Nerd News in Brief

The public – and by “the public” I mean, like, half a dozen people – has spoken; apparently some of you do want these stickers.

So here’s the deal: if you’ve got a little scratch to kick in to help with the printing and shipping costs, that’s super cool. You can use the Paypal link in the sidebar to make a donation to the cause in whatever denomination you see fit. There should be a notes field in the Paypal interface where you can input your address, but if there’s not just email me your shipping addy and we’ll be straight. The stickers cost me about 35 cents apiece to print and a stamp’s, like, what? 39 cents. But let your conscience be your guide as to how much (if any) you want to part with for these cheesy decorations; I’m not looking to finance a bicycling trip through central Europe with them or nothin’, and anything I make will just go into printing more rudimentary “merch,” picking up new music for the ‘cast, or, failing that, buying amusing t-shirts.

If you find yourself financially destitute - which I know is far easier these days than one would think - and still want a sticker or two, just hit me up via email and I’ll see what I can do. You’re kind of doing me a solid by taking these things off my hands, and I don’t wanna nickel and dime y’all any more than I have to.

Yuck! That seemed an awful lot like business.

Now, on to the news.

• What do you call a baby Wombat?: Heartfelt congratulations go out to Wombat (of CAGcast fame) on the new addition. Yesterday at 1:00 PM, he and Mrs. Wombat welcomed Sabrina Eden to the world. Welcome, my friend, to the long, hard road of fatherhood.
• You can call him Beef: Beefy specifically asked me to pass on this nugget to all the producers in the audience; for his next album, he’ll be accepting sample-free beats from “anyone interested.” Are you anyone? Are you interested? Then holler at Beef Thompson.
• The Dork Knight: Church has found some more nerd ink. It’s ties in well with the release of The Dark Knight, so it seemed a shame not to call your attention to it. Wait, did the last Indiana Jones movie get any nerdy tattoo love?
• A change of plans: Earlier this week mc chris announced that he would not be able to make his promised return trip to the PAX stage this year. mc apologized, but didn’t exactly state why he would be unable to appear. But now the reason for his withdrawal seems to be that he’s going to be touring with Reggie and The Full Effect at the time. Good news for mc, bad news for fans who wanted to catch him on the Penny Arcade Expo stage.
• A secret that everyone knows: On to something that’s sure to please fans, geek rockers The Four Eyes have released their two disk Secret Center Sessions Volume 3 as a free download from their official site. It includes nerded up cover versions of everything from “Hey Ya” to “Everybody Hurts,” and is not to be missed. If you’re quick enough, you can also catch Secret Center Sessions Volume 2 featuring “The Joker” and the theme from Knight Rider. Is it any wonder I love these guys?
• Funny guys doing good work: While I'm probably as guilty as anyone when it comes to adding arbitrary distinctions within the larger scale of geeky music, I’m also the first to admit that comedy music artists are a huge part of our culture. With that in mind, please take a moment to check out the recent FuMP charity comp. It benefits filker Tom Smith, who’s facing a shit-ton of medical bills following an accident earlier this year. The project features covers of Tom’s work by Sudden Death, Possible Oscar, The Great Luke Ski, and more, and all you have to do is make a donation to check it out.
• Corny, but in a good way: Con on the Cob, Akron’s foremost geek culture festival, will be featuring a number of these same comedy artists, as well as nerdcore hip-hoppers Dual Core. What’s more, the musical portion of the show is being brought to you by our friends at The Awful Show. Should you be in the area between October 2nd and 5th and have the urge to try and weasel your way onto what’s sure to be an amazing bill, holler at Tha Mike.
• Magical, yet also technological: Those of you wishing to relive the geek glory of festivals past should check out Magitek’s full Nerdapalooza set over at YouTube. Personally, I’d recommend you peep “Weapon Select: Quartz Relic” and “Weapon Select: Thugmasta J,” new cuts from the band’s forthcoming EP.
• Scarred for life: Matt was also nice enough to point me toward some great vids from an amazing event that I was, unfortunately, unable to attend, Portus. Scarhead Productions has some amazing cuts from The Mudbloods, Catchlove, The Moaning Myrtles, and other WRock heavyweights. Take a gander at them, and be sure to leave nice comments.
• Covering all the bases: Nerdcore vids - check. WRock vids – check. Oh yeah – VGM! Not to be forgotten are also these videos from GM4A's Level Up! Level 2 event. With The Megas, ZeaLouS1, and Super Barrio Bros,what’s not to love?
• Sort of like MC Lars lite: While you’re getting your YouTube on, also check out this Olympic Trials Rap that Soc found. It’s pretty damn informative. Especially if you’re interested in women’s discus. And ducks.
• Her achy breaky heart: Just to clarify, the hackers taking credit for the new round of (alleged) racy photos of Miley Cyrus cribbed form her cell phone? They make their home at YTCracker’s DigitalGangster.com. I reckon you’ve all figured that out yourselves, but, y’know, it seemed topical.
• This just in: I regret to inform you that I’ve just been informed that Glenn Case’s band The Half Racks have disbanded. In the wake of split, which was amicable and not wholly unexpected, the decision has been made to release their forthcoming debut album Coffee Now not as a CD, but as freely downloadable mp3s. I wish the guys my best in all their post-Racks endeavors.
• Z phones home: In the latest edition of Little Miss Gamer, Z explore what makes a bad game bad. More specifically, she examines what made the Atari 2600’s E.T. (and its modern descendants) so awful. Will she survive her time trapped in a pit? Watch and find out.