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Monthly Archives: December 2009

Monday @ Downey’s Open Mic

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

I have been on an open mic tour this fall, in an effort to get my music out of our living room and into the ears of people other than Elise.

It’s not that I don’t like performing. I love performing. It makes me realize why I torture myself with all this practice. I just don’t like leaving the house. Or traveling to where I’ll be performing. Or staying there past midnight.

Otherwise, yes, I love performing.

A wonderful thing about Philadelphia at this point in time is that there are open mics within walking distance of just about anyone, which at least eases the traveling aspect. Last night E and I headed out to Downey’s on front and South – a mere mile away – for a rare combo open mic: me solo, and she as an acoustic half of Filmstar along with Glenn.

I was in better mood or voice or whatever than usual. “Regenerate” felt real and true. I love starting, singing “In a room full of strangers that were once known to me,” and wondering if I am in that room of strangers, or if I am telling a new and different room a story about them.

The beauty of playing “Regenerate” first is that if I make it through I feel relatively invincible; I tore through the rest of my set in short order (including my still relatively new cover of “Poker Face).

Elise and Glenn acquitted themselves well, with E playing guitar in front of people for the first time since 2003. And we heard our visiting songwriting friend Rob Lytle, as well as my increasing dear friend Cris Valkyria with her otherworldly first soprano siren.

It’s a good morning to be awake and alive, I think.

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Tuesday @ Smith’s

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

I stayed late at work last night, ostensibly to head with guitar in tow to the open mic at Time, but ultimately E and I wound up at Smith’s on 19th right above Chestnut. Tuesdays at Smith’s they serve mussels $2 by the dozen.

E and I didn’t understand the methodology at the top of the night, ordering single plates. Gina and Megan later showed up and showed us how it was done: “I’ll have two” “I’ll have three.”

The mussels were good – dressed in a simple, succulent white sauce. No competition with Monk’s or, my favorite, Nodding Head. Ultimately Smith’s is pleasant, but too immersed in the shadow of my building to make me feel like I’m really out anywhere. More like lunch break, circa 8pm.

Afterward I told E that I really needed some pastry. I was craving pastry. I could not live without pastry. So, she drove me to the supermarket, where I bought a cheesecake, a pumpkin pie, cinnamon rolls, and a strudel.

Hopefully I will not consume all of them before the next post.

We’ll see.

Filed in Philly, elise, food, gina | | Comments (0)

What do you mean you don’t like Wham!?

Thursday, December 10, 2009

I spent the night at home last night – E was out rehearsing with the band while Gina and I commandeered the living room for Arcati Crisis rehearsal.

We’ve been so consumed with our open micage this fall that we’ve forgotten a bit about how much we like to just be in a room playing music with each other. An hour – a whole hour – practicing our acoustic duet of “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” In what other living room in America can you hear that?

We’re the house band at the Shubin Theate holiday revue next weekend, as we’ve been since 2003, amidst opera and flamenco and one-act plays. I tried to convince Gina to learn a Christmas song, but we reached an impasse after she declined “Christmas Song,” she wanted “Father Christmas” but neither of us really know it, and I wanted “Last Christmas” and we discovered her secret prejudice against Wham.

HELLO, SECRET PREJUDICE AGAINST WHAM? Seriously, we’ve been friends for half our lives and I didn’t know about this? Wham is like the best super-cheap jug of wine ever – cloying, a little too syrupy, but only a guilty pleasure after you realize you drank the entire thing all in one sitting and bought a second.

Apparently she just likes “Wake Me Up (Before You Go Go)” as a novelty. No “Careless Whisper,” and no “Last Christmas.”

So, yeah, no Christmas songs from Arcati Crisis, per our usual MO. We’ll play our newest stuff and unleash “Total Eclipse,” as well as probably “Falling Slowly” – which makes me nervous as hell. We’ve never done a song before where I have to just stand still and sing well.

You’ll get a preview of it next week. And if you’re in Philly and will die without attending the holiday revue, let me know via comments.

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I #blamedrewscancer for being a Philebrity

Friday, December 11, 2009

I have a story to tell you.

I met half of the #blamedrewscancer crew at Fuzion at around seven for the Philadelphia Area New Media Association (PANMA) holiday party.

That is not the story.

We were at PANMA for some brief networking and catching up with friends, but our end destination was The Trocadero, where Philly blog fixture Philebrity was holding their non-denominational X-Mas party slash year end awards.

Blame Drew’s Cancer was up for the “Outstanding Do-Gooders of the Year” award. Polling had been open and transparent, so it was easy to see that we were getting creamed by Phillies’ Shane Victorino from day one. As such, we didn’t marshal much of a vote – eventually coming in fourth, behind even Mayor Nutter for his ballsy budget bluff.

The four of us – Britt, Mikey, Libby, and I (plus Libby’s awesome husband, another Peter) rolled in to the Troc fashionably late, and occupied the “Reserved” table closest to the stage. Our innate rowdiness took over shortly, and we were hooting at the house band (shout out to BC Camplight) and yelling “Hut!”at any reference to Lady Gaga.

Okay, maybe that was just me.

Suddenly, it was time for our award category. Philebrity Captain and one of my personal Journalist heroes Joe Sweeney read down the list of nominees. When he hit #bdc we cheered, the crowd cheered for us, and he continued down the list.

End of story? Not quite.

Joey Sweeney: So, Shane isn’t here tonight, so we’re going to give this award to Blame Drew’s Cancer.

Team Blame Drew’s Cancer: ???

No, he was not joking. Suddenly we’re being gestured at and motioned towards to the stage and then we’re on the stage and then I’m hugging Joey Sweeney and then, inevitably, I am standing in front of a microphone gaping at a rather large crowd seated at round tables all Golden Globes style and I am like, omg I think now they want me to talk.

Luckily, there is video to document my surprising coherent trip through award show aphasia:

(Take note of my neck-bobbing walk down the stairs, as it figures in to the next bit pretty heavily.) Continue reading ›

Filed in Philly, Twitter, Year 10, blamedrewscancer, dancing, introversion, memories, parties, stories | | Comments (0)

Doppelgangers

Friday, December 11, 2009

Tonight we saw Elise’s brother depict Orsino in his high school’s performance of Twelfth Night.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to recap high school theatre at length for you. At least, not just yet. First, I have to tell you about my doppelganger.

Basically, there is a kid that is friends with E’s brother, and he looks and talks and moves just like me. He’s even inappropriately loud at all the wrong moments, just like I was (but am not as much anymore).

Every possible person has commented about it. E’s mom thinks we look alike. Someone else in the show saw me in the audience and thought he/I had snuck out from backstage.

It’s uncanny. I didn’t have the curly hair back then, he has a better nose, and I don’t think he is under the impression that he is David Bowie, but otherwise he is a relative spitting image of me.

It’s a little unsettling, if only because E’s brother reminds me of me enough to begin with (mostly intellectually, and in wishful thinking, because I wished I was him when I was in high school), but then to have another person remind me of me, and to have the two of them be buds and gallivanting around on-stage, is kind of mind-collapsing.

Also, Twelfth Night itself is a play of doppelgangers and doubles. It’s possibly my favorite Shakespeare comedy because it moves briskly and doesn’t require much suspension of belief. The troupe did it in the style of commedia dell’arte, which meant they all played as archetypal models, and nearly all wore elaborate masks. They also played a collection of found and real instruments, and did some offstage singing to score the scenes.

We did a commedia-style show my freshman year – the brilliant A Company of Wayward Saints – and it was also great. There’s something about the reductiveness of the archetypes that makes it easy to bring amazing scenes to life – like it’s easier to just sink into the character without thinking too much about it.

We also did the found-music thing in Bretch’s Good Woman of Setzuan, a process well-documented in the annals of the blog.

Basically, bro just did my two most technically challenging collegiate shows wrapped up along with Shakespeare AS A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT, and knocked it out of the park. As did my doppelganger, and all of their castmates.

They’re pretty cool.

Filed in elise, high school, stories, theatre | | Comments (0)

Filmstar @ Fontana’s

Saturday, December 12, 2009

I am in Fontana’s in the middle of Chinatown in New York waiting for Filmstar to play, and Emily Cavanagh is talking to me from the stage.

Well, not just me, but it might as well be, because she has that kind of stage presence where she is drawing us in instead of pushing herself out.

We are in the midst of a Santa bar crawl, she informs me, clad in a short red skirt and candy cane striped, fur-trimmed arm warmers.

Emily’s three piece is fun and jazzy, and I am marveling at the merry-go-round of NYC music. I might hate it here (not really) (okay, really), but there’s such a wide range of music to hear. I mean, there’s a show with this fun jazzy stuff followed by Elise and the band glam-rocking through a Filmstar set.

I don’t feel like that happens in Philadelphia. It’s still more segregated – the jazz kids stay on the jazz side of the line, the acoustic kids hang out with their own, and the bands drive the big shows.

There are more Santas here by the minute. The room is now filled with Santas. Some are bearded and authentic, while others are half-hearted in hats and vests or just striped stockings.

Emily is kind of killing it, first with “Branch,” then “Down the Line,” and something about “Sunday Morning.” I think I’m going to have to say hello to her.

But, first I have to go sit in our parked car and give the appearance of knowing how to drive a car, because our parking pass expires three minutes before parking is free. And god help me if anyone calls that bluff, because I don’t think I know the window wiper fluid from the gas pedal.

Filed in Filmstar, nyc, thoughts | | Comments (1)

It’s good enough for whales, dude.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

We just got through sitting in our parked car eating dumplings, a queer little Saturday night date in the midst of this insanity of rock shows and serious theatre and made up awards.

Based on two visits, I love nearly everything from Vanessa’s Dumpling House on Eldridge Street, but my shrimp dumplings were not what I expected. I’m not sure what that expectation was, but it wasn’t a dumpling with dozens of teeny shrimp all nestled inside with no seasoning to speak of.

Ever since I saw District 9 I’ve been a little leery of shrimp eating, and the dumpling of a thousand shrimps was not making the shrimp-eating experience any less ooky.

I turned to E for some comfort.

P: These dumplings have, like, thousands of tiny shrimp inside of them. It’s a little creepy.
E: Like sea monkeys!
P: You’re not helping.
E: Or krill!
P: Okay, now I’m done.
E: Hey, it’s good enough for whales, dude.

E and the band were pretty good, although I can already tell she’s not going to like the video because she wasn’t happy with her vocals (she’s been pretty sick since Thursday). Every time I mention a good spot she has a bad spot to match.

I’m always inconsolable after a performance, for better or for worse. Either I know in my heart it was awful, and no coaxing can convince me otherwise, or I’m sure I was excellent and need no further discussion on the topic (Monday being a prime example).

I won’t rattle her cage any further about it being good or not. We’re off to peek into bro’s cast party to catch up with various sibling units before bed.

Filed in Filmstar, Year 10, elise, food, memories, nyc, stories | | Comments (0)

Adventures in Adulthood

Sunday, December 13, 2009

The past ten days have been an adventure – from the unreality of the Imogen Heap and Lady Gaga concerts to the front seat of our car parked in Chinatown a few hours ago.

It felt right to end it sitting on a bedroom floor with E, her sister with her delightful boyfriend, and appearances of an adrenaline-filled little brother and an exhausted dad, both visiting from the cast party downstairs.

I can find a myriad of reasons to be unhappy. I’ll grant that I used to be better at it, but growing up and getting things that you’ve always wanted for yourself takes the edge off. Still, even all married and with a fulfilling job and being a part time rock star I can make myself miserable. Just ask the me of two Monday’s ago.

I say that by way of contrast: when I’m happy, I know it. I clap my hands. I laugh. I love my hair. I say delirious things that get tweeted if Britt or Amanda are anywhere near me. I break out into Rent in the middle of E’s dad’s foyer, high school girls tittering as they walk past.

Those kids sealed the deal for me. I turned around to talk to E and between us was one of the leadz from the play – imperial and larger than life last night, but tiny, young, and fragile between us. I finally got to tell her how awesome she was. She grinned, thanked me, and then yelled, “Steeeeeeeve, where do I get water in your house?”

She was oblivious, moving through space effortlessly just like she did on stage last night. I never knew how to do that as a teenager. If I was happy, it was fleeting, and if I moved through space effortlessly it was because I forgot myself.

I could not have possibly pictured this life as a teenager, sitting on the floor with a partner and siblings I love, laughing louder than the combined forty teenagers downstairs.

Next time I’m feeling grumpy, awful, unhappy, hateful … just remind me about these ten days.

Filed in elise, family, high school, identity, memories, thoughts | | Comments (0)

What I Tweeted, 2009-12-13 Edition

Sunday, December 13, 2009

My best and most-interesting tweets of the last week.

Quotes of the week:

If you had to pay $1/yr to follow each person, how many would you follow? Think less about overall spend, more about who/what is worth it. #

I'm like The String Whisperer – I always know when my set is about to start breaking. #

This day was supposed to get progressively easier. It should not feel like I am being beat about the head with a communications shovel. #

Oh: "She's kinda fat for the cover of Fitness." "Honey, it's a fitness magazine, not Emaciation Weekly." "I'd subscribe to that." #

Random childhood memory: jungle boat ride at Disney, age 5. Fell in love with 6yr-old girl across from me. Relationship never consummated. #

Um, #blamedrewscancer just won a phucking @philebrity award and I got on stage and said stuff extemporaneously AND HUGGED JOE SWEENEY. OMFG. #

How does Philadelphia hold all of these amazing people? And, when you meet them you say, "You are awesome, why don't I know you already?" #

Elise thinks that the American Red Cross should team up w/TwiHards across the country to throw special midnight vampire-themed blood drives. #

Highlighted topics/conversations: PANMA Party / Phileb Awards, Filmstar in NYC

You should follow me on Twitter so you can read my tweet action as it happens.

Continue reading ›

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Backfilled

Monday, December 14, 2009

I’ve been crap about blogging live for the past few weeks. Too much life, not enough to say.

Or so I thought.

I kept jotting down thoughts as I lived, because stuff kept happening. It seemed pointless at the time – journaling that would never see the light of day. However, starting from the Philebrity party on Thursday I felt like a theme was beginning to emerge. I went back to straighten things out and edit a bit, and it turns out I had something to say that I want represented on CK after all.

The result is that I’m backfilling all the non-blog blogging I’ve done since the first of this month. It’s blogging via hindsight, having seen the threads of my story woven neatly together over the weekend.

In the future I have to post as life happens and trust that a story is being written.

Filed in bloggish, over-achievement | | Comments (0)

Daily Demo: Falling Slowly (Live @ Rehearsal)

Monday, December 14, 2009

A few weeks ago Gina and I convened to brush up on our originals for the impending annual Shubin Theatre Holiday Revue, and in the process caught one of our newer covers on virtual tape.

The song is “Falling Slowly,” the Academy Award winning tune from Once.

Gina saw Once early in its theatrical run – before I had even heard of it. The next day she came to rehearsal and said, “I have to play you this song.” She proceeded to unfurl a beautiful, played-by-ear version of “Falling Slowly.” She narrated her way through: “Here the woman starts singing a higher harmony part.” “And, you see, in the chorus he goes up for falsetto -the lines cross.”

I was enamored with the song immediately, though less so when I heard the warbling official version from the soundtrack. I filed it in the back of my head as something to try as Arcati Crisis at a later date.

That later date came this summer, as we were casting about for some new covers to learn. “What about,” I queried with caution, “playing ‘Falling Slowly’?”

Gina was all over the opportunity, with the caveat that this was to be my chance to sing a song without playing guitar. Which sounds like a nice vacation, but it is actually TERRIFYING – partially because the song is tricky and I sing better harmony while I am playing guitar, but also because I’m simply not used to singing without an instrument (aside from karaoke, which is a different beast).

This live @ rehearsal demo of the song finds us at a late stage of the rehearsal process – we’ve worked out the road-map and harmonies, but we’re still fine-tuning the blend between our voices. We’ll debut our performance of it this Saturday at the Shubin Theatre.

 
icon for podpress  Falling Slowly (Live @ Rehearsal): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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What I Tweeted, 2009-12-20 Edition

Sunday, December 20, 2009

My best and most-interesting tweets of the last week.

Peter the RivetterQuotes of the week:

As soon as a song hits the radio it #isplayedout. Radio is where good songs go to die, not where they can be found. #

Almost 10yrs ago I had a close internet friend in a coma. I wrote a song for her that her friend played by her bed. She WOKE UP days later. #
Did she wake up because of my song? Probably not. But my positive energy was there to greet her when her eyes opened. #

Together we're so much more powerful than cancer. We can connect the experiences of all of the survivors, families, & lovers to crush cancer #

Withering take-down of the Table-Games bill in PA by @philebrity-award winning blog The Clog: http://bit.ly/6e8qJ8 #

I apparently used two days' worth of voice last night, because I sound like a cave troll this morning. But, in a healthy, non-raspy way. #
Soon I will be like Bono and need to travel everywhere wearing a humidifying mask. #

[Re: Breeding Dragons] @anniemal Not sure about the fire-breathing, but I say we start with crocodiles and eagles and see where it takes us. in reply to anniemal #

Dear Adam Levine: You sing like a duck. Yes, a very rangey duck, but still a duck. It takes more studio magic than anyone should need to fix #

Hoping our performance of Falling Slowly tonight will be as gorgeous as this: http://bit.ly/6KitbX (I'll be playing piano!) #

Ladies & awesome-haired gentlemen, I need advice: How do I keep my perfectly curly locks safe and plump for the show on my walk? A bonnet? #
I currently look a lot like Rosie the Riveter. #
I am only showing you this because I love @drew and he said, "pics or it didn't happen" http://twitpic.com/u8luj #

B T Dubs, my hair is AMAZING – beyond expectations. I am seeking a room lit well enough to capture its amazing texture and depth on camera. #

Safely home! Involved lifting a sheet of ice as big as my torso & pushing Gina's car 30ft down the street. You know, standard Arcati Crisis. #

Wow, and here's a quote about my life: RT @laermer One man's proofreading is another's glance! in reply to laermer #

I had to trade her a future 1am Wendy's run for this trip to Avatar. Hopefully worth it. #

.

Highlighted topics/conversations:

  • Amanda Palmer & My Doomed Song
  • Getting ready for, trudging through snow to arrive at, and playing the Shubin Theatre Holiday Revue
  • Indie Band Vocal Critique

    You should follow me on Twitter so you can read my tweet action as it happens.

    Continue reading ›

    • Filed in Twitter | | Comments (1)

    Fisher Price – Arcati Crisis, Live @ Rehearsal

    Monday, December 21, 2009

    Gina and I shot a nine-song Live @ Rehearsal concert last week at the Shubin Theatre as we prepped for our anchoring slot at their Holiday Revue. Here’s the first tune – Gina’s rollicking “Fisher Price.”

    Love “Fisher Price”? Download our latest Live @ Rehearsal recording of it, for free.

    Upcoming songs include two video debuts from me, Gina’s righteously awesome rock single, a ten-year-old tune, and two never-heard-before covers!

    Filed in arcati crisis | | Comments (1)

    Monday Evening Remainders

    Tuesday, December 22, 2009

    I really need to get better at discharging links more expediently. At the moment sifting for true gold is an all-evening prospect.

    Kevin Smokler highlights eight awesome facts about Michelle Lynn Johnson, AKA Me’shell Ndegeocello.

    Do you feel like your eyes are bigger than your stomach? Well, maybe your eyes and stomach are the same, and the food just got bigger.

    Andre Torrez establishes seemingly unattainable resolutions, like not buying books for an entire year. For 2010 he is only listening to newly released music. I will gladly abet him in that quest.

    James Franco, on Soap Opera as performance art:

    I disrupted the audience’s suspension of disbelief, because no matter how far I got into the character, I was going to be perceived as something that doesn’t belong to the incredibly stylized world of soap operas. Everyone watching would see an actor they recognized, a real person in a made-up world.

    Genius. I love anything that alters an audience’s perception of art based on peripheral factors. See also: Brecht, Dresden Dolls, Lady GaGa. (via Kottke)

    Also via K: a couple paints what they want, then sells the painting for the price of what they want, then buys what they want. Ingenious, no?

    Stumped for a gift for a precious or precocious kid on your list? Get them a pad and some crayons, and spend some time with them on Christmas drawing monsters. Then, have their favorite monster made for them.

    Debbie Millman, one of my favorite bloggers and role models, is launching both a book and a television pilot. Both worth seeing.

    Who Sampled lets you figure out where that sampled hook came from (or, if the song you want to sample has been oversampled already). (via Fresh Arrival)

    Seth Godin’s blog is a goldmine of best-practice thinking and tools. Recently, a post chock full of personal to-do list web apps. Loves it.

    Speed Tracer is a Google Chrome extension that can help you figure out what’s slowing your page load. Remember when every page had to be smaller than 20k? Good times (via Lifehacker).

    PS: I have switched over to Chrome full-time for personal browsing. LOVE. And this is coming from a lifelong Mozilla devotee.

    Time for bed; another AC video in the a.m.

    Filed in thoughts | | Comments (0)

    Love Me Love Me Not – Arcati Crisis, Live @ Rehearsal

    Tuesday, December 22, 2009

    The second song in our Live @ Rehearsal concert is my “Love Me Love Me Not.” LMLMN is infamous in that I spent several months actively writing it – like, daily – before it was finished. And then my amazing vocal instructor Dr. Emily Bridges turned it upside a bit, and then Gina turned it upside down a bit more, and then we arrived at this:

    That’s the first-ever video of “Love Me Not”! If you love it, download a high fidelity Live @ Rehearsal recording of it, for free.

    If you missed the first song, it was Fisher Price. Tomorrow I’ll have a brand new cover, and after the holiday another week of videos!

    Filed in video | | Comments (0)

    Religion / Falling Slowly – Arcati Crisis, Live @ Rehearsal

    Wednesday, December 23, 2009

    Today you get two songs in one post!

    The first is one of our two brief single-minute tunes – Gina’s “Religion.” The fun fact about this bitingly sarcastic little agnostic ditty is that it’s one of the first songs Gina ever wrote. Its original demo was featured on CK during the first ever Blogathon in 2001.

    We always joke that people probably like the 2001 demos better than our current stuff, because they are so warbly and indie rock. Oh, fickle tastemakers.

    If you’re in the slice of audience “Religion” doesn’t offend, feel free to download our most recent demo.

    Today’s second song is “Falling Slowly” from the movie Once; I shared our demo of it last week. Ultimately I wound up playing piano at our appearance at the holiday revue, but I was still simply singing when we shot this rehearsal footage:

    The Arcati Crisis Live @ Rehearsal concert will be back with five more installments next week, including our two newest songs, a Peter deep cut, Gina’s magnum opus, and a new 80s cover.

    Filed in arcati crisis | | Comments (1)

    What I Tweeted, 2009-12-27 Edition

    Sunday, December 27, 2009

    My best and most-interesting tweets of the last week.

    Quotes of the week:

    Chipotle must be very high in umami. That's the only possible explanation for how I could love something more than ice cream. #

    Great post. RT @trevor_neilson: RT: @kanter @socialentrprnr What can Pepsi learn from Chase Fail? http://bit.ly/6XXxxb @socialcitizen in reply to trevor_neilson #

    Agree/Disagree: Any best songs of the decade list that doesn't start with "Since U Been Gone" is badly calibrated. #

    1,000 True Fans, a fantastic article: http://bit.ly/568LhN (re: last night, @brimil) #

    Dying of LOL listening to "I Sure Hope I Don't Have To Beat Your Ass This Christmas." Master Shake is my #1 Role Model. http://bit.ly/6NXn1q #
    This is the greatest X-mas song ever. I wish Master Shake could be my internal monologue. Did I mention it's live & you can DL for free? #
    Oh. "Christmas is a time for forgiveness." "Forgiveness does not turn chicks on like Old Spice shower gel." #

    This is BS. Vick does not deserve to be a public figure anymore, let alone win awards: Eagles vote Vick Courage Award – http://bit.ly/8Ceyx8 #
    I swear, if by some outside Phillies-blessed chance the Eagles win the Superbowl I AM NOT GOING TO COUNT IT because Vick is on the team. #

    Nothing puts me in the Christmas spirit quite like the last half of the first act of RENT. #

    Oh: "Your a very special family of nerds that I fit in with so well." #

    You should follow me on Twitter so you can read my tweet action as it happens.

    Continue reading ›

    Filed in arcati crisis | | Comments (0)

    Holy Grail – Arcati Crisis, Live @ Rehearsal

    Monday, December 28, 2009

    Welcome back from your hopefully restful holiday weekend, and to a hopefully equally-restful post-holiday week! I’ll continue to rock you with new Arcati Crisis Live @ Rehearsal videos all week.

    Today’s song is a web debut – Gina’s “Holy Grail.” It started as a simple strummer about a year ago, but both Gina and I heard something more in the chords. After a few listens I came up with the entirety of my insane lead line, which in turn pushed Gina to play her rhythms harder and punkier. We wound up with an awesome, poppy, rock tune:

    That’s the first-ever digital version of “Holy Grail,” so I don’t have an MP3 to share with you. The best way to find out about new Arcati Crisis music is to become our fan on FaceBook.

    Tomorrow I have a Peter classic for you…

    Filed in arcati crisis | | Comments (0)

    Monday Evening Remainders

    Monday, December 28, 2009

    Blogs were good this past week, so let’s get right to it, shall we?

    100 Days puts a fine point on your fuzzy resolutions – can you pick ONE THING to do for 100 days in a row? Easier than a year, but harder than aiming scattershot at many different things. For Day 25 Matthew Sheret left a note for a girl whose heart he broke.

    Similar is Chris Brogan’s concept of a goalbox, and advice on how to stay on target.

    The intersection between that and 100 Days is something close to how I manage my yearly goals, but I like the simplicity of each – things there I can still employ.

    The Ghostvillage Project populated an abandoned 1970s village with vivid artwork.

    Why Up! was not one of the best films of 2009. Includes a rare (but accurate) critique on Pixar’s paucity of strong female characters. Helen Parr aside, it’s quite a boy’s club in their films.

    Sugru is like sculpty or silly putty, but with the express intent of being used to augment existing objects in a permanent way (think: smoothing a rough edge, adding extra padding, filling a chip). Also cool: Gyrowheel, a training-wheels replacement that uses gyroscopic force to keep the bike upright. That would make you the coolest four-year old on the blog, guaranteed.

    Why The Simpsons no longer matters. Goes beyond the currently in-vogue Simpsons-hate to talk about how the early-Simpsons experience can’t be replicated on television anymore. (via Kevin Smokler)

    Kottke (and many others) posted a link to Jim Lehrer’s rules of journalism. I really ought to keep a folder of these “required reading for J-school” things in case I’m ever teaching a class in J-school (heaven forbid).

    Filed in linkylove | | Comments (0)

    Under My Skin – Arcati Crisis, Live @ Rehearsal

    Tuesday, December 29, 2009

    I don’t want to steal the thunder of the impending essay you’re due for this song in 10 days when I celebrate its tenth birthday. (Hello, this song has it’s own freaking CATEGORY on my blog.)

    Suffice it to say that after you’ve been playing something for long enough you stop feeling the feeling that you originally felt and start just feeling the song, because the song embodies the original feeling, and that is beautiful state of affairs to be in as a performing songwriter.

    I have been playing “Under My Skin” with Gina since shortly after its writing in January of 2000. Even with a backbone of a mere three chords it keeps getting better, even after we retire it for months or years at a time.

    This is as fine a version as any, save for one flat chord and a pair of swapped words. Otherwise, divine.

    (The pitter-pattering part of the outro refrain that crests around “just a kiss, and I don’t think that I miss you anymore” has always meant to invoke the Jackson 5 – even pre-dating my more recent obsession with the Jackson 5. I sometimes segue from that part straight into “Never Can Say Goodbye,” but could just as easily get to “I Want You Back” or “ABC.”)

    Gina and I haven’t done a proper duo recording of “Under My Skin,” but she did overdub her newer bits of the arrangement onto a recording I love from NaBloPoMo 2006. You can download that here.

    The best way to keep up with Arcati Crisis happenings is to become our fan on FaceBook, because I don’t always blog every little thing.

    I know, it’s hard to believe.

    Tomorrow we will play you our new cover, which will lead either to head-explosions or mocking, but probably not both.

    Filed in arcati crisis, songwriting, under my skin | | Comments (2)

    Tuesday Tech Links

    Tuesday, December 29, 2009

    Here’s the techier side of the links I re-remaindered out of last night’s remainders post.

    Why did Duke Nukem’ Forever take forever? I’ve read some great articles on this vaporware legend (my fav example of which I cannot seem to track down), but none with a line so succinct and close-to-home as this one:

    t’s a dilemma all artists confront, of course. When do you stop creating and send your work out to face the public? Plenty of Hollywood directors have delayed for months, dithering in the editing room. But in videogames, the problem is particularly acute, because the longer you delay, the more genuinely antiquated your product begins to look — and the more likely it is that you’ll need to rip things down and start again.

    Substitute “pop music” for “video games” and you have the story of Chinese Democracy, or my long-promised LP. (Via Daring Fireball).

    .

    Indie acousta-rocker Scott Andrew got tired of trying to sync his blog to MySpace, so he wrote an app for that.

    I’ve been seeing little boxes from LaLa on just about every blog albums-of-the-year/decade list, proffering handy audio samples. Apparently Apple just bought the La^2, and in the process scuttled a longstanding CD swap service. This is notable because they backed out of it in (what I considered to be) an apologetic, helpful fashion. Take note, MySpace/iMeem.

    Via Contentious: An E-Book Buyer’s Guide to Privacy charts what personal info different eBook services can track. This chart should be combined with “An E-Book Buyer’s Rights” guide that talks about what privileges can be rescinded by each service. For example, if you replace your Kindle it will not reload your purchased periodicals.

    (For the record, I am anti-eBook – if I wanted to read something I don’t own from a screen I’d just keep sitting in front of my laptop.)

    Also via the same Contenious post: Backupify to back up your Twitter, FaceBook, and Gmail … for free. That is, sign up for it now, get a grandfathered freebie account even when the service switches over to a paid model. Quote from Backupify president: “[S]torage is cheap while customer acquisition is very expensive.”

    Smart guy.

    In a similar vein: Download videos from YouTube with Gazzump I come and go on the usefulness of this service. I used to want to sit on my own personal archive of everything. While I still feel that way about my audio collection, I think I’ve sacrificed video to the cloud. Still, handy.

    Finally, not strictly a tech link, but: The Flag of Earth.

    Filed in games, linkylove | | Comments (0)

    Total Eclipse of the Heart – Arcati Crisis, Live @ Rehearsal

    Wednesday, December 30, 2009

    Today was pretty crazy.

    In short, I unexpectedly stayed home from work, and just as I was finally dragging my carcass out of bed a digital series of events began to unfold on my laptop (which had been in bed with me) that resulted in my being booked for a solo appearance at the Tin Angel – opening for my friend and esteemed musical colleague Dante Bucci.

    Not how I expected to spend the day, and a lot of information to process (and songs to prepare!) in the next nine days. What will I play? Will I slip in a surprise cover?

    Gina and I never used to be good at learning things in a hurry, but in 2009 we got suddenly alright at it. We surmised in an interview earlier this year that it’s because we finally figured out what we’re supposed to sound like. Now that we understand our sound, it’s much easier to build it from scratch.

    On that topic, this is perhaps our seventh or eighth full run through “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” which we learned in two brief sessions.

    There’s still some tweaking to do, but I’m happy we captured this hilarious blast through it on video.

    There are just two more songs left in our web concert; after that I’ll be presenting some solo content to take us through my appearance at the Tin Angel on January 8th!

    Filed in arcati crisis, video | | Comments (1)

    Better – Arcati Crisis, Live @ Rehearsal

    Thursday, December 31, 2009

    I love this darn song.

    When it comes to my past few songs, the typical Arcati Crisis selection process is like so:

    I write a ton of songs. Sometimes dozens. We sift through them, and eventually choose one because Gina or I finally get stubborn about it. If I don’t change my mind in a month or two, then we learn that song.

    “Better” was different. I wrote it knowing it was going to be an AC song before I ever played it for Gina. I wrote it with counter-point, callbacks, and open harmony all built in.

    I just knew. And because I knew, it’s so very satisfying to play, to hear, and to watch. It’s not much of a stretch to say it’s my favorite one of my songs to play as a duo right now, and I’m in love with our performance here:

    That’s the only way you can hear “Better” at the moment – we took a shot at recording it live, but I suspect it’s going to be one of our first fully tracked songs.

    Around the big ball drop I’ll chime in with our final song, somehow appropriate for the end of the year. Then, on to solo music to ramp up to my appearance at the Tin Angel next Friday, opening for Dante Bucci!

    Filed in arcati crisis, video | | Comments (0)