Nerd News in Brief

Now that we’ve had the baby the really difficult part begins in earnest. No, not raising her. I’m talking about picking a nickname. Hey, it’s tougher than it sounds!

At first I had pegged her as Spooky, because she’s got this really unsettling gaze that she unleashes from time to time. Usually right before a slightly tardy feeding or diaper change. The problem, of course, is that “Unsettling” ain’t much of a nickname and “Spooky” isn’t wholly accurate.

Then I settled on Pinky cause, y’know, she is. But that doesn’t fly ‘cause there’s already a Pinky that I blog about often.

Currently I’m going back and forth between Tootie and Twiggy. Both seem like pretty good nick’s, but I’m gonna wait a bit before I commit. Like I said, this shit is serious.

In the meantime, here’s a very brief Nerd News in Brief.

• Spun: Thanks to my old friend Darth Apu for letting me know that MC Frontalot, or rather the documentary about the man, garnered a mention in this month’s SPIN magazine. He says to look for “the tiniest mention” in the NOISE section on pages 33 and 34. It’s only a sentence, but at least it’s something.
• Getting elevated: Speaking of Nerdcore Rising, the lovely Nagin Farsad and the equally lovely Frontalot were recently interviewed for a really great piece over at Quirkee.com. It’s a helluva read that even touches on the eternal and ever-so sticky question of an inherently racist slant in nerdy rap. Thanks to Church for hipping me to this one.
• They really are: For a more personal piece on a recently released nerdy music movie, check out Lizz’s take on We Are Wizards. While the doc’s already garnered some really complimentary press, this will give you the opinions of a seriously informed Wrock aficionado. Check it out.
• Accio tour help!: Wizard Rock sirens Lena and Lauren are coming to your town. Hopefully. The trick is you gotta help them get hooked with a venue. Apparently many of the libraries they’ve contacted thus far haven’t been too quick with the callbacks, so if you’ve got an in at any of the cities in question why not help the ladies out? Oh, and don’t forget to friend the tour mates on MySpace. Make like Matt and Church and give the Wrockers some love!
• Taking a leak: Late last week I became the first person to receive a copy of Dual Core’s forthcoming release Lost Reality. I’m not at liberty to say anything about at present; I mostly just wanted to gloat. Fuck-to-the-yeah! What I can tell you is that the album will be officially released on April 4th (at Notacon 5 in Cleveland), and that you should expect a review from me shortly thereafter. Not to spoil anything, but, uh, it’s good. Real good. And the guest artists will shock and amaze!
• Something blue?: In other album news, Ultraklystron just dropped a collection of some old and new covers called Imitate. The EP features Karl’s amazing cover of Lupe Fiasco’s “Daydreamin’” that appeared on the Hipster, please! compilation Nerdcore Undercover as well as his amazing and hilarious cover of Beefy’s “Nerdcore For Life.”
• The saga continues: Rhyme Torrents mastermind and imbiber of all controlled substances High-C just put out the official call for last Rhyme Torrents disc. High-C explicitly mentioned that he wants to make sure this one top shelf, featuring “high-bitrate, well-mastered, expertly-crafted, funky-yet-nerdy-yet-not-contrived, pieces de' resistance.” The album release will coincide with this year’s Nerdapalooza in Orlando, and thus will no doubt attract some serious attention. Interested parties are directed, as always, to the RT boards.
• 2 Legit: Big up to the one and only Random, whose Mega Ran album has now been officially licensed by Capcom! While Ran admits “knowing you are not gonna get sued has to be the best feeling in the world,” a little heartfelt congratulations form the scene couldn’t help but make things all the sweeter. Head over to Random’s MySpace to give him a virtual pat on the back.
• Wherein being a sellout is a good thing: Previously, Dan announced that Nerdcore For Life would be making its world premiere Saturday, April 5th at the Wisconsin Film Fest. New news from the NC4L camp has just come to light concerning the tickets for this event; after being on sale for less than two weeks, all 199 tickets to the screening have sold out! Head over the doc’s MySpace and give them a hearty “well done” as well!
• Me too: On a more personal note, the first episode of my new Wired project, GeekDad’s HipTrax, has garnered a significant number of downloads and some really great feedback. Thanks to everyone who checked it out and double-thanks to everyone who helped me spread the word. Keep your eye on your aggregators next week when ep. 2 drops. I really think you’ll dig it.
• What’s pink and sucks?: The other Z – you know, the one who hasn’t been shirking her duties over the past week – has a new edition of her enchanting classic game review series Little Miss Gamer. Check out Z’s thoughts on Kirby’s Adventure and be summarily charmed.