This 3D controller is an interesting concept. I'd really like to see it working in a sound-based application for better evaluation purposes. I wonder if it would be possible to take this technology and include more fluid transitioning, like a theremin? File under: things to consider.


DIY 3D Interface: Tic Tac Toe from Kyle McDonald on Vimeo

Labels: MFA

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Labels: Life, Photography

We've been having a laugh recently at the content of some of the spam emails in our junk mail folders. Some of them are ridiculously raunchy, some are pretty hilarious, and others, well, they're downright poetic.

So, to prove our point, we've selected some of our favourite ramblings and convinced our friend Spencer Deville, the poet, to give us his dramatic interpretations.

So, without further ado, the fist volume of Junk Mail Poetry.


Junk Mail Poetry - Volume 1: Happy Face from Mouse & the Billionaire on Vimeo.

Snap, snap, snap, y'all.

Labels: Fun, Junk Mail Poetry, videos

I'll be honest. Baseball is making me sad. We moved to one of the greatest baseball towns in the country, where Ruth used to build houses, and I can't find a single person to watch the all-star game with me. I miss sitting at friend's houses, drinking beers and talking stats. I miss Dodger stadium. I miss Dodger games. I have had a real hard time even listening to Dodger games since first pitch is usually at 10:15 pm. I miss Vin. I miss Dodger dogs. I had a brief fling with trying to follow the Mets last season, but it just isn't the same.

Oh, Bums, why did you leave Brooklyn? We could be so great together here. I could sit on the stoop enjoying a frosty beverage and listen to you lose game after game. But I wouldn't care. All my friends would talk bad about you, but I would stand up for you. But I suppose you're better off in the wide open spaces, free to roam. So, Ol' Blue, thanks for the good times while they lasted. I hope to see you again soon, but for now, show my friends out there a good time. Don't let them forget how wonderful you can be.

Labels: Baseball, Life

Bleep Labs released their Thingamakit last week, a D-I-Y version of the Thingamagoop, which captured my imagination earlier this year.

This comes at a perfect time since I just bought a kick-ass little robot that I justified by saying it was vintage and cool (but really had no specific use for it). That is until now. Hopefully in a few months the world will witness the rise of Thingamachat! Stay tuned.

See more photos of people's thingamakit adaptations at Bleep Labs Flickr Pool.

Labels: MFA, Music, Technology

Hello friends. I've been working on a follow up to the Begrimed & Blinking EP. It is (hopefully) near finished. Here is a taste. Enjoy!

Mouse & the Billionaire - The Fortress of Gratitude (mp3)

Labels: Music

Why yes! Yes there is!


















Wow! Nouveau Brooklynites (such as ourselves) are really into buying old brownstones and fixing them up. I mean REALLY into it. That ties with mustache wearing and bicycle riding as the number one pastimes in Brooklyn.

I was thinking about joining the band wagon until I called on a crumbling brownstone on our block. This is how my end of the conversation went...

Hi. I'm calling about the house you have for sale in Brooklyn. Great, it's three stories plus a basement. It's been vacant for 5 years? OK. How much work does it need? Oh, it doesn't have a roof. How much is the owner asking? $800,000? Click. (I assume that comes with a pack of rats free of charge - mumbled under my breath as I hang up the phone.)

Yes, it's true, a borderline structurally sound brownstone with/without a roof and/or with/without a tree growing through the front of it could be yours for the bargain price of $800,000.

What is the world coming to? Have people lost their minds?

I just realized that I have not updated my "Reading" selection in a very long time. I read "The Old Man and the Sea" on a plane ride over Easter, so it's about time I caught you all up to speed.

I won't bore you with a list of all the books we've read over the past few months, but I will tell you that my current selection, "This is Your Brain on Music," by Daniel Levetin is fascinating.

This wonderful book has a wealth of information for anyone who is interested in, as he puts it, the "science of a human obsession." In it he discusses the functions of the brain as they pertain to both music-listening and creating, and, as I begin working on my MFA thesis, I find myself continually dwelling on these ideas. Music as "organized sound." The direct mapping of pitch from the auditory cortex to your brain. (Neurons in your brain fire at the exact frequencies of sound you hear!) Does 10,000 hours of practice really make a virtuoso? These questions and more will certainly effect the way I approach the coming year of studies. So, heads up, it's about to get real nerdy around here for the next 9 months.

Labels: Books, MFA, Music