New Track: Wine Into Blood

Here’s another song that breaks from my usual bleeps and bloops. I challenged myself to try and write a song using orchestral sounds, and in an unexpected turn wrote and arranged an entire composition in one sitting. I ended up with something that sounds like the soundtrack to a b-movie that involves dungeons and/or dragons. … [Read more…]

New Track: Progress

This is one of my favorites from the RPM Challenge. There were two songs that really stood out for me, and this is one of them. I started with the two hardware synths I bought last year (but hadn’t actually used in a project yet) as my arbitrary constraint, and the result was a squelchy, … [Read more…]

Losing the Muse

I sat down again last night to try and work on some new music. Once again, the result was the same: I felt like I just don’t “have it” anymore. Whatever “it” is. Not only was nothing much usable coming out of it, I wasn’t enjoying doing it either. Which is very unusual for me, … [Read more…]

The Rest Of The Rest Of Everest – Episode 133

Sleeping on a glacier… there’s an experience not many will ever get to have. And when it’s the Khumbu Glacier at the base of Mt. Everest, that’s all the rarer. I would give it my highest recommendation, with the advisory that it’s not for those that aren’t up for a bit of roughing it. It’s a hell of a thing to be able to say you’ve done, but it’s also just about as far from comfort as one could get. At least without beginning to actually climb Everest.

The Rest Of The Rest Of Everest – Episode 132

I made it! I actually did it! I was sitting at Base Camp at Mt. Everest. It came at the end of a long and grueling day, after two weeks filled with struggles and challenges, and months of planning before that… but all the pieces came together, all the hard work paid off, and there I sat. At Base Camp. On Mt. Everest. With Jon Miller. On The Rest Of Everest.

Damn.

The Rest Of The Rest Of Everest – Episode 130

There’s a wonderful window into a couple of the best aspects of the Everest Trek in this episode. First, the so-called “morning update” ritual that Jon and I did most mornings. (Also known as “The Jon & John Morning Show”.) Second, the amazing and random people we met along the way. While not all as notable as Apa Sherpa, there were many fascinating people to found on the trail.

Some Things Never Change

I just went to my old company’s website, the same company that off-shored my job last year, and it’s rather disappointing to see how little has been done with it since. The home page has been updated once, a couple weeks after I was let go. The News and Events page has seen only a … [Read more…]

The Rest Of The Rest Of Everest – Episode 127

I appear only briefly in this week’s episode, and didn’t participate in the commentary for it, so it’s a little trickier than normal to come with something to write about this week. I’ve already written a bit about communicating back with the world and being off the grid, but there’s probably room to expand upon that. So, here we go…

The Rest Of The Rest Of Everest – Episode 124

This was a day of changes. From the temperatures, to the terrain, to the altitude, to the moods, this day ended very differently than it began. I found this to be the point at which it really began to feel like an Everest trek. This was more like what might pop into your head when you think of hiking in the Himalayas.