It might be time to start working on a new digital album. Will stop uploading material for a little while whilst improving old RSN files to try and get everything at tip-top quality. All RSN files should eventually be made available for download if anyone is interested in learning how to use Propellerhead's Reason. I've been making my RSN files available lately and the goal is to get more young people composing in a DAW that I love. Everyone cracks FL and I won't advocate anything illegal on my blog but I'm sure there are similar work arounds for Reason. I may have started composing on a cracked version of Reason 4 in college 15 years ago, who knows! In anycase, you can download a trial version of Reason and open my RSN files to start learning. From there, the journey is in your hands. Welcome to Narnia.

RSN files: Sounds Nothing Alike, I Only Shine When Standing In Your Reflection, Punch Drunk

Worth mentioning, I'm dropping out of the Newgrounds Audio Deathmatch. This decision has a lot to do with how embarrassed I felt when they released brackets of round 2 then changed them a week later in regards to an error in their scoring. Furthering my resolve is a debate revolving around a bad rule that the tournament organizers have doubled down on. It sounds like in previous years, a contest entrant under the age of 18 could not receive prizes because of an abusive situation at home. As a result, the NGADM organizers did not allow anyone under the age of 18 to compete this year. I know they make subtle changes to the rules from year to year to try and make the tournament more inclusive, but it seems incredibly counter intuitive to ban eligible teens on the premise that some kids have an abusive situation at home. It also fucked with the brackets when they silently removed all teenagers AFTER the brackets had been made. They then replaced all those former contestants with people from a "back up pool" making a lot of users hella confused.

They defend the "no kids allowed" rule by saying "ya'll should have complained months ago, we released the rules 6 months ago, get fucked." IMO, I don't care how long it takes a community to read a set of rules. We have the right to point out how fucked a specific rule is whenever we want and they can decide whether it gets fixed in subsequent years. A bad rule is a bad rule. Address it reasonably instead of lashing out at community members and making the rest of us feel alienated, embarrassed, and confused.

"Everything by Everyone," or the problems of the future today. I'm 32 now but I know what it's like being a kid here. The older regulars now were once young people too. I remember what Newgrounds felt like in the era after the Columbine school shooting. I remember that 90's energy and the silly dial up noises the modem would make connecting to the internet. I remember making flash cartoons in highschool, 2003-2007. There was so much creative energy, and among that sprawl of young people were a handful of older users and staff. I think it's fair to say that I'm one of those old peeps now.

At a certain point in my life I stopped pursing a career in education. The education minor on my BFA would have cost another year or two in an expensive University. In that small span of time, I learned how much I love teaching young people. If anyone has questions about Reason or if you want a specific song RSN file from me, I will make the time necessary to communicate with you. Newgrounds is first and foremost, for young enthusiasts that otherwise might not have a creative outlet elsewhere. Things have never been perfect here. I've heard some of the older users utter disillusioned statements like "Newgrounds isn't the same" or "Newgrounds has gone downhill" or "Newgrounds is shit now." The truth is, Newgrounds is very much the same as it always has been. It's still a great resource for young people. It isn't really that Newgrounds has changed for the worst. Rather, we kids have grown and we have changed. Newgrounds is still awesome.

Everything by Everyone. It's more than a catchphrase.