Posts from August 2007

Free music, people. Go check out VUA's unofficial first album, whose theme is...Prototypes. You've got no excuse.

It's free, dang it!

But if you're too lazy to click over, check it out, and then select something to listen to, here's some immediate links. Just click 'em and listen! And if you like what you hear (try them all), go check out VUA and tell any artsy people you know. VUA is just as much about visual art as auditory art.

• An electric, existential runaround by Chris Torgersen.

• A bit of groovy styling by Webwright Josh Wentz and cartographer Jeremy Simmons!

• Some neophytic beat-thrashing and vocal legerdemain by my brother, John.

• Intellectual, Adamsian musings by rapping Brit, Mr. Glide.

Two cosmic events have caught my notice, so I am now obligated to impart them to all Earthlings and Eternians:

• The Darkwood Mask has now appeared on Amazon! You can even pre-order it today for its release in March of 2008, despite the fact that Amazon couldn't handle the capital S of Jeff's surname.

• A project known as VUA (Very Us Artists) has just been announced, a celestial event much anticipated among my associates in the cosmos. Headed by a triad of individuals (including Jeff LaSala's own brother), the project is, in summary, an endless series of bimonthly album releases featuring an ever-shifting array of musicians and artists. The artistically-inclined and the artistically-appreciative are encouraged to look into this! For a mere sampling of the free prototype album which premiers on August 28th, go here!

Both the cover art for the first album, Opus Cipher: The Prototype and the Web design for the VUA website are courtesy of Josh Wentz.

I am extremely thrilled to announce the official unveiling of a new project that’s been in the works for almost six months now: The Very Us Artists. I’ll keep this brief by simply pointing you to our website which has also officially launched:

www.VeryUsArtists.com

The website should do a good job of explaining what this is all about and, if things go as planned, snag the interest of artists and fans of new music & art, alike.

So have a look around, and feel free to ask any questions. This whole thing is sort of a new concept, so we’re very much interested in getting your feedback.

And tell a friend! Repost this, blog about it, skywrite it, and/or tell your loved ones and the artistically inclined in your life. There is also a press release to be found on the website. It should be easy to find.

I'm not particularly good at writing up reviews or composing whole accounts of events. But my GenCon 2007 experience included the following:

• Bringing my brother along for the ride this time, and meeting up with friends Josh Wentz, Emily Martin, Jeremy Simmons, Harley Stroh, Ed Gentry and Lara Gose.
• Meeting fellow Inquisitive Marcy Rockwell and hanging out with her pretty much the whole time. A big plus there. Incidentally, she's got a GenCon writeup going over at her weblog.
• Meeting Keith Baker, James Wyatt, CA Suleiman, Ari Marmell, Matt Forbeck, and other WotC-affiliated people.
• Spending some time at the Goodman Games booth and seeing some of the other guys again. A really nice crowd.
• Going to the ENnies, which was far more elegant and impressive than last year's. We (Goodman Games) didn't win anything, but it was still cool to be nominated.
• Attending a few Keith-run Eberron seminars. The guy's got serious energy and enthusiasm for Eberron, and I really appreciate that. It makes me feel prouder to have some small part in it.

All in all, a good deal of fun. Next year my wife's coming with me again, and I'll get to promote The Darkwood Mask.

Here are some photos I took. As a general rule, I don't put pictures up of people who I don't get permission from. It's just my thing. So I try to keep them general.

Not much to report just now. I'm working on my final revisions of The Darkwood Mask. More about it, and its release date, when I'm allowed to divulge it. I can't wait to see it start to appear on other websites. But for now it remains invisible.

And next week is GenCon. I will surely return with a host of photos and maybe some stories.