2006-12-01

Laptop Deathmatch #12 Win



This match showcased some awesome new talent. Everyone who was there was on top of their game and I'm honored to have survived a hair longer than the other finalist, the amazing Chakaharta. Really, it was like one of those rounds where everyone blows each other up, but I was just barely the last one alive to groan, "I..... uhnn... win..."

2006-11-17

Gaming Orgy

This is the weekend of gaming for 2006. The PS3 launches today and the Wii comes out on Sunday. I'm in no financial shape to buy a PS3, but I'm ready to go for the Wii launch:



Also, Amazon.com is having a special where the Xbox360 core system will go on sale for $100 on Thanksgiving day. I might just have to try to get one of those for Mass Effect, the game which stands to be the greatest sci-fi orgy every created:

2006-11-03

Laptop Deathmatch Halloween Party 2006



The Laptop Battle Dallas chapter, Laptop Deathmatch, holds an annual Halloween Party where we put down our gloves and put on costumes. We come dressed as whoever we mash-up or remix.



For me, it was a chance to resurrect the corpse of Kurt Cobain, now Kurt NoBrain, and have him unleash vengeance on all who marginalized him or his family as well as those who idolized him to an embarrassing degree.



I did a 12-something minute remix/demix/decomposition/destruction set of Nirvana starting with a Seattle news report that aired the eve of his death.



I hit play on the clip and fell to the edge of the stage so everyone could see the bloody spot on the back of my head as they witnessed Kurt rising from the grave. Bleach's Blew and Big Cheese started off the set spewing hate and destruction to all.



Next a clip from an interview with Cobain plays over a loop from the Unplugged version of Dumb where Cobain mentions how happy he was to have found a mate. This is where my girlfriend Cara, dressed as a damn fine Courtney Love, stumbled to the stage with a mock-drunk smugness for a big wet kiss with her long-dead corpse of a husband.



She was the crowd's darling.



After a spacey droning rendition of Dumb, psychedelic enough to piss off Nirvana's obsessive "punk" followers, Kurt summoned the 100-ton weight of the mega hit album Nevermind to finish off anyone left in the crowd.



Kurt's then delivered his parting message punctuated by two high-flying middle fingers: "I don't regret a thing!"



Kurt's final message repeated in warped echoes and distortion, fading away as he crawled back to his grave.



All that was left was the looping segment of an old Cobain interview of him saying "I was suicidal, I just didn't want to live" when Courtney gave Kurt's corpse a final farewell.





some other pics...









2006-09-20

Faux Tigers

I'm going to join the Dream Tigers for a night as they warm the crowd for the one and only Dr. Octagon!

2006-09-12

Been a while



I guess I'm not the personality type to really keep up with a blog. My attention span drifts so often. I saw this pic and wanted to post it somewhere because I find it to be an example of elegant cartooning.


LAPTOP DEATHMATCH! SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 AT THE DOUBLE-WIDE! BE THEEERRRRREEEEE

2006-06-23

WeFeelFine.org



This site, WeFeelFine.org, facinates me.

It gives you a flowing graphical interface for exploring the thoughts being posted on blogs around the world. Sometimes I got it to put up an image to go with the comments, and they ended up working together nicely. I'm not sure if it's pulling those from the corresponding blogs or what.

This site is definetly worth your time.

2006-05-29

Laptop Deathmatch: May 28th 2006


First, I have to give respect to tonight's MC, the hilarious Mr. John Freeman. Joe Butcher is not an easy act to follow, but he complimented the Nerd Rape stylings of the Butcher.

Next, my hat goes off to CYGNUS for defeating us all once again. Since I didn't think to bust out the camera phone until the very end, I only have pix of Cygnus. Oh, there's also one of Cara and I posing all cheesy with him too.

Finally, I'm announcing that the Laptop Deathmatch is my favorite night of the month, every month. I always have a blast there. I'm sure I would if I wasn't participating too. As a fan of electronic music, I'm treated with a buffet of new local artists to listen to and explore. As an electronic musician of sorts, I'm treated with the knowledge of at least 100 years of collective experience.

I'm pretty sure the crowd is getting bigger at the Deathmatch each month, but this time did seem slightly more sparse. Hopefully it's only because of the holiday weekend.

I'm so bad with names. I should have been writing them down. There were some awesome "new" people tonight that I want CDs of. One guy from Austin killed with a oxy8-sized midi controller on a strap that he played keytar style. Keytar playing bitrock just fuckin owns.

I missed bexametrix and frogboy. Where were you guys?

Mwanza looked to be having a good time. I'm glad he was able to kick back and just run the board instead of having to run around like mad.

My woman was there in full effect. I'm sure she left an impression on everyone there. Sorry doods-- she's all about THIS nerd. Back off, dogg.



2006-05-05

kidko LIVE @ Metrognome Collective

Dallas/Fort Worth area people can see me perform live at the Metrognome Collective in Fort Worth on Saturday Night, opening for Athens, GA band Psychic Hearts (not Thurston Moore).

The music starts around 9:30 or 10:00PM, but show early for the opening of their new art gallery featuring the art of Matt Anzak.

For more info and directions visit MetrognomeCollective.org. DON'T USE MAPQUEST OR U WILL GET LOST.

---------------

Update: That was really fun! The few people who stuck it out seemed to enjoy my collection of tracks and the little bits of backstory I gave with each one. I have a long way to go in smoothing it out, but for the first straight up concert, i think it was pretty good!

James and Paul of the Metrognome mentioned a comic book event they're putting on and the possibility of me playing music that night. Some more ambitious ideas came up, but I won't jinx them by talking about it yet.

2006-05-02

Circle R Media and Illumitoon Party



DJ Sexy Dillionaire invited me to a private mini-deathmatch at the Circle R (radioshack) office in downtown Fort Worth on Tuesday (5/2/06). We were entertainment for a private party celebrating a new company opening up called Illumitoon.



It was nine laptop musicians competing for a $500 prize. I wasn't concerned about winning, just having fun... and that I did.



It was a bit strange overall. The party seemed well organized, but our part, the mini-deathmatch, wasn't included in all of that. It didn't matter, really, we were able to throw together a show.



Of course, the crowd at this party was totally mixed, and only a handful of the guests stuck around to experience the whole thing. Apparently the idea was that the audience would help to decide which of the battlers went on to the next round... that wasn't the best idea since they didn't really want to pick sides or even have to be involved. We singled out a really nice couple, the people behind the webcomic Welcome Consumer, to be our final judges since they seemed to be some of the only people left standing after our auditory assault.



They were kind enough to carry The Wild Bull and I to the final round. As they were deciding a winner, he and I made a deal to split the winnings regardless of the outcome. We must have seen it coming, because they decided we should split it too. So I came home with a half the winnings. And I'm totally floored because the other AMAZING people who played. They were all very gracious and we had fun chatting it up at the end of our little event.



Linkage for some of the other kick ass participants that i know::::
Wolf Man
Cygnus
Lady Malice
Matthewmatics
Chainsaw played but I don't think i have a link for him

2006-05-01

Laptop Deathmatch Report

Last night was probably the most fun I've had playing my electronic music. The deathmatch was a success at the DoubleWide! There were 18 players! This thing gets bigger every time. Eventually there will be so many that they'll have to start turning people away.

Event organizer and all around audio handyman Mwanza AKA The Wild Bull

won after the judges declared the final round between Mwanz and the flamboyant faux-Frenchman DJ Sexcidillionaire a tie before a crowd that wanted blood.

A tie was NOT going to cut it. The crowd chanted "TO THE DEATH! TO THE DEATH!"




They also chanted "NERD RAPE! NERD RAPE! NERD RAPE!" thanks to the MC Joe Butcher opening the show with, "I've always wanted to rape a nerd."

I should mention that I made it past the first single-elimination round, so in round 2, I was one of 8 deathmatchers left. While I was waiting for my laptop to boot, Joe told a story that involved him being 8 years old and having a necrophilic fantasy involving Burt Renyolds. Needless to say, I didn't make it past the 2nd round. I blame it on the horrible physiological response that story had on all of us... me as a performer and the judges as... well judges.



More pix for you. I'm sorry the pics SUCK but it's cuz i was using a really cheap, really free, portable Logitech webcam thing with an assed-up flash.





2006-04-27

Trashspotting!

Check it out:

TRASHSPOTTING, PRACTICAL DEFINITION:
To analyze the curbside recycling and general refuse of a household, neighborhood, city, or country, especially with a long-term view, for intellectual gratification, for social pleasure, and for cultural perspective.


Achewood is a cool webcomic where many of the characters have their own blogs. This blog, by the character Emeril, explains a new intellectual pursuit called trashspotting. He's developed a manifesto to explain it and lay down some trashspotting guidelines. I've decided to start a DFW chapter.

2006-04-26

Laptop Deathmatch - April 2006



Laptop Deathmatch is upon us again, folks. If you're in Dallas on Sunday night, you have no excuse not to be at the DoubleWide, experiencing the future of local music(!?)

I'm trying something new this time. I'm going to build loops with midi instead of launching premade audio. It's going to be tricky, but I think it will be more fun since I'll be using the Trigger Finger:

2006-04-15

The Black Hat - working title


I'm doing a track with Soyogen from Houston for the em411.com mixit song creation game. Everyone uploads samples, we make a track, post and review tracks, etc.

Soyo and I are sending .ALS files back and forth through gmail. Since we're using the same samples as source audio, we don't need to send big files. It's a nice way of working.

Here's my latest mix. This is after my third time of having the ALS and remixing, adding, subtracting and tweaking parts. The amount of DSP is a little much, but i having a lot of fun with it all.

2006-04-13

Amazing Powell Quotes


Now Powell tells us
Robert Scheer, Creators Syndicate
From SFGate.com



I queried Powell at a reception following a talk he gave in Los Angeles on Monday. Pointing out that the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate showed that his State Department had gotten it right on the nonexistent Iraq nuclear threat, I asked why did the president ignore that wisdom in his stated case for the invasion?

"The CIA was pushing the aluminum tube argument heavily and Cheney went with that instead of what our guys wrote," Powell said. And the Niger reference in Bush's State of the Union speech? "That was a big mistake," he said. "It should never have been in the speech. I didn't need Wilson to tell me that there wasn't a Niger connection. He didn't tell us anything we didn't already know. I never believed it."

When I pressed further as to why the president played up the Iraq nuclear threat, Powell said it wasn't the president: "That was all Cheney." A convenient response for a Bush family loyalist, perhaps, but it begs the question of how the president came to be a captive of his vice president's fantasies.

2006-04-12

Interview in the Morning

It's here! I have my shot at the internship tomorrow. For the first time in my life, I'm going to an interview without an ounce of anxiety. I can tell that I've come a long way in the last four years.

This feels right. The timing of the offer is too perfect. I don't believe in predestiny, but a force that presents opportunities to the right people.

2006-04-08

I did a remix

Check out my remix of Evan Morris's song Insects Feeding at the site for his netlabel: lostscience.org. Click on releases and find the one called "VA Remixes to the Sky". Be sure to grab his other releases on there too... all free downloads! Welcome to the future.

I'm personally in love with LogicFray's track.

2006-04-05

Opportunity

I’m hoping to get a callback on a resume I submitted to a new Dallas film studio. The company sounds exactly like what I’ve been wanting to be involved with for the past few years.

Their setup looks awesome. If you click the link to their studio layout, you can see they have a dedicated Final Cut Pro room, a sound room, several large filming studios… so much going on that I’d love to be involved in.

The best part is they’re right here in town. Not L.A. or New York! I could work for them while I finish my degree. Eventually I would prove myself worthy in some part of their operation as I have in every other profession opportunity I’ve had.

They’re even on the same street as the studio my girlfriend works on! That’s a great bonus.

I sent my resume last week and sent a follow-up email this week. I hate to pester them, but I also want to prove that I’m committed to this offer and that I’m serious. I think I’ll call the number on their website and follow-up that way today.

2006-03-20

Aura of Unrest


From Guardian Unlimited:

Paul Eaton, a former American army general in charge of training Iraqi forces until 2004, marked the anniversary with a furious attack on Mr Rumsfeld, saying he was "not competent to lead our armed forces".

2006-03-12

Aura: of the Natives



On vacation in Santa Fe. The drive was great. We slept to snow and woke up like children at the first of winter. I took some video and lots of phone-cam pix.