Only Ten Copies?!

I received an e-mail from my broseph today letting me know that he has finally put the finishing touches (yeah, right) on his film The Cool Season for submission to the Sundance Film Festival, which is a good thing since today is the final day for submissions. Here's a picture of the DVD cover that he sent me:

I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of the movie. Unfortunately, he only made ten of them, so it might be a little difficult. I'm trying to get him to send me one so that I can make Limited Ed. bootlegs of it and sell it on the streets of Chapel Hill. That would finally make up for the fact that he killed my Stretch Monster (Stretch Armstrong's enemy) when I was three.

Giger Guitar

So I decided to spend part of my tax return, which I finally received last Friday, only seven months after I was supposed to get it, on a new electric guitar, something that I haven't had since I was about sixteen years old. And even then, I think I had a used acoustic guitar, and I had to share it with my brother. I shared it with my brother until he restrung it to be a right-handed guitar and started taking lessons at Pearson music in Durham, which is coincidentally where Jon works, who will be ordering me the new guitar. My brother did do a mean rendition of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here, though, and for that he could keep the guitar. I think that very same guitar was stolen from his house in Thailand in 1998 along with several pieces of priceless jade and his puppy-dog. Or else he might still have it, I don't really know. Anyway, now that I have gotten way off track, I decided that I would check out some Limited Ed. guitars while I was waiting for my new guitar to arrive. First off, there's this almost cool Limited Ed. H.R. Giger Ibanez guitar:



It would be so much cooler if it had some texture to it like one of Giger's Limited Ed. sculptures. Oh well, like the Rolling Stones say, "You can't always get what you want." If Giger is a little too dark for your band, you might want to consider this Limited Ed. Felix the Cat guitar:



It's slightly less expensive than the Giger guitar, but it is acoustic and the Giger is electric, and I want to be able to plug into my Roland Micro-Cube and make some serious noise. Now here's a guitar I could really get into, the Limited Ed. Gibson Playboy Playmate guitar:



It's too bad it's not shaped like a playmate, although that might be a little distracting while trying to play it. Gibson also has a Limited Ed. Playboy Bunny-head guitar:



This thing would definitely be difficult to play. And lastly, since I am left-handed, here's a guitar Mac would appreciate me playing, I'm sure. It's a Limited Ed. Left-handed Ovation USA flag acoustic guitar:



This purty little thang just makes me want to stand up and salute. God bless America!

Well Wonk My Willy!

My favorite Limited Ed. toy website, Ningyoushi, has a couple of new toys for pre-order up today. First off, there's this cool new Limited Ed. 12" Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka by Medicom figure:



This little guy looks almost exactly like Johnny Depp in his Willy Wonka persona. Pretty freakin' sweet! I would have gotten one for Cameron (a.k.a. the poor man's Johnny Depp) for his birthday if it had come out last week, didn't cost $190.⁰⁰, and was going to be shipped before February of next year. Oh well, if Cameron wants one, he'll just have to pre-order it for himself.

Ningyoushi also has available for pre-order the Limited Ed. 12" Darth Vader from Episode III Real Action Hero by Medicom figure:



He's all burnt and crispy just like Hayden Christensen is. Speaking of which, Hayden will apparently be starring in a film called Awake next year. I wonder if we at 301 Films can sue their asses for ripping off the title from our 2002 Georgetown Independent Film Festival Award-winning film AwAke. Sons of bitches!

BTW: Mac, the 301 Films website seems to be undergoing some problems, you might want to check it out.

Elk Photo Show

I received an e-mail from Maharishi (Hardy Blechman perhaps?) about the upcoming Elk Photographic Exhibit:



Tomorrow, Friday, September 30^th, 2005, one night only! The location will be up on the Pictures on Walls website in the News section tomorrow before the start of the show. So if you are going to be in London's SOHO from 6 to 9 pm tomorrow, check out the website for the location and then check out the exhibit. And send me some pictures here in North Carolina, a million miles from any such cultural experience.

Paul Smith Triumph

Josh Rubin over at Cool Hunting has just posted about some cool new Limited Ed. items from Paul Smith and Triumph (the motorcycle company, not the insult comic dog). Here's the scoop:

Keeping it Brit, favorite fashion designer Paul Smith has teamed up with the classic motorcycle manufacturer Triumph. The collaboration will yield a Triumph branded denim and t-shirt line in addition to Paul Smith styled motorcycles. Only 100 of the Bonneville T100 bikes will be available, each numbered and featuring a P.S. design.

You can check out the Paul Smith Triumph clothing collection here and the Triumph motorcycles here.

(I really just posted this to get those last two offensive headlines off of the top of my page.)

Smokin' Gay Empire

Kidrobot has some interesting new toys on their website. First of all there's this Gay Empire Stormtrooper figure:



Apparently this is NOT a toy, but an art object, and your satisfaction is NOT gauranteed! It was produced in Chinatown in New York City, so they are NOT Limited Ed., there are probably a gazillion of them, and "quality may vary." I really appreciate the fact that it is produced by Suckadelic. You know what they say, "You can't beat a good Suck... adelic!"

Speaking of Suckadelic, Kidrobot also has the cool new Limited Ed. Blunt Manana Banana vinyl figure:



And the Limited Ed. Rizla Manana Banana vinyl figure:



This little feller also comes in a glow-in-the-dark version. Smokin'! I'm not sure why they are holding bananas, but they make me wanna' roll one up right here at work. Of course, I don't have anything to roll up or roll with, and I'm sure the doctors around here wouldn't appreciate that sort of thing. Or maybe they would. You never know with doctors these days.

There are a few more new toys on Kidrobot worth a mention, such as the Limited Ed. Zombie Batalion figures, which are limited to 200. There is also a Reebok version, limited to 300, and a Tado version, limited to 100. And last but not least, new Limited Ed. KAWS Companion 5 Years Later vinyl figures that run five hundred bucks a piece, damn! They also comes in brown and grey. No mention of how many there are, but I'm sure there aren't many if they made them that expensive. I'm sure Kidrobot has more new stuff I haven't seen yet, but that's enough for now, and enough to break the bank.

Looking 4 Poonanie

I haven't seen this anywhere else yet (except eBay), but W.H.Y. Web Shop has a picture (with the new Lamball figure) of the new Limited Ed. Michael Lau figure Haseem:



I have seen the original "Hasheem" figure, with his classic "Looking 4 Poonanie" shirt, but did not know about this figure and don't know why the name is spelled differently. They have it here on eBay. I still can't figure out why they would misspell the name, though.

Update: They also have the new Crazysmiles Football Hooligan 043 figure and the new Crazysmiles Lamdog Football Hooligan 094 figure on eBay.

New OQO

So I finally got some e-mails with some information about some new shtuff to buy on the interweb thingy. I'm not sure if these are Limited Ed., but they are super-cool and they just got an upgrade, so I have to mention the new OQO Model 01+:



This is definitely the ultimate Pocket PC with an upgraded 30 GB hard drive (the previous model had 20 GB's), twice the ram of the previous version with 512 MB, and USB 2.0 (new for this model). The nice thing about a new version is that the old version came down in price by four hundred bucks. Now if they would only make one that runs on the Mac OS.

In other news, my third favorite Limited Ed. toy website (sorry Oobase), My Plastic Heart, has finally got in stock the Limited Ed. Tokyo Plastic Opera Dude figure:



Isn't he a cute little feller? Just makes you want to eat him right up, don't it? I'm not sure how my digestive system would handle that much vinyl, though. Especially after eating all those records last week. Yummy!

R.I.P. Don Adams

One of my comic heroes, Don Adams (1923-2005), star of Get Smart and Inspector Gadget, passed away today at the ripe old age of 82. I remember seeing Get Smart on Nickelodeon well before Inspector Gadget was on TV. I used to love the beginning of the show where Mr. Adams, as Maxwell Smart, went through the long, involved process of entering the secret spy organization, CONTROL, by entering a phone booth that led to a stairway and a long hall full of different doors. It almost reminded me of Superman going into a phone booth to change into his costume. There are many Limited Ed. items based on the Get Smart TV series. You can find a pretty comprehensive list here. My favorite, of course, is the shoe phone. Mr. Adams will be missed.

Update: Jon informed me last night that apparently Don Adams was also on a short-lived TV series in the mid-80's called Check it Out about the misadventures of a supermarket staff. I don't remember this one at all, probably because it was a Canadian TV show that aired on CTV.

Friday! Party Time!

            

It's Friday everybody... anybody... is there someone out there... reading this... watching me... or am I just paranoid? I'm not paranoid if they really are out to get me, right? Anyway, enough of this mumbo-jumbo... I want some gumbo! Too bad New Orleans is about to be wiped off the face of the Earth. I wonder if they will be prepared in time for this hurricane. Speaking of time (nice segue), I'm counting the minutes until Cameron's birthday and Mike's going away party tonight! It's going to be sooooo fun! Although it does sadly remind me that I missed Seth's birthday party last Friday night in NYC. That's the way the gookie cookie crumbles, I guess. Anyway, this post is going nowhere fast. Time to make up for it, quick! I got nothing. Somebody send me an e-mail about something cool. I have to get presents for Cameron and Seth. Are y'all reading this?

I Could Do That

Our good ol' buddy Josh Rubin over at Cool Hunting has got some pics of the new Limited Ed. Sinko Trace Vans by Seth Brau:



Apparently Seth stopped by Cool Hunting HQ to discuss shoes, film school and life in New York, and busted out a pair of the kicks in 45 minutes. I need to get myself some blank Vans and a box of fabric markers and start doodling my own sneakers to sell on the internet at a slightly inflated price. You can order the Sinko Trace Vans here, or you can get Seth's previous Limited Ed. shoes, the Five Three Vans:



I wonder if my brother knows Seth Brau. They both went to film school in New York. Wouldn't that be a small world?

BTW: Happy Birthday Shlomo Shlockenberry, wherever you are (Durty Thurty 09.19.05)!

Rrrrr! I'm A Robber!

My second favorite Limited Ed. toy website (sorry My Plastic Heart), Kidrobot, just recently released their most latest Kidrobot vinyl figure variant, Kidrobot 6.5 Gimme Edition by Ewok:



I love it when a toy is adorable and kinda' scary at the same time, and this Kidrobot figure fits the bill... and then steals it. Derp! You can check out Ewok 5MH's work here. It doesn't say how many this feller is limited to, but the Kidrobot figures are always Limited Ed. Speaking of which, Kidrobot also has the new Limited Ed. UnklBrand Hazmapo Red Cyclops Comic Con Edition vinyl figure:



Whew, that's a mouthful! These guys are limited to 300 and are individually numbered. Supersweet! Jeez I'm a dork. Radical!

Skip The Life Fandango

My good friend(?), artistic cohort(?), man-boy love child(?), Skip Williamson sent me an e-mail(?), chain mail(?), mass mailing(?), letting me know that he has a new website up on the good ol' internet. From his humble beginnings in Underground Comix through his work for Playboy, Skip has muddled his drug-addled way through the "low-brow" art world. I really like the first paragraph of his home page:

During the summer of 2002 I was in a relationship with a woman that was fashioned primarily of drunken quarrelling in lieu of sex. Around 2am - after a bitter evening of inebriated malice and passionate recrimination - on my way to home and sanctuary I was pulled over by the Cobb County Police. I have no memory of the evening after midnight. Until I remember attempting to focus on how I would get back to something approaching normal from the doublevision that had Interstate 75 converging and veering off in dual opposing arcs. For a while holding my left hand over my left eye while steering with my right hand seemed to work. But in the end I chose to aim the car - as best I could - between the intersnaking yellow lines of the roadway and its doppelganger. After that I remember the blue lights flashing in my rearview mirror.

Sounds like a typical night out to me. I remember being fascinated by Skip's Playboy comics as a child rooting through my dad's hidden treasure trove of pornography in his bathroom bottom drawer. Ahhh... those were innocent times... that were quickly cut short when I discovered a copy of Hustler with pictures of a woman taking a dump on some guys face. Looking back on it, I'm sure it was just chocolate pudding, but at the time it shocked me to my core. Now that sort of thing is commonplace here on the good ol' dirty disgusting perverse internet.

I'm Batman!

Alright, so I guess it has been long enough since I posted a toy-related item. I've just been so busy with all of my self-promotion. Although it doesn't look good for my latest t-shirt design, at least based on the comments. It has made it further into the voting rounds than my previous t-shirt design, though. Anyway, on to what I'm sure everyone is much more interested in: toys!

My favorite Limited Ed. toy website (sorry Kidrobot), Ningyoushi, recently put up for pre-order on their site this magnificent looking 12" RAH Batman Begins figure:



It features the Medicom Real Action Hero figure body and looks pretty realistically like the movie version of the Batman character. Unfortunately, you are going to have to shell out two hundred buckeroos if you want one of these bad boy Christian Bale look-alikes. Oh well, maybe later, like when I win the lottery (coming to North Carolina next year!).

Waste Deep

Well, apparently my new t-shirt design for Threadless.com was good enough for them to put up for voting. Hopefully this one will make it the entire seven days without dropping below a 1.0 so that it can receive the full allotted voting time. This design is a little more serious than my last. This one was inspired by the tragedy that occurred recently in the southeastern U.S. caused by Hurricane Katrina. If it gets a high enough ranking and is actually printed, I will donate all prizes and proceeds that I receive from it to the hurricane relief effort. I hope y'all appreciate it. You can vote on it here:

A Book With My Name On It

Ningyoushi has a new item in their repertoire that I really appreciate, and this time it is not a toy. It is a new book, entitled Limited Edition: The Art of Packaging Design:



According to their website:

This book presents a new approach to a design discipline that is one of the most challenging. Packaging is to a product as a dwelling or clothing is to a human being: its first utility is protection, but it can also be used to display and convey the charm and characteristics of what lies within. Limited Edition is a collection created in recent years and it's full of fresh ideas that utilize an incredible variety of unusual shapes, dimensions and materials. Categories covered include clothes, shoes, cosmetics, food, books, CDs, DVDs, toys, and more, and there is an enlightening essay by Daniel Mason on Environmental Responsibility for Designers and Manufacturers. Limited Edition is the product of a collaboration between ten international designers that include Kazutomo Ryuko, SK Lam, Andrew Thomas, Shin Sasaki and Ann Kelly. Also features packaging design from Cardboy, Michael Lau, Devilrobots and more!

The book is 256 pages long and includes an incredible 550 color illustrations! I'm not sure if the book is a Limited Ed. print or if it is just the title of the book, but either way, I'd sure like to get my greasy mitts on one. That would show them!

BTW, what's with the crazy big border around the picture of the book cover? Weird.

iPSP

Engadget topped the chart today with their (ripped-off from Akihabara) coverage of the release of the pretty new white ceramic PSP:



I don't know what the big deal is about this thing being ceramic. I guess it means that you have to be even more careful not to drop it. It is a purty white color, though, and would match my iPod real nice. Oh yeah, and white is not a color, it is the absence of color. I'm not sure if this bad little puppy is a Limited Ed. piece or not, but I am sure the first batch of them will sell out pretty quickly.

Andrew Bell Exhibit

Alright, so my t-shirt design didn't go over very well. Apparently more people were disgusted by it then enjoyed it. It dropped below a 1.0, which is a terrible G.P.A., so it has been taken out of the running. Let's hope my next design fares a little better. Well, here's something that hopefully everyone can enjoy, some pictures of new stuff from the Andrew Bell exhibit at the Wootini Gallery:







Well, that's all for now. Hopefully my next t-shirt design will be ready to go soon so I can recoup my previous failure.

Pick'n & Sniff'n

So Threadless has decided to put another one of my designs up to be voted upon. This one is based on my last name, Grossman, and the ridicule I have received because of it. I hope you enjoy it and vote highly for it:



I can't type long, I have a new job at the UNC School of Medicine. More later.

I Love It, But I'm Not In Love With It

I know it's not Limited Ed. and I'm sure everyone already knows about it and has seen pictures of it and the commercial and it has already been gutted by some guys in Japan:



And although the new Apple iPod Nano is pretty damn sweet and comes in both classic white and new black:



And it already has some cool accessories:



But I already have a 15 GB third generation iPod and it does exactly what I need it to do, it plays music. And it is just as small and portable as I need it to be. It's great that Apple is coming out with all of these new products, but isn't it getting to be overkill. Especially with the Motorola ROKR phone with iTunes for Cingular:



When is Apple going to just come out with an all-inclusive device and be done with it? A beautiful, easy to use, large capacity, cell-phone, digital camera, mp3 player, and personal organizer with wi-fi and bluetooth all in one. It's about time, isn't it. I'm still using a hammer, chisel, and stone tablet to check my e-mail. Bastards! Or is it batards?

Badges! Badges!

We don't need no stinking badges! But if you need some badges, Assault! Design has your badges for you! I love exclamation marks! Anyway, check out the new Champion Reseller badge:



And the I Love 2 Q badge:



If you didn't already get it, Assault! Design is a British company, and of course "2 Q" refers to standing in line, or as they call it, in a queue. If you are a party or rave kid, this badge would be perfect to wear while waiting to get in to the party. Or rave. These badges are Limited Ed. but Assault! Design's website doesn't list how many they are limited to. It doesn't matter, they are only a pound a piece, so they ain't gonna' break the bank to get 'em while they're hot.

Speaking of hot, I got an e-mail this morning from Tokyo Flash letting me know that they have a new super-sweet Limited Ed. watch available. It's the amazing High Frequency watch by Equalizer:



Apparently it has taken over a year and has been re-engineered nine times for Equalizer to put this watch together. I really like the look of the black version of it, and for only $161.⁶³ it is a bargain. I'm sure these won't last too long. Tokyo Flash is only allowing people to buy two per person, unfortunately, 'cause I want like five of these to wear all up and down my arm like I used to do with Swatches in the '80's. Oh well, I won't be able to afford to buy anything until I get my tax return, which I filed in freakin' February and still haven't received yet because the stupid IRS has their heads up their asses! Oh, when they want money from you they're all like, "Pay me now or go to jail!" But when they owe you money, apparently they can take their sweet ass time paying out. Batards!

Apocalypse Now

As the Louisiana/Mississippi/Alabama apocalypse continues I sit comfortably in my padded ergonomic chair listening to a bunch of civil engineers discuss the destruction and looting. According to the rumors, a New Orleans Walmart was cleaned out, including all of the shotguns and ammunition, and vandals are now shooting at rescue helicopters and police. What were Nostradamus' predictions about the end of the world? Is there anything in Revelations about this disaster? My co-workers were discussing driving down to New Orleans to do some looting, but apparently gas is too expensive. If I had any money, I would contribute to the hurricane relief, but unfortunately I am as poor as a pauper. Actually, if I had money, I would cheer myself up by buying one of these hilarious Limited Ed. I Hate Clowns t-shirts. I especially like the Clowns are Humor Challenged t-shirt:



I also really like the glow-in-the-dark Can't Sleep Clowns Will Eat Me t-shirt:



Of course, I like anything that glows in the dark. I wish I had some Glow In the Dark Condoms. That would be so cool. I'm sure my girlfriend would appreciate that (apparently, she did not really appreciate my mention of that). I would be a lot easier to find in the dark, that's for sure. Speaking of girlfriends and Limited Ed. and art, one of my favorite low-life scum artists, Coop, has his own blog, the Positive Ape Index, which chronicles his painting process. Coop is known for his voluptuous sexy demon ladies, which I speculate may have been influenced by the ladies of R. Crumb's artwork. Coop is also, like myself, a huge fan of classic 1920's and '30's hot rods. Apparently he is friends with Mister Jalopy of Hooptyrides Blog fame. I guess I need to start painting pin-up girls so I can become friends with these fellers and start my own classic car collection. Well, I think I have ventured significantly away from my initial subject for this post, so I should probably get back to manning the phone and listening to engineers discuss hurricane destruction.

Update: I didn't realize it, but I had already blogged some Can't Sleep Clowns Will Eat Me panties. Just goes to show, I hate clowns and I repeat myself (lousy short term memory!).