California Sun!

… by The Rivieras

We are leaving Sydney tomorrow, and arriving in L.A. on Friday 11.15am. It has been fun here, but also cold, wet and windy. California Sun, here we come! 

It appears that there is a Tiki Subculture in Sydney! Above: A flyer we picked up today at the groovy Outre Gallery. Also bought a copy of Atomic Ranch magazine.

Links

Halo Pictures is the studio of Australian Animation Director, Chris Hauge whom we had the pleasure of meeting for the first time this week.

The Mirage Nomad looks interesting. Has anyone used this? I wonder if it’s vector-compatible.

The Soul Club Jukebox! for streaming Soul.

From The Archives

Genuine Fighting Kenzo rolls up Dr. Von Trapp in ‘Rudo by Night’

Searching through all our folders at Fwak! central, I’d forgotten how awesome Lili’s animation drawings were for ‘Rudo by Night’.  Back then our technique combined layout/animation, with a lot of attention given to which elements we could re-use in Flash.

Patadas Voladoras by SuperJesus

The finishing move that got El Bastardo banned from every federation in Mexico

Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport

Rolf with The Stylophone

Did Rolf Harris really invent Micromusic?

Lili: I was forced to watch the ”Rolf Harris Show” as a kid. Aside from the cheezy Australiana music, there was a segment where he would draw on a big white wall… and you never knew what the drawing was, until the very end. Dad used to say: “See how fast he draws? He never makes a mistake.”

Present from my father (1986)

Eddie: And the wobbleboard. Don’t forget the wobbleboard.

Global Demon

Demon down under…T-shirt spotted in Sydney

Legend has it, that upon hearing that a clothes shop on Melrose was using his name (and possibly his image on T-shirts), Blue Demon Jr promptly walked in and scared the crap out of the proprietors, who hastily promised a custom t-shirt range to appease the peeved luchador.  After seeing this possibly unlicensed image being used by X-Large, maybe Demon should seek out their head office and knock some corporate heads together..?

Speaking of wrestling, here are some choice images from 100 Years Of Australian Professional Wrestling by Libnan Ayoub…

Ah yes, back in the day when every German was an Iron Cross-wearing heel.  I remember watching the hated Von Steiger Brothers on Channel 9′s World Championship Wrestling every weekend…this is actually a great book and contains pics of every grappler who ever wrestled down under (except one; there’s no picture of The Spoiler – the first masked guy I ever saw )

Atomium Style

I want this book solely because of the inclusion of Yves Chaland – the great Belgian artist who died tragically in a car accident in the eighties (although it’s not something Amazon will be getting in a hurry, so I may have to wait untl I visit Europa). Chaland’s retro-delicious take on the classic Spirou character is my favorite version, and puts Spirou firmly back in the fifties, where he belongs.  See more of Chaland and other Atomium-style artists (the name comes from the Belgian structure) at this great site.

Monkey King Animated

One of the reasons Eddie and I are in Sydney is to collect stuff from our studio and bring them back to L.A. (our new working base). For example, our animation hole-punch, software, early artwork and reference books.

One very cool book we have here is “Havoc In Heaven: Adventures of the Monkey King” with stunning images from the Shanghai animated film, which was shown at one of the Sydney Asia-Pacific Film Festivals a couple of years ago…

Scanned images from the book (click to enlarge):

or –> Flickr Photoset

We’re HERE!

…Back in Sydney, Australia, at our studio. We’re still kinda settling back into the scene. More stuff later. (For some unknown reason, the DSL connection is painfully slow) 

While in Malaysia sorting through old photos and childhood belongings (because our family house has just been sold) I came across a whole bunch of ”Disneyland Storybook Records” (circa early 70′s) which I used to love as a kid. I’m wondering if I should keep them for sentimental value or flog ‘em on eBay…

In the meantime, I am still slowly updating my  “Trip to Malaysia” blog  if anyone is interested….

Is this not one of the dorkiest ”bad t-shirt” photos ever? 
Eddie: “I will give you $50 if you use this as your profile pic.”

The L Word…

That’s Lucha, dummy!

Our friend, the super-talented Oscar Carreño, sent us a whole swag of Lucha-riffic goodies.  I’m loving these covers for the new Santo comics; they have this great, timeless quality to them

Here’s a cover Oscar himself has done, featuring his character Mascarita…

Thanks for all the swag, Oscar!

Tijuana Makes Me Happy

Nortec Collective is not only one of the most original, inspired, bassbin-shaking, electronic(a) acts, they are also an audio/visual phenomenon that captures the spirit of Tijuana.  The book, Paso del Nortec – This Is Tijuana! is a feast for the senses.  Awesome graphics, interviews and a great DVD that has a cut up/visual trek through TJ that is unbelievably good.  Buy/steal/borrow this book!  Here are some random images/graphics…

Catch Nortec Collective at Knitting Factory Hollywood, Oct 7th…

Lucha by request!  here’s some pages from Como Practicar La Lucha Libre, an instructional book we found in DF a few years back…

I’m off to Sydney tomorrow for a week, but rest assured there will be bloggin’.  Meanwhile, Lili has started a travel blog with some great pics of her time in Malaysia.  Find it here

Mucha Lucha Premiums!

Currently available at Carl’s Jr & Hardee’s

(Thanks for the alert, Dramamine Boy)

Like the Subway premiums, seems like there’s no Flea toy.  The reason given back then, was that The Flea’s antennae were hazardous to small children…

I’m off to Malaysia & Sydney today… Back in about 3 weeks… Mr. Mort will take over the blogging and meanwhile, I will do my best to share photos and stuff from overseas. ¡Adios! - Lili

Meanwhile…

The thumbnailin’ continues for Secret Lucha Project 9 Million…we’re hoping to make an announcement soon…

Found this classic piece of vinyl at my local record store.  With tracks like ‘The Vespa Song’, ‘The Vespa Road’ and ‘Vespalero’, how could I not buy it?  Also worth noting is that I paid $3.99, while someone’s selling it on eBay for $49.95

Download: The Vespa Road (mp3)

The Petersen Auto Museum

… on Wilshire Blvd is a very cool place. We especially enjoyed the “DreamCars” Exhibit, thanks to Jim Cherry, our knowledgeable and enthusiastic tour guide. Here are photos (flickr photoset) from today’s visit.