Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Attract Mode, Meat Bun, Angry Bananas, and Giant Robot. Game Night continues on. Our December show rained out, but in the end, being Southern California the weather was nice in January and Game Night 4 with holiday themed games. I’m not sure if people recognized the holiday cheer with the Christmas lights, the game graphics featuring a lot of holiday imagery, hot chocolate, and candy canes! It goes from 7-10, but we kept it going longer. We also added Street Fighter and when you do that, time flies.
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That's Ray Sato. He grew up in Los Angeles on the westside and likes coffee like none other. For him it's more than just being a coffee fan, it's living the life of coffee. Like there's wine tasters, beer tasters, food critics (and I'm not talking about the garden variety Yelper), Ray is a coffee master. So hardcore that drinking coffee is more than just drinking it. Some of you are probably thinking, “bullshit” or “it's just coffee” but that's akin to saying sushi is sushi, and most of us know that, it's just not true. The finest grades make the difference, the technique, the prep, the cut, the access, etc, mean something. At his cafe Balconi on Olympic near Sawtelle, yes, near the GR shops in West LA, he makes siphon coffee. It might look meth lab to some of you, but in the end, it's just another way to brew a cup. Each cup is crafted. Grinding the beans, and he lets you smell it first and what you get is a nicely cup of coffee. It's not outrageous, but it's not free. 3.50 for a small and 5 for a larger, and we're talking 6 and 12 oz cups as compared to the new Starbucks Big Gulp rivaling 32oz! This is cool. It's a cup of coffee that uses no filter or brewing system, except you put in the grinds, and you pour in hot water. There's a technique to get this right and it's a lesson on it's own. The cool thing is, I get to learn and taste it all. I don't go to coffee houses often at all. As a matter of fact, I rarely go since I make it at home, but I can see myself stopping in every so often.
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Ulises Farinas came out to LA from Brooklyn for his first art exhibition. We showed a collection of drawings and some comic pages, that are hell bent with detail. He draws with a metal nib and dips his pen into ink which sounds like the lost art of drawing. His detail is amazing and anyone who likes to draw will be swallowed up into his world that gets more and more fine as you look at it all. See his art for sale at giantrobot.com The dots in this piece are so fine and amazing. It's seriously detailed as fine as can be.
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The book signing. Sunday before Martin Luther King's Day, we had a signing and a Papertoy Monster making day. Free templates and a craft table. Family fun that was actually free, but if you bought a book, there's hours and hours of enjoyment contained within. There's 24 templates. 2 each by 12 artists. Castleforte below is the author who put it all together. They might seem easy but these aren't that simple. To get something to look fairly tight takes cutting, tabs, and glue, but these are perforated templates, so cutting, isn't that needed. That's him below. But above was something interesting. These are “special needs” adults who came in a van as a pack and hung out until it was time to make stuff. I was amazed at how happy and excited they were to be there. The woman in pink was talkative and energetic. I had to take her pic. That's the book! The cookie! Wow, a Giant Robot, Big Boss Robot cookie made and baked by Shelly Niimi. Check it out! The raisin eyes work great.
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It's 2:25AM friday night. The bars just let out, and I hear what sounds like a dumpster being emptied and dropped by a truck, but it's magnified. I take a look outside and see a car with it's headlights on facing another car. The street is empty, sans the two cars. How did that happen? I walk down and see a deployed airbag, a kid is walking around saying, “what do I do?” “i'm fucked” “I live right down the street”. He's in shock. He's fine, and I'm there to try and help him out. I suggest calling the police and was hoping the neighbors would come out. He then says, “I don't care about this other car, I just want to get out of here.” Since I was there to help so my first instinct was to help the kid out. I found his front plate which was logged into the parked car. I grabbed it and handed it to him. I gave him a plan to get his car out. Free the front left tire from the fender which looked to be an impossible task. He needed a crow bar or perhaps the Jaws of Life to get his car free. Why was I helping this guy who could have killed someone? It was time for him to be responsible. I told him good luck, and he's stuck.
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