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There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.

Bill Humphries — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:31:13 +0000

Leonard Cohen at The Paramount Theater

I don't know if there will be evenings like this again.

Magnatune Streams for Second Life

Bill Humphries — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 08:20:00 +0000

[ via AM Radio ] Magnatune provides several royalty-free streams you can use on your Second Life (and I would guess OpenSim) parcels.

Musical Interludes

Bill Humphries — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 07:07:45 +0000

A mention of Brian Eno results in three out of five people in the car breaking out in a chorus of Backwater.

This was a triumph

Bill Humphries — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 05:42:23 +0000

Friday night Cynthia took me to see geek troubadour Jonathan Coulton play a show in San Francisco. The tickets were my birthday present. You might recall that he wrote the closing theme for Portal, the popular game about cake, companion cubes, interesting guns, and mad computers.

At least here, the cake was not a lie.

Dinah Sanders has a better photo of the scene on her Flickr stream.

Holiday Favorites Updated for your Pleasure

Bill Humphries — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 23:56:08 +0000

Now I know who wrote God Rest Ye, Unitarians, it was the Rev. Christopher Gist Raible of the First Unitarian Church of Worcester. Since my copy of the lyric is (as of this writing) the top result in Google for “god rest ye unitarians,” I’m glad I now have the correct attribution.

The Geeks Go Marching On!

Bill Humphries — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 03:09:38 +0000

Tim Bray has a sensible approach to Yodobashi Camera. Go in the morning on a weekday with a goal in mind.

During our trip last August, Cynthia and I visted the Yodobashi in Akihabara on an early Saturday evening. But then, we were on vacation, our time was our own, and the packed mob scene was interesting.

But, you say, isn’t that like flying halfway around the world to go to Fry’s?

Does Fry’s have a nail salon? Does Fry’s have people in silver spacesuits demoing the latest gadgets? Does Fry’s have a peppy jingle that you realize is The Battle Hymn of the Republic, leaving you nearly doubled over in laughter without the language at hand to explain why, exactly, that is so funny to an American?

Michael Shermer at TED

Bill Humphries — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 00:58:32 +0000

Michael Shermer talks about crop circles, science, Galileo, Led Zepplin, and Kylie Minogue at the TED Confrence in Monterey, February of 2006. A funny, snappy introduction to skepticism.

Tony Wilson, 1950-2007

Bill Humphries — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 00:04:40 +0000

Thanks for the music. [via Nick Currie]

“The Haçienda must be built”

Bill Humphries — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 23:35:06 +0000

[via imomus] Tony Wilson, the Manchester TV producer and music impresario who founded Factory Records, has died from a heart attack.

I learned about the Manchester scene too late for Ian Curtis' Joy Division, but played the hell out of my New Order records when I was in college.

We'll build a Haçienda for you in SL, dude.

Two Vids via the SkaRat

Bill Humphries — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 05:49:25 +0000

High Contrast Two Tone:

If Yoko Kanno's Vespa ran over The Articles:

Frack, they are playing a gig while I'm in Japan, but it's in Nagoya. But their first US album comes out next week, so I've pre-ordered it.

Just Another Village of the Damned

Bill Humphries — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 09:36:10 +0000

While I was not exactly the audience they had in mind, three things in Hot Fuzz made me smile:

Desk sergeant reading a Iain Banks novel.
Pub playing Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me).
Skellingtons reference.

Dana Stevens has the best summary of the movie: Hot Fuzz is like an Agatha Christie novel directed by Michael Bay and adapted for the screen by P.G. Wodehouse.

Update: Dave, in the comments, says he thought he saw the two desk sergeants (both played by Bill Bailey) reading both Iain Banks and Iain M. Banks. I asked some other people who saw the movie, who confirmed it. This adds another layer to the joke. Both Banks are the same person, but Banks’ science fiction is published with the middle initial.

Advice from Dick Dale

Bill Humphries — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 05:26:27 +0000

Control the rights to your music. Imagine if Johnny Cash could had sold his music via iTunes or eMusic at the start of his career. [ via Lea Hernadez, who controls the rights to her comics. ]

“Four basestars were approaching, the DRADIS began to howl.”

Bill Humphries — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 07:18:35 +0000

Battlestar Galactica series composer Bear McCreary on adapting All Along the Watchtower for the season three cliffhanger.

Three Great Things from 2006

Bill Humphries — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 02:10:57 +0000

Three things that worked great during 2006:

24 Hours, The Kleptones

2200 The Underground Hand That Buttoned The Widow was my most played track of 2006, according to iTunes.
WriteRoom, Hog Bay Software

I joined a short story a week writing group in 2006. WriteRoom allowed me to clear my desktop and focus on writing for a couple of hours.
Firebug, Joe Hewitt, et al

I worked on a couple of large JavaScript client applications this year. Firebug made that less insane.

Thanks to everyone behind these, and a happy and prosperous 2007 to you.

TMDR Rides Again

Bill Humphries — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 03:52:25 +0000

Nostalgia ho! Thomas Dolby released a live album from his recent solo tour. When I saw him play back in 1985, in support of The Flat Earth, he had an engineer offstage managing a rack of computers (who he brought out and introduced during the show.) Shows you how far kit has come in the past two decades. And the album? Live electronica can leave me cold. If you’re not familiar with Dolby, I’d go back to The Golden Age of Wireless, and The Flat Earth first. The live album has versions of the standards, One of Our Submarines, Flying North, Europa and the Pirate Twins, and of course, the nerd anthem She Blinded Me With Science, but misses his excellent cover of Dan Hicks’ I Scare Myself.