Microchronograph!

In this period of intense travel, updates are few & far between. But dear readers I have music to present, and music say so much more than words themselves.

Microchrograph, is the latest Sick Ridiculous & the Sick Ridiculous tune to hit the market. Tom summarized it pretty well on his blog, but basically it's about academic dishonesty. You should definitely give it a listen, download it freely, and share it with your bros & lady friends.

Berlinale

I am lucky enough to be in Berlin during the Berlinale, the annual film festival. It turns out to be a pretty big deal, and while I was initially skeptical, I have bought into the whole thing, and we've bought tickets to see five different movies. So far, I've just seen two, but they were both pretty good:

• Summer Wars is an anime about a boy who is paid to be the popular girl's boyfriend during a family reunion. During this reunion, hackers compromise the all-encompassing Google-like network called Oz, and wreck havoc. The nerdy main character has to rescue the world. I thought this movie was pretty good. I guess I like anime a lot more when it's not in the fantasy genre, my least favorite genre. Of course it contains its moments that are cringe-inducing in their cutsiness, but I think that's par for the course. Best part? The artificial intelligence behind the virus came out of "a Pittsburgh robotics laboratory." Wonder where that could be?!
• Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll was a biopic about Ian Dury, the singer/songwriter for some punk/new wave bands like The Blockheads. Actually I thought I was going to see a documentary, but that idea was dispelled about fifteen seconds into the movie. Also, I didn't know anything about Ian Dury. I'd maybe heard the song Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll once or twice in my life. But still, it turned out to be a pretty good movie. Ian had polio as a child, so a lot of the movie is kind of about his struggles as a kid, and the parallel struggles of his son's life, since he, you know, has a father who is largely absent. Best part? This movie contains the actors from The Office (U.K.) who play Gareth Keenan and Chris Finch!

All that, and three more movies to see by Sunday. I'm pretty pumped. The only funny thing is that the Berlinale has some of the worst lines I have ever seen in my life. They are both long and completely disorganized. Like any true American, I love and respect lines. I guess when the line philosophies of dozens of nations come together in one city, it's pretty much a recipe for disaster. People love complaining about roped-off lines and how they make you feel like cattle, but at least you know where you stand, to use a pun.

Also, new Sick Ridiculous song Duckles Chuckles. Please check it out!

Sick Cafe

newyear2009-9
Originally uploaded by sick ridiculous.

Hey folks. I am alive!

After a much enjoyed, if not deserved, winter break in New Orleans and Pittsburgh, I am back to a somewhat normal life. This means I am coming in to school every day. Most people are here yet, though, so it's kind of boring.

Anywho, just before the New Year (actually New Year's Eve-Eve) Sick Ridiculous and the Sick Ridiculous played a show at Club Cafe, right here in Pittsburgh. If you've never been, Club Cafe is a great venue that hosts a number of smallish national acts, usually of the folk/singer-songwriter variety. I have seen a bunch of good bands there, and the sound is great. We had a awesome time opening for our friends in Slingshot Genius. We even busted out a soon-to-be-favorite, "Duckles Chuckles," which we wrote when our friends Stephen & Laura moved to Washington D.C.

Please enjoy some pictures by clicking though. Our friend Shafeeq also took some pro-style pictures. Thanks bro!

Also, peep this incredible poster that Tom made for the show.

Last Night's Concert

Man, it's been a busy freaking week! I'll begin at the end: Last night was the third club gig for Sick Ridiculous and the Sick Ridiculous, and our second at the Smiling Moose. There were good times all around. First off, gotta give props to those of you who made it out. We really appreciate it, and we don't take any of our fans for granted! Of course, we also don't expect all of our fans to come to every single show! But hopefully those who were there had a good time.

We had a couple surprises in store. First, we played with an electric guitar for the first time every. Tom & I passed the electric guitar back & forth for max rock, although some songs we stilled played with two acoustic guitars... Actually my guitar gets out of tune really easily because of my dumb Bigsby Tailpiece. (I am pretty sure I have complained about this before.) So there were a couple times where it went out of tune during a song, but for the most part it was all good. We also dressed up in a band uniform: White shirts, black ties and black pants. Some lady at the bar asked us where we worked. We told her, "we work in a band."

The other bands on balance were pretty good, but way too loud. My ears have been messed up all day today. But seriously, this band Stone Cold Killer is really great & hilarious. They are sort of like a new 70s-style metal band. You could probably compare them to Eagles of Death Metal, or maybe the Supersuckers. Definitely check them out.

Sick Ridiculous Closes Out Rocktober

Sick Ridiculous and the Sick Ridiculous has a show coming up next Thursday! It'll be our first club gig in quite a while, so you should definitely come check it out. We have a few surprises up our sleeves. Also, the headlining band will be Sound of Urchin (on their Rocktober Tour), a band that has been on the Late Late Show and that has opened up for Tenacious D. So, we'll be in good company. Here's the facts JACK:

When: Next Thursday, October 29th (Wear your Halloween costumes)
Where: Smiling Moose on the South Side (1306 E. Carson) This show is upstairs. If you saw us there last time, this is different.
How Much Bling: 9USD
With Whom: After the Fall, Stone Cold Killer and Sound of Urchin (We will go first)
At what time: Web site says 7:30

Lausanne... Jealous?

Last night Sick Ridiculous and the Sick Ridiculous recorded a hot new track. This one's called, "Lausanne... Jealous?" It's more custom party music from Donna's PhD defense party, and it's mainly an homage to her and her work in the field of OOP research. Also, she's moving to Switzerland, hence the title and the 100+ of Swiss references.

Download this track free now, like immediately.

Also, by this point we have almost ten custom party songs! I'd like to remind you to check them all out, and that all our songs can be downloaded from Last.fm and elsewhere.

More Sick Hits! Trip to Italy

This is going to be a short entry, because I am just to about to go to a group meeting, and my parents are in town, so I'm running around like a crazy person. But I need to make you aware of some important facts!

Number 1! Sick Ridiculous and the Sick Ridiculous have released two new mega-hits! You may have already heard over on Tom's blog-o-sphere, but have recorded two recently custom party songs (because, as you know, we write a new song for every party where we play!). The first song, Come With Me Iff You Want to Live, is about how in the future, man is at war with robots, and how a universal health care plan is man's last line of defense. We wrote it for a party at Gabe's house. The next song, Hurricane Dan (2006), is about a Hurricane. Specifically Hurricane Daniel, which hit Hawaii. We wrote it for Katrina's graduation party. It rocks, if I do say so myself!

Also, I am leaving for Italy on Saturday. I am super jazzed. I am going to Genoa for a conference (ECOOP, where I have a workshop paper, and another paper that I co-authored). Should be a blast. I am also going to travel around just a little bit after the conference is over, so wish me fun. I'll tell you all about it when I get back!

Art All Morning

15
Originally uploaded by Sgt. Pepperedjane.

Just in case that you doubt we played Art All Night at 10:30am, now there are pictures to prove it. Thanks!

Hectic, Fun Weekend

Oh man, this weekend was really busy, but really fun. Those of you around Pittsburgh know that the weather was unbearably nice, and everyone was outside with their dogs and gardens and iced coffees and whathaveyous.

Friday night I joined some Pitt students who were celebrating the end of their semester. Thanks to the weather, a normal party turned into a porch party, which was quite a bit of fun. Only problem? I didn't get home until like two, even though...

The next morning I woke up at 9 or so for the 11am Urban Hike. It was the first one of the season! We were in the Mt. Oliver/Allentown area. That's sort of in between the south side slopes and Mt. Washington. It was really nice mostly due to the weather, but there was a good crowd, a couple people brought their dogs, and we even discovered a new park, Grandview Park, with great elevated views of downtown.

Than night, a Sick Ridiculous concert! We played at a party for our friend Cortney's birthday. The sound was really good for a party, and the fact that we had an extremely audience resulted in a large amount of fun being had by me and Tom. Thanks to those of you who were there. We wrote a new song about universal heath care and time traveling robots called, "Come with me if you want to live."

Today, we had another Sick Ridiculous show, this time at Lawrenceville's Art All Night. While the crowd wasn't quite what I heard it was the night before, it was surprisingly good for 10:30am. I did think our playing suffered a bit. I think we need more warmup or something, but it took about 15 minutes before we were clicking and sounding decent. Thanks DOUBLE if you made it out this am.

Then, lunch of Dim Sum, afternoon backyard sitting and dinner at the Grand Concourse in Station Square. I will go pass out now!

Waffleweb

Check out the Waffle Shop web site right now to see the cool dudes who are on the front. Then go to the "About" section to see yourself (at least if you went to the show). 

Waffle Shop Pictures

The Dance.
Originally uploaded by drxiv.

Check out some pictures from the Waffle Shop Show! Someone who works there took some (that's drxiv) and Tom took some too.

Update:
Hey! Turns out drxiv doesn't actually work at the Waffle Shop, but is rather a CMU grad student just like me! Still, thanks!

Waffle Shop! Waffle Shop!

Last night's show at the Waffle Shop went really well! Thanks to those of you who made it out, we hope you had a great time. And as always, no guilt to those of you who didn't make it. Our bylaws explicitly prohibit the guilt-tripping of our own friends!

Technically, the show went okay. We thought it sounded pretty good, and definitely better now that Tom has a new guitar with a built-in pickup. However nothing beats professionally managed sound, like that that we received at the Lava Lounge. When we're doing the sound ourselves, it kind of hard to tell about the overall volume, mix, etc.

But fun-wise, the show was great. I think the Waffle Shop is a great place to play, we got interviewed, we got to debut our own custom waffle, Twix Ridiculous and the Sick Bisquik-ulous, a waffle with baked-in Twix candy bars, and there was a great turn-out. I think this may have been the most people they ever had at the Waffle Shop, based on the way that the people working there were taking pictures. Actually, that would make plenty of sense since normally people won't come in if all the tables are occupied (they were) but they will come in if there is a band playing, even if there is no more available room (they did)!

Pretty soon we should have some pictures up, and a little bit later we may even have a link to our interview. You see the Waffle Shop is some kind of reality TV show on the Internet, and as part of our performance there was a bandatory interview. WAFFLE SHOP!

You Want a Waffle With That?

 Let's say this weekend you're walking around East Liberty, minding your own business when all of a sudden you realize, "Man, I am so hungry right now. I sure could use some sugar and startch!" And let's say that you also happen to like music of a, let's say, Business Casual variety. Well it would be to your advantage to walk into the Waffle Shop at 11:15 for a Sick Ridiculous & the Sick Ridiculous show, wherein you will also be served waffles by the friendly patrons.

It's Saturday night, we are the only band, and it's free, save for the money you spend on a waffle. But considering the one time I went there I spent like two bucks on a waffle and another dollar on my hot chocolate, I think you will leave satisfied. 

Special things: We may have a custom waffle. We will have a new song.

Tomorrow Sick Ridiculous plays the Lava Lounge

Don't forget (if you ever knew in the first place) that tomorrow, Sick Ridiculous and the Sick Ridiculous will be playing at the Lava Lounge which is on the south side. It should be rad. Here's the full recap, and more details can be found here, here and here.

Date: Thursday March 19th 2009
Sick Ridiculous, Big Hurry and the Central Plains (In that order)

Doors: 9pm
Sick Ridicuous: 10pm
Cost: Less than or equal to 5USD
Locale: The Lava Lounge, 2204 East Carson

Number 1 CS Party School Among Top 4 PhD Programs

Last night Sick Ridiculous and the Sick Ridiculous played a party; the CS CMU Open House Weekend After-Party. The party was great. There were tons of people. And while our set started off a bit rocky, eventually we got it together and made something good happen. This included our final, and newest song, OPENHO~1.MID, a ode to Open House Weekend. I encourage you to go out right now and download it for free at the following uniform resource location: 

http://www.last.fm/music/Sick+Ridiculous+and+The+Sick+Ridiculous/Custom+Party+Music/OPENHO~1.MID

To those of you who showed up and cheered us on, thanks!

Pictures from Last Night

Sick Ridiculous and the Sick Ridiculous
Originally uploaded by sick ridiculous.

There are some great pictures from last night's gig, thanks to Tom, Tom's Camera and Brendan (who was taking pictures while we played). Click on this picture and it will take you to the whole roll. They look pretty great!

We Played a Single Show, and We Rocked Them All

Success! Our show went pretty well last night.

I really want to thank any of you guys who came out, especially people that came but that I didn't really get a chance to talk to because I was being a big shot rock n' roll jerk. We didn't end up going on until like ten so it was great that so many people showed up. More people to talk to, and (I hope) people weren't quite as bored waiting as they might have been.

We also made a little bit of money, which was a total surprise to us. But don't worry. At SR&SR we like to spread the wealth, and we have a plan for reinvesting every penny we made back into our fans. We're keeping it a secret for now, but it's going to be great!

Concerting

Just one last reminder: If you're making weekend plans, you might want to include Satuday night at the Smiling Moose, on Carson Street. Sick Ridiculous is in fact having their first gig.  

Last night Tom and I did a little bit of flyering. It was really cold, so I can't say that it was extremely fun, but considering that it was only three days before our gig and we hadn't really put up any flyers at all, we felt we had to do it. Big props to places like the Beehive and Starbucks who actually let you put up posters. I was actually a little nervous while doing this because of the time in college when Rand and I got busted by a cop for putting up flyers.

There's also been a last minute change to the line-up. The band Olympus Mons will no longer be playing with us on Saturday, and instead we'll be joined by Pittsburgh's own Big Hurry. This is actually pretty rad since I have seen Big Hurry now like two or three times and enjoyed it. They are like some indie disco rock type of music. Bummer about Olympus Mons though. Their music sounds pretty rad.

 

 

Our First Music Video

It takes a special band to make their first video before their first gig. We are just such a band.

This weekend, instead of our normal practice, Tom decided we should record our brand new song "Is it live or is it Maxwell House," and then make a video out of it using his sweet new camera. It is here:

http://vimeo.com/2874624?pg=embed&sec=2874624

You really should check it out. Not only are we pretty proud of the song, but the video is somewhat humorous and the quality amazing, due to Tom's swank new camera. Yes, we've got HD.

Also, Steelers won so that's like a double-dose of sweet.