The second flick was the Simpsons Movie, which… surprise!…. didn’t totally suck! It was actually decent! Mind you, it’s no where near as brilliant as it once was, but I’m fairly certain no was expecting it to be. Many long-time diehard Simpsons fans, such as myself, was expecting it to bite, since the glory days have long since been gone (its actually gotten better in the past two seasons, but I think everyone has becomes so jaded that its been hard to notice), but the story was enjoyable, despite copying the plot from an episode or three, and the gags were actually funny! The animation was overall excellent, and pretty much every single bit-character got his or her moment in the sun. There was a very excellent, and subtle, reference to a favorite episode of mine from season one, plus a character dies, one that deserved to be put to rest. Everyone else was expecting at least one death… right?

- Okay, let’s go back in time, back to… this past summer’s MoCCA Art Fest. MK clued me onto this picture of us at the show, which I had seen before, but I wasn’t aware of Melanie Lewis‘ account of our encounter at the show!

Voltron shoes…

R2 and C3PO made out of Legos…

- Saw two movies this past weekend. The first was Live Free And Die Hard, which was pretty god damn amazing. As a relatively new fan of the Die Hard series (yeah, I know), the film didn’t disappoint; it’s perhaps the best, and without a doubt the most over the top, action flick I’ve seen in years. But aside from the awesome stunts and special effects, Bruce Willis as a total bad-ass yet again, plus Maggie Q, the best part of the film for myself was the totally insane plot. Which can be best summed by this Penny Arcade strip.

… MK also discovered that the girl’s voice was very high-pitched, almost squeaky, which was a major bummer to all who approached her.

And here’s some dudes dressed up as Transformers! If they were melting or something…

You also have plenty of toys and sculptures on-display. Here’s a Ripley action figure, in her power suit, from Aliens…

On a similar note, Dave got me this…

- As for tomorrow (or later today, depending on when you’re reading this), there’s yet another one! The official Girls’ Guide To Guys’ Stuff release party that is. If you’re in the city, stop on by the MoCCA Gallery (for directions, here you go) to get a copy of the anthology that’s chock full of awesome female talents from the world of comics. Plus, along with MK, who again was the edtior, a bunch of contributors will be present, such as Raina, Katie, Liz, Miss, Alisa Harris, and Abby Denson. So be there and have them do cute drawings for you! And if you can’t… you can always get a copy at the Friends of Lulu site, or better yet, bug your local comic shop for a copy or ten.

… But yeah, as a long-time fan of ol’ shell-head, that pictures simply makes me so damn happy. The Iron Man movie is FINALLY fucking happening, and it might actually kick ass!

And here’s some Transformers busts…

And today was Ric Meyers‘ birthday/housewarming shin-dig in Connecticut. As expected, there was plenty of kung-fu action (as well as lots of chicken and some excellent potato salad), though not in the form of a dozen Shaolin monks jumping all around Ric’s front yard as kinda expected (and hoped). Instead I simply watched some of Wheels on Meals, an old Jackie Chan/Sammo Hung kung fu, comedy classic, and chatted with Ric’s long-time friend Stephen Watson, whom Ric considers one of the most dangerous men to walk this earth was in attendance. He’s a martial arts expert and I got to pick his brain about all sorts of kung fu stuff, though the highlight of the day was when we decided to take a stroll through the nearby graveyard and Stephen decided to lob tennis balls at one of the tombs.

And Vitamin Steve was kind enough to pass along these primo SCTV trading cards…

- MK also came from Cali bearing gifts, including a copy of I’m a Cyborg But That’s Okay on DVD, from Thailand, as well as an issue of what is easily this summer’s hottest comic, The Incredible Change-Bots by Jeffery Brown…

… Looks like the instructions to a Transformer from back in the day right? Actually that’s what I first thought (to Skids, which I had as a kid), but it’s actually a mini comic!

… and at first, I simply went “Hey, that’s not bad… she’s got the hair and everything”. Till I saw the behind shot…

Here’s a spot on Dr. Girlfriend from the Venture Brothers!

It will make its debut at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, which takes place the 18th and 19th of this month. And immediately afterwards, it’ll be for sale in the store, though for all you Canadians out there, this is your chance to get the latest mini before everyone else in America, as well as pick up the first two editions. Remember, I don’t mind shipping to the Great White North, but its kind of a pain! So please stop on by MK’s table!

… MK noted that it was a father and son team, and it was pretty clear that the son was hella awkward and uncomfortable. Perhaps this has been their “thing” for a while now, and the kid is just getting too damn old for this shit, sorry dad.

EDIT: And Mike also put it best with: “everyone but me beats off to really complicated shit with its own backstory and everything.” Plus, I forgot to mention how Colin lost his car.

- Time to go the other way… to the future. Just wanted to pass along the cover to the third UNLUCKY preview mini!

Also, recently found out that the Indie Spinner Rack recently finished up their MoCCA wrap-up, and the now infamous Pat Lewis “dickshot” was mentioned, twice! The two hosts, Charlito & Mister Phil, touch upon it briefly in part one, as does Pat in his interview segment in part four, who was also nice enough to plug my site. Thanks Pat! I knew drinking a shot that his pecker was in was well worth it.

The soon to be released King of Kong, which as most already know, I’ve done extensive coverage on, had a presence…

Yo… another somewhat late update. Once again, been a crazy week. Trust me… the craziest. Anyhow, this one covers the three basics: comic books, movies, and parties!

EDIT: The party was a SUCCESS! The turn out was pretty decent, all things considered (it was a Monday night, and there was fear of rain, which thankfully never materialized). The highlight of the evening, at least for me, has to be the creation of a brand new band which I’m the bassist, or the back-up singer, or something: The Anime Pussy Hounds.

… Holy fucking shit. And she was a huge hit; dudes’ jaws were dropped and had huge boners apparently. And you know what? I bet that girl loved every minute of it too.

- Also went to two different parties as well. Last night’s was a BBQ in Bay Ridge that was hosted by Mike O’Connor’s buddies Fritz and Martha. After a rather long, hard week, I welcomed the chance to get nice and buzzed, which I did. Among the many scintillating topics covered: gay pie eating contests, dead chick authors, how upset Mike’s wife Liz was with the Real Doll documentary I linked to in the forums, how being a 25 year old male virgin is not something to be proud of, and, for the first time ever, I finally revealed my bizarro sexual fantasies, which involves aliens, cloning, and mucus. I guess it came up when Mike asked “why?” regarding the Mucus Girl pics (again, you have to check out the forum’s secret section to know what the hell I’m talking about).

Oh, so remember the mention of a girl dressed up as Aeon Flux who had “balls”? Well here she is…

- As promised, here’s some pics from the San Diego Comic Con, courtesy of MK, for those of you who weren’t able to make it to the show (like myself). She took quite a few shots of the show, as well as the beautiful flora that one can find in the parks of San Diego. But I know what my readers want, and its certainly not pictures of trees and flowers. You guys want cosplay or tits or GTFO. So anyhow…

… I am not bullshitting, every single fan of the Transformers or stupid robot toys from the 80s NEEDS to get their hands on this book. Here’s just at taste…

The con also has plenty of folks in costumes, but it’s less animu and more traditional, American comic book and movie-based characters. Here we have a father and son team, assuming the roles of Batman and Robin, a la the campy 60’s television program. As you can see, the attention to detail, primarily to the bat suit, is pretty insane, and virtually indiscernible to Adam West’s original threads…

The Comic Con is usually the place where the hype train for next year’s summer blockbuster begins to roll,hermes belts, especially if it’s based on a comic book. This year it was MK and she explained how Iron Man banners where plastered all over the city, and even had photographic evidence to prove this fact. Here’s one in a somewhat blurry shot from the convention floor, and below is a Stark Industries crate which contained one of the suits which I guess you could check out if you came up close…

But as crazy as that is, she’s easily trumped by the girl that was hired to help promote Grindhouse. They actually went out and got a girl with a missing leg…

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Then dinner at Kasasoba. Found out that Arthur Meyerson was very close to Ernst Haas, the first great color photographer – and also the man who shot the first color photos for Life Magazine in 1953. When I went to artschool in the mid-seventies, Ernst Haas was already a legend… Go to Arthur Meyerson’s website, click enter, then Gallery and select Color of Light.

Then into the studio, but a nail broke after 30 minutes of playing,hermes belts, just when I was getting somewhere with a new composition…
Later I met Greg Gorman and Arthur Meyerson at Forrest Moses’ house.

Beautiful Spring weather and a nice bike-ride on my Brompton. I am really enjoying this bicycle. Found more evidence of a Japan-Southwest connection:

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The creation of Incense is an extraordinarily delicate process. In the time-honored traditions of Jinkoya Sakubei,hermes belts, Baieido has dedicated itself to making incense for over 300 years. The method and recipes have been handed down from generation to generation in an unbroken secret oral tradition.

Since 1657!
In 1657, the founder named himself “Jinkoya Sakubei” and specialized in selling incense ingredients and incense sticks. “Jinkoya” (Aloes wood trader) was a name peculiar to Sakai, only medicinal wholesalers who specialized in incense were authorized to use this name.

Pretty amazing stuff. How many companies can celebrate their 350th aniversary?

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Music: new Stephen Duros rough mixes

Upaya Zen Center: Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Beautiful presentation by Joan Halifax Roshi with photos by Joan Halifax Roshi and Matthieu Ricard. I turned the PowerPoint file, which weighed in at 115MB last week into much smaller – now 4.5MB – PDF and PowerPoint files which you can download HERE (PowerPoint or PDF) or HERE (PDF only).

Wouldn’t it be nice if Blogger allowed us to drag entries where we want them in case we want to re-arrange them and, more importantly, allowed us to drag a few posts that we want to remain current to the side or to the top. This is one of those posts I would like to keep current, because it is a beautiful presentation and because maybe some of you would like to contact Roshi Halifax about donating medicine or other materials. Oh, and don’t me started about Blogger not having tags yet. This diary is becoming so vast that it would benefit greatly from tags. If you wanted to read only about guitar-stuff for example, or only about recording, or only ramblings about music. And while we are at it, I want to be able to make private posts that only certain people can see – either family or friends, or maybe some posts for the Fanmencos only…,hermes belts;

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by Tarra Quismundo
Philippine Daily Inquirer

A presidential aspirant, two military rebels elected senators and a jailed Army general hoping to follow suit: Could this foreshadow what is to come in 2010?

Known presidential hopeful Senator Manuel Villar, Senators Gregorio Honasan and Antonio Trillanes IV, and jailed Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim were seen in a rare gathering on Saturday, when they attended the wedding of Trillanes’ brother Jay.

And when someone joked they were together to hatch a plot as they posed together for pictures, Trillanes, the youngest of the group, answered with a smile: “May pinaplano para sa mabuti [We’re planning for something good].”

Villar, Honasan and Lim, jailed for short-lived uprisings in 2006 and 2007, stood as principal sponsors when Trillanes’ elder brother, Jay wed Pia Jane Caba at the St. Ignatius Cathedral in Camp Aguinaldo.

When we were taking their pictures, we remarked ‘Three generations of coup plotters.’ Danny Lim jokingly added ‘Three generations of magugulo’,hermes belts;

In a rare chance to talk to reporters, Lim said he was “seriously considering” seeking an elective post in May 2010, and that positions higher than Senator were also options.

Lim and Trillanes, both detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame, were given a day pass to attend the wedding but were guarded by police the entire time.

“I’m really seriously considering running for an elective post. Politics could serve as an alternative arena for me to pursue the same struggle for national reform and good governance,” said a barong-clad Lim.

When asked if the vice presidency was also a target, Lim told the Inquirer: “It’s a possibility, it’s an option… depends on the realignment of forces. I said I’,Gucci Handbags;m seriously considering running for a national post, meaning it could be for senator or higher.”

He said several opposition groups have initiated talks for his possible inclusion on their May 2010 slates, but the decision on which invitation to accept would depend on his “network of volunteers.”

“The decision is not just mine to make, I have a group so it will be a collective decision. Our timetable is to do it by the middle of October… on which party to join, on whose side we will align,” said Lim in an interview after the hour-long ceremony.

Lim said his volunteers, among them the Samahang Magdalo led by rebel soldiers involved in the 2003 Makati City mutiny, the Young Officers Union and the Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabansa, were planning a national summit in October to help him decide.

Steadfast on reform calls that brought him to jail, Lim said in reference to the upcoming polls: “With a change in administration comes a change in political atmosphere. I am 100 percent sure that I will be out of detention.”

Asked about the general’s plans,Chanel Handbags, Villar said “the more choices for our people, the better.”

“I don’t see anything wrong with his plan…. People know that he has a case so if they will vote for him, it shows that they like him despite that,” Villar added.

He said his party, the Nacionalista Party, was open to including Lim on its slate but the decision to join would be the general’s.

“I am not discounting that possibility but that’s one thing that General Lim has to decide on. But I see that he is a good general. The party’s door is open for him,” said Villar.

Honasan said Lim must back his intentions with a clear platform.

“He has to have a clear program and plan for the nation,” said Honasan, also implicated in the 2003 Trillanes-led mutiny and leader of bloody coup attempts during the administration of President Corazon Aquino.

Will he support a Lim candidacy?

“In his program, if it’s worthy, not in him as a person, because I know him. He was upright when he was in service. I’m sure he can serve the country very well,” said Honasan.

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