I love it when talented people do novel things.

Can't sleep. Have some videos.

Found this guy on BoingBoing. He's like a cross between the spraypaint guy in Harvard Square and Bob Ross*... being watched in fast-forward.

I'm not actually sure I'm sold on this idea, but look! Shiny drums!!

* = I couldn't remember Bob Ross' name. This is why I love the Internet.

Ok. Attempting sleep again.


Edit ...except Pentatonix just released a new song! They polled their followers on FB for suggestions, and this was the winner. Damn, Kevin... and Avi... and... I mean... just all of you, damn.

They started soliciting suggestions 12 hours ago. This is what these people do for kicks between gigs.

...ok fine, one more, though I'll be merciful to your browsers and stop embedding things. In case you missed the stuff that got Kevin into Pentatonix in the first place, you really, really should check it out.

There are those who say the current generation displays less talent than its predecessors. I think I can now say with confidence that I know it's not a net loss, but rather a matter of distribution, to wit: Kevin Olusola has taken all the talents.

...did I mention that he also speaks Chinese and was pre-med at Yale before becoming an a capella rockstar? And that he's 23? I'm just gonna go over here and die quietly now, mmkay?

Second Stranger Ways / Sassafrass concert at Arisia!

Apparently some people were sad enough about our concert with Sassafrass being scheduled opposite the Masquerade that they *contacted the con about it*, and when a slot opened up on Sunday evening it was offered to us.

That's right, there will now be TWO Stranger Ways / Sassafrass joint shows at Arisia:
- Saturday, 8p-10p
- Sunday, 6p-7p

Sunday's show will be a one-hour version of Saturday's two-hour show, a little less formal and possibly a lot more sleep dep'd. So if you can't make Sat, or you want to maximize your chances of seeing me embarrass myself, check it out.

Also, don't forget that Arisia will mark the release of our new album, Guilt, Angst and Fairy Tales!

I've been listening to the album on repeat for days now, waiting to decide I actually hate it... and I don't. It's so hard to get out of one's own head when listening to this sort of thing. I keep asking myself "how would my singing sound to someone who wasn't me?", "would people who aren't me cringe at that mistake, or not even notice it?", and tell myself "remember: normal people have an EQ in their heads that makes the drums always sound like the most prominent part of any song...".

But while it's hard to self-assess, I think I can say with confidence that production values and complexity of the songs are all steps up from our previous work, and while I don't think I'll ever be completely satisfied with anything I create, I feel ok saying we sound like a Real Band, and that if you've enjoyed our previous output, you will dig this.

If you haven't heard the sample track yet, it's available, well, right here, complete with an intro that, while a bit cornball, is the closest thing to audio theater I've produced in a while, so I regret nothing!

More suggestions for what to do at Arisia: readings!

...because you totally want my advice. :)

I've said before that I'm super happy to live in such a great community with so many people doing creative and ambitious things. Case in point, I know not one, not two, but three people who have self-published books recently, and will be reading at Arisia! They're all swell folks well worth supporting with your presence if you're free and up for hearing some stories.

Friday at 7pm, baron_saturday will be reading from his supernatural noir detective story, Monday and the Murdered Man (amazon, bn), along with Richard Stallman, no less.

Sunday at 10am, metahacker will be reading "a ghost story... comedic to moderately serious".

Sunday at 8:30pm, zombie_dog will be reading from his book, Tales from the Securemarket.

Securemarket is unique in that I've actually read it (yes, I am a Bad Friend to the others), and it's good.

Sadly my schedule this weekend is kind of insane even by Arisia standards, such that I can't be sure of being able to make any of them. :( Still, I figure the least I can do is highlight them in case anyone else is looking for recs. Plus, each of the events listed above also involve readings by other authors, so who knows, maybe you'll also be turned on to someone entirely new!