Month: May 2013

The difference between the Czech Republic and Chechnya,
for those who are a bit confused about the two.

It’s never too late for a geography lesson! An excerpt from an article titled Meet the Chechens:

Americans tend to be rather bad at geography, and often find out that a country exists, and where it is on the world map, only after their troops invade it. That’s how it used to be; now that America is too broke even to pay their own air traffic controllers, never mind stage military invasions, the moment of discovery will occur when people from some country or other come over and settle scores by attacking Americans. What goes around comes around.

America’s latest voyage of geographic discovery has taken it to Chechnya, where, following the collapse of the USSR, unbeknownst to most Americans, their government offered covert support to “pro-independence forces,” “separatists,” “insurgents,” “terrorists,” or whatever the increasingly tongue-tied US State Department decides to call them next.

Some facts about this circle, which were observed by one “valeriepieris” on Reddit:

• This circle is mostly water.
• It contains the two most populous countries in the world, China and India.
• It also contains the most sparsely populated country in the world, Mongolia.
• There are more Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists inside it than outside it.

…and less relevant to the general discussion and more relevant to me: Yours Truly was born inside this circle.

There’s more about this circle on io9 and Reddit.

Here’s a hint:

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

My recommendation if you haven’t done so already: go see Iron Man 3, then go out for shawarma.

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Karl Mohr, who often plays under the moniker Dead Red Velvet, invited me to play virtual host for his online concert. Shortly afterwards, he decided to invite me to join him in his basement studio — from where he was broadcasting — for his number, Can Your Remains be Buried with Mine? I was only too happy to take part.

That afternoon, something happened, leaving Karl without his half-hour opening act, so he invited me to take over that slot. Again, I was only too happy to oblige.

I even quickly learned Taylor Swift’s We Are Never Getting Back Together, and yes, it’s becoming part of my regular repertoire.

With my opening act done, I put down the accordion in a nearby chair, ready for the moment I’d be called to join Karl, sat back and took in the show.

Resplendent in dinner jacket, dark shirt, scarf and horned cowl, Karl played and sang his gothic-cabaret songs with his piano, with the very helpful and able backup of Ian Revell, also a co-alumnus of Crazy Go Nuts University, performing on guitar.

Since this was an audio and video broadcast, Karl also recruited some visual backup. Handling still images was Darren Hyde, who did interpretative painting along to the music.

He made some gorgeous pieces, including one that incorporated a good number of Karl’s lyrics.

Handling the broadcast camera and sound, as well as the motion picture projections was Steven Cerritos. Those are his films that you see projected on the performers and the screen behind them.

And finally, Louise Bak provided her sultry voice and poetic style as the event’s MC.

We even had a little audience of friends! It made for a cozy studio, but it was great having them there.

I managed to capture some well-timed photos of the performance, including the one above with “Mr. Stabby”. (And yes, Karl switched hats mid-gig.)

Here’s Karl sending some greetings to the audience and introducing Darren.

Another well-timed photo, this time with “Mr. Smiley” in the background.

The performance lasted a little over an hour, and Karl invited me to join in for more than just Can Your Remains be Buried with Mine?

Another well-timed photo.

It was great performing with Karl; I hadn’t done it in years! He liked what I did for the opening act, so I’ve been booked for his next internet performance, which he plans on making a regularly-occurring event. Watch this space for more announcements!

Photo by Yours Truly.
Click to see it at full size.

I was on Treasure Island Thursday night. Yup, there’s a place called Treasure Island here in the Tampa Bay area, and it’s pretty much a resort town. According to Wikipedia, the place got its name from landholders who tried to boost property sales by “burying and then pretending to discover a couple of wooden chests on the beach around 1915”. They claimed that the chests they “found” were filled with treasure, and you can probably guess what locals started calling the place soon afterward.

Photo by Yours Truly.
Click to see it at full size.

Wikipedia also reports that Treasure Island saw a boom in the post-WWII years, which may explains why many of the buildings look as though they belong in exterior shots from Mad Men. There’s something fascinating about late 1950s/early 1960s building design and signage, and the best example of this on Treasure Island is the Thunderbird Hotel.

Photo by Yours Truly.
Click to see it at full size.

I couldn’t resist taking some pictures as we drove by. Enjoy the photos, and be sure to visit the hotel’s site!

Photo by Yours Truly.
Click to see it at full size.

Photo from the Thunderbird Hotel’s photo gallery.
Click to see it at full size.