Beijing Opening Ceremony.

Found some sweet hi-res pictures from the Olympic opening ceremony. There were a lot of representations of 2008 in it, usually by having that many performers on stage at one time. Check it.

Where have all the bloggers gone?

My "Blog RSS" bookmark folder has been pretty dead as of late. No one seems to blog anymore. I'm just as guilty. So I will be making a conscious effort at reviving my blog, because work is just as dull as it's always been and I need something to pass the time.

You should consider a blog comeback too. Otherwise Jesus will come get you on his trusty dinosaur.

Texas Rangers #1?

The Texas Rangers tie with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim as the best team in the MLB, as voted by Yahoo users at 9:04am this morning. This again proves that fans know nothing (see Dustin Predoia over Ian Kinsler as AL Starting Second Baseman in the All Star Game) because we're not that good yet, but it is nice to know that we're finally getting recognized for playing good baseball for once. Thank you Josh Hamilton for being a man-child of God and slugging 28 in one round of the derby.



Hopefully the rest of the season will be just as fruitful as the first half. And maybe during the four day All Star break, our pitchers finally found it within themselves to control the ball better. Then we may actually deserve to be considered the top team.

WALL-E Retro Posters.

Found these sweet retro posters for WALL-E via Abudzeedo. The movie comes out tomorrow and it should be pretty good. Pixar just has a habit of making good movies.

i can't wait to move...

so i can get a puppy.

and so i don't have to park anywhere near the idiots across the street who have a tendency to back into cars.

waiting.

mondays always sucks.

pizza cake?

my mom ordered me a pizza cake for my birthday. oddly enough, it tasted pretty good. i have leftovers if you want any.

happy birthday to me.

you could use some baseball.

i love going to the ballpark.

don't park on greene avenue.

apparently people on my street don't exactly know how to check their blind spots when they back out of their driveways. some kid backed into my car on monday and got my back left corner pretty good. this is the second time this has happened to my car while i was parked at home in less than nine months, and i'm ticked.

bowling with jason nix.

monday mornings.

can't start the week without some breakfast.

it made me lol.

sorry folks, i was gone all day today so i'm just putting up a found image.

it's her birthday.

happy birthday, my love.

the first photo update.

i'll most likely be updating the daily photo in the mornings before work because i have access to my own computer to download the photo from whatever i took a picture with. most of the pictures will probably be of iphone quality because that's what i usually always have on me.

photoblog

i've decided today that since i've once again had a poor posting streak on my blog, that i will start uploading a photo a day to maybe get myself started with writing again. we'll see how it goes.

the dieline challenge.

i frequent a lot of design blogs while i'm at work (because i'm not actually doing work at work. weird, i know.) one of my favorites, the dieline, is a blog on only packaging. well today they put up a post introducing the first dieline contest. the challenge is to create a new 5 liter bag-in-a-box package for a norwegian bottled water company. the idea behind it is that bottled water, while being "healthy" and what not, actually produces a lot of unhealthy waste on the environment. the bag-in-a-box (which reminds me of boxed wine) produces waste that can be recycled easier. the final product should have a new name and design that supports an environmental friendly theme and stand out from the other waters on the shelf. The project is hot; it's due in one week. Judging will then take place, which will be done by two unnamed creative studios. The winner will have their design actually put into production and into the market, and will also be given for a 5 day 4 night trip for two to Norway. Not quite what i had in mind for my first visit to europe, but it'll do. so for the next week, instead of frequenting a lot of design blogs while i'm at work not doing work, i'll be designing a sweet ass package. it'll loaded up here when i'm done. i hope i win.

the commencement speech to end all commencement speeches.

compiled by the good folks at the morning news. read their stuff when you're bored at work. i do.


Ladies and gentlemen, if you’ll spare me a minute, I’d like to offer a few pieces of advice for today’s graduates…

Ask not, ever. Some people will say your college years are the best of your life—ignore them. I find that, sometimes, when your miss your bus, you can run really fast and catch up to it at the next stop!

Also: Write more letters, especially if you’re in jail. Use a colon after an independent clause to introduce a list of particulars, an appositive, an amplification, or an illustrative quotation. And for God’s sake don’t stomp on flaming paper bags. If you’re bi-curious, experiment now; that window is about to close. Spit only in the bathroom sink. Never let a soprano out in the rain without a hat. Listen without prejudice. And get married as soon as possible.

Don’t make generalizations—they will be wrong more often than not. Make friends with the elderly. How often have I mused that all people from Florida smell like moldy pastrami to then be proved wrong by a Floridian with the musky scent of liquid smoke and ammonia.

Fear God. And never get involved in a land war in Asia.

And remember: The only thing more undignified than having to beg strangers for money and food is being treated like you don’t exist, so even if you can’t give the homeless your money, at least be charitable with eye contact. And always kick racism in the ball-sack!

But no matter what you do in life, smile. Smile and the world smiles with you. Make a smile your umbrella. Smile, smiley, smile, smile, smile. Sssssssssmile. But never laugh—nobody likes a jackass.

After all, why would you want to be just a big-toothed fish in a small pond when you could be holding your own among the sharks? Don’t install an Olympic-sized pool if you’re only going to swim the width. And when your life is in the toilet and that blue water is swirling around your head, just remember: The sky is also blue, and as we all know, the sky’s the limit. (It’s important to hope, but vodka does not remove bloodstains from white linen.)

If you instantly regret the entrée you just ordered, you really don’t have to eat it; you can order a second one, and have a nice dinner.

Because success, my friends, is not the measure of a man; height is the measure of a man. Twice in eight years have I soiled myself at work, and I know lots of other people who have too—so when it comes time, remember, you’re not alone. Also, avoid probing stares, enigmatic glances, fixating on the Other’s gaze. The problems of the day are sufficient unto the day…unless you’re Catherine Zeta Jones, who should have many many more. Tonight will be the last night of your life that drinking Everclear will be even remotely excusable; make it count.

And beware of the metaphorical “dark stranger from the east”. He comes baring a long-lost possesion of yours, but something is wrong. Make him show you where he found it. Then tell him to meet you at the Havel bridge at midnight. If he shows up, then you will know whom he really works for. Metaphorically, that is.

(Several dry martinis will silence the raging screams, the cacophony of inner voices. Stars are made of dust. And gas. On fire.)

And not everyone needs a blog—I’m just saying. In high school, a fellow I worked with mowing lawns said to me, “If you have mastered the art of tai chi, they won’t let you in the Olympics. Because if a tai-chi master is close enough, he can suck all the energy out of your body and incorporate it into his. No sir, you never want to be in a foot race with a tai-chi master.”

However, if you’re going to binge drink, wear practical shoes. It’s better to throw up when you’re still drunk than to wait until the following afternoon. And never let your passport expire. When you go out into the world, remember that you will stumble, you will fall, you will get up, you may fall again—but you will still get up, because you are first a graduate of this University, and second a debtor to Fannie Mae—and you will never be able to afford not to work. For those who are interested, there are Capitol One Visa applications available in the rotunda.

What I’m saying is: When offered your first job, argue for more salary and stand your ground. You’re worth it. And keep extra pants in your desk at work for that emergency I mentioned before. And if you don’t know the difference between Philips head and flat head screwdrivers, learn; it will impress the plumbers. And two last points: Buy good coffee beans instead of Starbucks lattés—at the end of the year, you’ll have saved enough money to take a vacation to Ireland. And never eat at any restaurant that offers free balloons. Seriously.

And, finally, never smoke anything with a “crypto” prefix in the name. And avoid the toll road when going home tonight. A tractor trailer flipped over on the interstate and traffic is backed up to the Occaquon. Everything is bumper to bumper on south past I-95.

It’s a mess out there people.

pure awesomeness.

images of a lightning storm directly over the chaiten volcano that is currently erupting in eastern chile.

my mother wouldn't stand for this.

kid wore brett favre jersey for over four years.

on a side note, does any body else kind of laugh to themselves when they show the clip of brett "favor" getting drafted to the falcons?

oh ron washington.

in the fourth inning of the rangers game last night, mariners first baseman richie sexson decided he was tired of sucking at life and wanted to put a little excitement into it. so he charged the mound* after rangers pitcher kason gabbard threw a ball that was a bit high, but nowhere near the batter's box. the 6 foot 8 first baseman then charged the mound and threw his helmet into gabbard's back, who only wanted to get the ball back. it was not by any means an intentionally threatening pitch, but i guess the mariners were looking for any reason to stir some life back into their game, you know, after going run-less for 22 innings straight.

post game, rangers manager ron washington said, “i thought that was bull! how tall is he, 6-13? then you go out there on a little guy and throw a helmet?” oh ron, not only do you always look like you have no idea what's going on, but you're not quite the brightest crayon in the box either.

*youtube link to come after i leave my place of work, home of the internet nazis.

full sail ahead.

two weeks ago, i went beer shopping at central market and came across some sweet packaging for full sail brewing company from hood river, oregon. now i don't make as many trips to the beer aisle as i'd like, but last time i was there, i recall the full sail beers having a label that looked something like this:

boring, unimpressionable, and forgettable.

however, this time around when i once again stumbled upon it, i wanted to buy it solely because of the packaging. turned out the beer inside the bottle is quite tasty as well.

the packaging was updated by a design firm in portland called sandstrom partners, which turns out has quite a roll call of clients, including converse, levi's jeans, miller beer, tazo tea, and portland's very own trailblazers, who selected sam bowie over michael jordan in the 1984 nba draft. shame.

back to things that matter (which does not include basketball), the much needed redesign really boosts the appeal of the product. the wood grain background helps give the feel of a small 47-man brewery in the woodlands of oregon, while the thin line art seems to me to highlight the brewery's uniqueness. i think my favorite aspect of the new look lies within the new logo.


it's awesome that sandstrom took the sail from the original logo and freshened it up. in my opinion, that's the best part of the new one – the simple white sail full of wind with a slight drop shadow behind it. i'm also a fan of the font used for the name. it looks like they made the font themselves by combining the top half of a sans serif with the bottom of a german calligraphic font.

all things considered, this is one of my favorite beer designs, along with the shiner 98 (which i hear won some awards for packaging), and the rahr summertime wheat (available this month!) check out the rest of the set in sandstrom's portfolio. and if i ever find myself in oregon, i'm definitely making a point to stop at the full sail brewery.

houses with a view.

houses with a view.

driving annoyances.

*i actually wrote this last week but due to internet difficulties, it sat in my drafts folder for a bit.

since being gainfully employed in dallas, i've been doing a lot of driving to and from work. with gas as expensive as it is, i don't do it every day; i make sure to take the train at least twice a week (but i'm about to up it to three times after last week's sudden jump in gas prices.) i spend at least an hour and forty five minutes on the road the days i do drive to work, and in doing so, i encounter a lot of bad/annoying/jerk drivers. now, i've always had some pet peeves about other drivers, like those that make their entire 184 mile trip only in the left lane and those that can't quite grasp the concept of a four way stop. but with all the quality time i've spent in my car these past few months, i've found something else that irritates me: people who don't use their turn signal when changing lanes. it never really bothered me before; this developed mostly due to the fact that most of my driving is done during high density traffic times. with less personal space, i find myself suddenly cut off without warning (i.e. turn signal) a lot more than i did on long stretches of highway, and it ticks me off. i want to tell them how ticked i am, but they're in their own car with their windows rolled up listening to some crappy music. so i took it upon myself to make a sign that i can use.



nothing spectacular, but it gets the point across. and in the event that the offender remains in front of my car, i've developed another sign that's legible in the rearview mirror. it'll be printed on the backside to conserve paper, of course.



that'll show them.

the star wars super rock band.

found this while baroozing the internet today. totally awesome.


wish i knew who to give credit to for this amazing image.

i miss you.

dear blogger,
remember when we would kill time together while i was at work? those were the days. it's not that i've been busier, it's just that the content blocker has come between us. i've been trying to fill the void you left with other things, like going to cnn.com every half hour and building paper clip chains, but it's just not the same. i miss you.
love,
me.

inspiration for this first of april.

i hate ashton kutcher, but this guy is alright in my book.

black guy asks nation for change.

the onion is great.

dammit!

so now for some reason, sites ending with blogspot.com are now blocked. i can't access my own blog now, which sucks because that's one of the few things to keep me busy when i'm not busy. yet blogger.com is not blocked and i'm still able to write this post. i'm p.o.'d.

today will be a good day.

and do you know why i believe that? because on my way to work this mornng, i saw a midget driving a ford f150. awesome.

god's eye view.

adam & eve in eden.


noah's ark on the mountains of ararat.


parting of the red sea.


the crucifixion.


via the glue society.

happy saint patty's.

what a good day. i have leftover grilled salmon and jalapenos stuffed with crab and goat cheese for lunch, leftover steak and honey glazed grilled peaches in the fridge for dinner, new episodes (finally!) of how i met your mother and the big bang theory tonight, and i can actually celebrate saint patrick's day this year as opposed to the previous two when i had the flu. now if there were only something i could do about today's weather.

update 3/19/08: it wasn't a good day.

march 29.

after heavy crunching of finances, extensive research, and my own personal investigation, i have decided that in 16 days, i am going to make the commitment and purchase an iphone.

war is hell.

And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
-King Henry V, Shakespeare's Henry V, Act IV, Scene III

this weekend, i finished watching the hbo series "band of brothers" that i borrowed from my parents' house. stephen spielberg and tom hanks produced the series, so it has that "saving private ryan" feel to it. the show takes place during world war ii and follows easy company from the 101st airborne from basic training and throughout their entire european tour. the company lived and fought together throughout numerous bouts in five different countries, and although many of were lost, they ultimately got to go home at the end of the war. it's a powerful series and i highly recommend it.

showtime.

the dallas society of visual communication student show and conference committee finally announced what pieces they've deemed worthy to be in their show. our very own tcu graphic design program had a total of 24 accepted entries from 12 different students. i'm very excited to say that i account for 4 of those entries. i really feel that my work from my last semester at tcu really stepped up from what i had previously done, in regards to both quality of design and branching out from my norms. it looks like i'm not the only one that thinks so, considering three of them are from this last spring. maybe if i'm really lucky, i'll win an award too. but i won't get my hopes up. just being in the show is good enough for me.

if you have a lot of money lying around.

On March 15 and 16, the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas is hosting the Pugliese Pop Culture Collection Auction. Anything you can think of from 20th century movies, films, and history, they probably are auctioning off. Jack Ruby's Colt Cobra revolver that killed Lee Harvery Oswald? Check. John Lennon's Abbey Road suit? Check. Indiana Jones' Bull Whip? Check. So yeah, if you're really into that sort of thing and have an extra couple hundred thousand dollars in the bank, go to Sin City and bid on Christopher Reeves' Superman costume for me.

harder better faster stronger.

i don't remember how i came across this video; i don't even listen to daft punk. but it's cool how these two girls wrote the words of the song on their bodies and made a routine out of it.

exercise your right to vote.

2008 marks the 30th anniversary of the bookseller's diagram prize. the bookseller, a british magazine, began running a poll in 1978 for the "oddest book title of the year." the first ever winner of the prize was a book called "proceedings of the second international workshop on nude mice." a must-read, i'm sure.

and without further ado, this year's nominees are:

"i was tortured by the pygmy love queen" by jasper mccutcheon

"how to write a how to write book" by brian paddock

"are women human? and other international dialogues" by catharine a. mackinnon

"cheese problems solved" by p.l.h. mcsweeney

"if you want closure in your relationship, start with your legs" by big boom

"people who mattered in southend and beyond: from king canute to doctor feelgood" by dee gordon


the winner will be announced march 28 so hurry up and vote.

clearly an expert on the subject.

poor kyle kendrick.

there's a lot of free time during major league baseball spring training. that's why almost the entire philidelphia phillies organization pulled an elaborate prank on 2nd-year pitcher kyle kendrick. they got everyone involved from the phillies' manager, to sports media, and even kendrick's agent. the synopsis is that kendrick gets called into manager charlie manuel's office and is told that he's being traded to japan's yomiuri giants for a player named kobayashi iwamura and that he's leaving tomorrow. kendrick is pretty much just in shocked silence for most of the video. i think the best part about the whole thing is despite the sheer number of people involved, no one gives it away. it's pretty amazing.

the world is my canvas.

i stumbled on a website via the serif about a quarky guy named stavros that creates what he calls "position art." what happens is he walks around with his gps enabled nokia phone and tracks where he's going. the path he walks creates a single line, and with this he can create simple images on the world. i don't even know how he came up with this, but it's pretty interesting. check it out at www.theworldismycanvas.com

a retrospective of my life through google maps.