a couple of hotties

The scantily clad twosome (above) are Kegawazoku Be@rbricks. They are named after the Kegawazoku Theater Company, an all-female Japanese group that performs edgy song and dance numbers – musical revues that are spiked with unexpurgated violence, sex, nudity and political commentary. The male is named 'Junlie'; the female is called 'Marie.' Notice how their nipples are covered only by stars. Heehee.

Speaking of sexy couples, I just worked with two Brazilian models (Michele and Gui) for a television ad last month. (Yup, I am from the feverishly fun world of advertising.) You can tell from the picture below that we came up with one helluva commercial. Don't they look terrific?

Brazilian hotties like these two are raising temperatures in Manila and the rest of Asia. For some reason, they are suddenly all over! Even Vanity Fair magazine's latest issue features the sexy party boys and girls of Brazil. Photographed by stylish photographer Mario Testino, supermodel Gisele Bundchen and the young 'it' crowd from Ipanema cram the pages with earthy glamour and exuberance.

Doesn't that make you want to come to the next Carnival in Rio?

Info from Michael K. Bourdaghs' Blog / Michele and Gui's pic by yours truly

ecstasy on the dancefloor

The Be@rbrick on the right is a lookalike of Tomoyuki Tanaka (a.k.a. the Fantastic Plastic Machine), the hot & hip Japanese DJ who is a proponent of the Shibuya-Kei sound, a variety of Japanese pop music that combines bossa nova, lounge/house music with 60s movie soundtracks. His music has been featured in movies like 'Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me', in albums of other famous DJs like Stephane Pompougnac (Hotel Costes), and in TV commercials created by artist Takashi Murakami for Louis Vuitton.

Club DJs like Tanaka (below, at a Tokyo club) are movers of the night life and shakers of the dance floor. Like puppets, people sway, gyrate, hop, wave, bump and grind to their groove.

In my view, if the club DJ is as good as The Fantastic Plastic Machine, there'll be no need for mood-enhancing drugs. Dancing alone will be a spellbinding trance... a natural high. More ecstasy than Ecstasy. :-)

Info from Wikipedia / Pic from Tanaka's Blog at honeyee.com / Find Tanaka's music at amazon.com or thru Limewire

skeletons in the closet

Right now, I am reading the New York Times' number 2 bestseller entitled 'The Quickie', a novel by suspense writer James Patterson (with Michael Ledwidge.)

The premise is gripping. A woman catches her husband having an affair. She decides to get even by having a one night stand with a cute hunk from her office. But even before that evening is over, she witnesses her short-time lover get brutally killed – by her husband (who shows up unexpectedly)!

The twist? She is a police officer – and so is her murdered boy toy. To make matters worse, she is assigned by her boss to catch the so-called 'cop killer'.

Talk about skeletons in the closet! You'll find sex, betrayal and homicide in just one chapter! Unlike most guilt-ridden individuals with dirty secrets, this woman's shame is beyond consolation, especially when she finds out that her dead lover has a wife and 3 kids! Imagine her curse, her torment, her hell – how can she possibly hide the truth which she is entrusted to seek?

Yes, it does sound like a sordid tabloid tale, the stuff scandals are made of. Go ahead and borrow a copy – no need to buy something you'll finish in one sitting.

(Top, left) The Balzac Be@rbrick, with its signature skeleton design, is a 'secret' bear from Series 13. It was issued in collaboration with Balzac, the Japanese Horror Punk Band (left). While the group was inspired by The Misfits, it was named after the 1800s French novelist and playwright Honore de Balzac.

Info from www.misfitsrecords.com / Band pic from www.balzac308.com

creatures of the imagination

This Series 13 Secret Be@rbrick (right) was designed by Parisian illustrator, Genevieve Gauckler. She is known for creating lovable graphic creatures and incorporating them into photos of real life situations.

Below is her artwork from thisisamagazine.com which features two of her famous characters, Patacorp (the fat one) and Thermokukus (the tall one). The rest of this series depict the lovable twosome in funny situations around her apartment. Check them out here.

Guackler's pic (below) for lounge72.com shows her posing beside Patacorp. Cute, aren't they?

I am reminded of imaginary friends that a great number of kids (65%) develop between the ages of 3 and 5. While some parents regard these 'playmates' with alarm, psychologists reassure them that having such a 'pal' is normal. They say that an imaginary friend is thought of as a child's way of coping with difficult emotions; it is also a way for him/her to explore the issues of control, discipline and power without interacting with real authority figures (which may cause some degree of anxiety.) The best news is that kids with imaginary playmates tend to develop better verbal, social and creative skills, according to studies.

Creativity in children and adults manifest in many ways, sometimes in the form of cute little fantasy creatures – just like Gauckler's.

Info from NYU Child Study Center & Seattle Post Intelligencer / Balloon pic from g2works.com