Nerd News in Brief

There are lots of different types of nerds, and many of them are what you might call handy. You know the type: crafters, engineers, tinkerers and the like. Guys and gals who are good with their hands and can build or fix or mod damn-near anything swell within our ranks. This is a nerdy trait, to be sure.

Unfortunately, I seemed to have been shorted in this particular area.

Last night, in preparation for that ever-approaching due date, I decided it might be a good idea to put the new infant car seats in our automobiles. I was able to get both properly installed, but only after hours of arduous work and a string of profanities that blanketed the neighborhood like a wicked fog.

Truthfully, I felt a little bad about that – the problem with the safety seats, not the swearing – but then I remembered that each of us has a different dorky skillset. Mine, it just so happens, doesn’t generally lend itself to physical labor. Unfortunately, writing a well researched 5 paragraph essay about car seats just doesn’t seem to get the damn things installed.

• Nerdy politics update: Thanks to my always helpful associate Church for hipping me to another in what’s becoming a veritable avalanche of geeky political stories during this election year. Apparently, Obama is a Star Trek fan. Suddenly, all the nerdy musician endorsements make since!
• Anarchy in the UK: Dan (of NC4L) is looking for UK nerdcore artists. Not to be in the film, mind you, which is pretty much already done, but to talk to an English reporter doing an article on the genre. If you fit the bill and would like to have Dan pass on your contact info to this gent – who writes, coincidentally, for a “big paper” – contact Dan via RT or email him at Nerdcoreforlife-at-gmail-dot-com.
• Twilight to Midnight: UK game rockers Spheres of Chaos have just released an excellent new EP through their Netlabel Pterodactyl Squad. Check out Stratospheria – particularly shit-hot track “Megafauna” – as well as the label’s other free VGM and chiptune albums. Where so much of game-related music is heavily bent toward well-worn classics, Pterodactyl offers something truly unique: original compositions and non-traditional (read: independent or non-existent) game soundtracks. Definitely take a listen!
• Sweet home Tacoma: MC Gigahertz is playing a gig next week in his native Tacoma, WA at Bob's Java Jive (2102 S Tacoma Way). Fellow MCs 508 Disturbance are also on the bill. The show starts at 9:00 PM on Friday, March 21st, and it’s 3 bones at the door. This is a 21+ affair, so be legal or at least look that way.
• Too much (Donky Business): Much nerd love to my pal Hex for hipping me to borderline ridiculous but no less awesome mash-up album Donkey Business by Norwegian Recycling, an album that he was introduced to via my home-skillet Ant from GM4A. The crux of the album is that the producer took songs from the Donkey Kong Country franchise and mashed them with acappellas from Eminem, Skee-Lo, Jurassic 5, and the like. Even better: it’s free!
• All nerd, all the time: The Spork of Rocket Propelled Geeks just announced that Rocket Propelled Radio – the net’s first 24-hour all nerd music station – now has its own site. Check it out. Request some songs. Waste company time and company bandwidth while simultaneously getting your geek on. Oh, what a world we live in!
• geek.film: This year’s SXSW saw its fair share of nerdy music represented, particularly with regard to the film portion of the event. The Wrock tinged We Are Wizards, the chippy Blip Festival: Reformat the Planet, The Front-a-licious Nerdcore Rising, and the MMORPG centered Second Skin (which totally counts in this context as it includes a track by my man Random), are all coming out of the festival with positive reviews and healthy buzz. Congrats to the stars, crews, and filmmakers all around. Now please show these docs somewhere within driving distance of my locality!
• Spokane for (C’mon, that punny!): And to take us into the weekend, here’s another little piece of documentary news. Thanks go out to my bro Matt for reminding me of the recent announcement concerning the Wizard Rockumentary. The film will be premiering in nerd Mecca Spokane, WA at 11:59 PM on April 11th, 2008 at the Garland Theatre. Check out the trailer below and find your appetite for geeky music docs once again whetted.