When we visit a website, the first place we go is the Links page – that’s where you best discover their preferences and proclivities.
These are ours. We let you know who on this list we’ve done work for.
SAVING BROOKLYN
Developer Bruce Ratner, with help from undemocratic local politicians and bought-off “community groups,” wants to build 16 to 20 luxury condo skyscrapers and one unnecessary sports arena in Prospect Heights Brooklyn. The project wouldn’t furnish near the number of jobs or low-income housing it’s promising, has driven a racial stake through Brooklyn’s heart, and would cost taxpayers at least $1.5 billion. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. It must be stopped and replaced with development that truly serves the needs of the communities – jobs, affordable housing, open space, small businesses — without destroying them.
Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn DDDB heads up a 53-group coalition fighting Bruce Ratner’s disastrous Atlantic Yards complex in Brooklyn. Information, updates and what you can do to stop Ratner.
Fans For Fair Play FFFP is a sports-fans group battling Ratner’s Atlantic Yards project. Information and blogs for the sadly de-politicized sports-fan community. We designed FFFP’s emblem.
NoLandGrab.org Check in every morning for the latest in the Ratner struggle…if it appears in print or on-line, NLG knows about it.
Atlantic Yards Report Fearless muckraking journalist Norman Oder pulls apart all the lies, obfuscations and exaggerations in the Battle for Brooklyn’s Future. Oder looks at all sides of the issue. Every report has an agenda…Oder’s is the truth.
Chris Owens for Congress Owens is a passionate, outspoken, smart guy who can’t be bought. He’s running for the 11th Congressional District seat in Brooklyn. Steve Colbert’s Better Know A District feature has already done the Fighting 11th. That’s okay. Chris is the man. We did some early design work for the campaign
Batson For Brooklyn Batson’s another fella who qualifies as “the man.” Primarily ‘cause he’s battling The Man. Bill’s running for the 57th Assembly District in the New York Assembly, a key post in deciding whether Ratner’s gross skyscrapers get built. Bill’s also a fab artist. We designed his emblem, posters, tee-shirts and buttons.
Brooklyn Roundhouse Weekly t.v. show on Brooklyn Community Access Television (BCAT) featuring appearances from activists, politicians and residents fighting the Ratner project. One of our staff has been featured on the program.
Save Our Parks The lead group in the Bronx fighting against the new Yankee Stadium, a public-money/local park devouring scheme by Steinbrenner and local government brigands.
Field of Schemes Neil Demause’s excellent website (grown from the seminal book he and Joanna Cagan wrote in the ‘90s) detailing on a daily basis our nation’s misguided lust for building sports stadiums with private money.
IRELAND
The struggle in the north of Ireland continues. The war’s over, but sectarian and state violence still dominate the landscape from Belfast to Derry, Antrim down to Armagh. Until Ireland is united, the vacuum caused by Britain’s presence in the six counties will continue to wreck lives of everyone in Ulster.
Newshound Daily stop for all the morning’s articles, primarily from Irish and British news sources.
Black Shamrock A Derry-based peace group fighting defence-contractor Raytheon’s presence in Ulster, as well as the U.S.’s war in Iraq.
The Pat Finucane Centre An amazing human-rights group advocating for victims of state violence in the north of Ireland. Pat Finucane was Belfast solicitor who defended IRA volunteers’ cases. He was assassinated by a loyalist paramilitary after inflammatory by a British minister claiming Finucane was himself an IRA volunteer. Some of our team recorded a fund-raising CD for the PFC back in the late ‘90s.
The McAllister Family Campaign Malachy McAllister and his family fled Belfast in 1988 after loyalists shot up their house on the Lower Ormeau Road. He’s currently fighting to win political asylum in the United States. We designed the campaign’s buttons.
The Daily Ireland The only newspaper in Ireland that doesn’t charge an on-line subscription fee. Takes an unapologetic progressive and Irish republican stance.
TAL Magazine Where to put Tiocfaidh ar La Magazine? It’s published by and for supporters of Celtic FC in Glasgow, so maybe Sports. TAL covers loads of bands and culture, so maybe Music. But TAL’s also political – not just Irish Republican, but anti-fascist as well. So we’ll go with Ireland…and so, we wager, would TAL
GENERAL UPHEAVAL
Yow, there’re a million sites from people and groups doing good work. These are a few:
The New York State Green Party If third parties weren’t such a threat to the Republicans and Democrats, they wouldn’t try so hard to keep them off the ballot. This leads to the New York State Green Party, and from there, all the others. The Greens aren’t just about granola…and never were. We did design work for Gloria Mattera’s 2005 campaign for Brooklyn Borough President.
Alternet.org All the stuff the mainstream media doesn’t cover.
IndyMedia All the other stuff the mainstream media doesn’t cover.
Animal Rescue Site There are lots of animal resuce sites – visit this one every day, click on the buttons, and feed critters nationwide. Our staff clicks here every day.
United For Peace and Justice Organizers of marches, forums and political coalitions.
The Brecht Forum New York’s active and tireless political, cultural and educational center. One night it’s a forum on union organizing, the next is a class on theory, the next a punk rock show. Always good art installations, too.
The Schomburg Center Harlem’s pre-eminent history and research facility, and an invaluable repository for African-American heritage.
The National Coalition for Haitian Rights Since the ’80s NCHR has been making noise about the constant troubles in Haiti. NCHR is unafraid to attack the root causes, whether homegrown or hatched in Washington.
The Rachel Maddow Show Air America’s best show (Randi Rhodes is good too). Maddow is passionate and funny…she gives great bands equal billing with great activists. The Kent Jones Now segment is icing on the proverbial cake. Vigilance!
SPORTS
We won’t kid you – we like sports. Sure, the sports scene today is a greedy, exploitive, manipulative cesspool of macho aggression, sexism, homophobia and racism. But since it’s still exciting seeing your team score a World Cup winning goal or hitting a game-ending walk-off home run, we believe you can enjoy sports why trying to rid it of all these vile malfeasant proclivities. Let’s Go Justice! Let’s Go Freedom! Let’s Go Mets!
Mets By The Numbers: Jon Springer’s done-the-impossible website documents every number worn by every New York Mets player ever. That’s EVER. Rare photos, unfathomably detailed accounts of number assignments and other ephemeral aspects of the Mets, now into their fifth decade of assigning numbers to all members of their roster. Much like Robert Caro’s Rober Moses biography The Power Broker was really a history of New York, so is MBTN.net a history of the New York Mets. We’ve done logo and wordmark design for MBTN.net — visible as soon as someone accepts Jon’s challenge to redesign the website.
Edge of Sports Dave Zirin writes about the crucial fact that rest of the sports establishment conspires to hide: sports and politics are interwoven. Sports would be a pro, not a con, in this country if Zirin were the nation’s sports minister.
Jim Bouton One of the nation’s bravest athletes, Bouton’s seminal 1970 book Ball Four exposed baseball’s dirty secrets. It was all the more powerful because Bouton loves the game and our country. A rare progressive voice in the conservative sports world. Bouton most recently tried to save a historic old ballpark in Pittsfield, MA from greedy developers and a corrupt local government.
Uni Watch Paul Lukas loves sports uniforms. So do we. So do thousands of other lonely people who have come together under the Uni Watch banner. Lukas writes daily about every uniform/logo/color scheme detail possible. We designed the Uni Watch emblem.
The Society for Sports Uniform Research An organization devoted to preservation and documentation of uniforms in all sports, in all leagues, for all teams throughout history. Color combinations and exact Pantone designations are SSUR’s specialty.
Fan Home Sports Logo Discussion Board Sports emblem and uniform buffs don’t have anyone to talk to – our spouses, kids, parents, lovers and friends all get nervous when we broach the topic. Here’s a discussion board where we can let loose, America.
The Daily News I Team Helmed by two of our fave sports writers, Michael O’Keeffe and T.J. Quinn, the I Team looks behind the scores and reports on the points where sports and life intersect, rather than the usual opiate-of-the-masses nonsense that most sports reporting has become.
The Hanshin Tigers Our favorite Japanese baseball team. Helps if you can read Japanese
The Hiroshima Carp Our other favorite Japanese baseball team.
Celtic One of our three fave football clubs. The politics of Celtic’s rivalry with their Glasgow rival Rangers is as riveting as the on-field action.
Livorno F.C. A small, scrappy club in Italy whose working-class dockworker fans are left-wing – a necessary antidote to Italian proto-fascist clubs like Lazio.
Derry City F.C. Football is a weird thing in Derry, where for political and cultural reasons, Gaelic football has a bit more oomph. Still, the Candystripers are cool, and this year they’re in the UEFA Cup, going up against much larger teams from Europe.
Inside Hockey The truth about the icy sport, helmed by writers more fans than media types.
Elysian Fields Quarterly The brilliant baseball journal whose mix of obscure historical tracts and daring baseball fiction make it a must read. One of our staffers had a story published in EFQ a few years ago.
MUSIC ETC.
Bands, bars, journals, programs and folks we just plain like.
Hollow Sidewalks Heather Josepowitz is the best rock crit in America. Wanna know why? ‘Cause she’s not a crit – she’s a fan.
Freddy’s Backroom The best bar in Brooklyn has the most eclectic sched. Punk rock, jazz, bluegrass, opera, pub quizzes, spelling bees, knitting nights, readings, comedy. Freddy’s is a Prohibition-era institution that Bruce Ratner wants to pulverize in order to build his skyscrapers.
The Saudi Agenda The band, the outgrowth of the legendary Spunk Lads, claims there’s no Saudi agenda. But of course there is.
The Larch Brooklyn-based Brit pop that mines pop culture for pop gems. Three uses of the word “pop” – that’s how good The Larch is.
Liza & The Wonder Wheels Liza Garelik fronts the Wonder Wheels, a pop/psychedelic outfit with a crack rhythm section and soaring vocals. Garelik also hosts BCAT’s Brooklyn Roundhouse t.v. show.
Anna Copacabana There’s no way to describe Anna, an Australian singer and dancer. But we’ll try: gutsy, heartfelt songs mixed with camp burlesque revues. What more do you need?
Blackout Shoppers Explosive punk rock that sets every audience into a frenzy.
Plastic Beef Long-time trendsetters in the Freddy’s scene – you never know what you’ll get at a Plastic Beef show. In this age of pre-programmed bands, that’s a very good thing. Plastic Beef also organizes Beefstock, the upstate New York music festival now in its sixth year.
Whisky Rebellion Alex Battles wrests country music away from the Nashville MOR mafia and makes it vital again. Battles also stages the Brooklyn Country Music Festival.
Paula Carino Carino’s songs mine matters that most of us overlook. Her voice will melt your heart.
John Pinamonti Fedora-wearing blues-growling stool-perched Brooklyn songwriter supreme.
Royal Pine Robin Aigner’s bittersweet bromides jump off lovely beds of country and bluegrass.
Mark Westin’s Spinachworld Westin has been playing music in New York for decades – with a brief stay in Portland, OR. For Mark, musical integrity comes down to one thing – speaking your mind…
Michael Hill Blues Mob Hill is a blues musician who isn’t satisfied with making money playing wallpaper blues. Topical and soulful, Hill’s so many cuts above the rest.
Team Spider East Village punk band, totally political, loud and proud, and an octogenarian dub poet for good measure.
Public Enemy Still going strong, PE forever changed the rap game. With all the bling-envy in hip-hop today – minstrelsy for the Bush Generation – it’s good having Chuck D still lighting molotovs.
Whedonesque We loved Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel, and idolize Firely and Serenity. Whedonesque keeps you up on all the developments from the Joss Whedon camp.
Firefly Fans The greatest show in American t.v. history is gone, but not its legion of dedicated fans.
Browncoats of New York City The local contingent of Firefly fans, dubbed Browncoats after the show’s heroes. This one you have to register for.
Joe Strummer Strummer, the Clash’s engine, died in 2002. (Has it been that long?) We haven’t recovered, and never will. This site celebrates Joe and his last backing band, the Mescaleros.
Strummerville The website for Strummer’s posthumous charity, The Joe Strummer Foundation for New Music, which provides rehearsal space and studio time for young people don’t have the money to make music.
Asian Dub Foundation Powerful South-Asian reggae/dub/bhangra band from London – so powerful that it’s hard for ADF to get performance visas for U.S. shows from the State Department.
Steve Earle Politically progressive and a helluva singer songwriter. For those hoping Woody Guthrie comes back, he has…as Steve Earle. This is the official website.
Steve Earle Unofficial Site …and this is the one that has the latest news.
Let Fury Have The Hour Antonino D'Ambrosio’s excellent compendium of pieces on The Clash. D’Ambrosio is also a community activist at LaLutta.
Alyson Shotz Shotz is a New York artist whose brave multi-media pieces, everchanging and challenging, have altered perceptions of art and the artist’s responsibilities. We designed her business cards.
Shite’n’Onions One stop shopping for Irish punk – ‘zine, merchandise and S’n’O’s excellent CD compilations.
Conor McGrady McGrady’s determined, decidedly political artwork takes stock of British oppression in Ireland and the struggle for Palestinian freedom. Unlike most artists, McGrady doesn’t shy away from the tough subjects.
Mutts A great comic strip drawn by former Steel Tips guitarist Patrick McDonnell, Mutts tackles worldly issues like pet adoption and endangered species through the adventures of Earl the dog, Mooch the cat and the huge cast of critters – human and not – that populate the Mutts world. McDonnell, a history student of the comics, incorporates all manner of culture and comic heritage into his strips.
Rocky Sullivan’s Best Irish bar in New York City…maybe America…could be Ireland…and maybe the world. Home of Irish hip-hop champs Seanchai & The Unity Squad.
Seanchai & The Unity Squad Speaking of which, Seanchai’s the true Irish hip-hop – political, progressive, adventurous and a several dancehalls full of attitude. Rap, reggae, trad Irish – if you can’t dance to the Unity Squad, yer dead.
COMPANIES WE LIKE There just aren’t that many enterprise we love. Out of the millions, these are the ones that deserve patronage.
MissWit MissWit dives into the culture Cuisinart and comes up with the catchiest, coolest tee-shirts on the market today. Superba’s first foray into tee-shirts is a line we’ve designed with MissWit, imaginatively named Superba For Miss Wit.
Ebbets Field Flannels The heartfelt and passionate little company that introduced the world to Negro League flannel jerseys (back in ’87, when it wasn’t cool yet). Also sells jackets, caps and tee shirts – made the right way, not the cheap way. We do regular design work for EFF.
Stall & Dean Century-old sporting goods manufacturer that now trades in fashionable vintage sports clothing. We do regular design work for S&D.
Baltimore Chop The best on-line baseball book store. This is the place for eccentric, hard-to-find titles as well as the mainstream releases. The staff knows their stuff, and has been known to personally deliver a book if they’re driving through you’re city.
Dave Benjoya Web-designer and graphic artist supreme. Flash graphics specialist…dig the crazeee bouncing tone balls.
Pelican Pool Service Houston, TX is place that’s cruel to lakes. That’s why there’re pools everywhere. Cort McMurray’s company treats its customers right. Cort’s one of the most knowledgeable sports and culture fans around. We’ve advised Pelican on their color schemes.
Studio Ray Ray Balconis runs the little studio that can. If you’re in the New York area, record there – Ray’s a top-rank engineer, and he’ll make sure you get the sound you’re looking for.
Wombat Recording Russ Bonadonna (which is fun to say) runs the studio that records many of the bands in the rich and vibrant Freddy’s scene. He plays most instruments known to Western music. And he’s a damn fine man.
Dehen Jackets A square-shooting U.S. based athletic jacket manufacturer in Portland, OR. It costs slightly more. That’s okay – Dehen’s jackets are amazing and the staff treats you right.
