Thing a Week 12 – Furry Old Lobster
By request, this one comes from the book tour I’ve been doing with John Hodgman. In the book, there’s this very funny history of the lobster in America, in which John explains that what we think of as lobsters today really were not the first animal to be called “lobster.” In fact, the old kind of lobster was a sort of sea otter that was wiped out when the new lobster made its way north to Maine. Then I sing a sad song about the death of the furry old lobster, and also I wear a hat made from its fur. Hilarious. Here is the song: Furry Old Lobster
Back Again
Back in town again after a fantastic tour with John Hodgman and David Rees. Thanks to everyone who came out to see us – it was a rare and beautiful thing: an unbroken series of large, appreciative audiences. And David and John of course were most excellent. Buy their books.
There’s an editorial in the NY Times today from Damien Kulash, lead singer for the delicious power poppy band OK Go, about the Sony DRM problem. More of the same, but it’s good to hear it coming from a real professional rock star instead of a hack like me. The labels would have you believe they use DRM to protect their artists, but sometimes DRM is exactly the opposite of what the artist wants.
More Me News
I did an interview yesterday for Mark Forman’s Free Culture News podcast. Mark’s a good guy, and has lots of great guests and content about all this creative commons stuff. Give him a listen.
In a couple hours I’m off for Baltimore etc. on the next leg of the John Hodgman book tour. We’re traveling and performing with David Rees, author of several great comics including My New Fighting Technique is Unstoppable and Get Your War On. Here’s the deets:
Thursday: University of Baltimore, 7 PM (room 003 of the Thumel Business Center – sounds swank) – also with Lizzie Skurnick
Friday: The Warehouse Theater in Washington DC, 8 PM – also with Adam Mazmanian
Saturday: Chop Suey Books in Richmond, VA, 7:30 PM
Sunday: The Regulator Bookshop in Durham, NC, 3:30 PM
Also, today is my birthday. Please! No gifts!
Thing a Week 11 – Podsafe Christmas Song
Yes, I know, it’s two days early. That’s how restful my week off was – I am now twice as productive! Actually, I’m off for a mid-Atlantic tour with John Hodgman tomorrow, and I don’t know when I’ll have a chance to post this if I don’t do it today. This week’s thing came from a suggestion made by a few podcasters: Len and Nora from Jawbone Radio, Big Mike and Just Sue from Extra Super Action Show, and C.C. Chapman from Accident Hash. They wanted a podsafe Christmas song (for those of you not on the podcasting tip, “podsafe” just means that the copyright holder authorizes its use on podcasts). The subject matter’s a bit inside, but the inspiration should be immediately clear if you’ve ever heard a Chipmunks song. I poke a little fun at Adam Curry, self-annointed “podfather,” because he has all the money and all the power. I kid because I love, and also because I want to curry favor. Ha! I said “Curry” favor!
Technical note: you have no idea how slow and awful the vocals sound at regular speed.
Anyway, enjoy! Play it on your podcasts, tip me if you like it, Merry Xmas, sorry for all the exclamation points!
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