Gil Toss: The "Rock God" Edition

Silver, spiked-up and gravity defying hair: $275.  Green eyes sparkle mischievously behind non-hipster black frames: $150.  Straps every where and any where on tight, black pants and there are enough of them to rival a Final Fantasy pretty boy's outfit: $500.  A delivery boy button down shirt in the best colour a mosh pit can produce: which is of course blood red: $322.  Black, tall boots with studs, spikes and laces untied: $410.  A tattoo of a soul in despair on his wrist: DIY Colour by Numbers, $0.  Rings designed to inflict pain when a face is punched: $60.  The vocal range of a raspy demon to the highs of an angel: $1000/hour.  Having a 3D figurine of your favourite Rock God to be displayed proudly on your shelf for all your celebrity Rock Star crush needs? Priceless.  Wait, no.  Actually, I think it was $85.

Zarnyx: The Nintendo 3DS Edition

I have had the 3DS for just shy of an entire week.

I did not attend the Best Buy Union Square NYC Launch Party, I canceled my pre-order on Amazon and opted instead, to pre-order the thing at damned Nintendo World in NYC.

It was the wrong move to make and I knew as much a week before the blasted thing launched.

I got zero swag from Nintendo World, and just about as much fanfare on the Monday - one day after its U.S. launch.

The girl who rang me up at 9 a.m. was less than enthusiastic.

While I was not impressed by the swag anyway (sour grapes! sour grapes! - no really, the case would have been awesome but everything else was mostly 'meh'), it still sucks to get nothing when I'm used to the opposite.

But that's okay.

I love my Aqua Blue.  For the most part.

Zarnyx, the Aqua Blue Nintendo 3DS.

Drawings

I took pictures of these a great number of weeks ago.

Why didn't I post them?

Me? A Slacker?

Never!

Zarnyx drawings...but when are they ever NOT Zarnyx drawings.

I'm not sure.  Zarnyx actually does not smoke, I don't think.  That's more of a Raphael trait.  I think I just stuck it on him in a moment of lapsed judgment.  I was trying something.

I have to say, I have been entertaining the thought of drawing a new 'character'.

Oh, you two-day crazy rumblings for thoughts.  You'll soon go away just like everything else does, once I find something new to obsess over.


Currently listening to: "Warsaw or the First Breath You Take After You Give Up" by Them Crooked Vultures.  My like-hate relationship continues.

The Battle of the Animated Bands

With my re-kindled addiction to the Gorillaz, I was reminded of a time in 2005 when I first walked into Toy Tokyo.  Maybe it was one of the first times but anyway, Beetchie and I happened upon the Gorillaz Kid Robot figures.

They were beautiful.

I wanted them but could not afford or even fathom spending the $300 plus dollars on the set.

Quickly consumed by at least 256 other obsessions, I forgot all about my Gorillaz love and my want of their figures until I stumbled upon the White Collection sometime a few weeks ago.

And they were affordable, but still...at $119, I decided I did not need to spend that either.  I am ridiculous but I know my limits...occasionally.

Some searching later, I found 2D for sale at a much more reasonable price and decided he should join the Army of Misfits.

His boots are Misfit ready!

I'm not sure what role he shall play but it's guaranteed to not be part of the wheel that makes clever decisions.

Perhaps he can be our Harmony Smurf?

With better vocals and no bugle?

 Leading the AofM to victory and smurfberry muffins? ...Wait.

The lead singer of The Oxtails began clamouring from his bubble-wrapped slumber and demanded an immediate audience and battle of the animated vocalists to determine who would lead the call to Smurfberry pies!

With Zarnyx citing shenanigans, they both took to their mics without their Asian guitarists as back up (wow, the similarities between bands is amazing! Except our bassist is a true bassist and is black, and theirs is not.  And they also have a full time drummer while ours was off getting 'runk like a skunk and eventually booted from the band) and began a competition so fierce, I was lucky to withstand the sheer awesomeness of it all and capture these candid shots of all the action.

Though, of course...

Indeed, it looked rather grim for Zarnyx - no matter how many oxymorons,

 world-wide promoters, stars, clear microphones, or H1 for a band manager...

 if you can't even look your competition in the eye, you're nothing.

...one fail later, Zarnyx opted for black and white press shots instead, having decided that he was too much of a cool kid to let something like height be an issue.

Because as we all know, we ALL look better in black and white...

...yep, no sign of a bruised ego here or a tiny, carney hand.

What to do Next?

Give him black wings? Give the background a good black solid paint over? Hmmm...so confused.

Did I also mention I decided Zarnyx could do with a fur-trimmed coat?

(Note to self: No worries, his love of showing skin will not be harmed in the making of this coat)

I have yet to decide on the colour of said coat since I can't really even draw the coat right, but as it is, his pants-cape (capes are dangerous! don't wear them!) is red, his shirt and attachments is an off-white, and his pants are dark grey/to black.

I'm thinking a blood red for his coat might be my best option but...

He might be turning into a Trinidadian Flag.

Help me, someone.

Currently: Wishing every day could be a rainy Saturday. ::sigh:: The end of the year is fast approaching and I feel doom and gloom due to work, when I should be happy.

Also, the camera really does add 10 pounds. What happened to Zarnyx's face? It looks all weird from what I'm looking at on the canvas!

Funny

Now for another nerd rant by Or 2.

I do not know if I said this before but "Psycho Killer" by Talking Heads is Zarnyx's theme song in Rock Band 2.

Being the lead singer for The Oxtails (yes, it's really supposed to be Sariel, I know), and on solo tour with Zarnyx means it is not often I put him on any other instrument.

This weekend with Sexual Chocolate (MC is delusional and quite skeevy with his 'well-placed' shark - ::shudder::) and Sports Bra (hilarious!) filling in as guest artists in Zarnyx's band, I relegated Zarnyx to guitarist.

I would just like to say that

1. Zarnyx looks incredibly great holding a guitar.

2. I'm debating whether or not to spend a good chunk of my $85,000 on a really expensive guitar for him (MC, I did not steal your gig money. I maintain that I have been touring solo for quite the while and I am rich for my awesomeness - hahahaha. Beetchie? Don't judge me and don't hate because I gots cash for hideous goat head guitars)

3. I am convinced that the Rock Band characters have 'personalities' and that each one has a song they go extra nuts on. I discovered that not only does Zarnyx go insane when singing "Psycho Killer" but he goes crazy while on guitar on that song too. It's seriously funny and seriously scary at the same time.

We're still trying to figure out what G.'s theme song is. I hope it's a Maiden song. That just seems right.

Currently: burnt out from September and not even half the month has gone by yet. Yeesh. I'd say it's my own fault but that wouldn't really be true, would it?

Rants of the Nerd Variety

Zarnyx is awesome.

I know I say it a lot but it's true, I love him best out of all my characters.

But I guess his 'suave' personailty is suited best to a microphone if he were to be a Rock Band character, and since that's the instrument I use in the Rock Band franchise, I made him a singer too, as I've noted before.

Last week Saturday I ordered a custom made action figure of him. Obviously, I could not create him in game exactly as I've drawn him but I was happy with what I did.

I received no notification of shipment but he showed up today at the house without warning, which not surprisingly, is much like my character would do.

I was quite worried that they got it to me so quickly and with good reason.

Even though Harmonix botched my figure by giving him shades instead of glasses, no barbed wire devil wristlets like I wanted, he's 'grainy' and his mouth is open more than I draw him to be (well, he is a singer in the game after all, I guess), I still love him.








Here's how he's really supposed to look in game, minus the umm...mean mouth. Heh.



Awww. Cutie.

Currently listening to: "Spaceman" by The Killers. I didn't think I'd like much by them this much since my Killers O.D. back when their first album came out but I'm really loving this ridiculous song, probably because I am determined to have Zarnyx master it in Rock Band 2. Oh, I can't wait to have another go at it. It was hard the first time when I never heard it before.

Burn!

It was an insult to Paramore and Hot Topic.

I was playing Rock Band 2 last night and chose some song in Austin TX. I think it was Sonic Youth but I'm not sure. Whatever it was, it was totally cool rock song by a considered to be cool rock band.

The joker creators at Rock Band tossed Zarnyx a question.

Essentially I was asked, "Hot Topic wants to sponsor your gig but wants you to sing Paramore's 'That's What You Get' instead. You'll get lots of cash for it. Do you want to switch songs?"

Well, that certainly sounded fishy - Hot Topic and Paramore in one sentence? Yeah. I mean, it sounds about right but suspect at best.

Anyone who knows Paramore is probably an emo I don't want to deal with. Probably. The lead singer surely is an annoying little emo girl but I digress.

Anyone who knows Hot Topic knows that it was slightly cool when it was unknown all the years when. And then emo happened and Hot Topic thought they should go in the direction of the Emo. You can't really blame them because Emo kids are usually privileged children who have their parents money (and lots of it), self-made depression, and less than stellar taste in music.

Beetchie, shut up! I am not Emo! And I'm not whining, that was a forceful "Shut Your Ass" kind of Shut Up, I can assure you.

I digress again.

So, lured by curiosity and extra money to get more piercings (not that I would spend money without your approval, Band Manager H1), I went ahead and sold out.

After I finished the gig, Rock Band made sure to drive it hard that I had Sold Out in case I was Emo and didn't realise that having Hot Topic sponsor me and singing Paramore is anything but the coolest thing since crying.



You see that, right?

I LOST 30,000 fans.

Ahahaha. That was true greatness. I only got $250 too. Tch. Cheap bastards.

To the assholes who are paying attention to the fact that I got five stars on Paramore, it's just that like that time with that ass song by Fall Out Boy, I had to learn the damned song in order not to fail and I'd be damned if I let any of those assholes make me a fail a song.

Anyway.

They're grainy but here are some pictures of my beloved Zarnyx in Rock Band 2 form. I'll take better pictures at some point.





He is of course, wearing an awesome red jacket that he was born with, Band Manager H1 and not bought without consulting you first.

Currently listening to: "Get Clean" by Anarchy Club. I finally found this song. I didn't unlock it yet in Rock Band 2 but I always hear it at the start up load screen and I love the music. The lyrics leave much to be desired but I can just ignore them.

Rock Band 2

Man, I sound extra REALLY horrible when I've got a frog in my throat. It's a good thing no one's around to hear me massacre the already awful "Living on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi. Effin' Bon Jovi... Though, I did get five stars, so I'm wondering if this frog is the key to Jovi and will help get five stars on that other ass song, "Wanted Dead or Alive"...

Also, I love Rock Band Zarnyx.

I made him and while he's not exactly how I draw him, he's still pretty cute. For a while there he had a goth personality but then when he did some sort of shimmy that pissed me off so bad (and as a goth, why was he always bopping his head and smiling??!!), I deleted him and remade him with a Metal personality.

Now he's an asshole.

Ha.

Metal Heads.

Currently listening to: "Psycho Killer" by Talking Heads. I forgot how damned cool this song is.

Should Be Sleeping

I would have gone to bed a long time ago but effin' blogger just lost my entire post from last night and I had to rewrite that shart!

..sigh.. I'll have to edit. Lame.

In the meanwhile, I 'finished' a drawing I've been working on.

Pencil, paper, frustration, pondering and proscrastination -



Currently listening to: "Chocolate Salty Balls (P.S. I Love You)" by Chef, from Chef Aid: The South Park Album.

Updated Zarnyx

Using the term loosely, I "shaded" Zarnyx. Maybe next time I will add "colour". I'm taking liberties with that word.



Currently listening to: "Roku Maboroshi Hatsudou" by Wada Kaoru, from the D. Gray-Man Original Soundtrack I. Ahh, goo'd times.

Trying Things

Thanks to Tite Kubo. And it's not that I can't find someone else who did an over the shoulder stance to help me but the latest chapter of Bleach had a great drawing of my Yumi, and I decided to draw that form since I near to never have done it before.

I most always use Zarnyx to try new things on since he's always on the brain but I think someone else would have benefited from this or helped me to get the form down better...like maybe Raguel or Raphael. In any event! Here is Zarnyx and I still managed to not get it right. ::sigh:: I'll keep working on that but in the meanwhile, this isn't done yet either.



Currently listening to: "Dive Into The Heart - Destati - " by Yoko Shimomura, from the Kingdom Hearts Soundtrack.

It Needs To Be Cleaned Up

No wacom, pencil drawing by hand (with smudges and all!) of the group:



From left to right (because sometimes I forget their names...embarassing, isn't it?): Raguel, Zarnyx, October, Kale, Raphael, Sariel

Currently listening to: "Earth" by Susumu Hirasawa, from the Berserk TV Series Original Soundtrack

More Zarnyx?

Yeah, more Zarnyx.

Sketched/Wacom'ed really quickly, and uncaring like. I'm in that kind of mood. Tired and Meh.

He still came out to my liking.



That's the kind of pretty and scary ass he is, even if it doesn't quite look like him. But the personality is oozing Zarnyx.

Currently listening to: "In Memories: A Boy Meets The Man" by Taku Iwasaki, from the Rurouni Kenshin OVA Soundtrack.

Another

Same grain of pencil on Corel using the Wacom. It's Zarnyx again.



Currently listening to: "Take The Long Road and Walk It" by The Music

Doin' Stuff II

I still have not mastered that WACOM but I'm happy with this shart I made tonight.

I present to you, Zarnyx.



Yes, I am still aware that I can't draw hands for crap for crap.

Currently listening to: "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" by U2

Goodbye for now, Zarnyx; Greetings, Sariel

The Ipod Quest was fulfilled as planned on Tuesday.

To my Zarnyx, you're still awesome and never gone. Here's your mini-photo tribute:



And Sariel...oh the things you will soon endure. But it'll be good times, all of it.

I have to say though, there are a few things I like better about Zarnyx, my 4th Generation. Even though he was black & white, I liked that I didn't have to use the backlighting. Now I HAVE to use the backlighting.

I also liked that I could keep the click wheel volume on and I didn't have to hear it once I had my headphones in but it annoyed everyone else. Now, I can hear it through the headphones! Curses!

What I do find amusing about Sariel though, is the fact that when I'm scrolling through my extensive library, the alphabet comes up as it goes through the list.

For those interested, Beetchie and I also went to Kenka. We didn't feast upon anything 'odd' this time but here's what we ate:

a chunk of stewed pork
eggplant in tempura sauce
grilled salted salmon
some sort of not-as-good-as-the-regular okinomayaki thingie
fried chicken wings