Riverpedia archive - 12/02/2020

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BEST OF bundle

Before we pull the trigger on the 'Best of The Bundles' bundle, let me put forth a more detailed proposal:

The purpose of the bundle is twofold:

1) So 'casual' fans have an easy place to start digging into the catalog without getting overwhelmed. 2) So you have a easier-to-like bundle to send to your less-hardcore friends without overwhelming them.

Let's try geewiz's top 30. Easy to swap songs in and out if we want to.

Here's a potentially controversial suggestion: To populate the BEST OF bundle, we remove the 30 files from the other 9 bundles so there is no duplication of files across bundles. I like this because I don't want anyone to have to buy some duplicates if I they to go deeper. I like each bundle to feel completely unique. Also, right now my scripts rely on each filename being unique. It would require re-thinking and re-writing to accommodate identical music files with different filenames. Not impossible but it doesn't like a fun project. To take care of the people who already purchased most of the 30 BEST OF files in their other bundle purchases, I would simply give them the new BEST OF bundle for free. It could work like this: anyone who's already purchased more than 3 bundles will get the BEST OF bundle for free. (Going forward though, you wouldn't get the BEST OF free with the purchase of more than 3 other bundles).

The BEST OF bundle would be $9. That makes it the most expensive bundle in terms of cost per song (30 cents per song compared with EWBAITE's 1 cent per song.) But that still seems like a low price. And these are the 'best' demos with the broadest appeal. No lo-fi voice notes of me talking to myself.

how much demand is there for a best of?

Fine to disagree with any of this.

Thoughts?

It feels like some people want go the duplicate file route, so that when they purchase a 'Pre-Weezer', they're certain they're getting all the pre-weezer material. Also, people are suggesting other smaller bundles, like 'Ecce Homo' and 'Deliverance At Hand'.

Would this help at all: grouping demos into folders within a bundle, for example, within the EWBAITE bundle we could have 'Top 10 of EWBAITE' and 'Ecce Homo'. In the Red bundle we could have 'Deliverance At Hand' among others. Still no duplication of files. And you wouldn't be able to purchase those subfolders individually. But would that reduce the overwhelm for casual fans?

( Last edited by Rivers at December 2, 2020 1:22 PM )

Bunks

I always sleep in the bottom left one in the back ever since the first tour.

Me asleep in my bunk.

( Last edited by Tiffany at December 2, 2020 12:54 AM )

Demo Database

A mega database of all the demos included in the market bundles. I wrote a script that automatically updates the database when songs are added to or removed from bundles.

Riverchatters are helping me complete the database by linking files & tracks with song information/album information to make them more easily identifiable to future bundle buyers & gift recipients.

The spreadsheet is located here and all help is welcome. If you’ve got encyclopedic Weezer knowledge that you’ve been dying to show off, this is your moment.

Style Notes

1. Each title has to be unique. The usual rules for filenames apply, like you can't use a slash or a ?. I'm not sure you can use parentheses either. My preferred date format is YYYY-MM-DD. I don't think we want to overwrite a working title ('ROCK AND ROLL COCKROACH') with the final title ('Only A Cockroach').
2. A song’s C.O.R. (Catalog O’ Riffs) number, if applicable, should be noted in the “fan comments” column.

( Last edited by TragicGurl at December 2, 2020 11:25 PM )

Don Slacks

Don Slacks is a cassette compilation featuring demos I recorded from 1993 through 1994. Tracks 3, 5, 6, 7, 13 and 19 are currently unknown.

1. Negativland
2. Mykel and Carli
3. ??
4. Holiday
5. ??
6. ??
7. ??
8. Hot Tub
9. Port O' Jonas
10. In The Garage
11. I Swear It's True
12. When You're Alone
13. ??
14. You Gave Your Love To Me Softly
15. Tired Of Sex
16. Susanne
17. Waiting On You
18. Getchoo
19. ??
20. Why Bother
21. I'll Think About You
22. There Is No Other One
23. Surfer Girl (Beach Boys)
24. Let Me Wash At Your Sink

( Last edited by chinstroker at December 2, 2020 9:18 AM )

Douglas Park

Local park in Santa Monica. We filmed a performance of I’m Your Daddy here in 2009. Then in 2012, I also did a Scott & Rivers mini-performance in the park for a small handful of fans. We were trying out new songs at the time. It was walking distance from our old house. Many great memories with the kids there. Lots of ducks. A creek. Lawn bowling.

google maps view here

( Last edited by TragicGurl at December 2, 2020 12:05 AM )

Everything Will Be Alright In The End--script

See Everything Will Be Alright in the End - Script

Garp

The Ito's French bulldog. He died some years ago.

Further Reading:
Kyoko

( Last edited by Olivia at December 2, 2020 12:11 AM )

Golf

I have light-up colored golf balls. My vision in low light is very poor. My best score for 9 holes is 44. I average around 50. I like to walk rather than ride a golf cart. I carry my clubs.

I'm honestly not that passionate about it but it's one of the last sports I'm able to participate in since my knee diagnosis in 2013.

( Last edited by Olivia at December 2, 2020 12:34 AM )

Headphones

Bose bluetooth.
Bed = noise cancelling. Everywhere else = not noise cancelling.

( Last edited by Olivia at December 2, 2020 12:07 AM )

Interviews

Here’s a list of media interviews I’ve done.

Print Media

Rivers' End: The Director's Cut, The Harvard Crimson, April 2006

Rivers Cuomo The Tweet Life, Huck Magazine, May 2011

Rivers Cuomo Is Trying to Be All Right, Rolling Stone, September 2014

Weezer's Rivers Cuomo explains 'Thank God For Girls', Upset Magazine, October 2015

The Enduring Adolescence of Rivers Cuomo, New York Times Magazine, February 2016

Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo on Reviving the Spirit of the Nineties, Joining Tinder, Rolling Stone, February 2016

Rivers Cuomo of Weezer Taps His Inner Beach Boy, New York Times, March 2016

Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo is getting ‘comeback’ fatigue, Los Angeles Times, March 2016

Weezer's Rivers Cuomo on How Meditation Helped Him Find Music Inspiration, ABC News, March 2016

The Brilliant Anxiety of Weezer’s White Album, The Atlantic, April 2016

The Dream Life of Rivers Cuomo, Rolling Stone, April 2016

All Songs Considered, Guest DJ Rivers Cuomo, NPR, May 2016

Rivers of Dreams, The Improper Bostonian, May 2017

How Weezer Trades Power Chords for Pop: A Conversation with Rivers Cuomo, NPR, All Songs Considered, October 2017

Rivers Cuomo on dark thoughts, Post Malone & being prolific, Dazed Digital, October 2017

Why Rivers Cuomo wanted to make ‘the most different-sounding Weezer record ever’, Los Angeles Times, October 2017

Rivers Cuomo Is Still Lonely, But he’s really into lifehacks, Vulture Magazine, November 2017

Only in Memes: How Rivers Cuomo Became King of the Internet, Kerrang!, July 2018

Rivers Cuomo digs deep into Weezer songbook at August Hall, Riff Magazine, September 2018

Being Rivers Cuomo: Why Weezer’s frontman put his life into a spreadsheet, Los Angeles Times, February 2019

Rivers Cuomo Prepackages His Internet Presence, New York Times Magazine, February 2019

Rivers Cuomo on His Data-Driven Approach to Weezer, Billboard, March 2019

At Home with Everyone: Rivers Cuomo, Q Magazine, April 2020

Unchained, Guitar Player Magazine, June 2020

Podcasts

Weezer's Rivers Cuomo Tries Reinvention, NPR, June 2008

Fresh Air Home Recordings From Weezer Frontman, NPR, January 2009

Sound Opinions Episode 221, February 2010

WTF with Mark Maron Podcast, Episode 537, October 2014

Rolling Stone Music Now Podcast, Episode 5, March 2016

Song Exploder: Weezer -“Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori", Episode 70, April 2016

All Songs Considered, Guest DJ Rivers Cuomo, NPR, May 2016

You Made it Weird Podcast, Nerdist, Episode 389, October 2017

How Weezer Trades Power Chords for Pop: A Conversation with Rivers Cuomo, NPR, All Songs Considered, October 2017

( Last edited by TragicGurl at December 2, 2020 11:24 PM )

Kumamoto

The city where Kyoko is from. It's located on the island of Kyushu. Kyoko's neighborhood is Izumi-8chome.

I always hang out at Youmetown.

The first Scott & Rivers album was originally conceived as a solo album called "The Kumamoto Kid".

Further Reading:
Scott & Rivers
Kyushu
Kyoko

( Last edited by Olivia at December 2, 2020 12:38 AM )

Mansfield

Mansfield, Connecticut. How is it different from Storrs, CT., I was never quite sure. But I lived there from age 11 to age 18. That is 1982 to 1988. Sixth grade to graduation from high school.

( Last edited by Olivia at December 2, 2020 12:12 AM )

Monterey Jack

Monterey Jack is a cassette compilation featuring demos I recorded from 1992 through 1993. Tracks 3, 4, 8, 14, 17, 18, 19, 23, and 25 are currently unknown.

Tracklist

1. Simply State
2. The Purification of Water
3. ?
4. ?
5. Why Do We Hurt Each Other?
6. Sweet Peepers
7. No One Else
8. ?
9. Too Good for Me
10. Superman
11. Why Are We?
12. Say It Ain't So
13. Please Pick Up the Phone
14. ?
15. He's My Sweetheart
16. Punk Rock Snippet
17. ?
18. ?
19. ?
20. Comin' Home (Left My Broken Heart in Carolina)
21. When You're Near Me
22. Jamie
23. ?
24. If I Fell
25. ?
26. Punk Rock Girl

( Last edited by Tiffany at December 2, 2020 2:34 AM )

Mr. Rivers' Neighborhood

Programming this website has been unbelievably fun for me, since day 1. That being said, I want to limit my time working here to 4-6 hours a day, so I still have time to work on new music. That means I can't add new features as quickly as I'd like.

Thanks to all the HTML/CSS heroes who are helping with everyone's account pages. The pages are beautiful and interesting.

Here is my to-do list. Feel free to add to it.

There are some common features I don't plan to implement, such as likes, followers, visit counters, private messages, and friends.

Also, there's a great song on ok human about the destructiveness of number watching. (It's called 'Numbers') It will probably clarify my emotions about this issue.

Further info:
The Social Dilemma
Humane Tech

this is all debatable by the way.

( Last edited by Tiffany at December 2, 2020 10:38 PM )

Nerd Nights

These were a series of events I did between 2011-2015 in and around Santa Monica, where I invited local fans to hang out with me. It started as private movie screenings (the first two were The Neverending Story and Time Bandits) where I rented out the entire small theatre both times.

Subsequent Nerd Nights were all Shakespeare-related - either screenings of live performances; or an actual performance put on by a couple of different, local Shakespeare troupes that I supported.

On the eleventh Nerd Night, Brian joined me, and after watching a screening of Antony & Cleopatra, we played an acoustic version of "Cleopatra" for everyone.

There was also a related daytime event that I called Dork Day, where I invited fans to bring their children out to watch a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Time magazine did a story about my Nerd Nights, written by Joel Stein; it was originally published in the November 3, 2014 issue.

( Last edited by TragicGurl at December 2, 2020 12:29 AM )

OK Human

Song Titles

1. Bird with a Broken Wing
2. Dead Roses
3. La Brea Tar Pits
4. Here Comes The Rain
5. Grapes of Wrath
6. Numbers

Details posted by me in Riverchat

Album Cover: the album cover was created by an illustrator whose work I discovered in a comic shop/book store. He was commissioned to do an original piece for the cover.
Cutting Room Floor: Spell It Out, Instrumental #1, Pacific Sunset?
Completion date: On Nov 16, 2020, I said that OK Human is done, but noted we are still tinkering with the radio mix of the first single though.
Potential lyrics:
Moby Dick trip on a whale. He’s kinda just like me. We’re thirsty for the deep (Posted August 20, 2020) I’ll be there to show support for Winston Smith in 1984. Because battling Big Brother feels more meaningful than binging zombie hordes.* (I referred to that one as the “audio book song” and may have given the title as “Crankin Mrs. Dalloway.”

Interviews

Weezer Almost Finished with New Album, Called 'Ok, Human', KINK

Highlights

- If he could play any album of Weezer's live he would pick OK Human. He didn't think he was supposed to talk about it but he was so excited about it.
- Played acoustic guitar, Hammond organ, and backing vocals.
- He was listening to it for a month at the time and it's all he wanted to listen to.
- His dream is to perform it with an orchestra and would like to play at places like the Hollywood Bowl.
- Management didn't hear it at the time and Brian said they were pushing for Van Weezer but he said they didn't know how powerful the album is.
- He didn't hear rough mixes at the time and had Pat's drums, Rivers vocals, and strings to work with.
- Jake didn't want the album rushed out.
- In their inner circle, they still called it "Masterpiece", and although Brian thought it was pretentious at first, he said that it was a "f***ing ... masterpiece".

The Life of Brian - All Things Loud Meets Weezer, All Things Loud, July 17, 2019

Highlights Interviewer: You guys have got three albums in the pipeline whose releases are imminent, right?
Brian: There’s two. There is a third thing, but I can’t talk about it. One is more finished than the other. They’re both very interesting and I’m very excited for one of them.
Interviewer: Are these more high-concept albums?
Brian: Yeah, one of them is called OK Human which seems to be about technology and how it’s running our life.
Interviewer: Not just lyrically, but on the last few albums it feels as though you’re exploring specific musical themes, almost like an exploration into new genres.
Brian: Yeah. OK Human is unlike anything I’ve ever heard, unlike any other type of music and unlike any Weezer music. In the bass, if you really broke it down to its common denominator, it still goes one, four, five in a major key for the most part. That’s very Weezer, that’s very Sweater Song, but it does it in more sophisticated ways.

Beats 1 (@Beats1) January 24, 2019

Highlights "Our next album is not on a grid," I explained. "We just recorded the basic tracks, and there's no click, no grid."
When asked about a title, I said, "We don't have a real title, but the key word we have to inspire us at the moment is 'masterpiece.'"

Being Rivers Cuomo: Why Weezer's Frontman Put His Life Into a Spreadsheet, L.A. Times, Feb 22, 2019

Highlights "Cuomo said the group is almost finished with another album, one he described as “piano-based, very eccentric, with strings already recorded at Abbey Road.” (Its working title is “OK Human,” after Radiohead’s “OK Computer,” though the singer identified his musical inspirations as George Gershwin and “Nilsson Sings Newman.”)"

Beats1 February 6, 2019

At the time I was listening to a lot of Nilsson Sings Newman and I said it was the biggest inspiration on our next album.

The song I chose to showcase this with was I'll Be Home:

( Last edited by Rivers at December 2, 2020 7:20 PM )

Pomfret, CT

Lived there a few times in the 70's.

Click to see Pomfret on a map.

( Last edited by Tiffany at December 2, 2020 12:26 AM )

Ric Ocasek

Guitarist, lead singer, and main songwriter in The Cars. Produced several of our albums. (Blue, Green, EWBAITE) We covered the song he wrote with The Cars, You Might Think, for Cars 2. The only producer to have worked with all 7 current and former Weezer members. Died in September 2019.

Following his death, Weezer's Instagram account posted a Karl's Corner which included: "Ric was so kind to us, and never faltered or changed a thing either professionally or personally in the three different decades we worked with him. When you were his friend, it was for life, and he was always as generous as could be with his time and care."

( Last edited by Olivia at December 2, 2020 12:31 AM )

Rochester, N.Y.

We lived there when I was about 1 to 5 years old.

( Last edited by Olivia at December 2, 2020 12:34 AM )

Scott & Rivers

A music duo featuring myself and Scott Murphy (Allister, Monoeyes). We’ve released two albums in Japanese.

I’m hopeful that ニマイメ (Nimaime, "The Second One") will be released internationally soon.

Somebody at Weezer's record company introduced us after I told them that I was looking for a Japanese speaking gaijin collaborator.

We performed our song 夏は来ぬ (Summer Has Come) in an ad for Japanese clothing company Uniqlo.

Here’s a few pics of Scott and I.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/182036391@N03/50645001356/in/album-72157717040614312

See more Scott & Rivers at Douglas Park

Listen to Scott & Rivers on Spotify

( Last edited by TragicGurl at December 2, 2020 12:09 AM )

Satchidananda Ashram

In Pomfret, Connecticut in the 1970's. For some reason the buildings were painted pink. I also went to school there from 3rd through 5th grade. I have a good memories of Swami Satchidananda. He felt like a kinder, gentler, slower Gandalf. Also, he had all of us kids doing yoga and meditation and cooking and cleaning every day. For a while I took care of the ponies.

My 1977 class picture at Integral Yoga School on the Ashram. I’m the one in the green shirt on the second row.

( Last edited by Tiffany at December 2, 2020 12:41 AM )

Sheeny Bang

My first assistant.

I actually met her at a party in the fall of 1997 after one of my solo shows in Cambridge, MA. Then she emailed weezer.com around the time the Green Album came out (in 2001) looking for a job.

Recently I've been playing golf with her. She's a phenomenal golfer.

Further Reading:
Golf

( Last edited by Olivia at December 2, 2020 12:35 AM )

The 3rd Street Promenade

I'm not crazy about all the street performers. But we go there sometimes for date nights. There's not much else to do around here.

( Last edited by Olivia at December 2, 2020 12:32 AM )

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