I bought floor seats to the Lakers-Jazz game!

Or something. I got my credit card statement in the mail yesterday and it had two fraudulent transactions with Ticketmaster totalling more than 2,500 bucks. The card services help desk was actually pretty cool about taking the charges off my bill, but WTF? Shockingly, there were no other bogus charges on it.

Needless to say, I cut up my card and being sent another one.

Sticky, sour, fresh

There's fresh lemonade at gr/eats. No joke, I picked a bag full fruit off the tree this morning and delivered it to the official Giant Robot restaurant this afternoon.

Get it while it's cold.

ALF Sereno

Back in college, my roommate Brad had blondish-brown hair that flipped over on top and a good-sized nose. His sister teased him that he looked like ALF, and gave him a huge inflatable version that sat in our apartment. Somehow, friends of mine got the idea that I was a big fan of the sitcom, and started giving me ALF stuff that they'd find at thrift shops, garage sales, or dumpsters. A collection was born.


This morning I boxed up most of my ALF stuff and gave it away. When writing the press release for this weekend's Killing Time show at GR2, I found out that one of the artists, Matt Furie, is a fan of the puppet alien. He is now the owner of stuffed animals, hand puppets, lunch boxes, mugs, a board game, Halloween costume, trading card sets, and other stuff. I'm happy they have a new home.


My other reason to visit Matt--who is staying with Killing Time's other contributing artist, Albert Reyes in El Sereno--was to deliver postcards for the show. Appropriately, the artwork on the card has one of Matt's ALF-like creature on the left and a self-portrait by Albert on the right. We re-created the scene in Albert's studio-storage room.


For the art show, Matt and Albert are showing individual works, but they are also doing a number of collaborations. On the left is one of Albert's pieta-style illustrations; on the right is Matt's version.


See the unfinished piece in the background that Matt is holding? By the time art goes on the walls on Friday, it will be filled with people. Albert says the piece is influenced by Norman Rockwell, but Matt will deny it.


A closeup of a collab between the Bay Area and Socal artist friends.


Above, some of Albert's new solo stuff. I was too slow to shoot Matt's connecting piece, but it will blow you away when it's on the wall. I hope someone buys all of them so they don't get broken up.


Want a kitten? The Reyes household has a bunch. If you have a home, let Albert know at the art show opening on Saturday.


Matt painted on Albert's infamous backyard wall. Can you guess which one is his?


The garage houses pieces that are too big for Albert's room. The wall of TVs reminds me of The Man Who Fell to Earth or Destroying America.


Halloween is still five months away, but Albert has already begun construction of his backyard maze. Even in broad daylight, it was kind of scary.


Lunch at Shaker's in South Pasadena. We made the average age of the customers dip quite a bit. Matt's girlfriend Aiyana met a gal pal who whisked her away to do fun things while the dudes and Monique ran show-related errands like go to a T-shirt printing shop and Kinko's.

Albert was a hustling machine, not only inviting numerous senior citizens to Saturday's art show, but also inviting the highway patrol.


We parted ways at the Shaker's parking lot. I was glad I didn't have to follow Albert's car any more because he drives like a maniac.

Start of the century

Studies show that one of the best things you can do for your baby is sing to him or her. The rhymes, repetition, patterns, and vocabulary are good for the developing brain. I don't know any nursery rhymes, so I sing whatever I know that seems appropraite. It doesn't matter that I'm in key or remember all the lyrics; just trying makes a difference. At the moment, this is in high rotation... I swear Eloise digs it. When it's time for bed, she gets a different song.

Free premiere screening and reception!

Giant Robot is pleased to offer tickets to the U.S. premiere of The Children of Huang Shi. This is how the press kit describes the plot: "Based on real events, The Children of Huang Shi is a sweeping but intimate story set against war-torn China in the 1930’s. The film centers on a young English journalist (Jonathan Rhys Myers), an American nurse (Radha Mitchell) and the leader of a Chinese partisan group (Chow Yun-Fat) who meet in desperate and unexpected circumstances. Together they rescue 60-orphaned, children leading them on an extraordinary journey, across hundreds of miles of treacherous terrain, through snow-covered mountains and an unforgiving desert. Along the way they discover the true meaning of love, responsibility, and courage."

Hm. Sounds kind of like Hard Boiled to me! The special screening of this historical epic--which features not only Chow Yun-Fat but also Michelle Yeoh--takes place on Thursday, May 15 at 7:30 at the Landmark Theatres at the Westside Pavilion in West L.A. and will be followed by a post-screening reception. Talk about a cool, cheap date!

Here's the deal:
1. Send an RSVP to rsvp@bk-pr.com.
2. Indicate if you will be brining a guest.
3. You will receive an email confirming your RSVP.
4. Seating is not guaranteed and will be first come, first serve.


Thanks to Judy and all of our friends at Block-Korenbrot for hooking us up! (If you can't make this screening, check out the movie at a theater near you starting on June 23.)

The troop

This is how cool my family is. After my sister Angelyn and her husband Carlos drove up to my parents' house in Orange County, my niece tumbled out the car pushing a stroller with her two "babies." It seems she recently found two of my brother-in-law's Planet of the Apes action figures and started carrying them around. She puts them over her shoulder and burps them like infants. Ang strokes Zaius's mullet and beard and says, "Nice hair!"


Today was a dual celebration. Yesterday was my dad's birthday, so we had cake! We often get Cuban (Porto's), Hawaiian (King's), or Filipino (Goldilocks) dessert, but it's nice to have basic Chinese style once in a while. Not too sweet and totally light. My older niece Saoirse helped out with the candles. That's her dad/my twin brother with Ang and Lucia on the right.


And tomorrow is Mother's Day. So the moms went out to lunch in the afternoon while we dads stayed home with the girls. The funny thing is that while our spouses were away, each of us was so focused on the needs our respective daughters that we didn't really get to catch up or talk to each other that much. (Dad and my uncle, Tom, took off to pick up burritos from Chipotle)


Before we went our separate ways, we took some pictures of the moms and daughters. Happy Mother's Day, Wendy! I know the new gig is mentally taxing, physically draining, and all-around stressful, but I think you're doing an awesome job.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

My dad is the most easygoing, cool, and rocking guys I know. He snowboards in the gnarliest of conditions, reads GR from cover to cover, and attends concerts with me. Oh yeah, he's also as understanding, supportive, and caring as a parent can be.

Dad, if you're reading this, get the Especial at Don José tonight and I'll see you for lunch tomorrow!

Rescue 50, 51, and 52

Ever wonder what happens to magazines that aren't sold on the newsstands? They get returned to the distributer, shredded, and turned into bales for recycling. All the time, work, and money that is put into each issue vanish like a fart in the wind.


Luckily, our local distributor allows us go to pick up returns. Whew! Our magazine has a freakishly high sell-through rate, but the leftovers are precious to us nonetheless.

Crazy little thing called astrophysics

I almost had a sheer heart attack when I was listening to NPR this morning. Queen member Brian May was at the Griffith Park Observatory this week for the dedication of a seat in his honor. It turns out the glam guitar god is an astrophysicist who just wrote a book, Bang! The Complete History of the Universe. He is the champion!

Wharf speed

One of the best things about having feet somewhere between size 8.5 and 9 is that I can wear sample shoes. Sometimes, I get hooked up by friends in the business, like I did with these Fall 2008 Wharf shoes from IPATH. The company emphasizes sustainable materials, and I even have a couple pairs made of hemp.


Not this one, though. As in previous editions of the model, there are a ton of nice features like exposed stitching, inside-out seams, and tabs. But instead of looking tech, I think the look is classic. The snaps in the back remind me of old, nice luggage that you might find at an estate sale.


Of course, all that stuff means nothing if you can't skate in it. The soles are vulcanized. There isn't a ton of cushion and padding, but this probably isn't the shoe for gnar-gnar sessioning. It's more like the shoe that will allow you to skate to an event or allow you to mix some riding into a schedule where you want to dress up a little.



The image below is not my tribute to Georgia O'Keeffe but a close-up of the little stash pockets hidden under the tongue. All IPATH shoes and pants have this feature, which might be useful for those who partake in irie-promoting, concert-enhancing, hunger inducers.


Me? I've got the straight edge, but I definitely appreciate reggae. I matched the shoes with a T-shirt from Pressure Sounds--my favorite source of rare roots, rocksteady, and dub.


Fans might also check out this book from Roger Steffens, an old friend of GR and curator of the Bob Marley Museum. He's signing the book with co-author Peter Simons at Babylon Falling in S.F. on Sunday, May 10. Check out some amazing pics here.

Street seen

Some weird stuff I saw on the road today... A truck that couldn't make it under a bridge. This was in Century City, going west on Olympic. If I were the driver, I'd watch movies at the nearby theaters and surf the web at the Apple Store until traffic dies around 10:00 p.m. and then back up onto Avenue of the Stars.


On Wilshire in Beverly Hills. Not only are utility boxes off limits to sticker taggers and wheat pasters in this part of L.A., they're are also vacuumed! This is a two-person job; the guy probably has a feather duster or can of Pledge.

Came, Sawtelle, Conquered

I try to keep my trips to Sawtelle brief because I always end up folding T-shirts or buying things at the GR shops. But today I hung out for a while because Terence Yin was in town and wanted to check out the scene. He acts, sings, emcees, models, and does other stuff in Hong Kong, but these days he's concentrating on the Alivenotdead site. We talked about that, hung out, and also had lunch at gr/eats.


After lunch, I had to rush over to GR2 to be interviewed by the Reelz Channel website. With the Speed Racer flick coming out this weekend as well as star-filled Hollywood adaptations of Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Robotech, and Dragonball in the works, they wanted to put together a segment on manga and anime in the movies. I probably talked for 5 or 10 minutes and they started packing up. Fast! The crew gave me a thumbs-up, but you can be the judge. I'll put up a link when it goes live.


Afterwards I met up with Terence again. He's known for being a bad guy in the movies, but he's actually a softie who's into indie comics. He bought a bunch of stuff I recommended, including books by Gilbert Hernandez, Adrian Tomine, and Jeffrey Brown, as well as some T-shirts. Along the way, he might have picked up some digits, too. Effortless. The guy can't help it.


With my dad's birthday and Mother's Day coming up, I did some shopping, too. Need ideas for the latter? How about this or this? (I also bought some genmai cha from Safe & Save to go with the latter.)

Super food

I know how to make a decent dish or two, but I have to admit that often I'll just make a smoothie when I need a bite. It works for breakfast, after a run, or even dessert, and it's fairly healthy. It's also really easy to prepare.


I usually start off with frozen fruit. Trader Joe's is a great source, and Ralph's usually has a bunch on sale, too. Avoid the "mixed fruit" varieties because it usually costs more.


Sometime, I'll throw in some fresh fruit. I've been into oranges lately, but bananas work pretty well, too. Vanilla yogurt or soy milk works as well. If you want to be like Rocky, I guess you can put an egg in there. (Or was it Heaven Can Wait?)


Next, the juice. Usually, I have orange juice, but there were a bunch of other juices on sale last time I went to the market. I always make sure it's 100 percent juice, and not some phony fruit punch thing. This one is white grape-raspberry.


And this is where today's batch got interesting. Eloise didn't finish her bottle of mother's milk that I fed her this morning. I know how much effort Wendy puts into pumping it, and felt bad about dumping the remainder. So I poured it into the smoothie!


This is what it looked like before blending. (Thanks for the Magic Bullet, Dad!) You already saw what it looked like after. That was the first image, and you couldn't even tell there was a secret ingredient, could you? The taste? For such a small amount, it was really powerful--actually overpowering all that fruit. I can't even describe the flavor, but I could feel it waft through my nose after each sip. It's kind of flowery and kind of pungent, and not for everyone.

I doubt I'll put mother's milk in a smoothie again. Dan said that a friend of his used it as creamer in coffee, but I think it might be better suited for mixing into an omelet. Mabye brownies?

I wanna rock

Eric posted the Asia Society's "Why Asians rock" link the other day. It's funny because everyone else (from Sandra Oh to Steve Aoki to the dude from Survivor to Kumar) talks about politics, potential, and heritage, and I say something about being cheap. Oh well. Not sure how much I helped the cause--or GR, perhaps--but I was being honest.

After the montage, there are clips putting the spotlight on individuals, and people are encouraged to send their own videos. Here's what Eric said... Check him out wearing a suit in front of the American flag! Powerful stuff. He's standing in front of the famous wall of suitcases at JANM after a meeting.

5 for the price of 3

Stopped by Amoeba Music on Sunset this morning to use up some credit... Walked away with three new CDs... First of all, the domestic version of the new Boris album, Smile. I already bought the Japanese one, but this one has a different song order and completely different mixes. This self-produced version feels heavier and less pretty, but I'm only a couple tracks in. In the booklet, you'll find art by the band's biggest (but smallest) fan, Nene. I got one of the limited-edition of 3,000 that came with a bonus DVD featuring "three visually stunning Boris videos." This is only available from the Southern Lord label or Amoeba. If you buy it from Amoeba in Berkeley, you can get a wristband that will get you into a free after-hours show!


I finally get to hear The Night Marchers. I only need to say one word to sum it up: Speedo. Okay, maybe two more: John Reis. If you liked Drive Like Jehu, Rocket From The Crypt, and Hot Snakes, you're already buying the songs on iTunes. (Honestly, the packaging on the band's debut is rather minimal.)


Finally, there's the latest collection of Greatest Hits from Morrissey. I probably wouldn't have bought this if it weren't the deluxe version with a bonus disc including solo (non-Smiths) songs from last summer's performance at the Hollywood Bowl. I was there, and it was great! If you are a vinyl purist or hardcore fan with money to burn, there's also a double vinyl version out there somewhere.


Despite the fact that the Dodgers played a morning game and the Lakers don't play until Sunday, my listening is now set for tonight's drive home. Bring on the traffic.