Miya Anfo Stanoff

I have always been attracted to metallic pieces (actually somewhat obsessed). But not with the shiny chromed style, but more of the brushed metal or stainless steel finish.

With that being said, I was surprised to find metal art pieces like these by artist Miya Anfo Stanoff. Miya is an artist that works with metal sheets to create subtle, minimal works of art, just using items like a blow torch, pigments and lacquer. Her methods range from etching, sanding and drawing directly on the metal sheets. I would definitely like to see her pieces in person, because this is the kind of work and material I enjoy.

Sadly for me I could not find a website with her portfolio. But there is a YouTube video that shows a bit of her work process, and I also found a few pieces for sale on artnet.com.



http://www.artnet.com/artist/424746537/miyan-ando-stanoff.html

AC/DC LIVE: Rock Band Track Pack

Talk about advertisement and marketing. I guess Wal-mart really wants to make sure their exclusive -AC/DC LIVE: Rock Band Track Pack- sells, along with the new "Black Ice" album.

This is one of the many Black Ice interactive trucks that will be around the L.A area to continue the promotion. I spotted this one in front of the Virgin Mega store in Hollywood. Anyone walking down the Blvd. had a chance to play the tracks along with a free Monster energy drink.

Vegan Finds- Issue #1

Welcome to Vegan Finds- Issue#1

Vegan Finds- will consist of posting vegan friendly finds around the Los Angeles area only (for now). I will not be mentioning restaurants or vegan establishments, but rather items or vegan friendly meals in the least expected place, just to share the knowledge, and give my fellow vegans a heads up.

My first "Vegan Find" here on Ricecandy.net comes from Hollywood blvd. If you happen to be near Hollywood & Highland and want to get a light lunch or quick bite, you can get something at Famima's. They carry a vegetable steamed bun ($1.99) that is vegan friendly, delicious and fulfilling (don't worry, I asked the clerk for the ingredients list). They also have a variety of drinks, 3 different Flavors of Pearl soy milk, and Silk.

Another good thing about Famima is that they are open everyday till 3am.

This information is only based on this particular Famima location (6759 Hollywood Blvd). If I find the same items in other Famima locations, I will update this post at a later time. Any "Vegan Finds" you would like to share- along with pictures- please contact me.

SHEPARD FAIREY IS A FAKE!!!!!

Yes indeed he is a POSER! A FAKE, an IMPOSTOR! I always knew his art was done with a vector program and that he never actually drew any of them. In some graphic programs all you have to do is have a photo, hit a button, and there you have it! You have a vector design (like you see in the Shepard Fairey posters).

This is extremely obvious in that famous Obama poster he made. He got famous by plastering his OBEY/Andre the giant posters all over the place, but to consider him an artist is crazy! I would like to give him a piece of paper and a pencil to see if he can draw like the posters he has printed in the past. Actually I doubt he can draw anything at all... really!

But aside from all this just today I found that he also steals art as well! And that makes me angry cause that has happened to me before.

One thing is to be a fake, another one is to steal someone's work (which to me makes him less of a human being). I am enraged and grossed out about his FAKENESS! I would appreciate other artists or anyone who reads this to EXPOSE him, and his FRAUD SYNDROME.

PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT MORE PROOF OF HIS FAKENESS HERE:

http://www.art-for-a-change.com/Obey/index.htm

Robert Hovarth

Think this is a graphic illustration? Well it's not. It is an oil painting by artist Robert Horvath called "D.O". It's just simply amazing how he gets that effect with oil paint. Love the color spectrum and shapes.

Check out more of his work at: http://www.robert-horvath.com/

Art of 7R

I am always intrigued how pieces like these are created. I love the raw and organic look of 7R's pieces, and the short description he includes for every illustration. Glad to see a combination of styles in his collection from: a natural realistic look, photographic look, to an anime/comic book style, all done in mixed media.

I will keep on the lookout for more drawings, to see what new style 7R puts up in his Cartfly shop next.

More art from 7R at: https://www.cartfly.com/7r

Elizabeth Turk

I had intentions to attend this gallery showcase a couple of weeks ago but I have been so busy lately that I forgot the gallery dates.

I really wanted to see Elizabeth's work upclose to see those splash like pieces she made in marble. Though I saw some pictures in the Bandini website, I am sure seeing it person would have awaken a delightful curiosity. If you missed it like I did, you can head over to the Bandini website to check out these milky-like-drops-frozen-in-time pieces by Elizabeth Turk.

Info and photos at: http://www.bandiniart.com/

Blogger.com VS Wordpress.com, Ricecandy.net- Ricecandy.org

The last 3 days I have not posted anything here because I have been dealing with HTML,CSS,Domain Names, Redirecting, Masking, DNS, Hosting, Favicon, and anything else you can think of when trying to get your website up and running.

I started a few weeks ago here in Blogger.com and bought a domain name with another company, but that made it such a task to redirect without masking the subdirectories in the address bar. That led me to try out Wordpress.com to get the domain service that included not masking your subdirectory (since I couldnt make that happen here with Blogger because the name was hosted by tripod lycos ).

When I got on board with Wordpress.com I found out I had to pay to get my already purchased name to be redirected to that blog page ( just service to redirect, nothing else). Then I also payed more money to customize the CSS code since all their templates are horrible. The first 2 days in Wordpress.com was spent dealing with problems including: code, widgets, settings, etc etc. Later on I found out how to fix it through their forums(a wordpress.com member from their forums helped me more then Worpress.com support did) but it took me 2 days to get them all straightened out.

Then when I thought I had it all taken care of, I freaking noticed the Wordpress URL icon on my adress page! ( it did not appear there the first 2 days) and I did not like that.

Later I find out that Wordpress does not let you edit the favicon.ico file in their coding content. The only way you could do it was - if you were hosting the site itself and changing the php code. The other option was getting a VIP account where you had full access to customize anything.

I thought... "well since I already spent all this money, might as well get the VIP account" . Much to my surprise, I find out the VIP account has an initial cost of $600.00 (set up fee) with a $500.00 a month service fee. Well... that was not going to work at all for me. Then I read you can actually change the favicon.ico file in blogger.com, but then I faced the problem of not being able to get my Ricecandy.net integrated to this blog.

It ends up to be I had to purchase another domain name-but this time through blogger.com-in order to get the name redirected without masking subdirectories (because it can be done if you buy the domain name through the site that is hosting your webpage).

All and all.. blogger.com is more user friendly then wordpress.com, yes youre blog site will get more exposure through wordpress.com, but if you want to complicate your life go use wordpress. I like it here at blogger, and like this simply interface. Hopefully I wont run into anymore problems and it should be smooth sailing from here.

Dark Skate Miami

I got an email last week from Lia Halloran about this, but have been busy working on other things and never got around to post it. She once again delivers an amazing series of photographs in her current showcase at the Fredric Snitzner Gallery in Miami. The show extends till the 18th of November.

Make sure you check out her site for more amazing photography and art. Also take a look at her videos where she explains and shows in one of them - how she skates with a light strapped on her wrist, that later gets captured in the photographs to display those wonderful light forms.

More at: http://www.liahalloran.com/

The music of Dada Yakuza

For the past 3 months I have been absorbing the madness and awesome electric sounds that Dada Yakuza brings to the table. With the explosion of hybrid-electro groups in the last 2 years, it is hard to catch up and appreciate all of them- or define a style when it comes time to describe a group. In the mist of all this, online social sites like MySpace seem to be the nest for a lot of these groups, and encouragement to continue the movement.

It is definitely not a phase but a genre and style that slowly grow addicting for a lot of bands to experiment with. I have seen bands that were once just rock, become electro-rock, or pop/rap groups become electro-pop/rap. Mixing styles, sounds and different rhythms is the norm now - and I often find a group or act stating that they are doing something new, different and unique.

The particular electronic style I am finding more of is the “electro-French” influence infused in the songs. Regardless what direction or intention the bands have when blending electronic sounds to their original music, a lot of them seem to end up sounding like the next band. At the end I can overlook all of that, as long as they have a definitive branded style, and the music is done right.

With all that being said, Dada Yakuza stands out to me from the many acts out there. From the song “Godhead” (that I can imagine hearing in an espionage movie) to “Bastard” (that would be nice in a high energy club atmosphere) Dada Yakuza is lending the correct examples to this hybrid-electro movement.

I will try to catch up to Dada Yakuza and see if they can lend me their musical mind to ask what their view is behind this “electric youth” (I refer to the younger generation fueling this genre). I Hope there are many more tracks soon to come from Dada and hopefully they will release a full album as well. But for now I will continue to enjoy the tracks I am able to listen to.

Dada Yakuza, for your listening pleasure at: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=172339810

Bil Brown

Today I present to you the photography of Bil brown (I am glad to find more hidden talent on the web). Out of all his pictures, this one is the one that attracts me the most. The visual design behind this is amazing.

On this photo: Naturally the colors, writing, and graffiti on the concrete wall do not belong there. The same could be said about the tattoos on the girl sitting on the edge. But that is what marries the 2 main objects in the photo and creates a composition. The cool blue undertones blend in with metal bars on the left, and that proceeds with the bars to tie in with the raw components of the concrete ceiling, and the iron beam structure. Last but not least- the girl’s shaved head is another ingredient that adds to the feel of the minimal and raw presentation.

I read Bil’s resume and it describes- he has been involved in other creative outlets aside from photography. Bil comes across to me as an interesting fellow. I would like to steal a few minutes of his creative time to ask his opinion on today’s photography, along with a few other questions -to later on share with the rest of you here on ricecandy.net.

More photos can be seen at: http://www.bilbrown.com/

Lights Out Loud

This past summer I had my eyes peeled and constantly looking for any news about Lights Out Loud and their upcoming release. It was nice that they gave us a few sample songs for the fans to listen to on their MySpace, but I was really looking forward to the announced release in august along with a tour.

I have been following Lights Out Loud ever since their transplant from the band formerly known as Clear Static. Maybe I should not mention it, but for what its worth I considered Clear Static “the next big thing” (when they first emerged into the music scene a few years ago). The Clear Static self titled album is extremely enjoyable to listen to and is oozing with amazing music, it is clearly one of my top favorite CD’s I have purchased in the last 5 years.

Currently my headphones are craving for the Lights Out Loud release, but the latest and only news we all know right now is that Lights Out Loud is back in the studio again. Hopefully the boys will get around to a proper debut by early 2009. Maybe this time around they won’t get my hopes up again and let the fans enjoy a complete album. I know I shouldn’t expect a Clear Static caliber album nor should it be fair to compare it to that album, but I can’t help to think and wish that this could somewhat be like that …somewhat at least.

You can listen to Lights Out Loud at: www.myspace.com/lightsoutloud

More info at: http://www.lightsoutloud.com/

CITY Magazine photography book

CITY magazine releases a book showcasing a collection of their amazing cover shots and creative photography. I am excited to learn about this book and can't wait to get my hands on it. One of the main reasons I read CITY magazine is because of the amazing fashion photography.

More info at: http://www.cityphotobook.com/

Jasmine Scott

Found these awesome rings today in the "wonderful" world of Etsy :). I have worked with resin before but my pieces never came out quite this good. All of these pieces are handmade by Artist Jasmine Scott who definitely knows what she is doing.

The inner shapes in the ring remind me of something Karim Rashid would do. Check out her shop to look at the rest of her handmade resin rings collection at: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6165253

Melissa Moss

The firs time I saw work from Melissa Moss was over the summer in downtown L.A at The Hive Gallery, which was part of the "Art Walk" showcase that day. About 3 weeks later I came back to The Hive Gallery in hopes to buy a print or postcard from her collection (art piece titled "Roo"). Sadly enough none of her work was showcased in the gallery anymore (because they quickly sold out) and only saw 2 pieces left in the gift shop.


Today I came across her website for the first time, and found a lot more pieces I like. One of the things I love about her art is the characters she has created (love those little guys!). That combined with lively colors and minimalism is what makes her artwork collectible worthy.


Now that I found she has an online gallery and shop, hopefully I will purchase some of her work (if I can afford it) or postcards .Take a look at her gallery for more great work at: http://www.melissamossart.com/

Innerpartysystem

I have been looking forward to this release ever since a friend of mine introduced me to Innerpartysystem. This album immediately became one of my top ten albums of the year. A stylish rhythmic dance sound mixed with electro/indie/rock is what makes it hard to ignore and quickly become contagious. One of the interesting highlights for me was track 7 (“This Empty Love”) as it digs into a new wave/industrial rock mood that I rarely hear in new bands now. With all these styles and sounds mixed in one record, I highly appreciate Innerpartysystem as a much needed addittion in my track list this year.

Head over to your local record store or your preferred online mp3 music store and get the self titled Innerpartysystem album! If you can't purchase it or want it for FREE and love Innerpartysystem, leave a comment here on this post or any post on RICECANDY.NET with your email address and stating " I want the FREE innerpartysystem CD" and I will choose a couple winners to mail a FREE brand new copy of the album (winners must live in the continental U.S.).

Please click on the Google ads (located on the right side) to check out some of the sponsored sites in order for me to keep up with the basic ricecandy.net related costs. Thank you! :)