More Nerd News in Brief

So Dumbledore is gay.

Or, rather, was gay. (Sorry if that ruins shit for you, but spoilers have an expiration date!)

I understand that there’s probably a firestorm brewing over this in some circles, but, personally, I’m cool with it.

I mean, J.K. really went all out to have a socially realistic cast of characters in the Harry Potter series, and the lack of a gay player seems a little odd. In an epic resplendent with (reasonably) believable characters from a myriad of social backgrounds that goes to such great lengths to espouse the strength of humankind’s innate ability to come together despite minor differences, it only makes sense that someone be gay.

Hogwarts had white trash and fetishists (Hagrid likes big women.), bigots and Jews (Don’t fucking tell me that Ravenclaw prefect Anthony Goldstein ain’t Jewish!), alcoholics and sociopaths, so why not a gay character?

Truthfully, until he knocked up Tonks, my money was on Remus. He and Sirius always seemed to have something simmering below the surface.

• Speculation and hearsay: I’m sure no one cares about this but me, but Kotaku is reporting that a Japanese mag has hard evidence suggesting that Animal Crossing for the Wii will be an MMO! I can't wait to level grind by shaking some trees/collecting some shells... Okay, maybe not.
• Frontalot has a posse: MC Frontalot is actively recruiting Street Team members for his November tour. If you think you might be down check out the dates to see if His Royal Baldness will be making his way to your locality. Mr. Hess will need info concerning the names, ages, preferred email addresses, and proximity to the venues in question for all interested parties.
• Purple Reign: Like anyone who genuinely loves music, Glenn Case is a Prince fan. With that in mind, he and Niveous are currently assembling a Prince tribute of sorts. I say of sorts because, due to Prince’s “super obsession with copyrights,” the project has a twist. “Each month, [Glenn and Niv] and any other bands who would like to join [them] in this endeavor (the more bands the better) will make original songs using the titles of Prince songs.” The tracks will be posted to the project’s webspace and the process will continue until an entire library of Prince tunes that aren't actually Prince tunes is available. The first Purple Reign will begin in November with Prince's debut album For You. Interested parties are fervently encouraged to peep this post for more details.
• Stand 5.5: While Optimus Rhyme are venting their vitriol at mc chris in their newest song, DJ Snyder has issued the diminutive rapper an ultimatum. Okay, it's not really an ultimatum; it’s mostly just a request for a new remix contest. If you’re also interested in another such competition, say your piece over at the forums.
• The Making of: Those of you whole loved Random’s Mega Ran project – and let’s be honest here: that’s pretty much everybody – will be pleased to know that he’s written an in-depth album breakdown that’s currently available at Hip-Hop Linguistics. It’s a great read and it really sheds a lot of light on the creative process behind all your favorite tracks.
• Super duper: Dual Core's own int eighty was nice enough to hit me up with some more information regarding the group's new release Super Powers. The album itself should be available for purchase by the end of the month, and folks who purchased Zero One will be able to buy Super Powers for only 5 bucks!
  
• It was a graveyard smash: I’ve been scouring the Internet for weeks for signs of this year’s Monster Mash-up project, and just as I had given up hope Matt directed me to this Boing Boing piece. Apparently this year’s iteration is called Mashing Pumpkins, and it’s headed up by Cheekyboy rather than djbc. It’s quite a good collection, so check it out.
• Undead, undead!: Not to be outdone, Church followed up with this Boing Boing link about a Disney’s Haunted Mansion/Bauhaus mash. As someone who can’t get enough “Bela Lugosi is Dead” mashes, I am positively thrilled!
• Bloodcurdlingly overused: Another seasonal submission from Matt is this ABC piece on Hollywood’s most famous scream. The article itself is fun, but the accompanying video compilation borders on hilarious. Enjoy.