Todd Bradley’s Galaxy

The Daily Camera: Theater/dance – Here’s a review of “Orpheus Descending”, the play I’m working on at the moment. I did sound and light design and operation. In case you don’t know what that means, “sound design” means choosing and putting together all the music and sound effects for the production and “light design” means setting up which light cues are right for what scenes. I’ve also been doing sound and light operation, which just means I run the sound board and light board during each performance.

Well, the Daily Camera wrote a good review of the play. And I was surprised to see they actually mentioned me! The theater critic writes:

“Todd Bradley’s sound design — which includes blues songs from the ’20s, ’30s and ’40s by artists whose autographs Val carries on the face of his guitar — helps create the production’s sultry, Southern feel.”

I never thought I’d get in the paper for just doing sound design for an amateur production, but it’s a great feeling. And I’m especially proud that the reviewer recognized the effect I put into choosing music that not only fits each scene, but is also authentic to the period. One of the actors suggested at one point that I use Jimi Hendrix’ “Hey Joe” since the lyrics tell a story so similar to the play. But I rejected it because it’s out of period – recorded about 15 years too late.

Longmire does Romance Novels – If you like romance novels as much as I do – and I know you do! – you’ll love this website, which features several hilarious parody book covers.

Radio Paradise – eclectic online rock radio – I discovered this internet radio station by accident a couple weeks ago, and have fallen in love with it. I have never heard a better radio station. They play a great mix of music, no commercials, and offer a high fidelity 128kbps MP3 stream. One reason it sounds so good is that they have real human DJs selecting songs that go together well, just like old fashioned radio stations did (before the days of the computer-generated playlist). Give Radio Paradise a listen. I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

TikiMac — The Macintosh Outfitters – Now that is cool. A USB drive in the shape of a wooden tiki. I can’t tell from the description if it’s really made of wood or not.

The New York Times > International > Middle East > Shiites in Iraq Back Islamist to Be Premier: “Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite doctor with an Islamist bent, was chosen Tuesday by the victorious Shiite alliance as its candidate to become Iraq’s new prime minister.” – Now wouldn’t it be ironic if the result of all this is that the US has overthrown a secular Western-style dictatorship only to pave the way for a Islamist fundamental religious dictatorship? What if the results of our efforts to bring “democracy” to the region end up adding the missing piece to the puzzle of a United Islamic Empire (Iraq, Syria, Iran, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia)?

I just posted this announcement to the 404 Not Found announcement email list:

Greetings, family and friends,

Well, it’s spring cleaning time at the old A7 Audio Research Lab, the
tiny home studio that brought you the first 7 releases from 404 Not
Found. In cleaning out the closets, I found all kinds of old CDs
stuffed into cracks and corners. And in the spirit of
out-with-the-old, I’ve decide to give most of it away.

That’s right. I’m clearing out everything but the most recent 404 Not
Found masterpiece, “Paper Cuts.” I/we put together 6 prior CDs
between 1997 and 2002. If you want one of them but don’t have a copy,
now’s your chance. All I’m asking for is the actual shipping cost to
get the CD from my hand to yours. Or if you’re local and want to pick
one up in person, it’s truly absolutely really completely free!

Here’s what I’ve got. First come, first served. Whatever’s left on
my birthday, which is March 20, is going into the landfill.

If you’re not familiar with the first 6 CDs, read all about them here:
http://404notfound.toddbradley.com/othercds/cds.html

- 3 copies of “Something is Wrong” individually numbered and signed

- 5 copies of “In The Beginning” individually numbered and signed

- 2 copies of “In The Beginning” in paper sleeves

- 20 copies of “Eclectronic”

- 3 copies of “Nightmare Lullaby”

- 1 copy of “Warts and All”

Meanwhile, as usual, I’m working on about 3 new projects at once. The
one that’s taken almost all my time the past couple months has been
doing sound design (music and sound effects) and lights for The
Upstart Crow’s production of “Orpheus Descending” by Tennessee
Williams. Opening night was this past Friday, and the show runs 2
more weeks at Boulder’s Dairy Center. If you’re into theater and want
to see a Southern Gothic style play, classically performed, this is
for you! Here’s more:
http://www.theupstartcrow.org/index.html#whatsplaying.

I’m also working (very slowly) on a concept album called “Welcome to
Earth, Shorty” that just isn’t conceptual (or funny) as it needs to
be. And I’ve got a collection of instrumental music in me that can’t
decide how it wants to come out. I may start releasing bits and
pieces of that online in the next month or so, rather than waiting
until I have enough for a full length CD. Plus I’ve got some more
traditional “404 Not Found” style comedy songs that just don’t fit
into the concept album concept, and I’m not sure what to do with them.
Maybe they’ll emerge on the website later this year, too.

Well, thanks for reading this far. Email me if you want one of these
old CDs. And, since this is the first 404 Not Found announcement of
2005, happy new year!

Todd.

Gizmodo : Rotundus: Big Black Rolling Ball – I’m surprised the article didn’t mention “The Prisoner”.

– A good way to take a break from programming

– This one’s from the FENG SHUI I collection of Berlin Tapete. I would love to have this on my wall.

I’m going crazy doing taxes. I always hate doing the taxes. And they’re that much worse this year because we owe several thousand dollars, so I want to make sure to eke out every legally possible deduction. That’s what I’ve been doing this morning, and I’m sick of it, so I guess it’s time to switch to some other boring household chore, before I take a shower and go work. Strange that the highlight of my Saturday is shaping up to be a trip to the office to catch up on my job.