Artist: Ray LaMontagne
Album: God Willin’ and the Creek Don’t Rise
Release Date: August 17th, 2010
Label: RCA

The fact that we all go back to our roots is a common truth for all mankind. It seems we are victim to our own habits no matter how much effort is put into changing them. How we use those tendencies can either make our lives better or make us lazy. When it comes to the new Ray LaMontagne record, it’s definitely making my life better. This is the kind of music I was born to listen to.

After hearing the line “Momma’s got a few tomatoes, gonna put ‘em on the griddle and fry ‘em” and having it remind me of my childhood it was yet another specific moment where I realized that there is more “country mouse” in me than “city mouse.” I’ve always known I would rather live in a town of 300 than 3 million but recently I’ve come to learn that I prefer a higher ratio of cows to cars lining the freeway into work.

I grew up in a classic country setting where Hank Williams and Patsy Cline were the kings and queens and bluegrass pickin’ was the scepter by which the music ruled. While that genre of music may not have been my top choice throughout my youth, it’s beginning to set its roots into all the music I find myself currently loving.

Music tastes refine themselves over time and similar to wine and whisky, music can be a comfort and a muse. As certain fads from youth fall away as the CDs get sold off (screamo and emo) the type of music that is really “me” begins to surface (Punk & Americana). It seems there are fewer and fewer records that really win me over full force but when I find a record that does… it really hooks me.

Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs “God Willin’ and the Creek Don’t Rise” passes every required checkpoint on the way to becoming the perfect record for me.

1. Ray’s band has the ultimate backing band name. All the best are Band Leader and the So and so’s. Just ask Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Joe Strummer or even Ben Harper (Relentless7 is a terrible backing band name though).
2. An absolutely brilliant album title from a slightly archaic phrase used by depression era great-grandparents such as my own. I suggest Ray and the Dogs title their next record “For Cryin’ Out Loud in a Bucket”
3. Perfect lyrics cut from life. They’re deceptively simple and deeply earnest.
4. A laid back album built on a solid foundation of rhythm and blues.

So for a kid like me, an illustrator and designer who prefers living in the setting sun of the Kansas prairie as opposed to the glistening lights of NYC where most in my profession find work under the white glow of fluorescent lights, songs like “New York City’s Killing Me” shines like a lighthouse amidst all the terrible music that has found its way to shore in 2010. It’s also refreshing to find that Ray himself prefers country life, he shies away from the glitz and just writes a good song whenever it comes to him and reads a book when there is no song to be had.

If you’re a fan of Ray already, I needn’t convince you of this album’s brilliance. But for the rest of you, those who like music that comes from the roots, music built on rhythm and tinted blue, home-cooked lyrics and a smoky vibe to chase it down, this record is for you.

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Every year on the 4th of July I like to tune into Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating contest at Coney Island. Is it because I’m a fan of competitive eating? No. Do I love watching people repulsively shove dogs down their gullet? Absolutely not. I don’t know what it is but there’s just something about the event that’s worth a yearly watch.

There are plenty of characters to make fun of from Eater X to the Notorious B.O.B. It’s hilarious to see how seriously they take it and it’s humorous to watch a group of small-time competitors compete in an event they have no chance of winning. It’s like golf used to be when Tiger was on the course. Chesnut and Kobyashi are so far ahead it isn’t even a competition.

The rest of the year, however, not even the WWE is below competitive eating on the stupidity scale. But apparently there’s even a league for competitive- it’s called Major League Eating! The fact that I didn’t even know there was a major league of eating until this year wreaks of a setup.

If Kobayashi has been the McGwire of competitive eating then Joey Chesnut is the Sosa. They’re really in the competitive spotlight in the moment, but they’re a joke as soon as the it shifts away from their “sport.” In effect they’re in the spotlight for 10 minutes, as long as it takes them to inhale 20,000 calories. After that they are barely remembered for 364 days.

The alleged “hold-out” of Kobayashi this year meant he didn’t compete. This allowed for an easy win for the grossest hot dog eater in history, Mr. Chesnut. After the “match” there was some token sports-competition-like trash talking from Chesnut about the manhood of Kobayashi which incited a slight chuckle from me. Is this competition really even competitive? Is it even a sport? Is it even worthy of trash talk? It seemed silly to me and since the 10 minutes were over, I turned off the TV.

That was my loss apparently as afterwards reports of Kobayashi rushing the stage and his subsequent arrest began to show up in the footnotes of sports news stories. It’s barely even worth space in the footnotes, but it was enough to get Major League Eating on the minds of a handful of sports fans.

Google it. It exists. They even have a decent looking website.

I think Kobayashi and his “Free Kobi” t-shirt and hold out were more than staged. We all know the economy is tough. Even big time sports organizations in major sports leagues like the NBA are signing big dollar deals tentatively. How much money is there to be made for a competitive eater? They should be stuffing all the cash they can into their mouths while they have the chance.

Any money Kobayashi makes is more than enough. I see no warrant for him to hold out in his sport, especially in the Daytona 500 of his pastime. That’s why I believe it was staged.

I imagine the big wigs of the MLE crafting a plan like this:
News outlets would report of his contract dispute with the MLE and then thousands of people would laugh at the TV and say “What’s MLE stand for? MAJOR LEAGUE EATING! There’s a league for that?” Simple? Yes! A genius ploy? Absolutely!

There’s only 1 real competitive eating competition that anyone cares about – it’s the hot dogs. Why would the best in the world sit out over a contract dispute, show up in the crowd and then rush the stage if it wasn’t planned?

It’s such a stupid sounding sport controversy you might be tempted to say “Only professional wrestling could be so fake.” But guess what, no longer is professional wrestling the biggest joke in sports. That title can now go to Major League Eating now that we know it exists.

I randomly recall heading into another 2nd grade school day many years ago. As I crawled out of the passenger seat of the car, I turned and asked my grandma a simple, yet naively relevant question. It was this: “Will the Royals win this year?”

In an encouraging tone she replied “It’s a new year so you never know what could happen. Now go learn something!” Since that tiny and rather useless memory is now 18 years aged, Royals fans all know the answer. It was no.

If fortune telling was a human gift, what she should have answered with was “No. Nor will they win for the next 18 years. They’ll only let you down. Now go in there and learn to be a Yankees fan!”

Yankees fans see winning all the time, while Royals fans get countless opportunities to appreciate the potential in losing, the possibilities in blown saves and powerless hitters missing the big hit. There are no expectations of coming in 3rd in the division, let alone winning the division, nor are there expectations of winning a playoff series, or taking the pennant or being in the World Series. Winning the World Series? Are the Royals even allowed to do that anymore?

As a kid during summer afternoons I would read the sports section of the Topeka Capital-Journal. I would look at the standings, read the spreads and follow the stats. I would count how many teams had a worse record than the Royals, then I would yell out to whoever would listen “Can you believe it! 4 teams!” Or two teams. On a good streak, 6. How can someone be so excited about such a small feat?

I would look at our own record hoping we’d hit 70 wins that year or not lose 100. I’d hope we’d finish above at least one team in the American League central. I’d be in awe at the fact that we were only 10 games under .500 or 15 games out of first. This is the life of a Royals fan – little things. They are my team.

It seems they like to finish every year on a hot streak, stoking the fire for next season. By the time April rolls around, the spark on the field was dampend by another midwestern winter but my excitement for the new season is at a fever pitch. It sometimes lasts through May, sometimes not even until May, but that’s alright.

I’m still a fan, a lifer if you will. This year is no different.

I see potential in certain members of this team and I hope we don’t lose them. I hope we pay them what they’re worth and build upon them. We’ve had a lot of great names in our dugout only to let them go and watch them win in another city.

I’ve even begun to hope we unlock the secrets of human cloning so we can duplicate Billy Butler, David DeJesus and Zack Greinke. As the years progress and the losing seasons string together like stale popcorn decorations on a Christmas tree in July, I think our chances of cloning players is more likely than building a team from the ground up.

Building from the ground up has been our strategy for years. Supposedly our farm system is full of young talent. I can only hope it’s true. There it is again… the little things. I have faith in a young farm team full of talent I know nothing about and while their major league counterpart rides a 4 game losing streak, I’m just stoked we still remain above the lowly Cleveland Indians. Y-E-S!

Now maybe tonight we can give Strausburg his first Major League loss. No matter how great of a pitcher he becomes I’d never forget that little factoid. It might help out on Jeopardy! one day, or at least give a lowly Royals fan something to brag about.

This is the the life of a Royals fan and like family, win or lose I still love them. Win or lose there’s nothing better than a day at the ballpark or an evening in front of the Royals Network. There’s just something about that winning, though, that makes America’s true pastime a little sweeter.

Artist: Hot Hot Heat
Album: Future Breeds
Release Date: June 8th, 2010
Label: Dangerbird

Hot Hot Heat has been one of my favorite bands since Make Up the Breakdown. 2007′s Happiness Ltd. had a few perfect songs but overall it felt like something was missing, the heartbeat of the band wasn’t there.

I could tell by the first glance at the Future Breeds album cover this album was not cut from the same die that made Happiness Ltd. The energy is back, not in the same vein of Elevator or Makeup, but in a new and refocused way. This could be due to the band working in their own studio this time around.

It’s an eternal struggle for bands to evolve and create new music without going stale or repulsing their fan base. I’m sure it’s extremely frustrating for musicians to create songs they feel are their best work yet only for fans to yell out song titles from their very first LP of decade-old songs.

I believe that Hot Hot Heat has done just that with this album, they wrote some of their best songs and these songs will have fans yelling out their weird titles instead of just “Bandages!”

The old energy and wittiness of lyric are back, but there is a new element of spastic experimentation in the guitar solos and frantic synth leads. What I love about it, though, is that it never leaps off into just plain weird “creativity.” Sometimes I feel modern musicians let creativity take over. While by itself creativity is never bad, it can be a negative when the creativity becomes the focus and what’s created limits not only the appeal of the songs but the ability to define the sonic noise as a “song.” Sometimes doing the same thing over again, revisiting what once worked, is the best approach.

Hot Hot Heat walked that fine line and found success in Future Breeds.

The album should be purchased in either CD or Vinyl format. The art is a really fun illustration piece created by Keith Jones.

Hot Hot Heat store

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Though it seems like eons ago, it was just last week we were listening to big speeches during a pompous newsconference in Nebraska and were shrugging our shoulders when Colorado showed their Benedict Arnold flakiness. How quickly breaking news becomes stale. Both schools were duped by the same university that 1 ups them in the competetive arena every year. Read the rest of this entry »

Every four years soccer comes around in full force. To the rest of the world, the World Cup is just the cherry on top of the soccer sundae they eat everyday. For America, soccer is the melted ice cream at the bottom of the bowl. If we’re really hungry, we’ll lick it clean. If not, we’ll toss it out. But what about American interest in the World Cup?

It’s not an unknown fact that soccer has never caught on from sea to shining sea. It’s more than just the oceans that divide the world’s passion for soccer and American’s apathy for the sport. Could ESPN’s extended push to cover the entire World Cup event cut into the major sports death-grip they have on American athletic attention?

This time around I decided to give the sport a “kick” (I couldn’t say “shot” now could I?) and what follows are a few of my thoughts on the experience. Keep in mind I am an uneducated Philistine when it comes to the art of soccer. I know little about the rules. I watched the full England v USA match and listen to the rest when I am working through the day, but osmosis has begun to fruitfully impart a little knowledge about the mystics of a game I used to categorically deny.

First, I must admit, it’s not that bad! I don’t think there is any way it will dethrone my favorite sports, but every four years I’ll tune in. The beauty of this sporting event is the passion each and every country has for their respective representatives.

In my uneducated opinion, the biggest reason soccer will never catch on here is the scoring. Most people just don’t understand a tie because winning decisively is integrated into American DNA. If you cannot deftly win, do not bother to win at all.

If a persons only knowledge of the sport is what they caught during the few highlights on Sportscenter, it’s impossible to see what could be interesting about a game that ends 1-1 or nil-nil. “What? They played 90 minutes and didn’t score!”

But when the entire game is watched live, excitement is apparent and the overall feeling is one of intrigue. One team can dominate the other by scoring just once. One erroneous goal can shatter the confidence of the players and bring a media blitz of negativity washed up pop starlets couldn’t even comprehend.

A few aspects that are unique to this sport that I enjoyed: ties can be wins, less is more, patience is key. Skill trumps power conditioning or doping (cardiovascular conditioning is highly recommended though).

At its basic form, soccer is the most primal of competitive gamesmanship that requires the most miniscule investment to play. It’s no wonder the rest of the world loves it, everyone should be able to get invovled.

The way the clock is managed is magnificent. They don’t mess around on the soccer pitch, the clock runs without stoppage. The clock runs while players hurry to grab balls that go out of bounds or act injured like they were just ran over by a truck. Torrential downpours and freezing weather? No problem! Even the stadium is still packed in spite of the conditions. Halftime is snappy, there isn’t even much time for commercial interruptions. I like that. Other sports can drag on with stoppage and commercials can derail my interest in the game.

Even penalties add little time to a soccer match. Add up the time spent standing at the free throw line in basketball games and I’m sure it’s more than the typical +3 or +4 they add to soccer games. And time referees spend under the hood in the NFL? Sometimes it can feel like it’s 3 minutes a pop.

The passion of the fans is not much different from other sports, except for the vuvuzelas. Maybe this is local to South Africa, but once the buzzing burns its way into the head it becomes unnoticeable.

In the end I have other sporting allegiances that will always be higher up on the importance order. There just isn’t room for the MLS while I’m waiting on the next World Cup. NFL and college basketball are locks despite disappointing greed in football, MLB takes up my summer and NHL hockey fills in the brief leftover moments. However, I have a newfound appreciation for the sport of soccer. It’s hard to completely ignore something the rest of the world so arduously loves.

With the dawn of the super conference era rising in the western sky, it appears that the sun could be setting on the reign of the NCAA in an ironic turn of backward events.

The NCAA’s recent track record has been a bit shaky. Their almighty hammer of justice nails USC into a 6 year old coffin while others continue to cheat under the boards. They want more “students” and less “athletes” yet they let athletics call the plays. They refuse to fix the defective BCS algorithm, yet they want to mess up the perfect ending to the college basketball season by letting almost everyone in the tournament.

Now by sitting silently they are acknowledging that it really is football, not academics, not any other athletic affair nor even the NCAA themselves, is all that matters. Forget the spirit of competition and rivalry, invite the spirit of avarice.

Sportscasters chatter and sports fans watch eagerly as the NCAA turns a blind eye to the rapacious Big Ten and scheming Pac 10 as they burn and pillage a powerhouse conference for money and football. Some are excited at the thought of new rivalries and new incomes, others are being boxed up and packed away. In the midst of all the warfare, nothing is considered sacred and even the most cherished aspect of sports – the rivalry – is being shelved.

Rivalries are what moved sports out of the YMCA gym and into the mega stadium. Without rivalries sports would never have ascended to these heights. Without rivalries money would not be an issue at all. If rivalries go, will the money stay?

“Tradition” is what college sports were built on, not money, and tradition is made through years of competition. Not that changes can never occur, but changes this drastic should involve planning and structure, not this panic-riddled farce of a “realignment.”

Maybe the Big 12 should dissolve, maybe super conferences are the future. I’m not arguing for or against the Big 12 though personally I’d like it to stay. However, if the future of the super conference is beginning to ignite… the NCAAs future is flickering. If the NCAA is showing right now that they are powerless to the conference committees, what will they do when those conferences gain even more power?

So with sultry rumors of the demise of the Big 12 swirling around like a sundry afternoon soap opera, I decided to weigh in. Let me say straightway, I’ll miss the Big 12 if and when it’s gone. It’s been a great conference. Keep in mind I’m a nobody in the college sports world, just a Kansas Jayhawks fan. Apparently, Kansas athletics is filled with a bunch of nobody’s, at least that is what all the other conferences are making abundantly clear by overlooking us left and right, west and east.
Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to the new United Plates! I jokingly call it “The United Plates 2: Back to the Buffet.”

Go ahead and check it out!

Here’s the idea: commercialize. At first, that may sound like an anti-artist notion. I felt that with some polish and my newfound style, this project could reach a broader audience. Each individual piece can be consumed on it’s own.

For the past 30-40 days I’ve holed myself away in my studio, cranking out pieces at a feverish pace. Never has art came to completion so effortlessly and easy. I felt like a modern day Wayne Thiebaud, painting cupcakes and cookies, pork ribs and pot pies, enchiladas and eggs. I screamed, I yelled, I smiled and I got really excited. It’s no slight to the first versions, but these new pieces are flat out awesome.

I took into account all the feedback I received from the critical outside world and implemented suggestions from readers of Food Network Magazine and SeriousEats.com. Feedback that I put into good use:

1. Make the prints a more manageable/frameable size. New prints are available in 8×10 and 11×14, both with a small white border for framing/matteing. These should be easily frameable in standard frame sizes!
2. The first time around I often went towards a more abstracted image to fit the shape of the state. This time around, each and every piece is clearly rendered. I found a balance and walked the line between fitting the food into the states boundary and the boundary into the food. I found that most people do not like abstraction like I do.
3. Lower shipping costs! They were getting out of hand with the way I was force to mail the older versions. Now, shipping charges are nearly cut in half. I put that cut in cost back into the product by making archival giclee prints on fine art paper. Sorry USPS. Now I can charge $3-$6 dollars and not lose money on shipping! Yay.
4. There is now a Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico print!

In making these changes, some great ideas had to go. That’s the thing about attempting to do something better. Obviously you cut the less-than-stellar ideas, but also in the process many good, even great, ideas are forced out for the greater good. For example, I wanted to move away from hand-drawn lettering. A couple of the originals had lettering that I loved (Montana). Also, it no longer made sense for the human to be in the series or for all the utensil pieces or state names on the actual food product packaging. So I said good-bye to a few ideas I still love in attempt to broaden the reach of the idea.

If you purchased from me before, I am humbled that you came back to take a second plate. If you’ve never made a purchase, welcome to the buffet line.

Here’s the print sizes and packages I offer:

11×14
Single Print: $30
Mini Set: $70
Mega Set: $100
Canvas Wrap: $100

4×6 Postcards
10 Cards: $30

Sorry for not posting this sooner. The Us Presidents series is on a mini vacation, and extended filibuster if you will. Since this series is still a “personal series,” I have a couple other more pressing things to create and work on in the next couple of weeks before I can resume work on Herbert Hoover. But fear not, I will get them finished! Just thought I’d let you know what’s going on.