I came across this in a bulletin on myspace. Virgin Digital had a contest to name as many bands hidden within the following picture. The contest is long since over but that doesn't mean it's lost its fun!
There were supposedly 75 bands hidden here. C'mon peeps... wow us with your musical smarts. How many can you name? I'll even start it off with Radiohead (dude in the middle w/the boombox.)
Let's see how many we can get. Tell us your finds in the Comments section!
Remember back in my Hasbro post I said there would be more info on the R2-KT figure that I bought? I know its been awhile, but I finally did it! The figure was a limited edition run available only at the Con and on the Hasbro and Star Wars online websites. All proceeds from the sales of the R2-KT figure went to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
[courtesy of Hasbro]
R2-KT was originally made for a little girl named Katie Johnson who was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Albin Johnson, her father and founder of the 501st Legion, thought of the idea of creating an R2 unit to watch over Katie much like R2-D2 watched over Padme in Episode II. Katie's sister pitched in the idea to make Katie's R2 unit pink and to name it R2-KT (like R2-Katie.) You can read more about how the Johnson's idea came to fruition on the R2-KT Home Page and more about Katie on her home page.
[Courtesy of R2-KT Home Page]
Though Katie's battle with cancer ended in August of 2005, R2-KT's mission is "to entertain children, raise awareness of pediatric cancer, and raise money for such charities as Make-A-Wish and Children's Cancer Fund" (from R2-KT Home Page.) Though Hasbro's stock of R2-KT figures sold out at the Con and their online website shortly thereafter, I recently checked their webpage to find that they did get a few more in stock. At only $9.99 a pop, its not a bad way of giving to a good cause.
I've been hankering for some good Indian food for quite some time now so I was super excited that my aunts wanted to take me out for dinner at Khana Peena when I visited them this past Monday. Khana Peena is this great restaurant that serves Northern Indian cuisine in three East Bay locations: Solano Ave and Oxfort St (both in Berkeley) and on Rockridge in Oakland. If you're in the area, I highly recommend it. We happened to go to the Solano Ave location.
This was my second time around at Khana Peena and it was just as delicious as the first time I went last year. We started off with vegetable samosas and papadum (a kind of thin lentil wafer/chip). Food is served family style and we had about 6 different main dishes to choose from. The Tandoori Mint Chicken was surprisingly yummy even though it was a bright shade of St. Patrick's Day green. I also enjoyed the Aloo Gobi which was a potato and cauliflower concoction and my favorite from the first time was the Lamb Vindaloo. Of course, everything should be eaten with their most delicious Naan (Indian style bread... kinda tortilla like). They offer their Naan in a myriad of flavors, but I find the plain Naan to be exceptionally awesome for dipping into the sauces of the various dishes. My favorite sauce was probably the one that went with this vegetable dumpling dish. I'm sorry I can't remember the name of the dish itself, but believe me... it was scrumptious. The Chicken Korma was probably my second favorite dish of the night. BTW - their Cold Chai is yumm-o! Man, this post is making me hungry!
[not the food we had, but still looks pretty delicious]
Khana Peena may be a bit pricey for my college student budget, but they do have an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet for around $9 so I may have to come back again for that. The service there was excellent and feel free to ask your server for recommendations if you're having trouble narrowing down your options. So if you're in the neighborhood and craving something spicy and full of flavor, Khana Peena is the place to go! Just check out their site for the full menu!
But you don't have to take my word for it! ;)
...Didn't have my camera on me so these pictures are all taken from Khana Peena's webpage
Remember the days when boy bands ruled the world? I know they sure ruled mine back in high school... And I have to admit that I still find my inner teenybopper coming out when I hear an *NSYNC song or when one of the members is on TV for whatever reason [exception being JT since he's always in the limelight anyway]. So I was super excited when Joey Fatone was a contestant on Dancing With The Stars and you bet your @$$ I maxed out all my votes (multiple phones & online) when he was battling Apolo Anton Ohno for that top spot... I was crushed when he lost =(
But what does this have to do with anything now? Dancing With The Stars has been over for ages! Well, get your inner teenybopper ready because this Monday, VH1 is bringing together 4 former boy band popstars together to see if they can make little girls scream like banshees once again. Mission: Man Bandis VH1s newest addition to their Celebreality and stars Chris Kirkpatrick (*NSYNC), Jeff Timmons (98 Degrees), Rich Cronin (LFO), and Bryan Abrams (Color Me Badd) who will be living together for a month to create new music and perform as their own new pop group. How crazy cool is that?! It'll be interesting to see how much they've changed since the 90s boy band phenomenon disappeared. I'm personally looking foward to seeing Chris & Jeff =) Yay!
Series premieres this Monday, August 6th at 10pm. Check out the series' main page on VH1. You can even catch a sneak premiere... I can't wait!
Since the special series premiere at Comic Con 2006, Heroes has skyrocketed in popularity... as if it wasn't already getting enough buzz last year! Back then, they had an exclusive release comic book along with the special 73min series premiere. I missed out on all the Heroes goodness last time because it all happened the one day that I didn't go to the Con. Oh well...
This year, NBC did not disappoint their Heroes following, offering more exclusives and a panel with the entire cast! Unfortunately, I missed that panel too... I failed to hear that people could stay in the ballroom where the panel was being held all morning leading up until the Heroes one. Which means that people who were there for the very first panel of the morning could stay in the room as long as they wanted. So we waited in line for 2hrs in vain because they could only let in as many people as there were people leaving... which was practically none. Boo... wish I had gotten that memo!
I did, however, come across one of the Comic Con Exclusives the Heroes booth was passing out at random. Believe it or not, it was leaning against the wall next to a trash can in one of the hallways! There was another exclusive being handed out at the booths - another comic book - but I didn't even know about that until the Con was over. As I mentioned, these were handed out at random - you just had to be lucky enough to be at their booth when they were being passed out... or come across it chillin' somewhere on the floor. Us unlucky ones will have to shell out some money on eBay now... blah!
And if you were in the same boat as me and couldn't get into the panel (or weren't able to go to the Con) you can find clips from the panel online at the NBC/Heroes page. But don't forget to check back here for more updates on Heroes exclusives from the Con!
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...
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.
As I was filtering through over 3 weeks worth of emails, I came across one from Super7 Store in San Francisco announcing the launch of their Comic Con site. Here, you'll find updates on the exclusive toys they'll be selling at their booth as well as events they'll be hosting throughout the four days of the Con. Tim Biskup fans may want to note his special signing on Friday as Super7 notes it'll be his only Comic Con appearance this year. Here's a little sneak peak at what's in store from Super7.
Release only available to SDCC die-hards who hang out until Sunday. It's a secret! Available Sunday only
This was only a teaser as to what Super7 has planned for the Con - more can be found on their Comic Con site. Super7 will also be revealing more exclusives in the days to come so be sure to check back often! Hope you find something you like!
Last Friday, carmeL and I had a chance to go see the new Harry Potter movie - Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix - which hit US theaters on July 11th. Since I hadn't read the book and carmeL had, we decided to do a joint review of our IMAX 3D movie experience.
Dumbledore's Army
We arrived about an hour early (carmeL insisted so we could get decent seats.) Being in San Francisco, it was with [good] fortune that we end up in line in front of a homeless(?) guy. I can't say for sure if he was homeless, but he certainly smelled like one... or ten. Maybe even twenty. To make matters worse, the previous showing experienced some technical difficulties so we nearly lost our lunch waiting in line for over an hour in front of this guy. He eventually got kicked out of the theater and our IMAX 3D experience ended up being 3D for only the last 20 minutes of the movie. Guess they weren't able to work out all the kinks from the previous showing, but at least it was still in IMAX.
Fighting off the baddies
Anyway, I thought the movie was great! It was neat to see the actors grow so much since the previous four films, not just physically but in their acting prowess as well. I enjoyed the dark overtones of the story; plots are so much more enjoyable when you see characters overcome a struggle. The action sequences were great too, especially when the 3D was working. I don't want to give away too much because you guys should see it for yourself. It'll be a good $10 well spent, $15 if you see it in IMAX.
The Ministry of Magic
Now for carmeL's review...
I have to agree with rye-uhn-air-ick for the most part. I know that turning a 870pg novel into a 2h18m movie was no easy task for the screenwriters and director, David Yates. However, I feel that they kept the gist of the story to keep the movies in sync with the novels' storyline. I'm in the process of re-reading all six books in anticipation of the 7th's release, so it's been awhile since I've read Order of the Phoenix. The only complaint I have of the movie is that some parts felt choppy, like something was missing, but I think that's because I knew what had been left out. At least, rye-uhn-air-ick didn't seem to think so as much as me.
Giving lessons in self-defense [against the Dark Arts]
As a HUGE fan of the Harry Potter series, I am very excited with how the film turned out and it's made me even more excited about the coming release of the 7th, and final, book in the series - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I encourage fans of the book and/or movies to go out and watch it. The extra money for the IMAX 3D experience is well worth it, even if the 3D effects aren't working. And if our review isn't enough to entice you to watch, then maybe this movie trailer will be:
I'm back from my trip to the Philippines! I'll update you all on some of the things I checked out while I was there in some later posts. In the meantime, I saw this shirt from Blood is the New Black for sale on Bazaar Adriatic. I'm absolutely loving it but I'm just a bit confused...
[picture taken from Bazaar Adriatic]
Someone please tell me why this shirt would be SOLD OUT in a a size SMALL?!
[image captured by carmeL from Bazaar Adriatic]
They still had some shirts left in a size medium. Sorry folks but larges were sold out as well. The shirt is on sale right now for $24 so better get to it before those sell out as well.
I'm going on an adventure to see the world! Well... just the Philippines anyway.
As of June 17, I will be on hiatus from Okee Dorkee until July 9, as I'm not sure what my access to the internet is going to be like when I'm on my trip. However, I did stumbled across a list of stores to check out for urban clothing and the likes so I'm going to try and check out what I can and will report back when I return.
I'll be hitting up:
NikePark (basically NikeTown) (pic of team pilipinas)
among other stores. Be prepared because I intend on taking TONS of pictures =)
I'll be staying generally in the Metro Manila area with trips out to Lucena & Cebu to visit family. If you know of any other places to hit up, let the folks at Okee Dorkee know and I'll do my best to try and check them out.
Until next time dorks...
Here's some pics from my last visit to the Philippines back in January 2005:
This past Saturday, June 9th, Super7 in San Francisco had an opening party for their newest art exhibit - Spam & Eggs: Art by Speaker Fruits. rye-uhn-air-ick and I decided to venture out and attend the store's event. I even bought myself a Jimi wallet! (remember Janus Saint's earlier post about his Jimi Wallet?) Be sure to check back for pictures from rye-uhn-air-ick's on-the-field report later this week.
That is... the end of waiting for new Tokidoki vinyl figures ADIOS and ciao ciao! You remember - NiNa wrote about the devilish couple several blogs ago. On June 21st, Munky King LA will be celebrating their official release at the store on 7308 Melrose Avenue in LA. And to top it off, Mr. Tokidoki himself, Simone Legno, will be in attendance!
For those of you lucky enough to be able to make it [bastards!] you can find more info on the tokidoki blog.
Awhile back, I wrote about The Original Sushi Pillow - a fun way of mixing food with art. A few weeks ago, I came across another neat treat with Suedy's Koo-ki Sushi: A Unique Cookie Confection. Don't let their appearance fool you... this isn't your typical sushi. Koo-ki Sushi combines a crisp rice cookie and tops it with fine chocolate in the shape of some of your sushi favorites.
Karen "Suedy" Sasaki came up with the idea after seeing an ad for a national cookie competition. One day, as she was pressing a sticky cookie mixture into a pan, she remembered making sushi with her grandmother and came up with the idea for a cookie that looked like sushi. Enlisting the help of her sister, Janice Murai, the two decided not to enter the competition and worked on perfecting their sushi cookie technique for the next year.
(sushi tray of great white sushi, tako-nut, berry maguro, apricot row)
In 1995, the two sisters opened up shop, selling their creative cookies by special order and Koo-ki Sushi has since grown into a small family business. Give 'em a try by visiting their store in San Jose, CA, or by web/phone order. Here are some of the items on the menu:
With the 30th anniversary of Star Wars Episode IV drawing near, a miriad of interesting items commemorating this momentous occasion have been surfacing in some [un]likely places. For starters, the United States Postal Service will be issuing a set of 15 stamps featuring images from all six Star Wars movies. You may have dropped off your mail in one of mailboxes designed to look like R2-D2, announcing the USPS x Star Wars collaboration back in March earlier this year. They've even got three limited edition Express Mail envelopes with Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi [of the Ewan McGregor variety], and Darth Vader. First-day-of-issuance of the stamps is set for May 25th at the Star Wars Celebration IV event in L.A. Here's a sneak peek look at the stamps:
Mimoco designed a set of four Star Wars inspired mimobots in their Star Wars mimobot series 1. These cool USB Flash Drives [1GB, 2GB, and 4GB] embody the Force as Darth Vader, Chewbacca, Stromtrooper, and R2-D2. Each comes preloaded with bonus Star Wars material, but quantities are limited so order one while they're still in stock! I want this one:
Not really new, but always a favorite... Spud Trooper, Artoo-Potatoo, & Darth Tater!
And something fun for all you Mac users, here's a fun little gizmo to add to your Dashboard... The Yoda Widget
Consider it your very own Yoda translator. Just type in a sentence and it'll convert it into Yoda speech. Try it, you must. Lots of fun, you will have!
I never use to be a big fan of sushi. First of all, I don't really like fish, so the idea of eating them raw totally threw me off. I'm still not too big on the fishy taste of most seafood, but I have grown a liking to sushi... at least some sushi rolls. California rolls and spicy tuna rolls are among my favorites.
So why all this talk about sushi you ask? I just happened to come across this website, thanks to rye-uhn-air-ick, that sells sushi roll pillows! The Original Sushi Pillow was created by Mel Maghuyop and Cindy Tomm, two actors who thought of the idea while on the U.S. tour of Miss Saigon. Cindy thought it would be a neat idea to have pillow that looked like a California roll and after failed attempts to find one, Mel decided to make his own... the first sushi pillow was born.
How cool is that? Now, even those less adventurous folks who may be a little apprehensive about raw fish can enjoy sushi with other sushi lovers! I personally cannot wait until I can get my hands on one, maybe more, of these unique pillows to decorate my house, which already includes artwork from Tokidoki, Takashi Murakami, and several Dunnys. They'd also be perfect for decorating apartments, dorm rooms, or wherever really. Hand made using premium fabrics and a unique airbrushing technique, these pillows can be purchased for around $33-$69. The Original Sushi Pillow's menu of delectable pillows include:
To see the full menu and/or order one of these tasty pillows for yourself [or me], head over to The Original Sushi Pillow. Don't see your favorite sushi roll on the menu? Not a problem! The Original Sushi Pillow offers custom orders - just send them a picture and they'll do their best to replicate it.
Heroes is FINALLY back! I must admit that Monday nights just haven't been the same for me since Heroes left us hanging back In March. Now I can finally go back to sitting at the edge of my seat while I watch the story of these "ordinary people discovering extraordinary abilities" unfold before my all too eager eyes. I hoped to find answers to the questions lingering in the back of my head for the past month and a half, but in true Heroes fashion, the conclusion of this newest episode has only left a series of new questions... What is Linderman going to use Micah's abilities for? How does Mr. Bennett plan on stopping OWI [Organization Without Initials... how ironic]? What happened [or didn't] that made the foreseen explosion come to fruition? What did Isaac paint to show how to stop/kill Sylar and will the right people see these drawings in time?
Wow... I'm getting ahead of myself. Allow me to backtrack a few steps and introduce myself. My name is carmeL, and I have a tendency to get overly excited about the things that interest me... some might even say I get a bit obsessive [yes rye-uhn-air-ick, that means you]. Whenever I discover something new that I really REALLY like [i.e. a new video game or TV show] I can't seem to focus my mind on anything else, at least for a short period of time. Call it a selective, short-term, obsessive fascination. I trace these obsessive tendencies back to the era when New Kids on the Block ruled the world [at least they sure ruled mine] and include the USA Cartoon Express, slap bracelets, Lisa Frank, & the Sanrio Store... you get the picture.
So back to my current fascination with Heroes. I swear Heroes is like a drug and I'm a full-blown addict. To hold me over until I can get my next Heroes fix, I generally head over to the Heroes website to check out the latest chapter of the online graphic novel and peruse the theories other fans are posting on the message boards. I personally like The Unified Theory v3.0 thread. Some of the more interesting theories include one where Sylar is actually the one to stop Peter [the bomb] from blowing NYC to shreds for his own personal gains.
Getting the scar Future Hiro was talking about on the subway?
Where did they go wrong?
While I like to read other people's thoughts on how the show might progress, I haven't really developed my own theory as to what is going to happen. However, I will say that one theory is peaking my interest... Perhaps Future Hiro's intervention with Peter on the subway has started the chain of events that leads to the destruction of NYC. Not saying I completely agree, but just a thought to hold you over until next Monday.
I fear my overzealousness of the subject has led me to write entirely way too much. I leave you with a pic of my favorite Hero - Hiro =)
[click on the pic for a larger view]
Let me back track a bit for some of you. To celebrate this momentous occasion, 
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 
Last Friday, 
