Making the Kessel Run

I'm afraid that this week's Nerd News in Brief has been unavoidably delayed. I do, however, have a fairly legitimate excuse. You see, today I am doing the unthinkable; actively promoting a project.

I have, on numerous occasions, characterized myself as being "allergic to hype." I started Hipster, please! to spread the nerdy gospel, but I did so with the caveat that I refused to beat people about the head with my message. I am of the opinion that if you simply leverage your energy to do what you love good things will come. And while this has certainly proven to be true, that doesn't necessarily mean that said good things will come immediately. This is how I have maintained what I sometimes jokingly refer to as "the world's oldest and least successful nerd music and culture Web log."

Yesterday I was informed, however, that Radio Free Hipster's nomination for Speculative Fiction Podcast of the Year has been accepted for this year's Parsec Awards.

First, I want to take a moment to thank everyone who helped get my name in the hat. When Church first suggested that I was somehow eligible for such an award, I was skeptical. But, as fantastical worlds are very much a part of geeky music, I couldn't exactly argue. Moreover, I was even more skeptical that anyone would take the time to go through the nomination process - not to mention the fact that I felt like a tool for bringing it up - but many of you did, and that really means a lot.

In order for the trick to work, however, I now find myself attempting to distill a year's worth of podcasts into a 10 minute "highlight reel." It ain't easy, but if you took this seriously enough to put my name out there, I damn sure better take it seriously enough to give it a proper go.

Even with my characteristic self-deprecation aside, I don't see myself as having any real chance of winning this thing. But as the old adage goes, it is an honor just to be nominated.