Perfect for our chill Saturday, long time Poketo collaborator and dear friend Nathalie Roland sent over a copy of her latest zine, “Pretty Zombie”. The zine is full of Nathalie’s illustrations and a tale that reveals that even the dead have feelings of love, loss, and hope.

The very back of the zine has rad screenprinted fabrics…. hmmm, I’ll be part of the zombie tribe and use mine as a jacket patch.

Nathalie had a zombie party for the launch of the zine. Let me just say, Nathalie has the warmest, sweetest flat in San Francisco… this was a zombie love party, not a ghoulish, cold one. Friends came over, formed an impromptu band called, Dead Love, and rocked out and had a frightening good time. Pun intended. Check out musicians Goh Nakamura, Scrabbel, and my little brother, Troy, jam! If you click on Troy’s blog, you can get a free music mix download he does via singsweetsound.

pretty zombie zine party from Myleen Hollero on Vimeo.

You can buy a copy of your zombie zine here!

Well…two things made our day. Since our recent feature in the Business section of the Los Angeles Times, we’ve received an overwhelming outpour of support and love from family, old friends, and new ones alike! We can’t thank you enough for all of your loyal support and your contribution in helping make what Poketo is today. We’ve read every single email, tweet, and Facebook comment since then and were touched by each one.

We receive a lot of emails from artists around the world–which have exponentially increased in number since the article’s release. Most of them range from recent art school grads to young up and coming artists, but there was one email we received yesterday from a Poketo fan who wrote to us about her 75 year-old father. A retired physician, he is a renowned wood-carving artist who’s exhibited internationally and in the States. Recently, he bought a computer, started a blog, AND has taken up Photoshop classes! Alongside his really beautiful woodcarvings, he also has some really rad Photoshop pieces (i.e. like the one dedicated to his grandchildren), and our favorite, the ‘Tiger and Rainbow’ graphic:

Swarm

Morality

Tiger

What an inspirational man. At 75 years old, we could only have half the creative fervor he does and still die happy.

Cheers to you!

You can visit his site here:
http://blog.daum.net/woodcarving

New gallery/community space in Highland Park, This Los Angeles, is hosting our friends Kelly Lynn Jones of Little Paper Planes and Sumi Ink Club. They’ll be doing collaborative drawings this Saturday afternoon. Will be a good time and a chance to see magic happen.

Come and meet Kelly there! Here is an interview we did with Kelly a while back when she did a rad Poketo wallet with us.

This show last Saturday was pretty amazing. Shows at The Disney Concert Hall are automatically in a high caliber–the acoustics there are incredible. The LA Phil opened up for the first program. After the intermission, Brooklyn based, Dirty Projectors came out and performed with experimental musicians, Alarm Will Sound. A truly special performance with a full ensemble of musicians.

Here is a video of the Dirty Projectors encore performance. They cover Dylan’s “I Dreamed of St. Augustine” and follow with a track that is unrecorded, “When The World Comes To An End”. The two songs span a little less than 10 minutes, but, worth it… so watch the whole thing!!

After the show, a short walk down to Coles Diner… friends, french dip, spicy fries, pecan pie, and beers. Love LA.

Angie digging her root beer float. Pam there is a film archivist, and organizes screenings like Home Movie Day, a national event that screens your family 8mm and Super8 film.

Aya Nakamura of San Francisco band, Scrabbel.

Photographer, Myleen Hollero

Our friends Han and Sadie of The Invisible Cities released their newest video last week. Killer video of stop animation, toys, paper, stuffed animals, legos and fun fun fun! The video was directed by Melissa Hung, and is part of the DIY Music Video contest put on by Locus Arts and the Center for Asian American Media. The video with the most views gets into the SF International Asian American Film Festival. Watch the video, click on “Menu” and Vote!!!

Here is our friend Melissa Hung… the director of the video and former editor Hyphen Magazine! Hyphen is a magazine we always support, so check it out.

Another reason we love our loyal fans. EikenhoutNL from the Netherlands, we wish we know more about you, but it’s people like you who make our lives so much happier! Thank you for making this super cute YouTube ad!

We hope he reads this post so we can track him down and send him some proper Poketo love.

Maybe a Poketo Youtube video competition should be in the works….

Los Desperados Art Banditos is a posse comprised of artists, musicians, surfers, skaters, and more importantly, they are a tight knit group of friends making rad stuff. Headed up by my brother, Tom Vadakan, he has rounded up bandits like skater Ray Barbee, surfboard shaper Dano Forte, artists BigToe, Candy, Miles Thompson, Greg Landers, and Will Barton. They will be launching their first group show on March 6th at Shelter Surf Shop in Long Beach. They’ll be exhibiting new work and a live music set by Ray Barbee and Dano Forte. Here are some music videos they’ve been putting together, find out more at LosDesperadosArtBanditos.com.

Here is the official trailer for the show this Saturday.

Non-profit organization, 826LA presents Chickens in Love, an online pledge-a-thon, fundraiser, full-length album, and one-day music festival. 826LA workshop students, ranging from 7 to 13 years, wrote these songs in an 826LA workshop titled Songwriting with The Submarines, led by singer/ songwriters John Dragonetti and Blake Hazard of The Submarines.

From there, the kids had the opportunity to write their own music and lyrics in their own bands. The result was a full-length album titled, Chickens in Love, with 12 songs from 826LA students who then had their songs covered by Los Angeles-based musicians including, She & Him, Fiona Apple, Cold War Kids, Tim and Eric, The Submarines, Summer Darling, The Happy Hollows, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Dum Dum Girls, The Growlers, Crystal Antlers, and The Pity Party. Check out some videos of the original songs, followed by a sample track of the recording artist who covered it:

The Peeps: “Mamacita”

Coldwar Kids cover of “Mamacita”

The Taco Shells: “Mexican Food”

Summer Darling cover of “Mexican Food”

The Gummy Bears: “So Sleepy”

Fiona Apple’s cover of “So Sleepy”

The public can listen to these songs and bid on their favorites, with all proceeds going directly back into the organization itself, that will help fund writing and tutoring workshops for kids in L.A. (Pledges of $30+ will also be tax deductible!) When the bid closes on April 30th, 2010 the band that raises the most money will win the ultimate bragging rights with the 826LA Gold Record! The one-day Mini Music Festival showcasing Chicken in Love songs will also be held at the Echoplex on March 6th

Support children’s literacy and creativity through this great cause! Pledge now!