On a truck somewhere

Or an airplane. I have a tracking number.

Dr. Horrible

Yesterday was the spousal unit's birthday. I have given unto her a copy of the DVD of Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog.

heh heh heh.

Everyone's a Hero in their own way...

CD Update

Oasis allows you to track your project status on line. The interface is clumsy and somewhat anti-intuitive, but once you get used to it you can glean some info from it.

Currently my CD's have been pressed, and the artwork has been printed. The CDs are not yet silk screened, and the package still needs to be assembled, shrink wrapped and shipped.

All and all, this is progress.

Comparative Mythology

Something I've never really understood:

In standard Christian mythology, the serpent is the bad guy.

I mean, the serpent is the fellow responsible for giving the human race the knowledge of good and evil. And this is bad? Later in John 8: 32 it says "and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." Seems a bit inconsistent no?

Now in Greek mythology on the other hand, Prometheus is clearly the good guy. He gives mortals fire, and the knowledge that comes with it. Same role. Same job really. Only to the Greeks, he's the good guy in the story.

Note Lucifer also means "Light bringer"

This is why Prometheus is more or less the patron saint of Libertarians and assorted Objectivist types, notwithstanding that most Objectivists are either Atheist or your classic Militant Agnostic (i.e. I don't know and you don't either)

I mean, we are not exactly that keen on authority figures if you know what I mean.

Go up to a random group of libertarians and say "hey we have this goat we need to sacrifice next Tuesday. No, don't ask why, has to be done. Pick a god so we can get on with the party."

Libertarians, liking a good party as much as the next guy, or even more depending, will most likely pick either Athena (being the god of Wisdom) or Prometheus (being the god of Knowledge), notwithstanding the fact that technically speaking Prometheus is a Titan, and not a god.

A handful will probably pick Dionysus (aka Baccus), but they are probably just hedonists posing as libertarians anyway.

Now where's a goat when I need one?

Cover Proof

Long day today, here is the cover art proof to keep ya all happy.
(there might be an artifact, but it's in the bleed space)

Space & Freedom Artwork

Oasis e-mailed me the proofs for the artwork this afternoon.

The cover, liner notes, and back traycard look outstanding. The disc silkscreen itself could be nicer, but it's ok. I told them to go with a jet black disk with title and name taken from the cover. If I had a bit more time on both ends we could have done something nicer, the disc is difficult though, as it is a silk screen, and not a color printing process.

Low resolution version of the back cover with publisher's layout grid for bleed and crop:

And for good measure, here are the inside liner notes, I really like how the background turned out:

Physics Dept

So I got an e-mail a couple of weeks ago from the Director of Graduate studies. It was one of these vaguely threatening messages that basically said "We want you to explain to us how you can possibly finish up your dissertation within our arbitrary time limit while holding a full time job"

I therefore ignored it.

I got another e-mail a couple days ago that said "You never responded, would you care to comment" and copied the original.

Note this is from a person who has basically NEVER responded to any of my communication or concerns over the past several years. So maybe, just maybe, I got a wee might snarky.

I sent an e-mail back that said:

Dr Doak,

I'm sorry, I was under the impression that ignoring e-mails was a fine time honored tradition in the Physics Department.

Hmmn, what's that burning smell? Couldn't be a bridge could it?

Well I got a response, and oh boy did I mannage to press his buttons. This time he sent a far more threatening letter.

I told him that he could tell the Chair to expect a letter directly from me that evening, and as for his recommendations...

(no I didn't say THAT, though I was tempted)

I said that as for his recommendations I didn't see how I had any control over those, he would do what he chose to do.

I then sent the Chair a nice letter telling him exactly why I had no interest in returning to the Department next semester. By my math, it would take a minimum of another 46 units to finish up the Ph.D, and it would be impossible to finish within their arbetrary time limit. And since they have never seen fit to understand that some of their students might possibly have JOBS.

And since they still stubornly refuse to give the students any (and I mean ANY) feedback regarding the comprehensive exams...

Well... Screw 'em.

Master of Physics

ASU finally posted grades to the Recorders office. As of COB yesterday, my transcript indicates that I was conferred a Master of Science in Physics as of 13 May.

WOOT!

Album Update

Oasis sent me a copy of my quote in a nice readable .pdf format. Interestingly it said:
12 day turn time from art approval.

Ahem.

I sent them a most kindly worded e-mail explaining that I was somewhat disappointed, as their web site clearly stated that the day the package arrived was day zero. I then asked if I should go ahead and cancel my CD release party.

My customer rep e-mailed back and said, no that wasn't the package I had ordered, but she had checked the website and agreed that it would have been easy to misinterpret, and that she was having their web folks look into fixing it, but they would give me a complementary upgrade to an 8-day turn, which would put me back on schedule.

So, counting working days on the calender, we should just make it for WesterCon.

Package arived

The package arrived at Oasis this morning at 10:17. We've already had one issue, in that the CD artwork (that goes on the actual disc) is supposed to be three color, and we sent in full color art.

How exactly am I supposed to do 3-colour art? Convert to 3-color Pantone?
I'm not spending an extra $99 for full color art on the disc itself.

I told them to either print the text in yellow and the background using blue and black, or to simply print the text onto a jet black background. (their choice)

The Big Shiney

Iacta alea est.

It is done, and out of my hands. I just sent the Audio Master and associated artwork and paperwork to Oasis. (and paid the bill)

So at this point the CD is a go.

Oasis promises a 12-day-turn. Let's see if they can deliver in time.

Land of the Lost - Crash and Burn

So the weekend numbers are in, and the latest Will Ferrel crapfest bombed at the box office.

GOOD

A remake of Land of the Lost (LotL) could have been something great, instead we get Will Ferrell and dinosaur poop jokes.

As a 36 year old with 8 and 6 year old daughters, I’m smack in the middle of where the target demographic for a LotL movie ought to be.

1) They are making a Land of the Lost movie – sweet

2) It’s going to be a comedy – aw crap

3) It’s going to star Will Ferrell – *sigh*, double crap, never mind then.

LotL was a campy, low budget SF/Adventure show, but it was never a comedy. It certainly was never a toilet humor comedy. Trying to make LotL a comedy is akin to trying to make “The Prisoner” a comedy. It does not work on the face of it.

See ABC’s reimagining of the classic Gen X series “V” – not a comedy. (oh this one looks pretty good)

Reimagined BSG -not a comedy.

All right you Hollywood folks without a dimes worth of creativity amongst the lot of you, let me make this easy for you: Want to make a comedy? Make a movie out of Barney Miller or WKRP, not an SF/Adventure show.

Or sit down and watch “The Big Bang Theory” and learn what makes a show funny.

Chords and Lyrics

I always said that if I put together an album, it would have a full 15-16 songs on it. As a public service (and free advertizing) I have the Chords and lyrics for all 16 songs put together in a .pdf.

enjoy.

Link to Songbook

Hopefully I have this permalinked in the sidebar as well