February 08, 2010
Posted at 10:37 PM
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Nice, long, packed-in flight to Münich. The guy next to me took one long look at me and decided to go find another seat in an empty row. Ha! Large man. Small seat. Suffer with me, Mr. Strange Guy From Bavaria. I was on a Lufthansa flight, which has beautifully-designed materials, and a small army of beautifully-designed stewardesses bringing you warm hand towels and chow and were nice enough to wake me 42 minutes into "whatever sleep I was lucky enough to get" to offer, "Would you like some tea, ya?" A third of a day later, we landed, I whipped through customs and on my way down the escalator to the baggageclaimestrasse, up walked Goo and David, who just came in from London. Bunch of goddamn jetsetters. It's awesome being halfway around the world and walking up on yer buddies. I mean, I hate them all the time in Portland, but love them over here. Funny how this shit works. We hopped the train over to the tradeshow, met up with Bob and Eli from Giro, got passes and made our way in. I made it all day up to 5pm without dozing off, visiting with Martino from Italy, and Brad from Seattle, and Jonas from Sweden, and Chief from Burlington, and Runke from Fuckingradicalville, and other incorrigibles. We got back to the room and I passed out right away, and that was all she wrote for four hours. Then I got up, grabbed a train station pretzel and hiked through the bitter cold night to find the group feasting at some italian joint in the center of town. I like walking through town. All the tight streets, weird döner kabab joints, casinos, internet call shoppes and whatever else lining the city streets. Lots to look at over here.
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In the Newark International Airport, laying low, biding my time until I hop my flight to Münich later tonight. I'd like to extend a personal explosion of appreciation to the "charging kiosks" around the terminal brought to you by the good people of SomethingOrOtherMobile, whom I can quite the remember now, as the plane is boarding. I charged my phone up all the way, waiting for the flight. Nice. I would've been fucked, otherwise. I flew out of Portland this morning, five hours over to Newark. Had an empty seat in between a Chinese lady going to hang with her family in Chinatown, to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Nice lady. A good flight across the waistband of the country, more or less. Now I'm heading to Germany, and I'm trying to psych myself up to sleep a bunch before I land. I know it won't happen. 8-hour flight. Here goes...
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Got up nice and early and had a killer green chile burrito at the world-famous Frontier Restaurant. This place is New Mexico to the bone! Fast, furious, and all kinds of kick-ass shit on the walls. Everything from old Native American rugs to John Wayne paintings, and everything in between that might've roamed the New Mexican high plains at one time. Albuquerque's finest couple Maresa and Jason were gracious enough to take me to the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History. I had to see it. The nameplate logo alone peaked my interest a couple years back. Great stuff. I've been afraid of nuclear this and that since I was eight or nine, hearing about the MX missile race on the nightly news while eating dinner. I still remember the newscast graphics of those scary-ass missiles, and the fear that America, and more specifically, Central Lake, Michigan would be wiped off the map by those scary Russkies. And years later, the shit still freaks me out. So much power. So reckless. Such a scientific triumph on one hand, and such a threat to humanity on the other. The museum was super interesting. The history of nuclear science, Fat Man, Little Boy, geiger counters, a wide array of atomic pop culture and a couple of big-ass bombers out back. Thank you Foutz family! Much appreciated. And thank you Nick! And thank you to the Albuquerque advertising community for flying my carcass down there for a couple days of seeing incredible New Mexico design, meeting great folks to judge with and basically being pampered by an incredible Addy staff. I'm still full from all those meals. Had a hell of a time. Thank you! Checkowski! I'll be watching you! Don't forget me when you hit the big time, man!
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Up early and judging tons of New Mexico advertising and design! The stuff is looking great right off the bat! That's all I'm gonna say, people. These proceedings are top-secret, at a top-secret location, drinking top-secret Starbucks and shit. Top-secret. The shot above was found rummaging around the top-secret location I can't say anything about. - - - - CHECK OUT THE FOLKS I GET TO MEET + HANG OUT WITH: 01. Matt Checkowski, Director, Graphic Designer, Department of the 4th Dimension, Los Angeles 02. Paul Fafsel, Creative Director, Grey Worldwide, New York City 04. Melissa Blaser, Associate Creative Director, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Boulder Some serious talent! I'm bringing up the low end of the judging spectrum. With ferocity! If I'm lucky, I'm gonna go AWOL and hit Mecca Music and Books to rescue all the rippin' vinyl out of Albuquerque.
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I flew down this morning to Albuquerque to judge the New Mexico Addy Awards. Had a quick layover in Salt Lake City, and was down to Albuquerque by 2pm. Smooth sailing the whole way. Thank you, Southwest. Nice color scheme. But you know, I can't say too much more about my work down here, as advertising careers are on the line and shit around the greater Albuquerque. All because of my "expertise in the judging arena." Top secret shit. Yikes. I can say this much: The bed in my room had 12 pillows on it. Serious. You shoulda seen me in the robe!
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BIG, BEAUTIFUL DOWNLOADS: The absolutely incredible archive of old tool catalogs doing business as "Rose Antique Tools." Incredible. Such an absolute wealth of American typography and grit. Thank you, sir. Savor this stuff, people. Savor the beauty in the fact that some guy took the time to scan them in, make PDFs and upload them for tool enthusiasts. Hours and hours of time. Be thankful. I sure am. Fuckin' incredible. Again, thank you. (Noah Lambert was kind enough to send this one, and deserves a pat on the back for the generosity. Thanks.) - - - - ABOUT TIME: SF takes on the turds with the signs. Kill 'em with humor. Kill 'em dead. - - - - THE GUYS WHO MADE XEROX, WELL, XEROX: Chermayeff and Geismar's "The Dual Ladder." (Thanks to Ryan Werth, this link is here for you to click. Thanks!) - - - - WARMS MY HEART, PAGE BY PAGE: Field Notes hits the big time on JCrew.com! I only got one question for 'em: Which way to the big and tall section? - - - - FRANK WAS ON THE DDC FACTORY FLOOR: And so was Sturgill, no slouch in his own right. Frank Chimero came by and we shot the shit on just about everything and we're here to tell ya: He's a real nice fella. Big talent, people. He'll be teaching the kids at PSU the next couple months under the watchful, wild eyes of Kate Bingaman-Burt. Lots of links. DON'T MISS THIS ONE:An inside look at Frank Chimero. - - - - THERE'S NOTHING LIKE A NEW PAIR OF KICKS: "Red Wing 875 - Mens - 6-inch" Made in America, people. And I look goooood in 'em! Truth hurts. You bet. Gonna break 'em in all over Europe next week. - - - - LATE LAST NIGHT: The Hurt Locker with Leigh and Garold. Pretty damn good, but, uh, the best of the year? I don't know if I'm backing those claims. But then again, what the hell do I know? I'm still hot for The Road. Pins and needles the whole time, though. Intense stuff. - - - - ON THE PLAYER: 01. Richard Buckner - Since
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INCREDIBLE GRAPHIC DESIGN FROM DOWN UNDER: Re:Collection. Sure, you've prob'ly seen it already, but hell, it's the first time I am, and I'm blown away. Great, great stuff. (Thank you, Robert Corr. Good eye, man!) - - - - JUST ABOUT THE BEST THING I'VE SEEN ALL MONTH: Ohiobarns.com. Yes! I got bogged down in the Bicentennial Barns section. Holy shit. (Thank you, James!) - - - - JUST BECAUSE: Go dig around the Burlesque store, and buy something nice that you can pass enjoy for yer whole life, and pass on to the generations ahead of you. Heirlooms, man. Like this kick-ass "Desktop Action Set." Tell 'em "Draplin sentcha." You bet. Minnesota dry goods of the highest caliber. - - - - HERE'S A GREAT ONE: Barton County Abstract & Title Co., Great Bend, Kansas. I woke up to this one. Sent in by Josh Peters. Thanks, man. - - - - FROM BROTHER RYNO'S RECENT ART SHOW IN MINNEAPOLIS: "Milton Friedman rainbow's out a steaming pile of shit." Always interesting. Hard to say. Snapped by photo journalist PJ Chmiel of Paw Paw, Mich. - - - - ON THE PLAYER: 01. Son House - Father of the Delta Blues Damn.
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Today is my dad's 67th birthday. I'd give my left nut to be home with him today, enjoying the coconut cream pie mom is making for him as these words go to print. If you know what's good for you, you'll leave him a birthday greeting. Make the old man's day with some colorful words. Let it fly. In our comments section. Get it going. Happy 67th, Dad. Here's to the next 67! The entire DDC Factory Floor salutes you! - - - - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Son: "About time you called back." - - - - COOL VANS: My dad used to have a Volkswagen bus. "With the little windows in the roof." is how he tells it. Here's some cool vans Jared found on the internet. Great type. (Thank you, Mr. Eberhardt.) - - - - ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU KEEP GOING: An old box of transistor packages. (Greg Howard found this one. Thanks!) - - - - DEAR EVERYONE: Check out Arian Behzadi's flickr cache. Some kick-ass stuff in there. Like this! Arian wrote in to show me his work. Here's what he had to say: "I am currently studying Biology at UC Davis. In between classes, however, I do personal and commissioned visual design work. I have always found parallels between art and the sciences so a lot of my studies find their way into my artwork." We can get behind that. Hell yes. Biology + Design + Pure Awesome = Arian Behzadi. Good luck, man! - - - - ON THE PLAYER: 01. Son House - Father of the Delta Blues
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Up early and on the The Five heading south by 7:45 am. With Mark Phillips, heading down to the annual Eugene Record show. 01. Steel Pole Bathtub - The Miracle of Sound in Motion
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Hangovers: Just as fun at 36 as they were at 18. Fuck. Flew home this morning, and wanted to strangle a little kid who wouldn't shut the fuck up, or sit still, a row over from me. Something like that. Got "kinda hammered" last night at the Wu-Tang singing group show. SOME PROOF: "DDC vs. RZA! We tight!" I checked with the online Wu-Tang Name Generator, just to be official: Aaron Draplin = "Lazy-Assed Destroyer." Got a good ring to it. Nice guy. Gonna watch Ghostdog and think about him. Ninjas and shit. - - - - WHEN YOU BOIL IT DOWN: Here's the main thing I got from Denver: Jeff Baker turned me on to opening bananas from the bottom end, instead of using the stem thing at the top. "That's how gorillas do it." And that just might've been the coolest thing I've heard/learned all of January. Thanks Baker, you gorilla.
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Running around downtown Denver. Tradeshow stuff. With dudes.
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Man, it's early. Puffy eyes and breath that could rival a certain dachshund. Flying with Goo over to Denver for a couple days of handshakes and general conversation at the Snowsports Tradeshow. Got in early and caught a ride into the city with Floyd and Jeff from Nemo. Walked around the show some, hung with Martino and George, Brad, Holden people, Snowboard mag dudes, Giro folks, etc. My buddies who I work with. Had a nice supper with Giro folks and promptly hit the sheets, tired as hell.
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SERIOUSLY: One of my favorite logos of all time: Kendall Motor Oil. Incredible. - - - - THE FRIENDLY SKIES: Flying to Denver tomorrow morning for the annual SIA tradeshow. Snowboard stuff and ski stuff. They moved the show from Las Vegas to Denver this year, and I can't help but be a little sad. I loved going down to Vegas. People watching, meals, gambling, booze, etc. The whole time. It's fun seeing all the folks from the industry, both people I hang with and work for in one setting. You get to see all the new work, and see where your brands stand on a very visual level. I've always enjoyed the tradeshow circuit. Goo and I fly out early tomorrow morning to go hang with our clients some. Wrapping stuff up all day long, today, gearing up for the next couple days in the Rockies. - - - - DAYWRECKER WARNING: Fortune Magazine's Visual Achievements. Good lord. Be careful in there. I've got a good stack at the shop. Old as hell. Big format. Ah hell, like you care. Dig into: "Diagrams!" - - - - CUTE ATTACK: Little Remy! Not everything on the DDC Factory Floor is hard, ugly and caustic. When little Remy comes by the place gets real soft. Goo and Fran's little man. - - - - KING OF THE BREEDS: Check out this smarmy little black and tan right here. (Thanks, Schille!) - - - - THINK YOU GOT IT ROUGH? TRY THIS LINE OF WORK: Fighting in Afghanistan. Here's a new doc coming out called Battle for Hearts and Minds. Fuck, man. So heavy. Burly shit. Just makes me sad to see those young kids put in that position, trying to communicate with another world, with bullets, muscle and fear. Everyone is scared in that situation. One has to wonder if it's worth it? All of it. Any of it? HIstory tells us it isn't. That's a hard one to have on the mind. I have great respect for those soldiers, cuz that "line of work" is the hardest one going in a scarier and scarier world. Tough stuff. Makes me pretty thankful for the jobs I roll my sleeves up on. - - - - ON THE PLAYER: 01. Dolorean - You Can't Win
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BACK ON THE ESTATE SALE CIRCUIT, WITH VENGEANCE: And we made a Flickr set to prove it. Now remember, this is the shit that we left behind. You should see the shit we actually made off with! Here goes: "Junkin' Report, January 2010." - - - - A MAP THAT MIGHT'VE CHANGED A WHOLE GENERATION: The map Kerouac drew for his road trip. (Found over at beaucolburn.com. Hell yes, Beau!) - - - - BACK IN MICHIGAN, A MAN TAKES ON THE FASHION INDUSTRY...: ...one dust pan at a time. - - - - YOU CAN LIVE IN THEM: Jess Gibson, that footage-editing motherfucker, comes in real hot with this link called, "Vans And The Places They Are." Just like it says. Oh yeah, Evan Rose, you Vermont tree sap hunk of shit, you might like this link. You know, if you have the time and all to check it in between high-level meetings. I drove the van down to the shop today. Always a bitch to park down here, as he doesn't fit down in the subterranean parking. Like, two inches too tall. Competing for the street parking is a mess. Nevertheless, I often think about end-of-the-world scenarios involving "living in my van" and "reinforcing walls for machine gun fire" and other fucked-up Mad Max situations. What's that mean? The pessimist in me, maybe. - - - - COOL TYPE, COOL STUFF: The Friends of Type unleashed their first print series. Some kick-ass stuff in there. Spruce up a dead room with one of these. Beautifully printed. Act now! - - - - ON THE PLAYER: 01. Mike Johnson - Year of Mondays
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Mom and Aunt Mary flew back to Michigan, and it hurts. It was great to have them here. Last night Aunt Mary made a killer batch of chicken & dumplings, just like I remember as a youngling. Family dynamics, people. Sounding real tough, eh? Bigger they are, harder they fall. - - - - A SHARP CHAINSAW IS A SAFE CHAINSAW: Vintage Chainsaw Collection. Hours and hours of enjoyment in this one. Man, I've got a story for everything. For every link! I learned how to use a chainsaw in the summer of 1992. I was a tree trimmer for Townsend Tree, who had a contract with Cherryland Electric trimming a 15 year cycle of powerlines. Every 15 years they'd come back around, and trim the overgrowth messing with the power lines. It was harrowing stuff. Falling branches, bald-faced hornets, swamp bogs, summer heat, concerned homeowners and ornery foreman. Anyhoo, I learned how to sharpen a chainsaw blade that summer, and keep them tuned up and ready for action. Best part of the day was getting them ready. We used Stihl stuff. I remember that. (Thanks for the link, Geoffrey Cecil!) - - - - LOOKING FORWARD TO MEETING YOU, MAN: Frank Chimero is coming to Portland! Great, great stuff. It's been awhile since I dug around on his site, and man, he's organized as hell, with all kinds of new stuff to enjoy. Dig in. For the record: To anyone who fucks with Mr. Chimero while he's in Portland, just know you are fuckin' with the entire DDC enterprise. Hard fact. - - - - EITHER YOU GET IT, OR YOU DON'T: Dave Carnie talks about old skate zines. (via the Lewman super Tweet feed) - - - - ON THE PLAYER, KEEPIN' SHIT MELLOW AROUND THE SHOP: 01. Neil Young - Unplugged
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Didn't put pants on all day. Just hung around the house with everyone. Watched some tube, played some Monopoly, had a feast and caught up on family news. A great day off the clock. The image above was on the backside of an package I found in a dead man's basement, somewhere on Portland's north side. "Hammer these things into your chair legs, to protect your hardwood floors." Or something close to that.
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January 23, 2010
Posted at 01:15 PM
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Hit a couple kick-ass estate sales today with Mom, Aunt Mary, Leah, Ewan and Leigh. Whole crew. Outnumbered by dames 2 to 1. Tough odds. Highlight of the day was getting pulled over by a nice lady cop on 82nd, for talking on my mobile device. Oops. Portland passed a law on January 1st outlawing the use of all mobile devices while driving. "Hands-Free." Being the lawbreaker I am, there I was, just yapping it up with Jess about the goods he scored on the other side of town, and she spotted me, we locked eyes, I kinda smiled a hlafwit smile, and she started following me, on the came the lights and pulled me over in a Taco Bell parking lot. Busted. With my whole family as witnesses. I quickly apologized and she let me off with a warning. "Let me that be a lesson for you," she says. "Go eat a donut," is what is was on mind. Just kidding. I fessed up for my shortcoming and so it goes. Lesson learned.
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It's Friday and I'm being overrun by women! My sister, mom and Aunt Mary are over my shoulder and cooing over this little nugget right here. My nephew's little hand. It was "Ultrasound Day" for Leah today, and the family is buzzing over it. Cycle of life, people. - - - - FUTZ, NOODLE, PUSH, PULL: Saul Bass lays it down, and I'm that much more in awe. Nakamoto the long-haired found this one. He got lucky. - - - - CAN'T HANDLE THIS SHIT: Freedom fighter Steve Juras had this one on his Twitter feed, "You owe your life to Stanislav Petrov." I'll say. Holy christ. That shit just freaks me out more and more. How many other "close calls" were there? Man. - - - - GOOD, CLEAN FUN HERE: Andrew Hart comes in swingin' wildly with this one: The Grog N Groc Hall of Fame Book Weird, Wacky and Just Plain Embarrassing Business Names, as heard on NPR's Car Talk. Fun stuff. I did a quick scan and saw these names, "Delvin Turnipseed Dentist" and "King Dong Restaurant" which reminded me of Ryno. The "dong" part. Those Car Talk guys kinda grind on me after 10 minutes, but I hope they live forever cuz they're pretty cool. - - - - GREAT FRET WORK: Thank you Eastside Guitar Repair for the kick-ass job on my Telecaster! Much appreciated, Ryan! Great work. Super nice guy, who comes recommended by many rock luminaries in town. I picked the Tele up yesterday and have been strumming around the house a bit. Looking forward to learning some songs, then forgetting them. My little rock cycle. Dumb as hell. Many thanks to Faz and Arlie for help on this one. Brothers. We even look alike. And Chuck, we're on! Ready that Tele, I'll ready the designs! - - - - ON THE PLAYER: 01. Bill Fox - Shelter From The Smoke
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Mom and Aunt Mary are flying in today from Michigan. A two-fold mission. My littlest sister Leah went and got herself pregnant, and this is the "2nd Trimester Party" of sorts. So that's the first part. The second part is to fit Gary in a little prototype "piss sock." That's all I can say for now. More on this later, lovers of broken Dachshunds. My Aunt Mary made some lethal chicken & dumplings when I was a youngling.I remember those well. She could ferret out our stashed Easter candy like no other relative. It's her first visit to the Northwest, and I'm excited to show off Portland to her. The van is gassed up for adventure starting at 4pm this afternoon. - - - - ABOUT THE IMAGE ABOVE: That's one that I brought back from my last visit back to see the parents in Traverse City. Dad found it for me out there on his route. A little package that fits in yer palm. Check out that type! Every time I go home he's got a pile of treasures for me. So awesome. Hardware packaging designers of today, take note: We're watching you. Don't let us down. Thanks, Pops. Love ya. - - - - WHO THE HELL KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE SAYING: But here's a grip of French knife manufacturer logos. Great numbers and lockups. Wrecked a nice part of my morning. Be careful. Don't get cut in there. - - - - FROM LOS ANGELES...THE CITY OF ANGELS, SMOG AND REAL DEAL MEXICAN FOOD: 50 Matchbooks. (Thanks, Streger! Keep up the good fight!) - - - - RECOMMENDED: Big Fan. Leigh and I watch this one last night. Pretty good. Patton's an interesting little elf. We dig. - - - - ON THE PLAYER, STUCK IN THE "P" SECTION: 01. Paul Westerberg - Eventually
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GOOD OL' AMERICAN LARCENY: My dad took me to the ruins of Olympia Stadium in the late '80s. We broke in and walked out onto the rink. I was 13 or 14. I remember looking up at the holes in the roof, and the general state of decay the place was wrought with. Dark, wet. Very dangerous. We made our way into the Detroit locker room and cut pieces of the rug out, in hopes of finding the exact patch where Gordie Howe's balls once dripped after a shower. Shit like that. Plus, we took a ton of bricks from the outer wall. Dad gave those out to all his friends and customers for years. My dad has fond memories of seeing the Redwings there, growing up in Detroit. True stories, people. Gordie Howe's dripping balls. Etcetera. - - - - I'M HURTING FOR A DETROIT MISSION: Dale found this Flickr set called, "Detroit," from a guy who goes by, "Detroit Derek." It kinda got me fired for a Detroit mission. Been a couple years. You know, drive around, see the place, see the family, etc. I was born there and have this romantic vision of returning someday, for whatever reason, and making a life there. Even though Mom and Dad moved us out in 1977, I've always wondered about the place. Detroit Derek even has a Detroit Ruins set. There's certainly no shortage of that around there. I always wonder what my life would be like if we would've stayed there. Mom and Dad made the call, and moved us north to the quiet Northwoods of Michigan. I just wonder what kind of person I'd be if we would have grown up down there? Working for auto stuff? Going to college? Wearing a leather Redwings jacket? - - - - TAKE OFFENSE!: Poster Offensive is up and going after throats! All kinds of wild shit on there. (Thanks, Peet!) - - - - I FOUND THIS ONE SUPER INTERESTING: Schematic chart of ideological and design changes from the 60s to the 80s by Massimo Vignelli. Really, really interesting. As a fan of his work, restraint and somewhat stubborn/idealistic views, I tend to like the guy more and more. I guess he's kinda controversial in the big time design world. I wouldn't really know. At least, that's what a professor at MCAD told us that in a fiery rant that started and ended with a venom-filled, "Fuck Vignelli!" Thank you, Santi! (Horked off Eric Baker's daily inpiration payload.) - - - - GOOGLE EARTH SPOTS A WAYNE COYNE IN THE WILD: In a bath, on his lawn. This was Wayne's halloween setup in 2008. In his neighborhood. "The Blob" or something. Awesome. All kinds of kickass motherfuckers sent me this link, and I'm here to tell all you, "Already saw it, a year ago!" But I thank you all for sending it in, and thinking about me. From the bottom of my heart, mere inches away from my dripping balls. - - - - ON THE PLAYER: 01. Greg Brown - Greatest Hits
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January 19, 2010
Posted at 03:58 PM
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GIVING BACK, TO WIDE-EYED KIDS: Went and told my story to the kids of Graphic Design program over at Portland State University. Talking about making logos, process, pitfalls, techniques and a couple tall tales. Kate Bingaman-Burt, that complete ball of artistic fire, has really taken that program to new heights! Design can be fun, and damned if she'll let it be anything but. Atta' girl. Way to go. Good to see all that fun color and energy in those halls. Bravo. Good seeing you, Vickery! Keep fighting the good fight! - - - - I STILL REMEMBER HOW THEY TASTE: Crayola Crayons, through the years. (Thanks, D. Schille!) - - - - THIS WAY, PARD: I'm betting, every John Wayne poster, ever. Years and years of Duke movie history in that one. Here's where things get real fun on that site. And hell, didn't he die with like 40 pounds of compacted shit in his intestines, or something? Man, sounds like a horrible way to go. I can't say I'm too much of a John Wayne fan, but do appreciate his place in the American spectrum. I've been to his hometown of Winterset, Iowa and visited the house he was born in. With Leigh. Here's one of the Duke's famous quotes: "Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday.” (Thanks, James!) - - - - AS A YOUNGSTER IN THOSE '80s, I WAS KINDA "SCARED SHITLESS" OF THIS STUFF: An "In Case of a Nuclear Attack" poster from around that time. I remember being very scared of the "MX Missile" talk on the news. Scary infographics! I was 10 or something. My mom wouldn't let me watch the The Day After and hell, that was prob'ly a good call. Would messed me up. (Cousin Scott sent this one. Thanks! Dinner this weekend?) - - - - MY COPIES SHOWED UP THIS MORNING: Uncle Tupelo's "Anodyne" on big, beefy 180g vinyl. Bought three copies, just for the fuck of it. One to play, one to hoard and one to put in the vault. Something like that. - - - - ON THE PLAYER: 01. Bitch Magnet - Ben Hur
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Respect.
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Laid around the house a bunch, and then went down to the shop to catch up on Union stuff. That's the extent of the day.
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Went junkin' this morning with Leigh, Dale and Fred. Quite the crew. All the way up to Vancouver, down to the deep Southeast and a couple hits in between. Brought back a shoebox of treasures.
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It's Friday and we went junkin' this morning. A nice break from all the wildness. All the way out to Estacada. Nice country out there. Wet and green rolling hills. Big trees. We were all marveling the beauty of "getting out of the city some." Leigh had this to say, "I love leaving Portland." - - - - SCARY-ASS RUSSIAN POSTERS, MORE OR LESS: More scary Russian posters. Take 'em with a grain of salt. Dig the design, people. - - - - EARLIER TODAY: Willy came by with some Richmond Fontaine vinyl a couple hours back! Blown away. The thing turned out so goddamn good. Looks incredible. 180g pressing. Thick-ass cover. Great color reproduction. I'm happy as hell and proud as the day is long. Thank you, Willy! Thank you, Richmond Fontaine! My first vinyl record. So happy right now. Proud as hell to be rolling up the sleeves for these guys. - - - - HERE'S ANOTHER ONE THAT CAUGHT OUR EYE ON A TIME TO GET: A post called "Six Seconds, We're Gonna Be Meat Waffles." - - - - HELL YEAH, WILLY!: This guy is one fire! A video for Willy Vlautins' new book Lean on Pete. Willy brought a copy of the new book today. The UK version! So great. Can't wait to tear into it. Thanks, buddy. - - - - CARVED UP NOSTRILS: T. Stout takes on Lost! Great stuff! Leigh and I have been watching Lost Season 5, with one episode to go. And all these years, all these episodes, aside from wondering what the fuck is "going on with the island," I can't help but think exactly this: What the fuck is up with all those nose jobs? Hollywood fucks. Carved up nostrils. Misshapen. Unnatural. I can't get past it. It's incredible what these people do to their faces. Blessed with such beautiful bodies and talent and shit, and they carve up the nose. Grosses me out. Thank goodness Hurley is "just as God made him." Big and beautiful. Averages out all the other fucked up plastic surgery on those castaways. The island's monster ain't the smoke; it's those noses. - - - - ON THE PLAYER: 01. Richmond Fontaine - Obliteration By Time
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DAYWRECKER WARNING: The Soda Pop Can Library. I sure could go for a cold one of these, right about now. I've had many a morning wrecked by this goddamn link. Get in there. Get sticky. Toss some back. You know the deal. Be glad shit like this exists. We are lucky to have it a couple clicks away. (That Wisconsin gangsta Haker sent this one in. One hard motherfucker. Cold as Wisconsin ice. Badger state, yo!) - - - - THIS ONE IS FOR DAD: I remember seeing a nice Porsche poster gallery some time back, but this one seems to be expanded some, and that takes the cake. Here you go.Over at the impressive A Time To Get. (Thanks, Andrew!) - - - - KING OF THE BREEDS: Someone went a made a "Long Dog Font" and who the hell knows what it says, but we are backing it. These guys: Languste Fonts. Cool stuff. (Breck Chumley sent this one in, and that's pretty nice of him. From somewhere in America.) - - - - ON THE PLAYER: 01. Chet Atkins - Chet Atkins and his Guitar
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Get a load of those! Orange rubber bands, people! I'm just telling you right now: I couldn't be more happy, just knowing I've got a ton of these for the shop. Makes me thankful to be alive for some reason. I'm not gonna question it. I'm just gonna start bundling shit up with these. So good. So orange. - - - - WE ALWAYS TALK ABOUT HOW BUSY WE ARE: Well here's some proof. Giro and Bell have a new fit system initiative that just launched called, the "One Step Fit System." See the little "smiley helmet kid" logo in the upper corner? A little something we made here. Technically, this is a Wilderness™ project, as Goo and I worked on it with the good people of Nemo. They built the site and made the video, and, gave the logo that extra little kick of "Web 2.0" that it needed to really shine. In collaboration with Nemo's Leo "Battle Axe" Battersby over at Nemo. That little animation at the end of the commercial is so cool. Moving and stuff. Wow. Thanks to Kevin and Don from Bell. Thanks to Lewman, Leo, Joel and Jennifer from Nemo. All of you. Hell yes. Real proud of this one! Making a living people. Making a living. There you go. Back to being busy as shit. - - - - BEST THING I'VE SEEN ALL MONTH, BESIDES INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS LAST NIGHT: Walt Disney's organizational chart. Man. So good. (Thanks, Robert!) - - - - THANK YOU, AVANTAGGIO: It's been awhile since we hit up The Bottle Cap Man. It's as good a time as any. Get in there and get sticky. - - - - IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING: Shoes of the Presidents. Interesting. Something to think about. President Obama's shoes, right there. Good lookin' kicks, man. (via ACL's Twitter feed.) - - - - BY WAY OF CANADA, THE ST. PIERRE DIVISION: 2009 Film Stamps. Pretty cool. Fun. Thanks, Steve! - - - - GUITAR CRAZY, KINDA: Next guitar I am gunning for: Guild Thunderbird! And across town, at a local guitar store, sits the raddest green DeArmond Jet-Star, which, for a mellow price could quench this thirst. Good god. So fucking awesome. Such a beast. Same kind of deal Fred Cole plays in Dead Moon/Pierced Arrows. Another guy that played a Thunderbird was the one and only Muddy Waters. I got my mojo working! - - - - ON THE PLAYER: 01. Muddy Waters - At Newport 1960
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Speaking with Martino early this morning, he offered to figure out a room for Leigh and I in Rome for our adventure next month. Being the "man of the world" I am, thanked him for the recommendation and said I'd make a reservation. He stopped my in my tracks and said, "My country, my business. I make reservation for you." Done! Just like that. Gotta know when to shut my big trap. Thanks, my Italian brother! This is the train we're going to take from Rome up to Milan! Excited as hell to see a whole bunch of Italy via train. Wow. Whirlwind action: Münich > Berlin > Rome > Milan > Colico! - - - - CASE CLOSED: The lowers case "i" killed the "1" character! And what a champion I am for missing that one. Uh, duh. Thanks to everyone gracious enough to write in with the answer, which, when you all stack the transmission up on top of each other, gently reminds me of my "dillweed status." - - - - JUST LIKE THE MAN SAYS: Dusty Mendes comes at me—swinging wildly—with this one: "A small but solid collection of vintage boxing memorabilia." Great, great stuff. - - - - LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT: Inglourious Basterds. Man. Now that is a movie. Thank you, Mr. Taratino. Incredible. The type was kinda all over the place, but hell, maybe I'm missing something there. - - - - I WAS THINKING ABOUT THIS EXACT MOMENT, FROM MY POST IN MICHIGAN: Oklahoma rings in the New Year with a local singing group. - - - - ON THE PLAYER: 01. Bellwether - Home Late
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January 11, 2010
Posted at 04:45 PM
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY LITTLEST SISTER: Leah turns 27 today, that little shit. There's a big fuss around in the family these days. She's got a baby on the way. Big news for all things "Draplin." Easy on the booze tonight, little girl. - - - - A MYSTERY OF SORTS: How come some of the old typewriters don't have a "1" character? Are you just supposed to use an uppercase "I" instead? I'm stumped. I have a Remington Quiet-Riter here and damned if the thing isn't 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0 without a 1. What, they didn't use 1's back in those days? Anyone got an idea on what the hell is going on here? Help. - - - - OLD ADHESIVES: You know, with a Euro Mission coming up and all, this one gets me pretty fired up: The Razso Travel Label Collection. (This one was sent in by one Anthony Munoz of Chicago who does business under the impressive moniker, "Cheetafight.com." We love that name.) - - - - THE END IS NEAR: "The End" screenshots from long ago. Beautiful stuff. - - - - YEAH, THAT SHIT IS BOSS, MAN: The Heavy Metal cover gallery. (Via the shimmering metallics of Coudal Partners, Chicago, Ill.) - - - - ON THE PLAYER: 01. Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska
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