Beautiful and depressing. I wonder what kind of training was involved in getting an elephant to do this?

Here's a retro-futuristic-sexy page by Fabien from an upcoming chapter in Tikitis. Jerry's script asked Fabien to come up with a Jetsons inspired dreamscape from the foolish mind of Doctor Sumo. As usual, Fabien took the little seeds the script gave him and grew a magical beanstalk. :-)

I plan to pick up and play Ninja Gaiden DS this weekend. Although Team Ninja's best known for pushing the newest gaming systems to the limits (as the do with the DEAD OR ALIVE and NINJA GAIDEN games), this time they decided to deliver a game on the portable Nintendo DS. It's an action game that uses the stylus controls for 95% of gameplay. Game producer Itagaki claims it's the fasted Ninja Gaiden game yet (and if you played the Xbox/PS3 Ninja Gaiden game, that means it has to be pretty damned fast!). I heard the game's brief and little on the easy side, but I still want to experience it firsthand. The video sheds some light on gameplay.

DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, Vinyl, and Robots. What can be cooler than that?

I LOVED the Hard Sell Show @ The Hollywood Bowl... so I'm super excited to find out that the fine folks at Bigshot Toyworks have grabbed the license to do a vinyl toy version of the Juke-Bot.

ToysREvil did an expert job of investigating and revealling all currently known information about the Juke-Bot. For more pics of the Juke-Bot from ToysREvil, CLICK HERE.

2 Games in 2 Days. 1 in Los Angeles. 1 in Oakland. Both games were nail biters until the very last second. And, man, what a helluva time!

My buddy Mista Hippo has the hook-up to Laker games. And being the swell guy that he is, he invited me and some of our other basketball lovin' friends to watch the 1st game at the Los Angeles Staples Center this past Sunday.

These weren't just any seats...we had the grand privilege to sit in the first row directly behind the Laker bench. For a second there I felt like Hollywood royalty!

It was fascinating seeing the players discuss bits of the game during timeouts. At one point, Derek Fisher was expressing his awe of Monta Ellis quick move to the basket to Kobe Bryant. Turiaf got some tips on how to avoid a foul from Kurt Rambis, Kobe Bryant, and the ref who made the call (after Fisher brought the ref over). I was also surprised to see what a fierce competitor Jordan Farmar was. After being pulled out of the game as a result of a few uneffective bouts of offensive execution, Farmar was furious at himself for his performance. The dude was cussing to himself for at least 5 minutes... I almost wanted wanted to step in and tell him he shouldn't be so hard on himself!

Even though it was an amazing game, there were two bad bits about it. First off, the Lakers lost (Stephen Jackson just HAD to take away Kobe's thunder with 2 huge shots in the closing seconds!) and second, the view sucked. It was nice being close... but since those Laker players and coaches are so darned tall, when I was seated, I could only see the players in the game from the waist up. It was impossible to see the court floor which takes a lot away from appreciating the strategies of the game.

All in all, it was a great experience... and the pains of defeat stung a little less since the Lakers won the second game in Oakland (in overtime no less!). Thanks Mista Hippo!

Since I feel like I'm going through a tranformative stage in my life (turning 30, getting married, living healthier) I'm rereading Grant Morrison and Company's "The Invisibles". This comic had a profound effect on my in my early-mid 20s. I was a bit bored with college. I was at a point in life where I lost a sense of passion for life and spirituality. But when I read an interview Grant Morrision did which recounted his experiences of abduction by 5th dimensional beings in South America... I started to fall in love with life again. :-)

Invisibles is about life, magick, aliens, humanity, sexuality, transformation, and spirituality. But it's relayed in a manner that can be interpreted as comic-booky gibberish to ignorant ears.

Read it when you have the chance. It may change your life.