Calories that Work for You (and others)

Today (until October 7), Sprinkles will be offering their strawberry cupcakes everyday with its proceeds going to the EIF's Women's Cancer Research Fund. Last year's campaign raised $20,000!

who knew perfection can be found in a box? Photo courtesy of sprinkles.com

okay, so that's gonna be an extra minute (ha, or more like 60+) on the elliptical, but hey, can't say no when a cupcake can count as your good-deed-of-the-day.

Dan Goodsell's Imaginary World and Mr. Toast!

Dan Goodsell, creator of Mr. Toast and friends and Co-author of the book Krazy Kids Food, was once again present at the ComicCon, rounding it out with Mr. Toast goodness!



photos courtesy theimaginaryworld.com
In true ComicCon spirit, there were some renditions of Mr. Toast as some comic favorites like Iceman, the Thing, the Incredible Hulk and Neil Gaiman's Sandman!


photo courtesy theimaginaryworld.com
On hand were some limited Vampire Mr. Toast plush, ready to take a bite out of your boredom!


photos courtesy theimaginaryworld.com
A very toasty Mr. Toast Vinyl Toy!


photo courtesy theimaginaryworld.com
Joining Mr. Toast is Shaky Bacon, Joe the Egg and Clem Lemon!


Here's my Mr. Toast and Joe the Egg dolls relaxing deliciously on a plate!


Check out more art, paintings, and webcomics featuring Mr. Toast and his friends at Dan theimaginaryworld.com and the Mr. Toast Blog for the latest. "Everyone is fun!"

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

Need some OBEY gear in your life?

Sample sales are always great places to rock some hot deals on hot threads and OBEY Clothing's 2008 summer sample sale should be no different. It'll be going down Friday May 30th from 9am to 7 pm and on Saturday May 31st from 8am to 3pm in 3500 W. Carriage Dr, Santa Ana 92704.

If you're ready to OBEY, prepare your credit cards and expect to come home with giant bags full of gear; or at the very least look as awesome as the guy in the back of the flyer:

Snap, Crackle and Pop meets Rap, Hood and Hip-Hop!

Keeping with my previous post about cereal, comes another breakfast mashup, where this time cereal meets street. Kellogg's, the company behind character-driven breakfast cereal mainstays, joins street clothing company Under The Hood for a new collaborated line they're hoping will leave fans of both scenes clamoring, "They're Grrrreat!"



Kellogg's famous characters are all here, from Frosted Flake's Tony the Tiger, the jolly Rice Krispies trio Snap, Crackle and Pop, Honey Smacks' Dig'Em the Frog, Corn Flakes' Cornelius Rooster, and finally Toucan Sam of Froot Loops fame. All your favorite cereal mascots jump out of the box and land emblazoned in outlined patterns over shirts, jeans, hoodies, and track jackets. You can check out all the styles at Under The Hood's online store.

The brands definitely acknowledge that the strange combination of the two flavors is definitely a taste that'll split the masses between those that "Dig'Em" while others will feel soggy. In full compliance with that thought, check out the models' faces:

On the other hand we've seen every cartoon character from Fat Albert to Bugs Bunny on clothing, but Kellogg's/Under The Hood's line seems much more out there and therefore giving it a much bigger "WTF/Awesome" factor to the mix!

So whether you think its the most absurd thing that has happened to the urban clothing waves or perhaps the most genius, one thing is for sure:

Nothing spells out BOLD better than rocking out an outfit that says, "Follow Your Nose" while pointing to Toucan Sam's rainbow snout splattered over your ass cheeks!!


Personally, I know I NEED this Honey Smacks Track jacket IN MY LIFE to rock with my Reebok Voltron ERS Racer Green Lion 3 kicks:

NOW that would be a mashup-mashup!

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!

Spice Up Your Life

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

As Homer would say, "Whoo Hoo!"

To promote The Simpsons Movie, 12 7-elevens are being converted into Kwik-E-Marts!

Not only are the convenience stores renovated too look straight from the celebrated cartoon on the outside but, like all of the 7-eleven stores that aren't converted, they're full of the shows characters and products!

photos from http://simpsonskwikemart.blogspot.com

Buzz Cola!

KrustyO's!

Slurpees made into Squishees!

There are even Radioactive Man comics, labeled issue 711 especially made for the promotion too!

The locations for the Kwik-E-Marts are listed here on the 7-eleven website. Find one near you and see "The Frostillicus" for yourself!

Milk and Sushi...?

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:

(Fruit-o-Maki, Great White Sushi, Mau'i Maki)

So what are you waiting for?! Order yours today!

Until next time dorks...

Itadakimasu... again!

G(ie) is for Gelato!

photo courtesy of M Cafe de Chaya.com

After the "I Am 8 Bit" exhibit, we were in search for a refresher. We stumbled upon M Cafe de Chaya. Don't let the ultra chic exterior, suave name, (or being that it is on Melrose Ave) intimidate you. The entire staff was wonderful -- very charming and hospitable. They feature a Macrobiotic Menu. All items are prepared fresh daily without any refined sugars, eggs, dairy, red meat, or poultry. Not only is the food healthy, it looked really yummy, and it tasted good! Janus Saint got Sushi rolls made with Organic brown rice while I got the Black Sesame Gelato. No dairy, No eggs, No refine sugar, and it was way tasty!

yummmers! you can see Murse1 on my spoon =)

i El Sábado El Cinco con Paolo Franco !

Celebrate your Cinco with your friends at Paul Frank and Active. Eat some BBQ and enter to win a PF Cruiser! They will be celebrating on Saturday between 11am - 3pm at the Active Shop in Westwood, Los Angeles.

I am a proud owner of a Paul Frank Cruiser. I received it as a college graduation present and I love it! Comfy and stylish...the basket and (annoying) little bell just screams Obnoxiously Cute!

Comfortable Comfort Food

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:

Sushi Rolls [pictured: Tuna]



Nigiri Rolls [pictured: Ebi, Tuna]





Appetizers [pictured: Edamame]



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.

Until my next obsession...

Itadakimasu!