Today Darren and I visited Horiyoshi III out at his original studio in Yokohama. Amazing experience with Sensei. Here’s a little teaser from that visit.

Much more to come from our visit (and our partnership) later.

Darren and I (Jeff) are in Tokyo this week for a few meetings, but primarily an inspiration trip. Wandered around Harajuku, met up with Taka from Nixon who showed us around Shibuya, and then met up with Steve from the Horiyoshi III clothing line to check out their offices and the new line. And a bunch of wondering, trains and wide-eyed staring in between. Come with us..

Darren is scared…

This is definitely the new fashion for 2010. Coming to a mall store near you.

Lost in translation… Harajuku.

WTF.

Taka took us to this great little shop in Shibuya called Phorgun, nestled under the train tracks just outside of Shibuya Station. Great setup, great style, and really down owner. You’d never know it was there, but worth the journey to find it.

And to end the night, Inakaya in Roppingi. The chefs sit on these wood blocks and cook the food in front of you on these charcoal grills. Then they serve it to you on the big sticks behind them. Crazy good, great vibe, and the Kobe Beef just melts. Big thanks to Steve Suk for taking us out, and big thanks to the chef’s for making Darren beat rice into Mochi. Classic.

A few months back we launched the new site for Bodega. Bodega brings large scale, eco-friendly, indoor art by ground breaking artists to the masses. Yesterday, we got a visit from the Bodega crew bearing a sweet Cleon Peterson piece for our studio. We like… a lot…

Introducing the newest member of The Uprising, Mr. Chris Donohue. While Chris will be wearing multiple hats, his main focus will be Business Development and Client Services. Chris has been involved in the creative/music industry for over 12 years and comes to us with a wealth of knowledge and professional experience. We have been searching for the best way to get Chris involved for a while now and the day has finally come… Our own Darren Craig has personally known Chris for over 15 years so needless to say, there is a bit of history there.

Now, to answer the question you are all dying to ask. Yes, he is married! Sorry ladies.
Welcome to the carnival Chris.

Our man, and long time client, Jason Mraz, snagged TWO Grammy’s last night! One for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for the song “Make It Mine”, and another for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals for “Lucky,” featuring Colby Caillat. Jason has been kicking ass and shows no signs of slowing down in 2010. Congratulations to the entire Mraz camp!

We have discovered the illusive Waldo. Once thought to be hiding out somewhere in the Mid-West, we spotted him at our studio playing a game of Metallica’s Guitar Hero. He’s actually quite good. The seemingly docile creature can become skittish and even violent when spooked. Just after this photo was captured, he went on a rampage, smashing everything in his path. It took several men to subdue him. We now have him caged in the attic space and plan on releasing him back into the wild once we gain his trust. Until then, we will continue to study him and perform our experiments. We believe he holds many secrets.

It’s friday and it’s raining in Echo Park. Again. And Again.

Since we’re all grinding on various projects, Joe (our intern) decided he’d take some time today to show off the office a bit.

Introducing one Mr. Joseph Chow. Mr. Chow is our new intern. Make sure you don’t get on his bad side.

Look what one contestant on American Idol decided to wear…
It’s a shirt Darren designed for Jason Mraz.
Isn’t that special?

You will be missed.

We took a little field trip down the street to the E3 conference at the LA Convention Center today with our good friend Charlie Bidwell, courtesy passes from Activision. The rainy, overcast day itself made us feel like we were walking through one of Bidwell’s photos. A bit surreal.

It’s insane the amount of money these companies are spending to promote their games.. but video games are the new feature films, right? Or so they say.

Darren gets pitch on some button thingy that goes on your controller, or something.
What? Who?
The guy’s lead question? “Hey, do you guys play video games?” (Uhm.. we’re at E3. So……)

The coolest thing we spotted? Tony Hawk Ride, complete with a skateboard controller that you actually kick, ride, etc. SO sick. Can’t wait to get this.

Thanks Activision! We love you. Your booth was insane. You’re video screens epic. Stan Lee signing autographs, dripping wet with money…. all the new games you guys are putting out.. can we say “the new kings??” [NOW can we get our free stuff?? Haha]