Art Design Music Podcast from Jud Haynes

by Steven Garrity

Thanks to an interview on Vish Khanna’s fine podcast, I discovered a podcast this week that falls right into my areas of interest: music and design. The podcast is Art Design Music by Jud Haynes. It is a series of “Conversations with iconic visual artists about their work for the music biz.” He speaks with album cover designers, poster designers, photographers, and other visual artists who’ve worked with music industry.

Art Design Music podcast cover art in hand-lettered type

The podcast has the one key ingredient I look for: people talking about stuff they love. The stories of creating the original (and still living) AC/DC logo, or designing for the Beastie Boys, or photographing Salt N Pepa are fascinating. It turns out that NWA might not ask a police officer in Los Angeles if the group can stand by their police cruiser for a photo, but if the unassuming British woman taking the pictures asks, it’s no problem.

I got to (very briefly) meet Jud Haynes when he was the keynote speaker at the dotgain visual arts conference at Holland College in Charlottetown, PEI back in 2018. His conference talk told the compelling story of his design career, starting with his time in the band Wintersleep, and his visual design work for Canadian groups like Blue Rodeo.

Despite his self-deprecation, Haynes is great telling stories and getting great stories out of others. His clear admiration for his guests doesn’t overshadow the conversation, but is a delight to hear. I enjoy the mix of personal life/career stories, and the lean toward the more technical/craft side of design.

Haynes has also designed labels for the brewery, Upstreet, that is literally up the street from my home in Charlottetown.

If you have any interest in music or visual arts, you’ll enjoy this podcast. I’m enjoying season 1 and am looking forward to season 2.

 

Math weaknesses

by Steven Garrity

Though I suppose it would be hard to tell otherwise, I think I’m a reasonably intelligent person. Still, there are two areas where I have a kind of learned helplessness and completely fail to grasp basic math:

  1. Time-zones and daylight saving time changes
    “Ok, the clock says 9 am, but what time is it really?”
    “Is Europe in the future or the past?!“
  2. Pizza deals
    “Is it better to get the three mediums at $9.99, or two large at $16.99!?”
    [gets dizzy, drops phone]

 

The Android Clock Stack of Doom

by Steven Garrity

Whoever decided the clock on the lock screen of Android 12 should be stacked on two lines is bad and they should feel bad.

Screenshot of locks screen with digital clock on Android 12 phone, showing the hour numbers (03) on line line, and the minutes (31) on the next line
What time is it? I don’t know, March 31st?!

 

Come work with me

by Steven Garrity

I’m not sure I can be objective about the company, silverorange, where I have worked for the past 22 years, but it’s a great place to work. We’re doing rewarding work with some world-class doctors that produce medical education tools. In the past few years we’ve built web systems for an art project, a funding application system, an indigenous health group, and are starting on a new project focused on mental health.

We need people to come help us build all of this stuff! Right now, there are positions open for full-stack React Web developers, and a PHP-focused Web developer. A handful of us work here on Prince Edward Island, and most of the rest of the team works remotely from across Canada.

 

Opening a can of gummy worms

by Steven Garrity

I was talking with some friends-who-are-also-colleagues at work about a subject that, if addressed, would “open up a can of worms.” As the expression indicates, addressing this subject would force us to face a slew of other issues.

In the case, though, being forced to face these other issues felt healthy, necessary, and valuable. I asked my colleagues for a better metaphor for opening a can of good worms.

Thanks to the magical latency of Zoom, they both simultaneously and independently invented the phrase “opening a can of gummy worms.”

 

Smile with your eyes

by Steven Garrity

The heroes for me this week are all of the preschool and elementary school teachers. They are using every muscle in their face to smile with their eyes to welcome nervous kids to school behind masks.

(don’t get me wrong, I’m glad they’re wearing masks too)

 

The best song I’ve heard this year is a joke

by Steven Garrity

Of all the new music I’ve heard this year, the song that has stuck with me most is a joke. Like all great joke songs, it’s a great song first.

Bo Burnham’s Netflix musical comedy special, INSIDE, culminates in a song call All Eyes On Me (YouTube, Spotify). There’s a concluding song that comes after it, but this feels like the emotional apex of the special before it wraps up.

Bo Burnham singing into mic in dark room
You should watch the whole special, but the song is All Eyes On Me

All Eyes On Me is three-and-a-half minutes and includes a monologue. It’s best consumed with the visuals, ideally in the context of the full special. The hook has been stuck in my head for weeks.

It’s a joke song, but it’s also kind of a great song.

I would love to see this performed live even thought its power may come from the isolation from which it was created and performed.

 

Cottage gatekeeping

by Steven Garrity

I had a few conversations with friends and family recently where we ended up compiling a list of requirements for a place to be called a “cottage”.

If your so-called “cottage” has any of the following, then I’m sorry, you don’t have a cottage. You have a Summer Home.

  • A foundation
  • A dishwasher
  • Air conditioning
  • Insulation of any kind (some exposed/visible insulation may be allowed)

You may be allowed one of the following, but two or more will disqualify you from the “cottage” designation:

  • A new mattress
  • A complete/matching set of dishes or cutlerly
  • A full-size washer and dryer
  • Cable TV or high-speed internet access

If you have recently chased a bat, bird, or other rodent out of the building, or if you have crawled under the building to jack it up in the spring, you may use the “cottage” designation for one year.

 

Stephen DesRoches, photographer

by Steven Garrity

My friend and colleague at silverorange, Stephen DesRoches, has been an accomplished photographer for years. Recently, though, I feel his work has crossed into the could-be-a-default-Apple-wallpaper level of quality. I can imagine this photo as a default wallpaper for macOS Cavendish in 2023 (I’ve since learned this shot is from Bermuda).

Photo of lupins on a shore at sunset.
Photo of lupins in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island — by Stephen DesRoches (via Twitter)

If you live on Prince Edward Island (née Epekwitk), you’ve probably seen Stephen’s work on your provincial health card:

Sample Prince Edward Island health card with photo of red island cliffs.
Prince Edward Island health card including photo by Stephen DesRoches

You can follow Stephen’s work on Twitter (where he snagged the coveted last-name handle @desroches), on Instagram, on his own site StephenDesRoches.com, or you can get one of his excellent photo books.

 

The ghost of Leslie Nielsen

by Steven Garrity

Every time you throw an apple core out the window of a moving car on a country road, you hit the ghost of Leslie Nielsen in the face and knock him off a horse.