Tue 24 Apr 2007
If you haven’t already, you should check out the very sincere, extremely wizardly diaries of 30 year old man-boy and Dungeon Master, Babycakes. Read ‘em all at creator Brad Neely’s page at SuperDeluxe.com, including my favorite, I am Babycakes Diary #3. Check out the Professor Brothers while you are at it. Love that Kenny Winker.
Tue 20 Feb 2007
The folks down at Chop Suey Books are always coming up with new ways of bringing a little hippy stink to Richmond. First it was puppet shows. Then the Bizarre Market. Now it is the Mo’book Mo’bike Mobile,
a traveling bookmobile-cum-bike repair shop. The best thing about the mo’book mo’bike mobile, though–they not only give away the books, but the bike repairs are free, too:
Books on Wheels is dedicated to providing free books and bike parts/bike repair to Richmond and beyond. The organization distributes books through a mobile book and bicycle repair bus that travels to communities and certain community events to provide services free of charge to people who may lack transportation or resources to obtain such products or information. This organization is able to distribute books and bike parts to a variety of communities, though there is a focus providing such resources to economically disadvantaged communities. By providing books and bikes we strive expand our community’s access to information and transportation. Books onWheels has bi-monthly events within the city of Richmond and makes sporadic trips to other cities.
Tue 6 Feb 2007
Last week I linked to a 3 way debate going on about Second Life between Henry Jenkins, Clay Shirky and Beth Coleman. The online debate concludes with each of the authors (well, almost) posting their follow-up responses to their respective blogs. You will find Henry’s here; Beth’s here. I will link to Clay’s when it is posted.
Update: Clay has posted his response. you’ll find it here.
Fri 12 Jan 2007
I am in a band. It is a cover band, of sorts. Not your usual cover band. We play once every 2 years (more or less). We cover 2 bands each time. One band is a 70s, prog-rock/AOR band. The second band is a new wave or punk band. The name of our band is The Miserable Space Cowboys. We have been together (with roatating membership) since around 1988.
Here is a loose history of the MSC incarnations:
1988: Steve Miller & The Smiths
1990: ELO & Joy Division
1995: Queen & The Jesus and Mary Chain
2000: Lynyrd Skynyrd & Devo
2002: Bob Seger & Depeche Mode
2004: Foreigner & Echo & the Bunneymen
2006: Styx & Buzzcocks
We played the Styx/Buzzcocks show in April 2006 at Out of Bounds Sport’s bar in Richmond, VA. You missed a “good” show. Seriously, though. The Buzzcocks were (are) freakin‘ awesome. And admit it: you love Styx more than any of that indie, cerebral shit they call music on Pitchfork. C’mon, Antony & the Johnsons? Get real.
For a taste of the MSC sweetness, take a peek at a YouTube video of the opener from our last show. It was shot by Richmond videographer & ex-cop Jesse Peters.
[kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/sCxo1ZN6JlA” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]
I am hoping that for our next show we engage the double genius of Supertramp & The Cure. I used to listen to Supertramp on my paper route when I was a kid. Along with Pink Floyd, The Police, Journey (ouch), REO Speedwagon (oof), Yes, Peter Gabriel and Blue Oyster Cult. I’d pop the ol’ BASF High Metal cassette tape into the battery-powered Hitachi radio I bought at Circuit City, use the radio to weigh down the papers in my front basket, and crank it up to 11, my dog Clancy a counterweight in the back basket. Those were the days. I could fold, band, and land a paper with precision.
Needless to say, there is a soft spot in my heart for a smaltzy, piano-driven S’tramp song. I genuinely like The Cure, although I was only a fan of Head on the Door and the stuff that preceded it.
Sun 24 Dec 2006
I turned 40 years old on Friday and Elaine and I celebrated the beginning of my long decline with pie, duckpin bowling and lots of friends.
Elaine reserved a few lanes at Plaza Bowl and invited about 30 or so friends (and their children). Plaza Bowl is located about a mile from our house and is one of the few duckpin alleys left in USA. The place is endearingly shabby. Everything is a bit dingy, damaged and/or warped. The place has never been automated, or even upgraded. There are separate buttons, like little doorbells set into the wooden ball return rails, that clear and reset the duckpins, and there is always the possibility that at some point during your game the pins will get hung up and bring the game to a halt. Then you shout over to the owner, Russell, who walks to the back, fiddles with something, and suddenly, several balls shoot down the return and your pins are once again reset. The place has closed several times, but always seems to find a way to re-open. I fear it is only a matter of time.
Some notable gifts I received: a container of Clubman Talc (there must be some mysterious 40+ use of this I have yet to figure out–chafing? golfing?); epsom salts (a joke, I know, but they have already come in handy); George Michael’s greatest hits (in the spirit of making lemonade from lemons, it does have Father Figure, Freedom, I Want Your Sex and Faith, songs I can now admit to liking now that I am old and uncool); and a few copies of Found magazine.
I just read how 60 is the “new 40.” So does that make 40 the new 20?
Sat 9 Dec 2006
Hillary Clinton and Joe “Emperor Palpatine” Lieberman distract from the real first person shooter going on in Iraq to wage war against simulated violence in video games. From Game Politics, a blog about the intersection of video games and the political world:
There will be major news on Capitol Hill tomorrow as two long time critics of the video game industry partner with the ESRB for a public service announcement campaign designed to promote ratings awareness.
In a press conference scheduled for 3:00 P.M., Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) will appear with ESA president Doug Lowenstein and ESRB president Patricia Vance to announce the launch of a nationwide television campaign to promote awareness of video game ratings.
Wed 6 Dec 2006
Jaman is a new site/service that has plans to deliver HD-quality films
to subscribers. Ho hum, right? Like, even my mom is planning to offer high-quality movie downloads to subscribers. Jaman, though, is going for an interesting niche market: world cinema. We know what that means: Bollywood!
According to Jaman’s website
Jaman is a global online community for people passionate about world cinema - a place to discover, enjoy and connect with cinephiles. We provide a secure way for filmmakers to distribute films with unmatched cinematic fidelity over broadband.
Unmatched cinematic fidelity, huh? Just what is missing from those syrupy, tragicomic Bollywood movies.
Wed 29 Nov 2006
Doctoral student, Instructional Technology
Curry School of Education
University of Virginia
(804) 840-5357
Online Enrollment Coordinator
Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center
Virginia Commonwealth Universtiy
(804) 828-7537
web: http:richardsebastian.com
email: sebastian [at] virginia [dot] edu
SL: Lamancha Undertone
Skype: seethruskeleton
Yahoo IM: seethruskeleton
Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/edlf707/
Wed 29 Nov 2006
ARGs
Instructional Technology Organizations
Games (video & otherwise)
News
All Things Richmond
Tue 28 Nov 2006
I am currently a doctoral student in the Instructional Technology program at the University of Virginia in the process of writing my dissertation. In my professional life, I manage a distance learning program for adult learners at the Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.
My academic interests include educational gaming, pervasive gaming, alternate reality learning games and virtual learning environments. I am currently exploring using cell-phones to support ABE online learners and researching the use of alternate reality learning games for informal learning.
I am also very interested and engaged in the educational applications of digital media technologies and social communication tools, such digital video, podcasting, blogging, and vlogging.
I am from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, home to Krispy-Kreme doughnuts, Ben Folds and R.J. Reynolds. So, in a way doughnuts, indie rock and tobacco have shaped my life. When I was 9 years old, my family briefly located to St. Michaels, Maryland where James Michener was toiling away on his tome, Chesapeake, just across the bay from us. Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld are frequent visitors these days. After only 9 or 10 months there, we moved again–this time to Richmond, Virginia, the city I have called home (more or less) ever since.
I attended Virginia Tech for a year after high school, before transferring to Virginia Commonwealth University, where I earned a degree in English literature. I relocated to Portland, Oregon for 5 years where I worked for Pacific Crest Outward Bound School, taught ESOL in the evenings, and learned to rock climb. Returning to Richmond, I began my adult education career in earnest at Philip Morris, USA (they really did post signs around the factory that said Please enjoy smoking). In 2003, I entered graduate school to earn my MEd in Instructional Technology. I enjoyed it so much that during my second year I applied to the PhD program. After finishing my coursework at UVA, I accepted a job at VCU that was ideally suited to background–delivering web-based learning to adult learners. I hope to complete my degree in 2007.