Synthetic people, synthetic parts

TaiyoToy Company also manufactures the novelty "lap pillow". The polyurethane lap pillow is molded on a real woman and provides, as the company advertises, "close-to-real warm and smooth lap feeling". For a party attraction and lonesome hearts, it is available at 8,980 yen (US$86) with a choice of red or black skirt.


The synthetic flight attendant comes only in a lime green uniform.

Tokyo demonstration

While strolling through downtown Tokyo, I came across an anti-Bush demonstration. About 150 protesters held up signs in front of Parliament, demanding the withdrawal of Japan Self-Defense Forces from Iraq. The man on the left wearing the rainbow wig was not part of the demonstration. He was distributing posters for the Summer Sonic festival and got caught up in the demonstration.


I just had to zoom in on this crown-of-barbed wire vampire Bush poster.

Here's the GothGirl series so far

Collect them all!

While in Tokyo

While in Tokyo, I had an opportunity to meet with Mr. Hiro Nakamura, president of TaiyoToy Company, who will be manufacturing and distributing my line of GothGirl bobble head dolls. GothGirl started out as a Halloween card, then developed into an on-going series of illustrations applicable to other holidays, news events, etc. Soon, the GothGirl bobbleheads will be available in the U.S. from cafepress.com

Head like a hole, with teeth

After the MTV Japan awards show, I was walking around Tokyo, doing some sightseeing, and who did I run into? None other than Trent Reznor, Mr. Nine Inch Nails himself! He was in Tokyo for the SummerSonic Festival in a couple of days. Unfortunately, I was scheduled to continue on to my next location, so I had to miss that show. But we hung out for a while, had some sushi, talked technology. Managed to snap his picture. Thanks, Trent!

I love technology. And sushi.

Combining two of the things that the Japanese love best: technology and food (they’ve got their priorities straight over there) these USB memory keys from Solid Alliance have got plastic sushi stuck to them. Never again will you have to choose between having sushi or having a USB memory drive — thanks to the USB sushi drive. These USB drives are hand-made-in-Tokyo sushi replicas. The convincing USB sushi drive comes in several flavors.



So that gave me the idea to print these t-shirts, borrowing the I Love Technology line from Napoleon Dynamite.

Moster award

For a change of pace, I am going to post some photos from my Asia Tripping Summer '06 tour.

I happened to be in Tokyo during the MTV Japan Awards and I got tickets for the show, where I managed to get this shot of Godzilla accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Godzilla remains an enduring character beloved by fans worldwide, and is among the few creatures granted this award by MTV Japan, becoming the second fictional character, and the first to be completely non-human in nature, to receive it.

General Tequila

This illustration is based on an actual bartender from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

At the party/closing ceremony for the National Association of Hispanic Journalists convention in 1998, all the participants were bused from El Paso, Texas to a rodeo arena in Juarez. There was a huge food tent where we were served authentic Mexican food. A concrete pit was stocked full of ice cold beer. Free food, free beer, free tequila!

General Tequila, wearing a gun holster with a bottle of tequila in one side, a bottle of 7Up in the other, wandered around, dispensing free shots for everyone. The shot glasses were stashed where the shotgun shells would normally go.

Afterwards, there was some kind of horseback show with young women riders carrying torches and circling inside the arena very fast. Then the lights were turned off. There was a blur of lights and sounds as the riders circled, then did intersecting figure-eights! Truly a memorable experience! If I could only remember the details ...

Fortunately, my cousin, Miami Herald photographer Al Diaz, took some photos of the horseback show as well as one of me as I tried to snort a Corona.

As we melted/settled back into our air-conditioned Greyhound bus back to our hotel in El Paso, I vaguely remember starting a happy birthday sing-along for someone whom I don’t remember …

It's about time

Everyone's jumping into the blogosphere and it's about time I joined in. I'll be posting my illustrations, photography, found objects, random thoughts. Drop a comment if you're so inclined. This is one of my self-promotional postcards "Surfing in Hell."