Not My Ass-ault

I got an e-mail from Assualt! Design letting me know that they have a new Limited Ed. poster print available. It is the Shoe Tree print and runs a measly £10. That's pretty cheap for a print of this quality. And it's pretty cute, too. I'm not sure if they would want me to call their print "cute" but that's what it is.

At the other end of the spectrum, "fierce" as Tyra Banks would call it, is the Michael Lau Mr. Shoe (Sample) that Assault! Design created for the Mr. Shoe (Sample) exhibit at Maharishi's DPMHI Store in Soho, London. It is entitled Mr. Jeep (Sample) and looks pretty sweet! I'm not sure if the artwork for this show will be available for sale or if it is just for exhibit. I guess you'll have to go to the exhibit, which runs from November 26^th, 2005 through January 3^rd, 2006, to find out. However, to support this exhibition Michael will be releasing new Limited Ed. Mr. Shoe (Sample) figures and tee shirts, all exclusive to DPMHI. This UK show is the first stop of a Europe wide tour, with the next stop being Colette in Paris.

The last thing that I wanted to mention is that Kidrobot will be releasing the Huck Gee designed Don'yoku Dunny with a signing party at Kidrobot in San Francisco on December 1^st starting at 6pm. Only 2000 of these were produced, so I'm sure they will fly off of the shelves.

In a time long lost there lived a successful merchant by the name of Don’yoku. Successful being an understatement and the term merchant used very loosely. He was rumored to be one of the country’s highest ranking Yakuza. The proprietor of several acclaimed Geisha houses, it was said that Don’yoku’s real trade was his ability to balance his dealings with both the Yakuza and the country’s politicians, using each to keep the other in check.

Radical!

Racist Pencils

Okay, so today is Cool Hunting day, because they keep posting stuff over there that inspires me. Their most recent post, about Smencils, scented pencils made from recycled newspaper and made to smell like bubble gum, cherry, chocolate milk, cinnamon, cookie dough, grape, hazelnut latte, orange, peppermint, or root beer, reminded me of the recent episode of Drawn Together where Foxxy Love is busted for not having a Mystery Solving License and convinces Ling Ling to take the racially biased standardized test for her so she can go back to college. The villian in the episode, the Board of Education (literally a board), is trying to prevent minorities (particularly African-Americans) from doing well on standardized tests by creating menthol-grape flavored pencils which would cause African-Americans to eat their pencils and therefore not be able to complete the tests. Did the writers of Drawn Together know about Smencils (available here for purchase), or is this just one of those coincidences that you hear about occasionally in the news? Personally, I think this is a conspiracy. But then again, I am paranoid.

Nanoo Nano

Our friends over at Cool Hunting have just released their 2005 Holiday Gift Guide online and this year, unlike last year, it is free to the public (that means you!). I always enjoy reading Cool Hunting and often feel bad that I am occasionally so unoriginal that I have to steal post ideas from them. They are just that good. Anyway, one of my favorite items from their gift guide this year is an item that they got customized and are selling themselves. It is this Limited Ed. Cool Hunting Camo 4GB iPod Nano. I love my iPod, it has 15GB of storage on it and I have filled up about ten gigs so far, so I wouldn't be able to fit my entire music collection on the Nano, but that camo pattern is just so cool and the fact that there are only ten of them in existence makes me want it even more. The only thing I would worry about is whether the pink makes me look gay... or is it the bullwhip sticking out of my ass?

P.O.W.

I got an e-mail from Pictures on Walls about some new prints that they have in stock. First off is this super-dooper cool Limited Ed. Banksy Grin Reaper carriage clock print. Printed in an edition of only 300 and signed by the artist, this is one expensive piece of art at £400! Speaking of 400 pounds, it's Thanksgiving today, and that's about what I'm going to weigh after eating the two tur-duck-hens, lobster thermadore, seafood gumbo, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn souffle, etc. that we are having at my parent's house this year for the festive annual event. Our Thanksgivings are known far and wide for their entertainment value. Everybody always wants to come over and celebrate with us. This year it is going to be a little lonely around the table. We won't be having twenty people like we normally do. I think it is going to be a family-only affair for once. Maybe my mom invited some random stranger like she usually does.






Speaking of stranger (I am the king of segues), check out this Limited Ed. Eelus Shat-At print over at Pictures on Walls. Who wouldn't want their own pet At-At. I guess if you had to walk it every few hours it would get to be a pain in the ass. That's why I prefer cats to At-Ats. They come and go as they please. They crap in a box in the bathroom and cover it up so that it is less unsightly. If you let them go outside, they just poop out there and you don't have to even fuss with a litter box. At-At's have a tendency to poop all over the place and shoot the place up all the time. It's really annoying to come home and find out that your At-At has burnt the curtains to bits.



Speaking of burnt to bits (see, what did I tell you?), Maharishi in London is having a Winter Sample Sale December 1^st throught the 4^th at the Atlantis Bridge Gallery and December 8^th throught the 11^th at the Maharishi Showroom. Address information is on the flyer below and you can get info on Maharishi's website at www.emaharishi.com or by dropping them an e-mail at info@emaharishi.com.

Tweak It Baby!

Well, I sold another one of my toys today! I'm pretty stoked about that. That brings me a little bit closer to being able to pay my rent and bills for next month. Come on people, dig down deep into your pockets and help a brother out. Any little bit will help. Now that I have gotten that formality out of the way, I received an e-mail from Moog Music today about an exciting new item they have for sale. It's this Limited Ed. Tweak It 'Til It HZ t-shirt. The Moog's tweakin' ability is one of the reasons it is my favorite keyboard manufacturer. I love twiddlin' those knobs. There's nothing better than tweakin' the cutoff and resonance while holding a chord. What a lovely, psychedelic sound. I did a little knob tweakin' over at Cameron's apartment last night, helping Danny and Matt with some musical inspiration. I left at around midnight, but I'm sure those guys were up until the wee hours of the morn' working on music.

For those of you who are not interested in purchasing one of my toys for your holiday gift, check out the new Limited Ed. Kidrobot 08 Tengu vinyl figure. These figures are very different looking than the rest of the Kidrobot vinyl figures, but just as cool. I especially like the long-nosed mask that the little guy is wearing. It reminds me of that scene in Eyes Wide Shut where Tom Cruise checks out the naked sex party. I love that scene. I can't remember the last time I was at a party like that. Anyway, there is a purchase limit of one Kidrobot 08 figure per person per day, so they will probably sell out quickly. They come in orange (pictured), black and blue. Hot!

Whah?!

Alright, I'm back! I got a job for the next two weeks answering the phone at the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce. Sounds exciting, doesn't it? Anyway, I have sold one of my toys that I posted about earlier, but the other five are still up for bidding, so get your holiday gift from me now. I need the money!

Speaking of money, check out this dope(?), wierd product idea from the wonderful chip-makers at Intel. It's a Fender Telecaster with a Centrino-based tablet PC built into the back, called the 'surf guitar'. Wow! What the hell is the point of this thing? According to Pocket-lint, "the ‘surf guitar’ is the world’s first to allow you to download and playback your favourite riffs from the Internet without touching the strings, so you can sound like Bo Diddley while doing diddly-squat." Now you too can form a band without knowing how to play an instrument, just like Green Day! Sweet! I just wish I had heard about this before I bought my guitar. Of course, it is just a concept design.

Mo' Money!

Well, I had a little success selling one of the items that I put up on e-bay, so I have decided to put a few more toys from my collection up for bid. First of all, I am selling my Limited Ed. Futura U.N.K.L.E. Nosferatu vinyl figure by Medicom. These figures were limited to 500 pieces each and are so cute and cuddly. Don't you want to buy it? Sure you can get it at Kidrobot, but my reserve price is cheaper than their price, so buy it from me instead.


Second, I have put up a couple of my Club Mez exclusive figures. The first one is the Limited Ed. Hoodz Vapor Club Mez Exclusive Remix vinyl figure by Mezco. This figure is also limited to 500 pieces and is only available to Mezco Club Mez members (sorry, it's sold).


And lastly I have my other Club Mez exclusive figure, the Limited Ed. Hoodz Letterman Club Mez Exclusive Remix vinyl figure. Again, limited to 500 only Club Mez members. I need money, y'all. I got a new job starting next week, but it is only for two weeks, and next week is Thanksgiving, so it isn't even an entire week. So help me out people. Buy a toy. Enjoy it. Love it. Take it out of the package like I never could because I'm the kind of nerd who doesn't like to devalue his toys by actually touching them.

I Need Money!

I apologize once again for not posting anything in the last few days. I am currently out of work, so I don't have a regular place to post from. Unfortunately, at my apartment, I don't have my own internet connection and have to rely on the shoddy wireless connection of one of my neighbors.

Like I said, I'm currently out of work, so I need money! In order to get some money, I have put a portion of my extensive Limited Ed. toy collection up on e-bay for sale. All of these items are mint and still in their original packaging. I wouldn't be trying to sell them otherwise. They would also make excellent stocking stuffers with the holidays coming up.

The first item I have up for auction is this Limited Ed. 12" Three Zero 3003 Trooper. This figure is number 13 out of 100 made and was only available at the Three Zero 3003 Exhibit in Hong Kong in 2003. Three Zero is a Hong Kong based clothing company, but has gone out of business, so these figures are extremely rare and collectible. If you can find one for cheaper, buy it! (Too late, I already sold this item!)

Next, I have a couple of Limited Ed. Michael Lau figures up for auction. The first one is this Limited Ed. 6" Gardener 070 Stereo vinyl figure. Again, this figure is mint, still in the box, never opened, and is extremely rare and limited to only 500 figures. (D'oh! I sold this one too!)

And finally, I have this Limited Ed. 6" Gardener 094 Four Guilty Gardener 474 vinyl figure up for auction. This figure features the same stats as the other Michael Lau figure I have up for auction. Neither of these figures is available from Ningyoushi or Kidrobot anymore (sumbitch retracted his bid). They are both extremely rare and hard to find. Hopefully I will be able to sell all of these items so I can make some money while I am out of work. I have a few more figures that are still in their packages that I am planning on putting up on e-bay if I can sell these guys. Also, if any of my readers would just like to contribute to my bank account, just drop me an e-mail.

Anyway, now that I have advertised my own items, here is something I'll advertise for someone else. I got an e-mail today from the Alife Rivington Club letting me know that they have new A.R.C. New Era fitted caps available. These Limited Ed. caps are pretty sweet for only $40.⁰⁰ and come in five different colors. The caps can be mail-ordered by sending an e-mail request to info@rivingtonclub.com.

And finally, I just wanted to say R.I.P. Eddie Guerrero. For those of you who don't know, Eddie Guerrero, a.k.a. Latino Heat, was a very popular professional WWE wrestler who passed away Sunday night from an apparent heart failure. Eddie will be greatly missed by wrestling fans everywhere. I watched part of WWE Raw last night and was moved by all of the tears shed by Eddie's fellow wrestlers. Viva la Rasa!

Children, Rabbits, So Far, No Good

Sorry for no posts yesterday, kids. I ran into cousin Thomas while I was checking the web from Weaver Street Market, because my neighbor's wireless connection is running really slow right now and I am having trouble posting from home, and ended up talking to him instead of writing a post. So, to make up for it, here's some info about the new exhibit that is starting tomorrow night at Wootini:

Hey kids,

Just a friendly reminder...tomorrow night is the opening for A.D. Puchalski's "Dark Children and Rabbits from Another Place" and Sam Fout's "So Far, No Good". Come see the wonder of Aunt Tessie's apartment, and marvel at what she's crammed in here!

Opening begins at 7pm and goes until 12am. Music by Family and refreshments by Wootini. Lots of extra bonus stuff with this show...not to be missed!

And, just to keep you kids entertained, Anne sent me an e-mail today that reminded me of an old Saturday Night Live skit about Action Cats a toy I still wish someone would produce. Action Cats, for those of you who didn't watch SNL in the early nineties, were little plastic armor suits with real firing plastic missiles that you put on your pet cat. My favorite was Stego-Puss! The kitten dressed in the Mini-Mite armor was really cute, too. The cats in the commercial looked like they were really being tortured. It was hilarious. I wanted one of them to scratch one of those kids' eyes out. Now that would have been funny! Collect all 22 Action Cats. Including: Skela-Kitty, Laser Gal, Cat-Atomic, Spider-Cat, and all the rest!

Also, check out the new Music Hurts website for all of your new music news needs.

Yummy Kicks

Sorry for no posts yet today all three people who read my blog. My temp job ended yesterday, so I am back to pounding the pavement looking for employment. Okay, maybe not yet, but I will start pounding the pavement tomorrow, when my back is fully recovered. The nice thing about not working is that I get to see Anne. She graciously took me out to lunch this afternoon. That was so nice of her. She wanted to make me feel better after my bad day yesterday, and it worked. My back is feeling much better now. Anyway, I got an e-mail from Ron Dijon about these delicious looking Al Cabino Swiss chocolate Nike Vandals. Apparently inspired by Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, these one-of-a-kind, sweet (literally) kicks are on display at Colette in Paris. According to the MTV website, they're priceless... and delicious!








Also cool on the MTV.com Collectibles web site is this Bape x Nigo x Jacob the Jeweler five time zone watch. For a mere $13,000 this puppy is a veritable bargain, especially when compared to the chocolate sneaks. I think it's funny that Jacob the Jeweler has become famous for making jewelry for celebrities. It's like if Snoop Dogg's weed dealer became famous. Hey, it could happen.

Tennis Anyone?

I just stood up and my back popped and now I feel a little better. I wish I could have gotten it to do that a couple of hours ago. Oh well. At least I feel like posting something Limited Ed. now, even if it is just a link to some pictures over at Freshness of the new Limited Ed. Alife x Reebok Court Victory Pump - "The Ball Out". When it's warm outside, I like to walk around with my "Ball Out". Get it? Hilarious! These hand-made kicks feature tennis ball felt all over, the Reebok pump system and Hexalite soles. They also have the Alife logo stitched into the side and come with a badge expounding the benefits of Reebok pump technology. These sneaks are limited to 48 pairs and will only be available from Alife. These are the first in a three product collaboration between Alife and Reebok. I'm sure all of the products will be equally as cool and hard to get your hands on.

I've got to give it up for Freshness because I got an e-mail from them this morning informing me that I am one of the winners of their Nike Invincible contest. Awesome!

Suggestions

I woke up this morning and my back hurt so bad I couldn't get out of bed for half an hour. I tried stretching, some light yoga, but I could barely touch my toes. I took some Advil, but my back is still killing me. I made it into work, but I could barely walk the eighth of a mile from where I parked to my office. I will post some Limited Ed. stuff later when my back feels a little better. If anyone out there has any suggestions of what I should do to alleviate the pain, I would greatly appreciate it.

For those of you who don't know, I fell off of a motorcycle and broke my third lumbar vertebrae in 1993. It's twelve years later and it still causes me intense pain occasionally.

I Love Mochi!

Anne just reminded me of something I forgot to mention this morning. Something that she is actually wearing today. Something that was my birthday present to her yesterday. It is this Limited Ed. I Love Mochi! t-shirt that I have available right now in my Limited Ed. Cafe Press Shop. If you haven't already, check out all of my other super-spiffy designs as well. Mochi, for those of you who don't know, is a type of Japanese ice cream with a chewy candy coating. I submitted the I Love Mochi! t-shirt to Threadless, but they rejected it, those little punks! So, I had to produce it myself. I think I'm going to start submitting t-shirt designs to La Fraise now instead of Threadless. The French love me! I'm like a younger, hairier Jerry Lewis, but funny. Glaven!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I never realized how many cool different styles of Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars there were. Damn! Gotta' catch 'em all!

New Toys, Bub!

My favorite cigar-chompin', trash-talkin', pint-sized Marvel mutant, Wolverine, has got his own Limited Ed. 12" Real Action Hero figure by Medicom. How come nobody told me about this?! I had to learn about it while surfing around Action HQ when I was bored at work. Come on people, y'all gotta' keep me updated on these things. I knew about the 12" RAH Venom and the 12" RAH Carnage. I had even heard about the 12" RAH Spiderman, but I hadn't heard about Wolverine or hey, check this out, it's Spiderman in his black alien costume, my other favorite Marvel superhero, available for pre-order. You can't get much cooler than that. My favorite DC superhero being Superman of course. Anyway, now that I've demonstrated how mature I can be, I've got a couple of other things to take a look at.

First off are these Limited Ed. Big Daddy Roth Rat Fink figures that they have over at Ningyoushi. I thought the Rat Fink was the coolest thing when I was a kid. I loved how gross and distorted he is, especially when posed in a gear-shreddin' hot rod. I also really liked Garbage Pail Kids, so that again demonstrates my level of maturity. They have several different flavors of Rat Finks over at Ningyoushi.

And, lastly, because I'm going old skool here, take a look at these Limited Ed. Converse Chuck Taylor All Star Roll-Downs with built in leg warmers. Perfect for the cold weather that has descended upon us here in Chapel Thrill. Canvas Chucks just don't cut it in the winter. Speaking of which, check out these Chuck Taylor All Star boots. Speaking of boots, I'm going to have to bust mine out pretty soon. At least it's still warm in the afternoon. Hey, that rhymed. I'm a poet, I know it.

Hanukkah Rocks!

I know it's a little early for this, especially since Hanukkah starts on Christmas day this year, but I just received an e-mail from JDub Records about the newest addition to their family, The Leevees, and their latest album release, Hanukkah Rocks. According to JDub, "The LeeVees are the brainchild of Guster's Adam Gardner and the Zambonis' Dave Schneider and formed around a shared concern of the lack of solid Hanukkah tunes." Every song on the album is a Hanukkah tune, and JDub has called the release, "an instant indie-pop Hanukkah classic." The Leevees will be opening for Barenaked Ladies beginning November 28^th and will headline JDub's Jewltide in New York and Boston at the end of December.

Das AFX

On a foggy October Monday 10 years ago, in Sheffield [England, duh], Warp records quietly released Aphex Twin a.k.a Richard D. James' 'Hangable Autobulb' project in it's original 2 E.P form. Much speculation surrounded this mythical release as only 1000 pressings were ever made on vinyl. Of course, in 1995, information wasn't as commonly shared on the worldwide web and so many enthusiastic punters didn't get to hear these strange beats. These were the first releases that marked AFX's experimentation with the dynamics, speed and programming that had evolved through the UK jungle scene morphing it into something entirely alien or rather, something entirely Richard D. James. This sound is one which many now find synonymous with Aphex Twin, defined by the landmark 'Richard D. James' album, even though 'Hangable Autobulb' was first to introduce it. The rest is musical history.

Along with Alec Empire and Squarepusher, Richard D. James, a.k.a. Aphex Twin, is one of my favorite electronic musicians. I appreciate his twisted, demented, dented and inventive sound. It sounds like what is going through my head when everything is still and quiet. Well, everything except for the rattling of the heater, the sound of passing cars, the hum of the computer, the buzz of the fan, the ticking of the clock, the click-clack of hard shoes on linoleum outside of my office door, etc. All of which actually sounds a lot like an Aphex Twin song. If you can find an original vinyl pressing of Hangable Autobulb or if you got one when they originally came out, consider yourself amazingly lucky. This is one fine piece of very Limited Ed. vinyl. And now anyone can own it on CD.

Also very Limited Ed., but plastic and not vinyl (like some toys are), is this carded Boba Fett Kubrick over at Ningyoushi. This was only available at the BAPE Gallery in 2003 and features the look of the original Kenner Boba Fett packaging. For $350.⁰⁰ this little guy better be extremely rare and hard to get! Also, at that price, you better keep it mint in the package. I just wish my parents hadn't sold all of my old Star Wars toys at yard sales when I was a kid. I got so mad one time, I went over to the kid's house who bought my Snowspeeder and smashed it, so he couldn't play with it either. That was awesome! I am so proud of myself for that! Those were the days. I'd go apologize to the kid, but I heard he eventually went to Princeton or Harvard or some such ivy-league school and is probably making a ton of money now, so I don't feel so bad about it. See, Karma dude, Karma. It really does work!

That's Munny, Yo!

Kidrobot will be hosting the Munny show in all of their various locations, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, tomorrow. You must RSVP to get into the show because with all of the great artists and celebrities that will be represented with their own customized version of Kidrobot's Munny character space will be limited. Proceeds from the show go to benefit children affected by hurricane Katrina. The list of artists and celebrities is too long to publish here, but you can see some examples of the work that will be shown on Kidrobot's Munny discussion board. Munnys will also be available to the general public for customization. It should be a good time for all who attend. Unfortunately, I am nowhere near LA, San Fran or NYC, so I will not be attending. Plus, I have something much, much more important planned for Thursday, November 3^rd.


On a completely different note, my brother just sent me a book recommendation that I felt needed to be passed along. It's Jonathan Lethem's book The Fortress of Solitude. According to my brother, it is all about "tagging in NY and Brooklyn in the 70s, and comics, and Pumas." Three of my favorite subjects. Amazon.com gives it a slightly different interpretation.

Projected through the prism of race relations, black music and pop art, Lethem's stunning, disturbing and authoritatively observed narrative covers three decades of turbulent events on Dean Street, Brooklyn.

Sounds good to me. The next time I am at the library I will have to pick up a copy. Yeah, right, like I've ever been to a library! Alright, so the next time I have a few bucks to spare, I'll go on Amazon.com and purchase a copy of the paperback. It's going for $10.17 right now. That's cheap!

Scary Ghosts & Ghoulies, Part II

Last night, for the Halloween festivities, I went to a party over at Mac's house. From there, several of us walked up to Franklin Street to enjoy the craziness that always ensues on Halloween. Here are some pictures from the event:






I hope I didn't scare ya' too much! What a wild night. I barely remember it. I'm just glad I didn't suffocate in that scary clown mask.