illig

A Quirky Place to Live

I met my friend Chuck when we were just six months old - our mothers introduced us. We grew up on a peninsula - me in the cove, bay side, Chuck on the chaussée, lakeside. That was nearly 50 years ago.

Life on the point was very isolated. I kept myself busy with a number of solitary pastimes: sailing, rowing and boating, angling, drawing, writing, draining jump shots, inhaling books, plying the lake, biking, soccer ball juggling... and throwing the discus - an Illig tradition.

Quirky, but Good

I threw a number of different discuses over the years but the one I preferred was made of wood and steel - handed down to me from my older brother who'd received it from our father. I threw that discus until it shattered on the pavement the day I threw it beyond the confines of the field I trained in.

Just before my 49th birthday I received an overnight package from New Mexico where Chuck now practices law. In it I found two items, Chuck's business card with a quick note scrawled on the back and a dilapidated wood and metal discus. Although the discus in the package lacked the intricate etchings of my discus, and looked plucked from a flea market table, I recognized it immediately as similar to the one I'd thrown forty years ago (see above). A quirky gift, but good.

I've been replaying memories of throwing that thing ever since.

A History of Quirky Giving

Incidentally - regarding that soccer juggling mentioned above - though I've never played soccer I could keep a ball off the ground for over 200 kicks, chests, heads and knees before dropping it.
 
For a wedding present Chuck gave my wife and I, a soccer ball.

CIRCA 1980
The shot below was snapped just seconds prior to a random onlooker noting the airplane's fuel line was leaking. I was preparing to board the plane with my good friend and fellow skydiver, Tom Best.

“I once paid $35 to leap from the wing of an airplane featuring a faulty fuel line and a malfunctioning wheel lock.”
From Six Random Things for the Taxman

We returned the next day and hopped on the same plane - back when I'd dive into nearly anything. Now, I simply dive into everything.

The Obelisk Box

My trapezoidal form factor design for our smaller Brainstorm BrainGear gifts. In this instance, a Brainstorm-branded USB jump drive (shown) with the message, Improve Your Memory, Brainstorm Often.

Finished in matte silver with a hot orange fluorescent interior.

Identity design and apparel application
for Gumballs & Goodies brand.

Click here to download:

Think About It.mp3 (1858 KB)

From the Brainstorm Archive
Think About It. A mixdown created by DJ Spikes in late 2000 as a backdrop for Brainstorm's comprehensive interactive brand piece.

The Enthusiastics
Brainstorm signed on with enthusiasm as a Premier Level sponsor of Heartland Truly Moving Pictures' 2009 Heartland Film Festival  this year. Above, our 2009 sponsor ad motif for use in promos, trailers and the like.

.think   |  Brainstorm

Aught Four/Four, Eight and Six

The Even Years:
A random collection of my event marks, illustrations, quips and thematics for The Hamilton Hills Open.

       

Click here to download:

Hamilton_Hills_Open_The_Even_Y.zip (150 KB)

If I may address your dress, "Dress, you send me." - Illig