Best.Stapleroftheweekpost.Ever. Yes, I do have a favourite stapler, and yes, that stapler is the Swingline Cub Plier. So good. The saddest thing about that post? The plier up above was apparently for sale on ebay (picture stolen from stapler of the week, stolen from the seller). But now it is sold. And I didn't buy it.

Do you see how perfect/beautiful/amazing/ahhhhh! that stapler is? I would have loved to own it. At least it finally prompted me to set it up so ebay sends me notifications anytime the keywords "swingline cub" come up.
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Newsboy bot? Another adorable, adorable bot!
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Dime bag quilt... An interesting re-use of garbage. Love the little story that goes along with it.
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The Dieline has been posting some great stuff lately (often I skim packaging blogs, cause a lot of it deals with wine labels and the like, which I mostly could not care for), so here's a taste of what they're bringing.

- Foxglo lightbulb packaging. So amazing! If these beautiful packages can't get people to switch to eco-friendly bulbs, I don't know what will (okay, aside from not selling any other options...). Wish I was in Europe, so I could pick up one of these boxes, just to ogle it for a couple hours.

- Pepsi (and Mountain Dew) Throwback. On the heels of the whole big crazy (ugly) Pepsi redesign, comes Pepsi throwback, using an older logo, and being a special formulation with real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. There's another logo that's popped up for it around, with a real classic logo, but I hope this more 80's version is the one that's really coming out. I hope this makes it to Canada...

- Retro-styled Cereal Boxes. Bringing 'em back! Good point that these aren't really being put out for the kids in the cereal ailse, but for the parents, but still, I'll be happy if I get to see them. Check out this Kix box! Beautiful (except that "retro t-shirt" bit tagged on there). Beautifully photographed too, looks real nice with that background colour...
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Sorry for that wicked long last post. I just kept letting things pile up that I wanted to mention. And piling. And piling. If I could just get myself to post more, you'd hopefully get more stuff like this...

That up above is a little of the extra work I've put in recently. It's a little logo for my friend Dana's metal dj project Sludge King. He's got a couple metal mixes he's putting out there, so if you like heavy stuff, you should check them out. More stuff should be coming for Dana soon. (This will have links to Sludge King stuff eventually, I seem to have lost them, so check back if yer interested...)
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On a personal note, things are a little slow around here due to some serious back pain I've been suffering. Midday Monday I got a lower back pang that has turned into me getting stabbing pains when I make certain movements. Not so pleasant. I actually went to a doctor (and found out I no longer have a family doctor, since I haven't been there in forever), which, for me, is a sign that it's pretty damn bad. Got some pills, and got to bring my work computer home and work on the film guide from home today though, which was pretty nice. It's going to mean that I won't be able to do something pretty important involving Jenna's family though, which has got me pretty down.
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I think I may have a new favourite website: The Book Cover Archive

When I'm really honest with myself, I have to say that that would be my dream, designing book covers. I like posters, and I'm sure cd booklets would be great too, but book covers have to be my holy grail. Maybe it's just because that's what my hero Chip Kidd does, but the fact that he, and so many others, have impressed me so much with their covers, it's hard not to want to take a crack at that kind of canvas. So, if any of you have a book you need a cover designed for, hit me up.
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More Chip Kidd!
I'm pretty sure I started drunkenly writing a post I never posted about how Lindsay gave me this book, and how I had just been reading it, and how I'd never wanted to climb into/hug a book more, and then I realized how ridiculous that sounded and decided not to post it. But then I thought about it and decided that, ridiculous as it may sound, I did feel that way, so I thought I'd mention it. So much work, and insight into the work. Such a good book!

And more!
Chip Kidd takes you on a tour of the New York Comic Con. Scroll down, there's a video down there.
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Squirrel bot!! He's one of my favourite bots yet! The acorn for a heart totally makes it! He'd go real nice with my woodgrain bot, don't you think???
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Foldable shoes? What!? What will they think of next???
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Since subscribing to their feed, this is the best post I have seen on Inspiration Resource. Seriously, look at that first pic. When was that made? Are the Modern Woodmen the originators of the fist bump? This sounds like a group I need to look into.
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Steve Zissou: Anne-Marie, do all the interns get Glocks?
Anne-Marie Sakowitz: No, they all share one.

If I were to carry a Glock, it would be this one, for sure.
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This Swink promo piece is making the blog rounds, and I have to say, I would love to have one. Apparently you can order one from Swink for $12, but I'm afraid it will just sit around like the Hatch bird mobile I got for Jenna awhile back. Really really cool letterpress stuff, but do I need it? Will I use it? I guess I'll have to decide...
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That sweet Swink piece was printed by Studio on Fire, who seem pretty freakin' awesome. They've got a pretty sweet blog showcasing their work (like this cute/clever baby announcement) called Beast Pieces that you should check out.

When the time comes I'd love to have do up our wedding invitations on a letterpress. I've heard a little rumour that maybe by that time my favourite local print shop might be able to help me in that regard. I'm not sure of that will be the case, but I will love it if it is.
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Bigfoot vs. Bunyan. Awesome concept. Not positive if I love the final product or not though. I bet if Timber had come up with this idea and produced his own version, I'd have already bought it. As is, I'm still thinking about this one here.
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Oh, and if you're not reading Meagan's new blog yet, then you should be. Lots of funny people on there. Lots and lots. Funny in that good, awkward, awesome way. Her article on Mondo about SF Comedy Fest was definitely jealousy inducing.
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La Bamba's on the tv (as it often is) and Ritchie's just about to get on that fateful plane... 17 years old. 17. What a crash. Taking out Ritchie, the Big Bopper, and Buddy Holly. Crazy to think about.
This movie always makes me think about a few things:
a) Why do I remember seeing a movie with this much sex, violence, drinking, etc. at such a young age?
b) How many times did I see this movie as a kid? I feel like it was at least more than 6.
c) I think this movie and Back to the Future both play key roles in my current love of 50's and 60's hits (which I'll be dj'ing a full night of again at the Bond on March 7th, btw...)

I don't know if I've ever mentioned it on here before, but I LOVE the International Harvester Scout (and Scout II). I will likely never ever own one, but I have spent plenty of time over the years looking at them on ebay.

It's been awhile since I went looking for them, but my interest was rekindled by this post about a 90-year old guy who, at least until recently, was/is still selling them. Amazing. (via Draplin) Not suprisingly, that poster also loves the Bronco II. I prefer the first generation Bronco (60's/70's), but anyway...

The Scout above is currently for sale on ebay here, and I think looks pretty awesome. Okay, so the interior needs work, but the paint job is nice! (wow, not to be too stereotypical, but how girly did I sound there?)
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I know I've talked about how awesome Saul Bass is on here before, but this here is a really nicely put together post documenting just how awesome he is. Like seriously awesome, if you didn't know that. Many, many, many examples of it there. (possibly via Draplin as well?)
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Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it). Jenna sent me this one. Pretty great.
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Finally, I added a new blog to my reader, High Snobiety. It's a little daunting for sheer volume of posts, however, I've already seen some pretty great stuff on there, so we'll see how it goes. Top two highlights that I've seen so far on there:
Shepard Fairey does work for Stereo Skateboards (started by Jason Lee, if you didn't know). I could go for either or both of the shirts there (or any of the decks too, you know, if I skated...)
Awesome Nike SB Dunk's. I would love to own these. The little touch of plaid is just perfect (I mean, I could go for more, but it's so nice here!).

Another busy feeling week. I'm trying to sleep more so that every week doesn't feel busy. I can't help but think that that's the reason for that. But then aside from making the above poster for Shane's pre family day night at Starlight, another poster, my ads, and regular work, I was also violently ill all night long after I got home from tacos on Tuesday. So you can see how my time kind of disappeared.

Some have asked whether said violently ill-ness will put me off tacos for a bit, to which I have resoundingly responded "No Way." Seriously, how many nights have I been there? And how many times have I been sick afterwards (without it being my own fault)? Answers: too many to count and one, respectively. I don't even know if it was the tacos that made me sick!

A couple extra projects lately, which are great to be getting 'cause they make a fella feel loved. A No Fest poster, which is getting good reviews, a logo for the "Sludge King" that's still in progress, and a likely t-shirt design to come.

Anyway, too much about me, not enough links, 'cause I've been building them up in my Google Reader to share, and now I guess I should...

Oh, one more personal thing: this Saturday is the first night of "Come Go With Me: Doo-Wop Hits with DJ Bearface!" First Saturday of the month for the next few months. Should be a good time.
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This is pretty much my favourite thing that I have seen on the internet in a long time. SO GOOD. It also turned me on to Herb Lubalin as a whole, who, aside from having an awesome name, was also an amazing designer.
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This Flickr set has been making the rounds as of late. Pretty awesome set as a whole, but the "I Can Read Movies" stuff is the best. Someone posted "Close Encounters..." in one of the blogs I read a couple weeks ago and I have not been able to stop looking at it, like, every day. SO GOOD. I'm pretty into the amazingness of lines lately (sounds ridiculous, I know...), and this one kills it.
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So I thought I had more stuff to post, and I do, but I just realized that it all comes from one place. So this may cut this shorter, or it may not, but really, it should only tell you one thing, if you don't already, you should read Grain Edit. While some blogs may have minimal but awesome posts (like So Much Pileup), and some blogs may have a million posts with some hits here and there (like Design*Sponge), no blog has as many consistently awesome as Grain Edit.

Some recent highlights:

Puff - An amazing looking classic kids book. Grain Edit is also good for vintage kids stuff, and this one looks pretty amazing.

Max Dalton - Haven't had the time to get into any more of his work, but the picture in that post is so adorably awesome! Cancel that, after a quick visit to his site, it's all awesome!

Shining print - So simple, so good. Really boils it all down.

Eli, No! - Once again, I've only had the time to browse, and not read the text, but still, this is one of the prettiest looking kids books I've ever seen. Now I guess it just needs to get made into a physical stuff.

So there you go, read Grain Edit, see great stuff like that. Best internet advice I can give you.
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The dark haired girl who sings in this this video was on Scrubs recently, singing this song with Ted, the awkward lawyer, and I loved it. This video, and the others by "Garfunkel and Oates" kind of (really) makes me want to learn to play the ukulele. It will be a short lived want, I know, but still, wouldn't it be great? I mean, just for how ridiculous I would look with a tiny little ukulele. Looks like they're pretty cheap too!
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Well, it was past my (new) bedtime when I started this, and now my episode of Being Erica (5 eps. in and I can't decide if it's actually good or not) is almost done, so I guess it's really bedtime