Day O’ Oriental Prints

We’re actually getting pretty good at this Waking Up Before Sunset stuff now. But then today was particularly important for the Wife in that there was a gallery she really, REALLY wanted to visit, and they closed at 6:00 pm. The place is called, simply, Stuart Jackson Gallery, and is run by… Stuart Jackson. The reason the Wife wanted to visit was because she started up work on writing a tutorial article for a digital art magazine, with the subject being simulating the look of classic, Japanese woodblock prints. In her research, she found out that this particular gallery actually specialized in in nothing but, and she has a real soft spot in her heart for exactly this kind of art, but had never, ever seen a real one, only pictures in books and on the internet.

So you can imagine the squeals of delight that ensued when she realized that not only was there a gallery in her new home, it was a mere 20 minute stroll away, buried deep in the shissy bowels of Yorkville, past the numerous sushi restaurants and dog grooming services that charged more for a poodle styling than our entire income for 6 months totaled. Stuart Jackson himself ended up being a friendly, very knowledgeable guy who was extremely happy to spend some time with us, showing us the prints, explaining the techniques, the history, the styles and pretty much every other question the Wife had, so she was EXTREMELY happy with the whole experience. Prices on these prints varied from a hundred or so dollars to over ten thousand, depending on things like size, quality, condition and rarity. I have a feeling that we’re eventually going to end up with a few of those prints hanging off the wall at some point, but they are admittedly gorgeous, and when you see how much talent and craftsmanship is put into them–and then realize this is a dead art form that even modern Japanese print block experts can’t replicate today–it sort of makes it easier to justify the cost of these things. Or maybe I’m just being an illiterate dunderhead, because it somehow is easier for me to see paying money for something that is readily recognizable upon viewing, that shows an immense amount of obvious skill, and is something that is not easily replicated today. As opposed to something that can be done in three minutes by simply throwing paint on a wall and declaring it a bold criticism of today’s ennui and post-modern obsessed society, that’ll be $65,000 please and thank you for supporting the arts, buh-bye.

On the Rock Band side of things (yes, my anticipation just grows and grows with each passing day), an image has finally been released of the actual, physical box this behemoth game will be released in. You can click on the image to get a bigger look at it. It should probably come as a surprise to NO ONE at this point that I’ve pretty much caved and decided I can’t take a chance on patiently waiting for the Canadian release date, since it could be anywhere from a week to four months later. I’m weak. I need to RAWK. I can admit this. I will be getting the game while visiting the In-Laws in the USA and have made peace with this decision.