The Meme-Mandated, Semi-Regularly-Updated, Occasionally Coherent Thoughts of G.M. Skarka
This Saturday is my Alive Day.
alive day
n. the anniversary of a close escape from death, especially one involving permanent injury. Originally coined by US veterans, and adopted by survivors of accidents, cancer treatments, etc.
Four years since my cancer treatment. No recurrence.
Continue reading “Four Years”
Here we go again. Some of the stuff that’s been floating through my head this week.
I had almost completely forgotten about this song, which was on *heavy* rotation in 1982. They were supposed to be the next Rush. Apparently, Canada had a knack for producing prog-rock-influenced AOR from four-letter bands. Loved this song, though, and was pleased to rediscover it. Saga – “On The Loose.”
From old to new, or rather, to “new from old.” A blistering track from the most recent album by post-punk stalwarts Killing Joke. My Brother-in-Law played this track for me over the holidays, and it hooked me pretty much immediately. Killing Joke – “European Superstate.”
Back to old — classic turn-of-the-80s New Wave from the UK: Squeeze – “Another Nail In My Heart.” Difford and Tillbrook were pretty much the New Wave’s answer to Lennon and McCartney (or, less flatteringly, perhaps the Oasis of the time?).
New again — specifically a great example of the dubstep genre. This track took the form from a purely club thing to reaching the top 10 of the UK charts this past summer. Magnetic Man – “I Need Air.”
Back to the 80s — when I hear this song, I still see a cigarette boat crashing through Caribbean waves on Miami Vice. When the drum beat kicks in, it still strikes me as the coolest riff in the world. Russ Ballard – “Voices.”
More new — another track from the Danish former-ballet-dancer-turned-model-turned-popstar Nanna Øland Fabricius (AKA Oh Land), that I first talked about in mid-December. (again — holy crap, LOOK AT HER.) This time around, she turns out a fairy-tale-meets-Bond-theme-ballad. Oh Land – “Wolf & I.”
We’ll close with the US version of Republica’s big 90s hit — I always preferred this version to the UK/Europe release, because the US version added heavier guitars to the largely-electronic track, which added much-needed energy, in my opinion. Republica – “Ready to Go.”
There you go, kids — Enjoy!
Back in April, I posted the following:
I’ve spent 6 years now in the electronic publishing field. I’ve learned a lot. Most of what I’ve learned, I’ve put into practice. Some things, however, I’m still too much of a coward to try full-time. For example: twice per year, in November and March, I hold one-week sales on the products that I release through Adamant Entertainment. I drop the prices of every PDF in our entire catalog to $1.00…. and here’s the thing: I make more in those two week-long sales than I do in 4 months of regular sales.
It’s something I’ve considered doing full-time — but it scares me. One, I’m worried that the phenomenal results of those sales are because of the narrow window, and that making it a constant would negate those results. Two (and this is the big one): If I’m wrong, I could end up not only killing my own income, but also devaluing the entire PDF segment of the RPG industry, killing other folks’ incomes as well. So I shy away from it….
Taking a look at what’s been going on in the latter half of 2010 — especially with the successes of self-published authors releasing their works for Kindle at impulse-purchase pricing — I decided to take the plunge. I’ve seen enough data, both from Adamant’s sales since 2004, and the data made public by other pioneers in the digital field, that I feel that it’s time to put theory into practice. You can read the announcement at Adamant’s website, but the upshot is that I’m moving the company to a flat pricing model — what I’m referring to as “app-pricing”. Everything we produce in PDF for the gaming field will be $1.00.
I’ve long held the opinion that the only positive response to unauthorized filesharing is cost and convenience — to make “piracy” redundant by making purchases painless and easy.
Either I’m right, and this will work, or I’m horribly, horribly wrong, in which case I’ll crash and burn.
Honestly, though?
I’m pretty sure I’m right.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to see if Crazy Eddie is available for promos….
