O, Hai Kitty!

Last night I took a quick break from the Biennale Deux at the Japanese American National Museum to check out the opening of the Hello Kitty Birthday Celebration at Royal/T. Jamie from JapanLA put together an impressive lineup of artists for this themed group show, and I'm always down for an event with this much exposure putting a spotlight on talented folks.

I got there pretty early, talked smack with Bobby Hundreds when there was still room to stretch your legs, checked in with Buff Monster who had been there all day (and wowed the Sanrio Tokyo folks with his piece), found David of Vannen Watches who hooked up GR stores with a cool watch giveaway, and pounded some Hello Kitty wine when the girls in ill-fitting maid uniforms could still maneuver the rooms with trays of full champagne flutes. Of course... I also stayed for the melee... Can you find me in the crowd shot from boingboing.net?



(It's not that hard to find me. In this photo I am going through the flood of email entries for the David Choe print raffle. Get yours in before it's over, or before I throw my blackberry into the LA River. Whichever comes first.)

There were lots of celebrity sightings - probably more than I see in LA in 6 months - all there in 2 hours. Paris Hilton had a long shopping spree in the pop-up shop. Kimora Lee (Simmons still?) brought her daughters named after ethnicities and continents and dug on the Hello Kitty ride by Friends With You, but I'm cooler because Sam of FWY took me on a private ride with skampy and showed us how it worked (James Jean got the same treatment, but we already know I can't compete with that). I was reunited with my favorite on-the-scene reporter, James St. James. I got to wax nostalgic with Selene Luna about the fond memories I have of nights at the now defunct Parlor Club. She, to this day, is my favorite person to ever work an LA nightclub door. She always made you feel like she was happy to see you there, and that it was going to be a good night. Isn't that how it should be everywhere?

Other notables were Pete Wentz with his new haircut, internationally famous, genuinely nice guy who barely EVER gets mentioned on a GR blog, Joe Hahn, and 90's bigwig Dave Navarro. I'm sure there were tons of other people I should have noticed, but like one should do at any event, I spent time with my friends, and like any good Asian, I scored some awesome free stuff!! Check out my loot! You can follow the link to get a breakdown, if you're that into Hello Kitty swag.



I know everyone reading this is going to the GR Biennale at JANM tomorrow, but they have stuff going on tomorrow afternoon before our festivities start. There might not be any goodie bags for folks tonight at the official opening, but tomorrow afternoon, it's crazy non-stop fan day and they've worked pretty hard to come up with stuff you'll want to spend your money on. Check out the calendar of events. If you're freaky-crazy into Hello Kitty, there's something there for you over the next month, even if you're goth.



No, seriously, they're having a goth night. Maybe this guy will be there.

Oh my God, Shoes.

As I was taking a break from sorting out some emails for the David Choe print raffle, I hopped on Flickr to check out some pictures from the Biennale and the Hello Kitty party I went to last night. All that got hijacked because Allison Cole just did me in and made me break my shoe fast.

It's not fair... I've been really, really good about not buying new shoes. I only buy replacement riding boots now, not cute stuff, just stuff that gets worn out, covered in mud and horse poop, and needs to be replaced. But these.... I can't NOT own these...



You need to own them too! Check them out here:

http://www.zazzle.com/allisonillustration

But, do me a favor, buy one of her other fantastic designs so we don't have one of those awkward moments where we're wearing the same thing. Well, crap, don't worry about it, these are so great, I won't mind if you're wearing them too!

Yay for Keds for partnering with great artists to create an end product that gels with the artist's own design sensibility, and for creating something exclusive that's still somewhat affordable.

Yay for Allison to constantly creating quality work, whether it's original artwork (like the piece hanging at the Japanese American National Museum RIGHT NOW), creative illustration, or fun products that make the best gifts ever!

Okay, New Shoes, hurry up and get here!!!

Pictures on Walls

I think this work is absolutely gorgeous. There's something about it that seems so much more in tune with the space it's camping out in, and it's the kind of thing that I would venture out to see. If I came across it by surprise I would be delighted.



You will be able to see work like this soon. I wonder if it will be as magical under halogen lights as I imagine it is under the sun and moon? I think it will still be pretty special...

Fountain

Lots of us get those emails from people announcing their latest stuff - art, t-shirt, toys, books. Sometimes it's great and exciting, but most of the time it's people you don't well enough to get excited about and those emails get junked.

Today's notable email was from Seonna Hong. Not to be ignored, as not only is Seonna tremendously talented, but also a pretty swell human. She's a good person, and like most good people, has good people as friends. She and her BFF Sara Lov collaborated on a music video for Sara's "Fountain", off her recent release "Seasoned Eyes Were Beaming".

Enjoy this video. I love this song lyrically and musically. Seonna's touchingly intimate artwork is animated like paper dolls. They're like a world you made in your bedroom, alone on a rainy day when you have nothing to do but sit with your imagination.

Imagination can be a precious escape from solitude, or a terrible place to be... Sara, Seonna and Marco's vision is more in line with the former. I like that.

View it here on Sara Lov's YouTube page (and you can check out her other videos) or here:

Fountain from MARCO MORANDI on Vimeo.