The best part about getting to head to work a little later everyday (10) is that my commute takes me downtown and I get to be a part of the morning hustle and bustle. Its good to feel a part of your city.

Going to see John this time was one of the more important steps in our crazy long distance relationship....

• I met his mom and brother, even got to see the awesome baby pictures! I can totally see where john gets some of his mannerisms, and I now know for a fact, he has been smiling since birth.


• I went to the Rock (what they call the apt), and in one night I met almost every currently influential friend of John's. I dashed a bit of charm and I don't think I'm the stranger danger boyfriend anymore.


• We finally had a joyous hiccup. I finally felt like the scary honeymoon period was over,,, that part of a relationship where you are blinded by love and good feelings that he can do no wrong. Thats a great feeling but so much can be hid under the bliss. It wasn't a fight, wasn't a misunderstanding... It just felt like something normal happened, and it was handled so well; I think it stregthened us.

Yea, and this stupid owl... stupid lame owl, just hanging out in the pouring rain by John's old place. His mum must have given up on him and left him to the elements... must have been pretty FAIl to get ditched by mum....

I've got to mention, that Skylar is very well adjusted into his new surroundings.... Maybe even too well. Angel has a lot of pillows everywhere, and Skylar has to sleep on every single one. He's kind of a diva, he won't sleep with his head on the floor, must be a pillow or something soft. The only problem right now is my bed, which went from a full to a single. that means little room for pilloww on the bed; just mine. Skylar, however, thinks its his, and i've been waking up with my head against the wall with cat ass in my face...

After the simply unattainable Kozik clockwork orange Ludwig, I have to post something a little bit more in my price range. Hows about the new colorway for Brian Flynn's Super7 (Snakes of Infinity) Kaiju, (Blood Rage) Squirm? This time, he's a clear rotocast with red accents on his eyes and tentacles with brown painted boots, drops this Saturday online and at the San Fran store for an oh-so-do-able $50. And while I'm on a kaiju fix, Hero Design Studio got a few new awesome Kaiju For Grownups in: I'm snatching up the Green Usagi-gon, which would go well with Kozik's newest Kaiju, the Salary Ika I've talked about, finally on sale from wonderwall for ~$80

• Hero Design Studio - 93 allen, Buffalo NY
• Via Vinyl Pulse
• Frozen Empire Toys

Ok, so i'm not a teen, and sex ed for me in HS consisted of me filling out a worksheet, then being excused so I could run around the campus fixing computers. That was my out for gym class too, worked like a charm. It wasn't so much that I wasn't fit, or didn't want to work out, I just hated my health/gym teachers and didn't like the hassle in the locker room. The Midwest Teen Sex Show was created to help teens get a little more out of sex ed then whats spit out in state sanctioned curriculum. And unlike more conservative methods, MTSS realizes teens are gonna screw no matter what if they put their heads and labias together, so why not give em the truth. Hosted by the ever beautiful (and fellow bear lover, for a girl at least) Nikol, and supplemented by a cast of nutballs (read: geniuses), the MTSS is as entertaining as it is informative. If you have a kid, or know a kid, or even know a few parents, send them the link to the free subscription on iTunes. I sat and watched all the episodes at once, stunned by how amazing and ridiculous the approach was to sex education by MTSS. Slipping in serious facts admist satirical comments about STI's and pedophiles, teens might actually learn something. The videos are mature to a certain level, but hey, its a sex ed podcast, shouldn't it be just a little bit edgy? A bt about the cast (from MTSS)

• Who the hell is Nikol? Former expert practitioner of teen promiscuity, Nikol lives out her days as a Midwestern mother of three. Her interests range from music, movies, trash television, and naked rodeo clowns with handlebar mustaches to cooking, reading and naked rodeo clowns with handlebar mustaches. When not involved in the usual humdrum of packing lunches and trying not to laugh her way through parent teacher conferences, Nikol spends her free time writing and teaching creative writing workshops to high school students. She hates the phrase “swimsuit area,” and hopes her own life experiences will better inform viewers on the realities of teen sexuality.
• Who is Britney? “I do all my own stunts.”
• Who’s that Guy? Director Guy Clark (aka Todd) is the creator of Midwest Teen Sex Show. He has won awards for his online spots for GEICO Car Insurance, Ready.gov, and Nerve.com. When he’s not busy editing episodes and duct taping Britney’s nipples, Guy produces new media content for online and broadcast venues. His commercial work and production services can be found at h-pep.com. He also loves cheese.

As much as I love vinyl, there is something about twisted plush toys that pull at my heartstrings.  Enter the Roadkill toys, take the beauty of animal autopsy by automobile inside your home, safe from your dog rolling in it and safe from the stew pot. Twitch the Racoon and Grind the Rabbit sell for £25.00 each, and come inside a translucent body bag with toetag telling of the poor critter's demise.

Get your Squash-plush toys while they’re still fresh off the tarmac. Twitch the Raccoon was the first to be scraped off the road. But now there’s a new not-so-cuddly toy in town. His name is Grind the Rabbit. The first 1000 Grind characters are all limited edition. Each one has a personalised toe tag, handwritten by the creator. All of them have limited edition numbers. It took Adam, the creator, 7 long nights to finish all those tags, and caused him severe tendonitis. It’s not that we’re trying to emotionally blackmail you. Just buy one.

• Roadkilltoys.com

And now for something no one can afford.

Frank Kozik has always tailored to the higher end vinyl art scene with his extremely limited busts of political icons, twisted in subtle ways. The busts are typically vinyl or fiberglass, often flocked, and sell for about 300 bucks each. This time, Kozik, is releasing the first bust under his Ultraviolence line, a line meant only for the deep pocketed. Meant to connect Alex from Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange with his love Of Beethoven, Ludwig features a bowler cap and will be finished as a bronze mold, set upon a pedestal of marble. While the price isn't set, expect this very limited run (only 20) to set you back at least $3000. But I'm sure after a wee night full of ultraviolence, you could come up with that much cash, eh?

• Pre-order one for me at lulubell toys, and I'll kill anyone you like.
• Via Vinyl Pulse

I've been a wee bit absent about designer toy posts for a bit, ok, pretty absent about a lot of stuff.. to think I let BRO beat me to the punch on the Elmwood Strip Updates because I was too lazy to get the info out first. I'm approaching that point right now where blogging is getting harder and harder because i'm working more and more. I've got some tricks up my sleeve though... Anyways, the Vinyl Toy Network was May 4th, an occasion full of collaborations and new customs and release teasers, like the one DKE Toys put out: a plush Anarchy Labbit. No word on price or release date, but I'm getting one.

• via ToyCyte

I'm horribly white, I don't like baggy clothes, I refuse to wear dunks, and you will never see a swoosh anywhere near my body. That being said, I've also never owned a fitted in my life. However, seeing as Angel and I are swapping cultures more and more (he's gone from puerto rican to european, and i'm getting slighty hood in the speech), I took him to New Era on his Birthday (think 20x2+1). We poked around a bit, and Angel finally settled on a grey NY cap. I tried a few on myself, and was suprised to see a few labels i recognized gracing the walls next to the more urban mainstays. One of which was Mishka, a NY label that makes urban wear thats pretty bizarre and pretty rad.  I own a pink Mishka shirt called "crud white," featuring a cracked out zombie snow white ripping the arm off of zombie prince charming. The cap had a familiar figure on it, the cover art death adder from the Megadeth album. I'm no metal fan but the cap was so characteristically me that i had to toss it in with Angels fitted. So here I am below, making my debut as white hood... had so much fun at Marcella's with it; Angel wasn't recognized in his fitted and everyone thought we raided each others closets.

Here's Justice's newest video for "Stress," brought to you by none other than Kanye West, who decided he might as well join the club instead of trying to combat the Ed Banger Boys. Smart guy.