Skate Bear

Cometdebris Garamaniacal Garamon

Garamaniacal

FOE co-owner Jim Shea teams up with Michael Nordstrom of Garamania to curate Garamaniacal, an homage to the clunky, crusty, fish-lipped, oil-belching, high-rise-wrecking meteorite monster Garamon and his “recycled” alter ego, the friendly and excitable Pygmon. Garamaniacal will look at kaiju culture through the lens of these two iconic creatures, presenting information on the characters, the TV shows on which they first appeared, and the visionary artists who created them. As well, the gallery will be filled with an amazing assortment of contemporary art and toys inspired by Garamon and Pygmon. Cometdebris will have a custom Garamon figure in the show.

FOE STORE & GALLERY

Tokyo Snow

911

My part from Lisa Whitaker's "911" video, 1993-1994.

New Sametan! サメタン

We're excited to announce the release of the first full color Sametan figure. This version features full color details and two different color vinyl parts (a grey vinyl body and blue vinyl jeans). Each figure is hand painted by Koji at Cometdebris Headquarters in Tokyo. A portion of Sametan's sales will benefit PangeaSeed and their efforts to bring awareness to the plight of sharks worldwide. Sametan is available now in the Cometdebris online store. $45 each. Figures will ship in January.

www.cometdebris.com

Ryokan

I have never been a big fan of baths or onsen (hot springs), both of which are very popular in Japan. So I've always avoided staying at ryokans (Japanese style inns featuring hot spring baths and traditional Japanese meals). Decided to give one a try recently and actually enjoyed it. The one we stayed at included several hot spring baths, both public and private, and our meals were served in our room. We spent an entire day just taking baths, eating, and relaxing.

Morrissey

Morrissey at The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas. November 25, 2011. Good show, played a few old and new, and some classic Smiths songs.

Setlist:
I Want The One I Can't Have
You Have Killed Me
You're The One For Me, Fatty
When I Last Spoke To Carol
Black Cloud
Maladjusted
Ouija Board
I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
Action Is My Middle Name
Meat Is Murder
Satellite Of Love
I Know It's Over
Scandinavia
All The Lazy Dykes
People Are The Same Everywhere
Speedway
Encore: Still Ill

Izu Wild Kingdom: Before & After

What was once a roadside attraction featuring stuffed animals from all over the world is now a thrift store filled with junk. The building remains the same as well as some of the interior decorations (fake palm trees and blue painted sky background), but it now houses racks of used dishes, clothing, broken electronics, and stuff that looks like trash. Back in 2004, I was fortunate enough to visit Wild Kingdom just before it closed down for good. I remember us being the only people there, and half the animals were dried up and falling apart. I didn't think it would last long.

Tamari Park

Skating with Bwana and Naoya at Tamari Park.