Random Thoughts: January 31st, 2010

I removed the coyote ruff, because it made shoulder-checking while driving very difficult. I'll re-attach it for walking. Not only for warmth, though...it also looks pretty dope.

• This jacket rules. The Canada Goose jacket I'm rocking in the photo above is a gift from my mom, who rules. Initially, we went to Cabela's looking to settle with a cheaper coat, and got talked into the Resolute Parka. Any misgivings I had about the price tag disappeared on the first day I wore it outside. It was -18ºC or something and I felt nothing. Nothing but warmth, that is. All I need is for this thing to be bullet and stab proof.
  
  
• My Favorite 2009 Albums. I was going to elaborate on my choices, but I'm not feeling like it anymore. The last thing I want to be is boring. Here they are:
  
  Neko Case's Middle Cyclone
  Tanya Morgan's Brooklynati
  Nestor Wynrush's Trinnipeg!78
  Marco Polo and Torae's Double Barrel
  Grand Analog's Metropolis Is Burning
  Mayer Hawthorne's A Strange Engagement
  Mos Def's The Ecstatic
  DOOM's Born Like This
  The Foreign Exchange's Leave It All Behind
  
  I will speak on this last choice, however. I bought Leave It All Behind (FE's second album) on a whim, originally looking for FE member Nicolay's City Lights 2: Shibuya project at my nearest HMV. Wanting to leave with something, I picked it up and haven't regretted it for a second. It's a compelling hybrid of soul, hip hop, and shimmering washes of keyboard-y/electronic goodness that's less rap heavy than their debut, from all accounts. I really need to buy Connected when it's back in print. Now, I know this was released in 2008 – I picked this up two days short of its first anniversary – but I can't say there's another album I listened to more in 2009. Also, they got a Grammy nomination!
  
  
• Haiti poster on podcast. This was totally unexpected, really. On their second Twitter-based episode, The Reflex Blue Show mentioned my Haiti poster. Listen for yourself! Thanks for the nod, fellas.
  While I've often disagreed with Nate Voss' views on gigposters, I haven't let that get in the way of listening to The Reflex Blue Show, or reading Nate and Donovan's blog, 36 Point. I don't know of anyone else that handles design news and opinions with the same amount of joviality and sarcasm, so they're worth checking out.
  

Haiti Earthquake Fundraiser Poster

If you're like me, you've been feeling rather helpless due to news about the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti. That's why I was stoked when my man Cass of Mass Appeal (cumbersome Facebook link here) asked me to donate my services to make a poster for a fund-raiser at the Lo. It's gonna be an amazing night of rappin', and all of the cash goes to Oxfam Canada.

I didn't notice it until I got home, but man...I totally had a Saul Bass thing going with this. No, I'm definitely not tooting my own horn or comparing myself to the legend; I couldn't help but notice some similarities in what I came up with. As I mentioned on the Flickr page for the poster, it was totally subconscious. Right off the top of my head, I kinda see Bass' posters for Anatomy of a Murder, Exodus, In Harm's Way, and The Man with the Golden Arm in this – all of which you can see here. I figure it's natural that I'd be influenced, as Bass has long been one of my faves.

Don't mind me. I just wanted to put everything on the table, because the last thing I'd ever want to be accused of, is biting. Okay, there are a number of other things that I'd hate to be accused of, but I digress. To paraphrase a fellow gigposters.com member: with the internet, never has it been so easy to rip off artwork, and to get caught doing so. Personally, I'd be mortified to be the subject of a thread like this, or this, or part of a witch hunt at You Thought We Wouldn't Notice.*

But enough about me, this is about Haiti! Simple n' plain, this is a chance to do your part, and have a damn good time in the process. I mean, look at that line-up! That's some of Winnipeg's rap elite, Holmes. Act like you know, and hit The Lo on this Monday (and every Monday, for that matter. Mass Appeal is spot!)

*I don't want it to sound like I'm hating on those folks, as they exist to expose the wack, and I support that. With that said, sometimes they get it wrong, but as far as I know, they're quick to apologize when that's the case.