Rad Tad

I received one of the coolest Christmas presents this season from a guy I have met in person only once, but whose work I have been enthralled with for quite awhile. His name is Tad Carpenter and he is an outstanding illustrator from KC. Also Tad is 1/2 of the amazingly awesome Vallhalla Studios.

Almost every Tuesday on his twitter, Tad does a giveaway of some of his design work. I am a sucker for freebies (especially awesome freebies) and had been trying and trying to win one of his giveaways - but to no avail.

One day in December after Mr Tad had posted an awesome campaign he did for Macy's I noticed my name (3rd on the list) in one of his illustrations




I tweeted about it



He messaged back





In the end, I emailed him my address and he very graciously provided me with the following:





Now we are BFFs!



Big thanks to Tad for being so gracious and taking the time to mail me such an awesome gift!

A Salute to the NCAA

In regards to the Pinstripe Bowl that was held in NYC on Dec 30, my beloved K-State Wildcats looked to seize their first bowl victory in 6 years, but 11 players and 1 referee had other ideas. In my 12 part series entitled: "The 'N' in NCAA stands for Inconsistent", we take a look at "Operation Pinstripe Bowl:2010"



(This is a re-post straight from ESPN's "Tuesday Morning Quarterback" (TMQ) but was too good not to re-post)

Only the NCAA Could Think One Person Is "Themselves". In the Kansas State-Syracuse bowl game, Adrian Hilburn scored a touchdown with a minute remaining to pull Kansas State to within two points. Hilburn briefly saluted the Kansas State cheering section behind that end zone where he scored; zebras called that unsportsmanlike conduct, marching the Wildcats' 2-point try back to the 18. Syracuse stopped the deuce and won. Thus the penalty essentially handed the inaugural New Era Pinstripe Bowl to Syracuse. The game was being played in New York City, see? Syracuse is a New York team, see? The mob put the fix in to make sure the New York team won, see? The whole game was fixed by the mob, see?

There you go, tabloids -- "ESPN says game was 'fixed by the mob.'" Obviously I don't mean this. The trouble is, it's a better explanation than that NCAA officials think a three-second salute by a guy who just scored a touchdown is a reason to throw a flag that in effect awards the game to the other team.

TMQ hates the celebration penalty. As long as there is no taunting, and there was none by Kansas State, why shouldn't players dance happily after a touchdown? Nearly all football fans, players and coaches hate the celebration penalty -- why does it exist? The current NCAA stance seems to be that football players not graduating is a minor matter, athletes who break rules will be overlooked whenever bowl revenue is involved, but don't you dare act happy! Especially bizarre is the NCAA notion that celebration fouls should be a "point of emphasis." Punishing players for jumping around happily is a point of emphasis, while helmet-to-helmet hits are rarely flagged? Even considering the NCAA's reputation for hypocrisy, this is a bit much. The celebration rule (at the high school and NFL levels, too) needs a serious revamping.


The officiating crew from the Pinstripe Bowl (via HBO).

After the game, referee Todd Geerlings said the penalty was justified because officials judged Hilburn "to be drawing attention to themselves, and that's what the flag was for." Set aside that your kindergarten teacher would flunk that sentence. Here's the NCAA rule: Unsportsmanlike celebration is "Any delayed, excessive, prolonged or choreographed act by which a player attempts to focus attention on himself (or themselves)." What Hilburn did was not delayed, excessive, prolonged or choreographed -- although he did draw attention to himself. The rule doesn't forbid drawing attention to yourself. It forbids "any delayed, excessive, prolonged or choreographed act." Hilburn did not violate the wording of the rule. Even an NCAA official who doesn't know the difference between "himself" and "themselves" should understand the wording of rules.

Along comes the next bowl, North Carolina at Tennessee. On one Volunteers touchdown, the receiver did a choreographed dance as a teammate leapfrogged him; on another, the receiver danced elaborately, then a teammate lifted him into the air. No flag in either case. Rules are supposed to be consistent. The NCAA celebration rule seems enforced entirely according to the whim of whoever is working the game.

Reader Chris Gillard of Atlanta adds that "drawing attention" happens constantly in football and is almost never flagged: "If celebration is bad, shouldn't there be an excessive celebration penalty for the defensive player who gets a sack and then runs 10 yards jumping around, thumping his chest and gesturing to the fans?" I watched the South Carolina-Florida State second half with this in mind, and counted 14 instances of a player who had just made a sack or big tackle or had a big gain dancing wildly on the field, flexing his biceps, chest-bumping with a teammate or doing a bit or choreography. No flags. How come celebrating a touchdown is a grievous offense but celebrating a tackle is unregulated? Fix this embarrassing rule.

Top Songs + Albums of 2010

TOP SONGS 2010

1. Minus The Bear - Hold Me Down

2. Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man

3. Brandon Flowers - Crossfire

4. Freelance Whales - Second Floor Generator

5. Anberlin - To The Wolves

6. The Daylights - Weapons

7. Icon Parade - Jukebox Collective

8. Five Finger Death Punch - Bad Company

9. Jónsi - Go Do

10. Young The Giant - My Body

11. Michael Franti - Sound of Sunshine

12. Two Door Cinema Club - Something Good Can Work



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TOP ALBUMS 2010

1. Jónsi - Go

2. Brandon Flowers - Flamingo

3. Freelance Whales - Weathervanes

4. Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More

5. Queens Club - Young Giant

6. Anberlin - Dark is the Way, Light is the Place

7. Two Door Cinema Club - Tourist History

8. Timid Tigers - Electric Island

9. House of Heroes - Suburbia

10. Ivoryline - Vessels

11. American Bang - American Bang

12. Tallest Man On Earth - Wild Hunt

13. Band of Horses - Infinate Arms

14. Hammock - Chasing After Shadows...Living With The Ghosts



Moving On Up. . .To Downs

About 15 miles west of Kansas's famed "World's Largest Ball of Twine" is a sign that announces, "Welcome to Downs, Population 824". In this town that boasts two gas stations, one stop light, and an abandoned swimming pool, lies a graphic design company who thrives and has been listed multiple times in Inc. Magazine's "Top 500 Companies" list. For years the Brush Art Corporation has found itself steadily growing in an industry that has been pretty unstable over the last decade. Their secret is that their client base is primarily large agricultural and industrial corporations: John Deere, Caterpillar, Cargill, The Discovery Channel, etc.

Seven weeks into our brand spanking' new marriage, Paige and I found ourselves faced with a tough situation: I had received news that my current employer would be releasing me at the end of October. Our task? Find a job. Stat. And that is just what we did. However, we found it in the most unlikely of places: Downs, KS. One of my groomsmen from our wedding, Ryan Barten, is currently one of the 35 individuals employed at Brush Art and told me some inside information regarding an opening out west.



Beginning October 4, 2010, that small town's population will increase by 1 as I will be moving to Downs. But don't worry, a few weeks later, after she has wrapped up a few things in Overland Park, Paige will be joining me out west in a small town on the edge of Waconda Lake.



We are excited to begin our new adventure together in a place where we know 1 person. But most of all, we are thankful to have been so blessed by God to be able to have this opportunity to work for a company willing to give us an opportunity to not have to live paycheck to paycheck. We also ask for your continued prayers and support on our marriage as we embark upon this new chapter in our lives. Our phone numbers will remain the same, and our current address is still a valid one for about 4 more weeks but then should be able to forward to our new address for the next year or so. Once we have determined our new residence, we will make sure to pass it along. If you are curious (and we know you are) here is a website on Downs. Have a look (it'll only take a minute): http://www.downsks.net/

Feel free to look us up and stop on by if you ever find yourself on the West side of a National Landmark made of twine or need a place to bed down on your way to Denver. There's always room for one more in Downs.

Hairy & Scary - January

For every work day in January (21), I took about 30 seconds to sketch out a monster that was both hairy and scary on a blue post-it note, then posted them on a board next to my desk. Here is what I came up with (click on image for a larger view):









Boo!

2009 in Review

Stephen's Best of 2009:
*Graduation with Bachelor in Fine Arts (and a Minor in Literature) in May
*Getting a full-time job at Keating in May
*Leaving Keating in August
*Finding an apartment in one weekend in Overland Park in August
*Getting a job at Crossover Graphics in August
*Paying my truck off completely
*Traveling to Colorado to see my Uncle and go hiking and fishing in the Rockies
*Turning 24 (old dude)
*Late Night Trivia at Auntie Mae's with Matt, John, Aubrey, Dillon, Todd, and others
*Kings of Leon concert with the Abandon Kansas boys
*Swell Season concert with Kyle + friends
*Killers concert with Jeremy, Brad and others
*Abandon Kansas includes me in their first released CD on their new label
*Winning tix on the radio to the Jet/Flock of Seagulls/Black Joe Lewis/Ravonettes/White Rabbits concert with Aubrey, Matt
*Minus The Bear/As Tall As Lions concert with Jeremy
*VIP at Spoon/Hockey/Metric/The Bravery concert with Jeremy
*KC Royals game vs Red Sox with Cy Young winner Zack Grienke pitched a shutout
*Becoming roommate with Kyle Gach (then sadly, ditching him for KC)
*ENGAGED to my beautiful girlfriend
*Designing a mural for West Hall 4th Floor (link to old post)
*Dallas Design conference with friends AND getting my poster entered
*Commerce Bank Student Art Show in Manhattan, getting poster entered
*Seeing Abandon Kansas live about 20 times
*Justin's wedding
*Kenny's wedding
*Ali+James wedding
*Applying to Hatch Show Print
*My brother Sam getting Prom Prince
*Another great year with Antony Miguel Cardenas Cortez, my sponsored child

(please feel free to help me add to this list if I'm missing anything!)

Top 10 of '09 - Songs

Top 10 of '09 - Songs
These are my favorite songs in or around the year 2009.

1. Percussion Gun - White Rabbits

2. 1901 - Phoenix


3. Spaceman - Killers


4. Furr - Blitzen Trapper


5. I Want You To - Weezer


6. Meet Me On The Equinox - Death Cab For Cutie


7. Electrify - MuteMath


8. 11th Dimension - Julian Casablancas


9. Help I'm Alive - Metric


10. Oscar Wilde - Company of Thieves


Honorable Mention
Kings & Queens - 30 Seconds to Mars
The Reeling - Passion Pit
Uprising - Muse
In One Ear - Cage The Elephant
Alligator Pie - Dave Matthews Band