Sounds like a number one jam #2

So my good pal Richard has a design studio, and one of his super-star designers Mr Steve R. has created what can arguably described as perhaps the single most important image in all history of graphic design. Behold the majesty that is SPACE TIGER!!!

Yes, Space Tiger. Like Clarke/Kubric's monolith that inspired the monkeys advancement into humanness the moment they laid eyes on it, I was similarly inspired to crank out the aural riffage you are about to experience. It is the theme of our lives. It IS-- S P A C E T I G E R !

Space Tiger might be found on T-shirts and skate-wheels soon...

PIG: "I'll be back"

Yes indeed, he is back. The PIG logo all done up in T3 style. I think the kids will dig it. Mine do. I do. Good enough. My good pal Richard will arrange the art on the board along with type for final TERMINATOR glory. I think it turned out pretty good. Not as good as the Schwartz, but nobody really wants his mug on a skateboard anyway. Enter the PIG.

UPDATE: The boards are finished! My good pal Richard did a nice job, eh? It's a slight bummer when only 60% of the art is used in the final, but such is the way of the Skateboard.

Board Aagin, PIG

All right! More Skateboard graphics have been ordered! This time, the little PIG is in need of a makeover. First up is gooey pig. Hmm needs butter. Two more, in completely different styles will follow shortly. Fun to draw and ink, these are some of my favorite projects to do. My good pal Richard will be handling the coloring and cropping. All three will be making their appearance on line, and in a big box store near you this holiday season. Ho Ho Oink.

Skate or Die or Else

So I take back everything I said about Australia. With my good pal Richard, (see earlier post) we banged out three (1, 2, 3) well received skateboard designs for GLOBE. They did a nice job with the art I sent and it feels pretty good to have something in print that isn't on paper. I am stoked. I want one. I want three. So do you. I already got paid so there isn't anything in it for me except for the obvious: Legions of adoring fans and street-cred with the kids. I'll take it.

Spread the Love

My good pal Richard loaned me some CD's. I took what I needed and wrapped the whole mess back up in some bond paper, pilfered from the "Epson 300 Photo-whatever". The blank and white package was begging for customization, so I documented my good pal Richard's pleasant mug in no less than three pens of two totally different colors. Black and White. Does it look like my good pal Richard? Not really. Is it better than nothing? I'll know for sure after I deliver it to him personally.

I should probably buy him lunch as well,
my good pal Richard.

Honestly?

A new client has secured me for several months worth of work, and I gotta say, I am having a blast. They are in the , and the owners have over 35 years in the business. I think I am doing some of my best work. It is great to be in the of things again, and I hope that keeps me for the foreseeable future. has said that and we will be poised to leverage . He wen't on to say, "If that happens, Ben, naturally you will be . Don't let get news of this . They can't do any damage, but you need to avoid , because of 's unstable nature." Wow! Cloak and dagger aren't my thing but, man I , and !

Yes, I know it's unorthodox, but 's Facebook account! What a joke! More later, but only if I am cleared to discuss .

Green Thumb, Sore Back

With the high cost of vegetables and the need for better food, I decided to make a few raised beds and grow some plants. That's right, in order to save 30 cents a pound, I spent $90 on wood and $120 for some dirt.

...It's the thought that counts. Saving the world, one radish at a time. BTW, I am on track to harvest 200+ radishes. Yikes.

Continental divide

So I designed 3 skateboard graphics, through my good man Richard Jones at United Design Group, who supplied art direction. ***** was the client, and this was UDG's first project for them. The potential was high for lots of work if they liked the designs. When the dust settled and the ink was dry. they were Stone Crusty STOKED, Brah! (channeling the voice of Spicoli).

But it was tough. Turned out there were approximately 10 people we had to please before any comp was approved. Interestingly , 3 were pro surfers who were being honored on each board, and they supplied the style direction. That was fine but they all had different evolving visions, and they were all on the other side of the world, in Australia, where they can barely speak English. -OK, that was uncalled for. I was punchy and I apologize. They were actually very nice and happy with our efforts, but things did get lost in translation. This was their first foray into skateboard design, and making significant changes in the middle of the project didn't appear troubling to them. I caused a huge pain for us as we scrambled to accommodate their wishes and nurse my unusual creative block and colossally slow performance. Luckily an appropriate soundtrack was found (Sugie Otis, BlackFlag, Cheap Trick, and 13th Floor Elevators) and the correct beverages were consumed, and I was able to get 'em done in time.

So it's all good because they turned out great, and I was able to relive a bit of my high school drawing days, where the main focus of my 'art' then was the bikini clad female form. Good times? Indeed.

Whats in a Name?

A lot. And to prove it, here are some names for a video development group I am starting with a friend of mine. Strictly for fun and a little profit, we hope to make ourselves laugh and have a small audience do the same. Stay tuned... (HA! Tuned! Get it?) I am such a smarmy smart ass that I made a graphical attempt at a company identity before a millimeter of DV tape was shot. How lame is that? Very, but I am OK with it.

In no particular order:
Dose dudes? Work Shirt? Power Punch? Slow Boat? Beta? TeeVeeDee? Foxy Pictures? Badger Scratch? Medicide? Pan and Scan? Cheers and Jeers? Weekdays? Test Bars? Minimum Effort? Low Return? Poor Sport? Lowbraü? Unibraü? Lift and Seperate? Unicorn Spackle? Head Cleaner? Babies Having Babies? Sül Ptch? Played Out Pictures? Puppet Show Productions? Not Well? Hot Side Hot? 2 bit? Mythter? Power Soak? Yo-Toop, bawdkast y'self biatch! Sans Script? Film Skool? Edited for Clarity? Cut it out? All our Base? Exercise Bike? Brown Clown? Red Menace? Dim Wit? Too Much Trouble? Abscond? High School Beard? Bleachers? Thanks, Mom? Trouble Town? Old Man? Young Lovers? Moondancer Enchantress? Wicked Pissa? Kill the Room? Bleacher Lovers? Trophy Wife? ValorFailure? Mighty Scepter? Cognizant? Muddle Through? Knee Deep in the Shit? Adjust Tracking? Primitive Playas? Ferocious Force? Off the DL? Under the Top? In the Shed? Unneeded? Purty Mouth? Stunt Double? Fanny Pack? Frickn' Donkeys? Highbrow Hacks?

Skull Control

I have recently made it a point to sit in the same room with my kids while they do their homework. I do this in order to act both as an available mentor, a ready source of help, and as a physical reminder that serious work needs to be done. It's a bummer for the students and a bummer for the dad, as tensions are rather high this time of year. The kids are under the gun, with dwindling chances for academic redemption in the sprint towards summer.

It is under these circumstances that I chose to work on my drawing skills. I selected a challenge, in solidarity to my kids, tackling a difficult subject with little reward. My task was to quickly draw, with Sharpie pen on notebook paper, a full assortment of skulls, in poses completely non-threatening. In 30 minutes, between calls for help and "encouraging lectures" I jammed out the hot mess you see here. Only ten or so skulls that fit the bill. Most are scary, but not in the cool Tim Burton way. These guys are jacked up, and not in a right mind at all.

Those kids had better pass or my drawing ability is likely going down the drain with them. I suppose there is summer school...

SOUNDS like a NUMBER ONE JAM!

100 percent Jive.mp3

It's a number one Jam.

Because it's the first one.

Holla for more.

(the beats are canned, the guitar is me, assembled and recorded in GarageBand)

Level with me

WORK BENCH UDATE!
Well the bench from the Rebuilding center is ready for installation after some "refinements" to the undercarriage. After four hours and countless screws, the hallow cavity inside the unit has become the safest place in the house when Armageddon hits.

With the workbench completed, I ran a test fit in the new location. Turns out the floor is far from level, with a slope of 2 inches over 2 feet. Not good. So rather than level it with shims, (bad idea for something this heavy-dooty-duty) I decided to level the floor.

Simple enough. So I got some more stuff from the Rebuilding center. (Wow! Two successful trips in a row! Now I'm 2 for 9!!!) Old wire fence for reinforcement and old metal runners for leveling guides. Also, I was stoked to use the extra four 60lb bags of concrete I had kept around for years. So I built my frame, wired together my... wire, and made a hopefully leak-proof frame. Evening came and it was the end of the first day.

Sunday was pouring day. Easy to mix and pour into my frame, I soon discovered I didn't have enough ready mix ready. Bummer. So I added 5 new 60lb bags to my original 4. Just enough with 30 lbs left over.

Poured it in, let it dry. How long has it been? Over 36 hours and the stuff still isn't set up completely. A little crumbly... and sandy... and Ohhhh MAN, this better work out...

UPDATE: It worked out.

Revisiting and Rebuilding

So I am cleaning out my garage, and I think I'm getting close. The focus for today was the building of a new workbench. I need cabinets and drawers, so I took a trip to the Rebuilding Center, and actually found something that will work. Some kitchen cabinets, tract home luxury, just the right size, for $25. Sweet. -and highly unusual. Usually, I leave empty handed. I keep giving the place a chance, but I have only purchased 1 thing from them. I've been there over 8 times. See, a trip there always ends in frustration, with scornful mutterings for the pseudo hippie staff and their ridiculous product offerings. If you are dressing a set for a remake of Love American Style or are looking for firewood, you've hit pay dirt at the Rebuilding Center. If you are looking for something you'd actually want in your house, best look elsewhere. I love the idea and the reasons behind it. But here is the truth; the piece I bought smells like a grandma and there was food still in the drawers. And I'll have to fix it before I can use it. But I did it anyway. Please share the misery. Support the Rebuilding Center.

A picture has been uploaded.

Providing an uninteresting picture to go with the current theme previously established.

Seldom Read has yet to be read.

I think this is not the best way to start off, but I want to b truthful. I don't think there will be any readers of note or in significant numbers, and that is probably due to the staggering lack of content.

More later!