Author: Gareth

Transmedia developer — writer, consultant, game designer, graphic artist, and publisher. A sharp tongue, a sharp blade, and on a good day, a sharp mind.
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Friday Music

It’s been ages since I’ve done one of these, and I was reminded of it recently by Chuck Wendig. So, here we are again.

For a fairly large part of this summer, I was listening to the new self-titled solo album from Slash. Pretty much every member of Guns n’ Roses (with the obvious exception of Axl Rose) played on this album, along with a long list of guests (usually providing vocals). Two of my favorite tracks:

I am a huge fan, however, if remixes that turn metal tracks into dancefloor stompers, such as this amazing bit of work from Bassnectar, reworking a Metallica track. Makes you want to MOVE: Metallica – “Seek Destroy (Bassnectar Remix).”

Found out about this one from Tessa Gratton, who pointed me in the direction of the amazing Young-James-Brown-reborn-as-a Gorgeous-Woman music video. Janelle Monae is a Kansas City native who does retro-tinged dance-soul-funk. So, basically, The Noisettes meets Sharon Jones meets Mark Ronson meets Outkast (literally in the last case, as Big Boi guests on this track). Even more basically: exactly the sort of stuff I love. Janelle Monae – “Tightrope (feat. Big Boi).”

For my wife Laura: Her favorite song from Jessica Rabbit. I didn’t realize this, but the vocals for this track were performed by Amy Irving. Yes, THAT Amy Irving — the actress. I had no idea she could sing! I wonder if she was considered for the voice of Jessica before they got Kathleen Turner… Jessica Rabbit (vocals by Amy Irving) – “Why Don’t You Do Right.”

Very nice bit of circa-2006 electronica, which I discovered via the backing track for the CG reel of a freelancer that I was looking at for one of the transmedia properties I’m working on. Hyper – “Cascade.”

My favorite track from Kasabian’s latest album, which I’ve also been wearing out through constant play over the past couple of months: Kasabian – “Underdog.”

So there we go. I’ll try to get this back on a weekly schedule. Enjoy!

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SXSW Panelpicker Voting Now Open

SXSW’s panelpicker is now open — an opportunity to give your opinion on which user-generated proposals are most appropriate for daytime programming at SXSW Interactive, SXSW Music and SXSW Film. It’s a neat process, and as someone who has submitted a proposal, I would very much like your vote.

My proposal is: +5 Sword of ePublishing: Lessons from Tabletop RPGs.

Basically, I would talk about the fact that the tabletop RPG industry were early adopters of ePublishing, and have already faced the challenges that are currently causing such agita for traditional mainstream publishers. I’ll talk about the solutions we found, as well as some of the lessons we learned about electronic publishing along the way.

Voting is open until Noon CDT on August 27th.

There are quite a few very interesting proposals out there — and you’re not limited in your vote. Check them out, and give a thumbs-up to the ones you think are interesting.

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GenCon 2010, via Context-Free Quotes

  • “God bless consumer confidence.”
  • “Drink your Weak Lemon Drink!”
  • “Send the sober one for towels.”
  • “Why can’t geek girls wear pants? Games are about acquisition of stuff. Some of that stuff could be PANTS.”
  • “We’re bypassing the middle-man “books”, and selling pretension directly to the consumer.”
  • “I know, I know — the games aren’t more fun in his room.”
  • “The laser-hair-removal booth chick looks like she lost a bet.”
  • “…and now, for today’s exciting round of “Are You Fucking Kidding Me…””
  • “I heard her describe us as her ‘booth partners’ and her ‘printers.’ I’m not entirely sure she’s quite got the jist of this relationship.”
  • “Your father head-butts people on the internet.”
  • “That’s three Ennies. Are we rock stars yet?”
  • “Let me guess — you’ve got a portrait in an attic somewhere, don’t you….”
  • “I think we’ve moved on from “is wearing my Ennies medal a bit naff” to “exactly how naff is it?”
  • “Why was he at the line meeting?” “I thought you invited him.” “….um, NO…”
  • “One drink and I’m buzzing? What the hell… Oh yeah. I forgot about the Vicodin…”
  • “I’ll talk to you. You look sane.”

….and many, many more.

Helluva show. Now back to work. Feel free to add more context-free quotes via comments!

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