Chicken Scratch

As the chicken hits another milestone, 15 years of independent printing from the subterranean chamber, credit must be given where credit is deserved. A supporting cast of characters crucial to the exploits of Phantom Chicken need to be recognized… so why not now?

She may not be pretty but her output is impressive. A smooth 40 ounces a day of Thundermuck black gold or maybe the Ethiopian-Tanzanian blend flow mellifluously from her nozzles. And who needs some form fitting carafe when an improvised Pyrex measure-master is involved?

Then there’s the back-up crew and party favorite Procter Silex, a percolator from the 60’s… just like chicken and just as tasty!  The twin towers of Thermos keep the heat on when demand is high or maybe overflow used as an offering to the coffee gods themselves.

And then there’s the mug trio: Sista Surfer, Strap-on, and Bud – a weathered well traveled band of bad-ass plastic integrity spanning the length of the chicken itself from it’s auspicious start in 1995 to the present day. Is it healthy to still be using 15 year old mugs even when cleaned daily? Whatever!

Strap-on was ideal for bike riding when the chicken was more mobile and the riding got rough. Now it is resigned to dog park detail drawing attention and danger to itself with it’s own wagging tail.

But all would be naught without the beans, beautiful bold shiny beans, blended and jarred, grinder ready, oh shoot, I forgot the grinder. The beans can not possibly grind themselves and even Protor Silex with his futuristic knowledge and intergalactic space travel could not squeeze coffee from an unbroken bean. Be right back!

Order has been restored. The beans are ground and the dripping has begun.

Coffee for life!

PADA on press... again

Shock and Awe repeat a winning season this fall with a tight championship victory defending their Spring 2009 Portland Area Dart Association league AA division  championship! Way to conclude the Fall 2009 season team!

Plaque for the Horsebrass

The chicken is doubly pleased in that in addition to wearing the captain’s hat of said championship team a printer’s cap is also in order for the PADA. Championship shirts for Shock and Awe, the A, B and, C divisions along with some Board member shirts with indie names was a nice way to start the new year. Screen printing joy.

So after a very quiet season at the dog park, an interesting occurrence did happen. A young bold squirrel was following… actually chasing a woman walking her Aussie pup. As she was pulling the dog away, the relentless squirrel pursued so I stepped in. The docile little creature was extremely curious and allowed me to not only crouch down beside and pet it but even crawled into my outreached hands. After several attempts to leave him in various wooded areas away from the dogs, his insistent almost imploring need to be with me led me to bring it home. He now sleeps in my canvas bag on the front porch hopefully regaining strength for the return tomorrow providing he sticks around through the night. What a cutie, hope he survives.

It’s that time of year… yep ~ tomorrow is the Belmont Street Fair and Phantom Chicken will again have a booth set up at the corner of 34th and Belmont.

BSF Booth 08

We have a few new shirts, and a lot of old favorites… all t-shirts will be $15… there will even be a pile of sample shirts available for only $5 each ~ we really need to clear some space in the studio!

Plus, if we have room… I’ll have some handmade pillows available as well.

This year we worked with a Portland Illustrator, Jake D. Hollomon, to create the street fair poster.  It turned out to be a great collaboration… I love playing with color!

The fair will be going all day from 10 am to 5pm and there will be booths and things to do all along Belmont street from 20th to 48th!  They even have a free Trolley that takes you from one end all the way to the other.  Hundreds of vendors including some of our personal friends and clients like the Mt. Tabor Veterinary Clinic, The Pie Spot, and Puddletown Cakes, Birthingway College of Midwifery, Friends of Trees, and possibly ceramic artist: Sian Alexander.

The weather is supposed to be sunny and in the 90’s… so no excuse ~come on down, say hello… and maybe grab a t-shirt or two

Business cards are a crucial tool when spreading your gospel. A first impression may be the difference between memory reward recollection or possible limbo, not passing go quickly being forgotten. In other words dazzle them with a card that stands out and nail that work.

The Chicken loves to print and takes full advantage of this self serving medium by screening 6-color cards on a thick chipboard stock. All colors pulled by hand in sequence create a keepsake worthy of any fridge or wallet insert. A white underbase highlights the psychedelic design where the logo type traps using full color absorption of the the 4/color overprint. The chicken stands alone.

But the point of this entry is to show off Gail’s incredible ability to get the job done. After a quick rip of the screens squeegees singing and ink a’flingin’  these 10-up puppies need to be cut into desirable little rectangles of joy. So by hand and guillotine my little chickadee meticulously measures and slices Pangaea into little continents  for individual dispersion.

Nothing like self serve in a society that is service based creating our own chicken reality one chop at a time. Watch those fingers though!

And while I’m at it and looking forward to the local Belmont Street Fair next weekend a little shameless self promotion may be in order as in pre-order. Check it out:  Street Fair Designs

Recently we were asked to design and print a poster for a tour in Northern Ireland for our friend James Clarke and his label 5MA Records.   This was a fun print.  We used a heavy chipboard stock and flat black ink.

Printing went pretty quick since it was a short run of 50 posters.  Of course it helps that Gregg is very good at what he does… made this poster scream!! At this point, I think 50-100 posters is a good amount for limited edition screen prints.  It makes it more fun for us too.  We even had time to play with a few extra prints and a fun ink technique.

We even printed the tour tickets too!  This was a very fun job for me…  of course, I always like it when my clients like their design!

So where has the time gone? I was anxiously and joyously awaiting my trip to NYC and now its 2 weeks since I’ve returned. Went all out to free up some time for the trip printing in my usual whirlwind fashion – job in, job out! No dicking around! And now I’m immersed in a whole new tsunami but that’s for later, this was then.

First was a wine label for Tyler Winery in California, a sweet 3-color flat stock label for their newest vintages. Dogs o’plenty with shirts for the Jabber Walkies of Laurelhurst Park and the Greater Portland Dachshund Club. The St. Johns gathering of the Bizarre festival which happened as I partied in New York and another bacon fly by – Enjoy Bacon!

A very cool project found its way to the subterannean studio for Insanity Amplification. Mr. Wolfe of said company designs and builds custom amplifiers. The chicken was requested to print on the powder-coated aluminum chassis in white epoxy ink. No problem, this chicken delivers! I know there was more but these were some highlights to secure some decompression time – and it worked!!

If the consensus truly reflects the desire of  the masses, then the spotlight clearly illuminates bacon and its magical love affair. The power of pig makes me a little sad but don’t let that stop you from checking out the offerings from these hardcore bacon enthusiasts. Some great folks here in portland are representing and keeping the chicken scrambled with a large slab of bacon with all varieties of Bac’n branded T-shirts, being our forte` and all. It was said that a husband who could bring home the bacon would be held in high esteem by the community for his forebearance. That status has always been embraced by american culture when referring to the “moneymaker” of a household or even the literal bacon carrier. Clearly everyone loves bacon at least for breakfast  for it is rumored that seventy percent of the bacon consumed in America is done so at the breakfast table. So get yourself a little hug from god!

We all know them even if we wont admit to eating them. That thin layered crust with some sweet sugar gel pinched and sealed inside. A sugar glaze frosting with colored stuff, I wouldn’t call them sprinkles like the colored sprinkles from Carvel but festive looking all the same. Usually they come in fruit flavors with or without frosting. I dig the S’mores artificially flavored variety. They’re made for toasting with silly instructions and warnings printed on the box. Like remove pastry from pouch before toasting. Make sure to use the lowest setting and for only one cycle. Make sure to let them cool before carefully removing from appliance so you don’t burn yourself.  Most times I won’t even toast them. That is that I’m rarely by a toaster when I open the box and they don’t last long after they’re opened. The box. That’s where this rant begins. Packaging. Waste. I wont go psycho and start measuring said tart dimensions with box area nor comparing the volume of box capacity to 8-pack actual bulk volume. I will document the waste with a few photographs to illustrate a common problem found in most product packaging but especially prevalent in pre-fab convenience foods.

From the get go there is a basic size discrepancy. Through deceptive wrapping an initial coverup is evident once pulled from the box.

When folded over the pop is out of the tart. Just look at the height difference. Madness. And don’t fret for the width is not left out of the equation. When fully unwrapped the entire scam unravels as clearly evident when placed on the box front panel. Though an attempt to rectify this has been made with the addition of two additional tarts to the previous 6-pack count, only a net 3 ounces of weight has been added to the total package of 8. This package could handle the contents of the 12 pack”double-wide” which if truly was doubled would be a 16-count box. Grrrr.

I’m spinning and spinning out of control, reckless and wanton. A dervish whirling until blood loss causes nirvana. And I can see. A new year is upon as wednesday blended into thursday in a seamless transition of blue to green. I anticipate full circles, a bending of time and space bringing the past to the present restructuring the future for the now. The end of an era as ancient wisdom is recovered and disseminated to enhance our spiritual awareness. What is needed now is super-posi energy and the culmination of 26,000 years of accumulated knowledge for the transition from the old World age to the New Age, the galactic synchronization approaching real fast. So Im spinning and spinning, directed and focused now hopeful for my future and that of humanity.