Photos, Depression And Surgery

Here are a few shorter updates for the weekend.

Out of the kindness of my heart, I decided not to charge you for this extremely important information.

Aren't I sweet?

FACEBOOK PHOTOS

If you've added us on facebook then no doubt you've seen some of the new photos I've been uploading for your viewing displeasure.

See the photos

Well, "new" is a bit of a misnomer, as they are all older pictures, some that have been posted before, some that have not.

I will continue to add to the collection over time with more live shots, old press shots, and some just plain stupid ones.

You may have noticed the little slideshow I have going on the right side of the blog. Pretty nifty eh?

THE DEPRESSION PANACEA

For those of you who have suffered with strong bouts of depression, or perhaps for those who are simply interested in a very personal, and honest glimpse into a challenging period of my life, check out my new essay entitled "The Depression Panacea" on my blog the King Of Deprecation.

Since it deals directly with music, art and creativity, and even mentions some specific moments in Envinity's history, I thought some of you may be interested in it.

GOING IN FOR SURGERY

On Monday the 28th, I'll be going in for hernia surgery. If you've read my blog about almost dying in the fall of '08, then you'll know that this is my second one... in a row... in the same spot.

Yes, I'm truly blessed. (Nope).

At least it's getting taken care of.

I'll be out for about a week to recover, so I may not be posting anything during that time, it just depends on how I feel.

Just a heads up.

MORE TO COME

There is a lot of content and information coming up for you.

In addition to some more revealing announcements, I have a whole series of in-depth articles planned for the blog, which I'll get to very soon. Again, it will depend on how quickly I'm feeling well.

All right, I need to go back to working on website crap.

Enjoy your non-surgeries everyone.

NIKO

Face My Book With Your Face!

Part two of our evil scheme is finally ready to go: Facebook!

In order to add some more interactivity to our...... interactions (that was redundant), we are launching the new Envinity Facebook page.

Become a fan of Envinity on Facebook by going here:
Envinity Facebook page

Why Facebook?

Well, most of you have profiles on it anyway, and most of you (me included) like it a hell of a lot better than Myspace.

Also, I realized that you can leave your thoughts on the blog, but you can't make your own posts. Well, that's now solved! Post on our wall and tell us what side our bread is buttered on.

In addition to being an easy place for you to leave hilarious comments, read updates, and leave huge bags of money, the facebook page will automatically update you with any new posts from the Envinity blog (which is our main source of fiber... and information).

How convenient!

So why don't you wander on over in your drunken haze and check it out!

Oh, also, let me know what, if anything, you would like me to add to the Facebook page (sorry, I can't install smells....yet).

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Envinity/129659466529

NIKO

FEEDBACK: Testing Out Disqus Comments

I need your help in testing out the new comment system I've set up.

I've had complaints about Blogger's built in commenting, and so I'm trying to provide this blog with something more robust and featured.

Disqus allows each post to have threaded discussions, and real time updating (meaning no having to hit the 'reload' button).

Another cool thing about it is that you can sync your comments from Disqus with Facebook, Twitter and other sites, as well as reblog comments to sites that support it.

Check out more information about the new system here:

Disqus Profiles
Disqus Comments

So please, test it out below, write some comments, and let me know what you think about it.

NIKO

How We Failed You

It's not easy to say this, and a bit shameful to realize, but we've failed you.

We've dropped the ball and left everyone in the dark, potentially losing the interest of fans along the way. Perhaps even you.

And for that, I'm extremely sorry.

HOW WE FAILED

It may seem obvious, but communication is key to keeping people involved.

... Which is where I failed miserably.

Instead of maintaining our relationship, I disappeared into obscurity (at least where Envinity is concerned).

I closed down our main website, due to my disinterest in updating the page, leaving my only channel of "communication" to our poorly neglected Myspace page.

Myspace is an entirely separate topic, which I will go into detail on in another blog, but for now I'll just say that I hated dealing with that site too, for many reasons.

So where did that leave you?

Closed-off, and shut out with no means of asking questions, sharing your thoughts and feelings, or connecting with us.

WHAT WE'RE DOING TO CHANGE THINGS

With that behind me, I'm making a very strong change in how things will be structured going forward.

This may sound like political rhetoric, but I'm striving for a lot more transparency.

I want you to know what we are doing, and why.

I want to involve you in decisions that will affect you.

I want to hear your points of view.

I want you to feel like you have a real connection with the music.

I want to engage you in worthwhile discussions on music, art and philosophy (assuming you give a shit about those things).

In order to achieve this, I'm in the process of setting up several new places for us both to interact, have discussions, and stay connected on everything we are working on.

The first of these new places is this blog right here. It's much more direct and personal than the other places we've used in the past (I'm looking at you Myspace....).

I'm working like crazy to get everything else up and running, trying to juggle a day job with working on graphics, music, blogs, marketing plans, and more at the same time. More pieces of our new social puzzle will be in place within the next week.

Also, I'm going to be approaching this site from more of a blogger's perspective, which should translate into more frequent posts, and also more interesting content beyond the typical "hey, come to our show," or "buy our new album dudes!" that most bands give you. The details of this new content will be revealed later.

So, again, to those of you who have had no reason to stick with us, yet have anyway, a big 'thank you' goes your way (anything else I'd be arrested for). And my apologies for my several-year apathy.

We're back. Hopefully you are too.

NIKO

Welcome To The Envinity Blog!

Welcome!

Al right guys and girls, here we go.

As we are getting impatiently close to the release of our five-years-in-the-making third album, it's time to begin putting the pieces in place for it's arrival.

So, what is this blog?

This is the new Envinity blog, the first of several new additions and changes we have prepared. We're going to roll them out one at a time, as we begin the home stretch to the fast approaching release date.

This blog will be the main point of communication for us, from here on out, and overall it should translate into a much better experience for you as well.

Why this blog?

Well, since Myspace is cluttered with spam and advertising, and it has become harder and harder to keep up with those of you who we'd love to talk with. So we needed a much better, more direct and simpler solution to communicate with our fans and friends.

What's better about it?

Using this blog as our main source of information will streamline many things for you.

For one, you can subscribe to our RSS news feed in your favorite feed reader, and all of our updates will magically appear for you, just moments after they are published!

Or, if you prefer, simply put in your email address on the right, and every update, piece of news, and bonus content will come directly to your inbox.

You can also subscribe to the comments and stay on top of what people are saying on this blog. (Assuming anyone says anything)

Nice eh?

(Confused about RSS? Read my informative, yet sarcastic blog post about it)

Are you actually going to be communicating this time?

Sorry, you're right. We've done a piss-poor job of keeping in contact with you in the past.

We've been dicks, and we apologize.

But yes, we will be much more active this time. We already have a bunch of interesting content we are working on for this blog in the coming weeks. With luck it should be entertaining and mind-blowingly insightful. Stay tuned (or sub'ed).

What about the Envinity website?

Yes, that has been sitting dormant for quite some time hasn't it?

A brand new redesign has been in the works for a while now, and will be launched when the album is ready to go. The new design is pretty damn cool, if I'm allowed to comment on my own things (which I apparently just did).

Subscribe via email or RSS to find out when it's ready.

Where's the album?

It's almost ready. Want to know when you'll be able to experience it? Subscribe to the blog and be the first to know.

What's it called?

Wouldn't you like to know! I'll tell you, later. ;)

What does it sound like?

You'll find out...


Please subscribe to this blog, as we'll be back very soon (promise) with some more updates and some interesting insight into the journey that we've traveled to reach Envinity III.

Talk to you soon,

NIKO

ENVINITY BLOG FAQ

WHAT IS THIS?

It's the blog for all the news, updates, and philosophy of Envinity.

WHAT IS ENVINITY?

Envinity is a progressive musical art project.

WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN?

How about this instead: Envinity is a band. Better?

DO YOU HAVE A MAILING LIST?

Mailing lists are so 2002.

Simply click 'subscribe' at the top right to access our RSS feed for both posts and comments and receive near-instant updates without having to visit this site over and over to see if there is anything new. You can also add your email to the box on the right, and have all of our updates magically come right to your inbox.

HOW DO I USE RSS?

For a humorous explanation of RSS, check out this blog from my King Of Deprecation blog called "How To Make The Internet Come to You, Sexually."

HOW DO I CONTACT YOU?

Once we get some new things in place, we'll be able to tell you. For now, we read all the comments on this blog.

More FAQ later...