Amoeba Music Purchases - 7/31/12

If you see me outside of my house, chances are that I'll be wearing an Amoeba Music cap on my head. Amoeba Music is an independent record shop located in California. There are three of them in the state. The one in Hollywood is one of my favorite places to shop at. If you're a big fan of buying physical copies of music, movies, and posters, look no further. Amoeba Music is the place for you.

http://www.amoeba.com/

Today I went there with the intention of buying some documentaries on DVD because I'm working on one in August. After a couple hours of browsing around (time goes by fast in the building), I ended up with a few impulse buys, which could be good or bad.

I ended up buying the following:
- Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis Box set
- Chromatics - Kill For Love
- Hanna Official Soundtrack
- Catfish on Blu-Ray

Other than documentaries, I was also looking for a copy of "The House Of The Devil" on DVD/Blu-Ray. I heard good things about it and how it was filmed to look like a horror movie from the 80's. I'm also interested in making a horror movie so any kind of inspiration is helpful.

Amoeba Music Purchases will probably be an ongoing series on this blog so expect more of these posts whenever I shop there.

Documentary - Dang Paddles

In the month of August, I'll be working on a documentary about a small business called "Dang Paddles". You can check their Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DangLeCustomGreekPaddles.

For the next few days, I'll be doing pre-production and filming will hopefully start next weekend. If everything goes right, the deadline for the finished product is at the end of September.

Mondo Movie Posters

If you're not familiar with Mondo and love movies, you should be.

From their website:

Mondo creates limited edition screen printed posters for our favorite classic and contemporary films, in addition to vinyl movie soundtracks, VHS re-issues, and apparel. We also have a permanent gallery space in Austin, TX featuring a mix of original artwork and limited edition screen prints.

Right now, I own four Mondo posters including Drive, The Cabin In The Woods, Iron Man, and Captain America. Soon, I will also own a Dark Knight Rises poster, which I ordered about 10 minutes ago, 5 hours after it was up online. It will be available for 24 hours on Wednesday, July 18 2012. Go here if you want to purchase it:
http://www.mondotees.com/The-Dark-Knight-Rises_p_535.html

The thing about Mondo is that they release posters in limited prints. Once they go online, the posters go FAST. Depending on what it is, they could sell out within minutes. Add to the fact that they go up at a random time, things get really hectic. You spend time refreshing the page hoping for the poster to pop up in their store. Once it does, the website starts lagging because there are thousands of other people trying to get that same item at the same time. If you manage to score a poster, congratulations. If you don't, you can always buy it on eBay where people usually sell it for absurd amount of prices. Mondo posters cost about $45 but when it's on a secondary market, the prices climb up to $300 immediately. Depending on what kind of print and edition, it may go even higher. I believe Tyler Stout's "The Thing" was sold for around $2,000 on eBay. That's a lot of profit.

As an alternative to official one sheet movie posters, Mondo is a great way to discover new movies and artwork to hang on your wall.

Thomas Jane returns as The Punisher in short film

If this is Thomas Jane's way of telling Marvel to consider him for another Punisher movie, then sign me up!

Also, if you haven't seen The Punisher (2004), I highly recommend it. Good old school action.

Memorable toys from your childhood

I remember in second grade, I brought this little action figure to Show and Tell, which was a weekly thing where students bring something to class and share it with everybody.

Do you still remember your favorite childhood toys?

Diamond Select Toys 6-99788-26037-1 Battlestar Galactica Series 1 Helo Action Figure

Anime Expo 2012

Right, so I was supposed to post my experience at this year's Anime Expo. Long story short, it was alright. I went there with $100 and left with $90. Paid $10 for parking, walked around the Los Angeles Convention Center for a few hours, took lots of cosplay pictures, and went home. Here are some pictures below:

Super Street Fighter Iv For Playstation 3

Week 2 of PHAT workout

Well let's just say that P.H.A.T. isn't my favorite workout but it does make me feel productive after I'm done. If anything, my arms are getting bigger now. When I did Starting Strength, the arms were neglected as I mostly focused on my core body.

The workouts are also longer. Usually I hit the weights for about 45 minutes and shower/sauna for 15 minutes. Now I'm lifting for almost 70 minutes and then we have the additional 15 minutes for shower/sauna. PHAT's also making me run around the gym and use machines that I've never touched before.