Mugshot Monday - “John Deere” coffee mug w/ Archer Farms Decaf Organic Fair Trade Harvest Blend.

We took the family on the road to visit our good friends Pierre-Andre and Ludivine. They are from France originally, but are currently living near Kansas City. Pierre works for John Deere and that’s his coffee mug I’m using.

The alien hat I am wearing is from taking the kids to Disney on Ice “Toy Story 3” at Sprint Center — the show was a birthday present Pierre and Ludivine bought for our 3 boys. It was the first time I’d ever seen ice skating that did not involve a hockey puck. The kids TOTALLY loved it. It was cheesy, but pretty darn impressive, actually.

That’s Paul photobombing my Mugshot Monday — he’s Pierre and Ludivine’s one-year-old little dude!

We had such an awesome time. Good friends are really good. Seriously.

Sidenote: I took some photos whilst we drove on I35. Here, here and here.

• See the entire Mugshot Monday Facebook gallery at www.MugshotMonday.com, or read more posts like it on this blog.
• See also my friend Lisa Frame and her very own Mugshot-Monday tumblr project!

Mugshot Monday - “Crimes Against Hugh’s Manatees — As Long As It’s About Food” coffee mug w/ Sumatran by Peace Coffee.

“We need to have a deep, honest discussion.”
“Sure, as long as it’s about food.”

Perfect. I’ve been following this cartoon for a while now — Crimes Against Hugh’s Manatees and there is always something that cracks me up. So cynical. So simple.

It’s a daily comic strip by Hugh posted to a Tumblr. Every strip gets over 100 notes, some getting thousands. And all I know about Hugh is he is “a 30 year old husband and stay-at-home father of two.” That’s from his About page on Hugh’s personal tumblr blog.

I reached out to Hugh and gave him kudos for his awesome cartoons and wondered if he made any of his cartoons into coffee mugs. He did not. So I helped him get a Zazzle store started and he made one! Then he even asked which cartoon I liked!

The chipmunk cartoon kinda hit close to home with me, so that was my suggestion and he made it. And I bought it. (See below of a non-blurry version o the cartoon.)

This one would be an awesome coffee mug, too:

Or this one:

Hugh also made this next cartoon into a coffee mug you can buy: (Buy one here)

Here’s the image from my mugshot today — I had to take today’s pic with my left hand, so it’s a little blurry!

You can BUY this very coffee mug, right now, right here on Hugh’s Zazzle store. Good stuff.

• See the entire Mugshot Monday Facebook gallery at www.MugshotMonday.com, or read more posts like it on this blog.
  

Mugshot Monday - “I listen to MPR, but I read MinnPost.com” coffee mug w/ Birchwood Blend by Peace Coffee.

I made this coffee mug on our new MinnPost Zazzle.com store — you can buy one if you like it! The message is from our first marketing campaign EVER. Yes, EVER. And I like it.

I remember when Joel (my boss at MinnPost) was crunching the data from our 2010 Readers’ poll and mentioned an overwhelming number of MinnPost readers answered that they listen to MPR (Minnesota Public Radio). I listen to MPR all the time, so I can relate personally to the message.

We have lawn signs if you want one (free!) and bumper stickers (free!) and shirts (free! — but almost all gone.) Fill out a form here, and we’ll hook you up. Heck, if you live in Seward neighborhood or in South Minneapolis, I’ll hand deliver you a lawn sign!

• See the entire Mugshot Monday Facebook gallery at www.MugshotMonday.com, or read more posts like it on this blog.
  
• And if it’s Monday, and you are drinking something from your coffee mug, post your own Mugshot Monday on Tumblr or Twitter — use the hashtag #mugshotmonday on Twitter.

Mugshot Monday - “David Letterman’s Worldwide Pants Incorporated” coffee mug w/ Birchwood Blend by Peace Coffee.

Just so you know, I did decide to wear my pants for this week’s Mugshot Monday.

My friend Corey Anderson recently traveled to New York City on vacation and got to see David Letterman — he won tickets at a silent auction at the Society of Professional Journalists banquet. He picked up one of David Letterman’s production company “PANTS” mugs, and it is awesome.

The show was pretty good to, according to Corey’s review.

Watching the behind-the-scenes orchestrated chaos of producing a late-night talk show was a fascinating experience. The highlight was guest Jon Stewart, who was hilarious and kept Letterman on his toes.

ABOVE: Corey’s Twitpic from NYC.

Looks like you view clips from that episode here.

The coffee mug is on loan to me for today only! I appreciate Corey trusting me with his PANTS mug.

• See the entire Mugshot Monday Facebook gallery at www.MugshotMonday.com, or read more posts like it on this blog.
  
• And if it’s Monday, and you are drinking something from your coffee mug, post your own Mugshot Monday on Tumblr or Twitter — use the hashtag #mugshotmonday on Twitter.

Mugshot Monday - “Bordertown Coffee” Mug w/ Breakfast Blend by True Stone Coffee Roasters

I stopped by the Bordertown Coffee shop this morning for my first ever non-profit cup of coffee.

Nestled in an old frat house in Dinkytown, right near the University of Minnesota campus, is a non-profit coffee shop called Bordertown Coffee. I first heard about this shop from my neighbor Meghan at our annual block party a couple of weeks ago. She works there.

It’s a great old building, with lots of places to sit inside. It’s cozy, complete with fireplace. Free Wi-fi. They bake their eats fresh every day, so I’m thinking I’ve just found my new lunch spot — MinnPost headquarters is close.

The one thing they don’t have: PARKING. Ugh. The closest place I could find to park was on 14th Street, at a meter, 3 blocks away. Not a huge deal. And I should be biking to work anyway.

You can read how Bordertown Coffee came to existence here. I’m not exactly sure how the non-profit part works for a coffee shop, but it’s a cool idea.

From the Bordertown Coffee web site:

Bordertown Coffee is a non-profit coffee shop located on the University of Minnesota campus in Dinkytown. Placed inside an old fraternity house, Bordertown has a unique, warm setting with excellent drinks, baked goods, and food items.

We bake our stuff fresh, every day. From Vegan muffins to buttery scones, from organic soups to the most amazing sandwiches and wraps you can find, there is something for everyone, no matter how hungry. We might just have the most amazing chocolate chip cookie you have ever tasted!

So stop in, have a wicked Cold Press Mocha and enjoy the fireplace and get some studying done!

Glad I did! I’m getting that Cold Press Mocha next time.

• See the entire Mugshot Monday Facebook gallery at www.MugshotMonday.com, or read more posts like it on this blog.
  
• And if it’s Monday, and you are drinking something from your coffee mug, post your own Mugshot Monday on Tumblr or Twitter — use the hashtag #mugshotmonday on Twitter.

Mugshot Monday - “Chrysler” coffee mug(s) w/ Folgers Gourmet Selections Bistro Blend Medium Roast coffee.

Another late day post of Mugshot Monday due to traveling in the unfriendly AT&T areas of Wisconsin! But persistence is a virtue.

And here it is: Two coffee mugs including a guest mugshot by my UWEC college buddy Kelly Rose! We stopped by her parents’ cabin near Wisconsin Dells on the way back home this morning — we had coffee and some O & H Kringle, which is really good stuff, imported to the Dells from Racine. (Apparently, Obama likes that Kringle, too.)

The rain let up enough for us to go outside for the mugshot — you can see drops forming on the coffee mugs. I wanted us to stand in front of that SWEET fake metallic cactus statue thingy. Turned out to be a nice shot. And it was awesome to see our friend Kelly and her family again. I hate when good friends live far away, but love when conversation picks up like it’s only been a day. Love that.

DISCLAIMER: I should note that I’ve never owned a Chrysler vehicle. But! My High School buddy Dave had a 1970ish green Chevy Nova, which was a very positive experience for me.  That was an awesome car.

See other Mugshot Mondays at www.MugshotMonday.com.

Mugshot Monday - “RockStar Dad” coffee mug by Patricia Carlin w/ Blendo Suave coffee by Peace Coffee.

I received this coffee mug from my three boys Sunday morning for Father’s Day, along with pancakes, cut-out cookies (letters, spelling “Dad Rocks’), cards, and a bag of peanut m&m’s. It was a great day — we spent the morning at the Minnesota Zoo.

I snapped a photo of a prairie dog that cracks me up everytime I look at it, and a photo of a sea otter during feeding time. I took a buncha other pictures of the kids at the zoo, too, but have not posted any yet. They loved the “Russia’s Grizzly Coast” exhibit — I highly recommend you check that out.

Getting the mug and the cards and the cookies and the m&m’s (I’m a total sucker for peanut m&m’s, my wife and kids know this) was special. But we’ve had pancakes before, and we’ve gone to the zoo before and had as much fun as we did yesterday. But I found that it all made me smile a little bigger than on those “normal” days. And that was awesome. I totally felt like a Rock Star.

One note: I’d like to point out that I am not yet balding like the stage-diving dad depicted in the coffee mug. However my ‘love-handles’ are definitely more prominent than those of the stage-diving dad depicted in the coffee mug.

“RockStar Dad” coffee mug is illustrated by Patricia Carlin, sold by Uncommon Goods.

See other Mugshot Mondays here: www.mugshotmonday.com

Mugshot Monday - “Padilla Speer Beardsley” mug w/French Roast by Peace Coffee.

I stole this coffee mug.

Last week, I was at Padilla Speer Beardsley to be on “The Role of PR in the New Age of Multimedia Journalism” panel. We had a great discussion, and I mentioned at the end to all the PR professionals attending to send me their client’s coffee mugs. That I need more coffee mugs for the Mugshot Monday project. I even stated I was going to steal the one I was drinking from.

Okay, I did actually secure official clearance to “take” the mug from a Padilla Speer Beardsley associate, as long as I used it for a Mugshot. Criminal charges will not be filled. Today, at least.

See all the Mugshot Mondays at www.MugshotMonday.com

Mugshot Monday - “Var Så god” mug by Bergquist Imports w/ Nicaraguan Medium Roast coffee by Peace Coffee.

This is a cool mug my mom gave my wife for Christmas. Google Translator states that “Var Så god” means “Was So Good” in Norwegian and “Be So Good” in Swedish. That’s odd, so I googled a little and Wiktionary.com has this definition:

Varsågod:

1. here you are, there you are; said when you hand something over to someone
2. you’re welcome; response to a “thank you”
3. please; used to introduce an offer

   Varsågoda och ta för er av smörgåsbordet.

   Please, help yourselves to the smorgasbord.

Very nice! I now desire to make a coffee mug that says in English: “Please, help yourselves to the smorgasbord.” Dig that.

I had not realized until now that this coffee mug was made by Bergquist Imports out of Cloquet, MN. They are “an importer and wholesaler of fine  Scandinavian and European giftware. They are a family owned business since 1948.” Looks like they have some really cool stuff, however all products are listed in PDFs on the site! I’ll have to browse them later.

See all Mugshot Mondays: www.mugshotmonday.com

Mugshot Monday - “Big Hug Mug” w/ Brazilian coffee [**new brew!**] by Peace Coffee.

I decided last week that I’d get back into the Mugshot Monday posting routine again, but I was unsure what mug to use. I’m pretty much out of mugs. And it seemed like I should start up again with a mug that at least acknowledged in some way why I had stopped. And why I now have no hair.

Last Friday, Mel, who works at Peace Coffee and follows Mugshot Monday, gave me this “Big Hug Mug”. That’s it! It’s perfect.

“Who makes this?” I ask. “Dunno. I bought it at Savers,” says Mel.

Just look at this coffee mug. It has the exact same text treatment on both sides, so you get the same presentation if you drink coffee right or left handed. And on the bottom of the mug it states, “FTD Especially For You”. Looks like it’s a company (FTD) and line of products (Especially For You) ranging from flower vases to coffee mugs.

And, dude. This mug is going for $10 on eBay! (only $9.50 on Bonanzle.com, btw.]

So, big thanks to Mel! And, I’m glad to be getting back to whatever normal was.

See all the mugshots at MugshotMonday.com

Mugshot Monday - “Making Faces (anti-frostbite) — The Minneapolis College of Art and Design” mug w/ Tanzanian Peaberry coffee by Peace Coffee.

I can’t remember where I got this mug. I did not go to The Minneapolis College of Art and Design (or, MCAD), but I know a lot of people who did.

I’m thinking I got it from MCAD’s ad rep at City Pages from back in the ’90s when I worked there.

Actually, I’m not even sure when this mug was made. I can’t find anything on “Making Faces” or “anti-frostbite” on google or MCAD’s web site. It’s a mystery to me.

But I dig this mug.

In the above photo, you wouldn’t know it, but I’m trying to make one of the faces depicted on the mug. That didn’t work out so much, but we’ll just roll with it today.

Know anything about the design on this MCAD mug? Leave a comment for me on facebook or twitter.

See all the Mugshots on www.MugshotMonday.com

Mugshot Monday - “Paul Klee — Milwaukee Art Museum” mug w/ Traditional Roast by Gevalia

See all Mugshot Monday installments at www.MugshotMonday.com

Mugshot Monday - “Handle Deficient Mug titled ‘Mae’” w/ Nicaraguan Medium Roast by Peace Coffee.

I made this mug in 1991 while studying abroad in Osaka, Japan at Kansai Gaidai. My sensei, Yoshio Inomata, was this incredible instructor who learned to speak English with his students by teaching his Japanese Ceramics course over the years. His hands were like clay.

All of my mugs died in the kiln because I couldn’t make the damn handles work. I really wanted a mug, so I made one without a handle. And I thought it would be a good idea to somehow indicate which way was the front of the mug, so I chose the Japanese Kanji character “Mae”, which means ‘Front’ or ‘Before’, as art.

Other than being a little difficult to hold, this has become one of my favorite mugs.

See all Mugshot Mondays at www.MugshotMonday.com.