Posts Tagged ‘Gate 21 Graphics’

Yes, Gate 21 is “Moving on Up“…

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Gate 21 Version 2.0

It was a chore, it took far longer than it should have, and—in terms of substance—it amounts little more than putting lipstick on the pig, but here it is.  After weeks of gnashing my teeth at CSS and html which refused to do what I wanted it to do, I am pleased to announce the debut of the new and improved Gate 21.  For those of you have been around these parts before, you can see that things look a bit different.

After nearly two years of the same basic layout, I decided it was time to do a little remodeling here at the Gate.  One thing led to another and “a little remodeling” turned into me completely redesigning the Gate from the top to the bottom.  Yes, though it was a faithful servant, I have sacked the old iLeather theme that was the mainstay here are the Gate for so long.  In its place is the new completely custom look which took me far longer to pull together and design than I ever dreamed was possible.

Everything is new again (that doesn’t mean, however, that it is actually any better though … sigh.).

There are still some kinks to be worked out here and there and there are a few new content areas I hope to roll out in the coming days, but—for the most part—the project that has eaten up nearly every second of my time over the past few weeks is finally done.  Hopefully, both of you out there that regularly visit will like it.  If not, well, that’s what the comments box is for—I welcome any and all criticism.

At any rate, just to give everyone the 50-cent tour.  The main changes are … well … everything.  The highlights, however, include:

• New page and category bars at the top which feature fancy-schmancy drop-down menus.  Hopefully, that will make it easier for everyone to find what they are looking for.
• Gus, our trusty mascot here at the Gate, underwent some major plastic surgery and—all things considered—looks a bit better as a result.
• No, the rather massive blogroll that has been a staple here at the Gate did not disappear, it simply moved down to the footer to help make things a little cleaner and less cluttered.  Everything is organized by subject and the whole list (at least in theory) will now expand and collapse at a click.
• The typography is new as well, hopefully improving readability.
• I added a little more “visual direction” to the header so that people who have never been to Neyland Stadium might actually be able to figure out that the name “Gate 21” actually refers to the Real Gate 21 and have some idea of what it looks like
• Oh yeah, and following the lead of the Blackjack General (a/k/a “Lane Kiffin”), I decided to adopt a darker overall look with more black—especially in the background.

At any rate, I hope that these changes improve the experience here at the Gate.  I hope these changes make it look a little nicer.  I hope the whole site doesn’t crash and burn as I finish up converting all of the old content around here over to make it play nice with the new design.  Either way, please feel free to let me know if you like it, hate it, or could care less.  If there is something that isn’t working properly, is hard to read, or simply annoying, feel free to let me know that too.  Though Gate 21 version 2.0 is now here for the entire world to see, it is still a work in progress, so any feedback is appreciated.

At any rate, here it is in all of its radiant glory—the new Gate 21.

I do sincerely hope you like it…

– So it goes…

Just in case you were wondering, I have not abandoned the Gate this week.  In fact, I have been working harder on this joint this week than I have in months.  Unfortunately, all of that work has been behind the scenes…

…for the moment.

Let’s just say that I am taking advantage of the current off-season lull to make a few changes around here and to do a bit of remodeling.  Let’s just call it “Gate 21 — 2.0.”  Hopefully, all of this work will not be for naught.  Hopefully, I’ll be done with this marathon soon.  Hopefully, there will still be more than three people around to read once I bring the changes live.  Who knew this whole “blogging thing” would be so much work?

In the meantime, I’ll just leave you with this little visual representation of where this ship is headed.  Trust me, this is but one very small part of what I have in store for everyone in the near future:

The Changing Face of the Gate…

November 2007	February 2008	?? July 2009 ?? (I sure hope so)

Hopefully, I will actually get a little chance to write a few things here this weekend which I have had to put off a bit.  Yeah, yeah … excuses, excuses.  At any rate, please bear with us—there are exciting things to come in the near future.

In the meantime, just try to remember that Gate 21 does exist, and check back with us soon…

– So it goes…

Yes, just like the real Gate 21, we here at the Gate have our faithful band of ticket-takers to grant admission, to help guide you on your way, and to call the cops if you throw up and pass out on some little old Grandma from Sequatchie County due to all those airplane bottles you snuck into the stadium.

Thus, here are our ushers, ready and willing to serve…

“Lawvol” — Publisher and Editor-in-Chief :

A less than reputable sort, who earns his money as a shyster and evidence manipulation specialist (a/k/a lawyer). A graduate of the University of Tenne-”stand up and smile when you say it“-see, who also attended Tarhead U for his “trade school.” Lawvol claims to be a former member of the Pride of the Southland Marching Band, but the group has long since disclaimed any such affiliation and is currently seeking a court order to that effect.

A dedicated Tennessee and SEC sports fan, collector of farked (photoshopped) photos, confirmed blowhard, and general pain-in-the-ass who believes if you didn’t want to be made fun of, then you probably should have just stayed in bed. He is best known for his lack of intelligence, inability to use the English language properly, fixation on the use of dashes — “–” — in his posts, and his habit of employing poorly doctored graphics to cover the lack of meaningful content in his writing.

In addition to his efforts as the Illustrious Potentate here at Gate 21, Lawvol has served as a guest writer for various other blogs including the venerable Rocky Top Talk and is currently a voting member of the SEC Power Poll and the CBS College Football BlogPoll (no, he is not above name dropping). He has also been known to design logos and blog themes for bloggers across the blogosphere. You can learn more on this by visiting Gate 21 Graphics.

During football season, Lawvol can be regularly found in the north endzone of Neyland Stadium, quietly cursing under his breath as the Vols do battle on the gridiron. As you might have guessed, he enters the stadium via the real Gate 21. Believe it or not, it has actually been confirmed that he has all of his teeth and, contrary to the claims of some people, those morals charges about that sheep were dismissed.

Lawvol freely invites comments and complaints as well as emails from the complimentary to hysterical…

“VolAmbassador” — Author and Contributor:

VolAmbassador writes on behalf of all Tennessee expatriates who have been flung to the far corners of the globe.   At present, VolAmbassador is exiled to stationed in Washington, DC, serving as a liaison between  Lane Kiffin and US government.  VolAmbassador also attends law school at American University on the side, a school he specifically chose because it did not have a football team, therefore could never undermine his loyalty to UT football.  While at the University of Tennessee, he was a football player of a different sort, playing rugby for none other than the University of Tennessee Rugby Football Club.  While playing, he appeared in no less than three national championship tournaments and at least seven fights.  He was far more successful in the latter than the former.

VolAmbassador is also an active member of the UT Alumni Association of DC — a motley crew of equally poor repute.  In his free time, he likes to attend game-watching parties at opposing teams’ bars to give public service announcements regarding  Rocky Top’s lyrics and Lane Kiffin’s impending dominance.  This may or may not have resulted in his banishment from several establishments in the DC area.  If you’re ever in the DC area , feel free to e-mail VolAmbassador and drop by the embassy.

Though VolAmbassador has an opinion on everything, he rarely has a point on anything.  So if you ever feel like he deserves an e-shellacking or you just feel like harrassing him, feel free to lay it on him.

“Home Sweet Home” — Author and Contributor:

Unlike Lawvol, Home Sweet Home — or “HSH” as he is sometimes called — is an actual writer.  A Journalism / Electronic Media major at the University of Tennessee, this Memphis native hopes to go into sports broadcasting, writing, or something along those lines in the near future.

In case you didn’t “get it” his name derives from a line in every Tennessee fan’s favorite song, and is a clear reference to Good Ole’ Rocky Top.

HSH previously edited his own blog, “The View From The Hill” before signing on here at the Gate in the Fall of 2008 in hopes of bringing some actual intelligent content — a nice change from the drivel produced by Lawvol.  He’s a huge Vol fan who has been attending games in Knoxville for many years.  In addition to his passion for Tennessee football and basketball, he enjoys following the NFL and the NBA.

Among other things, HSH is the primary author for the “View From the Hill” feature here at Gate 21.  Basically, sports are a big part of his life.

You can email him, harass him, or offer him money to commit unspeakable acts by clicking the button below.

In case you haven’t noticed by the temporary header…

As I mentioned a few weeks back, I am in the midst of remodeling here at Gate 21 in preparation for football season.  Bearing that in mind, I am currently adjusting the color scheme here at the Gate, changing from the brownish “off-dirt” family of hues to more of a “light-black” (as if there were such an oxymoronicly named color — oh yeah, there is: “gray”) direction.  I’ve also added a few minor touches: such as the “shinier” checkerboard pattern, and the little “21” logos down the page a bit.  On the whole, my goal is to make things a bit darker near the top to improve visibility and make it more likely that some one might read my drivel.  If things look exactly the same, just hit refresh in your browser to see my coloring project.

Once again I have my coloring book out…

A Coloring Book for Lawyers ( PDF)

Anyway, let me know any thoughts either of you two folks out there who read this rag might have about this — including any complaints about how brown is your favorite color, how you hate my mascot “Gus,” how you can’t understand why I insist on having that infernal checkerboard across the middle of the screen, and how  you liked it better before I started screwing with it.

Seriously, if you hate it, just tell me…

– Go Figure …

Coloring Book Courtesy of: Office Spam

Not to toot my own horn, but for the past little while I’ve been working with the folks over at 3rd Saturday in Blogtober to develop some new header graphics as part of a facelift going on over there. Today, their new header went live.

Make sure to stop on by and let “Ghost of Neyland” and “Crimson Daddy” know what you think. Also be sure to check out the rest of their blog — dedicated to both the Tennessee Volunteers and the Alabama Crimson Tide (which seemingly defies explanation). They have some great stuff over there and are a real asset to the SEC blogging community.

Oh yeah, and if you don’t like the new header, then … ummm … I had nothing to do with it.

– Go Figure …

Since there hasn’t been a whole lot going on lately (or at least I haven’t been dutiful enough to write about what has) I thought I’d take the opportunity to give a few shout outs to various people around the internet and beyond who I think do a great job of … well … whatever it is that they do. These are not solicited, and I am not compensated for these — this is just my opinion (for what that’s worth) and nothing more.

To kick off this love-in, I want to give a great big shout to a guy who has become a friend of mine and has just finished completely redesigning his blog. The infamous “MoonDog” hails from The World According to MoonDog (MoonDogSports.com) and has a really great site for fans of just about anything related to sports arising from the Volunteer State.

He focuses — as best I can tell — on the Tennessee Volunteers but also gives strong coverage to the Memphis Tigers, the Dallas Cowboys, and the St. Louis Cardinals. In between these he has been known to post some exceedingly … ummm … “pleasant” photos of lovely ladies which are safe for work as part of his regular feature “Chick Pic of the Day.” He also posts some really well written articles on various other subjects including Copyright Law for Bloggers, the Battle between the Mainstream Media and the Blogosphere, and the occasional political rant.

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that I was involved in helping the MoonDog make the jump from his old Blog setup to his new Wordpress driven blog, and that I designed some of his graphics, but I make this endorsement of my own free will, and I was never asked to promote The World According to MoonDog — so you have my word that this is my own opinion, and not part of a quid pro quo. (only a lawyer would ever tell you to take their word for something and use the phrase “quid pro quo” on a sports blog, ugh!)

Seriously, the posts over at The World According to Moon Dog have greater analysis and detail than a whole lot of the blogs out there. If you are at all interested in Tennessee Sports, you should give his blog a look.

– Go Figure …

For those of you who care (which is probably nobody …) Gate 21 Graphics now has its own page here at Gate 21 — The Cultural Center of the Universe. So if you need any graphic design help, want to leave a comment to tell me how much you hate the color orange, or want to threaten me with a lawsuit because Gate 21 is so ugly that you puked on your keyboard, slide on over to the new page for Gate 21 Graphics.

– Go Figure …