More Nerd News in Brief

In case you were wondering, my Halloween spirit is still very much intact. Sure, I’m a little pissed about the glut of Christmas-themed wares already for sale at my local retailers, but that’s hardly Halloween’s fault. Halloween is just grooving along, trying to stay hip and relevant, and then Christmas – totally cock-blocking Thanksgiving, I might add – swoops in and tries to steal all the attention.

It’s just not fair.

That’s why I urge you to refuse to buy that snoring Santa doorstop, to neglect your holiday shopping, and to tell Wal-Mart to shove that jumbo spindle of tinsel right up its corporate ass! Let Halloween have its moment in the spotlight. Let the kids trick-or-treat. Let the adults drink too much and dress inappropriately. Let AMC show Children of the Corn for 400th damn time.

Such is the glory of the Halloween season, and, much like rock ’n’ roll, it’s only really entertaining if it’s evil and slightly inappropriate.

• I’m not even angry: Jonathan Coulton’s got a fun little post up about the experience of writing the end theme for Valve’s newest sensation Portal over at his blog. It’s a surreal slice-of-life affair, just as you’d expect from Coulton, and he even posts the songs lyrics and chords as well. Thanks to my pal Brüx for directing me to this one!
• Famicom, we hardly knew ye: In other gamer-related news, Matt found this piece up at Engadget concerning Nintendo’s announcement that, as of October 31st, they will no longer support the Famicom hardware. Yes, after nearly 25 years, Nintendo is finally pulling the plug on the console that put them on the map and whose American iteration saved the videogame market as we know it. So if you’re planning on smashing your Famicom with a hammer, now’s the time to do it.
• L shift-O to the quote: Wednesday it was announced that an all-new original song by our own MC Frontalot will be include in Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness. Fans are noticeably excited, but I am left to wonder, given the Lovecraftian/steampunk setting of the game, what could Front possibly have in store?
• Full Frontal nerdity + an STD: Next month, Frontalot and the Clonefucker himself, Schaffer the Darklord, will embark on a U.S. tour. Confirmed shows are as follows: Thurs. Nov. 8th - The Living Room in Providence, RI; Fri. Nov. 9th - Harper's Ferry in Allston, MA; Sun. Nov. 11th - The Knitting Factory in NYC; Tues. Nov. 13th - The Basement in Columbus, OH; Wed. Nov. 14th - Reggie's Live in Chicago, IL; Thur. Nov. 15th - Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis, MN; Sun. Nov. 18th - The Marquis Theater in Denver, CO (with special guest YTCracker); Tues. Nov. 20th - Burt's Tiki Club in Salt Lake City, UT; Wed. Nov. 21st - The Knitting Factory in Los Angeles, CA; Sun. Nov. 25th - Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco, CA. The tour will coincide with the November 1st release of Schaffer's newest full-length Mark of the Beast.
• West Coast ghosts: This week has seen a couple of interesting items from the ZeaLouS1 camp. First and foremost, Z1 has announced that the new album will be entitled The Living Epitaph. A preview of the cover artwork is available at his site. Also, next Friday, October 26th, BOSSFIGHT presents Devil’s Night at the San Diego Sports Club. Featured performers include BOSSFIGHT’s own ZeaLouS1 and IllGill as well as otaku-centric artists Maja and Stephanie Yanez. The show kicks off at 9:00 PM, and, while there’s no cover, it is a 21+ affair.
• Not to be confused with Johnny Dangerously: Jesse Dangerously’s new album Verba Volant is now available for purchase in both DRM-free MP3 and FLAC formats from www.Zunior.com. Also included are PDFs of the cover art and lyrics; all for a mere $8.88. Unfortunately, neither CDbaby nor iTunes have the album available yet, so this is a great (and inexpensive) solution for folks who want their Jesse D. right the fuck now! Jesse would also like to remind fans that Zunior has a handy place for user reviews right on the site. And, if you choose to write a review he asks you to “[p]retend you write for a respectable alt-weekly and use every cultural touchstone at your disposal.” I don’t think that’s too much to ask.
• If they could see me now!: The lads and I can’t seem to stop talking about Wrock the Boat, the first ever Harry Potter-themed cruise. Who wouldn’t want to travel to the Caribbean for 5 full days with Draco and the Malfoys and DJ Luna Lovegood? And did I mention that it’ll take place upon a Carnival "Fun Ship" the week of Halloween 2008? I didn’t? Well, how dare I?!
• A pterodactyl in the background for no goddamn reason: Matt also directed me to the Geek Comedy Tour 3000. Though the concept of nerds telling joked (or, more specifically, comedians reflecting on their own inherent nerdiness) isn’t exactly a recent development, some of the bits presented on the tour’s site were actually pretty good. I thought I’d throw it our there in case any of y’all were interested… despite the fact that it’s occurring 93 years too early.
• Unbridled creativity meet rampant fanboyism: To keep things in the Halloween spirit, here are some Transformers costumes that are positively awe-inspiring. Though, truthfully, I really wanna see those Contructicons try and form Devastator. I’m just sayin’.