What Now?!

mother's day

2008-05-13T03:42:01Z

My mom and niece hanging out in my old room in Flushing. I love this photo.

Portishead's "We Carry On"

2008-05-06T23:03:39Z

I am in slack-jawed awe of this music video:

[Animation by Nick Uff]

i don't usually do this...

2008-05-03T05:27:00Z

... but this Livejournal meme is really funny.

My favorites drawings so far: Vera, Raina, Meredith, and probably many more to be seen.

my god...

2008-05-02T05:04:04Z

..."Iron Man" was sooooo awesome.

[if you plan on seeing it, DEFINITELY stay after the credits if you're a comic nerd!!]

May mix

2008-05-01T05:10:42Z

1. Syl Johnson: Different Strokes
2. Katie Love: How Can You Mistreat The One You Love
3. Johnny Otis Show: Watts Breakaway
4. Ripple: Get Off
5. Archie Bell & The Drells: Tighten Up
6. Gil Scott-Heron: The Bottle
7. Fugi: May, Don't Take Me On No Bad Trip
8. The Sugarman Three: Cherry Pickin'
9. Shuggie Otis: Strawberry Letter 23
10. The Isley Brothers: Get Into Something
11. The Fatback Band: King Tim III (Personality Jock)
+ A BONUS SONG

Can also be downloaded here as a 61.6 MB zip file [11 mp3s]. Files will be removed on May 31st.

ATP New York 2008!

2008-04-26T23:39:35Z

I just got tickets to the All Tomorrow's Parties Festival @ Kutshers Country Resort, up in the Catskills! Although I was initially apprehensive of the $225 festival ticket price, the lineup was just TOO FRICKIN' AWESOME to pass up [aside from the perks of a gorgeous fall weekend in a country resort w/ one of my best friends + other friends].

Reasons why I'm counting the days till' September 19:
-My Bloody Valentine [headliners/curators] playing their first US show in 16 years!
-Built To Spill performing "Perfect From Now On"
-Shellac
-Mogwai
-Tortoise performing "Millions Now Living..."
-etc. etc.

*Sam and I are splitting a 6 person room @ the resort w/ 3 other people. We currently have an extra ticket/extra room space if anyone's interested. The accommodations should be about an extra $150/person, but my math sucks so don't take my word on that.

EDIT [5/1/08]: Ticket/ room space now taken.

Ches Smith's These Arches @ The Stone

2008-04-26T23:31:36Z

I had to see Ches Smith and Mary Halvorson play after they blew my head off at the Andrew D' Angelo benefit. It was my first time at The Stone and the unconventional layout [no bar/merchandise], tiny size, and excitingly experimental musical lineups are refreshing. I really look forward to seeing more shows there!

Also posted the last song of their set.

New York Comic Con 2008

2008-04-21T07:02:41Z

I went to Saturday's convention with Gregg and Rob... and it might've been the most over-stimulating 5 hours I've ever experienced.

While waiting to enter the convention hall, STAN frickin' LEE walked out to greet fans! I got to shake his hand while quickly mumbling some kiss-ass jibberish. This moment was quickly followed by 2 hours of "I'm never washing this hand" jokes. Also, he yelled "Excelsior" before exiting the room. Surreal.

After that auspicious beginning, I proceeded to take as many photos of costumed people as my battery would allow...

Iron Banana - complete w/ empty whiskey bottle.

Boba Fett and the only non-gold bikini Leia; Dancing Stormtrooper.

X-Wing pilot; C3PO.

NY Jedi club madly swinging their lightsabers; Mara Jade.

Chalk artist quickly drawing a giant Captain America head.

Gregg and I attended the Battlestar Galactica panel discussion. While it was fun to see/hear the actors talk about their experiences, Gregg and I haven't seen the 3rd season yet and THEY IMMEDIATELY REVEALED ALL THE SURPRISES. That Season 3 box set will continue to collect dust on my shelf... Damn my work schedule.

BAT FANS!

Alex Ross & Lou Ferrigno [strange table neighbors]; Milo Ventimiglia, of "Heroes" fame.

Black Cat & Wolvie; Zombie Wolverine.

Awesome marshmallow thing [someone please tell me what this is!]; Dr. Girlfriend & The Monarch from "The Venture Bros" [weird to hear Dr. Girlfriend speak w/ a female voice!].

Someone REALLY needs to build a happy, smiling Hulk sculpture. Just because.

Pokemon's Ash runs into the Naruto crew; Spider-man & Black Cat.

Ho, MAN... this gives me the willies.

HUG ME

Kean Soo sketches for a fan; Chip Kidd talks to... Green Arrow.

Hot Green Lantern [not sure which character the left girl's supposed to be].

YES.

This asian Superboy is looking really bummed-out.

Miss Deep from R.O.D. [also unsure who the left character is]; Random cosplayers.

Impressive Chewbacca and Hellboy costumes!

Got to meet veteran Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles artist Michael Dooney and commissioned this Jhanna drawing [from TMNT #13, 1988]. Sweet!

Also fulfilled my childhood fantasy of meeting Ninja Turtles co-creator Peter Laird! We chatted about the TMNT comics and movies while he drew a Ninja turtle head for me. He was a very friendly guy!

Blue Beetle 2008 - Blue Beetle 2007.

AVATARDS!!!

B-boys busting out some moves.

Snake from Metal Gear Solid 3 & Trigun; Silent Hill weirdo.

On our way out, Rob and I bumped into the tail end of a Hellboy 2 panel. We stopped to listen to director Guillermo Del Toro speak w/ reporters for a minute. Out of nowhere, a girl runs in front of me and shoves her cell phone at Del Toro...

Girl: "My friend's a HUGE FAN of yours really wants to talk to you"!
Del Toro: "Sure! [grabs phone] Hi, who is this? This is Guillermo, the guy with the funny accent. How are you?"
[etc, etc]

So... rather than ignore the girl or allow himself to be pulled away by his entourage, he actually had a brief conversation w/ this random person! What a gracious fella. I LOVE HIM EVEN MORE NOW.

Like I said before: Most Jam-Packed 5 Hours Ever.

Blood Power

2008-04-11T04:27:39Z

Donated blood for the first time today. Didn't feel as light-headed as I thought I would. Was slightly freaked out by how warm my blood felt through the tubes and the sight of my full blood bag.

I caught Elf Power's show at Union Hall on Tuesday and videotaped it. They were good.

5 Pointz

2008-04-09T05:15:42Z

Haven't been to this ol' hangout in a while... Decided to take a bunch of photos. Reminded me of how much I miss living in Long Island City.

© MURAKAMI preview

2008-04-07T04:27:42Z

Got invited to a preview/reception @ the Brooklyn Museum for Takashi Murakami's career-spanning exhibit this past Friday [Thanks again, Angela & Hiro!]. Took some photos and heard many security guards yell at me. Also drank too much free wine. It was fun.

[WARNING: Some of the images aren't "safe for work"]

April mix

2008-04-01T11:26:03Z

1. Quasi: The Poisoned Well
2. The Clash: The Guns of Brixton
3. Mighty Imperials: The Matador
4. The Blenders Ltd: You Got It All
5. Shellac: Song of the Minerals
6. Salt: Bluster
7. Smile: Moosh
8. Treepeople: Everytime When I Fall Down My Head Hits The Floor Hard
9. X: I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts
10. Gary Jules: Mad World
11. My Brightest Diamond: It's Over

49 MB zip file [11 mp3s] available here. Songs taken down by April 30.

Matthew's 1st berfday!

2008-04-01T04:23:44Z

Diane and I were graciously invited to Kim & Alex's son Matthew's first birthday party this past Sunday. T'was great to see Kim & Alex as usual, and Matthew is well on the Handsome Young Man path. I filled my face w/ sushi buffet and promptly fell into food coma afterwards. Thanks again, Gee-Lycoyannis!

John's last show with YOC

2008-04-01T04:22:36Z

Zizzo, Andrew [sorry, dude!], and I ventured deep into the wilds of Long Island to see our friends in Year of Confession perform their last show with singer John Alaia. It was a nostalgic surprise to see their ex-drummer, Steve Simari, play some old songs w/ them.

Thanks for the years of screaming rage, John!

VOLTA NY 2008

2008-03-29T15:12:18Z

The Eye of the Beholder - A Solo Project Art Fair. Curated by Amanda Coulson and Christian Viveros-Faune. 7W 34th Street, NYC, 11th floor: March 27, 2008.

MOCCA space...?

2008-03-23T14:32:06Z

Dear Amazing Cartoonist Friends [yeah, YOU!],

I was really late on the draw with reserving a table for this year's MOCCA and they're now only accepting waiting list entries. So... if any of you benevolent exhibitors would let me place copies of "Let's Do This" 1-3 on their space, I would be extremely grateful. Of course, I'd help out with your table so you can take breaks to wander around the show!

I apologize for the grubby begging and thank you for your consideration. Feel free to reply here or e-mail me at jeremy [AT] jeremyarambulo.com.

...and for anyone celebrating, HAPPY EASTER!

tearjerker

2008-03-13T05:01:20Z

Shara Worden [AKA: My Brightest Diamond] covering Roy Orbison:

Carolyn Pennybaker Riggs, Mamie Minch, Shara Worden, Dayna Kurtz, and took the Union Hall stage for a "Singer/Songwriters In The Round" performance. I went through a roller-coaster of heart-wrenching near-weeping/laffs/awe throughout the nearly 2-hour show. I must be getting sentimental in my old age.

I especially enjoyed the nitty-gritty roots/blues stylings of Mamie Minch:

Another highlight was Shara's cover of Dayna Kurtz's Postcards From Downtown:

In turn, Kurtz covered My Brightest Diamond's Gone Away. They suit each other's songs wonderfully!

Speaking of My Brightest Diamond, you can find a segment I shot from her November 2006 Northsix show in the new Encyclopedia Asthmatica DVD. Faaancy.

Other clips from the evening...
Mamie Minch: Razorburn Blues
Shara Worden: Black and Costaud

I LOVE THIS MOVIE

2008-03-07T12:25:18Z

Georgie James @ Union Hall

2008-03-02T04:00:41Z

They played another acoustic show in Brooklyn this past Thursday [previous one posted here]. Here's their version of a song by one of my favorite bands, The Zombies...

This Will Be Our Year:

Also posted: Hard Feelings, Henry and Hanzy

They had just performed on Conan O'Brien the night before and had some funny stories about the experience. I'm really glad they're doing well because they are awesomely friendly people.

March mix[es]

2008-03-01T10:23:10Z

I usually shy away from posting heavy music on these mixes, assuming the people who read this page aren't angsty metalheads. I even thought I'd eventually "outgrow" my love for heaviness with age, but I still enjoy it as much as I did growing up. So, I've put together two mixes in honor of March: Coming in like a LION, and going out like a LAMB [in other words, one LOUD mix, one QUIET mix]. Pretentious and nerdy? Probably. BUT I LIKE IT.

1. Coalesce: You Can't Kill Us All
2. Meshuggah: Future Breed Machine
3. Dillinger Escape Plan: Horse Hunter
4. Neurosis: The Doorway
5. Will Haven: I've Seen My Fate
6. Year of Confession: S.O.S.
7. Fantomas: Der Golem
8. Explosions in the Sky: Greet Death
9. SkyCameFalling: An Ocean Apart
10. Trail of the Dead: A Perfect Teenhood
[Complete zip file HERE]

1. Lou Reed: Perfect Day (Acoustic)
2. France Gall: Chanson Pour Que Tu M'aimes Un Peu
3. The Zombies: The Look Of Love
4. Anthony Newly: Goldfinger
5. Thelonius Monk: Just A Gigolo
6. Lavender Diamond: My Shadow is a Monday
7. Elliott Smith: Looking Over My Shoulder
8. Daniel Johnston: Sorry Entertainer
9. Weezer: No One Else
10. Ennio Morricone: Man with the Harmonica
11. Lou Barlow: Run To You
12. The Ghosts: Don't Ever Die Johnny
[Complete zip file HERE]

[Songs will be removed March 31st]

comics take a really long time

2008-03-01T10:19:24Z

I don't usually do this, but I scanned in the first few roughly-penciled pages of "Let's Do This" #3... for anyone curious as to whether I'm still drawing comics...

I went through a dismal period of avoiding my drawing board for about 3-4 months this past Summer-Fall. I actually stretched out the thumbnail process for almost 5 months [the comic is only 32 pages... PATHETIC, I know].

After recently getting in touch w/ Kaiju about drawing their comic, I had to put the fire under my ass. I've penciled most of LDT3's pages in the past 2 weeks, anxious to move on to drawing Monster Battels.

I've learned a lot of things by suffering through this "I'm Only The Sleeping" story. It initially made perfect sense for me to combine my love for music, comics, and the funny anecdotes of a best friend. Now, I'm not so sure if it'll mean ANYTHING to ANYONE other than myself, Joe Zizzo, and The Sleeping's super-fans.

In my weaker moments, the enormous amount of time & effort that goes into addressing such a limited audience feels ridiculously disproportionate to me. I've been told by many cartoonist/creative friends to NOT work on anything out of obligation, if my heart isn't in it, etc. I can see their point, but leaving something half-done is more frustrating than anything to me... even if the whole story will probably be read as "meandering" and "meaningless" to most.

Sorry for the bitching. I'm running on 2 weeks of 4-5 hrs of sleep and way too much coffee. I'll always love comics, even if they end up killing me [THEY WON'T].

"Red Gin" will save the day!

2008-03-01T08:54:08Z

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME (first pet, current car):
Sachi Previa

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME (fave ice cream flavor, favorite type of shoe):
Espresso Chip Adidas

3. YOUR NATIVE AMERICAN NAME (favorite color, favorite animal):
Green Dog

4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, city where you were born):
Francis Jamaica

5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 of your first):
Araje

6. SUPERHERO NAME (2nd favorite color, favorite drink):
Red Gin

7. NASCAR NAME (the first names of your grandfathers):
José Nicanor

8. STRIPPER NAME (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent):
Sampaguita

10. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME (your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a city withe the same letter)
Lynch Lexington

11. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower):
Fall Cherry Blossom

12. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now):
Banana Jeans

13. HIPPIE NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree):
Pastrami Redwood

Andrew D'Angelo benefit show

2008-02-24T10:40:24Z

I went to see Trevor Dunn at the Tea Lounge in Park Slope this past Friday. The show was put together as a benefit for saxophonist Andrew D'Angelo, who is undergoing treatment for brain cancer.

Dunn performed with his Trio-Convulsant [Mary Halvorson & Ches Smith], followed by a set of D'Angelo's songs with Jim Black, Chris Speed, and Oscar Noriega.

"Specter of Serling":

Also posted: "She Ossifies"

"Gay Disco":

Also: "Sich Reped"

THIS DOG IS SO GANGSTA

2008-02-20T05:44:10Z

Star hoof deer Trek

2008-02-19T19:13:55Z

Deerhoof's drummer, Greg Saunier, goes off about Star Trek in Xiu Xiu's new video magazine:

[click on the pic for a link to the video]

It's just another reason why I love this guy...