Friday, January 25, 2008

More Nerd News in Brief

In all my preparation for the new kid, it’s important that I not forget the kid I already have. I mean, shit, he’s practically still brand new himself; though not as new as he used to be. Why, in scant days he will be celebrating his 3rd birthday. That’s a pretty big one for a kid, as it marks a glorious time when he realizes that he’s getting older but he hasn’t yet developed the faculties to realize that one day he’ll get old. Like dad.

Hell, Li’l X. has already received his first birthday gift. Yesterday I checked the mail to find an unexpected parcel that, it turned out, contained a little something from Matt, Church, and the GF. It was this delightful “That’s How I Roll” D20 t-shirt.

Thus far, it’s been a big hit with the entire family!

As X. currently has no concept of table-top gaming, though, I’m afraid he simply equates the iconic twenty-sider with my tattoo. So he refers to the shirt – exclusively, mind you – as his tattoo.

I’m sure that’s gonna spark an interesting conversation between me and the ladies at day care.

  • Knocked up nerds: In a related story, check out Geek Parenting’s Baby Shower Gifts for Pregnant Nerds. Though I, myself, am not pregnant, it is of note that after receiving the aforementioned t-shirt I now have 3 of those 5 items on-hand. Hmmmm. Perhaps I’ll have to put together my own list of geek baby shower ideas next week.
  • Capthcha and release: Antisocial is getting his moment in the spotlight over at Reddit. My Texan brother is currently number 6 on the front page with the headline “Clicking this link loads 120,000 copies of the RIAA's captcha. Clicking would be wrong, don't do it.” Will you click it? I dare not say.
  • Heavy Eyes: Soc also pointed out to me that, while I bumped them on my year-end podcast, I never made a formal announcement concerning the new album from The Deprecation Guild. In Her Gentle Jaws is an amazing blend of dance rock, indie pop, and chiptunes. It’s also free. Download it now.
  • I must be getting senile: Last month Don Vito hit me up with a sweet preview of a new track from his forthcoming album Geek Funk Vol 2... True Tales of an Online Gangsta, and I completely neglected to mention it! (My apologies, DV.) A concept album of sorts, Geek Funk Vol. 2 “revolves around the concept of taking net life and applying [it] over 90's style westcoast G-Funk beats.” Vito is handling all of the production, and you can get a little taste at his Social Case.
  • Support your local Grammar Club: If you haven’t already, you might want to consider joining the forums over at The Grammar Club Web site. It’s a good way to stay in the loop concerning band news, info on their hot new remix kits, and other interesting developments.
  • Crapbots vs. Bad Robots: The only thing stranger than real commercials is fake commercials. And the only thing weirder than Dan Lamoureux making a documentary about nerdcore is Dan Lamoureux also winning a Cloverfield tie-in make-your-won-Slusho-spot contest. No foolin’. Dan says, “The 5 best commercials get a super fancy $3000 "Slusho" Alienware laptop. Since that's more than my car is worth my laptop will be on ebay minutes after I get my hands on it. I had to assign my copywrite to Slusho (AKA: Bad Robot Productions) which now that I think about it as actually a pretty good prize in and of itself because now I can say that JJ Abrams owns the rights to some of my material.” So if you’re looking for an ultra-limited edition laptop, you might want to keep an eye on this. And you'll definitely want to peep his video.
  • Far from news: This is pretty much the equivalent of me remarking that the world is, in fact, round, but I am totally hooked on thesixtyone. Glenn warned me that the site was “like CRACK to people like us,” and he was right. I’m gonna suggest that you join up and start checking out all the cool shit there too, both because it’s an amazing way to support your favorite musicians (and find news ones) and because zombies must propagate.
  • I paid the full price: To wrap up today’s NNIB, let me share with you a vid that a number of people (from Matt to Brux to everyone in between) have sent to me this week. It’s Pete Miser’s musing on the joy of iPhone ownership. I’m sure Church, Doc Pop, and the rest of you iPhone owners agree.


8 comments:

Church said...

Looks like Soc had second thoughts about messing with the MAFIAA.

Matt said...

Glad to hear that the shirt arrived. It just seemed like a no brainier.

Anthony said...

Don't feel bad about not mentioning the Depreciation Guild release, you are only nearly two months later than our site in announcing it =D

...although I have been later on some releases.

Z. said...

Yeah, Church, but it's a helluva way to get folks to listen to his tracks. :)

Maybe so, Matt, but we all appreciate it!

Hey, Ant, I reckon it's a better-late-than-never kinda deal. ;)

Anthony said...

haha, yeah, better late than never for sure. it's not like the albums are getting less free so no worries =]
Also, I recently added a new album releases link on my page. to simplify the process of finding new music =D I hope people enjoy that little feature.

Anonymous said...

church: well, I expected 2 things. 1) that it would not achieve such high ranks, and 2) more people would jump on the bandwagon with mirrors to the html. So it caught me off guard.

Church said...

Soc, that was the prudent move. I'm only sorry I recced you up before clicking through. (I first caught it on reddit.)

Anthony, well done. Make it easy for the end user. It should be blindingly obvious, but it's always a stumbling point.

Z, it's funny. The geek dad write-up said something like "It's good to know that kids today still know what a d20 is." and I was thinking, "Yeah, it's that thing on Dad's arm." Then Matt found that item, and it all just clicked. X's reaction was perfect. Very cool that it all played out the way it was in my head. Pity that doesn't happen more often...

Z. said...

Nice one, Anthony. I'm sure I'll get a lot of use out of that!

And, Church, as soon as X. gets over this virus I'll be sure to post some pics of him in his new get-up.