5.31.2007

the internet is silly

LOLcats, I believe, won out over other possible LOL(variable) options because the internet is 90% cats already. Also, for an inhuman killing machine, a cat's got a good personality.

What other things might the Internet also enjoy anthropomorphizing?


I believe this was done by Jeph Jacques; correct me if I'm wrong, won't you?

5.28.2007

projects are happening

Saturn V

Over the weekend of the 18th I flew down to Florida to shoot wedding footage for the documentary project. It went quite well and we should be able to give Tedd and Christa an excellent wedding video as both a present and a "thank you for participating" gift. On our way out of the state we made a detour by Kennedy Space Center, to enjoy their tourist-related activities, which was quite a lot of fun. We did learn, however, that rocket scientists can't spell.

In The Studio 3

Seize Them! went into the recording studio yesterday to begin laying down tracks for a demo / album. This is something we've been looking forward to doing for quite some time. Unfortunately, due to the idiosyncratic way the studio was set up by its designers, we weren't really able to get anything done. After spending over four and a half hours attempting to do extremely exotic things like "getting sound in the headphones" we had time to record two takes of "Let Me Be Your Boy" before we had to start packing up. It was, in a word, frustrating, but it was also a great example of the Quality Triangle.

The Quality Triangle has you use Fast, Cheap and Good as the vertices and then says you are allowed any two at a given time.

5.18.2007

retraction correction amendment

The situation has evolved, and it appears that my claim stated during the Seize Them! show on 5.12.07 (which you can download in .mp3 and/or FLAC format from here) that James Doohan's ashes were lost in the New Mexico desert is no longer true.

I know you were all very concerned.

5.17.2007

let me explain something to you


©Leah Riley



When Leah starts selling things, you will buy them.

5.14.2007

rock n' roll debriefing

Andy and Keith

Seize Them! successfully rocked their first "public" show at the Last Resort Art Space on May 12. It was an interesting time, if I do say so myself.

Photos from the event, taken by Spencer Gordon (who just happened to be there and was kind enough to employ my camera) are viewable on flickr.

If you're curious, and/or a die-hard Seize Them! fan, you can download an audience recording of the show from seizethem.com. We've got an MP3 version and a FLAC version for you audiophiles.

Performancewise we were solidly high-energy and entertaining but definitely sloppy, at least in comparison to how tight we've recently been in rehearsal. I chalk this up to the accumulation of many little details that conspired to place us, or remind us of our place, outside our comfort zone.

Immediately after our cursory soundcheck we began to play. I forgot to actually insert my earplugs, which dangled around my neck for the whole show instead. Because of that my guitar seemed extremely loud to me, which made me self-conscious. I clammed quite a few chords and notes throughout the evening but all of us in the band agree that it was a really positive thing that nobody's mistakes threw anyone else off or caused the person in question to spiral downward into a shame-based disaster.

The event was... odd. It was billed as a barbecue but failed to be billed as a DIY barbecue with grills that may or may not actually be properly coaled and capable of grilling food. Even with the extremely low attendance (in fact, absolutely none of the people I invited came to the show, aside from a very recent acquaintance who brought several friends) the beer ran out practically immediately and over half the party had to leave to go buy beer. That puts a bit of a crimp in the party flow, I'd say. DJ Porkcube did his best to keep the party live but was hindered by band scheduling and clumsiness with the PA.

A representative of Iraq Veterans Against the War had an info table set up, which was great, but then got up to make a speech promoting his cause, and for some reason chose to connect with his audience by flatly insulting them outright and inspiring most of them to temporarily leave in search of beer or less hostile vibes*. I'm completely in favor of connecting political activity to these kinds of shows and parties but I just don't understand what's to be gained by aggressively antagonizing the very people you're theoretically trying to sway.

As we came back to Last Resort to finish packing up our gear we were told that the cops had arrived during our absence to shut the party down, claiming they'd seen the fliers advertising the show, but unfortunately for them the whole event was over by the time they arrived. A party isn't really a party unless the cops show up; that's what I say.


*If I recall correctly he chastised the crowd for failing to mosh during Stuedabaker Brown's set... SB is a midtempo pop-rock band that doesn't exactly inspire moshing most of the time... and then proceeded to call the crowd "vapid". Smart move, there.

5.10.2007

oh how I hope

Chris Onstad, creator of the Achewood (the world's greatest comic strip) said the following in a recent interview:

"Today I was working on a screenplay. You know, where Ray and Roast Beef went down and fought in the Great Outdoor Fight. We’ve got a couple studios interested in the script, so we’re trying to finish that up and get it sold."


ACHEWOOD MOVIE, Y'ALL. Oh man... attention all producer types - FUND THIS FILM. It goes without saying that I, of course, should be hired to edit it. Is there a film editor out there who loves Achewood more than me? The answer is clearly no.

5.07.2007

seizethem.com ARE GO

Subject / verb agreement PSHAW.

But yes, the new and improved seizethem.com is live and ready to serve you.

I'd wanted to have some brand new, spiffy-sounding demos finished for the site launch but, y'know, I've only found so much time to get things done.

5.04.2007

09 F9 OH NOES

With all this hullabaloo about the revelation of one of the AACS keys I thought I'd contribute my own anecdote illustrating the hilarious futility of and aggrivation caused by DRM schemes.

I recently bought a new DVD player, one that has an HDMI port to connect to a fancy digital monitor and can upscale standard def DVDs so they don't look as crappy in high def. Now, I do not yet own a high definition television and instead use a widescreen Dell computer monitor with a wide variety of inputs. Along with the DVD player I purchased an HDMI to DVI adapter, as the Dell monitor lacks an HDMI input but certainly has a DVI port. Okay, fine and wonderful.

However, to my horror I discovered that the player detected that my monitor was not HDCP compliant. It proceeded to blink the feed to the monitor on and off every few seconds, and fill the screen with static. Mind you, I was attempting to play a standard definition DVD that I legitimately bought and paid for. This was, in a word, infuriating. I could not watch content that HDCP wasn't even invented to protect, simply because Philips complied with the HDCP extortion.

But here is the kicker.

I have several DVDs I've received from an unnamed source who ripped commerical discs, recompressed them using DVDShrink, and burned them onto DVD-R discs for me. And guess what? I can play these in my new player and the video is passed over the HDMI->DVI adapter with no problem at all.

So suck on that, DRM-fanatics. HDCP has created a situation where it is greatly to my advantage to acquire only "pirated" discs. Legitimately buying content, in this case, screws me to the wall. Ha de ha ha ha ha haaaa.

5.02.2007

come one, come all

Last Resort 5.12.07 Flyer

Seize Them! is finally getting out of the basement. Come have some barbecue.


Lots of other stuff going on... I've been slacking on the blarghposting because I wanted to have some actually finished things to talk about. So stay tuned for the launch of the brand new seizethem.com, plus decently-recorded Seize Them! demos and such.

I've begun playing guitar as backup to singer Iseult Collins. Mostly covers right now with a few of her original songs. Acoustic guitar + singer duo type stuff. She's all rarin' to go so it's entirely possible we'll be performing at some open mics fairly soon.

More later.