The Holidays went by in a Flash

This holiday, Karen and I decided to go paperless on our seasons greetings.

Perhaps a tribute to our new home in earth conscious Seattle? Perhaps a chance to play with Flash? Perhaps an attempt to save a buck during a questionable economy? I think a combination of all. Either way it was a win, win, win situation.

With Karen being a Microsoft team member focused on the goodness of the Xbox brand and myself being an avid gamer, we decided to embrace the launch of the new Xbox Live interface and use our avatars to spread cheer to our friends and loved ones.

Click here to witness the spectacle of Holiday Card 2008

Check Out My Mojo

As some of you know I am heavily immersed in the music scene. Being a DJ for more than twenty years and owning enough records to break many a man's back has brought me great pleasure. I launched this project a few years ago with my buddy Vince to some very decent success.

We organized this sixty to eighty page quarterly publication and music CD, with the help of photographer, writer and producer friends in the Detroit area. The content was focused on the lifestyles of Detroit DJs and musicians, including advice on music production, set lists, fashion and art.

I got too busy to continue working on it, as it was a beast to produce a printed mag of that size in addition to my day job, freelance projects, music production and trying to have some family life, but the project continues. New bodies jumped in to shoulder the weight and Vince is still completely involved. The magazine is now produced online, but the vibe lives on.

My most memorable moment was being involved in the interview process of The Electrifying Mojo, one of the greatest heroes of my youth. I was able to have coffee with him for several hours and ask anything I wanted. This was an incredible opportunity from a man who rarely does interviews. More importantly, I was able to listen to his story firsthand and learn more lessons than I can count. Not even a fraction of what I heard made it to the mag, as this man was an overflowing fountain of knowledge. I was incredibly fortunate to be able to sit back and drink it in.

Decked Out

The Marcato™ project was one I enjoyed. Yes, with any lengthy process there are ups and downs, but looking back I am very pleased.

I love variety in my work and it was nice to be involved in multi-tiered levels of development to make the program successful.

Here is an overview of the services provided and product description:

Name Generation, Logo Design, Packaging and Brand Establishment: International Manufacturer of sound-Based Products

Marcato creates products that use sound to enhance life. The name is a musical term that means "to play with emphasis." The initial application converts deck rails and posts into non-directional speakers. The system brings sound from an existing indoor stereo to outdoor living spaces and also provides ambient lighting.

Comatose: Vinyl and Poster Released

My debut record release Comatose is officially sold out. This limited edition colored vinyl and 24x36 inch jacket poster only stayed on shelves a little more than a week. Distributors may still have a few copies, but the stock at Subject Detroit has been depleted. It will be re-pressed with black vinyl however and we are working on getting more posters as well.

If you just want the music, it is available for download at www.junodownload.com and a few other online outlets.

The support for this EP has been much appreciated. Several new tracks are being released in the coming months in both digital and vinyl formats. So keep the ears open, stay informed, stay in touch and thanks for paying attention.

Bored vs. Board

I had some time to work up some graphics for application to snow board decks. No, I can't stay up for more than a few seconds, but this winter I'm looking forward to stretching it to 10.

Dirty Mouth? You Decide.

I worked on a logo a while back to rename a prominent Detroit Electronic Music Festival (prize if you can figure out which one).

The new name was going to be "Shift" and several ideas were developed based around removing the "i" and allowing the white space to fill in the missing letter. The mind, she be a powerful lady, easily able to vault an omitted vowel.

Too bad the strap was showing and the yellow card thrown (very vague reference, but totally worth seeing if you figure it out). A third party kindly remarked to the client that it looked like a certain four-letter word. The way I see it, the world is just chock-full of dirty minds (mine included, see strap reference). Yes, admittedly it does look a tad bit taboo, but there was no malicious intent and I still think it was the way to go. Imagine all the free press and attention the event would have gotten if people started complaining. Solid gold!

Alas, (as you may have guessed by my past tense reference above) after a remarkably short battle, the rebels that pump out the urban street sound of underground hard hitting techno – the rebels expressly blamed in the media for escalating pharmaceutical abuse in middle class society through distribution at so-called "raves" (FYI- they are just parties, raves died at the end of the nineties, called, and want their glow sticks back) – finally had to succumb to authority (or someone's mom, I'm not sure which) and the show marched on under the old name with all new exploration cast aside. Apparently peer pressure is actually pretty tough and "Just Say No" only applies when you want to do something cool.

Anyway, sarcasm aside, I think the ideas were pretty nice and here is a copy of my favorite submission. Also, Karen owes me a salmon dinner for constructing one of the longest run-on sentences of my career in the above rant.

Ridiculously Good Roasted Salmon

I just had the best home cooked salmon in the history of best home cooked salmons (thanks Karen). Now it could have been the fact that the fish was super fresh and awesome (thank you Karen's co-worker), or it could have been that I hadn't eaten in quite some time, but either way, the ease of preparation which I refer to as the effort-to-flavor ratio (E is less than F to the highest power squared) was remarkable.

Here is the recipe for your dining pleasure:

(PS: Shout out to marthastewart.com for, well... the whole thing. 

Thanks Martha for havin' our backs).

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Roasted Salmon (Serves 4)

1 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 pound salmon filet, skin on

In a medium bowl, whisk together olive oil and tamari; season with salt and pepper. Add salmon and turn to coat. Marinate, refrigerated, at least 15 minutes or up to overnight.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Remove salmon from marinade; discard marinade (I'd just slap that bad boy on top though, chefs choice). Place salmon on a baking sheet and roast until just cooked through, about 12 minutes. Let cool.

Remove skin from salmon and discard. Using your hands, break salmon into large chunks.

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That's it. I personally don't break into chunks, basically I just pound it down. Beware of bones though; I'm not doing a three page disclaimer.

What's in a name?

So... the question came up: 

"Hey man, what the heck is your logo?"

Well my good sirs/madams the story although not an astounding one, is a good one nonetheless.

My brilliant programmer buddy Jin involved me in a scientific study in the form of an online questionnaire to reveal which format tag in coding best represents one's personality. This was no simple MySpace quiz of the last 50 things you ate, drank, kissed, etc., but a mind-numbing experience of reflection and personal discovery.

After long hours of deliberation, perhaps six or seven seconds, my digital life-mate was unveiled: " .* " The dot-asterisk as everyone knows (at least I do now) is the online equivalent of the "Wild Card."

Finding this surprisingly apropos, I quickly adopted its form as my mark. A nondescript symbol that could represent any future project or company that I happen to launch. Plus, from the side it kind of looks like a wide-eyed funny cartoon face with its mouth open, and that is always cool.

MC313

New stencils finished for my MC313 collection. Look for shirts and other products to arrive soon.

Nice Package

Innuendo aside, here are a few packaging ideas I had a while back. Just came across them and thought I'd share.

Stationery Tip

A couple layouts of stationery I made. One is for a business with multiple locations and is done as a fold over card with punched holes revealing the contrasting surfaces underneath. The other is personal stationery I did for my girl (Merry Chrismachanukwanzikah).

The lesson here is: Stationery is spelled with an "e" not an "a." Having someone call you out on it once is enough to get that after school special, Danny Tanner-end-of-show moment, never-forget-again life lesson going at full swing.