y16o is dressed in a Maruo/Rampo-inspired outfit, while Monika is dressed as Midori, the Camellia Girl (Mr. Arashi's Amazing Freak Show).
What did YOU dress up as for Halloween?
Showing posts with label our friends = awesome. Show all posts
Showing posts with label our friends = awesome. Show all posts
MARUO WOULD BE PROUD
y16o is dressed in a Maruo/Rampo-inspired outfit, while Monika is dressed as Midori, the Camellia Girl (Mr. Arashi's Amazing Freak Show).
What did YOU dress up as for Halloween?
MARUO WOULD BE PROUD
AMAZING SHOJO WORK BY LITTLE THUNDER
Last week, Little Thunder posted a new batch of sketchbook pages, paintings, and illustrations to her Flickr. I actually gasped when I saw the Shojo manga-inspired "JOEY" series, which summon the sexy and rich textures and compositions of Moto Hagio and other Magnificent 49ers masters.
Check out more of LT's work on her flickr and facebook page, enjoy these pieces, and spread the word about her awesomeness:
AMAZING SHOJO WORK BY LITTLE THUNDER
Last week, Little Thunder posted a new batch of sketchbook pages, paintings, and illustrations to her Flickr. I actually gasped when I saw the Shojo manga-inspired "JOEY" series, which summon the sexy and rich textures and compositions of Moto Hagio and other Magnificent 49ers masters.
Check out more of LT's work on her flickr and facebook page, enjoy these pieces, and spread the word about her awesomeness:
TOKYO SCUM BRIGAGE X COSPLAY = UMEZZING!
KAZUO UMEZU & KANEKO DEMERIN COSPLAY!!!
Pull your jaw off the floor and go check out all of their Comiket 78 coverage.
TOKYO SCUM BRIGAGE X COSPLAY = UMEZZING!
KAZUO UMEZU & KANEKO DEMERIN COSPLAY!!!
Pull your jaw off the floor and go check out all of their Comiket 78 coverage.
PRISON FOR BITCHES
So, what else have I been up to lately? Aside from slacking on Same Hat posts, and working on some promo materials for Last Gasp's Comic-Con booth, you may have heard that I put out a new zine with a (ahem) particular focus. That's right, cartoonist Michael DeForge and I collaborated on a 64 page Lady Gaga fanzine called PRISON FOR BITCHES!
The idea for the zine came about the day after the video for Telephone debuted, and the entire book went from drunken (Was I drunk? I must have been drunk.) email thread with Michael to printed book in under 7 weeks. The zine went on sale at Toronto Comics Art Festival last month, and is AVAILABLE NOW via our site: http://prisonforbitches.com. Kudos go to contributor Tony T for having the foresight to buy that domain (and http://letsmakeasandwich.com) while we were watching Telephone that night, haha.
You may be scratching your head, and if so that's fine and understandable. The new zine is a one-time deal, a proper fanzine in the style of fanzines I used to read in the 90s. The whole thing is the size of a 7" record, and was xeroxed and hand-stapled. It features over 35 contributors(!!) and 64 pages (including a 12pg color insert) of fan art, a Hegellian deconstruction of Gaga;s lyrics, comic strips, a live report, photos of Gaga cosplay in Kobe, and other nonsense.
The artists included are an amazing batch of most all of our current favorite working cartoonists and printmakers, including Johnny Ryan, Michael Kupperman, Hellen Jo, Lisa Hanawalt, the Wowee Zonk crew, Saicoink, Makkinoso, Nick Gazin, Elio, Derek Yu, Angie Wang, HARVEYJAMES, Lala Albert, and tons more!
If you wanna see more, check out this 25 page free preview:
And if you really wanna see our zine in its proper form, you can buy it using Paypal/Checkout through the site. It was recently written up on Robot6 and the SF Weekly, which were big surprises and quite flattering for me & Michael.
Anyway, that same weekend in Toronto, I was on a TCAF panel titled, "Indie Comics Japan: Manga Outside of the Mainstream". The other panel members included About.com's manga maven Deb Aoki, PictureBox's head honcho Dan Nadel, D&Q translator for Tatsumi Jocelyne Allen, and Udon's Erik Ko-- and was moderated by The Beguiling/Comic212.net's Chris Butcher.
I don't remember feeling like I said anything super-insightful that day, but if you want to read a great recap of the conversation please see Deb's great report on About.com.
Another "Early Manga Days" essay (and pics from Tokyo) coming in the next day or two!
PRISON FOR BITCHES
So, what else have I been up to lately? Aside from slacking on Same Hat posts, and working on some promo materials for Last Gasp's Comic-Con booth, you may have heard that I put out a new zine with a (ahem) particular focus. That's right, cartoonist Michael DeForge and I collaborated on a 64 page Lady Gaga fanzine called PRISON FOR BITCHES!
The idea for the zine came about the day after the video for Telephone debuted, and the entire book went from drunken (Was I drunk? I must have been drunk.) email thread with Michael to printed book in under 7 weeks. The zine went on sale at Toronto Comics Art Festival last month, and is AVAILABLE NOW via our site: http://prisonforbitches.com. Kudos go to contributor Tony T for having the foresight to buy that domain (and http://letsmakeasandwich.com) while we were watching Telephone that night, haha.
You may be scratching your head, and if so that's fine and understandable. The new zine is a one-time deal, a proper fanzine in the style of fanzines I used to read in the 90s. The whole thing is the size of a 7" record, and was xeroxed and hand-stapled. It features over 35 contributors(!!) and 64 pages (including a 12pg color insert) of fan art, a Hegellian deconstruction of Gaga;s lyrics, comic strips, a live report, photos of Gaga cosplay in Kobe, and other nonsense.
The artists included are an amazing batch of most all of our current favorite working cartoonists and printmakers, including Johnny Ryan, Michael Kupperman, Hellen Jo, Lisa Hanawalt, the Wowee Zonk crew, Saicoink, Makkinoso, Nick Gazin, Elio, Derek Yu, Angie Wang, HARVEYJAMES, Lala Albert, and tons more!
If you wanna see more, check out this 25 page free preview:
And if you really wanna see our zine in its proper form, you can buy it using Paypal/Checkout through the site. It was recently written up on Robot6 and the SF Weekly, which were big surprises and quite flattering for me & Michael.
Anyway, that same weekend in Toronto, I was on a TCAF panel titled, "Indie Comics Japan: Manga Outside of the Mainstream". The other panel members included About.com's manga maven Deb Aoki, PictureBox's head honcho Dan Nadel, D&Q translator for Tatsumi Jocelyne Allen, and Udon's Erik Ko-- and was moderated by The Beguiling/Comic212.net's Chris Butcher.
I don't remember feeling like I said anything super-insightful that day, but if you want to read a great recap of the conversation please see Deb's great report on About.com.
Another "Early Manga Days" essay (and pics from Tokyo) coming in the next day or two!
FRED SCHODT AWARD RECEPTION (WITH GOLD RAYS)
On June 26, I had the pleasure of being invited (along with my buddy Jenn Yin) to attend an award conferment ceremony and reception honoring the work of translator/author Frederik Schodt! Fred received the prestigious Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, for his extensive work promoting Japanese popular culture in the United States. As anyone reading this blog knows, it'd be impossible to overstate the importance of Fred's work on the development of manga fandom outside of Japan. Fred's a generous and cool guy, and someone I deeply respect, so it was great to be a part of this event.
The award ceremony was held in San Francisco at the Official Residence of the Japanese Consul General, Mr. Yasumasa Nagamine. The award is given on behalf of the Japanese government, and signed by the Prime Minister and emperor. Check out the other wild & crazy folks to be awarded this, for some context. The full statement on Fred's work can be viewed on the Japanese Embassy site here [PDF].
The event was fancy but not as formal as I expected, featuring a number of speeches honoring Fred's work-- first as a translator, then later as an interpreter and finally (& most importantly) as a pioneering author introducing manga to English-speaking audiences. One crazy self-indulgent highlight for me was that Consul General Nagamine used an anecdote about Fred working as an interpreter at Sunkist headquarters that was straight from my long 2008 interview with Fred in Electric Ant #1!
The crowd there to honor Fred included his longtime translation partner Jared Cook, president of Tezuka Productions Takayuki Matsutani (who was super festive and flew over from Japan), Viz president Seiji Horibuchi, and assorted publishers & manga editors like Leonard Rifas (Educomics), Ian Robertson (Phoenix), Andy Nakatani (Pluto), Colin and Ron Turner (Last Gasp) and many others. In addition to drinks & dinner (YES), there were lots of interesting tidbits for us manga nerds. Like the fact that Blast's edition of Hideshi Hino's "Panorama of Hell" was the first ever non-flopped English manga publication. (Well, whatta ya know?)
Consul General Nagamine, Fred's nephew, Fia's son, Fred's rad wife Fia, and Fred.
Obligatory nerdy fanboys shot of me & Jenn, with the older and cooler Fred & Fia.
And of course, no official award reception is complete without a band of old buds jamming out to Ue wo Muite and the Todai fight song..
For a video clip of Fred's band playing (with the Pres. of Tezuka Production singing, and the Consul General dancing), check out Jenn's post.
UPDATE: As I was writing this post, I saw that Fred has posted notes from the speech he gave on his site. Enjoy!
FRED SCHODT AWARD RECEPTION (WITH GOLD RAYS)
On June 26, I had the pleasure of being invited (along with my buddy Jenn Yin) to attend an award conferment ceremony and reception honoring the work of translator/author Frederik Schodt! Fred received the prestigious Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, for his extensive work promoting Japanese popular culture in the United States. As anyone reading this blog knows, it'd be impossible to overstate the importance of Fred's work on the development of manga fandom outside of Japan. Fred's a generous and cool guy, and someone I deeply respect, so it was great to be a part of this event.
The award ceremony was held in San Francisco at the Official Residence of the Japanese Consul General, Mr. Yasumasa Nagamine. The award is given on behalf of the Japanese government, and signed by the Prime Minister and emperor. Check out the other wild & crazy folks to be awarded this, for some context. The full statement on Fred's work can be viewed on the Japanese Embassy site here [PDF].
The event was fancy but not as formal as I expected, featuring a number of speeches honoring Fred's work-- first as a translator, then later as an interpreter and finally (& most importantly) as a pioneering author introducing manga to English-speaking audiences. One crazy self-indulgent highlight for me was that Consul General Nagamine used an anecdote about Fred working as an interpreter at Sunkist headquarters that was straight from my long 2008 interview with Fred in Electric Ant #1!
The crowd there to honor Fred included his longtime translation partner Jared Cook, president of Tezuka Productions Takayuki Matsutani (who was super festive and flew over from Japan), Viz president Seiji Horibuchi, and assorted publishers & manga editors like Leonard Rifas (Educomics), Ian Robertson (Phoenix), Andy Nakatani (Pluto), Colin and Ron Turner (Last Gasp) and many others. In addition to drinks & dinner (YES), there were lots of interesting tidbits for us manga nerds. Like the fact that Blast's edition of Hideshi Hino's "Panorama of Hell" was the first ever non-flopped English manga publication. (Well, whatta ya know?)
Consul General Nagamine, Fred's nephew, Fia's son, Fred's rad wife Fia, and Fred.
Obligatory nerdy fanboys shot of me & Jenn, with the older and cooler Fred & Fia.
And of course, no official award reception is complete without a band of old buds jamming out to Ue wo Muite and the Todai fight song..
For a video clip of Fred's band playing (with the Pres. of Tezuka Production singing, and the Consul General dancing), check out Jenn's post.
UPDATE: As I was writing this post, I saw that Fred has posted notes from the speech he gave on his site. Enjoy!
5 CURRENT FAVORITE BLOGS
1. KURUTTA [LINK]
Kurutta is hands-down my current favorite blog on teh internet. I can't recommend it highly enough! Run by Nicke, my gay Swedish brother-from-another-mother, Kurutta follows a great posting style: weekly posts chock-full to the brim of media/photos/details on one specific topic. It doesn't hurt that Nicke's interest match up exactly with everything I'm into (and that Same Hat is all about): Jun Togawa, GISM, rare Tezuka artwork, Masaaki Yuasa's Mind Game and Seichi Hayashi pin-ups (along with other oddities).
Start with these posts: Maruo's punk covers, 50 yaoi shlongs, and Pinkman.
If you enjoy this: Imagination Takeover, a blog I found via Nicke all about Terayama Shūji and Tenjō Sajiki.
2. WASEDA RAMEN [LINK]
Nate (of Same Hat's Man in Japan posts!) is my best buddy from college and is currently living in Takadanobaba while working on his dissertation. He's been blogging extensively about all things Ramen while living near Waseda, (which is basically in Ramen Ground Zero in Japan). His mission is to document every shop in Takadanobaba (with numerous stops around Tokyo, in norther Japan, and even slurping noodles in mainland China).
On Waseda Ramen, each post is like a rad wikipedia entry of awesome, where he dissects the speciality at a particular shop-- often going into the nuances of the regional variety and noodle style served, ridiculous details on the store owners and clientele and lush, makes-me-so-hungry-I-wanna-bite-my-computer photos of the meals. Nate also peppers in lots of found photos, YouTube clips and keitai pics.
This is my go to site for all things Ramenology. I can't fucking wait to go visit him and hit some of his favorite shops.
Start with these posts: Yagura-tei (CRAZY SPICY!), Sado ga Shima (Niigata island ramen!), and Canned Ramen!!
If you enjoy this: Check out Nate's newest blog, RICE BALLS, which features short 2-line reviews of Onigiri from around the world. It's actually open to any contributor-- you guys should check it out and start posting!
3. TOKYO DAMAGE REPORT [LINK]
I've talked before about the greatness of Tokyo Damage Report, run by our buddy Schultz. TDR is my favorite in-country blog about Japan for a bunch of reasons, but the main one is that it's free from the self-obsessed, boring and often orientalist bullshit perspective of a lot of blogs about Japan by foreigners. Schultz doesn't forget that he's a white dude living abroad, but he's learned the language, lived there for years, been in Tokyo bands, and really knows his shit.
His blogging specialities include a guide to Tokyo (where I originally heard about Nakano Broadway!) metal and punk show reports, Japanese trade show photojournalism, fetish club and disco parties, and the occasional interview. He also created an unique Kanji-learning dictionary, which I recommend if you're past the intro levels in your studies.
Start with these posts: Security Trade Show, Unit 731 Walking Tour of Okubo, and 2008 Kawasaki Halloween Parade
If you enjoy this: Check out my friend Dan's lush photograpy-in-Tokyo blogs Fervor de Tokio and Street Level Japan. I also recommend Koenji Calling, a local scene blog run by a few Western punk girls living in Umezu's neighborhood.
4. BLONDE ZOMBIES [LINK]
Blonde Zombies is the most NSFW out of all the blogs mentioned here, but I assume that wouldn't scare any of you all away. "Crazy/Sexy/Cool Tumblr collection of weird shit" has become a major blog genre of its own, but Blonde Zombies goes a bit beyond that (and does it better than anyone else). One way to judge that kind of blog is by how much stuff you've already seen somewhere else before, and BZ is consistently showing me stuff I've never heard of.
Even the stuff I'm not into at least gets my synapses firing. Blonde Zombies' latest pre-occupations seem to be vintage porno mags, European horror comics and Russian pop album covers from the '80s.
Start with these posts: From the categories sidebar on the site: Zombies!, Euroterror!, and also early word processor Fangoria fanzines
If you enjoy this: Check out the like-minded Spanish grindcomics scans goldmine ERO-TRASH (The book Muerde is the best!) and the collection of exquisite Showa magazines and dirty pin-up clippings at Tokyo Girl
5. Michael Kupperman on Twitter [LINK]
This is not a "blog" per se, but it's one of the most constant sources of delight in my daily drudgery. Kupperman is not only a genius cartoonist (Tales Designed to Thrizzle 5 continues that trend, and the collected Tales 1-4 is out too!) but suited perfectly for the short and spontanerous (retarded?) madness of tweeeeting.
His speciality lately is random meme generation, such as "Star Trek Facts" and "Cool bands made Uncool". It's like free 140-character nuggets of comedic gold!
If you enjoy this: Check out British writer/actor Peter Serafinowicz, who was on Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, and Look Around You (and was the voice of Dark Maul!?). Peter rocks the Twitter right.
[PS: If you're so inclined and into RSS, you can follow my shared items via Google Reader at this link.]
5 CURRENT FAVORITE BLOGS
1. KURUTTA [LINK]
Kurutta is hands-down my current favorite blog on teh internet. I can't recommend it highly enough! Run by Nicke, my gay Swedish brother-from-another-mother, Kurutta follows a great posting style: weekly posts chock-full to the brim of media/photos/details on one specific topic. It doesn't hurt that Nicke's interest match up exactly with everything I'm into (and that Same Hat is all about): Jun Togawa, GISM, rare Tezuka artwork, Masaaki Yuasa's Mind Game and Seichi Hayashi pin-ups (along with other oddities).
Start with these posts: Maruo's punk covers, 50 yaoi shlongs, and Pinkman.
If you enjoy this: Imagination Takeover, a blog I found via Nicke all about Terayama Shūji and Tenjō Sajiki.
2. WASEDA RAMEN [LINK]
Nate (of Same Hat's Man in Japan posts!) is my best buddy from college and is currently living in Takadanobaba while working on his dissertation. He's been blogging extensively about all things Ramen while living near Waseda, (which is basically in Ramen Ground Zero in Japan). His mission is to document every shop in Takadanobaba (with numerous stops around Tokyo, in norther Japan, and even slurping noodles in mainland China).
On Waseda Ramen, each post is like a rad wikipedia entry of awesome, where he dissects the speciality at a particular shop-- often going into the nuances of the regional variety and noodle style served, ridiculous details on the store owners and clientele and lush, makes-me-so-hungry-I-wanna-bite-my-computer photos of the meals. Nate also peppers in lots of found photos, YouTube clips and keitai pics.
This is my go to site for all things Ramenology. I can't fucking wait to go visit him and hit some of his favorite shops.
Start with these posts: Yagura-tei (CRAZY SPICY!), Sado ga Shima (Niigata island ramen!), and Canned Ramen!!
If you enjoy this: Check out Nate's newest blog, RICE BALLS, which features short 2-line reviews of Onigiri from around the world. It's actually open to any contributor-- you guys should check it out and start posting!
3. TOKYO DAMAGE REPORT [LINK]
I've talked before about the greatness of Tokyo Damage Report, run by our buddy Schultz. TDR is my favorite in-country blog about Japan for a bunch of reasons, but the main one is that it's free from the self-obsessed, boring and often orientalist bullshit perspective of a lot of blogs about Japan by foreigners. Schultz doesn't forget that he's a white dude living abroad, but he's learned the language, lived there for years, been in Tokyo bands, and really knows his shit.
His blogging specialities include a guide to Tokyo (where I originally heard about Nakano Broadway!) metal and punk show reports, Japanese trade show photojournalism, fetish club and disco parties, and the occasional interview. He also created an unique Kanji-learning dictionary, which I recommend if you're past the intro levels in your studies.
Start with these posts: Security Trade Show, Unit 731 Walking Tour of Okubo, and 2008 Kawasaki Halloween Parade
If you enjoy this: Check out my friend Dan's lush photograpy-in-Tokyo blogs Fervor de Tokio and Street Level Japan. I also recommend Koenji Calling, a local scene blog run by a few Western punk girls living in Umezu's neighborhood.
4. BLONDE ZOMBIES [LINK]
Blonde Zombies is the most NSFW out of all the blogs mentioned here, but I assume that wouldn't scare any of you all away. "Crazy/Sexy/Cool Tumblr collection of weird shit" has become a major blog genre of its own, but Blonde Zombies goes a bit beyond that (and does it better than anyone else). One way to judge that kind of blog is by how much stuff you've already seen somewhere else before, and BZ is consistently showing me stuff I've never heard of.
Even the stuff I'm not into at least gets my synapses firing. Blonde Zombies' latest pre-occupations seem to be vintage porno mags, European horror comics and Russian pop album covers from the '80s.
Start with these posts: From the categories sidebar on the site: Zombies!, Euroterror!, and also early word processor Fangoria fanzines
If you enjoy this: Check out the like-minded Spanish grindcomics scans goldmine ERO-TRASH (The book Muerde is the best!) and the collection of exquisite Showa magazines and dirty pin-up clippings at Tokyo Girl
5. Michael Kupperman on Twitter [LINK]
This is not a "blog" per se, but it's one of the most constant sources of delight in my daily drudgery. Kupperman is not only a genius cartoonist (Tales Designed to Thrizzle 5 continues that trend, and the collected Tales 1-4 is out too!) but suited perfectly for the short and spontanerous (retarded?) madness of tweeeeting.
His speciality lately is random meme generation, such as "Star Trek Facts" and "Cool bands made Uncool". It's like free 140-character nuggets of comedic gold!
If you enjoy this: Check out British writer/actor Peter Serafinowicz, who was on Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, and Look Around You (and was the voice of Dark Maul!?). Peter rocks the Twitter right.
[PS: If you're so inclined and into RSS, you can follow my shared items via Google Reader at this link.]
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