TOOTH!

If you don’t know about the kick-ass work of Dale Flattum (the man known as TOOTH), it’s high time you got familiar. He just put out a terrific book of his sinister collage and digital doings (look in the store section of his site) which I recommend purchasing.

Yes, I drink a fair amount of Pepsi Max. I plan on doing something with those caps.

(Cross-posted at Mr. Lorde Should Be Drawing)

The Many Faces of Pip

Two flavors of "You Soooo Much", from Pip Skid's Skid Row album. Directed by Jason Lapeyre.

Tecmo World Wrestling...

...as reviewed by internet wrestling pundit Joe Gagne for Mike and Tom Present...
I'm all too familiar with this game. I never had my own NES, so I rented one (with Mom's permission) from a nearby pawn shop to play this specific game. I never finished the game, but I had a blast trying to. This may have been the first time I stayed up until sunrise due to a frivolous pursuit. Mom was pretty pissed.

Jokes!

What we've got right here is the new video for Speed Dial 7's "Jokes" (from the album 11, which you can get at Marathon of Dope). My homie big Yy takes the second verse. Pip Skid plays the scuzzy clown. Enjoy!

The Unveiling of the Jets Brand Identity

So, we got the new Jets logo that I've been wondering about since May. It's quite...middling in quality. Take a look.

Now don't get me wrong; I don't hate this at all, I just expected more, especially with the primary and alternate wordmarks. I just find them a tad stoic. That's usually the coolest part for me. I'm not saying it should look all bouncy and puffy, but it should look lively. It's kinda cold.

• What I do like about it: The use of Avenir (that is Avenir, right?) and the RCAF/RCAF Flyers connection.
• The People That Could've Handled This Better
  Locally - Stu Reid: Stu has been holding it down graphic design-wise for years, and he created the Winnipeg Goldeyes logo. He would've been the natural go-to for me.
  Americans - Aaron Draplin or Von Glitschka: I know either of these men could've kicked ass at this.
  Aaron is the master of subtle cool-yet-functional design, as far as I'm concerned, and I have no doubt that he'd sum the Jets up in a way that would make everyone proud.
  Von is a meticulous pusher of pixels (buy his books!) and an avid lettering guy. Not only would've the primary mark looked amazing in his hands, the wordmarks would've also been world class. Do I have to mention that he worked for Upper Deck? He knows what's up.

This, of course, is merely my opinion. Apparently, there was a line-up around the corner for the new merch at the Jets Gear store, and it might still be there as I type this, so the people dig it. That's all that matters.

Man, I really hope Armin Vit has something to say about the new look. I enjoy his identity dissections. I'm pretty sure folks have pointed it out to him.

Random Thoughts: July 15th, 2011

Surreal, yet terrific.

• Black, White, and Read All Over. Yes, I was in the Free Press about two weeks ago. And yes, it felt pretty cool! Also, just in time for the article, I revamped allanlorde.com via Behance ProSite. I finally have a site that I'm proud of.
• Fringe Time! Yup, it's that time of the year! Due to the awesomeness of parenthood, Sarah and I are planning on seeing two shows instead of the usual 20 or so. Four hours ago, we saw our pals CRUMBS tear up The King's Head, and we've got our tickets for Lucky 9 by superstar T.J. Dawe. If you're going to the Thursday afternoon show next week, give us a shout!
• Mike Holmes' True Story. If you pick up only one comic this year, make sure it's True Story. Mike Holmes (not the house dude) is an illustrator and cartoonist of undeniable skill, and he's responsible for bringing the real stories of average people to life in The Coast, a Halifax alternative newspaper. I don't know who put me onto this man's work (I suspect it was Exclaim), but I'm eternally thankful. There are over 100 of these slice-of-life moments in this book that are touching, cringe-worthy, and downright hilarious. Hey, you haven't laughed in a while. Pick this book up, frowny!

On the Eve of My First Father's Day

Photo by my lovely wife. She's awesome.

I'll be frank: getting to spend more time with my son this year has been the highlight of a rather shittastic 2011. The surprised and happy look he gives me when I come downstairs in the morning makes me feel like every day is The Dad Show. No drug can replicate that.
However, if someone were to create a drug capable of such a thing, they'd make a killing.

I won't make any bones about this, either: I'm a better dad than my own. Mine SUCKS. He's an ignorant, sexist, philandering Neanderthal. The best thing he did for me, other than donate DNA, was provide an apex example of what a dad shouldn't be. In some way, I should be thankful for that, but I'm hard pressed to give him credit for anything. Can you blame me?

"Stop being baby daddies, and be fathers..."
– "Why", Fashawn

PechaKucha Night Vol. 6

Photos by Adrian J. K. Shum. Nice work, dude!

Last Thursday, I had the honor of being part of the sixth event of Winnipeg's PechaKucha Night. If you're unfamiliar with the concept and origin of PechaKucha, this right here will get you up to speed.
I spoke on the topic of procrastination, which ended up being rather cathartic for me.

Dribbblin'

That's right, I'm now a Dribbble member. My friend Neil had a few invites available, and I was like, "well, why not?" So far, no regrets. In fact, I feel reinvigorated creatively. There's something about this combo of social media/Flickr/Twitter/show and tell that is pushing me to actually do stuff. Not gonna look this gift horse in the mouth.

I'm not sure how I found out about Dribbble, but I'm betting it was through Twitter. Upon arriving at the site, I was puzzled as to what it was about, as every picture uploaded was no bigger than 400 x 300, and either a fragment of a finished project, or an element of an unfinished one. And, to be truthful...I thought a lot of people were biting Frank Chimero.

With that said, I wasn't about to totally dismiss Dribbble. I learned my lesson with Twitter and Tumblr, both of which I now use avidly. I think I turned a corner on Dribbble due to an episode of The Freelance Radio Show, where panelist Von Glitschka mentioned that he was user of the site. That was good enough for me!

As I was saying, I've got a renewed vigor goin' here, and if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna work on something I made some notes on.

The Artist Formerly Known as Sixtoo

While adding some songs to a playlist on CBC Radio 3's site, I thought to myself, "what the hell has Sixtoo been up to?" I knew his musical focus had switched, but I didn't know much else. It turns out he now runs a gallery and a creative agency (here's their Vimeo page), in addition to touring as Prison Garde. To be blunt, I think that's pretty fucking cool.

Above is the first installment of a series of Red Bull Music Academy tour videos, where Prison Garde and his cohorts jetted across the land to bring beats to the clubs. I recognized the Winnipeg Airport baggage pick-up area right away, and was immediately bummed that I missed their Peg City stop. Oh, well...can't see 'em all! I do love the shot of Portage and Main in this thing, by the way.

   PRISONGARDE TOKYOBULLITTRAIN by prisongarde