And there's video games

FIFA 13, oh yeah, is sooo Good. I was rocking the demo for the last week to get my leg under me and then came out of my first night with fifa with a 3-2-1 record... Crushing my buddy J-wags 4-0 in my first match... The game is absolutely brilliant, it's so much smoother than the older ones, the graphics and the stadiums are better, and the fluent motion passing and first touch are just amazing, it might as well be real football. So there goes my life this winter. Good thing almost all the winter TA swag is oredered (that's right, everything is going to be on time this year haters...). But before I go into swag, I need to finish my thoughts on video games right now.

My love of video games is no secret, but I am not a gamer. I never have time anymore to play like I used to. Like when my buddy Mark "Cougar" Tervine and I used to sit around all night and play a season of NHL 07... Or my buddy Johnny Swindle and I would play through all of Def Jam Fight for New York (btw WC has hands down the best into bit). I just don't have time, I'll come out of retirement for Zeldas and go to my buddy Kyles to play the new NHL's and Call of Duties... But now these guys are playing this Battlefield game where you are fighting for like an hour straight, no breaks... That's to ridiculous. But I recently got a deal on a PS3 for a buck fitty with all the extras you'd want... So I said fuck it and per-ordered FIFA 13. I have really enjoyed the previous versions of the game and have gone out of my way to mooch play off of friends. Totally worth it. I was going to get the new NHL, as stated above, I have been playing all the NHL's since the one that changed the hockey game landscape, NHL 94. Luckily, Kyle bought the game before me and I went over to his place Monday to put in a couple hours with it... Not impressed. This is a game that has improved every year since 94, that changed how games use controllers, real time action, fluent motion and actually got everyone on board with making these sports games quality simulators. The new one just doesn't have it right, the controls are behind, the AI is lagging, passing sucks, and it's really hard to get your timing. Kyle and I aren't NHL slouches and after 3 hours of playing we were still having the same stupid passing problems (won't let you control speed of pass or really the direction), hitting problems, and just shabby game play.. It's hard as fuck to time the L3 button on a ps3 controller as your speed burst... Not to mention the clicking joysticks are the first thing to go on one of those controllers anyways. It's almost for the best that we are heading into a full NHL lockout because it will help erase how bad this game is and give them a clean sheet next year (if there is even hockey then).

So the winter Timber Army gear is almost all ordered, blows me away how much we've learned about the merch game since last year when we did this. It's no secret either that we are going to do a Black Friday through Sunday pop up store for the winter gear at the Timbers Army Fanladen. Tons of cool shirts, hoody options and all the winter hats you could want. With all that ordered and set up, I can actually concentrate on getting painting done this winter and play a shit ton of FIFA... Which is good too, cause this season took a toll on me. We got spanked with sales, orders, lack of stock... So many more learning experiences which is great but it's left me quite burnt out. I need the silly offseason ASAP. Here's our new Cascadia bar scarf;

We've been going crazy with bar scarves lately... We did that NEU one and we have a special bar box set coming out soon.
Here's some out of season tanks

This was everyone's bad, the tanks were held back due to missing stock from our supplier, then we forgot about them, then our printers forgot they had them, then I was like fuck it, lets make them out of season. I felt bad because we had some scorching hot games this year and these would have definitely been nice. Oh well, that design is tight though, we're going to use it more often, it's really strong.

The last three weeks I've been putting in days at the Fanladen, or as I call it "da laden", "fan house" or "bouncy castle". I made a special centerpiece wall for it (see below) that brings a little taste of my Midwest roots with it. Whenever we visited family in Ohio, East New York or where ever, I always saw Mail Pouch tobacco ads on the sides of barns. I always loved that rustic look. I thought it would fit perfectly in the new space to build an old bar wall and just rotate in Timbers Army for Mail Pouch... We got wood from the Portland Rebuilding center and started winging it, built a fake barn wall, and I spent two weeks taping letters, painting, and watering down tifo paint to get a really rustic look. I couldn't be happier, as an artist though I constantly look at the wall and see all the imperfections. Here's a little look at the process. I also had to come up with a decor for the other walls on the spot and come up with racing stripe idea... I included some of those photos too.
wood wall built

tracing with LTBJ5k

Taping

Painting

Finished

walls being painted

painted walls

There's a walk through openhouse this Sunday, if you get a chance go check it out.

So in the rest of my world I've been making other crap too... I'm working on a logo for a OHSU sub group. Trying to get that lifestyle apparel brand going. I also made a poster for my buddy Pongs DJ soul night. Ignore the misspelling. I also made the graphic underneath taking a stance against modern football and NBCs part in it. I'm not gonna get all high and mighty, but the over commercialization of American soccer is on it's way to contend with the top four... The problem is that American soccer isn't that popular, it's a death sentence. People that don't even like soccer aren't going to watch these national games ... They start late, the announcers and color commentary persons suck and they aren't committed to the sport.

There's still more but I'm already burnt out and wrote a pretty long blogspot. Will save the rest for next time.

Listening to; The Crab Feast Podcast with guest Tom Segura ... So freaking funny.