If you haven't already watched that Dave Grohl SXSW keynote video that's been bouncing around the web, skip it and instead listen to Dave's guest appearance on Marc Maron's WTF podcast, which covers a lot of the same stuff but is way more fun, intimate and with even more swearing. Plus, Marc's ad-libbed intro to this episode is sublime.
Posted March 19, 2013
Google dumping Reader :: record label dumping artist after latest release sells "only" 500K units.
— Scott Andrew (@scottandrew) March 14, 2013
I was bummed to hear Google Reader was shutting down, but mostly because I'd already invested a bunch of emotional energy getting used to it after the demise of Bloglines (RIP). I'm currently looking for open sourced, host-your-own alternatives. Ten years ago I would've tried to build my own, but these days I'd rather spend that time and energy learning to slap-pop on bass so as to more efficiently annoy my bandmates.
Others have said it more eloquently, but I'll echo the sentiment here: this is a good thing for RSS and blogs in the long run. This is also the first time I can recall where the dominant player has self-selected for extinction. To be honest, I don't know anyone who loved Reader. But judging from the online outcry, people still love reading blogs and want an efficient way to read lots of them.
It'll be a pain finding a replacement, but I'm enjoying the hell out of seeing blogs and RSS in tech news again.
Posted March 15, 2013
I wish I could write more about Kracklefest 3 than I probably will in this post, but it came and went in a giant blur and honestly I'm still exhausted. The Hard Rock had to go find a new roof after Nerds With Guitars, The Doubleclicks, and Paul and Storm blew it off in front of an estimated 450 comic con nerds.
Heather Disco posted a bunch of live videos from the night <a href=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzglpiNr2g5P-k_aD8aeOQhjpvDoVYiy_">here, but the one you won't wanna miss is the grand finalé, where we brought all the acts back up on stage for a full cover of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," complete with opera section and crowd sing-along.
It. Was. NUTS.
Here's "Up Up Down Down:"
And here's "One More Episode:"
And here's a new song called -- wait for it -- "Set Your Phasers To Sexy."
More videos from Kracklefest 3 here.
Posted March 7, 2013
I downloaded my Twitter archive today and went a'data-mining.
First tweet ever, posted September 25, 2006:
Confirming my hypothesis that the internet is a text box to complain into, most of my first tweets were overwhelmingly negative. Who is this downer guy?
...but the tweets get waaay more upbeat and happy around the same time I started joining bands, doing less solo artist stuff, and generally stopped taking the music thing so seriously.
Month with most tweets: August 2012, 136 tweets. I'm not very chatty on Twitter. In fact, there's a gap from November '06 to June '07 where I didn't tweet once.
Release of my solo album!
Here are a few momentous tweets:
Number of tweets mentioning Explone: 179
Number of tweets mentioning Kirby Krackle: 141
Number of tweets mentioning Kin to Stars: 33
Number of tweets containing outbound links: 2301 (out of 3529)
Getting married!
Posted February 14, 2013
Behold, my first music video: "Golden Ballroom" from Explone's Telescope and Satellite EP.
We shot the entire thing using my iPhone 4 and I edited it together in iMovie on my Macbook Pro.
We started filming this in Spring 2011, using a rough mix of the song. In the gap between then and the EP release in Fall 2012, our drummer Josh up and left Seattle for Boulder, and (Kirby Krackle drummer) Nelson stepped in. It seemed wrong to replace Josh with Nelson in the video, too. Also, you won't find me in the video. I couldn't find a way to put myself in that didn't feel dumb or contrived.
Big thanks to my patient bandmates who let me run with this, just to see if I could!
Also, this work is dedicated to my Dad, who once long ago taught me how to frame a shot and the power of black-and-white images. Who'd have thought back then we'd someday have pocket-sized phones that could shoot 1080p video?
Posted January 29, 2013
It's a little crazy to do what I'm doing now, installing OS X Mountain Lion on my trusty MacBook at 10:30 at night. But the fact is, I want XCode. So Snow Leopard, it's been swell, but you gotta go.
I'm a recent Mac convert and I wouldn't consider myself an Apple diehard by any stretch. But one thing deserves a moment of reflection: with this one computer -- the no-frills base install -- I've been able to do everything I dreamed of doing when I was fourteen. Except land a date with a certain junior varsity cheerleader. Meh, she wouldn't have been impressed with my deep knowledge of BASIC anyway.
Okay, this calls for some scotch.
Posted January 25, 2013
Man, the modern dentistry experience has changed a lot even in just the past decade. I walked in for a cleaning this week and was offered a pair of sunglasses so the overhead lights wouldn't blind me. Then they offered me the option to watch a movie while that cleaning was happening. Wait, what -- what are you talking about? Aren't we here to suffer? Isn't this the place where we're made to feel deep, deep shame for being common animals who eat food and age and practice instinctual pain avoidance? This is a place of penitence -- what do you mean by "would I like some headphones?"
Posted January 9, 2013
The PA Report - Artists wanted: how Brian Fargo and inXile are revolutionizing asset creation for Wasteland 2. They're crowdsourcing 3D items for their game. In another reality, I'm a 3D asset artist. (Wasteland is the inspiration for the Fallout games.)
What I’m trying to say is: let 2013 be the year you finally do that creative thing that you’ve been putting off. Don’t worry about how you’re going to start, just start. Make something. Connect with people through your art. Just do it. … Art is humanity’s only real opportunity at immortality. People are finite, ideas are infinite.
Seth's Blog: True professionals don't fear amateurs. Remember this the next time someone tells you that technology-enabled newbies are wrecking their profession:
The best professionals love it when a passionate amateur shows up. The clarity and intelligence of a smart customer pushes both client and craftsman to do better work.
Gifted college professors don't fear online courses. Talented web designers don't fear cloud services. Bring them on! When you need something worth paying for, they say, we'll be here. And what we'll sell you will be worth more than we charge you.
If you're upset that the hoi polloi are busy doing what you used to do, get better instead of getting angry.
Study Hacks » Blog Archive » Does Luck Matter More Than Skill?. I love this. We like to talk about the "lucky break" but I really think we should separate "luck" from "break." Luck implies something fluffy and mysterious, beyond your control, while a break is an opportunity that comes along as a result of sustained work (but you still have to "catch" it). Plus: did you know that Arnold won a Golden Globe long BEFORE his Conan role? I did not!
EXPLONE - Life Ring. Speaking of breaks, Patrick tells the backstory of his longtime friendship with Mike Wansley, the big guy in the orange suit who sings the hook on Macklemore's "Thrift Shop."
Posted January 8, 2013
Presented without comment, found while digging through my site to create last Friday's post.
The noise is all in your head.
AFP and the cost of making things.
Lunchtime Portal Comix 2: Scenery.
Posted January 7, 2013
2012 wasn't a banner year for solo music from me; a lot of my songwriting energy was focused on new Kin to Stars material, and most of that isn't even included below because it hasn't been recorded yet. I have a backlog of mostly-finished solo stuff I'm still deciding what to do with, but to be honest I'm more excited about getting the KtS stuff on tape first because KtS has a tenuous existence in the gaps between where Jerin and I actually have "lives." But looking back, I'm gratified to be reminded that all of the projects I'm involved in released music last year.
Here's all the recorded stuff I either wrote or performed on in 2012.
Kirby Krackle, "World Full Of Heroes" video (bass):
Kin to Stars, "Tell It To Me Straight" single (nearly everything except piano):
Kirby Krackle, "Web-Slinger/Hope-Bringer" single (bass):
Kirby Krackle, "Live in Seattle" album release (bass):
Explone, "Telescope & Satellite" album release (bass, backing vocals):
Kirby Krackle, "One More Episode" single (bass):
Kin to Stars, "Already Christmas" holiday single (everything except piano):
And finally, Brand New Ukelelele, over at Best Of Metafilter.
Posted January 4, 2013