May 2, 2006

  • Cuba 1959!


    Recently we both saw LOST CITY, the new film by Andy Garcia set in Havana 1959 during the Cuban Revolution. Though it was worthwhile seeing for it’s ‘tribute’ to Havana in its heyday as “Pearl of The Carribean”, in no way does it compare aesthetically with Communist propoganda film – SOY CUBA with its breathtakingly beautiful cinematography and memorable nightclub scenes. Like this famous long tracking shot….

    Thanks to Mr. Bali Hai (tiki expert) we have just learnt that the SOY CUBA nightclub scenes were shot in Trader Vics, Havana!

    I know it does no justice to the film, to view these segments out of context, but anyway… here are some freshly-uploaded video clips from the Trader Vic’s nightclub sequence.

    …which inspired my illustration below. Another personal project that Eddie and I are researching/experimenting with in our spare time. (ha, WHAT spare time?)

    “Our Comrade In Cuba” (#2 of a series) by Lili.
     Eddie is writing the story of Kaspar Kasperovich, soviet secret agent.
    The target on the right is Colonel Tom Parker.

April 30, 2006

April 28, 2006

April 17, 2006

  • Weekend in SF

    Some pictures from Bunnyjam  where we met our fabulous Killer Watts cohorts performing as LOLITAPOP BUNNYHOUSE.


    Christian, Otis and Christy (and Astrid the thereminist, not shown in the pic)


    Lots of bunnies


    and more bunnies

    Eddie: Remember the second Batman movie where Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle go to a masquerade ball, and they’re the only ones not in fancy dress?  Well just call us Bruce and Selina.  Can’t imagine anyone doing this sort of thing in LA, which made it all the more of a unique SF experience — although it did remind us of all those Club Kooky/Vibe Tribe parties of yore in Sydney. Can’t wait to start getting down to creating with our Killer Watts partners.


     

    We also discovered Kayo Books, the coolest bookstore ever…


    This place is pulp/yellowing magazine/comic book heaven.  We picked up some pulp novels, old comics and this TV magazine with a cool “Napoleon Solo and Ilya Kuryakin” cover illustration by Ronald Searle.

    RonaldSearle-UNCLE

April 12, 2006

March 31, 2006

  • Haunted Hacienda – The Art Of The Mexican Horror Film
    May 5th – June 10th

     
    This looks like something we might be interested in   More details here.
     
    And more cool events:
     
     
    Lucha Libre – Life Behind The Mask.  Rich Walton’s revealing documentary about Lucha Libre in and around Los Angeles, is playing at the Antelope Valley Film Festival on Sunday April 23rd
     
    Ettore Sottsass exhibition at LACMA. Cool furniture designs!
     
    BunnyJam in San Francisco. Driving up on the weekend of April 15th and looking forward to meet with our new Killer Watts friends.
     

     
    Lili: Totally non-sequitar, but I’m sharing it anyway. A  “joke” that my (Chinese) Dad forwarded me this week:

    A Chinese and an American are seated next to each other on a flight from New
    York. The American asks if he would like to play a fun-game.

    The Chinese, tired, just wants to take a nap, so he politely declines and
    rolls over to the window to catch a few winks.

    The American persists and explains that the game is easy and a lot of fun.
    He says, “I ask you a question, and if you don’t know the answer, you pay me
    $5, and vice versa.” Again, the Chinese declines and tries to get some
    sleep.

    The American, now worked up, says, “Okay, if you don’t know the answer, you
    pay me $5, and if I don’t know the answer, I’ll pay you $500.” This gets the
    guy’s attention and, figuring there will be no end to this torment, agrees
    to the game.

    The American asks the first question, “What’s the distance from the earth to
    the moon?” The Chinese doesn’t say a word, reaches into his wallet, pulls
    out a $5 bill, and hands it to the American.

    “Okay,” says the American, “your turn.” So the Chinese asks, “What goes up a
    hill with three legs and comes down with four?”

    The American thinks about it. No answer. Puzzled, he takes out his laptop
    computer and searches all his references. No answer! He taps into the
    air-phone with his modem and searches the Internet and the Library of
    Congress. No answer.

    Frustrated, he sends e-mails to all his friends and coworkers. Checks the
    input. All to no avail!

    Finally, a long time later, he wakes the Chinese and hands him $500.

    The Chinese thanks him and turns back to get his sleep.

    The American, more than a little miffed, stirs the Chinese and asks, “Well,
    what’s the answer?” Without a word, the Chinese reaches into his wallet,
    hands the American $5, and goes back to sleep.
     

March 29, 2006

  • ML Fan Art for the day…



    by Shampoo Neko


    Weekend Activities!

    Vasquez Rocks by Eddie

    The site of many a Star Trek episode, Western, and Biblical epic, Vasquez Rocks is an awesome Californian experience.  I spent the day gathering photo reference and getting visions of Captain Kirk fighting that weird reptitilan creature in the ‘Arena’ episode.

    To get there from Los Angeles; Take the 5 North, then the 14 North and exit at Agua Dulce.  It’s about a 40 min drive, all up.  Some more pics…



    Saturday night was the “Hate The Living” Frankenstein-themed art show at the Victory Tattoo Studio in Studio City. We went to show our support for Dale Sizer, whose glittery piece – “Friend, Frankie and Stein” is pictured below.


    © Dale Sizer


    Eddie, Mike, Lisa and Dale

    Lili: The UPA Tribute at the Egyptian on Sunday night was amazing. I don’t remember which of the panellists said that UPA Animation exemplifies “Maximum meaning through minimum means”, and I couldn’t agree more. Thanks so much to ASIFA for organizing this inspiring event. It was great to see some of the cool designs on Cartoon Modern come alive!

     
    pic via CartoonModern. From “Man Alive” (1952)

March 23, 2006

March 20, 2006

  • FMLL yesterday afternoon (with
    Mil Mascaras and Canek as the main event.) FMLL is California’s leading
    Lucha Libre promotion, and always has a great atmosphere, with plenty
    of kids bouncing up and down in the ring between matches!  We were
    trying to take reference photos of the audience to create character
    designs from… a bit of an awkward task with people staring … but I
    think we got some good pics!

    The Original Gangstas were awesome, and our new favorite Lucha tag team! Here’s one of them:

    Lilita y Original G



    And here’s something totally wild! A 2D + 3D Mucha Lucha “Slammin Donuts” clip sent to us by animator Sam Leyja (Atlanta) Whoa!

    >

March 13, 2006