Sunday, July 14, 2013

Google me.


I have a confession: Sometimes I "Google" myself.

Although I can't make claim to the complete absence of ego in this, I'm not entirely motivated by vanity. As a self-employed, self-representing independent artist sort of guy, I am always looking for ways to promote my work.  Sometimes I find surprising blog posts or other online content about me. This gives me an opportunity to say "thanks" to whomever is responsible for the unexpected pat on the back.

Unfortunately, however, my name isn't an altogether uncommon one.  When my name is Googled, a lot of people who aren't (or weren't) me come up in the search results.  To make the process of searching for me a bit less confusing, here are a few of the common not-me's:

•The "other" J.R. Williams - another cartoonist (1888 - 1957), known for his "Out Our Way" single panel cartoon, distributed to newspapers via the NEA Syndicate.  We weren't related, but here's a Twilight Zone moment for you: Our names were exactly the same ("James Robert Williams"), and...he died the year I was born.  Cue Rod Serling.

•JR Williams/Island Male Graphics - Beefcake photos of young, mostly unclothed & very buff male models...not that there's anything wrong with that...just not really my "thing."

•J.R. Williams, country music singer from Australia.

•The J.R. Williams Co., Inc. - Precision machining & manufacturing specialists.

•Hank Williams, Jr. - another country music singer.  Again, no relation...but I did once do a portrait of his dad.

There are certainly more, but you already get the picture.  Try it for yourself, if you like.  Better yet, I'll save you the trouble:

CLICK HERE to Google me

Thursday, July 11, 2013

What's In My @#$%&!! Bag?


It's interesting to me to see other people's "What's In My Bag" photos, especially if they have lots of gear & gadgets!  I think you can tell a lot about individual humans by the stuff they habitually carry around.  But it does drive me a little crazy when they don't list or describe the bag's contents.  I added a bunch of detailed pop-up notes to this photo at my Flickr page...CLICK HERE to view, if that's your "bag"...

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Mystery Street (m4a mix)





Crime Jazz from Mars!  Film Noir Science Fiction!  MYSTERY STREET was a 90-minute cassette mix tape I originally compiled way back in 1996.  At the request of a few friends (who enjoyed it so much that they apparently wore out their cassette copies), I've finally gotten around to digitally re-comping it.  I've also condensed it, removing a few tracks so everything will fit on an 80-minute CD.  The "leftovers" are available as "bonus tracks" (see below).  One correction: on the original comp, I erroneously listed Russ Garcia's track as "Frozen Neptune"…the actual title of the piece is "Birth of a Planet."  Special thanks to Jim Blanchard, who came up with a couple of tracks I wasn't able to rustle up myself.  It sure ain't rock 'n' roll…but it could be an appropriate soundtrack for your next visit to the Twilight Zone.