These Logos For Fictional Trendy Web 2.0 Sites Were Made For The Latest Episode Of The Media Show.  The

My "Save the Clock Tower" flyer prop replica from Back to the Future.

A couple versions of the actual canonical flyer prop, as used in the film's production, have been in general circulation for a long time; you can grab them and other free printable BTTF props here.  I had one on my wall for ages, but was never really satisfied with it.  It's filled with placeholder text, unreadable on-screen but nonsensical in real life, and certain other details don't ring true; there isn't a date on the newspaper's front page, for one thing.  So, I created a new flyer from scratch, correcting errors and replacing the filler text with original newsprint written by myself.

This was made without re-using anything directly from BTTF; even the photo is something I heavily 'shopped from this free one.  I wrote the article text with lots of nods to BTTF continuity as well as some other obscure references and in-jokes, friends' names, etc.  (There's a secret signature of mine hidden somewhere which isn't the "Rob Vincent, Dot Net" or "R.T.F. News Wire" bits, which nobody to my knowledge has found yet.  If you see it, contact me or leave it here in a comment and claim some geek points!)  If you wish to customize or replace the article text, the font is Times New Roman 18pt bold.

Printed up at 300 DPI on the right shade of pale blue paper, these result in a prop replica which I feel is a lot neater in real life than the genuine prop.  Alternately you could print it on white paper, photocopy it, copy the copy, and so on to soften the edges and approximate that 1980s multi-generational xerox look before finally getting it copied onto the blue paper.

There's still a bit of work to do on this before I'll consider it finished.  For one thing, I had to improvise the masthead text with a calligraphy font that isn't all that good a match if you look closely; if I can't find a closer font I'll have to remake the text from scratch someday.

These were a big hit when I dressed as the "Save the Clock Tower" lady for a Halloween parade.

2021 edit: Wow, this blew up. Nowadays around half of the Clock Tower Flyers for sale online by shady prop dealers are my version, which you can still get totally free here. If you paid anyone for a copy of this flyer, you were ripped off.

This did, however, lead to something nicer; my version was found by actual Back to the Future licensee Doctor Collector, who were impressed enough by my work on it that they negotiated my services to rewrite the news text from scratch once again for their authorized version of the prop which is part of their “Back to the Future Time Travel Memories” box of replica items from the BTTF universe. If you have that kit, which is full of so many very cool things any BTTF diehard would enjoy, you have an all-new and official version of this flyer which was written by me.

It wouldn’t have been cool on either of our ends for Doctor Collector to just reuse my free fan-art in their version and sell it, but through their very kind efforts at reaching out to me I found myself actually writing authorized BTTF-universe material. That’s an achievement I won’t soon forget.

When I was growing up, there was a certain "inspirational" poem most, if not all, of my elderly Christian relatives had framed and displayed somewhere in their home.

I rewrote the poem as inspirational material for a Jedi pursuing the Dark Side of the Force, and set it against a Tatooine version of its standard backdrop.  I don't know about you folks, but I certainly feel more inspired now.

Here's the poem in text:

"Bootprints"

One night I dreamed I was walking through the Tatooine desert with Lord Vader.  Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.

In each scene I noticed bootprints in the sand.  Sometimes there were two sets of bootprints, other times there was one set only.

This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow, or rebel defeat, I could see only one set of bootprints, so I said to Lord Vader,

"You promised me Father, that if I joined you, we would rule the galaxy as father and son.  But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my journey toward the Dark Side, there has only been one set of bootprints in the sand.  Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?"

Lord Vader replied, "The times when you have seen only one set of bootprints, my son, that is when I levitated you."

Public domain source photos taken from here and here.  Star Wars crawl font taken from here.

Today’s daily doodle was a race against myself, in just under three minutes I drew a pinback button which happened to be sitting on my desk.

I’ve drawn variations on this little round bird creature since I was a kid.

I started drawing this last Thursday at the bar as I waited for my friends’ comedy showcase Say Everything to start, finshed it up today, and here you go.

In response to the current kerfuffle going on in Neil Gaiman's corner of the Internet, the affable @mistressmousey suggested her artist acquaintances draw this elusive creature known as the pencil-necked little weasel.

So sorry, etc.

Sharp J-SH04 2001

Manufactured by Sharp for the J-Phone brand, the J-SH04 is generally recognized as the world’s first camera phone.

The J-SH04 innovatively integrated a mobile phone and digital camera, devices many people of the day regularly kept on-hand, into a single unit with the camera functionality integrated into the phone itself.   For the first time, users could use a single device to take digital photos (at a then-impressive 0.11 megapixels) and share them via the mobile network.

The device (and photo-sharing in general) took off among young users and set the model for all future camera phones, devices which forever changed how we take and share photos and document our world.

Acrylic on canvas, 5x7″.  From my series of paintings of historical telephones.

My BFF Grey has a listing on the Internet Movie Database.

As you may know, if someone listed on IMDb wants to upload a photograph to their listing they need to buy a pro membership on the site.  While I couldn't do that for her, I did the next best thing: I redrew my Fairey-ish portrait of her in smileys, and posted it to her IMDb message board.

I can't help but think the potential of message board smileys as an artistic medium has barely been scratched.

Benjamin Banneker (November 9, 1731-October 9, 1806)

A free African-American in the 18th century, Banneker was a primarily self-taught student of multiple sciences.

Using only a borrowed pocket watch as reference, Banneker once carved a wooden clock by hand which kept perfect time until the day of his death.

Acrylic on canvas, 5x7″.  From my September 2015 set Luminaries of the Hacker World.

Carmen "humdog" Hermosillo (d. August 10, 2008)

Artist, writer, researcher, and poet Carmen Hermosillo was a participant in online communities, from BBSes, the WELL, and other early electronic forums to modern social networks and virtual worlds, and studied their place in our lives.

Hermosillo is portrayed here with one of her many virtual avatars.

Acrylic on canvas, 7x5″.  From my September 2015 set Luminaries of the Hacker World.

I multitrack a capella'd "Tom's Diner."

I'm your Suzanne Vega now.

This also exists on Soundcloud.