I was a bit irked to hear that M.I.A. would be appearing in, and contributing some rhymes to a new Madonna song called, 'Give Me All Your Luvin'. Here I was thinking that M.I.A. had sold out to the bubblegum pop world, losing touch with what made her awesome in the first place, the raw, anti-First World attitude.
Yet, when the music video for the latest M.I.A. track 'Bad Girls' dropped this week, I let out a sigh of relief. Guns, car stunts, burning rubber, a middle eastern setting, kafia scarves galore. A completely unexpected direction from when I first heard the song, pre-video.
Just when you thought she had been watered down for Conservative White America, M.I.A. puts out a video that is not only visually striking, but fucking real.
Yes, there may be war going on in the middle east, with all sorts of human rights issues, with the outside world looking in, and labelling everyone with dark skin as a 'terrorist' -- M.I.A. ingests it all and spits it back out with a sick video of people just having fun. The video directed by Romain Gavras does a great job of capturing that. To hell with Lawrence of Arabia.
2011 has been a fantastic year! My collaboration with Toy2R in the Skelanimals Qee Artist Series 2, marked my first ever production toy. A big step forward with the release of this custom toy, Letterman The Hound. This was also the catalyst for my frequent participation in local comic conventions, and art markets throughout the year. Met a bunch of great artists, who have become my table mates at various cons.
I have some new stuff coming up in the new year. I'm planning to do several more Vancouver Comic Cons. Stay tuned, stay safe, and thank you for your support. https://plus.google.com/b/106042054698715164922/
ANDROID
I decided to replace my old gen 1 iPhone with a Nexus S, the Google Samsung collaboration phone. So far it's been a great phone, doing everything that I need it to. The camera takes very nice pics, and Little Photo is my fave photo app. Check out my random pics on http://twitpic.com/photos/albertart
GOOGLE+
Google+ was an unexpected new social networking tool that I have been using quite heavily since it was in beta. The tool has some pretty nifty features that make the experience a bit like Twitter, and a bit like blogger, but very different from Facebook. I plan on using the Hangout feature in the new year! https://plus.google.com/b/106042054698715164922/
I HEART TEXAS.
This year I attended SXSW in Austin, TX. The music, film and interactive festival was a very cool experience for networking, learning, and film reviewing. I along with @debuggirl wrote quite a bit of coverage for our friends at http://HeyUGuys.co.uk
I also made a second trip to Texas for Thanksgiving in November. The Lone Star state is definitely growing on me.
PAX PRIME
This year at PAX Prime 2011, was a little different. Though I didn't spend the entire weekend in the convention, I spent a bunch of time hanging out with Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown inside of Gameworks. I'm looking forward to this game in the summer of 2012. I really enjoyed the arcade atmosphere, and hanging out with fellow VF fanatics.
GAMING
ARKHAM CITY, DEUS EX HR, BATTLEFIELD 3 and SWTOR. Nuff said.
KINECT
I just purchased a KINECT shortly after xmas, and I must say it has proven to be a great way to get young members and grownups in my family active, without having to worry about recharging wireless remotes, and dealing with the hassle of floor pad controllers like a wii balance boards. The house Wii will definitely be collecting dust looking into the new year.
iPAD
I won an iPad at work during a raffle. I beat out over 300 people. I guess I'm pretty lucky! We'll see how 2012 plays out! It's actually quite useful!
NEW FILMS
I have a new short film coming soon! TOP SECRET. For now!
Finished a new promotional video for Chad Howse Fitness. This is my second spot for the local fitness business. If you're a meathead gym rat this should be for you! More IRON, MORE EPIC.
Our second collaboration with Chad Howse Fitness, 'Be Legendary.'
VCON, the three-day science fiction and fantasy convention is going down this weekend, at the SHERATON VANCOUVER AIRPORT HOTEL!
I will be in the artist alley with Letterman the Hound, Homeless Quatchi, and with more art prints. Feel free to stop on by. Should be a fun pre-Halloween event, with lots of costumes, and cosplay for the whole family.
VCON is the first three-day con that I'll be attending, so I will try my best to keep the energy up. The last few months have been great. Having been at several Vancouver Comicons, SummerFest, and Minicomi. Been very busy, but great meeting people interested in my art.
Another Vancouver Comic-Con is this Sunday Sept.11 at Heritage Hall. I will be there, with more Letterman the Hound toys, as well as these custom toys, my latest Samba De Amigo, and fan favorite Homeless Quatchi.
The Dreamcast may be a long dead game console of the past, but it will never be forgotten. And although a little over a decade has passed, since the last SEGA game console launched on the market in 9.9.99, many fans including myself continue to reminisce and celebrate SEGA's final console.
And you have to understand, I was in high school at the time of the Dreamcast. An eager kid who soaked up gaming like a sponge. I wanted to be an artist after high school, and while most kids (would-be artists) were watching anime, and reading comics in their spare time as their way of absorbing art, I was playing videogames, and was exposed to many SEGA titles that inspired me in their design, and art style.
Though, before there was a Dreamcast in the house, my brother had a SEGA Saturn. Games like Panzer Dragoon, NiGHTS, Virtua Fighter, Guardian Heroes, and Astal opened my eyes, to the creative side of games out there.
The Dreamcast, was a big influence on me wanting to become an artist. If the SEGA Saturn was the gateway drug, the Dreamcast would be the hard stuff.
For me the Dreamcast started out strong, which got better over time, before SEGA decided to pull the plug. Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Q3A, Power Stone, Virtual On, Virtua Fighter 3TB, Soul Calibur, Chu Chu Rocket, Sea Man, Shenmue, Phantasy Star Online, Skies of Arcadia to name a few. I spent hours with the wide variety of games, some more than others, Quickly the games collection grew. Including a collection of Dreamcast magazines.
I became hooked to the bizarre Seaman creature featuring narration by Leonard Nimoy. I trained hard with Virtua Fighter 3, racked up the score in Crazy Taxi, became immersed in the world of PSO, and Skies of Arcadia. I played Unreal Tournament and Quake III Arena with the DC mouse and keyboard, and even the Twin Sticks for Virtual On: OT. Jet Set Radio blew my mind with the urban art, and animation. Shenmue showed me the beginnings of a martial arts, sandbox epic. My gaming life revolved around the Dreamcast, and only the Dreamcast.
And you can't talk about the Dreamcast without talking about Rez, the epileptic, music driven rail-shooter game, which will forever be one of my all-time favourites. The flashing lights, and sci-fi theme was the epitome of SEGA's push to create unique gaming experiences.
And then there was Samba De Amigo...
This year, I'm doing things a little differently to celebrate the Dreamcast Day.
With a custom toy SEGA wishes they had made. ALBERT ART CUSTOM MAD*L SEGA DREAMCAST ANNIVERSARY TOY - 'SAMBA DE AMIGO,' stands 10inches tall without the hat, and took several weeks to paint. The toy I got earlier in the year from http://www.madtoydesign.com/. I waited months just to tie in the toy with the 2011 Dreamcast Anniversary. I'm so glad I have a chance to show it to all the Dreamcast fans.
This is a hand-painted, one of a kind piece of art that captures the mascot of Samba De Amigo. A game that was pre-Rock Band, pre-Wii, pre-Kinect, which utilized it's own unique peripheral SEGA Dreamcast MARACAS.
Alienware, the people who make graphically intense computer rigs, threw a party at PAX 2011, at the Trinity Nightclub in Seattle on Saturday night. Aside from the projected Alienware logo on the wall, there wasn't anything remotely related to the Alienware brand.
The atmosphere was just like any other dance club. Add to the mix free admission for those who were on the guest list, PAX clubbers were treated to some good tunes, Go-Go dancing, and fun.
Chun-Li even made an appearance, wearing much less than usual. Was the videogame-themed Go-Go Dancer a happy accident? Her dance moves were exceptional.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
PAX 2011 Ubisoft Soar Like an Assassin
Photo Booths are awesome. Photo Booth Fun.
Especially when people get creative with the scenario. Ubisoft had a 'Soar Like an Assassin at PAX' theme going on, and recently uploaded all the pictures into several galleries on Facebook. The poses, and comments are pretty effin hilarious, and informative because apparently I look like http://thekassemg.com/ which is news to me!
The annual Comix & Stories artist market went down over the weekend. The single day event, organized by the same people who do Vancouver Comicon, has a bigger artist alley, and less vendors.
Driving back from Seattle on Saturday night from PAX, in time to make it for Sunday's art event, required that I leave PAX a day before it was actually over. I was pretty tired from all the partying, but glad I didn't cancel my table.
Though the turnout was quite slow, compared to other cons, I did meet new fans, and sold a few more Letterman Skelanimals Qees! I also debuted my mini-comic strip!
THANKS TO ALL WHO SHOWED UP! SPECIAL THANKS TO THOSE WHO BOUGHT SOMETHING!
