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AUGUST 9 2008: DAMM, I'M FORGETTING SHIT

Again with the 2 month Re-cap crap. What can you do? Let's see if I remember....

Late June was the CHRISTIE'S auction. I had four of my Fine arts pieces in there and I had high hopes for BIG MONEY. Didn't exactly go that way. It was cool, all dressed up in a suit and shit with my father and friends there. Sitting in that big room with rich people buying all kinds of shit. Phone and internet bids flying. The dude with the little hammer at the podium seamlessly going thru the auction lots one after another and making it look effortless. It was cool. So there we are. We sat there for at least an hour waiting for my stuff to come up. I wasn't nervous, I was kind of just blank and at peace, ready to accept the money that was going to get me out of this mess. Then my lots came up and in all of about four minutes it was over. Two pieces sold for a very modest sum and the other two just came and went with a "pass" and the auction just kept going on. I instantly experienced a profound wave of disappointment and cosmic betrayal. As much as I had convinced myself that I had "no expectations," I actually had HUGE hopes for a big payday. I was thinking that I would get the biggest check of my life and be able to pay off all my debts and do all kinds of other shit for my business and really be able to afford to change my life. But no, it was just a modest increase. Never mind that it was a huge press event, forget the fact that I now have a successful sale record at an esteemed auction house, it doesn't matter that Christie's was pleased with how the "designer toys" section performed and that they want to continue to offer your work. Never mind that I made some great connections. I'M STILL POOR DAMMIT. I'm gonna mope around for two days feeling sorry for myself. Then finally realize how affirming the whole thing was once put into perspective. That it was a great accomplishment to be included in this sale. I was such a fool for not allowing myself to accept that because I was driven insane by pure GREEED. I suck. But I got over it. Then the check came and it was for a few hundred more than I thought I was getting.

For the next 3 weeks I don't know what I did. I think I played a Si*Se' show at the Hudson river pier. It was a very beautiful sunset while we were on stage, I think. Then I did a bunch of stupid shit like shot 3 days worth of ORIGINAL VILLAINS before DARKOWL left to protest the Olympics. Had to make sure we had his story in the Can in case he never comes back. I did endless resin casting and shot a bunch of stuff for my upcoming "How-To" toy-making video series. I attended a private party at the ARC for the record release of NAS' new album. He himself showed up and did a little performance of all his hits to about 150 people. It reminded me that New York is still the Shit. It was a beautiful, blunted party. The next week I went back for a THREE SIX MAFIA party. Someone in the building upstairs must be getting sick of all the noise because a big bucket of nasty grey paint got dumped from the roof onto everyone out in the courtyard. A lot of sneakers and fitted caps got ruined. Not to mention some dude's $20,000 watch. There was a small splash on my red guayabera, but my girlfriend got it out. After that I had to get ready for COMICON. All of a sudden we decided to make an exclusive VIMOBOT for a yet-to-be-defined OVN MIMOCO team up. We had no ideas for what to do with the blanks. None of my ideas were that interesting. Then in a flash of Pain-in-the-ass brilliance, the CRYSTAL PHARAOH sez we should attach a vintage NYC Subway Token to the figure's face! What an incredible idea! It says it all about our whole motif of the old New York artifact as a sort of emblem of our Crew and it's war to protect what's left of the dying city, plus it mixes in the idea of modern technology from the flash drive and it is overall such a cool, rugged way to get the whole vibe across. Let's do it now, Oh wait, where the fuck am I going to find 20 vintage subway tokens in 2 days? Suddenly I'm in crisis mode. I have to leave for San Diego in 2 days and this impossible mission to finish these figures just explodes in my face. I went all over the internet and called 40 coin dealers all over the city. Nobody had nuthin. I was about to give up. Then by dumb luck I found all 20 in a little store across the street from my house for 2 bux each.
I won't bore you with another account of last-minute-before-the-Con artistic heroism. For that you can read the 2006 and 2007 comicon entries. Let's just say it's is official that whatever you are gonna do for the con, you will still be working on it at 2am the night before you leave. No matter how well you plan! I'm just telling you...

So I did somehow get to San Diego with all my shit and crashed out at the HARD ROCK HOTEL. Soft Rock was more like it. It was nice, but fuckin uptight and elitist. I experienced mad NERD PREJUDICE up in there, for real. But this is what really happened. Start the trip smoking mad has spliffs with JIMOTHY in his CHISTYLES studio after a fat steak at the Strip Joint. Next day Showed up for work at H-Bro and already got into mad "The Diorama doesn't fit in the case" drama. Rolled up the sleeves with Patrick from DIORAMA DREAMS and made that shit work somehow. Hot glued mad Clone Troopers into the AT-TE and then grabbed sushi at NOBU with SIMEON LIPMAN. More Diorama drama then work the con, scope it out in civilian gear, keep a low pro. Calculate, evaluate, make a strategy. then eat more sushi. Thursday: ENTER VECTAR make it known, reach out, recruit, bring new people into your cause. Do interviews for Mimozone, check out the Brain's Toy's auction. (Incredible) Koji Harmon, DKE, Lamour Supreme, Gargamel. Nivea Danger, Officiate the Mimoco-OVN Vimobot relay race, we have a winner. Munky King party, PFO Monsters, Tim Biskup, Chad Robot, booze booze booze, Blaze Blaze Blaze, Cliff Broadway, Nick the Ring. Crimson Suicide in My room. 8:45 at Hasbro, get my Cobra Commander exclusive, A long blur of talking, eating, walking, Interviewing. Wandering the Gaslamp, getting roped into dancing with a bellydancer on the street, Vectar in a nice Italian restaurant, Boring Lucasfilm Party. 6:45 Am shucking Millennium Falcons off of a truck. Overcrowded LOST panel. New DHARMA video and Matthew Fox! More wandering, a nap, couldn't sleep, fish tacos, More interviews, Frank Kozik, Amanda Visell, Another Contest winner! No masks allowed at Hard Rock parties! Racists! Drive to the beach, Giant Robot bonfire gets extinguished by cops, back to the con, late nite rave, Where's Crimson? This is a deja vu'. Who just bumped me and spilled my beer? Oh it's her. Drop a tab of ecstasy. Transient bum tells Vectar to "Rock Hard with that mask." We give him a joint. Party's over, bars closed. Let's get high and drunk in my room while we roll until 5 am. Back to the con. More interviews. Uh, oh, gotta break down the booth. How can I? Shouldn't I be tired? Work til 11pm packing boxes. I'm still rolling. Gotta pack all my shit. Who's business card is this? Chuck it. Bye Crimson. 8 Am flight, thai pizza. Good night. Back to New York, 50 boxes to mail, 75 emails to write, two Si*Se' rehearsals in 2 days. have sex, finally, get on a plane, go back to LA, sit there in the hotel like a zombie, eat tacos, Go to another hotel, go to the beach, play a show at Temple Bar, get stinking drunk, drive to San Francisco. Fuck it's cold! Walk 10 blocks alone to eat at the Sushi boat place. Play Stern Grove, go to a pink club, start falling asleep in VIP next to two fat girls, get on a plane, come home, have sex, unpack your dirty Comcion laundry, 25 boxes to mail, finish edit of New OVN video. Smoke, sleep til noon 5 days in a row, justify it. Start new OVN video, clean studio, get ready for next wave of casting, chase your money, pay bills, and on and on and on and on........