The Last Guardian

I don’t really play videogames anymore (unless freecell and spider solitaire count), but like most nerds there was a time when I played videogames a lot. My era of choice (and really the only era of videogames I got into) was the Saturn/Playstation era. The games on the PS2 in general didn’t really interest me.

The two big exceptions to this however are ICO and Shadow of the Colossus. I could say a lot about the brilliance of these to games but since a lot has already been said about their brilliance already, I will just make one statement: from an artistic standpoint these games represent the absolute pinnacle of the vdeogame media. I look at these two as being the videogame equivolent of Manet’s “Olympia.” In the same way “Olympia” created a dividing line between the old and the modern idea of art in painting, these two games should looked at in the same light for videogames.

That being said, the creators of ICO and Shadow of the Colossus are finally making a new game: The Last Guardian. You better believe I couldn’t be more excited.

Why Kobe is Great

The debate about where Kobe lies in the discussion of who the greatest basketball player of all time is will probably not be resolved aytime soon, but here’s one salvo from the Kobe is the greatest camp: what athlete other than Kobe inspires such in depth psychological profiling? Check out this article by Bill Simmons. These are the kinds of writing that Kobe inspires. Kobe may or may not elevate the level of his teammates, but without question he elevates the level of the sports journalism community.

Why Kobe is Creepy

On the other hand, I can see where people are coming from with the whole Kobe is copying MJ to the point of being super creepy. As of this writing he has MJ’s coach, his triangle offensive, pretty much all his moves, a three-peat, his tounge thing (although not so much anymore), his dunk crown, his fist pump, and I just found out he has hired Jordy’s old trainer Tim Glover. The underbite thing is all him though.

Aoqili Seaweed Soap

I am very vain and very neurotically obsessed with my looks. I randomly discovered this soap some while back and naturally since I’m so vain and neurotic, the idea of a soap that can decrease fat content is extremely intriguing to me. It’s pretty cheap too. I haven’t tried it yet, but I want to and probably will soon. Results will come!

Roger Federer Can’t Lose

A few years ago it seemed like Roger Federer could not be beaten. Now it seems like he just can’t lose. At the French Robin Soderling miraculously takes out Nadal for him and now it has just been announced that Nadal has kindly taken himself out of Wimbeldon. GO TEAM FED!

FREE AXL (part 2)

Recently a picture surfaced of Derrick Axl Rose throwing gang signs at a college party and there was this big uproar about it. LEAVE AXL ALONE PEOPLE! He scored 36 points in his playoff debut! Keep in mind, that’s 36 fabulous points against the fabulous defense of the fabulous Rondo. Anbody that can do that is not a member of a gang.

Steve Nash on Letterman

David Letterman recently picked up Steve Nash to cover the Finals for him and it’s a pretty brilliant move because Steve Nash is the shit. What he lacks on ball defense he more than makes up for in on camera charisma.

On a side note, Steve Nash has a really rugged cowboy voice. That’s very, very funny to me.

Adam Lambert

Adam Lambert is gay. Shocker I know. Personally I think he sucks at singing, but I have to give him a lot of credit for the way he came out of the closet. It was very dignified. In general, he has handled his sudden fame and various criticisms very well and not without a certain amount of class. He has my respect……. until his album comes out that is.

Zack Morris

I learned two things watching this: 1. Mark Paul Gosselaar is a lot cooler than I thought (not that I thought he was particularly uncool before or anything) and 2. Jimmy Fallon might be the worst talk show host ever. I new he’d be bad, but this was far below even my very, very modest expectations.

Today I woke up really missing my ex. That made me feel really sad all day. Then I watched today’s Laker game against the Rockets. They lost. That made me feel even sadder. Epic Sad Face for today.

On the Bright side though, The Dodgers won and Manny popped a dinger. And The Fabulous Battier looked really cool covered in blood.

But still, Epic Sad Face for today.

Deron Williams – I think one of the great tragedies of Deron Williams is that he’s easily at least the second best point guard in the league and yet he still has yet to make the all star team. And due to injuries and whatnot that probably won’t change this year.


Baron Davis – B Dizzle is a strange guy. He is probably the only player in NBA history that actually wanted to be a Clipper.

Kobe Bryant – I know Kobe is playing around, but I think in real life he probably isn’t too much different than he is in this clip.

Faces to Watch – Whenever I read these faces to watch things I always get really upset that I’m not on them. I mean, it makes sense, but it still sucks. Nonetheless, there they are and here I am. Every smart person keeps one eye on the competition and if these are the “faces to watch” then that’s what I’m gonna do.

This guy right here kind of bugs me though. In the same way that criticism has been leveled at guys like Stephen Cojocaru for being a sambo perpetuating tired stereotypes of the over the top flamboyant gay man, I feel there way too many artists out there trying to play the whole “I’m a wild and wacky creative genius” bit or some shit like that. That’s one thing I’ve always admired about Matisse. He kept it real.

MOCA Should Show Its Own – This is a very good article about what the struggling MOCA should do to ensure its survival. The author’s basic theory is that the MOCA has an intensely good collection of important artworks in storage and first and foremost it should use that backlog to beef up its permanent collection which, by my estimation from reading the article, sounds somewhat anemic and in need of more “plasma.”

Personally, I agree with sentiment wholeheartedly. The permanent collection is the backbone of any museum and should be made as strong as possible, but that’s kind of a no brainer and really goes without saying. The real quandary is where to take it from there. In my opinion what they need to do is pull a Peggy Guggenheim and break a superstar. They need to find the next big thing, blow him up and ride his coattails into the history books.

What they really need is Terry Kim.

Baroque from Bologna – If you are into Baroque art this should be right up your alley at the Getty.

Tes One Relaunches Site - This guy has a really cool website. I feel so inferior and janky.

Art Space Talk: Blaine Fontana – Reason number 6980 why people don’t care about art: artists are the most boring as shit people on the planet. They are a lot like athletes in that their interviews are usually just a long list of cliché’s and platitudes, but unlike athletes they don’t have the excuse of having to please sponsors and whatnot. Take this dude for example. I got to say, for a guy that’s supposed to be all from the streets, you are boring.

Two months into his Lakers tenure, Jackson questioned [Kwame] Brown’s toughness and his inability to recover from a strained right hamstring. “I’m not putting pressure other than just call him a pussy every time I see him in the locker room,” Jackson said. Jackson accented his accessment by making cat-like “meow” sounds as Brown walked past him. Later, Jackson walked into the locker room, pointed to a brown mink coat stashed on top of the coat rack and started laughing hysterically. “See that’s Kwame’s,” he said.

I don’t know why exactly, but the other night I got really nostalgic for the Kwame Brown period in Laker history. One of the reasons why I imagine it’s so great to be a Laker is that even if you stink the fans will still support you. Chris Mihm, Tyronne Lue, Mark Madsen? Nothing but love. Kwame on the hand was a different case altogether. Lakers fans loathed. I think he may be the only player in Laker history to be universally loathed. Personally I liked him. Mostly because he looks a lot like a black version of my friend Denny, but also because…….. I don’t know. I like rooting for those guys that everybody counts out I guess. He did sort of play good man defense in the post.

The linked article was published shortly after his trade to the Grizzlies and is one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever read. It’s also, somewhat in spite of itself, a poignant elegy that very accurately captures the madness that was Kwame Brown.

5 Things You Don’t Know About Green Tea – This is a pretty interesting article on many levels and by many, I mean two. It is interesting on two levels. One, it contains a lot of interesting facts about the health benefits of green tea. Sure the fact that green tea is so good for you is old hat by now, but it’s still interesting nonetheless. And the second level of interestingness is the fact that it’s taken from a Marie Claire article titled “The 7 Things You Didn’t Know about Green Tea.” It’s just funny to me.

Can a Pill Make You Gorgeous? – This is a pretty good article about beauty supplements. If that’s your thing it’s worth a read.

Zoom Kobe 4 Watch - A somewhat interesting observation about Kobe. Throughout the first part of the season Kobe played pretty well, but was pretty inconsistant and not at all like his usual dominant self. In the three games since getting his new sneakers? Sure the Lakers are only 1-2, but Kobe has been in beastmode.

Hyperdunk Numbers

PPG – 25
FG% – .46
3pt% – .31

Zoom Kobe 4 Numbers

PPG – 35
FG% – .51
3pt% – .50

Coincidence? Or a really, really, elaborate commercial?

Culture Monster – This a new arts blog on The LA Times. I think it’s new anyway. I don’t know anything about anything, so for all I know (or don’t know) it could’ve been around for ages. Well the point is I just heard about it and since this is also an art blog that means Culture Monster is now my sworn enemy and will has to be crushed.

CULTURE MONSTER UPDATE! Culture Monster is on a major newspaper and is read by more than one person (What’s up Dorothy! I hope you are still reading!) so I guess it has the jump on me. Culture Monster 1 Terry Kim 0. I’m not panicking though. I’m just laying in the cut.

mario’s bee outfit – It has recently come to my attention that this Bee outfit is hated by a lot people. Which isn’t really anything worth writing about in and of itself, but I think it’s kind of interesting seeing as how a lot of these same people will talk about what a great costume the raccoon suit was. I never understood the fascination with Mario’s raccoon suit. I mean, how the hell a raccoon tail was supposed to make you fly?

Monique Coleman – For those of you reading this that aren’t 16 years old you might not know who Monique Coleman is. She’s the black chick in High School Musical. She was born in 1980 which means she was……. I don’t know when High School Musical came out but whenever it did come out she was definately not a teenager. Other black actresses that were surprisingly old for their teenaged roles: Stacy Dash (28) in Clueless and Gabrielle Union (28) in Bring it On.

I know these are some pretty lame news bites. They’ll get better, but if they don’t I probably wouldn’t be too surprised.

Bad Porn – One of my favorite basketball players is Corey Maggette. This has less to do with his skills and more to do with the fact that he’s just about the shiniest, most ripped up player in the league. Seriously, he looks like a giant action figure covered in baby oil. Anyways, I was reading Basketbawful and I learned that his nickname in some circles is “Bad Porn”

“They’ve started to call him ‘Bad Porn’ at various Warriors boards. Their justification? ‘Sure, there’s penetration and scoring, but are you really happy with what you’re seeing?’”

Fabulous. Just fabulous.

Best in Show 2008 – This is LA Weekly’s list of the best art shows and things over the past year. If I made a list of the best shows shows I went to this past year I would have to include a lot of my own shows. That’s not because I think I’m so amazing (even though I do) but it’s largely out of default because I don’t seem to go to too many shows that I’m not in. Early New Years Resolution: go to more shows. I am particularly remiss for not ever having been to MOCA.

LACMA proposes a merger with MOCA - I don’t really have a whole lot to say about this. Apparently it’s happening because the MOCA has no money or something and the merger with LACMA will allow it to stay open. So I guess my stance is that this is a good thing since I’m guessing this means the MOCA will stay open long enough for me to finally visit it. Terry Kim 1, Recession 0.

“Vanity Fair Portraits” at LACMA – In keeping with my new resolution to see more shows I think I might actually maybe go and possibly see this show. Considering the fact that I learned how to paint by painting pictures from fashion magazines I feel somewhat obligated.

Review: Andrew Dawson’s ‘Quatre Mains’ at UCLA Live - When I first aw this headline I was gonna start clowning on it but after reading the article it actually looks pretty interesting. I’m normally not a big fan of performance art of any kind (it just looks like really bad ballet to me) so maybe it might just sound better than it actually is, but the writer seems pretty sold on it.

Michael Buitron on 2008 Biennial at OCMA – When I first started reading this my stomach started to turn because it sounded so corny. Apparently there’s going to be a lot of polotically bent artwork. Here’s a brief synopsis of my view of political art: it’s the most positively antiquated concept. This ain’t the sixties. Odds are, if a person are learning anything about world affairs from artwork it probably says more about that person’s inablitiy to keep up with current affairs than any qualities inherent in the artwork. That being said, when I finished reading the entire peice it did start to intrigue me. I have a lot of California pride, so this better not dissapoint.

Art Roll Pt.I: Jeff Soto/Riverside Art Museum – I’m not too impressed with this guy, but you know he did get a museum show. So, congratualtions and go guy.

Shepard Fairey’s Iconic Obama Image Makes Time Magazine’s ‘Person of The Year’ Cover - I don’t like Sheppard Fairey so this bugs me that he’s on the cover of Time. I often think about what the future will think about this current period of art and how it will measure up historically. I imagine it will measure up pretty badly.