dbloodworth2's Xanga

Bloodworth's Guide on Supporting Musicians at Shows

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 04:13:09 GMT

Haven't been doing much extra-curricular writing lately, and I spend most of my Internet time on Facebook these days, but I figured I'd post this here as well. Enjoy!
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Just for the heck of it, I've thrown together a few tips for anyone who wants to show their support to musicians whenever you attend a live show. These are things I strive to be better about, and I thought I'd share. I use the word "band" a lot, but of course, I see a lot of solo acts too.

1. RSVP (and show up)
When you get an invite to a show, let people know if you're coming, and if you're not, be honest about it. The longer you take to make a decision, the more likely you are to flake out. Figure out if you can go, and then go. It sucks for a performer to be either completely in the dark about attendance or to wind up with half the people they expected.

2. Tell Friends (early)
If you're going out to a show, let others know it's happening. Post it up on your blog or invite people from work, and be sure to tell them a couple days in advance instead of dropping it on them an hour before the show. If you have friends stopping in from out of town, rather than skipping the show, bring them along. It's probably more fun than your living room.

3. Buy a Drink
If you're seeing a show in LA, you're most likely going to be at a club or a bar. While the staff there may appreciate good music, they're bringing in bands to make a living. If the crowd's generous, the owners will be more likely to book the band for another gig. Buy a drink, leave a tip, and be friendly.

4. Listen to the other bands
The principle here is similar. If the group you're seeing is part of a tour or an organized line-up, be attentive to the other bands. Don't wait outside or stand around and fill the room with chatter. Take some time to listen. They'll appreciate it, their fans will appreciate it, and chances are relationships between bands backstage will go smoother too. And you might even like their music.

5. React
Everyone reacts to music differently. Some people sing along. Some people scream. Some people jump off the stage. Some just clap between songs. Whatever you do, do something. Even the most seasoned musicians get self-conscious about their performances, and they'll be more relaxed and energetic if they know the room doesn't hate them.

6. Buy merch
This one's simple. If you like the music, buy the CD. If you'll wear a T-shirt, pick one up. If you have friends that might be interested, get extras as gifts. The best way to make sure the band plays again is to keep them from having to get a job at Best Buy.

7. Say Hi
When the show is over, stick around and take some time to let the band know you're a real person. Don't treat them like they're the greatest, just be friendly and encouraging. But if you see them a lot, try not to monopolize their time. Make way for others who may come less often or who might have driven in from out of town.

Well, that's about it. Let me know if you have any additional tips or feedback.

Tokyo Photos are Up

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 21:15:01 GMT

Finally got my Tokyo photos up. There are a few from the show, but I was usually too busy working to take photos. Most are from our adventures around the city in the evenings and afterwards. See them all here. Enjoy!

Off to Tokyo

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:16:51 GMT

So in a few hours, I will be getting on a flight to attend this year's Tokyo Game Show. For the uninitiated, the event is one of the biggest video-game conventions of the year, not a television program involving ninjas. There will be lots of big announcements and new games for us to cover, and I'll be helping with the standard barrage of conducting interviews with developers, getting new gameplay footage, and posting media to GameTrailers.com as quickly as possible.

This is my first trip to Japan so I'm actually a bit nervous right now. As much as I've always wanted to go, it's my first time in a country where English isn't the primary language. We'll have "fixers" to help us out, but still, my personal skills with the language aren't exactly at their peak right now. I'm sure I'll adjust after a couple days, though.

As for the image above, it's not a reflection of my nervousness, but a fun little bit of trivia about our trip as we'll be staying in the same hotel featured in the movie. I don't really think I'll have time to be lonely, plus there's close to ten of us going so it should be a lot of fun. Perhaps, I'll do some extra blogging while I'm there if I get a spare chance, but no guarantees. I'll be back on the 14th. See you then!

Park City Photos are up

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 20:29:04 GMT

Check out the new album to see photos from my trip to Park City, UT a few weeks back. I went up to see Shaun White's new snowboarding games, capture footage, and help out with interviews for our TV show. It was far too hot for snow, but they did take us up the mountain to get some history on the area and see a few locations that inspired scenery in the game. If you want to check out the game itself, the footage I captured is up over at GameTrailers.com and the show will air on Spike TV some time in October. Fridays at 1:00 AM (actually Sat, but whatever).

Grandpa's 80th Birthday

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 01:06:12 GMT

Last weekend was my Grandfather's 80th birthday, and they had a great big bash up at his farm in Illinois. My mom went up a few days early, then my brother and I flew into St. Louis and rented a car to drive up and surprise him. We got to Payson the night before, helped pack some chairs and tables into the pick up trucks, and then headed back to the farm and walked around in the dark, looking at the stars.

In the morning, we spent a couple hours walking around the fields. There's soybeans, corn, cows, a couple of horses, and some miniature donkeys there, but most of the land is actually rented out to another farmer at this point. While we were walking, saw one deer as well as plenty of signs of more deer and raccoons, and we sat out by one of the ponds for a bit too. The farm is huge though - hundreds of acres - so once we got done with our walk, we went with our Uncle Bruce on the Mule (which is like a golf cart with 4WD) to see the back fields and woods.

In the afternoon, family and friends started driving in. Altogether, there must have been almost 200 people there. For the main course, they were frying up catfish, onion rings, and french fries, plus nearly everyone brought plenty of good food. We had tables, chairs, and a band set up in my Uncle Bruce's new barn, but there were tons of people all over the place. The festivities went on into the evening, and I got a nice bruise on my leg from kids throwing apples at each other.

Since I grew up in Florida, I've only been to the farm about four or five times before, so it was great getting to see Grandpa and the rest of the family and play with my cousin's son Hayden. Even my Aunt's family from Albuquerque made the trek, and I've only seen them once or twice before.

In the morning, Grandpa took us out-of-towners out to breakfast, and James and I packed up to head back to the airport. Mom took us out to see my cousin Linda's place on the way, which was pretty cool since they pretty much built their house on their own. Then after hanging out for an hour there, it was time for us to head back to the airport and fly home.

I took a lot of pictures and posted them online, so if you want, check out the full album.

Goodbye Nova

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 03:45:27 GMT

April 15, 2008

I write this letter out of a deep sense of heartache. It had been a while since I'd dropped by Nova Express, so I checked out the website only to discover what I somehow feared – this place I treasured was now lost.

Like many, I had been exposed to the café by musicians I knew. We dropped by there after a friend's show one night, and Dominic Massaro, who I know from church, played there weekly at the time. For several months, I made a weekly habit of coming out late at night to relax, have some great food, and zone out to the music, often bringing a book or a sketch pad with me.

I always tried to have friends come with me, and it became a favorite place to bring anyone who was new to town. It was the curiosity that brought them in and the pizza that kept many coming back, even without me. It was always a joy to watch people experience the environment for the first time. While I always told friends about the pizza, personally, I had a soft spot for the fantastic salads, and the Black Dot smoothie was an essential order anytime I entered the building.

It's hard for me to come to terms with the fact that Nova Express has closed up shop, and even harder, seeing that they were open for fifteen years. It was a true refuge for artistic souls. It can't be replaced, and it will be greatly missed.

Sincerely,
Daniel Bloodworth

http://www.novaexpresscafe.com/main.html

Christmas Photos Up

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 22:46:32 GMT

OK, most of you won't think these look anything like Christmas, but these are the only photos I took while I was home. Spent most of my days out in the woods, fishing, etc. Enjoy the full album here: http://photo.xanga.com/dbloodworth2/albums/d154e15d311934

Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 04:06:50 GMT

So, we got the European version of Freshly Picked: Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland for the DS, and I'm playing it at home right now. It came out in Japan about a year ago, but this is the first time it's available in English since it seems most Americans hate Tingle with a passion. For those not familiar with the character, he first appeared in Zelda: Majora's Mask as a mid-30s map-seller, convinced that he was destined to become a fairy. In standard Nintendo fashion, though, this Tingle is completely different, and he even begins with a completely different name (which is hilariously changed to Tingle within the first five minutes).

So far the game has some Zelda elements, but its more akin to Animal Crossing or an MMO or something, and its full of random quirky characters. The whole set up is that Tingle is lazing about doing nothing when a voice entices him to make his way to Rupeeland where he'll have wealth and women in abundance. (Yeah, Tingle actually likes women.) How do you get to Rupeeland? By collecting thousands of rupees and tossing thousands of dollars into a pond by your house of course.

The game is really all about money. Your wallet even doubles as your life bar, so every time you get hurt, you lose money, and if you run out of money, you die. You'll spend a lot of time bartering with the villagers. They don't even talk to you unless you pay, and if you bid too low, they'll often just take your cash without applying it to the amount they want. If you get a reward, the same rules apply, you need to bid for how much you should receive, and if you bid too low, you'll be scolded for not being greedy enough.

Battles are weird. You just kind of walk into enemies which kicks up a cartoon style dust cloud with the two of you rolling around inside. Tapping on the screen helps limit the damage you'll take, and catching other monsters up in the fight will give you bonus items and extra rupees. You'll also need to hire bodyguards along the way, who can fight for you as long as they have enough health. These guys range from overzealous warriors who run into battle to snot-nosed dwarves who often don't even attack when you tell them to.

You will come across Zelda-style dungeons from time-to-time, but they aren't as complex. The second one features an awesome boss battle with a Pirate Skeleton that's very much a parody of a classic Punch Out match. If you're one of those guys who'd like to see Tingle's nose get bloodied, just get to this fight and let yourself get hit a few times.

So far Tingle is fun with a lot of random humor and offbeat characters. Negotiating and grinding for cash is a little wearisome, but I think Nintendo could bring this to the States with a limited release like they've done for Electroplankton and Chibi Robo. Anyone else here a Tingle fan?

Oh no, not another one

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 04:48:43 GMT

We're starting to have more active blogs at work, so I put a new entry up today. http://bloodworthgt.gametrailers.com/gamepad/

I'm still debating whether I should cross-post here since these will all be video-game related. But hey, if you don't like them let me know.

Dragon Quest VIII is Officially Too Long

6/18/2007 @ 10:37pm

So, having worked on a Nintendo site for a number of years, I'm a little behind on PS2 games. I just got my PS2 last Christmas, believe it or not, and after finishing Okami, I decided to pick up Dragon Quest VIII. I've been playing it between reviews since February, but I'm still not done.

In fact, as of 2:30 this morning, I'm actually more than 113 hours in to the game. That, my friends, is too long. Now I know I have some habits that can extend my playtime beyond the average. I scour the edges for hidden chests, I fool around a lot with the alchemy pot, and I have a really bad habit of walking away from the game and checking e-mail. But altogether, there's no way those things account for more than 10 extra hours on the clock.

The good thing is that I still enjoy Dragon Quest, and I'm just about to the end. Still with nearly five full days worth of time before completion, I have to wonder how many people have actually finished this massive game. And it's no wonder DQ games don't come out more often.

So, that gets me thinking, how long is too long? Okami and the last Zelda game were both about 50 hours. Baten Kaitos was close to 80. When I was a kid the "value per dollar" philosophy ensured that RPGs were always on the lists for birthdays and Christmas. Any other game could be beaten in a weekend, but a game like Final Fantasy III (VI) or Chrono Trigger could last me a little while, and my mom certainly didn't have the money to go out and buy new games every month.

Nowadays, money isn't nearly the issue: it's time. As much as I enjoy a good fifty hour quest, playing a game of that length usually means that I'm missing out on three or four shorter games. Plus, since I have to play games for reviews and previews, it's hard to avoid forgetting about a half-finished RPG. In the past five years, I don't think I've finished a single RPG unless I was reviewing it, not even games I loved like Mario and Luigi or Fire Emblem. That's why I'm avoiding every other game at home until I finish DQ VIII.

So, I'm thinking the upper limit needs to be forty hours. If you can't tell an epic story in that amount of time, make a trilogy. If you can put the sequels out fast enough, you might even be able to use the same engine for all three.

What do you guys think? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Hidden Gems

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 02:43:44 GMT

One of the best parts about my job is that once in a while, I have to play through a game that I would have completely overlooked if I weren't reviewing it. I know some people may look at the scores and think I didn't like this one, but I actually enjoyed it more and more as I kept playing.