Monday, February 28, 2005

Snow Couch.

Snow Couch.

Friday, February 25, 2005

Waiting for sushi.

Waiting for sushi.

Thursday, February 24, 2005

Lego maniac!

Lego maniac!

Legos by the bag! Now I can finally get those 50 blue 2x2's.

Monday, February 21, 2005

Steve Goes To The Toy Fair!



I love toys. Not just action figures, but toys of all kinds. I always have. I'm one of those guys that never ever stopped buying toys. And as a toy lover growing up in New York City, I've always been intrigued by Toy Fair. As an industry-only event, I was always left outside, crying, while crazy old business men would be inside, playing with new toys. I remember whenever February rolled around, I would watch the local news daily, waiting for the usual 3 minute novelty piece where they sent the wacky reporter to the Javitz Center, where they would show a handful of interesting new toys. When I discovered the hobby magazines, I would run to the comic stores and drool over the magazines of photos and photos of new product (I wouldn't buy them, I would just drool over them).

A few years back, my buddy Jeremy, through some crazy witchcraft, was able to acquire a pass to the this Willy Wonka-like wonderland. He'd show me photo after photo, all while regaling me with tales of inside this wonderland.

Anyway, I had planned to spend my President's Day by checking out that giant playing card city that was being built inside the Good Morning America Studios, buying some of the cards to benefit the tsunami charities, and then going to see a movie or two.

Late last night, Jeremy IM'ed me and asked me if I would like to use his extra guest pass for Toy Fair tomorrow.

Screw charity, man, I'm going to Toy Fair!



The promised land.

Of course, Jeremy had no appointments at the showrooms of the larger toy companies, located across town in the "Toy District," so all we would see today was the giant grab bag of fun that is in the Javitz Center. These are all the smaller companies that don't put up the money for their own showroom, but that was fine with me. I was excited to check out the wacky shit I didn't need, but I had to buy.



While waiting for Jeremy to arrive, I perused the free industry magazines, and I decided I found a new calling in life. I need to become a "Professional Candy Buyer." No more of this amateur shit for me.



As I continued to wait for Jeremy to arrive, one of these fine people at the National Toy Hall of Fame asked me if I wanted an Extra-Long Pencil. I exclaimed, "YES!", and luckily, he actually gave me an extra-long pencil. In hindsight, I really should have put more thought into that response.



Finally, Jeremy arrives, and we venture inside the hallowed halls of the Javitz Center.

Y'know, looking at the place, I am in awe of it's size. Despite it's lousy location, I still think they could throw an awesome comic book convention there.

Damn you, organized crime. Damn you.



All the celebrities were there, including long-dead President Abe Lincoln.

It's actually kinda sad that Abe had to spend President's Day working.



The true highlight of the show was seeing the prototypes for Palisades' Sesame Street line, including the awesome summer convention exclusive Super Grover picture. The painting on the cover of the box was done by Alex Ross. It's my favorite Ross piece in a long time.



I forgot what company this was, but I'm 100% sure they had no clue what they were doing.



This year's inflatable Spider-Man's are 50% bigger than last year. If they continue to progress at this rate, we are all doomed.



Coming soon to 99Cents Stores everywhere are this year's assortment of Generic Ninja Figures, Toxic Glow In The Dark Stickers, and Eye-Sight Endangering Pellet Guns.



Foam Fun Soap! I've been waiting years for this shit to make a comeback. If only the Simpson's version came in Be-Sharp packaging, but then it would probably have to be poisonous.



Perhaps the emptiest section of the whole show.



This was the coolest thing I saw at the show: Instant Snow! It comes in test tubes vials of powder, that magically becomes snow after adding water! It's doesn't melt, but in two weeks time, it dries up, and you can use it over again. It's always cold, and can be frozen in a freezer to make a snowball. I'm probably all sorts of sterile now for touching it, but man, it was so worth it.



Finally, a Jeff Foxworthy doll! Some genius company is making talking dolls of Jeff, and his partners-in-crime, Larry The Cable Guy and Bill Engvall! Now I can re-enact my favorite parts of "Blue Collar TV" like 'not watching it' and 'wishing it was cancelled.'



Another year goes by without anything new to report on the state of the pimp hat in America. One of these days, someone is going to blow that industry wide open.



I don't know about you, but if I had to play the 'SELF ESTEEM GAME!', my self-esteem would plummet. That is, if I had any self-esteem left.

...sigh...

WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I NEEDED YOU SELF-ESTEEM GAME? All I had was Trouble, whose Pop-O-Matic die mocked my skills at dice throwing.



Imitation Animal Poop: now available in cat variety! Dog poop was getting so old.



GIANT #2 PENCILS! Where were these when I took the giant SATs?



That is the world's most awesome pogo stick. It launches you ten feet into the air. Once these things hit the market, expect cars to become useless. Expect to highways and streets loaded with people bouncing from one destination to another.

Take that Segway!



The greatest invention of the entire show: the Bobble Head Bobbler. Simply place your favorite bobble head on this stand, and watch as it bobbles itself for hours on end. If you can tell me you can look at that and not actually say "Why didn't I think of that?", you're lying.

And finally, the greatest toys of the show were the only ones where I was told I couldn't take pictures of. But luckily, they have them all up on their website! Everyone, check out Dieter Mueller's American Teens Collectors' Series Dolls!

-Steve!

Friday, February 18, 2005

Whoa

Whoa

Thursday, February 17, 2005

Chasing Subway



Y'know, I was born and raised in this city, and there are still locations that are new to me.

I was out early today running an errand for work. I had to drop some tapes off at the studio in Tribeca before a shoot. It was early and I was a little out of it. I dropped off the tapes, swiped a bagel from the craft services table, and was on my way back to the office when I took notice of the subway station I was getting in.



Kevin Smith shot a quick shot here for the montage sequence of "Chasing Amy". For some reason, this shot has always stood out to me (maybe it's because Joey Lauren Adams is wearing an awesome Justice League jacket that the Warner Bros. Studio Store used to sell). I was always curious where this station was, because I couldn't figure it out when I saw the movie.

It's the Franklin St. stop on the 1 or 9 uptown.

-Steve!

BIZARRO!



Went to the Bizarro World signing at Jim Hanley's last night. This is what I walked away with. Totally awesome.

-Steve!

It's like a Spin City reunion!

It's like a Spin City reunion!

Now starring the other guy from Ferris Bueller.

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Wednesday At Ohlinger's.

Wednesday At Ohlinger's.

Magic the Gathering!

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Best Spam Ever!

Biker Boyz

Biker Boyz

Two years ago, I put this poster up in my school.

It's still there.

Sunday, February 13, 2005

I'm an moron.

...

I went to a fun ass party tonight at Rob/Joe/Dennis's, but left my camera there. I'm going to be panicking about this until I get my camera back.

I'm a moron.

Thursday, February 10, 2005

Netflix 33: Irma La Douce



So today, I started my Billy Wilder film marathon. I've decided to knock out the Billy Wilder films that I haven't seen that I could get from Netflix. At the top of my list was "Irma La Douce", since it stars Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, reteaming from my favorite Billy Wilder movie "The Apartment".

Jack Lemmon plays a straight laced policeman who falls in love with Shirley MacLaine's hooker, and later goes on to become her jealous pimp. The weird thing is that the movie is set in France, although it is full of American sensibilities. I mean, it should have just been set in New Orleans or something. There is basically not one character who speaks in a French accent throughout the movie.

I'm totally surprised that this film hasn't been tapped for a remake for today's pimp-loving culture. I can see Jamie Foxx in the Jack Lemmon role, and Beyonce in the Shirley Maclaine role. Get Cedric the Entertainer to play pimp's bartender accomplice, and set it in, oh, I dunno, let's say Atlanta. Cast Snoop Dogg as the rival pimp, and I think we've got a box office champion in the making.

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

Netflix 32: Pauly Shore Is Dead



Did you ever wonder what's going on in Pauly Shore's head? No? So it was just me?

Well, this answers that question.

In his directorial debut, Pauly Shore imagines what it would be like if he killed himself. Would he be remembered like Sam Kinison or John Belushi? Or will he just be another Jonathan Brandis? This being his fantasy, Pauly fakes his own death to see the result. The result: SUPERSTARDOM!

I got this thing for Pauly Shore movies. I love them. I've seen'em all. I still believe Bio-Dome is one of the crowning comedic achievements of the 1990's. I was the guy who watched his sitcom. When I was on jury duty last year, I seriously considered bringing an chihuahua with me.

That being said, this movie was made for me.

That is, me and me alone. Everyone else will hate it, and rightfully so.

But for me, it allowed me to swim in Pauly Shore's brain for an hour and twenty-two minutes.

And what a wonderful place it is.

Netflix 31: 24 Season 1 Disc 6



Tony Almeida's soul patch was indeed awesome.

I wanted to hate "24", because it's one of those thing when you hear people talk about it constantly, you just want to hate it, but I did end up enjoying the first season. It did have it's faults though. Y'see, it was really a 16 hour movie. And they don't really make 16 hour movies, because, well, they just get boring at a point. And that point happened somewhere between Noon and 6pm. I just couldn't really bare it at that point. The show really picked up when Lou Diamond Phillips showed up, despite Dennis Hopper giving perhaps the worst accent ever (it was somewhere between Boris Badenov and Dexter). There were some plots that really should have been excised (like Rick, the friendly kidnapper), and I've been told they get better as the seasons go on (although I have heard about a plot involving Kim, a cougar, and a bear trap in the woods).

On second thought, that does sound awesome.

Sunday, February 06, 2005

Netflix 30: 24 Season 1 Disc 5



Lou Diamond Phillips rocks.

Thursday, February 03, 2005

Netflix 29: 24 Season 1 Disc 4



Nina Myers is a stupid-head.

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

This feels kinda threatening...

This feels kinda threatening...