Another CiN Bash ad

Here's the final version of the first illustration/ad I did for the CiN Blizzard Bash. If you're feeling lazy, but want to see the original sketch, here it is. Now if I can track down the snowman and the penguin, we'll be set!

Happy Halloween

I didn't actually dress up for anything on Halloween this year (had a great time at the Turpin Farms Field of Screams in Beechmont though). Anyway, here I am from last year, in my meticulously put together Hipster Werewolf outfit (note his preference for PBR). This was part of my staff answer this week (we submitted photos to go with questions, so our answers online don't make as much sense). Like any good hipster, my C-List celebrity girlfriend (Kari's costume) is by my side. Have a good Halloween...hope you scare some people...or something...

Damn fine coffee...and hot

David Lynch and Mark Frost's Twin Peaks is finally getting a proper DVD release -- both seasons, plus the pilot (which wasn't even available when they released the whole series on videotape years and years ago). An appropriate Halloween release (October 30), this is one of the few TV series that I've watched over and over again. I'm pretty excited to buy it on DVD and be freaked out all over again...

Temporary side gig...

For the past few weeks, I've been writing the music column that runs in CiN Weekly, after the recent departure of star music reporter Kari. If you wanna check 'em out (although they're mostly of local interest), here are the 10/17 and 10/24 columns. I learned quickly that it can be difficult to cover music in Cincinnati from week to week (some of my picks are debatable), so I have a lot of appreciation for what Kari contributed to CiN for all those years...

If you're curious about the poll this time out, check out the Diet Coke story below...

Just wanted a Diet Coke, folks

While Mr. Pibb is still the beverage of choice in Ronsonville, lately I've been drinking a lot of Diet Coke (well, actually Coke Zero. They're all death chemicals if you do a Google search though).

In a recent trip to purchase a Diet Coke to go with one of my delicious frozen meals, I went through the following tribulations:

Gina and I walked into the chaotic nightmare that is the deli in our office building during lunchtime. Possibly the closest thing to Hell on earth, only with worse service...

While at the fountain beverage station, with roughly 50 people buzzing around without rhyme or reason, the Diet Coke nozzle exploded and popped off into pieces in my cup. My pants were soaked, there were plastic bits in my drink and suddenly, out of nowhere, a man popped out to fix the problem.

His first question: "Wanna top that off?"

I replied, "Yyyyeah, I think I'm gonna need a new one."

The repair process took forever, and generally I was feeling that this was a sign that I shouldn't stick around. I decided instead to go grab a bottle of Diet Coke out of our Vendoland.

Seeking refuge in Vendoland didn't help. We arrived right in the middle of a microwave meltdown: a flaming Hot Pocket, smoke billowing from it's formerly delicious filling (see the adjoining poll for more). I'm pretty sure the smoke was carcinogenic as one breath had us coughing up a lung. I half thought to hit the deck and start crawling on the floor (a la Dwight in The Office). Not to be dramatic (um, too late), but I think it's the closest I've ever been to a fire. Buuut, I needed my Diet Coke, so I held my breath and went for it...

Finally, I returned to my desk, burnt Hot Pocket still in my nostrils and possibly having shaved weeks off my life, but that Diet Coke was pretty good. I think it was anyway -- I've had so many Diet Cokes since then, I can't remember the specific experience, but I'm gonna put my money on "pretty good..."

Cooler than.... sketches

A peak inside the my oh-so crazy process: Here are the sketches that I used for my illustrations from my Cooler Than campaign for this year's CiN Weekly party. Generally, since I'm such an impatient sketcher, what I end up doing in the computer tends to be pretty different from these initial drawings, and that's a good thing. Most significant in these drawings are Jack Frost's neck/posture (see the post below for the final drawing -- and thanks, Rob!) and the snowman's hot tub -- he sort of looks like he hanging out in a barrel in the above drawing...

New work...

Just finished some creative for a CiN Weekly ad campaign for their yearly party. I think it turned out pretty well. The party has a "blizzard theme" this year, so this is what I ran with. The ad below can currently be found at the Lodge Bar's web site.

The illustrations were a lot of fun to do -- the theme really lent itself to some random stuff. I'll try to post some others soon...

Check your mail for free money...

Arbitron must really need some people to fill out radio surveys. In among my various junk about identity theft and credit cards, I found a brief letter asking me to enroll complete with a crisp, shiny one dollar bill. No joke -- I had to look at it for a few seconds to make sure it wasn't just some sort of dollar-looking slip of paper. It's the real deal. They're sending a buck to random folks.

While a intriguing gesture, I don't know that filling out surveys would be all that fun, but thanks for the coffee, Arbitron!

Catching up

OK, it was a week of recovery, but now I'm back. I was sick, I got better, I finally dragged my car out of the shop and had a busy week at work, but now it's back to business.

First up, Kari's and Julie's last days at CiN were this week and we threw a little happy hour. Here are a couple of highlights. To see the full set, go here. There are roughly 50 photos there, which makes it the most well-documented couple of hours I've been a part of in recent history.

Next up, a smaller set of pics from the Washington Park Music Fest. Below is one of Gina's Kustom Koozies, which got a huge amount of photo love at the event.
Speaking of Gina, check out her mobile blog of the voyage to Western Bowl to see what I've been up to more recently. All for now, hoping to get a video or two up here soon...