While we were waiting for the event  to being video messages were shown on the big screen. These were messages from: Jimmy Page, Brian May, Lemmy, Green Day, Dream Theater, Anthrax, Death Angel, Aerosmith, Slayer, Hatebreed, Dillinger Escape Plan, Lamb of God, Wolfmother, Mastodon, The Scorpions, MSG, actor Peter Coyote  and several sports stars as well.  One of the funniest clips was from U2 – in a group therapy session, spoofing Metallica’s documentary movie Some Kind of Monster.

So check this out, the first opening band was The Soul Rebels  - a New Orleans brass-band who came in blasting their arrangement of  Enter Sandman!   The came walking in from behind the audience from the lobby.  The followed it up with Battery and ended with The Memory Remains.  This one was actually my favorite. They took the main riff and turned it into what would be great intro-music for a boxer or for some kind of sporting event!

Metallica walked onto the stage to welcome us all and then to introduce the host for the evening comedian Jim Breuer. He was hilarious telling jokes, impersonating  Lars and James, Ozzy & Sharon Osbourne and Brian Johnson of AC/DC.  He also did a little game show where 3 audience members came up to test their Metallica trivia knowledge.

The band took the stage again to introduce the opening act,  a band called  Lääz Rockit.   The were on stage for about 30 minutes before Metallica got on stage to work. Here is the evening’s setlist:

Suicide & Redemption

Master of Puppets

…And Justice for All

Of Wolf and Man

Fade to Black

The Thing That Should Not Be

I Disappear

The Outlaw Torn

Hell and Back

Blitzkrieg performed with Joseph Guariglia – an audience member who played rhythm guitar perfectly with  James.

For Whom the Bell Tolls with Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains!

Nothing Else Matters – also with Jerry Cantrell.

So What! with Anti-Nowhere League’s Animal (Nick Culmer).

Tuesday’s Gone with  Gary Rossington (Lynrd Skynrd), Pepper Keenen (Corrosion of Conformity/ Down), Jerry Cantrell, and Jim Martin (Faith no More).

After the stage cleared,  James said to the audience, “You know he’s here…So let’s just bring Jason out here now.”  At this point everyone in the house went crazy as former bassist Jason Newstead walked out towards the center of the stage. Hugs were exchanged as the audience was chanting his name for something like 2 minutes!  He strapped on a bass, stood next to current bassist Rob Trujillo as  James Hetfield barked out the opening words to Fuel!

Jason stuck around to play Fight Fire with Fire.

Next Glenn Danzig (Misfits/Danzig) walks out and performs Die, Die My Darling and Green Hell.

As if the evening couldn’t have been any more amazing, James addresses us again saying,” Our next guest is a heavy metal icon… and the weirdest thing is that the older he gets – the better he sounds.  Ladies and gentlemen…  Mr. Rob Halford!” Yes, Rob Halford of Judas Priest – that Rob Halford!  He came out and rocked the song Rapid Fire.

Finally, to close the show, Metallica asked everyone who was on stage earlier to come out and join them for their classic Seek and Destroy.  We’re talking everyone: Laaz Rockit, Jason, Jerry, Pepper, Jim, Danzig, Animal  - and the Soul Rebels brass band.  They all took the stage and practically brought the house down.  Near the end of the song a couple hundred balloons were dropped along with confetti.

Simply put it may have been the most amazing concert I’ve been to so far!  Here are all the photos I took that night (plus a few i added from Metallica’s site):

I am proud to announce that my first book is now available to the public!  The book measures in at 10 by 8 inches and is filled with 74 pages of full color glossy images.  It shows off the various styles and subjects I like to play with.  Makes a great holiday gift for the art enthusiast or pop culture geek.

Check it out at Blurb.com

]]> http://mrsidslounge.com/archives/1778/feed 0 http://mrsidslounge.com/archives/1767 http://mrsidslounge.com/archives/1767#comments Thu, 17 Nov 2011 23:35:17 +0000 Mr. Sid http://mrsidslounge.com/?p=1767

Here it is folks. A preview of the big project I’ve been hinting at for months.   I’ve been wanting to do something like this for years and I finally got serious about this earlier this year.

So for the last several months I’ve been working on new art, retouching some older art, designing the layouts, choosing fonts, organizing, selecting and then revising, revising and even more revising!

It was a thrill to come home from the office last night and see this sitting on the table waiting for me!   Just a couple more weeks and my book will be available online.   It’s 10″ x 8″ and has 74 pages in full color on glossy paper!

]]> http://mrsidslounge.com/archives/1767/feed 0 http://mrsidslounge.com/archives/1757 http://mrsidslounge.com/archives/1757#comments Thu, 03 Nov 2011 04:59:05 +0000 Mr. Sid http://mrsidslounge.com/?p=1757

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It only took me a year but I finally finished this tattoo design for my old friend Don Molumby.

He wanted the  Greco-Roman Lady Justice (Dike / Justice)  portrayed in a Hindu-style.  I chose to make her of the celestial race of Nagas making it a more striking design.

I’m close to revealing my big project to the world so Stay tuned for more info –  and as usual,

 this and more of my work can be seen in my gallery.

Gandhi's Salt March, 1930

Today is Gandhi Jayanti – the (142nd) celebration of Mohandas K.  Gandhi’s birthday.  The United Nations has designated this also as International Day of Non-Violence.

This year I feel his birthday is more relevant than it has been in decades.  In the west he is perceived as some kind of Dalai Lama-esque figure who spouted out quotes that Americans love to put on t-shirts and bumper stickers: “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind” or “Be the change you want to see in the world.”     He energized and led millions of Indians to rise up and throw off the shackles of British rule through non-violent disobedience.

Previously, we had made several attempts to forcibly push the British out, but those  like the Indian Rebellion of 1857 ( also known as the Sepoy Mutiny) led to even harsher rule from our colonial masters.  It took several decades of speeches, rallies, and  protests which also led to many in the freedom movement having to endure beatings, imprisonment, torture, and in some cases death either in violent crackdowns or executions.   Eventually, the work led to India’s freedom in 1947.

Many also don’t know how profoundly Gandhi’s philosophies had affected Martin Luther King Jr.  It was King’s 1959 visit to India that led him to say “Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity.”   It was these core principles of non-violent civil disobedience that powered the American Civil Right’s Movement in the 1960s.  Like Gandhi, King also was martyred by an assassin’s bullet.  Both paid the ultimate price to make sure the countries they loved became better places.

Last December the world witnessed the beginning of the “Arab Spring” set off by the Tunisian Revolution ousting longtime dictator Ben Ali.  Then Egypt and the fall of Mubarak.  Like wild fire we saw the protests spread to Bahrain, Yemen, Algeria, Jordan, Oman, and Syria just to name a few.  Libya’s revolution turned into a civil war, but it seems by and large the protests throughout the Middle East have been mostly non-violent.  The spirit of Gandhi’s philosophy and methods are  alive and well.

Finally, I hope President Assad of Syria and his cronies realize that the world is watching you and that history will remember you as bullies and cowards.  The Syrian people are still out there protesting  despite the killings and brutal repression by the state.  My heart goes out to them.  I hope their nightmare ends soon.  Ironically, I can sum this up with one of Gandhi’s quotes:

“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.”

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After several weeks of struggling with this piece I managed to finish this yesterday.

This is yet another piece for my ongoing project. A few more weeks and all will be revealed!

Stay tuned for more info and as usual,

 this and more of my work can be seen in my gallery.

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So here it is, my latest painting.  Full of old-school original Star Trek goodness!

My crazy-big-secret project is in its final stages, and this is actually a part of it.

Stay tuned for more info and as usual,

 this and more of my work can be seen in my gallery.

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digital over pencil, 2001

George was my Dutch rabbit and best friend for almost 10 years. This t-shirt design is a tribute to him. This is the latest evolution of the design which has been a work in progress since 1999.

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Judy Meets the Landing Party

Digital over pencil, 2011

 This is a sample from a big project I’m working on right now.

Stay tuned for more info…

ps. and as usual this and more art can be seen in my gallery =)

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Gikantikal: Angry Space

This is a reworking of a piece I originally did back in 2005.

I’m a huge sci-fi fan and wanted to have some fun.  Can you identify all the ships?

She and other works  can be seen in my gallery of course.

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After 3 nights of messing around in Illustrator and Photoshop this pin-up is finished.  I originally sketched her back in 2006.  I was going through a bunch of my old sketchbooks recently and decided to see if I could turn it into a finished piece. Additionally, I tried out a bunch of techniques to see if I could speed up my workflow.  Overall I’m happy with the results as well as the things I learned through this exercise.

She and other works  can be seen in my gallery of course.

I’ve got a lot of stuff I’m working on right now… so stay tuned for a big announcement soon.

Last Thursday night (July 22nd)  Brent and I got some yummy Japanese food (Nara Sushi) and then went to see one of the biggest bands of the last 20 years – Soundgarden!  Back in ’97 it was a big deal for hard rock/metal/grunge and alternative plans to hear that this influential Seattle band had called it quits.   It was great news to hear that the band decided to get back together and tour!   They played a 2 hour set of amazing ear-bleeding rock and roll.

I’m so glad I got to see this show with Brent!

Here are some youtube videos from the night:

*photo by Rez Graham

Here it is, my latest tattoo of the Hindu Goddess Saraswati.  She is the goddess of knowledge, music and art.

A few months ago, I finally drew a design I was happy with:

The most important part of the story though, is that the phenomenal Angelique Sanders of Maryland was spending some time in San Francisco. She was a guest artist at my favorite tattoo shop: One Shot Tattoo which conveniently is located a mere 4 blocks from my home!  So after trading emails for 6 months we finally met.  She took my original artwork and did her magic!  I was lucky enough to get a day she didn’t have any appointments…really just a few before she was leaving San Francisco.

I spent 6 hours chatting with Angel as she worked on my arm.  She did it all in one sitting.   This is my fourth tattoo and the first by a female tattoo artist.  It was an awesome experience.   Most of the time I could barely feel the needle.  However, I also finally learned first-hand, that getting inked over bone is not pleasant at all.   This is the first time I’ve had a needle work over the wrist-bone as well as near the elbow.  Not fun…though now that I’ve been through it – I know I could endure it on my other arm. Not only did she have the magic touch, but the healing process was much quicker this time.   It was all healed up about a week later. Usually my tattoos have taken closer to 11 or 14 days to completely heal.

I continue to work on the designs for my sleeves and can’t wait to get worked on again by Angel!  She’s got a great sense of humor. She’s an amazing painter and tattoo artist. I’m looking forward to her next California trip.

* “Desi”  (sounds kinda like “they see”)  in several Indian languages   refers to people or things from India.  It can roughly be translated also as “native”.

50% red wine

50% coca-cola

* variations include adding a splash of blackberry liquor.

This concoction is also known as Calimocho and is Basque in origin.

Other names include:

• Rioja Libre
• Jote (“Black Vulture” ) – in Chile
• Bambus (“bamboo”) – in Bosnia & Heregovina, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and neighboring countries
• Houba (“mushroom’) – in the Czech Republic
• Vadasz (“hunter”) or Vorosboros Kola / VBK – in Hungary
• Catemba – in Mozambique and South Africa

Spent the day with Kristen at the Cal Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park.    I got to see some amazing animals and the remodelled facilites are amazing.  They include a roof with 2 domes with vegetation growing all over it,  a great aquarium, and an amazing 5 story sphere (inside the museum) that houses a self-contained tropical rain forest eco-system.   It’s hot and humid and features a variety of trees and flowers, birds and an amazing collection of butterflies that fly all around you and a river with 5 foot long catfish swimming around.

Then we had Vietnamese food for dinner.  An awesome sunday I’d say.  All the photos were shot on my new HTC phone with an 8 mega-pixel camera.

1 medium-size strawberry

6 mint leaves, plus 1 more for garnsih

half ounce simple syrup

1 or 2 dashes of lemon juice

2 ounces bourbon

Place strawberry and mint leaves in shaker. Muddle.  Fill with ice and add remaining ingredients. Shake for 10 seconds then pour into a cold double-rocks glass or a large old-fashioned glass filled with ice. Add garnish.

Adapted from a recipe by Brooke Arthur of Prospect.

1.5 ounces  Hibiki 12-year old (or other whiskey)

3 ounces sparkling mineral water

5 to 6 dashes Fee Brothers (or other) rhubarb bitters

1 stick candied rhubarb

Fill a highball glass with ice cubes. Add whiskey, then mineral water. Finish with bitters and stir with rhubarb stick.

Adapted from Andy Mirabel of Skool in San Francisco.

Today EA gave me my first plaque for working on and shipping a game.  Hopefully I can collect a few more of these =)

Saraswati is the Hindu goddess of  knowledge, art, music and creativity.

Stay tuned to see where this goes from here…

Here’s another 2 hour deal in photoshop.  Based off of a photo of Cyd Charisse from the 1950s.