GR Biennale 2 @ JANM

Little late in getting this post up. It has just been really busy for me at the moment, with work and happenings around town. But anyways... I went to the opening of the Giant Robot Biennale 2: 15 Years Art Exhibition and Celebration. Got there really early, about 4:30pm, and decided to walk around J-Town a bit. Had not been around there for a long while and some of the stores and eateries I used to go to have changed. Even the area I used to work at during my college days has been developed into a parking lot for the Metrorail. So as I walked through the Village I bump into Justin, Bianca and his mom. I met them at SDCC this past year. I guess I should say Justin and his mom only, since Bianca wasn't there. Made a quick stop at the Yogurtland nearby to pickup a Tokidoki character spoon. 2 are out now: Mozzarella and Latte. 2 others come out Nov. 23: Donutella and Captain Coco.

After the stop, we went to stand in line at JANM for the opening at 6pm. There were only a few people in line there at the time, but the line didn't get too much longer until close to the time of the opening. Doors opened and we were let into the museum to view all the great art work for the show. They even laid out the red carpet for this opening with a Giant Robot backdrop that featured 62 issues of GR.

The main artists like David Choe, James Jean, Souther Salazar, Jeff Soto, Jack Long, etc. were in the upstairs part of the gallery. While the collaboration of Le Merde, David Horvath and Dehara was in the downstairs one, along with 50+ other artists. We started in the bottom gallery since it seemed that is where everyone was heading. There was a long line to get into that part of the gallery as the night progressed. Lighting was dimmer than I expected it to be in this area.

The figures that Le Merde, David and Dehara made were just amazing. The 3 Le Merde customs of My Friend Dave, Kaiju Ice-Bat and Kaiju Babo were... how can I put this... Gorgeous! Sun-Min's first resin, Sun-Min's Monster, were great to see! The eyes on some of them are a little cross-eyed. Loved seeing the colored blank My Friend Dave customs with handpainted details on them. Dehara's pieces always look great too. The collaboration figures they did were awesome you can totally tell which ones each artist worked on and the different heads they come with are a very cool addition. Sun-Min also had these half gourd-like sculpts hanging on the back wall too with her signature painted flowers. Those were pretty interesting to see.

There were so many pieces to look at in the bottom gallery that we almost forgot about the other one upstairs. But we had to make a stop at the food and beverage table in the main hall area, at least before the stage presentation started. There was some wraps, chips and salsa provided by Wahoo's and beverages provided by Honest Tea... delicious and satisfying. George Takei started off the presentation by introducing Eric on stage. Eric in turn introduced some GR staff (Martin and Michelle went on stage), then many of the artists taking part in the show. He even gave each of them a certificate from the City of L.A. After the ceremony, we decided to view the silent auction area, see the other gallery, plus meet and mingle with the artists. Got to talk with David and his sister Kerry, Eric Nakamura, Martin Wong, Jack Long, James Jean and a couple other people.

After the show we decided to try and get some noodles to eat nearby, but most of the places that I knew there were either too crowded or closed. Even Chinatown, although close by, was pretty deserted. So we grabbed a bite at the Denny's that I knew of down the street from where I used to work. Justin had 2 prints he purchased from the Three Apples show that he did not want to take a chance with on the flight back, so he wanted to know if I could ship them to him. I told him that I could, so I went back to their hotel to get them.

All in all, it was a very interesting night. Going to have to go back to view the show again. Just to spend more time to admire the pieces and take some better pics when it isn't as crowded. It was a little difficult in trying to get pics of the larger pieces. You are bound to get a few people not paying attention in your shots.

Three Apples @ Royal/T Cafe

Went to the VIP party for the Three Apples 35 Years Hello Kitty Celebration Exhibition @ Royal/T Cafe last night. Pics are not the greatest since I took them with my iPhone. I didn't bring my camera with me. The opening started at 7pm and there was a huge crowd there even before then. I got there about 7pm and didn't get in until somewhere around 8:15pm-8:30pm. Missed Kimora Lee and Paris Hilton. They left the party just before we even got in.

Place was packed with people and missed out on the goody bags just when we were about to get in too. Got to eat some Hello Kitty cake and appetizers. Other than seeing Kimora Lee and Paris Hilton, I saw a lot of the artists that contributed pieces to the show: Buffmonster, Luke Cheuh, Joe Hahn of Linkin Park, James Jean, David Choe, Gary Baseman, Angry Woebots, Tim Biskup and Tokidoki. Found out way later that Miranda Cosgrove, Dave Nevarro, Pete Wentz and Tera Patrick were there as well.

There is an Hello Kitty Pop-Up Shop in the gallery. Some items are exclusive to the show. A Hello Kitty plush doll box set ($100), 2 Hello Kitty vinyl figures ($12), plus there is the exhibition photo book with pics of all the artwork in the show ($35). Some limited edition prints of some of the pieces are available: Luke Cheuh, Gary Baseman and 4 others are available in limited amounts.

All of the pieces were amazing. There were already red dots on some of the artwork. Didn't find the price list sheet until just when I was about to leave though. Wouldn't have mattered much anyway, since the prices on some of them were way out side of my price range.

I will have to go back to the show another day when it is not so crowded. Could not spend as much time as I wanted to view all the artwork and items. Have to go back anyways to pickup that photobook. Need to save some of my money for the GR Biennale 2 show at the JANM on Saturday. The show runs from October 23 - November 15 with lots of fun events happening throughout the shows run at Royal/T Cafe.

Back Online!

Finally got my replacement DSL box. Which was a 2nd replacement to my original replacement box. The lights and power was not activating on the first one I received. So I had to call my provider so that they could send out a new one. Two weeks without internet at home drove me nuts. Couldn't get online to check emails, read news or work on things.

Oh well... all that is fixed. Now it's the busiest time of the year at the magazine. Have to work at an event on Saturday, the 10th. Company is having holding a Cover Kids Contest at the Skirball Cultural Center. 3 kids, from 3 different categories, will be on 3 different covers of the magazine. The winners will also get a photo session with Valerie Tabor Smith and a gift set from Paul Frank. They'll be other random prizes being given away at the event as well. Like goody bags, toddler bikes, scooters, Uglydolls, Mr. Toast items, DVDs, CDs, games, books, video games and toys.

Scarium of the Pacific event is on the 24th and 25th at the Aquarium of the Pacific. Since we are a sponsor of the event I have to help out on one of those days. Goody bags, costume contests, arts and crafts will be going on throughout the day there.

Next 3 months is going to be back-to-back deadlines with 6 magazines to be published in that time period. Lots of long days are ahead for me.

Disconnected!

My DSL box died over the weekend, so I've been living without internet connection at home the past few days. Kinda sucks right now, since the only way I can access my email or the web is at work through webmail and my iPhone. Had to contact Earthlink to check it out and they sent out a replacement. Hopefully it gets here by Friday...