Chopper Newt on Aussie Geek Podcast #009
For the past weeks, the Lizards have been lucky enough to have a featured spot on the Aussie Geek Podcast. Each week had a spotlight song with an pre-recorded introduction. The culmination of it all to be a “LIVE” interview with a bandmember.
The day is finally upon us.
This weekend Chopper skyped in with all the members of the Aussie Geek Podcast. The title of this episode is cleverly named “Eye Of Newt”. From what I have been told/warned by Chopper, is that he is pretty much included in the entire episode…and that I am sometimes mocked. (EDITORS NOTE: NOT SURPRISING, THEY ARE ALL JEALOUS OF ME.) I have just downloaded the file and will be listening to what I am going to refer to as ‘The Celebrity Roast of Sir Pent’.
Check it all out here:
http://www.aussiegeekpodcast.com/2008/11/aussie-geek-podcast-009-eye-of-newt/
Thanks guys (& in advance I’d like to tell Chopper to bite me),
Sir Pent
November 17, 2008 at 7:49 am
…and those whoopins I promised? They are going through the QC process right now and should be on your doorsteps soon.
November 17, 2008 at 8:24 am
I know your real name and so do a few others… THAT made it all worth while
November 17, 2008 at 8:52 am
Consider yourself bitten, Metro.
Listening to the final product now… Dave, your editing skills have made me sound nearly coherent – that must have been quite a job. Thanks!
November 17, 2008 at 9:33 am
Wow! That was a mildly amusing show.
No, really, I thought it was a really good show.
Nobody knows my real name…not even me!
@Chopper Um?
November 17, 2008 at 9:36 am
Dear Dave, thank you for cutting out all my Um’s; also, screw you for putting them at the end. I thought I was going to get away clean on the bloopers – so much for that!
November 17, 2008 at 9:46 am
I listened to the first hour on the drive into work this morning.
I hate everyone involved in this.
November 17, 2008 at 10:07 am
Damn, I can’t hear it until I get home from work this eve. Which means I probably won’t hear it until I’m commuting tomorrow morning, when I’ll be able to listen to the iPod. And I so want to be a part of the Pent-boy mockery….
On the other hand, I wonder to what degree Newtski mocks me!
November 17, 2008 at 10:42 am
Hey Metro, I didn’t bring up the magazine story, so you should count your blessings and be filled with love.
November 17, 2008 at 11:22 am
I really wish I had never shared the magazine story with you or DeBarba.
November 17, 2008 at 11:24 am
What magazine story? Ok, out with it, Pent. Were you in gay porn?
November 17, 2008 at 11:27 am
“in” or “into”?
November 17, 2008 at 11:33 am
I already suspected the latter… Elwyn.
November 17, 2008 at 11:48 am
I don’t know if the magazine story is something I should really go into…
November 17, 2008 at 12:38 pm
@Sir Pent: “Celebrity roast”? My, we are making assumptions.
November 17, 2008 at 12:43 pm
@Herne: You + Eat = Me.
November 17, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Herne = +1
November 17, 2008 at 2:30 pm
…but I have a +5 Halberd!
November 17, 2008 at 6:21 pm
And I have the Helm of Indifference and the Shield of Ignorance!
November 17, 2008 at 7:41 pm
I’ve been listening to the podcast. Dave, you guys are born comedians. Chopper, you sound great. And our music sounds great!
And guys: I’m on a PC notebook (Sony VIAO), Windows XP. Oh, yeah, and I’m a professor at the City University of New York.
November 17, 2008 at 8:04 pm
And Chopper, you are far too modest. I recall various gigs we did in which you totally rocked on guitar while singing at the top of your lungs. In fact, we have video proof!
I do have to say I fell out of my chair listening to Chopper’s “uhms.”
November 17, 2008 at 8:32 pm
There’s your next single… “Uhm…”
Gee, I’m not a professor of anything, I feel almost…inadequate.
(But I did go to college 3 times and I have a couple of different diplomas. Does that score me anything?)
November 17, 2008 at 8:48 pm
I think all that it scores you is a lot of student loans to pay back…
November 17, 2008 at 9:08 pm
I’m thinking you’re right… but I finally did pay it all off.
*cough*farkin’gov’t*cough*
November 17, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Hey, I have three degrees, too! B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. (AND I have student loans….)
But they degrees are in history, so usually it is I who feels inadequate–unless the topic of discussion is history. And even there it has pretty much got to be European history. Oh, wait, pre-modern European history. I don’t know squat about anything past about 1871.
November 17, 2008 at 9:53 pm
I should have a Ph. D. in Kisstory…
November 18, 2008 at 12:23 am
I used to could play and sing at the same time. Not so much anymore. Even on the Freep tapes it was pretty tenuous when I had to.
I just finished playing a couple hours of Rock Band 2. On drums. I did fine until we got to “Next To You”. Stewart Copeland can suck my ass.
November 18, 2008 at 5:23 am
OK Chopper I admit I did not have anything on you. Thing is though that the Ummms – I stopped cutting them out and adding them after 1/2 hour of editing
Oh Come on Sir Pent, we don’t hate you… I was amused though… Alwyn Brawwhaw haw haw haw…
On a more serious note although I am somewhat afraid to ask… Was the music tracks better or do you think they were shit like last time? Seriously though, they were MUCH better mixes and the actual bit rate quality aside, I thought they were better. I would like to know what you boys thought.
NP making you sound good chops, it was a real blast. Glad you liked the edit. We work pretty hard at making the audio pretty polished.
Matt glad you liked the ummmmms
errrrrr, ummmm, ummm nothing else, atm at least
November 18, 2008 at 6:49 am
I have been instructed not to discuss such things in this forum…the babys from Lizards From Afar are afraid I’ll upset the sensitive feelings of the AGP.
But since you asked, I thought the music sounded great this time. (So whatever you were doing wrong before you fixed this time…)
And I will be using the Uhmmms to create a mix that will make it sound like he is having sex with Bert from Sesame Street.
November 18, 2008 at 7:04 am
Yes, greatly improved. I guess it was just a matter of having some mixes that were sort of “optimized” for the podcast, but that seems to have made a difference.
November 18, 2008 at 7:08 am
Halfway through this morning, and I’ll be finishing up in the gym. Can’t wait to hop over to the Aussie site as well!
November 18, 2008 at 7:11 am
Gator, is that you?
November 18, 2008 at 7:43 am
Gator is a muscle head now, eh? What a change from the old days.
Yeah, the music sounded great on the podcast. And I assume this is actually thanks to Chopper, largely, for rendering out “optimized” versions, right?
Chopper, I can’t believe you didn’t say your favorite gadget was the Toneport GX. That’s my favorite gadget, bar none. For only $50 I can sound like any guitar god I want.
Speaking of guitars, I decided to modify my guitar and I got fucking outbid on ebay at the last minute last eve for a standard telecaster neck. Last 30 seconds, in fact, and then I didn’t get my counter bid in in time. Damn, I hate ebay. The price had already gone above the normal going price anyway, so I guess the other guy was just more desperate than I was. A few days ago one of those necks went for $140 and this guy paid more than $160. Of course, now I can’t find another “new” one to bid for.
November 18, 2008 at 7:52 am
That’s good news boys. It actually means something to think that you thought it sounded good
Thank you Alwyn for your usual diplomacy…
November 18, 2008 at 7:54 am
@Matt That’s OK, one of my diplomas is for Forestry…
And I used to belong to a historical recreation society known as the SCA.
…I’m a lumberjack and I’m OK.
November 18, 2008 at 7:56 am
Has anyone confirmed that Herne is still on his medications?
November 18, 2008 at 8:09 am
The Herne is quoting from classic Monty Python, I thought you had more culture than that Pent Lad
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=5zey8567bcg
Classic, classic mate… go get some culture… Geeze
That said however, I think Herne took the red pill… it was supposed to be the green one.
November 18, 2008 at 8:30 am
I have the entire collected series on DVD.
November 18, 2008 at 10:08 am
Yep, it’s me! Benching over my body weight these days and signed up to climb the Sears Tower at the next race – weird but true.
November 18, 2008 at 10:37 am
That is weird. Kudos to you, Gator!
For a while during the “Lizards hiatus” between 1993 and 2007, I got into the best shape I’d ever been in. I actually raced on the UNC-Chapel Hill cycling team, and finished top ten at the ACC championships in 1999. I also raced in Europe when I lived over there. I did the “Assault on Mt. Mitchell” bike race in North Carolina, too: 120 miles with 10,000 feet of climing. Now, since becoming a professor, especially one who has to spend much of his time commuting, I’m becoming a weakling again. It sucks. I only “jog” now for exercise. It’s pathetic.
November 18, 2008 at 11:29 am
The racing sounds awesome, man. I haven’t done any competitions but I’m looking forward to the stair climb.
November 18, 2008 at 11:41 am
I can beat any one of you in the more fat/less muscle arms race. As it were. I am like a giant slug of some kind. Nor do I care enough to do anything about it.
November 18, 2008 at 11:45 am
Climbing the ST will be bloody murder, I imagine.
I remember a bike race in Cary, NC, in which I crashed and took out about 15 other bicyclists as I slid across the pavement at 30 mph. Boy was that fun. Destroyed most of my bike, too. Not to mention scars I still have on my right arm and leg. I only did one race after that, up in the mountains, where I saw a guy break his femur. At that point, I chickened out and decided to take up jogging. 100 cyclists racing as hard as they can for between 50 to 100 miles per race is a recipe for terrible injuries. Dangerous sport.
But back to music, I looked into CD baby and the possibility of getting some distribution for our music when we “complete” this “album,” but upon examining the details, I’d say I agree with Chris for now that we should stick with our digital-only distribution system–i.e., we give them away. But it would be nice to have a professionally done up CD. Perhaps eventually.
November 18, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Ever since the surgery and the extended period of limited mobility which has followed, I have sunken into the worst shape of my life. I know that I need to do something, but strenuous activity (including drumming) usually results in a following day of agony.
- – - – - – - – - – - – -
I’m thinking we should consider producing a small quantity of CDs…maybe 20-30. We each get two for posterity and the rest we use to submit to indie labels and indie review zines/sites. If someone records them onto CD, I can probably get the labels and covers produced cheap where I work.
November 18, 2008 at 2:28 pm
What is that ridiculous, but true, cliche? No pain, no gain. You’re going to have to suffer, no doubt about it.
I’m for producing the CDs–I’ll even contribute some money–but we’ll have to find a place to “press” them for us. While we’re at it, I’d _really_ love to get it on vinyl. Damn that would be cool. I’m looking into that.
Speaking of vinyl, I’ve been listening to the Raconteurs more and more lately. My favorite new song: Intimate Secretary. If only I could have come up with that music. If only I could screech like Jack White.
November 18, 2008 at 4:15 pm
If we really want to go that route, I could look into the place that I had convert the VHS of the bandshell concert into video and mp3 files.
That would be nice because it wouldn’t be labels on the CDs, it would be printed directly on. However, if we’re doing a small number, out per unit cost is going to be pretty high.
November 18, 2008 at 5:00 pm
I did a google search and found recordpressing.com. The cost is QUITE high, and that’s at a fairly large volume, too. I didn’t look further.
November 18, 2008 at 5:20 pm
download only. I’m for spending nothing.
November 18, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Whatever quantity one desires, I don’t think you’re getting professionally pressed CD’s for less than $500, and given the current interest level, that’s kind of a stretch.
November 18, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Why dontcha just design up your own cd label and offer it as a Hi Res PDF download.
Then your adoring fans could download your tunage from Reverbnation, burn it to CD, print a label, and bada-boom, bada-bing! You have your own branding and you have a burned CD.
And if you’re really fancy, you also offer up a Hi Res PDF for a CD tray liner.
November 18, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Oh, and don’t forget the obligatory 300 by 300 pixel jpg for our iTunes library album art.
November 18, 2008 at 8:22 pm
…and then we need a kick-ass music video!
I’m thinking mostly of ME. (We want to give the people what they want, right?)
November 18, 2008 at 8:30 pm
A video is definitely what we need…. an computer animated video for Giant Robot in which Chopper Newt builds an Iron Man style robot, climbs inside, flies through the roof of his house and saves the day.
The PDF CD insert is, of course, also a very good idea. Pent, get on it! The BD cover is yours, so you’ll have to do the inside cover, too. What we need is a “label,” too. SlitherinRecords?
Yay, I’m going to be a guitar modifier! I just won a standard tele neck on ebay which is somehow going to make my guitar much cooler than it already is–a very difficult thing to do, I know, but still.
I’ve never done more than change a nob and the strings on any guitar of mine, so this will be real adventure.
November 18, 2008 at 8:33 pm
At the very least, album art for iTunes-type libraries! So I can stick your tunage on my iPod!
@Matt So if we hear a loud “SPROING!” followed by an anguished howl, we’ll know it didn’t go so well?
November 18, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Herne: If you go to the Bloomington Democracy page on this blog you’ll find a pretty hi-rez image of the “album cover.” You can shrink it to iTunes size pretty easily. Also, if you download the tunes on reverbnation, I believe that site automatically provides album cover art with the mp3s: it’s just the Bloomington Democracy image underlined by a “reverbnation” logo.
As for “sproing,” I have no idea what to expect. I only hope the screw holes line up, or it will be a lot of wasted money. If they do, I can screw the neck on easily enough and then it becomes a matter of set up, especially since the standard tele neck has a wider radius than the thin-line one that came on my guitar.
November 19, 2008 at 6:55 am
Wow…lots of new spots on the cluster map this morning!
November 19, 2008 at 7:03 am
Everybody should go vote for us:
http://www.polldaddy.com/survey.aspx?id=088f7cb3b6ca7a12
November 19, 2008 at 8:50 am
I can vote that our song is great, but I can’t remember any of the others….
We need a new post. Maybe I’ll do one later. Hey, I started working on a new punk song last night (after midnight!). I went through all the Pent-boy lyrics I could find (probably not even a fifth of them), and found one I thought would make a fun little tune: 104 degrees of separation. But Pent, it needs a second verse that works. The first verse is excellent, the chorus is great, but there’s only the beginnings of a second verse and it doesn’t flow well. I’d try to come up with something, but that’s not my gig, man.
November 19, 2008 at 10:15 am
I’ll look at the song sometime today when I can take a break.
I just sent a new lyric this morning called Dance Theodora. (I figured it would tickle the historian in you…)
November 19, 2008 at 10:19 am
And it does, as I replied in the e-mail. I assume it’s a song about Empress Theodora, the wife of Justinian, 6th century CE. It’s good, too.
November 19, 2008 at 10:24 am
Yes, that is the subject matter.
It sucks that you can actually just whip out the actual historical people in about half a second. (I suppose that’s your gig, though.)
November 19, 2008 at 10:57 am
I knew whom the song was about, but I don’t know much about Theodora, other than that she was quite famous in her time. Of course, so was Justinian. Can’t teach pre-modern European history without at least taking into account Justinians Corpus Juris Civilis, as well as his failed attempt to re-conquer the western half of the Roman Empire, which had fallen to Germanic warlords.
November 19, 2008 at 11:09 am
Show off.
“Purple is a good color to die in.” (The original title of the song I was trying to write…but it kept coming out too silly.)
November 19, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Ricky DeG listened to the podcast and feels that Dave clearly hates M$. I reminded Ricky of his anti-360 ranting and raving, but haven’t had any response to that as yet.
November 19, 2008 at 4:08 pm
I kinda dig the fact that the AGP crew aren’t Mac haters.
November 19, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Macintosh sucks. But so does Microsoft. I’d move over to Linux but I’m too dependent on MS for most of my applications, like a addict hooked on his heroin, I can’t leave my supplier.
But my XP OS is pretty darned stable, so I can’t complain too much. If only it didn’t take up so much damned memory to use.
Speaking of software, I put in a request with Reverbnation that they form a “trusted partnership” with WordPress.com so we can use the widgets on this site. More and more people on WP are talking about this, but WP doesn’t put this at the top of their to-do list, so I asked RN to initiate it. We’ll see if anything happens.
November 19, 2008 at 4:55 pm
The only thing that sucks about Mac is the price-tag. Otherwise they build superior and easier to use product.
November 19, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Naw, they suck and you’re not going to convince me otherwise, so don’t try. I’ve used Macs before (I even had one once) and they’re like toys for babies: little boxes that do pretty things, sing, and light up, but you have no idea why. At least with a PC I can’t look under the hood and try to understand the code.
November 19, 2008 at 8:44 pm
How often are ya doing that? (BTW-if you really want to do that, you can do it on the Mac as well.)
November 19, 2008 at 9:53 pm
No, you lie. All Mac users are liars, too.
November 19, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Obviously I’m just “taking the piss” as our Aussie friends say.
November 19, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Actually, you were right. All Mac users ARE liars.
November 19, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Go listen to the new demo!
November 20, 2008 at 6:53 am
I did. It sounds good.
November 20, 2008 at 7:55 am
You two keep it up and I’m turnin this car around!
I use both a Mac and a PC…does that make me bi?
November 20, 2008 at 8:01 am
No Herne, the fact that you make it with both men and women is what makes you bi.
The computer thing is a red herring.
November 20, 2008 at 8:57 am
Any AGP song will need to include a reference to Dave “having the shits” about something. That is my new favorite expression. Make it so.
November 20, 2008 at 9:03 am
I thought that the fact that I make it with both men and women would make me exceptionally lucky…
As opposed to some of us *coughPentcough* who’re making it with inanimate objects.
November 20, 2008 at 10:03 am
And ripe fruit.
November 20, 2008 at 12:40 pm
@Chopper I believe Dave’s phrase is “gives me the shits” … as opposed to having.
@Matt overripe fruit?
November 20, 2008 at 1:25 pm
How dare you call Kathy inanimate? Once she’s inflated she’s more animated than the Gecko during our bandshell concert!!
November 20, 2008 at 4:31 pm
That is undoubtedly true. During the whole of 1992 I was about as animated as a patient in a coma ward. Fortunately I came out of it in time for graduate school.
November 20, 2008 at 4:53 pm
I just visited our RN site and noticed that we’re dropping precipitously in the rankings there (once we were in the 250 range, now it’s the 530s), which is strange because it seems more people are visiting this site. I wonder if there are a bunch of other bands that are suddenly beating us and that is what is causing the drop. Guess I’ll have to be sure to visit the site everyday, or twice a day, without signing in so as to give our rankings a boost….
November 20, 2008 at 5:24 pm
I noticed that the other day. We did a drop of about 100 points in one afternoon. (I check about 4 times a day…yeah, I’m a loser.)
November 20, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Sounds like youse need to put out some more muzak!
November 20, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Herne,
You must be VERY careful in how such things are worded. If presented in the wrong way (too eager, too complainish, too impatient), then certain unnamed sources will punish us by withholding final mixes.
If we act like we do not care or are not excited to hear a final mix, a final mix comes faster.
So be careful not to walk too hard on those eggshells mister.
November 20, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Oh! Sorry! Silly me… I know it must take a long time to encode those .wav files… My mistake.
So, yeah, like…whenever you’re ready we’ll do this thing.
November 20, 2008 at 8:24 pm
HERNE! HERNE! HERNE!
Don’t even use sarcasm or that particular someone will refuse to work on the impending track.
He’s like the groundhog, but instead of his shadow it’s enthusiasm that causes him to hibernate.
November 20, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Et voila. Found out they will let you merge myspace friends with rn fans, and a couple clicks later we have thousands of rn fans. It’s like magic.
November 21, 2008 at 6:52 am
I tried that a couple of days ago and it wasn’t working.
November 21, 2008 at 11:35 am
It works now, I checked last eve. I also talked to both WP guys and RN guys, and the RN guys really want to become a “trusted partner” with WP so their widgets will be allowed here, but they haven’t been able to “get on the list.” I don’t know why. Could be some technical issue with regards to security. At any rate, it is being worked on.
November 21, 2008 at 12:37 pm
I’m saying I got the email a few days ago (via the myspace account) that this could be done. I tried to follow the procedure and nothing would happen.
I’m glad it’s working now, but other than showing how MANY myspace friends we have, it doesn’t seem to let us communicate with any of them any better.
(ie, myspace won’t let you bulk email or message friends if you have over 2,000…so we can’t do anything to directly communicate with them when we have a new release. This still doesn’t address that problem.)