Finally found a few hours to sort and upload pictures from comic-con and man it was like re-living every epic moment.  Definitely had a blast and I can't wait for next year! Here are some of my favorites, but you can view the rest of the album here http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=460645&id=874020499&l=2d16815c20

Finished some projects and for the first time in ages picked up the guitar to find out I've forgotten almost every note and chord.  So it's back to basics and for a moment I just rested on Meev (guitar's name) and dealt with the frustration by humming the song I was attempting to play. 

Weapon of choice: Yamaha acoustic guitar
battleplan: 15min of practice everyday
ultimate goal: to make music not noise.

Taking 5 minutes this evening from work, meandering through the internet and of course being creative, I was inspired by this young boy and a guitar, to breath and reflect. I absolutely love and adore this arrangement of "Hit the Road Jack." It has an air about it that is reminiscent of the guitar solos in songs by The Eagles. 

Despite the fact that I have a Kick-Ass job which allowed me to spend a good amount of time at comic-con, it's no surprise that 90% of my life is work.  My schedule begins with me heading to the game studio, being creative throughout the day, finding dinner, then working through the night till about 1-2am.  Somewhere between that routine, I tweet, blog, play games, read comics and etc.  The funny thing is that when I share this with friends and clients, they look at me perplexed and ask "why?"  As a freelancer there's two modes of living, free as a bird eating ramen or insanely busy eating souffles.  I've tried it many ways and it always turns out that I'm either completely absent of work or overloaded, and mentally I function better with many things to do.  Give me nothing to do and I'll end up blowing up the world, give me too much to do and I'll build cities; or paint them anyway. haha.


BUT, yes big BUT, the one thing that all this working has led me to miss and realize is that I haven't been doing enough personal art.  I'm pretty sure I've been saying that for years, but my line of work now has me strictly focusing on the creative and constant inspiration needs fuel.  So tonight I'm pulling out the guitar and tomorrow the sketch book. I got my new red glasses and a re-visited frame of thought. 

I'm getting to the upload process for my comic-con photos, there's about 200 more I need to upload but as a little teaser you can visit my facebook album here.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=460645&id=874020499&l=2d16815c20

I'm finally almost done editing and sorting through my thousand pictures from UFC fan expo and those will be loaded soon as well! Ciao friends, love you all! 

p.s, who's going to UFC live on versus this weekend for the Jon Bones Jones fight, that's right moi! :D 
with comic-con done, the sports blogs are coming back!

You read it here first, so if you see anyone with this costume next year at comic-con, you'll know that 365 days prior, I claimed the idea. After being told that there were multiple "Gogo and Battle Royale" costumes floating about comic-con, I think it's time to retire the costume for another few years. 


So next year, I'm going dressed as the Kung Fu master w/ the Lion's Roar from Kung Fu Hustle.  Next to dressing like a naked comic book character, which I'm totally not in shape for, the next best costume for the heat is old lady PJs and flip flops. I doubt very many people will recognize it but I'll tell you this, I'll be the most comfortable person on earth. 

Although I've been tweeting and facebooking comic-con pix, I saved the superhero best for my readers.

Ok maybe not the best, but after running around the con as Gogo all day, holding a chain and tonnes of gear, it's nice to collapse on a bed and wear a mask. I imagine this may slightly be how Spiderman feels after a long day. Relaxed but with the mask, still a lil superhero'ish.

I actually got escorted by security today to check in my weapon (massive lols) but in hearing how someone got stabbed in Hall "H" with a pen, it's apparent that nerd rage can make anything a threat.
I got some great pix (high res will be posted later), made friends w fellow geeks on the trolley, got awsm comic book previews and even a signed mini poster by Marvel vs Capcom 3 producer Ryoto Niitsuma.

I'm enjoying comic-con while it's still here bc who knows what city will buy the con next. So I'm just resting up and checkin in, time to gogo and check out the city.
Sent via Blackberry at&t
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Hey geeks, nerds and swag baggers alike, I'm broadcasting from my second day at comic-con! Not by a computer so ultimate comic-con info on here won't be till later. Met some new pals on the train and about to get my adventure on. Follow my twitter www.twitter.com/chowmut for on the go pix n updates!

Sent via Blackberry at&t
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Diana Le
Creative Direction, Marketing, Solutions
http://www.chowmut.com/
http://www.thedailychow.com

We all have our favorite holidays, Christmas, New Years or even Memorial day, just because you get to take off of work or school.  Comic-con, although not officially a holiday, for geeks, nerds, pop culture fanboys and girls alike, it's that one time of year where for four days, San Diego is the epicenter for all sorts of wonderful mayhem.

For anyone who has never gone, there aren't enough words that can describe why this event is so epic, but I can say why I love it.  While some go to Comic-Con to battle eachother for free bags, plastic rings, Twilight postcards and inflatable He-Man swords (not gonna lie, that one is pretty cool), free swag aside, the entire event is FLOODED with rockstars of the geek lovers realm.

Two of my favorite moments included when I got to meet the producer for Street Fighter 4, Yoshinori Ono, who also signed my poster, and when I met RYOTA NITTSUMA (see image above) producer for Tatsunoko vs Capcom, and concept artist for Crimson Viper!!! About 4 years ago, I was talking to one of the writers at a booth for Marvel and when I told him I was a huge fan of the Dark Phoenix Saga, he ended up drawing me a sketch.  In addition to being able to purchase art books (got a signed print/book from Hoang Nguyen) and art pieces, you often get to meet the artist themselves.







Marv Wolfman God of War 3

My scheduled round of must sees that I visit every year include Square Enix, Capcom,  Artist's Alley, Hasbro (transformers ftw) and sometimes Sony and etc. 

So this year, while the crowds are all crowding the TV and Movie booths hunting for swag, I urge you to join me along the less crowded nooks and alleys where you never know who you may meet or what you'll find.

There's two things that happen to me when goals get achieved, I find myself lost in some sort of time/space continuum and other things get re-prioritized.   What's utterly astounding is that I'm still editing photos from UFC Fan expo which was nearly a month and a half ago, there's a list of blogs I have in inventory to write, I'm still working on updating the web page there's a stack of envelopes with companies I need to call to dispute charges and I actually can't remember the last time I cooked at home.  What all this means is actually a good thing.  I recently made a career shift taking on a (for lack of better words) kick ass full time contract and I've actually been pretty steady with my freelance business as well.  I've been told that I'm a slave to work, but it really is true that when you love what you do, it hardly ever gets tiring.  My art is being challenged, I have some really amazing projects i'm working on, and although things are moving at a light speed pace, it's a welcomed change. 

I'll post more on the projects soon, but consider this my intro update to hopefully more consistent updates.  I mean I still cannot believe I didn't post a response on the epic UFC 116.. man what a night of fights and how I wanted so bad for Carwin to finish Brock off. 

But for now here is what I'm looking forward to.

1) T minus 3 weeks and football pre-season starts
2) Aug 1 UFC Live in SD ( Jon Bones Jones vs Matyasdfjalskdjf;askdjf; (j/k) Matyushenko)
3) Aug 7th UFC 117 oh jiah.. I hate both Silva and Sonnen, but do wanna see Silva lose.
4) Aug 27th? (gotta check the calendar) got a ticket to see Michael Buble, by myself :D
5) Sept 2, Green Day and AFI.

This entire year up to now has been a beautiful busy mayhem, airports, hotels, weddings, pictures, events and etc.. I can only imagine how the rest of the year is going to pan out. 

Ciao for now.

If I were to compare the two companies to cities, they would be east and west polar opposites, Starbucks being New York and Jamba Juice the most laid form of San Diego.  Despite Seattle being the birthplace for Starbucks, my comparisons actually have nothing to do with ingredients, flavors or style.  Instead, what contrasts between these two places so much is the ordering process and environment. 

As of late Jamba Juice has added coffee and breakfast to their healthy list of options, in order to attract the morning crowd and offer variation.  I was at the airport this last Wednesday morning at 6am, and after battling security to make it to my gate in time, I saw the Jamba Juice and decided "ok let's get some nutrition before a long flight." *(now keep in mind that everything at the airport is supposed to be more efficient and processed quickly because people are on the go)  BIG MISTAKE!

You know that anxiety you get when you're late for work, or missing an appointment and are stuck in traffic, constantly looking at your watch and getting those cold sweats?  I felt that in the line at Jamba Juice.  With two people in front of me ordering, I was able to plot out this entire blog and the comparison I wanted to make.  The problem is not just the people that work at Jamba Juice, but it's also the people that order from there.  They're the type of people that swear they are certain they know what they want, till they get to the register then just stare.  After 3 minutes of choosing, the cashier HAS TO ask them if they'd like to ad "insert value for the day", and then the customer ponders for another 3 minutes and goes "ok".  Have you ever noticed that it takes forever to get your custom and fresh smoothie at Jamba Juice?

As a trained and seasoned coffee drinker, I realized that Starbucks goers know what they want, order efficiently and rarely cause a delay in the assembly line when ordering. In addition to that, Starbucks baristas have your drink practically done by the time you're done ordering and paying.  Perhaps it's the caffeine that doses us up with energy to operate like a well oiled machine, but I'll say this, never once in line at a Starbucks have I ever had that time to ponder a lengthy blog post. 


While I love both places, I think there's a time and place for each.  Don't head to Jamba Juice if you're looking to be on the gogogo, save it for a day when you're enjoying a warm relaxing walk, and have time to appreciate the site, sounds and colors of life.  Starbucks is where you go to fuel up, get going and make life happen. haha. 

Perhaps it's not so bad to slow down, but for now, I haven't got the time to.

What do you get when you give three girls a Happy Hour menu at P.F Changs? A table full of noms that looks like it was meant to feed a 10 person family.  I can't remember the last time I had a Monday off, but it was nice today to be able to do work from home, grab lunch w/ the gals and even get a body wrap.

Here's what we ordered in no particular order.
Shrimp Dumplings
Crispy Wontons
Pan Fried Dumplings
Seared Ahi Tuna
Garlic Noodles
Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Classic Seasoned Spare Ribs
BBQ Spare Ribs
Salt & Pepper Calamari
Garlic Spinach

I think the bigger surprise was that we ate most of it.

It was a beautiful display of fireworks with an abundance of great noms! I'd like to say that I don't remember the last time I ate that much, but I'd be lying.. yesterday's epic UFC 116 card had me stuffing my face a plenty.

Though, there's something about the 4th of July and the magic of fireworks that brings me back to that same feeling I usually get on New Years, which is a sense of awe and inspiration.  Perhaps my child like creativity  is awakened by the infinite sparkling particles bursting through the sky, or maybe it's the brilliant colors that surge my brain and eyeballs.. but after every show of fireworks I always have this voice in my head that says "make great things."

I recently had an online bud ask me for my Steam acct handle for some Left for Dead 2 action, then followed by asking if I had an xfire account.  Instantly it was as if I got knocked in the head with a zerg rush of memories of how many times Ventrilo failed us during clan matches, and how good ol xfire was. Always reliable and offered awesome ways to screen shot in game.

It's honestly been YEARS since I've used Xfire so my stats are not accurate at all, especially Half Life 2 < 1 hr, no way! It's just HL2 was a solo kinda game, so there was no need to be logged on to xfire while playing. Also my WC3 should be sitting somewhere around 800+ hours haha.

Being reminded of all this in addition to getting new monitors yesterday, has left me feeling a little nostalgic, thinking back to days packing up my heavy monitors/box to lan parties, staying up playing for entire weekends with about 3 hrs sleep, getting excited over a new mouse or keyboard and etc.

Ahh but as life would have it, we all grow up and time gets scarce.  I'm lucky now a days if I can even get a one chapter of L4D2 in, or a checkpoint in other games. 

Note: All handle names and SNs have been removed for privacy.. yup I actually keep some aspects of my life separate from my online and blog life. It's just funny that it's the gaming/hobby side.

(click above image to enlarge)

"An estimated 2.6 billion people, about 40% of the world's population, have no access to toilets and defecate anywhere they can. As a result, more than 2 million people -- including 1.5 million children -- die from complications of chronic diarrhea. ~Vanguard"

 For many of us, our daily concerns involve battling traffic, coping when technology fails and seeking which station may have the best price of gas.  To say that we may not always be conscious of how the rest of the world lives, is an understatement.  

While some of us are perplexed between choices of paint and marble counters, there are those that defecate and urinate wherever they can, and some are left with no choice but to use that same water, shared from with the waste, for drinking water and to bathe in.

A recent episode for one of my favorite documentary series, "Vanguard", tackled this subject that seems even more taboo than sex, human waste. Correspondent Adam Yamaguchi travels abroad to understand how people live with no toilets,  the ecological and health effects and what can be done.  The video footage caught of "shit" everywhere, even in the rivers definitely leaves one quite appreciative of our porcelain thrones.

One of the things that makes Vanguard so amazing is their sense of delivering things sugar free and even a bit raw.  The issue is not masked by technical terms such as feces, solid waste or other floral words, the issue is referred to what it is, which is shit.

Click to watch the jarring and brilliant documentary below or by visiting the site.