, ham croquettes, and coconut macaroons) we also kept it local and picked up some musubis from L&L. For dranks, we hit up Trader Joe's. On the clerk's suggestion, I picked up some 3 Horses tallboys. Musubis, beer, and Beck: the winning combination.


When MGMT started up, I decided their freaky groovy music would best be appreciated whilst slightly intoxicated. I cracked open one of the cans and anticipated some fancy beery goodness (it's Trader Joe's right?) I wish I had four hands so I could give them brewkies four thumbs down.



But I'm a trooper and I put down four of those badboys by the end of the night (resulting in multiple trips to the men's room). In any case, MGMT's set was pretty short but they played their popular songs and got people moving in their seats.

Spoon was next and absolutely killed it. They played the jams and ended their set with one of my favorite songs off their latest album, Black Like Me.

Beck took the stage thereafter and kicked off the set with Loser. Now I'm not the greatest of dancers, but hearing a 90s classic and having 3.5 tallboys in your system works wonders: I was on my feet before you could say "In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey". Beck followed that up with more of his faster songs. In the middle of his set, Beck was joined by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra Strings (which was conducted by his father David Campbell). He ended the set with "Chemtrails". The encore included "Where it's at" and the crowd went wild. Most I've danced in my life.

Set list:

Loser / Girl / Nausea / Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat (Dylan cover) / Guero / Nicotine & Gravy / Mixed Bizness / Devils Haircut / Timebomb / Soul of a Man / Gamma Ray / Hell Yes / Black Tambourine / Modern Guilt / Paper Tiger / Think I’m in Love / Missing /
Lonesome Tears / Replica / Round the Bend / Chemtrails

Encore:

Where It’s At / E-Pro

Sunset Junction, What's Your Function

On Saturday, the bf and I checked out Sunset Junction. I'm not really in the mood to write a detailed description of the hipster awesomeness that I saw or the numerous times I got asked if I'm tested for STDs and Hepatitis. Yea, I'm not sure if I would go up to a stranger and say, "Hey! Have you been tested! I think you should! It only takes 5 minutes...here's a sticker!" For me, that's a personal question, I don't care if the stranger himself has been tested, I really don't wanna know what/who/how he's done the dirty deed. I was just there to grab some free shit, check out the bands, and enjoy the smells of street meat. Anyway, check out my photos of the festival...there's only three...so enjoy.



I love these tall jugs with colorful fruit drinks. They just add so much color to an otherwise boring white booth.



This is the band Bodies of Water. Me thinks they sound just like Arcade Fire.



Yes, I know what you're thinking. The Video Market has adult movie rentals?!?! (That's a dude to the left of the chick. I think he rocks his outfit better than Ms. Pochahontas boots).

Life size Guido!

If I had a favorite car character from the Pixar movie Cars, it would have to be Guido- the forklift whose dream was to participate in a pit stop for a real race car. Anyway, while driving around Downtown showing my relatives around, we stopped next to such a car. What a cute car too! The hipster dude driving looked comical because who else would drive such a tiny cramped car for the sake of being cool? Yea yea, Steve Urkel drove a small car too, but this guy was no Stefan Urquelle. Give me my cool juice!


Guido from Cars


Guido in Downtown

Historic Filipinotown Festival

For those of you who don't know where Historic Filipinotown is, it's located on the Temple street corridor parallel to the Hollywood Freeway beginning at Glendale and ending around Hoover.

Today's festival started with a 5k run/walk in the morning and continued with music and dances performed by local dance troupes. There were also several narrated bus tours hosted by the Filipino American Library. During the tour, the guide explored the significance of several historical sites and people that shaped the neighborhood and answers the question, "What is historic about Historic Filipinotown?".

Scroll down for some pics of the festivities and the tour!


These are the banners that hang on the street lamps around Historic Filipinotown.


Jolibee was one of the primary food sponsors during the event. I opted out not to eat the Chicken Joy today, but it did look delish.


There was also a Goldilock's booth selling biscotti and ginseng tea. I wanted pastries and mocha rolls, dammit.


Randomly, John McCain was there too.


I have no clue who these ladies are but they were kind enough to let me take a picture of them.


On the bus tour, we stopped at Remy's Gallery where they currently have a traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibit called "Singgalot: The Ties That Bind (Filipinos in America, from Colonial Subjects to Citizens)." I learned quite a lot about the numerous waves of Filipino immigrants and that there are more Filipinos living in Illinois than in Seattle!


The only Filipino monument in America dedicated to the Filipino Veterans who fought in WWII. The monument is made of reflective stone because it's supposed to represent our reflection and how we're all part of the past. (Or something like that.)

There were other interesting highlights of the trip such as the guys behind us saying, "Dude, check this out!" or "Dude, we can have some poker night fundraiser!" or "Dude, I say dude too much!" We also had some fiasco with the Rampart po-po before our bus took off for the tour, but that's another story. Anyway, I highly suggest going on the tour because it's uber educational and offers a glimpse about the Filipinos who originally settled in the area and eventually had to relocate to other areas such as Carson and Cerritos.

Comic con 2008 PICKUPS

One can't go to comic con without snagging some jawesome freebies and some not-so-freebies.

Here's my loot for 2008:



The initial madness of all my bags dumped out on the bed.



The absolute best free swag from the con is the Red Dress Cylon Six minimate From the Sci-Fi booth. Even though I'm more of a Kubrick fan, I can't hate on a free Battlestar minimate. Also, Eureka mints on the right.


Sci-fi also had the coolest bag of the show with their take on the famous Bloomingdale's bag


Bionic bionic six..oo wee ooh. The premise of this 80s cartoon was the Six-Million Dollar man and the Bionic Woman have a multi-cultural family with super powers (Asian karate kid, Caucasian Jock kid, African-American nerd kid, Valley girl with walkman, and a robot gorilla thrown in for good measure). As hokey as it sounds, the cartoon was pretty rad and had better than usual animation for an American show. Guy at the booth gave me a good deal on these.


Seeing as how my old school Transformers toys are rotting away in a landfill somewhere, the Transformers Encore line is the closest I'll get to the real deal. Of the ones available at the booth, Starscream was the best. This will go well with my Masterpiece Starscream. I was *this* close to buying the Soundwave mp3 player but realized I don't need anymore soundwaves or mp3 players.


We also managed to pick up some actual graphic novels this time around. These are from Yoshihiro Tatsumi, who is credited for starting the alternative comics movement in Japan in the 1950s. They are being translated now by Drawn and Quarterly.


Got this for my dad and bro who watch the show. I gotta get on that.

Random stuff: