Vlad @ Vertvolta Press
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vertvoltapress.bsky.social
Vlad @ Vertvolta Press
@vertvoltapress.bsky.social
550 followers 590 following 5.4K posts
Imprints: Extra:Solar, Hinton Publishing.
Run by Vlad Verano, Designer/Publisher; part-time bookseller. Moonlights as artist/illustrator/astromech. Latest book; THREE ALARM FIRE (Hinton) https://vertvolta-design-press.square.site/product/Three_Alarm_Fire/3
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vertvoltapress.bsky.social
Over at @pushpullseattle.bsky.social tonight we opened our holiday ornament show— BE MERRY! — you should stop by our browse online to see the wide variety of ornaments made by PP artists, now till the end of the year.

You might even like some of mine
A wall in an art gallery—it is filled with small hand-made ornaments. A winged lion holiday ornament (african lion with white feathered wings). Part of the BE MERRY Ornament Show on at Push/Pull form now till the end of the year. A mothman ornament (long black body, thin arms & legs, large red eyes & beak, bat wings). Part of the BE MERRY Ornament Show on at Push/Pull form now till the end of the year. Agaric mushrooms ornament (red caps with white dots, white stem, each hanging counter balanced hanging off a piece of wood). Part of the BE MERRY Ornament Show on at Push/Pull form now till the end of the tear.
November 16, 2025 at 5:59 AM
vertvoltapress.bsky.social
Reader, i did
Photo by the water, puget Sound in the rain, grey skies, old poles in the background in the water, a few birds perched on them. In the foreground is a post on the shore with a sign — DO NOT FEED THE BIRDS, with a crow perched on top of it.
November 14, 2025 at 9:31 PM
vertvoltapress.bsky.social
NYT opinion (most likely Ross Douchehat) headline.

MAMDANI DROPS MASK, REVEALS HIS INNER NATURE
Mamdani political sign meme. (Orange text on purple font) Text: ALL THE PISTACHIOS for ME
November 9, 2025 at 6:41 AM
vertvoltapress.bsky.social
*concerned GOP politician/Fox news bobblehead/right wing influencer voice*

Democrats ruining culture with impossible promises!
Mamdani political sign meme. (Orange text on purple font) Text: BREAKFAST for DINNER Mamdani political sign meme. (Orange text on purple font) Text: TACO TRUCKS for EVERY CORNER
November 9, 2025 at 6:34 AM
vertvoltapress.bsky.social
Added alt-text
Cartoon: A street-level perspective of New York City at night; dark skies & high-rises, their lights glittering. In the foreground is Lady Liberty, crouched down on the sidewalk holding a cardboard sign: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” She is looking down the street, as Zohran Mamdani, the dark haired, bearded Mayor of NYC, wearing a suit & tie, is walking up to her, smiling, holding up Liberty’s torch in one hand, which brightens the darkness. Source: The Guardian Cartoonist: Ella Baron
November 6, 2025 at 6:19 AM
vertvoltapress.bsky.social
Mistakes were made
A man sitting in profile at a bar; wearing a novelty shirt with skulls with straws in their cranium, white t-shirt with a worm-like xenomorph sticking out of his chest. He os pouring a pint of beer into the mouth of the chestburster, which is never a good idea (folks, do NOT give your kids booze)
November 1, 2025 at 4:31 AM
vertvoltapress.bsky.social
Boredboredboredbored

#bringyourxenomorphtoworkday
A man wearing a black hat with a Nostromo logo, wearing a novelty tropical button up shirt with all palm trees & skulls with drinking straws in their exposed cranium, a white t-shirt torn & bloodied in the chest area, because a xenomorph chestburster sticks out. In the background are shelves & various items at the front desk of Push/Pull Gallery .
October 30, 2025 at 10:50 PM
vertvoltapress.bsky.social
Bring Your Kid to Work Day is going great! Just hope the kiddo doesn’t get hungry before our lunchbreak 😬
( @pushpullseattle.bsky.social )
#halloween
Photo of a man in a green uniform logos of the NOSTROMO all over, wearing a black mesh hat with NOSTROMO ship logo; he is giving a thumbs-up gesture, while a xenomorph chestburster sticks out from a bloodied t-shirt. He is wearing a white mask with a couple of spots of blood on it) The background is a wall full of original art from Push/Pull Gallery in Ballard.
October 30, 2025 at 8:20 PM
vertvoltapress.bsky.social
The next time some car-rich nimby asshole sez you complain too much when you want better transit: this is when you get a notification your bus is *5 minutes late*

*8 second video; play this 37.5 times & you’ll get the vibe*
October 26, 2025 at 6:27 AM
vertvoltapress.bsky.social
Added alt-text for this zinger!
Skeet screencap: Dr. Dana Ménard / @Shufflersunite The cat who was completely obsessed with my bump when I was pregnant is quite uninterested in the baby now that she's out. It's a weird way to find out that my cat is a Republican.
October 26, 2025 at 5:09 AM
vertvoltapress.bsky.social
It’s PUBLICATION DAY!
Our ( @hintonpublishing.bsky.social ) book, The Sylvan Hotel, debut novel by Seattle author Frannie James, hits shelves today!

Available at all your favorite indie bookstores & elsewhere

bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
Photo of a book on display on a bookshelf. The cover shows a young woman sprawled on a bed, surrounded by various 90s paraphernalia— photos, cassette walkman & headphones, indie newspapers) Text on cover THE SYLVAN HOTEL A SEATTLE STORY FRANNIE JAMES. [Review quotes] "...the author impressively illuminates one of the central conflicts of early adulthood: the draw of one's cozy youth, set against the exciting promise of full-fledged adulthood." -Kirkus Reviews "The Sylvan Hotel is a tapdance down memory lane for those of us who came of age in Seattle in the 1990s. She evokes the disaffected "are we adults yet?" vibe of Gen X, and draws a vivid portrait of the time and place through the eyes of an earnest young woman longing for love and her own fulfilled promise" - Alexis M. Smith, author of Glaciers
October 21, 2025 at 5:09 PM
vertvoltapress.bsky.social
If i can politely suggest to every foreign news agency: use photos like this in your headline pics, when you refer to the White House, going forward?
Historic East Wing of the White House being demolished to make way for a tacky new ballroom.
October 21, 2025 at 6:47 AM
vertvoltapress.bsky.social
In my in-the-moment i didn’t realize the op didn’t add alt-text
Still from the Muppet Show— it’s Gonzo, a purple-blue puppet with a bent beak, dressed in a formal tuxedo holding a rose. His expression was every mariners fan in the top of the 9th inning; forlorn, ragged, end-this-pain-but-i-would-prefer-joy. He’s a romantic stood up by his date. Again.
October 21, 2025 at 3:21 AM
vertvoltapress.bsky.social
Who robbed the Louvre? Right answers only.
Image of Wile E. Coyote strapped to an ACME rocket perched on the edge of a cliff. He is in the middle of turning around to light the wick with a match.
October 20, 2025 at 2:53 AM
vertvoltapress.bsky.social
🤔
Photo from 2003– Saddam Hussein’s statue being pulled down in Baghdad by the US military. In the foreground is Saddam’s statue leaning as a crane & chain pulls it of its podium in Al-Firdos Square, the Ramadan Mosque in the background. Obviously the irony here is the symbolism the US *tried* to paint as a clear victory was the start of a decades-long nightmare for the Middle-East (& in many was the US people). But the bigger they are, the harder they fall, right, chaps?
October 18, 2025 at 2:37 AM
vertvoltapress.bsky.social
Continuing my habit of not Will Stancilling here ;
Screenshot of his reply to his post (where he’s being corrected & trying to dig out)

Here’s my reply:
*Dem establishment * which is literally not representative of the people showing up on the 18th or at lots of street corners since Jan 2025…
Screenshot: Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social The reason No Kings has had limited political impact isn't the size of the thing, which is astounding, but because it's largely been ignored by the institutional structures that call crystallize popular anger and discontent into lasting policy and pressure for change. Dems won't claim it, basically October 15, 2025 at 7:45 PM
October 16, 2025 at 4:12 AM
vertvoltapress.bsky.social
With alt-text because it’s always good to burn a Fake Concern About the Poors account (who, it turns out, is a cop running a fake account—no surprise there)
Screenshot of an exchange: Gunther Eagleman™ @GuntherEagleman Food stamps should not be used to buy soda. Chris Gloninger, CCM, CM 0 @ChrisGloninger Wild how a poor person buying a $1 soda with food stamps sends you into a moral panic, but billionaires writing off private jets and yachts on their taxes? Not a peep. Your outrage is as cheap as that soda.
October 16, 2025 at 3:35 AM
vertvoltapress.bsky.social
Added alt-text & stuff
Copy of original screenshot. At the Chicago ICE protest, the image is of ICE gassing protesters & there is a line of cars in a cloud, & in the foreground where a couple running away holding a baby carrier. In the upper left you can see a tear gas canister purposely thrown in the direction of the couple & the protesters around them (it’s circled in red) I have added text in the white area above: THIS IS ICE (with an arrow emoji pointing at the canister); above that in red CRUELTY ISTHE POINT
October 15, 2025 at 3:51 AM
vertvoltapress.bsky.social
With alt-text, because let’s get this out thereto as vast an audience as possible
Front page of THE NATIONAL from Scotland. Text (centered & Helvetica-clear): HOW GENOCIDE HAPPENED "No Arab will remain in Gaza" "No-one must inhabit this land if it is not the Jewish people" "Israel should make Gaza look like Auschwitz museum" "I am for war crimes, I don't care if l'm criticised" "Aid trucks continue to enter Gaza... enough!" "We are too humanitarian. We have to burn Gaza now" "It's not Hamas that should be eliminated. Raze Gaza" "Without hunger and thirst among the Gazan population, we will not succeed in recruiting collaborators" «It is an entire nation out there that is responsible. It's not true, this rhetoric about civilians not being involved" FOUR-PAGE SPECIAL REPORT As Israel continues to deny genocide in Gaza after the ceasefire, we publish the damning words - from the country's own prime minister, press and more - that show how atrocity came to pass
October 14, 2025 at 3:34 AM
vertvoltapress.bsky.social
“The girlfriend of one of the founders of antifa”
Comic book cover for TANK GIRL— punk rock thin woman in profile in a military helmet & t-shirt & pouch vest; her helmet has an arrow, knife, dark& other objects embedded into it; she’s smiling a spliff; she has a hand, finger pointing up in a “hold on” gesture, while the other hand hold a revolver. Her t-shirt has the Australian flag(union jack in the left top corner; southern cross constellation on a blue background) & above it the Indigenous Australian flag (black & red stripes surround a yellow circle). Behind Tank Girl is a Ripper, a genetically modified Kangaroo soldier called a Ripper. They fought utility corporate fascists in a post-apocalyptic landscape [and i bit off more than i can chew for this simple joke meme 😅]
October 9, 2025 at 2:30 AM
vertvoltapress.bsky.social
Unboxing the Sylvan
October 8, 2025 at 5:33 PM
vertvoltapress.bsky.social
In the midst of the chaos; our finished copies of THE SYLVAN HOTEL (pub 10/21) arrived!

Pre-order from your favorite indie store, & maybe join us for the launch at Elliott Bay Book Co.?
I’m hto of a person holding up a book (art shop in the background). The book cover image is a woman lying on a bed surrounded by 90s paraphernalia—newspapers, photos, walkman. Title is THE SYLVAN HOTEL, author is FRANNIE JAMES
October 8, 2025 at 5:21 PM
vertvoltapress.bsky.social
It’s rushed & using a a photo app on my phone but Bruce Harrell’s re-election campaign poster just dropped
October 3, 2025 at 4:34 AM
vertvoltapress.bsky.social
Resharing with alt-text because yes, it is a banger

“At a minimum, this is very unseemly; more than likely, it is unlawful. Not to mention, this only deepens the growing mistrust of the actions of prosecutors. That is a sentiment that was once unthinkable, but the irregular is now the regular.”
Legal paper Text: Case 1:25-mj-00225-ZMF Document 12 Filed 09/29/25 Page 1 of 3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. KEVONTAE STEWART, Defendant. No. 25-mj-225 (ZMF) ORDER A federal grand jury refused to return an indictment in this case. See ECF 9. This was onceunheard of, but has become common as of late.(footnote 1) Typically, when a federal grand jury refuses to return an indictment in a case, either thegovernment takes the message as a warning to go no further or, hopefully in only the rarest of cases, presents the indictment again to another federal grand jury. To this judge's knowledge, what has never happened before is doing an end run around the federal grand jury completely. Yet that is what has happened today. Footnote: 1– Until last week, the Court was unaware that a form even existed for this filing. That is because prior to a month ago, there was never a need to repeatedly return no bill indictments. What has changed between now and then are the types of cases prosecutors are bringing brought to federal court—many with apparent Constitutional violations. See, e.g., United States v. Torez Riley, 25-mj-154. Indeed, earlier this month, the government indicted a case via a federal grand jury months after prosecutors refused to formally charge it. At the detention hearing, the prosecutor admitted that the reason for the initial declination was the self-evident "Fourth Amendment issues." See United States v. Richard Thompson, 25-cr-271. Even there, the government followed longstanding norms and Rule 6 by taking its chances with a federal grand jury. Page 2 of court documents: Text: Today, prosecutors again presented a single count federal indictment against the defendant,but this time before a Superior Court grand jury. After receiving a true bill from that local grand jury, prosecutors sought to return the federal indictment in federal court. At a minimum, this is very unseemly; more than likely, it is unlawful. Not to mention, this only deepens the growing mistrust of the actions of prosecutors. That is a sentiment that was once unthinkable, but the irregular is now the regular. See Fed. Educ. Ass'n v. Trump, No. 25-1362, 2025 WL 2355747, at *11 (D.D.C. Aug. 14, 2025) (Judge Friedman, a renowned former prosecutor and judge, recently collected cases addressing this topic, and concluded that "[i]n just six months, the President of the United States may have forfeited the right to [] a presumption of regularity."). Prosecutors used to not look for loopholes. They sought justice and respected the decisions of juries, favorable or not. (Footnote 2) The preliminary hearing in this matter is set for October 9, 2025. Multiple federal grand juries sit between now and then. Why not go back before one of those federal grand juries? (Footnote 3) "Historically, [the grand jury] has been regarded as the primary security to the innocent against hasty, malicious and oppressive persecution; it serves the invaluable function in our society of standing between the accuser and the accused, whether the latter be an individual, minority group, or other, to determine whether a charge is founded upon reason or was dictated by an intimidating power or by malice and personal ill will." Wood v. Georgia, 370 U.S. 375, 390 (1962). Footnote 2: Indeed, the ABA Model Code of Professional Responsibility EC 7-13 states that "[t]he responsibility of a public prosecutor differs from that of the usual advocate; his duty is to seek justice, not merely to convict." It is particularly surprising that the government was willing to sacrifice its … Page 3 of legal document: Text: These words from the Supreme Court are haunting given what is before the Court today. The undersigned will not rubberstamp the breaking of decades-long norms and the rule of law. As such, the Court refused to take the grand jury return-another first in this District. The parties are hereby ORDERED to provide briefing as to whether this Court has jurisdiction to return a federal indictment on only federal charges returned by a local grand jury. The government shall file its brief in support by October 3, 2025. Defense counsel shall file any objections by October 7, 2025.4 The Court will hold a hearing on this matter on October 9, 2025, at 11:30 a.m. Date: September 29, 2025 [signature] ZIA M. FARUQUI UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
October 1, 2025 at 3:57 AM
vertvoltapress.bsky.social
In a sea of military peers, be the femme-presenting (maybe they/them but probably to not freak out the ranks she/her) heavily decorated general smiling because she knows how whackadoodle this all is.
Crop from the main photo of male generals in the Trump / Hegseth shitshow on a woman in uniform with a large rectangle of awards & rank pips, it is literally weighing down her jacket. In the photo she is caught smiling slightly.
October 1, 2025 at 3:41 AM