Oct. 30, 2007

San Jose Tattoo Convention (2007)

I attended the Convention of Tattoo Arts presented by State of Grace in San Jose, Calif. yesterday where tattoo artists (including the lovely Kat Von D from the show "LA Ink") could be seen in action giving patrons tradtional and Japanese handtap-style tattoos. I picked up some fabulous flash tattoo art-inspired jewelry as well as some signed art, chatted with my favorite artist Shawn Barber, gawked at all the amazing tattooists under one roof, and wished I had more money to get a tattoo right then and there.

The convention also had a magnificent display of old-style flash art that included military slogans, pirates, skulls, pretty ladies and bizarre tributes like the chicken head ballerina!

Check out all the fun here:
San Jose Tattoo Con (2007)

Oct. 29, 2007

ILM Lucasfilm Halloween Party

Not as big as an event as last year's but pretty fun nonetheless. Some costumes included Office Space (with the post-it guy and red stapler), Twilight Zone characters, Dr. Seuss characters, Rick James, gigantic sock monkeys, robots, drag queen Snow White, Icarus, Spock, ghoulies, monkeys, ducks, chickens... actually it looked more like a sci-fi zoo than a Halloween party!

I went as the Black Dahlia and realized I had the wrong kind of flower for my hair, so when I got to the shindig I snapped off a flower that sorta looked closer to the real thing from a flower bed at a business park. Talk about last second DIY!

Check out all the photos here:
ILM Halloween Party (2007)

Oct. 25, 2007

Ask Bonnie -- Ghost Hunting Tips

Ask Bonnie -- Ghosts

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Host: Bonnie Burton
Videographer: John Polizzi

Grrl.com Blogger Bonnie Burton answers questions all about Ghost Hunting!

The show previously aired online on Web Waste which is now long gone. So if you have questions/comments email them to Bonnie Burton at: bonnie@grrl.com

Oct. 24, 2007

Star Wars Crafts LiveJournal Community

Being inspired by Crafty Tardis I decided it was about time I do a Star Wars Crafts Livejournal Community. So behold -- Star Wars Crafts Community.

After writing endless Star Wars craft projects for Lucasfilm on starwars.com -- like the Bossk Bean Art portrait, Chewie Tissue Box Cozies, Yoda Felt Doll and a ton of others -- I figured I might as well start a group on LJ where we can all share our ideas!

Please join the community and post craft project ideas, questions, links you find to other Star Wars craftiness online or whatever! I want to make this a fun crafting community for all of us who can't help but geek out with a glue gun!

Oct. 10, 2007

Ask Bonnie -- Ukuleles

Here's a segment from my old Vlog (before there were vlogs) for Excite@home when I was the editor of a wacky section called Web Waste. Enjoy. And no cracks about my glasses!

See all the videos here.

Oct. 6, 2007

New Drug Side Effect: WookieeVision

The next time you start using a new antifungal treatment (not that we're saying you ever will) you might end up seeing Wookiees as a side effect. According to a report on CNBC, some recent scientific research unveiled -- at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy meeting -- an interesting effect of the new Pfizer drug called Vfend. The study showed that 12% of the people who take Vfend start seeing things -- specifically Wookiees.

Miller Tabak healthcare analyst Les Funtleyder had this to say about the report:

"Included in the reported visions was at least one sighting of a Wookiee (presumably Chewbacca). We make the following observations: What is wrong with seeing Wookiees? We are making no changes to our 2007 $700 million sales forecast for Vfend, and continue to believe that sales for the drug can grow at a 10% clip over the next few years. We do not see future FDA action in terms of a black-box Wookiee warning or an FDA Wookiee panel."

Oct. 5, 2007

Plants Warn Each Other!

Researchers at the Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands have found that certain types of plants form underground networks of runners that they use for communication with neighboring plants of the same species.

From Science Daily:
Recently [Josef] Stuefer and his colleagues were the first to demonstrate that clover plants warn each other via the network links if enemies are nearby. If one of the plants is attacked by caterpillars, the other members of the network are warned via an internal signal. Once warned, the intact plants strengthen their chemical and mechanical resistance so that they are less attractive for advancing caterpillars.

More info here.

Oct. 4, 2007

Stormzilla!!!

(photo by Bonnie Burton)

Oct. 4, 2007

Retro Comic Image of the Day

Oct. 4, 2007

"Colbert Report" Star Wars Pop-up Book Cameo

In the Oct. 3 epsiode of "The Colbert Report," host Stephen Colbert dared ask the question who would be brave enough to release their book the same day (Oct. 9) as his new soon-to-be bestseller -- I Am America (And So Can You!)

Author Paul Krugman may have recently changed the publication date for his new book The Conscience of a Liberal to Oct. 15, but one of our favorite authors Matthew Reinhart is still prepared for the challenge with his book -- Star Wars: A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy.

Here's what Colbert had to say:

The question is, who else is going to buckle under the pressure and run away from their Oct. 9 release dates with their bookmarks between their legs? What about you Matthew Reinhart? Will you still have the stones to put out Star Wars: A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy? Or will you crumble like a B-1 battle droid? More on this as it unfolds. (Colbert proceeds to open up Star Wars: A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy book to the Rancor monster page.) Oh...oh...oh that is cool!

Watch the video clip here on ComedyCentral.com (Click the video under "Recent Videos" called “Krugman Correction.")

Of course, it's no surprise that Colbert loved the Star Wars book considering his ILM-enhanced chat with Jar Jar and an in-studio lightsaber duel with George Lucas himself. Here's hoping Colbert continues with the Star Wars references. Any day Colbert wants to do an interview for our Star Wars Rocks series, we'll be ready and waiting for his onslaught of Force-sensitive Truthiness!