BIG NEWS: As for this upcoming Friday, we’ll be squaring off against David Nakamoto of Multifresh in Coudal’s Layer Tennis! Serious shit. A battle that has been in the making for some time. Gonna get ugly.

I used to work with Dave at Cinco, and as Senior Designers, there was no shortage of bravado or posturing in our savage pursuit of the coveted “highest spot on the food chain, just under the principles.”
I went for the title many times and left David in tears behind me. Still don’t feel bad about it. On the screen and on the ping pong table, I took that man down. Claiming it.

You fuck with the bull, and you get the horns every now and again.

Nakamoto is a photoshop man. He’s known in these parts for his masterful collage work and colorful layouts. Lots of random little lines and stuff that don’t make sense to me, but work beautifully. That’s his thing.

Me, well, you know the deal. Lots of thick type and shit, old stuff, weiner dogs, America, etc. No big whup. A broken record.

A Message to my adversary, Nakamoto: It’s on, man. Don’t contact me all week. I don’t got the time, nor do I want to lose focus in my training.

Over the weekend, I practiced my key commands. Simple enough. Fucking lethal.

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SOME DIRTY LAUNDRY BETWEEN US: One time, Dave was all huffy about something or the other with clients and “wasn’t having” my iTunes selection of John Cougar Mellencamp’s “Cherry Bomb” playing on the Cinco community player. I mean, I had to listen to Kool Keith every other song, and whatever “cool,” painfully-appropriate “IDM/Air/Whatever” designery office music that was fashionable at the time. So I put the Coug on and Dave lost his shit. I didn’t back down and he went nuts and we didn’t talk for a month.

I can hold a grudge. But hell if I wasn’t gonna stand up for my right to play my song on our player, nor matter how bad.

At day 31 of our cold war, he finally caved in and apologized. I won that one, and will win this one this Friday! Or my name isn’t Aaron James Draplin.

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ALL THIS TOUGH TALK, AND SUDDENLY, WE GO SOFT: My favorite guy to listen to when it rains in town: Nick Drake.

Here’s the A Skin Too Few documentary on YouTube,

A Skin Too Few - Part 1
A Skin Too Few - Part 2
A Skin Too Few - Part 3
A Skin Too Few - Part 4
A Skin Too Few - Part 5

I mean, c’mon, just how many musicians in yer life will move you like Nick Drake does? I remember being so thankful when I finally got around to discovering it for myself. Still am.