Ready? Lights, Camera..... MAKE-UP!

Next stop, California, Orange County, Pasadena, Hollywood!! Another great thing about living in Portland is that LA is only a short 2 hour plane ride away. Although I'm a big United guy, being from Chitown and all, I've discovered that Alaska Airlines consistently has the better price and better availability when traveling on the West Coast. So I hopped on an Alaska Jet and to California I went to attend the Make Up Artists Convention.

Before we went to the convention we decided to make a few mandatory stops while in SO-CAL. First stop, Coast Airbrush! Now, for those of you who don't know or have never been to Coast Airbrush it can be best described as the Ultimate Nirvana for the airbrush enthusiast. Coast Airbrush is owned and operated by the venerable and creative marketeer Dave Monnig. Aside from the amount of products and stock inventory available to the local airbrush enthusiast they offer a unique opportunity for hangin' loose at the Coast Tiki Lounge. The Tiki Lounge is kind of a showcase for all things airbrush or airbrushed. It has the feel of a swank LA club combined with a Kustom Kulture-esque decor. A how-to video by renowned automotive artist Craig Fraser runs in the background on a TV that is inset in a killer-flamed entertainment cabinet. The walls are lined with fantastic airbrushed artwork including faux-taxidermy style marlins and sailfish painted with pimped-out styling flames. You'll notice the occasional Flying Eyeball, Skull and Iron Cross emblem emblazed on various items, and marvel at the custom chopper-style bicycles showcased on the floor. It's a modern day airbrush art museum except the couches are comfortable, the hosts are friendly and I bet, the beer is cold.

On the way out of Anaheim I always make a second mandatory stop at Hockey Giant. The Giant is the place to go for hockey equipment on the west coast. They have a good online store, but going to the actual warehouse is where it's at. I picked up some new elbow pads so I can fire a couple of cheap elbows on the ice at our copy writer and creative guy Dave Waite from Zookeeper.

I was traveling with Will so this means another MANDATORY stop in Little Japan Town (in downtown LA), to eat at our favorite restaurant. Will and I treasure our meals at this special place since often the wait can be more than an hour, and this is during lunch time! Since we are both concerned with the amount of people that may visit this place and thus spoil our ability to get in, I have decided not to name it. Instead I'll include a picture of Will with the restaurant's owner, sorry but this will have to suffice. If you happen to recognize the owner, don't spoil it by revealing his restaurant on this blog.

Last stop - Pasadena for the glitz, glamour and horror that is Make Up artistry. In professional Make Up it's more than just glamour, its stage, fashion, salon, special effects, film and television and mortuary. Make up is big business and the biggest of the big were there. The show included a small museum which featured many special effects works from past films. I was able to have chats with some of the industries top professionals, people like Brad Look, Tobi Britton, Jan Tana, Michael Benjamin and Michael Key. Also, I was able to get my sore muscles abused by Cinthia Dahl of Dahlhouse Productions - after the massage I felt like I had been in a street fight - she has hands of steel as many celebrities can attest to. Many of the countries top professional cosmetic companies were there as well like MAC Cosmetics, Jan Tana, Temptu, Graftobian and Kett Cosmetics. Also, big name make up houses lined the aisles like Naime's, Cinema Secrets and Frend's Beauty. The beauty of this show was the amount of enthusiasm for the airbrush in each of the different disciplines. The real highlight for me was seeing first hand the work that is done in this business. Ordinary people transformed into beasts, ghouls and my personal favorite the Queen of England! All this transformation without even a drop of beer? When you combine Iwata Professional Airbrushes, a quality make-up and maybe a bit of latex rubber in the hands of these professionals the possibilities are endless.

A special note for Tony Graham, Inventory Control Manager, get back to work.