Hangry & Angry Fashion Show @ New York Comic Con/Anime Fest 2010

convention logos, new york comic con, new york comic con on black

This past weekend was the New York Comic Con & Anime Festival that was being held at the Javits Center in NYC.  It ran from Friday until Sunday and in my guise as Master and Commander of PiercingMetal.com, I attended all three days of this incredible convention event.  The official site blog will feature a number of narratives that relate to the goings on at the convention since some of my wanderings found me discovering some cool music stuff and the personality responsible for them as well.

The convention is also one that offers a wide variety of companies the chance to come in and present their wares for the general public and one such booth that I found was the one for designer h.Naoto and also Gashicon.  Gashicon is a Japanese illustrator and the creator of the Guro-kawa (or grotesque and cute) character mascots of Hangry & Angry.  If you are a fan of the J-Rock style of music you know who I am talking about but if you are still in the dark please know that this is a group founded in 2008 by Hitomi Yoshizawa and Rika Ishikawa.  Here’s a photo of the girls that I found online.  I admit that I myself do not have much of an idea about them…..yet.  There is always time.

hangry and angry
J-Rock’s own Hangry & Angry

When I stopped by the booth I was told that a fashion design show would be held downstairs from the main exhibition hall and this would be featuring many of the Japanese Gothic Lolita fashion designs that I saw in front of me at the booth.  Designer Gashicon was there as well and she showed me all of the characters that she had designed for the group.  There were many of these plush characters available for sale and they were selling like hotcakes.  Those images will be in the Comic Con blogs so watch for them.  Since the fashion show was early enough on the Saturday of the Con, I got into place and aimed the camera at everyone as they strutted their stuff and showed off these designs.

hangry and angry, hangry and angry fashion show, gashicon, ny comic con 2010, fashion shows

hangry and angry, hangry and angry fashion show, gashicon, ny comic con 2010, fashion shows

Continue reading Hangry & Angry Fashion Show @ New York Comic Con/Anime Fest 2010

PiercingMetal Pregaming Guide: Duke’s Restaurant

You readers remember our good friend in Metal Steve Keeler right? If you don’t for some reason, let me sidetrack a moment and remind you how Steve not only runs Rock Fantasy, an establishment that we wrote up for Metal Edge magazine a couple of years ago and expanded upon HERE, but he also has the dubious honor of being the person who recommended that we start going to Duke’s Bar on 19th Street off Park Avenue South.

Logo - Dukes Bar

Continue reading PiercingMetal Pregaming Guide: Duke’s Restaurant

King Tut Trinket Hunting @ The Discovery Center Gift Shop

A couple of weeks ago I went here….

Discovery Times Square Exposition Center

To see this guy….

Hail To The King

Continue reading King Tut Trinket Hunting @ The Discovery Center Gift Shop

Tom Otterness’ “Real World”: A Public Art Display

Readers of the PiercingMetal.com website might recall a not too long ago concert report for the band Renaissance in which the band performed outside on a hot Summer night down at Rockefeller Park in Battery Park City.  While a little unbearable under the setting sun, the night was a wonderful one in the end and the adventure down to the actual concert something entirely different and interesting in its own right. The reason for this was based on our discovery of another public art installation by Tom Otterness, the American sculptor whose work really shines in my humble opinion. We had explored the artists work after another concert with his “Life Underground” pieces that are set up under the streets of NYC on the 14th Street & 8th Avenue subway line.  Interested folks can click that link to check out the full views and images captured for that experience and we cannot recommend enough that you check this out but totally watch your step as you wander the platform.  Anyway, while heading down into the actual park where the stage was set up, we found the installation of what is called “The Real World”.  The display was commissioned of the artist in 1986 and installed in 1992 and oddly enough I never even knew about it since I rarely get down to this part of the city and the parks.  I guess I need to change that course of action since I am usually finding amazing things to share with the world.  Anyhow, this installation is a fascinating one and is set up around a beautiful playground area.  I photographed a number of the pieces as I wandered down to the show for your visual enjoyment.  Read on.

tom otterness, the real world sculptures

The first piece we see is a couple of monkeys and apparently a mother and her baby based on the bottle that is visible in the hand of the larger one.  I love the derby’s.

tom otterness, the real world sculptures

I’m actually wrong, as the piece above is at the entrance walkway to the playground area while this guardian monkey is ready to welcome you down into the fun.

Continue reading Tom Otterness’ “Real World”: A Public Art Display

Walking Next To The “Sidewalk Catwalk” Fashion Display

You really never know what you are going to see in New York City at any given time and how a simple walk to the office of a friend can find you stumbling upon something interesting and really cool.  Such was the case that I would find while heading over to a publicist’s office to pick up some new review materials for PiercingMetal.com.  I was in Times Square, and the day was nice, so I decided to walk down Broadway even though their office was a good mile down the avenue.   As I began the wander I realized that as far as my eye could see, how mannequins dressed up in very detailed designs were positioned along the same path I was going.  This was New York’s Fashion District and I had accidentally come upon a public art project called “Sidewalk Catwalk”.  Walk with me for a few minutes.

Designer: Catherine Malandrino

Continue reading Walking Next To The “Sidewalk Catwalk” Fashion Display