Japan Festival, part 2: Presentation

   This is the room where I presented, later used to show anime such as Evangelion. (This was the first in the tetralogy of Evangelion Rebuild, which premiered in Japan on 9/1/07, and is the only movie I've seen in Japan.)

   As you can see, it was a large room–glad I didn't see the view from the back until later or I may have chickened out!

   Here's a description of my presentation. It was expanded from the one I gave to the JAS group in May. (And they changed the title to one they thought would draw more fans!):

“Hello Kitty and Other Japanese Characters” – The Use of Characters to Promote Products, Prefectures (States in the US), Cities and Almost Everyting! – Jen Rarey

Ms. Jen Rarey works for Hallmark Cards. Jen’s discussion will explore the proliferation of cartoon characters used in Japan for advertising and informational graphics, hypothesize why characters are so fully embraced by Japanese society – and how and why this differs from their use in the U.S. She will share many photos taken on her “scavenger hunts” for characters in central Japan.

Jen grew up near Columbus, Ohio and earned a BFA in illustration from The Columbus College of Art & Design in 1997. Since then she has worked for Hallmark Cards as an artist, art director, and creative director. A member of the Heart of America Japan-America Society, Jen has both studied Japanese and traveled in Japan. Her enthusiasm for Japanese culture and expertise in character design will make for an especially interesting combination. You definitely won’t want to miss her presentation!

Attendees at her presentation will be treated to a fascinating look at character design in Japan and how it differs with the United States’ use of cartoon characters. Jen will share her knowledge of this cultural phenomenon, including the history of character design in Japan and her own influences as an artist (Disney, Sanrio/Hello Kitty and Miyazaki, to name a few). Attendees will be impressed with an amazing montage of character photos that include anime, manga, advertising and informational graphics."

   After a slight hitch in the first presentation (the tech guy forgot to bring me the adaptor required for my laptop), I really enjoyed speaking to the group, and both groups were excellent audiences: attentive, engaged in the topic and ready with some great questions. What I learned from presenting to JAS in May was that my photos were a big hit, so I had added many more images & also some video clips from Anpanman, Ultraman, Pokemon & Qoo—as well as some funny & obscure characters.
   The woman who introduced me was Japanese, originally from the Yokohama area, and said she learned some things from my talk, which made me feel really good.
   Kelly, Renee, Joe & Ian all came out to support me, and much to my surprise, Helen Hall was in the audience! I hadn't seen her in several years—6 at least—since she shadowed me when I was an artist in the humor studio. It was really great to see her again! I also saw Chieko, Carrie, Mickey, Patty W & Patty M—as you'll see in my next post. I was hoping to catch Sachie & Kazuyo but missed them in the chaos. The festival was wonderfully crowded.

Here are a few images from my presentation:

MR...I need to get outta here!!!

   Today was awesome. And by "awesome," I mean "completely not awesome." First off, I found out that I/T, while "fixing" my Blackberry, accidentally nuked all my emails prior to August 23, and I lost a ton of saved work that I'm going to have to re-do. Hmm. Kinda thought they'd back that up. Since we discussed it at length. Oops.

   Then in the afternoon I went for the MRI/arthrogram that my orthopedist called for, to see if I tore something important in my hip joint over the last 6 weeks, with all the running, swimming, yoga, hiking (that'll teach me to be healthy!) and massage (that'll teach me to be a hedonist!). I had an arthrogram on my carpal tunnel about 10 years ago, so fortunately the memory of how awful it was had faded. But it returned rather quickly, despite my attempt to be tough.

   The doc & technician were super-nice. They were very thorough in explaining what they were going to do; so thorough, in fact, that I almost fainted before the procedure even started. The gist is that they painstakingly mark a spot to guide them, numb you, and then insert a needle that I swear to God must have rivaled the size of the Space Needle, judging from the pain I felt over & over again as it was inserted. I found myself chanting, "not numb... not numb... not numb... NOT NUMB... NOT NUMB!!!" 

The doc didn't seem to believe me. His look said, "But I've given you PLENTY of numbing medicine!" Not plenty enough, mister! Are we trying to save money and skimp on the meds? Load me up!!! I don't know if he was hitting bone or what, but if I wanted to torture myself it would be much quicker to just stab myself in the eye with a fork. The point was to inject dye + Lidocaine into the tiny cavity between my femur & pelvis so that the labrum (which might be torn) would be more visible in the MRI. If the dye leaked out, it's surgery time.

   The one thing that was kinda cool (between deep breaths because it also brought me close to fainting) was to look up & see the needle & the dye illuminating my labrum on the x-ray monitor in front of me. They wouldn't let me take photos due to HIPAA (boo!) but I found a photo on Wiki that looks pretty much like it:

   Next I had to very carefully lift myself onto a gurney without moving my left hip, because if the dye moved too much it could botch the procedure & I'd have to do it all again. (Not going to happen.) The tech wheeled me into the MRI room, where it was impossible to see anything except the ginormous GE logo on the machine. Also, the tininess of the tube he intended to slide me into. I hope there's a Slip & Slide nearby so I can get some momentum going!

   The tech set a heavy breastplate on me (to hold me down???) that looked freakishly like the ribcage of a skeleton, as if to let me know what I would look like if the machine malfunctioned & burned off all my flesh. He kindly asked what radio station I liked & handed me a large pair of headphones. It didn't matter. The machine made so much noise that I couldn't hear it anyway. So I lay there perfectly still, eyes closed, imagining the creatures that would make the kind of noises I was hearing. If that's as good as hallucination gets, you can have it!

   I would recommend an MRI to anyone who hates quiet, loves cramming themselves into small spaces, and wants 35 minutes to feel like 3500 hours. Tune in for the exciting update next week.

Tattoo art

About a year ago a friend in Chicago was at a Godzilla convention, and spotted my Goji hockey art on some dude's ankle. He didn't ask permission & stole it off my website, but I guess I'm flattered. (He should have hired Miami Ink, though, 'cause they didn't do such a great job of interpreting my artwork):

And this week a stranger sent Kelly a friend request on Facebook and was excited to show Kelly his new tattoo: Kelly's stolen zombie art. The tattoo artist also decided to give the zombie a full six-pack:

Random Hallmark moment: Godzilla

Couple of photos from the past...when I was leaving one team at Hallmark several years ago, Monte took a sketch I had done on a 3x5" card and blew it up to...well, taller than me! He created buildings & everything, and used them to completely block my booth!! I took them with me and set them up in the new space, with Godzilla peeking out the window near the entrance door, and Mothra loving looking down on me from above. The nearby air vent made him spin slowly. Memories...

My work on some dude's leg

Linda Conrad of the fabulous chibigojitoys site tipped me off to this tattoo. Hmmm...the art looks slightly familiar! LOL

Godzilla's 50th aniversary show @ S7

I did this series of four paintings in honor of the big green dude's 50th anniversary, for a show at the Super 7 Store in San Francisco. (And my buddy Jon Kelly Green did the Goji art gracing the cover of this month's S7 magazine!)