(forgive me if this post comes across as a bit self-aggrandizing or if it’s ridiculously rambling- I haven’t spent much time writing in English for a while. I’m looking to change that.)

Today is my last day at JibJab.

I have nothing but absolute love and praise for both the company and all of my coworkers. The brothers Spiridellis (whom we lovingly refer to as ‘grevan’) have been working on JibJab in various forms since the late 90s- an ETERNITY in internet time (think pre-Friendster, when Lycos (!) was still the go-to search engine), and have really put together a company that’s unlike any other on the planet. Their persistence combined with their crazy energy and vision have kept them afloat for well over a decade, and from what I can tell, the company is only really getting started now.

JibJab is the master of producing artistic entertainment on the web, from eCards to political satire to music videos for Weird Al and Star Wars remixes. Plus, while I was there, we branched out into the children’s books market with JibJab Jr. We wrote all of the books ourselves (!) and brought in some of the best animators in the world to help bring them to life (have a look on the JibJab Jr blog or download the app- it’s free!). I am genuinely proud of my helping to bring that game-changing platform to fruition and I’m completely stoked for what they’ve got in store for it in the future. (Hey, I can say ‘stoked’ now. I live in SoCal.)

I’ve done my share of software and web development where the company would have, say, a designer or two. But JibJab’s got a full-on design team AND a fully stocked production team that’s capable of just about anything, from live action shorts to some of the most ridiculous animation you’ve ever seen to seriously beautiful still artwork. I mean it when I say that no company on the planet can do what JibJab does as well as we do it. The depth of talent in both the production / art teams and the programming teams is pretty astounding.

JibJab’s corporate culture (if you even want to call it that) is also unmatched. Not only did I move to L.A. and start working a block away from the beach, but it was at a company with a very well-stocked beer fridge, puppets and Star Wars crap hanging all over the place… and they even do my laundry. Pretty tough to beat that one.

But… if there’s one thing that I love even more than cartoons and technology… it’s music and technology. (See: my master’s degree.) When I was approached by Ethan Kaplan, someone I’ve been a big fan of for some time*, about a ‘startup’ he was building within LiveNation to reinvent the way in which fans connect with the live music experience, I was intrigued. The thought of leaving JibJab, however, hadn’t even crossed my mind in the year and a half since I’d been there**, so I pushed back. It wasn’t until I spoke with Ethan and his new partner in crime, Eric from BigChampagne and got a better idea of what they’ll be building and the big hand I’ll get to have in both building the products and establishing the corporate culture there that I realized I needed to pounce on this opportunity. LiveNation Labs is going to reinvigorate the world of live music or die trying.  If we can build products that are as engaging as JibJab’s and establish a culture that is merely half as awesome as what I saw at JibJab, I’d call that a success.

So… I’ll be in San Francisco on Monday helping represent LiveNation Labs at SF Music Tech, and then I’ll be off an running building some crazy things in Hollywood that I really cannot wait to share with the world.

Thank you, JibJab. And thank you, Venice. It’s been real. See you in Hollywood.

*when I was busy working on my high school ska band’s website, Ethan was working on murmurs.com, which would become REM’s de-facto fan site… and ultimately lead him to become the SVP of technology at WBR and WMG records and a very well-known and respected figure in the music industry.

** it is a wonderful time to be a computer programmer. We get calls from recruiters all the time, and I had blown off each one. This isn’t me tooting my own horn- we need more capable programmers in this world! Thinking of a career change? Check out http://codeyear.com/. You won’t become a programmer overnight, but who knows- perhaps this will set you down a path towards a nerdy and successful future.

I have accepted a job as a rails and iPhone engineer at JibJab, who are located a few blocks from the beach in Venice, CA… and I have a one-way plane ticket from JFK->LAX that departs two weeks from today.

Yes, it’s true… I’m finally going to be working in cartoon technology.

(come have a beer with me before I leave if you haven’t already.)

if you’re a dog owner in NYC, check out Hey, Walkies!

subway recordings  by  bennettk

Well, here’s a nifty idea for those of you who can’t quite make up your mind or want to put the onus of your next (valentine’s day / memorial day / bar mitzvah) gift in fate’s hands: make a scratch-off lottery ticket.

There are a few places online that’ll sell you premade scratch-off stickers that you can simply stick over any portions of your ticket that you want to obscure (easyscratchoffs.com looks good), but I was too late to order them I really wanted to go the extra mile and actually make the scratch-off stickers myself. I found a couple of tutorials (this one is the one I ended up using), all of which said to put clear contact paper over your printed-out card and then to make your scratch-off solution out of a mixture of 2:1 silver acrylic hobbyist paint to dish soap (like joy). I set to designing a christmas-themed lotto ticket in Inkscape— a free, open-source vector art editor a’la Illustrator (but it’s FREE) that i grew to love quickly (did I mention it’s FREE?). Grab some clipart and a few occasion-specific fonts for extra pizazz— I found this handy Christmas font. After a little bit of tinkering, I came up with the following:

Once you’re admiring your handiwork with the same pride as Ralphie admires his ‘What I Want For Christmas’ essay in A Christmas Story, save your document as a PDF and send it to the nearest Fedex / Kinkos or print shop that will print cheap color copies on card stock. While you’re on your extended lunch break to pick up the printouts, stop by your nearest dick blick / pearl paint and grab some silver acrylic paint (this stuff was pretty cheap) and a cheap brush, and then run to K-Mart to pick up some dish soap and clear contact paper. Then simply apply the contact paper to the printout, summon your best inner fourth grader in arts and crafts and cut out the printout. Then prepare your paint mixture- as I mentioned, 2:1 paint:soap. You’ll most likely need to do a few layers so paint one on, eat some pretzels, get some work done, and repeat.

In the end, you’ll probably end up with something like this:

Now, since you don’t actually have anything to show for your sorry-ass self, you’ll want to put extra care into wrapping the card (hey, even throw in a bow) and make sure you hide it and all evidence of any files you used in designing it & your fedex / kinko’s receipts until the cat’s out of the bag. And keep your fingers crossed that she doesn’t scratch off the all-expenses-paid trip to Austin.

You’re welcome for saving your Valentine’s Day.

www.freestyleapplication.com

So as the two readers of my blog probably already know, Jon, the esteemed bassist and co-founder of vice stevens (and not to mention one of my best friends since second grade) has chosen to pack up shop in riverdale and set sail for Austin,TX. I’m billing this show as more of a going away party for jon; plus it is my understanding that this not only is in the middle of nowhere on the Thursday night before labor day but it also may conflict with Barack’s acceptance speech at the DNC. Still, if you want to be at Jon and Vice Stevens’ last waltz (until jon puts together our reunion tour in a couple months), come up to the end of the 1 train and have some tasty pints with us.

And for those of you that asked- no, we haven’t even thought of looking for another bassist. w/o jon, there is no vice stevens. And, yes, I have meditated quite a bit on the subject of being in aspiring bands after being in a few over the past decade or so of my life (más o menos), so I’ll certainly be sharing some of those thoughts on this interwebs site in the future.

And here’s the invite to the event, as conceived by our also irreplacable drummer, bob.