mockzilla

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Rainy day

after 1 too many rainy cold days, no internet and bad Italian tv, we have a bad case of cabin fever

bbq in the rain

rain can't stop me from grilling

especially when i have a fold-out awning covering me

Cascini market is a large open air market held every tuesday morning in Cascini park

it is a great place to find cheap clothes and other cool stuff

after we are done shopping we like to stop at this one lunch truck and have lunch

they have hamburgers and hotdogs, but they are Italian style, eaten on a toasted panini roll with lots of antipasta on it like mushrooms and artichoke hearts.

Also, even if you ask for a piccolo (a little), they will put lots of mayo and ketchup on as well

with a birra (beer) or a coke and some patate frites (french fries), which are also covered in mayo and ketchup, it makes for a yummy lunch

Train lag

Train lag is what you get after a 12 hour over night train ride

Daisy and the cute hat

my darling wife as we eat lunch at the musee d'orsay

Cute old french man and dog

I saw this cute little old man while I was having breakfast he was talkign to a dog that looked like a caterpiller

"Halloween is not very French"

These are some sketches I did while sitting at a cafe Halloween night in Paris. Although "Halloween is not very French," which we kept hearing repeated to us, we had quite a good time.

Marie Antoinette

Going to the Louvre and being in Paris has brought out Daisy's fascination with Marie Antoinette (again!)

Paris, je t'aime

Paris- could there be a more romantic city in the world to go to on your honeymoon?

Café Culture

After visiting Barcelona, we continued on to Paris.

I have to say, I love the cafe culture in France, sitting at a table for hours, being a voyeur and watching the people walk by.

Palace of Catalan Music lamp

We visited the Palace of Catalan Music in Barcelona, which also has amazing architecture. They were sold out for tours that day, so we had a nice tapas lunch in their cafe, did some sketching, and got tickets for the next day.

Pastry Envy

Our friend Romeo recommended a pastry shop and cafe for us to check out for breakfast. I got what is now referred to as the "magic donut," which looked like a pregnant croissant, covered in sugar and filled with amazing.

Daisy was a little jealous...

where's Tom?

While in Barcelona, we met up with Daisy's parents, who were traveling to a conference in Seville. We had some time to check out some of the sites, including the Sagrada Familia, which is amazing, and my drawing doesn't near do it enough justice.

We also lost Daisy's dad at some point.

Tapa Lunch

Our first day in Barcelona, we had an awesome lunch of Tapas.

I like the one with the olives and the anchovies.

Star Kebab

Here in Firenze when i need a quick cheap lunch, i like to get a Döner kebab

it is kinda like a Turkish burrito

Eating well

one of the best parts about being in Italy for 3 months is the food

just the food at the market is so much better then back at home

me and daisy have been having a lot of fun getting food every day and planning our dinner

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Daisy rocking the Euro Style

Another trip to the Cascine Market and Daisy's European look is almost complete!

Queen peach

Another person I saw in Venice; I think she's a local. We imagine she looks like what Princess Peach would look like in 50 years- she was very classy!

old Asian tourist in Venice

I saw this guy in Venice- probably the only person who could pull off this hat other than a gondolier!

Venice, the town of creepy masks

There are a ton of schlocky, crappy and creepy masks here in Venice, and a few very cool masks. The one that I have on in the picture (with the Simpson like overbite) is apparently a traditional style Bauta mask, and the one Daisy has on is a Columbine. There's also a bird-like mask, which is called the Plague Doctor's mask...

romantice evening gondola ride

We had a romantic evening gondola ride in Venice. Incredibly cliche, but worth every euro! Such a wonderful way to spend the evening!

Lost in Venice

What a wonderful place to be lost!

Who flipped the "Autumn" switch on?

In one day, it turned from summer to fall here in Florence! Thankfully, I packed a leather jacket, but I quickly needed to get a pair of gloves and a scarf... next up, I'll have to find a hat!

I don't know what I'm going to do when winter finally rolls around!

Green Grocer

This is a drawing of our favorite green grocer at the Mercato Centrale. Sadly, we didn't get there in time today, as he was closing up by the time we arrived. Even though he doesn't speak a word of English, Daisy is able to describe what we need for dinner, and he's very nice and patient with us (and very flirty with Daisy!)

Shopping at the Cascine Market

One of the hard things with packing for a three month stay in Europe is packing enough clothes.

After a month of wearing the same clothes every day, it was a relief to find the Cascine Market and get a couple of new things to wear.

(also, people in Italy tend to dress nicer than our typical LA style of t-shirt and jeans)

Italian 70s Gangster

one of the few tv shows that is actually good on Italian television (not just campy and silly) is Romanzo Criminale
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1242773/

the show is about a group of young mobsters in Rome in the 1970s

Even though i don't understand what they are saying, i can understand most of what is going on because hey, it's a mobster show. Crime translates in any language

in truth, i hope to find a dubbed or subtitled version of the show when i get back to the states. It appears, after doing a little research, that it is actually a mini-series,

Monday, October 12, 2009

Cosimo the First

Equestrian statue of Cosimo the first from the Piazza SS. Annunziata

The cutest Roman Centurion

Daisy and I have been having toy withdrawal, so we started collecting Playmobile toys. They have a whole Roman themed line, which are surprisingly accurate! We even learned a thing or two from their depiction of a Roman Aquilifer!

Bistecca alla Fiorentina

We had an amazing home-cooked dinner tonight of a Florentine style steak. I am too full to draw!

Wall

View from the couch in my living room

One of those Medicis (I think Cosimo II)

Went to the Vasari Corridor today- saw a bunch of portraits of the Medicis. They are very interesting looking characters- I think it would be fun to do a series of sculptures of them one day.

Italian Deli Clerk

Our market is full of interesting characters!

Sistine Chapel

After four days in Rome, my feet were killing me from hiking all over the city. I apologize for the terrible drawings in Rome! We were having such a wonderful time, I was exhausted by the time I sat down to draw...

This is me at the Sistine Chapel...

The Silver Fox

For breakfast every day in Rome, we ate at this wonderful Sicilian cafe. There was this classy gentleman that Daisy and I referred to as "The Silver Fox," who obviously ran the place. Sadly, this drawing does not do him proper justice!

Dorkus Maximus

All around the Coliseum (aka the Flavian Ampitheatre, which Daisy likes to refer to as the "Flava-Flavian Ampitheatre), there are these guys dressed up like Roman Legionnaires. I find this funny, as a history nerd, since this isn't what gladiators looked like at all.

This guy in particular stood out to me with his headband, cut off sweatpants and t-shirt underneath his costume. I found him too funny not to draw! (The cigarette was added for dramatic effect)

Statuesque

Goofing off in the Roman forum!

Piccolo, per favore!

After a month in Italy, Daisy's doing quite well at ordering food at the market in Italian. I'm her mute husband.

bust of the Aussie tourist

On the way home from Cinque Terre, we overheard this Aussie tourist jabbering away to his friends. Man, was he annoying!

l colore di soldi

Another of our guilty pleasures with Italian television is l colore di soldi, or "The Color of Money." This is a typical Italian game show- I can't tell you exactly what the objective is, but they have a bunch of screens that are color coded and a sexy lady who's sole purpose it is to dance and point in the direction of the colored screen.

Kong

I did this drawing for my friend, David Avallone, for an article he wrote about King Kong.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Fish Food

I found out while swimming in Cinque Terre that apparently my feet are candy to the fish!

beach veiw

On our final day in Cinque Terre, we treated ourselves to a full day at the beach in Monterosso. We rented a beach umbrella, two chairs, laid out in the sun, got a massage and drank compari. It was a wonderful day! (we felt so spoiled!)

Hiking in Cinque Terre

There's a beautiful hike between the towns of Cinque Terre. We hiked between Vernazza and Monterosso the first day (which is the longest and hardest hike)- man is it a workout! The following day, we hiked the rest of the trail going from Vernazza to Corneglia, to Manarola and ending up in Riomaggiore.

El Gigante

At the end of the beach in Monterosso (in Cinque Terre), there is this enormous ruin of a sculpture left over from an Art Deco outside dance floor that once overlooked the ocean. You can read more about it over on Daisy's blog...

man at the bar with a pipe

While enjoying some apertifs before dinner (Campari and Orange), I observed this man smoking a pipe nearby.

view from the castle

Went to Cinque Terre for the weekend and stayed in the wonderful town of Vernazza. The first night there, we climbed to the top of their watchtower / castle and watched the sunset together.

bust of the American Tourist

Why are they so easy to pick out?

bust of the french tourist

I saw this man at the Uffizi gallery- it literally looked like his face was melting!

La Dolce Vita

During my time in Italy, I've been growing out my facial hair. In the last hurrah for my mustache (because it was driving me crazy at this point), me and Daisy did a photo shoot in Florence at night- pics coming soon!

Damn European sizing!

Trying to figure out what size your jeans are in Italy is a pain in the ass! (I ended not buying anything after all!)

Rainy day in Lucca

After our adventures in Siena, we then went to Pisa and Lucca. Sadly, it rained a bit in Lucca, but it was still a wonderful city and we had (yet another!) delicious meal.

Pisa is also quite cool if you take some time to step away from the Field of Miracles and explore the rest of the city...

stranded in siena

After having a wonderful dinner in Siena, followed by a half liter of wine on the Campo, we walked down the hill to the train station to find that we had missed our train going home. (poor us!)

After a few phone calls, we finally found a place to stay for the evening and were happily able to explore more of Siena the next day.

happy birthday to me

For my birthday, Daisy said I could eat wherever I wanted; at this point, I was getting tired of Italian food. We found a nice Chinese restaurant and i had a wonderful birthday dinner! (also, at the time of this drawing, I should have a mustache, but I forgot to draw it)

Melanie Moore

Daisy and I have become obsessed with this late night Italian variety show, "Tra Sogno e Realta" (Between Dreams and Reality), which stars Melanie Moore. You can read a more in depth description of the show on Daisy's blog here.... Needless to say, this is Italian television at it's finest!

Walking Gelato

we have been doing a ton of walking, but also eating a ton of Gelato

by the end of our adventures, i expect to have very toned legs and a very doughy belly

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

She was robbed!!!!!

not every night can be an exciting adventure. Some nights we just stay home and watch Italian TV.

A while ago, we became addicted to the miss Italia contest. it was 3 nights long, had well over 100 girls, and was a cross between a beauty contest, America's Next Top Model and a cheesy Mexican variety show

as far as we could understand ( because it was all in Italian), there were over 20 different categories; each with it's own winner (i.e. Miss Cinema, Miss Fashion, Miss Sportif, Miss Vamp, and Sponsorship titles, like Miss Puegot)

One the first night, at the end of the evening, the "main" winner of the evening was Miss Fashion, who was mistakenly given to the wrong girl, and had it TAKEN AWAY and given to the correct girl, on live TV. Scandal!

At the end of the 3rd night (with each night ending well after 1am), after all the girls had been voted on numerous times (by both a panel of judges and call-in votes), they were finally cut down to the last two. The "wronged" Miss Fashion from the first night (the one who lost) seemed to score the highest and be in the lead, but at last second, they gave the title to this other girl. Maybe she scored higher with the call-in votes?

I doubt i would have watched this show, even if i could understand what the hell they were saying...

Monday, September 14, 2009

Sketch Dump!

these are drawings i have done over the days in Florence

I have been trying to push myself out of my safe zone and draw things i would not normally draw

View from the Bardini Gardens

we went on a nice walk today exploring the Bardini Gardens and the Boboli Gardens

this is the view of the city from the top of the Bardini Gardens

I don't think this beard is going to last long

I'm not a beard guy I find them to itchy

Americano?

when we were out walking the streets tonight we saw a couple of American college students walking the street each swigging on box wine one wearing a cowboy hat and sunglasses

It's not a scruffy hipster beard it's European!

to try to fit in and maybe because I'm just lazy and need a haircut I started to grow a beard

I think I look more hipster like than European most of the guys here look like eurotrash

DIABOLIK!

I ran out of American comics so to try to learn some Italian I bought an issue of DIABOLIK that I am going to attempt to translate

so far i have translated the cover and the first word balloon

I love Lamp

I have been trying to push my self creatively while I'm here and draw stuff outside my comfort zone

this is the lamp on my bedside table it has a strange half shade

More adventures with Italian food shopping

we have a small supermarket nearby that we have doing most of out food shopping at
it has wonderful stuff but trying to figure out what some of it is
is a challenge

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Heading off to Italy

I will be in Florence for 3 months

I will keep drawing about my adventures in Europe

keep checking in but I am not sure how often i will be able to update my blog