When I was passed Swirlies, a collection of Lenore comics by Roman Dirge, I was thrown into a nostalgic memory of years past. I was introduced to Lenore by a friend 10 years ago and I was quite captivated by the cute undead girl with her various quirks and morbid humor. Before I even opened the book, I was a little worried about how I would find the comic now. Oftentimes our present selves become disappointed with items of our past, outgrowing material we had cherished due to changing tastes or even just due to age. I remember the last time I cleaned up around the house, I found a stack of old comic books that, upon reading, I discovered that I no longer found them funny or interesting. I was quite saddened as I realized that they didn’t mean anything to me now other than childhood memories so I passed them off to someone younger who would appreciate them.
Titan Books: Lenore – Swirlies
Maria Sharapova Candy Line = Sugarpova
Tennis superstar Maria Sharapova launches her new premium candy line today starting with 4 types of sweets: gummies, sour gummies, gumballs, and soft chew candies and 12 different flavors. Each 5oz. candy bag will cost $5.99USD.
French-Chilean Hip Hop Artist – Ana Tijoux
The French-Chilean musician, Ana Tijoux has been one of the most prominent independent MC hip-hop artists and has recently seen her popularity rise. She built her reputation from the ground up in the independent music scene with her group Makiza, in Chile, in the 1990s. Then in 2001, through some unforeseen moments in life, she decided to break apart from the band and the music scene all together, and went back to France.
It wasn’t until 2004 that she returned to Chile and connected with funk Chilean band Aluzinati, where she then became a featured artist in Control Machete’s album, Uno Dos Bandera, and worked on a soundtrack with Julieta Venegas. She even reunited with Makiza for a short time, but realized she really wanted to pursue a solo career.
In 2007, she released her solo album, Kaos, and she was nominated in Latin America’s version of the MTV Video Music Awards as Best New Artist.
In 2009, she released her 2nd solo album titled, 1977, which was a return to her rap roots and a homage to hip hop. The album was autobiographical and dealt with the complications she endured in life.
Junko Mizuno “Hansel & Gretel” Art @ Nucleus
If you are in the LA Alhambra area stop by Nucleus for a neat gallery opening by artist Junko Mizuno this Saturday. The event begins at 7:00pm and will showcase her take on the Grimm Brothers’ Hansel & Gretel. The Hansel & Gretel exhibit will run from August 18, 2012 through September 9, 2012. Also, there are art prints to purchase and prizes to be given – plus Junko will be there in-person for autographs.
Acura x The Avengers = NSX
If you watched The Avengers film this summer, Tony Starks and Bruce Banner hop into an Acura NSX sports car. Now, TSM brings us this 1/43 scale quality resin collectible, the 2012 Acura NSX Roadster Avengers Special Edition.
Image via daboxToys
LEGO Romance of the Three Kingdoms
This makes me want to crack open my PlayStation
and play the Koei video games!
This LEGO diorama was inspired by 14th century writer Luo Guanzhong’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Eric Mok has put in a lot of work and details into this build. The use of black, gray, and white LEGO bricks captures the spirit of an old Chinese painting plus making the diorama look like a wall scroll is a nice touch.
The Dark Knight Rises LEGO Motorized Tumbler & The Bat
I want these LEGO toys!!!
Image via Peer Kreuger (mahjqa)
Well if you can’t afford to buy Hot Toys’ The Dark Knight Rises vehicles (for instance the Movie Masterpiece 1/6 Scale Tumbler vehicle is $439.99 for preorder and will be out next year – ed. note), then you can build The Tumbler and The Bat vehicles yourself. These two awesome looking Batman vehicles were built by super LEGO builder Peer Kreuger aka mahjqa.
Star Wars Origami
Where was this book when I was young and too poor to buy Kenner’s Star Wars action figures back in the 70’s? I could have folded my own Star War heroes but then, now that I think about it, I would have gotten my butt kicked by the neighborhood kids for having origami. Last week I posted a Yoda origami and it was a pretty creative art piece. With this book, you can extend beyond Yoda and create R2-D2 and the Millennium Falcon – plus it includes specially designed origami paper.
The Humanae Project: The Ultimate Pantone Chart
Brazilian artist Angelica Dass is attempting to catalog a “chromatic inventory” of all possible human skin tones in her Humanae Project. She takes an 11 x 11 picture of an individual, and matches it to a similar shade in the Pantone color classification system. Rather remarkable and simply mesmerizing.
The History of LEGO
Did you ever wonder how LEGO began? Well, here’s a cool animated mini-documentary on the history of LEGO. If you have 17 minutes to spare in your office cubicle, put on your headphones and learn some cool wiki-style facts about LEGO.
Mimoco Bruce Lee USB Flash Drives
I’ve always said, Bruce Lee was Da Man and I’m always excited to see a newer generation recognizing and keeping his greatness alive. Mimoco is celebrating the legend by putting his likeness on a USB flash thumb drive. Also, if you guys get a chance, check out a recent documentary in his life titled I am Bruce Lee.
Fendi Classic Baguette Bag Tee & Pleated Zucca-Trim Skirt
Little girls love to play grown up – they want to wear lipstick and carry a purse like Mom. But since they really have nothing to carry inside that purse, why not give her just the look of a purse? This Fendi shirt has the print of a purse sewn into the shirt. Neiman Marcus currently has it on sale for $99. I do wish they would have made this shirt for my wife though. That way she can stop spending so much money on real purses.
Buy it @ Neiman Marcus – Fendi.
UNIQLO Pop-Up Shop in SF!
The wait is OVER!!!
Are you tired of H&M style? Well move over H&M – Japanese retail giant UNIQLO is coming to San Francisco with a full 29,000 sq foot mega store on Powell Street this October 2012 just in time for the holidays. So to wet the hearts of stylish budget-minded fashion aficionados, UNIQLO has opened up a pop-up shop selling select men’s and women’s apparel. The downtown/financial district store will be open for another 3-4 months until the full-scale UNIQLO store opens.
Artist Inspired Eco-Friendly Speakers
Almost all speakers out there under $1,000 USD are just dull black veneer wrapped around MDF speakers. Now don’t get me wrong, some of them sound great but when the music stops, they just look like the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Recently, I stumbled upon these speakers and these seem to add a pretty nice second dimension to your speaker. It’s as if you can enjoy it with the music on or off.
Japan: FitEar ToGo 334
I attend the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas every year (I hope to bring back some great pics for Retrenders at next years show) and I have heard my share of amazing audiophile-quality headphones. Most of the high end $500+ headphones are over-the-head styles and I don’t remember ever seeing or hearing a pair of in-ear headphone in that price range. That’s why I was really drawn to Cnet’s “Best In-Ear Headphone” claim.
More Umbrella Art
Image via Peter Greig
Simply beautiful. There really should be more of these simple but yet beautiful art pieces that decorate our city. Why must we always have modern art that push boundaries, but yet, no one can understand them or find it at least semi-pleasing? While this art installation might not cause controversy or lead art into new territories, I would really enjoy seeing this on my way to work everyday. It just brings a smile to my face.
Muji Coming to San Francisco
Muji is finally coming to San Francisco. The Japanese retail giant that specializes in consumer and household goods announced plans to open a SF store in November at 540 Ninth St. in the SOMA district. It will be the Muji’s first West Coast outlet and fifth store in the US. Also, it will be the largest in the US with 7,250 square feet of retail space and parking. Be the first in line but, in the meantime, get ready with what you want by checking out their website. (http://www.muji.us/)
Umbrellas in the Sky!
Image via Patricia Almeida
These bright and colorful umbrellas light up the skies in a town called Águeda, Portugal. No one knows who to credit this art project but photographer Patricia Almeida took some amazing pics.
No Spray Paint Need Apply for This Graffiti Art
Water – Light – Graffiti by French artist Antonin Fourneau:
A Flower in the Sky
Image via Nico Perez (A Flower in the Sky)
I stumbled onto these beautiful photos a long while ago. I really like the mood of the photos – it’s as if you’re in a dream state of distant memories. I wished someday the artist would pair these photos up with music. In the meantime, I’ll look through the photos with some quiet jazz, slow guitar, etc.
Man Bag: J. Crew Abingdon
Image via PurseBlog.com
A messenger bag is pretty much a part of me as I commute to work everyday. All around on the bus, I see all the men carrying a similar bag because, these days, we just have a lot to lug around. I’ve got today’s lunch, my sweater, ipod, cell phone, keys, reading materials, etc. To be honest, I feel naked without my bag and I’m pretty rough with it, that’s why I’m always on the lookout for new bags or newer styles. Guess where I found this beautiful messenger bag – PurseBlog.com, which is my wife’s quick link to her purse addiction. Ughh, that’s when I realized that the messenger bag is the modern man’s purse but, darnit, that’s one good looking bag and the price is awesome. I want one…
For more info, go to: PurseBlog.com – J. Crew Abingdon.
LEGO London 2012 Olympic Stadium
Image via Warren Elsmore
LEGO brick master Warren Elsmore spent a lot of time and money on this custom build. This is an amazing mini-replica of Stratford Olympic Park. This was a team effort though, Warren’s wife also got involved in building this LEGO wonderland. He and his wife spent over 300 hours constructing it, used over 250,000 LEGO bricks, and spent around $30,000USD. Wow.
Fuller Designs: Iron Man Munny & Dark Knight Mighty Muggs
Are you a fan of custom vinyl figures? Fuller Designs has unleashed 2 cool customs – an Iron Man Munny figure and The Dark Knight Mighty Muggs figure.
Image via Fuller Designs
MSRP: $150.00USD.
Virgin America x Banana Republic = Flight Crew Apparel
Today, Virgin America celebrates its fifth anniversary of operating in the States and they’ll be launching a cool collaboration with Banana Republic. Virgin America’s 2000 employees will be wearing brand new outfits designed by Banana Republic. Though, because of security issues, the collection you will be buying from Banana Republic won’t be exactly the same outfits as the Virgin America employees, but it’s close enough.
Edward Ballar
GuestContributor
kellyannbrooke
Ramon Angel
Al Woo
Stephen Jang
SW biko
Retrenders 