CrankyLog

Should the snake get his job back?

Unfortunate news to report!

Because of the continued tough economic conditions and stressful times, we made the decision last month not to produce a 2013 Cranky Pressman promotional wall calendar. This was not a choice taken lightly but one we believed best for all parties.

There are however those who do not respect authority and take matters into their own hands despite potential consequences. Our pressman Jason Vaughn was one such person.

Last week, the aforementioned worker was caught printing the letterpress calendar shown above on company time and without management's knowledge. This is strictly against policy and left no other choice but to immediately terminate his employment.

Apparently, 2013 is the Chinese Year of the Snake. This somehow made it acceptable in Jason's mind to use valuable paper stock and ink materials for his hand-set wood and metal type serpentine creation. He even used a perfectly good sheet of linoleum to carve the slithering varmint. All this could have been better used for a paying customer's project.

It is quite clear the only real snake in this case was Jason himself.

Letterpress operators are standing by.

Heidelberg has long been one of the finest printing press manufacturers in the world. You can tell from this 1970's picture of their classic Windmill Letterpress. While most companies would have one or maybe two people tops to point to various bits and pieces on the machine, Heidelberg would settle for no less than five men!

~ Test your letterpress knowledge ~

Tell us in the comments below what's wrong with the picture above. The first correct answer and the funniest incorrect answer will each receive one of our original How Magazine cover letterpress prints done in collaboration with the smart folks at How and the lovely lasses at Parliament of Owls.

Contest ends Oct. 2, 2011, 11 pm EST. The Pressman's decision is final you hear!

Enough revelling and time to get busy.

First 10 comments tonight after midnight from each US time zone gets a calendar.

When you run all this old junk and are as ancient as us you sometimes forget what year it is. The new 2011 Cranky Pressman calendar celebrates this dizzy feeling.

To mark the new year (whatever it may be) we will send one of these cheap crude letterpress calendars to the first 10 people from each of 5 United States time zones who comment on this post after midnight their local time. Comments can be anything you like. We expect a bunch of indecipherable drunken nonsense.

~ The Cranky Old Terms ~

• No cheating. When we sober up over weekend we will go through the comments to decide the winners based on the time your comment comes in.
• You must mention what state you are from in your comment.
• Finally, to get your F®€€ letterpress printed scrap of paper you must go to this link and complete the form with a mailing address where we can send the calendar. Without an address you won't get anything.
• Addresses will be checked to make sure they match the state you mention in you comment.
• Your address will remain confidential and the only thing we will possiblly do with it is send you letterpress crap now and then.
• Our decisions are final.
• This offer will end at January 2, 2011 at midnight Pacific time.

Good luck and happy new year!

Calendars designed by Craig Clark. More images coming soon.