I will be doing LIVE NINJA ART tomorrow (4/22) at King King Hollywood, at REVIVAL! YAY! Since it’s also Earth Day, I’m taking on the challenge of doing a few 3D mixed media pieces live, like those Valentine’s cards I posted from February. Come support a fantastic event with some of the best DJs in LA! There’s also gonna be ariel performers, stiltwalkers, and hoopers. SO SO SO excited! More info: here

Friday, April 22nd – Ninja Skillz Proudly Presents

░ ▒ ▓ █ R E V I V A L – The Grand Opening █ ▓ ▒ ░
░ ▒ ▓ █ . .Tech-Funk + Breaks + Electro. . █ ▓ ▒ ░

For years, a movement has been brewing in the warehouses and outdoor environments of California. Ninja Skillz is bringing these underground sounds, performances and visual experiences to light and sparking an above-ground Revival.

This month, we are highlighting bass-driven cross-genre DJs, from san diego to los angeles, that all excel at blending together funky breakbeats and straight beats, dirty electro and wobble basslines, and elements of tech, house and progressive to create a unique, high-energy dancefloor journey across multiple electronic music styles. Don’t know what that means? Click on the DJ links below to listen!

We are ESPECIALLY excited for the 2 hour tag team set between Miss Genesis and Lea Luna. This is NOT to be missed.

Join us at our Grand Opening as we support dance music, underground culture, and inject new life into the club scene.

Be a part of the Revival.

░░▒▒▓▓██ LINEUP (with links to bios and dj sets!) ██▓▓▒▒░░

BASSMECHANIC – http://bit.ly/bassmechanic-skillz
(Funk The System, San Diego)

Mark Zabala – http://bit.ly/markzabala-skillz
(Ninja Skillz, Los Angeles)

MissGenesis – http://bit.ly/genesis-skillz
(Lady Lush/Blue Insomnia, San Diego)

Lea Luna – http://bit.ly/lealuna-skillz
(Play Me Records, LA / Denver)

J*Labs – http://bit.ly/jlabs-skillz
(The Good Vibe, Los Angeles)

Hooni – http://bit.ly/hooni-skillz
(Transmorphagon, Los Angeles)

░░▒▒▓▓██ INFO ██▓▓▒▒░░

Located at King King
6555 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA

http://kingkinghollywood.com/

$20 at the door
$15 Presales at http://zaba.la/revival-tix

Our friends from Transmorphagon are throwing an incredible event called REBIRTH the next day Details at: http://transmorphagon.com/

Attend REVIVAL on Friday, April 22nd and REBIRTH on Saturday, April 23rd for a total of $20 by getting the REVIVAL AND REBIRTH combo ticket at http://zaba.la/revival-tix

21+ ◆ 9:00pm – 3am ◆
Earth Day Carpooling HIGHLY Suggested.
Parking at Hollywood and Highland with a ticket validation at one of the local shops also suggested.

░░▒▒▓▓██ VISUALS ██▓▓▒▒░░

We want to bring you the energy and freedom of New Year’s night every month!

░ ▒ ▓ █ Deco by Ninja Research Labs

Featuring Earth-friendly, low-power, LED lighting.

ALSO FEATURING THE NINJA SKILLZ INFINITY MIRROR (with a surprise update)

http://zaba.la/infinity-mirror-pics

░ ▒ ▓ █ Visuals by Pogoda
One of the few female VJs in the industry, Pogoda brings a unique creativity to the table when it comes to live performance. Refusing to hide behind the scenes, she hopes to bring live video mixing into the light, and to show audiences that this is an art that is interesting to watch, and something that can be interactive. Each performance is unique and tailored to the event and venue, and incorporates software-supported mixing of videoloops that range from geometric patterns, video clips, and live feeds. Using various midi controllers, from Dance pads, to an APC, to video game controllers, and often in costume, she commands attention. In addition to mixing video, Pogoda will often surprise audiences with an arsenal of bubble weapons, marshmallow bows, and any other toys that bring joy, reminding us that we are never too old to play.

http://meganpogoda.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pogodalivevisuals

░ ▒ ▓ █ Circus Arts by Fire n Ice Entertainment
Fire n Ice Entertainment delivers sexy, fashionable, sensational circus arts to leading venues and clients around the world.

Watch the FIREnICE PROMO 2011!! [HD]

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1748745452858&oid=207183217517

▪ http://www.FIREnICEentertainment.com/
▪ http://www.twitter.com/FIREnICEent
▪ http://www.facebook.com/FIREnICEentertainment

░ ▒ ▓ █ Photo (Kissing) booth by The Pink Tie
▪ http://thepinktie.com/
▪ http://www.facebook.com/thepinktie

░ ▒ ▓ █ Earth Day Art made out of recycled materials by Aliya Kalypso
▪ http://aliya-kalypso.com/

— and a few surprises!

░ ▒ ▓ █ About Ninja Skillz █ ▓ ▒ ░

Ninja Skillz has risen to the forefront of the Underground Community with successful appearances at major LA nightclubs such as Spundae, Avalon, Vanguard, The Hollywood Palladium, multiple sold out festivals in Mexico, Yacht parties, Catalina Island, and several outdoor events all over the West Coast. It is the firm commitment of Ninja Skillz Music to bring together all manner of art, media, and culture to create multi-sensory, transcendent experiences. By combining diverse dancers, visual artists, circus performers, fire dancers, gods, goddesses, muses, and madmen, Ninja Skillz will continue to be a weapon against the mundane.

▪ http://ninjaskillz.net/
▪ http://twitter.com/ninjaskillz
▪ Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ninja-Skillz/64731928577
▪ Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=14384770572

Soo… I’m in this really fantastic art show on Saturday! I have one piece in it and it’s a group show with sixty artists at my favorite art venue in LA. You should come. Free booze, hot girls, and food trucks!! The theme is the dark and cryptic origins of nursery rhymes, which is a super fun theme. My piece starts off at $50 in the art auction- proceeds help the ANGEL CITY DERBY GIRLS. I’ll upload my piece after the show if you live too far away. 7-11pm. Meltdown Comics, 7522 Sunset Blvd, LA CA 90046. I’m also shooting this show!

And here’s info on the afterparty!!!

Last night I had the opportunity to shoot the red carpet arrivals for the Walking Dead premiere, held at Arclight Hollywood. Walking Dead is a TV show about zombies that’s premiering Oct 30 on AMC. It’s based on the award-winning comic book by Robert Kirkman. A ton of the cast and creators were at the premiere, and I have a full photo gallery of the event at Comic Book Resources. Check it out!

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=29107

When Mel Caylo of Archaia sent me an invite to his BBQ, I knew I wanted to make cupcakes of their popuar Mouse Guard comic book. I stayed up Saturday night baking vanilla cupcakes for the base, and mini Pop-Tarts on sticks. In the morning I ran to Michael’s and bought Wilton’s brown fondant mix, and sculpted tiny mice. I wrapped the fondant around chocolate chips, and used fruit roll ups for the capes. They turned out really awesome.

At the BBQ, we met lots of really fun people. Mel’s roomate Steve who makes wine. Mike Choi and Dennis Calero (left). Joshua Cozine. Emmett stopped by. Seth Green was there. And then Steve told us about his other roomate, Rafael. The guy who wrote Hackers.

I fantarded out. The thing is, I shoot comic book conventions all the time. Celebrities are pretty normal occurrences, especially people who are in things that I like quite a bit. But Hackers is different. Yes, it’s a cheesy movie and has technically inaccurate points. But it’s also one of my favorites. I ran a hacker zine back when it came out, and I dunno, parts of it resonate with me and my friends in a way that no other movie really can. I rollerbladed to payphones after that movie came out. Also the soundtrack is still one of my favorites. So I was rather excited to meet the guy who wrote it. Oddly, it just got posted to Netflix streaming, and Chris had been pimping it out. Me, Dave, and Jules had been watching it as I made the Mouse Guard cupcakes the night before. Super random.

We hung out with him for like an hour, talking about behind the scenes stuff mostly. Then Jim Mahfood showed up, which was also totally random, since I had no idea he was going to be there. He mentions that Jane Dope is in a play and that it was kinda like Pee-Wee’s Playhouse. Sold.

So we end up at the Strange theater on Melrose, watching Adam-O’s breakfast show. Jane Dope was a rollerskating cereal waitress. Everyone in the audience was eating bowls of cereal. I can’t even explain what it was like, except that it was surreal and awkward and terrible and awesome, all at the same time. I did get to throw a pie at a comedian, who it turns out was one of TommEE’s friends.

After that, Dave, Jules and I went barhopping with Jim Mahfood and his crew. Our first stop was The Drawing Room, a dive bar in Siverlake. One problem: it was karaoke night. But as we were leaving, we realized that Rod Stewart was doing karaoke to one of his own songs. wtf?!!

We escaped across the street to Ye Olde Rustic Inn to drink. Another problem! Trivia night! (Sorry Emmett, trivia sucks when you’re not playing). After almost getting kicked out, we escaped yet again.. this time to 4100, one of my favorite bars in LA. This one had redbull vodkas, and the inside always makes me feel like I’m in a genie bottle. We hung out for a while, then hit King Taco on the way home for California burritos, and watched a crazy lady with a doll yell at people. Best Labor Day weekend ever.

Of course, I waited til last minute to make the dough, and was trying to measure out 1cm tall chunks at 2am. But the bigger problem was that the dough was defrosting fast as I was trying to build the cookies, and I was worried that it wouldn’t be smooth enough to scan.

But the cookie block did look fine the next day, and sliced easily. We laid them onto cookie sheets and baked them. In Chris’s sunny computer room, they did scan. However, the program was having problems with the contrast. Next time, add more blue and red food coloring, as well as more melted chocolate, to give your cookies more contrast.

Chris was in charge of making the code work with the cookies. He used Processing and NyARToolkit to make that happen.

I also made some onigiri rice balls with the trigger shape cut out, and some quick California rolls. The rolls didn’t trigger the software, but the riceballs did. We showcased these at Hacker Drinkup 100, at Rick’s Tavern.

I drew a bunch of mustaches that would display randomly. Here is what your options were:

Screenshots from Chris’s App: http://id.cnelson.org/augmented-stache

Eliot’s Blog Post: http://www.robotskirts.com/2010/05/27/augmented-reality-mustaches/

My Flickr Set of Hacker Drinkup 100: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinguino/sets/72157624155168304/

I think we’re a bit obsessed with augmented reality now, so expect more cool stuff from us soon!

When Chris mentioned that there was an animal out there called Toky0-X that is genetically engineered to be the tastiest animal out there, we knew we had to try it. Tokyo-X is a real, legit animal. It was created by cross-breeding Durok (US), Berkshire (UK), and Beijing Black (China) pigs together. It took seven years for them to develop this delicious animal. Tokyo-X has marbled meat, which is extremely rare in pork. It has 5% inter-muscle fat and costs twice as much as normal pork. Tokyo-X is to pigs as Wagyu is to cows.

At first, we were going to try to find Tokyo-X in Japan, but then Chris found a place in LA that served it, in Koreatown. Park’s BBQ. (955 S Vermont Ave)

Chris, Erin, Dave, Jules, Eliot, Strom, and I ventured into Koreatown to a nice BBQ spot. Each of the long tables had two grills. We ordered a few things, but were most excited about our Tokyo-X pork belly. They brought us a ton of sides and sauces, too. It was amazing. I’d like more of my food to be genetically engineered. Eliot, the vegetarian in our group, even tried it, but was oddly not impressed. Everyone else loved it, though.

Edit: we found some Tokyo-X curry. Does anyone know where to find this, in either Los Angeles or Japan?

Started the day off with a chocolate energy drink, and the Super Lion drink, both from Malaysia. The chocolate drink just tasted like those nestle  hot chocolate packets, way watered down, with Vitamin B added. The Lion drink tasted like Redbull and Smarties.

Century Eggs were first on the list of weird foods. While they looked horrific, they tasted pretty good.  They’re eggs fermented in clay and lime for several weeks. These were purchased at Ranch 99.

First stop: Shufeng Garden. Pig Ears in Chili. Not a fan of spicy foods. Pig Ears are crunchy, and the stripes reminded me of bacon. They just tasted hot though. Not scary.

Jellyfish Heads. I’ve had Jellyfish before; they have a snapping popping texture. I really hate onions, so for me it was much harder to finish the onions on my plate than the Jellyfish.

The event became an actual challenge when we went to a place called Ay-Chung and were brought the Stinky Tofu. It reeks. It smells like a cheese gone wrong, and a bit like sewage. The smell makes you gag and you can smell it a block away. Once you get past the smell (and cover it in soy sauce and chili), it just tastes like fried tofu. But then the smell creeps up your throat and you gag some more.

I was kinda joking to people that we’d eat turtle soup. But then I saw it on the menu at Nature Pagoda and my heart sank. I have a pet turtle, and it’s one of the animals that I didn’t really want to eat. They didn’t tell us what the soups were until after we ate them. And this was at an herbal medicinal soup place. The one on the right was turtle, and it’s good for girls on their period. The one on the right was crocodile, and it’s good for coughs. I’d actually eat crocodile; I really liked the broth and the meat (even though it had tons of tiny bones). And honestly.. turtle tasted really good. I just felt really guilty about it.

So. We took turns trying to guess what the squishy, strongly herbally thing we just ate was.. and we convinced ourselves that it was balls. Close.. ox penis. Ughhhhhhh. At least nobody liked it.

Next up were sea snails. I really liked these. They were really salty, but difficult to extract from the shells. The shells looked cool though. This was at Happy Kitchen.

Dessert.. a sundae topped with frog ovaries. There was black rice at the bottom. It was cold and refreshing, and not really that bad. One dude in our group got a ton of it to go cuz he liked it so much. This was at a place called Tasty.

Yay we did it! Actually everyone in our group did. About half had eaten really weird stuff before, including a girl who’s had tarantula. While I kinda wish there were insects on the menu, there definitely were foods I probably wouldn’t come across easily. If you’re into food challenges, I totally recommend this event. Thanks for the bday present, Chris and Erin! This might be the craziest food day ever. There are more pics on my flickr account.

Washed down the frog ovaries and the cock with some strawberries