Here’s my unscientific and utterly subjective take on Sprint’s HTC EVO 4G versus Verizon’s Motorola DROID X, from the point of view of a normal user who has owned both of them. No hyperbole, no zingers, no spin, no glitzy photos… just unadulterated opinion.

Much has been said about their tech specs elsewhere, so I’ll leave such details out. Instead, I’ll focus on my personal experience with them, and what matters most to… well, me. This may go without saying, but it doesn’t escape me that everyone’s needs are different, so what works for me, may not work at all for you. So take whatever I write with a grain of… you know what.

I wanted to write about this topic since it was tough to find good comparative articles between these two uber-smartphones that weren’t focused on features and specs… and there were very few personal perspective pieces by a normal user who owned both. So maybe this will help some other geek out there a little.

First, a quick backgrounder on why I decided to move to the EVO 4G or DROID X… Basically, the time had come. Finally, it was time to try Android. As a geek at heart, I felt my geekish proclivities were being suppressed regarding Android, and frankly, that could not stand.

I had been an iPhone 3GS-toting smartphone user, and a more-or-less satisfied user at that. I enjoyed the iPhone 3GS — I think it’s an excellent phone — but I had various issues such as the AT&T network from time to time, and I’ve never been a huge fan of the walled garden owned and managed by dear ol’ Apple, a.k.a., “The Man,” now that they seem to rule the gadget universe.

Now, I understand why Apple operates the way they do, and I’m the first to admit that such <er-hem> “control” probably does increase the overall quality of the user experience for iPhone users. And I was willing to live with that. But I wanted to try something else, expand my horizons in geekdom, and was waiting for Android to mature and land on some exciting phone hardware.

I always felt cramped by the 3.5 inch screen of the iPhone, so when I saw that Apple had stuck with 3.5 inches with the iPhone 4 (notwithstanding the superb resolution and screen quality), and that Apple was still exclusive to AT&T, AND that AT&T still didn’t carry a high-end Android phone… well, I decided to take the EVO 4G and DROID X very seriously… those big 4.3 inch screens looked exactly what I wanted the iPhone 4 to have… so they were looking mighty tempting.

So, now on to the comparison.

In short: I ended up purchasing the EVO 4G, loved it, regrettably returned it, bought a DROID X, loved it, kept it. Here are the things that I considered, and why I ultimately ended up with the DROID X.

Features – Slight edge to EVO 4G

Let’s start with the basic feature comparison. They’re roughly equivalent to me in day-to-day use and technical features, but I’ll have to be honest and give the EVO 4G a slight edge on paper. Both are top-notch smartphones with great hardware specs, wonderful screens, amazing features, etc. Both even offer the uber-cool mini-wifi hotspot feature, which really attracted me to these models. You can get all that info from somewhere else to decide what matters most to you.

But why does the EVO 4G edge out the DROID X in features? At least on paper? Three things come to mind:

1) 4G! Obviously! However, I don’t live in a 4G area. In the reality of mid-2010, I will rarely use 4G (only when traveling to a 4G enabled area), and the 4G battery drain is so severe from what I understand, I may not want to use it anyway. So for me, this point is nullified… for now. Still, an edge to the EVO 4G on paper. May be worth more to you, depending on where you live.

2) The EVO’s kickstand. I thought it was silly at first, but then I actually used it, and thought how ingenious it was. Love the kickstand. I already miss it.

3) The EVO’s front-facing second camera. In theory, I want this. But in reality, I never used it, and doubt I’ll ever use it in the future. Truth be told, I’m not a video-conferencing type of guy and it’s merely a novelty to me for now. I reserve the option to change my mind later on.

To be fair, the DROID X has some nice advantages as well, from a supposedly more powerful CPU (even thought they’re both clocked at 1 GHz), more microphones for noise cancellation, etc. But I still have to give the edge to the EVO 4G for the 4G alone. That’s a great “first” — if only I could make use of it.

Design and Build – Slight edge to DROID X

Now I have to say, I love the the screen size of both phones. Just LOVE it. 4.3 inches is perfect for me. Both have great screens, and I’m now a convert to jumbo sized screens. I’ll never go back to 3.5 inches. The impact on the physical phone size is worth it. I find both phones easily fit in my pocket, but I don’t wear skin-tight jeans and I’m not a style maven, so it may be an issue to other people.

The design of both phones is excellent. I slightly prefer the basic x-y dimensions and rounded edges of the EVO 4G for my pocket… it just slips into my pocket slightly better than the DROID X. However, I prefer the weight and thickness of the DROID X overall, and I prefer holding the DROID X in my hand… which is something I like to do when I actually talk on the phone. They definitely feel different in the hand. For me, edge to the DROID X.

In theory, I prefer the dedicated touch/capacitive interface buttons (for menu, home, back, search) on the EVO 4G over the traditional tactile interface buttons of the DROID X, but in the end, I can get used to either. However, I do really like the dedicated camera button on the DROID X, so that easily makes up for the EVO 4G’s capacitive buttons.

The build quality is slightly better with the DROID X. I dislike the ease of removal of the back panel of the EVO 4G, and my unit didn’t sit flush and tight enough for my taste. I’m sure it was fine, but it bugged me a little, and felt spongy in the back. My EVO 4G unit had the infamous light bleed-through issue of the bottom of the glass as well. Minor issue, but made such a fine phone look slightly cheaper than it was. The DROID X, on the other hand, is very well built and feels tighter overall.

User Interface – Draw

Let’s make this quick and simple. The HTC Sense UI in the EVO 4G is more polished than what’s in the DROID X. I was impressed with what HTC has done to put its skin on Android. However, the DROID X feels snappier, and the DROID X keyboard was more responsive, which balances things out for me.

Camera Quality – Draw

I’m not an expert in this area by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m not going to be using a cell phone camera to replace a nice camera or HD camcorder any time soon. I mean, how much can we ask these devices to do well? Physically/optically, there’s only so far we can push this in such a small form factor… So for a cell phone camera, both smartphones are *more* than adequate for basic video and still shots.

Battery Life – DROID X

This one is easy. The DROID X has better battery life than the EVO 4G. This I can say from experience. It took some tweaking, and one over-the-air update for the EVO 4G to get reasonable battery life, and in truth, I could live with what I got (about one day per full charge), but since I’ve had the DROID X, the battery life is clearly better with the same usage pattern. Not *vastly* better… but still, noticeably better.

Call Quality and Cell Phone Network – DROID X

And here’s the kicker, the heart of the matter. Verizon just seems to work better in my area when it really matters… when talking on the frickin’ phone!

I actually preferred my Sprint *sales* experience much better. My Sprint salesperson (I’ll gladly mention her first name: Frances), was so totally awesome, I almost wanted to stay with Sprint just because of how she handled my experience.  However, my calls just did not work very well in my area. I had more dropouts than my iPhone 3GS with AT&T (which is not a good thing) and sometimes calls just sounded all jittery. Very annoying, and really, this ended up being the key decision point for me.

I might have been willing to live with Sprint, because of what I felt was excellent initial customer service, and the pricing plan I was on had more value than either AT&T or Verizon. In short… if the actual coverage were better in my area — and I live in Maryland — I might have not even bothered researching the DROID X. But alas, too many network issues pushed me to investigate other options.

Verizon, on the other hand, had a distracted and overly-busy initial salesperson (I won’t name names), who said they had the DROID X in stock, then had me come down to the store only to tell me they didn’t have any more, then later on, when they did get them back in, didn’t explain anything about my plan, and ultimately set it up incorrectly (which I had to straighten out over the phone with a nice customer service representative later on). Whew! Annoying!

However, once I got up and running with Verizon (I’ll mark it up to DROID X launch day issues), I have found the Verizon network to be superior in call consistency and quality from the instant I started using the phone. So in my area, this is the overriding issue. Your mileage may vary. In the end, call quality trumped customer service and even a slight price/value advantage from Sprint.

Conclusion – Had to go with Verizon and DROID X

In the end, the DROID X was the way to go for me. I do miss the kickstand and capacitive buttons of the EVO 4G, and I’m still getting used to the slightly different form factor of the DROID X… but all that pales in comparison to more consistent call quality. Which so far, is clearly in favor of Verizon for my area.

Truth is, if you want a bigger screen and want to venture into the world of Android, you can’t go wrong with either phone… and it boils down to which network you prefer (or perhaps, which network performs better in your area). Both are simply awesome, and I’m amazed by how much can be crammed into such portable devices. The real winners here are all of us, and also perhaps Android in general. These are two superb implementations of Android that will only get better once Android 2.2 (Froyo) is released for them.

I’m really enjoying Android so far; it’s been perfectly fine living outside the very pretty, but walled garden of Apple. And that’s not a cut on Apple, by the way. There are plenty of advantages to the iPhone, as anyone who has used different types of smartphones can fairly admit. But this is one geek that is happily living in Android land… for now. What I wonder is, what’s next? With 2GHz smartphone CPUs and 4G speeds on the near horizon from every provider, and the explosion of cloud technology and app development, we are really living in an amazing time. I’m blown away by what these current-gen smartphones can do… but I know that in no time at all, this awesome smartphone will feel… obsolete.

I hold in my hands a hot-off-the-press copy of Erin Kellison’s Shadow Bound, and I can’t put it down. Well, except to type this blog post. I am so thrilled to read this new author’s work, I had to write about it. This book is so good, I insist you order it right away!

Now, to come completely clean, some of you may know I’m a little biased for this author’s work — after all, I can’t deny I’m her lucky brother. Yes, Erin Kellison is my sister. “Sister?” you ask. (Read the word “sister” with the sinister voice of James Earl Jones, like when Darth Vader says it to Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi in the final light saber battle.) Yes, sister, and I am indeed biased, but not because of rumored genetic similarities or because of our shared, dark fantasy-influenced childhood, but because she’s such a damn fine storyteller!

You seriously need to go and buy this book. This is an awesome debut from a ridiculously talented author that I believe will have tremendous success. After reading this book — which she kept secret from me, by the way, so I could be understandably miffed at not getting a pre-release manuscript — I’m convinced we’re seeing the launch of a bright new star. The first author that came to mind to compare her work with, in the genres that I’m most familiar with, was actually the legendary Piers Anthony. If you’ve enjoyed the classic Incarnations of Immortality series, for example, you’ll feel pulled right into Erin’s world with ease; she exudes a similar gift of superb storytelling with her own special point of view and attention to detail.

I can’t wait to read what comes next. Shadow Bound is the type of book that makes you lose track of time while you read it. It’s beautifully written so you blaze through the thrilling story and engage with her compelling world and characters without effort. Too bad I have to wait to read her next novel. Fortunately, the wait won’t be too long. The sequel, Shadow Fall, drops July 27, 2010, so we can jump right back in to Erin’s world. I’m not the only one that apparently thinks that Erin rocks… her publisher is so confident you’ll like her book they’ve released it as part of their money-back “Guaranteed Read” program. But you don’t have to take their word that it’s good. You can take mine.

Congrats, Sis! You just kicked some dark fantasy a$$ and I’m blown away by you!

The body is weak, but the mind is chillin’. Back from Baltimore at last, I can barely move a muscle, I’m so tired. Some unforgettable moments and late nights of great conversations with brilliant people made this the best Balticon I’ve ever attended. Sharing it with my wife and son made it that much better.

I have only one complaint, and I’ll share it now to get it over with: <begin rant> PLEASE FIX THE DAMN A/C IN THE NEW MEDIA ROOM OR PLEASE GIVE US A BIGGER ROOM NEXT YEAR! SHEEEEESH! </end rant>

Seriously, I sweat buckets in the Chesapeake room this year. If it weren’t for some merciful souls handing out paper plates to fan our corner of the smoldering room during Tee Morris’ and Philippa Ballantine’s big announcement, I would have missed one of those great moments at Balticon! (And BTW, Tee and Pip were fantastic. I can’t say this enough: I love Pip’s voice.)

In all fairness to the designers of the A/C system, it was more an issue of sheer body heat. No A/C system could adequately accommodate the number of human beings that stuffed themselves willingly into that tiny, hot sanctuary of media madness. Solution: get a bigger room, please, I beg of the organizers!

Alright, I said I’d share my complaint and be done with it, so now I’ll get on to some of my other thoughts and impressions of a truly great Memorial Day weekend.

Where to begin? Well, what jumped out at me this year (surprise, surprise) were the cool people I got to spend time with, both in and out of the sessions. Old friendships reaffirmed and new friendships kindled, combined to enlighten and inspire me to create more and better work. More music, more stories. More, more, better, better, that’s what I wanted to do as I hauled out my gear to the car in the humid May afterglow of a truly memorable weekend.

Standout highlight of the convention for me this year? Well, besides participating in the program in some fun sessions (more on that later), it HAD to be the PG Holyfield, Nathan Lowell and Patrick McLean book launch on Saturday night. For me, that was a sublime moment of pure awesome.

Now, I don’t make it a secret that PG Holyfield has been a big influence on my podcasting, and anyone who knows him knows what a talented storyteller and great guy he is. As a fan, I hope for his success. As a friend, I hope for his happiness. It was particularly exciting to see him launch his book, something that has meant so much to him for so long, something that he spent years developing and pouring his heart and time into… all to have that distilled down into one soul-satisfying physical object in his hand. What a great moment by any standard.

Now, the event included two other ridiculously talented writers who also launched books that evening, and so it was a great moment in the New Media family, and we all felt the excitement and — to be blunt — joy, of the event. But then, it got really interesting…

They were each going to read excerpts from their own books, but someone — perhaps one of the authors or someone in the audience — suggested that they take turns reading from each other’s works… not their own. Whoever came up with this spontaneous flash of brilliance made the evening the stand-out session of Balticon for me. And what happened next was magic.

They agreed to take turns reading from one of the other authors’ books, and it was clear this was not planned in advance. These would be cold (as in, unprepared), honest, pure reads from esteemed colleagues, in an intimate audience of friends and fans. The magic started with Nathan Lowell reading a short story from Patrick McLean’s book, and that set the tone for the other readings.

Nathan’s reading was nothing short of brilliant, and Patrick’s story was so clever, pithy and perfectly written, I honestly felt like I was witnessing a live Sci-Fi/Fantasy version of a secret Dead Poets Society gathering. Only the writers weren’t dead. And they weren’t poets. (Although, Patrick’s work might qualify in terms of bang-for-the-buck per word.) But you get the basic idea.

And then a murmur of restrained awe seemed to spread through the room, when we realized no one was recording the event. And this, in the New Media room, where everything is recorded. The unspoken message was loud and clear: this would be a one-off moment in time. Something to etch in your memory. And we better pay attention, ’cause it was gonna be special.

PG, Patrick and Nathan each took turns reading, and the stories came alive in a way that reminded me of my childhood — in a golden-hued memory of a magical campfire evening with a master storyteller.

Damn, it was simply awesome. I love going to conventions in the hope of experiencing just one of those types of moments, and sure enough, it was Saturday night with PG, Patrick and Nathan for me.

Now, Balticon this year was filled with great moments in many different ways. I had the excitement of participating in the program with some panels and presentations. I did a session called “Podcast Production Gorefest” about audio production which I think turned out reasonably well. I also did a reading from another novel I’m working on (insert evil laugh here), which I was pretty damn nervous about, but I think it also went well. I participated on a lively panel with Guest of Honor Tanya Huff and Gary Ehrlich about music in science fiction stories, which is a topic I love.  And I was blown away by joining Mattie Brahen, Kim the Comic Book Goddess and Norm Sherman on an insanely fun songwriting panel.

When the excitement and fun of my own panels were over, I enjoyed other events at Balticon, from great New Media panels and presentations to the film fest, the masquerade, and so forth. That is, if I could make it to the sessions. What happened was that I kept on running into great people in the hallways and lobby and engaging in some great conversations, late into the night.

Highlights include many discussions and run-ins with some amazing writers, podcasters, musicians, costumers, social-media-acquaintances-turned-friends, and I could go on and on. That’s what makes Balticon special for me.

I want to list names, but I swear I’m going to pass out from lack of sleep at any moment, and chances are I’ll miss a couple of names of some wonderful people that I really enjoyed meeting, conversations that made Balticon so memorable this year. Some people I still only know from their social media handles! <sigh> What has become of old social norms? Are we all just physical avatars of our online personas?

The only thing I regret is my lack of stamina to talk with everyone for as long as I would have liked to. There are some loose threads of conversations I’d love to resume one day soon. Conversations about music, favorite writers, publishing ventures, crime scene investigation issues, film noir favorites, dreams/hopes/aspirations, love-hate relationships with movies and directors, life and family conversations, the supportive nature of the podcasting community, things like Second Life and the anthropological implications of the future of social media. Alright, I better stop there.

In the end, time passed too quickly. My wife and son were awesome and we all had a great time. It was filled with a quality of experience that, thanks to some old and new friends, made this year the best Balticon I’ve ever attended. It inspired me and fueled me for a huge upcoming summer of intense work and production as I wrap up all the remaining FETIDUS episodes (woo-hoo!) and a killer score for 95ers. Thank you so much!

And now, for some sleep.

The last couple of weeks have been surreal for me. I’ve been in a funk creatively, wrestling with the demands of “normal” life and trying to balance them with my hard-core creative ambitions, which include, among many projects, finally wrapping up with my long-overdue FETIDUS episodes. It’s been so strange that quite often when I get going on a major creative personal project, working on a big writing project or piece of music, some event happens that alters/delays/postpones/derails/(choose your favorite term) the effort, and I often have to pick up the pieces or dangling threads of my creative dreams, take a deep (deep, deep) breath, and buckle down for another go at it.

Feels like I’ve been “buckling down for another go at it” for the last 15 years.

The only thing that keeps me from literally banging my head against the wall in utter frustration (well, actually, I’ve done that), and succumb to the sublime temptation of resignation, is… well… actually, I don’t really know. I have some theories, but as I’ve written and edited this post, I realize that my theories about this very profound issue sound like half-assed psycho-babble with a dollop of whipped cream on top. So I’ll spare you the painful regurgitation of my pitiful self-analysis.

Instead, I’ll tell a story.

A few weeks ago, I was gearing up yet again for a major creative push into the deepest realms of my imagination, after months of sincere, but sputtering, attempts due to various other interruptions… and then… I got the call. Yes, that kind of call. The kind of call you drop everything for and haul your creative ass back into reality, grab the keys and head out the door.

My poor wife had been injured during a performance, and I needed to come and pick her up prontisimo. Thoughts ran unchecked through my mind… no, don’t let it be one of her legs… she’s a dancer. It’s too important to her, it’s her life. No!

But the call didn’t seem that serious at the time, even though it was, indeed, her leg. On my way to pick her up, I received another phone call, more urgent this time, that her colleagues thought it *might* be much more serious — like a torn Achilles. My heart raced, I couldn’t fathom something so terrible would happen to her… on top of all the other medical issues we’ve experienced together in recent years. A torn Achilles could be career-ending for a dancer, and to be quite frank, I was filled with dread.

Instead of meeting her at the theater as originally planned, they told me to head to the nearest hospital. At that moment, life again took on that surreal quality of a sepia-colored drama, starring the handsome hunk-du-jour (me, but not really, I’m far from it), and the beautiful pop-star-turned-actress-playing-a-beautiful-grad-student-dancer (my wife), and our amazing son, played by himself.

As we went through the very familiar motions of the hospital ER in-take, the nurses’ and doctors’ faces all in a cinematic blur, we confirmed that the Achilles was fortunately NOT torn (whew!), but rather her calf muscle (I don’t remember the name of the specific muscle). We sighed one of those long sighs of relief, knowing that she’d be able to recover and dance again — albeit after at least a few months of healing and physical therapy. It was a “close one” this time, nothing more.

On the drive home, with my wife’s leg all neatly bandaged up with a splint, brand new crutches rattling in the back, I had a “moment.” A Groundhog Day moment.

Those who have seen the hilarious 1993 comedy Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell, will know exactly what I’m talking about.

I’d been there before. That exact time, space and even road. It was even raining the same type of rain. Everything seemed like I had been there before, only shuffled around in a twisted tapestry of my memory. Which “drive home” was it this time? The dreadful car accident? The surgery? The torn calf muscle?

That drive home felt like I was Bill Murray in Groundhog Day finally figuring out what was going on.

I found myself muttering under my breath, “This is so strange.” It wasn’t a bitter or ungrateful moment. In fact, I was deeply relieved that my wife’s dreams of dancing weren’t destroyed, because I know how much that means to her — and us. That moment was simply a realization that I was at that “loop point” of my life. Again. The same spot, only Tivo’d to March, 2010.

When we got home, the power was out.

Ahhh. Now I get it, Universe. Spring, rain, trees, power lines, zap. Deep meaning there, right? I almost called a hotel, but resisted the temptation to cave in that easily. Two hours later we had our power back.

So the next week had its ups and downs. We spent a lot of time with each other, and in the non-managing-her-leg-situation time, she helped me organize my efforts for some of my creative projects (she’s a natural organizer, a trait I admire in her). At first we thought her recovery would go quickly. She was hobbling around on crutches, but then the pain got to be too much. Just as I wrapped up my latest devious plans for world domination (version 42.5), her leg pain became intolerable, and she needed to see a doctor right away. Turns out it was indeed a more serious muscle tear than we thought. Another urgent doctor’s visit later, we confirmed the seriousness, but still not like the career-killer a torn Achilles could have been. So we were still grateful, but simultaneously amazed by how disabled she was for the short-term. She was stuck in bed, unable to walk or drive, and barely able to crawl (which she did, to the bathroom, no stopping Mother Nature).

We were both stranded, in a way, in a bizarre limbo land, an alternate reality that was still reality. It takes its subtle toll, emotionally and physically. Adjustments had to be made. “Normal” elements of life had to proceed, whatever that meant. Days blended into each other, just like they had so many times before.

I’ve adapted to these situations now, I’m a veteran. Part of me tunes out by necessity, another part takes a back seat and watches how each hour will progress, like an endless mini-series that’s “kinda good” but “kinda sucks.” Another part is actively engaged in trying to be a good human being, a good husband, a good Dad. Another part restlessly computes and then re-computes my creative plans when we get through all of this. Again.

Little snippets illustrate how this time has been:

One day, our little boy was recruited to help with piles and piles of the laundry that had gotten out of control. He was a good trooper that day, for sure. One batch, I thought he’d fall right into the washing machine. Hilarious, but not really.

Naturally, my wife’s laptop decided to die (a few months out of warranty, dammit!), and she needed her IT department (me) to rescue all her data. Now stranded in bed, she then needed a more powerful computer which I set up in our room so she could edit video for one of her classes. I wore many hats, none of which said, “Writer” or “Musician” that week. Not to mention the backlog of client work I would have to deal with when we got through this.

Now add that up, and it clearly has an immediate affect on an on-the-go little family with lots of things on their collective minds, and lots of projects on their to-do lists. “Normal” life ground to a halt. “Important” things were no longer important. Work stopped. Creative work? Fuhgeddaboudit. I’d been there before. At times I marveled. Wasn’t it just recently that we were in the hospital with a serious life-threatening complication from a medial procedure? Weeks blurred in my mind, and then weeks just catching up with “normal” work. And before that, a serious car accident with health issues we’re still dealing with? And before that… the list goes on.

I think we’re up to 8-9 hospitals now, in not nearly as many years. I should start a blog about hospital ER services! (BTW, I can heartily recommend the ER at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, Maryland. They treated us pretty damn well. Nice interior design upstairs in the Express Care area. Good muffins in the lobby. Housekeeping was a little shabby, but overall, a solid A-minus.)

On Monday, my little boy had a presentation to give in class about his favorite dinosaur, the truly awesome Spinosaurus. I had no idea how awesome. We had a diorama, poster and hand-outs to produce, you get the picture. The original plan was that my wife would do most of the project over the weekend so I could try to catch up on work, etc. This time, she couldn’t, due to the miserable leg situation and other things going on. So, I had the joy of building the diorama with him (which really was incredibly fun), but I was amazed when 6-7pm rolled around Sunday evening and we just started to rehearse his presentation. By the time we took care of dinner, prepped my boy for bed, etc., the next time I looked at the clock it was around 9pm and I was exhausted.

I don’t even remember Monday. I think it was Monday night when my little boy complained of sickness, and sure enough he was sick. Tuesday he missed school, was in bed with a fever along side my leg-challenged wife. Wednesday is a blur, and just now I returned from the doctor’s office with a prescription for an antibiotic because my son’s cold turned into a lovely infection.

So right now, my wife — the dancer — is finally back hobbling around on crutches (fortunately, getting a bit better), but now my little boy is in my bed sicker than sick. (He bumps me out of my side of bed when he’s sick, because he is at that age that he needs his Mommy for comfort. I try to sleep within earshot so I can help out in the middle of the night — my wife can’t exactly get up and retrieve things easily, remember the leg? — so I tried pumping up my air mattress the other night. No go. The pump gave out. And it’s a NEW air mattress! Damn quality control!)

All I can say is thank heaven for frozen pizza, good humidifiers, Netflix, Tivo and PS3.

So what’s next? At this moment, I have no idea. Except I will take a deep, deep breath, catch up with work, get back to my plans of conquering the universe, and hope that I don’t see the inside of a doctor’s office or ER for at least a decade. No, how about I just shoot for one year.

Through all this, I have tried to contemplate the oh-so-profound “deeper meaning” of it all. I compared this ongoing mini-drama — this now-predictable cycle of never-ending events — with Groundhog Day.

What the hell am I supposed to learn from this? What is the magical thing I do to break the Groundhog Day cycle? What nagging flaw in my personal, ever-flawed human essence do I need to overcome to wake up that fine morning and realize that I’ve conquered Groundhog Day and mastered the uber-lesson “The Universe” is trying to teach me?

Hogwash.

Apart from the fact that I continuously re-confirm that I am a LOUSY cook, and will probably ALWAYS be a lousy cook (I can burn a frozen pizza with the best of them), perhaps there’s not much more I need to learn from these experiences. Except ONE thing. Maybe this is the LAST thing I need to learn from this ever-looping cycle…

And this last lesson may indeed have a more profound cosmic, metaphysical or spiritual meaning. At least for me. Now before I say what I think this lesson is, I want to clear up one thing: I don’t want this all to seem like I’m complaining. This little recent series of events, while certainly not yet over, is really a tiny blip in our own lives, and it definitely doesn’t register on the Richter Scale of Life or in the grand scheme of things. Except perhaps on a personal level, where lessons learned are lives changed.

Yes, this “moment” I’m experiencing is just a small bookmark, maybe even a tiny footnote or a passing curiosity in one sense. I was even very fortunate to have had some much-appreciated family support to help out, and a huge thank you is merited. So that smoothed out many “sub-moments,” for sure. Having said all that, I also don’t mean to over-minimize this experience. The fact that we’re just a few tiny humans spinning on a small planet circling an average star in a lonely little part of one of billions of galaxies doesn’t diminish the personal value I can extract from this experience. The fact that I’m just writing this in between checking in on my little boy, who fortunately for both of us, just fell asleep, also doesn’t mean the very writing of it is meaningless. On the contrary…. oh, hold that thought…

Maybe my son’s fever will break soon. That will be good. I’ll go check on him again.

I’m back. See what I mean?

Now that I’ve got that cleared up, I return to the lesson of the week for myself.

Maybe what I needed to learn this cycle is that sometimes there is no further lesson that I need to learn. That I need to just get on with it. The profound thing for me to learn this time around is to see this just for what it is. This is just…

Normal life.

But man, how I wish it meant even “more” than that. So how about this? I’ll share a self-gratifying corollary for the hell of it, with the hope, for the sake of hoping, that it’s actually true:

It takes just as much or more to live a good, meaningful and loving life as it does to write truly great books or compose lasting, magnificent pieces of music.

There, I said it.

My heroic bit-wrangling and IT-shamanism for my wife’s computer is my sonnet this week.

My son’s cool Spinosaurus diorama is my sonata.

This week I am Husband. This week I am Dad.

Warm Regards to all who happen across this post,
James Durham

What a day! Monday, January 18th, 2010, was a fantastic day indeed, as I was thrilled to participate in a wonderful program celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC! I was privileged to share a new piece of music entitled “Dream of Freedom” which I composed specifically for the event, to which my wife choreographed an inspirational dance. She and the lovely Duncan Dancers performed this beautiful new dance in front of an audience of 2500+ people who had gathered together to honor Dr. King!

I can’t imagine a more beautiful venue for the event, with the soaring cathedral lifting the spirits of the entire audience, as we all reflected upon the profound legacy of Dr. King. The program was filled with inspirational music, dance and spoken word that helped capture the message of freedom and dignity of the human soul.

I have to admit, I was excited when the MC — the Godfather of Go-Go himself, Chuck Brown — announced our names before our segment of the program. His incredibly deep, signature voice was unforgettable to me, and put a huge grin on my face. And then the dancers performed the choreography with a lightness of step, beauty and hope that conveyed the message we wanted to share. Their majestic, spiraling motions and Isadora Duncan-inspired tunics and scarves recalled a sense of freedom and a dream-like quality I tried to capture in the music. The music and dance came together to hopefully uplift the audience and take them on a journey of reflection, into a dream of freedom.

The project was a collaboration with my wife, Valerie, and it had additional personal meaning for us. We’ve had several collaborations before, but this one was the most challenging so far, taking into account the short time for preparation, the audience, venue and desire to convey just the right message. I guess this one worked out, so I expect more collaborations to come in the future!

Finally, a word of thanks to the staff at the National Cathedral. They are a true class act and were consummate professionals. Thank you in particular to Cori and Mark for making our experience so seamless. It’s always a distinct pleasure to work with pros.

Below, you will find a link to the National Cathedral website, where you can view the performance. Skip ahead to 1:10 if you just want to see our segment.

http://www.nationalcathedral.org/webcasts/mlk2010.shtml

The streaming video above is low-resolution, so I’ll see if I can get a higher-resolution clip in the near future. The audio is also low-res, so below you can click on a better recording of the music. It’s not a perfect mix for sure, but given the time I had available, it was able to convey the essence of the message.

If you enjoy this music and dance, please feel free to share it!

Click below to listen to Dream of Freedom :

Download audio file: “Dream of Freedom” (11.4 MB)

Warm Regards,

James Durham

FETIDUS! Holy #$@*! I am stunned and amazed at the tremendous outpouring of support for FETIDUS! And I’m thrilled to announce that FETIDUS has won TWO Parsec Awards here at Dragon*Con!

I was blown away with the first Parsec award, for Best New Speculative Fiction Podcaster/Team, and rendered speechless by the second, for Best Speculative Fiction Story – Novel.

It was a tremendous honor to have been included as a finalist with such podcasters/artists/creators/writers/storytellers that I admire so much — people that I listen to and love their work.

And I am just so incredibly grateful to the podcasting community in general, to the kick-ass FETIDUS listeners and fans, to the podcasting trailblazers and masters who have been simultaneously kicking down the walls of new media and lifting up the new guys (like me), audio sages, aural artists and alchemists and frankly some of the nicest human beings I’ve had the pleasure of meeting.

I’ve never met a more supportive group of brilliant, amazing people and all I can say is…

THANK YOU!!!

.
I will go into more detail and thank you more personally in an upcoming Unmortem Report over at the FETIDUS website when I get back from Dragon*Con, but for now I am just stunned, amazed… and grateful.

Sincerely,
James Durham

Well, P.G. Holyfield had his “Damn you, Holyfield!” and now I guess I have my “F**k you, Durham!” And yes, I take that as a compliment… twisted though it is… This is how it all happened. A FETIDUS listener by the name of Shane wrote me a decidedly terse note on the FETIDUS website, and I wrote him back. Here’s the exchange for your enjoyment. [ Language warning for my readers sensitive to the F word! ]

As posted by Shane:

“I love Fetidus. But you know what I am really fucking sick of.  You expect an invest from us. But you’re not invested in us. You take so god damned fucking long to release new episodes and we’re invested in the story.

So fuck you. I am cutting my feed from Itunes and will sign up again maybe in a year. When I am positive that all of the episodes have been released and I don’t have to wait so long.

This is really not fair to your fans.”

My response:

Hey Shane,

Wow, man, I almost don’t know what to say! First, I’ll take your post as a profoundly twisted compliment, so thank you, sir! I guess P.G. Holyfield had people tell him, “Damn you, Holyfield!” and now I guess my version of it is “Fuck you, Durham!” — although perhaps for different reasons. But I’ll take it as a good thing anyway. And I’ll just add this:

1) I deeply appreciate all my listeners. I try to say that as often as I can, and I hope that’s coming across. Getting to know some of them has been one of the highlights of producing FETIDUS. When someone transitions from being a listener to a full-fledged “fan,” I can’t say how awesome that is, and how much I appreciate it! It’s humbling and amazing. You guys completely blow me away!

2) You’re right, it does take a long time to release new episodes. As far as I know, I’m the only podcast novelist who is also writing all his own music for the episodes, and you know I have multiple voice actors as well, etc… this is basically a totally custom audio drama including all the music, and I don’t exactly have a staff, other than the split personalities in my poor, demented, contortionist mind. Plus I want to make sure each episode has a certain minimal level of quality. In fact, if I did it to the perfectionist level I wanted to, the episodes would take far longer to release!

So, yes, that all takes time, more time than I would like it to. But alas, this is how I’m doing it. Since FETIDUS is free, and I also have to make a living, have other creative projects going on, and more importantly I have a family I love spending time with… it’s the reality of the situation. As you know, I don’t charge for FETIDUS, don’t have any sponsors and thus far have refused any sponsors or ads, and I haven’t asked for donations (and I don’t plan to). So when you factor in the time it takes me to produce it, FETIDUS is costing me a huge amount of money. And I wish I could work on it full-time. I believe the way I’m doing it will eventually be worth it, and more importantly, I’m enjoying the hell out of it, and hope my listeners are too, even at the expense of torturing them with long waits in between episodes.

Now, in between episodes, it’s not that I forget about FETIDUS, or just ignore it or the listeners. I’m constantly trying to work on it, but I have other obligations in life, as I’m sure you do. For one, I have to make the money to make the time to work on it, so unless you want to write me a really big fat check to cover all my expenses, this is the only way I can do it.

Other podcasters struggle with the same issues, as I’m sure you know. They have different ways of dealing with it, all of which are completely understandable. For example, they may choose whether or not to include some of the production elements I’ve chosen to include. Some take sponsors. Some have a volunteer or a paid assistant helping them, or even a team or partners to work with. Some have real budgets. Some have big (or not-so-big) publishing deals and this is part of their critical marketing effort for their book launch (and I have supported more than one podcaster in that situation). Some are passionately trying to get that magical “big book deal.” Some are experimenting by charging for content. Some strip down the production to the bare minimum (quite effectively, I might add). Some secretly have a slave clone of themselves working night and day, etc., etc… In fact, I know of some podcasters who think I’m insane that I write my own music for FETIDUS and I’ll frankly, happily concur. But since I love doing it this way, I’ll continue investing the time.

3) Finally, how can I say this except, thank you for listening! I totally understand if you want to hold off until the whole project is done. I get where you’re coming from, and I’m honestly thrilled to hear you’re so pissed off at me that you’d let me know. I guess I must have done something right, otherwise it wouldn’t have been worth your time to contact me. And I sincerely wish you didn’t have to wait so long as well. In the end, I hope it will be worth the wait, and you come back to experience the full story. I just wish you didn’t cut the feed before episode 8, because things are about to get even more juicy.

Best Regards,
James Durham

P.S.: And by the way, cool artwork on your site! (I clicked there from the link you provided on your name.) Nice work, man!

> Click here to read the original exchange on FETIDUS.ORG

Today is the day, folks! The day that new media changed forever. JC Hutchins has released his groundbreaking Personal Effects: Dark Art novel and it is nothing but a revolutionary scream in the face of that old, tired, worn-out paradigm of old-school media. With this release, and the ridiculously cool trans-media, pseudo-reality audience-participation activity JC has launched with it, he has redefined how stories can be told and experienced.

If you are a new media creator, if you are a new media consumer, if you want to know why I think new media has just taken one thrilling step forward, please do yourself a favor and check out JC Hutchins’ website, and make sure you look at all of the Personal Effects content and related brilliance (from the Suicide Girls to the artifacts to the Brinkvale site to the promos, to the YouTube clips to the Twitter avatar to the audio promos… it’s all-out WAR on the status quo of new media). And then take a moment to buy an awesome piece of history that will chill you to the bone.

Now you can see why I’m honored that he accepted my invitation to be an evil guest judge as part of the FETIDUS Great Evil Laugh Contest! Thank you, JC, and congratulations on your amazing launch! May you rise to the top of the charts and keep pushing the bleeding edge of new media!

Breaking News! My friend James Melzer, the sick brilliant SOB behind the terror-inducing thrill-ride known as The Zombie Chronicles: Escape (coming this fall from Permuted Press) has a mysterious new project starting June 17, 2009. I’ve been confidentially told that it is NOT Volume 2 of the The Zombie Chronicles, but I can say it is “related.” I couldn’t help but share it with you. If you value your life, I strongly urge you to check it out at www.thezombiechronicles.net.

Announcing the Great Evil Laugh Contest! I am looking for the Greatest Evil Laugh in the World! Do you have it? If so, you can win immortality and an awesome iPod touch, just by laughing! EVIL laughing, that is. Contest entries are due by June 21st, 2009. Click here to visit the FETIDUS website and find out more!

And now, for Episode 7 of FETIDUS: The Damned Heir! Please check out this thrilling episode! I didn’t have enough time before heading up to Balticon to announce it here on my personal website. I was literally scrambling at the very last minute before jumping in the car and cruising up to Baltimore (well, technically, Hunt Valley)! My wife and son were so patient with me as I wrapped up the finishing touches for Episode 7, but I think the extra effort was worth it.

Episode 7 is special in a couple of ways — first, because Matt Selznick finally makes his appearance as one of the characters, and he does a fantastic job. Second, because I actually sing in this episode. Yes, my singing voice! There’s a song near the end of the episode where I experimented and recorded my own voice, which is a FETIDUS first. I hope you enjoy it! I continue to experiment with the type of content and production I throw into FETIDUS, which is one of the reasons I love working on the project so much.

Finally, another bit of news: I finally released a 60-second verison of promo 1 of FETIDUS, which you can download here.

Check back soon, or subscribe for free via RSS or via email, since I’ve got some exciting developments cooking in both podcasting and film scoring!

Woo-Hoo! I just found out today that FETIDUS hit page 5 of the featured podcasts in iTunes Literature! Feels good to be in such great company! The undead are cheering!

Now, you might think this is a silly thing to celebrate, but the truth is, it gives me a great excuse to say THANK YOU to everyone who has joined with Art Blanchard and entered the fetid alleys of Washington DC of 2034, to set some things right and help the innocently damned! Each month, our audience has been growing — we’ve had thousands of downloads, and we’ve only just begun! Six episodes in, and the best is yet to come!

Thank you also to the great cast — you’ve done a fantastic job! I encourage all our listeners to go and support their work! Check out the FETIDUS cast page and please take the time to check out the talented people involved with FETIDUS!

For those that haven’t subscribed yet, please do so! You can subscribe in iTunes by searching for “FETIDUS” in the iTunes store, or try clicking here on this link.

Thank you all again, and I can’t wait to bring you Episode 7!

Best,
James

I was thrilled to have an interview about FETIDUS with the great team of Shannon and Matt over at Seattle-Geekly last week! They had a special zombie episode and I was honored they’d call me and ask about my take on zombies, among other things, to add to their massive zombie special. Their podcast continues to surprise me with how much content they cover, and they managed to put quite a bit of our lengthy conversation and some excerpts of my music in there! Thanks, Shannon and Matt! In our discussion, I geekishly wax verbose on the five types of zombies in the FETIDUS universe, as well as some of my influences and thinking processes as I developed FETIDUS. Check out the interview in Seattle-Geekly episode 12! Click here for the show notes and click here for the huge MP3 file, or you can subscribe to Seattle-Geekly in iTunes.

Hello everyone! I just posted a “special music episode” of FETIDUS over at FETIDUS.org and it’s a wee bit relevant for this website as well. Visit the FETIDUS.org version of this page or feel free to download the music below. Here’s the text from the other page:

I have something special here for you, folks! I’ve taken some of the music I’ve written for FETIDUS and put together 13-14 minutes of excerpts for your listening pleasure. They’re not final versions, but they’re close enough to give you a good feel for how the soundtrack is shaping up, and to give you a tasty morsel of that special FETIDUS atmosphere. Enjoy! And let me know what you think! Please, download it, close your eyes, and enter into the world of Art Blanchard and FETIDUS.

Special Music Episode 1:
00:00 – Intro from James
Music Excerpts:
03:09 – Retribution
05:07 – Mahrud Movement #9
08:15 – Deathsquad Reaper
09:34 – Intense Cogitation
11:27 – Activation by 5
12:42 – KA Texture
13:45 – A Slow March Through Hell

Thanks for listening! If you enjoy this special music episode, please share it!

Click below to listen to FETIDUS: The Damned Heir – Music Excerpts 1:

Download audio file: “FETIDUS: The Damned Heir – Music Excerpts 1” (30.7 MB)

Damn you, Holyfield! Now you’ve done it! You’re on the verge of completing your podcast of Murder at Avedon Hill and I had to put a little something together for you in celebration! Consider it a thank you for not just your excellent podcast and novel, but also for being part of the group of cutting-edge podcast novelists that inspired me to launch my own podcast novel. You also took the time to share some of your wisdom with me many moons ago, and I appreciate it. Thank you, man! So, huge congrats for wrapping the podcast, and I join with many others who wish you the best success in the months ahead! And for those who don’t get the whole “Damn you, Holyfield” thing, well, then, I invite you to get to know P.G. Holyfield and listen to his podcast at www.pgholyfield.com. ‘Nuff said.

Click below to listen to “Damn You, Holyfield!”:

Download audio file: “Damn You, Holyfield!” (4.0 MB)

Yes! Episode 6 of FETIDUS: The Damned Heir is now posted over on the FETIDUS website! I’m very excited about this episode, especially because so many of the cast had parts in this one. Almost everyone is there… Prebble Ramswell, Jose de la Mar, Patrick Nugent, Liliana Ayende, Bob Holmcrans, Sara Barrack and Valerie Durham — so it was really fun to edit, and quite the learning experience as well. The whole cast did a great job! Thank you, guys! You can read about the cast on the FETIDUS cast page. They are a wonderful group of people to work with, and I can’t wait to bring you more of their performances. I’m having the best time working on FETIDUS, and if you haven’t checked it out yet, I invite you to give it a try. After all, FETIDUS is about making the world a better place, isn’t it? Well, you’ll see…

I love Linux. It is a fantastic operating system/platform with ridiculous power and flexibility, and I wish I could use it for all my computer needs. I’ve attempted to do just about everything with it, and try as I might, there are some areas where it just doesn’t fill what I need with my creative work. Don’t get me wrong, it’s more than capable in many areas, and I use it exclusively for production servers for my clients. But for creative work (such as for music production), I have yet to find a way to integrate Linux into my workflow. That doesn’t stop me from trying every once in a while.

True to my inner geek, I will admit that I periodically enjoy sitting down and relaxing with new Linux distributions and open source apps and seeing what they can do. Yes, I’m not embarrassed to confess that fiddling with Linux is one of my many strange, entertaining past-times.

If this post doesn’t interest you, dear reader, please skip it, but do come back some other day when I post something else that might fascinate you. For now, I will briefly engage my inner Linux geek and share my brief impressions of the current state of Linux on the desktop with Ubuntu Linux 9.04 Beta, while watching a sci-fi-horror-zombie-martial arts movie.

First, while I’m an advocate of open source software, that doesn’t make me a detractor of traditional commercial software or other operating systems not normally associated with the open source movement. I’ve paid my dues in the Windows and OSX universes (not to mention *nix, and earlier Mac OS, AmigaOS, OS/2, BeOS, DOS and others), but Linux holds a special place in my heart. I don’t completely know why. I just like it. I’ll have to explore why I like Linux so much in another post.

One of my areas of creative work includes producing music and audio. Unfortunately, Linux and open source software in general have yet to deliver what I need for music production on the Linux platform. Yes, there are some outstanding music and audio applications (and I’ve tried just about all of them), but out of necessity I have to continue to use commercial pro audio apps, like Sonar, Cubase, ProTools, Live, Reaper, etc. and my library of plugins and sounds.

I’ll discuss my platform of music production choice in another post, but for now I’ll just say that if I could do what I need to do with music in Linux, I would consider completely switching most of my computers exclusively over to Linux. But alas, for my personal music production needs, Linux is still out… which means that I must continue to straddle the OS worlds. But what about other computing needs?

What about writing, browsing, listening to music, burning, daily in-and-out things? Can Linux on the desktop handle all that? Well, the short answer to that is YES, of course! It’s been great at that for quite a while, if a bit quirky around the edges sometimes. What about the desktop experience? Is it easy to use? Short answer: YES, of course! Provided you invest a few minutes to learn your way around. Any user-friendly variant of Linux includes outstanding desktop interfaces from KDE and/or GNOME, and a vast array of awesome apps and tools, from office productivity programs to simple games. And it all works beautifully (for the most part), it’s FREE (in the open source way) and it’s fun!

Why hasn’t Linux taken over the world by now? Well, that’s a great question I’ll reserve for another post, and there are some very real, obvious and not-so-obvious reasons why it hasn’t and won’t completely take over the world any time soon. But is it a really usable platform for desktop users, today, in 2009? Oh yes, it can be, and the latest incarnations of Linux are better than ever. Compelling, really. Amazing, often!

So what about this famous Ubuntu Linux distribution? Is it that good? Damn right, it’s that good! I decided to take the Ubuntu Linux 9.04 beta out for a spin, and I can sum up my experience with it so far simply like this: IT ROCKS!

I was simply blown away by how smooth the whole experience was, compared to some other Linux distros I’ve tested and used in the past. Especially for a beta.

I decided to try out the Ubuntu 9.04 beta on my new little computing friend, my MSI Wind netbook. Like many people recently, I bought a tiny, cheap netbook that I take around with me when I don’t want to lug around a “normal” laptop or worry about breaking/losing something really valuable. A netbook plus Ubuntu 9.04 seemed like a match made in laptop heaven.

First, to begin my relaxing Linux installation evening, I decided to watch a movie. I discovered to my delight that my Tivo had recorded another mindless sci-fi channel special called “I Am Omega” that was just perfect for the task of installing Linux… not too riveting to prohibit me from multitasking, and not too idiotic to force me to channel surf. The film piqued my interest. After all, it had zombies, and was loosely (er-hem, very loosely) inspired by the excellent sci-fi classic novel I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson, from what I can tell. Yes, I Am Omega also appears to be a blatant attempt to profit off of Will Smith’s version of I Am Legend, while also hearkening back to the Charleton Heston classic Omega Man.

I Am Omega. Get it? Good. Oh, they got me without trying so hard. I Am Legend + Omega Man = I Am Omega. How could I not at least press play and see to what mysterious new heights these brilliant, original filmmakers would take such a venerable story?

On top of that, I was intrigued by the familiarity of the actor playing the main character of I Am Omega. He was driving me crazy, but then I realized — the Chairman from Iron Chef America! Yes, Mark Dacascos himself. So now I was hooked.

Mix classic sci-fi influence with an indie-film spirit, derivative script, impressive and yet sometimes glaringly out-of-place martial arts moves, then throw in a connection to one of my favorite Food Network shows, and I had the perfect background film for installing Linux and tweaking it to my heart’s content! With the subtly-refined acting skills of Mark Dacascos on display in the background, I was ready to begin.

I just had to get Ubuntu onto my netbook, and so I downloaded the ISO image from Ubuntu’s website (www.ubuntu.com).

But since I have no optical drive on my netbook (an MSI Wind variant, remember?),  I had to install the ISO onto a USB key. I was too lazy to do it the hard, normal way, so what about the quick and easy way? From Windows no less? Well, I found an awesome little utility called UNetbootin that was so insanely easy to use, I have to mention the original author’s name and send him a big thanks out of pure respect! Thank you, Geza Kovacs! Great work!

After installing the beta Ubuntu ISO onto an old USB key via UNetbootin, I rebooted off of the USB key right into a Live version of Ubuntu. Beautiful! How easy was that? Zero effort so far.

I threw caution to the Wind (pun intended), and I just installed it right to the hard drive. I allowed Ubuntu (a beta, no less) to handle the messy work and repartition my hard drive and install itself, right then and there. I decided I wanted to see how it managed the repartition and saving of my Windows XP boot partition, plus installation of a boot-loader. Now, folks, don’t try this without taking precautions! I had a backup and I urge you to do the same. While it went well for me, your mileage may vary (obligatory exculpatory comment).

Then, I rebooted the netbook off the hard drive and to my utter shock and awe, the simple interface of Grub bootloader came up and gave me the option to boot into Ubuntu Lunix or back into Windows, without a hitch. Nice! Very smooth, no hiccups so far!

I chose Ubuntu for boot, and in under 30 seconds I was running Linux off the hard drive… smooth as can be. Now for the tricky part… wireless. I was fully expecting I’d have to do some work to get the wireless adapter working, but oh no, not with this version of Ubuntu! Wireless worked without a hitch, right out of the box! Again, your mileage may vary.

Maybe I lucked out with the wireless adapter I had, but man, was that easy, and surprising. Prior versions of Ubuntu didn’t have compatible drivers ready for this model of netbook, from what I understand, so I was more than pleased with the results.

I spent 15 minutes customizing the desktop, and adding several packages for basic functionality, such as Flash 10, MP3 playback, Skype, etc., all without breaking a sweat.

Just as things couldn’t get more bleak for Mark Dacascos in I Am Omega, things couldn’t get better for me. I was up and running, surfing, testing YouTube, WordPress, OpenOffice, some games, audio playback, and so on. Wow! This beta of Ubuntu really is amazing. It actually works on this cheap little netbook. And it works well!

In fact, I was outright humbled by the collective skill of all the passionate experts and open source developers that made Ubuntu the perfect one-stop OS experience. As I sat there, waiting for the dramatic and disappointing ending to I Am Omega, I was stunned at how my little Ubuntu installation and testing session turned out to be as great as the movie was un-great.

Not to be disrespectful to the filmmakers, since I know how hard it is to make a movie… and I’m scoring an indie film this year that will undoubtedly be criticized by folks like me, but well, I Am Omega wasn’t exactly fine cinema, let’s put it that way. In other words, Ubuntu rocked, and I Am Omega un-rocked… but I’m still a Mark Dacascos fan!

Anyway, I’m looking forward to the “official” release of Ubuntu 9.04 but as far as I’m concerned this beta version is ready for what I need on this netbook.

In one ridiculously easy installation, I have a fully-featured Linux installation that does everything I need a netbook to do. I’m not done testing it, but for any basic cloud-computing need, it is beyond totally usable. In fact, maybe it’s ideal.

So far, it appears to boot faster than Windows, is inherently more secure, and in one quick install, I have a powerhouse little machine. Plus, it looks good. As always, I appreciate the attention to detail the Ubuntu and GNOME folks invest into their work.

Well, that’s it for now, my geekish friends who have made it all the way to the end of this post. I’ll install the final version of Ubuntu 9.04 when it comes out, and I’ll probably go so far as to kick Windows altogether off this netbook, with a few well-placed kung-fu moves inspired by Mark Dacascos himself. Hi-yah!

Now, before you do anything else, I dare you to say the title of this post five times fast … waiting … waiting … waiting … Okay, great! Now we’ve got some reader interaction, and this is already heating up! By way of introduction, I am a total Twitter neophyte and a complete social media newbie. However, with my keen powers of insight I have been able to pull five seemingly random tips about Twitter for new Twitterers out of my magical tip generator and now I will share them with you in all their glory!

Twitter Tip #1 – Make your own way, blaze your own path, be your own guru, and explore!

Every single week I see another brilliant new application of Twitter, another new development, approach, or clever idea! Twitter is still evolving at a break-neck pace and who the heck can possibly consider themselves a Twitter guru or expert at this point? I’ll concede that I’ve seen a few who do genuinely seem to know a lot, but I contend Twitter is so remarkably complex and far-reaching in its potential, that we all have a lot to learn… and a lot of room to experiment in.

What we’re witnessing with Twitter, I believe, is the beginning of a mighty change in the fabric of human relationships, where new social paradigms are evolving at an insane pace! We’re in the middle of a revolution! So that means, I believe you can make your own way, blaze your own path, and be your own guru! And by all means, explore! Learn Twitter, embrace Twitter, investigate the nooks and crannies while it is still a young and wild frontier! Have fun with it, enjoy it! I’ve been blown away by what I’ve found so far.

I believe that the social and anthropological ramifications of Twitter are deep enough for dozens of doctoral dissertations and “how-to” books! I know a great guy writing one right now, and I can’t wait to read it. And while you should obviously listen to the people you want to listen to, I humbly suggest that you reserve judgment for yourself and try your own ideas too! I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Twitter Tip #2 – Equip yourself with the best tools for taking advantage of Twitter!

One of the first things I noticed was how overwhelming it could be to have a stream of tweets slamming me in the neural cortex in 140 character bursts like a fire hydrant gone amuck. In no time at all, I wished for a superior Twitter interface and some tools to manage and explore the Twitter universe.

Well, apparently the Twitter developers thought the same thing and they made an extensive API (Application Programming Interface) available to third-party developers so that clever little programming elves could create new, amazing Twitter programs to help you enjoy Twitter even more.

I won’t bore you with my current list of cool Twitter apps that I use, since whatever I say will be out-dated soon anyway. Just know that there is a Twitter application for almost anything, and if it doesn’t exist right now, it probably will soon. In fact, maybe you should develop it!

There are multiple apps for your iPhones and BlackBerries (or is that BlackBerrys?), special websites with funky statistics and tools, and stand-alone Twitter apps that cut through tweets like butter. I will only mention TweetDeck for now, but the best thing to do is ask people in Twitter itself what the coolest and best tools are. This is a constantly evolving landscape, but you’ll soon get a handle on it, and your tweeting experience will vastly improve.

Twitter Tip #3 – Following is fun, and plus, it’s a great way to gain your own followers!

When I joined Twitter eons ago, yes, those many, many, many days ago, I didn’t initially get the whole “follow” thing. What the heck was that all about? See what a neophyte I am? I’m not ashamed of being a total newbie at this. It just makes me want to learn! And so I began to learn without any preconceptions by simply following interesting people. And I discovered that following is fun!

There are so many fascinating people out there! And as time progressed, I noted that some of them followed me back. I read what they wrote, and interacted with my new-found fellow Twitterers.

Now let me be clear here. I’m not suggesting you follow just to get followers. (Although, that appears to work to a degree for many people who are interested primarily in numbers.) I’m suggesting you follow people that interest you, for whatever reason, and then let human nature take its course. Interact, and you will be followed back by many.

So how do you find people that are interesting to you in the first place? Ahhhhhh… that’s why I have another tip for you!

Twitter Tip #4 – How to find great initial people to follow, then expand your network by following the people they follow and those that follow them!

Make sense? I thought so. So how do you find those initial interesting people? Well, three ways for starters:

First, start by clicking “Find People” at the top of the page. Pretty obvious. Look up favorite writers, artists, musicians, friends, celebrities, real-world experts, etc., who are already on Twitter, and follow them. Inside the Find People menu you’ll also see “Find on other networks,” “Invite by email,” and “Suggested users.” Use those tools!

Second, use the “search” box on the Twitter page… and search for anything that interests you. If you like zombies, search for zombies! And there you will find the pulse of Twitter as it pertains to zombies… and the people who are talking about zombies at that very minute. Check them out, and follow people who are interesting to you!

Third, pay attention to the other websites you normally visit out there on the Internet! Many people that you normally get content from are already on Twitter… but you may not easily find them via the two methods above… so as you visit their sites, check out if they have a Twitter account, and if not, encourage them to get one! I’ve already invited or found a quality group of friends, colleagues and businesses this way, and it’s great to connect with them on Twitter!

Then, once you start to find that initial core of people, tap into their networks! One of the beauties of Twitter is that you can see who anyone is following, and who follows them… once you find someone that interests you, look through the profiles of some of both their followees and followers, read what they have to say, and you may find yourself amazed at the cool and fantastic people out there in the Twitterverse. Click “follow” on anyone that interests you!

Twitter Tip #5 – Tweet unto others as you would have them tweet unto you!

Well, there’s always room for the Golden Rule. Basic kindergarten behavior that seems obvious, but apparently some Twitter users somehow forget this basic social concept. I’m all for inventing The Great New Way to Use Twitter, and would love to see where brilliant new Twitter minds take us, but for most people, basic common-sense respect and even a little kindness go a long way. Please remember the “social” in social media! Those are human beings on the other side of those 140 characters. (Well, most of the time. )

On top of that, I’d humbly suggest never taking anything personal in the Twitterverse… I’ve already seen numerous little bouts of misunderstandings break out and much-needed apologies issued over things that were never intended to hurt someone. Actually, they were kind of hilarious to watch unfold, but sometimes let’s face it, we take things personally that don’t need to be.

Well, that’s it for now! My humble “Top Five Twitter Tips for New Twitterers from a Top-flight Twitter Neophyte” is now coming to a close — I have more, but the title wouldn’t have been nearly as fun to say out loud, so I’ll save my other ideas for my next Twitter-related post. Above all, I hope you enjoy Twitter and I hope to tweet you around! Oh… almost forgot… if interested, you can follow my tweets at:  twitter.com/jamesdurham

Alright, I will admit, I’m slipping into heavy geek mode here with this post, but I just had to write something about my favorite science fiction and fantasy convention… <drum roll please>… Balticon! But why is that? Why do I love thee, Balticon?

Here’s why: The people.

That’s the most exciting thing about Balticon, “The Maryland Regional Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention” held every Memorial Day weekend in the Baltimore area (www.balticon.org).

Yes, it’s because of the people that I enjoy it so much.

Unique, stimulating, intelligent, opinionated, educated, strange in good ways, creative, and unashamed of their areas of interest, the Balticon attendees seem to come from every walk of life and a vast array of personal and professional backgrounds. To be honest, I think it would be a great seed group of humans if some alien civilization wanted to abduct one hotel in its entirety and start a new human experimental colony. Okay, that might be disgusting… back to my point.

The people I have met there are creators, artists, fans, writers, gamers, scientists, journalists, musicians, avid readers, teachers, professors, techno geeks, programmers, publishers, artisans, dreamers, thinkers, social bunnies, anti-social hermits, entrepreneurs, IT experts, engineers, anime experts, social media gurus, obscure dance technique evangelists, fantasy nuts, hard SF veterans, Browncoats, trans-humanists, uber-bright kids, movie fanatics, indie filmmakers, podcasters, critics, history authorities, linguists, researchers, whole con families, people with wildly different concepts of personal hygiene, experts in arcana, open lovers of the bizarre and fascinating and more, more, more!

But that’s not all. What makes Balticon especially good for me is the unique mix of people — the size and ratio of attendees and “official guests” of different backgrounds and expertise. Goldilocks would say, “This con is just right!”

That’s the best part of Balticon for me now… meeting amazing people. And at Balticon, all the best features of large cons and small cons seem to co-exist in a unique, almost paradoxical combination.

From long conversations with admired (or even not-so-admired) writers on a lunch break, to running into favorite gurus in the hallway, to meeting a like-minded fan who you just know could one day be a life-long friend, to putting a face to someone you’ve always wondered about, to meeting a scientist with fascinating theories you never considered, to meeting a genius kid that knows more about gaming than you thought possible, to sitting next to a world-class author by accident at a local restaurant, to discovering new and unusual things to explore, Balticon is my favorite convention!

Let me put it this way. I believe Balticon has reached a magical critical mass of size and quality. Just so, that you can maintain anonymity and just “browse” if you want to, but also intimate and personal enough so that you can dive in and get to know a lot of people who really know what they are talking about. Also, any personality type is welcome, and you are not forced into one con social behavior pattern over another. There is enough diversity there to support several “sub-clans,” so to speak, with their own unique pools of people and activities, and yet they seem to be open enough to anyone new. And because of all that, they have reached a very well balanced program that covers a wide range of topics from some seriously top-flight presenters and a great group of fans and peers to interact with, should you choose to do so.

One specific example is how I had the great opportunity to meet Matthew Wayne Selznick (www.mattselznick.com) a couple of years ago. Matt is a pioneer in the podcasting community, and he was incredibly gracious to spend quite a bit of time discussing his perspective of new media with me. It was partly because of him that I was inspired to start my own podcast, and I’m very grateful for his willingness to connect with me that fateful day a couple of years ago. I believe that Balticon helped facilitate our meeting with just the right combination of factors that made it possible for us to talk in such detail. Had Balticon been any smaller, or had a lesser podcasting track, for example, Matt might not have come. Had Balticon been any larger, neither Matt nor I might have found the time or circumstance to cross paths and interact. Thank you, Matt, and thank you, Balticon!

And Matt is just one of many examples of fantastic people I’ve met because of the unique properties of Balticon. I’ve started new friendships and expanded my creative horizon, in part because of what Balticon offers.

And thus, In my years of convention attendance I’ve seen enough now to know that not all cons are created equally. Balticon has its own unique signature and for me, I look forward to it more and more each time. I hope to see some of you there this year, and get to know a few more amazing human (and not-so-human) beings!

Sincerely a Balticon fan,
James Durham

In response to a post over at Suvudu about DRM (Digital Rights Management), I couldn’t help but post some of my thoughts about this controversial topic here on my own site. The initial thread that inspired this post is located here, although this has been an ongoing discussion in the music and publishing universe for a long time, and has been a subject of much consternation in my own creative work.

I’ve wrestled with the pros and cons of DRM for my own content and just a few years ago I will admit I was a strong proponent of DRM. But now, as I’ve begun to look at how the world is changing right under our literal and virtual noses, I have completely changed my point of view. This is what I will post on the Suvudu site as my contribution to this compelling topic:

As a musician, aspiring writer and technophile, I see little value in DRM. I believe society is in the midst of a huge paradigm shift, particularly for artists and how they relate to their audience, and DRM simply gets in the way. Is that what the artist really wants? Obstacles to his content?

For me, DRM is the annoying cockroach on the proverbial banquet of universal content and it does nothing but keep the lawyers — er, exterminators — primed to the brim with self-indulgent enthusiasm and lustful finger twitching.

DRM has its place, however… and that is to provide false comfort to those artists who wish to remain in their citadels of old-world thinking, when it comes to the brave new world of digital media.

Having said all that, I’m all for copyright control. It’s just that I believe DRM is approaching the issues from the wrong direction. If an artist wants to protect their work and get his due compensation, I take no issue with that, of course. But in the end, trying to put digital content in a vault is like trying to store precious wine in a sieve. It just ain’t gonna happen.

What I believe will matter the most for artists in the 21st century is the human relationship between the artist and the audience. That personal connection is what will propel their audience to purchase the novels, music, films and so forth. That relationship generates trust, loyalty and even pricks the conscience of those audience members who have partaken of pirated fruit.

And that relationship takes work… a kind of work on the part of the content creators (and their teams if they have the budget) that is sometimes more difficult than the creation of the art in the first place. And I think it also requires a higher standard of merit for the work itself, raising the bar to a new level for the highest level of success. That’s where I come to the opinion — yes, this is just opinion so please disregard all this if you disagree — that a paradigm shift is upon us.

This generation, frankly, looks at content differently than prior generations. Content is not an object to them. It is to be easily and freely passed between devices, and yes, even between friends. When content loses its physical properties, something has to take the place of that which is lost. And that is where the relationship comes in.

In this short space I can’t go into more of my theories on this topic, but suffice it to say that DRM simply prevents the natural movement of content to the audience for which it is intended. And the audience of the 21st century will almost certainly take the path of least resistance. If it takes more effort to access or use an artist’s content, many won’t bother with it at all.

For those that choose to stoically defend DRM, please, have at it. But please don’t wonder why the content you are trying to protect is distributed without your control anyway and all that effort (read: time and money) you put into vaulting it up and chasing after pirates could have been spent building good will, trust and loyalty with your audience, one paying customer at a time.

Welcome to my personal website! I hope you come back often and enjoy the content, old and new, that I will be posting here in the coming months. I’ll also be updating you about some of my exciting personal and commercial projects, such as FETIDUS, Arothea, and my score of the feature-length indie film, 95ers.

I decided the time had come to overhaul this site, and add proper blogging and RSS features, along with an expanded collection of content and topics that I’ll be covering… including the dreaded and dangerous written form known as commentary. It could get controversial here in the coming months.

This is a quiet “soft” re-launch, with much more content on the way. Please subscribe for updates and you won’t miss a thing, including the slow-but-sure posting of some of my favorite previous content and music, including songs from Aeolian May – Port of Embarkation.

In the meatime, as this website is built up, please don’t miss out on FETIDUS: The Damned Heir… Episode 6 is around the corner!

Best,
James

As I begin to repopulate this website with content, old and new, I had to post one of my favorite songs from my Aeolian May – Port of Embarkation album. This song is entitled Alexandria, and tells a passionate story of longing in a distant land and ancient time. I tried to capture the feeling of timeless, mythical love by taking you to the fabled shores of classical Alexandria, the bygone seat of mankind’s knowledge and culture. I hope you enjoy it!

Danan Healy sings beautifully with her trademark ethereal voice, and Matt Ellison provides superb, nostalgic guitar. Click here to visit the Aeolian May website.

Music written and produced by James Durham.

Click below to listen to “Alexandria” from Aeolian May – Port of Embarkation

Download audio file: “Alexandria” from Aeolian May – Port of Embarkation (7.2 MB)

On January 14, 2005, NASA/JPL/ESA landed the Huygens probe on Saturn’s moon, Titan, and to commemorate that historic and inspiring event, I wrote a piece of music entitled, Titan Descent. It was the first time mankind landed a probe on another planet’s moon (other than our own, of course), and its long-term significance is a milestone that cannot be understated. What an extraordinary event, and what an extraordinary success for the fantastic international team of scientists and engineers that accomplished their historic mission!

I was thrilled that the folks at NASA, ESA and JPL circulated the music around among the Cassini-Huygens team and posted it on their website, and I was overjoyed that my wife choreographed a modern dance piece for it, which she has performed numerous times to the enthusiastic response of her audiences.

The music opens with actual excerpts from the press conference announcing the success, and at about 3:14, I work in the actual alien sounds recorded by the probe as it descended into the Titan atmosphere. Yes, that’s some of the sound of what the probe sent back to us.

While I wrote the music, I tried to imagine the rapid spinning the probe engaged in, and its journey approaching, then travelling through the atmosphere of this strange new world.

You can read more about the Cassini-Huygens Mission at JPL’s Cassini site and a good summary can be found at Wikipedia here and here.

I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did creating it!

Click below to listen to “Titan Descent”

Download audio file: “Titan Descent” (9.7 MB)

Originally posted back on March 20th, I would be remiss in my newly minted duties to this personal website if I didn’t announce that Episode 5 of FETIDUS: The Damned Heir is now LIVE over at www.fetidus.org.

But now that I have announced it here, the hungry appetite of this website is now satisfied, albeit temporarily. In fact, if you subscribe to this blog, you will get all sorts of interesting updates… not just about FETIDUS, but about all of my other creative mayhem, commentary and cognitive diversions. And there are some things I’m positively certain you will be absolutely thrilled to know about.

Here’s an early test track from Arothea: The First Attempt at Breaking the World. This one is called “Telsun’s Dirigible” and it is a little electronic piece with some sound design that acts as a quick portrait of the mythical thaumaturge Telsun, as he flies high over Arothea in his old beat-up dirigible. I can’t wait to bring you more about him and his story. But for now, here’s the first pass at his theme.

Click below to listen to “Telsun’s Dirigible” from Arothea: The First Attempt at Breaking the World

Download audio file: “Telsun’s Dirigible” (3.4 MB)