Hands in the Air

The Saddest Christmas Movie Ever

2011-12-20T07:30:00.000-08:00

Finally, an Oscar-Caliber Video Game Movie

2011-12-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

Make up your own Jonah Hill joke.

Breakin' It Down: Do They Know It's Christmas

2011-12-12T14:20:00.000-08:00

"Do They Know It's Christmas," the greatest of all Christmas carols, was written in 1984, just as George Orwell predicted it would be. That dude was dope.

But what makes it so amazing, aside from the Bananarama backing vocals, are the transcendent lyrics. They are the greatest of all Bob Geldof's many accomplishments, which, to give non-Boomtownratophiles an idea, include naming a child "Fifi Trixabelle," inspiring a certain Graves Disease-eyed cat to hate Mondays, and goading Phil Collins into making a huge ass of himself by helicoptering/Concordeing/jetting/rocket roller-skating to all 100 Live Aid concerts around the world, thus spending approximately 20 times the amount raised by The Concert for Bangladesh, Band Aid, Live Aid, U.S.A. For Africa and that "Sun City" song combined.*

While no one blog post can be expected to fully cover a subject as rich and deep as "Do They Know It's Christmas" were gonna give it the ol' Phil Collins around-the-world try, taking an in-depth look at the lyrical (and vocal) genius and of this holiday heartwarmer.

It's Christmastime. There's no need to be afraid. At Christmastime, we let in light, and we banish shade.

Right off the bat, Geldof (and co-writer Midge Ure, I suppose, tho I think he stuck mainly to the music bits) distinguish DTKIC from all other Christmas carols by dispensing with the normal admonishments to watch your ass/be afraid/man the fuck up and stop crying and, in fact, suggest the opposite. Contrast that with "Jingle Bells," widely accepted to be a coded warning about the bands of rapists known to travel by sleigh to terrorize the snowbound countryside in the 19th century, or "Deck the Halls," which is literally about the horrors of architecture abuse.

As a grace note, these words were sung in the final version by Paul Young, who agreed that Xmas was a time when no playhouses would be torn down.

Incidentally, I always thought it was "...and we banish hate" which doesn't make sense but "shade" isn't exactly making a ton of sense either. I can't remember ever feeling like "damn, y'all, it's too shady 'round here for Christmas." Also, I'm guessing they wouldn't mind a little shade in Ethiopia, shade is always welcome, even at Christmas.

And in our world of plenty we can spread a smile of joy. Throw your arms around the world at Christmastime.

I think they actually meant we have a lot, and because of that, we can spread joy, via hugs and those weird, giant bags of rice. Not in this world of plenty we should spread joy. I mean go ahead and spread joy, but be sure you're spreading those weird, giant bags of rice where they're needed.

Oh, shit. Did you guys know that Bob Geldof shamed Boy George into hopping on the Concorde from New York to get to the recording session to do this part? Which was correct. Who better to say, essentially, "hug the world," than Boy George? He's a glamorous cartoon of love, hats and braided hair, and can tell us to hug the world with authority.

The Wikipedia page has some fun info on the recording of the song, particularly if you're into Boy George being bitchy to George Michael. I like to imagine it as a super catty, British Pop Spy Vs. Spy comic, although it was surely absolutely nothing like that.

A Boy George/George Michael slapfight would be an amazing Christmas gift for me, if you can swing it.

But say a prayer, pray for the other ones. At Christmastime it's hard, but, when you're having fun...there's a world outside your window, and it's a world of dread and fear.

I just started geography classes in night school but I'm still pretty sure right outside of England's window is like, water and Ireland. And then dread and fear, just beyond that. These lyrics are kind of awkward but I guess it is hard to transition from banishing shade to fear and famine.

Where the only water flowing is the bitter sting of tears.

This is a bit of hyperbole--there was definitely a horrible drought but I am relatively sure if there was absolutely no water, they'd all just have died in a few weeks? I dunno, I don't start my "Dread, Fear, Famine and Drought" night school class until next quarter. I do know the political sitch in the area made the famine worse than it needed to be. So there's that.

But, more importantly, everyone in the world loves that Sting sang the word "sting."

And the Christmas bells that ring there are the clanging chimes of doom. Well tonight thank God it's them instead of you!

Daaaaaaaaamn. Surely two of the most hardcore lyrics in not just charity song history but also regular song history. The "thank God it's them instead of you" bit really does make you think, will confirm any existing atheism in your heart and can still, to this day, make you feel guilty as fuck. I feel guilty for not being part of a horrible famine RIGHT NOW. I'm throwing all the rice in the house into a package to send back in time to do my part. I hope they like Rice-a-Roni in the past! Oh, wait, if I send 2011's quick-cook, flavored rice back in time to famine-stricken Ethiopia, will I create some type of temporal anomaly? Too late, I sent it.

Oh, and also. Sting/Bono. These are the dudes you want dropping guilt bombs. Bono sings the night-silencing shit out of "Well tonight thank God it's them instead of you!"

And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmastime.

I dunno, there might be, yo. If anything, they gots mountains there. Kind of beside the point. Stay on track, guys.

The greatest gift they'll get this year is life (Ohhhhhh)

I guess the point is to preserve life, always, but isn't death kind of a gift when you're in a war-torn, drought- and famine-stricken, soon-to-be-visited-by-locusts type of situation? No? O.K. then. Carry on.

Where nothing ever grows, no rain or rivers flow.

Hyperbole. We covered this. They kind of make Ethiopia sound a lot like the moon.

Paul Young basically sings half of this song. Was he that big a star in England? You can't give Jody Watley a line? Phil Collins? Way to be stingy with the verses. If we followed your example, we'd be stingy with our rice.

Do they know it's Christmastime at all?

Yes, probably. They also probably didn't really give two shits, given the situation.

Here's to you--raise a glass for everyone. Here's to them--underneath that burning sun.

Now they're making things sound happy and Christmassy again...and then BAM! They're all like, "There's still a famine, y'all. And it's HOT." Back then we couldn't do a couple quick internet searches and learn that Ethiopia's climate is actually pretty similar to Southern California, very generally speaking. Burning sun, not so much. Well. Maybe to British blokes, that is burning.

Do they know it's Christmastime at all?

Yeah I said they probably do know already, but they really probably do--there are totally Christians in Ethiopia. They have a lot of the same religions we do, you guys! Just no food. In the 80s. Kind of.

Feed the world! (x4 or so tho it seems like they say it a million times)

Just a terrible chorus. Is this a chorus? Oh, man. Try harder! Make it better! Make it better!

Let them know it's Christmastime again.

Yeah that didn't help. If anything, made it worse.** I was hoping that my rice time anomaly would fix this. Guess not. And now I'm hungry for broccoli au gratin rice and the pantry is empty. Good news tho, you can send Rice-a-Roni back in time with impunity.*** I hope the dinosaurs like Rice-a-Roni, because I'm breaking down "Walk the Dinosaur" next.

*Truly, all musicians are in the same gang.

**Like this article, the song starts off strong, then kind of goes down the ol' Xmas shitter.

***Yes, I have a time travel machine but the only thing it can do is send rice, particularly Rice-a-Roni, back to the past. Something to do with string theory, and having to brown the rice/pasta mixture before you add the water. Science is so weird. Weird and amazing, a total San Francisco treat!

Holiday Shopping Guide Part Two - Websites 'n' Junk

2011-11-25T15:35:00.001-08:00

Before I spill all my shopping secrets*, let me just say that I keep typing "holiday" as "HOliday" because I guess I put the "HO" in "holiday."

So. Websites. I actually do a ton of shopping on websites. Why? Well, my kid is damn near 4 years old and I still don't have a babysitter for him, and he is basically the worst person to shop with. He thinks it's cute to run away and hide, he wants to buy everything at every store and every time I try on a pair of jeans he says they make my butt look too flat. Also, he's soooo cute that strangers just think it's adorable when he acts a fool, which does not help. He could be setting displays on fire and the salespeople will be all "Oh, no problem, he's fine!"

If he's awake he also messes up my website shopping because he wants to be computer commando at all times but luckily he does sleep now and then.

Now obviously I get a lot of stuff from places like Amazon.com or Nordstrom.com or Macys.com but I trust y'all figured those out on your own.

T-Shirts

Because I still dress like a five-year-old boy much of the time, I have a metric shitton of t-shirts. I am particularly fond of t-shirts with comic book and cartoon characters. I feel like if there's a cute Wonder Woman, Batgirl or Supergirl t-shirt out there that I don't have, I could possibly die. These are the stores I get comic book and other pop culture shirts from.

Junk Food
80stees.com
SuperHero Stuff
Stylin Online
Topatoco
MyTeeSpot
TeeShirtsRock
Gama-Go
Ultimate T-Shirts

Special sub-section - kids and baby tees and other clothes

Shirts4Squirts
LaLa Ling
TheRetroBaby

Toys, Pop Culture Goods and Import Stuff (and also Sometimes Clothes)

I like buying gashapon and character plushes and the like as stocking stuffers. Who can't use a plush-dog-shaped-like-a-TV magnet? Also, vinyl toys, maquettes, action figures and import DVDs make great gifts. For me. And Jason. And my nephew, Quinn. And probably other people! Import toys come in all flavors, from the cute to the creepy. Surely there's a creepy person on your gift list!

Sanrio
Wizzywig
Power Anime
Action Figure Xpress
Ningyoushi
Play-Asia
Entertainment Earth
HobbyLink Japan
Toynk

Shoes

Shoes are rough. It's hard to buy them online and yet I do--but mostly at your Nordstrom.com or your Macys.com when they have crazy koo-koo sales. Sometimes I buy Steve limited-edition Star Wars Adidas, or Logan hard-to-find skater shoes online, tho. Everyone knows Zappos (right?). I dunno, this list is shorty short.

Citysole
Shoebacca
Journeys
Endless

Jewelry, Bags, Accessories, Miscellaneous, Clothes and Fashiony Fashions

I like wearing goofy/cool/ridick necklaces, and I assume I am not the only one. Also, I like having sweet bags with cute animals on them. These stores are kind of a grab bag--at some you'll find mainly clothes, at others jewelry and makeup and cute plush, and at others expensive housewares and watches. Possibly the giftiest of all the sets of websites. Maybe I shoulda put them first?

ShanaLogic
Karmaloop
Fred Flare
Crowded Teeth
80sPurple
Sick For Cute
YankoDesign
Spicy Brown

*All my shopping secrets = what I can remember right now and what searching my Gmail for "order" and "invoice" helped me remember.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T16:06:00.000-08:00

Eat up.We can always be thankful for pants with elastic waistbands.

Carry On, My Skyward Sword

2011-11-22T18:34:00.000-08:00

The latest Zelda game, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword hit stores this past Sunday, so I'm posting this watercolor illustration I just finished last week as a birthday present for a friend.


"Treasure Everything" Watercolor & Ink on archival paper 18" x 24"

I have nothing snarky to follow up with, mainly because I haven't gotten around to buying the game yet (I was in the green room of the 2011 American Music Awards on Sunday when the game came out! I should probably do a post about that! But I'm lazy with an exclamation point! "Lazy!" the musical!). Anyway, I'm sure I'll have a snarky comment to make once some nerd in a Best Buy outfit sells me the game. Until then, just enjoy the art minus the snark.

Holiday Shopping Guide Part One - LA Area Stores

2011-11-12T23:15:00.000-08:00

Your faithful Hands in the Air staff--well, Jenni and Jason, anyway--love love love to shop. But also, we're good at buying stuff that is adorable. And on real people budgets! People are constantly complimenting our stuff, and asking where we got it. One woman at work even wants me to do her Christmas shopping. Which sounds kind of fun to me, actually.

But we can't do everyone's Christmas shopping. Not directly, anyway. So I decided we should just tell you a bunch of the places where we get stuff. We're not going to try to give you lists of expensive, extra-specific crap that we not-so-secretly want for ourselves (we're on to you, every other website and magazine), since that is usually not all that helpful, anyway. But we will tell you were cool and fun stuff is available, and let you browse for yourselves!

If you live in the LA Area then you can shop at these places. A lot of them do have websites you can shop at. In another post, I'll give you some of the websites I get stuff from!

Wacko/Soap Plant
4633 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles CA 90027
http://soapplant.com/

Such a good shopping spot, especially for gifts. They have tons of books and toys, bags, silly housewares and more. Plus, the La Luz De Jesus art gallery is right there, too, so you can get your culture on as you take shopping breaks.

Tokidoki

7965 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90046
http://www.tokidoki.it/shop/
(They also have stores in Santa Monica and Milan, if you'd rather.)

I am Tokidoki crazy. The good stuff can kind of sell out quickly both online and in-store, so you gotta move fast if you see something you like. Yeah, so, it's a nice all-Tokidoki experience at this shop.

Kidrobot
7972 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90046
http://www.kidrobot.com/

So, right, this place has lotsa designer toys, no duh. Some clothes and shoes. It's not cheap, but you're not going to go cheap for the holidays, are you? ARE YOU?

Japan LA
7320 1/2 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90046
http://www.japanla.com/browse.php?overlay=1003

Trendy Japanese cutie stuff and Japanesque stuff, too. Lots of sweet t-shirts, toys and accessories. Always worth a stop when down Melrose way.

Munky King
7308 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90046-7513
http://www.munkyking.com/

Designer toys are the focus, here--and don't let that scare you, they aren't ALL $200 vinyl art pieces--but they also have clothes and jewelry. But yeah I've only ever purchased small toys here.

Tarina Tarantino
7957 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90046
http://www.tarinatarantino.com/

Not every single store on this list is on Melrose. But, you know. A lot of them are. Oh, wow, Jenni, you mean people go to Melrose to shop? Get out of here. NO YOU GET OUT OF HERE. Where was I? Right. Tarina Tarantino. These are sparkly things for sparkly people. So cute.

Meltdown Comics
7522 West Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90046
http://www.meltcomics.com/webstore/

See? This one is on Sunset. Anyway. As you're well aware, we share the tastes and likes of dorky people even though we are not ourselves dorks. At this fine establishment, you'll find mostly comics, books and toys. I have purchased many a gift here. Yes, for myself. Also others.

Royal/T
8910 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
http://www.royal-t.org/

This is a cosplay cafe, art space and a great shop. Every aspect is super fun. I'll admit, we like a lot of the Japanese-style stuff but that is because it is fashion-forward and artistic, with a sense of humor, like us! LIKE US. Anyhoo, the shop always has adorbs stuff and eating there is good, too. Great art shows. They also have parties all the time. At night, when I'm asleep, yo.

Happy Six
2115 Sawtelle Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90025-6200

There are a few brands I like to buy from over and over and over. Junk Food, Mighty Fine, Tokidoki and of course my beloved Sanrio. This shop is jam-pickety-packed with all that plus other good stuff like Harajuku Lovers, Disney Couture, Sugar and I can't remember what else. Tons of clothes but also accessories, shoes and kids clothes. KIDS CLOTHES.

Giant Robot
2015 Sawtelle Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90025-6229
GR/2
2062 Sawtelle Blvd
Los Angeles CA 90025
http://secure.giantrobot.com/

At the Giant Robot stores you can get clothes, books, art, collectibles like blind box toys, vinyl art toys, DVDs, jewelry...just a lot of cool crap. A good place to buy presents for your hip and arty pals. Oh and their restaurant, GR/EATS, is also a delight. Sawtelle has a lot of other good places to shop. Try it sometime. A good time will be had.

Q Pop Shop
128 Astronaut E S Onizuka St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
http://qpopshop.com/main/

Little Tokyo has a lot of good shoppin'. But this is one of the best, just for the sheer variety of stuff and the fact that you won't really find what they carry anywhere else. At least not at the other places I shop. I love their t-shirts and accessories. They also carry toys and art and what not. Be sure to stop at the Kinokuniya book store and the millions of adorable gift shops in the area.

Vault 28 and D Street
1565 Disneyland Drive
Anaheim, 92802

You don't necessarily even need to like Disney stuff to shop at these stores. Vault 28 carries more girly stuff, Disney-related and not, plus really cute purses, jewelry, and great clothes. They've recently also started carrying more guy clothes. D Street has more dudely stuff, including lots of comic booky and Star Warsy tees and sweatshirts, but also carries lady stuff (that is also comic booky/Star Warsy).

I probably forgot a few of our favorite places to shop, but this gives you a pretty good idea of where to shop for me--um--I mean where to shop to get nice gifts you can't get at Target.

Jenni, The eBaby

2011-08-02T23:12:00.000-07:00

When parts of my life aren't the greatest, I often retreat into shopping. (And NSFW articles. Like this one.)

Lately, that shopping has been happening on eBay. If I had free time, I would totally hit garage sales and flea markets and estate sales and what not but I ain't got no free time. So it's eBay when I should be sleeping.

I've added to my mermaid collection for my bathroom, I bought a kinda bargain Super Queen I've been wanting forever, and I even got a few things for other people. Probably, I don't remember.

I tend to go off the rails and just start searching for anything and everything. When I come across something delightful, I'll post it here. I've got three favorites for you today.

Don't Die Baby

If you didn't have to check out books from the same Catholic school library I did, you probably have never heard of this. But if you did...let's just say you're warming up your PayPal account. This shit is parochial scholar crack in book form, just the type of aww damn storytelling you need to wash your brain of Bible stories and what not. Amen.

The Ladies of The Flintstones S&M Print

Eat shit, Lascaux Cave drawings--here is some real prehistoric art. It's the ladies of the Flintstones, plus Dino, having a gay old time. Modern stone age family, indeed.

Happy Fisherman Apron

There are several items with the heartwarming theme of a fisherman standing in deep water, getting a blowie from a fish. Obviously one of my favorite themes, ever, artistic or otherwise*. But this is the greatest of the happy fisherman items. The best part of this super amaze Mexican souvenir? Bonus foam penis (click thru to the auction, y'all). I kind of feel like there should be a fish potholder on the dick there but I'm only half-Mexican.

I want so much to believe that fishermen honestly would be happy with this type of arrangement. Like they're painting their penises to look like worms so maybe they'll score a fellate o'fish.

But then, they ultimately catch the fish, I'm guessing, because of what they've put into it. It's probs delish--sort of like when you marinate meat with a syringe except that syringe is your wee-wee. And you don't want to bang a mermaid like 18 years later and then she turns to you and says "OH MY GOD, DAD?" And then you've got to catch her and eat her, too. I think I just wrote a Korean movie.**

Oh, eBay. You're the greatest.

*Can someone write like an Opera or something about fishermen getting blow jobs from fish? Maybe in German. I would also accept a sand painting in a big o'l mayonnaise jar.

**Fish are just like basketball groupies, they will spit out your ejaculate and try to impregnate themselves so they can catch them a fisherman. Also, Korean movies are just fucked up.

The Lady and Her Tramps

2011-07-30T08:52:00.000-07:00

Jason and I went to see Lady Gaga on Jimmy Kimmel the other night. Jason heard about the performance, sent an email, we ended up in the front row. That's just how we livin'. You know.

But! I guess people could, like, get in if they waited for a really long time, like camped out or whatever.

Unsurprisingly, the people who have the time, energy and motivation to do that are, for the most part, young. Now Jason and I are extra super young ourselves, so usually, we're cool with the youngins. They're cool with us. It's hard to tell us apart! (We look younger than the teens, that's how you can tell who's who.)

Oy these kids. Lady Gaga is known for really loving and appreciating her fans, but I basically hate a good majority of them (I have history hating the fans of bands I love.) Now that I've revealed I'm a hateful person, let me also be a hateful writer by concluding this piece with a probably disjointed list of those gaga for Gaga last night:

They are freaky short. Why are there so many rotund, but otherwise puny young adults out there? Mainly girls. I'm guessing poor nutrition, because it's obvious they eat. They must not eat well. At any rate, I have never felt taller, thinner or prettier.

They have horrible manners. The tubby tots who ended up next to/behind me harassed and physically assaulted the tall adult dude and his lady in front of them until they gave up and I think left entirely. The shorter one, and truly, the most amazingly short 15-year-old I've ever seen, apparently kicked the tall dude in the back of his legs until finally his knees buckled and he turned to them and said "I give up." Classy.

They've obviously not been to many shows. The human Weebles on both sides tried dance-bouncing into me to displace me. Standing with my elbows out made quick work of that. During the long wait for Gaga to show, they also screamed with every test of the lights or roadie movement. Embarrassing.

They believe in magic. The teeny tubbo next to me was sure Lady Gaga "Looked her right in the eyes" and "Can totally hear me!" She thought Gaga could hear her from her dressing room or wherever she was.

They have no fashion sense, you guys. Oh the outfits I saw. Oh the hair. Oh the makeup. You'd just think people who liked Gaga would like style or at least spectacle. Nope. They like the bargain racks and sleeping in way late.

Man I really am hateful. I don't hate fatties. Just short fatties. Kidding! Just poor short young fatties. Who scream in my ear. And sing along poorly to Lady Gaga. And yell "Show us your ass!" at Lady Gaga. And talk nonstop about how they can't breathe, except for when they're screaming "Show us your ass!"

This post was really just an excuse for Jason to post his pics. All my hate is just a bonus.

Comic-Con 2011 - Saturday: The Dorkly Hallows

2011-07-26T21:50:00.000-07:00

Saturday at Comic-Con is the biggest day of the show, and here's the photo roundup including Domo creator Tsuneo Goda and highlights from the 2011 Masquerade. If you like half-naked women with the clothed half being some sorta geeky superhero outfit, check out the pics after the jump.

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Props from the Green Lantern movie. Oh, you actually saw the film? Sorry.

Metamorpho

Tsuneo Goda, the creator of Domo, brought in the actual Domo model used in his videos.
Goda received a 2011 Ink Pot Award (to the right of Domo) during his panel.

Goda's first color illustration of Domo.

Goda's first-ever sketch of Domo.

Sketches for Target's Halloween promotion with Domo.

That's a BFG.

Halo marines bustin' a move.

Jorge Garcia (LOST) promotes his new fall series on FOX, Alcatraz

The heralds of Galactus Minimates

Hasbro's Avengers Mini Muggs with a super-sized Giant Man

Ms. Marvel

Hasbro's giant Sentinel figure with the giant blister pack.
To put its size in perspective, the TV in the pic probably has a 20" screen.

Monster High cosplayers: Ghoulia Yelps, Cleo de Nile, Frankie Stein and Lagoona Blue.

The Nightmare before Christmas's Oogie Boogie and Sally

The Legend of Zelda's Link

Toadette from the Mario games.
She flashed her knickers without me asking. I have that effect on people.
It gets really awkward for me at family photo shoots.

Benches shaped like Perry from Disney's Phineas & Ferb

The Genki Car from the video game, Saints Row: The Third

Photo op stations for Discovery Channel's Shark Week

She-Ra

Hello Slave Leia Kitty

Inflatable Smurf

Snoopy showed up to sell MetLife insurance.

Steampunk Ash from the Evil Dead movies

New ThunderCats action figures for the new Cartoon Network series

The Sword of Omens from ThunderCats

VIZ Media mascots

Saturday night at Comic-Con closed with the 2011 Masquerade and Ball, and here are some highlights:

Cinderella and the Little Mermaid

Dr. Who cosplayers

Catwoman

Arkham Asylum inmates, Harley Quinn, Bane and Poison Ivy

Batman and Poison Ivy

Wolverine

The Rocketeer

Chewbacca girl puts the "Woo!" in Wookiee.

Storm

Bayonetta

Bumblebee

Transformers Dinobot, Grimlock

Transformers: Shockwave

Vampirella

Leeloo from The Fifth Element

Another Wolverine

Thug Life Ronald McDonald. I like that he has Burger King's head.

Assassin's Creed

Kato

Jessica Rabbit

Quorra from Tron: Legacy

Alice in Wonderland...
Apparently, she thinks "Wonderland" is a synonym for latex.

Wolfpack Clone Trooper
(voted Best Young Fan)

Sora from the video game, Kingdom Hearts

Spider-Man

Ghost from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

The Mad Hatter

"Nuclear Yellow Submarine"
Judges' Choice winner

"Brak-est Night"
Brak and the Space Ghost crew meet Green Lantern

Thank you for the nightmares.

Princess Vespa and Dot Matrix from Spaceballs

Hypnotoad from Futurama

My Neighbor Totoro.
My other neighbor is Mr. Rogers.

Jin Saotome and a Servbot from Marvel vs. Capcom 2
(voted Honorable Mention for Best Re-Creation)

"Ugly Stepsisters"
(voted Best Presentation)

Arkham Tango
(voted Most Humorous)


"Iron Clad Man" with Abe Lincoln and Iron Man I actually would've called it "Civil War Machine." (voted Honorable Mention for Best Workmanship)

Hyunkel the Knight
(voted Best Workmanship)

"Saligia: The Court of Sin"
(voted Best in Show)

Zombie Red Riding Hood

Baby Doll from Sucker Punch

Here are the freebies I scored on Saturday...


I went to Whitney Matheson's annual Pop Candy party at Wine Steals and met some cool and friendly conventioneers and made off with the always-awesome gift bag. This year's goodies included a Spider-Woman/Iron Man Blu-ray, a Battle Beyond DVD, a Rocko's Modern Life DVD, a Transformers Japanese lithograph and a cell phone holder from Shout Factory, and Chronicle Books' SCRWL: Triptych Journal Collection by James Jean. Everyone also got a free, random Hasbro exclusive, and I managed to get the sold-out Zarana figure from GI Joe.

A giant Real Steel bag

Whew! That's all my coverage from San Diego Comic-Con International 2011. Finally, I can pry myself out of this slave Leia bikini. I think it's turned my private areas green.

Comic-Con 2011 - Friday: Geekocalypse

2011-07-26T19:42:00.000-07:00

Here's the Friday roundup of Comic-Con activity including South Park, Kevin Smith, Nintendo, Real Steel and more!

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San Diego on Friday, July 22, 2011 before the convention floor opened.


Dr. Who crossing. Even the graffiti at Comic-Con is nerdy.

More Dr. Who. You can tell it's sci-fi because the show takes place in
some alternate universe where people actually use phone booths.


Disney princesses Snow White, Belle and Ariel. These cosplayers were actually really, really nice and gracious like real princesses, but I wished they wore the goofy hats like the ones in Kate and William's royal wedding.

A small Biggie Smalls. Wait, what? My head just exploded.

After the dinosaur sat on the stool, he busted out a prehistoric guitar
and sang a beautiful acoustic song. So sad he's extinct.

Art Asylum introduced its Femme Fatales line of Minimates featuring pirate Anne Bonny and Alice.

The Femme Fatales line also includes Little Red and Medusa.

Some of San Diego's pedicabs were geeked out for HBO's Game of Thrones.
You know the ride is over when they chop off your head.

A Ghostbuster and the Stay-Puft Marshmallow girl

GI Joe's Destro and the Baroness

More GI Joe cosplayers plus evil Lisa Loeb

Kevin Smith and a really big hockey jersey

Finally, a David Hasselhoff Minimate!
Art Asylum revealed that Series 4 of the Minimates vehicles would include Knight Rider's
Michael Knight and KITT and their evil twins, Garth and KARR.

This is what happens when you lose Celebrity Apprentice.Season 3 apprentice and WWE Diva Maria Kanellis made an appearance to sign autographs.

Dr. Doom

Captain Native American and Galacta

The motorcycle from the upcoming sequel Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

Crossbones and Captain America Minimates

That's either Mystique or Bondage Smurf.
There's always confusion because the safe word is "Smurfy."

Phoenix and hot Phoenix

Thor and Scarlet Witch

Venom reacts to the $15 price tag for a burger, chips and Coke at the convention snack center.

Monster High's Frankie Stein

Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Nicholas Brendon

Nintendo hosted a game lounge in the Marriott next door to the convention center,
where fans could play a demo of the upcoming Zelda game,
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

Nintendo commissioned a chalk artist to create a picture of Link and Epona from Ocarina of Time.

Add caption

A robot from the upcoming movie, Real Steel,
AKA known as "The Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots Movie" or "Hugh Jackman's Cry for Help."

Shark Week starts on July 31, 2011. To celebrate, Discover Channel had scuba diver
cosplayers hit the floor with remote-controlled, inflatable sharks.
We're gonna need a bigger convention center.

Character balloons marked the spot for Comedy Central's
South Park village across from the convention center.
The Kenny balloon eventually burst into flames and suffered a horrific Hindenburg fate.

South Park fans could take part in photo ops, browse the art gallery,
create avatars and race in the tricycle Fan Prix.

MAD Magazine's Spy vs. Spy

Star Wars live art

Bar2-D2

Street Fighter vinyl figures

Baby Doll from Sucker Punch

Baby Doll, Blondie and Amber cosplayers pose in front of the Sucker Punch mech.

Optimus Prime promotes Hasbro's new KRE-O line of construction blocks.

A True Blood illustration by J. Scott Campbell. I can afford 1% of it.

Venture Bros. cosplayers including Molotov Cocktease

It's like Sophie's Choice for kids: Who to pose with before they walk away?
Yo Gabba Gabba's Muno or the Red Power Ranger?

Here are the freebies I scored on Friday:

Shark Week bag, DC Universe Online cape, Payday mask, Pokedex 3D cards, Pikachu pin, Adventure Time coin good for a free slice at Jake's Pizza, a Bad Girls Club comic based on the Oxygen channel's TV series

Pokedex 3D t-shirt, SSX video game comic, The Book of Mormon button, Hasbro pen, Optimus Prime KRE-O figure, Twilight: Breaking Dawn trading cards and Bella pin, Monster High "Deadfast" comic book drawn by Ghoulia Yelps

Comic-Con 2011 - Thursday, Part 2: Breaking Dawn

2011-07-25T21:59:00.000-07:00

Stupid hotel internet went offline so the complete Thursday report never posted. Anyway, you can see the rest of what went down at Comic-Con on Thursday, July 21 (Elijah Wood, slave Leias, Phineas & Ferb, Designer Toy Awards and more) after the jump.

Read more»

Marvel stuff!

Kotobukiya revealed the latest in its Bishoujo line of Marvel statues - Mystique


A prototype sculpt of X23 was also on display at the Kotobukiya booth.


Captain America girls [Insert salute/flag at full mast joke here. It's appropriate because I'm a patriot.]

Besides his usual smarmy grin, this is what Chris Evans wore in the Captain America movie.

Bring me the head of Steve Rogers.

Tokidoki's take on Marvel superheroes

Pixie

Black Widow

Deadpool
If you're gonna ride a scooter, you gotta at least compensate by having a really, really big gun.

Next year's Spider-Man reboot movie was a big presence at the convention.
Bono and The Edge's musical was not.

Spidey constructed of Mega Bloks.

Super-detailed and super-articulated webhead figures from Hot Toys.

A Cobra soldier and Scarlett

DC's Dove.

Cartoon Network's Adult Swim booth was done up like the ranger station at a national park.
I like that the convention-goers in this pic actually look like tourists.

Brock Samson from The Venture Bros.

Venture Bros. action figures

Molotov Cocktease from The Venture Bros.

Disney brought in the "Platy-bus" to promote Phineas & Ferb.

Blind-boxed Agent P figures were available as Comic-Con exclusives.

A sculpt of Hoho from Ni Hao, Kao-Lan in the Nickelodeon booth.

A Kai-Lan sculpt

Amber's mech from Sucker Punch

A bevy of slave Leias.
You're welcome.

Being a photographer sucks.

An X-wing movie prop from Star Wars


A cosplayer decked out as Mortal Kombat's Scorpion. I dunno if he could counter the convention nerds' fatality: The Cropduster. Seriously, a lot of con-goers were leaving a trail of farts everywhere they went.

Shaky Bacon from the Mr. Toast universe

Living Dead Doll plushes

Bartman

Domo Qees

Elijah Wood was at the FOX booth promoting his new FX show,
Wilfred, about a guy and a guy in a dog suit.
He plays the one not in a dog suit.

Funko exclusives

Vlad and Cassie from the Hack/Slash comics

A statue from the Darksiders video game


Mr. Potato Head. I wonder if there are spare parts in his butt.

Munsters action figures


ABC's Pan Am booth

Inflatable-type Pokemon

"Where's the Heliotrope Ranger?"

Cosplayers for the video game, Saints Row: The Third.

A Nathan Drake action figure from the Uncharted video game series

Ratchet & Clank plushes

Earthworm Jim figures and plush

Ghostbusters Stay-Puft plushes

It's hard to be stealthy when you're made of plastic LEGO bricks.

Comedy Central celebrated the "Year of the Fan" by recreating the town of South Park outside the convention center.

Super 7 exclusives

Hasbro introduced its new K RE -O line of construction blocks featuring the Transformers

Unicron from the Transformers. He could transform into a planet and orbit the hell outta you.

Cammy from the Street Fighter video games.

Tangled cosplayers.
There were quite a few Rapunzels at the show, and most were rocking the post-haircut look.

A Rapunzel Tonner doll

Uglydoll mascots

Uglydolls. Pretty much.

"And I'll form... the head!"
Voltron

It's a waffle! The streets run maple-y with syrup when he's on the prowl.

Fans of AMC's Walking Dead could pose with a Merle dummy
to re-enact the scene where he cuts his hand off. Perfect for Christmas cards!

Mascots for Xtranormal, a 3-D moviemaking program

After the convention floor closed on Thursday, Clutter Magazine held its first-ever Designer Toy Awards at Munky King's Black Ball.

Live art at Munky King's Black Ball

Frank Kozik

Munky King founder, Patrick Lam

Tara McPherson

Ron English

Here are the freebies I scored on Thursday:

Spike Scream Awards bag, Hack/Slash stickers, Twilight: Breaking Dawn magnet, GI Joe caribinerr, zombie Homer Simpson fan, Munky King sticker, lightbulb keychain for the upcoming film Darkest Hour, Ghostbot sticker, Hulk comic, Future Foundation comic, LEGO Star Wars lanyard from DK Publishing, Mass Effect 3 inflatable omniblade, WWE Rey Mysterio minifigure from Mattel, Star Wars Death Star tattoo

Monster High Ghoulia Yelps bag (design 1 of 2; see the 2nd design in the Saturday post), Monster High magnets, Masters of the Universe Teela button, Battle Bears buttons, Playboy key and dogtag, Pullips stickers

Niconico.com t-shirt, Shout! Factory wipey cloth thingy, more comics including Shrugged from Aspen Comics, Xtranormal sticker, Luke Chueh buttons, Star Wars vintage action figures blisterpack card

Batman: Arkham City video game bag, Full Metal Alchemist pencil case and sleeve, TNT's Falling Skies pin, VIZ Kids sampler comic, Yen Press manga sampler, Teenage Mutant Ninjas comic, Showtime's Dexter lanyard, Transformers' Optimus Prime that transforms into a hat

Whew. That was a lot for one night.
Friday and Saturday posts to come...

Comic-Con 2011 - Thursday: Nerdageddon

2011-07-22T09:23:00.001-07:00

I survived Thursday of Comic-Con 2011, so here's my photo roundup of the highlights including Monster High, Adventure Time, Transformers, The Playboy Club, cosplayers and more.
Read more after the jump»

Mattel's Monster High continues to gain popularity, and this year convention-goers can vote for one of three new students who'll be the next to enroll in the school. The other two will get stuck with a lousy public education.

Sarah Screams

Headless Headmistress Bloodgood

Daughter of Arachne

New Monster High plushes, including Ghoulia Yelps

Lagoona Blue in her Michael Jackson sleep chamber

The Monster High Monster Maker Machine lets you Frankenstein together three clip-on dolls

More Monster High books and new apparel

A movie prop from next year's Men in Black 3.
Dunno what that thing is, but I'm sure Will Smith will devote an entire verse rapping
about it in his very thorough theme song.

DC stuff!

Alfred, fetch me my Batshoes!
New DC superhero Converse All-Stars

DC superheroes including a super-sized, loin-clothed Apache Chief (back row on the right).
Action figures in the front row, please don't look up.

DC Universe Mez-Itz.
How adorable would Atom be?

Mera

DC's Ame-Comi Heroine series: Raven

The Ame-Comi version of Mera

Kooky Cans by Mixo contain either candy or instant papercraft playsets.
Licensed characters include DC, Smurfs, Ghostbusters and Hello Kitty.
These were the "#1 new product at Comic-Con" -- by Saturday, all of the DC canisters were sold out.

MAD Magazine has Alfred E. Newman suited up as various DC superheroes, including Aquaman.


Aaron Eckhart's Two-Face suit from The Dark Knight. He totally needs a better dry cleaner.

Christian Bale's batsuit from The Dark Knight

New Young Justice figures

Action figures from the Arkham City video game

Power Girl

NBC set up a Playboy Club in the Gaslamp Quarter to promote its new fall series.

Fans could pose with the bunnies and receive a Playboy key and dogtag that an onsite locksmith could cut
and customize for them... because there's nothing more romantic than giving out a spare key to your
house with the Playboy logo on it.

The actual Back to the Future car.
They kept blasting the Huey Lewis theme song, "The Power of Love" in this area...
at least it wasn't a prop from the first Spider-Man movie that had a Nickelback theme song.


You should see what Casual Friday on Eternia looks like. Apparently, Teela's costume is now the female version of He-Man's, complete with the Apple Bottom loins and the boots with the fur.

One of Mattel's convention exclusives, Queen Marlena.

He-Man dance party!


Popcorn plushes with happy pats o' butter on their heads!

Props from the upcoming remake of Total Recall starring Colin Farrell.

Every year, someone brings in an amazing homemade remote-controlled R2-D2,
just once I'd like to see a really crappy DIY droid that looks like a pinata on rollerskates.


There were an awful lot of women going down the cosplaying rabbit hole as Alice from the American McGee video game, and Art Asylum's Alice was the best. Adventure Time was probably one of the most popular shows to inspire cosplayers this year.

A giant inflatable Jake and Finn from Adventure Time.

Happiness is a Snoopy rainbow.

Never go on a booze cruise with Dexter.

Star Trek

Carmageddon

2011-07-15T20:25:00.000-07:00

So Carmageddon is upon us here in L.A. For those of you who don't live in SoCal, Carmageddon is the carpocalyptic traffic jam the Mayans predicted would happen when a stretch of Interstate 405 closes this weekend for construction. And we all know Mayan prophecies always come true -- they've already correctly predicted that a movie called 2012 would come out.

Carmageddon is coming, or as I like to call it, "Vroomsday 2011: The Carbinger of Death."
Steve has dubbed it "The Autocaust," while Jenni calls it "Hurricane Kartrina" for the win!

R.I.P. Sherwood Schwartz

2011-07-13T20:18:00.000-07:00

Sherwood Schwartz

November 14, 1916 - July 12, 2011

Creator of The Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island

Cousin Oliver is locked in the basement.

Comic-Con 2011 Exclusives - Our Faves

2011-07-06T23:40:00.000-07:00

Comic-Con 2011 is two weeks away, so we're sending Jason on his annual trip to San Diego to report on the convention, panels, premieres, masquerade and after-parties. When he's done canoodling with girls dressed like the cast of Sucker Punch, he'll be stocking up on the exclusive toys, giveaways, art prints and comics to ensure that Hands in the Air headquarters looks like it was decorated by 12-year-old Star Wars nerds.

So what should convention geeks spend their money on besides deodorant, food not found in a 7-Eleven and etiquette lessons? Don't get your metal bikini bottoms in a bunch -- our picks for Comic-Con International 2011 exclusives are listed after the jump.

READ MORE»

Gama-Go (booth #4738)

Wednesday Kirwan Comic-Con Design

JASON'S PICK

Available as a t-shirt or pullover hoodie

Mr. Toast (booth #4831)

Frankentoast

JENNI'S PICK
Limited to 10,000. Night of the living bread!!!

Mattel (booth #2945)

Monster High - Ghoulia Yelps


JENNI'S PICK Monster High's Ghoulia is dressed for NekroCon as her favorite zombie superhero, Dead Fast, and she comes with a miniature Dead Fast action figure

Masters of the Universe - Queen Marlena

JENNI'S PICK
She's an astronaut! She's He-Man's mom (He-Man-Mom)! She comes with Cringer! She really likes green!

Polly Pocket - Masters of the Universe

JENNI'S PICK
Polly Pocket as She-Ra, Kerstie as Frosta and Crissy as Catra

Mezco (booth #3445)

ThunderCats - Mega-Scale Lion-O Variant

STEVE'S PICK
Who's this for? A ThunderCats Pimp? No, a ThunderCats Ho!

Scott Pilgrim - Variant

JASON'S PICK
It's the L-word. ("Limited" not "Lesbian")

Diamond Select (booth #2607)

Alice: Madness Returns Minimate

JASON'S PICK
From American McGee's EA video game

Plus, Diamond Select will be giving away exclusive Minimates Pirates figures everyday for FREE:

Thursday: Robert Deal
Friday: Jonathan Barnet
Saturday: Charles Vanes
Sunday: Calico Jack (with box for you to create a 4-pack with the other days' figures)

JUN Planning USA, Inc. (booth #4150)

Batgirl Pullip


JENNI'S PICK

Catwoman Pullip

JENNI'S PICK

Hasbro (booth #3329)

Indiana Jones - Box Set

STEVE'S PICKS
Includes Toht with his regular creepy face and his creepier melting face

Spider-Man Mighty Mugg

JASON'S PICK
We're totally waiting for Bono and Edge Mighty Muggs so we can play Turn Off the Dark

Avengers Mini Muggs

JASON'S PICK
Teeny Hulk, Thor, Iron Man Mini Muggs plus a bigger Giant Man who's busting out of his package (Wasp loves that)

Action Figure Xpress (booth #3345)

Thor Stormbreaker Minimates

JASON'S PICK
Thor, Beta Ray Bill, Sif and Loki

Marvel vs. Capcom Minimates


JASON'S PICK Phoenix, Arthur, Dante and Deadpool

Emma Frost - Clear Kotobukiya Bishoujo Statue

JASON'S PICK
Clear diamond version of last year's Emma Frost statue.
Kotobukiya (booth #2601) also has the exclusive Evil Supergirl Bishoujo statue

Entertainment Earth (booth #2343)

Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Minimates
(Toys "R" Us Exclusive)

JASON'S PICK
Morrigan, Red Hulk, Iron Man and Mega Man Zero

Funko (booth #4829)

Buzz Lightyear - Metallic Pop! Vinyl Figure

JASON'S PICK
An exclusive metallic version of Sleeping Beauty's Maleficent will also be available

Dark Horse Comics (booth #2615)

Domo Qee Figure

JASON'S PICK
He's dressed as a nerd. Like you. Because you're reading this.

Chronicle Books (booth #1506)

REBUS - Signed Book Plate

JASON'S PICK
Book plates autographed by James Jean available when you pre-order his REBUS art book

Acme Archives Ltd. (booth #1506)

The Muppet Show Screenprint -
It's Not Easy Being Green Variant


JASON'S PICK 100 piece signed edition

Capcom (booth #4844)
Kidrobot (booth #4529)

Street Fighter - Mini Evil Ryu


JASON'S PICKLimited to 2,000 pieces available at both the Capcom and Kidrobot booths

Kidrobot (booth #4529)

Shawnimals Super Ninja Plush

JASON'S PICKLimited to 50 pieces. Ninjatown's creator Shawnimals will be signing at the
Kidrobot booth on Friday, July 22, 2011 from 4 - 6pm

Disney Store, Fashion Valley Mall, San Diego
7007 Friar Rd., San Diego

Future Foundation Minimates

JASON'S PICK
Mr. Fantastic, Thing, Spider-Man and Invisible Woman

Warner Bros. will again be supplying the official Comic-Con bag (that for the first time ever can be worn as an oversized backpack). They're free and you'll get one of 10 possible designs at che

LEGO Harry Potter video game

Batman: Arkham City video game

Green Lantern: The Animated Series

Big Bang Theory

Justice League comic

Supernatural

ThunderCats

The Vampire Diaries

The Looney Tunes Show

Fringe

Don't want the boozy clubgoers in San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter to know you
bought a bunch of geeky Spider-Man toys? Discreetly stash them in one of these WB bags
so they think you're a Vampire Diaries nerd instead!

Plus, 36 participating area hotels will have keycards branded with Warner Bros. properties including TV series Alcatraz, Person of Interest and Smallville, digital series Mortal Kombat: Legacy and the video game Lord of the Rings: War in the North. If you want to score a full set of hotel keycards, you're probably gonna have talk to those cosplayers down the hall and the greasy Star Trek dude in the suite upstairs.

Nozomi

2011-06-07T18:37:00.000-07:00

Since I haven't been tweeting for a while, it's probably been tough for you to stalk me, so I figured I'd give you all a heads-up on the next place you can find and harass me. This Saturday, June 11, 2011, I'll be featured in the Nozomi - Hope for Japan Artshow, a charity auction with all proceeds going to Global Giving's Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund.

Here's the painting I made for the show, and you can bid on it this Saturday from 3 - 8pm in Long Beach, California:


"The Sun Always Shines" (12"x24", acrylic on canvas) Dedicated to my father (Jan 11, 1940 - May 16, 2011)

Lame of Moans

2011-05-04T12:22:00.000-07:00

Game of Thrones. We were going to jump all over that and do what I charmingly referred to as a "Threeview," where each of us would give our opinions of the show.

It was an admirable idea, given the three interesting viewpoints we would have brought to it: Steve is basically the target audience for this show (if he had any damn money, anyway--they always want audiences with money, baby) and he's also super into the books; Jason hates at least half of what HBO puts on just as a natural instinct, but he likes period pieces with tittays; and I fucking super fucking extremely hate medieval shit, and epic shit, and shit you have to pay close attention to, and...yeah. Everything I expected this show to be.

I have to say, my expectations, dead on. Except for my expectations of myself, being able to watch this shit week after week.

I couldn't make it through ONE EPISODE. One.

Now you're probably thinking I'm some type of idiot asshole dipshit. Okay. If you like it, that's great. You're obviously more like Steve (sane, rational, nice, not terribly perverted, etc.) than you are like me (kooks, bitchy, impatient, totes pervy). I also find the Lord of the Rings movies to be interminable. Dull and uninteresting. Clearly I have shit taste when it comes to quality drama featuring people who look like they never bathe.

But if you're watching this and putting yourself through it just because everyone says it's really good but you actually think it's kind of boring unless someone is boning or the little fellow is being funny or boning someone or monsters are beheading someone or boning someone, then, uh, yay for you? Me, I can't do it. I can't. (And yes, I do believe people do that. They watch shit because they've been told it's good and they should like it. I think many people who watch Mad Men do so for exactly that reason. No, I don't like that show, either. Sorry! I like it better than Game of Thrones tho, for really real. I don't like Breaking Bad, either. I'm guessing I might like that one if I gave it more of a chance. But you know, life is short. I gave it the one chance, it didn't take, too bad, so sad. Maybe I'll watch it when I'm 80 and I can't relate to the all-reality shows of TV Future.)

Game of Thrones is obviously set up to reward active and careful viewing. Incite rewatches upon later revelations/reward rewatchers with further revelation. Thoughtful, deliberate audience-ing. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck that, y'all. You can stuff that right up your throne-hole. Steve totally understands all the subtle-ass shit that's going on, because he's read the books. But people like me, they have to wait as layer upon layer is added, and the richness of the many plotlines and character arcs is revealed. UH-UH. NOT FOR ME. Give me a little up front. Just a little! A bit more. I can't work up interest in all these horribly bewigged, mostly ugly motherfuckers. I don't fucking care.

That one little girl is pretty cool--the one with the good aim? Yeah. And incest, as they (sorta) say, is the best. I could totally tell that brother and sister were bad/doin' it before it was revealed. This show has a little person, nudity and incest and I STILL don't like it. You have to go pretty far down the boring trail (and the I can't understand what the fuck the actors are saying because of naturalism/bad accents/mumbling or some shit trail) to lose me when brother-sister boinking, dwarfs and general nakedness is in the mix.

And they're two of the only hot people in that fucker! That is an issue. I like good-lookin' peeps. This show is good-lookin' light. That bears repeating. I don't care if a bunch of hideous people are beheaded. To me that seems natural and anti-climatic. Of course ugly people should lose their heads. Heads are what make so many ugly people so very ugly.

I probably shouldn't be saying these things. I want to be a TV writer. And here I am, saying I'm essentially a lazy TV-watcher who can't be arsed to pay attention, remember shit and/or possibly think while watching a show full of uggos. I AM an idiot asshole dipshit, most likely. But uh, yeah. Don't like this show.

I do really like the opening credits, tho. Super cute. If the show were more like the cute opening credits, I'd dig it the most.

Podcasting Call

2011-05-03T21:11:00.000-07:00

We're finally returning to the studio to record new episodes of the Hands in the Air Podcast! Sure, it's been five years since our last podcast, but we're sorta like HBO because we take so long between seasons and we play the crap out of Pootie Tang.

Wanna be a guest host in one of our Season 2 podcasts? Listen to our podcasts (#007 is our fave), and if you think you can hold your own with us, post a comment and let us know. You could be in our next podcast!

The Best of Both Worlds

2011-04-09T17:41:00.000-07:00

Hanna is now in theaters.

Arthur is now in theaters.

Mealtallica

2011-04-06T20:36:00.000-07:00

Today, we saw a food truck named after Metallica's Kill 'Em All album, but since the eatery on wheels specialized in serving up burgers, it was called "Grill 'Em All." In honor of the heavy metal-inspired burgermobile, we've come up with some other Metallica-themed food trucks:

Call us, Lars, and we can go into the food truck biz with you. Otherwise, we'll sell these ideas to Napster.

Love,
Hands in the Air

WonderCon: The Geeks of San Francisco

2011-04-05T11:48:00.000-07:00

This past April Fool's Day, I pulled off the ultimate prank of tricking people into thinking I was a nerd by attending my first-ever WonderCon during a weekend in San Francisco. WonderCon is sorta like a Comic-Con lite, but this year's convention went big with some appearances by stars like Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively (Green Lantern) and Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan (Hanna).

Anyway, the joke was on the WonderConventioneers when they realized I pulled the April Fool's wool over their eyes and turned out to be a totally supercool dude merely pretending to be geek. Suckers! It was cosplay, whatever that means! You should've seen the looks on their Batfaces!!! It was like Issue 104 of the DC Comics classic Silver Age... I mean, wait, what?

Um, just check out my show coverage after the jump»

WonderCon 2011 was held at San Francisco's Moscone Center, or "Mom's Basement West," as the nerds called it.

The Green Lantern movie opens in theaters on June 17, which is before Comic-Con, so WonderCon became the big staging area for all things having to do with the superhero, including the upcoming series of Green Lantern Minis from Mattel.

Green Lantern stars Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds endured Gossip Girl and Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place comments to discuss their new summer movie.

Ryan Reynolds admitted he almost made an April Fool's joke that the old rumors were true and that he would be playing the lead in The Flash movie, but then he thought better than to roll the 20-sided dice with nerds.

Blake Lively, who plays Carol Ferris in Green Lantern, said the Gossip Girl bodyguard insisted she dye her hair brown for the role or she'd be risking her life with comic book fans. But then Blake went on to enrage the fans anyway by saying that she looked forward to being able to play Star Sapphire in a sequel, but wished the costume covered up more. Gossip Girl's Taylor Momsen would never complain about that.

Green Lantern's ring and lantern.


Bobbles of Chuck Greene and Frank West from Capcom's Dead Rising 2 video game.

UglyDolls were pretty much everywhere.

Ghostbusters action figures by Mattel.

Wrestling superstar, Honky Tonk Man!

You haven't lived until you've seen a remote-controlled R2-D2 cruising down the seedy Tenderloin district in San Francisco. I'm pretty sure some Star Wars geeks propositioned the droid for a good time.

"You're not an Imperial Guard, are you?"

"So... how much for a trip around Tatooine, if you know what I mean? Maybe just a trench run?"

"I have to pay how much?!? You're not the droid I'm looking for!"

Costumes from HBO's upcoming series, Game of Thrones.

Jane Wiedlin, guitarist for The Go-Go's and co-creator of the comic book, Lady Robotika.

TNT's new sci-fi series, Falling Skies, is sorta like The Walking Dead but with aliens. Writer Melinda Hsu Taylor (LOST), star Drew Roy and writer/co-executive producer Mark Verheiden presented clips from the show, which is executive-produced by Steven Spielberg.


Customized Mighty Muggs: Teen Titans

Customized Mighty Mugg: Sanrio's Kuromi

Customized Mighty Mugg: Skeletor

DC statues for Super Friends b-stringers, Black Vulcan and Samurai.

Another Super Friends junior varsity member -- El Dorado

Atonement director Joe Wright promoted his first action film, Hanna, along with star Saoirse Ronan (Atonement, The Lovely Bones). Saoirse wore a Wonder Woman shirt in honor of the convention goers. She mentioned that she now finds herself asking, "What would Hanna do" to make sure she's making the best decisions.

Joe described Hanna as a very European action film. He also described how it's about female empowerment unlike Sucker Punch, which he criticized for objectifying women with skimpy outfits. About every other woman in the audience happened to be dressed up as Baby Doll from Sucker Punch, and you could hear the collective pig-tailed group rallying behind him followed by the epiphany of, "Oh, wait."

Whatever you think of Sucker Punch, the majority of female cosplayers chose the film's characters as their costumes du jour. Here's a quick roundup of some of the better ones:

Baby Doll with The Green Hornet's Kato.

Baby Doll and Superman!

That same Baby Doll with Amber.

More of the Sucker Punch crew including Sweet Pea (middle), Blondie (right) and my personal favorite version of Baby Doll at the show.

DC Universe Action League mini figures

Young Justice figures

Cinemax premiered clips from its new anthology series, Femme Fatales, premiering Friday May 13 at 11pm (Cinemax After Dark!). The series is a mix of Twilight Zone, grindhouse and film noir with chicks getting nekkid.

Dean Haglund (The X-Files, The Lone Gunmen) appears in the Femme Fatales episode, "Girls Gone Dead."

Newcomer Christine Donlon plays the lead femme fatale nurse in the premiere episode, "Bad Medicine."

Robert LaSardo (Death Race) plays the villain in "Bad Medicine."

Ana Alexandra plays a femme fatale inmate in the female prison episode.

Acura was showing off the official S.H.I.E.L.D. car from Thor (in theaters May 6).

The Soup Nazi from Seinfeld had a booth to sign autographs and deny fans their soup.

Capcom's Street Fighter cologne. Doesn't smell as bad as that Legend of Chun-Li movie.

A Street Fighter skate deck by Tokidoki

The masquerade is always the highlight of any geeky convention, and Sam Huntington (Superman Returns, Being Human) and Brandon Routh (Superman Returns, Chuck) helped kick off the party on Saturday. Their new film, Dylan Dog: Dead of Night, about a paranormal investigator opens April 29.

Cosplay roundup:

Supergirl

The Venture Bros.' Henchman 24, Dr. Girlfriend and The Monarch

Resident Evil

If only the Avatar and Holly Hobby kids knew there was an alien behind them...

The carousel outside of the Moscone Center was a great place for bringing together the Rebels and The Empire.

Phoenix and Captain America

Axe Cop!!! (His weapon of choice is a hatchet and not the body spray.)

Jabba the Hutt and the now-deceased baby Hutt (as Jenni calls him, "Deadba")

Green Lantern

DC Universe White Lantern dudes

"Scoundrel Mites" featuring Li'l Riddler, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Catwoman and Joker.

Darth Simi

"Gotham by Gaslight" - steampunk Batman

Garrus from Mass Effect

"Frying pans? Who knew?" - Tangled cosplayers

The Dark Crystal

Medusa

Rayman Raving Rabbids

Mystery Science Theater 3000's Joel Hodgson and Tom Servo

Hit Girl from Kick-Ass

Giant-sized Wicket and Princess Leia

Dollar Bill from Watchmen

Tron versions of Disney characters

Resident Evil's Jill Valentine

Jedi, Jedi, Jedi

Darkwing Duck

Vampire killers and vampires

We Heart Japan

2011-03-17T08:39:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day! If you're in L.A. today, celebrate until you're green in the face at We Heart Japan's charity auction at Meltdown Comics on Sunset. There will be food trucks, free drinks, raffles and appearances by anime voice actors. Plus, you can bid in the silent auction for art, including three paintings by me! All proceeds go to the Japan NGO Earthquake Relief and Recovery Fund.

Fill in the Groove

2011-02-28T20:47:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday, I attended the opening reception for the "Fill in the Groove" 3rd Annual Vinyl Art Show in Tempe, Arizona, where artists were invited to create their work on vinyl records. Two of my paintings were on display (they'll be there through April 15), so I went on a road trip to see them.

"Sushi-Go-Round"


"Pac-Man Fever"

Painting on vinyl was difficult and driving 400 miles from L.A. to Arizona was tough, too, but the hardest part for me, actually, was finding records I was OK with defacing. I'm such a music nerd that I spent an hour at Amoeba Records' bargain bin trying to find suitable vinyl victims. (Jenni got mad that I used a Justin Timberlake 12" single as a test painting and another friend asked if I had painted the sushi on The Vapors' "Turning Japanese." I wish I was that clever. And to think I thought I was smart for rendering an Aqua record unplayable.)

There are lots of great pieces from around the world on display at the show (I bought this great record art from UK artist, Popcorny), so it's worth a look. You have until April 15 to get your groove on.

Painting of the Month

2011-02-28T20:00:00.000-08:00

As part of my New Year's resolutions, I resolved to create a painting every month. I also resolved to avoid going to jail and to not appear in a leaked sex tape. Two out of three ain't bad.

Here are the January and February entries for my Painting of the Month:

January 2011

February 2011

Five Years of Hands in the Air: The Cover Gallery

2011-01-16T23:10:00.000-08:00

This February marks the fifth anniversary of Hands in the Air! To celebrate the event, we're posting a gallery of our blog header images from our past five years on Blogger, plus some earlier, rarer archival images.

Yay! We're five years old and finally out of Huggies Pull-Ups (except for Jason, depending on his weekend clients).

Click each pic to see the full-size version.

2011 - The Human Centipede

Don't ask why Jason's in the middle.

February 2011 - Valentine's Day

December 2010 - Christmas

October 2010 - Halloween

August 2010 - Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe

This is Jason's all-time favorite cover image.

May 2010 - Iron Man 2

Steve is Iron Man, Jenni is Black Widow and Jason is War Machine.

April 2010 - Now in 3-D!

June 2009 - Now in Digital!

January 2009 - Shephard Fairey "Hope" Tribute

December 2008 - New Year's 2009

November 2008 - Election Day

November 2008 - Autumn

October 2008 - Halloween

May 2008 - Iron Man

April 2008 - Easter

March 2008 - St. Patrick's Day

Lucky Charms! Because drowning us in a Shamrock Shake just looked gross.

July 2007 - Transformers

That's right, there used to be a black guy on this blog. That's Chris.

June 2007 - The Fantastic Four

1990s

1980s

Jenni as a Nagel painting, Steve as Marty McFly and Jason as the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

1970s

Jason's a rocking a sweet '70s porn 'stache.

1960s

1300s

We had the snarkiest illuminated manuscripts back in the 14th century.

Of Course I Had to Discover This the Day AFTER Christmas

2010-12-26T18:32:00.000-08:00

Now, you're gonna have to wait a full year for the perfect gift.

Christmas is the Best

2010-12-24T22:21:00.000-08:00

It just is. Christmas is everything a holiday should be. Food and presents. Drinking. Parties and treats, even at work. Vacation. Bitchin'-ass TV specials. Special home decorations, inside and out. Its own cookies. Its own sweaters. Its own trees. When you got your own sweaters and trees, you done hit the big time.

People who say they don't like Christmas are usually lying. They like it fine, maybe even too much. They know deep down inside they don't deserve anything as awesome as Christmas.

Well, whatever, you say. I like Halloween. You would. Halloween is the ugly dude you had to talk to while your beautiful older sister made out with his smokin' hot cousin. Halloween is at least partly about dressing up as someone or something else. It's the holiday for people who don't like themselves very much. What's that, now? Chicks get all tarted up and drink themselves stupid on Halloween? Perhaps, but those of us with jobs and/or friends know that that shit also happens at places called nightclubs and bars, several times a week. What about free candy? Well, if you need your candy fun-sized and free, you're a child, and it's OK you're stupid.

Thanksgiving, though. What about Thanksgiving? Football, parades, turkey and pie? What are you even doing here? How can you read this? Are you using a speech-to-text app? I'll give you that the extra day off is amaze, but will quickly remind you that people use that day to prepare for Christmas, so basically Thanksgiving is the spring training of Christmas season, that shit is there to get your ass in shape for when it really counts.

I would be surprised if Easter was even anyone's third-favorite holiday. Even the very Catholic are like, yeah, holiest of all days, but as a holiday in the awesome sense, that shit is whack.These colored eggs, the molesto in the bunny suit--thank you, but no. Also, fuck a Peeps. Those things are reason enough to hate any season.

The other holidays...come on. Fourth of July? The cake that looks like a flag with all the fruit on it is pretty sweet but yeah, not enough. St. Patrick's Day? Cast the snakes out of my ass. Them other ones? Are there other ones?

What was I talking about? I dunno. I'm too full of the Christmas spirit to remember. The Christmas spirit = sparkling wine and macaroni and cheese.

Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus! God bless us, every one!

...Or, at least, that's what the pimp told me...

2010-12-20T21:01:00.000-08:00

Nativity Scenes

2010-12-16T20:55:00.000-08:00

'Tis the season to enjoy my nativity scene, which is based on extensive theological research conducted on Wikipedia or cobbled together from what I've learned from cartoons. All I know is that Obi-Wan was one of the wisemen and Santa is Baby Jesus's godfather.