Murakami's Short Film "Akihabara Majokko Princess" with Kirsten Dunst

This fabulous video of Kirsten Dunst performing a cover of "Turning Japanese" by the Vapors was part of the Tate Gallery’s “Pop Life” exhibit by Takashi Murakami, an artist and author who’s explored the otaku phenomenon. He also produced this video. Click on the image on the left for details from the exhibit's pamphlet. Note: This is video is a 95 mb size file. Please be patient.

A week ago I repeatedly attempted to post this this video on my Tumblog but every time I found a live link it got pulled. It looks like the version above is self-hosted by the site that's allowing it to be shared.  There's also a high quality copy that you can download here.  That said, if the video won't work, appears to be dead and/or broken then this offer is no longer valid. Thanks for stopping by!

Somehow I can't help but think we're being played by marketers who leaked this video and then proceeded to pull it in an effort to create buzz and make it go viral. But meh, whatev. It rocks so I'll play along.

If anybody has a copy of the HD version, I'd love to see it again in all it's glory to please contact me. Thanks to a reader, I've got an HD quality copy! W00t! Thanks!

This video is for mature audiences. While there's nothing really super explicitly pornographic I feel it's worth mentioning that there are some topless anime/manga cartoon characters in the opening sequence. They're hand drawn, not photos. That short bit is certainly NSFW nor appropriate for kids. But for those of you ready to risk enchantment, I think you will find this video epic! I sure did!

"Think Pink!" Sequence from Funny Face with Kay Thompson

I just read that my friend Susie from 1stFloorFlat is mighty pretty in pink when she blogged she's all clear from a recent breast cancer screening procedure. Go, Susie!

As it so happens, my paternal grandmother passed away from breast cancer although at the time of her death also she suffered from the ravages of Alzheimer's. She was highly combative during the course of her struggle with this horrific disease and so her breast cancer went undetected until it was too late.

In memory of my grandmother and in support of Susie I extracted this clip of Kay Thompson's performance of "Think Pink" from the film "Funny Face" starring Audrey Hepburn with Fred Astaire and directed by Stanley Donen.

Wanna support me in my effort to raise breast cancer awareness? Well here's a couple of options:

Click to Give™ FREE Mammograms
from the BreastCancerSite.com.

Or make a donation to one of my favorite
cancer fighting organizations "Save The Tatas"

You can also grab the embed codes from the YouTube video and blog it forward if that strikes your fancy. (Note I've two file sizes to share: mobile and large. Your choice depends on how fast you connection is and what quality you prefer to view).

Thanks for stopping by and remember to examine your bodacious tatas every month! If you need some tips, check out this tutorial from the Mayo Clinic.

Pr0n Star Jack Lawrence's 1965 Shelby Daytona Coupe

Today I went traipsing into my local Tandy Leather store because I'm working experimenting on a top secret crafty project. If it works, I can't wait to show it to you here. But if fails I'd rather not share it with you my lameness so...let's pretend we never had this conversation, mkay?

Moving forward....

Like I said, I was at my local Tandy Leather store and as I was leaving this super gorgeous 1965 Shelby Daytona Coupe' parked right next to me. At first I was kinda of embarrassed to go over and ask the driver if I could take some photos, but I thought to myself: "Anybody who drives an exotic car like that had better be used to getting a lot of attention."

So I just screwed up my courage and asked him: "Dude, do you mind if I take pictures of your car?" He was super cool and said "Yes!" with a smile. He then opened up the hood for me to take a look. The photos I've featured in this video can be seen on Flickr here.

Turns out, the guy is porn star (::blush::) Jack Lawrence! With a little bit more research I learned that not only can he do donuts in a parking lot, but he used to bake donuts for a living. In fact, that was his very first job! Su-weet!

Jack, if you're reading this: thanks for showing me your hot rod! ☺

Brown chicken brown cow!

Vermont for Valentine's!

Here's some photos I took from my week in Vermont visiting with my friends Simone and Seano. If you're a fan of my other blog, you'll remember them from a piece I did for an interactive art project they created entitled "Green Shoes" for Burning Man '07.  It was a ginormous piece that a crew of at least a dozen volunteers including me came together to help them build a few years back.

Well, I ended up celebrating my birfday and Valentine's day with Simone and Seano this year due to another interactive art installation that Seano had received some grant monies for.  The idea was that I would act as a courier for several pieces of audio/video equipment that I picked up in L.A. on Craigslist for a super duper deal.  It worked out that the cost of my ticket pretty much evened out with what it would have cost to ship these items alone across the country so this was a total win/win.

Both Simone and Seano were super busy during my stay.  Simone is a full-time student at Dartmouth and Seano is a freelance graphic designer with several jobs lined up. But that didn't stop us from good times!  Thanks to my SAG membership I brought with me a stack of award nominated dvd's to watch which we did so almost every night.  And practically every morning was an amazing breakfast cooked up by Seano and/or Simone. I made my famous Broccoli Obama pie (or reasonable facsimiles of it) two nights in a row!

The night before Valentine's we had a DJ music slam where we took turns responding to love songs with other love songs while making hand-made valentines.  Then for V-day Simone's classmates came over to swap secret valentines (think Secret Santa). We also held a screening of "Inglorious Basterds" .  Yes, it was the perfect non-Valentine movie!

Throughout the duration of my visit, every day was like Valentine's: full of love, joy and friendship. My deepest thanks to Simone and Seano for making my birthday festival so marvelous!

More photos on my Flickr set here!

Dartmouth's Winter Carnival Polar Swim

This week was my birthday and what better way to spend it than with my friends in Vermont. On Friday we took a jump in the lake at Dartmouth's Winter Carnival Polar Plunge which has been described by the school's newspaper as a "pseudospontaneous event" in which participants leap into a large, rectangular opening cut into the pond with chainsaws that measures 10' wide by 20' long. There was a two hour wait and when we finally got closer to the head of the line I thought it would be better to put away my film equipment and just do it. This video is about the before and after.

Calling All Los Angeles Artists!

MANIFESTEQUALITY (www.manifestequality.com) invites you to join an amazing roster of artists from across the nation who are using their voices and talents to amplify and motivate the grass roots movement to fight for full & unrestricted equal rights for all Americans. manifestequality.com/art-contest

5 winners will be selected to show their works at MANIFESTEQUALITY in Los Angeles next to artists such as:

• Barry McGee
• Swoon
• Shepard Fairey
• Tierney Gearon
• Robbie Conal
• Harvey Pekar
• Blackbooks
• Amanda Visell
• Chris Johanson
• Bask
• Tristan Eaton

... and hundreds more.

Your works will be reviewed by:

• Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
• Shepard Fairey (Artist)
• Annie Philbin (Dir. Hammer Museum)
• Franklin Sirmans (Curator Contemporary Art, LACMA)
• Ed Ruscha (Artist)
• Lisa Love (Senior WC Editor, Vogue)
• Edgar Arceneaux (Director, Watts House Project)
• Rick Jacobs (Founder, Courage Campaign)
• David Pagel (Art Critic, LA Times)
• Lari Pittman (Artist)

Submit your work on our contest’s six themes: EQUALITY, JUSTICE , RESPECT, UNITY, CIVIL RIGHTS, and LOVE. Artworks on any one, or all of these themes, will be considered for inclusion.

MANIFESTEQUALITY gathers together a diverse array of hundreds of the nation’s most talented visual artists under one roof to celebrate that role and join with our gay (LGBT) friends, family members and co-workers to demand full and equal rights for all Americans. MANIFESTEQUALITY issues an inspiring, visual call-to-action, with hundreds of artists motivating public energy toward true reform on a local, state and national level.

MANIFESTEQUALITY

1341 Vine Street

Los Angeles, CA 90028

March 3rd – 7th, 2010

manifestequality.com/art-contest

Glamour Bomb Goes To Vermont

I'm going to be gone for a week. They say Vermont is for lovers and while I don't have a Valentine, I do know two really cool people there who love each other. The husband is an artist and his wife is a getting her Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Dartmouth. Together they're gonna teach me how to snowboard for my very first time! Woo hoo! So maybe I'll meet somebody suave and debonair like Cary Grant on the slopes! (Fingers crossed!)

See ya soon!



--
This is the opening sequence from "Charade" starring Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant. Directed by Stanley Donen (1963). More about the film at my YouTube page.

Urgent: Attention Los Angeles Artists! Take Action for Arts for LA!

A proposal removing The Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) only dedicated source of revenue, will be considered by the LA City Council, Wednesday, February 3, 2010. The loss of funding for DCA would affect both performance and educational activities and seriously undermine artists and arts organization in Los Angeles.

The City of Angels and its artists need your help!

Even if you are not a resident of L.A., you can click the link below and use our zip code (90036 - Council District 4) to write an automatic letter. To do so, click here.

All city dwellers can write a letter to their council member to do so, click here: Arts For LA.

Please forward this blog post and encourage your friends and colleagues to take action today.