Musical crush #4 in a series (plus a tangent and lots of parentheses)

I'm doing a lot of writing at the moment, which is great for a lot of reasons, chief among them is that I listen to a lot of music when I write. Lately I've had the self-titled album from Elastica on repeat as I work (despite the fact that it is in no way appropriate for what I'm writing). 

I know a lot of writer types, and I would say that the majority of them have said that they need to listen to music that is somehow related to what they're writing. If it's a horror story, they throw on the soundtrack to The Shining. If it's a period piece, they listen to music from that period. Et cetera. I have never been like that. All I require of the music I listen to is that it be music I have some familiarity with. If it's brand new to me, I have to listen intently. Too intently for me to be able to write down the thoughts in my noggin.

Elastica hit it big back in 1995. The album spawned five singles here in the US. And the band never recorded another. According to Wikipedia, they got in some trouble with other bands for "borrowing" riffs and melodies too heavily (they settled everything out of court). It's a shame. I really thought they were going to go places. They had a great look and sound (though maybe the sound wasn't entirely their own...). Regardless, thanks to Spotify, I am now able to listen to this band again and dream that someday there'll be a follow-up album and a reunion tour.

New, I mean old, musical crush #3 in a series

Weird Al Yankovic. Let that sink in. My musical crush right now is Weird Al Yankovic. We listen to music at my day job thanks to Spotify. Yesterday we spent at least half the day listening to my buddy Al. It occurred to me the other day as I was watching a new Yankovic video that he's had a career spanning more than three decades. A lot of the artists whose songs he's parodied would kill for that kind of longevity. Hell, I hope my own career as an artist last that long.

His latest song and video are right in my wheelhouse (are we still saying that?). Parodying "Blurred Lines" and turning it into a grammar lesson? Yes, please! I'm pasting it below.

And I'm hoping the "Weird Al" will still be singing in another thirty years.

New musical crush #2 in a series

Thao and the Get Down Stay Down have been in very heavy rotation in my ear holes as I finished off the manuscript for Zombified. I think there's just something really sexy about this music, and about Thao's voice. So there: now you get to picture me thinking sexy thoughts while you listen to this. You are welcome.



Also, it occurs to me that I was introduced to Thao and the GDSD, and to Valerie June, by my co-worker, Trinh. We listen to music at the book buying counter via a Spotify account and I think I'm lucky that she has such good taste. Thanks, Trinh!

New musical crush #1 in a series

It seems like my capacity to develop crushes on musicians is pretty much limitless.Valerie June is one of a couple of new acts (new to me at least) that I've had on heavy rotation as I've been writing lately. And since I've spent so much of the last month writing, that means I've been listening to this a lot.

Rather than fumble around for an inadequate description of her music, why don't you just listen to a little of it? You can than me later.

Listen to this: Now Now

This single by Minneapolis trio Now Now has been in heavy rotation as I've been writing lately. It's a minute, forty-three seconds of pure pop bliss. The whole album is good, but I keep returning to this song. I love the "get in, wreck the place, get out" feeling of the thing. The band seems to be catching the attention of others, too, if you want more opinions than just mine. Allison Weiss, on whom I previously admitted to having a huge musical crush, loves them, and NPR have featured them in there Field Recordings segment.

Enough of me -- listen to them already.

Print porn -- 3/28/12

This is a  short, beautiful video of a book being made using traditional methods. Too short, I think. I could watch this all day long. I think if I ever win the lottery (I'd better start playing the lottery), I'll buy a traditional print shop...

   

New music -- Girl in a Coma

I was working on rewrites for my thesis manuscript all day yesterday. A task that, frankly made me want to weep. Fortunately, I stumbled upon a new band that saw me through those dark times. Girl in a Coma is a trio of Latinas from Texas who make sweet, sweet power pop.

A bonus for me was to see so many Latino faces in their videos. It was like visiting family in Southern California. Minus the chance of getting caught up in a brawl...



As a special bonus, you should check out the Tiny Desk Concert they did for NPR.

The return of print porn

It's been a while since I posted one of these, or anything for that matter. However, the fine folks at Laughing Squid posted this lovely short documentary about letterpress. I always regretted that I while I was learning lithography, I never took the time to also learn letterpress. Ah, wasted youth...


Upside Down, Left To Right: A Letterpress Film from Danny Cooke on Vimeo.

How pencils are made

As you may have guessed from the series of print porn videos I've posted here, I'm fascinated by how things are made. In that tradition, here's a video of the production process used to make pencils. My apologies for the pun that closes out this video. Hey, I didn't write it!

Stephen King on the Tea Party

“And remember, when these people talk to you about it, if you like your weekend, thank a union guy. If you like a 40-hour week, thank a union guy. If you like a day’s honest pay for a day’s honest work, thank a union guy!”

I've had a lot of reasons over the years to like Stephen King. Now I have a new reason to respect him.

Vintage print porn

Anyone who's visited this blog a time or two probably knows that I have a fetish fascination with the printing process. I found this video today on BoingBoing and my heart just melted. This is an old instructional film released by The Encyclopedia Britannica Films, Inc. It shows all the steps of book production in the pre-digital age. Great stuff. It makes me wish that my (theoretical) novel could be set in Linotype.

Jess Nevins: Hero to the Nation!

Okay, maybe I'm overstating it a bit, but I like his stuff a lot.

Nevins first came to my attention as the man who obsessively annotated Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's comics series, The League of Extraordinary Gentleman. The comic is crammed with more visual references and in-jokes than the casual reader could be expected to know. Nevins took it upon himself to identify them all. This is a feat I find both amazing and scary.

Nevins is, by profession, a research librarian and his affection for data is apparent in everything he does. In 2005 he wrote the exhaustive 1,200-page Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana wherein Nevins maps out the roots of modern Fantasy and science fiction. I still kick myself for not buying the book when I had a chance as it can now only be found used at usurious prices.

His latest project is a series of columns for the science fiction website, i09.com. He plans to trace the history of science fiction publishing starting at the turn of the last century with the rise of the pulps. For anyone interested in fantasy or science fiction, it makes for fascinating reading.

Nevins maintains a personal blog, a tumblr blog and his twitter feed (where, for example, he once expounded on trends in Mexican pulp magazines) is one of the things that makes me feel that service is worthwhile.

And now for today's numbers.

I thought I'd be taking the day off from my novel, but that wasn't to be. I seem to be unable to stop writing the freaking thing. It's a bit scary. To me, anyway. That being said, here are the numbers.

Daily word count: 1,165 (all on the novel -- no words for you, short story!)

Monthly word count: 17,498

Novel word count: 86,758

Is my printing fetish unseemly?

I think the only things for which I feel truly nostalgic all orbit around printing. I just discovered that someone is making a feature-length documentary about Linotype machines. My heart nearly burst while watching this trailer. I'll be watching for when this film is completed and gets a distributor.

"Linotype: The Film" Teaser from Linotype: The Film on Vimeo.

More porn for print nerds

Also, the day's numbers

One of the cooler products I've discovered in a while is Field Notes Brand notebooks. For the last year or so I never go anywhere without one -- they've supplant Moleskine notebooks as a common book for me. I collect all sorts of random things in them, from phone numbers to passwords to comics pages layouts. They are well-designed and sturdily-made. I have always been attracted to items like this. Throw in that they are made in the USA, and I feel like they are doing me a favor every time I send the company money.

In addition to the chip-board covers of the everyday notebooks, they also do limited runs of different colors and designs once a quarter. The last limited edition color they did was a black cover with debossed type. It's a really snazzy number.

The video below sows how the notebooks were made and it features the pressmen who operate the machinery with which they were made. It's beautifully shot and the care and devotion of the craftsmen involved really comes through. Watching stuff like this makes me wish I'd stayed in printing.

Wings: Making the Field Notes 2010 Fall Edition from Coudal Partners on Vimeo.

Also, here are my writing numbers for today:

Words for the day: 1,206

Words for the month: 3,284

For your edification

I found two very cool things on Warren Ellis's blog today. If you are at all interested in media, whether it be print, television, film or comics (which, yes, I know are printed), then you should be checking in on this blog. Ellis has an interesting take on things and the items he chooses to post are always thought-provoking. Cases in point:

Here is part one of an essay on the occult written by comics writer Alan Moore. Mr Moore, in addition to being one of the finest writers to have ever worked in comics, is a practicing magician. His insights into the subject are required reading for anyone with an interest in magic.

And here is a thread from Ellis's message board, White Chapel. I'd suggest you read the thing in it's entirety, but for those in a hurry, here's a summary: comics artist Steve Lieber found out that the entire run of one of his miniseries had been scanned and put up on 4chan's comics channel. Rather than demand that it be taken down, Lieber went on 4chan and talked with interacted with them, answered their questions and generally played nicer than I think I would have. The upshot? A big surge in sales of his books through his Etsy page. This is very interesting to me because of my new interest in publishing to the web.

I'm standing exactly like that right now

This is the single greatest comics panel I have ever encountered.

That is all.

How Ink is Made

This is a gorgeous little promo film produced by The Printing Ink Company. Their president and Chief Ink Maker, Peter Welfare, walks us through the steps required to produce printing ink.

This is basically porn for people interested in printing. You are welcome.

William Gibson speaks clever

I found this this morning on BoingBoing.net, an interview with one of my favorite living writers, William Gibson. Hell, he may be my very favorite living writer. In this lengthy interview, he talks about his newest book, Zero History, the importance of objects in his fiction, and lots lots more. Anyone interested in SF specifically, or writing in general should read this one.

My new Internet obsession

I've mentioned Miss Allison Weiss on FaceBook and Twitter a few times, but I thought I should bring my obsession (okay, let's just call it a crush) up to a wider audience. Weiss is a singer/songwriter who is a wizard at self-promotion. She's on every social networking site available and even raised money to record her new album by tapping her Internet audience. Also, I have a soft spot for cute, smart girls in glasses (just ask my wife). You can listen to all of her albums on her web site and download her live album for free as well. I'd recommend you to do all of those things.

Here's one of the many videos Miss Weiss has uploaded to her YouTube channel:

Don't Let Us Get Sick

Another old post:

I seem to have rediscovered Warren Zevon. And, perhaps because of my darker mood in this dreary season, I am fixated on his later albums, especially Life'll Kill Ya and The Wind. I have to admit that I feel like I'm punishing myself a bit when I listen to these albums. While I love them, they make me sad thinking about Zevon's premature death, about my own impending mortality and those of my loved ones.

So I figured, Why not share the joy? Below you'll find another Warren Zevon video. This one is made by a fan and is a slide show of photos of Zevon from throughout his career. The song is Don't Let Us Get Sick, a song I can't seem to get out of my head lately. I find myself singing it to Oscar when I'm trying to get him to sleep. I am already saving for his future therapy bill.

Enjoy.