It’s been a wildly productive week. In 5 days we managed to gather a talented staff of 11 gamers and writers, light up our private Google Group, design logos, appoint console editors, and begin work on some great content.

I surprised myself though. For all my digital addictions I found myself heading to Office Max for a corkboard, index cards and colored sharpies. It’s turning out to be a wonderful and tangible organizational tool.

And it’s filling up nicely!

Thrilled about being involved in something new with such a passionate staff.

Related Musings:

• Nothing Related! I need to write more, clearly!

WHY: Because it’s time

WHO: Jason Evangelho, Phil Coyne, Rob LeFebvre, Stuart Morris, Brent Morris, Gabriel Marchisio, Fernando Sillas, Dave Hatfield, Jill Ravelli, and Brian O’Connor

WHEN: On or before August 4th, 2008

WHERE: http://www.gamesareevil.com

UPDATES: http://www.twitter.com/gamesareevil

Related Musings:

• Emerging from the Man-Cave
• File Under Awesome: Wordpress for iPhone
• iHate iPhrases

A mobile version of Wordpress has been released to the App store for iPhone / iTouch users. It’s free, surprisingly easy to use, supports photos, and I’m posting from it right now. Geekout!

This could mean many things for you, dear readers:

1: an influx of smog-ridden photos from Fresno coupled with on the spot rants.

2: hmmm.

3: more mental doodles. That’s good, yah?

Posted below are some screenshots. Mobile blogging types with their i-toy of choice can pick up Wordpress in the App store.

Related Musings:

• The Big Reveal
• iHate iPhrases

iPods, iWeb, iPhoto, iLife, iMac. We get it, pretty much every new service, hardware device, or mainstream consumer software Apple designs is going to get a lower case “i” stuck in front of it. We’ve all come to terms with this and it hasn’t really been abused (much) by Apple - until now.

I was browsing over to Apple’s MobileMe (.mac R.I.P.) support site to investigate why my email was locked in purgatory tonight, when i noticed this:

Really? A basic Apple account password retrieval form is now officially called “iForgot?” Ohhhhboy. I’m not really sure why this irks me to the core of my being - after all I’m a fairly diehard Apple fanboy - but it does. Immensely. It’s over the top, but not in a polished way. In a “let’s poll the 3rd graders for a clever name” way.

Has Apple done something minor like this that just pisses you off? Let me know in the comments.

Related Musings:

• The Big Reveal
• File Under Awesome: Wordpress for iPhone

Aside from being cast two years running in the Great American Melodrama’s production of A Christmas Carol as the role of Tiny Tim, she’s slated to have her cute mug plastered on a billboard somewhere along Highway 41 for S&S Homes. 

So, I made this little slideshow for her, and thought I’d share it. The images are taken from a photo shoot earlier this year. Enjoy it or don’t, but I’m a proud Daddy.

MUSIC CREDIT: The old-school Insomnia Radio fans in the house will recognize this as “The Kids Just Wanna Dance” by Manda & The Marbles. 

EDIT: Grr. Google Video compression sucks. Will upload via Vimeo shortly…

Related Musings:

• Nothing Related! I need to write more, clearly!

I finally jumped on the Muxtape bandwagon. Given it’s simplicity and singular purpose, I’m not sure why it took this long. Regardless, I spent a few minutes this morning crafting a spur of the moment mixtape with my favorite theme: Mellow & Melancholy - but this time, updated with some (uh-oh) commercial bands!

Just click the tape to stream it’s goodness.

Related Musings:

• Nothing Related! I need to write more, clearly!

While I’d like to be blogging as regularly as Jill (aka Toastmaster), instead I’m becoming more and more comfortable with all manner of gamepads in my hands instead.

This deserves it’s own post (and it deserves it AFTER I’ve had my 1st cup of java, unlike this post), but I’ve been gaming ever since PONG - (and I’m talking about the 1st ugly Pong box - had it, loved it) so I tend to go through phases where I’m obsessed with virtual and interactive entertainment. Actually it may be more accurate to say that periodically I go through phases when I’m NOT.

What was I saying?

I’ve been thinking a lot about reviving these:

I know it borders on sick, but isn’t it worth launching a videogame network JUST because of those kick ass logos? (I’ll need one for the PS3 first…)

Well, it’s an early Saturday morning, and I’ve managed to let everyone know I’m alive, without actually posting any vital updates or important information whatsoever :-)

Seriously, tho: Miss you all, and I’ll be posting another somethin-or-two over the weekend.

J.

Related Musings:

• The Big Reveal

I bargained with life for a penny
And life would pay no more
However I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store

For life is just an employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task.

I worked for a menial’s hire,
Only to learn, dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of Life,
Life would have willingly paid.

It hits home because the truth of it is so simplistic, yet you don’t actually wrap your mind around it until your mind is ready.

So, where have I been? Absorbed in self-help books, absorbed in my own book, purposefully distancing myself from the internet, picking up random computer tech jobs, and mapping out a future.

I’m also still wrestling with post-Insomnia Radio. Just this afternoon, I had an intense desire to revive that crumbled empire of Insomnia Radio, KillYourFM Magazine, ResonateTV, and the stillborn “Owned” sites. The practicality of solid “real world” work clashing with the hopes and dreams of online media.

Is it possible to do both? Isn’t bridging the real world to the internet (in this case with music) what I was trying to do all along? Why didn’t it work? This and many more questions, on the next Mental Doodles & Lost Thoughts!

(kidding)

(slaps face, gets back on point) * No, the reason I posted that poem is simple: I’ve come to believe that if you take a $10/hour job, and keep it for too long, you’ll believe that’s what your worth. And if you burn all bridges of retreat, and chase down what you REALLY desire, and are REALLY worth, then you’ll eventually find it.

I’m in a weird yet hopeful position in life. The only question is: What do I want to do?

Enjoy your week…
J.

Related Musings:

• Nothing Related! I need to write more, clearly!

As Rob puts it “Pure Comedy Gold” for the Twitterverse.

So, uh, next time Twitter asks you what you’re doing, you can be honest. After all, it does have healthy implications :-)

Related Musings:

• Nothing Related! I need to write more, clearly!

• The creator of Insomnia Radio, an indie music podcast network that launched in October 2004 when there were less than 50 podcasts in existence.
• A funeral clerk in Fresno, California
• The author of the novel-in-progress “The Funeral Diaries“
• Addicted to short-attention-span videogames like Lumines, Geometry Wars, & Audiosurf.
• Addicted to African coffee beans
• A rabid fan of user-generated content & new media
• A Recovering Catholic
• Probably editing this post right now
• A Recovering Social Network junkie
• Addicted to Twitter (disregard last bullet point)
• Gearing up for the next major push
• Will never partner with another douchey conniving scum sucking partner media company
• Someone who hates any radio station whose call sign begins with the letters K, W, or N. (yes, exactly)

Related Musings:

• Nothing Related! I need to write more, clearly!

See what I mean at http://www.thefuneraldiaries.com

Related Musings:

• Nothing Related! I need to write more, clearly!

Don’t get me wrong, the wealth of knowledge on the nets geared towards writers is comprehensive and awe inspiring. Little nuggets of advice collected for the well-being and success of other struggling (and successful) authors out there. It’s just that, I’ve been reading ten times more words about the craft itself, than I have written actually doing the craft…and that gets under my skin. 

Oh, and get used to these posts o’ mine - I realize they’re disjointed and meandering, but they also help to validate whatever little roadblocks I’m trying to hurdle at the time. 

Last week I set a goal of penning 1000 words per day, and I missed the mark. I managed 5000 this week, but over the course of 3 days (playing “catch up”, heh.) I’m bummed, but not enough to let that poison further productivity, you know? (although since I’ve proclaimed publicly, on Twitter and elsewhere, that YES, this book IS COMING DAMNIT, I can’t but feel a LITTLE under the gun!) 

Yes, self inflicted pressure. It’s good motivation!

Anyway, one of these lists I stumbled across really hit home like blunt force trauma. I found it here. Boy, can I relate. If you’re an aspiring writer, go read it. To summarize: you can’t be a writer AND an editor simultaneously. Separate the two ASAP. That’s the problem I’ve been facing without consciously realizing it. 

(I’ll throw in a tip I haven’t read elsewhere: Turn off your damn spellcheck. Fix it LATER, get the ideas onto the page NOW.)

The Funeral Diaries progresses - I’ll keep checking in. 

#

PS: Jasper Sorensen, the main character of the novel, can be found on Twitter…

Related Musings:

• Nothing Related! I need to write more, clearly!

There’s not much to THIS site yet, but I encourage you to subscribe to the feed to stay updated. I’m in the progress of penning my first novel, entitled “The Funeral Diaries” and until it’s website and podcast launches, I’ll be scribbling my mental doodles here, and whatever other randomness I can think of. 

It’s good to be back online. Hope you’ll join me. 

All my best;

Jason

Related Musings:

• Nothing Related! I need to write more, clearly!

This weekend I set a goal for myself of penning 1000 words per day towards the progress of my new novel, and I just find it humbling how much mental effort goes into a carefully crafted 1000 words vs several arbitrarily written conversations and communications. This isn’t a ground breaking revelation for most, but actually putting it online makes it real, and keeps me honest.

It certainly isn’t a walk in the park, but on day one I reached 1,031 words, so go-go-gadget arms as I pat myself on the back :-)

I sincerely think everyone is going to love “The Funeral Diaries.” Stay tuned gang…

Related Musings:

• Nothing Related! I need to write more, clearly!

For those of you following along post-insomnia radio, it’s time to offer an explanation into what’s been going on with my writing. My first love was prose, well into my teen years and extending into my early 20’s, and without much warning that creative well seemed to dry up. Years later, Insomnia Radio allowed my creative side to flourish again…

But shortly after ending my role with IR, the writing bug came back and bit me quite aggressively in the ass. But I made a mistake - I unearthed an unfinished manuscript from almost 12 years ago, based on personal events, and for a short time breathed some new life in it.

Then, 3 weeks ago - two of the actual people it’s characters were based on unexpectedly popped back into my life after roughly 7 years of being MIA. The karma was good, the friendships resumed, and all seemed to be right with my past. The unexpected side effect was that the inspiration to finish this very dusty novel vanished, as if writing it was therapy I no longer needed.

So friends, I regrouped, and started a new novel that once again sparked my imagination, and although I’m only three chapters in, the ideas are barraging me and for the very first time, I am confident that at some point in my life, I WILL be a published writer. And if not, you’ll have a quality audiobook to listen to.

With that said, I’m going to turn THIS domain, jasonevangelho.com, into a journal of sorts. I’ll post original music, poetry, short stories, and simply just be myself here.

BUT - I’ve also purchased a domain name for the REAL upcoming novel and I’ll be pointing all of you towards it soon. I intend that to be my return to podcasting…

The last 3 months have been a bumpy ride, but the ship is starting to right itself, and I’m sorry for the silence, as well as sparking your interest in Mister Faded Glory and then revoking it :-( I won’t abandon it, but I realize I don’t need to be married to it either.

so thanks for sticking around!

All my best;
Jason

Related Musings:

• Nothing Related! I need to write more, clearly!