Ready for Winter and Holidays with the Timbers Army

Very Prepared... Recently produced a hand full of designs for the Timbers Army winter product line, you can see the mock ups on my website and can buy the merchandise at TimbersArmy.org/store... I created all these dingy Polaroid pictures for the website in my dungeon basement and over at our printers Ink Brigade ... Making that crap, crappy. Ha, really proud of this product line... there's limited edition Pulp Culture comics and some long and short sleeve shirts, some rad sweatshirts and for the first time and only time you can order No Pity scarves online. They are the the last of the USL Timbers Army No Pity scarves too. Not to worry, we are all about to head into the long process of updating the No Pity to a MLS caliber special inaugural season (still don't even know how epic it's going to be) scarf.

Get some....

Beer Logo for the Pops

One of the greatest/worst but really the greatest part of being a designer, is that all your friends and family wants you to design their crap... I love it, even if it's pro bono and they want to be creative director of the supposed project.

It's these that make me smile... When my pops (an artist in his own right) needs a beer label and needs it on the quick, don't have a name, needs to say lager, anything goes. BOOYA!

So I took a moment and went for broke and here's what I came up with... It's based on an old whaling logo that I thought was tops (the logo, not the whaling). And growing up in Ohio and such (it being an Ohio beer) the walleye is something that has dear childhood memories, from fishing with my dad all the time. I think it is a very untapped Ohio symbol/theme.

Baby Bush b-day present process

A close friends baby girl turned one this past spring and I put together a little design as a present for her and as a way to expose her to some Ninny art at the tender age of one... Guaranteeing that she'll be an amazing person. Here's the crap.

New Illipino Shirts Sneak Preview

I don't even want to hear it... I'm kept so busy now it's so hard to even thing about this blog... My browser even forgot about it.

Anyways here's what's new, I am currently helping out with another start up. My buddy Bob has been trying to set up an east coast style ball hockey league. He's doing all the ground work, just needed a dude to put a logo and media package together... Enter the Ninny.

Timbers Army has me running design circles... Look to my website soon to see all the stuff I've produced.. I've only done a couple of tee's so far but there's a bunch of new product coming in the coming months, so I haven't posted it yet... Go buy some stuff though at TimbersArmy.org.

College Pikasso is about to fire me, the way I've been letting up on them, but I'm going to help them Finite the last of their website and go officially live. Should be sweet.

Other things here and there, but I'm already over this post... I wanna write sometime this week on my favorite punk records of the last two years (it took two years for me to come up with 5-10 must own standout records... Ha ...)

Which leads me to the Illest... Illipino has been pooping off with just one logo and a simple website. I just finalized and submitted the two new designs for production. My buddy who I can't name because he want's Illipino brand to have a layer of mystic around it (but I will go on record saying, he's Philippine and the Illest... Just sayin). I just make his ideas a reality and throw a little of that NoHope steeze into it. But I'm super proud of these, this company, and it's truly awesome to be a part of it.

Late edit... the shirts are now available... check them out here

Killer Screen Printing

I know I haven't blogged in a while and I'm making a pact with myself to do it more often, especially after all the new music that's out and the beginning of Portland's nice weather and show season starting. I am just super busy right now, I am creating designs for The Timbers Army, Illipino and helping my buddy Nate start up his bike basket company (not to mention all the other random little stuff I say yes to) Trust me I'm welling up some very strong opinions and there will be a post about Against Me and AK3's new coasters really soon. I feel like they've destroyed my adolescents, but that's for another day when I have time to write.

But for now I wanted to share this really rad poster artist who I really really like, Tomas Scott of Eye Noise Designs. His stuff reminds me of early Aesthetic Apparatus, who are also among my absolute favorites (In case you didn't know I'm a poster junkie... It's like dime store crack to me). The inane and intriguing imagery just burns into your eyes. The textures he uses are gorgeous and just well put together. I would actually put him above the Apparatus who, besides the Triple Rock and Lucero, don't really work with bands I like. Mr. Scott worked with Black Flag, the Detroit Cobras, My Morning Jacket (I actually hate their music but love their artwork) and plenty of others.

Mr. Tomas and Eye Noise's credibility makes me look like a turd in the industry. He's been published by all kinds of great publications (How, Print, Com Arts) and has the style and ease of just great productions skills (all by hand) and just great use of stock, textures, juxtaposition, and sheer imagery. Needless to say I man crush this guy and his work is super cheap (averaging 25 buck a print) and I recommend going out and buying one.

Reliving one of the best punk albums EVER!!!!

So today I broke down and got an Itunes copy of Leatherface "Mush". I'm not the hugest fan of Leatherface. But there is just something about this album, and for such reasons it's rated as one of the best 50 punk albums of all time by too many sources to site. Frankie Stubbs, the lead singer, has a voice like an angel, who's smoked 50 packs of cigs, has had it's heart ripped out, and voice tortured. The melodies have meat hooks in my heart and the choruses are catchy in all the right ways.

As many of you know I hate the Itunes store. I feel it is basically just a way to find a song. They rarely give you the liner notes from old albums and such. At the same time I also refuse to Illegally download anything either. I always buy the albums and rip them to my Itunes. Why... cause I like to know my money is going to the right places (record labels, bands and such), but more importantly I have to get the cover art and liner notes in my hands. Ever since I first got into music I would go out and buy new albums from bands I was into and listen to the whole thing in my car while flipping through the liners and smoking. It was a process, it gave me an educated opinion and really let the music set in. The process was the same with discovering new bands that already existed, like the Clash, Ramones, Snuff, Jawbreaker, and others.

In the digital age, everyone has Ipod (including me), listens to just random or popular songs by artists, the experience of an album is all but dead. I still make the effort to go through the process, and that's what I did today, I haven't heard "Mush" the whole way through in 8 to 10 years. So I downloaded it last night and took the long way to work today, smoked about 4 cigs and reminded myself of a time since past. It was exactly what I needed.

I hope this vinyl revolution that's been teetering for a couple years now eventually gets bigger. I like getting a free Itunes download of the album I just bought on vinyl... I can put it on my Ipod, but I can also just sit down and listen strait though and have the giant original liners an covers... It's an encouraging thought.

Post sequitur - The whole reason why I downloaded "Mush" and reason I started writing this... Leatherface "Mush" is no longer in print. Unless you got a G to drop on the vinyl it's virtually impossible to find on CD. Sorry I should have mentioned that in the above but... well ... I forgot, fuck it!

Fat guy on a little plane!

As a guy who has about 20+ lbs' on him that he doesn't need and being about 6'1", I know how uncomfortable planes are. Whenever I get off a plane I feel like I blew out an MCL cause as soon as were in the air the person in front of me will typically lean down their seat causing a pressure point right on the top of my kneecap and I can never seem to get both knees in a comfortable position, always one is being pressed toward the ground. I hate it, the seats are so narrow that if I can't sway the armrests away from someone I'm left doing the narrow shoulders hands in your crotch thing.. It sucks, flying sucks.

I bring this up this story in light of the Kevin Smith incident this weekend on SouthWest (AKA SouthWorst) Airlines. We all know about how cheap SW is and that it is the white trashiest/greyhound of the sky. No first class, seat yourself battles, customer service that is sketchy at best cause there's only one service desk for every 3 gates. So Kevin Smith (creater of Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Jersey Girl, and Cop Out) was flying SouthWest and was removed from his seat for anything but the right reasons. The basis is that he was too overweight for just one seat and needed to have a buy a second, but since one wasn't available he had to leave the plane.

After going through this humiliating and completely wrong process he proceeded to quote "scorch" southwest on twitter and for good reason. This led to many of his over a million followers to start "scorching" SW on twitter causing the servers to go down. He also went home an recorded a podcast with his wife explaining his story word for word and then going on a huge rant. It was epic... EPIC! Let's face it, he's a good writer and master of swearing.. He put them in their place.

So here's the reason of all this. I had no idea he had a podcast. I rarely look at twitter.. ever, but when I heard about his rant on there and what happened I went to his twitter it out and then found out through there that he has a podcast... Damnit it's even with Scott Mosier (who is a producer, writer and editor on basically everything K.Smith does)... Fucking heaven, the stuff these guys say is so unedited and just great witty off the cuff humor and totally ridiculous banter. And for all those Kevin Smith and View Askew believers it's a must listen to on a weekly basis.

New Favorite Cartoon from a Cartoon Junky

I'm a lover of cartoons, mostly adult cartoon (though I did see Sponge Bob the movie in the theater). One of my favorite writers and producers Adam Reeds, formally of 70/30 Productions, and his new production squad (Floyd County Productions) have a new cartoon out called Archer on FX. The show pick up right where his other great cartoons (Frisky Dingo, SeaLab 2021) left off. Nothing but awkward racy humor with great voices H. Jon Benjamin and Aisha Tyler. If FX pulls this show after the 6 episode contract I will revolt like a Zapatista!

Anyways if you want to see any of the old 70/30 shows they are shown on AdultSwim.com ad nauseum.

If your are feeling a little more daring and need a great laugh check out Archer's personal twitter. Has probably 20 of the best 100 one liners of all time on it

Digital Shorts rhymes with SlimJim Jhorts

Andy Sambergs digital shorts are about 50/50 some are really good and the others just seems like he grabbed a celebrity and made something up on the spot.. When he does that they are terrible, and are almost instantly overrated because of his status on SNL and acceptability within mainstream America.

This parody kills me to no end, it's a spot on rip on the digital shorts. At the end when he's getting fired and he busts out the Slim Jim line makes me wanna pee my pants every time. I had to rewind it about seven times.