Over the weekend, Mike Kazaleh snapped this picture (above) of the window of a North Hollywood chicken resturant. Their mascot is an obvious swipe of Paramount Pictures beloved (and long-forgotten) 1940s cartoon star, Henry the Henpecked Rooster (at left, with co-star Herman the Mouse). Did they think we wouldn’t notice? I love how he’s dressed like a pimp and pointing towards the resturant’s “B” rating.

Meanwhile, last night, I was driving past the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive in Burbank and snapped this pic, below (with my funky cell phone). After two years, we finally have signage - classy metal signage - on our headquarters building on Burbank Blvd. It looks great, and now you have no excuse not to find it. Next time you are in the area, please drop in.

Storefront and interior. Click for bigger version

A few months ago, I solicited suggestions from readers about what to see and do while in Paris. I never did a follow-up but today I wanted to write about a highlight of that trip: Un Regard Moderne, one of the coolest bookstores I’ve ever visited. The tiny shop, located at 10 rue gît le coeur 75006 Paris, is a place that claustrophobics would be well advised to avoid. It houses thousands of volumes, mostly related to art, comics and pop culture, in two crowded rooms, with all the books precariously piled atop one another, in seemingly random order, and quite ready to topple at any given moment. The store is cramped so much so that the owner only allows four to five people in the store at any time. When we there, there were only four people and it was quite a challenge moving around.

What impressed me most was the owner’s stock which was extremely up-to-date. In fact, we found many books there that we didn’t find at the better known comic stores in Paris, including titles like Three Trees Make A Forest, I Am 8-Bit and The Mischievous Art of Jim Flora.

Also fascinating was the owner’s encyclopedic knowledge of every book crammed into his shop. My travel companions were author and video game designer David Calvo and Marseilles-based musician Guillaume Pervieux, and when my friend David inquired about an obscure graphic novel that he’d been looking for, the owner had dug the book out of one of the piles within a few minutes.

The owner generously allowed me to take a video of his store and I posted it onto YouTube a while back. The quality is fairly poor but it should offer some sense of what the store is like. Definitely worth a visit if you’re in the neighborhood.

Head’s up: the Pixar Toy Story zoetrope created for their MoMA exhibit a couple years back is now on display at California Adventure. And if this still isn’t a good enough reason to visit California Adventure, then just check out the YouTube video below:

(Thanks, Joe Campana)

Brew reader Jim Arnold sent in this shot of a remarkable Popeye rip-off mascot he spotted on a van in Syracuse, New York last week. Says Jim:

Look at that head! Even his forearms are swollen! Coincidence? It’s certainly comforting to know everyone’s favorite sailor is still finding work, regardless of how dirty the job is!

Calling King Features! This looks like a job for Lawyer-Man!

If you want a free animation desk, and are willing to move it yourself from North Hollywood, this Craigslist post is offering thirty of them, sans disc.

(Thanks, Gary)

You know, I like Pixar and I like messenger bags, but I certainly don’t like either of them this much.

(Thanks, Kevin Elam)

Every artist has their favorite place to work, but it’s unlikely that any of those places offer the amusing view that animation filmmaker Chris Harding finds in Kansas City. He writes about his inspiring scenery in this blog entry.

Brew reader Steve Flack sends this report from midtown Manhattan:

I was at Midtown Comics in New York City yesterday, buying my weekly comics, and they had a countertop display of pop culture refrigerator magnets. I was shocked when I saw this one (below), with the classic Looney Tunes Henery Hawk character.

Am I right in being confused as to how this passed the licensing department?