Adam came down with us (but separate) to work his photographical magic at PAX. Here are just a few of the wonders he created:
Photo Copyright Adam PW Smith – http://www.adampwsmith.com
Jordan
A Few Photos From Stewie
Colour Me Green at PAX 2008
Rockonomics: "Shhh…." on Rock Band
So… Rock Band + my band = pretty amazing for me.
When we recorded the songs for “The Shadow Out of Tim” we had two extra tracks that we didn’t put on the album because they didn’t fit in thematically. That is to say, they had nothing to do with a musical adaptation of Lovecraft’s The Shadow Out of Time. We decided to save them for the next album and…whatever opportunities came in between. We submitted them to the CFOX Seeds competition but nothing came of that.
When we were graciously invited back to PAX this year (thanks Jerry) one of the reasons I was so stoked about it was that the people from Rock Band and Guitar Hero would be there and would have a chance to see us live. We dared to dream that maybe they would like us enough that they’d consider adding us to their respective rosters.
Little did we know that the people at Harmonix already knew about the band, and that they and the Penny Arcade guys were planning on doing a pack of songs that tied in with the convention. In mid-July Robert Khoo introduced us to the Harmonix folks (via email). They didn’t have any particular track in mind. We suggested something off the new album to promote it, but we also pointed out that we had unused tracks and that we shouldn’t dismiss some of our best work from past albums (Math Song, 20 Minutes of Oxygen). As much as some of our songs are fun or rockin’ or whathaveyou, I knew some of them wouldn’t be appropriate for the video game. I imagine the criteria they have to consider would be length of the song, variety, appropriate lyric content (I make a point not to swear in the lyrics anyway), and a fair balance of the four instruments the game utilizes.
They initially decided on “The Innsmouth Look.” I was a little surprised they chose it, but since it was a definite Lovecraft riff I thought it was a good representation of the band for all those Rock Band players who had never heard of us.
An interesting point is that they wanted to get us involved in the project months prior, but because of our inability to confirm at that point they had to pass us over. It’s no secret on the internet that MC Chris was confirmed for PAX but then cancelled, and that opened up the slot for us to sneak in at the 11th hour.
The time squeeze, however, was against us. We recorded Spaceship Zero in 1999, on ADATs which are basically VHS tapes used in a special machine. That format is outmoded now and since the recording studio we used was dissolved by 54-40 we didn’t have access to the “stems” of the song that Harmonix needed to use to put the song on the game. We spent a weekend trying to hunt down equipment to get this done but since time was such an issue we suggested to Harmonix to pick a backup track off the newer material. “Shhh….” was their choice.
By this time it was well into August and the band had been practicing a very dedicated setlist for months. Warren wouldn’t be back in Canada until mid-August and the idea of re-learning how to play “Shhh….” live (we hadn’t played it for about a year) was pretty sketchy, so as much as we would have liked to play it during our performance at PAX, we just weren’t confidant we could pull it off in the two weeks we had left for rehearsals. Keep in mind that the five band members live in three different cities so typically we meet once a week at best. You don’t want to blow your performance in front of 10,000 fans and potential fans and industry bigwigs!
Finally PAX came and we met with the Harmonix staff as they went by our merch booth and we went by the Rock Band exhibit. I cannot say enough about how cool the Harmonix staff were. Very nice, very excited to work with us, very professional and fun! Heather invited us to come and play our song on Rock Band at their exhibit, and so I wrangled up the members of the band for a set time on Sunday.
If you’ve ever played Rock Band and played a musical instrument, you know that one does not necessarily translate to the other. I can play guitar on Rock Band well, but I can’t play a real guitar. Mario, Merrick and Jordan had never played Rock Band before, and they were somewhat nervous to do so. To our great relief Heather told us that the game was set to “no fail” so we knew that no matter how poorly we played the game we’d still get all the way through the song.
The whole thing looked a little like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR1JiIMFAY4
What a hoot! I was surprised by the tambourine/cowbell deal on the singing section of the song – since the actual song has no such parts! Since there were only four instruments but five band members, Mario hung out and coached Jordan on the drums. At the end of the song we through out a spare tentacle on stage and by luck the one who caught it was a fan – he had us autograph it.
Since we’ve got back we’re trying to keep the promo ball rolling on this amazing, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us: the only Canadian indie band on Rock Band!
All I Have for Now
Stay tuned for more as it comes in…
Word Under the Street 2008
I’ll be at Word Under the Street in the basement of the Vancouver Public Library on Sunday September 28.
Marketplace of Exhibitors
More than 150 local, regional and national book and magazine publishers, booksellers, literacy and educational organizations, libraries, and writers’ associations exhibit an exceptional array of current and back listed books and magazines to browse through or buy. Many exhibitors offer special promotions, sales and giveaways available one-day-only at The Word On The Street! And that includes The Word Under the Street, where you’ll discover a wealth of locally-produced micro-published “underground” comics and ‘zines and our annual on-the-spot comics contest. And back by popular demand: Magazine Mews. Browse the best of Canadian and British Columbian magazine publishing and meet some of the talents behind award-winning work. Check out panel discussions, demos, performances and more.
Authors Confirmed for 2008
Peter Bagge
Linda Bailey
Jean Barman
Dianna Bonder
Daphne Bramham
Michael Byers
Nicola Campbell
Norma Charles
Lisa Cinar
Elizabeth Denny
Darcy Dobell
Ian Ferguson
Steven Galloway
James Glave
Garry Gottfriedson
Heather Haley
Chris Hamilton
Robert Heidbreder
Lee Henderson
Deborah Hodge
Stephen Hume
Mel Hurtig
Roy Innes
Katarina Jovanovic
Susan Juby
Pummy Kaur
Robert Kull
Zoe Landale
Hadrien Laroche
Duane Lawrence
Mark Lieren-Young
Moberly Luger
Adrienne Mason
Dr. Gabor Mate
Bruce McBay
George McWhirter
Eric Miller
John Murphy
William New
Susin Nielsen
Matt Radar
Linda L. Richards
Kathryn Shoemaker
The Smart Cookies
George Stanley
Shannon Stewart
Meg Tilly
Laura Trunkey
Karen X. Tulchinsky
Chieri Uegaki
Richard Wagamese
Naomi Beth Walken
Howard White
John Wilson
Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas
Toren's Craft Site
Today I added a bunch of lights to my costume. I still have to add the spine protrusions but thanks to Kelly & Paul I had a working drill to get that started.
Here’s my tiny light saga:
Knowing I wanted some tiny lights on my costume, but keeping in mind that I don’t know how to solder properly or safely, and not having time to fiddle around with that much detail, I polled my friends for suggestions. Main Street Electronics was a bust not only because they didn’t have self-contained, ready-to-go lights in the store, but the old white men were not interested in helping me, talking to me, acknowledging me, or even hearing me. Luckily a few doors down was Lee’s Electronics. I knew describing what I was looking for was going to be challenging, but I think these guys finally got it when I saw those little keychain lights that you squeeze to turn on ($2.50 each). Luckily they had a wide variety and these things have a “stay on” switch so I won’t have to squeeze eight key chain lights while I’m trying to sing on stage. They also had a flashing red bike light for $5. Deal.
I biked down to Mountain Equipment Co-op and found amongst their many bike lights only one item that was under $9 – a small Coleman light in the shape of a lantern. It was $7 and I hemmed and hawed about whether or not to get it because, apart from being $2 over my loosely self-imposed $5-per-light limit, I didn’t like the “vibe” of MEC. I finally decided I might as well take it but when I got to the register I noted that apparently you have to pay a membership fee to purchase there. The light went back on the shelf and I hit the road.
An unsuccessful stop at London Drugs and Home Depot had me at Canadian Tire, where they had these great little push-on/off stick-em lights in various colours. I grabbed two packs of 4 ($10 each) and at the checkout stand I saw a little laser pointer/flexi-necked reading light that was perfect. With all that totalling about $50, plus the free Ikea lights that Jeremy generously supplied, I felt I had enough!
Here are the photos of the work in progress:
I attached a red light to the end of my head hose-claw.
All of the keychain lights are attached to the chains – or attached to the things attached to the chains. They point at the ground creating a cool effect.
The red flashing bike light is affixed to the chest piece.
You can see one of the green stick-on lights which I hot-glue-gunned to the Darth Vaderesque chest panel. The flexi-necked light points up at my face to create a spooooooky ambiance! I can also handily point it down towards the set list on the ground when the stage lights fail me!
Here’s one of Jeremy’s Ikea wire-lights on. Not totally sold on my application of it but I figure I can keep it off until I really need that extra festive oomph.
I’ve added lights to the tips of my spine-spools (thanks EmbroidMe!) and I’ll be zap-strapping them to the back of my flight suit in short order! Move over, Circue de Soleil!
Something I Read About The Film I Want To See But May Never….
from Cartoon Brew:
I saw an unexpectedly great live-action film last night—Tarsem’s The Fall. The film’s production design is insanely gorgeous, with nearly every shot a lush and breathtaking tableau of color and composition. The landscapes in the movie are so exotic and magical that I automatically assumed they were all computer-generated like every other Hollywood film. Amazingly, though, it was all shot on-location. Tarsem’s background—directing commercials like the classic Levi’s “Swimmer” and music videos like R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion”—means that he knows how to create stylish and imaginative imagery, but in The Fall he backs it up with a sweet and engaging story about a 5-year-old immigrant girl and a Hollywood stuntman who befriend one another while recovering from injuries in a 1910s LA hospital.
The film premiered at festivals in 2006 but didnÂ’t receive a theatrical release in the US until May of this year. The distribution difficulties of the film are reflected in the filmÂ’s production history: Tarsem financed the film almost entirely out of his own pocket using the millions of dollars he made as a commercial director. Its production was as unconventional as the final film. For example, Tarsem scouted locations for the fantasy sequences for seventeen years, he shot the film in over twenty countries, and a good deal of the filmÂ’s story structure was ad-libbed by the little girl protagonist.
Cartoon Porn + Clive Barker's "The Night Market"
On Saturday night Deanna and I went to the Vancouver Art Gallery to watch “Inkstuds Presents: A Night With Kim Deitch: An Evening of Rare, Obscure and Blacklisted Cartoons.” Robin McConnell, bless his soul, organized this to – I’m paraphrasing – get people away from youtube and into a social setting. I appreciated the sentiment, and the difference in size between a big screen and a youtube window, but not having to tolerate the smelly drunk guys in front of us and the guy behind me blowing bubbles and kicking my chair has its merits too.
Anyway, the cartoons were generally good – I’d actually already seen the 1930’s cartoon porn but it was still hilarious. They played various racy cartoons including Coal Black and the Sebben Dwarfs, a Bob Clampett toon that I’ve wanted to see for some time which, though overtly racist, was well animated, had a good score and was voiced by real African Americans. Compare this to Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips, which artistically was nothing special and certainly had no other merits; I’m sure it was shown only for the rarity factor.
Afterwards we cycled to the Chinatown Night Market, which I had never before experienced and was a lot of fun. I enjoyed constantly saying things like “anything can happen…in…the Night Market” using my best scary movie trailer voice.
Dog Sitter Wanted
Dog Sitter (and cat feeder) wanted for weekend of 30th-31st, for me & Deanna.
The person would have to check on the dogs throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday and would have to sleep at the house. Obviously, they would have the feed the beasts as well.
Willing to pay $50 as we know that it is an inconvenience – but it is an easy $50 as you wouldn’t have to walk the dogs, just let them out in the yard.
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