Gum from 1986, anyone?

   As old as Top Gun, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Pretty in Pink. That is some seriously old gum!  I was twelve years old when these cards were produced—the optimum age to enjoy the Nintendo Entertainment System (Super Mario Bros. and Bubble Bobble are still two of the best games of all time!), and Garbage Pail Kids. In fact, I still have a binder full of all the cards I collected back in the day.

   And then, out of the blue, my aunt Marty sent me FOUR unopened packs of cards—what a treat! Can't wait to see if I get any that I was missing from my collection. And if not—anyone wanna trade???

note to self: don't ever become a Jiggly Jennifer!

Jen Dreams of Sushi, Too

    Tonight I'm going to see "JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI" at the Tivoli, the story of 85 year-old Jiro Ono, considered by many to be the world’s greatest sushi chef. He is the proprietor of Sukiyabashi Jiro, a 10-seat, sushi-only restaurant inauspiciously located in a Tokyo subway station. I haven't been there yet, but now that I'm familiar with it, I plan to go someday! 
　じろさんの鮨が食べたことがありたいんですが。。。 すごくおいしそうな鮨ですね。日本に行きたいです。そして、じろさんの鮨がとても美しいですから、私はびじゆつを作りたいです。とても面白くて、とてもすばらしい映画ですよ。
　The film used a term,「しょくにん」which means artisan or craftsman of the highest level, to describe Jiro. He was abandoned by his family at the age of 7 and began making sushi at age 10, working to survive. Through his work he found love, and for 75 years he has worked tirelessly to improve himself and his food. It is a real testament to the Japanese spirit and demand for excellence, but he was also a quiet man, humble despite his significant accomplishments. His おまかせ menu consists of the best and freshest fish his son can find every morning at  つきじ market, and costs $300 and up for 20 pieces.
   The film is a real work of art in itself, and the comparison of fine sushi served in meticulously planned courses to perfectly orchestrated music is a great one. Every single piece looked almost too good to be true, and I suddenly found my popcorn to be less than satisfying.

   Here's the synopsis from the official website: "JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI is the story of 85 year-old Jiro Ono, considered by many to be the world’s greatest sushi chef. He is the proprietor of Sukiyabashi Jiro, a 10-seat, sushi-only restaurant inauspiciously located in a Tokyo subway station. Despite its humble appearances, it is the first restaurant of its kind to be awarded a prestigious 3 star Michelin review, and sushi lovers from around the globe make repeated pilgrimage, calling months in advance and shelling out top dollar for a coveted seat at Jiro’s sushi bar.

For most of his life, Jiro has been mastering the art of making sushi, but even at his age he sees himself still striving for perfection, working from sunrise to well beyond sunset to taste every piece of fish; meticulously train his employees; and carefully mold and finesse the impeccable presentation of each sushi creation. At the heart of this story is Jiro’s relationship with his eldest son Yoshikazu, the worthy heir to Jiro’s legacy, who is unable to live up to his full potential in his father’s shadow.

The feature film debut of director David Gelb, JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI is a thoughtful and elegant meditation on work, family, and the art of perfection, chronicling Jiro’s life as both an unparalleled success in the culinary world, and a loving yet complicated father."

Catching Up...

That's me on the far left, Brett on the right. Not to scale.

   I finally uploaded the videos of snowboarding in Lake Tahoe... photos coming soon (I hope)!

Zip Line in Action

   All of my zip line adventure movies are on my Youtube channel, but here are a couple of my favorites starring the biggest goofball in the group (yes, that's me). My only complaint is that the lines weren't 10000x longer and the fun was over too quickly!!!

G1988: Opening Tomorrow!

Crazy 4 Cult Book

Photo by Cool & Collected

 The new book is getting a ton of press already: very exciting!

Purchase the book on Amazon

...and a calendar?!

Titan Books

What Culture!

Guardian UK

Moviefone interview with Jensen

Exciting news!!!

   Just got the word that two of my plush creations will be featured in a book celebrating the pop culture themed shows of Gallery 1988! "Red Stapler" (Milton from "Office Space"), 2008 and "You've Got Red on You" (Shaun & Ed from "Shaun of the Dead"), 2010 made the cut. Both were for a series of shows celebrating cult films.

   The publisher will be releasing the book at the same time as the opening of Crazy 4 Cult's newest installment: July 8th, 2011. And they're getting some incredible people to write up their favorite parts of the exhibit (including some of the buyers of our pieces to give us a quote about how they've enjoyed in their house since the purchase). Kevin Smith will also be writing the book's foreword. LA, here I come!

   And in other gallery-related news, I will also have work featured in "Is This Thing On? A Tribute To Funny People" at Gallery1988:Melrose to kick off 2011. The show will open January 7th and will feature over 100 artists creating artwork portraying some of the best classic, vintage comedians—and emerging stars! The line-up for this show is incredible and the gallery is partnering with FunnyOrDie.com as their exclusive press outlet. Wow. Kinda pinching myself that they keep including me in the madness. I won't say yet who I'm portraying, just that I couldn't be more excited about it!

Crazy 4 Cult Customs opens tonight!

My Shaun of the Dead plush is now online, with the rest of the work.

You've got red on you.

   Presenting my entry for Gallery 1988 San Francisco's "Crazy 4 Cult Customs" show, opening Saturday, September 4. SPOILER ALERT: The back of the plush gives away the ending of the movie, so if you haven't seen this film, turn back now!
   It's entitled, "You've Got Red on You" and it depicts two scenes from "Shaun of the Dead," one of my all-time favorite movies. (How can you go wrong with a dark romantic comedy buddy film about zombies?!) The piece consists of hand-sewn, embroidered & painted felt, with paper album sleeves and a wooden base.

Ed & Shaun in the garden, chucking records at zombies:

Shaun: Some of these are limited... Ah! What was that?

Ed: Blue Monday.

Shaun: That was an original pressing.

Ed: For f***s sake.  Erm... Purple Rain?

Shaun: No.

Ed: Sign O' The Times?

Shaun: Definitely not.

Ed: The Batman soundtrack?

Shaun: Throw it.

Ed: Dire Straits?

Shaun: Throw it.

Ed: Er... Ooh, Stone Roses?

Shaun: No.

Ed: Second Coming?

Shaun: I like it.

Badass zombie-killing Shaun (with cricket bat) & Zombie Ed (with video game controller):

Liz: How many shells have we got left?

Shaun: Erm... two. I suppose we could take a few of them out if they stand in a line.

Liz: I wasn't thinking about them.

Shaun: I know.

Liz: What about Ed? There's only two shells.

Ed: I don't mind being eaten.

Liz: How are we gonna do this?

Shaun: I don't know. Erm...

Liz: One of us has to go first.

Shaun: One should do the other and then do themselves.

Liz: You should do me. I'll muck it up if I have to do myself.           

Shaun: I don't think I've got it in me to shoot my flatmate, my mum and my girlfriend all in the same evening.

Liz: What makes you think I've taken you back?

Shaun: Well... you don't want to die single, do you?

Ed: Actually... I would like to be shot.

For a sense of scale (everything looks huge next to me!):

   The eyes & noses are hand-embroidered to make them dimensional, and there is stitched detail in the hair, brows & goatee. Ed's "I got wood" shirt is hand-painted (both sides), as is Shaun's ink spot, ID badge, tie, and blood splatters. Can I just say, there is nothing more fun than painting blood splatters all over plush???

Shipping them off to the gallery. I miss them already.

Check it out: they're featured on a zombie blog!
Click here to see the Shaun of the Dead trailer.
Click here for an interview with Simon Pegg.
Click here to get your own "I GOT WOOD" t-shirt.
Click here to get zombie outbreak caution tape.
Click here to see more work from the gallery show.
Click here for information on surviving a zombie attack.

G1988's recent 3G show was similarly outstanding.

Up in the Air: the posters

Love the Saul Bass inspired graphic treatment in these posters & also in the opening credits, which were a collage of aerial photos of the ground, reminding me of my recent flights.

My thoughts on animation

I haven't seen Zemeckis's "A Christmas Carol," but from the previews alone I know I agree with The KC Star's Robert Butler: trying to create realistic humans in animation is always a miss. Compare the characters in this film to the beautifully stylized characters in "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs"...no contest! The beauty of animation is that you have the freedom to create wonderfully colorful & inventive characters who still command emotion and interest, and move expressively and with enough exaggeration & style to enhance the scenes. In contrast, "human" characters look strange and wooden & move in stilted ways. Compare the shockingly creepy "Polar Express" to the well-rounded characters in Pixar's "The Incredibles." Which characters do you CARE about? My money's on the latter.

If you want humans that look like humans, hire a human! Don't waste the medium of animation by sucking the life out of it— under the pretense of making it "lifelike."

I've had a busy week & have been out of the house a lot; so Gypsy was extra-pushy this morning while I was reading the paper. Right after I took this photo, she stood up and shoved the paper down with both front paws, ripping it out of my hands, and then settled on my lap.

Cloudy with a 100% chance of awesome!

Went to see "Monsters vs. Aliens" in 3D last night, and it was really fun. But I'm REALLY excited about "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs". The character design is amazing!!! Hail Sony.

see the trailer