The Anime Money Shot Heard Round the World
Labels: anime, epic, Japan, new york city
Of the many happy campers at the record-demolishing (and economy-confounding) Sotheby's auction last night, Takashi Murakami may have been the happiest. Drawing stares from art-world veterans — one told us she'd never seen an artist show up to watch his own work on the block — the Japanese Pop maestro sat in the back of the room with a serene smile as My Lonesome Cowboy, his larger-than-life sculpture of a boy waving an ejaculate lasso, brought in $15.2 million — quintupling the artist's previous record at auction. (The signature piece, an edition of which is currently on view at the artist's Brooklyn Museum show, was sold by his former dealer Marianne Boesky.) "Oh, it's not surprising," Murakami said as he huddled with his Paris dealer, Emmanuel Perrotin, after the auction. Pretty gratifying, though? "Yeah, yeah, yeah," he said. "Basically."
Another contented observer of the auction, albeit from the astral plane, was Robert Rauschenberg. Two days after the artist's death at 82, his painting Overdrive did, as speculated, set a record, bringing in $14.6 million. (All Sotheby's figures include their commission, which is about 10 percent atop the winning bid.) The big winner of the night, however, was Francis Bacon, whose triptych set a new record for the artist when it went to a phone bidder for a staggering $86.3 million. ("Be brave," auctioneer Tobias Meyer had exhorted the buyers calling in, presumably from oversees. "Look at the Euros.")
There were some surprises at the sale, however. Most notably, a massive Rothko failed to draw a single bidder. (Sotheby's, which devoted a full eight pages to the work in the night's catalogue, had forecast it would earn more than $35 million.) "We've seen an inevitable moving towards bigger and bigger," Nick Lawrence, the Freight + Volume gallerist, said. "When will it get to where the center cannot hold?" But on a night that drew out many of the major players, it appeared that the center was holding just fine for the time being. "At first I wondered whether the famous irrational exuberance might be at work," said writer Anthony Haden-Guest, who is working on a book about the history of the thrumming market. "But no, it started real strong, though it molted a bit towards the end. I think it's certainly remarkable."
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Live Action Death Note Movie
NCM Fathom and Viz Pictures bring Live Action DEATH NOTE to select movie theatres nationwide for two nights only - May 20th and 21st at 7:30 PM! This exclusive event includes a specially produced 20-minute feature on how the popular manga translates to live action as well as the hit theme song “Dani California” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers!
Please note: This event is not officially rated but should be treated as equivalent to an "R" rating.
Advance purchase tickets are available NOW by entering your zip code in the above search feature. Seating is Limited - get your tickets EARLY!
DEATH NOTE is based on the hit supernatural action-mystery manga, and follows the story of Light Yagami, an ace student who finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god named Ryuk. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But when criminals mysteriously begin dropping dead, the authorities send the legendary detective "L" to investigate, and he is soon hot on the trail of Light, who must now reevaluate his noble goal. Both Light and L believe themselves to be on the side of justice, and the two match wits as they attempt to prove which one of them is "good" and which one of them is "evil."
This event is English dubbed.
Don’t miss your chance to see DEATH NOTE larger-than-life on the big screen!
(Official site for Death Note The Movie - in Japanese)
(Official site for Fathom Events including what theatres)
Also upcoming: Bleach: Memories of Nobody on June 11th and 12th.
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Go Speed Go!!
Speed Racer is a hyper-active love letter to anime fans. Others will have to sit down, shut up, and enjoy the ride, or get the hell out of the way.
Much as the final two episodes of the Matrix trilogy had severe and vicious detractors, people have been and will try and decimate this fantastic feature length live-action version of the classic anime.
What bursts off the screen isn't just mind-blowingly amazing special effect wizardry, but rather a successful attempt at moving the genre forward while faithfully keeping some stereotypical elements firmly on the ground.
Yes, the acting is stilted and deliberately so.
Yes, humorous sidekicks Spritle and Chim-Chim are oft lame-brain.
And yes, that really is a mighty frightening mustache John Goodman is sporting.
But don't lose focus on the bigger picture.
And what a dazzling, outrageously ambitious picture it is.
Go Speed Go, indeed.
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Go Speed GOOOOHMYGOD Look at that hottie.
Labels: anime, boys, Korea, movies
Korean pop star, Rain, in the upcoming Speed Racer film opening in early May.
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US House rushes vote that could create problems for yaoi/hentai fans.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a bill saying that anyone offering an open Wi-Fi connection to the public must report illegal images including "obscene" cartoons and drawings--or face fines of up to $300,000. Labels: anime, congress, controversial, democrats, loli, manga, pixiesticks, shota, yaoi
That broad definition would cover individuals, coffee shops, libraries, hotels, and even some government agencies that provide Wi-Fi. It also sweeps in social-networking sites, domain name registrars, Internet service providers, and e-mail service providers such as Hotmail and Gmail, and it may require that the complete contents of the user's account be retained for subsequent police inspection.
Before the House vote, which was a lopsided 409 to 2, Rep. Nick Lampson (D-Texas) held a press conference on Capitol Hill with John Walsh, the host of America's Most Wanted and Ernie Allen, head of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Allen said the legislation--called the Securing Adolescents From Exploitation-Online Act, or SAFE Act--will "ensure better reporting, investigation, and prosecution of those who use the Internet to distribute images of illegal child pornography."
The SAFE Act represents the latest in Congress' efforts--some of which have raised free speech and privacy concerns--to crack down on sex offenders and Internet predators. One bill introduced a year ago was even broader and would have forced Web sites and blogs to report illegal images. Another would require sex offenders to supply e-mail addresses and instant messaging user names.
Wednesday's vote caught Internet companies by surprise: the Democratic leadership rushed the SAFE Act to the floor under a procedure that's supposed to be reserved for noncontroversial legislation. It was introduced October 10, but has never received even one hearing or committee vote. In addition, the legislation approved this week has changed substantially since the earlier version and was not available for public review.
Not one Democrat opposed the SAFE Act. Two Republicans did: Rep. Ron Paul, the libertarian-leaning presidential candidate from Texas, and Rep. Paul Broun from Georgia.
This is what the SAFE Act requires: Anyone providing an "electronic communication service" or "remote computing service" to the public who learns about the transmission or storage of information about certain illegal activities or an illegal image must (a) register their name, mailing address, phone number, and fax number with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's "CyberTipline" and (b) "make a report" to the CyberTipline that (c) must include any information about the person or Internet address behind the suspect activity and (d) the illegal images themselves. (By the way, "electronic communications service" and "remote computing service" providers already have some reporting requirements under existing law too.)
The definition of which images qualify as illegal is expansive. It includes obvious child pornography, meaning photographs and videos of children being molested. But it also includes photographs of fully clothed minors in overly "lascivious" poses, and certain obscene visual depictions including a "drawing, cartoon, sculpture, or painting." (Yes, that covers the subset of anime called hentai).
Someone providing a Wi-Fi connection probably won't have to worry about the SAFE Act's additional requirement of retaining all the suspect's personal files if the illegal images are "commingled or interspersed" with other data. But that retention requirement does concern Internet service providers, which would be in a position to comply. So would e-mail service providers, including both Web-based ones and companies that offer POP or IMAP services.
"USISPA has long supported harmonized reporting of child pornography incidents to the (NCMEC). ISPs report over 30,000 incidents a year, and we work closely with NCMEC and law enforcement on the investigation," Kate Dean, head of the U.S. Internet Service Provider Association, said on Wednesday. "We remain concerned, however, that industry would be required to retain images of child pornography after reporting them to NCMEC. It seems like the better approach would be to require the private sector to turn over illicit images and not retain copies."
Failure to comply with the SAFE Act would result in an initial fine of up to $150,000, and fines of up to $300,000 for subsequent offenses. That's the stick. There's a carrot as well: anyone who does comply is immune from civil lawsuits and criminal prosecutions.
There are two more points worth noting. First, the vote on the SAFE Act seems unusually rushed. It's not entirely clear that the House Democratic leadership really meant this legislation to slap new restrictions on hundreds of thousands of Americans and small businesses who offer public wireless connections. But they'll nevertheless have to abide by the new rules if senators go along with this idea (and it's been a popular one in the Senate).
The second point is that Internet providers already are required by another federal law to report child pornography sightings to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which is in turn charged with forwarding that report to the appropriate police agency. So there's hardly an emergency, which makes the Democrats' rush for a vote more inexplicable than usual.
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10 Things I Learned at Anime Weekend Atlanta 2007
10. There is going to be a new yaoi convention. Calling itself Yaoi Jamboree, it will be held in Pheniox, Arizona in June. The details are really kinda sketchy right now, but the official website for it is right here. One of the companies that are putting that thing on is Everything Yaoi. Labels: anime, Fang, Japan, manga, pixiesticks, shota, yaoi
09. Speaking of new companies putting out yaoi product. Iris Print had a really sweet looking booth. Check out what they have to offer in the more light shounen-ai department at BoysLove Books. I do like their "Likes Boys" shirt very much.
08. Continuing on the yaoi theme: The 7th Annual Yaoi After Dark panel was much improved over the previous year. Pulling in probably its most huge and diverse crowd yet, the three hour long fiesta seemed tighter which is a very good thing when we're talking about cock and ass. Features included the usual yaoi paddling, a rundown of what's upcoming in manga, The Dating Game, a trivia game, a short preview of the video No Money, and Lainey speaking of just how much has changed over the 7 years in the fandom. Unfortunately, shota is still not allowed to be discussed.
07. One of the things that I absolutely haaaaaaated about the panel didn't have to do with Lainey at all. (So hopefully that means I can be spared any wrath this time around.) While there weren't any horrible fanfics this year, instead preceeding Yaoi After Dark was some bastardization of American Idol. Changing the words to songs to make them "Yaoi" versions is certainly my idea of Yaoi Hell, to be sure. It's safe to say that if Simon was there, he'd have bent them all over a chair and fucked the shit out of them for such a horrible idea. He's sooo seme, you know.
06. Greg Ayres is the shittiest DJ on the face of the earth. Now, I don't know this to be a fact persay, but that's pretty much what every. single. person. who walked by the table where I was hanging out with Fang and Nemo had to say.
05. In alot of ways, Anime Weekend Atlanta is simply Really Expensive Babysitting. I'm sure their staff would agree, considering overwelmingly many people went to the convention and didn't view a single frame of anime.
04. Video game freaks really should invest in getting their own convention. While most conventions have some video game stuff going on, there is absolutely no more room for you at AWA. Not that I mind you being there. It's just overwelmingly obvious that you're multiplying and AWA doesn't seem to want to make proper accomidations for what you love.
03. Lainey broached a subject I hoped I wouldn't have to hear for another couple of weeks. She talked about she was "getting too old." But, fortunately she also mentioned she'd do it until they had to wheelchair her into the panel, so that's good. I'm turning 29 next month and while I certainly started to get the feeling I was one of the older people in the room, the love for the yaoi is just too strong to let go!
02. Pixiesticks.org fans are the BEST FANS EVER! I know I may come across initially as chilly, but I swear it's actually that I'm lost in a sea of just stuff going on around me all the time. I love fans of the site. And I loved getting to meet some of you at the convention. You make me extremely glad I came.
01. As it was last year, Bishounen artists Fang and Nemo were my favorite thing at Anime Weekend Atlanta. Despite seeing them on New Years, I still am so saddened I only see these two typically once a year. While we keep promising that will change, I wholeheartly adore both of them. They make me feel very happy. (In my pants.)
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How could I be this tired? I didn't really DO anything!
Another Anime Weekend Atlanta is in the history books and I'm more exhausted than ever after a convention it seems. I'll have the full rundown tomorrow, then it'll be back to normal around here for a time. Labels: anime, personal, pixiesticks
I can go ahead and say that I was very pleased to meet some of my adoring and adorable fans. Makes the Pixie feel very loved!
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Most requested.
Mitsui Jun is the most requested doujinshi artist recently and I just posted another selection. It's shotalicious to be sure. Labels: anime, manga, pixiesticks, shota, yaoi
Anime Weekend Atlanta starts tomorrow so I may not be around to update throughout the weekend. But to be sure, more will always be coming soon.
Take care, bishies!
PS: I just did a massive republish all today. What that does is goes back and updates all the archives to the most recent template so everything should be all uniform on the pages.
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Yaoi Boy Week
I got my calender wrong. NEXT week is the 7th Annual Yaoi Boi Week Celebration. It's the week that leads up to Anime Weekend Atlanta. I remember that back in 2001, it got underway the second week of September. Then, the hijackers flew planes into buildings killing thousands in New York City. It was an event that for lack of better phrase, changed America. So I didn't think it appropriate at the time to be talking about animated penises and assholes and moved it to a more logical time anyway. Labels: anime, boys, epic, manga, pixiesticks, porn, secret stash, sex, shota, yaoi
So, with all that said.
Tomorrow is part 2 of the secret stash video clip.
Next week I have some Maki Murakami, I have more Mitsui Jun, and there will be more of whatever else I can dig up over here.
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Off to DragonCon 2007
I'm off to DragonCon 2007, so don't expect any updates until next Tuesday at the earliest. But when I get back, this month I'll bring you a new Secret Stash that won't please everyone. More Mitsui Jun by request. More fan submited artwork. Photos from DragonCon. A preview of Anime Weekened Atlanta. And we'll be celebrating our 7th Annual Yaoi Boi Week! Labels: anime, Candy, controversial, dragoncon, epic, fan mail, harry potter, manga, personal, pixiesticks, secret stash, shota
Have a great Labor Day Weekend, now I gotta go get ready to molest the Weasley Twins.
PS: This means I also won't be able to approve post comments. So if you make any, they won't appear until Tuesday.
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Yaoi yaoi everywhere
I posted a new yaoi video clip Wednesday. It was shota, I should say. And there will be more yaoi posted this weekend. In fact, I'm thinking we should have a whole lotta stuff posted this weekend. So we got that going for us, which is nice. Labels: anime, pixiesticks, shota, yaoi
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I'd break the rules immedately!
Labels: anime, Japan, Thailand
REPOSTED, now with picture!
Errant Thai police had better beware. Offenders who refuse to heed superiors' warnings to mend their ways will find themselves shamed into doing so - forced to wear a hot pink armband adorned with the Japanese cartoon character Hello Kitty, beloved of little girls.
Frustrated senior officers searching for ways to force their underlings to toe the line believe the cutesy armband will be sufficiently humiliating to deter policemen from further misdemeanours.
It would prove a stark contrast to the figure-hugging grey uniforms, highly polished black knee boots, white helmets and mirror shades that mean most Thai police could pass as US motorcycle cops.
Police who are late for duty, get into fights with colleagues and park in restricted zones will be the prime targets for this most novel of disciplinary procedures.
But wearing the armband - Hello Kitty portrayed lounging on two hearts - for a day is for first-time offenders only. Persistent offenders will find themselves subject to much stiffer sanctions.
"Simple warnings no longer work," said police general Pongpat Chayaphan, acting chief of Bangkok's crime suppression division. "This new twist is expected to make them feel guilt and shame and prevent them from repeating the offence, no matter how minor.
"[Hello] Kitty is a cute icon for young girls. It is not something macho police officers want covering their biceps."
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Two new items now in the Pixie Products shop!
Labels: /b/, anime, boys, manga, pixe products, pixiesticks, porn, raep, sex, shota, yaoi
You know how much we here at pixiesticks.org loves shota. But, of course, there is one cat who loves it even more than we do. I'm talking about Shota-Cat of course. Now you can proudly sport the kitty on a T-Shirt.
Did I mention it comes in a shota size as well?
Get yours today!
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Pico and Chico
The entire flick is now up over on the Yaoi Bois board. I'll continue to monitor the bandwidth to make sure the thing doesn't pull down the entire site. It's been one of the most successful promotions on pixiesticks.org and I appreciate everyone who came to the site and enjoyed the shota on shota filled fantasy. Labels: anime, pixiesticks, porn, shota, trap
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This just in: Pico and Chico shocking!
Here's a letter I got. Labels: anime, fan mail, shota, trap, UK, yaoi
I just found your site for the first time, it's amazing! However, I was a bit shocked by Pico/Chico. I live in the UK and wonder whether I could
actually be arrested for downloading that kind of thing? I know they're not
real, but I don't know how it works. Have you any idea?
My reply:
Thanks for visiting the site and for taking the time to write me.
The short answer to your question is: I'm not familiar with the UK law so
I do not know.
The long answer is comprised of only guesses:
1) If you're over the age of consent in your area -- and you should have
been if you went to the Yaoi page in the first place -- you should be fine considering...
2) The video is legal in Japan (it's home origin) and The United States and many
of the UK law structure is similar to the US.
Naturally, if you're concerned, you can always delete the file and it won't
ever be an issue. Unless you're doing other things that are suspicious or something.
Finally, I'm sorry that you were shocked by the video. I put proper warning yanno!
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Simpsons Shota -or- Quite Easily The Silliest News Story about Penis EVER
In the unlikeliest nude scene since Kathy Bates' hot-tub hijinks in About Schmidt, Bart Simpson will reportedly go full frontal in his upcoming feature film. Labels: anime, boys, celebrity news, controversial, movies, nakedness, shota
According to Newsweek, which got a sneak peek at The Simpsons Movie, "little Bart flashes his little part to the entire world" while skateboarding sans clothing on a dare from dad Homer.
If his full Monty makes it to the big screen in July, the magazine notes, it may be the first time a Hollywood movie has exposed this sort of skin -- albeit in cartoon form -- without being slapped with an R-rating.
"That Bart is a cartoon character, and a defiant adolescent one at that, does make the cultural interest in his private parts more complex and intriguing," says Kim Blank, a professor of popular culture at the University of Victoria.
"But the bottom line -- pun intended -- is that Bart, despite the little pixels that constitute his personhood, is an American icon -- a transcendent celebrity who defies age. And we, as a culture, are always interested in seeing naked celebrities, if only to confirm our fantasy that they have what we have."
Although the pioneer of cartoon flesh was Fritz the Cat, which in 1972 became the first animated feature to be rated X, it was arguably Canada's own Heavy Metal that popularized it. The adult-oriented fantasy film has grown into a cult sensation since its big-screen debut in 1981, which was met with a restricted rating due to copious amounts of animated sex and nudity.
More recently, the makers of 2004's Team America: World Police had to re-cut a sex scene involving genitalia-free puppets nine times before the Motion Picture Association of America withdrew the movie's NC-17 rating and replaced it with an R.
Young Simpson's foray into flashing, however, is likely to elicit giggles rather than criticism.
"You have to keep in mind how well we have come to know Bart, and this new nude knowledge represents a small but meaningful extension of that," says Blank. "Bart revealing himself is really us revealing ourselves."
Although Bart's big-screen exhibitionism will be a first for Springfield's first family, cartoon historians will note the Simpsons have enjoyed a long-standing flirtation with the naughty.
The cover of the 1991 book The Simpsons Uncensored Family Album showed a nude Bart sprawled stomach-down on a bearskin rug in a cheeky homage to Burt Reynolds' Cosmopolitan centerfold shoot of 1972.
Then, in 2002, Rolling Stone printed a photo on its table of contents exposing baby Bart's cartoon genitals. The picture -- which was also featured on the cover, sans pint-size penis -- was a recreation of Nirvana's album art for Nevermind.
And according to The Simpsons Archive, the show has aired more than 200 different scenes of implied or pixilated nudity and sexual situations during its nearly two-decade run.
John Alberti, a professor of English at Northern Kentucky University and recognized Simpsons scholar, says any ruffled feathers over such cartoon drawings demonstrates that "it's not the actual parts of the body, it's the meaning attached to them" that counts.
"To me, it's far more disturbing to see Homer hitting himself in the eye with a hammer (in the movie trailer) than to see a little boy skateboard naked," says Alberti.
But Cory Silverberg, a sexual health educator from Toronto, believes critics are letting their jerking knees obscure the reality of the situation.
"I'm always concerned when I hear about child actors being put into uncomfortable situations. But this is not a person, it's a cartoon," says Silverberg.
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Pico/Chico
A couple of people posted on the tag-board links to both a torrent and a megaupload to where you can get the Pico/Chico video that was released in Japan on April 19th. Labels: /b/, anime, personal, pixiesticks, porn, shota, yaoi
I deleted these links and I want to tell you why.
1) This is my site. I do what I want.
2) Megaupload is shit.
3) I don't want to have to explain torrents to hundreds of people.
4) Having links that I don't post myself on my site is not good policy.
5) I want people to come here to get it. I mean, duh, right?
6) ???
7) Profit!!! Well actually not really since I took down the Google ads.
So call me a censor. Call me fascist. Call me whatever you want.
But those who actually like me and like this site, I think you understand where I'm coming from.
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Unlike last month...
I really do have something important to tell you over on the yaoi page. Labels: anime, boys, nakedness, pixiesticks, porn, secret stash, shota, yaoi
Well, more like show you in a 6MB file.
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Manga truly hitting mainstream.
Tokyopop's Fruits Basket Vol. 16 has hit a new high for a manga (or any graphic novel for that matter) on the "USA Today Best-Selling Books Top 150" for the week ending April 15th, with a #15 ranking. The previous best performance by a manga, according to Anime News Network, was Naruto Volume 11, which hit #21 in September of last year.
The #15 ranking for Fruits Basket illustrates a couple of trends we've been tracking over the past months. One is that sales on the bestselling manga series are continuing to grow, with more people getting exposed to the most popular series every month by buying the first volumes of the series, which remain bestsellers. A second is that manga continues to become more mainstream, and part of the fabric of American pop culture.
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