If you happened to be in the basement of our New York store last night, you were lucky enough to see director and writer Spike Jonze and his buddy, a live guitar-playing bear. We should probably note now that the bear was in fact artist Marcel Dzama (who crafted the bear head himself), so we don't receive any more calls from those concerned about grizzlies on Howard Street. Spike showed up to do a signing of his McSweeney's book, There Are Many of Us, a companion piece to the short film I'm Here. A robot love story, the featurette is an allegorical ode to the beauty and sadness of love. I asked Spike a bunch of questions from the team, and the bear strummed along as a live mood-echoing soundtrack. A few highlights: Spike drew R2D2 constantly as a kid, his dream dinner would involve Bob Dylan and Wendy Leon's cooking, he did in fact jump out of a speeding taxi many years ago, and he met Dave Eggers when the two discussed making a film of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. It was awesome to see all the fans who came out with stuff to sign, and even some little gifts for Spike. Thanks to everyone who came out in the rain!

Photos by Humberto Leon, Eleny Ramirez, and Christelle de Castro


FILED UNDER: spike jonze , there are many of us , i'm here , mcsweeney's , dave eggers , rory satran , humberto leon , marcel dzama , bob dylan , ocny