Five years of the pursuit of music,
good times, and graphic perfection.
Just take it, and shut up.

I am a Sonny Chiba fan. That goes without saying. I mean, I love the guy - he's been in countless movies, in several countries, and suffice to say, all he ever does in his roles, and as far as I'm concerned, in his real life, is simply put - kicks ass.

Whether it is fighting on the side of good or evil, he dominates the opposition, and pretty much, cannot ever be stopped. I have seen him do a little bit of everything; beating up hordes of men with only his lethal fists, harness the power of god with mystical swords, pick off snipers from hundreds of yards away with conventional handguns, and my favorite - ripping off the testicles of a would-be rapist, thus successfully garnishing the 1974 classic film "The Street Fighter" an X-rating based on violence alone.

So, in the Winter of 2002, when it came time to decide upon a theme for my first-ever mixed-CD that I would put a lot of hard work and creativity into and present to my closest friends, I wanted a theme that exuded power, intensity, and that just simply, kicked ass. I hardly had to think about it, when I thought about the words that I wanted this theme to represent - Sonny Chiba.

I enjoyed it so much, I had to do it again. And I did it for five-straight years. Anyone can take their favorite songs and burn them onto a handwritten CD and give them to friends, but how many can do it with style? Sonny Chiba only goes the distance, nothing less.

The Sonny Chiba CD Collection was more than just specially compiled mixed-CDs that I gave to those whom I considered my closest friends. It was a means for me to test my creativity, and my graphic design progress with each successive year of working in the field. It was also an outlet for me to attempt to pour my thoughts out onto a condensed space, fully knowing that only people of my choosing would be reading them. And of course, it was a way to share my preferences in music, and hope that those receiving it, might just find a song or two that they liked, and help expand their musical pallets.

Each year, I put a tremendous amount of effort into the CDs. I pay for discs, jewel cases, shipping, entire albums I want one song from, that I couldn't find on iTunes, and early on, printing supplies. As the years went by, and I had access to printers and unlimited supplies from the companies that I worked for, I made it a rule that the CDs could only be made using the supplies of the companies, that in essence took liberties by underpaying me, so I felt no remorse in using their supplies. Besides, it was part of that tremendous effort that took me into the workplace after-hours or weekends to do some of these, y'know.

Reminiscing back through the playlists makes me realize the things that might've been going on in my life, my progression of skill in putting together a tangible product, with printing aspects becoming technically improved, but mostly, it just makes me baffled with my tastes of music at those times. For the longest time, I wanted to do something like this, to share the details and glorify the personal projects that I am admittedly the most proud of; currently on this creativity wave, here we go.

Click on any of the CDs to go into further details of each year's Sonny Chiba CD.

If you've read this far, I truly do appreciate the time taken. These CDs throughout five years in my past are projects that I am extremely proud of. If I could have any regrets, it would be the fact that I stopped after five years. I figured, it was best to stop while I was still capable of a last hurrah, and five sounded like a nice, round number. Aside from the good memories behind them all, they were also great at helping me refine my graphic design skills; furthermore, they were a great outlet for me to let the reigns loose, after working the day job that had to keep my ideas and creativity at bay, in the essence of maintaining corporate standards. Fuck that noise, Sonny Chiba rules.