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!
I’m Back
I totally went underground there for a few days, no email, no work, no nothing. Just sat around enjoying leftovers and recharging the batteries. Felt pretty good. But now I am back “at work” and will have something to post on Friday.
Some news: the reason my link to that Eagles/Kelly Clarkson mashup no longer works (as commenter Michael pointed out), is that the RIAA is cracking down on mashups. Mashuptown has been warned, and they’ve taken everything down. So gather ye rosebuds while ye may because it’s going to get harder and harder to find mashups until this lunacy stops, if it ever does. As Cory points out in his BoingBoing post, the idea that a mashup harms the artists or labels involved is just silly. He says:
Mashups are a really dumb target for the RIAA. There’s just no universe in which someone who downloads a mashup of Prince’s 1999 and the Benny Goodman orchestra performing “In the Mood” thinks, Well, now I’ve heard that, I have no need to buy the CDs those songs originated on.
Preach it!
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