Bob Pepper

Kyle Vernier February 27, 2018

I recently received a copy of Morton Subotnick's album "The Wild Bull" in the mail and was admiring the artwork and reading the information on the back. I noticed that the cover art was created by artist Bob Pepper, and upon looking him up, I realized that he was also the cover artist for several paperback books I own. Additionally, he created the artwork for my all-time favorite board game, Dark Tower, which my family and I played frequently when I was growing up. It's fascinating to realize that I've been surrounded by Bob Pepper's work my entire life without even knowing it. For more information on this topic, please refer to the following link:

Work Doodling

Kyle Vernier February 6, 2018

Spy Vs Spy

Kyle Vernier November 5, 2017

When I was a kid, I used to hang out a lot at my friend Tim's house. His two older brothers had left behind a bunch of cool stuff that Tim had claimed as his own. One of my favorite things that Tim had were these little Spy vs Spy paperbacks. They were so neat! I can't remember exactly how many he had, but I know there were at least a few of them.

Tim and I were really into Get Smart, which had just started airing on Nick-at-Nite. Plus, it seemed like the old James Bond movies were always on cable TV. So, spy stuff was totally our jam. What I loved about Spy vs Spy was the crazy contraptions the spies used to try and outdo each other. It was so funny to see them constantly foiling each other's plans.

At the time, I didn't really understand the references to nuclear destruction and the Cold War. To me, these comics were just cool and funny. I had never even seen an actual Spy vs Spy comic in Mad magazine - I was more of a Cracked magazine fan myself (because Cracked wasn't as popular as Mad). I remember spending hours reading those comics while Tim played Nintendo or messed around on his Amiga.

Over the years, I've managed to collect five of the Spy vs Spy paperbacks for myself. I think there are a few later ones that I'm still missing, but I've been able to find most of them at thrift stores and garage sales.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spy_vs._Spy

Rock and Roll Music

Kyle Vernier October 6, 2017

I'm not exactly a musical prodigy, but I've always had a soft spot for playing music. Back in high school, I was part of a few bands, but it's been a while since I've played in one. Sometimes, though, I still daydream about putting up an ad on Craigslist.

I'm in my mid-30s, and I'll be the first to admit that I'm a terrible guitar player. So, if you're an equally terrible bass player or drummer, let's start a band! Bonus points if you're into the Ramones, power chords, and don't like to play too late, since I have work in the morning and I don't want to annoy my neighbors.

Over the years, I've played around with Garage Band a few times, using toy instruments and whatever else I had lying around. Recently, though, I've been wanting to get more serious about it. I bought a USB audio interface for my computer and a new (to me) electric guitar. I even bought a guitar kit and I'm in the process of putting it together. I'm sure I'll dive even deeper into this stuff soon enough.

Anyway, I booted up Garage Band for the first time in ages and found some of my early experiments. Granted, it's just me goofing around with the built-in mic on my computer and whatever instruments I had lying around, but whether you're a virtuoso or a total newbie like me, there's something incredibly fun about making music. Who knows? Maybe someday I'll finally put up that Craigslist ad.

Cicada Shell

Kyle Vernier August 31, 2017

I saw this Cicada shell on a tree today while walking around the neighborhood. I used to carry my camera everywhere, but recently I had kind of stopped. It seemed like I hardly used it. Today I grabbed it as I walked out the door and I'm glad I did. Cell phone cameras are great but I still think it is more fun to take a picture with a dedicated camera. I took this with a Fuji X10. Which is sort of a point and shoot with all manual controls that also shoots RAW.

Steps 1 and 2

Kyle Vernier August 16, 2017

I've been interested in analog synthesizers from the first time I heard The Rentals. That was the first time that I really understood what an analog synthesizer was. And since that time I've always kind of wanted one. Audrey had a Moog Rogue briefly when we were in college and it was fun and cool, when we got it to work. It had to be sold to pay for stuff college students need. I'm guessing rent and pizza.

Anyhow, now I want to build my own synthesizer. So I'm starting at the beginning. I don't know much about electronics. I mean, I've soldered a few things but nothing big. Mostly just fixing stuff. So I'm going to work my way though the Make: Electronics book and then move on to the Make: Analog Synthesizers book. On a sad note, Ray Wilson the author of Make: Analog Synthesizers passed away sort of recently. His information packed website Music From Outer Space is still up and running and it is a seemingly un-ending resource of information for DIY synthesizer enthusiasts.

Philip Glass Buddha Machine

Kyle Vernier August 12, 2017

This Philip Glass Buddha Machine is such a great thing. I've been just letting it play as I do stuff, such as nap in my chair, and it is great. Most of the loops are long enough that they don't get annoyingly repetitive. I mean they are repetitive but that is sort of a big part of Philip Glass's music, so it works. Often when I'm sitting around playing an instrument I'll just play the same riff over and over and over. There is something meditative about it. This is like that, except it's coming from a cool little red machine about the size of a deck of cards.