Posts Filed Under: la

Mike sent me an IM, “You want to go see the new Tron in 3D IMAX on Saturday?” I’m like, “Hell yeah!”

Driving down, we had a suspicion it was just a trailer from all the chatter across the web leading up to the event. Rumors were even flying it was attached to an early screening of the new Alice in Wonderland. That made the most sense, with Tron still being 10 months out, and Alice being just a week. Besides, Disney owns both…

It turned out it was only the new trailer, shown twice. (For some proper journalism on the event, check out Mike’s recount on Kotaku.)

The screening was at THE BRIDGE: Cinema de Lux in The Promenade at Howard Hughes Center — my old stomping grounds in Culver City, CA. Culver City also happens to be the place where the original Flynn’s Arcade stood. Now its a swank restaurant called Akasha.

Both Tron directors were on hand — the original, Steven Lisberger, and the new, Joseph Kosinski. This gave me some hope that the movie may turn out all right. That, and the trailer was pretty stunning. It is going to be a must see in 3D IMAX.

From what I gathered during the 20 minute Q & A session (while the film rewound), Daft Punk was heavily involved and will be in the movie, Disney will be recreating Flynn’s Arcade, and expect a game. Sometimes avoiding questions can say more than any press release.

Soaked from the rain, and ears still ringing — awesome night! Got to see Nosaj Thing for the first time. Wow. Last time I heard sounds like that, Mike and I were at Womb in Shibuya.

Nosaj followed a great set by Jogger (who have an equally great shirt designed by kozyndan), and the evening was capped off by the always impressive Daedelus (who still has my copy of the Oblivion strategy guide).

kozyndan also illustrated the Magical Properties Tour poster. Way too cool.

Checked out Pee-wee’s Playhouse live at Club Nokia. That set alone was worth the price of admission. It was like walking into an episode of the late Saturday morning show, only updated slightly. A new character based off a ShamWow made an appearance, but suffered a horrible fate in an accident involving a deep fryer. It was almost as horrific as what happened to Vince, the ShamWow/SlapChop guy, in Germany.

As a special treat, a select few got to meet and greet with Paul Rubens after the show for a little Q&A. He let it out that the purpose of this live stage show is to gain traction for his new movie in development. Mr. Rubens then went on to explain the entire plot! Heavy stuff involving mermaids and zombies, and villain Chris Rock kidnapping the King of Cartoons. You heard it here first!

Meat Bun is sponsoring the the 2009 Kotaku E3 Party, and we want you there.  We are going to lower your inhibitions by plying you with free drinks (while our poor little credit card holds up), then Happy Hour kicks in, Yo!  Kinda like the feeling when VTEC kicks in…

Soon you’ll be chatting away, hitting on Leigh Alexander (or Mike depending on how you swing).  You’ll be feeling so damn good you might even almost miss the new yet-to-be-released deluxe Meat Bun shirts available.  But you will most definitely notice the music stylings of our good friend, Mike Z., a.k.a Special Attack.

The Golden Gopher is a swank spot worth the trip alone.  Add some tasty libations on our dime, and you ain’t got no excuse to miss this.  So head downtown on May 31st and we’ll see you there.

Wow, just now finally able to catch my breath.  Things have been a whirlwind as of late.

We last left you with an invite to the MOCA to celebrate the release of SF4 (on Capcom’s dime, of course).  Holy shit, dude… we didn’t think ALL of you would show up.  It was a madhouse!  It got so bad our friend/guest artist Steve Barron, who worked his ass off for three days on our Akuma-themed cabinet, was denied entry.  Fire-marshals with axes were calling the shots.  By 8:30 PM, if you were outside, you were toast.  At least you were in good company.  G4 couldn’t even get back in.

Then we headed to the annual fashion trade show in Vegas, MAGIC.  Las Vegas is funny.  It’s the city you are most excited going to, and the most excited to leave.  At least we got to hang with Greg and Ease from Mishka, and Simone from Tokidoki.  We also got to see one hell of a burlesque show at Forty Deuce (on Ben Sherman’s dime, of course).

Back in LA, I ran into Greg and Ease in front of Johnny Cupcakes (with Johnny himself) on Melrose.  They extended an invite to their little going away party before they fled back to NYC.  Luckily they left behind their personal DJ, Gina Turner.  Not only did she rock the house that evening, she protected it brilliantly from an onslaught of underage ravers.  By dropping the beat and turning on the lights, she snapped them out of their K-holes and shipped them right out the door.

Previous rumors aside, Mike figured out a way to swindle Kotaku into flying him out to TGS again this year.  I was informed too late to book my own travel arrangements, so I’m completely depressed holding down the fort here in LA.  To make the best of it, I’ve found some local things that may pacify my yearning to be checked into the Cerulean Tower with the rest of the Kotaku crew.

I visited Waraku on Abbot Kinney Blvd. this afternoon.   Not quite the same as shopping in Ginza or Takeshita-dori in Harajuku, but it is definitely a taste.

Speaking about taste, we have an oddly flavored candy, newly introduced in the States, that would give any bizzaro-candy in Japan a run for its money (who am I kidding?  Japan makes burger shaped chocolate-filled cookies called EveryBurger.)  The item I’m referring to is Ice Breakers Iced Tea Lemon flavored mints.  It’s like mainlining a spoonful of Lipton Iced Tea mix.

And with a couple clicks, I was perusing some homegrown videogame cosplay that will tide me over til I get back out to TGS (or Mike posts some of his pic’s).  This anonymous 4chan’er is creating quite simply a masterpiece with his version of Tyrael.

I’ll be hanging out on Sawtelle Blvd. a lot this week, drowning my sorrows in sake if anyone wants to join me.