Crasymaker

If you live near here, you should definitely try to make it to George’s tonight to see The American Princes. They are from Little Rock and they recently got signed to Yep Roc Records. Their newest album, Less and Less is so good that I think I caught myself making out with it one night after a few too many beers.

Anyway, they’re one of the best bands you’ll see live and you’re guaranteed to become a fan. Head over to their MySpace site and check out a few tunes if you wanna. Brighter Later is also playing and they are from Fayetteville so come on out and show some Arkansas love. OK?

Jeffrey Zeldman in his most recent blog post tells a story that when I read it, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Apparently his Flickr Pro Account expired a few days ago and without any notice whatsoever, Flickr removed all but the most recent photos he’d uploaded, comments and all.

I won’t even attempt to explain why this is so out of character for Flickr since Jeffrey does a much better job but I will say this: If you have a Flickr Pro Account, you’d better tattoo the expiration date on your arm unless you don’t mind the thought of waking up one day to find out that an entire year of your photographic life has been erased without notice.

UPDATE - After some research, I found out that Flickr does not, in fact, delete any of your photos if your Pro Account expires. Instead, they just become hidden. Apparently, when you upgrade again, all of your photos and sets will be waiting for you. Phew…

After reading Tim’s latest post on Heavy Metal Mouth I hurried over to the Blackpool Lights’ site to see if I could hear some music from the new album when BAMM outta nowhere comes the most hideous of all fonts. That’s right folks, Comic Sans has somehow invaded this otherwise beautiful site. Not even a children’s themed webpage can get away with such an atrocity, ya’ll. Hopefully I can put this behind me and head back over there sometime soon to listen to some tunes. Until then, I might need a while to recover.

(Yes, I am sort of joking…not much, though.)

Tim Campbell started a music/mp3 blog called Heavy Metal Mouth that you should check out on a daily basis. Get your fill of new music and music news (hey, that’s a tongue twister!) each and every day.

I know what you’re thinking: “But I already check Pitchfork every day. What could this guy possibly know that Pitchfork hasn’t already covered?” I’ve got four words for you: White Whale pre-order, beyotch. (Is that four words or five? Does the hypen count? Whatever.)

I woke up this morning and clicked on the videos section after my Saturday morning coffe only to discover a brand new video sitting in there. I’m not too sure where it came from or how it got there. It’s got some freaky dude talking to a little Buddha statue about his head hurting or something. This one’s weird (unlike the others which are completely normal) so be warned.

Thanks to the illustrious Eric Hobbs, I can now enjoy the luxury of sitting approximately 30 inches higher than before on my front porch. We still need to add stairs, thicken the columns, add rails and stain it but boy am I in love with it already. We also took the opporunity to also install a brand new door to let in more light while we were at it so needless to say, I am pretty excited. You can see a few pictures on my Flickr page if you wanna.

Eric is one of the most talented Dudes I’ve ever known so if you need anything at all in the way of renovation, construction, remodeling, welding, etc. you owe it to yourself to have Eric do it because it will be done quickly and it will be done right. If only he knew how to repair/remodel my eye…

Dear Cox Communications,

After many years of marriage to you and your services, I think I might want a divorce or at least a partial separation. I appreciate all of the information that you have brought me via my television set and my (too) many computers, however, the level of service that you have been providing over the last year is so low that I have been “maybe sort of looking” for another provider.

Our problems first began when my internet service was disrupted last year. I called you up and you told me not to worry and that all I needed to do was turn off my router and wait a few minutes before turning it back on. Oh how I was happy when this solved my problem. A week later when it happened again, I almost called you before remembering your wise advice to turn off my router and turn it back on. It worked. Later that same day when it happened again, I turned off my router and turned it back on. It worked. The next week when it happened again, I turned off my router and turned it back on. It worked. The fifth time it happened that day I turned off my router and turned it back on. It worked.

For some reason, I kept up this ridiculous habit for almost a year until last week when I realized that we shouldn’t have to live this way. We both deserve to be happy and this silly game of turning off my router and turning it back on isn’t doing either of us any good. I called you up and after you told me to turn off my router and turn it back on again I gently put my hand over your mouth and said, “Please don’t ask me to turn off my router and turn it back on again. I’ve been doing that 5 or 6 times a day for nearly a year and this has got to stop.”

I was pleasantly surprised when you completely understood my pain and offered to send a technician out to my house. It was as if you actually understood that turning off a router and turning it back on over and over and over again is no way to live. However, after almost 3 hours of service work on my cable lines, I began to have the same problem almost immediately upon the departure of the technicians (the first guy couldn’t do anything and had to call in for backup) even though they assured me that the problem was now fixed.

After four rounds of turning the router off and then turning it back on again yesterday I was starting to feel like we might should have a serious talk when you got home (when my internet came back up so I could look up your phone number). While waiting, I discovered that upon pressing “Guide” on my DVR remote, instead of bringing up the program guide, every single cell for every hour and every day displayed the words “No Data”. Not only does this mean that I cannot see what is coming on television (a key feature of a cable box) but I also cannot program my DVR to record anything because there is “No Data” for me to choose from. This means that my DVR is completely worthless.

As you know, I called you up and after giving me the “turn off the router and turn it back on again” speech I nearly lost it. I demanded that a technician come to the house and that someone tell me how to fix my DVR. You said you’d send a technician this Friday and that holding down the “Guide” button on the DVR until it displayed “READ” would surely solve my problem and that if it didn’t then try it again until it’s fixed. Well, it never worked. I tried it four times and here we are twelve hours later with “No Data.”

I’ve had enough my dear “friend in the digital age.” With the help of my loyal readers, I hope to find an alternate solution. Someone who actually cares about me and my cable/internet needs. Someone who will actually provide me with the services that I pay for on a monthly basis. Someone who needs me. Someone who wants me. Someone who loves me…

Sincerely,
Todd

Ever since I got hit in the eye, I have been doing all kinds of dumb stuff. Sarah thinks it’s because I haven’t been sleeping well since my accident but I think I might have actually lost some of my brain cells.

It’s just not like me to be clumsy all the time. For example, yesterday after watching a movie I rented at Hastings, I promptly inserted it into a Netflix envelope and dropped it in the mail. Apparently the odds are 50/50 that Netflix will notice my error and send me back the DVD. Shit.

UPDATE - Holy crap. I feel like I probably shouldn’t say exactly what the nice guy at Hastings did to resolve this problem but I will say this:

Sincerely,
Todd

I’ve been getting a lot of requests for new videos and podcasts lately so I figure it’s time to deliver. This newest edition to the Crasymaker video library is called “Lesson #1″ and it’s about as tough as videos get these days. There’s a sword, a jean jacket, a pre-fab “flamez” do-rag and about a dozen sweet martial arts-style maneuvers so get ready.

Check it out in the videos section and sorry for taking so long in getting this one uploaded.

…but I still managed to put on two different shoes before coming in to work. Fortunately, as I made my way around the office showing people (before they saw it themselves and made fun of me), nobody could really tell until I literally pointed it out so it must not be that noticeable. Nevertheless, I still feel pretty dumb.

It could be worse, though. One guy I work with said, “That’s nothing. One time I went in to work with a bad hangover and realized I had on one boot and one tennis shoe.” Yeah, that’s a little worse.

In case you’re the nosy type, I found a nifty plug-in which shows what Netflix DVDs I currently have at home. You’ll find it in the sidebar to the left underneath the “Recent flickr Photos” section. Unfortunately, Netflix doesn’t have a small image for Deadwood Season 2 yet so for now, all you’re gonna see is that lame “Image Not Available” graphic until I get something else at home…which might be a while because I’m only on disc 2 and there are at least 5 or six. Whatever. Deal with it.