Pixel Pancho: Murals of the Robot Future

Art about robots is art about our future culture as artist, Pixel Pancho, conveys humanity emotionally interconnected and intermixed with androids and pop icons. Retrenders - Pixel Pancho

As with any art like the classics of Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci to Mexican mural artists such as Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros, we can see the glorification of humanity in all its elements of beauty, love, chaos, destruction and yes, even the propaganda – that art leaves you to think and feel your own thoughts of what is the meaning of this?

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LEGO Sydney Opera House

LEGO Sydney Opera HouseOne of the world’s most iconic architectural buildings is the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia and here we have a super detail build of the building using LEGOs by Ryan McNaught aka The Brickman.

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Badass Fanarts: Pop Art with Attitude

tohad 00Looking for some fun dark humor pop art?  Check out French artist Sylvain “Tohad” Sarrailh’s Badss Fanarts page.

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LEGO Blocumentary – LEGO Hogwarts by Alice Finch

lego hogwartsLEGO web-series Blocumentary interviews and takes a look at Alice Finch’s famous LEGO build Hogwarts Castle from Harry Potter films.  A whopping 400,000 plus LEGO bricks were used!

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Behind the Scenes: Star Trek Into Darkness

startrekWhat makes a movie or TV show great?  Yes, the acting and cast are among the very important aspects, but like movie reviewer Grace Randolph says “World Building” is also a vital part.  Here ILM takes us behind-the-scenes of how they built a “real” futuristic 2259 San Francisco for Star Trek Into Darkness.

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Cosplay model YAYA HAN at NYCC

Ramen and a Half’s Jonelle Marie interviews pioneering cosplayer model – Yaya Han, at New York Comic-Con.

Retrenders - Cosplay model Yaya Han - Ramen

Cosplay Model – Yaya Han

Back then when the term “Cosplay” was unheard of – Yaya Han and very few alike, simply loved the art of creating costumes of super heroes, villains, and not to mention fantasy and science fiction characters in between. The art of what became Cosplay for them was simply how convincing, how imaginative, and how ornately detailed their costume design can be from make-up to inseam.

Yaya Han : www.yayahan.com   facebook/yayahan   yayahan.bigcartel 

This is Not a Toy – An Exhibtion on Urban Vinyl Toy Art

this is not a toy coverIf you are new to the seen of vinyl toys and don’t know what the fuss is all about, then you might want to travel to Toronto, Canada for the “This is Not a Toy” Exhibition on urban vinyl toys.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eo6DHP-cAM

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KRSF Holiday Drive with J*RYU & Vampy Bit Me

KRV01The Ramen crew stopped Kidrobot SF for their Holiday Toy and Food Drive and artist J*RYU and cosplayer Vampy Bit Me joined the fun to help the drive.

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Cool Street Art by Benedetto Bufalino

street 00Artist Benedetto Bufalino does art in away that says something about our world and a touch of humor.  And this is what we need as this crazy Holiday shopping stress, family madness and all out craziness, we all need a dose of Bufalino street art.

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Kidrobot S.F. VIP Party 2013

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image via Kidrobot SF Facebook

There always cool things happening in San Francisco’s Haight/Ashbury District and one neat event is the Kidrobot SF V.I.P. Party.  Of course the Ramen crew was there to enjoy the festivities and our host Eddie also grabbed a sit-down interview with local Dunny artist Big C and as they talked about his charity Dunny fundraiser for Bad Rap and 2013 Designer-Con.

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Graffiti Timelapse Video – Limitless

limitless 00Take a abandon warehouse and 4 graffiti artists and let them roam free and spray paint away.  Street art at it’s best by artists:  Sofles, Fintan Magee, Treas and Quench.  Check out this cool timelapse video by these artists:

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The Nike ThinkTank that keeps Nike ahead of the fashion curve

nike htmWith the help of Michael Jordan during the 80s and 90s, Nike made leaps and bounds becoming not just a stylish sneaker company and sports apparel brand, but also a fashion leader.  Many competitors have fallen among the wayside, but Nike is still standing.  How does Nike still keep things fresh?  How do they keep from being boring and stale?  How do they keep setting trends and leading?  Well, Business of Fashion (BoF) takes an inside look at Nike’s in-house team HTM made up of Nike Chief Executive Mark Parker, Designer Tinker Hatfield and Cultural Consultant Hiroshi Fujiwara.

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Hip iPad Pencil Stylus by FiftyThree

Pencil Paper iPadIf you want that old school feeling of writing down notes and ideas on paper with a writing instrument, then here’s FiftyThree’s Pencil and Paper iPad app.  This stylish digital stylus is built for the Apple’s iPad and their Paper iPad app.

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The History of the Legendary Streetwear Brand: BAPE

bape 20Iconic streetwear brand A Bathing Ape (BAPE) is celebrating its 20th Anniversary.  This video takes us on a journey of 20 years of BAPE and where many streetwear brands and labels are fallen by the wayside, BAPE is still here kicking it and rocking the fashion industry.

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Making Food Fun for Kids

making food funIt can be very hard making your kids eat everything off their plate and with all the other daily distractions in life, but food artist Samantha Lee can probably make your kids eat everything off the plate while having fun.

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2014 Moleskine x Star Wars Collection

star wars moleskine collectionEver find yourself in the middle of the dreaming something big and a light goes under head – “Wow, I have the next great idea!” and you have nowhere to jolt down the notes?  If you don’t have a iPad or snazzy smartphones handy and you’re old school, you can write down your notes on these new Moleskine Star Wars Collection notebooks.

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DesignerCon 2013 Pasadena, CA

dconIf you like collecting weird vinyl toys and underground urban fashion – there’s a convention for it!  It’s DesignerCon!   The two-day collectible show DCon took place this past weekend at the Pasadena Convention Center in sunny Southern California.  The Ramen crew went down to check out all the cool stuff with guest host Shannon Murray.  We also interview 3 cool artists:  Kathie Olivas, Amanda Louise Spayd and Shing Yin Khor.  Here’s the recap and highlights from DCon:

For more, go to:  DesignerCon.

NYCC: Look at who’s behind Doctor Who!

Ramen and a Half interviews Andrew Sumner to find out what Titan Entertainment Group is all about at New York Comic Con. Retrenders NYCC - Andrew Sumner and Jonelle MarieFirst and foremost our team at Retrenders reviews many of Titan Books and we’ve grown to love what they do, because we simply love the content they publish and re-publish. Titan Entertainment is known to reinvent and revive content that had once had their moment in time from cult classics novels, comics, and they publish niche content about historical arts, artists, musicians, early filmmakers and much more. It’s as if Titan reflects on fascinating content and say – “This is entertaining – let’s revive it!”

Titan Entertainment Group is also an official licensee of Doctor Who products and works with popular media entertainment and culture. You can find out about their latest releases and featured products at Titan Merchandise.

The Art of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

ACBF00It’s been a busy couple of weekends just button-mashing in the living room after big releases like GTA, Arkham Origins, Battlefield 4 and now comes Assassin’s Creed IV:  Black Flag.  This new installment takes you back to 1715 where Pirates rule the seas and you are thrown into the dark, gritty world of pirate life.

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Custom Dunnies by Local Bay Area SF Artists

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Curated by artist and dunny fan Big C, the custom Dunny event took place at Kidrobot SF.

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Halloween Android Mini Figure!

trickortreat androidJust in time for Halloween, check out this cool pumpkin-inspired Android mini-figure by artist Gary Ham.

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SPOTLIGHT: Central Valley Lowrider Car Show in Lindsay CA

Retrenders Spotlight - Lindsay Lowrider Car Show - Ruben Gonzalez & Danny De La PazRetrenders Spotlight - Lowrider Car Show - ChevroletThe Central Valley is well known for putting on the best of Lowrider Car shows and this one took place in Lindsay, California. Here you can meet the pioneer and founder of Lowrider Magazine himself, Sonny Madrid, and actor Danny De La Paz, who starred in films American Me and Boulevard Nights. His most recent film is “Kill Kapone“. I was only able to catch Danny as he was having a conversation with Lindsay’s Lowrider Car Show Promoter, Ruben Gonzalez.

The Lowrider Car Show proudly brought together a floor full of classic to modern Lowrider vehicles showcased at McDermont Field House & Sports Center in Lindsay, California. We talked to Sal Sierra about his 1936 Pick-up Truck along with a few other Lowrider and aficionados themselves: Roy Tolentino, Alfred & Mary Torrez, and Yoli Preciado. Even the Mayor of Lindsay, Ramona Padilla, had a few words to say about the car show.

Some of the car clubs that could be found at the show were: Lindsay’s Finest, Nuestro Pride, Nuestro Estilo, Rollerz Only, and Brown Effects.

FILMED: Short Doc / Magazine Style (Shot on the Fly)

Produced & Edited by Johnny Moreno.

I apologize for those that I was unable to film and interview. Telling everything about Lowriders definitely needs an in depth – present to historical visit about Lowrider culture and the people that are involved and making a difference. This video is simply a taste about the Lowrider world.

Automobile Drawings by Makoto Komori

komoriJapanese artist Makoto Komori is well known for his children’s illustration books and his Datto-san series is popular with kids in Japan.  It’s kinda of like Pixar’s Cars, but with Komori’s own sense of style and flair.

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From BIG WOW! Comicfest: Ivy Doomkitty, Cosplayers and we finally get our comics autographed by Stan Lee!

The “Eddie” and Ramon have made it to the end of the line – sort of like coming to the end of the yellow brick road in the Wizard of Oz, but here at Big Wow! Comicfest, we’ve come to the end to meet Stan Lee!Retrenders - Ivy Doomkitty and Black Cat & Wolverine Cosplayers - Johnny MorenoWe also get to talk to a couple more cosplayers, three girls promoting Castle Corsetry and a local comic artist, and we interview Ivy Doomkitty to find out about her role at Big Wow! Comicfest.

Sugar Series by Emily Blincoe

gold candyorange candyIt’s Friday and I want some darn sweets!  Austin-based photographer Emily Blincoe arranges her sweets through the theme of rainbow colors.  Her candy galore photographs are from her “Sugar Series.”

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