Indulging the Mind Killer

What Child is This on You Tube!

2009-12-16T18:40:14Z

We have created a little slide show for What Child Is This! Hop over and check it out :)

Accoutrements & Oddities Preorder Ends Sunday

2009-12-02T19:01:57Z

We are closing off the preorder on Sunday to finalize the artwork and finish putting in the names of all the folks who have made a purchase. Act soon if you want to take advantage of the offer:

You'll get access to the digital CD right away, a free copy of Clockwork Carols, a signed copy of Accoutrements & Oddities CD, your name in the liner notes and five dollars off any DNBS product!

http://www.deadlynightshadebotanicalsociety.com/dnbspreorder.html

The Digital version of the CD will be available for purchase Sunday!

Accoutrements & Oddities Preorder Download Available Now!!!

2009-11-21T08:25:35Z

The Preorder download of the CD is available now! If you preorder today, you’ll get access to the CD as soon as your order has been verified.

Order today, get the CD today!

Also, if you’ve already preordered please take a moment to check your email. You should have received the information to get your copy. If not, please contact me ASAP!

Accoutrements & Oddities On Sale Now (Pre-Order Offer!)

2009-11-18T04:17:13Z

We have begun the pre-order for the new DNBS CD: Accoutrements and Oddities. In celebration, we’ll have a couple songs from the CD available on the MP3 player as well as the Christmas Songs.
If you pre-order the CD, you will gain access to the digital CD on November 21st, you’ll get Clockwork Carols for free (2 songs on the 21st from it and the rest in the first week of December), five dollars off any item in the DNBS Store (T Shirts, books, CDs for friends), your name in the CD Liner Notes (let us know what to call you!) and of course, our undying adoration and gratitude!
This offer is only available for a short time so don’t wait! It’s 14.99! Hop over to www.dnbs-music.com and pre-order right away! :)

Friday is the Day of the Raisin over at Sepiachord

2009-10-09T16:55:02Z

Sepiachord contacted me today and said that The Ballad of Mister Raisins is the song of the day! Go and check them out over here: http://www.myspace.com/sepiachord

The Ballad of Mister Raisins: Airship Adventure Monkey

2009-09-14T01:08:23Z

Our new song has been posted to the My Space site (www.myspace.com/deadlynightshadebotanicalsociety). This song follows the bizarre story of Mister Raisins; Tailor, adventurer, port connoisseur and monkey.

The inception of this strange plot came from my twisted brain a while back when I thought up this brilliant little Capuchin Monkey that lived in an air ship and conducted various tasks for the crew. More over, he couldn't talk but he would often look at the crew and passengers with a discerning gaze and shake his head in disapproval. He was a judgmental little monkey.

This built up to the point that we had to write the Ballad of Mister Raisins; a song that's not much like anything we've done before but is certainly fun.

Check it out and see what you think.

As an aside note, the song was going to be called 'Simian Savior' but it just didn't quite have the pinache of what we chose :P

DNBS T Shirt Pre Orders!

2009-09-11T03:10:18Z

DNBS T Shirts are about to be ordered. We are accepting pre-orders for the next two weeks! Please hop over to the web site and check them out. These are the first of many designs we have in mind so don't wait to take a peek :)

www.deadlynightshadebotanicalsociety.com/buy.html

To Louisana: Day 1

2009-07-15T22:30:30Z

I might not be able to write again while on the trip depending on the internet options but I'm here now after a relatively uneventful flight. I have to say that the airline industry is about the most absurd bunch of craziness that I've ever encountered. I love that it costs to check a bag and if you're an 'elite' member of their club, you can check a bag for free! Sweet, service that I've had for years distributed as a perk.

Houston was too fast to say anything about. But now that we're here in Louisiana, thee's a tremendous lightning storm. It's totally wild, big thunder, crazy lightning and rain moving in sheets. It's still rumbling behind me as we wait for someone else at the air port.

Odd thing. We got here before 4:00 PM. None of the food was really open. I don't know when people eat here but it must be damn early. here were two places that appeared open but they weren't particularly inviting. I wasn't going to go diving into a pizza hut where the people couldn't be bothered to do their job. No thanks :P

Anyway, I don't have a lot else to say... but that's the story so far.

Monday Musing

2009-07-06T17:22:18Z

I was sitting here thinking about Rush this morning thanks to Sky from DNBS reminding me of a bunch of songs. When I was in high school, a couple friends and I played near to every song from the first 8 albums of Rush so I had a pretty decent appreciation for their talent. They were the kind of band that spoke to me as a musician more than anything else.

So today, as part of thinking about the band, I went and refreshed my memory of their past. When we were playing those Rush songs 18 years ago (yikes!) I had read one of their biographies. They weren't like Dream Theater heading out to Burkley to learn their trade. They were just musicians who, at first, were playing much like every band does: playing to their influences.

That said, I think back to all manner of artistic endeavors, from literature to painting to music to decoupage. What would it have been like to be amidst a period where these things were being defined? I noticed that there are academic research papers on Rush's influence in Progressive Music and so I find myself longing for a period where everything wasn't so precisely defined. At this point in time, you could play five chords and someone would tell you what genre of music you just created.

It's the same for everything really. A set of standards exist that must be adhered to. It's not that you can't stretch in one way or another but formatting, structure and expectation are all in place. People call anything 'odd' that doesn't fit the predefined paths. While that was likely true back when things were first finding these niches, I think that it had be an exciting and fun process building those concepts.

So I guess my point isn't to sound like I'm complaining about it all or lamenting my year of birth. I just think that, nostalgia aside, pioneering a field had to be one of the greatest gifts that any person can ever be granted.

Variax 700 and Pod XT Live

2009-07-02T21:26:09Z

Hello!

I am selling a couple of things to make way for something brand new! Check them out here. These aren't pictures of the actual units but they are in excellent condition. The Variax has only really been used for recording (they can be heard on the DNBS site). It comes with a gig bag, the special Variax cable and a bag for the Line 6 XT Live.

http://www.strumzilla.com/wp-content/uploads/L6-Body-Axis.jpg

http://www.www.musicstoreinc.com/products/images/990600605_01.jpg

So the Variax 700 is going for between 500 and 700 bucks on ebay. The Line 6 XT Live runs from 100 to 400 (though the latter is new). The bag is 65 bucks online. I'm selling BOTH units for 650 bucks with all the mentioned accessories.

Anyone interested, contact me offline. If we have to ship the stuff, that will probably cost a bit but it's worth it. These were used for some Abney Park songs, DNBS songs and a few other bands so they've got a little history.

Thanks!

Dark Repast Store

2009-06-22T21:40:42Z

I've opened a store!

Sort of.

It's not as exciting as some brick & mortar place in a part of town that has character. It's probably located in the Internet Ghetto. However, this place is up and works great.

Hop over to my site: www.darkrepast.com or www.darkrepast.com/glassmoonlight. There's a link at the top of the page (the prominent one that says 'Shop').

It's a bit of a work in progress but what isn't? I'll fix it up and make it prettier as time goes by.

The Afghan Campaign by Steven Pressfield

2009-06-09T20:50:30Z

I finished this book today and I found myself at a loss for words. I've been reading Alexander the Great history and fiction for years and this is the first time that I couldn't get behind his cause. I've read about the battles in Afghanistan several times but this book was a lot more personal and it really brings to light the tribal nature of the 'enemy'. More importantly though, as I read this book, I began to question the righteousness of Alexander's conquests.

I've always been an advocate for some of the concepts that Alexander supposedly espoused. I felt that he offered an enlightened perspective to those places that he passed through but the more that I think about it now, the less I can abide the motivation. Afghanistan was a tribal culture of violence before the Macedonian army entered their domain. They fought for several years and came to a sort of truce before Alexander moved on to India. They were still a tribal culture and have maintained that paradigm to the modern day.

What came of the violence in Afghanistan? What came of the violence in Persia for that matter? I suppose that one could argue that by crushing the Persians, Alexander prevented the West from ever being menaced by another Eastern invasion force (such as Xerxes). But outside of that (which was absolutely not the primary reason for attacking Persia), I have begun to think that Alexander's campaigns were little more than selfish and brutal. The attacks on what they deemed to be the rest of the world amounted to very little when one thinks of how shortly after the mainstay conquest, Alexander died.

It's funny and sad because today, I feel like I lost a hero and all because this historical fiction seemed to provide some missing puzzle piece in all that I have read before. I guess that it goes without saying that this novel is moving and exquisitely written if it could make me think at all let alone stir up some emotions. Anyone who cares about this point in history should definitely consider reading it. You might be disappointed but it won't be in the work. Rather, you might find yourself in my position thinking about the futility of any of these conquering folk.

Maybe Alexander should not be considered the hero that has been so spoken of but rather just another invader who managed to be glorified by adoring followers that survived the chaos of his death. I don't know but what a chance to speculate.

Seattle Steampunk Soiree: May 22nd

2009-05-26T17:28:45Z

The show went off without a noticable hitch. I think that we all had a great time and it was the best first show that I could have imagined. Everyone was extremely nice and the crowd was receptive to the music. All around, a great experience.

We have video that we're going to post soon of the event, not just of DNBS but of my songs with Abney Park as well. There are already photos floating around (both on our my space and on flickr). This was a great start and I hope that we can look forward to shows that are even half as successful in the future.

Thanks to everyone who bought CDs, offered comments and heck, for even showing up! You made it a night to remember!

Glass Moonlight Available Now! May 22nd Show is On!

2009-05-18T18:31:42Z

This is a dual post! First off, Glass Moonlight is available for sale at my web site as well as through Amazon.com!

Furthermore, the May 22nd show is on! The Deadly Nightshade Botanical Society will be playing with Abney Park and Legion Within. Check out the flyer here http://www.flickr.com/photos/vonclaret/3528682369/

The Cover for Glass Moonlight can be seen here: http://www.darkrepast.com/images/GMThumb.jpg.

Glass Moonlight Physical Copy Available

2009-05-06T20:59:50Z

The proof came and it was excellent. I have approved it and now the book is available as Print on Demand. I am planning on picking up a good 15 or 20 of them in the next couple of weeks to have on hand for sales but for now, they will be sent out via the POD model.

I've posted the book for sale both at www.darkrepast.com and at www.darkrepast.com/glassmoonlight. It's available as an ebook (in PDF format right now) and as a physical copy (6x9 book, 253 pages). An ecommerce store is almost ready as well and that will carry all the books under my Dark Repast banner.

There will be excerpts up of the book and more blog entries by Ophelia this week. Check back for more info!

Glass Moonlight Publication!

2009-04-24T23:24:54Z

Hello!

I have published my book 'Glass Moonlight'. It's a supernatural mystery in the style of Anita Blake (without the smut) or even the Kim Harrison books. More information can be found over at http://www.darkrepast.com/glassmoonlight and if you'd like to see the cover, hop over to this link: http://www.darkrepast.com/images/GMSmall.jpg.

DNBS Sale!

2009-04-01T14:58:12Z

Hey there!

So we've got a sale going on over at the DNBS site. The CD price has dropped to 10 bucks and the Digital CD is only 5.99. This is a short time offer for the next couple weeks so head over and check it out.

Here's the URL: http://www.deadlynightshadebotanicalsociety.com/sale.html

Two Days to the Clockwork Man!

2009-03-16T16:43:08Z

The Clockwork Man will be available to play in TWO DAYS (March 18th). That means there's a little time left to get in on the pre-order. Hop over and snag it for only 10 dollars! Half the normal price!

Participants have a chance to get a poster of Sprocket for only the cost of shipping!

The Clockwork Man Trailer!

2009-03-03T17:16:00Z

A trailer for the Clockwork Man has been revealed! What is the Clockwork Man? It's only one of the most original and exciting hidden object adventure games of its time! I'm a little biased though since... well... I wrote it.

But seriously, the game is steampunk infused and inspired. Every character has a voice and all the objects are hand painted. This is a meticulous work and I think that you'll agree that it's absolutely gorgeous. Please take a minute to hop over and check out the Clockwork Man trailer at the clockwork man trailer address.

DNBS Casebook Sample!

2009-02-09T20:12:28Z

I wanted to offer up a sample chapter of the casebook. This is the Short Story for Legacy.

Legacy

October 17th, 1885

Dark cases lost in the mists of time have surfaced many times in the unusual archives of the Society. Journals never inventoried occasionally appear inexplicably on a shelf to be found by the latest librarian or agent. Often times this leads to an investigation or study and the results are at once terrifying and enlightening.

The story of ‘Legacy’ has long been one of mystery and speculation. Dr. Victor Frankenstein was considered a reclusive genius before a series of family tragedies sent him far from his home in Geneva never to be heard from again. A fire in the residence was thought to destroy all evidence of his fantastic studies of medicine.

Victor’s journal has long been a prize that scholars have secretly coveted since he left the Ingolstadt University and rumors began to circulate concerning his activities. The rubble of the Frankenstein family home was scoured by some of the most ambitious minds in the world but they were rewarded with ash and soot.

This book that I hold before me boldly announces on the title page ‘This is the journal of Victor Frankenstein’. The tarnished cover bears scorch marks and the edges of the pages are blackened. When the librarian found it, he said that it was still smoking, the scent a cross between cedar and burnt wool. Despite these maladies, the tome is in remarkable condition, nothing like one would expect for having been penned over one hundred years earlier.

There is much to learn about the brilliant doctor beyond his academic prowess. We have found such terrors as would be unbelievable to the normal and fantastic even to those of us outside the light of ignorance. Our investigation would take us through a considerable hardship before we understood it all but before we delve too deeply into that sojourn, the journal offers a wonderful foreword.

Victor’s ambitions were not merely the preservation of life but rather the defeat of death. He had no intention to conduct such an experiment through the accepted means of inoculation or diet but something both creative and extraordinary. Until Victor, the creation of life was solely in the hands of God and the typical biological process.

This journal expresses every necessary step to create a life. The construction, the materials, the mechanics and the very essence of what provides animation to a body are all explicitly written. There can be no way to confirm this without finding the original creation or attempting the process; the latter of which our own council wisely advised against.

It’s difficult to explain the madness and genius that walk hand in hand through these pages. Inspiration of this sort had to be frightening to behold. Even now in our enlightened age such a visionary would be met with extreme distrust if not outright violence. Despite the close-minded nature of the world, we had to believe what he wrote was true; the coincidences behind his misfortunes required investigation.

Our journey took us on the same path as Victor overland into the arctic. Horses were possible until the snow became too deep and we were forced to trade our mounts for the yipping and swishing of dog drawn sleds. The cold there was unbelievable and bit through the thickest fur hides or masks. Only the dogs seemed immune to the rigors of the north; a sturdy breed of smallish animals with pointed ears and unusual barks that sounded more like howling than those of our English breeds.

What does one expect to find in the endless wastes of ice and snow? The flat surface stretched as far as the eye could see with the occasional peaks of ice and jagged rocks providing a landmark. Our expedition began with three society members and five bearers. By the sixth day on that ice, we were down to two bearers; hardly enough to even drive our sleds any longer with all of the equipment required to sustain our camps.

This fool’s errand was driven by a simple hope that there would be some evidence, some proof of the Doctor’s passage through the arctic. On the seventh day, we decided to turn back, camping through the evening before driving back south with the dogs and our lives. Providence, it seems, has a cruel sense of humor.

Nighttime on the ice can be summed up as unsettling and disturbing. The serenity of silence blankets the entire area and only the whistling wind interrupts that profound state of reticence. I was unable to sleep for the first few hours, huddled in my many furs beneath the cover of the rounded tent. My mind wandered through the pages of the journal and the concepts of life from lifelessness; death overcome by a champion of science.

I thought I might drift off to wild dreams and unsettled sleep when a sound gripped my heart with excitement. I tried to cast it aside as one of the dogs shuffling about or a companion rising to check the fire. A silhouette froze the blood in my veins and I drew my pistol, aiming in the direction of the massive thing which I was convinced to be one of the massive white bears we had been warned about.

Such was not to be.

“You’ll have no need of your weapons,” The voice was rough but held a strange parody of culture; a contrast of gruff and educated. “I’ve watched you for three days. You were looking for me.”

“Were we?” I asked, not rising to let the creature in. My very soul trembled to be in its presence but my weapon did not shake. “Why have you waited so long to reveal yourself?”

“I do not trouble myself with the affairs of man,” Said the Creature, crouching. Even in such a lowered state, the shoulders were massive and it would not have fit within my tent with me in it. “I live here now to forever live out my days until God grants me an end. My father’s gift to me was what you would consider a curse.”

“Your existence was controversial,” I leaned forward. “We hoped to prove that the Doctor had succeeded.”

“You have,” The creature shuffled about and a moment later, a folded slip of paper was pushed through the tent. “Captain Walton and I sent my father to heaven through the purity of fire. The journal was almost destroyed there before I saved it. When it disappeared, I thought that someone may come to investigate. All but that slip of paper left my grasp. I give it to you to complete the tome. Guard it well lest you allow this curse to befall another.”

“We could help you,” I offered, my eyes moving to the piece of paper. “We could try to understand how he did it and free you if that’s what you wish.”

“My faith in man has long since been destroyed,” The creature stood up. “Your world rejected me. I live beyond the grace of redemption. Farewell, sir. Please, if you value your lives and sanity, do not come back here again. Only death is welcome in this wasteland.”

“Wait!” I called, hurrying to depart my tent. The creature was gone with only massive foot prints embedded in the snow to prove he had ever been there. That and the piece of paper he had pressed into my possession; the supposed completion of the journal that I still carried with me.

I have returned that page to its place in the tome of Doctor Frankenstein; a poem that he must have penned in the height of his madness.

Some of the society feels that our expedition was in vain; that our proof is fragile at best. Having spoken to that sad being even for such a short period of time leads me to feel otherwise. In my heart, I know what happened was true and perhaps that was the lesson that such a being had to offer: faith in something is better than faith in nothing.

Even if Victor did not defeat death he did, inadvertently, vanquish despair. Nothing is impossible. We simply need to have the drive to achieve.

DNBS Casebook Volume 1

2009-01-23T22:36:57Z

We have released a DNBS Casebook which contains short stories inspired by the songs as well as the lyrics to all the songs. It's a really cool little presentation and available in both ebook and paper back edition. Hop over to the DNBS-Music.com web site and take a look. The prices are 9.99 (for a limited time) and 4.99 for the ebook. You get the ebook thrown in for free if you buy the physical copy.

DNBS on iTunes!!!

2009-01-16T19:07:49Z

We are now on iTunes. Check it out when you can. I think that makes all of the digital places that we sent music to. We're now officially distributed.

A Dog in Need

2009-01-09T23:09:06Z

Check out this dog

She has a short time to live as they're going to euthenize her. If you're in the Pacific Northwest and you have the ability, you should definitely consider her for your new pet. From the ad, she's a house broken dog who has been surrendered because her owner had to move. Now, they're going to be putting her down due to her breed.

Please have a look at her photo and consider it. If I had the space or apartment for it, I would already have her. She looks like a black version of the Mad Max dog.

The Spirit

2009-01-07T18:05:43Z

Rating: Who knows? 5.5 I guess

I liked the Spirit. But I had to work at it.

The movie was stylized and crazy; taking over-the-top to a new level. It's a cross between Sin City and a 50s Crime Noir with a hint of insanity. I don't know how else to describe it without spoiling stuff but I think that if you're a fan of these comic movies then you'll really enjoy this one. You might have to continually state remind yourself it's a comic and that it's going to be wild. If you can do that, you'll probably have fun.

The characters here are all larger than life. The world looks fifties but there are laptops and cell phones. This cross wasn't nearly as jarring as one would think (especially with the other spectacles going on in the film). There's a dark quality to everything from the way it was filmed to the look of the characters and I think it genuinely improved the immersion. In a semi-packed theater, people were receptive to the humor and dialogue. I would suggest that the majority of the movie went over well with the audience.

The bottom line about the Spirit is simple though: I don't know if I would recommend it or not. I liked it. I think that people who enjoy those hard bitten noir comics would like it. I think that a lot of people wouldn't like it. The niche this movie was aiming toward would not have been disappointed with an R rating. The few more people they attracted with the PG 13 couldn't have really mattered that much in the grand scale of how specific the target audience was.

I hope that enough people see it to warrant the film a success but based on the other reviews I would say it's going to have a rough time. At the very least, I would suggest it for Gabriel Macht who did an outstanding job playing the Spirit. Oh, and if you're way into crazy hot chicks in movies, this would also be for you.

88.9 FM KUCI in Irvine

2009-01-05T19:19:14Z

This Radio Station played DNBS on the 29th of November. I didn't notice until today (hence the super late posting) but they broadcast over the internet. Check them out here. Looks like they played Clockwork Dream that day. I couldn't find an archive of the broadcast but it would be neat to hear.