Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Nerdettes

Make no mistakes, I like the ladies. The ladies who like ladies, the ladies who like guys, the ladies who like everybody, but especially, the ladies who like the things I like (Don't worry, I like guys who like guys, we hang out, but this isn't their post).

My entire upbringing was engineered by strong independent women and as a result I feel I have a fair, if not progressive, view and respect for the fairer sex. I would also venture to say protective and even fascinated. Therefore, whenever a particularly interesting item floats by, I give it an extra peek if it involves females.


I think part of my unconscious flirting (hehe, an unconscious person flirting) and protectiveness is me trying to be "the man" of the house/ situation, and be protective and try to take care of whatever ladies I'm around. OR, I am a shameless flirt and in another reality, was a major Player.
ANYWAY, Tink, also a quiet feminine feminist, is always looking towards women empowerment and ways to show off how awesome women are, has been building some serious steam in gender-centric circles.
Seeing as these things are orbiting my life (and sometimes crashing into them in rough terraforming instances) I figured it would be an excellent idea to compile some online resources I find myself drawn to time, and time again.

d20 girls
Tired of Booth Babes being vapid vacuums of vain villainy? You either? But you would like it if they actually had something in common with you, right? That would be even hotter? Well look no more. A few of the nerdy gals in my life have signed on as professional models. This company promotes and contracts out professional booth babes with knowledge in the industry. Through meticulous interview processes, geeky ladies of every size, shape & stripe are screened before entry and provide for a fantastic pallet of girl power.
fat, ugly or slutty
On a less cheery note, the male condition is one fraught with disgusting, uncultured, swine. I was going to use the colloquial "douche bag" but honestly, thats being unfair to the term. This site chronicles various unsavory occurrences from around the nerd world where the revelation that the gamer on the other end of the controller is a female results in misogynistic idiocy. There is little censorship on this site, and good thing too, as anyone who believes any of this behavior is allowable in any situation, they deserve to let their habits to be known to the world.
Comic Con Pervs
A very similar site to the last, I think this is a great idea for the same reasons as outlined above.
I will admit, I am a pervy nerd, and I like to see naughty things fairly often, BUT, not like that. Not that process, that is disgusting and wrong. There are sites for that sort of thing where everyone involved is consenting and, usually, it's all much better quality and less chance you will be prosecuted for pedophilia.
hot gamer girls
I have not done too much research into this site, but I like the concept so far. It appears to dominantly be originally a a forum comprised of dominantly lady gamers as the focus.
As mentioned earlier in the post, "there are sites for that." And this is one of them. I heard about them at their booth at Fanime and also heard through the grapevine they did a shoot somewhere very close to the convention. Frankly, I am a little jealous I had not thought of this first.

You all know how much I love my Nerdcore, well so do these gals. One of the groups mentioned in this post to have a presence at Gamer Con, there was an "industry only" concert on a rooftop in San Diego where Doc Awk & Zealous rocked out. Music aside, once more, these are nerdy ladies that are also in the modeling contact sort of biz.
This site I have mentioned before and unfortunately has stopped posting since before the first of this year. I am saddened by this, but many of their posts are excellent as they examine many issues in the female gaming community with a focus on World of Warcraft. Worth a dig through if you have some spare time.
Geek Girl Network
Not one cohesive site, but an ever growing conglomerate of gals. This jiggly juggernaut has spawned a con, numerous panels, and even a WoW guild, which was named by my lady, T1nk (true story).

Other sites I have come across that are of the female persuasion that might be worth a look, that I have not researched too thoroughly include . . .
Another modeling site, very clean, looks very professional.
Real professional Gamers who are female. These fragging femmes make money for beating guys (and some other girls) at video games. Isn't that awesome?

And, I'm gonna give an honorable mention, I'd even call it, a vigorous nod to . . .
D&D With Porn Stars
Though led by a "dude's dude of dorks" his crew is largly comprised of X chromosomes and I think that is fantastic. I have not had him describe a single game so far where a gal wasn't involved. And in case you have no idea what this is, its a gaming blog. If you go check it out, you should be able to deduce the rest, like why it's so named and how cool those folks are.



I very rarely bemoan my status as a male of our species, even though I am of the painful opinion that women can do everything better than guys if they try hard enough. But, many of these sites and groups kinda give me that nudge, to wish, for a little while, I could rock a rack. Actually, no, bad idea, I would never leave my room.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

S.G.I.S.Con 6 Alert

Sgis-six! people. I have strong leaning towards "summer camp" theme for anyone who cares to indulge my deep seated need to have themes and itinerary.

Date: January 13-16 2012

Price: $25 "Standard Reg" $40 "Late Reg"

Reg dates: November 25 - January 6 "Standard"

January 7 - 16 "Late"

This is the Six Month Warning. We have even more people interested than normal this year so call me up, get your cash ready and make sure you remember to "register" as soon as it "opens."

I seriously want to try and have a couple events this year besides our usual D&D game. I'll post a few ideas when the three month mark rolls around and see what you guys think. If you have any ideas of your own, let me know.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Gygax is Rolling in His Grave

And I think he just Crit!
A short but poignant post today. As you may or may not recall, back in March of '08 The Great Gary passed on to a different plane. Even three years later his memory lives on and his family and some of their closest friends and MANY nerds still wish to have a concrete memorial somewhere on our Earth.
Check out the site and the proposed memorial and even throw some cash that way if you wish.
http://www.gygaxmemorialfund.com/

AND, so there's a bit of my brain in this post as well as a nod to this great institution, I'll use an old favorite to hopefully give me a quick & fun post . . . .

(Yup, those are my new Precise Dice, I use them when I'm GMing so less chance my players will gripe. WTF are science/precise dice you might ask? Dig around HERE for an answer)

8! Describe your local area, gamerwise--is their a local game store? Where do your players come from? Do you want more players? Are they your friends? If you play with strangers, who are these people? Where do they come from?

Ooh, a tuffy. Actually, I take that back. I am lucky in some ways that I live in a major metropolitan area that is unequivocally nerdy, Silicon Valley.
There are MANY local game shops, at least half a dozen I am aware of all within a half hour or so of each other, whether they be comic or hobby shops at their core, they are definitely Gamer-friendly.
The players come from everywhere. Jr. High, High School, College, corporate sector, entertainment & service industry.
As for more players, no, I am good. I wish for more time to play with all my players but as most of you who know me personally have more than likely heard me gripe about my inability to tell players, old & new, "no" to joining my gaming group.
They are all my friends and I am responsible for the majority of my current players coming into RPG's. I have played with RPG vets and stranger noobs when I worked at a comic shop for a while, they came for a set, consistent game.
Currently my two groups are all friends and/or co-workers due to large nerdy social circles and a workplace with some VERY interesting perks.

Overall, to anyone who's looking for a game who might be new to the genre or just moved out here, don't sweat, there is a game for everyone out here, we be some of the nerdiest areas on earth, I'd wager. Just keep looking.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

How do you Blog?

On The Topic of Bloggery, one might wonder, where I get my input and research as far as technique, tips, and layout.

The truth?

I learn all my tricks from webcomics.

Yup, I blame the fact that I have been reading them for nearly a decade longer than blogs, as well as T1nk & I have been working on the project of a joint webcomic for several years now. So, all the panels I attend, all the research I do, all the input I process, is from the internet sequential artists.

I have been trying to see what other "successful;" blogs do and identify what I enjoy in blogs, but I think there are some parallels when it comes to sites that continually "produce content."

If the idea is that your traffic comes for something new from your brain each update then you can rely on certain techniques to continue satisfaction, and possibly bring in more traffic.

I also think it has something to do with the geek subculture. we all speak with a certain "web accent" that includes a semi-formal language of "nerd." I love it.

Regaining focus, yeah, Update regularly. It kind of matters HOW regularly, but as long as your readers KNOW you're at least consistent, you can maintain a readership and have a chance to increase traffic.

Filler works as long as you stay consistent . . . for a while.

Let your readers know you're not dead, they appreciate that, unless that's all you do, then you will lose traffic.

Its fascinating to me, I've mentioned in the past how many other blogs inspire me for countless, varied reasons. I guess I should give a nod to Penny Arcade,(originally, I was NOT going to put that link there as EVERYONE who comes here BETTER know who that is, but then, I thought in horror, what if they . . DONT!?!?! GO! NOW!! KNOW!!) because they are "the bar" in my eyes. They are my super stars, my "Super Bowl Quarterback" that I look to and think "Fuck yeah, I want that." The funny thing to me though, is that, I want that lifestyle, not to be THEM, but to even be PART of that operation. I've talked about going home, and every time I watch their PATV episodes, it's ALWAYS, AALLLWWAAYYS an inspiration to me to keep going, to NEVER stop being geeky and pushing forward as an artist. It's amazing to me how these real, tangible (Sort of) Normal people, have created something so incredible and be aware of it, and continue to . . . create and never take it for granted.

So what have I learned after two years of placing my musings up into the aether? Thank the PA's & Topless Robots, & Jenny Breeden's of the world for NEVER stopping and always producing. But also thank, in equal measure, The Megatokyo's, the Chugworth Academy's, & the Vanishing's, for trying, and trying, and not always succeeding, but still being brilliant and amazing, Thank you. I will continue to check in with you, always waiting with bated breath, for that next flurry of output, or that final fair well, when you leave to focus on something more important, I will continue to check your site, even years from now, when your last post STILL reads "may '08," I will give your site a hit, in hope.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

3rd 4 T3h Nrrd: July '11

Microsoft W3RD N3RDS! I got another Original Gamer of the Nerdcore Crop For ya . . . .

Mega Ran Or, Random, Random Beats or Big Ran!
This dude is mad prolific. He's been hustling beats and raps for just as long as anyone else in the game, because, like many great Nerdcore cats, he's a musician first.
Excellent production value keeps all the sounds clear and bumpin, a smooth flow and steady rhythm to beats keeps his lyrics running through his music.
I consider him an O.G. of the scene not just due to his longevity but because I have seen him all over the culture since I first heard him in a Collab with Front, all the way up to his contributions to Nerdcore Now. Did I mention he also has mad connections to video games, check the wiki. Mad Nerd Cred.
One of his most recent projects was an amazing collab album based entirely on Final Fantasy VII

Hot, right? Hit him up, pay some of his bills, enjoy!