Heckler and the Whip Whip

Jim & Derrick "Gas Blast" from Eric Wareheim on Vimeo.

The Jim and Derrick thing from Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job is some of the best satire they've done aside from all the 80's/90's retro bits they consistently crank out. Yeah, the Cinco ads are hilarious because it's all so perfectly backwards and absurd and stylistically dated. But these J&D bits are about stuff that you can see today on Mtv, Spike, E!, G4 and even Comedy Central and their own Cartoon Network. It's a perfect and daring parody of media trends and social fashions that are still observable, from the grunge fonts and music clips to the "rockstar" wardrobe and laid back, slangy slacker delivery.

It kinda feels like a jab at their expanding college-humor audience too. The mockingly blatant drug jokes and Spring Break sketches are dead on, right down to the location. (Mtv's Spring Break '09 was in Panama City Beach.) They slam junk food and energy drink sponsorships ("It's not a drug."), hipster accessories (Palestinian scarf, overly-silkscreened tees, curled brim cowboy hats, blinged whatever), Pimp My Ride, homoerotic pranks (á la Jackass), and even a triple-threat at tattoos, tanning and body advertising (Jim gets a "microtan" of the Turbo Fuel logo.)

I wonder if these videos are on Eric Wareheim's Vimeo account because it's somehow not the "right fit" for the Adult Swim demographic... ie: if someone thinks it's either too forward with the satire or not absurd enough to become marketable, viral-quality material like most of the Awesome Show stuff. The one entire Awesome Show they devoted to Jim and Derrick was truly surreal because it was an ENTIRE show, from opening sequence to end credits. They were aiming at and putting themselves up against identifiable standards. They were stepping outside of their closed universe of surreal comedy and going electric.

They've been taking on more guest stars too. Michael Ian Black doesn't really count because he's on everything. But they've got casting leverage. Credit has to go to John C Reilly for opening it up. They've been slipping in more and more uncomfortably sexual overtones (Steve Brule stripping the body suit for the kids). They can push some taste boundaries because they've got this wave of popularity and acceptance, however broad and ambiguous the audience may be these days. I'm sure we all can find someone we know who will never, ever "get" Awesome Show humor. Some are still repulsed. This is where they have to balance it. Keep everyone somewhat repulsed. It's the same thing that makes me watch Todd Solondz films. Squirmy. Uncomfortable. Still identifiable, if only from a distance that is inevitably shrinking.

I hope they do more of the straight satire. They'll have a pair of Mark Twain Prizes in no time, and it makes me think so much I wanna blog about it. I'm dorkin' out here.

Janine

Crash victim was teacher in Poland School District

I worked with Janine Walker at The Last Unicorn years ago, perhaps the last independent record store in Utica. She certainly was a Van Halen fan. I've always remembered her when I hear/play/think of VH. Some people are inextricably linked to certain music in your memory.

This news naturally comes with dual significance for a motorcyclist.

It's a strange time of year for those of us in four-season climates. It's spring. We get to ride again. We're excited. We're restless. We haven't ridden in months. We're rusty. We're like beginners again. Maybe impatient. We make mistakes, and we take risks, driven by the thrill of riding. We all negotiate risks every day of our lives. Some of us accept grater risks to feel alive.

My father's been riding since he was a teen. He taught me how to ride. He taught me how to ride responsibly. He broke both legs in a wreck when I was a few months old. He had metal pins holding his knees together for a while and still has the scars. Maybe he was lucky that was the worst of it. Maybe he instinctively did something to minimize the damage. Maybe there was nothing he could have done at all. My dad still rides, and I'm glad I've gotten to ride alongside him.

I'm writing to somehow share the weight with everyone affected. It is so incredibly painful to lose things that you love so greatly, whether it be faith in a machine or the presence of a someone as fucking cool as Janine Walker.

I will ride again this week just as cautiously or daringly as I always do, but some songs will never be the same, ever.

Sunset Ride

I've been working all night lately and sleeping all day. I was up at 1pm today though, took care of some email, and took out the KLR. I rode across Mulholland Drive to the PCH in Malibu. Had some Taco Bell and some decent coffee at a mini-mart gas station and headed up to Zuma Beach.

I shot this video on my Samsung T-509. I love that little phone. I bought a Sony Mavica from my buddy Jason Anfinsen years ago that took the same quality stills and recorded them onto 3.5" floppies.

Riding home was a thrill. Yes, I split lanes, especially on the 10. Sure beats overheating in traffic. Most LA drivers are pretty courteous and aware that motorcycles have the right to leave them all in the jam.

Black Monday promo on YouTube

James Puckett has produced this Video Specimen for our Black Monday typeface.

Black Monday is a distressed version of James's Recovery font based on Eagle Bold, originally designed by Charles Coiner and MF Benton in 1933 for FDR's National Recovery Administration. The video illustrates the Opentype scripting I wrote that automatically randomizes double character pairs with the alternate glyphs in the font... something that lend a more natural look to a distressed type style.

I’m apparently a Creative Character.

I’ve received a lot of great feedback from the MyFonts.com interview that went out yesterday. Just wanted to say thank you to everyone that sent me a note. I’m really happy to hear that you all got something out of it.

The interview process made me realize how much I haven’t written in the past few years. I forgot how anxious I get with words, and how good it sometimes feels to get them out. It’s a funny feeling to write about yourself and then read it days later.

So, to keep the buzz and momentum, I’ve decided to start this little blog. It’s just a Blogger feed that I customized and publish to my own server. I’ll ramble about inane stuff, for sure, but I’ll post snapshots of new type in progress and other inspirational tidbits.