Travel

Two and a half years ago, I came away from Kinference 2023 disappointed that more of my peers weren’t as put off as I was by the current state of tech’s dominant preoccupations. My experience wasn’t much different this time, except that in the intervening years, Web3 enthusiasm has fashionably given way to AI enthusiasm. This isn’t to say all the speakers were doing PR for LLMs, and among those intermittently expressing guarded misgivings, Frank… See more →

As I mentioned in my 2022 year in review, I’ve developed a new habit over the past year as part of my creative practice—something I call a “field day.” Ideally at least twice a month or so, I’ll get out of the house for the day and absorb things in the outside world. It most often takes the form of visiting museums, galleries, and cinemas, but virtually any activity qualifies, as long as I’m out… See more →

I made my annual voyage north this past weekend for the Ottawa International Animation Festival. Forsaking any notion of downtime, I made it to 12 screenings in the space of 48 hours this year. Below are my notes on each of the 56 films in the short film competition, as well as four of the features in competition, and a handful of other screenings. Links are provided to films and trailers when available, with embeds… See more →

I hadn’t planned to publish this post since I failed to document this fest as thoroughly as the previous one, but I decided not to waste the bits I did document, so here they are.

Short Film Competition

The first short film competition screening was probably the least kid-friendly screening at the festival, and sure enough, a family with kids was front and center in the theater. Saturday morning cartoons, right? Literally two seconds in,… See more →

Leah and I recently returned from a great week in Brighton, England. The impetus for the trip was Ampersand, a one-day typography conference, but since neither Leah nor I had been to the UK before, it made sense to tack on another several days for a vacation.

We rented a decent Airbnb close to the beach near the indistinct border between Brighton and Hove. The first thing I did upon arriving at around 2 a.m.… See more →

I’m in England (for the first time!) where I’ve just attended Clearleft’s outstanding Ampersand conference in Brighton. I was a little concerned that the combination of jet lag and the (otherwise excellent) venue’s warm temperature would make it hard for me to focus, but the lineup of speakers was more than engaging enough to overcome those obstacles. The most discussed topic of the day was, unsurprisingly, variable fonts, support for which has begun… See more →

I’ve just returned from my ninth Ottawa International Animation Festival since 1998, and my first since 2010. I only got a weekend pass this time, rather than doing the full five days, but I still managed to cram in 10 screenings. This is also the first time I’ve attended the fest by myself, which enabled me to document it in greater detail than I have in the past. What follows are my notes on nearly… See more →

It is an election year, and as our president and other political incumbents across the country dust off their dirtiest tricks to retain their posts, so too do our returning regional air guitar champions. Of our first six cities this year, only Portland and Boston are sending new blood to the finals, and neither of their winners from last year returned to defend their titles. So as we pulled up to Washington, DC’s legendary 9:30… See more →

Boston’s air guitar faithful assembled at Brighton Music Hall on Friday night. They came to talk loudly over the judges’ commentary, and they stayed to marvel at performances that were by turns inspiring and reviling.

The air guitarists of Boston have long toiled fruitlessly in the glittery shadow of four-time champ McNallica (Erin McNally), whose charisma and fire was insurmountable even on the rare occasion she faced a worthy challenger. But with McNallica’s retirement came… See more →

There are two things that make New York City one of the toughest markets in US Air Guitar:

1. The staggering amount of top tier talent, both local and imported, and
2. The Daily Show’s Jason Jones, whose commentary has reduced all but the most thick-skinned competitors to quivering heaps in the backstage bathroom.

Alongside ACLU lawyer Ben Wizner and music biz free agent Leigh Lust, Jones returned on Thursday night to his perch in the… See more →

Just Like Being There

Scout Shannon

One of the smartest things Just Like Being There does is to go out of its way not to ignore the “gig” part of “gig posters”. The film is thick with music in both the background and foreground, and the handful of live performances it features do a good job of capturing that certain kind of magic that only a great rock show can provide. Capturing that magic is… See more →

What a year this turned out to be.

Shortly after the year began, my time with the amazing team at Happy Cog ended. It was the best thing for all concerned, even if my lack of an exit strategy left me without direction. My comfort zone was toxic, so really, any direction would do.

I set out to get healthy, physically and mentally. I got my finances in order. I drove 9,400 miles around the… See more →

Thanks in large part to Rob Across America, this has been the most traveled year of my life, but it’s not over yet. Before I disappear under a pile of blankets for the winter, I have a few more North American destinations lined up for the fall. If you happen to see me in any of these places, I hope you’ll say hello.

Ottawa, September 17th–21st

For the seventh time in ten years, I’ll be… See more →

Sometimes, you just can’t fight the urge to have your hair shaved into lightning bolts, hop a plane to San Francisco, and stand glaring in chaps on a stage in front of 1,500 drunken lunatics. I did this at the behest of my alter-ego Windhammer and the 2008 Cuervo Black US Air Guitar National Finals last Friday while the rest of the world had decidedly less fun watching the Olympic opening ceremonies.

The competitors may… See more →

Over the course of this trip, I kept track of a lot of numbers: Mileage, itemized expenses, gas consumption, and more. I was curious how everything would add up at the end, and I thought it might be useful information for anyone who wanted to do a similar road trip. If that’s you, and you want your trip to be exactly like mine (which would really require you to go back in time, access my… See more →

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Brooklyn is not terribly far from where I live, so waking up there this morning made a clear enough impression that I would be arriving home today. But I still just couldn’t get my head around the idea of being home and staying there. Perhaps in a subconscious attempt to slow the approach, I made a few stops on the way. There was a very nice breakfast with Stan and Shawn Morrison at DuMont in… See more →

The best and most substantial part of today’s drive from Boston to New York City was through Connecticut on the Merritt Parkway. Enclosed by trees reaching over it and divided by a wide, grassy median, it is not only easy on the eyes but stimulating to the imagination: At any given time, you expect and almost hope Robin Hood and his band of merry men will pull up alongside you on horseback and cheerfully relieve… See more →

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For my first visit to central Boston, just last year, I approached from Logan International Airport, northeast of the city. The entire five-mile ride was underground, which wouldn’t have raised an eyebrow if I had been on a subway, but I was in a cab. I knew I was traveling through the results of the Big Dig, Boston’s impressive system of tunnels named after area politicians, civil rights leaders, and baseball players. But experiencing it… See more →

Wayne hopped on a bus bound for Columbus this morning. He then flew from there back to Philadelphia, from which he’ll fly to San Francisco on Saturday for a week-long family vacation in northern California. You may recall we spent some time there recently. In the parlance of his students, Wayne is an all-star partyer.

My party is almost over, and as much as I’m really looking forward to getting home, I’m oddly apprehensive toward… See more →

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We went from 0 to 120 in four seconds today, and there wasn’t a damned thing the Ohio State Police could do about it. The Corolla had a relaxing day in a parking lot while Cedar Point’s world-class roller coasters satisfied our need for speed, height, and ear-splitting shrieks of mirthful terror.

All but one of the park’s most intense (5/5 on the “High Thrill” scale) coasters were conquered. The one that got away was … See more →

There was a three-mile stretch on I-90 today where, according to signs, we entered Ottawa County, then entered Sandusky County, then entered Ottawa County again. Rather than focusing on the apprehension of this hoax’s perpetrators, state troopers preferred to make an example of the least reckless speeder Ohio has ever seen. The fact that we got pulled over on the day we chose to rock the Police box set cannot possibly be a coincidence.

Earlier,… See more →

Excluding Philadelphia and New York, I have spent more time in Chicago than any other city. Whether it’s the preponderance of outstanding architecture, the thriving art and music scenes, the general cleanliness and friendliness, or the fact that everyone I know here has an outspoken affection for their home, I always look forward to the next visit. Our Chicago hosts, my dear friends Lauren and John, barely bat an eyelash anymore when I show up… See more →

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Tomorrow is Memorial Day, and if the freedom our generations of soldiers have fought to defend is encapsulated by one thing, it is the option to ride a Spongebob Squarepants roller coaster within shouting distance of dozens of fast food vendors and a vast selection of clothing assembled by Indonesian children for pennies. Hardcore consumerism has been the crucial ingredient most conspicuously absent from this trip’s American story, and so today, we memorialized our fallen… See more →