About once a year I give up drinking for a month or so. The first time I did it was because my friends and I were getting drunk nearly every night and I just felt like taking a break, instead of slowing down I figured I should probably just stop. The next time was a bet with my roommate. This time I just felt like breaking the monotony. But every time there has been an underlying “just to make sure I can” aspect of it. When someone’s addicted to something you always hear the stereotypical “I can stop whenever I want, I just don’t want to.” So sometimes I just like to make sure I actually can stop whenever I want. Anyway I made it a month and it’s actually been pretty awesome. I celebrated the end of the month by ordering a case of Yuengling Lager and have enjoyed it.
Something was different about this month off though, this time I actually enjoyed being sober. I saved a little money (I spent it, but at least I didn’t spend it on booze), I was never hungover on a saturday or sunday morning, I didn’t get depressed at all, I met some new people playing in some poker home games around LA, I never worried about getting a ride home from a party, and I spent less time in bars. I think i’m going to concentrate on being one of those occasional drinkers rather than a regular. I feel like I’m growing up or something. Gross.

I think that when something you designed gets tattooed on someone you’ve officially “made it.” Check it out, the new Dashboard Confessional album “The Shade Of Poison Trees” that I designed has been permanently marked on someone’s arm. I dig it

If you blink you might miss me, but I make a breif Cameo in Jonah Ray’s new episode of “The Freeloader’s Guide To Easy Living” over on Super Deluxe. Check it.

So I got a survey from AT&T today about my iPhone and I was bored so I decided to do it, when the questions about internet speeds came up with a list of applications, iChat is in there! I hope this means it’s coming soon, I really miss AIM on my phone.

When I was a little kid the first comedy “bit” I remember LOVING was “Who’s On First” by Abott & Costello. I first heard it on a plane on their in-flight comedy station. I probably listened to it 100’s of times. So seeing this updated version using movie titles cracked me up. Check it.

Here’s the original:

And the updated version:

In December of last year a fellow Vagrant staffer, Sean Dore asked me for my top 10 records of the year. At that point I went… “uhhhh the Hold Steady, and ummmm I don’t know.” This year we are only into June and I have half of a solid top 10 list assembled. Shit, I have half of a solid top 12 assembled. With new records coming from Against Me, and Bishop Allen I’m guaranteed to at least have a top 8 for December. So lets get to it shall we? I will warn you now, I’m not a record reviewer. I hate comparing bands to this and that and giving a generalization of their sound. It’s pretty easy to find clips on the internet via Amazon or whatever to give you an idea. I’m just sayin’ these are albums I love and I want to share that.

Shellac - “Excellent Italian Greyhound”
Yes I downloaded the leaked version of this record. And when it came out I almost immediately went out and bought it, on vinyl. Those who say art can’t sell records haven’t seen a gatefold lp with spot varnish and full color lp sleeve topped off with a hand screen printed slip case illustrated by Jay Ryan. All topped off with the CD version thrown in for good measure. Have I listened to this record on my way to and back from work almost constantly for the last 3 weeks? Yes. I have. It gives me the grown up version of that feeling I got when I first heard a Black Flag record when i was 13.

Battles - “Mirrors”
On all fronts this shouldn’t fall into my favorites of the year catagory. Experimental music, weird digital vocals, and members of bands I’m not really a fan of. But damnit if this isn’t one of the most infectious albums of the year. One listen to the single Atlas should give you a pretty good idea of what I’m talking about. Play this one loud and all the way through. Kick ass.

Ted Leo/Pharmacists - “Living With The Living”
This was one of my most anticipated records of the year, and it didn’t disappoint one bit. There are ska/reggae, punk, irish folk, 70’s rock, all kinds of influences on this thing. I think between us Jonah Ray and I have probably put Bottle of Buckie on about 50 playlists/mix cds. If I had to put my top 10 in order, I’m almost positive this one would steal the number 1 slot. If you dont love this record, we’re not friends.

Sean Na Na - “Family Trees or CoPe We Must”
Some of you may know Sean Tillman from his other project Har Mar Superstar. But his bona fide band Sean Na Na has been around for a little longer. I’m not so into Har Mar but Sean Na Na has been a big favorite of mine since I first picked up the last full length “My Majesty”. While “My Majesty” had a few standout tracks, “Family Trees..” is almost all standout tracks. I think my biggest problem with this record is deciding which song I’m going to put on a playlist or mix. It’s that good. Go to their myspace and take a listen. After you have listened, go buy the record.

The White Stripes - “Icky Thump” I’ve been a fan of the White Stripes since the days when I bought at least 2 S.F.T.R.I. records a month. I never pictured they’d get this big, but I do think it is pretty amazing. Icky thump is quickly becoming my favorite of the last 3. I got sick of “Get Behind Me Satan” pretty quickly, so hearing “Icky Thump” was pretty refreshing. Standouts being the title track and the strange spoken word bluesey number “Rag and Bone”. I love this record.

Joanna Newsom - “& The Ys Street Band” E.P.
Joanna Newsom ditched her “a girl with her harp” format and switched to “Girl with her harp backed by an orchestra and big production” for her sophmore LP “Ys” (pronounced “ees”) and It was pretty amazing. She’s switched it up to a bluegrassy mountain band sound for this 3 song E.P. Featuring 2 previously released songs re-recorded (Including one of my favs “Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie”) and one new song, “& The Ys Street Band” (Get it?) makes me wish she had recorded the LP in this format instead of the orchestral route she chose to go. Joanna Newsom can do no wrong.

Somebody please get one (or all) of these Helvetica 50th Anniversary Shirts from Helvetica Nation and send them to me. I want one so bad. Especially the Italy and Spain shirts.

If Jeff Foxworthy were a Graphic Design comic instead of a Redneck comic - this post would definitely be the fodder of many “You know you’re a Design Nerd when you want to spend 45 bucks on a shirt commemorating the 50th aniversary of a typeface” type jokes.

(via AisleOne)

I was raised without religion. I was never told not to believe in God or anything like that. Nobody ever came out and said “God isn’t real.” It was just sorta like the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus, they let me figure things out on my own. When I was bad my mom wouldn’t say anything about God and “Honor thy mother and father,” she would just tell me she was calling 1-800-GYPSIES to come and take me away. I was a smart kid though so I called that number to find out if it was real or not. Come to think of it - maybe I was trying to get the Gypsies to come and take my little sister away, because you know without God in my life I was pretty evil ::wink::. My mom was raised basically the same way, although they went to church occasionally, I think it was more in a fitting in to the community sort of way. I don’t think we could have ever been considered a religious family.

(more…)

“Pay your rent, pay your bills, pay the doctor for your pills - So you can work another day, as life slips away” - Quasi

I’ve been working on getting rid of a lot of “stuff” that I have. Getting rid of DVD’s rather than buying more, getting music digitally rather than going down to Amoeba, giving away my PS2, etc. However I got paid for a merch design I did for Wilco and I went on a little spending spree. What’s that? You don’t care?! Well I’m going to tell you what I bought anyway! Here goes…
• First I got a Road Bike.
• Then of course I had to get it tuned up and buy new chain rings for it.
• Next I totally needed to be able to carry things while I ride so I bought a bag from Bailey Works.
• I’ve been talking about doing a podcast for a while with Jonah Ray, so I bought a USB mic.
• Jeff Soto is one of my favorite artists, I even have a tattoo of one of his paintings. He is putting out a limited edition calendar/zine so I had to pre-order it.
• A while ago I had registered BenGoetting.com but never renewed it. I’m lucky there aren’t too many other Ben Goetting’s out there (or they just aren’t computer savvy enough to own their own domain) so it was still available. I had to re-register it so I’ll always have MY domain (of course as you can see it just re-directs straight back here so don’t get too excited)

That’s it. I’m broke again. I think I made some nice purchases though. Oof.

You’re gonna be hearing a lot about this man in the next 6 months. Just you watch.

And watch this video. We’ve all been “The Replacement Man” at one point or another.