Same Content, New Look

I did a little redecoratin', with the help of illustrator Len Peralta.

Regular readers may remember my enthusiastic plug of Monsters by Mail, Peralta's irresistible web offer to send you a unique, made-to-order ghoul, zombie, bigfoot, or alien for a measly 25 bucks.

I thought of him when I finally got embarrassed enough by my blog's cookie-cutter look to commission some custom art. A guy specializing in drawing icky creatures would surely be up to the task of portraying rogue cops, religious extremists, and power-drunk politicians.

We didn't mean to end up with five different banners, but to my delight, that's what Len ultimately delivered, and that's what you'll see (in random rotation) from now on. Each banner represents a major Nobody's Business theme, to wit:

• the war on drugs;
• the surveillance society;
• government waste and pork-barrel spending;
• invasive and generally harebrained tax laws; and
• moralists of all stripes trying to control what you eat, drink, smoke, wear, drive, watch, read, say, and write.

See below for a quickie preview of what you can expect in weeks to come.

One reason I'm putting up this post is to give public props to Len for the terrific artwork.

If monsters are not your thing, check out Len's podcast, which has a pretty cool accompanying blog where he posts some of his other art. (One favorite of mine is this tender illustration of "poultry scientist"  Robert C. Baker, who was sometimes called the Nugget Man for his contributions to the field of "reconstituted meat slurry," in the words of the very funny Paul and Storm song.)

The second reason I'm writing this is to assure you that Nobody's Business is not getting narrower in scope, despite what any single one of those banners may suggest. Seeing the drug war illustration at the top of your screen does not mean I've stopped caring about censorship issues or pork-barrel shenanigans. I'll keep bringing you all the fare to which you've become addicted accustomed. Of course, it pretty much all hangs together anyway.

I hope you like the new look of the place. If so, invite your friends! If not, tell your enemies!

Comments

[Adam]

They're very cool, but I think they're only showing up if people have Javascript turned on, and other ad-blocking techniques may block them, too. Can you serve them up in a way that's server-dependent, rather than client-based?

[Phil Nelson]

If you need any guidance on setting these up to rotate randomly, you know who to email.

[Leah]

I think they look great!

[megs]

Looks real good, the art is some fabulous cartooning, but I have to wonder that the look of your blog has become much more in-your-face just after I directed my mom over to it!