productivCitizen

The Man In Black and Red

2006-07-06T23:48:00.000-05:00

Inspired by a well-excecuted stencil i happened upon in Oakland, CA., which was itself inspired by the cover of "Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison". The original photo was taken by one Jim Marshall. So maybe it's not the most original image, but you just can't go wrong with cool Johnny Cash pic.

Slight Revision.....

2006-05-03T17:22:00.000-05:00

"Give me your awake, your wealthy,
Your educated masses yearning for a shopping spree,
Keep the wretched refuse off our teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, somewhere else:
I lift my lamp beside the golden arches."

-Astitious

AREA MAN UPDATES BLOG

2006-03-13T18:35:00.000-06:00

After three months of no updates, local resident Joe T. posted a new topic on his widely-ignored blog site. Citing "frustration with the written word and the English language," Mr. T. reassured the press that there would be more new entries within the coming weeks; "We are working through some logistical issues regarding punctuation and then there's the old debate over what really constitutes a topic of general interest, or of any interest."

With a short history of being one of the most universally unknown blogs on the internet, productivCitizen is not read by over 99.9% of US citizens on a daily basis. Across the rest of the world, the actual numbers are closer to 100%, according to available market research.

"There's no guarantee that anyone will want to look at our stupid boring pictures, or read the half-baked wet cardboard that our editors approve, but we're gonna keep doing it anyway," Said Mr. T.

The Capital Consumer

2005-11-16T23:33:00.000-06:00

I Want To Live Under The Mountain, For A Thousand Years.

2005-11-15T19:15:00.000-06:00

It's that kind of edge you walk around with, the one where people recognize that you could easily make good on that urge to sell all your shit, buy a van and camping supplies... you know, drop off for a few years, go be a fucking Holy Hermit in the last wilds of North America. Not something i would do unarmed, that's for damn sure.

Featured Fuckheads: Tigerpaw

2005-10-15T01:11:00.000-05:00

One of the HOTTEST Chicago rock bands right now, Tigerpaw drops trou on a regular basis, but they do it for crowds of really old people. It's actually quite a nice change from some of the other shit i've seen in my many years of catching Hanson's various opening acts. Any way you cut it, Tigerpaw will piss you off, and you'll end up looting famous works of art from New Orleans.

Featured Artist: John Greene And His Fleen...

2005-09-09T21:01:00.000-05:00

Old Boy John Greene has been keeping busy with the Herculean task of fusing art, design, math and computer science into some coherent form, while supporting a small family of grouse, organizing the blood bank, and singing BTO songs while updating his hotmail superbestinternettvguidepals mailing list.

See all the gory details at...
FLEEN.ORG

The Right Honorable Sir Jaabbar Gibbson....

2005-09-05T12:56:00.000-05:00

"Jaabbar Gibbson, 20, sits behind the wheel of a bus he
commandeered and drove himself and 80 people he picked
up along the road to Houston Wednesday night. They
were the first evacuees from Hurricane Katrina to
arrive by their own vehicles hoping to find shelter at
the Astrodome. Houston Chronicle photo by Carlos Rios
via Associated Press."

How many guys like Jaabbar have we NOT heard about?

Productivcitizen.blogspot.com CHALLENGES all of it's readers to match our 25$ donation to the Red Cross National Disaster Relief Fund. Remember to keep your eyes open for fraudulent charities when helping out with relief of any kind. Please leave a comment here, and let everyone else know how you've helped out. THANKS!

The Red Cross
The United Way

In tribute to our fellow Americans.....

If it keeps on rainin’, levee’s goin’ to break,
If it keeps on rainin’, levee’s goin’ to break,
When the levee breaks I’ll have no place to stay.
Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan,
Lord, mean old levee taught me to weep and moan,
Got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home,
Oh, well, oh, well, oh, well.
Don’t it make you feel bad
When you’re tryin’ to find your way home,
You don’t know which way to go?
If you’re goin’ down south
They go no work to do,
If you don’t know about chicago.
Cryin’ won’t help you, prayin’ won’t do you no good,
Now, cryin’ won’t help you, prayin’ won’t do you no good,
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move.
All last night sat on the levee and moaned,
All last night sat on the levee and moaned,
Thinkin’ ’bout me baby and my happy home.
Going, go’n’ to chicago,
Go’n’ to chicago,
Sorry but I can’t take you.
Going down, going down now, going down.

-Led Zepplin

Current Gunship Mock-Up

2005-08-07T23:45:00.000-05:00

i'm not finished yet, there's always more to be done, but she's ready for a "studio shot".

Comparing Kings of Leon to the Clash

2005-08-01T21:26:00.000-05:00

I dunno, is this something you can even do? Ok, to make this easier, lets compare Aha Shake Heartbreak to London Calling. Hmm...that's not much easier...

Ok then, howabout this...Aha Shake Heartbreak is one of those albums that sound complete, each song belonging where it is, in relation to the other tracks. Kind of like London Calling does it. I'm thinking Sonic Youth's "Goo" meets The Police's "Synchronicity" meets anything by the Black Crowes, if the Black Crowes were actually cool. Oh yeah, and Rod Stewart was there.

She'll bartend your party.

El primer tomate de la pera del año, ¡Es el número uno!

2005-07-12T19:50:00.000-05:00

¡Aquí usted va, el primer de algunos tomates realmente malos de asno, así que los obtiene y los come todo antes yo hago! ¡Es gran!

Digital Sketches

2005-07-01T21:10:00.000-05:00

hot off the presses in my brain.

Roll Out Old Glory Once Again!

2005-06-24T19:56:00.000-05:00

Cheap ploy by the Republicans to get the damn liberals to "vote against the flag." I'm calling BS on this one.

You might not be able to legally set fire to the American Flag, but you sure as fuck can print it on any kind of cheap peice of shit and sell it for $2.00. Im not really sure which is more disrespectful.

For instance, i own an oven mitt with the american flag on it....

it mighta gotten a little scorched...sorry about that.

Sanctuary

2005-06-19T12:17:00.000-05:00

Ah yes, this is a bit easier to look at than the last post...i like to keep things balanced around here. These garden boxes have been growing for about a month now, it's nice to have a bit of sanctuary like this in a city like Chicago.

Once these guys start producing, im gonna have more cherry tomatos than i'll know what to do with. Yes indeed, quite the nice little gardening project...does this mean i'm old now?

Softball To The Eye!

2005-06-17T20:11:00.000-05:00

Before the game, my buddy Sven says..."we're here to watch Joe T. shine!" and then I said..."more like get a shiner." I'm fucking psychic, i swear.
It coulda been worse, no broken bones, and the eyeball itself is where it should be.

It was a hard hit ground ball, musta bounced off a rock, or just didn't like my purty face, so it jumped up at the last possible second to smack me right in the peeper. I'm lookin at early retirement from the office league...but only with one eye.

Sarcastic Comic About Working Life, #587

2005-06-01T23:02:00.000-05:00

*DISCLAIMER* the character mentioned above as "Bob" is completely fictional, any resemblance to real persons is purely coincidental. "Bob" is a very common name, it does not specifically refer to any particular "Bob" or "Bobs" the author may or may not know.

I Sat On A Bench In Michigan With My Girlfreind For My Vacation!

2005-05-05T18:28:00.000-05:00

Yes, I COULD make the title for this entry longer, thank you very much.

Slight Dispatch from Cityopolis

2005-02-15T18:33:00.000-06:00

Hot time, summer in the city.
The back of my neck feels all dirty,
and gritty.

The commuters all look weird this evening.
Not just your typical
"dressed weird" or
"flailing wildly" or
"begging for mercy"
It's more of a head/face shape
thing
going on.

If i hadn't thought i saw a freind
on one of the cars as the train pulled in
i wouldn't have tried
to make it to that car
and failed
and ended up
on the car that i did,
with all the people with strangely
shaped heads and faces.

Keep in mind
that My head is
not
strangely
shaped.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, ASSHOLES!

2005-01-10T23:51:00.000-06:00

are you talking to me?

A Real Barstard of a Halloween

2004-10-31T22:23:00.000-06:00

I went as a british medical student...

A few people who didn't know me or the character were all like "Clark and Belmont is the other way, you clown!

The Mystery Kids Have Arrived...

2004-10-27T22:08:00.000-05:00

At some point in the course of my illustrious 10-year career in picture framing, i happened upon these two fellas in a frame discarded by one of my customers. Their freaky, drugged out eyes held visions of electric football games, bad acid trips and S.E. Hinton stories. Who were these two? They were obviously part of the same street-gang, and possibly had art class together, most likely during fifth period.

So many unanswerable questions are posed by these two cohorts; Did they know M&M? Had they been with Pony Boy as he began to stay golden? We may never know, so we must make some shit up....

Click directly underneath this post, on "comments" and tell me who you think these miscreants are...what are their names, where do they live, what did they do immediately after the portraits were completed? Are they still alive?

At some arbitrary point, to be decided in the future, i will select one comment as a winning recipient of some stickers and bullshit which i will mail to your street address, if said winner is willing to email said address to me. Said stickers will be enclosed in an envelope with said bullshit, and will arrive in said envelope by said postal service. wait..i didn't say postal service yet. regardless, the contest begins.....NOW!

MORE MODEL MAYHEM!!!!

2004-10-27T21:47:00.000-05:00

The Mercenary Gunboat is coming along nicely...

This baby is packin' some serious space-heat

Obeying a cardinal rule of shipbuilding...don't forget to trick out the underbelly

My custom Falcon in action!

Nice detail shot of the cockpit

And the deadly quad cannons..woe be unto thee, oh Tie Fighter!

As Promised...A Non-Political Update..

2004-10-07T20:52:00.000-05:00

So iv'e been building some models lately, hadn't done it since i was a teenager. I came back to it when i got the idea stuck in my head to build my own custom Millenium Falcon. The photos below are of the commonly found MPC kit, but with completely scratch built side panels, and alot of kitbashed details. While it's not apparent in these pictures, the model is fully lit with LED's, fiber optics and a Lightsheet panel for the main engines. (ill have to get some more batteries for it first, hehe.)

After finishing this project, i wanted to tackle something a bit more challenging. I began to peice together my own designs for an original, scratch built starfighter. The gunboat below is currently in the stage shown, i'd say it's less than half done.
I have recently won a lot of 6 helicopter model kits on ebay (woo-hoo!), so i should have the random parts to finish it off soon enough.

The hand built models of the older sci-fi movies (star wars, et. al.)were always better than today's overdone CGI effects, and this is my tribute to those fine craftsmen.

GO-GO POWER WAR PIGS!

2004-10-06T23:09:00.000-05:00

So fuck it, im gonna lay off the political stuff for a while. It seems so futile when both candidates are promising to kill enough of the right people so that we can all be safer. While it can be said Republicans represent all that is vile and short-sighted about the US and our social systems, Democrats can be just as shifty when they want to be.

Why choose the lesser of two evils? VOTE CTHULU 2004!

And i leave you today with the lyrics to Black Sabbath's WAR PIGS...

Generals gathered in their masses,
just like witches at black masses.
Evil minds that plot destruction,
sorcerers of death's construction.
In the fields the bodies burning,
as the war machine keeps turning.
Death and hatred to mankind,
poisoning their brainwashed minds.
Oh lord, yeah!

Politicians hide themselves away.
They only started the war.
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor, yeah.

Time will tell on their power minds,
making war just for fun.
Treating people just like pawns in chess,
wait till their judgement day comes, yeah.

Now in darkness world stops turning,
ashes where the bodies burning.
No more War Pigs have the power,
Hand of God has struck the hour.
Day of judgement, God is calling,
on their knees the war pigs crawling.
Begging mercies for their sins,
Satan, laughing, spreads his wings.
Oh lord, yeah!

Who's Flip-Floppin'?

2004-10-05T18:09:00.000-05:00

Goddamn, how many times are Bush Administration people gonna say something, then a day later, claim they didn't mean it, and retract the goddamn statement? Ol' Rummy is up to it most recently. Look it up yourself, im too lazy to make a link right now.

The Last Word on Presidents

2004-10-01T22:18:00.000-05:00

"You cannot lead the world if you do not honor the contributions of those who are with us. He called them coerced and the bribed. That's not how you bring people together. Our coalition is strong. It will remain strong, so long as I'm the president."
GW Bush, Sept 30th

1. see my list below of "our strong coalition"

2. the first five words of the above quote sum it up. Bush wants to lead the world. Kerry wants to lead America.

This Just In.....

2004-09-28T21:34:00.000-05:00

There are too many goddamn people in this city. Only five of them give a shit about Dan Rather.

Fun With Flag-Waving Right-Wing Cheerleader Columnists!

2004-09-28T20:48:00.000-05:00

Well, i found myself reading this article, and began pondering...if this hack can get published, i just might have a bright future in journalism myself.

Few things wrong here. Number one, it sends a shiver up my spine to see mainstream media give space to the idea that questioning or criticizing our "leaders" undermines them, and makes their jobs harder. If that's not McCarthyism, i don't know what is. I have been seeing more and more examples of this argument in various media outlets, and it amounts to nothing more than "get-in-line" scare tactics. No one wants to be unpatriotic. (not even me).

Secondly, i love when "The Coalition" is brought up, because i like things that make me laugh hysterically. Except in this case, it's not really funny. For everyone's perusing pleasure, here is a list of the Coalition member countries, which i compiled myself from the White House Website

Italy
Japan
Denmark
Afghanistan
Albania
Austrailia
Azerbaijan
Bulgaria
Columbia
Costa Rica
Czech Republic
Dominican Republic
El Salvador
Eritrea
Estonia
Georgia
Honduras
Hungary
Iceland
Latvia
Lithuania
Macedonia
Mongolia
Netherlands
Nicaragua
Panama
Philippines
Poland
Portuagal
Romania
Rwanda
Singapore
Slovakia
South Korea
Turkey
Uganda
Ukraine
United Kingdom
Uzbekistan

*Spain was actually still quoted as being a member.

So yes, most of those countries elicit a chuckle, rather than a feeling of worldwide co-operation. Except again, it's not funny. Of course, Michael Moore mentions a few of these members in F9/11, but we all know he's a lying sack of shit.

The White House Website is actually rather useless, but what do you expect. Check out Connie Rice's insightful, decisive and in-depth description of The Coalition. Also amusing is that the link to Who are the Coalition Members is dead. It was easy enough to make the list from Statements of Support From Coalition Members ...but still... that's a rather important page to keep maintained...no?

SO IN CONCLUSION, that op-ed peice that set me off was a total pile of garbage that could have been written by a peice of software programmed to think like a statistically average republican. kudos on that.

until next time, fook off. (for my scottish homies)

You Can Ride Your Goddamn Peace Train Right Outta Here!

2004-09-22T19:17:00.000-05:00

Bring me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses...except for you over there, Cat Stevens. We don't appreciate your leaving us back in the 70's. Not only did you write some cheesy peace songs, you then had the audacity to give up a good, solid Christian career as an American Pop Singer. Yeah, we're kickin you out of the clubhouse, and you can't come back in. Britain can deal with your wild-eyed rants about peace and non-violence. After all the work we've done demonizing your kind, we'll have none of that kinda talk from a Muslim in THIS country.

"A law enforcement official who asked not to be identified said the United States had information that Islam, who visited the United States in May, had donated money to the militant Islamic group Hamas.
Islam was denied entry to Israel in 2000 after the authorities there accused him of supporting Hamas. The former pop star denied the charges and said his charitable donations were for humanitarian causes.
Among the charities he has supported are children affected by the wars in Bosnia and in Iraq as well as victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks against America, which he condemned."

-Reuters

Seriously tho, i haven't seen any reports proving the allegations he gave money to Hamas, and it sounds like bullshit to me, anyway. Treat a celebrity Muslim, who is a proponent of non-violence, like shit. Brilliant.

Vile, Foul, Wrong and Hillarious..

2004-09-21T01:39:00.000-05:00

grab this while it's up, it's a short preveiw of a new take on an old joke...done by the South Park freaks. (penn jillette produced for an upcoming feature film.)

The Aristocrats

Is Kara Walker Beating a Dead Horse While Regurgitating Negative Dogma?

2004-09-20T22:55:00.000-05:00

I recently had a chance to get a good close up look at a peice done by visual artist Kara Walker. If you're not familliar with her work, here... http://www.broadartfoundation.org/collection/walker.html

Anyway, after much to-do and a ticket to the top of the art world, Kara Walker is gonna get criticized by me, and i plan on going off on somewhat of a tirade. For the sake of full disclosure, i'm an artist myself, so there is a very real chance that envy is part of my motivation here. But i really don't think so.

As an artist, and knowing many people who are "artistic" in some sense, i have a confident notion that we are an enlightened bunch. Judging by the many indepenent openings, events, shows, or whathaveyou that i have attended, organized, thrown or crashed....well you get the idea...we seem to be a pretty progressive group within the larger society. There is, however, an important distinction to make between these grassroots artists and the more established gallery system, offcially know as "The Art World." The most pronounced trait of this distinction is the difference in the accessability of the two spheres. Even if she functioned in the Romanticized sense of "the independent artist," Walker would in effect be preaching to the choir.

In a larger, more realist sense; if one chooses to champion an issue, and venture to speak of the history of injustice in America, i cannot fathom why it would be done in such a bougoise forum as the "established art gallery", unless the true motivation is profit (gained by exploiting the issue).

It's a matter of fact that Kara Walker paintings are being/have been sold by Sotheby's, and are widely collected by people who can afford to own important works of art. I don't think that most people who get fucked over by racism really spend much time browsing the latest Sotheby's catalog. Hell, statistics show that a good portion of minorities and people near the poverty line have a hard time even getting internet access to read this article. How's that for some perspective? This is what i have in common with people who get fucked over by racism, and this is where im coming from on this topic....A major symptom of racism is denial of access, which is also a major symptom of an unjust and discriminatory class system. The two are nearly inseperable.

By focusing solely on the negativity generated by injustice such as this, Walker's art only serves to reinforce and give creedence to that negative idea, and fails to look forward to solutions. It's obvious Walker is passionate about the truth, but the problem is compounded by addressing one social ill from within the confines of another (economic bigotry). In the end, nothing is truly accomplished, and i have to question the clarity of her concept.

Confronting the social sins of the past is an important task, to ensure it doesn't happen again, but if you do it in a forum that is inherently isolated and entrenched, set out of reach by social mores and economics, then you're just wasting everyone's fucking time.

until next time, fucking fuck off.

well, lets see what i can do with this...

2004-09-20T01:00:00.000-05:00

If anyone is interested in seeing a noob build a blog from the ground up, or is fascinated by seeing something evolve from the very beginning, i suggest frequent trips to THIS PAGE!

If you are reading this, then you are here with me for the glorious start of something truly special. Truly. Special. Trust me.

until next time, fuck off.