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.

Oh Taylor My Taylor

  • by Drew

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.

Drama at the Drive-Thru

  • by Drew

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?

 

Talk About Buildup

  • by Drew

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?

Are you…?

  • by Drew

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?

Blingtastic

  • by Drew

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.

So Mean

  • by Drew

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.

Waaaaah

  • by Drew

The post title… that’s the sound of a whining baby.

Why? Well, maybe you take my last post as a little harsh. Yeah, I know there are lots of people who have tried to lose wait through diet and exercise and it just doesn’t work. Okay, maybe that’s true. Maybe there are people who have truly struggled for months or years with no results.

I know probably a dozen people in my relative immediate circle who have made that claim. Without sounding like a total ass, do I believe them? Honestly? Maybe like one and a half.

Seriously, I know it sounds mean, but leaving the bottom bun off your burger once a week is not significant diet change. Walking a couple of miles twice in the first weeks of the new year… that’s just not going to cut it.

And I know we’re all busy, but let’s be honest. You think you can maybe skip Dancing With the Stars in favor of improved health and increased longevity. Maybe go dancing for Christ’s sake. And not just this week, but every week. Like all the time. And if you absolutely have to catch the Walking Dead, park an exercise bike in front and ride through the hour.

Yeah, you can blow it off and worry about lipofuze side effects if you want, but me, I’m up for a challenge.

© 2026 Drew Bancroft. All rights reserved. Totally.