Silkscreen Photoset

I setup a photoset on my flickr account to document some of the silkscreen work I'm doing. There should be updates at least once a week, probably more. The first set of prints were previewed in Friday's workout page. These pages are just a method for me to produce/play on a more regular basis since all of my design work is digital and, as a result, I'm without a traditional sketchbook.

Workout: 09.29.06

I had to whip up a black and white image as source material for my first print tomorrow morning. I had a lot of ideas that were in various stages of completion, but the Bean Boy Bomb was the easiest and most striking. I'm going to print it in a few colors and I may, time permitting, dribble a mix of colors on the screen and try a gradient effect. Tit balls.

Workout: 09.26.06

Linkology: 09.25.06

This is fucking brilliant, so make use of it while you can. I'm fairly confident the sites will be gone by the week's end:

* Every episode of The Simpsons
* Every episode of Futurama

Workout: 09.24.06

Listen: Podcast, no12

The hotline is live and taking calls. What requests will be made? What demands will be turned down? Did anybody even bother calling in? Answers and more await you in this week's episode. The tracks:

“Nature of the Experiment” by Tokyo Police Club (MySpace)
“Beware (feat. Cali Agents)” by Oh No
“Enough to Get Away” by Joseph Arthur
“Delicious Demon” by The Sugarcubes
“Goodbye” by Asobi Seksu (MySpace)
“Suzie” by Boy Kill Boy (MySpace)
“You and Me and the Moon” by Magnetic Fields
“Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)” by Talking Heads
“Natural’s Not In It” by Gang of Four
“Bloodhounds on My Trail” by The Black Angels (MySpace)
“Grass” by Animal Collective
“I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’” by Scissor Sisters
“Not California” by Hem
“In This Home On Ice” by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
“Crime Does Pay” by The Hourly Radio

As usual, the podcast is available through RSS or iTunes. Here are the appropriate links:

* Subscribe to the enhanced podcast. (rss)
* Subscribe to the mp3 podcast. (rss)
* Click here to visit the "Pleasing To Your Ears" page in the iTunes Music Store, where you can pick and choose from available episodes.
* no12 :: What Would Freak Nasty Do? (mp3)
* no12 :: What Would Freak Nasty Do? (enhanced)

Here's some links I mentioned in this episode:

* HBO message board about "Living Dolls"
* The soundtrack of NY Fashion Week
* A Sugarcubes Reunion

That's it for episode 12. Please tell your friends. Please tell me what you think. Please post a link on your blogs. Please use the hotline: (206) 202-3142. Please tune in for a new episode this weekend.

Listen: Supplement_A :: The Nationwide Mercury Prize

I like supplements, yes I do. I like supplements, how 'bout you? This is the inaugural supplementary podcast, where the music is more closely curated around a particular theme. This week, I'm spotlighting the albums/artists shortlisted for the Nationwide Mercury Prize, the nominees of which represent the best British and Irish albums of the last 12 months. The tracks:

"Fake Tales of San Francisco" by Arctic Monkeys
"Munich" by Editors
"Made-up Lovesong #43" by Guillemots
"I Sleep Alone" by Richard Hawley
"Boys From School" by Hot Chip
"Map of the Problematique" by Muse
"The Boom Boom Bap" by Scritti Politti
"Flo' Fashion" by Sway
"Black Swan" by Thom Yorke
"You Probably Couldn't See For the Lights But You Were Staring Straight At Me" by Arctic Monkeys

As usual, the podcast is available throught RSS or iTunes. Here are the appropriate links:

* Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes.
* Click here to visit the "Pleasing To Your Ears" page in the iTunes Music Store, where you can pick and choose from available episodes.

And for you folks that poo poo the enhanced podcast, here's the mp3 for Supplement_A:

Supplement_A :: The Nationwide Mercury Prize

Here's some links I mentioned in this episode:

* Official Nationwide Mercury Prize site
* BBC Mercury Prize site
* Mercury Prize on Wikipedia
* Slowly Downward (cover of "The Eraser" by Thom Yorke)

That's it for the first supplementary podcast. Please tell your friends. Please tell me what you think. Please link on your blogs. Please use the hotline: (206) 202-3142. Please tune in for a new episode this weekend.

Linkology: 09.21.06

* Judging your friends by their Netflix queues
* New York is the safest big city in the U.S. Fuck you, Dallas.
* Sugarcubes reunion show
* NY Times profile of Michel Gondry
* With the premiere of the 4th season, I've been reading a lot of good stuff about The Wire. It's queued.
* London Design Festival :(
* David Sedaris in The New Yorker
* 1,000 words of advice for design teachers
* 1,000 words of advice for design students
* Michael Bierut on his design process
* Jeff Zeen on his design process

Pleasing To Your Ears Hotline

Pleasing To Your Ears, now has it's very own request/feedback hotline. That din you hear outside is rejoicing in the streets. People are beside themselves with ecstasy, practically fucking strangers on the roofs of cars they're so amped.

In an ongoing effort to diversify and expand in episodes 11-20, I've setup a voicemail box where you can leave me a digital missive. Once you're finished, your zeroes and ones are sent to me via e-mail and I can post your clip in the upcoming episode. So fire off those song requests, show ideas, criticisms and sophomoric pranks. I welcome it all. Just speak up for fuck's sake. The adoring public will want to be able to understand what you're saying.

The hotline: (206) 202-3142

Let loose the dogs of listener response. All 13 of them.

Fucking Classic

Delivery Girl: What apartment number is this going to?
Steven: FF4. Like, FRANK-FRANK-4?
Delivery Girl: What?
Steven: It's FF4. Like--
Delivery Girl: FUCK-FUCK-4!
Steven: Uhh, yeah...
Delivery Girl: OK. Is that all?
Steven: Yeah.
Delivery Girl: You didn't get offended by what I said, did you?
Steven: (laughing) No, of course not.
Delivery Girl: OK, cool.

Listen: Podcast, no11

Episode 11: a new beginning. In life, I rarely maintain anything for the duration. So it's exciting to be starting the second set of ten episodes. Plus, I gots me a motherfucking guest host. The tracks:

“Black Flowers” by Yo La Tengo
“Break” by Jurassic 5
“Walking to New Orleans” by Fats Domino
“Je Ne Te Connais Pas” by Prototypes
“Yoo Hoo” by Imperial Teen
“He Brings Out the Whiskey In Me” by Amy Millan
“House of Regret” by Wild Sweet Orange
“Suds and Soda” by Deus
“Acquiesce” by Oasis
“Lounge Act” by Nirvana
“Heroin” by The Velvet Underground & Nico
“Have Love Will Travel” by The Sonics
“Heads High” by Mr. Vegas
“Tea for the Tillerman” by Cat Stevens
“Jique” by Brazilian Girls

As usual, the podcast is available throught RSS or iTunes. Here are the appropriate links:

* Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes.
* Click here to visit the "Pleasing To Your Ears" page in the iTunes Music Store, where you can pick and choose from available episodes.

And for you folks that poo poo the enhanced podcast, here's the mp3 for episode eleven:

no11 :: Music for Jewish Robots

That's it for episode eleBen. Please tell your friends. Please tell me what you think. Please link on your blogs. Please tune in Thursday for a supplementary podcast about the Mercury Awards.

Lane Kim's MOJO

My copy of the MOJO Collection arrived in the mail. This purchase falls in step with my recent spate of reading centering loosely around rock journalism and rock history ("rock" used as a general classification to include all popular music). While I don't think it necessary to own all 700+ albums reviewed therein, I would like to give each one a listen.

I'm giving myself a decade.

This will likely diversify my podcasts, a good thing by all accounts. I've included this small bit of dialogue from an episode of Gilmore Girls to convey significance. Lorelai and Rory are eating breakfast at Luke's. It is the first day of school. In walks Lane:

Lane: Oh, thank God you haven't left yet.
Rory: Nope...what's up?
Lane: Well, I found the greatest record store in the world, it's ten minutes from your school, and I'm wondering how much you love me.
Rory: Address.
Lane: Record Breaker, Incorporated. 2453 Berlin Turnpike.
Rory: Got it. Place your order now.
Lane: Yes. Charles Mingus, The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady.
Rory: Right.
Lane: The Sonics, Here Are the Sonics.
Rory: Burn me a copy. Next.
Lane: MC5, Kick Out the Jams, Fairport Convention, Liege and Lief, Bee Gees, Odess-..."
Rory: Bee Gees? Really?
Lane: (placing hand on MOJO cover) Well, MOJO says..."
Rory: So it must be true.
Lane: Okay, that's it. Now, if I can just find a copy of Whistler, Chaucer, Detroit and Greenhill, I will finally be done with the sixties.
Rory: I'll get there today. Tomorrow at the latest.
Lane: I love it when you go back to school.

+3 Improvement!

I recently purchased three books, each with the word "Ultimate" in the title. That's me, passing you on the road to SUPERIORITY. I'm like some Neo Tokyo CYBORG. My PENIS comes equipped with MULTI-FUNCTIONAL, TRANSFORMING CAPABILITIES. The books I BUY help make me BETTER. So ULTIMATE!

Newness

Refreshing Newness: Jesus Christ it's been a long time since I wrote anything. All this podcasting bullshit has monopolized my time, I 'spose. Ever notice how much bandwidth I waste lamenting my own absent discipline? Too much, I reckon. There is a new feature to accompany this new podcast. It's called "Word Processor Tools Used to Police Greater Social Dysfunction". Enjoy.

Listen: Podcast, no10

Sorry for the tardiness folks. Life may get hectic, but the podcast always finds a way of pushing through. This is the tenth episode, a milestone of sorts. Come, celebrate with me and dish about the horror of toddler beauty pageants. The tracks:

“In These Shoes” by Kristy MacColl
“Pain Killer” by Turin Brakes
“New York Groove” by Ace Frehley
“The Rubberband Man” by The Spinners
“The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)” by Manfred Mann
“No Fit State” by Hot Chip
“Story of My Life” by Social Distortion
“Stars and Sons” by Broken Social Scene
“Bleary Eyed” by Annuals
“’Cause You Can” by Birdmonster
“Crazy for Leaving” by Catfish Haven
“House Fire” by Someone Still Loves Your Boris Yeltsin
“Wildcat” by Ratatat

As usual, the podcast is available throught RSS or iTunes. Here are the appropriate links:

* Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes.
* Click here to visit the "Pleasing To Your Ears" page in the iTunes Music Store, where you can pick and choose from available episodes.

And for you folks that poo poo the enhanced podcast, here's the mp3 for episode ten:

no10 :: Night of the Living Dolls

Here's some links to "Living Dolls" on YouTube:

Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight, Part Nine

That's it for episode ten. Please tell your friends. Please tell me what you think. Please link on your blogs. Please tune in this sunday for another episode!

Gone

Shavonne left today and for that I am sad. Last night we were reflecting on her visits over the last three years. When I first moved to NY, my Mom gave Shavonne a ticket to visit me in the hope of rounding out her otherwise paltry list of Christmas gifts. Ever since then she's visited three times a year, always for ten days or more. She's developed a real sense of the place, almost as though she lived here. And she's done and seen more things over the course of those visits that many rent-paying, NY residents will ever bother to unearth. It was a good run while it lasted. There's always 3-day weekends...

We saw a wealth of movies this week, from trash to class. That list follows, in no particular order:

Akeelah and the Bee
Green Street Hooligans
She's the Man
Kinky Boots
Oldboy (Von opted out)
Half Nelson
This Film is Not Yet Rated
Syriana
Inside Man
Winter Passing
Mean Streets (one half, no sound)
Crank
Remember the Titans
The Matador
Something New
Gay Sex in the 70s
Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film
Basquiat (one half)

I'm quite confident that talk of this list will creep into this week's podcast (which will be available tomorrow). Lord knows songs from the films already have.

Adding insult to injury, the Gilmore Girls ad with Lauren Grahm is also gone. There is little left to live for.

Listen: Podcast Apology

My sister is still in town so I'm otherwise indisposed to do normal things and meet normal obligations. That is why I've got no podcast ready for you this morning. It'll be ready Tuesday night, don't you fret. I may be late, but that's no excuse to forget the whole bloody operation.

In the meantime, I've got a few tunes to hold you over. In 1995, Sonic Youth release Washing Machine. The last track, "The Diamond Sea (mp3)", ran 19 minutes and 37 seconds. I listened to it again and again in middle school, struck dumb with the realization that not all songs had to be three and a half minutes long. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs recently covered "Diamond Sea (mp3)" for an acoustic iTunes session. Both are splendid. Make a list! Compare and contrast! Share with your friends!

Shallow Shoe Gaze

Last night, while waiting in line for a Michel Gondry opening, Shavonne drank in the rich tapestry of art hipsters. There was a negligible difference between them and this weekend's indie rock hipsters, but for the keen observer there is some variation. What are the contributing factors? Money? Passion? Borough preference? Who knows less about that which they feign expertise? Who is sobbing harder on the inside? Which precious community will win our hearts and minds?

Busy Bee

Shavonne and I have watched an obscene number of movies the past few days. During one of them, we began making predictions about which minority supporting character was most likely to die. Last night, we played the same game while watching (a disappointing) Akeelah and the Bee. Shortly after the Latino character announced his romantic intentions to Akeelah:

Shavonne: If any one dies in this movie, it's gonna be Javier. Or maybe anyone in Akeelah's family.
Steven: [laughs]

Cadbury and Tween Genocide

I left the office to grab a bit of chocolate so the last two hours of the work day would be bearable. All of the delis and bodegas were glutted with teenage girls. A lot of people milling about isn't a rarity. But when they are all sporting acne, braces, backpacks and poorly advised, stripe-y, goth-y leggings on their arms, you realize something is amiss. Fucking public school opened for bidness on Tuesday, so I've got a chief suspect and I can officially turn in my sleuthing credentials.

Fucking school-aged twats. Thank god for Dairy Milk:

the BENEFITS of chocolate...

Enjoying chocolate as part of a balanced lifestyle can play a part in making people feel calmer , more relaxed and generally happier. Chocolate gives us an emotional boost, which triggers similar 'good feelings' to those we experience when listening to music, or being in love!

Delicious AND pseudoscientific! Thanks for encasing the technical bit in speech marks, Cadbury Bureau of Chocoscovery! I'll take one cocoa handjob and some 'good feelings' please!

Linkology: 09.05.06

* Pubic hair panties
* Banksy pwns Paris Hilton
* 16 buildings simultaneously demolished (YouTube)
* Artificial skeletons of cartoon characters
* German sex-ed book with creepy illustrations of birth
* Keith Olbermann pwns Rumsfeld
* Fight off Teletubbies with a chainsaw
* Adam Stennett's mouse art
* Online petitioners are trying to get Nike to make Marty McFly's self-lacing kicks (YouTube)
* Two tourists sneak onto unguarded "Lost" set
* Charm City Cakes is the focus of the Food Network's excellent show "Ace of Cakes"
* Noah Kalina took a picture of himself every day for six years (YouTube)
* Adorable panda sneeze (YouTube)
* Amazing libraries around the world (Trinity College in Dublin makes me horny)
* Dude wears 121 t-shirts to break world record
* Guide to electronic music

Listen: Podcast, no9

My sister is in town so I'm a little late with this one. Lucky for me, it's a holiday weekend, so I'm hoping none of you noticed. Shavonne jumped on the mic and helped me out and for that I am grateful. Even if she did rock this shit in her jammies and a mouth guard.

“Love Me or Hate Me” by Lady Sovereign
“Holland, 1945” by Neutral Milk Hotel
“Paris 1919” by John Cale
“Notorious” by Turbulence
“Atlantis to Interzone” by The Klaxons
“Feelin’ Good Again” by Robert Earl Keen
“Hoppipolla” by Sigur Ros
“We Feel Safer at Night” by Takka Takka
“Rollin’ and Tumblin’” by Bob Dylan
“Grey Cell Green” by Ned’s Atomic Dustbin
“Nightswimming” by REM
“Get Myself Into It” by The Rapture
“Bump” by Spank Rock

As usual, the podcast is available throught RSS or iTunes. Here are the appropriate links:

* Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes.
* Click here to visit the "Pleasing To Your Ears" page in the iTunes Music Store, where you can pick and choose from available episodes.

And for you folks that poo poo the enhanced podcast, here's the mp3 for episode nine:

no9 :: Clive Owen Is Hot, Spank Rock Spanks

Here's some links that I mentioned in this episode:

* McCarren Pool Parties
* Wikipedia entry on "chav"
* Wikipedia on Rastafari Movement
* "Children of Men" trailer
* New Yorker article about the difficulty of interviewing Bob Dylan

That's it for episode nine. Please tell your friends. Please tell me what you think. Please link on your blogs. Please tune in next week.