The Inter-Webs

We're often seen at these disgustingly trendy-pop hangout spots. Join Us?

Day One of Independent Craft Sale  //  Posted By: David W

The first day of the Independent Craft Sale and Exhibition is over! It went pleasantly well. There was a good stream of people flowing through all day long due to the Open Studios! Cate and myself had a good time catching up on all of the gossip from the last couple of months; and boy was there a lot of it! Cool!

So, without further ado, here are some photos of our table-booth thing. Yeah.

I’ll take some more photos tomorrow when I’m not so super tired.

Cranky Yellow is a Grumpy Old Man  //  Posted By: David W

Cranky Yellow is awesome due to the complete and utter awesomeness of all the dedicated people involved! Check out this totally rad illustration/advertisement that Michelle (Lemon Squeezie) squeezed out (bad pun intended) for the website. WOW!

Michelle definitely went the distance! She even took it upon herself to snag some totally nasty-baby-poop-yellow shirts from the thrift store. That girl didn’t even think twice about silk screening this image on them. Oh Snap! Now I just wish everyone could have one.

(MICHELLE! EMAIL ME A PICTURE OF THE SHIRT SO I CAN POST IT HERE! FEEL FREE TO MAKE SASSY MODEL… OR YOU CAN MODEL TOO!)

Anyway…Thanks again Michelle! I’ll cook delicious buttered toast, for you, some time!

Press Section Now Online  //  Posted By: David W

I went ahead and launched a new press section of the site. You’ll be able to browse archived articles about Cranky Yellow (or Cranky Yellow Events)! It’s a good place to waste your time.

(Above is my goofy mug-shot in the June 2008 issue of Saint Louis Magazine.)

James Kaufmann Shirts on Sale  //  Posted By: David W

That’s right kids! You heard it! The wonderfully whale-iscious shirts by James Kaufmann are currently on sale for a durt-cheap price of $12.00 (James… correct me if I’m wrong…)! Damn guuuurl, you better be getting one. These things are so adorable and available in various sizes, colors and designs. Whales have never looked so good. These are like super-model whales. Except, you know, they don’t have to starve themselves to be considered sexy! They spend all day gorging themselves on krill… and then proceed to feel totally comfortable with their blubber-bodied figures.

If you’ve forgotten what they look like… just check it:

Crammed Organisms at Star Clipper  //  Posted By: David W

The first installment of Crammed Organisms @ Star Clipper Comics is closing down this Friday, July 18th! If you want to see it you had better get your butt over there and check it out. If you don’t go… you’ll wish you had. It’s a beautiful show.

That’s all for today. I’m a little tired and grumpy.

Growing Zine Section  //  Posted By: David W

I’m continually shown unimaginable amounts of kindness. Sheri, a new/awesome friend, donated a bucket (seriously… a bucket) of old zines she had. She once owned a kick-ass store called Tension Head Records. It’s super unfortunate that it had to close… and even more unfortunate that I didn’t get to see/meet it while it was alive. I’ve heard that it was amazing, and knowing Sheri’s coolness, I believe it. It even won a 2006 RFT “Best Of Saint Louis” award; which is pretty impressive since it wasn’t open long before receiving the award.

Anyway, due to her generous donation, I actually had to sit down and spend some time organizing the Zines. You seriously need to get in here and buy some of them. These things are freaking awesome. Sheri can testify. You might see her around, and then find yourself asking: “Are the Zines freaking awesome?”, and she’ll reply: “What the hell are you talking about!?” or “Which Zines are you speaking of?” or “Stop talking to me you creepy bum!”

It will be worth your time regardless. So get to it.

New Bags by SKIRT  //  Posted By: David W

Here are two total goof-balls (Ages 5 and 19) modeling the new bags/hats by the amazing production duo SKIRT! SKIRT makes the most subversively cute items in the world! We also have some rockin’ red wallets… but I didn’t photograph them. Booo.

You’ll know you’re getting a quality hand-made item when you purchase from SKIRT. Their stuff is put together with extreme precision! It’s simply beautiful and 100% unique!

I’ve also been chatting it up with 18andCounting about his upcoming show at Cranky Yellow, which hits our walls in about 2 weeks (on Aug 2nd). There is obviously lots to do.

The Color Green  //  Posted By: David W

My life has, recently, been filled with Lyndsey and the color green! Two of my favorite things; I’m a very lucky boy! I’ll tell you the whole story:

Our “Free Stuff” bin is happy to be holding the new Confluence Newspaper! I’ve already read it front to back! The cover is graced by a lovely illustration that Lyndsey drew (it’s also green. hah)! This baby is a beautiful self-loving issue: The DIY Heal Yourself Toolbox!

Confluence is a free, great, independent bi-monthly newspaper created cooperatively in Saint Louis. Inside this publication you’ll find a slew of topics that make me giddy: politics, environmental issues, labor, art, social justice, science, history, urban affairs and lots more! It gets brought to life down at the Community Arts and Media Project (C.A.M.P.) which is our neighbor on Cherokee Street.

If you’re interested: C.A.M.P. operates an open and accessible space that fosters art, media, education, and urban sustainability as tools to connect local and global struggles for social justice.

Finally, a few days ago, Lyndsey donated an amazing hand she created last year for the El Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration on Cheroekee. She worked with the children at C.A.M.P. to create “Our Power Hands” which were utilized on a street-wide community celebration and project… wickedly-totally cool! The hand has found a happy home: blessing everyone who comes into Cranky Yellow with super love-vibes from outer-space!

Kit Bond and Claire McCaskill Voted Against Our Civil Liberties.  //  Posted By: angelos

Kit Bond isn’t surprising, of course, being the loyal, rabid Republican he is. McCaskill, however, surprised me. She was voted in during the last elections on a wave of anger over Republican policies and strategies. Both her and Obama (who campaigned on her behalf) have decided to vote in favor of the recent FISA bill, which passed. According the the ACLU this is what the bill contains:
? H.R. 6304 permits the government to conduct mass, untargeted surveillance of all communications coming into and out of the United States, without any individualized review, and without any finding of wrongdoing.

? H.R. 6304 permits only minimal court oversight. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court) only reviews general procedures for targeting and minimizing the use of information that is collected. The court may not know who, what or where will actually be tapped.

? H.R. 6304 contains a general ban on reverse targeting. However, it lacks stronger language that was contained in prior House bills that included clear statutory directives about when the government should return to the FISA court and obtain an individualized order if it wants to continue listening to a US person?s communications.

? H.R.6304 contains an ?exigent? circumstance loophole that thwarts the prior judicial review requirement. The bill permits the government to start a spying program and wait to go to court for up to 7 days every time ?intelligence important to the national security of the US may be lost or not timely acquired.? By definition, court applications take time and will delay the collection of information. It is highly unlikely there is a situation where this exception doesn?t swallow the rule.

? H.R. 6304 further trivializes court review by explicitly permitting the government to continue surveillance programs even if the application is denied by the court. The government has the authority to wiretap through the entire appeals process, and then keep and use whatever it gathered in the meantime.

? H.R. 6304 ensures the dismissal of all cases pending against the telecommunication companies that facilitated the warrantless wiretapping programs over the last 7 years. The test in the bill is not whether the government certifications were actually legal ? only whether they were issued. Because it is public knowledge that they were, all the cases seeking to find out what these companies and the government did with our communications will be killed.

? Members of Congress not on Judiciary or Intelligence Committees are NOT guaranteed access to reports from the Attorney General, Director of National Intelligence, and Inspector General.On top of all of that; the bill exempts telecommunications companies from lawsuits pertaining to the possibly illegal wiretapping and spying programs aimed at American citizens by the Bush administration. You heard that right people, Claire McCaskill, our (Missouri) Senator has decided that telecommunication’s companies should be literally above the law.
Now, it would be great if I could get together a million or so dollars and lobby congress to be exempt from, say, parking tickets, domestic abuse, or vandalism. Don’t all of you just wish you had a huge amount of money that would allow you to be above the law, just like the Bush administration and its corporate patsies?

This law pretty much gives the telecommunications companies, other industries, and maybe even individuals encouragement to break the law just as long as a government agency is telling you to do so.

The reasons are silly and petty, acting as if the telecom companies couldn’t have known that what they were doing was illegal. It isn’t as if they don’t have high priced lawyers that regularly check to make sure the companies are in compliance with U.S. law, it isn’t as if they couldn’t have contacted law professors, judges, or other experts in Federal, State, and constitutional law. It’s also not as if some companies have already resisted, successfully, and in a high-profile fashion, government requests for information on customers.

For those of you who live in Missouri, here is where you can contact McCaskill and tell her how you feel:

http://mccaskill.senate.gov/contact/locations.cfm

http://mccaskill.senate.gov/contact/

I suggest the rest of you find out if your senator(s) decided to vote in favor of this horrible bill and give them a piece of your mind as well.

Crammed Organisms Book  //  Posted By: David W

One aspect of Crammed Organisms that I’ve really refused to talk about is the 235 page, full color, book that we published. We whipped this thing out in record time. We photographed 700+ pieces of art, cleaned the photos in photoshop, laid out the book, and went to press in roughly 3 weeks.

We haven’t put it for sale online yet. We are still resting from the show openings, the stress of organizing the whole event, and preparing to ship these things out. If you live in Saint Louis you can pick it up at our shop. Pretty soon it will be available online and stocked in independent book shops around the country.

The book gets my heart pumping fast every time I look at it. I’m pretty sure it is still radiating stress onto me. That’s why I’ve taken a week to retreat. I’m still hard at work… I’m just not working in the shop…

I should eat some ice-cream. Yeah. Ice-cream.