Great Moments in Google Suggestions...

For First Losers...

Well, this year I got the silver medal. I actually tied for second place. It is nice to have company. Being color blind, I always liked silver best anyway. To me, Gold and Bronze look too much alike. Winning all the time is boring. Finishing second is great motivation for next year. It is good to give someone else a chance to feel what it is like to be the champ. The pressure is off for next year...

Who am I kidding? I want to win. There was a little bit of laurel resting involved this year, but I vow to come back stronger.

I think I know who the winner will be, and I can't wait to see the monster they created.

Submittal and Judgement...

My entry into the Year's Most Anticipated Contest has been sent. I didn't enter the contest for the awards, nor the fame, nor the adulation of throngs of screaming fans. I entered only to improve upon last year's submission.

Was I able to do it??? You be the judge...

Click on picture for larger image.

That never gets old.

Temporary Blog Closure...

This (maybe) posting once a week isn't doing anyone any favors... Sorry again for the lack of posts, but I am working on something special. More content coming in a week or so.

Just a taste:

PRPaganda...

Dear reader, It has been two weeks since my last post. Sorry.


Not sorry for the two weeks, but sorry this isn't exactly baseball card related... I'll tie it in the best I can:


I have always been a big fan of old propaganda posters. When I was in Rhode Island for the holidays last year, I came really close to buying the cool Red Sox posters they had at Dunkin Donuts. (mmmmm... Dunkin Donuts. Just can't get 'em here in San Diego.) I figured they would get trashed in my luggage, so I opted not to get them.


I figured I would steal (errr... borrow) the idea for some Padres posters or custom cards. The idea came and went. The new baseball season started, and I was no longer in the mood to make Padres posters. (Hey, at least we finished strong.) In the last week or so I started seeing the cool, new Topps propaganda-style cards. Man, I missed the boat on that one...



Or did I???


The idea is old hat to you baseball card folks, but to my music friends it was "a great idea". Well, shucks. I guess I am just cutting edge like that. I have been pretty busy churning out propaganda-style music posters. They aren't as cool as limited edition screened prints, but for MS Paint they are pretty good.

Rob Deez - "Proper-ganda"

No. Rob Deez is not a communist (Actually, I am not aware of his political leanings). The "hammer and sickle" is actually a logo I designed. I call it the "hammered and cycle." It would make more sense if you listen to "the Bicycle Song." It is on his My Space... Jussayin.

Wanted Poster...

Enough of the status quo. I am sick of people that break the rules and think they are smarter than everyone else. Just because you are willing to damage a bunch of packs in an effort to pluck a jersey card or an autograph, doesn't make you a genius... It makes you a thief. Worse yet, it makes you a douchebaggy card rustler. Out here in the west, we don't take too kindly to card rustlers.

Stories about encountering pack searchers have surfaced on many different blogs recently. I preface this by admitting that I very rarely purchase individual packs. Pack searchers, therefore, have little to no effect on my day-to-day card collecting life. Things change...

On Tuesday, I was at Target (with no intention of purchasing cards) and ran into one of these characters. After surreptitiously snapping a photo with my phone (planning a scathing blog post), I walked away fuming. This jerk wasn't even being subtle about it. He was systematically pulling boxes of cards from the shelves, searching every pack, folding and bending the cards with his meaty paws. Something in me snapped.

I debated whether to confront the guy or inform a Target employee. I recalled reading a blog post in which a store employee defended a pack searcher because he was a regular customer, and always left the aisle cleaner than he found it. That is ridiculous. As meticulous as this guy was about searching the packs, I had no doubts that he would alphabetize the blaster boxes on his way out of the aisle. I needed to take this into my own hands...

Every good vigilante has to be willing to break a few rules himself. Me? I am a good vigilante. While plotting my attack in the electronics department, I peeled a security tag off a Nintendo DS Brain Age game. After shopping for necessities, I headed back toward the checkout. When I got back to the card aisle, I patted the pack searcher on the back (sticking the security tag to his shoulder). Startled, he looked back at me with a irritated expression. I apologized for the confusion. I told him that I thought he was my friend, Kenny. With obviously feigned sincerity, he dismissively said, "Sorry. Not Kenny."

"yeah, Kenny's not a douche..." I mumbled as I walked away. When I checked out, I mentioned to the cashier that I think I saw the "douchy-looking gentleman" in the card aisle stick something in his pocket while searching through the cards.

Me? I am a good, passive-aggressive vigilante.

I am forming a passive-aggressive pack searcher picture posse. Care to join in? Submit your links to your wanted posters in the comments, or email them to me at travis@punkrockpaint.com.

(I didn't actually stick a tag on the guy, or tell a cashier... I did however sneeze the word "douchebag" loud enough that the guy could hear me... I guess I need to work on the aggressive aspect of passive-aggressive. Oh, not that I was looking, but they still didn't have any Goodwin blasters.)

Anotherrr Carrrd for Dayf's Pirrrate set...

I think my last...

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