I saw the Posies for the very first time on June 26, 1996 during the tour for Amazing Disgrace. I was 16 years old and it was my first show at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC. They played with an infectious intensity that fed the crowd, all of us fans who knew every word to every song. We delighted in the small variations of the live versions, pressed up against the stage as we savored each supremely loud note.

After an encore in which they destroyed their guitars and drum set, we still didn’t have enough. The club turned on its lights and brought up the house music. We didn’t leave. We cheered and chanted. The tech crew packed away the microphones and broke down what was left of the drums. About half of the audience cleared out and left the rest of us begging foolishly for more. Ken stepped back on stage, pleading with us, explaining they just destroyed their equipment and couldn’t play another encore. For some reason, that didn’t seem like a good enough excuse. We stood firm and he ducked backstage.

Moments later, someone brought out a pair of stools, followed by Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow, armed with acoustic guitars. They asked us sit on stage with them. Then, as if knowing exactly what we wanted to hear, they dug deep into their catalog, took requests, and even covered “I Am the Cosmos” and “Surrender”. And then, finally, after essentially giving us two complete shows in one, they exited the stage for the last time.

In the months that followed, I learned all of their songs on my guitar. I experimented with the crazy alternate tunings they used. I connected with someone on the Dear 23 mailing list who sent me a tape of the show, recorded right off the 9:30 Club soundboard. I started to write my own songs. Because of that show, I got more seriously into music than I had been before. I was furious that their talent and on-stage charisma hadn’t brought the Posies the super-stardom so many mediocre artists enjoyed at that time, but secretly I was happy that nobody else in my school listened to them. I felt like I was in a secret club. I became obsessed with finding other relatively unknown and obscure bands. My friends would joke that I carried around a book of CDs that “no one ever heard of.”

After the “Amazing Disgrace” tour, it was a few years before the Posies returned to DC. I saw them at both the the old and new Black Cat on acoustic and full-band tours. I saw Ken Stringfellow open for Juliana Hatfield. I saw Jon Auer on his solo tour. Most recently, at SXSW this year, I saw Jon and Ken, also members of Big Star, perform in the tribute to Alex Chilton mere days after his shocking and unexpected death.

On Wednesday, November 17, the Posies return to the 9:30 Club with Brendon Benson and Aqueduct. That’s a ridiculously cool lineup. It’s going to be a sort of homecoming for me, a return to the spot where my love of music and live performances began half a lifetime ago.

Tickets just went on pre-sale.

It’s true: We’re finally living in the future. With the press of a button, you can instantly transport yourself to a random location anywhere in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, or Australia!

Okay, sure, maybe it’s only virtual teleportation powered by Google’s Street View, but it’s one of those very simple mashups that, once you realize you’ve sunk two hours into playing with it, it becomes your new favorite thing.

Ladies and gentlemen, enjoy Globe Genie, your new web toy for the week.

National Novel Writing Month is right around the corner. I’m not sure what I’m going to write this year, but if I ever feel stuck, I could hit the “Shuffle” button on Globe Genie and send my characters off on an adventure.

Maybe they will need to hide out in a suburb in Mineral Wells, Texas. Maybe they will have to drive along the coastline north of Valencia, Spain hoping to find and rescue a friend who left a distressed voicemail. Maybe the dreary weather in Wales will increase tension among the group. Maybe they’ll encounter someone running from the woods in a desolate part of Southern Finland, someone begging for their help. Maybe they end up at Mother Lode Appliance in Jackson, California, where they find a spectacular deal on a blender.

I need to make sure my whole novel doesn’t take place within sight of the road.

I love the idea of using this site as a writing tool. I might even design a full-fledged writing exercise around it. Keep an eye out for some Street View-inspired flash fiction.

(Screen cap and link via BoingBoing.)

I’ve never heard of this company, and there is no evidence that they are associated with the out-of-business-for-decades Pan Am airline, but Pan Am Brands has resurrected the iconic globe logo for a series of slick-looking travel accessories. I’m particularly fond of the passport cover, but I’m wary of purchasing from a company I’ve never heard of (and has no proven track record online). But an $18 passport cover, especially one that looks this cool, might be worth a try.

Pan Am Passport Cover – via Kempt

As you may or may not be aware, some clever young Interneter took Just Bieber’s “U Smile” and slowed it down 800% to create a 35-minute epic that sounds vaguely reminiscent of Sigur Ros or some more experimental-sounding m83.

So, yeah, it was awesome and I was smitten with the idea. I followed the instructions on Lifehacker and gave Weezer’s “My Name is Jonas” a similar treatment with the freeware app Paul’s Extreme Sound Stretch. (In fact, I used the Mac OS X port.)

Jonas Epic by charmcitygavin

Update: I tried this with a couple Nine Inch Nails songs. They ended up sounding like long, epic, Nine Inch Nails songs. Amazing.

Then a bunch of stupid clouds and haze rolled in and blocked everything, eventually turning into rain. I know because I woke up almost every hour, ran to the window, then went back to bed disappointed yet stupidly hopeful that, if I checked back an hour later, the clouds would move out and reveal a spectacular pre-dawn display.

Well that never happened. In fact, the stupid, jerky clouds are still hiding the sky as I write this, and I’m exhausted from taking a series of one-hour naps. I’m still irrationally hopeful that the weather will clear tonight, despite all weather forecasts to the contrary. The rest of me wants to make other plans and wait for the Orionids in October.

Stupid clouds.

You’ll see the most meteors between midnight and dawn, since that’s the time of day you’ll be staring up through the atmosphere on the leading side of the Earth as it we pass through and burn up bits of comet dust, but there should be a good show all night. If you’ve never stayed up (or woken up early) to watch a meteor shower, you owe yourself.

I hoped to get a glimpse of some meteors this morning, but mother nature decided to bring a line of thunderstorms through the Baltimore area. Hopefully the weather will cooperate tonight and early tomorrow morning. If not, I’ll have to wait for the Orionid meteor shower in October.

I am extremely excited to announce that my proposed session for SXSW Interactive 2011 is now listed on this year’s PanelPicker website. It’s called “Why New Authors Should Think Like Indie Bands”. Here’s the official description:

The publishing world is wrought with uncertainty. Traditional book sales are down, digital publishing is in its infancy, and publishing houses, faced with shrinking budgets, are forced to shy away from publishing novels written by new, untested authors. The rules of the industry are changing. Before approaching agents and publishers, new fiction authors are working to self-publish and grow audiences with social media tools. When they approach a publisher with a new novel and a built-in audience, they take note. On this panel, hear from literary agents and authors describe the way the industry is changing and why it doesn’t mean doom-and-gloom for unknown fiction writers. They’ll share success stories, practical advice, and opinions on the future of publishing.

I really hope that my session makes it through the community voting process, which counts for 30% of the final decision, along with a 30% say of the staff and 40% of the advisory board. If you’re planning on going to SXSW, I’d certainly appreciate it if you include my session amongst those you vote up for next year’s conference. If you’re not planning on attending, I still suggest you check out the PanelPicker and help shape next year’s SXSW Interactive conference. There are some really exciting ideas in there, and I hope you think mine is one of them.

That’s my friend Josh on the left, Tom Green in the middle, and me on the right.

Let’s flash back to 2001. Tom Green’s movie, Freddy Got Fingered, was playing in theaters. Josh and I, both students at Salisbury University at the time, drove to the mall to see the movie on opening night. Besides for me and Josh, there was only one other person in the theater. That other person, clearly not someone with the capacity to appreciate high art, walked out midway through.

Josh and I loved it. In fact, we still love it. The movie is absurd, surreal, sometimes gross (yet never scatological, which is why I can call it high-brow), and very hilarious. But clearly, it’s not for everyone. Here is Roger Ebert’s reflection on Freddy in his review for Stealing Harvard (which is a criminally underrated movie):

Seeing Tom Green reminded me, as how could it not, of his movie Freddy Got Fingered (2001), which was so poorly received by the film critics that it received only one lonely, apologetic positive review on the Tomatometer. I gave it—let’s see—zero stars. Bad movie, especially the scene where Green was whirling the newborn infant around his head by its umbilical cord.But the thing is, I remember Freddy Got Fingered more than a year later. I refer to it sometimes. It is a milestone. And for all its sins, it was at least an ambitious movie, a go-for-broke attempt to accomplish something. It failed, but it has not left me convinced that Tom Green doesn’t have good work in him. Anyone with his nerve and total lack of taste is sooner or later going to make a movie worth seeing.

So, hearing that Tom Green was on a world-wide comedy tour, we drove down to the DC Improv to see him perform. We had no idea what kind of a crowd would show up for him, but we were delighted to discover that the place was packed with kindred spirits. People were electrified for Tom Green, and his stand-up act was awesome. He told some stories from his childhood, the MTV days, the five months in which he was married to Drew Barrymore.

After the show, he took time to sign autographs, take pictures, and chat with fans until everyone had left. He couldn’t have been a warmer, friendlier guy.

I don’t want to spoil his act, so I highly recommend you seek him out if he’s coming to your area. If you can’t see him live, word is that there will be a tour DVD next year.

Speaking of next year, Tom Green has revealed plans to release a director’s cut of Freddy Got Fingered in honor of the movie’s tenth anniversary. Yes, please!

First, the tough facts. As of last night’s loss to the White Sox, the Orioles’ record is 36-74, which puts them at a win percentage of .327. That’s still the worst record in all of Major League Baseball. The team is 32.5 games back, so even if they won every single game for the rest of the season, they still wouldn’t stand a chance at getting into the playoffs. So, the season is basically over with a little under two months’ worth of games to go.

It’s been a depressing season for Orioles fans. Not only had I written off the team, but I was so disgusted with their on-field display and their poor management I stopped following baseball altogether. If it hadn’t been for the World Cup, I would have stopped following all sports. (I haven’t ruled that out. I’m still not sure the constant heartbreak is worth it.)

But there is a glimmer of light for the future of the Orioles, but it’s brief, faint, and tenuous. Last week, under the new management of Buck Showalter, they swept the Angels and, for the first time in a long while, were able to celebrate a series of wins. They had some great momentum, and we saw something we hadn’t seen the Orioles do for a long time: They worked as a team, not just as a group of individuals looking to up their personal stats.

But, like all good things that happen to the team, the celebration was short-lived. Maybe it was a fluke. Maybe it was the excitement of having a new manager that kick-started them into a string of wins. Maybe it was because the Angels are a middle-of-the-pack team.

Last night, the Birds lost 4-2 in the first game of a series with the White Sox. Despite the fact that the team seems to perform terribly on Sundays, I’m heading to the game this afternoon, possibly fueled by that foolish optimism that’s kept me a fan my entire life. Some call it “Orioles magic”. But it’s starting to feel a lot like an abusive relationship. I’m going back to the team because this time they’ll be different! They’ve shown me how much they’ve changed! They won’t let me down anymore. They won’t break my heart.

I don’t know if I’ve completely given up on the team or not. Can I be accused of being a fair-weather fan even though I’ve suffered through 15 years of disappointment? Will it be worth it to come back next year for another season? One thing’s for sure: I’m not buying a Sunday ticket plan again.

I guess I’ll see how things go this afternoon. Lets go O’s. Sigh.

After a nice six-month experiment with Squarespace, I’ve decided to switch back to WordPress. Squarespace was reliable and easy to set up, but I found I missed some of the plugins available on WP. Plus, the Squarespace post editor was a little flaky, and the iPhone app crashes every time I use it.

For someone with basic needs, Squarespace is probably a great solution, but it just isn’t a good fit for me.

So, I’m switching back to WordPress, which has proved to be a bit more difficult than I thought. I haven’t found an easy way to export my last few years’ worth of posts without mangling them, so I’ve decided to press on with the new WordPress-based site while I try to extract the archives behind the scenes.

Yes, I know this has turned into a super-geeky post, but I thought I’d give you guys an update and let you know that I haven’t fallen off the face of the Earth!

Update: I figured out how to export Squarespace entries to WordPress. It’s hardly an elegant solution, but it seemed to get my text over.

1. From the front page of my Squarespace blog, I switched to “Structure Editing” mode, then clicked on the “configure this page” above my most recent post.
2. A pop-up window appears on the right-hand side. Under the “Configuration” tab, I scrolled all the way down to the bottom to “Data Export”. As it explains, “Squarespace can export your blog to Movable Type compatible format if you’d like to move to another system.” I clicked on “Export Blog Data” and confirmed the export.
3. From WordPress, I went to “Import” under “Tools” and went through the import process as if I was migrating from a Movable Type blog. I created a new user to help keep my imported posts organized. All of my Squarespace entries seemed to move over, except without my tags.

So, unless I feel like going though all of my old posts, the archive will remain un-tagged, which is kind of a bummer. Next, I need to figure out how to download my Squarespace storage folder and migrate the images over to WordPress. However, there doesn’t seem to be an obvious way to do that.

Update 2: In the Squarespace manual, there is no mention of a way to export the “Storage” folder, where all my photos and post images live. According to several forum posts, this kind of bulk download or export is impossible. How frustrating, especially for a company that sells itself as being super-easy to import and export posts between WordPress. Looks like I’ll have to go image-by-image, download each file individually, then upload everything to my WordPress site. What a pain.

I sent an email to Squarespace to ask them if there’s a way to do it. Maybe I’m just missing something.

Update 3: Just got it confirmed by Squarespace.

Hi there,
There’s no setting to export all your file storage content — images in gallery pages and files in file storage need to be downloaded manually, sorry about this.