Unquiet Desperation » Shows

From the Vault: Interview with Jonathan Coulton

Chris Miller — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 15:05:02 +0000

This interview with Jonathan Coulton was recorded in the spring of 2006, and I have to admit, I had a great time with it. Jonathan was more than willing answer anything that I threw at him; you’ll find things in this interview you won’t find anywhere else.

Enjoy!

(Thanks to J.C. for the kick in the ass to get this re-released to the public.)

The Secret Lair #0026: Lamb by Christopher Moore

Chris Miller — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 12:42:51 +0000

Truth be told, we probably could have returned to The Secret Library sooner, but I’ve been avoiding it. Why? Two words: late fees. See, a couple of months ago I checked out a copy of Getting Things Done by David Allen and promptly set fire to it. No book will mock my character flaws in such a manner, do you understand? I will not be mocked!

As it turns out, our android librarian is equipped with neither a sense of irony nor any compulsion toward forgiveness. Nor the slightest inclination to waive a replacement fee, for that matter. However, the whole unpleasant mess has been resolved and we are now prepared to discuss Lamb, The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal, by Christopher Moore.

Also in this episode:

Chief Medical Officer’s Progress Report #2: The Bad Doctor returns to blame yet another new strain of yet another virus on our meddling—we prefer “fiddling”, really—with equine-primate hybridization. As a side note, bonobos (pygmy chimpanzees) really are very cute; it should have worked, dammit!
From the Ministry of Crackpot Schemes and Unfortunate Synergies: Jay is in Hong Kong attempting to procure a wolf-child, but important details seem to have been lost in translation somewhere.

Lair Keeping

Our theme music is “Skullcrusher Mountain” by Jonathan Coulton.
Our Secretary of Artistic Propaganda is Natalie Metzger.
Our Minister of Crackpot Schemes and Unfortunate Synergies is Jay “The Kingfish” Lynn.
Our Chief Medical Officer is Dr. John Cmar.
Our Airborne Legions are led by Commandante David Moore.
Our Minister of Suspicious Substitutions and Unreasonable Facimiles often operates under the pseudonym The Cynical Optimist.
Our Minister of Secrets and Subterfuge is classified.

Listen and learn more at The Secret Lair!

Ep. 25 of The Secret Lair: I Need a (Super) Hero

Chris Miller — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:13:03 +0000

In a planning meeting for our demisemicentepisode one of the minions suggested that we ”pull out all the stops”, at which point Dr. Pindar, our Director of Etymological Accuracy and General Nitpicking, pointed out that The Secret Lair does not have a pipe organ installed. This, quite naturally, led to several hours of rational discourse on whether, given the lack of pipe organs, we ought to leave some of the stops in or simply not bother with the stops at all. The discussion concluded, as is often the case, with a face-stabbing. Further planning meetings were deemed unnecessary.

Our special guest is Jay “The Kingfish” Lynn from the Metamediocrity audio comic book. Speaking of special and mediocre, our special sauce is Thousand Island Dressing blended with mayonnaise. Jay joins us at the International House of Johnson for a discussion about superheroes and approximately three inches of latex.

Additionally, there is a report from our Chief Medical Officer, the distinguished Dr. John Cmar.

Learn more, listen, subscribe, or join the discussion on the Secret Lair website.

Episode 22: Earl Newton and the Creative Process

Chris Miller — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:51:06 +0000

On this episode of the podcast, we visit with Earl Newton, producer, director, and chief bottle washer for Stranger Things. We discuss how Earl’s creative process has evolved over the last two years of producing the show, what goes into adapting a work for the screen, and what has caused him to take up his metaphorical pen and open up an interesting and insightful blog.

Links for this show:

Stranger Things
EarlNewton.com
John August
ArtfulWriter.com
Wordplayer
My essay, “Why I Went Vegetarian” (thanks to all who commented!)

Final music for the show is “Everything is Bite Size (The Sunray Estate Mix)” by Hot Bitch Arsensal.

You can download the episode by clicking this link.

UD Podcast, Ep. 21: Back from L.A and Origins 2009

Chris Miller — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:50:05 +0000

In this episode of of the podcast, I talk a little bit about coming back from Los Angeles, the state of my various projects, and go into some details about the fiun had at Origins 2009 this year. Also, a bonus rant/ramble about why people like me are the Game Vendors’ Worst Nightmare:

Links for this show:

Names dropped: Kris Johnson, Jim Van Verth, Mur Lafferty, Ken Newquist, David Moore, Erin Moore, Natalie Metzger, Andy Steigle, John Cmar, Laura Burns

Download the show here.

UDTV: Making Pasta

Chris Miller — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 23:06:40 +0000

Chris and his wife get a new pasta-making attachment for the new Kitchen Aid mixer. While she’s away, Chris decides to try making pasta with no clue what he’s doing.

The Great Old Pumpkin

Chris Miller — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:00:03 +0000

One of my favorite retellings of a classic tale is the John Aegard’s short story “The Great Old Pumpkin.” It’s the tale of Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin, but instead of the childlike innocence engendered by the original Charles M. Schultz story, it has a Lovecraftian bent. Steve Eley did a reading of it for Escape Pod back in 2005, and I’m going to take advantage of the Creative Commons license and toss it into my feed this week.

As you are no doubt aware, I am the issue of solid Dutch stock‚ the prosperous Van Pelt family of St. Paul. Mine was a comfortable and happy childhood, and I spent much of it in the devoted service of the Great Old Pumpkin. For him, I cultivated an annual pumpkin patch. I also evangelized him in the community, relating the tale of how, every year on Hallowmas Eve, the day when the spiritual most strongly encroaches on the substantial, this mightiest of gourds would rise to revel across the world with the most sincere of his adorers. My neighbors were understandably skeptical; after all, not once had this superbeing ever chosen to grace my pumpkin patch or any other place in our town. I vowed that I would coax him into my backyard, and I set out in the manner of a learned man to discover how I might do this.

So, get out those Elder Signs and watch out for the fish-men…it’s story time.

And for more great stories, check out Escape Pod, Pseudopod, and Pod Castle.

Interviewed on PodioMedia Chat

Chris Miller — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:12:48 +0000

photo credit: S.C. Axman

Chris Moody has just posted my interview for his PodioMedia Chat podcast. If you’ve ever wanted to know what goes on under the hood of Podiobooks.com, this is the show for you.

I’ve also put it in my own podcast feed. Listen below, or visit the PodioMedia Chat website for more information.

The Sound of Getting Ready to Sell a House

Chris Miller — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:48:42 +0000

Because we’re getting rid of a bunch of furniture for the move, my desk has gone away. I’m working in the living room, amidst the chaos. The following snippet is the sound of Getting Ready to Sell the House.

Needless to say, I love my headphones right now.

For more info on the move, check out my previous post on moving to Los Angeles.

Goin’ to California, Interviewed by Command Line and J.C. Hutchins

Chris Miller — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:54:56 +0000

It’s been quiet both here and over at the Secret Lair. You’ve not seen me much on Twitter in the last three weeks. For all you know, I’ve vanished off the face of the planet.

Not so, good reader. There are two reasons for my silence. The first is that I’ve been traveling: went to the Google I/O conference in San Francisco then to Santa Monica for Codejam V at the Mahalo Mothership. For more about my views on how Google I/O went, check out the interview with me over at the Command Line Podcast.

The second is that we’ve decided to move to Los Angeles. This one…well…it’s huge. We’re looking to get the house on the market as soon as humanly possible, which means that we’ve been painting, patching, and handling all the stuff we’ve been putting off for a while. It’s a tough market out there for selling a house, and we’re hoping to have it done soon so that we can be in L.A. by Sept 1. Too optimistic? Maybe. So far, things have fallen into place every step of the way, and we’ve been incredibly lucky to have a our families and friends helping us out as we prepare. The insanity of all of this is the reason I’ve been off the interwebs for a bit. There’s simply not enough time in the day anymore.

For those of you who know the area, we’re looking to settle in Sherman Oaks. My good friend Nicole took me on a tour of the neighborhood while I was out there last week, and I really liked the feel of the place. If you know anyone looking to rent a three-bedroom house out there, hook me up.

Finally, I’m dropping a little something into my podcast feed this week. J.C. Hutchins interviewed me for his Ultracreatives series. We had a great time, and I think it’s my favorite interview to date. I got to talk about a number of things that I rarely touch on in my blog or the shows I produce, so it was a real treat.

More on the move as it develops. Otherwise…it’s good to be back.