Nerd News in Brief

Today is October 1st, or as I like to call it The First Day of Halloween. In addition to my regularly scheduled nerdy musings, I will no doubt be favoring you with tons of ghoulish distractions over the coming weeks.

I mean, it's what I do!

But for now, dear friends, please enjoy this non-Halloween-themed edition of Nerd News in Brief.

• Pretty and Witty and Bright: Though I am probably not their target audience, I have to kick off this month's NNIB recap by giving a nod to the crew over at Pretty Gamer. It's a site with a firm focus on all things she-nerd related. From game reviews to no-food-in-the-house cooking tips to dating advice, these ladies have you covered. They even recorded their own drunkcast, which pretty much assures their hardcore status.
• The Wooden Anniversary: Five years ago our friends Harry and the Potters helped launch the Harry Potter Alliance with an Amnesty International charity show in their native Massachusetts. To commemorate this anniversary (not to mention the rousing success of the HPA), the guys are doing it again. Catch the Potters, The Whomping Willows, Lauren Fairweather and Justin Finch-Fletchley and the Sugar Quills this Sunday, October 10th at The Center for Arts at the Armory. Be there.
• For the Shorties: On the subject of worthy charities, I'd also like to remind you that October 16th is the date of the 3rd annual Extra Life video game marathon. My good friend Jonny Nero (of Epic Default fame) is taking part to raise money for his local Children's Miracle Network hospital, and the brother needs sponsors. A simple $1.00/hour sponsorship goes a long way, so peep Jonny's personal Extra Life page and please consider donating.
• To the Nines: Nerd rapper extraordinaire Conyeezy is presently working on 9 different albums! In anticipation of this marathon of future releases, 'Yeez just dropped a free 9-track mixtape called Appetizers. It contains one track representative of each larger work, and I suggest you cop it immediately.
• Blowing in the Wind: Also on the new release front, Rappy McRapperson and EPP's MC Wreckshin have just released their impressively titled The 2nd Best Mixtape Ever. Ten songs deep and boasting just a bit more than a half-hour of playtime, 2BME covers all the hip-hop bases – from double rainbows to blowin' dudes. Experience the weirdness.
• They're Undeniable: Are you tired of "California Gurls" parodies? Understandable, but please take a look at one final selection. It's my boy Insane Ian's most recent FuMP – a fun freebie entitled "CosPlaying FanGurls."
• Take a Knee: Recently, nerdcore king and famed hacker YTCracker dropped his iPhone from the 27th floor of the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego. The phone survived the fall, once and for all demonstrating the true power of science.
• My Closing Argument: Thanks go out to Church for pointing me toward this CNN piece on Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock that features some great quotes from Brendon Small. Not the least of which is the astute observation that all musicians are nerds.
• Across the Pond: For those who missed it last week, the BBC profiled MC Frontalot, Scrub Club's MadHatter, Nursehella and Adam WarRock. An accompanying nerdcore-centered edition of the Outriders podcast was also released.
• Say it Bold: Star Trek is often the go-to property when nerds discuss the important progressive sociological underpinnings of science fiction. However, in an interesting (and hilarious) piece at Autostraddle, writer Boylio enumerates the ways in which Trek has failed to stand up for the LGBT community.
• Bubblegum Tate: This edition of Geek vs. Nerd is brought to you by the (voice) cast of Futurama. In early September, the guys sat down with CNN Entertainment's Geek Out to discuss, among other things, cool nerds and the gerds of our future.
• Local Color: The San Francisco Bay Guardian also chimes in on the subject of geeks, nerds and what lies beneath – even going so far as to mine the wisdom of resident "super nerd" Doctor Popular.
• LOL Money: As our esteemed Nerd Chieftain of Fiscal Responsible, Church was happy to hip us to this epistle concerning financial nerds. He also uncovered Merle Hazard, "the first and only country singer to write about mortgage-backed securities, derivatives, and physics." Thank him kindly. 
• Labored Day: And in what I promise is this edition's final rumination concerning nerd identity, author Ethan Gilsdorf recently dropped some knowledge at Psychology Today concerning both Dragon*Con and PAX. And apparently he was really excited to give away a copy of his book!
• Indivisible: Thanks to MaryBeth (AKA: Nagini), I am now completely enamored by the new song/video from Grace "Snidget" Kendall. It's entitled "Soren Lorenson (My Invisible Friend)," and it is a special kind of all-ages awesome!
• Lost Like Locke: And I'd be remiss if I didn't also point y'all toward the latest street-level sermon from the White Shinobi himself T.y.T. Check out the new video single "Life is What You Make of It (2010)" featuring Togo.
• Code Monkey: In other YouTubery, my brother DataVortex turned me onto this coder-centric take on "Alors on Danse" called "And So You Code."
• Hangin' with Your Atari: And though I can't imagine you haven't seen it yet, the new Inverse Phase joint "F___ed 6502 (8-bit Cee Lo - F**k You parody)" is total fucking brilliance.
• Dance. Kill. Laugh. Kill.: Closing us out today is a special treat from AlienBoBZ. September saw the debut gig of Seattle's Supercommuter, and Jarod was there to record the show for posterity! You can cop the live audio from Archive.org and check out full video on the AlienBoBZ YouTube channel. Make sure to give Jarod some love for all the hard work.