New for 2007.
Posted on May 31st, 2007
Filed under: General — Karl Olson @ 4:57 pm
I was running some errands today (mailing off a CD order, getting some fabric glue, getting lunch at Sushi Land – largely typical stuff) and since I was in the neighborhood, I’d figure I’d nose into Target. Now, as a some of you might know, around this time last year I bought a hat at Target that has become, at points, something of a signature look for me. So, with that in mind, the first place I went was the same dollar store section of the Target, and what should I find there but this:
A new, one dollar hat. Made from real straw this time even. It’s not quite as good a fit, but it doesn’t pinch either (it just flies off in a breeze.)
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Webdesign & Rick Astley
Posted on May 30th, 2007
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 4:06 am
So, I managed to RickRoll a post-gig podcast. BTW, the gig was a blast because even though it wasn’t a perfect set – I’ve learned to just deal with it and keep rolling. Fun times as such, and besides, I really think I nailed most of the set. If you want more details, I’d recommend listening to that podcast, if only because it devolves into straight up insanity.
Meanwhile, I finally managed to setup my friend Jim’s website this evening. It’s still in need of content, but that’ll be coming soon, including lots of awesome cosplay pictures. It was a bit of challenging getting it all running, but it came together eventually.
PS: Here’s a video from the show.
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Something’s Wrong, Cause My Mind Is Fading
Posted on May 23rd, 2007
Filed under: Pictures — Karl Olson @ 3:46 pm
Ghetto Blasting, Disintegrating.
Rock n’ Roll, Know What I’m Saying?
Everywhere I Look There’s A Devil Waiting.
Gotta Devil’s Haircut, In My Mind
So the finest hairdresser and MC in nerdcore, Nursehella gave me a haircut. She says it’s Pretear-style. Himeno Awayuki from Pretear-style. I suppose that’s fitting for a mahou shonen MC like me. ^_^
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New Gear / Everything Old is New Again
Posted on May 18th, 2007
Filed under: Music News,Reviews — Karl Olson @ 12:55 am
So, my old MidiStudio midi controller has been giving me grief lately, which is a bit of an accomplishment considering it has never worked perfectly – the pitch bend had an issue with returning to 0 from the first time I bought it. I tolerated that problem because I rarely had cause to use the pitch bend, and when I did, I’d just program it in the sequence itself because it was typically sounded better anyway. However, as it’s midi connection began to fail, I realized that the controller was going to need to be replaced (well, I suppose it could be fixed, but that’s easier said than done.)
Now, I was really aiming for just getting an MAudio Keystation 49 – very much like my old keyboard, if not even a bit more minimal barring the convient USB interface. Alas, the only one Guitar Center had in stock was a lemon, something I didn’t discover until after buying it. So I went back, and sucked up the fact I was just going to have to get an MAudio Oxygen 49 – a keyboard that is a lot more feature rich than I was really aiming for (I would have picked up the Korg controller instead if its keys were hinged right, but they aren’t – molded plastic hinges are trouble waiting to happen.) However, it plays really nicely – the action is way better than on the old controller – and the extra features are a bit handy, or at least fun to goof around with.
While I was at it, I picked up a new mic stand that fits my studio a lot better (the old one goes to a certain Canadian Nerdcore Diva.) No more knocking the mic stand over and taking out half my books and figures with it.
Meanwhile, during my journeys today, I also happened upon a new beverage… or did I?
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Sold Out.
Posted on May 17th, 2007
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 3:59 am
Not the kind where I have sold out to get a record deal (if only I were so lucky,) but rather the kind where I’m out of copies of Romance Language.
Theoretically, I’ll have it back in print later today (after some sleep and a trip to Fry’s,) but you never know. I owe 10 copies to a certain unnamed website, but I might just do those copies. Romance Language is such a special CD that I almost only want a handful of hard copies floating around.
Of course, then I remember how I’d rather perform new songs than old at shows, and how as such, that means having CDs with those songs on it. Oh well. Expect fresh copies available by this time next week at the latest.
Also, apparently I have a gig on 26th at Waldo’s in Kirkland, WA. It is 21+, but I have plenty of friends who fit that bill. Also, it’s 6 bucks at the door. Less than my sold out CD even.
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Throw Up Ya Hands…
Posted on May 13th, 2007
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 3:12 pm
…If you like this music: Ultraklystron – Nerdcore For Life (feat. Beefy)
Yep, I covered Beefy’s theme for the Nerdcore For Life documentary, and thankfully, Beefy, being a man with a good sense of humor, did some guest vocals on it – he takes issue with some of the factual errata that crop up when someone like me covers his song. Younger listeners should be aware that there is some strong language, but other than that, I’m pretty happy with it, so you should check it out. Not even a day’s worth of work, but I think it came out pretty snazzy.
PS: I’m not actually the new Beefy. I will however steal his spot the next time a Nerdcore popularity contest is held. ^_~
PSS: Expect even more cover action in the near future.
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Hyphwii
Posted on May 12th, 2007
Filed under: Pictures,Reviews — Karl Olson @ 4:19 pm
So, last night I hung out a with few friends of mine and played WiiPlay on the Wii. Pretty cool, though it’s a bit annoying that you have play through a game first to unlock the next game. It assumes that you know nothing about playing with the Wiimote. To be fair, I really didn’t, but I really wanted to play Ping Pong and Pool immediately. However, it’s a lot of fun and really is the kind of gaming I like – namely, it’s a game, not a story. Not that I don’t think of video games as a valid storytelling medium – on the contrary, I think they allow for a previously unheard of level of immersion, and can communicate just as much as any film or novel. It’s just that since I’m already getting a heavy dose of storytelling from manga and anime, I don’t have time to invest in storytelling-oriented gaming, so gaming that just does a good job of being instant fun, like Wii multiplayer games or matchmaking-based multiplayer FPS are definitely favorites of mine.
All in all, I’d say Wii Play is like 7.7/10 (and not a review magazine/website 7.7, but a real, “this game is a C+” 7.7.) as it could be a bit user friendly or at least a bit more instantly gratifying, but it’s worth picking up if you have the console and you have friends. I hope more of these party games have online play in the future as well. That’d be a blast.
Now, on the way over to my friends’ apartment, we stopped by a 7-11, and what should have there but Hyphy Juice. For those of you not in the know, Hyphy is a sub-genre of rap from the Bay Area that popularized the concept and term “Ghost Riding the Whip.” As I enjoy Hyphy, atleast from a production/music perspective (the lyrics are pretty much about partying and getting Hyphy, which is cool and all, but necessarily notable except for things like Mistah Fab’s ingenious “Ghost Ride It”,) I was compelled to buy Hyphy Juice, and much to my surprise, it tastes pretty good. It’s like Grape and Apple Jolly Ranchers, with no gross energy drink taste or after-taste. A little over sweetened maybe, but still very good. If I drank energy drinks regularly, Hyphy Juice would be my weapon of choice.
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Overhauling…
Posted on May 11th, 2007
Filed under: General — Karl Olson @ 6:46 am
…My site design some more, that is. I’ve added a nice a little top bar with some static pages with theoretically useful information (like where to listen to my music, who I am and how to contact me,) and I’ve moved the post catagories up there too. Hopefully, this aids in navigation rather than detracting from it. Besides, I’d rather have a less than perfect top bar than have a double right side column I’ve seen on sites like Fark and SA – I don’t have that much info on my site, so I have no need to resort to pug ugly webdesign (well, pug uglier webdesign.)
Of course, all those pages should probably be fleshed out some more. However, I accidentally pulled an all-nighter getting the framework setup, so I think a few hours of sleep are in order first. Well, after a few random asides:
-I also did some actual overhauling these week, or atleast a little car repair with my dad. Air Mass Flow Sensor on my mom’s car died, resulting in the car’s computer freaking out a bit. I’ve been driving my grandpa’s car, a Mercury Grand Marquis, as such. As much as I like driving in a car with a fully-functional sound system, the gas it guzzles is lame.
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Apparently Last Place Isn’t All Bad
Posted on May 2nd, 2007
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 4:01 am
Thanks to my last position and what I can only assume is a time-pressed editor at Double Viking, a site that mixes Maxim, 2600 and 1up, I managed to get the icon position in their link to Hipster Please’s Nerdcore Artist Top 10. Take that more successful and popular Nerdcore artists who I’ve all met and who I think are cool (except for MC Hawking, who I have not met, but still think is cool.)
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Palette Swap, New Sprites And New Dialog Boxes
Posted on May 1st, 2007
Filed under: General — Karl Olson @ 3:27 am
To put it another way, I shifted back to a gray BG (sorry, I like it, it manages my Windows color scheme,) and I add some new banners to the rotation, some of which are much contrast, necessitating a little modification of the header text area (personally, I think it has a bit of a CNN International-flare to it.) It’s a bit of celebratory thing in relation to being back up after being down for almost a month, but it’s mostly to keep the site from being so visually repetitive that even I’m tired of looking at it.
PS: I also finally uploaded the CSS file for the old blog archives, making them much visually appealing to you, the end user.