August 20, 2008

This is probably not too exciting to anybody else, but I am pretty psyched to report that I now accept credit cards for payment of materials. I’ve used PayPal for credit card transactions for years, but a lot of schools won’t go through PayPal for whatever reason. Most schools, though, have department credit cards. Taking a credit card for payment usually means a whole lot less paperwork to deal with than payment with a check, as a check payment typically requires becoming a “vendor” for the school.

So — no more PayPal. Now, people can just call or email me credit card info, I type in the info, and the payment goes through. It shows up on the buyer’s credit card bill as a transaction with “OstiMusic.” Cool. It’s fast, easy, and it makes the whole thing feel a lot more professional.

So if you want to order something — or you just feel like giving me money with your credit card — have at it!

August 17, 2008

I think we finally have my studio in order here at the new house in Austin. I wanted a room that felt warm — and not too “workplace-like.” I didn’t know what that necessarily meant, but AEJ did. The result is a large steel McDowell & Craig office desk — enameled in a cream color — and a gynormous metal computer monitor, but combined with floor-to-ceiling velvet drapes and a totally bad-ass vintage chandelier from the early 1970s.

For comparison, here is what the room looked like when we bought the house:

And here it is now:

This is what it looks like at night:

Here is one of the accessories the previous owners had in this room. AEJ’s brother referred to as something like “angel with a patriotic erection.”

My replacement accessory: The Tube Lamp. (Next to it is the Waterphone.)

And the most dramatic change… The former light fixture:

And the new light fixture - Liberace-style.

The studio looks sweet — and thanks to all of these yards upon yards of velvet, plus the black cowhide rug on the floor, the sound in here is great (although lacking massive low-end, as the subwoofer is currently in the family room).

Now I really don’t have any excuse… I kind of need to start writing Asphalt Cocktail.

August 14, 2008

There’s an entry on BoingBoing this week, called “Found photo of woman posing next to her portrait.” Here’s the photo:

Well, I can top that, BoingBoing. I give you “Found photo of Loki posing next to portrait of Loki.”

Cat trumps oldie-time lady any day.

August 13, 2008

My undergraduate composition teacher, Donald Erb, passed away yesterday at the age of 81. He was a wonderful teacher, and wow — what a character. His office was decorated with Elvis memorabilia, not because he was an actual fan of Elvis, but because he thought Elvis was only popular because he epitomized mediocrity and the American love of mediocrity — and that warranted a mocking shrine in his studio.

Donald Erb wrote some of the ugliest, angriest music I’ve ever heard, but he was careful to never influence the style of his students. His music was terribly dissonant, but the music I wrote when I studied with him sounded like a Samuel Barber ripoff, and he helped me make it sound like a good ripoff. A teacher who teaches craft rather than creating clones is a rare teacher indeed, and Dr. Erb was the rarest of them all.

A few Erb stories…

In an interview many years ago, an executive from WCLV, the Cleveland classical music station, was asked why WCLV didn’t play more music by living composers. “Because composers today are speaking Swahili, and my listeners don’t understand Swahili,” was his response. Erb’s response? He had bumper stickers printed that read, “WCLV Sucks” — in Swahili.

Erb was always brutally, and occasionally painfully, honest, and he didn’t care whom he offended. He was once speaking to a colleague about a recent round of NEA grants, and the colleague told Erb that a certain famous female composer had been awarded $20,000 to compose a piece for an orchestra. “Her music is terrible,” was Erb’s response. “But the NEA just gave her $20 grand for a piece,” the colleague retorted. “Yeah, well that orchestra is going to get $20,000 worth of shit.”

For some inexplicable reason, every year while I was at the Cleveland Institute of Music, the school hosted a Darius Milhaud festival. (Milhaud was a French composer popular in the early-mid 1900’s.) I asked Dr. Erb at one lesson, “Dr. Erb, are you going to any of the Milhaud concerts?” I will never forget his response. “Of course not. John, Milhaud was a terrible, terrible composer. Even you are a better composer than Milhaud.”

We’ll miss you, Dr. Erb.

August 8, 2008

Is anybody else as sick of Seth Rogen as I am? Good lord, is there any late-night talk show he hasn’t been on this week? And how many movies can Judd Apatow make in a year?

Don’t get me wrong. I liked The 40 Year Old Virgin, but it seems like at this point, the studios would green light a holocaust musical starring Wayne Brady and Jessica Simpson if they could also attach Rogen and Apatow. Actually, I may pitch that.

Maybe I’ve just aged out of their demographic. I’m going to put my dentures in a glass, put on my Depends, and sit on my porch and rant about how things used to be in My Day when there were real movie stars — like C. Thomas Howell. (You know your acting career is hurting when your Wiki article doesn’t even contain your head shot.)