Friday, April 28, 2006

More news from the Frontalot camp

I know all you good boys and girls have already signed up for Frontalot's mailing list, but what about the bad boys and girls? I say repent and sign the fuck up. In the meantime, here’s a modest proposal for fans in the NYC area (that doesn’t involve eating Irish babies).

Front writes:

I'm doing a fan meet & greet at Forbidden Planet comics in NYC (Broadway &13th). Everyone who shows up can put one word on a list and then on the busride home I will write a rap that has all the words in it. Then I will makea recording of it. So if someone has always wanted to have his or herfavorite word in a MC Frontalot song, he or she should come to the comicstore at the appointed time.

Also, the person who puts in the best word (judge of best word: me) gets asigned Penny Arcade Expo 2005 DVD. I'll have shirts and CDs too.

Monday, May 1st
8-9PM
MC Frontalot chats you up and signs things
Forbidden Planet
840 Broadway (at 13th)
New York, NY
(FREE of course)

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Taking the Wii (another non-music related venture)

Okay, anyone who read this blog before the changeover knows that I am a die-hard Nintendo fanboy. That being said, the news (straight from the horse's mouth) that the forthcoming Nintendo Revolution console is to be released under the name Nintendo Wii strikes me as interminably odd. I understand the reasoning, at least from the PR slant, but you gotta admit: having a console that’s name sounds like a euphemism for taking a piss is a weird step.

Of course, this isn’t the first time Nintendo has thrown us a curve. The DS, when initially offered up, seemed like a ridiculous idea, but damned if they haven’t turned that two-screened monster into a gaming juggernaut. Even the Revolution… er, Wii controller(which looks like a television remote control, in case you’ve been living under a rock since before E3 05) seemed outlandish to many until developers began to praise the innovation inherent in it’s simple yet groundbreaking design.

The bottom line, for me at least, is that the name sounds silly, the controller looks bizarre, and the machine admittedly lacks the horsepower of the competition’s next-gen offerings, but I still see myself picking one up. Games make a system and Nintendo continually puts out the kinds of games I yearn to play. I’m excited about the prospect of the kind of motion sensitive interface that this new system sports and can’t wait to see what in-house and 3rd party offerings emerge.

If it comes down to it, I’ll take a Wii.

You heard me.

A noble diversion

Shit, two days of relevant posts have me itching for distraction. How 8-bit are you?
I am 8-bit.
I got 16/16 on the 8-Bit Gamer test.
Take the test!

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Coming to your cit-tay

The weather’s warming up, the pollen count is through the roof, and the ladies are breaking out their fair-weather skivvies. That can only mean one thing: The summer concert season can’t be far behind. Some artists have elected to get their tour on a little early this year. Never content to rest on their laurels, both MC Frontalot and mc chris may be coming to a city near you! Ain’t that some shit?

MC FRONTALOT ~ The Nerdcore Rising Tour 2006

May 12th Spartanburg, SC Ground Zero ~ map with Emotron
May 13th Mt. Pleasant, SC The Village Tavern ~ map tickets online
May 14th Chapel Hill, NC Local 506 ~ map tickets online
May 16th Johnson City, TN The Hideaway ~ map
May 18th West Columbia, SC The New Brookland Tavern ~ map
May 19th Atlanta, GA the Drunken Unicorn ~ map tickets online
May 20th Tallahasee, FL The Beta Bar ~ map
May 22nd Baton Rouge, LA The Spanish Moon ~ map tickets online
May 23rd New Orleans, LA Republic ~ maptickets online
May 24th Houston, TX The Proletariat Club ~ map
May 25th Ft. Worth, TX The Aardvark ~ map
May 26th St. Louis, MO Creepy Crawl ~ map (advance sales via paypal on club's page, under "upcoming")
May 27th Lawrence, KS The Jackpot Saloon ~ map
May 28th Minneapolis, MN The Triple Rock Social Club ~ map
May 31st Kalamazoo, MI The Club Soda ~ map

mc chris ~ Revenge of the Nerd Tour 2006

Friday, May 12 Avalon (aka Limelight) NYC With MSI more info
Friday, May 19 The Underground Hartford, CT all ages more info
Thursday, May 25 The Temple Club Lansing, MI more info
Friday, May 26 Vamps Toledo, OH
Saturday, May 27 The House Cafe Dekalb, IL all ages more info
Monday, May 29 Hifi Cleveland, OH
Friday, June 02 The Nanci Ray Gun Richmond, VA 18+ more info
Saturday, June 10 Harpers Ferry Boston, MA 18+ more info
Sunday, June 18 Mr. Smalls Pittsburg, PA 18+ more info

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

A geek manifesto

I have spent a staggering chunk of my life composing via the tried and true 5-paragraph essay style. As such, I generally apply this same rubric to other areas of my life. Does my argument hold water? Are my ideas clear and concise? Is my thesis, the crux of my project, narrow enough to focus only on what’s important?

It’s that last question that gets me.

When I first started Hipster, please! my mission was broad: It was “one man’s view of fashion, tech, music, and all things geek chic.” In that lay the problem. I had spread myself too thin. Sure the focus was on music I found interesting, the items I was spending my free time and disposable income on, the tech news that caught my eye, but what did that amount to?

Thesis too nebulous – consider revision.

At the same time I was coming to grips with the ineffectiveness of my blog, I was also becoming aware of a disturbing trend. It wasn’t that the kind of music that spoke to me, that spoke for me, wasn’t getting the kind of respect it deserved. It was, in fact growing in popularity through the kinds of grassroots means that legitimize independent music. The problem was that fans of The Minibosses were unaware of MC Lars. Fans of mc chris had never heard of virt. 8-bit aficionados were unaware of NESkimos. It wasn’t that music for nerds by nerds wasn’t catching on, but that there was a rift between the sub-genres… or would that be sub-sub-genres?

Sure, there are folks who still think hip hop is all about guns and hos who have never heard nerdcore, and this site’s for them too. But mostly this site is for people who enjoy the nerdcore (or 8-bit or geek rock or game music) scene, but don’t quite know where to go from there. The truth is there is a wealth of talented, motivated artists out there making music about the kind of shit that got you beat up in high school, and doing it well. Whether you’re a gamer, a lit nerd, a comic book guy, an old school table-top RPGer, a computer science major, or a sci-fi/fantasy/horror buff, there are some great tunes out there that should be nestled snuggly in your iPod.

So, in one regard this site is about keeping those fanboy dreams alive, about celebrating your inner poindexter. Yet on the other hand, it’s also about smashing those same stereotypes. For every acne-faced cellar dweller yelling at his mom to make him a pb&j while he and the guys play through another death match, there is a well-adjusted, well kempt, happily married, and broadly attractive nerd boy (or nerd girl) living a very un-dorky life.

In my opinion, the nerd lifestyle revels in a powerful self-awareness. The very core of nerd-dom (or, geekery, if you will) is not dependant upon IQ, hobby, or hygiene, but an unyielding sense of self. It is that self that leads me to celebrate my geek brethren. That, in a nutshell, explains this blog’s new focus.

Hipster, please! is a specialty entertainment blog dedicated to nerd music and culture.

Notice I said nerd music and culture. The order of those words is of particular importance. The focus, at least on paper, will be on the music. As such, I’m currently pursuing several avenues for potential interviews and features with artists that sport a uniquely nerd-centric slant. But don’t forget about the culture. This leaves me enough wiggle room to drop in a little bit of tech news, game related info, comic trivia, or other such distraction when the music well runs a bit dry o when I really want to get some shit off my chest. I’ll make a valiant effort to keep the focus on music, and to clearly label all unrelated entries, but I make no promises. I am but a mortal man, chock full of foibles and eccentricities that may render me unable to distinguish between what is relevant to the reading public and what’s just cool to me.

And with that begins this new journey. If you were a regular reader of the old blog, I hope you hang around. If you’re a n00b, I hope you found what you were looking for. And if you found your way here because I used the word “shellfish” in my keyword meta-tag, I’d just like to say that I thoroughly enjoy clams, crab, and lobster.

Now, ready? Get set. Get your geek on!