cussin' cyborg cartoon time

October 29, 2018

Welcome to Corgi-Class Starship, the newsletter that's going out of town this weekend and may be taking a break next week; it'll be a play-by-ear kind of thing. Just a heads-up! 

You'll Like This

Update(s) on thing(s) I made or somehow helped to bring about.Idea Factory Giveaway87 - The Rational Debate Club for Serious Thinkers"Jon (@ferociousj), Besha (@besha), and special guest Sara McHenry (@yellowcardigan) dig up highly promising notions for fitness, parties, and entertainment along with a new national pastime."Sara also had a great idea for a shirt or at least a print or something based on one of the ideas we talked about in this episode that I would love to see. What was it? You'll just have to listen and find out.If you haven't yet, subscribe by searching "Idea Factory Giveaway" in your podcatcher of choice (and let me know if it doesn't pop up). If you're already there, feel free to leave a 5-star rating and a nice review (it helps; algorithms, etc, you know the deal).Instant Band Night 7: GenerationsNEXT WEEK. Let's get together after these fucking midterms and just let loose: Instant Band Night is a party where musicians who've just met form bands on the spot.(1)The first rule of Instant Band Night is: 👏 YOU 👏 DON'T 👏 HAVE 👏 TO 👏 PLAY 👏 AN 👏 INSTRUMENT 👏 TO 👏 ATTEND 👏 (2)The second rule of Instant Band Night is: We guarantee you (the audience) an astonishingly excellent time.(3)The third rule of Instant Band Night is: Invite your friends!!!!!!!Here's what happens:1. The stage has a drum kit, guitar, bass, keyboard, and mics.2. We draw names out of hats to make instant bands that get 7 minutes in the green room to plan a 5-minute set.3. A hat-drawn artist will also take the stage alongside each band to draw their gig poster on a meeting room easel pad.Come play or come watch; you'll have fun either way! Bring your people, crack a beverage: let's do this.Thursday November 8507 55th St 946098p$5/personBYOB21+Forward this to anyone you think would have a good time there, or use these Facebook and Eventbrite links if that's more your thing. Thanks!* * *  w e ' l l * s e e * y o u * t h e r e * * *F.A.Q.Q: Do I need to be a musician to show up?A: No. Absolutely not. Hell no. Come see the show and have a good time; you don't have to get onstage.Q: I'm a musician; am I guaranteed a slot in a band?A: We literally draw names written on slips of paper out of coffee cans, so there's a chance you may not be called; in a purely mathematical sense, it's a function of how many musicians of each type show up that night (there are five musician cans -- DRUMS, GUITAR, BASS, VOX, MISC -- and one can for artists who'll be picked to draw the bands' gig posters). We say: surrender to the spirit of random chance, or maybe slip the MC a bribe of some sort.Q: Do I have to be an amazing musician to throw my name in a can?A: Probably not. Your band's only gonna be onstage for 5 minutes, anyway; how bad can you possibly be?Q: I play an instrument other than what'll be onstage, like the sax or trumpet. Can I bring it?A: Hhhheeeeeelll yyyeeeessssss you can bring it. PLEASE DO. We had a guy bring a bassoon once, and he rocked the living shit out of it -- and, by extension, us. Woodwinds and brass, which tend not to need extra amplification for a space of this size beyond being pointed vaguely at a mic, are most welcome. If your instrument requires an amp, that's cool, but you should get in touch with Jon about showing up early for setup.Q: Do I have to pick my cover tune beforehand?A: Listen. You and your band (who you've JUST MET) have 5 minutes onstage to do whatever the hell you can think of in the 7 minutes prior to walking up there. You wanna try to pick a cover everyone can agree on? Great. You wanna try writing something new? Fantastic; it can definitely be done. You wanna pick a key and tell each other to just fuckin' wing it up there? You are a RAGING PSYCHOPATH and we love it. We'll see you in 7; get in the green room!!!!Q: What does BYOB stand for?A: We don't sell drinks at Instant Band Night, so you gotta bring your own. Get a cheap sixpack of something. Maybe a bottle and some cups. We're not here to godmod how you get down.Q: Is this in the East Bay?A: It is. Do not be alarmed: it's within walking distance of MacArthur BART, and as a bonus, you get to tour Oakland's version of the Mission on your way over. Or you could just take a Lyft from SF (or the BART station if you fancy). Got a car? Drive on over; parking around the East Bay Community Space is pretty simple. You can do this. We believe in you. 

Medium Ramble

Skippable if you're in a hurry.We could all use a laugh, couldn't we?A little while ago, my brother alerted me to the presence of the Fist of the North Star movie from 1986 on Amazon streaming, which was a true blast from the past. Remember VHS tapes? Back in high school (class of '97, folks), a buddy of mine made a tape for me on "LP" mode (or was it EP? it was the mode that expanded the tape's capacity to 6 hours of material on slightly compromised picture quality) that included the English dubs of Fist of the North Star, Akira, and Appleseed. If you've never seen the 1988 Appleseed OVA in its English dubbed form, it's a trip and a half: what appears to be a sunny, thoroughly 80s, Sailor Moon-lookin' robot cartoon juxtaposed with a hilariously foulmouthed script that really has to be seen (or in this case heard) to be believed. Whoever was in charge apparently wanted to let viewers know right up front they were dealing with a Serious Fuckin' Post-Apocalyptic Cops and Fuckin' Robots Story, God Fuckin' Dammit. It was a source of near-endless entertainment to me and several friends many years ago, and now it can be for you, too. 

#dadthoughts

Also skippable if you're in a hurry or don't care. No judgment.First up, I want to give credit where it's due for the idea I talked about implementing last week: my friend Gabriel Williams is fairly certain he and perhaps our pal Michelle Medina were the catalyst for the acrylic comics shelf shield, and I take my hat off to them!Over the past week there's been a change to Quentin's mobility, namely its extension in an upward direction: he's started pulling himself up to a standing position on damn near everything he can get a grip on. It's both amazing and kind of nerve-wracking, because some stuff has the potential to tip over and take him with it, and I would like for his existence to be as pain-free as possible (not that it'd hurt that much, but he also doesn't have an excessive amount of experience with that kind of startlement, and I can tell you right now he doesn't seem to like it a whole lot). So I do a lot more watching than I used to, a lot more laying-about of pillows, and in general spend more time on the floor with him. This is in no way a complaint; I just wanted to log it here with you. What will I be logging next week? 

Fascination Corner

I read a lot of newsletters; here are some links that caught my eye.

A Fictional Thing

Something made-up that somehow suggested itself to me and which I could not escape.A band and their albumYour Civic Duty, All the Dreams Love Couldn't Fulfill 

Thanks

If you've read this far, I thank you. Feel free to forward this to someone you like, or inflict upon someone you don't.