Uncategorized – Page 38 – The Designer Monologues

October 20, 2009

General Updatery

Lots of stuff going on in the ol’ brainspace recently.

Absolutely disgusted that both of our Senators (Brownback and Roberts) were among the 30 Republicans who voted against the Franken amendment, which would bar federal contracts going to companies that force employees into notoriously pro-corporate arbitration over allegations of sexual assault and rape. (Put forward after a woman gang-raped by her Halliburton co-workers in Iraq was locked in a shipping container to avoid her reporting it, and then told she couldn’t sue in civil court due to her contract which specifies arbitration only). Even MORE disgusted by reading commentary by locals defending Brownback and Roberts for voting against “Trial Lawyers.” (Which is as egregious a Republican-created-boogeyman as “Liberal Media.”) This country fucking sickens me.
Finding myself growing more and more tired of the constant bullshit of working in the game industry. Way too many sources of aggravation, way too much unprofessional garbage, way too much work for far too little reward. Even getting paid for my own sales is getting to be a hassle. There’s a reason why the three biggest projects that I’m working on are vectoring away from the game business. Two have nothing to do with games at all, and one has a game component, but only as part of a larger overall plan. I need to concentrate more on that stuff — start looking to get out.
Maybe part of that dissatisfaction is because I’m not doing any recreational gaming — so nothing present to remind me of what I like about RPGs, etc. Perhaps I should remedy that, but it’s very hard to get a group together.
Well, this post is just a little ball of sunshine, innit?

October 16, 2009April 19, 2010

Friday Music

Another weekly entry in your Mixtape of Teh InterWebs:

First off, a request by Laura, who asked me what the music was in the TV ads for Where the Wild Things Are, which she said really “gets her.” Turns out it’s a track from the soundtrack, which is comprised entirely of original songs done by Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O. The track in question: Karen O and the Kids – “All Is Love.”

Second — an absolutely kicking mash-up, from the new collection of Iron Maiden mashes, Number of the Boots, this one mixes Maiden (various songs, mostly “Flight of Icarus”) with Indian artist Sinidhi Chauhan (the song “Crazy Kita Re (Dhoom 2)”). Thanks to Sean Jaffe for pointing me towards this one. Wax Audio – “Maiden Goes To Bollywood.”

My mind has been lingering of late on the topic of Steampunk — and this is one of the songs that forms the soundtrack for the genre in my head (largely a result of reading Jeter, Blaylock and Powers in freshman year of college, listening to The Golden Age of Wireless as I did): Thomas Dolby – “Windpower.”

Another track by The Swimmers — the neo-80s alternapop group that I posted about last week. The more I hear, the more I like: The Swimmers – “A Hundred Hearts.”

One of the best tracks from Duran Duran’s latter period, pre-reunion-of-the-original-lineup, when they were largely ignored by mainstream music press and broadcasters: Duran Duran – “Electric Barbarella.”

I really didn’t expect to like this, much less post it. It’s the new posthumous single from Michael Jackson. To coincide with the release of the movie comprised of rehearsal footage of his planned farewell concerts, they went back and found a demo from 1983: A song he wrote with Paul Anka, which never left the demo stage. They took the piano-and-vocal demo, added lush instrumentation, the surviving Jacksons on backing vocals, and released the single. It’s a brilliant move — it’s pure height-of-his-powers MJ, before he started gasping and hiccuping and shammon-ing his way through lyrics. A reminder of when he was the best. Michael Jackson – “This is It.”

There you go kids. As always, if a link gives you trouble, try copy-and-paste.

See you next week with more.

October 15, 2009

Mid-list Kindle Numbers, and Busking

A very interesting blog post from a mid-to-low-list thriller writer, who has eBooks available on Kindle through his publisher, as well as several that he self-published to Kindle. He breaks down the sales numbers:

A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing — Kindle Numbers: Traditional Publishing Vs. Self Publishing.

Dovetails nicely with Amanda Palmer’s “Virtual Crowdsurfing” blog post (and the related earlier piece, “why I am not afraid to take your money.”)

I’ve been kicking the mental can around for a few months now, regarding future plans, making a living as a creative in the 21st century, brand extension outside of the gaming market, etc. There definitely seem to be more and more essays and blog entries that fall neatly into where my mind is headed. There’s a zeitgeist rising.

At some point, I should do a massive link-tastic blog entry that puts all of this stuff into one place, so that everybody can see the whole picture that I’ve got in my head right now.