UNDERDOG of PERFECTION

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
The more that things change, the more they stay the same.

—Rush, “Circumstances”
Hemispheres (1978)

Today Microsoft announced the new Zune line, intended to compete with the iPod nano. Immediately when I saw it, the elongated form factor and weirdish looking “Zune pad” control device brought to mind another questionably designed technological also-ran from yesteryear.

P.S. Yes, I know Neil Peart did not invent the phrase “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.” But I can’t hear it without thinking of that song.

Update November 18, 2007: I withdrew this post a few weeks ago, after receiving an email from CafePress notifying me that they had received a cease and desist notice from NBC/Universal’s lawyers regarding the huge number of CafePress shops that were selling products that infringed upon NBC’s intellectual property rights to every word uttered in an episode of The Office — or for that matter, every thought that has ever passed through the minds of the show’s writers. Or something like that. At any rate, CafePress had already summarily removed all “Schrute Farms Beets” items from my store. I don’t blame them; it’s just lame that NBC is taking this approach. Of course, that’s partly because NBC is selling their own Schrute Farms Beets shirts, which naturally are more accurate to the one Dwight wore in the episode. (Mine wasn’t quite homemade-looking enough.) So if you’re looking for a Schrute Farms Beets shirt, by all means buy the official product. But if, on the other hand, you are interested in one of my other stupid original designs (the sliver of hope of which is what inspired me to reinstate this post), read on.

After last night’s uproarious season premiere of The Office, I couldn’t resist the temptation to jump on the unofficial merch bandwagon with the 2000+ other Office-inspired items available on CafePress, mainly because no one else seems yet to have nailed the cheap, homemade, stenciled look of Dwight’s “Schrute Farms Beets” shirt. I didn’t totally nail it either, without a perfectly accurate stencil font at my disposal, but this is at least a lot closer than what else I’ve seen out there. (A lot of people have come up with very elaborate and well-designed logos for the Schrute Family Farm, but they seem to have missed the point. Last night’s episode demonstrates that if the Schrutes did have shirts, they would only sport the most rudimentary of designs.)

And so, my offering. I’ve attempted to recreate the “bleed-over” look of a painted-on stencil, since that appears to be how the actual shirt Rainn Wilson was wearing was made. Three styles of shirts are available now in the Room 34 Online Store with this design.

But Wait! There’s More!

I went a bit crazy with the designs tonight. Here are a few more that are also available now! (Click on any for a closer look. Then click here to buy one! You know you want to!)

I just stumbled onto this site (with a little thanks to Digg). It’s called bestpicever.com and here are some highlights…

From the Very Odd Gravestones gallery:

And from another, entitled The Perfect Angle:

(It’s not the best picture in the gallery, but it’s just one of those things that cracked me up immediately when I saw it.)

I think I’ll hold off on showing these artists’ interpretations to my Mario-obsessed 4-year-old son.

And so it all comes together. I have had plenty to say in the past regarding both poorly proofread Chinese English and Menards. But when the two join forces, it’s truly awe inspiring, as shown below.

Last weekend Menards was having another of its periodic “15% bag sales.” The idea is, they mail out paper bags (like grocery bags), you bring them into the store, stuff as much into them as you can, and you get 15% off everything in your bag. Not a bad deal. So I took advantage of that opportunity to stock up on some sorely needed hand tools, including a ratchet set.

As I was taking the ratchet set out of its package I noticed, printed on the back, “The Famous Forexer Warranty.”

“Forexer”? Yes. My “pyrchase” is warranted “forexer.” Sweet! Let’s see Home Depot match that!