fauxstor.net

sporadic web manipulation

July 30, 2003

Best of the Bay: Boo-Ya!

Congratulations to Kidrobot for winning not one, but two awards in the annual Bay Guardian "Best of the Bay". Do not confuse this "Best of the Bay" with cheap facsimiles from the S.F. Weekly or East Bay Express -- those rags are garbage just like the knock-offs sold at Heroes Club: The Art of Toys.

Here are the awards: Reader's Poll for Shopping and Editors' Picks for Shopping.

"Best Independent Toy Store
When is a toy a work of art? When it's sold at Kid Robot, according to our readers. The store's unique collection consists of playthings produced in limited quantities by groundbreaking artists. The trend originated in Hong Kong and now includes designers fusing East and West, and it borrows from movements like urban street culture, graffiti, and hip-hop. An action figure from Kid Robot is guaranteed to make you the coolest kid in school. 1512 Haight, S.F. (415) 487-9000."

"Best Store Full of Crap You Don't Need
There's almost nothing that's of use to anyone inside the Kid Robot store on Haight Street, but it's also hard for anyone to walk out of there without buying something. There are a handful of T-shirts and remote-controlled cars, and a key chain or two, but it's the vinyl and plush figurines filling the shop that seduce. Edgy and irresistibly cute, they're molded in the forms of rock stars, gangsters, monsters, DJs, robots, and an array of mutated teddy bears. Some of the celebrity figurines sold are likenesses of Run-D.M.C., Cheech and Chong, Kiss, and characters from Planet of the Apes and Tron. Be careful, though – most items are part of a series. You may innocently buy one and then find yourself hooked on the store like crack. Three months later you're cashing in your IRA to get the newest additions to the line and throwing out your books to make shelf space. Don't say you weren't warned. 1512 Haight, S.F. (415) 487-9000, www.kidrobot.com."

Also, Isotope Comics won for Best Comic Book Store:
"It's unlikely you'll find another comic book store like Isotope, whose owner calls it a comic book lounge. Dedicated to the preservation of self-published comics, Isotope is home to the annual minicomic awards. And with good lighting, ample seating, and an original-art gallery, it'll even make fans of the comic ignorant. 1653 Noriega, S.F. (415) 753-3037."

Posted by justin at 12:55 PM

Glitter a go-go

Rene Garcia, Jr. will be showing his art in "Super-Duper", a solo exhibition at Glama-Rama!. The subject matter ranges from 80's pr0n-pop to quadriplegic members of the Hall of Justice. Many of his pieces make heavy use of glitter, and are often large format.

His works will be on display from August 3-September 27, 2003. The gala reception is this Sunday, August 3, from 5-9pm at Glama-Rama.

417 S. Van Ness Ave, San Francisco, CA 94103.

Posted by justin at 12:18 PM

July 24, 2003

Kuruma wa chiisai desu

OK, so it is well known that I collect smaller things, such as Kubricks, Qees, and DigiQ's. I was never big on Bit Char-G's because they didn't have the same finesse handling as the DigiQ's. However, they did have the option to customize as part of the design. Whatever, DigiQ's handled better. Well, forget about the stock customizations, there are plenty of "not quite street legal" mods that you can make. A thorough listing is available at Quest for Madness. They even have icons you can download...they are just like badges! Here are a few more for you to sample:

So the new mission is to build a sick-ass race course, and mod this puppy to as close to Mach-1 as possible. Where can you get these BitCharG thingys? I dunno, Kidrobot, maybe. Don't worry, I won't be getting rid of my DigiQ anytime soon. I may have to undertake some illicit mods on that as well.

Posted by justin at 9:14 PM | Comments (2)

this post enabled by airblogging.com.

Posted by justin at 4:42 PM

July 22, 2003

Junko Mizuno redux

Signing my copy of Hell Babies

this post enabled by airblogging.com.

Posted by justin at 10:26 PM

Junko Mizuno

Fan frenzy

this post enabled by airblogging.com.

Posted by justin at 5:46 PM

ami du mélangeur

Props to Justin Marine for updating his site. After dropping out of the workforce to go to school (actually, he kept on working as a bartender), he decided to start his own clothing line.

Mixerfriendly is "inspired by the city of San Francisco and dedicated to preserving the underground culture through fashion and design."

I always like to see somebody doing their thing while pimping out the S.F.C.

Posted by justin at 3:45 PM

July 21, 2003

RIAA = Geheime Staatspolizei

In response to the article appearing on The Register regarding the RIAA's continued demonstration of its desire to incite riots in the streets of America, I have made yet another badge:

Feel free to adorn your site with one.

## Update ##
If you haven't read the techfocus.org position on blocking RIAA access, please do so. And then follow their lead. Grab the htaccess file, and implement it. Then...add another badge!

Posted by justin at 1:58 PM

Ralph S. Mouse

Here is a clever little spot for the VW Polo that I ran across. The bummer of it all is that I had totally wanted to make a short film just like this using my Digi-Q. Oh well. At least it is well-executed. In fact, I want my next car to have an interior exactly like the one in the commercial: one piece, all the same color.

The format is mpeg-4 on the low-res version below, quicktime movie on the high-res version, which is located here.

Posted by justin at 1:01 PM

July 17, 2003

The Atomic Weight of Comic Books

I am not a hardcore comic book collector by any means, but I often enjoy reading the recommendations of my friends who are serious comic book fans. One of the things I always found most annoying about comic book stores in general were the proprieters. For example there is this one shop on Divisadero where the guy is every bit as condescending and ill-at-ease around women as the manager of the Android's Dungeon.

However, there is one shop out in the Sunset that breaks all the conventional molds. It feels more like a lounge with comic books for sale. Moreover, the owner is not there to demonstrate your ignorance of some particular issue of the Fantastic Four. He may even offer you a beer.

The name of the store is Isotope, and it is on the web at isotopecomics.com, and on the Earth at 1653 Noriega Street, San Francisco.

Another notable feature is the "Comic Rockstars Toilet Seat Museum". Famous comic artwork on...toilet seats. Worth checking out.

Posted by justin at 5:29 PM

We need more stinkin' badges!

Cameron has gotten me hooked on badges. Well, they are technically buttons, but I like to think of them as badges. You know, in the Boy/Girl Scout/Brownie type of way. Like for Archery, or Basket Weaving. You can get a whole slew of badges at Steal These Buttons.

They didn't reflect quite all my interests, so I endeavored to manufacture a few. I even made one for Cameron's site in appreciation:

Here are the others I made (and more to come):

It is truly marvelous, wearing your web badges on your sleeve, so to speak. Soon we will size up an entire site in about .27 seconds based solely on the badges contained therein.

## UPDATE ##

I made one for the Totoro Forest Fund:

## UPDATE Part 2 ##

I made one for airblogging.com:

Posted by justin at 12:45 PM

July 15, 2003

Junko Mizuno @ Kidrobot - July 22nd

In a very rare instance of adequate advance notice, the word is out that Junko Mizuno will be spending an "intimate evening" with her fans at Kidrobot.

If case you have not seen them, her figures and drawings are twisted, yet unnaturally attractive. In a way that I suppose Commander Ryker finds 6-armed, 3-eyed aliens attractive. She has been featured in Pulp Magazine, and has published several books.

Her official site is at www.mizuno-junko.com, but it's a bit under-construction. A better sampling of her art can be seen here. Her figures are of course on the Kidrobot site.

Event details: July 22nd (Tuesday) from 6-9pm. Exclusive figures, book and toy signing, give-aways, and "some very special surprises".

1512 Haight St. (near Ashbury) 415 487 9000.

Posted by justin at 7:44 AM

July 14, 2003

Moblog Laconicism

Dan pointed out to me that "according to Heidegger, having nothing to say lends itself to verbosity. having something to say, to reticence. so, if i really had something to say, mobile blogging would probably be (formally) ideal."

As blogs simultaneously serve to both filter and produce information, it seems important to suppress output in the interest of efficiency. Phil Wolff discusses the geometric growth in RSS feeds over the next several years. Diminishing return will eventually take effect due to oversaturation (at least, until the filtration process is fully evolved - whether executed by machines or humans).

In the interim, new content will be challenged will balancing brevity with insightfulness. Authors will not have the luxury of backing into their conclusions. Good 'ol legal writing techniques are of great value here: IRAC.

USF's legal research and writing program constantly challenged us with the lower limits of page count on every assignment. We would have to fit 3 legal issues, 2 statutes, and 23 cases into a two page appellate brief. And you HAD to use Courier 12-point. The phrase "cease and desist" immediately became "stop".

Of course, the fluff is still there to be fluff. But the content that has the capacity to change and shape consciousness and communities will have to compete with an ever-growing idea pool. It therefore seems natural that the message will shrink in its medium. I hope that its transmission will manage to employ lossless compression.

Posted by justin at 9:42 AM

July 10, 2003

Ogi @ KidRobot

I own one of Ogi's pieces, a sweet little Akira-inspired number with a doe-eyed hottie as the subject. Tomorrow, I am going to gander his latest offerings:

"Friday, July 11th, Kidrobot San Francisco will be proud to present a gallery opening for Bay Area artist, Ogi."

"1512 Haight St @ Ashbury. Hors De' Vours and drinks from 8-11pm. Well, unless it's like last time where it was more like, drinks until we run out. ;) Oh, and a raffle. Can't forget that."