Sanjaya

It's amazing to me how much a google of the name "Sanjaya" will yield. It's a little ridiculous that a contestant on American Idol is generating so much internet buzz.

My favorite headline was: "Some say 'Idol' credibility at stake if Sanjaya wins."

Really. Wow! The credibility of a glorified karaoke game show is at stake. It seems as if the public has come to identify this show with "America." The obsession/controversy that this has been generating is up there with Gay Marriage and the The War Against Terror (TWAT).

It's as if the public read: "Some say America's credibility at stake if Sanjaya wins."

Golly, folks... look who we've elected President for two terms. And now you're wondering about credibility.

For a rundown of headlines on the internet check here.

LA Mr. Gay - Superhero Art by Aman

As part of the Grand Prize for the LA Mr. Gay Competition, I was asked by producer John Michael Beck to do a portrait of winner Jimmy Waters as a superhero!

Fun project, and everyone was great to work with. Special thanks to Prism Comics for setting this all up. Those guys rock!

ART: "Glen Hanson" - Sketch Painting 1/12/2007

Glen Hanson once urged me to spend a little less time on the internet and a little more time creating art. So the other day when my internet was out I figured it would be appropriate to do a quick sketch painting of him. Ironically, here I am again on the internet, posting it!

The Arbiters: CD Cover Art by Aman

I kept hearing The Arbiters on KCRW and jumped at the chance when I heard they were looking for an illustrator to do a CD cover for them.

Thomas Golubic's concept was to have the members depicted as super-heroes, with a front and back cover that worked together. The Arbiters, as shown on the cover, are Jez, Thomas & Jesse.

Here are the front and back covers side-by-side:

Sketch Painting 2007.01.04

Hmmm... turned out a bit darker than I planned... but I just went with it. Enjoyed the softer sketchy style, which contrasted the subject matter. I actually did this back in October right after the last one and then let it collect dust for a while before I give it some tweaks and posted it.

Sketch Painting 2006.09.29 - jungle

Another painted sketch. No plan, just sat down and made some random shapes until something started coming together and went from there. Focused more on color and light than form.

Sketch Painting 2006.09.25 - ant

Been a while since I just sat down and did a piece for the fun of it. Didn't have a plan, just sat down and banged something out really quickly today.

Thtrollin' on a Thunday in Thilverlake

This past Sunday, I discover a new place for brunch, El Cid. This Silverlake hangout is well-known for it’s flamenco nights, but who knew it serves a fabulous brunch to a largely labia-lovin’ clientele that all swoon to the sounds of Jerrie Thill & Friends! Jerrie is an awesome, octogenarian jazz drummer. She’s also very open to ‘guest vocalists,’ saying “If I’m workin’ everyone’s got to work.” My friend Daniel gets up for an impromptu rendition of “I’ve Got The World on a String.”

Later on, strolling through The SL, I run into fellow Harvard-Westlake alum, Darren Stein, at that cool new, perpetually-packed gelato place on the corner of Sunset and Hyperion. He is working on a treatment for a reality show he is pitching to VH1 with Clint Catalyst. The SL is a pretty cool place to stroll, especially with all the new stores and galleries opening up. I know, as an artist, I should be down on gentrification, but as a property-owner I can’t help but being pleased by it too. Does that make me a sell-out?

Greg says I should replace ‘hiking and yoga’ and my list of “Interests” with ‘strolling and napping’ because I love those things more. It’s true these days. So after strolling we go back to my place and take a nap. Afterwards we stop by Mae Ploy for dinner. Mae Ploy has no atmosphere, but great Thai food as opposed to the over-rated Rambutan Thai down the street. We also notice that there are a lot of bears there. Are the husky gay men all moving south now? This is the crowd that was more prevalent down near Sunset Junction back in the day.

We are amused that after giving our order to one waitress, another comes by and says: “I will follow your orders.” How’s that for service!

Get us out from under... Wonder Woman!

Now for a little post Comic-Con fun involving everyone's favorite Amazing Amazon.

Wonder Woman and Batman argue over oral sex:

Some more invisible fun:

Put on you iPod and spin around the house to these two remixes of the Wonder Woman TV show theme song:
The '98 Wonder Woman Dance Edit and The Kitsch & Camp Mix

These goodies and more were posted on The ‘About Town’ Forum where there is a brilliant Wonder Woman discussion going on. Here is an excerpt from Suzette Chan’s comments:

Good points about the positives and negatives of Perez's reboot. I do think she was conceived as a warrior -- that's what Amazons were in legend -- by Moulton, though with his particular spin on feminism. His Wonder Woman's strength was in restraint, signalled by her lasso and her defensive bracelets, while Perez, who also set out an overt feminist vision, chose to involve more outward, modern militaristic trappings.

The advantage of the Moulton version is that she can have an aspect that keens and has weaknesses like a human, but shows power by restraining that: her having a secret identity was an intrinsic part of all that. But the Perez version has led to to a monolithic-type, fascistic character who is so unweilding in carrying out her annointed purpose, she's not a relatably human character, and worse, bores the piss out of me.

Click here to go to the discussion.

Pictures from Comic-Con '06

While going through my pictures from Comic-Con, I really got how amazing, wonderful and self-expressed the friends I go once a year to see there are!

The pix are now up! (I did this as quickly as possible so feel free to add tags and contact me names etc. for captions.)

Here is the link to the entire set.

And a few favorites:

Video Clips from Comic-Con International '06 in San Diego

Below are clips of Ray Park doing a light-saber demo and from the 19th Annual Gays in Comics Panel: Phil Jimenez, Greg Rucka & Andy Mangels.

Ray Park demos his Light Saber skills


Phil Jimenez discusses "Otherworld"


Greg Rucka discusses Renee Montoya
(I met Gred & his wife Jen Van Meter for the first time this year. They are awesome!)


An attendee acknowledges Andy Mangels who started the GiC panel 19 years ago.

Awesome Women of Comics!

I met some amazing women at Comic-Con this year.

Donna Barr http://www.stinz.com/

Roberta Gregory http://robertagregory.com/

Paige Braddock http://www.paigebraddock.com/

Abby Denson http://www.abbycomix.com/

Melinda Gebbe, whose book "Lost Girls" with Alan Moore, was finally released, was (Roberta Gregory's guest) at The Big Gay Dinner.
http://community.livejournal.com/feminist_sex/12343.html

And also former director of promotions for DC Comics, Patty Jeres, who was a big hit on the Gays in Comics Panel.

Alison Bechdel was not there, but her new memoir, "Fun Home" was widely acknowledged as one of the best biographical works around.
http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/booksellers/press_release/bechdel/