Dave Mattingly 4:24 pm on December 21, 2015

Post Mortem

Sometimes called a retrospective or autopsy, a post mortem is a means of looking back at an event or period of time, to determine what can be learned from it with an eye towards improving what doesn’t work, and keeping what does.

So, here’s how 2015 looked for me and my family — body, heart, mind, and soul.

Body / Personal / Family

There was a lot of loss this year. I lost my job, our home was robbed (twice!), we lost five(!) cars. Thanks to the robberies, our home insurance company ended their coverage, even though they didn’t pay us anything for either robbery, and we bought and installed a hidden camera motion-detecting system after the second robbery (which was a week after the first). We ended up finding insurance through Liberty Mutual at an even better rate than we were getting.

To make the thefts even more annoying, they took nearly all of our medications, which we had just refilled three-month supplies of. And since my health care coverage had just ended (thanks to losing my job), the day that we lost all those medicines, we had to pay for a month of COBRA just to be able to get those medicines refilled.

Linda nearly died in an emergency room visit when they injected her with a substance that she was allergic to. So instead of a five-hour visit, it turned into a five-day stay in ICU and recovery. We checked with an attorney who said we didn’t have enough proof of wrongdoing/incompetence to do anything.

I had a “UEO”, an unidentified encephalic occurrence. Basically, a stroke that wasn’t a stroke. My brain got all weird and slow, my limbs went numb and tingly, and my speech became less intelligible. The U part of UEO means that the neurologist couldn’t find the cause, and by the time (seven weeks later) that I saw him, the symptoms were all gone.

Heart / Emotional / Arts

Boy, there were plenty of funerals this year. My aunt Dale passed away, and we helped her family with the estate. My friends Steve Goldberg, Ryan Kemp, Elizabeth Burnley, Debi Magnes, and Darren Routt passed away. Plus a few celebrities I looked up to, like Roddy Piper and Mick Lynch.

I attended the Sing-Off at the Louisville Palace, the Nutcracker Suite at KY Center for the Arts (with my niece dancing on stage!), the Real Inspector Hound (a play-within-a-play), Superman: the Musical, the Connect|Disconnect art exhibit, Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, The Tick!, Project KempProv, the Theater Alliance of Louisville meeting, Market of Mischief with Louis-Villainz.

I cut back on the sci-fi / comic / literary shows that I attend, but this year I still went to ConGlomeration, Mo*Con, WonderFest, Origins Game Fair, GenCon, Imaginarium, and the Louisville Comic Con.

Mind / Technical / Career

I started a new job at Baptist Health. There were several irons in the fire, and it was wonderful to be able to choose among some good offers (tech exec at a startup, budding data scientist at a large insurance company, or data master at a chain of hospitals). Baptist is a great company to work for. I get to do cool stuff with great people, and learn a lot as I go.

I launched TechFest Louisville! That’s a post for another time.

I spoke at a lot of conferences. I spoke at CodepaLOUsa, the Louisville Agile Forum, SQL Saturdays in Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Columbus, Indianapolis, and Louisville, and Dress for Success.

I was there for many other big events, like VEX Worlds (the worldwide championship of robotic competitions) and the opening of Chattanooga’s TechTown (an amazing makerspace/creative studio for kids).

I attended gobs of other events, like half a dozen Open Coffees, two Startup Weekends, Gear-Up, S#*! I Wish I Knew, the Tech Security Conference, two Non-Profit Toolbox conferences, the SBIR/STTR Road Show, the IoT Developer’s Workshop, the How-To Festival, MapTime, the CIO Symposium, the JDRF Diabetes Summit, GeoEd 15, XlerateHealth Demo Day, Mini-Maker Faire, DerbyCon, World Trade Day, TALK‘s tour of the BioAssemblyBot, the Vogt Awards, the Civic Data Alliance party, the Louisville Digital Association party, and TALK’s panel on EMV and retail tech.

Soul / Spiritual

I taught several classes at Southeast Christian, I preached at Bible Abridged: the Complete Word of God in 90 Minutes, ConGlomeration, Imaginarium, and the Louisville Comic Con. I helped the Grave Robbers ministry (an outreach to goths and punks) at Ichthus Festival, and met a variety of ministries at the Global Missions Health Conference.

The Year in Photos

Dave Mattingly 3:51 pm on December 16, 2015

Louisville Music

I used to be a radio DJ back in the ’80s and ’90s, focusing mostly on punk and comedy. In a way, I guess my whole life continues to focus on punk and comedy…

One of my favorite Louisville singers, Joan Shelley, just made the LA Times’ Best Albums of 2015 list.

And Houndmouth just made David “World Cafe” Dye’s Top Ten Albums of 2015.

Here are some local bands that I like, organized vaguely by genre:

PUNK
- Debauchees, girl punk band with a nerdy bent
- Adventure, punk-pop with a twist of wry
- Julie of the Wolves, hard energetic girl punk
- Ritchie White Orchestra, serious rockers telling stories
- Revenge of Ricky Williams, fast and fun, featuring Punk Rock Pam
- The Workers, angry for a cause
- Sonic Epitaph, goth-punk instrumental
FOLK
- Joan Shelley, as mentioned in the LA Times
- Maiden Radio, a trio of lovely voices
- Bonnie Prince Billy, lilting folk-punk
- Kri & Hettie, fun and inspirational
- Freakwater, harmonic edgy alt-country
- Brigid Kaelin, upbeat accordion-playing Scot
- Nick Peay, narrative lyrical crusader
ODD
- Howell Dawdy, fearless wit and avant garde
- Leopard Percussionists, rocking the elementral schools with xylophones and drums
SOUL
- Teneia Sanders, heartache that make you smile
- Cheyenne Marie Mize, hip-hop folky funk
- Joan Osborne, multi-talented experimental woman
ALT POP
- Jim James, best known for fronting My Morning Jacket, but I prefer his solo stuff
- You’re My Density, indie garage band funk
- Houndmouth, light-pop rising star
- Wax Fang, effervescent prog rock
- Stonewheel, acoustic pop reminiscent of R.E.M.
- Dave Moisan, community-minded and energetic
- Quiet Hollers, post-hardcore garage band
- Matt Duncan, disco throwback
- King Kong, conceptual humorous rock
JAZZ
- Small Time Napoleon, evolving blend of jazz and folk
- Lucky Pineapple, eclectic mix ranging from jazz to punk
ROCK
- Broken Spurs, country rock party sound
- Villebillies, infectious hip-hop rock
- Deloreans, once described by my friend as a cross between Bowie and Iggy

Here are some likely radio stations where you might hear some of these groups:

WFPK, the NPR king of indie radio
WNAS, broadcast from a high school for 75 years
ARTxFM, online station with a radio frequency forthcoming
Crescent Hill Radio, all local all the time
Ville TV, online TV that also covers the local music scene

The blog Backseat Sandbar keeps an extensive list of local talent, venues, shops, etc.

Read the blog series Dave Mattingly: The Musical

Dave Mattingly 12:31 pm on November 27, 2015

Events and Comradery

Many organizations have get-togethers in December. It’s a good chance to catch up with friends and colleagues, and find new connections.

If you’re in the Louisville area, here are some of the social gatherings that I’m quite likely to attend.

11/29 – Theater Alliance of Louisville
12/01 – Wake Up/Wind Down
12/03 – El Toro Party
12/03 – Health Enterprises Network Party
12/06 – Kentuckiana Authors Party
12/07 – Artworking
12/08 – Civic Data Alliance Party
12/10 – Louisville Geek Dinner
12/10 – Louisville SQL Party
12/16 – Louisville Digital Association Party

And here are some more focused events.

11/30 – Stem Cell panel discussion
12/01 – Healthcare Quality
12/02 – Software Engineering Code that Communicates
12/03 – Angel Investors Pitch Contest
12/03 – AIGA “The Show”
12/04 – Grow Your Nonprofit Board
12/10 – Retail Tech and Security
12/11 – International Christian Youth Night
12/15 – Shelby Campus Open House

And shopping/entertainment opportunities.

12/04 – Market of Mischief with Louis-Villainz
12/04 – Roast of Darth Vader
12/05 – Flea Off Market
12/12 – Nerdy Planet’s Book Fair
12/12 – Umpteenth Annual $20 Art Sale
12/20 – All-Day Board Game Meetup

You can keep up with all the events I’m part of or interested in on my calendar.

Dave Mattingly 6:33 pm on November 11, 2015

Louisville Comic Con

This past weekend, I attended the Wizard World Louisville Comic Con. Wizard World is a national organization that hosts comic book conventions in various cities around the country.

I like going to these, to meet the authors and artists, to shop at the various vendors who carry all sorts of memorabilia and oddities. There were toys, sculptures, knick knacks, gadgets, games, and more — over a hundred vendors.

But one of the biggest attractions for me is the costumes. I saw Mr. Freeze and Scarecrow, Batman and Catwoman, the Joker and Harley Quinn, Static Shock, Red X, Batman Beyond, Beast Boy, Deathstroke, Supergirl, Thor, Kingpin, Dr. Octopus, the Mad Hatter, Beetlejuice, a Discworld wizard, Vashta Nerada, Medusa and Jeepers Creepers, a Guy Fawkes Teletubby (that I can’t unsee), and many more.

I wore two of my own costumes there — Mini-Me, and Cyborg Pirate Ninja Jesus.

Here’s some coverage from a local TV station and newspaper.

There are similar conventions in Louisville, each with a different focus and run by a different group:

ConGlomeration is a nonprofit fan-run science fiction convention, and my personal favorite; crowds are small and friendly
Derby City Comic Con is fairly new and rapidly growing, with plenty of local creators
WonderFest is a special effects and model-building convention, and attracts a lot of Hollywood pros
FandomFest has grown rapidly into a 30,000-ish fan convention, with a focus on celebrities
Louisville Anime Weekend collects cartoon creators and fans
Imaginarium is a creative writing convention with top-notch programming
Fright Night is focused on horror films

Besides enjoying the usual festivities of being among my own kind, I also held the church service on Sunday morning.

My sermon this time was based on Ghostbusters, in honor of my friend Ryan Kemp who passed away recently. The scripture I used was Luke 16:19-31, with references to Psalms 146:4, Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, Isaiah 8:19, Leviticus 19:31, Revelation 12:9, James 4:7, 1 John 4:1, Romans 8:38, Matthew 27:52, 1 Thessalonians 4:16, and Acts 24:15. The gist was that we don’t need to be afraid of no ghosts, because greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.

As usual, I game a shout-out to various geeky ministries.

Dave Mattingly 1:21 pm on October 28, 2015

Odd Ministries

Halloween is this weekend! My favorite holiday. I love the creativity and artistry that goes into costume design. I find that the costume-wearing community (often known as cosplayers, for costume play) are a friendly and enthusiastic bunch.

In the past, I’ve made a variety of my own costumes — Cap’n Crunch, Cyborg Pirate Ninja Jesus, Mini-Me, and others.

Some people consider it odd that as born-again Christian like me is into Halloween and similar events. But I don’t see it as a problem at all — costumes are sometimes a part of my ministry. Science ficiton, games, costumes, technology, cartoons, and other “geeky” activities are celebrated by thousands of enthusiasts in cities all over the world. Wearing a costume sometimes opens metaphorical doors for me that would sometimes be hard to get into. It allows me to have conversations that may be hard to arrange otherwise.

Here are some of the Christian geeky groups that I’m involved in:

Christian Gamers Guild, focused on tabletop games such as board games, card games, and roleplaying games
Game Church, focused on electronic games
Fans for Christ, encompassing all of fandom, from costumes to comics to games to anime (now defunct)
Grave Robbers, focusing on Christian goths and punks
CrossCon, focusing on information security professionals, aka “hackers”
Costumers for Christ, because dressing up is fun

And some great people / groups / media that I keep up with:

Geek Preacher, a Methodist Minister from Tennessee, and all-around nerd
MJ Young, gamer, author, and chaplain
Steve Racer, actor, author, and cosplayer
Hackers for Charity, security experts who support and train Uganda street kids
Geekdom House, Kyle Rudge’s outreach from his church to the geeks
The Dice Steeple podcast about board games and card games
Saving the Game, a podcast about roleplaying
Game Store Prophets and InnRoads Ministries, a podcast about Jesus and gaming
Christ and Pop Culture, examining overlaps and conflicts
Strangers and Aliens, a podcast reminding us of our true home
Geek Orthodox podcast
Hacking Christianity, extracting truth nuggets from the Word
Geeks Under Grace, uniting in differences

In a week, I’ll be preaching at Wizard World’s Louisville Comic Con. This is my first time preaching at this particular event (only in its second year here, although Wizard World has been running events in other cities for a long time).

This sermon will be Ghostbusters-themed, as a tribute to my friend Ryan Kemp.

Here are some fun costumes I’ve come across over the years:

Dave Mattingly 10:19 am on October 23, 2015

KempProv

My friend Marshall Ryan Kemp (usually known simply as “Kemp”) died last week.

He was hit by a pickup truck while he was driving to the children’s hospital to entertain the kids by dressing up in his Ghostbusters costume.

Volunteering his time to cheer up sick children was not at all uncommon for Kemp. He certainly devoted more time to cheering up sick children than I did. He died doing what he loved — bring smiles to others. (Actually, it was while he was driving to the hospital to do so, but you know what I’m saying.)

It made me wonder — any of us could go at any time, but what will what I’m doing at the time say about who I am? Like most people, the biggest chunk of my time is spent working or sleeping, or eating or doing chores and such, but when I’m not doing those, where does my time go? If someone were to spin a giant wheel-of-fortune to pick an activity during that time, would it land on something that I’d want to be known for?

Kemp’s time went into what he loved and what he believed in. Can I say the same? Or has my life become too routine?

If you knew Kemp, share your memories on the Remembering Kemp facebook group, or by using the #ForKemp hashtag on Twitter.

At the funeral, his Ghostbusters friends all came. They drove the Ecto-Mobile, and I took this picture that turned out to be unintentionally awesome. The sunlight gave the Ecto-Mobile a “spirit aura” and a sunbeam reflecting from the siren projected a “sunshine smile” on the ground. I think that Kemp would have approved.

Two of the improv comedy troupes that Kemp was involved in are performing some KempProv tributes this Saturday at The Bard’s Town.

Here’s a song parody that I wrote in Kemp’s honor:

If there’s someone sad / In your neighborhood / Who you gonna call / KempProvster!
If you’re feeling bad / And you need some good / Who you gonna call / KempProvster!
If gloomy thoughts / Run around your head / Who can you call / KempProvster!
If your heart’s in knots / When you go to bed / Who you gonna call / KempProvster!
If you’re all alone / Pick up the phone / And call / KempProvster!
If your funny bone / Hasn’t fully grown / You better call / KempProvster!