CNHS and Hard to Earn
Today's my last day here at Canada's National History Society. As interesting as it has been, I'm kinda glad. I've got SO much other shit to do, man.

Here's what I've learned in my time here:
1. I'm not pro-active enough.
2. I'm becoming better at being self-sufficient(or at least making myself look busy)
3. I could really benefit from being around other designers(CNHS hires freelancers, so I didn't really have someone to get input/feedback/guidance from...*sigh*)
4. What they need is a student(the next time they get one) that has proven themselves to be a real self-starter, and really handy with QuarkXpress. In other words, someone other than me.
5. The lady that maintains their website is a cutie.

I can't believe I took almost 10 years to purchase Gang Starr's Hard to Earn! Damn, it's good. I'm not as confident about their new one, The Ownerz. It's a'ight, but not hitting me the way I'd like it to. I know some folks were like, "yo...they in a slump, man...", but I figure Gang Starr at their worst is still better than most. Kinda. It feels like they rehashed a number of things from the previous album, which is kinda sad. Moment of Truth is a masterpiece, and I still play that on the regular. Oh well...at least Guru's Montreal protegé Bless isn't on it. I can't stand that dude. He's a 12 year-old with facial hair.

I might see if I can trade it in for Neko Case's Blacklisted.

Oh yeah...I wanna give props to Brent Rollins on the design tip for The Ownerz packaging. Beautiful.

R.I.P Rod Roddy

The Current Status of My Relationship with Pro Wrestling

Status: shitty.
Sorry for not being more eloquent. I've been a fan since '85...around the time of pro wrestling's second golden age. That's almost 20 years of watching grown men toss each other about. I still love it.

At the moment though, I'm feeling the same way I did in the early 90's, when music became a lot more important to me, and I stopped buying Pro Wrestling Illustrated and Inside Wrestling for Spin, Rolling Stone, and Vibe. I still kept abreast of what was going on in the wrestling world, but with a little bit of detatchment. I was struggling to find a place for two obsessions in my life, and all things concerning (good)music were beginning to win. Somewhere along the line, I was able to find a balance between them, and a renewed interest in pro wrestling, thanks to the Monday Night Wars and the internet.

Now, I'm beginning to seek detatchment from wrestling yet again, but this time out of disgust and ennui. There will always be moments in your life as a wrestling fan that will make your eyes roll or make your blood boil...sometimes both. I can't watch Raw or SmackDown! without both of those things happening.
I'm tired of McMahon putting his personal entertainment(and his family!) before that of the fans. It's rather sickening to watch...so I won't. Truthfully...Scott Keith's program rants(which I get sent to my e-mail) have been far more entertaining than the actual programs for a while...a long while(with the exception of SmackDown!...until recently).
I can't afford to watch NWA-TNA every week, not to mention not having enough time to do so. The same goes for ordering tapes. Believe me, I wish I could. So, until things get better with WWE(I'm not holding my breath...we're in for a LONG dry spell), or I have an ample supply of time and money(who does, really), I'm saying "bye" to wrestling for a while. Don't get me wrong...I'll still read Mr. Keith's rants n' whatnot, but I'm not going out of my way to watch anything. Currently, it's just not worth it.

Yo, this is getting old, man...

R.I.P. Elliot Smith, Jack Elam, and Fred "Rerun" Berry.

*sigh*

R.I.P Road Warrior Hawk
Truly one of my faves back in the day. I wanted a haircut just like his.

As I write this, I'm at "my" desk at Canada's National History Society, where they publish The Beaver. Don't laugh...it's a good magazine. I'm here for work placement-practicum-experience-whateveryouwannacallit, and I'm the first student to be at this particular place. I hope I don't fuck it up.

R.I.P. Stu Hart
This week, we lost the legend that launched many bright wrestling careers. I really don't know what to say. I think Scott Keith summed it up nicely over here.

At the moment, I'm finding Photoshop® phrustrating.

Scott Keith of 411 Mania has just got his own weblog. Go to http://scottkeith.blogspot.com to check it out. He's a pretty witty dude.

WORKSPACE and a SKETCH
Here's my workspace, revamped for second year...and a sketch demonstrating a method of image/type transfer.

Well, back to the drawing board...literally.

I saw a bit of the video for Atmosphere's new single a few days ago, and I have only one thing to say: anyone that sees hip-hop music divided by color lines is gonna have a couple of new white boys to be angry at. This album is gonna blow up. F'real.

Hey! People who aren't black...stop telling me to get an afro!! Tell you what...why don't YOU get one? Fuck off.


That mini-rant was a long time comin'.

R.I.P. Israel "Izzy" Asper
Say what you will about his business practices, but there's no denying the contributions made by Asper and his family towards the city of Winnipeg. He built a media empire out of our humble prarie town. That's something else, man.

I must, must, MUST have this.
First, I need a DVD player.

I learned something about myself this week - I hardly ever draw black people! Yeah, I know that sounds funny coming from someone that is black, but it's true. White folks are my sort-of default people. I discovered this little "problem" during illustration class. I have to do a book cover illustration, and the book happens to be Toni Morrison's Jazz, where the characters are for the most part, black. At any rate, I now have some reference, so I should do alright.

The "favorite illustrator" list continues to grow, thanks to Lars Leetaru. Do yourself a favour and check out his early work first.