Nerd News in Brief

As most of you already know, Halloween is a month-long event in the Z. household.

The festive season kicks off this very evening, when Em and I sojourn into town to find Li’l X a suitable trick-or-treating getup. And it doesn’t conclude until the first of November, when I start stocking up on discounted Halloween swag for next year.

And I’m not the only country gentleman who’s preemptively getting his Halloween on. Church was nice enough to direct me to the Web site for Operation Dead: 1, a z-grade zombie flick that was filmed in nearby Atlanta. (Which is fitting, as anyone who’s read The Walking Dead knows that Atlanta is a zombie death-trap waiting to happen!)

Promotion for the film is kicking into high gear pending its Halloween release, so take a gander at the trailer and enjoy the cheesy carnage.

• Even scarier than the undead: Church also hipped me to the chilling news that NBC wants to revive the Knight Rider series. Surely the end is near. “And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals...” and out came David Hasselhoff.
• A loser is me: mc chris finally dropped some knowledge on his fans concerning this fall’s tour dates. Sadly, my humble burg did not make the cut. Check the following to see if your locality faired any better: 10/01/2007 07:00 PM - Roxy Theatre Atlanta, Georgia; 10/02/2007 08:00 PM - The Orange Peel Asheville, North Carolina; 10/03/2007 08:30 PM - Cat's Cradle Carrboro, North Carolina; 10/04/2007 08:00 PM - Satellite Ballroom Charlottesville, Virginia ; 10/05/2007 08:00 PM - The Fillmore @ Theatre of Living Arts Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 10/06/2007 07:30 PM - Stone Pony Asbury Park, New Jersey; 10/07/2007 10:00 PM - 9:30 Club Washington DC, Washington DC; 10/09/2007 09:00 PM - Nokia New York, New York; 10/10/2007 07:00 PM - Roxy Boston, Massachusetts; 10/11/2007 07:00 PM - Tralf Buffalo, New York; 10/12/2007 08:00 PM - The Opera House Toronto, Ontario; 10/13/2007 07:00 PM - The Crofoot Pontiac, Michigan; 10/14/2007 08:00 PM - Metro Chicago, Illinois; 10/15/2007 - The Annex Madison. See mc’s digs for the full list.
• Expect big things: The Sinister Six have posted a remix of the track “Scientistik” to their MySpace. Check it out for yet another glimmer of these enigmatic MCs’ level of collective ass-kickery.
• “Hip-hop first and geek second.”: MAJA got some love last week from both Phoenix’s New Times and Japan’s eyevio TV. The New Times piece is both in-depth and very well written, so be sure to read the duration. However, for the non-otaku who just wanna see MAJA in the eyevio clip, look for him around the 4:17 mark in episode 4.
• Use the Force: New Zealand’s own MC Stormtroopa made his brief introduction to the Rhyme Torrents community last week. You can learn a bit more about the world’s first Kiwi nerdcore artist at his site.
• Speed Run: Conyeezy has posted a new track over at the CSHC MySpace profile. Peep “Homie (feat. T. Wilson),” a track that breaks down like so: “lyrics written ... in one hour… , song recorded in one hour… , [with the track itself] engineered in three hours.”
• Dude and Catastrophe: If you live in Oregon and enjoy Achewood then you are not alone. And also, you can probably swing a free tattoo of Roast Beef. Web comic fans are weird.
• The fur flies: Aside from its looming zombie problem, the greater Atlanta metropolitan area also boasts its share of gang activity. Two principle players have elected to settle their disputes like men. Or, rather, like Klingons and anthropomorphic animals. Ladies and gentlemen, behold the Furry vs. Trekkie Bowl-o-rama!

The Dork Defender

It’s hard to believe that ZeaLouS1 burst onto the nerdcore scene a scant year ago. In that short time he has managed to endear himself to the faithful and spread the good word of nerdy rhymes far and wide. Whether performing at the local haunts of his native California, across the country as a featured artist at Nerdapalooza SE, or prowling the stage at Las Vegas’s Consumer Electronics Show, Z1 has turned critics into fans and kindred spirits into family.

Famed for a calm, affable demeanor that belies his imposing size, ZeaLouS1 is more than our titular King of the Boss Fights; he is a friend to all nerds, a self-styled defender of the weak. While many in nerdcore espouse the superhero mindset, ZeaLouS truly takes it to heart.

He is, at once, a nerd’s nerd and a musician’s musician. He throws himself wholeheartedly into everything he does, and what he does best is take the listener by the hand and lead him from the busy San Diego streets to the burning wastes of Azeroth and back again.

And there’s nothing he’d like more than for you to join him.

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Though you've doubtlessly related the tale before, how did you fall into the world of nerdcore hip-hop?

I've been making music since 2001, and the stuff I was coming out with then was lyrically more conscious-mind, underground hip hop. I'd been sampling video games and cartoons with quotes from Anime and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Last year, while doing a live broadcast at Palomar College Radio on The Takeover, Anthony (aka: The Dark Prince) brought in a compilation of some songs he said were "Hip Hop songs that included really nerdy references" which he thought were right up my alley. I went home, browsed a few tracks and then “White Warrior” by YTCracker hit me. I couldn't BELIEVE someone sampled the beat from Gauntlet and then did a sick job adding some loops and flows to it. I was so inspired that night that I went in my “Lab” and busted out a few beats I had been playing with in the past and began work on my song “Level Up.” I haven't looked back since.

So you were making nerdy hip-hop well before you discovered nerdcore. What was your initial reaction when you realized that there were others out there making music in that same vein?

I was so surprised that there were other people making Mega Man and Fist of the North Star references besides me, but at the same time I was so stoked to know that there were other people out there that could catch my slick nerdy references and appreciate them. I'd slipped a lot of those references into my songs waaaay back in the day just to see if anybody would catch them, but now I can make full-blown songs packed with double entendres and references and have people like “YES! I know what he is talking about!”

Other than YTCRacker, who you’ve already mentioned, was there a specific artist or group of artists within the nerdcore community with whom you felt an immediate kinship?

When I first got to CES in Vegas earlier this year I didn't know anybody and I was still the new kid on the block. Walking into the place and going into the DivX booth the first people to greet me and my boys were EPP. They talked with us, paid their respects and hung out with us. They showed me what was going on and filled me in on everything I missed due to being caught up in traffic. If it wasn't for EPP it wouldn't have been as fun or comfortable. Much love and respects to my cousins in Florida!

Your third album is slated to be released this October. Is the project proceeding according to schedule?

Yes....and no. If my dad calls me up and needs my help on a Raid or a Heroic Instance on WoW then I'm not recording that night lol. Other than that, everything is right on track.

Have you settled on a title?

No, not yet. It will be the icing on the cake at the end. I have a few ideas in mind, but I won't be able to name it properly until it all comes together.

Your first release, Assimilation Process: Complete, was a thematic introduction to the ZeaLouS1 style, while your follow-up, Collaboc1de, was very much a love letter to nerdcore as both a community and a lifestyle. What can we expect from your next effort?

The concept has changed a few times since I first started working on it. I have settled on the lyrical scheme going back to how I first started but with an enhanced technique. Nothing but straight storytelling and flexing the vocal drops. This time around I am taking a lot of time in hand-making the beats and gathering beats from certain other artists to fit each story I tell to the extent that even if there were no words on the track you would still hear a story. I am going to be taking everything that is ZeaLouS1 up to this moment and putting it onto an album, and when you play it I want you to feel like I'm sitting next to you telling my story.

That sounds like an album I’d like to hear!

So the mechanics of song creation have been enhanced for your new album. How has the recording process itself differed from your previous efforts?

This is the most time-consuming, clean sounding and brain-straining project I have done so far, and I would have it no other way. I am putting forth as much time and effort as I possibly can to make what is in my head and heart come out into the music that you will hear. I do that with all music I make, except this time I'm striving for a higher level of excellence within myself and what I put forth.

A recent video leak showcased a new recording setup, compliments of BOSSFIGHT; would you say that the forthcoming album will have an even more polished sound than those previous?

Yes, absolutely. Thanks to BOSSFIGHT for hooking me up with all the equipment I needed to take my music to the next level. Because of The Dark Prince and the rest of the BOSSFIGHT Family I have been able to make this next project the most powerful piece of work I've ever been a part of.

As you yourself are an Audio Production major, do you generally prefer to produce your own tracks, or do you find it easier to free yourself of that responsibility and simply focus on your rhymes?

I love being able to make my own beats and I am very, very particular about what I flow on. If the beat doesn't make me feel like writing anything then I know anything I do write to it won't be as potent as it could have been. Some DJ's and beatsmiths have sent me tracks that have blown me away, and as soon as I hear the beat I'm grabbing desperately for a pen and some paper. Having someone else make a beat for me is awesome if they know the vibe I am working with and sometimes it really hurts my heart to have to tell them “I'm sorry but I'm not feeling this.” I know how much work and time it takes to tailor-make a beat, and if the vibe is right then the freedom of just writing lyrics and flowing on the beat is such a relief. Making specific beats for the story that I want to tell is the hardest and most arduous process when it comes to making music for me. I prefer making my own but I am nowhere near the best so it's awesome when a DJ or beatsmith comes along who makes a beat that I am infatuated with.

IllGill was recently added to the BOSSFIGHT roster. Does the label have any plans to bring additional artists onboard?

Yes. We are currently getting things ready to be a self-sufficient business before we aggressively begin the scouting and recruiting process. We have big things in mind and we are working diligently from the bottom up putting our time in and doing things the right way. The best part about it is we are having fun, and if we never become successful I will still be able to tell my kids one day how much fun I had doing what I loved to do.

Do you envision BOSSFIGHT as a solely nerdcore hip-hop label, or could we potentially see acts from other genres come into the BOSSFIGHT fold?

I can safely say that we will by no means limit ourselves to any one music style or genre. Like I said, we have some big things planned but we gotta take care of what’s currently on our plates first. Keep an eye on us in the year to come!

What, if anything, can you divulge about the enigmatic group known only as The Sinister Six?

I'm not exactly sure what, if anything, I am allowed to divulge, but when they drop that album it’s going to make people see a different side of nerdy hip hop that many think is only hype.

(EDIT: Shortly after this interview, The Sinister Six were revealed to be MadHatter, YTCracker, ZeaLouS1, Benjamin Bear, Big Stephen, and ShelShocker. The group, however, has still remained tight-lipped about the specifics of the project.)

During the week of this year's San Diego Comic-Con, BOSSFIGHT sponsored an event called N3XT L3V3L boasting an impressive musical line-up at the San Diego Sports Club. What can you tell us about the show?

It was the first show we have ever thrown and it was a very big learning process. So many things need to be taken into account when you throw a show and in this business we are still pretty much noobs. The artists that we got to come rock the mics for us were amazing, Gill and I got to rock out for the first time through the whole show, we met really cool people and made a few connections that have turned into great friendships. The show wasn't as huge as we thought it would be due to inexperience of how to run it, but for it being our very first one it was incredible. I can't wait until we get to do it again!

Are there plans to make N3XT L3V3L a recurring event?

Absolutely! Every year from now on as long as BOSSFIGHT exists there will be a N3XT L3V3L show in San Diego, California.

You journeyed all the way to Florida to play at last month's Nerdapalooza SE. How did that event compare to more high-profile shows such as your gig at CES or the CAPCOM booth performance at Comic-Con?

First and foremost, I wouldn't have been able to do a performance at the CAPCOM booth if it wasn't for YTCracker giving up time from his set to allow me to do so. Much love and respects to YTC for that!

Now the Florida show was a completely different beast altogether. This has definitely been my favorite show I've had the pleasure of performing at. It was a huge and prestigious honor to have headlined the first Nerdapalooza SE show in history. Comic-Con was a prestigious place to be at and to perform at, but when it comes to being around other people who drove 8 hours just to hear and be a part of the music you like and make there is no comparison. The audience was right there just a few feet away from me, full of fans and artists a like singing along with me to every song I did. There is no replacing that; there is no substitute. I would be honored to play at the rest of the Nerdapalooza SE shows forever and if its not in the cards to have me perform, you'd better believe I'm saving up money as we speak just so I can be in the crowd next time. Florida is Nerdcore Friendly and they showed me nothing but love and so it shall be forever returned.

You host a regular college radio show with your friends and classmates The Dark Prince, Silent D, and Tony B. What would you tell the uninitiated about The Takeover, and have you considered a career in radio?


The Takeover is 3 hours of random chaos mixed with Nerdcore and whatever the hell else we plan on playing that weekend. We are on a college radio station that you can listen to live at PalomarCollegeRadio.com from 6pm to 9pm PST on 1320AM. Since we are under the thumb of the FCC, our weekly goal is to press the envelope as close as possible without getting Zeb (The Emperor of Palomar College Radio) into trouble. Recently we have taken some notes on how to run a better structured program from our big brothers at The Awful Show so we are going to see how that goes this semester. Nothing is held sacred on our show.

Because Silent D. was kind enough to interview me and have me on the show when it was called The Rundown I have given serious thought to being a radio personality, but, as it stands, I won't do the show unless Silent D. is there. He is the heart and soul of The Takeover. I talk trash and laugh and make fun of stuff, Tony B. is the whipping boy, and DP sits there, says random sexy stuff and makes fun of us as we embarrass ourselves to entertain the audience. Welcome to The Takeover!

As this marks the much-delayed return of the Hipster, please! monthly interview feature, I am beholden to ask: what kind of nerd is ZeaLouS1?

I am blessed with the ability to stomp bullies who pick on the meek, but I am also fortunate to have the ability to naturally excel at most games you put in front of me. I didn't have the best grades in school, but I was the one that found a way to beat any game we were playing. My dad gave me a trunk full of comic books from the 70's through the 90's and a dictionary. At 16 I was bench pressing over 380 pounds and playing Pokemon at school for lunch money. I pretty much dropped out of college because I spent all my time training on Marvel vs. Capcom so I could beat the guy who wasn't letting anybody play in the student lounge. The only reason my boys and I stopped playing Magic: The Gathering is because no one wanted to play us anymore because we rarely lost. My guild on WoW is full of nothing but friends and family and I think sometimes I talk to my Dad more on WoW than I do in person. I apologize for the long explanation but I had to explain it so you understand why I look at my life as one big Boss Fight. ZeaLouS1 is a prototype.

Lastly, ZeaLouS, what is the nature of nerd?

Back in the day Nerds were considered to have great booksmarts yet they were somewhat socially inept people. That’s all changed. Since the internet has become so powerful it has changed everyday life for just about everyone, and in order to survive on the internet you're going to have to pick up a trick or two and read a thing or three. The internet is the most powerful resource known to man, and lets be honest, who do you think runs it? Nerds. =)

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Like most of you, when I hear a nerdcore hip-hop track I am looking for geeky references; I’m looking for that sci-fi namedrop or that clever allusion to Mario Kart or the recitation everyone’s favorite irrational number. But being a nerd is more than knowing the terminology. There is the ever-important concept of “walking the walk.”

There is conducting yourself in a nerdy manner, certainly, and there is doing nerdy things; these are all perfectly acceptable forms of embracing one’s dork side. But lest we forget the long, hard walk of living the nerd life.

YTCracker famously espoused that nerd life was his career, and, while it may not yet be paying the bills for Beau Fa'asamala, nerd life is his passion. It is his focus. His muse.

In a world that tells us that nerds are mousy, ill-tempered, unsociable malcontents, ZeaLouS1 stands out at as powerful, equable, and friendly.

In a world that tells us that music is a commodity, focused more on affluence than content and more on marketability than craftsmanship, ZeaLouS1 simply endures, making the music that he loves for the enjoyment of those with a similar slant.

To put it more plainly: in a world of insincere pitchmen, ZeaLouS1 is a genuine artist.

Moreover, ZeaLouS1 reminds us, through his dedication to excellence and his focus on personal musical growth, that the power of the nerd paradigm is its unending willingness to adapt.

More Nerd News in Brief

Being an Internet Celebrity isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be, a fact to which the Numa Numa and Star Wars kids can attest.

The shirtless, tattooed dude to whom I alluded earlier this week also found this to be true. The Vancouver Sun has reported that the man in question turned himself into police yesterday. He didn’t steal the iMac himself, though. Of course not! He got it from a guy who got it from a guy. (I’m guessing the fell-off-the-back-of-a-truck ship had already sailed at this point.)

The unnamed mastermind showed up with a lawyer and his name is being withheld pending an investigation.

Hopefully this break will also lead the Workspace folks to the other missing machines.

If not, at least we got a LOL out of the whole incident.

• Celebrating 30 Years of Very Stupid Monsters: Let’s begin with a reflection on a pastime that I’m sure many of us have engaged in: D&D. Church directed me to this Head Injury Theater piece concerning the Dungeons and Dragons Gallery of Shame. Vampire Frogs indeed!
• That’s two: Nursehella was kind enough to tell me that she too will be trying out for VH1’s female rapper show. She’s making her way to LA for open auditions this Friday/Saturday. The nerdcore community wishes both ‘Hella and Router the best of luck. Give ‘em hell, ladies!
• Best. Name. Ever.: Speaking of MC Router, the First Lady has recently posted a new song to her MySpace. The name of the track is “Game Cunt,” and it will be featured on Router’s forthcoming album. The release for said album is set sometime this fall, so be sure to peep the new hotness.
• Total Recall: IllGill's new EP Internet Hate Machine is now available for free download in its entirety. The project features five previously unreleased tracks from ‘Gill, and was mixed/mastered by BOSSFIGHT’s own ZeaLouS1. The BOSSFIGHT family assures fans that you'll be hearing much more from IllGill before year’s end.
• MC Schwarzenegger?!: Dan reports that earlier this week Austrian public radio did a feature about nerdcore. Apparently a TV producer also contacted him asking for clips of the documentary that he could use in yet another story. Stranger still, he’s looking to interview an Austrian nerdcore rapper. This, of course, begs this question does such a beast exist?
• Now canonical: According to WIRED magazine, the term Nerdapalooza has officially made its way into recognized jargon. The noun, meaning “a music festival for nerdcore and geek-pop bands, featuring an international lineup of certifiably dorky acts like MC Gigahertz and 8bit bEtty at the Redwood Acres Fairgrounds in Eureka, California” joins electromagnetic dominance and cosmic forgetfulness in this month’s Jargon Watch.
• It was a dark and stormy night: Oddioblender has plans for a show in Arlington, TX this Halloween night at 7:30 PM. This fright fest goes down at the Dreamworld Music Complex and admission is a scant 8 bones.
• But first: MC Frontalot plans to “rock the heck out of” The Javits Convention Center in Manhattan this Friday afternoon at 2:00 PM and then again at 5:30 PM. The show is part a of the technology consortium DigitalLife, so you’ll need tickets to get in. Prices for such tickets are quite reasonable, particularly if you are a student of an old person. Why not attend and bring your favorite senior citizen?
• A unified beatscape: Jesse Dangerously’s newest CD Verba Volent just received a rave review in Exclaim! Magazine. Writer Thomas Quinlan remarks that the album “is certainly Jesse’s best work to date,” and goes on to praise Jesse’s flow and writing style. It looks like Jesse and the Backburner crew have done it again!
• Fuckin’ up my Christmas: This article from Scientific American purports that “long-term, moderate consumption of alcohol improves recall of both visual and emotional stimuli,” but I’m guessing mc chris would reply that it simply makes you act like a dick. Behold as mc is accosted by a drunken Santa at last week I AM Festival. Apparently, the performance had its share of distractions, but I think mc did an admirable job in defusing the kind of situation that could have made for an uncomfortable holiday season.

Radio Free Hipster Episode 31: Sonic Potpourri

This edition of Radio Free Hipster is a bit less geeky than usual, and that’s a good thing. It’s great to expand our musical circle from time to time. Shall I elucidate?

The underlying message of the project – at least as I envision it in my own little head – is three-fold:

First, it’s that nerds make good music, that nerdy music is fun and exciting and sometimes challenging.

Secondly, it’s that nerds enjoy good music. Whether it’s simply because of subject matter (like the songs of The Four Eyes or MC Lars) or due to more ethereal, textural, technical qualities (like the masterful mash-ups of Go Home Productions).

And lastly, it’s that nerd music isn’t strictly limited to things that are, on the surface, dorky in the contemporary sense. For as long as there has been music there have been nerds making it, and I like to touch on that whenever possible. For example, I’m known to play Cheap Trick from time to time because Rick Nielson is both a dyed-in-the-wool Mac fanatic and the purveyor of one of the most inspired nerd musician “looks” in all of rock ‘n’ roll history. And this episode includes a track by The Police, which I consider fair game both because of Sting’s scholarly predisposition and the band’s overall nerd-like dedication to the crafts of songwriting and musicianship.

I reckon what I’m getting at here is that my inclusion criteria are pretty loose, and, as a result, in any given episode of RFH you may hear from a myriad of artists with varying types and degrees of geekitude.

While we often like to think of nerdiness as an exclusive quality, I like to promote it as more inclusive.

Nerds are everywhere. Some of us are just a bit more obvious than others.


Download Radio Free Hipster Episode 31: Sonic Potpourri [hosting provided by Antisocial] Size: 43.7 MB Running Time: 47:45

Show Notes:

Intro: Baddd Spellah – “Radio Free Hipster Theme (feat. Beefy)”
I never tire of this song. I wear it as a badge of geeky honor!

Track 1: Glenn Case – “Alex Chilton”
Glenn a good example of the classic nerd/non-nerd dichotomy. He is both the geeky mind behind the Frontalittle Squad and a rocker of epic proportion.

Z’s 1st interlude: “I’ve been promising a free-form episode for a while now.”
I am both motivated and vexed by theme episodes, and I’ve found the most certain way for me to establish creative, interesting themes is to swear off the concept. ;)

Track 2: The Police – “So Lonely” / The Police vs. Jungle Brothers – “Lonely Jungle Brothers”
The Police were started by Stewart Copeland as a punk band, but later went on to craft some of the most challenging pop pieces of the 1980s. The Jungle Brothers were principle members of the Native Tongues Posse who were often overshadowed by fellow groups De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest. When you put them both together it is magic!

Track 3: The Remus Lupins – “Loosen Your Tie”
Lyrically, this is one of my least favorite Lupins tracks, but musically it has such a massive groove as to more than make up for it.

Track 4: Steve BC – “Lone Bullet”
Check out Steve BC at MySpace and over at Last FM. He’s got a staggering amount of material available for free, and I’m sure you’ll find something that speaks to you.

Track 5: The Advantage – “Super Mario Brothers 2 – Overworld”
This track could just as easily be called “Doki Doki Panic – Overworld.”

Track 6: Yohahifu – “Girdle”
Once again you get to hear me murder traditional Japanese pronunciation. Three cheers for consistency!

Track 7: Baddd Spellah – “Ten Year Old (ADHD Remix)”
There are two remixes of mc chris's “Ten Year Old” that totally blow me away no matter how many times I hear them. This is the first. The second may make an appearance later in October.

Track 8: Beefy – “Write a Song About...”
Beefy and The Advantage are two great tastes that taste great together.

Track 9: Goondocks – “Posse Needs Upgrades”
If you didn’t download the Nerdcore Undercover album, do yourself a favor and at least grab this track. The Goons are a force of nature!

Z’s 2nd interlude: “He or she didn’t fill out the id3 tags.”
I love a good mash-up, but I abhor not giving adequate credit to mash-up artists. Anyone know who crafted “Lonely Jungle Brothers?”

Track 10: Ultraklystron – “Clerk”
Karl’s new (old) double album is great for long drives and housework. It’s great for general listening as well, but I tend to spend a lot of time driving and cleaning house.

Track 11: Datarock – “Fa-Fa-Fa”
If you can find a better Norwegian Dance Punk band than Datarock… please let me know.

Track 12: Jay-R – “My Other Car Is A Beatle”
“We stopped short, did a double take / He was looking so fly, I thought I wasn't awake. / He was obviously hooking up bass, I assume, / But then he turned a little button and the car went boom.”
There are so many things wrong with the above quatrain that I simply don’t know where to start.

Track 13: Gorillaz – “19-2000”
When you put the man responsible for Tank Girl and the guy who brought us “Country House” together you really can’t be too surprised when the results are excellent.

Z’s final interlude: “A bunch of songs that have nothing in common.”
Now that I’ve gotten my random playlist jones slaked I must begin preparation for the Halloween Crap-tacular. Right now I’m leaning toward making the first episode zombie-centered and the second one a little less stringent. We shall see.

Track 14: Random – “City Boy”
I started my interview with Ran last weekend, and I have to say that he really is as mellow and intelligent as you’d imagine. I’m currently juggling two interviews, so hopefully I can get at least one polished and ready for public consumption before month’s end.

Thanks for taking the time to check out the podcast. As always, I appreciate your support and I hope found something therein that did it for you.

Your ideas and song suggestions are strongly encouraged, so keep those comments and emails coming. Look for episode 32 in a couple of weeks, and, in the meantime, check out the blog for the aforementioned nerd news and interviews.

Nerd justice

I know most of you probably caught this on Digg yesterday, but, as I spent the day crotch-deep in inventory transfer forms, I didn’t notice it until Church sent a link my way.

The long and short of the story is that Workspace, an alternative (and apparently very nerd-friendly) shared work environment in Vancouver, BC, was the victim of a robbery last Friday.

A pair of thieves took four laptops and two iMacs, and, while the crime was captured on a security camera, no usable images of the thieves could be discerned. That is until someone noticed this strange picture in an office Flickr stream!

This cat is at worst one of the perpetrators and at best a fellow using an obviously stolen machine. As I know that a fair chunk of y’all are from The Great Northwest, I thought I’d throw this out there just in case.

If you have any information concerning the identity of this man, please contact the fine folks at INFO [at] ABETTERPLACETOWORK [dot] COM.

Nerd News in Brief

I am a Star Wars hater. I wasn’t always that way. Hell, as I child I petitioned to have my name changed to Luke. Had my mother conceded, I may’ve stayed firmly entrenched in Star Wars fandom, but that wasn’t the case.

As a result, I write this as a Lucas-ignoring shell of a nerd.

Star Wars backsliders are quite common these days, but I had actually lost most raging Force boner years before those shitty prequels ruined to saga for the rest of you. I am neither proud nor ashamed of this simple fact.

I’ve still got those misty water colored memories of the original trilogy in its original form, but (with the exception of the occasional re-watching of Empire) I’d rather not revisit it. But my secret shame, my secret hope, is that I’ve been looking for something to make Star Wars fun again for more than a decade.

Thank you, Family Guy, for doing just that.

• In Cali: This Saturday (September, 29th, for those of you who are currently calendar deficient), BOSSFIGHT’s ZeaLouS1 and IllGill will be performing at San Diego’s SDSC. The show starts at 9:00 PM and also features live House/Trance mixing by DeWitte. There’s no cover, so all 21-and-ups are encouraged to attend.
• Nerdy rock goodness: Glenn Case has posted 48 new Half Racks videos from their 9/14/07 Comet show at his Web site. Most bands can’t pull off compelling covers as diverse as Prince’s “Take Me With U” and The Who’s “Boris the Spider,” but most bands ain’t the Half Racks. Take a gander and be amazed at this eclectic collection of excellent original and cover material.
• Behold The Sinister Six!: At long last, the identities of The Sinister Six have been revealed! To get a taste of what MadHatter, YTCracker, ZeaLouS1, Benjamin Bear, Big Stephen, and ShelShocker have in store, peep the group’s site for a teaser track as well as their first single “Make Way” in both MP3 and video form.
• She's our girl: MC Router recently confirmed that she did, in fact, send in a submission for VH1's Female Rapper Show. Concerning her chances, Router remarked that she was pretty sure she wouldn’t make the cut, but that if she did she’d “let them know nerdcore is taking over” and not let us down. We’d expect no less from our First Lady! :D
• I already do: Router’s big bro and frequent collaborator Beefy has a new track up on his MySpace entitled “You Can Call Me Beef.” It boasts amazingly polished production by the other half of 1337 Geek Beat, T-byte, and a flow that’s not to be believed. It’s quite different from a lot of Beefy's earlier work in that it’s has a very fast, rocked-up feel, but he manages to work some Scrubs references in there so as to remind that he’s still the same old Beef… only better.
• Wait, we’re a minority now?: Something Awful hates you and all you stand for. I mean, of course they do – they’re Something Awful – but this time they’ve designated “Ironic Rappers and Their Fans” as the third most awful minority. The piece takes aim directly at MC Frontalot, and also manages to cast mc chris, MC Paul Barman, and the Beastie Boys in an unflattering light. The highlight has to be: “Get a microphone in front of a CS major and you can rest assured that an unintentionally racist pantomime of thug tropes will come spilling out of their mouths.” So I guess the bad news is that we’re all a bunch of bigots. The good news is that it’s totally inadvertent.
• The Bard Who Lived: The Times of India purports that a young William Shakespeare was a dead ringer for Harry Potter. Patrick Spottiswoode, director of Globe Education at Shakespeare's Globe, was quoted as saying, “We asked [a police artist] to imagine what Shakespeare may have looked like at 14 [and the] result is fascinating, but disturbingly like Harry Potter.” You Brits are weird!
• A storied past: In addition to sharing the above with me, Church also hipped me to this really odd Publishers Weekly article about… well, nerds. It touches on two nerd-related books that should make it to shelves this winter, David Anderegg’s Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them and Benjamin Nugent’s American Nerd: The Story of My People. Shit, it also includes a lit nerd timeline! It’s like Santa got my letter.
• The Kids Are Alright: I’m gonna go out today on not one but two videos, both submitted to me by my friend Matt. The first is of 8 year-old DJ Sara. I’m usually the last person to catch shit like this, but I thought I’d post it just in case you’re with me at the back of the class. The second is a live version of “Satisfaction” as performed by the band that introduced a young Z. to the concept of nerdy music, DEVO. Enjoy them with your kids.

More Nerd News in Brief

I didn’t intend to watch Kid Nation last night, but I did.

Now, I’m sure everyone has already established their personal views concerning the relative level of A) actual, feasible reality inherent in this reality show and B) exploitation inherent in involving children in such a fiasco, but let’s table that discussion for now.

The thing that struck me – more so, even, than the cheesy locales, the razor-sharp edits, and the subtle, camp counselor creepiness of host/former Sundance award winner Johnathan Karsh – was that the bulk of these children were just so goddamn nerdy!

I’m not sure why I was surprised by that. I mean, if your plan is to leave 40 kids to their own devices in a ghost town for over a month, it probably plays to stack the deck with a few extra smart ones.

Still, it lacked a lot of the Lord of the Flies quality that I was expecting, and, as a lit nerd, that was a little disappointing. I’m not sure if I’ll stick around for the rest of the season, but I suppose it’s good to see the next generation of poindexters getting some screen time.

• Pretty (Internet) Hate Machine: The fine folks at BOSSFIGHT were nice enough to send me a little press release concerning the forthcoming EP by their own IllGill. Internet Hate Machine, is slated to be released on the 25th of this month, and interested parties are encouraged to download the album’s premiere single “Hatin’.” On a side-note, the single, as well as the other tracks on the EP, was mixed and mastered by fellow BOSSFIGHT artist ZeaLouS1.
• Tear the roof off the sucka: IllGill also garnered a recent mention in the LA Times for a series of parties he’s been throwing on his roof. Gill is even included “in the picture section … talking to some dude that [he] can't remember.” California does, indeed, know how to party.
• Internet famous: Thanks to some tireless name-dropping by my pal Church, Hipster, please! was recently mentioned in the “Link Pileup” over at Geek Studies. As I’ve previously mentioned, I’m a big fan of this blog, and getting a little pop from it was a really pleasant surprise. Don’t let the moniker fool you; Geek Studies is tons of fun while still being both scholarly and culturally relevant.
• Whack Friday: mc chris has promised to release a full list of dates for his fall tour this Friday. Probably. Will mc make it to upstate SC. Will Z. buy him a beer? Will the person who took my bicycle pump please return it?
• Double your pleasure: Fans lamenting Ultraklystron’s retirement from the sphere of nerdy music got a double dose of auditory delight earlier this week when Karl released both Never Knows Best and Never Yours to Share It for free download via his Web site. After several attempts to remaster both works, Ultraklystron finally elected to release them in their original incarnations. Concerning the albums, Karl says “This is basically what I [was] capable of circa 2002-2003.” Never Knows Best is “pure Drum n' Bass and Glitch [and] not unlike a soundtrack.” Meanwhile, much of Never Yours To Share It is stuff that was originally intended for Never Knows Best and some additional material he “happened to make during a bout of inspiration that really didn't fit in with the main disc,” encompassing everything from Eurobeat to Breakbeat. While you won’t find any rhymes here-abouts, I highly recommend that fans check out both.
• In the Old Country: Matt was kind enough to direct me toward the MySpace of this British Wizard Rock festival. The roster is nine bands strong and tickets just went on sale, so jump on that shit if you find yourself across the pond.
• One more for the Wrockers: I’d also like to direct your attention toward this Tokyo Game Show update from the guys at Kotaku. Apparently they got to demo a broomstick controller peripheral. Three words: Quidditch World Cup.
• An open letter to Hideo Kojima: Mr. Kojmia, please read the following piece from Destructoid concerning film conventions that don’t translate well into gaming. Pay special attention to point 6 concerning cut scenes. PS: Lunar Knights is the shit!
• What would NNIB be without a video closer? Unsatisfactory: Throwdown is a straightedge metalcore band named after the Food Network television show featuring cantankerous restaurateur Bobby Flay. Okay, maybe not, but they are also not Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Even though they should be!

Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day!

Ahoy and avast, ye scurvy dorkwads, it be International Talk Like A Pirate Day!

This day be of particular import to our brothers and sisters in The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, but, whether ye be Pastafarian or just a connoisseur of fine buccaneering, I wish ye a safe and enjoyable day of plundering, piracy, and miss-use of the English language.

And, for your own educational well-being, here be a little lesson in proper piratical elocution from the two what started it all, Ol’ Chumbucket and Cap’n Slappy.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!

Good news/bad news

First the bad: apparently mc’s Tyra Show invite was a bust. (Yes, I made a boob pun; fuckin’ deal with it!)

But here’s a little pick-me-up from your boy MAJA. It’s his Janglish remix of Kanye West’s “Stronger.” It’s got a cool, minimalist vibe with just the slightest hint of glitch. Plus, MAJA doesn’t get all pissy and go off about Britney Spears. ;)

At any rate, it’s quite enjoyable, even to the none-otaku like me who are left a little confused by the Pocari Sweat bit at the end.

Nerd News in Brief

It’s been a shitty month for Sci-Fi/fantasy fans.

It’s been an even shittier month for Sci-Fi/fantasy authors, particularly those for whom the word “time” figures heavily into their masterworks.

Earlier this month, we lost Madeleine L'Engle, whose award-winning A Wrinkle in Time has delighted children and confounded adults for nearly a half-century. And yesterday, she was joined in the sweet literary hereafter by Robert Jordan, whose The Wheel of Time series displayed a similar love of both intricacy and whimsy.

If we can take any solace at all from these losses, I believe it to be this: people remember.

L’Engle and Jordan live on through their words, and, as hard as it is to fathom – particularly in modern America – people still read.

And that, my friends, is the ever-spreading light.

• Beam me up: Not to dwell too much on the subject of death, but Church recently hipped me to this press release concerning Star Trek branded funeral products. Yeah. I suppose it could be argued that “vanity caskets” are in poor taste, but I ain’t gonna tell you how to live and I sure as hell ain’t gonna tell you how to die.
• Help a father out: As a gamer and a dad, I’ve always felt a kinship with the titular Gamer Dad, and recently Andrew’s had a run of bad luck. A heart attack necessitated quadruple bypass surgery and more surgeries are needed. If you’ve got a few extra coins and are supportive of the cause of gaming as a family affair, you can make a donation via the Paypal link at the bottom of this page.
• On a happier note: The fine folks at MashupTown have released yet another themed bootleg compilation. Relive the 70s with less generic beats and slightly more fashionable attire with Blame it on the Bootie. You’ll be glad you did.
• Clarification corner: A recent blog post from Beef Thompson himself may help to clarify the facts surrounding The Grammar Club project to those of you still scratching your heads. *cough*MattandChurch*cough* Beefy writes that the GC is a “side project [he’s] very much involved in, but [unsure of how much he’s] allowed to talk about.” He does reveal that the other major players are “the amazingly talented Shael Riley, Glenn Case, and DJ Snyder.” He also goes on to say that the contributors are still very hard at work, and that even the track revealed via video last week on the group's Web site (known as “Bank Holiday”) “has been punched up and [now] sounds … much sexier.”
• Hot-Wired: Despite my misgivings about many of their musings on the subjects I hold dear, the folks at Wired cranked out a pretty nice piece about Tycho and Gabe last month. they even posted a song that Tycho created using UbiSoft’s recently released DS guitar sim Jam Sessions. Fun stuff.
• I'm both excited and deeply disturbed: mc chris was asked to be on the Tyra Banks show. No shit! mc seems reasonably excited about the prospect but alludes to the previously canceled Halo 3 party he was asked to headline, almost as if to let us know he’s not counting any chickens. Personally, this reminds me of MC Router’s recent talk of a Tyra Show invite. Could the two be related? Hmmmmmmmmmmm.
• More questions: Karl Olson recently posted a couple of interesting images over at his site. Does this mean that OpenSource Lyricist has indeed made it to print? More importantly, if so, will my review copy arrive soon? /doe-eyes
• Keep on Wrocking in the Free World: It appears as though a new Wizard Rock festival is in the works. Matt just tipped me off to Magus; saddened by the fact that they couldn’t make it to October's WrockStock, a handful of your favorite wrockers have taken it upon themselves to set up a festival for the coming spring. While the dates and location are sketchy at present, the roster is shaping up nicely and more information will be made available as it surfaces.
• He did it his way: Wrocker The Whomping Willows, who just so happens to be on the aforementioned roster, unveiled that his first album will shortly be making it’s way to iTunes thanks to a service known as TuneCore. TuneCore also supports Rhapsody, Napster, and eMusic, so if you musical-type dorks are thinking of making the jump any of these distribution channels it might behoove you to check the site out.
• Kiwi Nerdcore: Dan, of Nerdcore For Life fame, recently discovered a piece from New Zealand’s TV3 in which Nightline host David Farrier looks nerdcore hip-hop. Not only does the story touch on MC’s Frontalot, chris, and Hawking, but it also mentions NZ’s own MC Stormtroopa. You can view the vid at good ol' YouTube.
  
• Bad ol' YouTube!: Richard Dawkins banned from YouTube? Inconceivable... and yet true. The Rational Response Squad have lost their YouTube account. The allegations are that Creation Science Evangelism Ministries have been submitting DMCA copyright requests directed at RSS-posted videos that use footage copyrighted by the CSEM. Oddly enough, a Wired article points out that the ministry’s own Web site states that “none of the materials ... are copyrighted, so feel free to copy these and distribute them freely.” Whether you support the ideas of creationism, evolution, or some delightful mix of the two, this really comes down to a simple matter of fair use. And, while I try my best not to get overly political, I’m gonna close with the following vid. It features the RRS’s… um.. response, accompanied by a track from atheist rapper Greydon Square. Which is, now that I think about it, pretty damned nerdy on its own.

Radio Free Hipster Ep. 30: The WFWFTW Mixtape

If this is the first edition of Radio Free Hipster you’ve ever listened to, then I’m afraid it may give you the wrong impression. Normally, RFH starts with an intro track, then a little spiel from me, a set of songs, another little interlude, a second set, a final bit of chatter, and a closing song. This episode is an exception. This time around I elected to mix shit up a bit.

I’ve had an urge to release something along the lines of a nerdy mixtape for a while now, and, after a perfect storm of geeky inspiration, this seemed like the opportunity to do so.

A few weeks ago, my pal Church hipped me to a mixtape-esque project that he’d been knocking around, and that sort of got me primed. Then, he, Matt, and I had a little email exchange about some rampant gamer fanboyism over at Lev Grossman’s blog. That started the process in earnest, but only when coupled with Wil Wheaton’s very inspired PAX keynote.

I spend a lot of time alluding to the concept of a nerd community. That is, even more so than the music, what Hipster, please! is all about, but the truth of the matter is that freaks, geeks, and gamers are more like warring tribes. Sure, we form loose confederations from time to time – mostly during convention season – but we seldom see each other as equals, as brothers. Sony fanboys and comic geeks and science nerds and LARPers and Pokemaniacs and nerdcore aficionados and fan fickers and every goddamn other flavor of social ineptitude often look upon each other with disdain.

And yet somehow, every year for one magical weekend, Gabe and Tycho manage to bring all of us together under one roof, under a single banner, and bestow momentary peace to our troubled people.

PAX is a testament to its own importance, and though I’ve never attended (and likely never will, unless they move it to, y’know, Charlotte) the environmental change across the various echelons of casual and hardcore nerd-dom that it precipitates is palpable. While E3, in any guise, is about the industry, and every other comic, gaming, anime, or collectable con is, at the heart, about commerce, PAX is about us. I think that’s something that most of us realize, but Wil really managed to spell it out quite clearly through the vehicle personal rumination. His words serve as a base for this particular podcast.

It’s not secret that I find my own little contributions to RFH to be the weak link. I’m not an ultimate authority about nerdy music by any stretch of the imagination, so I just tend to expound upon what little I know about the artists and tracks provided, peppered with personal observations and my own blend of jackassery. Compared to the fact that Wil is a genuine orator my words fall pretty flat, so you won’t be hearing me in this ‘cast. Instead, the brief bits of necessary exposition are provided by Crystal, AT&T’s text-to-speech automaton. Sure, her diction's a little off, but at least she doesn’t have a southern accent. ;)

I will however, provide, the customary show notes concerning the featured tracks and artists, because this edition is just as much about their contributions as Wil’s.

If you’ve got any questions or comments about the show – or the podcast in general – feel free to hit me up. I guess that’s my own little way of supporting the greater aspirations of a coherent nerd community.

Download Radio Free Hipster Ep. 30: The WFWFTW Mixtape [hosting provided by Antisocial] Size: 52.4 MB Running Time: 57:16

Show Notes:

Intro: Baddd Spellah – “Radio Free Hipster Theme (feat. Beefy)”
I sort of dorked with the theme song this time around, and I feel kinda bad about it. It almost seems disrespectful. Still, I wanted to alert folks early on that this wouldn’t be a regular episode.

Background Music :
There are actually two background music selections for the voice beds this time around. When Crystal was “talking” I used the old ambient Gamecube menu music. I usually worked Wil’s bits in during song transitions, but two different selections actually cut completely out of the tracklist and use PriZm’s “Bowser is Pissed” OC Remix.

Track 1: MC Frontalot – “It is Pitch Dark”
This track played in well with Wil’s “gaming generations” bit. The fact that Front released a video for it earlier this week is happy coincidence.

Track 2: Dual Core – “Hostage Down”
I’ve been saving this song for a special occasion, and I thought it worked well here. It’s sort of Dual Core’s signature piece, and, truthfully, one of my favorites from the album.

Track 3: 4BIT BONSAI – “ODE TO TETRIS”
From the very fun 4 BILLION HIT POINTS album, which is freely available and highly recommended. This one played solidly into the next track.

Track 5: CheapyD – “Ass and Tetris (You Forgot Poland)”
I really wanted to work a mash-up in here and this one fit perfectly, which was great because Cheapy also knows a thing or two about creating a nerd community. He’s the brains behind Cheap Ass Gamer and co-host of the (recently award-wining) CAGcast, which are, in all honesty, the only gaming BBS and podcast that I even bother to keep up with anymore.

Track 6: YTCracker – “The Legend”
YT’s older work holds up well, and this track is a personal favorite from the NES release. Something about the first verse really resonated well with Wil’s lead-in.

Track 7: Temp Sound Solutions – “Son of a Biah (Cex rmx)”
I’m not really sure if Shawn Phase prefers to go by that name or the TSS moniker; I reckon it depends on the project. What I do know is that he is a supremely talented chiptune artist, guitarist, and performer and that he has wicked-assed Konami tatts.

Track 8: Random – “Boss Battle Metal Man (The Megas Remix)”
This track is a amazing cut from an amazing album, Random’s Mega Ran release. I’m really interested to know how the collaboration came about, and, as it looks like I may get the opportunity to interview Ran in the near future, I'll hopefully get my answer.

Track 9: Franz Keller – “Metrotransfunk”
I wanted to work a Metroid track in there somewhere too, and I was immediately taken by this one. I stand by my longtime assertion that you can pretty much just grab any track at random from OCR and find gold.

Track 10: MAJA – “N.E.S.” / “UUDDLRL”
MAJA was nice enough to hook me up with a copy of The Amalgam Project, and I’ve truly enjoyed it. Something about the blend of personal reflections and smooth delivery of “UUDDLRL” really made it roll well into the mix.

Track 11: Regurgitator – “Black Bugs”
This is some geeky Australian indie pop that Pinky hipped me to. Thus far I had kept the musical selections confined to sarcastic, reflective, and atmospheric pieces, and I sort of had the urge to throw in a curve.

Track 12: mc chris – “Kingdom Farts”
mc’s rapid-fire delivery contrasted the Regurgitator track’s relaxed, dancy vibe. Plus, I love the fuck out of this song! The break gave me a chance to throw in a pretty pertinent Wheaton bump.
Track 13: TZU – “Back Up!”
Another little jewel from Down Under compliments of Grandmaster Pink. In retrospect, maybe I should’ve swapped this one with the YTCracker track, as it also has a lot of 1980’s references, but I’m still pretty happy with it here.

Track 14: The Four Eyes – “Neverwinter Nights”
When I first heard this song – from The Four Eyes’ Five Songs About Videogames... EP – I knew I had to end an episode of the podcast with it. The only problem is that it’s about twice as long as the average song I play. Still, this one was a track I just didn’t feel comfortable editing down; the length plays into the song's progression and is a big part of its garage rock charm. So, I elected to use the long solo sequences to let Wil wrap up his argument. I thought it worked pretty well and hope you feel the same.

ACCEPT? -->?

The video for MC Frontalot’s “It Is Pitch Dark” is currently available for mass consumption. Director Jason Scott is using the song and video to promote his upcoming documentary about text adventure games, Get Lamp, which sounds pretty goddamn awesome in and of itself.

You didn't hear it from me, but it just so happens that this track will also be prominently in the next edition of Radio Free Hipster...

Okay, maybe you did hear it from me.

More Nerd News in Brief

I sometimes forget that the American public is composed primarily of sheep. Despite knowing better, I desperately cling to the notion that we, as a whole, are capable of making an informed decision.

Moreover, I truly want to believe that people have… y’know taste and standards.

Shit, we can’t even seem to make simple choices right!

Case in point: Last Comic Standing. My wife loves reality shows and I love stand-up, so this seemed like a very rare piece of common cultural ground. Unfortunately, the producers and the voting public have solely dedicated themselves to weeding out all the funny contestants.

I have, however, gleaned from this experience one unshakable fact, one common thread shared by every talented comic the world over; they are not Bill Bellamy.

• It’s good to be king: Apparently the super secret party that mc chris had been invited to play was unceremoniously cancelled. In a blog post related to the cancellation, mc tellingly remarks, “sometimes i dont like being a nerd rapper, but i love having nerds as fans. especially when they design halo 3.” Truer words were never spoken.
• If he hits Greenville, drinks are on me!: While he might not be rocking the Halo 3 house party, mc will once again be rhyming his way across the country this fall. Dates are as follows: Oct 28 in San Luis Obispo, CA at The Slo Brewery; Oct 29 in Anaheim, CA at The Chain Reaction; Oct 30 in West Hollywood at The Roxy (hopefully); Oct 31 in Phoenix, Az at The Brickhouse; Nov 1 in Albuquerque, NM at Launch Pad; Nov 2 in El Paso, TX… somewhere; Nov 3 in Lubbock, TX at Jake’s; Nov 7 in Tallahassee, FL at The Beta Bar; Nov 12 in Birmingham, AL at The Zydeco; Nov 13 in either Raleigh, NC or Nashville, KY; Nov 14 in Wilmington, NC or Louisville, KY; Nov 16 in Greenville, SC or Mount Clemens, MI (Please, oh sweet, holy Flying Spaghetti Monster, please let it be Greenville!); Nov 17 in Bowling Green, OH or Cleveland, OH; and Nov 18 in Pittsburgh at The Rex Theater.
• Rockers need love too: The Half Racks have another marathon gig lined up this Friday at The Comet. Flying in a Tin Can will be opening, the show starts at 9:00 PM, and there’s no cover. Glenn says that their last couple of Comet gigs have been “a fairly rough experience, so [he] would genuinely appreciate seeing as many friendly, familiar faces as possible.” Spokanites are encouraged to attend and show their support.
• Comic shop chic: My girl Nikki, also known as Nikki Nefarious and/or Buttnik, likes to take pictures. Many of these pictures are of nerdy girls doing nerdy things. And a least half of them are of scantily clad nerdy girls doing nerdy things. She recently did such a shoot for online zine Geeks Magazine, which is solidly devoted to nerdy chicks in all their glory. You can peep the pics and read the interview with the girly in question right here.
  
• Better late than never: Church believes that he is the last person in the world to read this Wizrocklopeia interview with Wrock pioneers Harry and the Potters. He is mistaken. I am the last person in the world to read the piece. Unless, of course, you wish to steal my mystic Crown of Procrastination.
  
• Battle of the sexes: Who would win in a fight between MC Router and The Goondocks? It’s a question as old as time, and one that is summarily answered thanks to this clip.

Nerd News in Brief

This weekend Church went to the Baltimore Comic-Con and saw the best Transformers cosplay in the entirety of nerd-dom.

Me? I cleaned house.

I think that homeownership has been romanticized so much in this country that everyone dreams of their own half-acre and picket fence. Personally, I miss those halcyon days of apartment living.

A house is less a place to live and more a thing to do. Constantly.

We should all move into townhouses. Have our own little geek resort. Who’s with me?

• Dissecting Rapbeth: MC Lars is giving away his first three albums (Nothing to Fear, Insectivorous, and Radio Pet Fencing) for the low, low price of free. How’s that for value? With the money left rattling around in your pockets from such a find, why not pick up Lars’s new DVD? It’ll make an MC happy.
• “If you were a zombie…”: My pal Dennis, necro-crafter extraordinaire and all-around nice cat, was recently interviewed by indie art site CrankyYellow.com. He discusses his affinity for the undead therein, and even manages to name-drop both Hipster, please! and ZeaLouS1. What a swell guy!
• Future Perfect: The artist formally known as Fanatical and now pretty much just know as Jaylyn, has recently dropped a new single at her MySpace. Peep “timesplit” and then tell Jay to pick up the pace and start releasing more songs. I’m serious.
• FightForRight ReadGoodBooks SpreadTheMusic: This weekend my bro Matt found yet another Wizard Rock band of note. Potter Noyz is an interested blend of indie dance, acoustic rock, and… um… fan fiction. Though a self-professed “virtual band and fan project set after the 7th year” may seem a little odd, don’t let the concept scare ya. It’s well worth a listen.
• Harry Potter and the Broom of Experimentation: I’m not sure how much truth there is to this (particularly since Matt found reference to it dating back about five years), but this one was another jewel Church dug up that I felt worthy of sharing with the rest of the class. I’m finally beginning to understand why the Nimbus 2000 was such a big seller!
• Baltimore's own: Now that I’ve gotten all that juvenile humor out of the way, here’s another vid that Church made from his 16 Bit Genocide footage: an Entertainment System double-shot featuring “Ninja Turtles” and “Bubbleman” Enjoy.

The plot thickens

Shael. Beefy. Robots. Sweatshop labor. Acres of cardboard. A special cameo by MC Frontalot. And I don't notice until after I post today's MNNIB. Shit!

What am I talking about? The Grammar Club, of course!

Click and be amazed.

More Nerd News in Brief

Okay, so I only promised you one NNIB this week, but I’m about to serve you a second helping.

Are people really crying for more?

Probably not, but there’ve been some pretty interesting occurrences over the last few days and more than a couple of events on the horizon toward which I think you should turn your attention. Plus I had a little free time this morning so I figured what the hell.

Some stuff won’t wait til Monday.

• Word To Your Photoshop Skillz: Tired of lolcats? Sick to death of “Chocolate Rain?” Then welcome to the world of Word To Your. Surely it will wax a chump like a candle.
• Stone Fists: If you, like me, play guitar and love game rock but are just too damn lazy to figure out how to shred the shit out of "River City Ransom" on your own, Year 200x has answered your prayers. UltimateGuiatar.Com currently plays host to the only officially sanctioned and metalhead approved tab from Lansing’s favorite sons. You’ll need Power Tab software for the trick to work, but that is easy enough to procure.
• Noncommittal mc: A recent blog post from mc chris indicates that he’s once again struck geeky hip-hop gold. The coy mc stated that he’d been asked “to play a private party in three weeks for a game company that is about to release the game of the year!” Hmmmm. So said company is about to release the game of the year, and, as mc goes on to say, said gig will be in Seattle. You do the math!
• Vague mCRT: During last week’s marathon edition of The Takeover, Florida nerdcore artist and all around dirty wordsmith mCRT called in during one of the brief instances where an exhausted ZeaLouS1 et al were at a loss for words. In addition to acquainting the FCC with the proper use of the word “cock,” Rob also let slip that he’s already started laying the groundwork to secure some very special guests for next year’s Nerdapaloza SE. This act was described as a three member outfit with two members in the east and one out west. There are, conceivably, a couple of different outfits who fit the bill, but I’ve got my own (wholly unconfirmed) suspicions.
• Charming: This weekend Baltimore makes its move to steal the geek culture crown by playing host to two events you’d be a fool to miss. (A fool, I say!) Of course Saturday and Sunday will boast Charm City’s famous Baltimore Comic-Con at the Baltimore Convention Center. Frank Cho will be there, and I have it on good authority that he will be drawing buxom young ladies. Seriously. Also, this Saturday The Talking Head Club will play host to the 8-Bit Meltdown Marathon featuring BIT SHIFTER, NULLSLEEP, and the Power Gloved hands of Shawn Phase. There’s no better way to spend 7 bucks. I already checked.
• “I feel like it’s on fire.”: Church, Matt, and I are all fairly certain that this cat is taking this piss out of nerd musicians, but, in case you’ve missed him on Boing Boing and Digg, here’s some Ronald Jenkees to kick off your weekend.