stepstomarrow
When granddaughter, Jada, was born with leukemia, a donor-match was located and Jada made a miraculous recovery. In honor of her grandaughter's health, Jeanna has decided to walk across the country (in the dead of winter) to raise awareness and build support for the bone marrow registry (all that's required is a cheek swab). Follow Jeanna's remarkable journey as she travels the United States by foot.

Get to know My Guests. Want to know who's checking you out? You can now view the 100 most recent, logged-in users who visited your journal during the past 30-day period with My Guests. For those who prefer to fly under the radar, you can update your My Guests privacy setting here.

Introducing My Stats. If you have a Paid or Permanent account, you can now see detailed reports on how many people are visiting your journal, friends pages, and entries (wherever they're posted on LiveJournal). You can also view data on comments and RSS requests. My Stats is only available to Paid and Permanent account holders, but you can upgrade anytime. (FYI, an annual subscription costs less than a large pizza with everything on it, PLUS it's rumored to make you lose weight in your sleep!) For additional details on this feature, read this article in paidmembers.

Get ready to check your vital statistics!. To begin, mouse over Journal in the upper nav bar and select My Stats from the dropdown menu (Horizon) or select My Stats under Journal in the side bar (Vertigo). If you're using another design scheme, you can visit My Stats directly. You'll find My Guests on the My Stats tool bar.

Happy holiday promotion!

We're delighted to tell you about our holiday coupons, which will help you share the love with your LiveJournal friends! If you have a Paid or Permanent account, you can send up to 10 LiveJournal Basic/Plus users a $10 coupon for an annual paid subscription now through January 15th, 2010. Recipients can upgrade for $9.95 (instead of $19.95) for one year by enrolling in our automatic payment plan or make a manual payment of $15 (instead of $25). Please note that these coupons are not transferable and cannot be used to renew existing paid accounts. If you're a Paid/Permanent user, you can send out your holiday coupons now!

Tweaks and Enhancements

1. The search is on: We've replaced our default search tool with one from Yandex, a leader in search engine technology. This means you'll get smarter, more granular results! To get started, enter your search terms and click the Go button to the left of the Find box on the upper right of the LiveJournal header. This will take you to the search landing page where you can further refine by Entries, Comments, People & communities, and FAQs. You can also access the search page directly.
2. Whitelisting: We've released a new option to help you moderate your busy communities more efficiently. If an entry contains a link to a whitelisted (i.e., trusted) site, it will be posted automatically without need for moderator approval. If a post contains a link that is not on the whitelist, you'll be prompted to approve. To access this option, please visit settings for any community you maintain and select the third option in the Community Moderation box (located in the lower left-hand corner). Click the enable link to custom-edit your community's whitelist, which has been prepopulated with trusted domains. You can manually add or delete URLs in the text box. Please note: If you're the maintainer of an unmoderated community, you may see the radio button for this setting checked, even though it's not active. This is a known issue. Please select whichever option you prefer and click Save Changes at the bottom of the page. If you're happy with your current settings, then no need to do anything!
3. TMI, dude: We've added some fun FREE sponsored vgifts! You can send up to 50 TMI vgifts to mutual friends (btw, you cannot send free vgifts to communities). If you're a Paid/Permanent user and you want to view sponsored gifts, click Show sponsored gifts on your homepage or visit the sponsored gift page. These vgifts will only be available through Wednesday, December 23rd.

You can view more awesome user content after the jump!

( Read more... )

Curtains

Thanks, again, for joining us. Until next time, stay snug!

Saturday I woke up for the trip to Pensacola. The contents of the truck were pretty much untouched from the night before; all ready to go! The weather was alternating between a light mist and an annoying drizzle as my colleagues showed up to pack up the trailer and get on the road. We completed this task, bringing the entire show (with the exception of the video screen, which they said would be furnished) and everybody crammed into the extended cab of the truck - rather a tight squeeze for the guys in back, but we were aiming to cut the bottom line in any way possible (good thing we did, too) as we were getting a percentage of the door take. The show had been set up and promoted by Mike Ensley, the Pensacola based horror host of Nightmare Theater, on which he plays the Baron Mondo Von Doren (a VERY minor demon, who is plagued/assisted by 'El Sapo', a Mexican wrestler of dubious origin, played by Chip Chism.)

After a nice cruise down to Pensacola (with a midway stop in Mississippi to stretch our legs and eat), we arrived at our destination in a commercial/residential area: the Creative Instinct Warehouse. This was a club set up in a large sign-shop warehouse. A large roller door opened from the parking lot into the warehouse, which was lined on both sides with double-scale 60's B-movie posters hung from the ceiling. Below, both side walls also featured backlit panoramic posters of a Halloween graveyard scene. The end of the warehouse had a loft accessible by stairwell with an alcove below, where the video projector was aimed. We were performing atop the loft, and our video would play underneath our feet!

Dr. Z hung the C.O.G. banners on either side and our faithful roadie Dustin began hauling stuff up the stairs. After we were set up, I helped our opening act Clay Martin Croker with the direct box interface from his 16mm projector to the PA. Then we jumped in the truck and hit the Crystal Burger for our USDA year's supply of yummy grease!

When we got back, Croker was showing all kinds of cool stuff on his 16mm projector, including cartoons, Saturday morning trailers and ads from the 70's, and an entire episode of Ultraman! NICE. One downer came through about this time - back in NOLA, Jeannine's car was stuck in the flooded uptown streets and wouldn't start. Bummer... my Sunday would be occupied with that salvage when I returned.

The place wasn't nearly as crowded as it could or should have been, and Mike Ensley apologized to me, saying that he had done all he could but the weather was evidently keeping people inside their homes. But we were having a great party, the venue was warm and hospitable with free beer from a keg, and people who were there were loving it.

At around midnight, the cartoons ended and we took the stage. The place got a noticably more crowded as we began to perform a good sounding, entertaining set. It was quite novel being 12 feet about the crowd, though the novelty wore off quickly; I think we do better close to the audience. The audience's attention was divided between us on the loft up above, and the screen below. Our lobotomy patient did really well as well... the encore was our new song Zombie Apocalypse Barbecue and it was quite well received!

At some point around 'Placebo' a cop showed up, unbeknowst to me, and asked the owner of the place to turn down the music. The owner, who was really cool to us all night, unfortunately didn't really know how to work his own sound system, and turned the PA all the way down. He was pretty frustrated that it had no effect on the guitar amplifier, which wasn't even miked, and I quickly restored the volume to 95% of where it had been (not even knowing the circumstances of the problem until after we got offstage. Nobody got in trouble though, and I never did figure out who would have complained.)

Afterwards, we talked to Clay and Mike, took pictures with various people, and I got a nifty autographed picture of Space Ghost and Zorak talking about the C.O.G. That's going on the wall in the Secret Lab for sure! Also shot some material for an upcoming segment of Nightmare Theater.

The road home was easier than the way up... must have been a tailwind or something! We got in at 7:30AM... (and when I finally woke up, the car was soaked but startable after a new battery. Whew!)

This weekend was something I'd been anticipating for a while... C.O.G.'s last hurrah for 2009! We'd scheduled a show for Pensacola with our old friends from Nightmare Theater, and it didn't take much effort to jump onto a pre-existing bill in New Orleans the night before. As usual, things never quite go as planned...

Friday I was pretty keyed up; Maison Musique was the current name of a long-time favorite venue on Frenchmen St. The place is an large old building that could have once been a hotel or a theater, with enough room inside for more than one stage. The guy running the place had deflected my request to set up a show on a weekend a couple months prior (telling me he'd have to try us out on a weekday.) I responded by putting C.O.G. onto a bill with some friends' bands, including The Local Skank, a ska band whose album I'm producing, followed by Clockwork Elvis and reunited New Orleans ska band RF7.

My new policy of accepting gigs without vetting them with the band also worked out unusually here; for Dr. A Rachnid told me that he had a Christmas party planned for the night we were to be in Pensacola, and that he'd be content to sit both nights out if it meant a chance to actually watch a C.O.G. performance in town. We'd miss him, but the show must go on!

When I got to Maison Musique, I finally got a chance to glance around. A small stage in front of the venue adjoined the front window, next to their capacious bar. A very large room opened into the back of the club where a nice big stage equipped with a PA and monitors sat ready. A table onstage told me that a D.J. had been there. The main area had a balcony accessible by stairwell. Other than Filbert and I, the place was relatively empty, but a trad-jazz band of 60 something year olds was setting up in front and the bartender was serving one of the few patrons at the bar. When I asked where we could bring in our equipment, the bartender pointed up. Hmmmmm.

Upstairs, through a couple doors, there was a separate bar in what had once been a kitchen. A tiny stage had been installed in what must have been a bedroom, with a little Behringer vocal practice head and some speakers of unknown manufacture. The place was all hardwood and rang like hell. A guy that Filbert knew was setting up drums for RF7. When he tried out the drums, it was really sharp and painful, just like I dislike it. Ouch! He then set about trying to repair the P.A. I was thinking, "Man, this was going to suck..."

Over a game of pool in the adjoining room (utilizing the one intact cue out of 10 that were there), Filbert and I discussed what we should do. We weren't in much of a position to demand that they let us use the main room; they had the trad-jazz band going in there and the two rooms were continuous, so once the rock music started up, it would have been all over for the older folks downstairs. On top of that, they weren't charging admission for the front bar but the rock bill had a cover that would have to be enforced. Filbert thought it was all-or-nothing; either attempt to set up the full C.O.G. show (which after two hours was still packed up in the truck) or just split. Cancelling a gig, ANY gig, is NOT my style. Not even an option. We'd do SOMETHING - but what? Acoustic C.O.G.? Cowboys of Genius with a washtub and tamborine? Hmmmmm...

A couple calls later, I had a plan and somebody to fill in for Drumbot! D.C. Harbold, the leader of Clockwork Elvis, is also drummer for The Junior League, as well as being a friend and fan of the C.O.G. He'd already be there for Clockwork, and had listened to our music. Problem Solved! D.C. would become 'Dr. E' for the night and after a quick 1 minute runthrough, we had 4 songs that he could play with us. Without unpacking ANYTHING but the guitars, costumes, and an amp head, we managed to thrill and confuse a small but appreciative crowd (about 80 people showed up.) No lights, no video, no Theremin, no drumbot. But we still had a blast and the audience loved it too!



I could barely hear my vocals - a far cry from the conditions I'm used to. Good thing we kept it to four songs; I'd have blown my voice out with any more, and I had to be good for Saturday night. Filbert was in fine fettle, telling people not to touch or even look at his new guitar, the 'Fargenargler', which he'd purchased from the famous Yngwie Flattstein. We performed 'Death to the Angel of Death', debuted our new 'Zombie Apocalypse Barbecue', rolled through 'Born in the South', and finished with our signature 'Science Party'. It was sloppy and punked out, but the crowd reaction was stunningly positive! Sheesh... we might have to do that more often, just to stay in the mix! After the Local Skank got onstage and began wowing the crowd, we flew home to save energy for the following night; we'd need it!

Next post, rainy Saturday night in Pensacola with Zorak...

taste_buds
Holidays provide a built-in excuse for indulgent entertaining. This all-purpose foodie community covers everything from homemade hangover cures to dinner party menus. Need quick advice? Get five-minute snack suggestions, low-fat ingredient substitutes, and even measurement conversions. Delicious recipes garnished with humorous advice. Yum.

naturesbeauty
Always on the lookout for compelling images, we were delighted to discover this flourishing community of artists who share a love of nature. Honoring the subject with photographs, paintings, sketches, prose, poetry, and other creative works, you'll be simultaneously riveted to your monitor and inspired to run helter skelter towards the nearest wooded dale.

Tweaks and enhancements

• As a number of you reported, a service interruption impaired sending and receiving notifications for a couple of days. This was due to an avalanche of snowflake cookies. We've removed the free snowflake cookie and unclogged the pipeline. Timely notifications should resume shortly. Please note that there's a backlog in our queues, so you'll be getting earlier notifications first. For more details, check out this post at lj_maintenance.
• In anticipation of the new year, we've embarked on a self-improvement kick to boost our backend (pun semi-intended). This will allow us to offer you a holiday promotion in the next few weeks (yes, we're listening and working very hard to make it happen). We sincerely appreciate your continued patience and support.

Holiday vgifts are here!

We've added some fantastic new vgifts to help you spread holiday cheer. We also hope you'll honor AIDS Awareness Month by purchasing virtual red ribbons. Priced at $2.99, we'll donate 100 percent of gross proceeds to IAVI.org (the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative) to support the development and global distribution of an affordable HIV vaccine.

Introducing: LJLimericks

We cordially here do invite you
To craft a fine limerick. Might you?
Each week, a new theme,
Then a poll, that's our dream
Winner posted on news to delight you!

In honor of all the brilliant writers on LiveJournal, we've created a brand new community: ljlimericks! Each week, we'll enter a handful of limericks into a poll (which we'll tuck snugly under an LJ-Cut). The winning poem will be published in the following newsletter. In addition, the author will receive a virtual blue ribbon! If you have the time, come drop us a rhyme. Please keep the "Nantucket" stuff on the downlow, since this is a youth-friendly community. Our first prompt is: Insomnia in winter.

Photos of the week

We're back with more incredible images from our global photography community. Congratulations to sempre_marseeya, who has been awarded a virtual blue ribbon as the winner of our second lj_photophile poll.

We hate to squelch your creativity, but, as a courtesy to other users, please post only one photo at a time and keep the main photo no larger than 350x350 (so images display properly via mobile and on friends pages). You can link to a larger image and/or post photos under a cut. Just so you know, we select photos for the poll blindly, based on user comments and staff feedback. Please continue to vote, comment, and, of course, enjoy. You can check out the week in pictures and view more awesome user content after the jump!

( Read more... )

Curtains

Thanks, again, for joining us. Stay warm and safe out there!

backpacking
Want to embrace your wanderlust on the cheap? If you're tall on adventurous spirit, but short on funds, this community can help you plan a trip to anywhere. Offering plentiful tips on how to travel light, you can post about bargain hotels and hostels if you're into urban exploration or discuss camping gear and mosquito netting for the great outdoors. Hitch your backpack, pitch your tent, and carpe diem!

...we New Orleaneans bask in the humid glow of this ridiculously nice weather. It's 75 degrees outside (thanks to my patented WeatherTron) and I have ridden my bicycle into work, in order to better enjoy the day.

Last night after recording a harmonica track for 'Zombie Apocalypse Barbecue' with my friend Charlie Brown, I sat down and finally checked out 'The I.T. Crowd' British sitcom, leant to me by Dr. A Rachnid. Pretty funny in an old-school way! Had I known Richard Ayoade was in it I'd have probably gotten to it much sooner (wonder if they're still making the Garth Marenghi movie?)

Looks like my fear of an Americanized version of this is grounded but unfounded. They made a pilot but it was not picked up. Whew.

Rehearsal later tonight for the end of year C.O.G. shows this weekend in Pensacola (Saturday) and New Orleans (Friday). Filbert Snodgrass has a new guitar he calls 'The Fargenargler' which he claims was once played by Yngwie Flattstein. Ahhhh, to be young and naive again.

Looks like a good day for me to put the finishing touches on this Super Pacman MAME cabinet...

**FINAL EDIT Thu Dec 10 02:15:47 UTC 2009**

So there is the final update... Over the past day we have processed around 11 million jobs out of the 12 million that were in queue at that time. Please bear in mind that over this past day, more jobs for notifications are also created. So while the queue has been dropping, we are still not fully caught up at this point, due to backlog and new jobs. We have roughly 3 million jobs still pending that involve the notification system in some manner. We had hoped we could have fully cleared the queue in a day, but unfortunately we can't clear it too quickly, since we need the rest of the site to operate normally. From our current perspective on the amount of jobs that are left in queue, and how many it has processed thus far, we believe it will take around another 8 - 12 hours to process everything.

And finally some answers to some questions:

( Read More and Get Some Answers... )

freeskiers
While some of us long to escape the cold, dark stretch of winter for hot tropical beaches, for others, there's nothing quite like whoooooshing down those shimmering sugar alps. If you're fond of freestyle skiing, get ready to slide down the slippery slopes in good company. This passionate, international community shares travel/gear tips, anecdotes, photos, and videos for those who can't get enough of the sweet stuff.

seasonal_icons
Need some extra twinkle to decorate your place? Check out these dazzling holiday-themed icons. If you're an artist, you can post your own creations, provided you abide by the simple rules (which is to say, all cheer and no politicking). Be sure to comment and give credit if you wish to borrow a little spirit (no direct links, please). If you're feeling a touch of humbug this season, this is an instant shot of festivity.

handmade_gifts
High on creativity, but low on cash? You'll find tons of brilliant suggestions for do-it-yourself crafts sure to please everyone on your holiday gift list. Offering detailed instructions, photos, budgets, timelines, and active support, you'll soon turn spare remnants of fabric and time into cherished keepsakes. Be sure to search entries and read user guidelines before you post for help!

Actually the last few days have been pretty win-ful.

Today for instance, I watched in awe as the Saints played a game filled with unbelievable turns of luck (whoever's writing this season of Saints Football is amazing!) on my TV for the first time in HD, utilizing a horrible looking but really pretty effective HD antenna that I made myself from instructions on YouTube (I don't have digital cable or satellite, but broadcast digital HD is surprisingly great - actually better than either cable or satellite!)

After that I finally fixed Jeannine's old Chevy, which had been vibrating worse and worse from the front end, until I finally took it by the mechanic to correctly diagnose the problem. Turns out it was the right front wheel bearing going out. Hmmph, I just replaced the left one a few months ago, believing that it was the culprit, to no avail! Shows just how furtive some of these problems can be. Three hours & a couple dirty hands later, I had vanquished the bad bearing - and serendipitously also fixed a long unsolved ABS brake calibration problem (brake sensors are housed in the bearing assemblies, and apparently also needed to be replaced, which made me feel a bit better about spending so much on having to replace whole assemblies when just a small bit of metal had worn out.) Whew! Glad it warmed up enough to work on that.

I capped the evening off by selling a long latent guitar project back to its original owner. The guitar, a 1982 Gibson Explorer, had come to me via Dr. A Pentatonic years ago - back when he was still in the band. It was primed but not painted, needed fretwork and a completely electrical job - a real diamond in the rough. I bought it a nice hard case, had the guitar expertly refinished by ex-Lab Girl Trixie's dad (28 coats of hand applied black laquer!), the frets were redone, and I had started purchasing hardware, when I just stopped in my tracks. I couldn't decide whether to try to trick it out with refit modern hardware or use vintage original Gibson hardware (the originals were quite pitted and unusable), and Dr. A Rachnid, who had made some overtures about buying the guitar, suddenly backed out. It was too bulky and heavy for me to play onstage, so it just sat unfinished in the C.O.G. Radiation Booth storage closet for four years. When I ran into the guitar's original owner at the House of Shock haunted house a couple years ago, he asked me how the guitar was doing - and I told him that he'd get first option on buying it. Well, when I told him I'd probably never finish the project but would be happy to sell it back to him at cost, he was ecstatic and immediately ran over to take it off my hands. I can't wait to see it finished and rocking once again! It's gonna be quite a player.

Tomorrow night - another rehearsal with Filbert for next weekend's couple shows. I'm keyed up!!! Got the script ready, and drumbot's all trained on the new song. Filbert's guitars are working great and he's all trained up for a great show! But next Friday's a little question mark - before our big show in Pensacola next Saturday, we're playing a short set in New Orleans as part of a great multi-band bill. Which songs should we play...? Hmmmmm....

Oh, here's the flyer for next Saturday! We're debuting our new song 'Zombie Apocalypse Barbeque'!! Zorak's gonna be there!!! What more could ANYONE ask?!??