the ice cube

W+K Bump

Back to School...

View from my desk.

The Library.
The Classroom.
The Student Lounge.
My desktop.

W+K 12 Collectable Pin

For $13,000 this limited edition Wieden + Kennedy 12 pin could be yours!

These finely crafted keepsakes were minted in a very limited run four years ago, at the genesis of the 12 program. Only 100 pins were made. 25 red. 25 green. 25 yellow. 25 blue. Each color is for a different year of 12.

This pin is NOT JUST A SOUVENIR.

People who wear this pin can jump higher.
People who wear this pin can fail harder.
People who wear this pin can create messes.
People who wear this pin can organize chaos.
People who wear this pin can arrive late.
People who wear this pin can order thai food with 22 stars.
People who wear this pin can rally vampire cavemen.
People who wear this pin can suffocate bunnies.
People who wear this pin can blog about nothing.
People who wear this pin can just try it.

Want a pin?

Got $13,000?

E-Mail Me...

League Profile: Smitty

This is Smitty's video profile for 'The League.'

The League has been described as the World Series of Poker meets the Office. It is must download web-isode action.

Smitty is the reigning best player in the League, which by default makes him my number one rival in this thing. We are keeping stats now (yeah, we are that geeked out OR we are missing baseball THAT MUCH), so I should know exactly how much better he is than me on a game by game basis.

2007 NBA Draft... Here I Come!

I am officially announcing my intention to declare for the 2007 NBA Draft.

I will begin fielding offers from agents, effective immediately.

I will begin fielding offers from shoe companies, effective immediately.

I have identified several teams to send my Draft Package to, which includes a preliminary scouting report on my game, a DVD showcasing my ability, and a personal letter describing how I would boost ticket sales for whichever team drafts me.

I will be in contact with the Portland Trailblazers, Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies and New York Knicks.

I will post updates to this blog when I hear back from the NBA as well as any NBA team.

Player Profile: Oyl Miller

This is my personal intro piece to the documentary we are making about a video game baseball league. Eventually we will have a background/intro piece for each of the five characters. Smitty is scheming his up now, and it should be out later this week.

I like the opening tone of this one, I feel like for the interview section, it would have more direction if I could get it more reactionary. But I guess this captures the 'calm before the storm,' and does give a few hints at the immense conflict to come...

Video games provide a perfect stage for ridiculous trash talk. They are interactive, they are live, and emotions can escalate at the mis-hitting of a button.

Stay tuned for upcoming segments!

Love of Basketball

I kind of forgot how much I loved basketball after this past season playing in a city rec league. Unlike baseball, which I can only accept in the most formal setting (umps, full rosters, full schedules, playing for something) basketball has always been a game that I have loved in its most raw form.

Give me ten guys on a dirt court and lets shoot up teams.

Take away the distraction of over-pious officials hellbent on leaving their fingerprints on every game. Take away these burly clowns in opposing jerseys that swing for your head on every drive because they know they won't get whistled. That's not basketball.

Give me your best five versus our best five on a sunny Saturday afternoon and we'll see how it goes.

Here are my favorite basketball memories growing up:

1. Playing neighborhood games to 100 for the rights to pick which song would play on repeat during the next 100 point game. My team had Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' looped onto a cassette tape and our rivals had Michael Jackson's 'Black or White.' Does it get more 1991 than that?

2. Upon being asked to pay for pulling down the 7-foot rim in 6th grade, I wrote up a 'legal brief' detailing everyone else in the school who had touched the rim and suggested that they contribute equal parts to the purchasing of a new rim. The school ended up paying for it.

3. Arguing over who got 'to be' Air Jordan in our neighborhood games. Everyone was appeased as soon as MJ retired and we decided as a group that a pre and post-retirement Jordan could exist. Eventually we had a Jordan for every year and I had to buy more red duct tape making jerseys for everyone.

4. In 6th grade we were challenged to a game by some 8th grade suburban hooligans who called themselves 'Eddie and the Cruisers.' We'd chickened out of many a dirt clod and rock fight with these guys and were way too intimidated to play well when it came down to it. Even though they weren't athletic and had zero game in retrospect, we got tooled. I was 0 for the game. Dammit.

Original Hotcake House

The urban legend surrounding the Original Hotcake House, located on the east side of the Ross Island Bridge, is that it serves as a late-night mecca for national hip-hop acts when they pass through the Rose City. Reports of rap mogul sightings from Ice Cube and Busta Rhymes all the way to Nelly and his St. Lunatics center around the 50-year old Portland all-night dining institution.

Atmosphere: If Tarantino's next film were based in Portland, this is the diner where the main characters would engage in a riveting and vulgarity strewn debate on some obscure nuance of pop-culture.

Must Orders: There is a reason 'Hotcake' is in the name of the joint. To round out their signature hotcake batter, they actually whip heavy whipping cream and then mix it into the rest of the batter. The results are plate sized airy hotcakes that go down smooth. Here, butter and syrup, (or strawberries and whip cream) are gluttonous overkill to a virtually perfect breakfast order.

On most nights, when you approach the five-acre skillet behind the counter, two of those acres are devoted to the house hashbrowns. Each order consists of two potatoes worth of thickly hashed, perfectly butter goldened browns. It is recommended that you smother them in a side of the homemade gravy.

Biscuits and Gravy. The biscuits are perfectly fluffed, deliciously buttered and amply covered in the aforementioned gravy. It is a near perfect breakfast order.

Worth going for: To witness the late night college study groups on study break as they approach the jukebox for a ten minute rock history debate, only to invariably end up selecting either 'Sweet Home Alabama' or 'Stairway to Heaven.' Every. Time.

To observe the street poets that line up in the booths along the far window clutching journals and notebooks with fingerless gloves, as they try out lines not quite audible enough to betray their genius.

To observe the social hierarchy of a pack of high schoolers, ascending in line from the loudest of the bunch to the eventual one or two wallflowers steadfastly focused on not talking to strangers.

Adventures in Business Carding

Here is the latest offering in my series of business/calling cards. This one draws on my recent thinking to give more shout-outs to my influences.

I grew up in the 80's and was impacted by much of what the decade's pop-culture had to offer. My media awareness and context under which I now aim to contribute evolved from wearing out my Raiders of the Lost Ark VHS, copping dance moves from MC Hammer and re-enacting thousands of Michael Jordan game-winning shots.

2003 Air Force Ones Announce Retirement

Oyl Miller's 2003 white-on-white mid Nike Air Force Ones will no longer be worn, a spokesman for Miller announced today.

The shoes had a glorious run that dated back to the days of Rasheed Wallace routinely taking the Portland Trailblazers to the NBA Playoffs. The shoes were actually marred from their classic white-on-white perfection in the name of Blazer super-fandom, when Miller decided to decorate the swoosh in crimson sharpie to show his team pride. The shoes were worn to Game 6 of the first round series against the Dallas Mavericks in 2003. A game in which the Blazers routed their opponents, and thereby forced a decisive seventh game in Dallas, after initially being down 0-3.

That game in May of 2003 was the last playoff game played in Portland.

'The Blazers are on the comeback trail,' Miller said in a video conference earlier today. 'I refused to move on from the 'Sheed era until I really had something to bank on. By officially retiring these shoes, I am acknowledging that a new era of Rip City has arrived. The next shoes I take a sharpie to, will be in the name of Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge.'

Miller then coughed in an awkward manner that sounded a lot like 'Oden.'

'I remember when I first got them,' Miller said nostalgically, 'I was listening to Nelly a lot at the time, and was trying to heed his warning about scuffing your Force Ones prematurely. The guy is a sneaker pro. Ain't nothing compares to a fresh crispy white pair.'

Miller eventually loosened his standards for when it was appropriate to wear his Force Ones. Initially they were worn exclusively on Sunday afternoons from 1pm to 3pm. The first scuff came when an impromptu pick-up game arose. He was more mindful of keeping his feet and shoes out of harm's way than in playing defense.

'Eventually I realized, I was letting down Rasheed Wallace himself by treating his signature sneaker as a dress shoe exclusively,' Miller said.

'They were good shoes. I played hard in them.'

A replacement shoe has yet to be named. Although Miller indicated he was ready to start entertaining sponsorship offers from Nike.

Opening Day in PS2 St. Lou!!!

The 2005 version of the PS2 St. Louis Cardinals are at it again. This immortal video game squad is back for their third virtual season because the owner of the franchise has been unwilling to buy the most recent versions of the game.

The starting lineup looks very much like the 2005 Cards lineup, except for rookie shortstopping phenom Oyl Miller. He had a great spring in which he was blessed with perfect create-a-player levels in every aspect of the game.

When asked if his skills were legit by PS2 beat reporter John Canzano, Oyl replied 'Are you kidding, I was first team all-console, I'm gonna make it rain out there.'

The PS2 Cards (6-1, 2nd NL Central) began the season with a flurry of homeruns. Jim Edmonds led the charge with seven homers in his first three games, while batting a scorching .733.

'I just hit the ball. If the owner isn't requiring us to play on the top difficulty levels, that's not my problem. 2005 was a contract year for me, so if I can gain some sort of advantage on a gaming technicality, you bet your ass I will use that,' Edmonds said via his controversial blog.

ROOKIE WATCH:

SS Oyl Miller :: .310, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 5 R

Ra-Sheeeeeeeed!!!

The WK12 Ship

I'm always on the lookout for another ship to join. I've made passage on a series of vessels over the past few years, but none of them rang true at my core. They were a way to pass time until I found the ghost ship I was hunting.

Then, two years ago, in the murky underbelly of the information super-highway, I caught glimpse of a massive and submerged vessel. Stormy weather soon hit, and all I could make out was a golden crest; the silhouettes of two pirates. The ship went deeper and left me reeling for clues.

This past year, I abandoned my previous ship and navigated the waters in a rickety lifeboat. My unwavering compass held a direction that I was sure would lead me back to the mysterious submerged craft.

Tracing the origins of the ship's crest, I was able to find the port mailing address of one of the captains. I shipped off a package that included a retelling of the loot I have plundered and exclaiming my overall love of pirating. I expected no response.

In two weeks time I was FedExed a message in a bottle written on fine parchment. The only marking save the silhouetted crest of the two pirates was a date and the address of a tavern at a local port.

On said date, I arrived at the dingy tavern to be examined by the ship's existing crew. They were a lively and oft-bearded bunch that regaled us with tales of cultural pirating, YouTube ads, viral marketing, Nike Air and a place called Brandland.

When the effects of the rum had subsided we were given a brief tour of the ship and were allowed to walk the deck and explore a few of the cabins. I don't know whether these pirates found any of us ready for their brand of plundering, or if they plan to feed us to the sharks for entertainment of the captain.

At any rate, I've signed the ship's manifest and will set sail May 1st. This will serve as the official log of my travels. Should I go missing over the course of my voyage, perhaps my entries will provide clues to my whereabouts.

Affectionately,

XXX