free karate class tonight!

karate school tonight! 10844 Acama Dr North Hollywood, 6:30p, handball court behind playground. come join the fun, we have 7 ppl going so far. beginner's class, no experience needed at all. if you do plan on coming, please text or call 818 795 7339 and let me know.

photo by dmertl
www.flickr.com/photos/dav...4161158877/

comicon2007

The past month has been mind-explodingly insane, so much that weeks later I finally have a chance to write about ComiCon. This year Remy and I were both covering the convention for CBR, but last minute I also added Marvel, Avatar, and Anime News Network to the list of websites I was providing photography for. This meant that we were pretty busy almost every second of the day.

We got there Wednesday and checked into our hotel, the Rodeway Inn (old comfort inn or something, we've stayed there before), settled in and walked over to Horton Plaza. Chomped flautas at La Salsa, then beelined to go find Ben and the mysteriously located G4 warehousey HQ behind the convention center. Eventually this was located and we pretty much got to see the nerve center of their convention operations, which was pretty neat. Got our badges next, and ran into Orion, as well as Zak from Anime News Network, Fanboy Radio people, and a cool Associated Press person we'd seen before.

The whole convention I only saw 2/3 of the con floor, and usually while I was in the exhibit area I wanted to be elsewhere cuz no matter where I went, I was floating through a sea of slow moving sweaty bodies. ADV was kind enough to let me climb to the 2nd story of their booth so that I could shoot photographic evidence of the sea of bodies late Saturday afternoon. As a result I was fairly out of it and missed a whole lot of stuff, including a bunch of friend's booths. sorry :(

Preview night was the busiest I'd ever seen it, so much that immediately I gave up toy hunting, knowing that my carefully-held box would get smooshed easily. I focused on taking pictures instead, and trying to not lose people. Remy, Ben, Orion, and I met up with Todd and Christy, and we checked out Dr. Who toys (which are completely amazing), G4, and the Marvel booth. Remy and I disappeared into the Marvel booth (behind hidden doors!) as I got to meet my contact for the week, Ryan. I'd be slipping him a thumbdrive full of photos every day for the Marvel site (if you look at their convention coverage a bunch of mine were used). The booth was gigantic, and awesome, as it should be. Inside the booth was a giant wooden crate marked STARK INDUSTRIES.

I don't really remember what we did on what days after that, so I'll just write a bit about some of the cooler stuff we did.

The CBR Boat was AWESOME. I love boats. This was a 42ft yacht. I'd never been on a yacht before. It really was great to get away from the con and kick it there. Getting to know Jonah better was awesome, as well as some of the CBR people I hadn't met or seen too much of before (Taylor, Hannibal, Paul, and Limon). Being on the boat was some of my favorite parts off the convention. I liked seeing Jonah's in-person reactions to my photos. Also the boat had yummy turkey sandwiches. On Saturday night, we were sitting up there and all of a sudden there were fireworks. I got pulled through the roof of the bedroom area to one of the upper decks, and shot the best fireworks pictures I'd ever taken. AND though this is only cool to other Torchwood fans.. I got to meet The Doctor's Hand. And Mickey from Dr Who!! Yay! And Heroes writers!! Met Warren Ellis too, listened to some of Simone's interview, and I think I was around during some other interviews.

During the con Christy kept me pretty supplied with a magical substance known as Zipfizz. I kept screwing up the mixing up of that and it exploded on my hand a lot. But it kept me awake the whole time, and was pure awesome.

Some of the press events we did were insanely cool, like meeting Robert Downey Jr while he was wearing a Tony Stark suit (not the iron man armor). I met River from Serenity, and a bunch of other people. Pushing Daisies writers/producers. Gwenyth Paltrow. My kitty ears were often complimented. These were interviews Remy was working on, and I was there photographing people. I really love it when my photos make it on his articles :)

We also were at the 300 red carpet event, which is a paparazzi style photo shoot. I have a zillion pictures of that. We also went to see Simone and Leinil Yu draw on the walls of the Palm resteraunt. Hanging out with Simone is always super fun, and Leinil was pretty awesome too.

One realllly cool thing we did was go to Red Pearl Kitchen with David Hine and James Kyson Lee (Ando from Heroes), his gf, his from from NBC (david), and his friend from Disney (chris). It was a special dinner that Remy had set up. Super awesomly fun. Then I put glow bracelets on everyone and we posed for goofy pictures with a statue downtown, and headed to the Avatar party. There, William put me to work taking pictures of famous people so that's what I did all night. after that, we hopped to the hyatt real quick to take pictures of Marvel people drinking beer out of the StanLee Cup in front of Dan Didio from DC.

At the marvel booth i was in prime photo spots to get pictures of both Simone's haircut (announcing his new comic project via haircut) and the Iron Man suit unveiling.

Saturday night I ran around the Hyatt bar and got a group of people to come sing happy birthday to Kevin Alterie. Hung out with Todd and Christy a lot, which was awesome, and kept running into people we knew. The Hyatt is awesome.

I actually didn't come home with comics. This was the first year that happened. I just didn't want to carry stuff and deal with my load of camera gear. This year I had an extra flash unit, and I borrowed a telephoto lens from my dad (that completely came in handy for the heroes panel, which involved remy's elite ninja scheme to get me into) and id bought a new compact camera backpack to hold them in.

I think that's a pretty good overview. :) ComiCon was insane. and i kinda miss it! planning for next year has already started.. we got 2 hotel rooms we're calling the Igloo for 2008.

Anime Expo Devmeet Sunday

ANIME EXPO deviantART MEET

Sunday 4p.

I've got prizes and stickers from deviantART to give away, so we'll be doing either trivia or a quick game.

We'll meet up at the Mechanized Propsulsion Systems booth in the exhibitor hall.. they're a group making a giant mech in real life (the booth is #755 but the booth number is subject to change) and meander over to artist's alley to say hi to the deviants stuck at their booths.

do you have playboy air freshener or a kidrobot pin?

need a playboy air freshener, any condition. or a kidrobot pin.. its for a scavenger hunt. but i need them by monday. let me know what youd want for them :)

ramen enthusiasts! i need a ride to an awesome ramen shop friday! =)

So Chabuya Ramen (one of Japan's top ramen shops) is opening on Sawtelle Blvd, right next to Mizu 212 in the mall with Orris and the Taka Hair Salon. My friends want me to come eat with them at 7:30, and I'm over in North Hollywood. I'm looking for a ride over there and back for me and my bf =) It should be a huge mix of ramen lovers and lots and lots of fun!! I'll buy you a ramen!

neeeed work

Anyone need graphic design / webstuff / arts&crafts / illustration done? Or private art instruction, or martial arts training? I'm severely ramen-level short on cash this week and am totally looking for quick projects and things to do. If you can hire me, drop me an email at penguinpalace@gmail.com .. my portfolio is at www.pinguino.org

ComiCon 2005 Evil Schemes

I will be signing at the Hoarse and Buggy booth #1833 on July 16 & 17 at the San Diego ComiCon. My live art show is Sat. night at the ComiCon Funk Party 2! I'll have copies of a new minicomic by me and Brett Jackson called "Search for Springfield," which is part of the indy comics pack we are selling both at the con and at the show.

Show info:
Pinguino is scheduled to do live art at the ComiCon Funk Party 2, along with artists Jim Mahfood and Scott Morse. This will take place at a special edition REACTION party, featuring the musical works of Foreign and Domestic, SkuTech, Jersan, Red Sonya, Knotty Boy, Jonathan Brae, Pisces79, The Return of Mantis AKA Soul Projector, and Sekwence. Don't miss out! It's happening Saturday, July 16 at the Beehive (at 14th and C). 9PM-2AM, 21+ $8