Blog Archives
Debut Album From The Ratings Battle Now Available for Free Download
The Ratings Battle
I spent 2011 drumming in a really fun band called The Ratings Battle. We did some gigs, a NW tour, recorded an album—one of the best of I’ve played on—and then our guitar player shipped out to basic training, so we had to stop playing for awhile.
But notice that what we didn’t do was ever put that album out.
Shit just got in the way and it sat on my computer for most of 2012, sounding awesome and not being heard by anyone but me. And it really does sound awesome. The studio—which has been around for decades—even uses it as one of their work samples. Not too shabby.
Guitar Matt was on leave for Christmas and we met up and decided to go ahead and make the album available for free download to anyone that wants it. We can always press hard copies later and release them if we want. We’ll have to see when he gets back from Army-stuff.
I decided to call the album Shelf Titled since it sat on the shelf for so long. Don’t like it? Blame me. Who will probably tell you to go fuck yourself because I’m hilarious.
Anyhow, here it is. The long-awaited and super-rocking debut from The Ratings Battle. Enjoy.
My Speech at Ignite Boise on the Value of Ideas for Idea’s Sake
A few weeks back, I gave a speech at the Ignite Boise forum. It’s basically a power point presentation about whatever it is the presenter feels like talking about.
It’s supposed to be a forum for big ideas that are interesting for their own merits, not any sort of commercial tie-in. However people occasionally usurp the platform to boost their business or project. As an audience member, that irked the bejeezus out of me.
So when I was asked to submit a proposal, I made my speech about exactly that: the value of ideas in the abstract and why Ignite is a unique forum for them, that should not be used in a commercial manner.
Check it out below.
For Those that Missed Our Musical Puppet Show About Serial Killers
I’ve been wanting to write a musical for awhile now. Mostly, just to see if I could do it. But the problem is that not every story or concept works as a musical. It has to be just the right fit or else it ends up really silly.
Luckily, the right opportunity came along when my friends at Homegrown Theater, asked me to write a puppet show to be a part of their Halloween show in Boise. I decided to play off the Cannibal: The Musical theme and find a really inappropriate noun to attach “the musical” to. After polling some friends, I decided on ritualized murder.
The goal of the show was basically to see what Silence of the Lambs might have looked like were it an absurdist puppet musical. I think it was successful, especially as I liked the way the songs came together to advance the plot, but also be kind of catchy in their own rite.
The show only had a 3-day run, but was by most measures a pretty big success. The audience was full every night and no one walked out or loudly panned it over drinks afterwards.
Video of the show for those that couldn’t make it is below.
A Sample From My New Musical
For a long time, I’ve wanted to write a musical. It combines a lot of different things I do in a way I’ve never done before, and I felt it would be a good challenge.
After the success of my play Veronica Livingstone I Presume in spring, the company that put it on, Homegrown Theater, asked me to write a short script for a Halloween-themed puppet show the company would be putting on in October. Since it had to be a puppet show, it seemed as good an opportunity as any to write a musical. And since it had to be puppet-themed, I decided to find something Halloweeny and then just attach the words musical to it, kind of like the creators of South Park did with Cannibal: The Musical. But since it was both a puppet show and a musical, I wanted to go way over the top with it and make it as absurd and explicit as possible.
I settled on Ritual Murder: The Musical. The script and lyrics are about 2/3 done so far and so I started working on the music with the help of my friend Steven Palin of Bridgeport. This is a iPhone demo of the opening of the show that we made for the company to see what we were working on. It has the first song, which is sort of a medley of two characters songs and introduces the action of the show for the first scene.
As for what happens next, you’ll just have to show up to find out. The show will go for three days at Red Room in Boise around Halloween.
The Poster for The Dog House
For those just tuning in, The Dog House, the first story in my book, Secrets and Lies, was recently adapted into a short film in Boston. It will hopefully be hitting the festival circuit in fall.
Until then, you’ll have to get by with the just-released poster as a teaser.
Or the short story it was based on.
Darth Bieter Strikes Back Against the Homeless Menace
For the most part, I like Dave Bieter, Boise’s Mayor. He’s got good workable ideas and the savvy to get them done in a toxic political environment where the dialog is dominated by curmudgeonry.
But his new Have a Heart Give Smart, program makes my blood boil.
