I think I need to create a new category and call it politics. I just can't believe the state of our country and the fact it's a close presidential race. The Dem's should be blowing the Republicans out of the water. Yet, they're not. What does that mean?

So I work for Spacecraft and we're all pretty liberal. So we made some limited edition posters featuring one of our main branding pieces, the bunny, with Obama being revealed as the person inside the suit. Obama Mania!!!

I'd like to make the excuse that the last month I've been too busy to blog. Well, it's only partly true. If I wanted to make the time, I probably could have. So this entry is to bring you up to speed on what's being going on.

First, I purchased a cool OBEY print, supposedly signed by Shepard Fairey. There is also a show going on at EVO by a local collector. You should check it out.

So I've been working away with Nimbus Independent. The DVD edit is finished and I have to say Eric Pollard is the man. So talented and driven to get things done and on time. We are in the authoring, encoding and replication phase. I'm proud to say we'll have the first DVD or ski film done for the upcoming season. It's got an amazing soundtrack and great creative. Check out the box art.

Working at Spacecraft has been a fun filled adventure. All the people who work there are great, the product is cool and the potential is high. Did some great media buys and have been in full on business planning mode. It's nice to get out of the house and go downtown three days a week.

I have a new roommate, Mark, who's moving in as I'm typing. I've being rolling solo for a while, which in some ways is nice, but I'm glad to have some company. We've been friends through the years, were in the same fraternity in college and have the same group of friends. He's also pretty clean from what I hear, so the pad should remain nice.

My buddy from Norway, Endre Loovas came to town again for the 4th of July. The man is twice my size but insists that I drink just as much. Whew, fun to go out on the town with the man. His accent draws a nice contingent of ladies. I am his wingman.

Last weekend I got out of town and rolled down to Mt. Hood. Drove down with Andy and his wife, swung by Pollard's and proofed the movie. Then after a short business session, drove up to Government Camp and checked in at the Huckleberry Inn. We were in town for the Think Thank film premier of Stack Footy. Spacecraft is a sponsor and Andy a good friend of the filmmaker, Jesse Burtner. The kids came out in force to support the project and it was fun evening. After the film we went across the street to Charlies and enjoyed drink tall boys.

The next day we hooked up with Christina and Lindsey and went for a hike to a beautiful waterfall. It was great to get some exercise and be in nature. Check out a few of the pictures.

That's about it for now. Just working all weekend on film tour, the film itself, business planning and catching up. Too much to do, but it's better than being bored.

The withdrawal from skiing can be hard during the summer, especially the first month after lifts close. Luckily Nimbus Independent is here to make it just a little easier with the release of their third “Hunting Yeti” webisode.

This latest installment has a fun, end of the season feel. Watch as the Nimbus Crew packs up their gear and heads out for some volcano camping on Mount St. Helens and Mt. Hood. Nothing like campfires, hot dogs and PBR during sunset sessions. Then there’s playing on a cornice, doing natural wall rides. Also check out Chris Benchetlers neighborhood as the group converges on Mammoth Mountain, meets up with Garrett Russell and gets laps in at Snowboarder Magazines Superpark.

I have to say Eric Pollard, the Crew and I have been working hard. We just finished tons of forms, copy writing, the teaser, box art, print ads and a big PR kit. Well, I still have a little bit to do but we've accomplished a lot in the last couple weeks. The teaser and a bunch more information will be posted in another two weeks. Have to let webisode 3 breathe for a little while. On behalf of the Nimbus Crew, we hope you enjoy the latest installment.

Webisode 3, Part 1:

Webisode 3, Part 2:

To view the webisode in all it's glory, go to our producer page at www.rip.tv/nimbusindependent and you can download it as an iPod or HD computer version. It has more footage and a full credit run.

I always park a block down from the Pike Place Market whenever I go to the Showbox. I just enjoy walking through and watching all the people. Even when it's closed, there are still tourists on the upper street walking along or getting a cup of coffee. I've taken the traditional picture of the Market sign with the clock at the main entrance, but saw this electric coffee sign and thought is was another cool backdrop.

My friend Joel got some tickets to go see Moby at the Showbox, when offered a ticket, I couldn't say no. I haven't heard any recent Moby music, but I respect what he's achieved. The concert was on last Sunday evening and he didn't go on until eleven forty five. If I had known he was going on so late, I probably wouldn't have gone.

The Showbox was packed with a good crowd. It was an older crowd, more people my age. Lots of lovely ladies, including a couple that I used to work with at K2. All in all I'm glad I went. I need to see more good music and I do enjoy dancing. Still can't believe how many people go to a concert on a work night.

If you live in the northwest, chances are you've seen it. You just didn't know what it was. Look around and you'll see the iconic symbol of an old Tucker snow cat. This image was made into stickers and placed all over Seattle and other cities to bring the magical feeling of the mountains into the city. The idea behind this was that an image could contain intrinsic value and could affect humans on a sub-conscious, archetypal level. It's safe to say the stickers were a hit.

As different people joined the movement, the stickers organically spread out around the world. It's amazing the different places you may spy one of the many Spacecraft stickers. I was at a friends wedding last summer, deep outside of Winthrop at a horse ranch. Beautiful setting, miles from anything and there it was on the back side of a stop sign, bam, a Spacecraft sticker.

But what is Spacecraft really? It's a vision of creativity, purpose, and the blending of different themes by an artist whose communication medium just happens to be stickers, posters, hand knit beanies, t-shirts, sweat shirts, jackets, belts, wallets, bags, and other collectables. Which to me is interesting coming from an industry that's similar but sort of in reverse. Where other companies are manufacturers first, who then hire artists to create designs for their products. I would compare it a little to street graffiti artists. It isn't about money, it's about sharing art and a creative vision with people. It's an answer to the question of how to display ones work and reach as many people as possible. I really like the Spacecraft look and feel. It combines natural and man-made elements from where water touches the shore, into the city and onward into the snow covered mountains. It's a totally unique blend that's hard to categorize, so I'll stop trying.

So who's vision is it? The artist who took that iconic picture of the snow cat, Stefan Hofmann. From what I know, Stefan took what was an idea or art project and it sort of organically turned into a functional, profitable business while maintaining creative integrity. He draws influence from life, with sports like skateboarding, climbing, surfing and snowboarding to experiences traveling throughout Asia and exposing himself to other cultures. Then somewhere along the journey Stefan meet Sarah O'Brien Parker and together they put together a capable crew, sharing their creative vision for the last six years. Spacecraft has two space stations, one in Seattle and another in Bali.

Check out the Bali office, now that's a great work environment.

It's an amazing story, one which I can barely scratch the surface of in a blog. I guess I just like companies with a true and meaningful purpose. I'm drawn to brands that are a mixture of art, fashion, imagery, sport, community, and culture. "The Story" is explained as the following: "Spacecraft is cultural mythologies. Spacecraft is visual propaganda. Spacecraft is dreams and reflections. Spacecraft is Godzilla reruns, spicy noodles, jet-lag, peeling waves and 18 inches of fresh snow. Spacecraft is a story in progress. Spacecraft combines recurring characters, themes, images and ideas to create an ever-changing, ancient narrative that hasn't been written yet."

Yeah I know that sounds pretty deep, but pretty cool too. It has passion and purpose. It's a strong brand, surrounded by and made up of good people with an outstanding product. That's why I'm so excited to have the opportunity to work for Spacecraft. The G Brand has partnered with Spacecraft, which now becomes my second client. I'm so happy to be focusing my efforts on Spacecraft and Nimbus Independent, it's a career dream come true.

Check out the following Spacecraft video. Click HERE to check out their website.

History has been made. A black man has clinched the democratic nomination for the President of the United States of America. I will admit, I lacked some hope in the beginning, that Barack could beat Hillary Clinton. I just didn't think it would be possible. But what appeared impossible, became possible. The Obama team still has a long and hard road ahead of them, but I believe he win the Presidency.

I think it's not just the fact a black man won the nomination, but how he did it. He appealed to Americans of all races, not just African Americans. Granted he could position himself this way because he comes from a multi-ethnic background. If Barack hadn't had a white mother, it would have been more difficult. But he didn't run as a black man, he ran as an American with a diverse background.

Obama's campaign has inspired me to get involved in the democratic process. Look out friends, I'll be talking a lot of politics and looking to debate our countries issues over a few beers or at a barbeque. I really hope he wins.

There is an opportunity for Americans to openly discuss the state of our nation. We could have some of the most important and healthy discussions that we seem to have avoided the past decade. We have two very different candidates running for the top office. We need to stay focused on important issues and not get side tracked by spinsters and the media focusing on 'reality show' type drama. I don't want to hear about McCain having lobbyist on his team, what preachers endorse him, or the trials of Obama's church and pastor. As citizens, we need to try to keep ourselves and the media focused on what's important.

Okay, so what's important. We need to talk about the war in Iraq and America's standing in the Middle East and world, we need to talk about health care, the economy, our education system, fixing our infrastructure, the environment, mass transit, balancing the budget, homelessness, poverty, border security, our military and veterans and equality for those living within our borders.

How I would love to see Obama, if not somebody just list and state our countries problems. Although Obama is inspirational in his speeches, we need to define our failings and problems. How can we begin to address what needs to be fixed until we define the problems. To agree as Americans what the biggest problems are. That will unite us, to fix what's wrong and establish common goals. We have had eight years of mistakes, compounded by propaganda and misinformation that will be very hard to fix. It won't happen quickly. It has to be fixed from the top down and the bottom up. We need the president, politicians and people to create a movement. We need to have somebody like Obama build the bridge, inspire a nation and bring about positive change.

Funny, as I write this I could go on for a long time. But I keep hearing the voices of friends who recommend I stay away from politics on my blog. Why? Let's not fight over the issues, lets discuss them openly and challenge each other on our beliefs. Educate yourselves, pick up and read both candidates books. Just become active in the process.

I think I have almost all the gadgets and electronics I need with the addition of my new digital camera. I just got the Canon PowerShot G9 for my birthday. It was on the top of my wish list. I love taking photos and want to expand my know-how. This camera will be the next step in my photographic progression. Hopefully you'll see the difference in the imagery I post.

Eventually I'll get a few of the accessories, like extra lenses and flash. Hmm, I think I'll go on a urban hike this weekend and test out the camera. Maybe I'll go capture the Seattle classics. Stay tuned for the results.

Clean is an opinion. To each and every one of us there are different levels of clean. I find I go from weekly, sort of all over cleaning sessions to sometimes tackling deep cleaning projects. It's that deep cleaning time.

Yesterday I cleaned out the oven and fridge and then was getting ready to sweep and mop when I noticed the amount of dust on my fake tree. Hmm, how would I dust off all of those leaves? What would be the easiest method?

I decided to take all the leaves off the tree, wash them off in my salad spinner, and lay them out on towels to dry. Then re-attach them to the branches of the tree. I didn't realize how much work and how long that would take. Turned into a three hour process. Now this is what I consider a 'deep clean.'

Then of course it was also a challenge to put the leaves back on. They weren't even all the same. Some where smaller than others, some had brighter green leaves and some had more or less leaves per stem.

So taking a methodical approach I started at the bottom, branch by branch and worked my way up the tree. Only to find that I had lost a few stems through the years, as when I ran out of leaves, the tree was bald on top. So then I had to rearrange them and thin out the bottom to the top.

Although the tree is fake, it's now looking healthier than ever. Combine that with the Pine Sol tree scent from having just mopped the floor and it almost seems real. So that's my version of doing some serious cleaning. Hopefully I won't have to do that again in a few years.

I needed to get out of town. The month of May is a big one for me. I have gotten to the point where I'm ready to grow the G Brand and I'm pitching a few different companies. I have three proposals to send out and should get responses from two pervious. I also plan to update my resume, portfolio, and website this month. At the same time, my roommate just moved out and I need to find a new one.

So with so much on my mind, I felt the need to go clear my head. There's two places that achieve this for me, being up in the mountains or up at my folks cabin. Since the ski season is pretty much over, I packed up a few things and drove to Everett.

The cabin is on Hat Island, between Whidbey Island and the coast of Everett. It takes about an hour and a half to get there. It's a forty five minute drive to the ferry and another forty five minute boat ride.

I got off the boat where my Dad was waiting to pick me up. My parents had come up to the island on Wednesday and were busy cleaning, de-winterizing, doing yard work and getting the cabin ready for summer. They keep it in amazing shape. I walked in the door, we had a little 'happy hour' and then dinner.

Another great thing about going up to the cabin when my folks are there is my Mom's cooking. You all know the comfort of your Mom's cooking. Just feels like home.

Saturday was a grey day. I got up fairly early and went for a run. It rained and we stayed inside for the most part. Just sat by the fire and read my book. Went for a short beach walk in the rain in the afternoon. The only color to be found was our colorful windmill against the dreary skies. The sun did peak out just at dusk for a nice sunset. As I sat in the recliner reading my book, I would occasionally look up and watch the different stages of the sunset and check out the humming birds at the feeder.

Sunday we felt the sun on our face. It was partly cloudy to blue skies. I worked on one of my proposals for about an hour but the summer weather made me shut off the computer and go outside. I grabbed my camera and decided to walk around the island. It isn't that big so it only takes about two hours to walk all the way around. The tide was out, as were the birds, bald eagles, blue herons, and a whale.

I forgot about the clams... As I walked across some sand, peppered with holes, the clams squirt out water and dig deeper. As this occurs, the sand becomes softer and I ended up sinking. So half my walk was in wet sand filled running shoes.

I also forgot that I've been inside all winter and am pasty white. Today, I'm bright red and pretty burned. My shins are particularly red and burnt. It was definitely my first visit to the cabin for the summer. I made a couple rookie mistakes.

But my goal was attained. I'm feeling relaxed and ready to meet the month's challenges. I even finished reading a 600+ page book from Friday evening to Sunday night. That's called relaxing. I didn't even play golf or go sailing. I'm looking forward to going back already. Who wants to come?

I'm getting too old to be renting. I need to buy a house of my own and start putting money into what for many people, is their best investment. It's a tough decision to buy right now, looking at the economy, the cost of living going up and the housing market itself. Prices are falling all over the country, foreclosures are everywhere and home values have tanked. But I live in one of the few cities where the real estate market is holding fairly strong.

I'm slightly stuck at the moment. I have 'some' money that I can use for a down payment so my monthly mortgage payments wouldn't be so ridiculous that I couldn't enjoy doing anything else. The real problem is that I just started my own business, this G Brand company, which is great but doesn't generate the kind of constant revenue needed (yet) to warrant buying a home I'd be happy with. I need to lock in a few more clients on a retainer, not project basis.

Another issue is buying a place by myself. If I had a steady girlfriend or wife whom could also put money towards a place, I wouldn't have to endure the entire cost. I need to find myself a quality lady with some financial means. Where are you?

My current roommate is moving out this weekend. I've been in the same rental house for two years now. It's a nice place in a great location with Green Lake, Fremont, Ballard, Phinney Ridge and Wallingford all really close by. Everything spirals out downhill from my place. It's even easy to get downtown with an I-99 on-ramp only a couple blocks away. The only negative would be the kids who live downstairs. They are college kids who sometime get a little bit noisy. Oh the last renters were a dream, never heard em and they took the garbage out every Sunday.

So here I am, I either need a new roommate or find someone else who I could be their roommate. I hate moving and would rather not move again until it's in my own place. So the search begins. My place comes fully furnished minus the bedroom. I have all the furniture to deck out a house, I'm just missing the house. All my new roommate would need is a bed and a dresser really. It's a month to month lease right now.

So hit me up with an email if you're interested. The first image above is of the entrance to the house. Below are a couple more shots of the inside of the place. I keep it pretty clean and need to live with clean people. Can't handle living in a messy place. Check it out and spread the word, "one bedroom in nice house, great location, pretty much furnished, and live with a nice guy - for rent."

This is my living room, which is right when you go in the front door.

Moving from the living room, your looking at the path into the dinning room and then into the kitchen.

Here's the dinning room, just a little further in from the living room.

I like to cook but don't often enough. The kitchen is pretty good.

This is the bedroom available for rent. The closet will have doors on it again.

And lastly, here's my bedroom and office. There is also a bathroom, but those pictures just don't look that great. The house also has a front and back yard, a shared driveway and a garage for storage. It's a good value for what's available in Seattle.

I am a man of many theories. Many I keep to myself and just mull over when I'm bored. But lately, one has kept creeping into my conscious. It has to do with pro sports, athlete salaries, funding, and sports arenas. Since I'm here in Seattle I've been watching the spectacle that is the Super Sonics.

For those of you who haven't been following the dilemma, the team was sold to Clay Bennett who wants to move the team to Oklahoma. Upon purchasing the team from Howard Schultz, Bennett publicly was willing to keep the team in Seattle if Key Arena would be remodeled. This of course means more luxury suites, amenities, seats, and high tech big screens. It turns out he really had no intention of keeping the Sonics in Seattle, but that's not what I have an issue with. He wanted Seattle citizens to fund much of the remodel with tax dollars.

These tax subsidized sports arenas and stadiums that many citizens seem to be okay with is what bothers me. When did professional sports become such an economic power that city and state politics have to become involved? What place do politics have in sports? Now I'm not talking about corporate politics, I'm talking about government politics. When new sports facilities and arena's are funded by tax dollars because it's become a 'necessity' for city, community and local economics is where I have a problem.

Big business and sports organizations have flexed their financial muscles to push our government into making unethical and poor decisions for the citizens they represent. But what's the root of this evil or problem? I think there are many variables to the equation, but it starts with the absolutely inflated salaries pro athletes are paid.

Are pro athletes really worth tens of millions of dollars, or even 100's of million dollars in salary? Let's take a look at baseball, Alex Rodriquez makes $28 million dollars a year on a team, the Yankees, whose player salary totals $209.1 million. Whereas one of the lowest team salaries in baseball is the Florida Marlins at $43.8 million and the Marlins won the World Series in 2003. Something about that just doesn't seem right, generally and from a business perspective.

Or how about we take a look at basketball, where Kevin Garnett is the highest paid athlete at $23.7 million and the Dallas Mavericks have the highest team salary at $105.3 million. Oh, the smallest team salary is the Charlotte Bobcats at $52 million, half of what the Mavericks operate with.

When it comes to football, the top paid player is Dwight Freeney of the Indianapolis Colts at $30.7 million and the biggest team payroll is Washington Redskins at $123.4 million. The smallest team payroll in pro football is the New York Giants at $75.7 million and they just won the Super Bowl.

There seems to be a huge disparity between the salary of teams, individual athletes, and wining. I seriously doubt there is as much difference between the total number of people the stadiums hold from team to team? I think the first step in fixing the problem is standardizing or putting better parameters on what pro athletes are paid. Then make the main revenue stream be determined by corporate sponsorships.

So if you have a pro sports team that is paid millions of dollars a year in salary, should each working class citizen help pay for their office? Especially if most athletes only stay on a team for a couple years before being traded? How much does the guy or gal make who's working at the convenient stand in comparison?

What about the people who manage these stadiums and arenas? They usually play host to other events and sports teams. In Key Arena's case, there are rock concerts with Kayne West or other big headliners and the women's basketball team the Storm play there. Just because the Sonics aren't going to play there doesn't mean Key Arena isn't going to generate revenue. Whether or not it will be profitable, I don't know. But that's the challenges of running a business.

What if owners and managers of pro sports teams stopped inflating athlete salaries each year by another million or two? What if teams where forced to make profits from selling tickets to games more than corporate sponsorships? Think of the possibilities if athletes were held to five or six year contracts, were paid less, and the best only made ridiculously more than their teammates because of corporate sponsorships. If players salaries weren't so skewed, maybe team sports would still be more team oriented? Maybe more athletes would finish getting their college education then leaving early for the draft and huge salaries?

Okay, I'm starting to get slightly off topic. The professional sports business model is broken and moving in the wrong direction. Taxes should never be used to fund a stadium or arena for a pro sports team, period. Build roads, pay for education, or even bring PE back to schools and help fund better health for our youth, than help the wealthiest of the wealthy. I realize it's a trickle down model, but it seems like less and less is going through the funnel. Minimum wage employees working at a stadium may go up .10 cents while player salaries go up by the millions. I also understand its the restaurants and bars that also experience financial gains, but this trend just can't keep pace.

You'll end up killing the sports. As prices of participating in sports, whether a fan or participant, keeps being driven up by more expensive equipment and ticket prices, the overall number of people taking part in those sports will shrink. If the market size continues to shrink, there won't be enough people to fund it long-term. As price increases, less people will be able to participate, leaving only the true enthusiasts or the rich. You'll have a bunch of stadiums that just sell season tickets and corporate suites with nobody in them. People will only be involved for the love of the sport or for the love of the money. Those two ideals don't correlate well. How can you develop a devoted fan base if players come and go every couple years and the team has an erratic win/loss results?

I don't know how much sense this rant makes. I haven't thought it out completely. But something just isn't adding up anymore. It all just feels somewhat tainted. Who and how are we going to fix this negative trend? Maybe it will just all work itself out and I'm worrying about nothing. Just think about it for a second.

I drove up to Bellingham yesterday to meet with a potential client. It was nice to get out of Seattle and go for a drive, however short it may have been. I tend to do good thinking while I drive. I've never had a hard time staying awake at the wheel because as soon as I hit the highway, my mind begins to plan, ponder and sometimes dream.

On my visit I met with some like minded individuals whom would be fun to work with. Not only do I think the work would be rewarding and successful but I also like the town of Bellingham. We went out to a local drinking establishment that reminded me of the bars in Bozeman. Where the beer is tasty and you just throw your peanut shells on the ground.

Keeping with the beer theme we then had dinner at a local brewery. Good eats and conversation with a little talented guy playing his guitar and singing. I kind of wish we would have stayed longer and listened to his set.

Then this morning after a little breakfast I packed up my car and started the drive back to Seattle. I needed a thinking break and turned the station on my radio to NPR. Today is Earth Day! I then began to look out and take in the scenery. It just happens to be a blue sky day.

As I make my way down Interstate-5, I come to Mount Vernon and the Tulip Festival. I'm not sure if this is the season, but I figure what the hell, it's Earth Day. I pull into the visitors center and find directions to the Tulip fields. I drive a ways but only see empty fields. I'm about to turn around when I see gorgeous yellow, red and orange hues in the distance. They are in blume on Earth Day.

I stop and snap a few pictures. The total mass of Tulips are on the verge of making me dizzy. It's rather breath taking and a great way to celebrate the beauty mother nature produces.

Happy Earth Day everybody. Take care of what we have. Enjoy the beauty of nature. And let's try to tread a little more lightly.