w00t!

Soap Opera has won Best Animated Film at the IPIFF! I'm an "Award-Winning Animator"!

A Tortured Search Path.

So I went to the iTunes Music Store looking for a song which Patrick put on a mix tape for me over a decade ago. But I couldn't remember the name of the song except that it had to do with vampires, so I put "vampire" in the search box. That led me to a free vampire audiobook (in podcast form) called Forever Fifteen. In the "Listeners also subscribed to" box, there was another podcast called "Audiobooks with Annie," which provided readings of classics in the public domain. I was intrigued enough to visit her home page, where I found out about LibriVox, a community audiobook site, where every audiobook is released not just for free, but to the public domain. (Even Project Gutenberg's audiobooks are copyrighted.) Now, I see that there's a New York Times article about LibriVox. Well, let it be known that I knew about it before the Times did, then.

And now you know how.

edit: Patrick tells me in comments that the song in question was "Club Mekon" by the Mekons. (Now how could I forget that?) Alas, the iTMS doesn't seem to have it.

My only brush with high-traffic.

I was just taking the Pew Internet Blogger Survey (via NTodd), and they asked what I'd consider the post that generated the most attention on Rooster Spice was. Here's what I answered.

I once mirrored a post about photographers being discouraged from snapping dead bodies during Hurricane Katrina. The original site went down from all the extra traffic, but I had a copy in my cache, so I posted it and let people know about it in the comments on Eschaton (atrios.blogspot.com).

Ah, those were the days.

Take the survey. It's worth a few minutes of your time.

Hurrah!

Here you can find my two films in the Idaho Panhandle IFF.

And more good news: from my current home town, the Utopia Film Festival, which has accepted <ESC>, Soap Opera, and the Cell-Phone; and from my old home town, the Connecticut Film Festival, which will be showing The Cell-Phone in early October. (I'm really excited about this last one. Nothing quite like "local boy makes good!" for publicity! Plus it'll make all my buds from high school jealous.)

"Eat your heart out, Mel!"

Via Andrew Sullivan: a fantastic and hilarious sports commentary and take-down of Mel Gibson.

Listen now.

My entry in this month's KVR song contest.

Yet another question.

If you're giving a shout-out to a Canadian, should you call it a "shoot-oot"?

Requisite Lieberman post.

What people often forget about Joe Lieberman is that he was never a "moderate" Democrat; he was, from day one, a conservative. I mean, look at 1988, when he was first elected; he ran against Lowell Weicker, a liberal Republican. I was in high school in Connecticut at the time, and a classmate's father was actually reprimanded by the Republican party because he raised money for Lieberman! That alone should tell you something.

In short, I've never really liked Joe, at least as a Senator. I supported him for Veep, of course, if just for the home-team aspect. But to call him a "moderate" Democrat really misses the point. He's always been a conservative, it's just that the political center of gravity has veered right of him in the past eighteen years. In my view, just about every Democrat on the national scene is really a moderate, not a liberal, with the possible exception of Russ Feingold. I mean, come on, is there anyone out there preaching socialism? Give me a break.

In any case, when Lamont wins, let's not forget who did the voting. The Democrats of Connecticut (including my father) have a right to choose their nominee. Let's see if any of the right-wing pundits actually say that as their beloved Joe goes down. The people are only correct when they vote with the right, after all...

Lamont vs. Lieberman.

Since I was in Connecticut back when Joe first won his Senate seat, I guess I really ought to comment on the primary. And I will. But not tonight.

Well, I'll be damned!

Who knew that the 48 Hour FIlm Project was indirectly inspired by the great comics artist Scott McCloud?

Hamlet, Revenge, photoshop edition...

Today is my daughter's fourth birthday. Happy birthday, E!

K is watching a documentary on the '84 Olympics. They keep referring to swimmer Michael Gross as "the Albatross." And you know what I keep reciting, don't you? It's driving her crazy.

More movies and potatoes.

I am pleased to announce that <ESC> and Soap Opera will show at the first annual Idaho Panhandle International Film Festival, August 24-26. YES, this is a big deal, damn it!