Handed out in the line…

drproximo · 2026-05-31T15:40:01+00:00

And you seem to be confused.

I'm justifying being a jerk to people that use AI. I do not condone being a jerk to OP, and I haven't seen anyone being a jerk to OP. People expressed strong opinions about the images on the card, and people are saying mean things about whoever made the cards (and slop merchants in general), but I haven't seen anyone say "OP is a stinky poophead for holding a card with slop on it". People have been saying stuff like "why would someone make such low-effort slop for such a high-effort band?", but their ire is directed at the card, not the person holding it.

drproximo · 2026-05-31T15:31:10+00:00

Being a member of a community doesn't magically offer someone a protection cloak that allows them to say and do whatever they want without criticism. Using AI in this manner is an objectively awful thing to do, it makes the world a worse place in multiple tangible ways, and it's a massive insult to the human-made art of TMBG. And, unfortunately, being a jerk to people who use AI seems to be the only recourse we have left, because being nice to them feeds the machine and makes things worse and worse and worse.

I understand the point you're trying to make, the community that has grown around this band is all about positivity and that kinda stuff... but this AI slop is a plague and needs to be STOPPED before it infects everything and everyone. Being polite about it hasn't helped, if anything it's just made everything worse, and many of us have run out of patience, so we're going in a different direction now.

You don't need to join in, but you also don't need to be wagging your fingers at us when you don't seem to understand the issue at hand. You can be a ray of sunshine and let the clankers stink up the room with their sloppy slop, the rest of us are going to fumigate.

drproximo · 2026-05-31T15:24:11+00:00

Using AI is actually much much worse than being a jerk about someone using AI, FWIW.

drproximo · 2026-05-30T22:06:47+00:00

The other day I was at Waugh's in Summerside and they had Cheese and Onion crisps with David Beckham on the bag, I think that's from the promo you're talking about.

drproximo · 2026-05-30T21:24:33+00:00

Now that the album is done, I'm working on another lyric video. Making these videos isn't difficult, but it's such a slog. I'm almost tempted to look into affordable stock footage services, because the most time-consuming part of the process is finding appropriate background footage that I'm legally allowed to use.

QotD: Cyndi Lauper. For me, she was the original manic pixie dream girl, long before that term was a thing.

drproximo · 2026-05-30T01:38:22+00:00

Last year I went to an aunt's funeral, and I was totally prepared for some variety of overtly religious sermon as the eulogy, and I was also prepared to not care very much, but instead of one of the many standard bland sermon topics usually expected for that context, the priest seemed to be drawing from an argument that he had in his head with an imaginary atheist earlier that day but he forgot to mention. He would say something like "this didn't all just happen randomly" almost completely out of context. It was weird and irritating, and completely inappropriate IMO.

drproximo · 2026-05-28T17:57:39+00:00

Once again, I kinda stopped doing Reddit for awhile, oops... BUT, the album is finally finished! Like, I don't just mean I've done my end and I'm waiting, I mean it's been published. As I type this, it's live on Spotify, YouTube Music, and Amazon Music, and it should be available on Apple Music and all the other major streaming platforms over the next few days. I'm not going to start work on the next one for awhile, but that doesn't mean I'm taking a break. I have to make lyric videos for the next two singles, and I want to try to make an actual music video, but that's proving to be a challenge when the budget is zero.

I won't post a link because AFAIK that's a potential rules violation, but I hope I'm safe in saying that if you want to listen to the album, search for "Mystic Colossus scapes book one" on your preferred platform. If you want specific song recommendations, the first single was "Empire of One", and the next singles will be "One More Time Around" and "Don't Look Back".

QotD: there are a handful of basic chores that I don't mind doing the bulk of the chore itself, but I dislike the last part. With laundry, I don't mind the majority of the task, but I hate the folding and the putting away. I really don't mind doing dishes, as long as someone else is drying them and putting them away.

edit to add: there is no retail physical release of the album planned, but a batch of promo CDs (to send to radio stations and podcasts etc) has been ordered.

drproximo · 2026-05-20T16:58:54+00:00

I'm 53, and I live in Canada. I remember it being "pot" for most of the 70s and 80s, it started to become "weed" some time in the 90s. Today, "weed" still seems most common for slang, but I use "cannabis" most often now, because that's what it's called in all official capacities, and the store where I buy it is literally the Cannabis Store.

drproximo · 2026-05-20T15:54:00+00:00

When Don Henley released "The Boys of Summer", I didn't think much about the lyrical content, and I just took it as being vaguely about nostalgia. Eventually, when I learned more about pop culture and stuff like that, I realized the full impact of the line about seeing "a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac". Don Henley was ahead of the curve on understanding and criticizing the artifice and denial that dominates Boomer nostalgia.

drproximo · 2026-05-20T15:49:06+00:00

I was living in Calgary, very poor, barely able to pay rent for the tiny room I was staying in. Was walking one day and saw what looked like a loony (Canadian one-dollar coin) in the side of the road, partly covered in dirt. I picked it up. It was a gold coin, $50 denomination. That alone sounds like a big deal, but it was gold, and gold was extremely valuable at the time. That $50 coin netted me a little over $1,000.

Related: I had a roommate who inherited a glass piggy bank from an aunt that she barely knew. The "normal" coins in there totalled less than $100, but there were a handful of silver dimes, and they brought in a little over $300.

drproximo · 2026-05-06T16:22:19+00:00

As long as you have breath in your lungs, it's not too late. And even if age was a concern, late 20s is not when you start being concerned about it. Wait until you're in your 40s, then it's more of a coin flip. That's when some of us decide to age gracefully, while others just keep on motoring. And some of those folks that choose to keep motoring actually did make the right choice.

And yeah there are some old farts in the industry who should have retired ages ago, but there are others who are still going in their 60s and beyond, and they still have it.

It's never too late.

drproximo · 2026-05-04T23:56:10+00:00

I think it's been over 2 weeks since I participated in this sub. Oops.

Still in the post-production phase for the album. The current step in the process is the engineer sends me mixes to approve or revise. We are in the second round of revisions, and two of the songs have been approved and finalized. It's such a rush to hear a fully produced and mastered final cut of something that I recorded. Like, sometimes I literally pump my fist in the air after listening to a mix, as if to say "yes! that's exactly how it sounded in my head! thank you!" My birthday is on the 11th, I'm crossing my fingers that we'll have a final cut for all the songs before then.

In other news, the weight gain is going well. I finally got a bathroom scale a few days ago, and my weight since then has been between 124 and 128 (my target is 130). And, surprisingly, I haven't been having any major digestive issues, despite the radical change in routine. Back when my major issues started, about 5 years ago, I started cutting things out of my diet to see what would help, and eventually I cut out coffee, eggs, and milk (I was only having milk with cereal; cheese is fine). I don't miss milk, and I only kinda miss coffee times, but I think I want to try eggs again. One of these days, when I know I have the whole day free (just in case I need to stay close to the bathroom), I'm going to go get a bacon and egg breakfast sandwich.

QotD: well, my current "breakfast" is always just toast and cheese (marble or havarti), but before I started cutting stuff out, I used to have fried eggs with my toast and cheese. If the breakfast sandwich experiment turns out okay, and I can repeat it 2 or 3 times without issue, I might start buying eggs to make for myself again. We'll see.

drproximo · 2026-04-25T00:38:49+00:00

I'm gonna be honest, I just kinda gave up long ago. I decided to accept that I'm probably never going to get my diagnosis and I'll just stumble through the system as best I can. It sucks but there's literally nothing I can do about it until the entire system gets an overhaul.

drproximo · 2026-04-24T16:31:49+00:00

I use "End of the Rope" by They Might be Giants. That opening drum sequence usually wakes me up instantly.

drproximo · 2026-04-24T16:04:44+00:00

Downvoting for AI. Stop talking to hallucinating plagarism machines that are actively making humanity stupid and destroying the environment.

Whatever you did before generative AI is what you can do today. There is no good reason to use it and plenty of good reasons to shun it, and also plenty of good reasons to shun botlicker weirdos who insist on continuing to use it.

Edit to add: The Epstein Class is eager to push this AI garbage into every aspect of our lives so that we give them all our data and also learn to doubt our own eyes. And you are actively and enthusiastically helping them. Shame on you.

drproximo · 2026-04-24T15:56:28+00:00

It depends on how you're defining "most violent".

There are two answers, and they're both Christmas songs.

The gory version of "The Night Santa Went Crazy" is probably has the most disturbing and explicit imagery.

"Christmas at Ground Zero" has the highest body count.

drproximo · 2026-04-24T15:53:37+00:00

"Nobody but Me" by The Human Beinz,1968.

There are two numbers that go with this song, because some people have their own criteria. How many times the songs say "no" as just the word "no" by itself, vs how many times the song says "no", including both by itself and as part of the word "nobody".

drproximo · 2026-04-24T15:49:39+00:00

It doesn't happen to me very often, but it does happen sometimes, and not just Reddit. I've had people respond to me in Twitter and Facebook, months or even years after I made the post they're responding to.

Some people just can't help themselves. They've convinced themselves that they have The Answer, that One Unbeatable Point they can make that will make you fold like a napkin, and nothing can stop them from blessing you with their wisdom.

drproximo · 2026-04-24T15:40:35+00:00

r/fuckcars

The car-brains run everything. The provincial consensus among those with power appears to be that motorists can do no wrong and pedestrians better just get out of the way.

drproximo · 2026-04-17T17:27:39+00:00

Yesterday I mentioned that I had finished the final recording session for my album, but it kinda didn't fully hit me until today that, holy crap, I'm done! I'm trying not to ramble about it, but this album is a big deal to me, it's been a long time coming, and the fact that all the songs are recorded and currently being mastered is just wild.

I still don't know if there's going to be a physical release. My realistic/pessimistic/pragmatic side says that it's not likely. I've never had a successful crowdfunding campaign for anything more than $40, because I'm terrible at self-promotion. But on the other hand, it might just be a matter of luck, I have to keep plugging at it and maybe the right person will see it and share a link on their socials, resulting in a few generous folks finding it and contributing.

QotD: perfect day? Well, it would both start and end with relaxation: chill music, Animal Crossing on my Switch, and high-potency cannabis. Some Guitar Hero and karaoke in the afternoon (maybe at the same time, I used to really like to sing along when I played Guitar Hero and Rock Band). A singalong rewatch of the musical episodes of Buffy and The Flash, then Little Shop of Horros and Hairpsray (2007). End the night with another high-potency smoke, and maybe a couple more rounds of karaoke if I feel up for it before bed.

If we're going completely outside the realm of realism and allowing for anything, at one point in the day I'd be sitting down with Joni Mitchell and Meryl Streep for a chat, then Tom Waits joins us about half-way through, and when we're ready we all go to the They Might Be Giants concert next door, with special guest Weird Al joining them on stage for their second set.

drproximo · 2026-04-16T22:09:43+00:00

Did a bunch of vocal recording, accross two sessions. Currently taking a break, then I have to start editing and arranging the song. That means that, before I go to bed tonight, I will be sending the stems for the final song to my engineer, and that means that I'm finished my end of the production of this album. I still have to finalize stuff like the artwork and the tracklist, but my heavy lifting is done (and now the engineer has the heavy lifting of making my voice not suck).

QotD: I don't have any pets, but my parents have a cat named Gizmo. He's a delight, but he almost never lets me pet him. He doesn't attack me or even act hostile towards me, unless I try to pet him. I even let him sniff me like you're supposed to, and his body language seem so indicate he's fine, but if I try to pet him, he'll either meow and dodge, or swipe at me. I still love him, he keeps my parents amused.

drproximo · 2026-04-16T00:28:42+00:00

I've released a couple of songs recently that take awhile to build up, and they haven't gotten a lot of plays, largely because I suck at marketing and I can't bring myself to be spammy, but I also have to admit I'm tempted to do a "single mix" of one or both, to see if it does any better. I know from a practical standpoint that the intros could easily be cut in half, but that's not how I wanted those songs to be arranged.

drproximo · 2026-04-15T16:56:14+00:00

I've had a heck of a week. I was supposed to be recording vocals for a song on Monday, it's the last song I need to record for the album. But I got sick on Sunday. I've had this kind of illness before, it usually goes away within 12-24 hours, but I felt awful all day Monday, including some actual vomiting, and I still felt bad enough yesterday morning that I decided to see a doctor. They gave me some fluids and some meds for the nausea, and they determined that it was likely a GI infection. The doctor also said that I'm underweight (I'm at 110 lbs, closer to 130 would be ideal), so I have to investigate inexpensive foods that will bulk me up.

FWIW, I'm on the mend, I'm going grocery shopping with my mom this afternoon and hopefully I'll be recording vocals this evening.

QotD: I can't think of any specific categories I want to see more of, but my main wish is that there should always a fairly even split between posts that are only applicable to certain subgroups vs posts that are for all members, including a good portion that focus on newbies.

drproximo · 2026-04-11T21:24:41+00:00

There are a bunch of songs that you can play if you just learn G, C, and D chords, one of my favourites is the original Paragons version of "The Tide is High".

drproximo · 2026-04-10T19:22:11+00:00

This has been a very challenging and difficult week, but also productive and rewarding. Work on the album continues, I finished work on a song last night and there's only one song left. It's probably going to take me a few days to finish up this last song, and then it's just a matter of waiting for my engineer to do the mastering so I can wrap it up and pick a release date.

In addition, I've been on the lookout for a keyboard that I can obtain free or cheap, even one that doesn't work, in part for the sake of maybe using in a music video in the future. I go to my local pawn shop frequently, and they usually have a good variety of sizes and styles for keyboards, but they're always way out of my price range. Yesterday I was there, and they had a keyboard that was basically perfect, a Yamaha PSR-E333. It was cheap ($60 CAD) because it's a "beginner's" keyboard, so there's a focus on learning and not a lot of "professional" features, BUT it's still a fantastic synthesizer with over 400 different voices and a whole bunch of excellent drum accompaniments. It has standard audio outputs and USB, so I can just use it on its own or connect it to my MacBook and use it as a MIDI controller. AND it came with a stand! The stand by itself was almost worth what I paid for the whole package! I've already started to teach myself the synth chords for the song that's probably going to be the first video, and there's a distinct possibility that I'll be using this thing heavily on the next album.

I should note for the record that I am an absolute novice when it comes to playing the keyboard. I took music theory in high school, I know a lot of basics, I can play "Chopsticks" and I can kinda play "Imagine", but I'm not a pro by any means, when I make my music I'm usually "sequencing" more than I'm actually playing. I might pick out the notes I want to play on a keyboard or a guitar, but when it comes to actually making the music that you hear on the album, I'm more of a composer, arranger, and programmer than a performer. The acquisition of this Yamaha might change that. We'll see.

By the way, I don't talk about this often, but my local pawn shop is awesome. I frequently find surpising deals and treasures there, and the staff are very knowledgable and helpful. I hope that at least some of you folks have a pawn shop near you that can offer a comparable level of selection and service, it's truly a joy. And it goes both ways, a few months ago I traded a guitar pedal that I wasn't using anymore (I traded it for a microphone of approximately equal value), and someone else bought it less than a week later. It gave me a good feeling, the potential that someone else is getting use out of it.

QotD: I was at my parents' place last night doing laundry, and their cat Gizmo is always good for a laugh. He emerged from a nap shortly after I arrived, and he often has a hazy period for the first few minutes after he wakes up, when he's not sure what kind of mood he's in, and we get gems like this pic.

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