ootball season is around the corner, which means sports sections in newsroom across the country are working long hours. Ours is no different. I spent a solid 36 consecutive hours last week designing daily sections and working on my contribution to this year’s College Football Preview section. And I took a few pictures along the way.

The section’s theme centered on books and NU’s departure from the Big 12 to the Big Ten next season. So, I built a pop-up book with a page closing on the old conference and opening on a new one.

First I came up with a digital sketch of how the illustration may come together.

Then I broke down all the pieces of that sketch into basic shapes.

Next I printed the shapes out in reverse on the appropriate color …

… and cut out each of the some 200 pieces of the helmets.

Along with the typography.

Then I glued them all together.

I built up a field as the base of the page.

Finally, I put together all the pieces on a notebook.

I took it into the studio and had one of our photographers shoot the finished product.

The final illustration didn’t come together quite like the original sketch, in part because of time constraints and pure fatigue, but also because fake pop-up books are — as it turns out — really hard to make.

couple weeks ago I was lucky enough to trade the heat and humidity of Nebraska for the northern cool of Alaska’s Denali National Park and its southern coast. My friend Ally and I spent four nights camping and hiking in the shadow of Mt. McKinley before sea kayaking, ice climbing and cruising around Resurrection Bay near Seward.

First, we camped at Denali’s Wonder Lake, where between rounds of dousing ourselves with bug spray, we …

… hiked in the fog.

… sat by ponds.

… were bandits.

… watched the clouds.

… waited for the mountain to come out.

… and took pictures of it when it did.

… and took more pictures.

… and even more pictures.

… well, you get the idea.

… met Matt and Chelsea who lent us their cooking gear after ours was stolen, and who were awesome all around.

… saw bears (from a bus).

… and dall sheep.

… and caribou.

After camping, we made our way to sunny Talkeetna for a night where we …

… drank here.

… then here.

… then here.

… then here.

… then here.

… and with these people.

… we also had breakfast here.

Next, we rode a bus south to Seward, where we …

… cruised around Resurrection Bay looking at glaciers and wildlife and saw …

… humpback whales.

… sea otters.

… stellar sea lions.

… Holgate Glacier.

… and drank margaritas made of centuries-old glacier ice.

The next day, Ally and I braved the cold and wind and took a 45-minute water taxi ride across the bay to Kayaker’s Cove, where we. . .

… stayed here.

… cooked and ate by lamplight.

… and kayaked around for a day.

A couple days later, back in Seward, we …

… hiked up to Exit Glacier and …

… ice climbed out of a half dozen crevasses.

… and then hiked back down.

That night we road this train back to Anchorage and flew home the next day.

For a more pictures of the trip, Ally’s got some here and I’ve posted all of mine on Flickr, here.

Or, check out the slideshow:

ecently my posts seem to have been limited to music and bikes. You can’t blame me, though. It’s summer. And as such, this weekend you should clip in, pedal down to Lewis and Clark Landing and check out Spoon, The Faint, Ben Kweller and co. at the Maha Music Festival. I’m told the concert’s way better than its name suggests (because, let’s face it, “Maha?” Who’d want to go to something called that?) So, I find myself posting another music-related image; one that gave me a chance to have some fun with the type treatment on the Go cover this week.

And as for summer music, here a few tracks that have defined my summer. Especially “Ceremony.” Especially.

“I Summon You,” by Spoon
“Ceremony,” by New Order
“That Teenage Feeling,” by Neko Case
“Passin’ Through,” a Leonard Cohen cover by The Walkmen
“A Teenager in Love,” by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
“Bette Davis Eyes,” by Kim Barnes

eremy Buckley, promoter at The Bourbon Theatre in Lincoln and organizer of the annual Lincoln Calling fall music festival, had me put together a poster for the Omaha annex of his concert series, Lincoln Invasion. He’s hauling a bunch of Lincoln bands into Benson for a single night of shows. Make sure to check them out.

For the out-of-state readers, the fuselage of the B-52 is an image of the penis of the plains state capitol building.

y latest poster for Lincoln’s Bourbon Theatre is this one, for Damien Jurado. He’s among my favorite active singer-songwriter types, and puts on a solid, mellow show. So getting the chance to come up with an image to promote the concert was especially enjoyable. This one’s inspired by the song title “Gillian Was a Horse” off of his most recent LP, “Caught in the Trees.” Make it a point to check him out, and sample his music below (also, pick up his new record, “Saint Bartlett,” out Tuesday).

“Gillian Was a Horse” from 2008’s “Caught in the Trees”

“Denton, TX” from 2006’s “Now That I’m in Your Shadow”

kay, so I’ve had it for a couple weeks. But it’s still shiny, even if it’s already gotten its first scratch (or dent in the front rim, as he case may be). The good folks down at Greenstreet Cycles (seriously, go visit them and their store pup, Copper) set me up with a fancy new Masi Speciale CX. And they patched it up after a pothole on Leavenworth tried to eat me. I’ll no longer be rideless when the rain of spring and summer and muckity muck of winter knock my my ’80s road bike out of commission.