I'm excited to announce our collaboration on the Junior designer toy figurine with Heels & Zimerman, a skateboard and apparel company. H&Z asked that Gobi (character designer of Tequila and El Panda) stylize their Junior character into a form that would work in three-dimensions. To begin the process, Gobi experimented with the Junior design in a variety of styles. The online toy detectives at ToysREvil  have more information and video of the real H&Z's Junior.

Over the last 3 weeks, my sister did an immense amount of traveling that included trips to Morocco and Peru. I was super sad that I couldn't join her in Peru to celebrate my cousin's wedding, but she brought me a bit of joy with these two beautiful Mexican Wrestling matchboxes she purchased during a stop over at the Mexican Airport. There's something cool and silly about the look of a masked Luchador. These glittery matchboxes do a wonderful job of capturing that quirky spirit.

Kobe hits the game winner. The crowd roars! It's impossible to capture the feeling of being at a stadium during a game winning shot; but it never hurts to try. Muttpop Nico and I were fortunate enough to be at the Staples Center when Kobe made a desperate, off-balanced game-winning 3 pointer over a stretched out Dwyane Wade. I had no clue that Nicolas had recorded the event from our seats. Kobe's too tiny to see from the camera's view... but the video does a wonderful job of capturing our joy and celebration after the shot. Good times! Pretty cool we were able to have it captured on video. :-)

Muttpop Nico is a helluva lucky basketball fan. Last year, his vacation in New York included a rare Knicks win versus the Boston Celtics. Last Friday, he saw Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade dueling in what may be argued to be one of the best games of the NBA's 2009-10 season. I'm grateful to have been along for the ride! In preparation for the game I dusted off my 'Lakers 24' shirt, picked up Nicolas from Jerry's house and ventured into Downtown LA. After a slightly stressful drive trying to figure out how to get the the Staples Center while avoiding the torturous Rush Hour traffic, I managed to find some parking and it was off to the Staples Center! By now, most casual NBA fans heard about Kobe's miraculous buzzer beating 3-pointer. What many people forget to mention are Dwyane Wade's ridiculously smooth dunks at the end of the 2nd quarter (which inspired Kobe's 1st half buzzer beater) and a brilliant 4th quarter performance from Wade and the rest of the Miami Heat that was a guaranteed Heat road win... until a miraculous series of 3s from Derek Fisher and Kobe Bryant in the last 10 seconds of play led to the Lakers STEALING a home court victory from the scrappy Miami Heat. I would have been happy going home from a close defeat to a deserving Wade. Instead, I got to witness one of the craziest Kobe Bryant game-winning shots in recent memory. As awesome as the experience may have been on TV, it has nothing on being there to celebrate at the Staples Center. Muttpop Nico somehow managed to film our reaction the moment the shot was made. I'll be sure to upload that as soon as I get a link from Muttpop Nico. Good times, good friend. Our buddy Ohm will NOT be happy to discover you were at one of the most exciting games of the season! :-)

WADE'S SMOOOOTH 1ST HALF DUNKS (2ND HALF OF VIDEO):

GENERAL LAKER GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

KOBE BRYANT'S GAME WINNING SHOT:

Due to an odd mixture of severe curiosity and mild pressure from my wife's family, I buckled and saw THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON during the Thanksgiving Weekend. My reaction wasn't nearly as violent as the one I had regarding SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE ... but that can be partially attributed to my far lower level of expectation. I haven't seen the first Twilight movie and never read any of the books.  Despite that, here are 5 things I learned about Women from watching THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON (may have some spoilers):

1. Women like a Man who wears Abercrombie & Fitch. Plus Points if you can pull it off with your shirt off. It helps if you look like a surfer and have a nice tan (which is hard to do when you live in the always gloomy Pacific Northwest; anybody know of some good tanning salons?).

2. Women may LIKE Abercrombie & Fitch... but they LOVE Armani. Beware of the Armani guy! Yeah, women dig the chiseled abs, chest, and pseudo-frumpy A&F look... but that's got NOTHING on the pale Armani guy style. Don't even try to compete.

3. Women think hairy pasty white nipples are sexier than waxed tan ones... as long as they are not exposed to direct sunlight. This one I don't get. A woman loves touching a muscular waxed chest. But she'll travel halfway across the World to save an ugly set of pasty, hairy nipples from being exposed to sunlight. Emo-anorexic wins over hunky-athlete (it must be a generational thing).

4. Never ever do what a Woman asks of you. If she asks you to build something, like a motorcycle, and you do it, you're locking yourself into the infamous 'FRIEND' zone. Once in, you can't get out. Women find you attractive only when you save them from moments of sheer terror. If she can ask you to do something, she ain't scared enough.

5. Never trust a woman who says 'I love you'. It's a sham! She's only saying it to manipulate your feelings for her.

Take notes, my heterosexual peers.