Your featured film is now available for you to view and take hints from via the Meet the Bastards section. Since we're about addressing reality, we took it upon ourselves to put emphasis on an individual that has a high and irritating effect on those impacted by the disgusting and fowl smell of funk coming from ones mouth. So without further ado, we bring you the 'Bad Breath Bastard!'
Click on the HD button to gain the full effect of High Def in this video:
If you've been following my blog for sometime now, this new video is affiliated with our new Series2 Bastards. As we transcend to another level of bringing you entertainment in the form of short film making, the 'Bad Breath Bastard' was to be the first of the 6 exposed in this family series. For our Series1 short films, only traditional Flash animation was utilized for all 6 Bastard scenarios. As we started to think about the next series of Bastard films, we thought it would be cool and different to not only incorporate the same traditional animation, but to also embody a new element -- which was combining it with real live action. This is also the case for the remaining Series2 short films. A task like this was something we knew would be rigorous and challenging, to say the least. So, we decided to call upon one of our good pal's and YouTube's finest Director extraordinaire's, PeeDeeFlo from PDFLO Films to get the job done. No stranger to film making and putting together one of the most well-known viral videos on the net today, Kings of Myspace with close friend and other infamous YouTuber, Timothy Delaghetto, when PeeDee and I spoke about this project back in JAN09, he had never touched a project like this. Fortunately for us, he decided to pursue it and move forward with all the details despite the complexity of the assignment.
Key Notes about this piece: * Filming/casting started back in the first week of FEB09 * Filmed in HD format 1080P * Adobe Creative Suite CS4 was fully relied on in order to deliver the results * Set was intentionally set up to create a party like setting -- which was established and shot at a house location in Southern Cali (Paramount CA.) * Amazingly, the overall duration is a little under 3mins. However, over 100 Hrs. was put into this short film alone * Intricate, time consuming details and effort were implemented such as including a shadow of the Bastard character and ensuring it's in sync with his overall body movement. Not to mention, full body movement and expression was created (watch his face when he speaks and shadow movement).
Note: Unfortunately, since the resolution of the high def film is huge, we had to compromise the overall quality of the film and shrink the resolution size down a bit so that it could be observed without having to scroll while watching the film. This only affects the featured film under the Meet the Bastards section only and not on our YouTube account. Make sure you have Flash installed before playing the video and be patient because this particular film takes a little longer to stream then the others!
Stay tuned for more Series2 Bastard short films in the near future. The next one is one that you don't want to miss out on!
Two new shirts finally emerged online! The first is the highly requested purple logo tee featuring the first series of Bastard Commandments. This piece was originally suppose to be released for sale earlier this year. However, it was discovered that there was a misprint on one of the commandments on the back. Therefore, we had to delay the process in order to ensure that everything was right. Secondly, we've decided to release the WonderCon exclusive shirt online as well. This specific tee was initially released at WonderCon SF back in FEB09. After almost being completely sold out at the show, we decided to do a re-order to accommodate those who were unable to purchase one at the show itself.
Key Notes: Purple Logo Tee: * Large size print on an American Apparel shirt * Backside accented with first series of Bastard Commandments. One letter from various commandments is highlighted in blue that spell out our infamous slogan 'Don't be a Bastard!' * Artist, Rashaun aka Integral Apparel
WonderCon Tee: * Oversized print on the front * Originally released for the WonderCon SF show back in FEB09 * Simulates a comic book cover with a B&F touch * Artist, LeRoid David from LeRoid.com
As there are new products that are now up for grabs, we also decided to introduce another sale similar to what was announced during the holidays. This sale will only be available for 1 month only starting today!
Sale Info: * 30% off all items * All current coupon codes are invalid during this time * All purchases to include a "FREE" flip top belt with every order. Purchase of sticker decals alone will not receive this offer! * Shipping to U.S customers of sub-totals of $50 or more still enjoy free shipping
As a side note: We will be introducing a whole new product line towards the end of this summer which will be very cool, interesting and fresh for all of us! From this point on until this new line is released, we will pause all new t-shirt releases as we put in extraordinary efforts into having this new line surface. We are very excited about this project as we decided to take it up a level, so stay tuned!
Once again, the guys over at Barely Political along with Amber Lee Ettinger aka Obama Girl have managed to put together yet another YouTube flick rockin' our infamous Logo tee. The message this time...VOTE EARTH, 'DON'T BE A BASTARD' and turn off your lights for one hour on March 28th! For more info on this particular subject, simply go to the website: earthhour.org
Here's my previous blog pertaining to the first Barely Political video: Click HERE
THANKS to Ben Relles and the rest of the crew in NY for sending over this video!
Yesterday, a few of us attended the Mighty 4 event held over in SF at Cellspace hosted by Master Culture & Armory for one of our extended family members of B&F, Paulskeee. A key and driven player in the urban community, Paulskeee is dedicated and very passionate in throwing events catering to B-boys, dance crews and everyone else seeking entertainment closely related to the roots of Hip Hop/street culture. Celebrating his 31st birthday at a location where underground raves in the 90's would have been thrown at in the outskirts of downtown SF, Paulskeee's gathering had an abundance of youthful individuals bustin' their b-boy & b-girl moves in various sizable circles. Battle circles, that is. Individuals ranging from all ages, these folks were ready to put on a show for all the spectators in this ample size warehouse. Numerous dance crews were representin' and rockin' hard to the true old school b-boy beats. A show was also kicked off sometime in the mid afternoon by none other, Supreme Soul (America's Best Dance Crew Season 2 members). Altogether, the show was put together very well. I truly respect Mighty 4 for putting together shows like this for the urban community. It's positive, vibes are good, and venues like these are one of a kind -- which gives kids and young adults a place to hang out at without getting into trouble. All in all, it's a movement that will never be stopped! Affairs like these should never be overlooked because the urban community is getting bigger and gaining ground at a much more anticipated rate these days!
Supreme Soul still putting on a show for the crowd ever since their stint on MTV 2 seasons ago The man behind Mighty 4, Paulskeee
That's right ladies and gentlemen, World of Dance Tour is just around the corner. This much anticipated event kicks off the tour in Southern Cali at the Pomona Fairplex in Pomona on Saturday April 4th. For those of you unaware, WOD is the largest West Coast urban dance competition. With huge success and popularity from MTV's America's BEST DANCE CREW, these types of events are becoming more recognized and followed by a vast audience especially from the urban community. You can expect to see b-boys/b-girls/dance crews reporting to their battle circles to display their fancy moves and footwork with hopes to out-dance their competition. Even more exciting, it was announced that a few MTV ABDC crews will be reporting to their posts as well: Season 3 ABDC winner (Quest), Season 3 runner-ups (Beat Freaks) and many more. WOD has also conceded that an event like this isn't the same without some of today's fashion forward and independent street wear brands being conjoined. Thus, an immense collection of apparel, accessories and other items that cater to this demographic will be largely displayed. Coincidentally, we will also be attending this event and showcasing our current items as well as a few exclusive World of Dance tee's along with a few accessories that have never been displayed on our site ever before. In addition, for all you YouTube fanatics, we're bringing out the infamous Timothy Delaghetto to join forces with us. Mr. Entertainment himself will be at our booth from 5pm -8pm in which he will also be unloading his new EP 'The Rush Hour.'
And, just for kicks we are planning to unload a bunch of Bastard boxes once again. As we did at our past event at WonderCon SF, we'll be attaching raffle tickets to our flyers at the show. Our street team will be in full force once again handing these out. All you have to do is detach one of the tickets, come by and drop it off and check back every hour from 4pm - 11pm to see if you're the lucky winner who takes home a huge box filled with gifts and prizes. This box filled with 'Don't be a Bastard' love will contain our exclusive apparel/accessories as well as a King Ken or Tokidoki vinyl toy (courtesy of our good pals over at Dragatomi.com).
We invite everyone to all come out and have fun at this event and at our booth -- which is TBD. We will keep you posted on our booth location as soon as this gathering gets closer.
My apologies for not keeping the blog up-to-date. After WonderCon as well as planning for the World of Dance Tour event down in Pomona, CA. on Saturday, April 4th and a quick trip down to Southern California just a few days ago, blogging was pretty much kept on the back burner. And, as a heads up I'll keep continuing to blog as much as I possibly can in the next few months while we're maintaining the busy atmosphere here at the Bastard & Friends headquarters. In the next few months, we're going to be hitting the road and attending various shows throughout California. After the WonderCon stint, it was requested by our supporters and apparent by us that we make an effort and appear at other events. So, keep posted on a list of upcoming events on either our blog and or our home/splash page in the near future. In the meantime, we're working on putting up an Events page under the 'Warp Zone' section in order to track where you'll find us next.
Moving along, Sharon and I took another quick trip down to So. Cal over the weekend to meet with a good pal of ours (Tony) whom is widely known throughout the garment and accessories industry. Jumping in the car on a Friday evening and driving down to Simi Valley for a meeting on Saturday morning that lasted 7hrs. starting from 10am and then heading back to the Bay Area the same day was what was on the agenda. As much as I like to blog and expose people, this particular write-up is an exception. Tony, who is a key player in his industry prefers to stay behind the scenes. But, let's just say he's worked and still continues to work with key players (shot callers) from Ecko, Zoo York, DC, Hurley, O'Neal, Ambiguous, Split, Fox Racing, Arai Helmets and the list goes on forever. The most well-connected individual that we've ever come across, I have the utmost respect for this gentlemen who has made great strides in not only building his brand, but also helping others establish a name for themselves. With offices in the U.S, Vietnam, and in Europe his continuing efforts are still creating some serious impact on the companies mentioned above. There was never a dull moment during our conversation that lasted 7 whole hours. Everything about the industry was pretty much touched on. Very overwhelming at times, but yet we craved more and more of it. The best way to describe the affair was a professor teaching his students about a particular subject. Very awesome stuff in which you'd never believe! As far as Bastard & Friends, there are surprises that are just around the corner for all of you. There's some cool and intriguing things that will emerge within the next few months. We are very excited as our journey will begin to take various twists and turns as we plan to unleash and introduce a whole new product line! Seriously...stay tuned! This is something I highly suggest you keep on board with.
This is a 'sliver' section inside the office and warehouse of an industry mogul
Insisting on taking Tony wherever he wants to go for lunch, being the tasteful person that he is, we ended up eating at one of the only Vietnamese spots in Simi Valley. BTW, that order #1 Pho was excellent. I wish I could've finished it, but the dialogue amongst all of us was too interesting during the time
Erika David, one of YouTube's finest and sensational musicians puts together an exclusive piece just for the Bastard & Friends community. The sister of one of our talented artists' LeRoid David, this Indie pop, R&B and soul musician puts on another compelling performance with her own unique style while rockin' our B&F logo tee to the smash hit, 'Trading Places' by Usher. 1.9+ million channel views and over 50,000+ subscribers on YouTube since her joining this social community site back in JAN 2007, this ever so talented young lady based out of Las Vegas is captivating her followers and stalkers on an ever changing basis with her vocals and sex appeal. Traveling from coast-to-coast to try and fulfill her dream as a musician is an essential part of Erika's routine these days.
The end of WonderCon finally came to a rest yesterday evening. After 3 days of countless droves coming in from all over the world throughout the weekend, the affair came to a rest at 5pm. 5pm for the crowd that is. While the attendees and fans were off to their final destinations, we as well as the other exhibitors had to pack up and ship out within 4 hrs. after the show ended. Aside from waiting in line in our vehicles for an extended amount of time to get back into the Moscone center to load our stuff, overall the show went 'EXTREMELY' well. For those who are unaware, this was our very first show since our inception back in MAY 2008. Just in these 3 days we learned a lot about ourselves as a company, I might add. From the feedback from numerous attendees, customers as well as friends and family members, we have a greater understanding of our demographics and our fan base. Everything about the show from beginning to end was definitely a great learning experience that is invaluable. We took away a lot of information from not only observing and analyzing the show itself, but from feedback and insight of other exhibitors and customers/fans. Although, there were one too many key moments spread out across all 3 days, I wanted to highlight a few things that I recalled from the show: fans that are on our 'Don't be a Bastard FACEBOOK' group, MySpace page, those that discovered us on YouTube and some who heard about us from other people/outlets came out to show their love and support! We even had a bunch of them mention that they've never heard of WonderCon or it was their first time at the show, but wanted to come out just to see the items in person, meet us and hear the story and idea behind B&F in person; Ray (can't remember his store name) from LA checking out the show and came across us as he was browsing and was interested in our products. We seen him one day and chatted for a bit. Then he returned the next day because he thought our items would be a good fit in his store. Asked him if he was diggin' the items and his response was... 'If I wasn't, I wouldn't of come back;' there were also multiple people hanging out all 3 days just waiting to see if they won the box of Bastard & Friends goodies box; some even went to the extent of accessing handfuls of flyers/raffles from not only our street team, but from the booth itself in order to increase their odds; Some guy even said 'you guys have the sickest and most detailed packaging I've ever seen in my entire life;' Corrine also brought it to our attention that some person came by just to buy our boxes. Nothing else, just the boxes alone; I also remember standing behind this girl (I believe her name was Carmen) talking to Sharon asking who came up with the idea and how was the brand derived? Shortly after, her response was...'That's Genius!'..then she picked up a Can't Park Bastard shirt and Flat Fitty hat. There were too many incredible moments throughout the whole time especially on Saturday where, by rumor from a good pal at the Moscone Center mentioned 65,0000 tickets were allocated for that day alone, but had to go to a backup plan and sell the years' previous tickets due to them running out that day. The show was outright massive! I also wanted to apologize to those folks who emailed and called us to let us know that they attempted to get into the show, but either were turned away or left because the line was way too long and wrapped around the building.
I truly believe we couldn't of done it without the tremendous help and assistance by each and every one of our staff that manned the booth for 3 straight days (Sharon, Derek, Corrine, Fro, Leah, and Ruel the Artist sketching killer drawings for the customers). Long hours from morning until the night time was the standard. Not to mention our supporters/fans. From our marketing technique of attaching 10,000 raffle tickets to our flyers and having our street team members (Cel, Sunny, Marlon, Fro, Jordan, RJ, Adam, Nate, Casey, Bear, Aura, JC etc.) pass them out at all 4 corners of the corresponding Moscone Center block throughout the 3 days, traffic to our booth probably wouldn't have been as 'hectic.' Especially on Saturday where none of us manning the booth had any time to really breathe, use the restroom, or take a break from the 9hr action. I recall running back and forth from our storage location just to retrieve some of the inventory in order to keep up with the demand. Further, our family, friends and supporters who made an extended effort and commitment of promoting this event for us. Not only was the promoting going on before the show, but also during show hours as well where our supporters came out head to toe in B&F gear and represented all day everyday! WOW!... That is really showing dedication and backing of B&F! It also helped that we were next to some high traffic exhibitors as well: Bob Suicide and the gang from Suicide Girls, our good pals over at Waicom (Tony and Steve), Lindsay and the intriguing booth of Capcom where there were lines just to play Street Fighter 4; Aldo, the lucky Bastard who won the 10am Saturday drawing from Stylin Online whom had a monstrous booth; And the good fellas Curly, Matt and the crew from Halo 8 Entertainment. Moreover, being directly across from the lounge area helped out very well. And lastly, Mike Montes and his crew Eric, Jeff, and Rome for not only letting us store our excess inventory in their office at Moscone and giving us an abundance of privileges, but also for lending out a helping hand throughout all 3 days. Thus, providing us a seamless exhibitor experience! Right on gentlemen! I also wanted to note that our extended family of Dragatomi made the prizes even more appealing by offering some of their cool and collective toys as part of the prize giveaways! You guys are flippin' AWESOME!
Here's one of the emails I received in our inbox just today from a couple based out of Reno, NV named Janet and Robert: 'Hey guys,
Just wanted to say that you guys were a blast and we love your products. Hope to see you all at Comic Con this year but we know about the wait period. If you don't make it this year then we will keep our eyes out for ya all til you can. Thanks for the fun and humor that you bring with you. We will be telling everyone we know and then some with our MySpace Blogs. Keep cool and the humor coming. How about the leave the seat up bastard? Thanks for the great prize.
Janet and Robert'
Until next year WonderCon 2010!...Don't be a Bastard!
Some of our other lucky winners of the Bastard & Friends box of surprise goodies at WonderCon:
