The Party's Over, time to clean up!

"The Morning After" by Zina Saunders
Writer-Illustrator Zina Saunders is known for her quirky portraits based on current figures. She has recently collected her pictures of the McCain/Palin campaign in a 40 page full color book, "The Party's Over."

Zina says:

The website offers a preview of the first 15 pages of the book, and the actual book includes 25 more pages featuring 20 of my campaign paintings, all of which you can see in this gallery.

Let's hear it for Hope, Change and Progress!

I Can Has Bookz?!

Maybe you've seen them all up in yur computerz, messin' up yur vernacularz and overall grammar skillz. Or maybe you haven't. 

Allow me to enlighten you in case you're wondering WTF?

The fine folks at I Can Has Cheezburger, the ever so popular blog of kitties (or in LOLspeak, "kittehs") with ridiculous captions, have compiled 200 of their best pics into a book I Can Has Cheezburger?: A LOLcat Colleckshun. This hits all fine book retailers on Oct. 8, but you can pre-order it on Amazon for just $6. Yes, you can has books for cheapz! n_n

Party like a Super Hero!

For those who didn't get enough fun on July 24, the first day of the San Diego International ComicCon, comes the Superhero Live Music and Art Party, hosted by San Diego graphic agency Ninthlink and Murphy Art Books!

Make sure you're dressed up as your favorite superhero (or villian) because from 7pm to Midnight the free, 21+ event will happen at the Warehouse Space located at 1616 National Avenue, San Diego 92113. Among the featured artists' works include Anthony Lister, Jeff Soto, Joel Nakamura, Jen Lobo, Matt Stallings, Luke Chueh, Mark Todd, Esther Pearl Watson, Martha Rich, R.G., Peter Taylor (Handmade Feet), Andy Howell, Kathie Olivas, Chris Ryniak, Lola, Germs, Marco Wagner, Mark Murphy and many more. All of the art exhibited will also be available to be sold. Plus there will be plenty of finger foods and sushi plus Effen Vodka drinks, plus live music from the Modlins and DJs SSI.

Check out Ninthlink blog for more information:

Directions from the Convention Center:
Start by going SOUTHEAST on WEST HARBOR DRIVE toward SALIDA LOOP.
Turn LEFT onto SIGSBEE ST.
Turn LEFT onto NATIONAL AVENUE.
End at 1616 National Ave San Diego, CA 92113.

Sponsored by Effen Vodka, HiFructose, Ninthlink, Murphy Art Books.

Awesome art, booze, music, food, and superhero party-goers? Is there a reason not to go?!

~via Holiday Matinee & NinthLink

"So Good For Little Bunnies" Brandi Milne weekend gallery!

The always awesometastic Gallery 1988 LA will be having a special weekend engagement opening tonight, Friday the 13th (GASP!), featuring LA artist Brandi Milne's upcoming book "So Good For Little Bunnies!"


G1988 says:

In addition to viewing and buying the actual artwork, you can also pre-order the "So Good For Little Bunnies" book exclusively at Gallery 1988, and get an original drawing inspired by the book directly from the artist! The book is only $20 and you'll be the first to have it!

The show will only run through the weekend, closing on Sunday, so make sure not to miss it.

So if you're up in La La Land and are a fan of bunnies, cupcakes, ice cream, crazies or just plain 'ol amazing art it is definitely not to be missed!

Warning: be on the lookout for Cereal Killers!

Cereal Killers is an upcoming art book by Docktor Vicktor Von Kreep of Kreepsville Industries featuring some of the most prolific cartoon illustrators today that parody General Mills' spooky cereals like Count Chocula, Frankenberry, and Boo Berry!

Heres the description from Kreepsville Industries' Cereal Killer blog:

Kreepsville Industries presents Cereal Killers. A spooky, kooky coffin table cartoon art book that has been in the works since 2006. This creepy, crawly treat features over 70 terrorfying takes on some of your favorite breakfast cereal's, and some original ones by some of the top animation artists and illustrators from today!

Some of the artists among the many (click here for an exhaustive list with links, over 70 in all) will include Crhis Savino, Sandra Equhua, Eddie Mort, Bill Wray, Lili Chin, Gabe Swarr, Kup Kake, Steve Lambe, Miah Alcorn, Chris Reccardi, Dan Thompson, Richard Wake, Eric Tan and Rob Lily. Plus the forward will be written by Maxwell Atoms of "Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy" fame.

Some examples:


Martin Hsu & Jay Stephen


Lauren Faust & Chris Mitchell


Gabe Swarr & Kup Kake

Animation artists plus cereals plus spookiness equal awesome in my book. Get in the 'spirit' of things at idigcerealkillers.blogspot.com
& check out Von Kreep's Flckr photostream!

Guide to Uglyness

2008 is going to be quite an ugly year . . . I mean that in a good and very strangely cute way though. 

Uglydolls just launched their brand spankin' new site! Go around Uglytown with Babo and shop, read the blog, participate on the forum, download wallpapers and icons, and [coming soon] play games.

Also out right now are Cinko (who got a bit of a makeover) and Sun-Tan Target. Later on in the year, five new Uglydolls will be added to the family including Puglee, Ugly Ghost, Poe, Babo's Bird, and Plunko. All of these guys come straight from the pages of the Ugly Guides.

"What dat?" you ask? 

The Ugly Guides are a set of books (The Ugly Guide to the Uglyverse, Ugly Guide to Thing That Should Go and Things That Should Go But Don't) that'll show you the world of Uglydolls -- where they eat, what hospital they go to when they get boo-boos, where they go to get some R&R, and what each Ugly is all about. Those books will be released on April 22.

For more news on Uglydolls, be sure to check out their newly vamped site and co-creator David Horvath's blog.

Back L-R: Puglee, Ugly Ghost, Poe, Babo's Bird, and Plunko.

L-R: Cinko and Sun-Tan Target

Midnight Magic

As promised, here's a little something from the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Sorry for the delay, but that Comic Con sure did take a whole lot out of me... and I just downloaded the software to upload my pix to my computer =)

Being the dork that I am, I decided that I had to go to the Harry Potter midnight book release because it was the last book of the series. If I didn't go this time, there wouldn't be a next time and I didn't want to have any regrets. So I dragged rye-uhn-air-ick [it was reserved under his name] and we went to the Borders Grand Hallows Ball.
Let me back track a bit for some of you. To celebrate this momentous occasion, Borders had a Harry Potter party on the eve of July 20th that started from 9:00pm and went until midnight. Get into character and enter their costume contest. State your opinion in the Great Snape Debate or show off those Ravenclaw smarts in the Potter Spelling Bee. Unfortunately, we missed all the fun and games because we were coming back from out-of-town. However, we made it just in time to not win anything in the raffle...
The Borders I went to had all the festivities inside the mall and it was really odd seeing so many people there after business hours. We were given wristbands that were color-coded to indicate which group of people could line up first to get their books come midnight. I was in the second grouping but didn't get home until after 2:00am! Can't say I regret any of it though... just wish I was able to take better pictures. The lighting in the mall wasn't really that great.
And just 'cause, here's an exclusive Harry Potter tote bag the folks at Scholastic were giving away at the Con in San Diego. It's made of some sort of synthetic material and has the cover image from the recently released book printed on both sides (Harry on one, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named on the other.) People had to get to their booth early to get ahold of one of these babies! Luckily, I got one on the last day they were giving them out.

Until next time...


[all photos courtesy of carmeL]

I <3 Harry

Hey folks! So the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series was released this past Saturday, July 21st. I pre-ordered my copy and dragged rye-uhn-air-ick to the Grand Hallows Ball for Border's midnight release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. We didn't get home until after 2am and I've just spent the entire weekend reading the book - yes, I already finished it... I'm a dork.

I'll have my report on the Grand Hallows Ball later this week. I would have done it over the weekend, but I was a bit pre-occupied. Blame J.K. Rowling for writing such a great series... I just couldn't put the book down! If you haven't gotten your copy yet, what the hell are you waiting for?! Go to Barnes & Noble , Borders/Amazon, wherever and get it NOW! And if you haven't read any of the Harry Potter series... you're seriously missing out.

Until next time dorks...

Double Punch

In 2004, the online retail store Ningyoushi opened up shop with Double Punch in San Francisco. Before heading to the Shooting Gallery for the Shag show, my friends and I stopped by Double Punch to check out the goodies they had to offer, and boy did we find ourselves in oh-so-cute-things nirvana.

Double Punch has a vast array of Japanese and Western toys (vinly, plastic, plush -- you name it), stationary, art books, art prints, t-shirts, baby clothes, and accessories. Tokidoki, Blythe, Gama-Go, Pinky Street, Uglydolls . . . soooo many things to name and list! It's absolutely ridonculous -- in a good way :)

The first floor of the store is filled with art books, tons of little Kubrick figures and little mini toys lined along the upper walls, display cases showing off vinyl toys and tables with little blind-boxed tokens from here [America] and Asia. There were even little do-dads from Hong Kong Disneyland (sorry, I forgot to take a picture of it)! I let out audible Oohs and Ahs every other second because I kept seeing things I wanted!


Bearbricks, Domokuns, and Gloomies . . . oh my!


Wall of art


Venom and Spiderman figures


A batch of Mini Uglys!

On the upper level, t-shirts and accessories can be found. It also acts as a gallery space showcasing art and exhibitions by local artists.


There was tons of Gama-Go gear up here. I also saw some Gloomy Bear and 12 Grain shirts.


This Gama-Go tote was on sale for $35.oo!


Current art on display by Christopher Lee

I managed to walk away with some pretty sweet swag . . .

I bought a Lala Blythe keychain (which I plan to convert into a necklace), Tokidoki Moofia toy, Minnie Mouse keychain, and two Fortune Pork mini plushes by Tado. Orginally, I just bought one (got the orange one which says "I LOVE YOUR FRISKY HEAT" on the back), but I liked it so much and there was only one more left, so I went ahead and got it. And ya know what? It ended up being Albert, the mystery character! How sweet is that?

Double Punch is located on 1821 Powell Street 94133. It's definitely worth a visit, but if you can't make a trip to Double Punch, there's always their online store.

For more pictures of my visit to Double Punch, check out my photo gallery.

Unleash the Alphabeast

On June 14, Gama-Go will be having a party at the 111 Minna Gallery in San Francisco to celebrate the release of their book Limited Edition -- the book showcases 400 pages worth of artwork printed on their t-shirts over the past six years.

The shindig starts at 8:00 and is 21 and up. Sorry to all you youngins out there, but for those who can go, DJ's Toph, Alphabeast (a.k.a Tim Biskup), Doc Fu, and Gadget will be spinning throughout the night.

A silent auction will also be held during the event. Up for grabs are 12 original signed Gama-Go prints and original framed sketches by Tim Biskup, Joe Ledbetter, Grace Fontaine, and Greg Long.

Each print is one of a kind and signed by the original artists. Proceeds from the auction will go towards a Gama-Go Scholarship at the Otis College of Art & Design.

To get on the guest list for the party, just send an e-mail over to rsvp@gama-go.com.

Limited Edition is available for pre-order at Gama-Go's website (pre-ordered copies will have the additional bonus of being signed by the founders of Gama-Go) for $24.95 and will ship out on June 15.

Or you can just wait around like me and grab a copy at their booth during Comic-Con :)

Bossy Bear: He wants everything HIS way!

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear. Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair. But who gives a crap about him when there's Bossy Bear?!

Bossy Bear, the little blue bear clad in a red cape with a crown upon his noggin, comes from the insanely creative mind of David Horvath, co-creator of Uglydolls. Bossy Bear is his picture book debut. Woo-hoo!
The story is about a bear who is, uh, bossy. He wants everything HIS way, and he wants it NOW! This book will have readers recognizing - and laughing at - their own bossy tendencies, or so Barnes & Noble says. They also said that this book is targeted towards infants and preschool kids -- but that isn't stopping me from getting a copy! We're all kids at heart anyways, aren't we?

And to add more fun to the hoopla that is Bossy Bear, there's going to be four, count 'em FOUR, vinyl figures!

You can get Bossy Bear looking this way, that way, sideways, and front ways. What fun! I think I like him looking that way. I'm not sure when those bossy boys are coming out, but the book is to be released in May.

For those in the Los Angeles area, you can see (and hear) David do a reading at the Los Angeles Festival of Books tomorrow (Sunday 29th):

Reading: 12:10pm - 12:30pm

Signing: 12:30pm - 1:30pm

and another signing at the Borders booth from 3:00pm - 4:00pm

If you're there, go see him!

For more on Bossy Bear and all other things Horvath, check out David's blog.