I'm So Excited

And I just can't hide it.

My new workstation arrived today.  A week earlier than expected.  It was supposed to arrive on my birthday, but this is even better.  Now I can get back to doing my own video post-work.

Yay!

Sir Pukes-a-Lot

I don't often share spousal email correspondence in my blog, but I felt this one was worthy of a chuckle.  Fellow readers with bulimic cats, I feel your pain...

From: Todd 

Sent: Thursday, April 29, 2010 12:56 PM
To: Raechelle
Subject: Sir Pukes-a-Lot

Okay, so this is odd.  Tom has been sleeping under our covers all morning.  Just a few minutes ago, he came out to graze on the few pieces of food left in the bowls.  There was virtually nothing in them.  Within minutes, he’s retching up a clump-o-spewage in the dining room.  Like, a full-on dinner portion.  Seriously, WHERE DOES IT COME FROM??

I think this cat has an extra bile duct.

And that’s not the end of it.  Elvis came over and ate a good quarter of it before I saw what he was doing and shooed him away.  And Tom sniffed at it, then scratched at the carpet as if to cover up his mess. And now he’s sitting in the kitchen by the food bowls, staring at me.  Our cats are insane.

xo

hubby

Of course, that kind of thing is pretty commonplace around our house.  What was a bit more of a surprise (and I truly don't know why it would be, in retrospect) was when I came into the bedroom to see Elvis had discovered my open camera case.  I mused on Facebook whether my new catcorder had a decent zoom. 

Rated xx

Those readers who used to follow Rhymes With Drowning know it was primarily my own therapy focusing on widowhood, cancer survival and single-fatherhood (dads represent, yo!).  And they also know that things had taken a corner (big time) when I switched to the aptly-named Life 2.0 (and the Blogspot URL I chose for it).  About once a week, I find myself fretting over the fact that I don't post as often as I used to.  But then I remind myself that things are comparatively great right now, and I don't currently have a lot of deeply personal soul-sharing to be put out into the Intarwebs.  Aside from the occasional family news or professional ramblings from the film and/or publishing arenas, I don't have a lot to report during any given week.

However, there is a whole lot of cool and a whole lot of crazy out there that I can share with my readers.  This blog is nothing if not eclectic.

To wit: a Facebook friend just turned me on to a band from England called The xx.  I'm always up for new music which is artistic and well-composed, and in my heart I will always be a West Coast alternative kid.  The xx pulls every single one of my musical triggers.

• Alternative, check.
• Male and female shared vocals, check.
• Minimalist yet melodic compositions, check.
• Distinctive bass work, check.

The xx remind me of the best bits of The Velvet Underground, Scanners and early New Order.  The music is hook-y without sacrificing artistic merit for the sake of a hit single.  It helps that they have good videos too.  Check this out:



I absolutely love the pacing of the edit as it repeats with subtle variations every 8 bars. And the payoff at the end is brilliant.

The xx is just one of a slew of recent bands taking a cue from 1980s alternative, which makes me very, very happy.

Busy as Bees Doing Sweatshop Labor

A strange metaphor, perhaps, but it seriously seems like someone found the Busy Dial and cranked us up to eleven.  What Busy Dial, you ask?  I'll tell you.

Firstly, our tenant moved out of the cottage, allowing us to empty both of our storage units and begin Project Studio.  Figurative fires were lit under our figurative asses by the imminent arrival of summer vacation for the kids, which means that if I didn't have an actual office to go to work in, I would more than likely get zero work done while the kids were home all day.  And more imminently was the visit by my old high school buddy (and co-founder of our experimental college music project, Mozart Air Raid) Gordon and his wife Heather.  The great thing about the studio is that it can do double duty as guest quarters, as it has a very comfy (custom-made) pull-out sofa, and is self-contained with a kitchen and bathroom.  It ain't big, but it's private and comfy.

 

The reason for Gordon & Heather's visit to Seattle (from Portland) was a surprise weekend getaway for Heather's birthday (turns out she was born a day after Raechelle, same year even), spurred by the appearance of Florence + The Machine at the Showbox...

[insert all sorts of wacky antics - or "wactics" having to do with digging out last-minute tax records for the accountant]

[also insert Raechelle's birthday, in which she turned 35 and I assured her she was still gorgeous, because I'm good like that]

Now, about F+TM.  Raechelle has already put her thoughts to pixels, and it pretty much coincides with my experience.  The Showbox was the wrong venue for a theatrical show like Florence, mostly because the stage is in front of an open dance floor, so when there's a large crowd (like for Florence, for example), nobody under 6-feet tall can see anything.  In the future, Florence would do well to seek alternate venues like the Moore and Paramount theaters.

Just before the opening act for Florence took the stage, I checked my voicemail to find a message from the accountant.  Turns out Raechelle's first-time home buyer status last year + my second-time buyer status + Raechelle's new car + filing married = sweet!

We had a swell weekend, mixing casual hanging out with Gordon & Heather with being productive, including the Barmoire project and some general household organization and tidying.  We also had a fun Guitar Night: Special Birthday Edition.  Kayleigh brought her friend Lydia, and many strings were strummed.  Kayleigh has outgrown her small blue guitar, so she is now borrowing the Ovation acoustic Samantha gave me for my 22nd birthday.

Finishing off the weekend, Raechelle and I went to see The Miss Firecracker Contest, Twelfth Night's Spring production, at Youngstown.  It was directed by my stage manager on Deathtrap, and was really well done.

So now we're back to the work week, and I'm juggling several flaming batons at once:

• Writing the proposal for an anti-spam PSA with Dan
• Putting the finishing touches on the Game Master section of Arrowflight
• Making tweaks to the cover of the RADZ hardcover edition
• Working on the OA series pitch materials with Dan
• Storyboarding a music video for Kirby Krackle, which I am directing
• Getting Tyler re-registered for school
• Getting bids from contractors about the Studio (electrical, foundations, etc)
• Awaiting the arrival of my new workstation
• Awaiting the arrival of the high-gain wi-fi adapter for said workstation
• Trying to get the new website up and running

That's the Busy Dial on 11.

Aaaaand scene...

Too Cool

I have to say, despite what the Wedon-haters say, this makes me very excited.

Nerdgasm Alert

I don't care if you're a film geek, a sci-fi geek, or just a fan of history.  This is very, very cool.

Apparently, in 2008, a film curator in Buenos Aires discovered a negative of Fritz Lang's Metropolis.  Not one of the edited-for-general-release dupe negs, but what looks to be the most complete version of Lang's dystopian masterpiece since its 1927 Berlin premiere.  This version of a film I dearly love looks to be the definitive one, and I'm drooling in anticipation of its theatrical release this year.  Metropolis remains one of the most influential films in all of science fiction, whose presence can be felt in every frame of Blade Runner, Star Wars and The Matrix (among others).  I'm so glad we can benefit from the discovery of this previously lost footage.