shawn avery

this is just a proof jpeg, but its pretty much done. i worked on this on and off today. its dark, but i like the blood-goat icon and the layered paper textures. much better than some of my recent posters.

two of my poster designs from 2008 were featured on a design site last week called abduzeedo.com . it looks like a pretty cool design/tutorial site. here's the direct link to the series. my poster & packaging designs are linked here .

here's a poster i just finished for the sxsw benefit shows, raising money for birmingham bands going to sxsw. this isn't my best work. i did the first sxsw / bham poster last year for the sxsw showcase, which was a little better. the poster below is for the first of 3 or 4 shows being held in bham over the next few weeks. the idea is to put on some hastily promoted shows and donate the money to the bands, who will then spend it on beer and gas. the remaining funds will go to benefit the greater austin metro area, and will likely have little or no lasting benefit on anyone coming out of alabama. so really, its a benefit for the austin convention & visitors bureau . i'm partially kidding...

today, a poster i designed for through the sparks was featured at flickrdesign.com . here's a few screen shots along with the original poster image. also, i've posted a song i recorded with through the sparks, in which i impersonated ringo star. very solo-lennon sounding, with a great harp solo. this might end up on an ep of some sort later in the year. we've been releasing a free song each month on the tts web site , leading up to the release of the 2nd full length, hopefully coming out by the beginning of spring. it is tentatively titled, 'worm moon waning.' Through The Sparks / Laughter and Lulls

here's a few pics from this past friday. we got about 3 inches of snow. i took photos from late morning until just after dark. here's the flickr set . we took a bunch of pics of the pups in the back yard. below the photos i've posted a short slow-motion clip film by chance shirley, of the highland park neighborhood, where i lived for a few years. you can briefly see rojo, where we had a post marathon brunch yesterday. it features a fantastic nine inch nails instrumental from the ghosts i-iv album.

obviously haiti is the ultimate worst case scenario, but i'm talking about u.s. related political and manufacturing developments: i'll keep it simple, in a list form . 1. waivering unemployment & other economic factors keeps oil prices down 2. the insanely underestimated election of senator brown, results in the death of the democratic super majority, & the possible death of the health care bills. 3. with american auto companies finally catching some footing (ford is turning a profit, chevy is selling some innovative models, gm is streamlining assets) the best case scenario for them: toyota suffers a global consumer pr meltdown. buyers will no doubt react with the tylenol effect. hello domestic auto sales. 4. democrats see their party fracture under the stress of the mass. election loss. more seats will be lost in november. a balanced legislative house is months away. hopefully this will result in obama becoming more of a centrist . when clinton lost the majority in ...

Overview Several government agencies provide budget and debt data and analysis. These include the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Congressional Budget Office, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the U.S. Treasury Department. These agencies have reported that the federal government is facing a series of critical long-term financing challenges. This is because expenditures related to entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are growing considerably faster than the economy overall, as the population grows older. These agencies have indicated that under current law, sometime between 2030 and 2040, mandatory spending (primarily Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and interest on the national debt) will exceed tax revenue. In other words, all discretionary spending (e.g., defense, homeland security, law enforcement, education, etc.) will require borrowing and related deficit spending. These agencies have used such language as "unsustai...