A couple days ago, a dear friend of mine who has access to IMDB Pro helped me find contact information for the agents of many of the celebrities I would like to give copies of my CD. So I spent the evening composing emails to various talent agents basically saying "Hey, I'd like to send [Famous Person] a copy of my CD because my song [Song Title] is about [Creative Endeavor], and I think [he/she] would get a kick out of it. What's the best way for me to do this without making anyone think I'm a stalker or a terrorist?"

To my surprise and delight, the talent agent for Corey Feldman got back to me almost immediately with instructions on where to send the CD and how to package it so that it wouldn't be thrown out. So today I sent a copy of Doctor, Captain, Dovahkiin, Chief, which includes the song "Nightlife in Santa Clara", to the provided address. With any luck, within a few days, Mr. Feldman will have his hands on it.

No, I don't have any expectation that I'll hear about it one way or the other. But I hope he likes the song.

I need some help. There are radio stations and internet radio shows to which I would like to submit my music. However, I find it very difficult to self-promote (after all these years, still feels like hubris). So if there's anyone who would be willing to take a list of URLs, some instructions, and digital copies of everything I've ever released, I'd be happy to let you keep all the digital music, and I'd throw in a t-shirt for good measure.

And if the above seems paltry, suggest something. I'm always open for negotiation. Thanks.

All right, folks, I have a request/challenge for you! I would very much like to get copies of Doctor, Captain, Dovahkiin, Chief into the hands of the following people:

1. Jim Infantino (front-man and songwriter for Jim's Big Ego)
2. Angela Claverie (music editor for the TV show The Flash)
3. Steven Moffat (former story editor for Doctor Who)
4. Matt Smith (the 11th Doctor)
5. Wil Wheaton
6. Corey Feldman
7. Kiefer Sutherland
8. Terry Farrell (Jedzia Dax)
9. Joss Whedon
10. Nathan Fillion

Here's the deal. If you can guarantee that you can deliver a copy of Doctor, Captain, Dovahkiin, Chief into the hands of any of the above people, I will give you copies of every CD I've ever produced—including Weed 'Em and Reap, which is out of print!

Contact me via private message or email. Thanks!

I know I mentioned this last week, but my newest CD, Doctor, Captain, Dovahkiin, Chief, is finished, mastered, uploaded, and released on CDBaby, Amazon, and iTunes!

• To buy from CDBaby, click HERE!
• To buy from Amazon, click HERE!
• To buy from iTunes, go to the iTunes Store in your iTunes app and search "Eben Brooks"

The track list is as follows:

1. The Ballad of Barry Allen
2. Spoilers
3. The Hard Way
4. Nightlife in Santa Clara
5. Three Drunken Klingons
6. The Man Dressed in Brown
7. O'Brian's Mongolian Barbecue
8. Lex
9. Geeky Girls
10. The Too Much Skyrim Blues
11. Deadly Ever After
12. It's Quite Irregular
13. Smells Like Beam Rifle
14. Getting Geeky

So go listen! And tell your friends!

Wow. I'm doing SIX SHOWS this month! Three at WesterCon, one at Gam3rCon, and two at BAMF!

Here are all the deets:

July 3rd, 2015 - 2:30 PM
WesterCon show with Allison Lonsdale!
Town and Country Resort 500 Hotel Circle North San Diego, CA 92108
http://westercon68.org/ - Price: $85 (4-day pass) or $40 (1-day)

Allison Lonsdale and I will will be sharing a set at this year's combined WesterCon68/ConJecture 13/ConChord 27 (in Pacific 1), and we will break out a whole slew of our geekiest stuff, ranging in topic from vampires to cyberpunk to Firefly.

July 4th, 2015, 8:30pm (approx) AND July 5th, 2015 - 2:30 PM
In My Humble Opinion performs "Won't You Scatter My Ashes" at WesterCon/ConJecture/ConChord 2015!
Town and Country Resort 500 Hotel Circle North San Diego, CA 92108
http://westercon68.org/ - Price: $80 (3-day pass), or $40 (1 day)

My band, In My Humble Opinion, is doing a performance of "Won't You Scatter My Ashes" at the WesterCon Masquerade half-time (approximately 8:30pm) on Saturday, July 4th--and a SECOND performance at 2:30pm on Sunday, July 5th!

When we performed "Won't You Scatter My Ashes" at ConJecture 2013 and ConDor 2014, we received rave reviews. We're excited to be performing it again--and we're even MORE excited to announce that CD'S OF THE SET WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR SALE! So if you're coming to WesterCon already, be sure to come see the show! And if you hadn't decided yet, this is a good reason to go.

July 9th, 2015 - 6:00 PM
The Gam3rCon Rooftop Concert!
10th Avenue Theater 930 Tenth Avenue San Diego, CA 92101
http://www.gam3rcon.com/

The Gam3rCon show is always a whole lot of fun, 'cause it's on a FRIGGIN' ROOF! I mean, come on, how awesome is that? I'll be playing for an hour starting at 6pm on Thursday, July 9th, which is the first day of Comic-Con. So when you're fed up with waiting in long lines and sweating away your precious water in the dealer's room, come over to the Tenth Street Theater and see a show!

July 10th, 2015 - July 12th, 2015 - 10:00 AM
The Big Awesome Music Festival (BAMF!)
Ruocco Park 585 Harbor Ln San Diego, CA 92101 USA
http://www.theBAMFest.com/ - Price: $15-$50 (for basic ticket)

I will be performing at the Big Awesome Music Festival (BAMF), which is running concurrently with San Diego Comic-Con on July 10th, 11th, and 12th. Tickets can be pre-ordered from their IndieGoGo fundraiser page, here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/bamf/#/story

My sets will be 8:30pm on Friday, July 10th, and at 4:45 on Sunday, July 12th.

Ticket prices are discounted for SDCC badge-holders. However, any amount of support (from $5 up) will get you a download of the official BAMF theme song, composed by ME! You can listen to a short version of the song by going to the fundraiser page and watching the video at the top.

The talent lineup is pretty amazing! Me (obviously), The Doubleclicks, Paul & Storm, Mike Phirman, Kirby Krackle, and Molly Lewis. Plus, there will be quiddich matches organized by U.S. Quiddich and an interactive performance by The League of S.T.E.A.M.

If you only ever make it to San Diego for Comic Con, this is your chance to see me perform live! And even if you're a local, this is gonna be an AWESOME show! (Hey, it's right there in the title, after all...)

Sunday afternoon at ConDor, my band, In My Humble Opinion, performed our story-set "Won't You Scatter My Ashes" for a crowd of about twenty people.

We rocked the house!

Seriously, I think it was one of the best shows I've ever participated in. Everything came together perfectly. The sound was dialed in exactly right (by awesome sound man Greg Gross), the audience was engaged and enthusiastic, and the band was in the zone. Everyone had a wonderful time, and the experience has renewed my excitement about this whole musical endeavor called I.M.H.O. We made nearly $100 in sales, and nearly the same amount was donated to Superpiggie to fund the album.

Yes, indeed, I.M.H.O. is going to record this story-set as an album! We hope we'll have something by the time we perform our next show, which at this point looks like ConJecture/ConChord in October. Also, the whole show was recorded on video, so there will be new videos up on YouTube in the near future! :D

This show is very much what I needed to get me feeling good about performing again. I had almost given up hope. I know that some of that was neurochemical in nature, but today I am happy. Here's to feeling happy tomorrow, too, and for many days after.

Video Newsletter Idea

I was thinking the other day that, while I send a monthly e-mail newsletter to the 600 or so people who are signed up on my mailing list, I don't do anything like it for the 2,200+ people who subscribe to my YouTube channel. I used to do a video blog—which I tried to make weekly, but it never quite got there—but ever since the surgery to put my broken foot back together in 2009, I haven't done one. So I thought of the idea of doing a video version of the monthly newsletter for the YouTube channel.

It would probably take a similar format as the old video blogs, but also include relevant information about upcoming shows and other such events. And I'd try to jazz it up a bit, too. Make it more exciting. Not quite sure how, but I'll work on it. Does this sound like something that you think would be effective? Appropriate? Fun?

Delay on the "Deadly Ever After" Video

I promised several people that I'd have the "Deadly Ever After"* video up by this past weekend, but time kinda got away from me. However, I will try to put it up this evening. I still need to edit up some titles. My sweetie came up with a really cool idea for the opening titles, but I might have to save it for a later version just because of how long it would take.

And I still haven't heard back from Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) as to whether she's listened to the recording I gave her, and what she thinks of it. However, as she is usually ridiculously busy**, it's probably not a bad assumption that she either a) hasn't had time to listen to it yet, or b) hasn't had time or spare brainmeats to write to me. Which, frankly, I'm totally fine with. The woman is the second most productive writer I know personally (the first being Keith R.A. kradical DeCandido), and I would feel bad if I got in the way of that productivity.

Going to LosCon 40

For the fifth year running, I am attending LosCon. As usual, Allison caprine Lonsdale and I will be doing a show together—it's at 2:35 in the Meridian room. However, two things will be happening for the first time this year:

The first is that my band, In My Humble Opinion (I.M.H.O.), will be presenting our story-set Won't You Scatter My Ashes at 5:30 on Saturday evening (also in Meridian). This is the same set that we performed at Conjecture/ConChord in October, and we're very excited to be able to perform it again. In fact, we're so excited that we're in the process of recording it! It unfortunately won't be done in time to sell at the con, but it it definitely happening! We are quite happy about this.

The second is that I will be a panel participant for the first time at a LosCon. The panels I'm on are: "Budget Costuming" (Friday 4pm Dallas), "How to Write Good Dialogue" (Friday 5:30pm Chicago), and "History Is a Goldmine" (Sunday 2:30 Marquis 3).

General Update

I am feeling better today than I was for most of last week. Thank you to everyone who offered kind words and support. Radical honesty is, I think, still the best way for me to deal with some of my issues, especially since I have a strong tendency towards fear-based self-deception. By not trying to hide anything, from myself or others, I free myself to feel what I feel and deal with what I need to deal with. It's not easy, but it's becoming easier. And I feel much better for it.

-------

*"Deadly Ever After" being the title I finally chose for the song based on Seanan McGuire's Kindle serial Indexing—which, by the way, is SERIOUSLY AWESOME! If you have a Kindle, go buy it! If you don't have a Kindle, the paperback edition is available for pre-order and will ship in January.

**Seriously! In just a little over six years, she has published sixteen novels (twelve as Seanan McGuire and four as Mira Grant) and 44 pieces of short fiction. And then there are the seven professionally published essays (not including her LJ blog, which is amazing all by itself), the eight professionally published poems, and the five CDs! If I had half her talent and a quarter her energy, I'd be touring the country by now!

It seems that Disk Faktory, the CD duplicator that I've been using to make copies of Just Me and My Guitar and Mirrors since 2005, recently did an upgrade/update/restructuring/whatever of their ordering system . . . and in process lost all of my files! The orders themselves are still there, but the music files and artwork are gone. So if I want to reorder from them, I have to upload everything all over again.

But at least they still have the previous orders on file. On the other hand, DiscMakers (which I've used to make copies of O R'lyeh? Iä, R'lyeh! because of their superior pricing on slim cases) seems to have done the same kind of updating . . . and now has no record of my having ever ordered anything from them.

At least Kunaki still has all the files for Geek Mythology. But of course I don't need to order new copies of Geek Mythology . . .

Geek Mythology is finally available for digital download from The Eben Brooks Band's online store. You can buy the entire album for $10, or individual tracks (such as "It's the End of the 'Verse as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)", "Regeneration", or "Brains!") for $1.25 each. As always, the MP3s are encoded at 192kbps for excellent sound quality.