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!).