BIRTH OF AN ARTIST

The title of the post is not as presumptive as it sounds. Rather, i'm hoping this month will the launching pad to get my illustration career started. So in that sense a more fitting title might be: ARTIST FOR SALE. As most people know, or at least those reading this blog, i've had my illustration website up for a few months now (if you haven't checked it out at all or lately, take a look. For those who have been there before there's a new animated intro with sfx that I just set up last week).

So now that the site is up I need to get it out there and promote it to the public at large. I've signed up for a few free portfolio sites where you get to post a handful of images and provide links back to your site. So that's a good start, but this month is going to be all about self-promotion. The main form of this promotion is a postcard that i've created and had printed. Click on the image to check out both the front and back. So i've now got a box of 500 of these sitting on my desk and for the last week or so i've been working my way through my copy of my Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market book compiling a mailing list of publishers, magazines, greeting card company's etc...So hopefully in the next week or so my postcards will be traveling far and wide and maybe some will find accepting homes. We shall see. If you know someone I should be sending one to, please post a comment and let me know and i'll get one out in the mail.

AFC ROUND UP

Need to sneak this in under the wire before tomorrow's games. I give myself an asterisk for not getting it in before Thursday night's game, but unlike the experts, I wasn't going to pick Miami for the playoffs anyway, so their loss didn't sway me. Shorter write-ups as I haven't done as much reading on the AFC as of yet. But here goes:

AFC EAST

As I mentioned above, the popular pick here is for Miami to finally move past New England as the beast in the East. While Miami has a nice squad and should be in the mix for the wild card hunt, as Thursday's night match up against the Steelers showed, Culpepper won't be the difference maker for them. People forget before he went down with the knee injury last year he was stinking it up in Minnesota before finally giving way to Brad Johnson who ignited the team's second half run. To think that a year removed from a major surgery, which will limit his mobility, and on heels of his worse season, that he was some how going to be the team's savior was overly optimistic. New England does have their own problems with Deion Branch's contract dispute. Belichick probably won't cave, which either means Branch will have to come back to the team with his tail between his legs and play under his current contract or hold out the entire season. My guess is the latter. But even without Branch, Tom Brady is good enough to figure out how to get it done. Look for an MVP type season from him. The Bills & Jets both have issues at QB and could very well be in the mix for the worst record in the league. The pick: New England

AFC NORTH

The North, like the NFC East, should be one of the other more competitive divisions this year. Defending division champs Cincy and defending Superbowl champs Pittsburgh both have QB health questions. At this stage Carson Palmer, despite his limited work in preseason, is looking to be the healthier of the two, as Roethlisberger seems snake-bitten since his magical run to the Superbowl last year. But from all indications he should be back as soon as week 2 and in his absence Charlie Batch proved that he is more than a capable back up as he filled in nicely against Miami, running his record to 3-0 when filling in for big Ben in the last 2 years. Willie Parker will have to pick up the slack for the retired Bettis, as when this team excels it is with a blue collar effort where they control the ball on offense and pound you with their defense, lead by Joey Porter. I think Pittsburgh will take the division but an injury here or there and this team very well might not even make the playoffs to defend their title. Cincinnati has more talent than Pittsburgh, and may be the most talented team in the league this year, but will they live up to the high expectations? This is the first year since the early 90's where some think the Bengals are Superbowl-worthy. But to make a run deep in the playoffs their defense will have to stop some teams. While winning 45-37 might fly in the regular season, as the Colts failures from the past few years have proven, the defenses are better come the playoffs, so you won't score as many points and you gotta figure out how to stop some people. A brutal schedule should prevent Cincy from repeating as division champs, but they should still slide into the playoffs if they can keep Palmer healthy and their players out of jail (5 players arrested this off season). In Baltimore this is the make or break year for Brian Billick. He's finally got his veteran QB, with Steve McNair replacing Kyle Boller, and Ray Lewis returns from injury to give the defense a boost. But much like in Miami with the high expectations with Culpepper, I don't think the arrival of McNair will make the difference here either. Had they picked him up 5 years ago before he was repeatedly pounded in Tennessee it might be a different story. But he's a warrior and even a 75% McNair should be better than a 100% Kyle Boller. The Ravens will be in the mix for the wild card but won't get over the hump in the deep AFC. In Cleveland they are still a team looking to assemble some building blocks for the future. Whether Charlie Frye is their franchise QB should be the question they are looking to answer this year. This team won't be good but could catch a few people by surprise if they take them too lightly. The pick: Pittsburgh

AFC SOUTH

Coming off the disappointing loss to the Steelers in the playoffs last year, the Colts should again run up a nice regular season record as Peyton Manning proves he's the best QB at winning in the regular season. Even without Edgerrin James in the backfield they are still loaded offensively. It may actually help them this year if they lose one early to deflate the talk of the undefeated season that I think drained them last year before finally losing in week 15. With a win tomorrow against Eli and the Giants they could get off to a fast start, which will make it tough for their only competition in the division, the Jags, to catch them. Jacksonville, buoyed by an easy closing schedule last year, finished 8-1 to close the season and make the playoffs. Their schedule is much tougher this year but they will still get 2 games each to beat up on Houston and Tennessee. If they want a shot at finally unseating the Colts, the week 3 match up in Indy will be a must win. They must keep Leftwich healthy and they are young and not very deep at WR. The defense is on the up swing and this team should be good enough to earn a return berth to the playoffs, again as a wild card. In Tennessee and Houston their hopes hinge on their draft picks. In Tennessee it could be a couple of years before we see Vince Young be as effective and electric as he was at UT. The fact that Jeff Fisher brought in Kerry Collins, presumably to start, means Vince is nowhere near ready yet. We could still see him in spot duty or if the season goes in the tank, full-time sooner rather than later this year. The Titans are another squad that looks to be in the running for worst record, as they are clearly in rebuilding mold. In Houston they have more weapons, but all the talk is about the one they passed on when they drafted Super Mario instead of Reggie Bush. The two will be linked this year, as people will be watching to see just how big of blunder the Texans made by passing on the Heisman winner. For Williams he'll need to put up numbers early to deflect criticism as well as help turn around the defense. This team is also not ready for primetime but could also sneak up on some teams if taken too lightly. The pick: Indianapolis

AFC WEST

The West in my opinion could be wide open. Clearly Denver is at the head of the class, but question marks about which Bell will be in the backfield and whether Jay Cutler could potentially supplant Jake Plummer as starting QB could disrupt the squad. If Plummer returns to his Jake No Mistake form of the regular season last year Cutler will be on the sidelines until next year. But if we see too much of the old Jake the Snake that reared his head in the 2 INT & 2 fumble loss against the Steelers in the AFC championship game last year Shanahan might look to Cutler sooner. Cutler is already a fan favorite, which means Plummer will have to play looking over his shoulder knowing his backup has the looks of a franchise QB in the making. In both KC and San Diego the teams are built around their MVP caliber, initials only, backs of LJ and LT. In KC much of the talk is whether Larry Johnson will reach 2,000 yards this year. I don't see it happening, though he will be a force again this year as he makes his claim to the best RB throne. And in San Diego, Tomlinson is already the weapon now that most think Reggie Bush could eventually become. Where they differ is their QB situations. In KC the Chiefs have veteran Trent Green, while San Diego rolled the dice and let Drew Brees go to New Orleans so they could make way for the Philip Rivers era. If he's the real deal San Diego could be the sleeper pick to win the division or a wild card berth. If not, they will struggle as teams gear up to stop Tomlinson and force Rivers to prove he can beat them. Look for an up and down season that will keep them on the brink but ultimately out of the playoff mix. In KC their defense will again be the question mark. Can they stop people enough to let their potent offense do its thing? Not enough in my book, but Arrowhead will be a tough place to play nevertheless and KC will be in the wild card mix. The team not in the mix is the Raiders. Apparently Al Davis is either getting too old that he forgot when he had Art Shell on the sidelines the first time that he couldn't get the job done despite coaching a team with much more talent, or maybe he's simply running out of coaches that want the job that he's desperate enough to give Shell another shot. Either way this team will stink, as Aaron Brooks is not a starting QB in the league. Should be a long year in Oakland. In the end Denver is too talented not to win the division but look for a stronger push from both KC and San Diego than most people expect. The pick: Denver

AFC WILDCARD

As I mentioned above, the wild card race should be a good one. The teams I expect to be in the mix are Miami, Cincy, Baltimore, Jax, KC and San Diego. But there are only 2 slots to fill. I think Jacksonville will earn the first and based on their talent alone Cincy will figure out a way to get the second and last berth. If Cincy proves they are the real deal and takes the division we very well could see Pittsburgh in this group fighting to get back to the playoffs (they only made it in last year as the #6 seed). Whichever 2 teams do notch the wild card will have to put up a good fight that could go down to the last weekend of the season. The picks: Jacksonville & Cincy

PLAYOFFS

WILDCARD
New England (4) def. Jacksonville (5)
Cincinnati (6) def. Pittsburgh (3)

DIVISIONAL ROUND
New England def. Denver (2)
Indianapolis (1) def. Cincinnati

CONFERENCE CHAMPSIONSHIP
New England def. Indianapolis

AFC CHAMPIONS
Even with the game played in Indy, New England still owns the Colts who will suffer yet another crushing playoff disappointment. The pick is New England

SUPERBOWL
Carolina def. New England

Rematch of Superbowl 38, but the difference will be no Adam Vinatieri to kick the game winner for the Patriots. Carolina will have superior talent on both sides of the ball and Tom Brady's unblemished 3-0 mark in the big game will fall. Look for a big game from Jake Delhomme and Superbowl MVP Steve Smith. The pick for Superbowl XLI is Carolina


Disagree with my picks? Post a comment and let me know your Superbowl match up and winner.

READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?

So in my first post when I started the blog I promised that I would have some sports rants. So far it's been mostly illustration and travel related posts and I know Steve Plimpton is jonesing for me to get some sports talk going, so in honor of his birthday here is my NFL preview & predictions for the upcoming season. The NFC today with the AFC later this week if I get to it.

NFC EAST

Should be the most competitive division from top to bottom. Features 4 teams that all arguably have a legit shot at the playoffs. The Eagles, coming off a disastrous 6-10 season, have shed T.O. and Andy Reid has turned over the roster. The defense looks renewed, McNabb fully healthy and the late summer pick up of Donte' Stallworth from the Saints should give them another playmaker. Most pundits are writing them off but their 6-10 record was somewhat deceiving in that both McNabb and Westbrook missed most of the second half of the season. The team looks like they have something to prove and all signs point to them making their statement. Both the Cowboys and Redskins made high-profile moves on the offensive side of the ball (adding T.O. and Randle El respectively). The Skins now have plenty of playmakers but they are still hinging their success on the arm of Mark Brunell. Unfortunately for them Brunell is done, which means so are the Redskins. A trendy pick to win the division, despite their dismal preseason, in my book they'll finish last. In Dallas the T.O./Bledsoe connection could be prolific or we could see T.O. carve up his third QB, that is if he doesn't start a beef with Parcells first. I'm guessing the T.O. honeymoon is good for one season and they will all play nice. The o-line must keep Bledsoe upright and healthy for T.O. to make a difference. Lost in the shuffle are the defending division champs, the Giants, who don't seem to be getting any pub going into the season. This is probably for good reason, as despite winning the division they got rolled in the playoffs, at home no less. Their success will hinge on whether Eli can improve on his consistency, which I don't see happening. With a defensive unit that should be better this year, but still probably only the 3rd best D in the division, unless Eli elevates his game to his brother's level (that would be the Peyton Manning of the regular season, not the playoffs) New York won't repeat let alone make the playoffs. It will be crowded at the top as the 4 teams beat up on each other and 9-7 could win the division but at the end of the day defense will rule and the big D in Dallas will clinch the title. The pick: Dallas

NFC NORTH

While the NFC East could boast 4 playoff caliber teams the North is lucky to have one. Everyone's hands down pick, the Bears, has the defense that makes them a lock for the division, but looking beyond that they have some big questions on the other side of the ball, most notably at QB. Is Rex Grossman their long-term answer? They say yes but the fact that they brought in Brian Griese to back him up makes me think the coaching staff sure is hedging their bets. Look for a lot of 10-3 wins this year as the offense will struggle but the defense will be one of the best in the league. If the NFL had a minor league the rest of the division would be in danger of being demoted. In Minnesota, gone are Mike Tice, Daunte Culpepper and Koren Robinson. Enter Brad Childress and returning for another turn at QB is the rejuvenated Brad Johnson who led them on a tear after Culpepper went out last year. While the Vikings are doing a good job of cleaning house from a PR stand point following the love boat cruise era, Brad Childress' squad still won't have enough weapons to compete. And the fact that their hopes hang on Brad Johnson, who will be the oldest starting QB in the league this year, gives you a sense of how tenuous their situation is. Speaking of old starting QB's, in Green Bay Brett Favre announced that this is one of the most talented teams he's been on. While there is some young talent, mostly on the defensive side of the ball, Favre has slipped to the point that it won't matter. His arm is still live so he'll rekindle the magic for a few games that will remind us of the Favre of old, but look for another 20+ interception season as he again tries to make too many plays on an offense devoid of playmakers. Favre should be finished in Green Bay after this year. Whether it's his choice or not will be the question. Of the 3 bottom dwellers Detroit seems to be headed in the right direction with the hiring of Martinelli. However, they made some interesting moves bringing in Mike Martz to run the offense and Jon Kitna as his QB. And by interesting I mean suspect. Martz won't want to play second fiddle to Martinelli and Kitna at best is a second fiddle QB. Both spell disaster once the team starts to tank. While the Bears have some questions the rest of the division has no answers. The pick: Chicago

NFC SOUTH

With the wheels officially haven fallen off the Michael Vick bandwagon, the division looks like a two team race between Carolina and Tampa Bay. Most have anointed Carolina as the team to beat in the NFC and for good reason. With a super athletic defense featuring former UNC standout Julius Peppers and the return of Kris Jenkins, and an offense that upgraded when it added Keyshawn Johnson to its already formidable trio of Steve Smith, DeShaun Foster, and Jake Delhomme you can see why people like the Panthers to represent the NFC in the SB this year. Insuring they don't get caught using a 5th string RB in the conference championship game like last year they drafted DeAngelo Williams to spell Foster. In Tampa Bay the Bucs still have a solid veteran defense and emerging stars on offense in both QB Chris Simms & RB Cadillac Williams. The question will be whether both take a step forward or regress. And defensively the question will be whether their 'veteran' players are crafty and smart or start to look old. Given Carolina's tough schedule Tampa will be up there, but they won't sneak up on teams like they did last year, which will cost them a shot at repeating as division champs. In New Orleans all the talk is about Bush, though the focus has shifted from blasting George W. to praising Reggie. The acquisition of Drew Brees, a great signing if he stays healthy, gives them a trio of Bush, Brees and Joe Horn that will make some plays. People will tune in to watch Reggie Bush zig and zag and put on a show and he won't disappoint. The Saints will become America's team this year given the plight of New Orleans' residents post-Katrina, but the feel good story will stop there as despite the arrival of some big name stars in town the rest of the talent isn't there, especially on defense. This team won't win much, but should be fun to watch and root for. The pick: Carolina

NFC WEST

The Seahawks should shake off the Super Bowl hang over that has seen the last several big game losers go on to miss the playoffs the following season. But whether that's an indication of how good Seattle is or how bad the rest of the division is remains to be seen. An injury to Shaun Alexander or Hasselbeck or a slow start and we could see this team unravel, much like Mike Holmgren did with his tirade about the officiating following their SB loss. Lost in the hype of last year's run was that they had one of the easier roads to the Super Bowl in recent history and then getting there failed to beat a Pittsburgh team that played mediocre at best in the big game. The warning signs for a let down are there so it would not surprise if they flopped, I just think the rest of the division is too weak to let that happen. The chic pick to challenge Seattle is Arizona. And with a new stadium, the free agent signing of Edgerrin James, the best group of young receivers, Kurt Warner showing flashes of his former MVP self, and Matt Leinart waiting on the sidelines to boot the future does look bright. Or it could just be the desert heat getting to people's heads. There is some talent, the most they've had in years, but it will be a tall task to ask the offensive line to both pass protect for the lead-footed Warner and also be nimble enough to get out and open some running lanes for James. The fact that the o-line was down right horrible last year should put a wet blanket on the party. If Seattle does fall apart St. Louis could be the beneficiary. Once the greatest show on turf, the Rams still have some talent offensively but unfortunately they will need to perform some circus tricks to cover for their still too-young defense. Getting rid of the Mike Martz drama was a plus and Stephen Jackson is a stud so if Bulger can stay healthy and they can shore up some holes and Seattle finds a few leaks in their ship it could be an interesting race. And in SF the only good thing that can be said is that they should be looking at another high draft pick this year, which given their lack of overall talent is a good thing. The pick: Seattle

NFC WILDCARD

Look for the 2nd place finishers in both the East and South to snag the wildcard berths. Depending on how the chips fall the East could boast both wild card berths and 3 playoff teams. But that scenario is unlikely given the inter-division match ups and the fact that the 4 teams will beat up on each other and their records. A healthy Philadelphia team should receive a modicum of redemption as they survive the slug fest and emerge with a good enough record to win the first wild card berth and a trip back to the playoffs. Only a grueling schedule down the stretch will prevent them from winning the division out right. But they will be the wild card team no one wants to face given their playoff experience. And in the other slot look for Tampa Bay to edge out St. Louis and slide into the second berth. The picks: Philly & Tampa

PLAYOFFS

WILD CARD
Philadelphia (5) def. Dallas (4)
Carolina (3) def. Tampa Bay (6)

DIVISIONAL ROUND
Carolina def. Seattle (2)
Philadelphia def. Chicago (1)

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP
Carolina def. Philadelphia

NFC CHAMPIONS
On the strength of home field The pick is Carolina.

THE LOST COAST

For our wedding anniversary, which always falls right around Labor Day weekend, we try to take advantage of the extra day off work and get out of town. 2 years ago we went to Santa Cruz and last year we backpacked in the Trinity Alps. To celebrate our 3rd anniversary this year we decided to make a brief visit to Arcata, to take a walk down memory lane and visit the spots Kristin frequented while at HSU, and then head south to go backpacking for a few days on the Lost Coast.

After we escaped the Friday afternoon holiday traffic that dotted the highway from SF to Santa Rosa we made it up to Arcata Friday night to (barely) find a place still open for dinner. Arcata is a small college town with plenty of bars but apparently not many late night restaurants. By the time we finished eating at 10p the owners of the Chinese restaurant were locking up right behind us as we exited. Saturday we slept in, seeing as we were on vacation, and then cruised up to Trinidad, just a short drive north of Arcata, to have a late breakfast at a restaurant called The Eatery where Kristin worked while in school. There she bumped into one of her long time customers turned pen pal friends, an older man named Bruce, who was a regular at The Eatery back in the day and apparently still in the present day. He very graciously offered to pay for our breakfast upon hearing we were visiting for our anniversary, which was a nice way to kick start the weekend. After lingering over a feast of eggs, bacon, pancakes, hash browns & coffee we cruised back to Arcata to load up with some food for camping and head out of town. After an unsuccessful visit to the Co-op where neither one of us could quite make a decision on what we wanted to eat, perhaps because we were still full from breakfast, we ended up taking a spin around the farmer's market instead. We were sort of in slow motion at this point, just enjoying having no place to be, which fittingly was kind of the theme of the trip.

Eventually we made it out of town and traversed the King Range making our way to Mattole Beach, which is the northern trailhead for The Lost Coast Trail. As we stood with the contents of our car's trunk strewn on the ground waiting to be packed up into our bags, blankly staring at the map at the trailhead (not having a map ourselves) we couldn't help but overhear a conversation of a mother/daughter team as the woman dropping them off double checked that they had both their trail map and their tide chart. We had neither. We had packed some what in haste Thursday night, printed some generic directions off the web, randomly grabbed food at Safeway in Arcata and were now feeling a bit unprepared.



The Lost Coast Trail as a whole is a 24-mile stretch that snakes along the Pacific Ocean with the trail alternating between walking right on the beach to winding its way above the coast via the cliffs for scenic views of the ocean below. In addition to rampant poison oak, not much fresh water and potential encounters with rattle snakes & bears, there are also stretches of the trail that are impassable at high tide, hence the need for a tide chart. Furthermore, even though the trail is only 24 miles long it's a several hour drive via car from one end to the other which requires either planning ahead and dropping a car at both ends or securing a ride from one of the local transports, such as the woman who was diligently double checking with the mother/daughter team about the maps, to drive you back to your point of origin. In other words, you have to have some things planned out before you get there. While we had no intentions of hiking the entire stretch, and therefore had the transport covered ourselves, we did want to pack in a few miles and find a good spot where we wouldn't be washed away by the high tides.

Deciding that at this point we were just going with the flow and winging it we stuffed the contents of our car's trunk into our bags, both of us casually noting forgotten items in the process. Our heavier sleeping bags, beanies & gloves, newspaper to start a fire, coffee for the mornings. All would have been nice. Clearly now at the coast and looking at the fog and feeling the ocean's breeze, the thought of staying warm was on our minds. We did have plenty of water (and wine), long pants to avoid the poison oak, and a bear canister for our food, so we set off figuring we'd make due with what little else we did bring. The new 'go-lite' camping movement was being ushered in ready or not.

We ended up packing in a modest 3 miles or so and found ourselves a ready built fortress at which to make camp. Along the way we did happen to cross paths with the mother/daughter team which we used for a brief Q & A session about the high tide times and where the good, as in we won't get washed away, spots to camp at were. The hike itself is quite nice albeit more strenuous that you might expect. Spoiling what is otherwise a scenic walk on the beach, with the ocean on your right and a relatively flat trail in front of you, is the sand beneath your feet. Walking on sand, with a pack, is actually more difficult than you would expect. Every step you sink into the soft sand and then must extricate yourself is a mini-work out soon felt in the quads, calves and hips. Even the sand at the water's edge is not solid enough to provide firm footing. But then again you are hiking along the Pacific Ocean with nary another soul in sight, so slogging through some soft sand is really a small price to pay.

Along the way in we passed by the Punta Gorda lighthouse which is, depending on your definition, the farthest point west in the continental United States. A cool bit of trivia compliments our friend Andy. By the time we had set up camp and made dinner it was about 7p on Saturday night and quite overcast and a bit chilly. But we survived the night and the next day the fog blew off a little after noon and we were treated to a great sunny day as we took a day hike further south down the coast. We figured we hiked another 2 or 3 miles south from our camp site and at one point on the trail we hit a stretch of beach that is one of the before mentioned portions of the trail that becomes impassable at high tide. It was low tide both coming and going for us so we were not left high & dry or in the case, low & wet.

Though of note, there is a rocky tip that requires you to not only scale the oceanside rocks but also time your trip to avoid getting wet from the splash of the crashing waves. It turned out the bouldering was fairly easy to traverse but it did turn back another group that was unsuccessfully sorting out the path right ahead of us. On the way back we were greeted by a sea lion who was quite startled by our presence as we both had to jump down from the rocks right next to the one it was sun bathing on and then hit the beach running to avoid the rising surf. You can see it here eyeballing Kristin as she makes her speedy getaway.

We spent the rest of Sunday afternoon back at our campsite lounging on the beach soaking up the sun, our respective books and some wine. Monday we slowly made our way back to the car after breakfast and then cruised down the 101, stopping in Garberville for lunch, before rolling back into SF Monday night. More photos from the trip can be viewed here.