shop till you drop dead

Every year, the living dead meet up in the streets of New York City for ZombieCon. Their battle cry? "Bloody Marys, brains and brands!"

In the pics below, photographer Ted Seelie captured the creepy congregation invading department stores and designer boutiques around Manhattan.


Wreaking havoc inside...

...and outside Bloomingdales.

Mad dash to Gucci.

Dying for Harry Winston jewelry.

Decomposing guys, girls and guts spill out of Tiffany's.

Shopping for body parts in Times Square.

Moral of the story: Like a miracle, retail therapy can bring anyone back from the dead. Happy Halloween! :-)

(Top, left) The bandaged zombie bear is the Secret Horror Bearbrick of Series 6. Released in 2003.

Info from zombiecon.com / 2007 Zombiecon pics by Ted Seelie / Bearbrick pic by Yours Truly

designing for the boardroom broad

There are two Kenny Wongs and they're both very talented designers.

Kenny Wong 'The Toy Designer' is the founder of Kennyswork and is one of the creators of Brothersfree. (I have two of his 12-inch Brothersworker figures which I really love.)

Kenny Wong 'The Industrial Designer', on the other hand, is an award-winning creative who just graduated from the Konstfack University College of Art, Crafts and Design in Stockholm, Sweden. His past works include designs for Bosch Surveillance Cams, Trefot Ceramics, Infrared Cams for the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjarvi. But for me, his most memorable designs are the shoes you see below which he created for the 2008 Shoe Design Competition in Hong Kong. As you can see, his inspiration is the classic business suit. Very clever!

Impeccable business style – from the necktie (above) down to the cuff link (below).

I'd say that to be well-heeled is to be well-suited for success. With heels like these, any corporate bitch can simply step on and kill whoever stands in her way. :-D

(Top) This Secret Horror Bearbrick from Series 11 is based on the 2005 film 'Executive Koala', Minoru Kawasaki's psychological tale of horror/murder that involves a Koala in a suit – an honest-to-goodness corporate animal! :-)

Meryl Streep pic from 'The Devil Wears Prada.' Digital imaging by yours truly. / Kenny Wong shoe pics from www.kennywong.se

battle of the blonds

Six weeks before she died of a drug overdose, Marilyn Monroe posed nude for photographer Bert Stern. That collaboration is now known as 'the last sitting' which produced some of the screen goddess's most provocative and memorable portraits.

Early this year, Stern recreated those classic images for New York Magazine. And he chose notorious pop star Lindsay Lohan to pose as Marilyn.

So which bare blond looks better?

(Above) Lindsay Lohan.
(Below) Marilyn Monroe.


(Above) Lindsay.
(Below) Marilyn.

My verdict?

No contest. A 'naked blond' may be a cliche, but there's only one Marilyn. :-)

(Left) Japanese rap artist DJ Ozma created the 'Naked' Bearbrick (top pic) based on the nude-looking costume of his back-up dancers during New Year TV show.

The costume's shocking effect forced the host, Tamio Miyake, to apologize later in the show. Watch the video clip here.

Info from nymag.com / Lohan pics from thehotjoints.com, kittyradio.com, dgawker.com/ Monroe pics from glamournet.com, visitsp.com /DJ Ozma info and pic from japansugoi.co

judging a book by its cover

When I want to be surrounded by creativity, I go to a bookstore.

Not just to be inspired by stack upon stacks of brilliant writing, but also to ogle at the ever-increasing array of artful book covers. With more distinguished artists like Frank Miller, Tomer Hanuka, Roz Chast and Art Spiegelman joining the ranks of book designers, the modern day bookshop has become a veritable art gallery.

Recently, Penguin Books (in partnership with Creativity Magazine) launched a Cover Design Competition for Sam Taylor's upcoming novel, The Island At The End Of The World.

Here's the synopsis:

"It is a chilling novel about the near future, when most of the world has been destroyed by catastrophic floods. As a father and his three children begin to rebuild their lives on an island, the youngest son Finn begins to question how they arrived there and why their family alone has been spared.'

'Things take an unexpected turn when a strange man named Will swims ashore, and he appears to know quite a bit about the family and the circumstances that surrounded the floods. But Finn's father is determined to keep him silent and is willing to do anything to prevent Will from disturbing his family's idyllic life on the island.'

'Sam Taylor's The Island at the End of the World is a riveting post-apocalyptic tale that explores the darkness that lies within the hearts of men."

Penguin editor Alexis Washam, creative director Paul Buckley, and the editors of Creativity Magazine selected the 25 finalists and the overall winner of this book cover design competition.

Below are my 8 favorite designs (which include the winning entry). Congratulations to the artists!

Left: Winner Matthew Taylor (no relation to the book's author).
Right: John Rice

Left: Philip Witak
Right: Mai La Thai

Left: Pillow Fort a.k.a. Seth Jablon and Mehmet Irdel
Right: Alan Vladusic

Left: Ryan Doggendorf
Right: Justin Walsh

One literary idea spreads to eight imaginative book covers! Let me put it this way: creativity is contagious.

That's why I visit bookstores as often as I can. :-)

Top photo: The Bearbrick-reading-a-mock-up-of-the-Sam-Taylor-novel is one of the eight bears that belong to the Comic Cue Series. It's called the Manga-San Bearbrick, designed by Japanese manga artist Hishashi Eguchi. I chose it for this post because of its eyeglasses, obviously – haha! :-)

Info and Book Cover Images from Creativity-Online / Bearbrick info from www.fourxthree.com / Bearbrick pic by Yours Truly.