I had been itching to do a large-scale pixel art project for a while, needing only to decide on a subject and a medium before launching into it full-bore. I considered using mini-canvases, or painting on small squares of plywood, or using cardboard swatches, but I settled on foam-core for the lower cost and overall simplicity. Picking a subject was a little trickier, but once I saw the foam board colors available at Michael's I knew that a giant metroid would be perfect.

The backing is actually two layers, six 30"x20" panels of black mounted to six panels of white, but with the rear panels rotated so I could split the entire surface into two interlocking pieces for ease of transportation (you can see the seam above stretching right down the center). The colored squares are each 2"x2" (more or less) and are cut from the same kind of Elmer's foam-core that constitutes the backing. In the end, the monstrosity measures five feet to a side making it far and away the largest art project I've taken on.

A few earlier projects appeared on my old site, and I may just have to rephotograph them for an update here. In the meantime, I have three other projects in the pipeline that will make an appearance here before long.

This will be a little on the short side considering the Thanksgiving holiday and all, but two weeks ago I caught Devo before a loud, boisterous crowd at The Vic. The band is playing double shows in a few cities in support of the reissues of their two best albums, Are We Not Men? We Are Devo! and Freedom of Choice. They play through the first record one night and the second the next, tossing in a some bonus encore songs to mix things up a bit. I LOVE Freedom of Choice, so picking a show was a piece of cake.

I took my usual memory card full of photos, plus made a point to take video of my three favorite songs. My dinky little camera never ceases to amaze me, though admittedly I was quite a few rows further back this time than for the Sunny Day show.

Easy setlist, right? Freedom of Choice plus two. Booji Boy's appearance for Beautiful World was absolutely priceless.

Devo // Chicago, IL // November 13, 2009

1. Girl U Want
2. It's Not Right
3. Whip It
4. Snowball
5. Ton Of Love
6. Freedom of Choice
7. Gates of Steel
8. Cold War
9. Don't You Know
10. That's Pep
11. Mr. B's Ballroom
12. Planet Earth
13. Be Stiff
14. Beautiful World

Congratulations Yankees on their twenty-seventh world championship!!!

I've gone to a lot of concerts lately, and to a one they've been fantastic, euphoric experiences. Still, only very rarely can I say that a show has been a special, legendary, once-in-a-lifetime event - the kind of show that Sunny Day Real Estate put on at the Paramount Theater in Seattle back on October 16. The Paramount concert was the last of a relatively short reunion tour, and setting it in their hometown made for something really special, for both the band and their fans.

The reunion coincides with the re-release of Sunny Day's first two albums, both recorded by the original lineup of Jeremy Enigk, William Goldsmith, Dan Hoerner, and Nate Mendel. The last and only time I had seen Sunny Day live was in Pittsburgh back in 2000 during the Rising Tide tour, after Nate had already left the band, so I was extremely excited to see the original crew all together. I picked up one of every shirt at the merch booth, most of which were reprints of the original tour gear, and pushed my way to the front of the crowd.

There isn't much I can say about the actual performance that could possibly convey the kind of emotion and energy pervading every inch of that place for the next two hours. Sunny Day soared and plummeted through nearly every song from their first two albums, veering away only momentarily for a welcome rendition of "Guitar and Video Games" about halfway through the set, and then an entirely new song shortly before the break. "New Song" definitely has the spirit of the early material, but with some of the sentimentality of the later stuff. This is the best recording I could find:

During the break I resolved to record video for whatever song they began the encore with, figuring that I had at least a gig or two left on my card; and really, how much could a little video take up anyway? It was really hard to suppress the urge to jump around during "In Circles", one of my favorite songs, but I managed to record the whole thing. And that little video? Turns out my itsy bitsy camera records in 720p =):

See? How great was that? Besides the video, eight of the best still shots from the night are below and up on Flickr, all of them great memories from an amazing show.

Sunny Day Real Estate // Seattle, WA // October 16, 2009

1. Friday
2. 7
3. Shadows
4. Song About An Angel
5. Grendel
6. Guitar And Video Games
7. Iscarabaid
8. Theo B
9. 47
10. 5/4
11. New Song
12. Spade
13. Sometimes
14. In Circles
15. 48
16. J'Nuh

This is going to be quick as the Yankees have my attention this week, but about a month ago (I'm really awful at this updating thing, I know) I caught two shows back to back that were just fantastic. Beach House opened for Grizzly Bear at the Metro during a downpour, playing tunes pulled mostly from their last release, Devotion. Grizzly Bear focused on tracks from Veckatimest, with the highlight coming when Victoria Legrand from Beach House joined the band on stage for "Two Weeks". I got drenched heading to the train afterward, but that song alone was worth the trip.

A week later I saw a packed KMFDM show at the House of Blues. HOB policy specifically calls for no cameras, but it was a simple matter to smuggle mine in my sock on the way in (not that they even frisked us or checked bags at the door to begin with). The opening act, Angelspit or some such, was just side-splittingly horrible with their atrocious singing and posturing. Luckily, they were all but a fleeting memory once KMFDM came on and pounded our skulls for the following two hours. They were in town promoting their latest CD, Blitz!, which I hadn't listened to more than once or twice before the show, so I was a little lost for the first few tunes. Over time, though, they brought in more and more classic tracks and everything began to fall into place. Overall a great show even after the rocky start.

Photos for the Beach House + Grizzly Bear concert are up on Flickr, while the KMFDM snaps are in their own set.

I couldn't find a setlist for the KMFDM show (despite spending the entire show right behind the board), but I did manage to rustle up one for Grizzly Bear.

Grizzly Bear // Chicago, IL // September 27, 2009

1. Southern Point
2. Cheerleader
3. Lullabye
4. Fine For Now
5. Knife
6. Two Weeks
7. I Live With You
8. Colorado
9. Ready, Able
10. Foreground
11. While You Wait For The Others
12. On A Neck, On A Spit
13. Fix It

I swear I'm working on updates covering the Grizzly Bear and KMFDM concerts I caught last month, plus a big one for the Sunny Day Real Estate show in Seattle last weekend - this week, I promise! Yankees playoff baseball has a way of sucking up your time and energy…and nerves.

In the meantime, have some Yotsuba&! links!

• Yotsuba&! - Wikipedia
• Yen Press - Yotsuba&!
• Yotsuba&! - Download Yotsuba
• Manga Fox: Yotsuba&! Manga Series

I'm only two weeks late on this one!

As even a cursory search on this blog would show, I've been particularly high on Phoenix since their release of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix earlier this year. This was my first chance to see them live since I discovered them (let's just ignore their first two or three albums for purposes of this discussion, ok?) and I certainly wasn't about to miss out. At first slated for the Riviera, the show was moved a block east to the Aragon to support a larger crowd; some of those people must not have gotten the memo, though, as there was plenty of open space inside.

Opening up was Chairlift, who laid out some great tunes before I even realized they were one of the bands featured in those iPod commercials. They got some great crowd response as they started into "Bruises" and rightfully so.

As for Phoenix, they put on a (predictably) amazing show, throwing out crowd-pleasers right and left from start to finish. Whipping out a little prognostication before the concert, I presaged a setlist running from "Lisztomania" to "1901" with all the usuals in between, and I got exactly what I wanted. Mars took time out repeatedly to thank the crowd for the fantastic response they were getting, going so far as to say, "I wish we had crowds like this back in Paris!" Stuff like that certainly spurred us along as they went through greats like "Armistice" and "Girlfriend". Mars climbed the stage left speaker stack during the encore, only to follow that up by singing from the crowd during an improvised "1901" breakdown to close up the show. In the end, an amazing night from an amazing band.

As usual, I uploaded a few of the best shots from the night to Flickr. None of these are up to my usual standards for sharpness, but the lighting was abnormally dark for a show of this size. C'est la vie!

Phoenix // Chicago, IL // September 23, 2009

1. Lisztomania
2. Long Distance Call
3. Lasso
4. Napoleon Says
5. Run Run Run
6. Armistice
7. Fences
8. Girlfriend
9. Love Like a Sunset Part I
10. Love Like a Sunset Part II
11. Consolation Prizes
12. Rome / Funky Squaredance
13. Playground Love
14. Too Young
15. If I Ever Feel Better
16. 1901

I like to think I keep close tabs on the world of web comics; I follow dozens in one form or another, and count several writers and illustrators in my twitter feed. However, it was through this same twitter feed that I caught wind of the conclusion of Scary Go Round, John Allison's long-running series detailing the bizarre and often supernaturally twisted lives of the citizens of small town Tackleford, England. I had heard of Scary Go Round before, but had never read a single panel, and with its run coming to an end I had no excuse not to read the entire series start to finish. One week, seven years worth of comics, and who knows how many individual pages later, I was finally caught up - but there was nothing left to read!

Luckily, John had my back.

Bad Machinery, a follow-up of sorts to Scary Go Round, began its run yesterday in the same space as its long-running predecessor. So far it has retained much of the same style as the last chapter or two of Scary Go Round, while thematically it has returned its focus to the younger high schoolers that had become the center of attention toward the end of the old series. Things look great already, and with updates four days a week we should be up to our necks in new comics in no time.

You can scope out the first comic below. Visit Bad Machinery for more.

I know I'm really behind on, well, everything lately, but this one is really important to me so I just had to harp on it at some point. Jim Thome was traded to the Dodgers about two weeks ago, for what amounted to a shiny button and some lengths of string. Thome is, has been, and forever will be my favorite baseball player ever, and to have finally found myself in the same city as him for a few years was an immeasurable treat. True to form, I managed to only catch one game in person, but Jim did not disappoint. I suppose watching him go to Los Angeles is some sort of karmic retribution for failing my fanly responsibilities.

Jim will be relegated to a pinch hitter role for the DH-less Dodgers, until such time as they reach the World Series. As a free agent next year, though, he should get a chance with an AL club and the balance of the universe will be restored. 600 home runs and a guaranteed spot in the hall of fame are within his immediate grasp, and would be an unbelievable cap to an otherworldly career. Here's to seeing you back at The Cell next year, Jim-Bo!

I collected a bounty of fresh, two-week-old links covering the trade for your perusal below. Their contents are left as an exercise for the reader.

• Dodgers add Thome … why?
• Los Angeles Dodgers get slugger Jim Thome
• Dodgers acquire Jim Thome
• Chicago White Sox just giving up
• Put Away the Torches
• Thome and the Coop

If any post deserved a thorough examination of the history of its subject, it would be this one; my wacky schedule and fantastic bout of writer's block would beg to differ, however.

Suffice to say, this was one of the best concerts I had ever attended. The Aragon is a sweet venue, done up like a medieval castle inside, with sparkling lit stars in its expansive, indigo ceiling. Settling in with my buddy Joe and his brother and sister-in-law near the audio board, we barely had to wait five minutes before Mew started things off. The Danes were certainly eclectic stylistically, probably more suited to an indie show than opening for Nine Inch Nails of all things. Still, they were no slouch, and put on a good thirty minutes of European fancy rock.

Trent was every bit as awesome as he was when I last saw him back in May; and by every bit I mean equally, identically, and consummately exacting in excellence. The setlist was virtually identical, though notably present was "Down In It", a song which I wanted to hear more than anything this spring. Going into this show, however, I was pining for "Physical", but Trent and I must not have had our telepathic link functioning fully in time. As usual, everyone knew every word for every song, making for an eerie industrial sing-a-long vibe. Song after song, with no breaks at all, Trent and the guys kept drilling us with every hit he could muster - though similar to the May show, heavy weight was given to the newest disc.

The show came to a real climax when Peter Murphy of Bauhaus made a regal appearance from the balcony, stage left. After a touching rendition of "Atmosphere", Peter joined the band on-stage for what I could only describe as the most transcendent of all my concert experiences - a duet of Joy Division's "Dead Souls". Some daring soul (no pun intended) caught the whole thing on video, check it out:

Scope out a few of the best shots from the show below, or head over to the Flickr set for the whole lot.

Nine Inch Nails // Chicago, IL // August 28, 2009

1. Pinion
2. Wish
3. Last
4. Discipline
5. March Of The Pigs
6. Something I Can Never Have
7. The Frail
8. The Wretched
9. Closer
10. Terrible Lie
11. Head Down
12. Banged And Blown Through
13. Burn
14. Gave Up
15. La Mer
16. The Fragile
17. Non-Entity
18. Gone, Still
19. Lights In The Sky
20. Eraser
21. The Downward Spiral
22. 1,000,000
23. Letting You
24. Survivalism
25. Down In It
26. Atmosphere (with Peter Murphy)
27. Dead Souls (with Peter Murphy)
28. Kick in the Eye (with Peter Murphy)
29. The Hand That Feeds
30. Head Like A Hole
31. Hurt