How's Frank Doing Today, You Ask?

A few days ago, the vet told me that it didn't look good, that Frank's body might be shutting down, but we went ahead with treatment in hopes of saving him. From a purely financial standpoint, I thought the $90 I had spent on Frank's vaccinations a few days prior was A LOT of money, more than I had to spare at this particular time. Yet here I was shelling out $400 to begin treatment on a dog I barely knew. Was I crazy? Not "cute crazy", but "dangerous to my own well-being crazy"? I mean, that cash was my rent money. The next day, vet costs for the day required that I pay another $300. Rent all gone. Ten days til the landlord starts to wonder.

Truth be told, I didn't give a fuck. The only thought in my mind was that life is worth fighting for and I cringed at the number of beautiful, loving dogs and cats who got put to sleep by owners who didn't wish to part with their money and give their pets the treatment they deserved.

After spending Monday and Tuesday getting IV and antibiotics at the vet, Frank greeted me at the clinic last night with a little bounce in his step. The vet had said that, while he still hadn't shown any inclination to eat solid food for them, I was more than welcome to try feeding him solid food when we got home. Once home, my other dog Rufus greeted us happily at the door and I grabbed some soft food for Frank. Sure enough, he ate about eight chunks of food. I don't know that I've ever been happier to see a dog eat food.

His eyes still looked a little weird though. There's something that I think the vet called a third eyelid or something?...I'd never seen such a thing before, but when the body is under attack, this "eyelid" expands and covers part of the brown circle area around the pupil, making him look like a zombie dog. Anyhoo, he'd been that way since Saturday night, but this morning his eyes looked pretty damn back-to-normal.

Of course, I'm being cautiously optimistic...dunno if he's completely out of the woods yet, but he seems to be bouncing back. This morning he almost seemed a little hesitant to go back to the vet, kinda like saying "Dad, I feel good. Don't take me back there."

"Believe me," I whispered to him. "I wouldn't if I didn't have to, buddy...this hurts me just as much as it hurts you, but we're gonna get you better, whatever it takes."

Help Save Frank The Beagle's Life!

It's times like these I wish I didn't love dogs so much.

On May 12, my beloved four-year-old dachshund Tanner passed away suddenly, leaving behind his twin brother Rufus. I was left with a hefty vet bill (which makes me think that the vet should just call it even if they're unable to save your dog, but that's another topic for another time), which a few close friends of mine (and the vet clinic itself) were kind enough to help me out with, but then lightning struck twice.

Seeing poor Rufus all alone in the backyard broke my heart. He looked so lost, like a ship without a rudder. It was around this time that a friend of a friend called and asked if I could adopt a 7-year-old Beagle by the name of Frank. The family that had him was unable to meet his needs and had not kept him up-to-date on basic care, including vaccinations, dental care, etc.

So I adopted Frank on May 15 because I couldn't bear to see a good dog not get the love and attention he deserves. The minute he walked through my door, he became family and I swore to do everything I could for him. The next day, I took him to the vet to get his vaccinations. They gave him a quick examination, found his heart and whatnot to be in good shape, and gave him a few shots. I was out the door with just $100 in vet fees. It stung a little because it was money I technically didn't have, but I felt it was worth it to give my new guy the best quality of life.

Within minutes of returning home, Frank vomited. I called the vet and they suggested I keep an eye on him and bring him back in the next morning if vomiting persists. Vomiting persisted so I took him back to the vet. Blood tests were run and it was discovered that Frank is diabetic. How lomng he'd been diabetic is hard to pin down, but the vaccinations apparently set things in motion making Frank a very sick dog.

Frank is currently receiving IV fluids, antibiotics, and additional care at the vet clinic where daily vet costs are $200 and, best case scenario, it may be another 4-5 days before Frank's system is stabilized.

I could give him up, walk away, drop him off on the doorstep of the original owners and give them a piece of my mind. But that would more than likely mean Frank would not get the care that he needs. Frank, like any beautiful creature, deserves a happy and long life and I wish to help in every way I can.

Thing is, I've spent June rent, not to mention money earmarked for utilities such as electricity and water, on his vet bills to the tune of almost $1000. I sold my very first screen press - something I wished to never part with if I could help it - for enough cash to cover one day of veterinary care.

I'm reaching out to anyone who has a special place in their hearts for dogs like Frank in hopes that you might consider helping me keep Frank alive. For every donation over $10, you will receive a limited edition "Dog Is My Co-Pilot" t-shirt that I created solely to help save Frank during this trying time. ALL money will go towards Frank's veterinary expenses. All monies above that amount (all of which is yet to be determined) will be donated to a local Austin no-kill shelter in the name of all who donated to the cause to SAVE FRANK!

To send money, simply do so via Paypal c/o my email address, darren@bigdcustom.com. Shirts are also available from HEARTBREAK BEAT and are priced at $20 for those who wish to give that much.

To those who are moved to help, I thank you and Frank thanks you.

Heartbreak Beat Does First Thursday!

Here in Austin, TX, they have this event called "First Thursday" that is held on the first Thursday of each month. It's a hip little shindig where local businesses on a stretch of South Congress stay open a little later than usual and independent artists and vendors set up at four strategic locations to sell their goods.

Being the spontaneous dude that I am, I found out about First Thursday on April 25, realized the next one would be in a few days (May 3rd, to be exact), and immediately contacted Jen at Vespaio to see if there was any booth availability in the Vespaio lot. Amazingly, there was so I dropped off a check and began making plans to rock my first First Thursday.

Not wanting to pour a bunch of cash into the deal, I grabbed a cheapo 8' x 11' canopy tent at Big Lots! for $30, bought a circular rack off of Craigslist for $50, and began gathering t-shirts for my big "coming out" party.

I don't know about you, but I always imagine selling shitloads of t-shirts every time I showcase my goods. Then, about a day before the show, I do a complete about-face and start fearing the worst.

So I pull up to the lot and see that most other vendors have those fancy EZ-Up canopy tents. Very professional. Assembling one of these tents is so easy. My little cheapo canopy requires a whole bunch of "fit slot A into slot B" stuff and, with a nice little wind starting to blow, me and the tarp were having quite the wrestling match. The woman at the next booth sat in her lawn chair with one of those battery-operated propeller fans in one hand, a tall Lone Star beer in the other, and a shit-eating smirk on her face as she watched me try to wrangle my canopy into an upright position. Did I mention that the instructions said "Two or more people needed for assembly"? Bah! Sure, it took twice as long to assemble, but I was able to do so without any outbursts of profanity, which those who know me will tell you is quite the accomplishment.

I then start putting the shirts on the circular rack, trying my best to make this the most kick-ass little t-shirt shop in the entire Vespaio parking lot. Did I mention that there were about five booths that sold t-shirts? Gulp.

At around 7:00PM, First Thursday was now officially underway. Thing is, it seemed somebody forgot to tell that to the people of Austin. We vendors were all set up, twiddling our thumbs, but all we saw were tumbleweeds. One of the veteran vendors says that this was the slowest First Thursday they had ever seen and then mentioned something about how Saturday events have cut into the crowds that First Thursday used to have.

Ruh-roh.

So I downgrade whatever hopes I had and set a new goal: I want ten people to actually touch my clothing.

That may sound odd but the fact was that most people weren't even stopping to look at my t-shirts. It was then that I realized that I could display more oif my designs by hanging tees from some of the support beams of my cheapo canopy.

Almost immediately, I began seeing people do double-takes and then wander over to my little tent. Before I knew it, four people had actually touched my shirts. The fifth bought a "Smile While High" t-shirt even though he had just started a job with strict drug regulations, forcing him to, ahem, put down the pipe. His girlfriend gave me a dirty look as he handed me the money and I handed him the shirt.

Right next to me, the woman who'd smirked from her lawn chair and a few of her friends are doing big business selling artsy hula hoops. I would have never believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, but upscale late-30's bohemian chicks really like hula hoops. In fact, more than a few spent almost the entire evening trying out hula hoops, which ensured that just about any dude in the area would wander over to check out the gyrating ladies. Of course, they would also see something in my booth that caught their eye and end up walking away with a shirt or two.

Things started to wind down around 8:30, but I stuck around until 10:00 before finally deciding to call it a night.

In the end, only fourteen people actually touched my shirts. Ten bought a shirt. Five of those bought more than one shirt. If this were Major League baseball, I'd be Ted Williams!

Still, is it something I wish to invest more money and time in order to maintain a presence? The jury is still out on that one.

HB01 - Begin At The Beginning

As someone who has always believed wholeheartedly in taking a "fake it 'il you make it" approach to business, I've now challenged myself to be completely transparenty, instead.  Rather than over-hype and continually exaggerate our accomplishments, like so many companies do, I've decided to tell it like it is in hopes of...setting an honest example for future start-up's.  This does not come easy.  Every bone in my body says, "Make something up!"  Nah, I can't do that.

Instead, I'll tell you a little about myself.  I just turned 46 in April and only last year did I finally realize what I wanted to do with my life.  I spent all of my adult years prior to that making a valiant but ultimately unsuccessful stab at a music career.  Music was my life from about fifth grade onward, so when I walked away from music, it was like walking away from everything I knew about myself.

The year after I left music, wouldn't you know it, I got invited to the South By Southwest Festival, where I designed limited edition concert tees for a few of my favorite bands.  I did so under the condition that I was put in-charge of merch sales for each show.  See, when I was a kid, I would have never thought of coming home from a concert without a new t-shirt to commemorate it.  Tour shirts were as much a part of the concert experience as the bands themselves and wearing your new t-shirt to school the next day was like a badge of honor.  "Yep, I was there," I would tell the world, whether they wanted to know or not.

So when I began designing concert t-shirts, I wanted to witness things from the other side of the merch table.  So, there I was all set up at Antone's.  The show itself had been thrown into uncertainty with the untimely death of Alex Chilton.  My stacks of newly-printed tees shirts and I breathed a huge sigh of relief when all the bands on the night's bill, even Big Star, declared "The show must go on!" rather than cancel.  It wasn't until I saw the first fan enter the venue, take one look at the concert shirts on display, and make a speedy bee-line for the table while simultaneously digging money from her wallet.

Seeing someone react that immediately, and completely, told me that maybe there was room for me in the t-shirt biz.  I was told in no uncertain terms that my designs were something that people felt harkened back to a time when special care was taken to create something special for the fans.  Getting such a compliment was humbling because it meant that I was keeping the tradition alive.  If you go to a show for which I've designed the merch, you can rest assured your wallet will be a lot lighter on the ride home.  I'm doing this for fun, no doubt, but I'm also doing this to get fucking rich.  I'm not going to shit you.  I was born to be rich and, well, this ain't it.

At the end of the day, I'm not going to stab someone in the back to make a buck, I'll lose money if I know people go home happy as hell.

On Adam Yauch And The Return Of Our "Coldplay Sucks" T-Shirt!

With the passing of Beastie Boys co-founder Adam Yauch last week, it was inevitable that the music world would soon be paying their respects. LL Cool J's comments, for example, were touching in their sincerity. On the other hand, when Coldplay took to the stage in L.A. on May 4th, singer Chris Martin was faced with a big decision. He could simply say something heartfelt to the crowd about how much Yauch's music and humanitarian efforts had meant to him, or he and the band could take a hot, steamy dump on "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)".

Naturally, Chris Martin chose the latter.

Upon hearing their performance for the first time, my first thought was that even those who like Coldplay must surely recognize this as a dick move. Okay, maybe Martin's heart was in the right place, but, the more I think about it, I'm not so sure. For starters, the fact that it was professionally filmed and posted on YouTube by the band within hours smacks of opportunism to me. I can see Chris Martin dreaming about their "sublime reinvention" of the Beasties best-known song going viral and turning into the sort of spontaneous hit that all bands dream about. Thing is, there was nothing spontaneous about it. It was as calculated a move as Kid Rock starting a fight in a Waffle House the week his new album is set to be released.

I'll admit that I really liked Coldplay when they were just a bunch of kids storming up the UK charts on the strength of their first single, "Yellow", but it didn't take long for that to sour as Martin revealed himself to be a third-rate Bono wanna-be with delusions of grandeur. This is a kid who probably took perverse glee in crossing "Marry a famous actress" off his to-do list, among other things.

And this musical tribute to Yauch is just as calculated.

Here's the thing: I'd forgive him if their version of the song was any fucking good, but it's actually a complete travesty from start to finish, yet you can tell by Martin's body language that he thinks he's creating a landmark moment that people will be talking for ages. He probably looks much the same when he's rubbing one out and, truth be told, we'd rather listen to that than this pretty-boy having a go at a song that he clearly has no business performing under any circumstances.

We at Heartbreak Beat hope to pay proper tribute to Adam Yauch's life and musical legacy by re-introducing the "Coldplay Sucks" t-shirt that we first made available last year. We were stunned when our initial run of 100 t-shirts sold out in three days, but, apparently we are not alone in our disdain for the band. This one's for you, Adam. May you rest in peace.

BUY NOW

"And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead KARDASHIANS" T-Shirt Now Available!

This is our latest design.

We came up with it while stoned off our ass listening to And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead. Then, just like people who attach "in bed" to the end of every fortune cookie fortune, we took one look at the TV, saw one of the Kardashes whoring themselves out for more attention, and the light bulb went ON!

By adding "Kardashian" to the end of one of our favorite band names ever, we came up with a t-shirt that does exactly what those no-talent should-be pole dancers do every day -- demand attention.

Seriously, while dropping off t-shirt packages at the local USPS facility, stopping by the store for some tortilla chips and salsa (we already have the margarita makings at home), we got quite a few odd looks from strangers, a couple chuckles, and one offer to buy the shirt right off our back.

Of course, the real test comes tonight when we wear it out to "da clubs, yo".

In the meantime, here's the link to BUY ONE before they's gone, home slice.

Rihanna Lets Her "Talent" Speak For Itself Again!

(Photo by Dario)

Well, it appears Rihanna has made the news again. This time, she went out to dinner with her gal pals, but "forgot" to wear a bra under her see-through mesh top. Let's see, doing an image search of the term "rihanna breasts" reveals that this girl seems to think she has an all-star set of milk jugs when, in fact, she's barely out of flapjack territory.

I mean, what goes through a girl's mind before she goes out for the evening in a get-up like that? I've seen street walkers who showed more restraint. It's as if Rihanna doesn't think she can cut it on sheer talent alone.

When I was a kid, there was this girl who hung out with my friends and I. To be honest, we thought she was kind of clingy and starved for attention. Sure enough, we go down to the lake to cool off one hot summer night and there she was taking off her clothes. I mean ALL of her clothes. Unlike the rest of us, she'd conveniently forgotten her swimsuit, but thought nothing of stripping down to nothing with about ten dudes pretending not to notice.

It wasn't long before she was in the water,then she and one of the guys disappeared, but we could hear them going at it behind a pontoon boat.

Afterwards, I asked her what the heck she was thinking by getting naked around a bunch of guys she barely knows and her reply caught me completely off-guard. "I was just making friends," she said. After I wrapped my head around that one, I asked her if she'd ever thought about, you know, not using her tits and ass to make friends. She looked at me as if I was the crazy one. I can't help think Rihanna would, too. I mean, why take the time to develop actual social skills, develop good character traits, and steer clear of bad boys when you can just flash your pancakes and be worshipped at every turn?

We Over-Analyze The New Maroon 5 Single "Payphone"!

There is something inherently sad about the new Maroon 5 song, "Payphone". The first thing that catches the ear is Adam Levine's cheesily auto-tuned vocals. Levine's voice, even without auto-tune, has a certain "treated" quality to it and he can actually sing, so his reliance upon this studio trickery isn't necessary, buuuut since it is used on all the latest hit tunes, the M5 guys can't help but join in the fun.

Of course, having known the M5 guys since they were Kara's Flowers, a teeny bop L.A. band whose first album came and went with little fanfare, I am continually amazed at Levine's transformation from clean cut poster into a tattooed douchebag. I mean, he can't be both so one of the two is a total pose. Can you guess which one? Seeing a guy like him with arms full of tats is a lot like seeing some stupid jock with his ear pierced back in high school. Of course, tats are gross, so the fact that Levine is so desperate to be seen as "cool" that he'll let some freak show with a cock ring draw on him in permanent ink smacks of desperation. Sure, he lives in the mansion where "The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air" was filmed (sucker!) and I live in a van down by the river, but that doesn't make me any less right.

What makes me sad when I listen to this song is that there will be people out in the world who come to embrace the song because it speaks to them in some significant way. That, in and of itself, is pretty sad. How shallow must your life be to be moved by a song such as this; one that so obviously panders in hopes of attracting that younger demo that thinks their drama is somehow more sophisticated than the drama they see on Jerry Springer.

Never mind that the first time they heard the song was on the drive up to the local prison. As she talked to her boyfriend - sorry, "fiancé" - the symmetry between song and scene are completely missed.

There's a comfort she feels talking to him about the future while separated by a sheet of bulletproof glass. What they have is about as real as the sentiment expressed in lines like:

"I know it's hard to remember/The people we used to be
It's even harder to picture/That you’re not here with me
You say it's too late to make it/But is it too late to try?
And in the time that you wasted/All of our bridges burned down."

It sounds real, substantive even, but it's a house made of cotton candy. The minute he gets out, she can't romanticize his good nature when the truth is right in front of her complaining about how he can't find a good job, or take care of the baby, or fix the car. As long as he's in " the Big House", what she has is real.

Maroon 5 have tapped into that demographic, of course. It's the main demo that drives all of pop culture at the moment. After all, this is the demo that made Snooki a millionaire and Khloe Kardashian a household name. If that doesn't make you sad, then you might just be one of them.

Ultra-Rare White Stripes Ltd. Edition LOCAL CREW Tour Shirt From Final Gig!

We recently purchased a bunch of deadstock t-shirts from a merch company that went out of business and came across this pretty cool item. Seems that the White Stripes would give the local crew for each gig a custom t-shirt specific to that gig. This t-shirt is the local crew tee for what ended up being the White Stripes' final gig on July 31, 2007.

The license plate image on the back of the shirt gives the date as well as the state and county where each gig took place, thus the Mississippi plate.

There are only four available - 2 Large and 2 X-Large.

BUY ONE!

or, if we sell out of the stock on-hand, it's a good thing we set one size Large t-shirt aside and are offering it via eBay AUCTION!