Another Magnificent Distraction From What I Should Be Doing...

You know what I hated about this fantastic film?

What I hated is that this is the cover to the Blu-Ray... Pure, lazy design pile of ass.

Apart from that one, tiny detail, I can't stress enough how badly you need to see this (especially, if like me, the film you saw before it was Malibu Shark Attack...).

Alright, back to the art stuff... Onwards to preparations for the Vision 20-21 Gallery 'Tiki Today' exhibition!

The Circle Is Complete (When Star Wars Got Good Again)

Look-it... I'm not going to labour the point here because EVERYONE else has already done it but I'm a child of the seventies and, in a Tiki free galaxy, far, far away, Star Wars was my LIFE!

Prior to getting somewhere in the world of (low brow) art, I think Star Wars was the whole basis of my relationship with my father. No joke.

So, when the most recent trilogy came to pass it was much like waiting to lose your virginity... Sixteen long years of waiting, partly excited, partly braced for crushing disappointment, only to be faced with a more perplexing emotion upon finally seeing/experiencing it.

Oh... So, is that it? Is THAT what all the fuss and anticipation was about? It was much better the way I imagined it...

Then came this...

And suddenly you remembered all of the reasons you fell in love with Star Wars... Of course, these fine little episodes are made by the same man who brought Samurai Jack into my life, so they were never going to be anything other than great. Plus, I do LOVE some quality animation.

But then, some time later, comes this:

At which point you just realise that EVERYONE in the world gets what makes Star Wars so good except for the guy who writes the films and directs them.

I would have extended the whole virginity thing out through the whole post but frankly... I just didn't see the point. Just go and watch some great animation and remember the movies that probably got you into visual design, hot rods and finks.

I've yet to spot a Tiki anywhere in the Saga but, fear not, I'll post when one turns up.

Like Being There... But Warmer!

Here, as promised, is a link to the photo gallery for the opening night of the Strychnin Gallery Xmas Luau in a very frosty looking Berlin...

This is actually my Facebook Gallery and covers everything from sketching, making and sending the two pieces I contributed to the show, right through to opening night! It's not all about me though, there's an absolute landslide of jaw dropping stuff on show here by some very talented Tiki Folk.

Do your eyes a favour and swivel them in this direction.

You Know What Makes For A Good Read..?

This does...

Yeah, yeah... I know. I'm late to this one but I did finally get it (took an age to get here from the USA) and it is literally crammed with images that make a fella like me cry with joy...

If it was good enough to stop me brooding on what to do for the Vision 2010 Tiki Talk art show then it must be something special.

In the words of the immortal Zap Brannigan... "Buy it... But it now."

I Heart Berlin... Or, Shameless Self Promotion!

Not much to say about this one...

The Berlin Show opens tonight and I'm sat in my underpants snooping around the internet for any feedback on how it's going.

Ahh... The glorious life of the artist, it's not all glamour...

I did find this on lifestyle blog 'I Heart Berlin' though... I was quietly pleased to see my Ukulele piece getting some press alongside the work of Shag and Seymour (both WAY more famous and a lot better than me).

Guess that makes me one of their 'pearls of the Tiki scene' then.

Made it Ma! Top of the world!

Most. Depressing. Movie. Ever.

Maybe I'm just at EXACTLY the right age for this movie to be horribly efficient at pressing the right buttons...

It sure was depressing though... In a good, well crafted sort of way.

What struck me as odd though is that I felt like I had seen quite a lot of this movie before... Just without the festival buzz... Can't for the life of me think where though...

Ah...

More Berlin News...

Yep... It's official, this show is going to be AWESOME!

(And I'm officially pumped to have made the flyer!)

If you can't get there but want a sneaky peek at the works on show (and sale) then you can have a good old snoop on the Strychnin Shop... Just be sure that you have your credit cards tucked away someplace safe because there is a LOT of very purchasable goodness on show here!

Pictures from the opening will be up on Saturday...

A Couple Of Movies That Pumped My Nads

Yeah... I know.

An art blog is supposed to be all pretentious guff about this exhibition and this great paint dauber... Truth is, I like a night off from the ink slinging as much as the next guy. Anyone unlucky enough to subscribe to this mess of a page is going to find a LOT of film talk here... I LOVE a good movie. And by good, I don't mean critically lauded. I mean a movie that PUMPED MY NADS!

As time goes by however, you will discover that my nads and I have slightly questionable taste, so don't go expecting to see any essays on the merits of Citizen Kane here... It bored the ass off of me and I'm not going to pretend otherwise.

Enough explaining for now... Let's get on with discussing two movies that I have seen recently that did, as I have previously mentioned, PUMP MY NADS!

Oh man... I LOVED this movie! I loved it because it was the pure bred offspring of every piece of crap VHS I ever rented when I was a kid. But put through the class filter. With a twist of EC Comics thrown in for good measure.

I may be a Tiki guy but Lord knows I love me some good, creaky, old fashioned horror. Don't believe me? Check out my dA page...

Are you back? Can you tell I've read some EC and seen a few Tales From The Crypt in my time?

Good...

I'm not going to go on about this film since there a million different reviews out there already... But Trick R Treat made my Halloween this year. Since it has the VERY distinguished honour of being the last ever DVD I bought, it needed to be good. And it was.

Which brings us neatly to my first Blu-Ray horror puchase...

The beauty of watching child actors speak in a language you don't understand is that you have no idea if they're crappy actors or not, so these guys sell this nice, slow paced story completely. Seriously, if you think back over the (mercifully short) fad for J-Horror (most of which came out of South Korea, by the way), how many films would have been trashed as soon as the kid opened his stage school mouth to deliver some wooden dialogue? We'll never know since we don't speak the language and have no idea if this is a convincing performance or not!

Therein lies the beauty of the child actor/foreign film mesh!

So, other than the slightly distracting fact that girl in it looked a little bit like Darlene from Roseanne (or am I just showing my age here?) it was a perfect way to ignore pending artistic deadlines on the comfort of my pleather couch. Plus which, any smug Twilight fan out there needs to see this and Lost Boys and then go away and think about what they've done.

Trick R Treat and Let The Right One In can now make their way to the neatly alphabetised shelves of Los Furias Tiki, happy in the knowledge that they have PUMPED MY NADS!.

Next!

Strychnin Gallery Xmas Luau

The fine folk at the Strychnin Gallery in Berlin have graciously offered to let me hang some of my half assed doodles up on their walls this Christmas... Wedged SLAP BANG between the work of some insanely talented people!

And if you think the show looks good, wait until you lay eyes on the aftershow!

Frankly, if you're not booking a flight to Berlin right now, you really need to question what you're doing with your life... Just sayin'.

See more about it all right here on the Strychnin site.