Kozyndan. You saw a pic of Dan with that gnarly t shirt. Now you can see a documentary on them done by the folks at the Baltic. I wrote a story about the Baltic and going there in GR45. But for now, check out the documentary, and see the page of kozyndan "stuff."



Yep, there's that hat again.

Perfect. I was almost hoping someone would say this. (read the comment below.) I asked the webstore folks the question: Why aren't they just picking the packages up? mikemike said, "cuz they're assholes..." That's a strong response from a super mild mannered person.

I know you can order a pickup online. They are supposed to come and pick everything up the next day. Their excuse is that online, our address for giant robot isn't registered to the webstore address. But, it is.

The pick-up person shows up periodically, like, "here I am!" And why does he even do that if our address is "wrong?"

So the question is, who's right and who's wrong? And that's why I'm resigned to the fact that there's nothing one can do even if you're right.

I don't know who you are either, but we're not strangers anymore, right?


mariko said...

I have the mailman pick up my packages! Yay for free carrier pickup! That way I don't have to, you know, leave my house.

I feel kind of weird leaving a comment, since you don't even know who I am ...

Holiday orders have hit. Last year, it was different. I was the webguy. Myleen, the current manager of GRSF was doing mail order, the rest of the mag staff helped and it was a hardcore mad dash to the finish line. It was insane. This year things are different. mikemike is the webguy, Keenan is the mail order dude, and look at these packages... No one talks about customer service at the post office... sometimes great, a lot of times bad, and there's nothing we can do about it. I think we're all resigned to that fact. We also use UPS, they're not a lot better these days.

Everyone needs to be a star, and this is more proof of that. Phony holmes has karaoke samples of himself on singshot. Listen in, or not. Next will be video. I can make a commentary on how this is all going downhill, and how the quality of everything just drops, but you know, I can see my friend Phony Holmes, laughing his ass off, and that makes it worth it. It's for fun, right?

New issue is only at GR. The samples arrived. The cover image is by Takashi Murakami. Looks good even with the flash on it. Many choices of images, and this one seemed like the right one. It's DOB distressed and the black tooth makes it! It sticks out just right in the oddest way. Any design comments? T.M. gave me a call when he read the article and said thanks and so on. That was dope, hope I see him soon.

This might be one of the grossest shirts ever. Maybe my mind is in the gutter and it's not supposed to be hair. Dan of kozyndan wears it proudly. Scratch and sniff? Just scratch from dirty activities? I need to have a more open mind.

Dave Cockrum died. Being somewhat of a comics fan, from way back, this dude was one of the guys I liked. He might not have been the best, but he was the guy who drew the characters I liked at the time, the 80s. Him name is funny, go ahead and laugh a bit, it's cool. But he died wearing Superman PJs, in a Batman Blanket! WTF!

UGLYCON IS APPROACHING
The billboard outside of GR2 and gr/eats is taken.

Lily Todd, Tiger Lily, Seonna Hong!

Look at them glasses, fancy.

Surprise!

Souther giving the hi-sign. That's Caroline Hwang (pronounced like wong - not WANG!). She's in town for her show at New Image Art this weekend. Will you go? I may!

Saelee blowing out the candle. Look at Ely. He's on a billboard around LA. It has something to do with snow. It's his second billboard. That's sister Lana on the right.

I didn't know they served these up at Happy Family in Monterey Park. It's at 111 n. Atlantic Blvd. corner Garvey. It moved, fyi.

No wine needed.

Studio party! I'm the freeloader of the studio. I work there sometimes, at least this week, and I do nothing but take up the electricity bill. There was a party on saturday at the Yosemite studios.

Saelee created a store setting. Retail vs art. hmm!

Whoa. Danger! Waterbottle!

Souther spins tops from his collection. Did you know he collects tops?

Uh oh! Hello Kitty waffle maker and wine!

That's a souther painting about tops. There's 12 tops in the painting. Can you find them all? I don't think any tops are being blocked. That's a Saelee work about swimming.

Baseman and Calef Brown.

An intersection of Han! That's Ely on the left barely visible. Martin Cendreda is in the middle, and that's his wife Jenny. Michelle is the foreground person. Calef Brown is in the back on the right.

Lana!

Whoa, tired.

Cinnamon is a fairly new vege vegan joint that's Mexican food! It's on Figueroa in Highland Park. Walking in, it's not hipster cool, it's typical new restaurant setting. Tables chairs, no music, little kids doing homework in the back sort of like day care who might yell and scream once in a while, a nice waiter guy who's probably the owner, and pretty good food. The menu is large, at the moment they have breakfast too, although the dude said they're going to change things around.

Shrimp cocktail Mexican style! You do miss out on the real shrimp seafood flavor in the cold broth, but it's not bad at all. Make sure you add Tapatio.

Pozole - I'm not quite sure what the real shit tastes like, but then you add the onions, hot sauce, turnips, and lettuce, it's good.

Fajitas. This was the prize dish of the night. With the hot corn tortillas, this was worth the trip there. The onions and peppers bring this to a high level.

Chicken leg mole. Definitely off from the Coloradito sauce I've had elsewhere, but not bad. Maybe this wasn't supposed to be Coloradito sauce, but it wasn't too dark, and was sort of red. The only negative strike was that the rice was bottom of the pot. It had a lot of dry hard as a rock pieces that spoil it. The beans were fine, and overall, this place is good.

Try the juices, of course, they're fresh ground and healthy... I didn't see Agua Fresca on the menu, but they do have Mexican hot choclate.

Sculpy Kids 3 - Return of the Clay

At their studio in Eagle Rock, CA, the latest hipster portion of LA, it was the third installment of SK. We start with Dinner which was at a sushi place called Mia. Not like the musician, this is a fusion arty sushi place. Rolls that have crazy names are all over the menu. Weird sauces, outdoor seating, this isn't a regular sushi joint. It's alright (right?) and medium pricey.

Souther meditates to the caterpillar roll.

Saelee's turtle and nest definite takes a prize. look at the teeth! The shell has a gradation that you'll see in better light.

Effortless! A few pinches of clay and voila! Souther magic.

Effort filled pain. This was a tough one, but it's done.

MIA. If you find hercall the digits.

Thanksgiving. I have no idea who reads this, but I told myself, before I jumped into Thanksgiving family bliss, I'd blog about the day, and maybe talk about what it means to me. It's less about pilgrims, indians, or stealing a country - as in, thanks for giving us America. For me, I hope I can enjoy the day, my family, and think about my friends who are with their families or friends. I'm thankful for the good people in my life, and at the same time, I'm thankful for the assholes too. Without them around, the good people wouldn't stand out just that little bit more than they already do. Here's 10 more things I'm thankful for and some might end up being super selfish and materialistic, but they make me happy. Some of these might even intersect with the upcoming top 10s in the mag, but I don't remember them all, so it's cool.

1) Ricoh GR camera. I can't stop talking about it.
2) Prison Break and Lost. Two great shows even if people are saying they're jumping the shark.
3) The great gr staff. A lot of you fall into the friends category above, but the ones who don't, I appreciate the good efforts.
4) Softball. It's fun every week.
5) YMCA. Not the song, but the gym.
6) Sawtelle. It's not just the stores, etc, but it's everything.
7) Sculpy. For the mind and hands and social times. It can even get me out of the house.
8) Art. Being part of it is the best. Too many artists to list here...
9) GR bimonthly. First year to do it, and it's made us/me stronger.
10) 2006. Lots happened, met a lot of great folks(you know who you are), and I'm thankful.

Night before Thanksgiving. Sculpy time. First dinner at Fatties. I had the vegan version of the Sloppy Joe. No I was too hungry to shoot it, but it's a good dish. I hear it keeps changing a bit.

Ms Saelee Oh is listening for her our waitress to come.
That sweater is inside out, but you can't tell. Saelee ended up eating an 8" pizza that didn't have dairy, but it had carrot on the dough that was sort of like tomato sauce, a lot of veggies that were mixed and chopped fine, but the kicker, brussel sprouts sliced thin.

Flowers. Holding flowers make people trip out. Standing in front of the Trader Joe's in Eagle Rock, people would smile, wave, and would even act like I was giving them to them. Flower do weird things to people.

For relaxing times, make it Sculpy Time...

sculpy kids till 5am.

My good deed. Driving down the road, I saw a man waving his arms. I thought what the fuck does this freak want? Then right as I was passing by along with other cars, I saw a jumper cable. You'd think who cares about this? It's actually nothing, but why did all of the other cars not stop? We weren't in a terribly busy area, it was still light outside and the dude was asking for help. Maybe it's because he had a van? Silence of the Lambs? Imagine Tom Petty singing, "An American Girl..." I thought the dude was an immigrant, but he ended up having a nerdy voice and was a nice guy. Happy Thanksgiving bro, from one van driver to another.

Mi casa brand Vanilla ice cream air freshener. Cut a fart? Spray a scoop of ice cream in your room! The weird thing is what's up with the cinnamon sticks? The logo of Mi casa is basically a rainbow text and a triangle for a roof. Bad quality, although the ice cream is done well with a drop shadow that actually makes no sense.

Your Yard Blows #3, but some of these don't.

YARD1. Multiple Yards.
This yard suffers from too much. It has a disorder. I'm digging the big tree, but the leftside Sago Palm looking thing isn't working. Nice rocks placed here and there, and the curved brick border made someone proud at one time. Should it be just dirt on the ground? Should there be more to cover that up a bit? Right now, I can see it being a haven for dog to shit in.

Whoa... but don't discount the tree in front! That's a mini bonsai that could have been done by Miyagi himself. You can see the parts of the tree that's been chopped off to make this look chill. The two rocks look like islands. Could it be representing LOST? The bush to the right of the tree looks like cousin IT or a Tribble (Star Trek). It's just a weird hairy tiny bush. Not feeling that part, sorry.

Part 3 of the same house!
This house has a weird wood wall. I'm not sure what that wall accomplishes. I don't feel relaxed by it because it's bamboo, and the mini roof on the wall? This isn't making much sense. Is it something people are supposed to climb or scale? Is it protecting anyone from intruders? Privacy? It's just a decoration, and I can accept it for that, but I still don't get it. From a different angle, the rock is looking sort of like a sea anenome. Overall, I gotta give this a 7.5

YARD 2. The Master.
This might be the king of yards on the block. The gourd pattern on the walk way might be seal the deal. Japanese and gourds. There's a symbiosis. This yard features manicured trees galore. On the left, look at the roots and the rocks in harmony! Each tree is trimmed like a bush should be. The round bushes aren't perfect, matching how nature really is, and I'm even digging the walk way railing near the house. It has a mid century modern pattern.

This house might have a bit too much going on. It's nice, and it's great, it's a big lawnmowing bill. But overall I have to give these folks a 9.

YARD 3. Gilligan's Island.
Here's a strange detail. This one doesn't have a yard, but there's a tree coming out of nowhere. Is this supposed to represent an island in some zen way? If it is, then I'd hate to be stuck on a one tree island. It looks nice, and maybe it covers up the front door, but I sort of feel sorry of this tree. Where are the worms gonna go? There's not enough dirt or grass on this concrete jungle. A 6, even though there's some efforts with the "yard" in the background. I see some tree, but in the end, the feature is this lonely tree. I'm gonna rescue this tree one day. A 6.

YARD 4. Lemme Killmeister.
My grandmother used to live at this house. 11572 Mississippi. It's a tiny house, but what's with the crazy ivy. I don't really dig the handlebar moustache look and if you live in this house, you have to love it. It's very Lemmy from Motorhead. The windows work in perfect composition to give those Tom Petty "Don't Come Around Here no More" glasses. A 5. At least there's greenery. This house is weird, all the way down to the patch of cement next to curb. What's that for? Cinderella?

YARD 5. Donger Need Food.
Do you use condoms? I would if I lived in this phallic house of love. Yellow house, the color of nervous jealousy. Twin green dongers in front. Walk in between and you better have that umbrella out. A 5 since the walkway has the bricks going perpendicular to the sidewalk, leading you in. The flowers on the path are a cute touch.

Whoa shit... here it comes. The mammoth of them all...



YARD 6 The infamous ghost house of Sawtelle.
I've been in the area when I was young, and now I'm here again. This house has always looked thrashed. It's sitting on a huge lot that's always unkept. The fence around it is a mess, but vintage! A bonus point. I've never seen the people who live here, but they are Japanese American. The house is super old, worn down, and hasn't had a coat of paint on it since I can remember. The backyard has that RV. I've seen a wire connecting power to the RV from the house. Later at night, there are light on in the RV. But the house is always dark. What's in there? Who's in there? Is it filled with bugs and rats?

So let's rate this... I'd give this a 10 or a 0. It's scary, it's bold, it's huge, it's hard is totally thrashed, and the house is just a beater. But it does have the most character of any house in the area. It's known by all and despised by many, but my curiousity gives this ultimate ratings. The land itself is worth a goldmine and the fact that it sits like this make me smile. It's one bit of tradition in the area still intact. Anyone out there know anything about this place? I want to know. Can I get a tour?

YARD 7. Treeasles.
Can you rebuild him? This tree and Manuel Noriega have a lot in common. This tree is all trunk, with no top. I think it got ruined from overtrimming. You guys killed the poor tree, gave it treeasles, and now look. You get a 3.

YARD 8.
I have to give these guys props. Southwest or maybe south of the border in design, the yard kind of matches, but they do it without succulents. So someone cut the bushes to look like cactus. I have to give this creativity props for doing weird shit to your yard. It's obviously 2nd rate gardner work. There's no way Miyagi put his hands on this one. The symmetry of each bush is extra strange, it's sort of looks alien. But... this actually fits the house and although I don't really like the house, it sort of works in the oddest way. A 7.