MC Escher D2P2 Mix Tape July 2012

So my most recent scientifically-tested super special July mix tape is up, which is the perfect upbeat mix for dancing or working out to (if I don't say so myself) Dance Dance Party Party (more info about that dance party style exercise class) mix is up on Soundcloud, where I DJ under the name MC Escher. (Apple killed Mobile Me which was my web host for my own website where I normally upload my sound-related stuff up like mixes, performances and so on). So in the mean time, until I have that up and running, you can download one long mp3 of the mix to listen to/dance/work out to. It starts with a slow warm up part, ends with a last fast song and then there's a cool down song. And for that last fast song, there's a voice that announces it's the last fast song so you know to really work that shit out. I edited them together with cross fades, and some of the songs I just took the money shot, you know, the best part of the song.  click here to go to Soundcloud (or on the image above) to download the mix (or just stream it), and there's a track listing there if you really like something and want to seek it out elsewhere. I usually announce in advance on Facebook when I know I'm going to be DJ-ing so you can come to class and hear it.

Unrelated sidenote: Why did I not think of this perfect DJ name to describe me? Britney Van Halen. Doh!

And final sidenote, even less related: my bike is parked outside the window and people keep dinging my bell on it, which is a little hamburger, and I want to go outside and shout "Paws off the hamburger!" But I would just sound like a crazy person. But really! Paws off the fucking hamburger!!!

Quimby's Bookstore Podcast #6 Up, With Caseen Gaines and His Book Inside Pee-Wee’s Playhouse

So I finished mixing down the sixth episode of the Quimby's Bookstore Podcast, which features an interview with Caseen Gaines, the author of Inside Pee-wee's Playhouse: The Untold, Unauthorized, and Unpredictable Story of a Pop Phenomenon. Click here or on the picture above and you can go listen to it.

Caseen talked to a lot of people involved in the show, as well as many fans, and it's really a fun book. And I must say, I didn't really watch the show that much as a kid when it was on (late 80s, early 90s) but I loved the first Pee-Wee movie as well as the Christmas special. In some ways I do sort of feel like Pee-Wee Herman is a part of my childhood, which added to making this interview special for me. I guess what I'm saying is that it was kind of like sitting down with someone and just reminiscing about stuff you loved when you were younger but with the added benefit of adding the social commentary that you can do as an adult. Intelligent observations about pop culture, so satisfying.

Relevant topics touched on in the with Caseen: public persona, breaking the fourth wall, the concept of hommage vs. rip off, tribute vs authorization and so on. It was a super fun interview because Caseen is charismatic, funny and extremely articulate. He's a high school teacher, and I bet sitting in his class is super fun.

You can listen to this episode at quimbys.podbean.com or find it (and subscribe) to the podcast on I-tunes, or even go to podbean where it provides a link to I-tunes if you need some guidance. You have options for streaming live or downloading, depending on what your preferance are, or if you're not a Mac person and still want to listen to it. At the podbean site I also included some links to things we talk about in the interview.

Sidenote: I realized something lately, and that is that I think my favorite thing to do is sit around with my friends and talk about/make fun of media. Some people like to travel, some people like to knit, some people like to decoupage, some people like to cook. I like to sit around with engaging people and talk about media, which sometimes devolves into making fun of certain things in the entertainment industry. (Hence a totally different podcast I do with my friend Sacha here.) That explains why I love things like MST3K, Amelie Gillette's "Hater" stuff in The Onion, or just the parts of Beavis and Butthead when they were making fun of the music videos -- people making fun of things (when the making fun of is warranted) is amusing to me. And I feel like the creative endeavors that I take the most amount of joy in usually include elements of comedy and music. And I am not talking about the Capitol Steps. They sound like a parody of bands that do comic musical performances about politics, except that they are actually a band that does comic performances about politics.


ANYWAY, click on the above picture and go listen to it and leave a comment on I-Tunes that YOU THINK IT'S AWESOME.

More Names For The Cats

The Double Headed Heart Shaped Kitty Monster

Once again, the post-it is full. Specifically I am referring to the post-it that I hang on the fridge, next to the grocery list, the one that I write down the ridiculous names I call my cats. That means it's time to type it up and post it on my blog. In case you're new to this, the deal is that I have 2 kitties. Tamago is the male, and he's quite a fat slob chunky charlie. His sister Oshinko is smaller and slimmer. Both are black cats, and both are my little lovers who cuddle with me and steal my heart. They probably don't know their names since I rarely call them the same name twice. See if you can tell which names are for Tamago and which names are for Oshinko, and which are names for both of them as a unit.

Obese-Wan Kenobi
King Mushenkamen
Portly Gentleman
Paws to Reflect
Turkey Lurky
Night Beast
Blub Chub
Blub Hub
Blubber
Turkey & Turkey Incorporated
Fat Caliper Claw
Chaloopa
Fat Walrus
Bananas
Lettuce
Oh This Isn't the Grocery List?

New Episode of Ray of Blight Podcast Available For Your Listening Pleasure

The second episode of the pop music podcast I do with Sacha Mullin called "Ray of Blight" is up! It's available at podbean and I-Tunes for streaming or downloading as a you see fit, and of course it's free.

This week we talk about the surreal musical releases offered by actors.

A small sampling of relevant subtopics: Donna Summer, Molly Ringwald, David Hasselhoff, anonymous *Nsync fan fiction, Raise Your Voice staring Hilary Duff, Many Mamas, Many Papas, Esther Rolle, Drunk Text, Minnie Driver, Spotify, Hal featuring Gillian Anderson, Charlotte Rae and Friends, Don Johnson, Ken Nordine, The Alice in Wonderland TV Musical, Celebrity Vinyl by Tom Hamling, Melissa Joan Hart, Yentle, Britney Spears, Jewel Staite, Lindsay Lohan albums, Russell Crowe, You've Got the Touch, Maaya Sakamoto, The Brady Bunch Theme performed jazzy and majestic, Philip K. Dick, Ringo, Jack Wagner, a chocolate lab snout, HR Giger, celebrity classification, well rounded entertainers, The Golden Age of cinema, boy band archetypes, Venn diagrams and more.

(Can't find it on I-Tunes? Click here to go to podbean, then look to the right, scroll down a little, and there's an icon that says "subscribe with I-Tunes.")

Ray of Blight Episode 1 Now Available

The first episode of the pop music podcast I do with Sacha Mullin called "Ray of Blight" is up!

Sacha and I are friends. Friends who talk about pop music. And we eat in as many as three or more diners in a night. And then we laugh ourselves silly. Won't you join us?

In our first episode, we discuss pop stars making surreal television or film appearances.

A sampling of relevant subtopics : Ghost Writer Over a barrell part 1 (1of3) Episode 27, How Do You Get To Carnegie Hall (Part 1), The Voice (Week Three) Coaches Couch - Frenchie, Jewel and Jessica Simpson, Billie Piper, Stacey Q, Doctor Who, The Ice Castles theme by Melissa Manchester, Blaze Berdahl/Lenni Frazier You Gotta Believe, Taina: Original Television Soundtrack, the internet, Over the Rainbow by Jevetta Steele, Trapped in the Closet part 2, No More (Baby I'ma Do Right) (US Retail CDM) by 3LW, Google Voice Jewel Staite Search, Kurt Loder, Britney Spears, Sonic Youth.

And more.

More info at rayofblight.podbean.com, including info about streaming/downloading it there or on I-Tunes.

Dance Dance Party Party Mix Tape #2

Here's a link to a free download of my Dance Dance Party Party Mix Tape #2.

I DJed as MC Escher on 3/21/12 at Dance Dance Party Party (DDPP or D2P2, as I like to call it). Chicago hosts one of the many chapters of the female-only cult phenomenon known as Dance Dance Party Party. No instructors, no fitness goals and there are only three rules in the room – no boys, no booze, and no judgment. It's an hour of booty-busting music twice weekly for ladies only. The lights go down, the music goes up, and like when you used to dance around in your room when you were a kid.  ddppchicago.wordpress.com

And hey! SteampunkChicago.com published an updated version of a piece that originated on this blog, which I then revised for my zine. It's a review of a steampunk erotica book called Carnal Machines but it's also a meditation on the difficulty in writing for a specific genre. Huzzah! Thanks, Lords and Ladies of SPC!

The 24 Hour Zine Challenge

I made a zine for the Quimby's 24 Hour Zine Challenge, based on pictures of things my dad has pulled out of animals in his years as a veterinarian. Click here to order it if you want it! It's a quarter-page size zine (roughly 4.25"x5.5"), 28p and b&w. It's called Prizes: Things My Dad Has Had to Take Out of Animals.

The 24 Hour Zine Challenge was silly and fun. Some store regulars and zinesters stayed overnight at Quimby's, and made zines or new issues of their zines. We ate snacks (lots of Pocky), drank coffee and laughed a lot. One of my co-workers brought crazy snacks from the food stampesque apocalyptic religious snackarium near his place in Pilsen. He stayed on the clock all night, scanning covers of old Punk Planets for the store website. My other co-worker worked on his comics and then curled up in his sleeping bag and somehow slept. Lots of people visited us to show support and hang out, and once particularly awesome store regular (Carrie) brought snacks for us, which I thought was adorable.

I had all these big ideas about taking pictures of the snacks throughout the night as it had been depleted, and I was going to put pieces of paper out with the time, but I only did it once, at about 7:29pm. A few hours later someone saw it and said, "What's the story with this? Why do you need to have this random time right here? Also, it's definitely NOT 7:29 any more. " So then I decided just to scrap the time-next-to-the-food project. I have this reoccuring theme in my life about how I have this tendency to get so caught up in documenting an event that it overshadows me just experiencing the event. "This is a real slice of life! We're making history!"

When the owner came in the morning, he took one look at me and said, "This was all just an excuse for you to wear your pajamas at work, isn't it?"

I still have the pictures from the event on my camera! But I can't get to my camera now to post them now because I'm on the couch with the cat all snuggeled up next to me, and hell no am I moving when something this cute is happening. Also, it's plugged in in the bedroom, and Joe is sleeping and I don't want to wake him up.

Anyway, on an un-related note:  Here's a link on my website for a free download of my most recent Dance Dance Party Party mix tape as one continuous track. I DJed as MC Escher on 1/25/12.