Life
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.
Life
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.
Life
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.
Life
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.
Noise
I do love my Taylor. It’s not the most expensive model or anything. Actually, it’s only a couple steps up from entry level, but from a company whose half sized guitars list at a price that keeps them away from most beginners’ hands, two steps up is pretty good. What I love is the shape. It’s like a parlor shape, they call it the Grand Auditorium style. Sounds pompous, huh?
Actually, it makes for a softer, more balanced sound. It’s great for everything from finger picking to heavy strumming. It is an ideal singer’s guitar. And for a world-class instrument maker, it’s really not that pricey. Not when you consider the quality.
What keeps it so reasonable? Laminated back and sides. That’s why the next step, the step out of the lower rungs of production and into the realm of truly exceptional guitars is such a big one. Like, many hundreds of dollars big. That would be the step away from laminated wood into all solid hardwood pieces. Oh yeah, now we’re talking rich tone. Now we hear what different woods, exotic woods, can sound like. How different they can sound.
So I continue to build my new toy fund, sometimes coveting a vintage semi-hollowbody when I’m going through a noisy rock phase, sometimes dreaming fondly of a sweet, sweet acoustic that I’d probably be afraid to take out of the case.
Oh… decisions, decisions. I suppose it’s a good thing I’m at least a grand away from either option.
I suppose.
Life
I was on the road the other day and needed a quick burger so I did the drive-thru. I experienced a totally new act of sheer laziness/mental instability. As I was driving through a shopping center parking lot to the fast food franchise, a woman in an old rust bucket sedan of sagging vintage suddenly backed out of a parking space, gunning it. I slammed on the brakes to avoid rear ending her… or more appropriately, to avoid being front ended by her.
She then careered along a path parallel to the drive thru lane. I watched as she pulled around and cut in front of a car as the line progressed. She had bypassed the place-your-order box and was one car back from the pickup window. I ordered and ended up two cars back form the maniac, the driver of the car between us still shaking her head in consternation.
Momentarily, the line advanced and I rolled down my window to eavesdrop on what promised to be a juicy conversation. It will probably come as no surprise that the maniac woman was loud. Plenty loud for her complaint to carry across the fifty or so feet of parking lot asphalt.
I will not even try to recreate her colorful patois. Let me just explain in my own words. She had picked up her drive-thru order and pulled into the first available parking space in order to consume it in her car. At some point during her meal, apparently very close to the end, she realized they did not make her burger exactly how she wanted it. Specifically, there were onions and she’d said no onions.
The manager came to the window and graciously offered to recreate the burger, in psite of the line jumping breach of etiquette. She gestured for the patron to return the unfinished carcass. The customer asked belligerently what the manager wanted. The manager explained she would take the foul mistake burger back and dispose of it. The customer asked why. The manager said she just wanted to be helpul.
Then the customer admitted that she’d eaten it. But I thought you didn’t want onions asked the manager. The driver got exceptionally loud and angry at this. What was the manager going to do? Sell the burger to someone else? A torrent of expletives and insinuation followed. It did not stop until the new, onionless burger was proffered. In the mix, the driver suggested she be given another order of french fries and another soft drink. Apparently as some sort of payback for the pain and suffering she had endured.
So what do we learn from this? Well, for one thing, if you’re so large that covering yourself in drapery fabric is preferable to yoga pants and a big and tall man’s 4XL undershirt, you’re probably not going to get out of your car and walk into the fast food franchise when they get your order wrong at the drive-thru.
Seriously, though, when did it become acceptable to cut the drive-thru line without even making a stop at the talk box to try and score free food. And if you’re going to demand replacement food for an incorrect order, don’t you think you should be able to show what was incorrect about the initial order?
It begs the question – were there really onions on the first burger or was this just the chunky shyster method for doubling your value meal in the modern age?
Life
Seriously. Every other post I’m promising the new look and feel. And this post is a post like all those. It’s coming soon. We’ll have full on instructions and info about Mad Science The Card Game (cuz it’s almost done!) along with teasers for the upcoming treat Super Connected. They’ll be Skateboard Heroes comic info and links to new pages. Oh and the music. Yes, yes, yes… the music.
So be there or be square. Soon. With your wallets out. We’re gonna be hundredaires pretty soon. Probably won’t need any of the fancy new fangled Raleigh NC accounting. At least. not yet. But someday… Who knows?
Life
There’s another Pope Street card game in the works. It plays with some similarities to dominoes, but with some cool twists and a pretty fixed game structure for easy play. Since you are trying to connect stuff in the game (sort of) we went with a nod toward one of my favorite bands of all time (Belly) in calling it Super Connected.
Not like, “Yes, Buffy, I’m so super connected I can hook you up with anything. Real Estate Louisville? No problem.”
More like “Dude, connect that card to this card. Yeah, like that. Super.”
What’s comin’ out of your mouth?
Life
There used to be this jewelry channel on cable. It was a shopping channel with certain hosts hawking rings and necklaces and such. The price would slowly drop as they tried to sell as many of their pieces as possible. The had jewelry online cheap too, but I really miss the reverse auction in slow motion of the cable channel. There’s a business Pope Street should get into, right?
Well, maybe not.
Life
I don’t mean to harsh on the overweight, but let’s face it, most of our country is overweight. I am overweight. Technically, I am morbidly obese… at least if you believe the weight/height expectations in the medical office. I have always struggled with my weight and self image. I get it. It’s no fun being chunky and questioning your personal physical beauty.
The thing is, people in this country seem to have just given up. I mean, the tiny tank tops I see young girls stretching over fast food bellies that would have indicated an unhealthy pregnancy in past generations… it’s gross. I’m sorry, but it’s gross.
I’m not saying everyone should throw tents over the massive jiggling frames, but some level of tact in selecting garments would be appreciated. Your acorn nuts if you think I’m going to give up on trying to look my best. Sure I’m nearing 40 and I have 3 kids, but it doesn’t mean I have to give up on looking… passable.