The Turd Burglars

Let's rewind to last Sunday night.

I'm all cozied up, kicking back with a hot mug of chai, watching some Planet Earth and letting my brain idle for a bit. Ah, such a glorious night....But where are my friends at?

Probably vandalizing my desk space.


The Turd Burglars struck at approximately 2:27AM, armed with toilet paper and a whole lot of rage. This is what I get for leaving the studio for an extended period of time. Apparently when I say, "Yeah, I'm not coming in tonight," it also comes with the clause "...so feel free to violate my space however you see fit."


Oh, girls. I'm almost proud.


Yeeeeeah.


Artistic photography by Stephen, flowers by Ashleigh and damage by the TB's.


Revenge will be sought, no doubt. It's just a matter of when. And with a creative double-agent on my side (who shall remain nameless), it's no question that my attack will rival every retaliation in the history of mankind. Prank ideas are both appreciated and encouraged.

Man, Chester! (Side effects of Senior Studio)

One of the current assignments is to create a travel campaign for an international city. Senior studio is pretty much the best thing ever because I hate sleeping but really enjoy feeling like a crazy person.

And it's only been one full week. Ahahahaha.

This is just a tribute.

It's been about a month now since one of the most creative/eccentric/badass minds ever to grace Manhattan, Kansas packed up her things and moved to the land of opportunity.

Upon going through my desk to transfer its contents to my new home-away-from-home on campus (senior studio [a whole 'nother story]), I came across a few little creations by the one and only Kasie. Here's a little sample.

My Christmas card.

Not only was this written on a regifted piece of stationary (the black mark at the top left is covering up "Tommy"), she kindly marked all rivers, added a killer seal and used three different kinds of ink.

This was the envelope.

Beautifully illustrated, featuring another sea mammal, as well an expert thief slash eskimo.

Valentine's Day Poem.

That is a dead/rotting mouse. The back reads: "Now write something special & romantic to yourself from me to you here."

Birthday present: clown statue.*

*This is not the actual statue she gave me for my birthday. However, she definitely did give me a hollow plastic clown...I'm just too afraid to remove it from its paper bag stuffed in the back of my closet. This does earn an A for creativity, though. And an A+ in keeping me from sleeping at night.

I couldn't find the modge-podged card that went along with that gift, but naturally it was filled with hints of sheer brilliance.

Long story short, Kasie is a total baller. She helped me survive the wrath of Terri in drawing classes and exchanged many verbal jousts with me along the way. She is missed like whoa. I hope she becomes a creative director some day...Or a Pam for me when I'm rich and famous and running my own office with the rest of the art kids.

Three things...

1. Thanks to Patrick for the bit of inspirado (go read his blog and have a laugh or two).
2. I'm not quite sure how I forgot about Killswitch Engage's Dio remake a few posts ago, but I did. It pains me.
3. This poster is hanging a few cubes down in the office:

Upon further investigation, that font is not Chiller, yet it is uncannily similar and still manages to convey the same message of care, sentiment, and inspiration. Bravo!

Dear Nickelback:

You have met your match.

A bird in the hand is worth four in the dock.

Noteables: There are four birds sitting in my dock, two references to It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and a highlighted Toothpaste for Dinner comic. My desktop is looking SO fine.

First taste of fame, circa 2001

I don't know what made me think of it, but back in 8th grade I entered this peace poster contest through school. I'm pretty sure it was a requirement to enter, but still. I turned in my piece, and by some miracle I ended up a finalist in this huge international competition. I cried when I heard the news (like, a cry so hard it made my bff think my dog died). It earned me a lot of awkward dinners with some old folks of the Lion's Club, which totally extinguished the thrill, but whatev. Twas exciting at the time.

I'm convinced the reason I made the top 25 was definitely not because of my craftsmanship (that world is not a circle, fyi, and I'm pretty sure that was made with crayons), but because it was my very first attempt at the ol' Pakaste verbal + visual = message system.

There are so many awesome things about this, but mostly just the fan club section:

Aw. It would be sweeter if my dad's name was Greg.

These covers are so hot right now.

In my particular order:

10) Fall Out Boy's "Beat It"
Let's face it. This made the list because Buster from Arrested Development is in the music video, and Pete licks his bass again at 2:44. Mmmyes.

9) The Devil Wears Prada's "Still Fly"
Yeah...It's better than you'd expect.

8) Deepfield's "Don't Let Go"
The saddest thing about this cover is that not everyone remembers En Vogue's, straight outta '96.

7) Coldplay's "Viva la Vida"
Oops...

6) In Flame's "Land of Confusion"
Not the same as the Disturbed one. Sick.

5) Andy McKee's "Africa"
Anything involving Toto and an acoustic guitar is automatically a winner, right?

4) Evan's Blue's "Possession"
Yep, that's a Sarah McLachlan song.

3) Alanis Morisette's "My Humps"
Satire at its finest. Reminiscent of Tori Amos' "Smells Like Teen Spirit" only way more badass.

2) A Static Lullaby's "Toxic"
Wait...There's screaming in it!? YES.

1) Framing Hanley's "Lollipop"
Without a doubt the most intelligent cover I have ever heard. If you're going to cover anyone's music, why wouldn't it be the most popular artist of '08? Ballsy for a group of boys from Nashville, and oh, so good. Skip past the first two minutes if you're as impatient as I am:



I've been searching for a leaked Silverstein remake of "Apologize" with no such luck. That one will be released on the latest installment of the "Punk Goes..." series. I hope it's as amazing as I anticipate.

Note: There are several covers that didn't quite make my list (like Mae's NIN remake, the stuff on eMOTIVe, or that guy on YouTube who does "Hey Ya"), but I'm always looking for new ones. For reals. Good or bad, there's something about hearing old songs turned new that just tugs the heartstrings.