Scouts

  • by Drew

Do I ever mention I dig Cub Scouts? I used to be a little negative on the whole thing, especially considering some of their very public policies about leadership and lifestyle intersections. But lately they seem to have worked through a lot of those issues as an organization, and I’ve found it is much less of an issue at the local level.

And anyway, my kids are totally into it, so I am too. It’s a world of archery and whittling chips, leather dyes and BB gun shooting, arts and crafts and polar bear swims. And camping. Oh man, the camping.

Cool Competition

  • by Drew

Well, competition may not be the right word, but there were definitely a lot of other cool projects vying for the almighty crowdfunded dollar. I am especially drawn to a number of tech projects, many of which have no particularly useful application in my life but are nonethless neat. I didn’t see too much involving light, though. This surprised me a little because I’ve been reading a lot about alternatives to the incandescent bulb. Sure, compact flourescents leap to mind, but there are all sorts of other technologies that are still in the early (read: expensive) phases of development. LEDs have come a long way though. And related stuff like the cree xm-l. I thought that was a space ship designation in the infamous Skrull War, but what do you expect from a geek?

Make Your Own Monster

  • by Drew

Have you checked out Mad Science The Card Game yet? We’ve only got a week left on our Kickstarter and we’re so so so close to getting funded. 80% there, baby. Think what fun you can have building your own Mad Science creatures (with cards) and then battling Horrible Experiments and, eventually, each other.

The parts are unique and wacky and just so fun to play with. Sure, dna paternity testing may seem tempting when you duct tape a mummy head to a king crab body with a squid arm, a venus flytrap weapon and a mermaid tail, but let’s face it… do you really want to see the parents?

Oh, so mirthful.

Check it out while there’s still time!

No Chance

  • by Drew

Maybe it’s just me, but real estate southport nc is probably going to be seriously available in the coming months. You know, maybe all of North Carolina for that matter. I mean, it’s like supply and demand, right? There’s a definite supply, but will the demand still be there? Like I said, maybe it’s just me. But one can’t help but wonder. Right?

Mad Updates

  • by Drew

As in Mad Science The Card Game…

Right now the kickstarter is over 60% and we’ve got 2 weeks left. If you have any interest in this fantastic family card game, please check out the website in progress at mad.popestreet.com, view our tutorials on YouTube, and for goodness sakes, pledge already!

Seriously, a big thank you to everyone who has supported this awesome little project. We’d really like to bring it to you all.

It’s hot and it’s cold

  • by Drew

When we had the addition put on the house, one of the best decisions we made was to install ceiling fans in all the bed rooms. They help move the air around whenever it gets stale or a little muggy, and these days, that’s huge. In the last few months in the Northeast, the weather has been crazy. We’ve been up to 90 and down below 30 in a 24 hour period. More than once.

I don’t know if Global warming is real or not, but the reality of a truly wrecked climate situation on this planet? No question. Global warming has never been my buzzword of choice, but when people start talking about “abrupt climate change” and all of the meaning loaded into that phrase, you’d better bet that I’m listening closely.

Dirt Nap

  • by Drew

Tonight I’ll be sleeping on the ground. Well, not directly on the dirt, there will be a few layers of canvas and plastic between me and the ground, but for all intents and purposes…

Tonight is the first of several Cub Scout camping trips over the next couple months. So I will be getting pretty intimate with the inside of my Coleman 4 person quick-setup tent.

Actually, I’m not coplaining. Really, I’m not. I only camped a handful of times as a kid, so getting out there with the kids and their friends usually ends up being pretty fun. And I’m not one of those family condo tent people. I don’t get it. I’d rather have a handful of small tents than one of those massive 12 people things.

In part, I find the promise of the mega-tents a little… lacking. They advertise the separate rooms, ceiling hooks for lanterns, and some even have power supplies and such. I’m surprised they don’t have cordless roman shades and intergrated flat screens with satellite service.

Additionally, I can set up my little tent in about 5 minutes. I could easily set four of them up in a half hour. No problem. In fact, if the kids actually help we can probably shave that down. But when I watch the family tents going up, it seems to take forever and I hear a lot of muffled cursing. So I’m keeping it simple.

Giving Power

  • by Drew

So we did it. We took a project to Kickstarter. Mad Science The Card Game. All the cool kids will be talking about it any day now. I have to tell you, it’s pretty exciting. We got to 40% funding in two days. That’s pretty sweet.

It’s funny. People tell me all the time that as an independent musician I should love the Internet. Who needs record labels anymore? Well, there is some truth to that – if you’ve already had big success (most likely with the help of a record label) and have a recognizable name. THEN you can go indie and maybe do alright. But when you’re not a name? When you fell off the scene for a few years to start and family and are essentially starting over? Forget it. You’re up against 5 million teenagers with iPads and virtually unlimited free time. The problem with the Internet is the sorting. There’s such a wealth of content, it’s a massive undertaking to sift through all the garbage to find incremental nuggets of yummy.

Sure, you can easily take a gre online practice test or find out from where you recognize that actress on the latest Law and Order franchise spin off, but if you just want to browse artistic creations… often not so easy.

I do love the whole kickstarter concept, though. Funding what you believe in, proof of viability before someone goes out and blows their meager savings on a loser idea.

I just hope nobody think my idea is a loser idea. That would blow.

Mad Science The Card Game!!

  • by Drew

Yo! Yo! Yo! We’ve got a new project. Mad Science The Card Game is on Kickstarter. Check out our video on youtube and think hard about pledging and getting your own copy of this super duper new game!

Hooray.

Aging…

  • by Drew

Another birthday is upon me, and so, on the eve of my “one year closer to destruction” celebration I offer you something special. No, not the surely expected best apidextra review here nonsense. Though I’m sure that’s why you tuned in, right?

No, this year I offer you some half-finished musings in the form of mp3s. Visit the noise page for a few recent explorations including a demo of part one of the Thorn Cycle – instrumental acoustic and some bass replete with mistakes. But who can resist the dropped-D tuning, right?

And the coup de grace, the sort of old school folk tune that started as a thought in the shower – what would be a good contemporary country music lyric? She asked me, “why whiskey” and I said, “why not?” But it got way less good old boy, and way more depressing in the writing.

And an oldie but goodie, once again re-imagined – now with guitar and half a bass line. It’s called A Reason and my girlie really likes it.

And just for fun, a thing I played around with called Everything is Better. Maybe that should have been saved for an anniversary thing when it was more polished, but I think it’s cute.

© 2026 Drew Bancroft. All rights reserved. Totally.