The Big-O Pipe is Moving!

It’s been a busy year. Between a hectic day job and now, a new baby, I haven’t been on top of updates here. It’s been a while since MudScout released a new book, but I’ve been busy behind the scenes, helping some friends and clients with their book projects.

Since I last posted, we’ve reprinted the FUBAR book, Just Give’r: A Handguide By Terry and Dean.

Also, I worked on Kid Koala’s latest masterpiece, Space Cadet, a gorgeous and incredibly moving graphic novel that comes with a CD soundtrack.

I’ve also assisted a few clients get their books into print, guiding them through the process of self-publishing and overseeing everything from edits to layout, printing and distribution.

It’s all kept me pretty occupied. So, things might be quiet, but MudScout hasn’t gone anywhere!

A few years back (2006), MudScout published An Indelible Decade: E.R. Huntington, Apprentice Under Sail & Arctic Constable, 1908-1918, by Beverley Huntington Rogers. I’m returning to this now because, for various reasons, the book flew under the radar at the time of its release, and it’s the kind of title that deserves to be rediscovered and read for years to come.

An Indelible Decade is more than just a family history. It offers a first-hand glimpse into the life of a young man nearly a century ago, illuminating the character-shaping challenges and adventures he faced first as an apprentice aboard a commercial sailing vessel, and later, as a member of Canada’s RNWMP, stationed at Churchill, Manitoba.

Orphaned at the age of fourteen, E.R. Huntington was apprenticed aboard the three-masted, square-rigged ship Cambrian Princess. In the next four years, he went around Cape Horn eight times—more than enough to be considered a “real seaman.”

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Welcome to the new MudScout.com!

After way too long trying (unsuccessfully) to keep my old site up to date despite my (very) limited coding abilities, I’ve moved over to this blog. So far I’ve been attempting to recreate the events of the past few years here… in a rather roundabout way. But I think things are nearly summed up now (let me know if you have any questions), and it’s getting to be time to look ahead to the next big project…

I’ve also got a new online store, via bigcartel.com. I love it! So much simpler and better-looking than the old one, and it’s a far more cost-effective option for a small business like this. Let me know if you have any feedback.

It was 2004, and I’d just been laid off from my job at ECW Press (they had decided to close their Montreal office). I had some time on my hands and I was looking for new projects. Enter FUBAR. Paul Spence and Dave Lawrence (aka Dean & Terry) were looking for help publishing their book, Just Give’r: A Handguide by Terry & Dean. I got involved as a consultant, and worked with the dynamic duo (and jfry craig, the book’s designer and the artist behind another MudScout project, war made me: do it) to make sure the book saw the light of day. And did it ever. After a wildly successful book tour (at one point, in Kingston, ON, I think we witnessed what was probably the largest simultaneous beer shotgun in history), the book eventually sold out.

FUBAR fans will be pleased to know that a sequel is currently in the works.

Terry & Dean get interviewed while on tour for their book, Just Give’r.

Taking a cue from my best buddy Nore (pictured here), a MudScout is somebody who doesn’t mind wading into the muck if that’s what it takes to unearth a hidden gem. Or anything else worth digging for. Yes, there’s a story behind this.

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Lederhosen Lucil’s delightfully dark video for “Semi-Sweet.”

Lucil is returning to the stage with Kid Koala and his Short Attention Span Theatre Tour as part of the 2010 Cultural Olympiad — get all the details here. Should be a great show. We still have a few copies of Lederhosen Lucil’s book, The Joy of Hosen, available for sale.

The Slew’s “It’s All Over.” Enjoy.

If you’re in Vancouver in February for the 2010 Olympics, check out one of these shows (note that they’re in February, not Jan. as the link suggests. Try this link for reality. There’s the return of the legendary Short Attention Span Theatre (rooted in part in Kid Koala’s book, Nufonia Must Fall, which I worked on back when I was still at ECW Press), as well as a rare appearance by Lederhosen Lucil. Lucil has all but hung up her hosen these days, so don’t miss this rare chance to see her live. And who knows when the Short Attention Span Theatre will return — I’m told this is a specially commissioned resurrection.

If you can’t make that show, check out one of Koala’s other DJ gigs and you might be fortunate enough to hear some music from his new project, The Slew (their album is called 100%). I’ll post a video from The Slew right after this. Hearing it blew my mind. Seriously. I don’t say that too often.