I Heart Cool Stuff

Armageddon in Auckland, NZ

2009-11-09T05:00:03Z

For those who know or may not know I was in Auckland, NZ since October 21 and returned back to the states just this past Friday. I enjoyed the beautiful landscapes, the countless bakeries/coffee spots, sheep, city life, insane town names (that can’t be pronouced without practice), wonderful people, and of course Armageddon.

Armageddon is one of New Zealand’s largest gaming/animation and pop culture expos, which took place at the ASB Showgrounds in Auckland. I was very excited to get my hands on press pass tickets, thanks to the lovely saki. Before my friends and I headed to the expo I started to get overly excited because I love events like this. It’s even more exciting because I am in another country and I want to see how they do things in comparison to the states. Since this country is kind of small and around the world, they combine their games, anime, art and comics into one convention unlike the States where we have seperate conventions like Anime Fest and Comic-con (both NY and SD).

Now the expos are fun and all but I was also there to meet a particular artist. Shiny two dollar New Zealand coin for anyone who guesses who correctly? If you guessed Podgypanda then you win! We walked around aimlessly trying to find the section where he set up shop. When we finally found him he wasn’t even there! He was sharing a table with his mate Marc who is a part of this awesome Web Comic called ActionMan Adam, and Marc informed us that Podgy went on a little coffee run (addict). When he got back, hugs were shared, conversation was had and me touching the Mega Munny was also in progress.

Podgy and myself

I want to post more pictures up but unfortunately their chargers are not the same as the American ones, therefore I could not bring my cord for my camera to get all the pictures out. Apparently they run on 240 volts and we run on 110 volts, so I wasn’t going to chance my stuff getting fried or blowing up. Just you guys wait, I shall try my best to post pictures up as soon as possible AND the best bit is the interview with Podgypanda.

Toodles.

A Conversation: Dexter Season 4

2009-11-08T23:31:57Z

There are TONS of SPOILERS!!

I’m finally catching up on Dexter Season 4 and I wanted to share a few thoughts.

I’ll start off with the following question: Is anyone else feeling anxious when watching Dexter? I’ll explain the reason for the question; since the beginning of the show, we’ve come to know and understand Dexter Morgan as a man of clean and “safe” ritual. Now, with this family of his, and the countless nail-biters and his new-Dad behaviors, I keep feeling anxious for him. Anyone else feeling the same? I also wanted to comment on LaGuerta and Batista’s relationship. Seriously? My initial thought it, so they put the Latinos together? But, as the episodes progressed, I became increasingly agitated with their relationship. Mostly because, though I like Angel Batista’s character, I don’t give a crap about his relationships. I feel like it’s a deviation from the main plot.

Debra, Dexter’s sister, is another character who the writer’s have managed to make me care about. Every time she finds a guy, some shitty thing happens and if I were her, I would’ve quit a long time ago. They’re either killers or get killed. Although I do feel horrible for her and her lack of partner to help her deal with the stressful and horrific job, I’m also annoyed with her lack of common sense sometimes. It seems she’s finally on track though, but sometimes the writers really maker her out to be an idiot. Just saying.

With all the tiny annoyances, I am very much still enjoying Dexter. It has yet to fail me and I think the writers and actors are amazing. What do other people think so far?

Flickr Friday: Le Lapin Cretin

2009-11-07T01:59:22Z

Le Lapin Cretin by lovely yukari

Upcoming Professor Layton Revoltech

2009-11-05T08:04:04Z

O-M-G!!! “Becky look at her butt…” It was necessary to include that bit of musical history. =D A couple of days ago, I spotted the news of an upcoming Revoltech release: Professor Layton!!! To those who were paying attention, I recently got the Gloomy Bear Revoltech. Although I’m not running out to purchase all of their figures, I am very impressed with the quality of the figures and their super-posability is even more impressive.

If you follow me on twitter, then you already know that when IHCS participated in the Extra Life Fundraisor, I began the 24hr gaming marathon by finally getting around to playing through Professor Layton and the Curious Village. It is indeed what the commercials always promised it would be, the “super-addictive puzzle game you’ll learn to hate,” I think I paraphrased that. Anyway, the news of the upcoming Revoltech figure makes me really happy because I’ve recently been exposed to the two subjects at hand, and I love them both. I’m sure this will cost about the same as the Gloomy Bear Revoltech, which was about $35. Thanks to Tomopop for sharing the goodies.

The Public Zoo Clothing Celebration

2009-11-05T05:38:45Z

A while back, someone named The Public Zoo began following both IHCS’ twitter, along with my account. Needless to say, when I got a free minute to myself, I looked through their account, clicked on their site link, and discovered their clothing. I’ve been looking through their collection so far, and I’ve decided that I definitely want a few items, which you can check out below.

The Public Zoo will be holding a release party this Thursday evening at Yellow Rat Bastard, located in lower Manhattan. This means their collection is easily accessible for me!!! I like to feel the materials of the clothing I purchase, something tells me that they’re using a really soft cotton though.

So far, their character Hickup keeps stealing my attention. It seems Hickup is a panda, and the main character for the brand– he’s even on their logo. The panda is my favorite character, but I think it’s a known fact that I have a very soft spot for Pandas of all types. Hickup in particular reminds me of Murakami’s Kanye West Bear. I think it’s the eyes. The art style is the other reason why I love the brand’s designs so far. Their Japanese influences, along with cute animals is always a win-win situation.

These characters are bit twisted, can you tell? Below you’ll find some of the tees I want NOW!

If you notice in the pics, I’m loving the 3 keyholes details on the V-neck. Those are the types of details that I like on my clothing and it seems every shirt will have the 3 keyholes.

If you’re in the vicinity of Yellow Rat Bastard [YRB] on Thursday, November 5th, then you should stop by and check out the clothing. It seems the tees cost about $33 each, but I believe that all tees produced are limited to 1200 pieces, so maybe the price isn’t so bad when less than two-thousand people have the same shirt?

‘GEEK’ Tee

2009-11-03T18:37:54Z

Since grade school, I’ve known I was a bit of a nerd. These days, some would call me a grammar Nazi, or some other name of the same nature. I love it! Nerd has always been a name I embraced, and now that I’m grown-up, I border on GEEK. Well, as soon as I spotted the tee above on Threadless, I knew I wanted it for myself– and that many of my friends might want it too. =D

If you want to puchase this tee, you can click on the link to your left and purchase it. It’s available for both men and women– and they have various sizes. It’ll set you back $18, but I see it as a great investment– since you get to openly share your geekdom.

‘Adrift’ Leontine Greenberg & Scott Campbell at MPH

2009-10-27T16:27:59Z

I am so excited for the latest news release MPH has released. I love, LOVE the works that Leontine Greenberg produces and I cannot be more excited to know that she’ll be part of a duo show with Scott Campbell at MPH this November.

If you don’t know who Leontine Greenberg, you can look back at my post on John’s first curated show: New Moon. The group show at MPH was the first time I’d been introduced to her works, and I’ve been internet stalking her ever since. I’ve made sure to bookmark posts that include sneak peeks of her work, over the summer she had a solo show in Gallery 1988’s online gallery (and had I not been so broke due to the SF trip, I would’ve purchased a piece), and she’s been in a couple other group shows. Needless to say, I really do adore her soft watercolor palette and her creatures have this very calming effect on me. Keep reading to see Scott Campbell’s side of the postcard…

Scott Campbell is the other artist that will be displaying his new works alongside Leontine. I don’t know too much about him, yet– but I remember that he too was part of the New Moon show. When I saw his piece at the group show, I wasn’t really digging the style. I loved that he chose to focus on the year of the dog, and I found his piece comical– but his style was not really my kind of art. After seeing the postcard, I feel like I must revisit his works. There’s something very charming about the cavemen and their magical flying boulders, I want it. I can’t wait to see what else they include in the show.

I do know both artists work with watercolors, and the show will focus on flight? I’ll share more details as the show approaches.

Julie West Solo Show at PinkGhost

2009-10-23T14:58:35Z

Pinkghost
1888 Polk Street
Hollywood, FL 33020

This weekend, Julie West will be invading Florida for her solo show at PinkGhost. I am so damn jealous of the Floridians this week, because I was honestly trying my best to fly out to this show and support both Julie and PinkGhost. Sadly, if any of you follow me on twitter, money is tight, and I wasn’t able to schedule the trip. =( Pictures will simply have to suffice for now.

Julie will be showcasing new canvas works along with some prints and customs. I already spotted a 20″ dunny that I wish I could afford. If you were luckier than I, and are in the area, you should really make it a point to stop by PinkGhost and support not only Julie and her works, but PinkGhost. I heart them. <3

Duel or Die At ToyQube

2009-10-22T15:40:08Z

It’s been almost 2 years since Nakanari had his show at MPH, and it seems that he’s returned to the city for a second dosage of ninjas and warriors. Nakanari will be hosted by ToyQube this Friday, for his Duel or Die show. He’s released a couple of sneak peeks, which sadly I’ve neglected to share, but no worries!! The Mr. and I will be attending the show to not only show our support, but also share pics and a video re-cap later. Hit the jump to see the back side of the flyer… do you recognize someone on the bottom of the flyer? (I have experienced uber excitement with that detail. >_<).

YAY!!!

Unboxing: Gloomy Bear Revoltech

2009-10-20T07:38:50Z

Unboxing: Gloomy Bear Revoltech from I Heart Cool Stuff on Vimeo.

During our San Francisco visit, our friends took us to Japantown, and guess what I picked up there?! The Gloomy Bear Revoltech figure. It was due for a late August/early September release, and I knew I had to have him as soon as I saw the box.

As I mentioned in the video, I purchased mine in Japantown, and I thought MPH was going to have them available, but it seems I was mistaken. I did however look up the figure and there are two places you can find it at. You can get it from YesAsia.com, although I’ve never ordered from them– and it’ll cost you $39.99. I did however, find it cheaper on Amazon.com for $32.70. Gloomy Bear 073 Revoltech PVC Action Figure

I’ll be adding pictures later, I left them on my home laptop. Woops! Until then, leave some love on Vimeo. The video will be added to our YouTube channel next week.