fresh like coconut

Hiatus? Kinda, Sorta, Not really

2010-08-01T16:57:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not updating in such a long time. It's been one week since Comic-con and we're still recovering. We promise to update this soon. We did change the site, you like? Just a temp for now, check out Cuddle-Monster (our baby site)!

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned!

Matt Cain Rules

2010-06-01T13:38:00.001-07:00

Giants game this past Sunday. Diamondbacks vs Giants. We were one of the first to get into the stadium, so we went to the bleacher section to watch batting practice. Surprisingly, there was no batting practice going, but we still went to the outfield bleachers.

We saw Matt Cain just resting in the outfield. He was about 20 feet away. Bianca flagged him down for an autograph. Matt told us to throw the ball and pen to him, so Bianca threw them both at him. After he signed the ball, he threw the ball and pen back at us. It was such a great experience. We would like to thank you, Matt Cain. ;)

Giants won the game. 6-5.

Mark VI & War Machine

2010-05-27T23:48:00.000-07:00

These Wal-Mart exclusives are the best! Six inch action figures of Mark VI and War Machine. We highly recommend picking these figures up. They are a lot better than the smaller 3.75'' action figures.

Nationals vs Giants (5/25)

2010-05-26T10:31:00.000-07:00

Went to the Giants game with Joe and Eva. It was a pretty wet day until the game started. Rainfall kept to a minimum and had fun throughout the game. The special event at the game was Chinese Heritage night, and we had special event tickets that got us a free Chinese Bobblehead at the game.

The Giants won, 4-2.

Power Mister

2010-05-24T21:45:00.000-07:00

The toy on the left is Power Mister. Designed by David Horvath, and maybe Sun-Min Kim as well. Power Mister is Super7's newest Monster Family member. The one picture is an unpainted pink version. These are only available in the '10 Super7 Lucky Bag, which should be completely sold out by now. Power Mister is a great design made by the best vinyl from Japan. We highly recommend picking up this toy if you can find it.

From the Villa..

2010-04-11T10:10:00.000-07:00

.. on the beach!

How lovely is that? This is our home for the next week - well, since Friday.. just wrote this late. The view is super awesome. Our hotel for the first few days was a view of the island, and this view is of the beach and ocean. If you look further out, you can see Lanai and Molokai. Just wow. So glad this is a yearly thing for us.

We're in Ka'anapali

2010-04-07T19:30:00.000-07:00

Bianca and I are in Hawaii (Maui). The two of us are traveling with my mom and sister. Hawaii never fails to amaze us. We are staying in Ka'anapali - just up the road from Lahaina.

Gotta go! Going to Lahaina to spend the afternoon/evening there around the town.

-Justin

DSi XL / Waldo?

2010-04-06T23:20:00.000-07:00

Just received our Burgundy DSi XL. What can I say? Wow. What a time-consumer this new Nintendo tech will be. Forget 'bout worrying the next "3D" DS to come out whenever. The XL is really big compared to a DSi. The three pre-loaded games are super great - mostly because it will work our brain productively (Brain Age, yo).

We finally got to bust our Pokemon Soulsilver. Heartgold has to wait a bit. It's not as fun playing both at the same time, balancing the amount of time put into each game.

There is a Where's Waldo? game. We saw it at Best Buy today, but it was $30, so can't afford that one right now. Hopefully that game ends up on the 50% shelf real soon. :)

How awesome is that? We just looked the game up on Amazon, and it is $18. Lol, Amazon never fails to amaze us with the best prices.

Big day tomorrow. Blog later. Peace

- Justin

Dai Rakugaki Matsuri @ Super7

2010-04-05T17:49:00.000-07:00

We attended Dai Rakugaki Matsuri at Super7 San Francisco on Saturday. Arrived in the city around 8 a.m. to line up for a ticket in line for the show opening in the evening. Crazy, huh? We've done worse in the past.

Few friends of ours were already in line. I guess they beat us by a few minutes or so, even one by a few seconds! Haha, but it was all good fun. Most of us that got there early were interested in the smaller customs in the show. Super7 started handing out the line tickets before the store opened - around 10:30 a.m. We ventured out in Japantown for the several hours we had to kill before lining up for the actual show.

We had lunch at Mum's in Hotel Tomo. I had a combo bento that included one of THE best teriyaki chicken, ever. :) After eating, Bianca and I walked around the shopping center for an hour or so until our buddy Joe & fam hit us up to walk around and have a second lunch with them. Lol, yup. Had to settle for just a bowl of soup and drinks because we had the big lunch earlier in the day.

Time flew by fast once we started hanging with Joe & fam. Pretty soon it was about 2 hours before the show starts, so we went to wait outside Super7 'til the opening. Jeff, other Joe, and the others were already waiting, so we joined in on the fun. Met a few board members like Daniel, Michael, Dustin, and a couple others we haven't met before. Very chill people - fun to talk with.

The weather got a bit chilly and breezy as it approached 7 p.m. Everyone was getting pretty anxious to go in and check everything out inside. We got inside a little after 7:15-ish. It was 5 people inside at a time for the first few groups. We were #8 and #9 in line, so we got in pretty much before it got crazy in the store. The 5 people inside at a time did not last long, lol.

We met Koji, Kiyoka (Gargamel), and KaToPe. Picked out the toy, and just talked to people we knew. Funny that we did not know KaToPe before this show, and he was the artist we were most interested in after seeing his artwork. Amazing stuff! It's a shame we didn't pick a toy of his (we got a Gargamel toy).

We left the show about 9:30 p.m., then drove back home. I think this show was very fun and new for us. This was the most crowded event we have been to at Super7. Hopefully Super7 can have this show again next year. We'll definitely be there. :)

- Justin

Site Reconstruction

2010-02-12T11:46:00.001-08:00

This layout looks a bit "MySpace-ish" .. so we will fix it up very soon.

Should we not write an entry this weekend - have a happy Valentine's Day!

- FLC

Handmade Tadpole Wage

2010-02-06T11:11:00.001-08:00

Handmade Tadpole Wage
Originally uploaded by FRESH LIKE COCONUT

Uh-oh, what dat? Who knows if this Uglydoll will ever see the light of day in stores! This Wage is unheard of. In fact, it's not even shaped like the Wage as he is most known for. No apron? Oh well! This handmade Uglydoll is from the Sun-Min + David vault. 1/1. One-of-a-kind forever? I wouldn't mind.

This is a classic size Uglydoll (around 14 inches in height), so don't think he's a little baby. He's a big baby! We were thinking a classic orange Wage could play the role as daddy, but that roll has to be our two-foot Wage's job.

It can not be seen on this photo - maybe you can if you zoom in on the max size of this image - you will notice the stitching on the eyes and teeth are pink. Yes, pink. No problemo! Just adds more to the uniqueness of the tadpole, and we can only love it more.

For the longest time, we have been searching & searching for a handmade Wage to complete our trio handmade family of IceBat, Babo, and Wage. Finally the trio is complete, and we can sleep without this burden on our mind. This Wage comes with a Certificate of Authenticity, or what David likes to call it, an "official seal of trueness!!!" We, FLC, are super happy and very fortunate to own this Uglydoll. :) Never leaving 'dis house!

Under the Rainbow Print

2010-01-14T18:07:00.000-08:00

The past few days we have been busy working on artwork (another entry concerning the plush coming soon).

I know most art prints are usually drawn out by hand or computer, but we decided to go a different route with one of our first print runs. We imported an image that I took in Hawaii during my last trip, and imported an original Coconut drawing of ours into the scene. The intention of this image was just to let everyone know we were still an active artist, but after more thought, the transformation of this image into a print would be neat and may be of your interest to have on your wall. Of course, having our art on your wall would be ultimately awesome. :)

Without further words, here is the image..

More info about the image can be found on our FLICKR

There might be some cropping done to meet certain dimensions (maybe even a square) for the print. The dimension of the print will definitely be a common size, so it will be easy to display. The first run may be a basic paper print. Having this done as a canvas print is another option, as well as mat boards, standouts, etc. We may even frame the paper print if that would be preferred. :D

More details will definitely follow-up this print. Bianca also made a little addition this print as well, but we are not sure if that would be made into a print just yet. Basically it is a bit more nutty.

Please leave a comment and let us know if this would be an image you would be interested seeing as a print. More so, a print that you would like to have on your wall!

We are starting the year of super fresh with this project!

- justin

Thanks, UGLY

2010-01-01T21:43:00.000-08:00

This guy has sorta became the holiday Uglydoll in the house. Sun-Min & David and Pretty Ugly sent over a surprise package to us and out came this Pointy Max. He's due out for release this year, but we received him last week before Christmas. :) Pointy Max was definitely a surprise and a gift truly unexpected. He has become part of the family and the unique shape fits the holiday spirit, but he will be on display all year ~ not just during December. :)

Fresh Year, 2010

2009-12-27T02:34:00.003-08:00

We will come out with a bang next year. :) Be ready.

Team Coconuts!

2009-11-25T16:38:00.000-08:00

This is the beginnings of our new team project we've been working on for quite some time with various artists. A few close friends and Fresh like Coconut are working on building our very own family tree, our coconut family tree. These artists join us while expressing their individuality. A lot of these individuals are seen to be.. different. We'd like to declare that being different isn't necessarily a bad thing. Our family is about being different, together!

These pieces were done by our close friends. Dean (http://deanobot.blogspot.com/) who created the zombie coconut and Hilda (http://hch5.blogspot.com/) who handmade the plush. They did incredible work and I absolutely love it. (: Thanks guys!

My Recent Projects

2009-11-17T15:37:00.001-08:00

I'm in LV right now. Spending time with my family before the surgery and I've actually been getting a lot done. I've been working on my plush coconuts like crazy. Unfortunately, I have not had the chance to get new canvases, but I will. Thanks Hilda, for making us a coconut! It's absolutely adorable.

Off the subject, I'm 20 now! Yay, one more year to pure adulthood. I guess. Anyway, I miss Justin and I'm hoping he's getting a lot of his work done too. Haha STOP PLAYING VIDEO GAMES.

We Go LA

2009-10-27T22:09:00.001-07:00

The WTF? Billboard Pose
Originally uploaded by freshlikecoconut / justin j.

We went to LA for the weekend to attend Giant Robot's Biennale 2: 15 Years opening reception. The Hello Kitty Three Apples show also opened up to the public on Friday, so we stopped by Friday night to check it out. Saturday night was the Giant Robot event, which was a blast! Sunday was a calmer day.. just cruising around LA using up time until our night flight was ready to go.

We didn't really do a typical LA touring thing, mostly because I've been there, done that.. don't want to do it again for a while type thing. LOL! The occasional shopping time did occur, but we're always cool with that.

Each event will sort of have their own blog entry. So much detail and stories to tell ~ it wouldn't be right to explain the whole darn thing in one entry, and it gives you, the awesome FLC readers, something new to read about more often.

Photos from our trip can be viewed on our FLICKR page. The photos are being uploaded throughout the week, so the whole trip may not be fully uploaded until the week's end. :)

How Do You Find Us?

2009-10-27T10:23:00.000-07:00

I'm curious as to how our viewers find us..

Is is through me?
Bianca?
Twitter?
Random google search?
Looking for real coconuts?
'Cuz we told you about our work?

A combo of two or more? Ha, just wondering. Let us know. :)

*Next few entries will be about the LA trip.*

Gallery

2009-10-20T01:41:00.001-07:00

We finally have our gallery up and running! Check it out!

http://freshlikecoconut.bigcartel.com/

JUST WHAT YOU WERE LOOKING FOR.

2009-10-15T23:52:00.001-07:00

We are going NUTS! But that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Let me set the mood. You're lost, sad, defeated, depleted, angry and lonely. Confused. Hungry. Thirsty. Forgotten. Kind of like... being washed ashore on an island in the middle of nowhere. Out of luck? NOPE. Because you've just landed on the most magical island. You're lucky, you have a second chance. Now, about the island. Uninhabited -- unexploited? Possible. Savage or primitive? Doubt it. Foreign, maybe even exotic? Yes. Curious? I'm sure you are.

You don't know yet, but you will.

Winter Release Preview

2009-10-12T21:13:00.000-07:00

Our pieces are getting there, finally. Kind of been lagging on it, but here is a small preview on one of the first pieces.

Told ya it'd be small, but you could still sign up now to get the full picture!
Just give us your email address and it'll be sent to you right away!
.

All paintings are sets of 3.

Rapid Progress

2009-10-11T15:08:00.000-07:00

This past weekend has been really busy with FLC work. We've been sewing, drawing, digitalizing, and planning a lot of stuff. A year before this weekend, Bianca sewn two plush coconuts. The past three days, Bianca has sewn four new coconuts! How awesome is that? I think the use of a sewing machine helped her last night.

I successfully printed a mini print involving a coconut. It took a couple tries to make my printer print on a small size paper. I had to freehand cut my bristol paper to make it fit in the printer. That was fun ~ good thing I have steady hands, haha! Something that I need to fix for printing is making the outline a lot more thicker to define the print. No color prints yet! Ran out of ink, except black. :)

We've gotten three new subscribers since yesterday. That's pretty cool since we've been stuck on the same amount for half a year! Ha, damn.

Here is a teaser of my mixed media - but mostly digital - coconut:

Not much to show with that, but you get the idea.. that's like 1/5 of the coconut. Lol. Anyway, it is a really neat image. The technique is quite typical, but it works for this type of art. This is how I will be doing most of my half for the art stuff.

More to come later.. :)

Wonder Girls x Justin Jayubo - Nobody US REMIX

2009-10-10T13:12:00.000-07:00

Set of 3, threesome, trio, triplets, triad, three-piece?

2009-10-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

Yes, three of them. To be sold? Not sure yet. What are they? Paintings, of course. Preview? Not yet.

The past couple of days, Justin and I have been working super hard on a few 1 of 1, set of 3's. We're very near completion and if you're patient you maybe able to see them! If you are on our mailing list, you should be receiving an e-mail soon with pictures and a brief description of the sets. If you're not, don't worry, there will be a very small sneak peek right here on our site, but if you're like me and you want to see the whole big picture, you should most definitely sign up!

E-mails will be sent out within the next couple of days, so keep an eye out & if you haven't yet, you still have a chance to sign up!

Uglydolls x Cometdebris IceBat Customs

2009-10-07T21:18:00.000-07:00

This is an upcoming release of custom IceBats. We are looking forward to adding one or two (how about three?) into our collection once the sale is all done and through. :)

***

Next weekend we are making a brief trip (like three days) to Los Angeles. We need to contact some folks to have meetings for some projects we have going on right now.

Just a couple more hours

2009-10-04T19:54:00.000-07:00

For the past couple of hours, I've been secretly counting down to Justin's 20th birthday. Although, I have been preoccupying myself with fixing our website (how does it look, btw?!), I can hardly contain my excitement for him. I know, I know, turning 20 isn't that great, but isn't it considered one of those milestone birthdays? In my opinion, that's a cause for celebration. With only 4 hours left to decide, I'm still trying to figure what I could do or say or give to him that would make his birthday the best he's ever had. Hm? I know I'll think of something. (:

Btw, a lot of the links on the top navigational bar are just temporary and some don't work at all. Just working out all the bugs before it's 'officially' complete. Come back and check it out in a couple hours, I should have it up and running by then.

-B

Happy Birthday Grandma

2009-10-02T10:40:00.000-07:00

Today is my grandma's birthday! :) Woo! Let's celebrate! I think my mom took her to a buffet for lunch or something. We still need to find a gift for her.

Web Update/September Ends

2009-09-30T09:27:00.000-07:00

Couldn't go a month without blogging. That would be unloyal to our fans! Haha.. uh-huh

Well, Bianca was up all night fixing this page and making it look cutesy. She kept bugging me for approval on the icons and colors, etc. It looks sweet. The only thing I miss is the blog directory, so people can locate older blogs if they wanted to read up on past entries. :)

We are back in business, sorta, not financially.. but we have that drive to get art out to the world and possibly into your home!

More to come..

Official Justin J. YouTube Channel

2009-08-23T19:37:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

Check out Justin's YouTube channel: justinjayubo. He's such a cutesy face in his new videos! Pretty cool, right? Not only that, but you should subscribe today to see all his updates on his new & released music! &maybe even special updates about Fresh like Coconut :D haha

http://www.youtube.com/user/justinjayubo

Bianca (:

It's me, B!

2009-08-21T18:27:00.000-07:00

Hello there,

So this is the first time I'm actually writing on here. I wanted to update since Justin hasn't either. I'm in Vegas &I just got my braces off and Justin had his first day of classes the other day & releasing a few new songs! Yaa, lots of fun right? I'm very excited for him because he's been working really hard on them everyday and it's really paying off! Wish I could tell you the themes & inspiration for them, but sorry that's up to Justin! Watch out for him, he's getting there! (:

Well, I'm for reals going to dedicate myself to my coconuts for the next couple of weeks because I have A LOT of free time on my hands. I'm still employed, but I've taken a leave for personal reasons, so that means it's time to get the coconut rolling! :D Btw, keep looking out for FLC updates, there maybe a contest in the near future, how exciting!

Nobody - Wonder Girls Remix

2009-08-12T19:46:00.000-07:00

I am going to release a remix/alternate version to the Wonder Girl's hit single "Nobody" really soon! Such a really good vibe to this song. Peep the MySpace often these next few days. :)

Upcoming Project News

2009-08-04T11:52:00.000-07:00

We are finally starting to kick-off the first major project for FLC. :) It will be a very awesome start that will branch out into various directions. FLC is pleased to be working with an artist known worldwide by art collectors and collectors. This guy is super awesome and we have always admired his work since day one. We are going to keep this artist's name secret until more progress and promos are available to the public.

:)

I might add our prototype plush was widely applauded by many artists and others at San Diego Comic Con this year. Thanks!

Meet Luke Chueh - SDCC

2009-08-02T20:35:00.001-07:00

Meet Luke Chueh
Originally uploaded by freshlikecoconut / justin j.

Luke Chueh is a gentleman. One of the nicest artists I have met to this date. He has a load to talk about and it's just great to get to know him more through conversation, rather articles / word of mouth / mailing list emails. His art has grown onto me through the past years. The inspiration for his art is really justified when he makes paintings. His life experiences really do get painted. An amazing artist.

Itokin Park - SDCC

2009-08-01T11:47:00.001-07:00

Thumbs Up x2 with Itokin Park
Originally uploaded by freshlikecoconut / justin j.

It was a pleasure to talk with my good friend Kazu (Itokin Park) at SDCC! I saw him in February at his Super7 show earlier this year. This guy needs to move to the USA. Bummer he has to fly from Japan to be with friends and fans here. Kazu is a super nice guy, always has a smile on his face. :) Can't wait to talk with him again.

David Horvath! - SDCC

2009-07-31T07:49:00.001-07:00

Me & David Horvath!
Originally uploaded by freshlikecoconut / justin j.

I actually talked with David every day I was at comic con. So that is Wednesday thru Saturday. A lot of time! It was cool because he was cool it and enjoyed talking with me. Getting drawings from David was like a dream come true, most because I would have to buy original artwork off of another owner.. and that could cost a high amount of money. There is around 7 to 10 drawings that I got from him, and they are all equally awesome. Those images will be posted soon. :)

Simone! Tokidoki - SDCC

2009-07-30T10:15:00.001-07:00

Simone!
Originally uploaded by freshlikecoconut / justin j.

I manage to talk with artists at random moments. SImone is super chill guy and talks to anybody. He was really happy to see I was wearing a Tokidoki jacket at the con. Haha. The jacket has grown to be one of my more favorite jackets in my closet. I'm glad I was able to meet him before ending my SDCC run, since Saturday was my last day at SDCC.

Is It True!? Kel Mitchell - SDCC

2009-07-29T09:43:00.001-07:00

Is It True!? Kel Mitchell
Originally uploaded by freshlikecoconut / justin j.

It was such an awesome experience to meet Kel. He was super upbeat about being at the convention. We got to talk for a little bit and even did a few skits from his past shows/movies. I'm surprised I remembered them off the top of my head. Haha. I wonder if Kel really does like orange soda?

Babo & Big Toe! (Video) - SDCC

2009-07-28T10:46:00.001-07:00

Babo & Big Toe! (Video)
Originally uploaded by freshlikecoconut / justin j.

Here is a quick clip of Babo and Big Toe dancing around and taking pictures with people @ San Diego Comic Con. :) It was such a cute sight to see. Great moment. I wish there were more of these Uglydolls there, like an IceBat and Wage! :) Super fun though.

Rush

2009-07-20T08:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I have a fun list of things to do today..

- pack clothes
- finish artwork (wonder if they will sell?)
- pack an FLC prototype figure in a box
- line my hair up (make it more cleaner-looking)

There is probably some more tasks I have to do, but haven't remembered them right now. :)

So excited!

Preparing for Comic Con

2009-07-16T19:19:00.001-07:00

Preparing for Comic Con
Originally uploaded by freshlikecoconut / justin j.

I need to start getting stuff ready for SDCC. Sailor Babo is going to be my partner in crime since Bianca can not attend this year. :) What dat?!

I am really glad I can wear some Kidrobot, Giant Robot, and Kozik apparel. Going to bring my crappy pair of ReeBok shoes that I have been using for the past two years. No use in breaking in new ones while thousands of people step on 'em. lol.

David Horvath is signing at the Uglydoll booth every day from 2pm-4pm. That is pretty cool, so I can bug him each day with something new. :)

In Babo We Trust

2009-07-16T10:32:00.000-07:00

I will voluntarily punch you in the face if you take my size. :) Must have this to wear around town.

SDCC 2009 Exclusives by Kozik, Lanham and MAD!

2009-07-14T17:41:00.000-07:00

Strangekiss x Lanham x Kozik x MAD... Strangekiss partners once again with the Mastermind David Lanham to bring you what will be some of the most anticipated SDCC exclusives this year. Follow us on Twitter for some very special news and updates.

Bill the Yeti is created to blow your mind! Bill is about 8 inches in height and weighs over one pound. Bill has authentic clothing from the hat, overalls, shirt and undies. (Yes, you read that right!) Oh, and because Bill likes to run around naked when the mood strikes, he's got a the backpack that can hold all his clothes. Each version is limited to only 250 pieces and will have a special SDCC print as well.

Bill the Yeti, created by David Lanham, produced by Strangekiss!

Walking around the forest, woods or anyplace less traveled while in a constant state of amazem

ent, Bill loves just looking at the ground and counting bugs or climbing trees for better views. People love to stop and take his photo (although sometimes he's a little shy about it), but Bill prefers the quiet life of discovery and exploration.

Unless one of his multiple personalities takes over...

Strangekiss SDCC Signing Schedule 2009 - Booth #4637 (right up from Kidrobot)

Friday - July 24th - 4PM - Frank Kozik meet the man himself and also see a sneak peek of the new Kozik original produced by Strangekiss

Saturday - July 25th - BACK-TO-BACK SIGNING!

12 PM (NOON) David Lanham will throwing down skills with his insane and organic style and signing his release of Bill

Strangekiss proudly presents the first virtual interactive signing at SDCC. Its true that MAD can't make it out in body to SDCC, so we thought we would bring him virtually on Saturday July 25th at 2 PM. Talk to MAD while he draws you a personal sketch from his studios and prints locally. Don't be surprised if he calls you by name or yells "Hey you in that red hat" as you pass by! We mean INTERACTIVE!

We have teamed up with some great people to bring you this event. We will have giveaways from Infectious, Hint Mints, and Twitterrific by the Iconfactory the premiere iPhone, iPod Touch and Mac application for all your Tweeting needs.

Preparations for SDCC

2009-07-14T10:19:00.000-07:00

Bianca and I will be doing some drawings to display at SDCC. Cute drawings of some characters we have created over time. Bristol paper to have that nice feel to it. ;) More to come very soon.

Itokin Park's Mikazukin Fortune Cat

2009-07-10T11:37:00.000-07:00

More pictures can be seen on our flickr

Michael Jackson, RIP

2009-06-25T21:51:00.000-07:00

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

2009-06-25T08:54:00.000-07:00

Recap of Tuesday night / Wednesday morning..

Okay, so the big line started around 6pm.

The movie was spectacular in IMAX. The visual and audio totally rocked from beginning to end. I wish I snuck some pictures of the movie, but there was always a security guard near us, so that made it a bit complicated.

The introduction of new Transformers was really good. It wasn't so centered on the core robots. Each robot had their little time to shine, some had a lot of screen time. The twins, Mudflap and Skids, stole the show with their attitude / humor.. Sam's parents were taking the show in the beginning, but the Twins played it out through the whole movie.

Hopefully the retreat of Megatron and Starscream means of another Transformers movie in the future. :)

Got home a few minutes past 3AM. It was worth it. :)

Transformers 2

2009-06-23T18:01:00.001-07:00

We will be attending the midnight showing of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (The IMAX Experience) tonight. :D Super excited. I'll try to snap some shots of the movie. Hehe.

Recap of GRSF: 15 Years

2009-06-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

The opening reception was really chill. Me and Bianca went to Chinatown before going to GRSF. We arrived at GRSF about and hour early, but we occupied ourselves with the many things at the store.

Artwork for the show was great. Some of our favorite artists' are featured in this show ~ like David Horvath, Le Merde, Dehara, and Luke Chueh. :D

We got to meet the owner of Giant Robot, Eric Nakamura. Meeting him was such an honor. He is a really nice guy to talk with. Eric was nice enough to do a drawing for us. He took about 10-15 minutes to do the drawing. < -- Will blog about the drawing later.

More photos can be viewed here: flickr set

15 YEARS @ GRSF

2009-06-20T08:36:00.001-07:00

Group Art Show

15-Year Anniversary Show at GRSF, June 20, 2009 - July 15, 2009
Reception: Saturday, June 20, 6:30 pm - 10:00 pm

GRSF
618 Shrader Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
gr-sf.com
415-876-4773

Since 1994, Giant Robot has documented, promoted, and pushed Asian, Asian American, indie, and hybrid pop culture in the pages of its magazine. To celebrate its milestone 15th year of publishing, brand evolution into retail shops and art galleries, and continual readership, support, and inspiration from the Bay Area, GRSF is proud to host a group show featuring many of the publication's best backers, contributors, and friends.

Coming from artistic backgrounds such as painting, illustration, photography, sculpture, graffiti, comics, and toys, contributors include the following:

Aiyana Udesen
Albert Reyes
Apak
Ben King
Christopher Bettig
Dan-ah Kim
Daria Tessler
David Horvath
Deth P. Sun
French
Jen Corace
Joe To
Kami
Kaori Kasai
kozyndan
Le Merde
Luke Chueh
Lydia Fong
Mari Inukai
Matt Furie
Maxwell Loren Holyoke-Hirsch
Nao Harada
Ray Potes
Rob Sato
Robert Bellm
Saelee Oh
Seonna Hong
Yellena James
Yukinori Dehara

To complement the show, Goh Nakamura will play a special acoustic set at its opening. The San Francisco-based singer/guitar player has self-released two excellent indie-folk albums, and is also profiled in the special 15th anniversary edition of Giant Robot, issue 60.

The reception, which will feature many of the artists, will be held from 6:30-10:00 on Saturday, June 20. For more information about the show, GRSF, or Giant Robot magazine, please contact:

Eric Nakamura
Giant Robot Owner/Publisher
eric@giantrobot.com
(310) 479-7311

One of the Cool Toys

2009-06-16T16:23:00.000-07:00

I found this guy sitting in a box at my mom's place. :D This is not a bad toy when you compare to the toys of Kidrobot, KAWS, etc. Buzz Lightyear beyond all those hype machines and is more of a household name in America. LOL. Yup, okay.

No Go Hawaii This Year

2009-06-14T12:13:00.001-07:00

I will not be going to Hawaii this month. ;( Next year. Promise.

SPACE KID

2009-06-08T15:36:00.001-07:00

Let me introduce you all to SPACE KID. :) This is an FLC original design. We are done drawing and now beginning the sculpting process. SPACE KID should be around 4 to 6 inches in height. A back story of this figure will be posted soon.

I'm really excited to get this project done, as this is our first big project. The cherry blossom version is my favorite of the three right now.

Hopefully we can get a few guest artists to take part in doing a design for SDCC for diplay-only purposes. :)

Lost Out..

2009-06-08T12:16:00.000-07:00

.. on the handmade Ox that was on eBay. :( Poor me. I was so going to bid, but thought it ended an hour later.

Happy Birthday..

2009-06-02T10:43:00.000-07:00

..to my little sister! Double digits, uh oh. Haha. I'm going to give her a surprise gift. Something very Ugly. :)

20'' Huck Gee Skullhead Dunny

2009-05-29T20:19:00.000-07:00

More 20'' Huck Gee Skullhead Dunny pictures can be seen on our personal flickr set of this toy. Some are teasers, images of the box, etc, but I will post some more pictures as days go by. ;]

Imminent

2009-05-28T00:42:00.000-07:00

Pretty soon we will be introducing a figure that will be in the sculpting process in the coming weeks. It is really cool, especially a colorway that I put together involving a design of simplicity and asian-ness. Haha.

I'm putting together press kits to some other online bloggers about FLC's official artwork kick-off. We figure now would be a good time to start putting stuff together with San Diego's Comic Con coming up in July. ;) So MANY projects we are trying to finish before I head off to San Diego. Bianca's trip to SDCC is pending as of now with work scheduling.

AH! Many things to talk about these coming days.. :) Stay tuned!

Almost A Week

2009-05-25T22:37:00.000-07:00

It's been almost a week since Dia went missing. :( We are so close to finding him. We've been getting phone calls and word of mouf about sightings of Dia. So close..

Please come home..

2009-05-20T11:45:00.000-07:00

Dunny Series 5 Golden Ticket x Huck Gee

2009-05-18T18:31:00.000-07:00

I finally opened a DS5 Golden Ticket box.

Here are some photos of the most talked about golden ticket Dunny:

The box has a special barcode label for the Golden Ticket.

The bad ass with his stick.

The bad ass with his chicks. :)

Expressobeans Cataloging

2009-05-17T23:53:00.000-07:00

Does anyone log their collection on the Expressobeans database? I guess it's one way to keep your collection cataloged online. Too bad a lot my original Sun Min + David stuff is not listed. I could always add it to their database, but that would be time consuming. Haha.

100 Degrees

2009-05-16T22:31:00.000-07:00

Reached 100 degrees in our town today. :) So hot!!! Felt really good.

I Miss You

2009-05-16T14:09:00.000-07:00

Bianca is in Vegas for the weekend and Monday. It's really boring here ~ being all alone. Haha. My nitro RC cars are out of nitro fuel 'til Tuesday, so can't have fun outside. I've been cleaning the place up, thinking of what toys to sell to make the collection a bit more focused and minimized.

Just A Box

2009-05-13T10:42:00.001-07:00

Nothing more, nothing less.. yet. :)

By the way, it's mine.

Quick Trip to Huck Gee's

2009-05-12T13:38:00.000-07:00

We made a quick trip to Huck Gee's last night. Spent a good hour talking about random stuff. Shits and giggles, Bianca being shy, etc. Well worth it even though it was last minute notice.

More photos can be seen on our flickr (photos should still be front page). ;]

Drift

2009-05-09T23:44:00.001-07:00

That's our Cen CT-5 drifting and nearly clipping the camera. :) Video clip recorded earlier this afternoon.

Incoming Print

2009-05-09T22:58:00.001-07:00

Finally received tracking/shipping information on a print I found on Giant Robot's web store. I guess it is appropriate enough to post what print it is, as the print has been shipped and definitely coming our way.
This is an older and rare print by David Horvath, entitled "Late Night Snack" ~ edition of 10, I believe. Available at a previous Uglycon event Giant Robot held in SF or LA.

We are super excited to receive this print, as Babo and Wage are included in the print. Not to mention their clothing as well, HAHA. Too cute. ;]

Pencil Pushers

2009-05-09T14:42:00.000-07:00

Pencil Pushers at GRSF, May 16, 2009 - June 17, 2009
Reception: Saturday, May 16, 6:30 pm - 10:00 pm

GRSF
618 Shrader Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
gr-sf.com
415-876-4773

Giant Robot is proud to present Pencil Pushers, a group show challenging a diverse group of artists to create works with the simplest medium of all: graphite.

Coming from backgrounds such as painting, comics, illustration, and street art, contributing artists will include the following:

Scott Barry
Sean Boyles
Aaron Brown
Carl Cahbasm
Ako Castuera
Chad Eaton
Leo Eguiarte
Danny Espinoza
Matt Furie
Mark Giglio
Jake Gillespie
Narangkar Glover
Maxwell Loren Holyoke-Hirsch
David Horvath
Jay Howell
David Jien
Ben King
kozyndan
Blaise Larmee
Andrew Lee
Aaron Martinez
Tony Millionaire
Eric Nakamura
Andrew Perry
Sidney Pink
Albert Reyes
Brian Rush
Johnny Ryan
Emilio Santoyo
Rob Sato
Deth P. Sun
Joe To
Aiyana Udesen
Martin Wong

A reception featuring many of the artists will be held from 6:30 - 10:00 on Saturday, May 16. For more information about the show, GRSF, or Giant Robot magazine, please contact:

Eric Nakamura
Giant Robot Owner/Publisher
eric@giantrobot.com
(310) 479-7311

Applecare

2009-05-06T23:04:00.000-07:00

MacBook Pro needed some maintenance. Nearly $400 in repairs and labor. It was all free for me since the notebook is still on it's Applecare warranty. :) There was a chance my HD would be erased, but everything is still on file! Whooop!

Blind

2009-05-02T02:19:00.000-07:00

Dia lost his vision (he's blind). He will probably be blind his whole life. :[ It is such a sad thing to know.. he is only five or six weeks old and already lost all his vision. His movements are slow and cautious. He's adapted to his blindness rather quick though. I hope he hangs in there and stays strong to live a long life.

Tara McPherson @ Kidrobot SF

2009-04-30T10:18:00.000-07:00

We attented the Tara McPherson signing at Kidrobot SF last night. It was a lot of fun. :]

Click the link below to view the photo set for the signing:
Tara McPherson Signing @ KRSF

Issy's

2009-04-26T08:44:00.001-07:00

We we're roaming the streets of our town and ended up in the downtown area. We always pass by this place, but never tried it yet. Yesterday was the first time. The place is called Issy's. It is a Mexican restaurant with some American dishes. ;]

I ordered an American dish. Cheeseburger with fries. Bianca had the same thing. Those were 1/2 pound burgers. Oh, and the fries with delicious.

I must note that we had some of the best spicy chicken wings before the burgers. :)

Last Night

2009-04-24T02:30:00.001-07:00

We went to the Kozik signing at Kidrobot SF last night. It was really fun talking with Frank again and catching up with a few other people. Met up with Lauren @ McDonald's to eat some food real quick, but we spent like two hours in the dining area just talking. I will post some pictures from the signing + McD's later on today..

Mastercards

2009-04-16T17:50:00.000-07:00

I just noticed my four plastic cards are of Mastercard. Haha. Interesting. Three of which are a part of the same major banks. Cool.

Cherry Blossoms

2009-04-12T09:30:00.000-07:00

The festival was very cool. We showed up pretty early because I had to surprise Bianca with something and I wanted to beat out the traffic going into San Francisco.

A food vendor devoted to only Spam Masubi!The Hello Kitty section, well, the cute part. :)Before Post Street got all busy
Blooming!

We had a fun time. The only thing we bought was food. Haha. :)

Glowing Menta IceBat

2009-04-10T17:08:00.000-07:00

Cherry Blossom Festival

2009-04-07T09:48:00.000-07:00

Bianca and I will be at the Cherry Blossom festival in San Francisco this weekend. We will be there both days to enjoy our weekend. There is loads of fun stuff to do, so we definitely won't miss this. ;]

Help Help

2009-04-06T22:18:00.000-07:00

Bianca is helping me design my figure before it goes into the sculpting process. For some reason I can't ever draw my character 99% the same as the last time I drew it. I think I do that because I am constantly doing drastic changes to the design, so I never have a solid design.. but the ''idea'' is always there. Haha. Definitely shooting for SD Comic Con to release test shots of it. If money and time allows, I may have another figure (actually a pair of figures with a storyline).

I was at the Container Store yesterday looking at stuff and came across some cool bags and boxes that my figures could be packaged in. Got some cool ideas from seeing everything at the store, so everything is sort of coming together now. ;]

Mini Pen & Ink Drawings

2009-04-04T23:25:00.000-07:00

Me and Bianca will doing some pen & ink drawings on small, high-quality stock paper. They should be pretty neat when they are finished. Will post snippets when we start on them.

Sales Tax Increase?

2009-04-02T23:18:00.000-07:00

I take it sales tax in every county in California went up at least +1.0%. Sonoma county was 7.75%, but now it is 8.75%. That's crazy. I heard San Francisco is at/above 10.0%. Ridiculous.

11LBS

2009-04-01T22:56:00.000-07:00

11LBS of Strangekiss goodness is coming my way soon. That's a considerable amount of stuff if it's all toys. Really excited to be part of the Strangekiss family. ;] Big things happening.

Saw a sample of Bianca's pencil drawings. They look pretty good so far. On my side of the FLC ~ I have to get in touch with my buddy to get some resin sculpts done for prototypes.

Mini Munny Mobile Decorating Party

2009-04-01T01:01:00.000-07:00

fresh like coconut will be attending this event at Kidrobot San Francisco. :]

I think I will have to bring some primer and personal brushes to use at this party. Bianca will probably try and make a masterpiece with this. Definitely looks like a fun event. Ah, the fun.

Publicist?

2009-03-23T23:35:00.000-07:00

(L to R: Bianca, Justin, Lauren)

I should ask Lauren to be the FLC publicist. Haha. She is a journalist, though.. Hm.. I shall ask.

Girl, You Know It's True

2009-03-21T11:18:00.000-07:00

This Milli Vanilli song has been playing on my iTunes for the past few days. Quite the awesome song the more I listen to it.

MENTA WAGE!

2009-03-18T23:01:00.001-07:00

This is another custom IceBat by Dehara Yukinori. Simply amazing. :]

Thinking

2009-03-17T08:45:00.001-07:00

Although, the 400% version of this guy may feel like plastic-to-the-max, it's still an awesome figure. The paint work is awesome. If rumor is true, then a black version is coming out soon? Who knows for sure.. ;]

MENTA Mania

2009-03-14T20:36:00.001-07:00

Custom pieces by Dehara

Los Angeles Trip

2009-03-11T10:20:00.000-07:00

We will be going to Los Angeles later this month ~ March 27 'til March 30.

I just read that the KAWS show at Honor Fraser will still be happening when we go down there. Definitely want to check the gallery out while we are in the area.

Oh, and I have to check out Kidrobot LA. My sister is probably the most excited about going to KRLA and the Grove.

So much to do in a few days, but we'll do. Sort of like the same game plan as last year's visit to the area. ;]

KAWS Tag

2009-03-10T22:24:00.000-07:00

I was bored a few minutes ago and this is what became of my boredom..

So fresh.

KAWS Dissected Be@rbrick

2009-03-08T10:27:00.000-07:00

Can't wait to get my complete set and the extras. :) I should have it all by Friday. I guess I should take pictures of the army. It will be ridiculous!

I'm In a Tour Guide

2009-03-06T19:27:00.000-08:00

There is a picture of me in a San Francisco tour guide. It is an online tour guide right now ~ not too sure if it will be made into a hardcopy version. The photo is of me in Japantown. Bianca took the photo. :)

Ink Bottles

2009-03-04T22:58:00.000-08:00

I finally brought out the ink bottles for some pen & inks on my character. There is always a revision made to the shaping of the body and head. It's quite fun trying out different stuff on him. I don't know if I want the eyes, nose, and mouth carved into the blanks. If I did that, then all the pieces would have all the same eyes, nose, and mouth. My designs for this guy have variations to the face each time I draw him.

This character actually doesn't have a name yet. Pretty sure a name will come to mind in the coming weeks or so.

More updates later.. :)

Something Galactic

2009-03-03T22:39:00.000-08:00

I've finally put the ball in play for my first figure. I recently finished the drafts of my figure on paper and gave my buddy the ''go'' to start sculpting when ready. There should be a resin prototype by April or so.

Maybe I will put together one of those prototype images so you all can get an idea on what this figure will be. Chances are you will just have to wait until I have an actual figure in hand, or I take progress pictures on the figure's development. Whichever. :)

Itokin Park @ S7

2009-03-01T14:47:00.001-08:00

The event was super fun and awesome. I got to meet a lot of collectors from a whole different toy scene other than Kidrobot and the other western stuff. It was very welcoming and relaxing. Everyone made the event more fun that I had expected. Itokin Park is an amazing artist and I am super glad I got to meet the artist himself before making my first Itokin Park art purchase. :)

Here are some pictures of the event:

Hopefully I will remember to post a blog about the pieces I bought. Peace!

Misfortune

2009-02-23T21:16:00.000-08:00

Spiderboom Dunny had a bad first impression of Super Puncher. No idea why, but this sucks. ;( Haha.

Babo Meets Turtle

2009-02-21T20:29:00.001-08:00

MINE.

Tomorrow

2009-02-20T10:02:00.001-08:00

I think I'm going to take Bianca to Japantown tomorrow after the Giant Robot SF show opening. :]

Lake Walk

2009-02-19T21:21:00.001-08:00

SUPER PUNCHER went along with me to work today. All he asked for in return was a walk along the lake near my work. :] It was a fun time.

Pay Day

2009-02-19T20:43:00.000-08:00

I like getting paychecks. I guess I should be grateful I have a job that gives me a decent amount of hours every week. :] Actually, I should be happy I have a day job at all.. given our country's economic condition.

Lonely

2009-02-18T09:29:00.000-08:00

Bianca is going to Las Vegas for a dentist appointment today, but she won't fly back until Saturday night. Three days of no one keeping me company. I'll be staying home for the time-being. ;] I guess I can get some stuff done, post some stuff on eBay, make money, etc. Yay! Oh, I get to watch LOST by myself tonight.

We went to our favorite eat-out spot early for this week since she is leaving. We usually go on Thurs/Fri. We brough Babo along, SUPER PUNCHER as well.

Side Job

2009-02-17T22:38:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty anxious to start some work with a company that asked me to help them with online networks. :] I think this is a great chance for me to use my extra time on something productive and familiarize myself with the toy and art print scene.

Yay for me!