Tiny Painting (4"x5") of a Large Blue Vase

You Can Never Get Enough Practice...

I Heart Language Evolution

Have you noticed that there seems to be a growing number of people who pronounce today Valen-TIMES day? Well, keep your ears open...

Superbowling

Like many I too was shocked to see the Patriots lost to the Giants in easily the most exciting Superbowl game I can remember, but there are a few things that vex me now the day after that I'd like to share:

1. What is with all this post-Superbowl media "I guess the Patriots weren't as good as everyone thought" talk? The amount of focus it must take to go undefeated through a 16 game season in a competitive league is ridiculous. This isn't some college football fluke season where a team - say Ohio State - plays nobody of significance and coasts 11-0 into a championship game under the veil of being "invincible." The Patriots just lost a game that was so close it was basically a coin flip.

2. Why does the NFL call the winner of the Superbowl "World Champions?" Last I checked we weren't competing with teams around the globe.

3. Please let this be the first and last year of this confounded "red carpet Ryan Seacrest" tomfoolery. This is a sporting event! I don't need to see attention starved celebrities walking down a scarlet pathway, getting photographed, plugging their careers, and being asked who they think will win the game.

4. And finally...I like dogs and I like Gatorade, but I did NOT get that Gatorade dog commercial at all. At all.

Bud Selig: Commissioner of Major League Baseball

Instead of watching my usual Sportscenter this morning, I noticed ESPN aired live the congressional hearing regarding Major League Baseball and steroids. This is a sketch I did of commissioner Bud Selig during his segment alongside Donald Fehr.

Personally I think it's a shame when competition is tainted because it completely distorts everything for everyone else involved. But let's be honest, those who profit from the homerun love the homerun by the truckload - including players, trainers, and owners. Besides, if I want to watch juiced up superhumans beating up on regular mortals I'll just turn to NBC's revival of American Gladiators...

Happy New Year 2008

Wow, it's 2008! Is it just me or does Ryan Seacrest look like he can't wait to take over Dick Clark's "Rockin' New Years" gig? And we were supposed to be in flying cars by now...

Anderson Cooper: News for a New Generation

New illustration added today to my website www.chrishsu.net of Anderson Cooper from CNN. I remember watching Anderson since back when I was in high school when he was on Channel One always reporting from hotspots like in Africa and Eastern Europe. I recall always thinking, "Man, this guy is always in the line of fire - literally of bullets - no wonder he's graying so quickly!" If you don't know about Channel One it was (and I suppose still is) a national news program played throughout schools in the mornings to inform teens of world events. For the record, I really liked watching it every morning but some of the other punk kids found it was a convenient time to quickly scrounge together their vocabulary homework and avoiding the wrath of the grade book...

Fat Centaur

Landscaping

Getting ambitious in the short time I have left in California this summer. This is a spot I've been scoping since three summers ago but felt a little intimidated by it. Everyone has some "thing" that calls to them, whether it's a hill you itch to climb, a pair of shoes you yearn to buy, or even a show you gotta Tivo. This is how I feel about this spot. The large sheet of drawing paper practically blinded me today since there was no overhead canopy of any kind, but twenty or so minutes was plenty to throw down a perspective and proportions study to bring back to my room...

In the meantime, my pedestrian walkway painting is wrapping up as well as this Gum Grove one (seen here in early stages.) There's still a few compositions around Seal Beach I'd like to tackle but that might just end up being for another day.

El Salvador Self-Portrait Series

This is looong overdue...don't know why I forgot to put this up on my blog weeks ago when it was finished. It's the fourth installment of my self-portrait travel series.